CALVINISM DEFEATED IN THE FRENCH BROAD BAPTIST ASSN.

In 1807, the French Broad Assn. was formed from churches in the Holston Assn.  Articles of Faith of the Holston Assn. are as follows:

 Article 1 . We believe in the only living and true God, and that there are three persons in the Godhead — the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, and that these three are one in substance, and equal in power and glory.

2. We believe the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are the word of God, and the only rule of Faith and practice.

3. We believe in the doctrine of Original Sin.

4. We believe in man's impotency to recover himself from the fallen state he is in, by his own free will and ability.

5. We believe that sinners are justified in the sight of God, only by the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ.

6. We believe the saints shall persevere in grace, and that they never shall fall finally away.

7. We believe that Baptism and the Lord's Supper are ordinances instituted by Christ and that true believers are the only proper subjects thereof.

8. We believe that the true mode of Baptism is by immersion.

9. We believe that no person has a right to administer the ordinances but such as are regularly called and qualified thereunto.

1 0. We believe that no man should be ordained to the Ministry without the unanimous voice of the Church to which he belongs.

1 1 . We believe in the resurrection of the dead, and a general Judgment; that the punishment of the wicked shall be everlasting; and the joys of the righteous eternal.

12. We, the members of the French Broad Baptist Association, agreeing to the above articles of Faith, do for and in behalf of the churches whom we represent, covenant, agree, and give ourselves up to each other, in church and christian fellowship, in order to keep up the unity of the spirit in the bonds of peace, and to assist each other in all matters of distress, and to pray for each other's prosperity.

Notice that there is no hint of Calvinism (as defined today) in these articles. Nothing of unconditional election, irresistible grace etc. At best, they could be called "two point Calvinists", which isn't Calvinism at all, for even the Arminians accept the doctrine of original sin. During the mid 1700's there were some Regular Baptists (five point Calvinists) who fled to the frontier from Virginia, to escape the persecution of the Anglican Church. There were no Regular Baptist associations in western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee, and the Separate Baptists were willing, if reluctantly, to take them into their associations.

Stephen Morgan, a self avowed Regular Baptist, began causing dissension within the French Broad Association, and after more Regular Baptists joined the association, things began to escalate. According to John Ammons written history of the association, in 1827, Garrett Deweese decided to put a stop to this. Deweese held that the atonement provided the means of salvation for all persons, and that free will allowed a person to choose. Morgan and his faction charged Deweese with heresy, and "excluded" them from their own church, which was never founded upon Calvinistic principles. It is important to note, that it was a MINORITY who voted to exclude Deweese's followers, so the majority favored Deweese. Just like in these days, the majority, rather than fight, decided to leave the association and form a new one, and 7 churches followed. ("History of the French Broad Baptist Association 1807-1994 published by the History Committee of the French Broad Baptist Assn. 1994, pg 12)

The new association was called the Big Ivy Baptist Association. The churches that remained in the French Broad did not agree with Morgan's calvinistic doctrines, but believed the churches that left the association had done so in disorder. The artciles of faith adopted by the Big Ivy Assn. are as follows;

 1 . "We believe in one only true and living God; and notwithstanding there are three that bear record in heaven — the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost — ^yet there is but one in substance, equal in power and glory, and can not be divided, either in principle or practice, and not liable to change.

2. We believe the Old and New Testaments is the word of God, and a sufficiency is therein contained for our instruction, and they are the only rule of faith and practice.

3. We believe in the doctrine of Original sin, and that all mankind, since the fall, are by nature the children of Wrath, one as much as another.

4. We believe in man's impotency, or inability to recover himself out of the fallen state he is in, therefore a Saviour is absolutely needed.

5. We believe that sinners are justified in the sight of God only by the imputed Righteousness of Jesus Christ.

6 . We believe in the Perseverance of the Saints in grace-that they are born again, or adopted into the family of Heaven — that they become equal heirs with Jesus Christ, and that He will raise them up at the last day.

7. We believe that Baptism and the Lord's Supper are gospel Ordinances and true believers the proper subjects, and we admit no other knowingly.

 8. We believe that the true mode of Baptism is to baptize or immerse a person, by their own consent, once in water, back foremost, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.

9. We believe in the resurrection of the dead and of a General judgment, where all will be judged according to the deeds done in the body.

10. We believe the punishment of the wicked will be Everlasting and the joys of the righteous will be Eternal after death.

1 1 . We believe washing one another's feet is a command of Christ left with His disciples, and ought to be practiced by His followers.

1 2 . We believe that no one has a right to administer the Ordinances but such as are legally called and qualified thereunto.

13. We believe it is the duty of all church members to attend their church meetings, and it is the duty of the church to deal with them for neglecting the same.

14. We believe it is the duty of all church members to contribute to the support of the gospel and defraying all reasonable expenses of the church, never neglecting the poor, according to their several abilities.

15. We believe that any doctrine that goes to encourage or indulge people in their sins , or cause them to settle down on anything short of saving faith in Christ, for salvation, is erroneous, and all such doctrines will be rejected by us.

16. None of the above-named articles shall be so construed as to hold with Particular and Eternal Election and Reprobation, or so as to make God partial, either directly or indirectly, so as to injure any of the children of men."

As you can see, the articles of Big Ivy are very similar to the French Broad articles, with the addition of articles 15 and 16, which rules out any infiltration by Calvinism in the future. Article 15, while unusual, is found in the articles of several other associations, including the Old Regular Baptists of Kentucky. In fact, the Old Regular articles are almost identical in their entirety. No one can deny that the Old Regular Baptists are descended in full or in part, from the Regular Baptists and the Philadelphia Confession. This is further proof, that many Regular Baptists did not adhere to the Philadelphia Confession in full, and deleted the sections on election and predestination. The Old Regular Baptist articles can be seen here .

Twenty years later, Big Ivy had tripled in size, while French Broad had struggled. Big Ivy petitioned French Broad for a reunion, when it was found that Morgan and his followers had "repented" of their treatment of Deweese, and had in fact repudiated the deterministic doctrines of election and reprobation and limited atonement. The two associations each appointed a committee to explore reunion, with Morgan heading the committee from the French Broad. The two associations agreed upon two terms of reunification.

1) That the reunion would keep the name "French Broad Baptist Association" and 2) The constitution of and articles of faith of Big Ivy would be adopted, which meant the doctrine of eternal election and reprobation had to be abandoned, as the French Broad was never founded upon those doctrines.

 









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