ZION UNITED BAPTIST ASSN., BURNING SPRINGS ASSN, PAINT UNION ASSN., MATES CREEK ASSN. (W. Va., Ky.) NOT CALVINIST

MINUTES OF THE OLD ZION ASSOCIATION OF UNITED BAPTISTS, OF EASTERN KENTUCKY AND WESTERN WEST VIRGINIA, 1848-1880 Compiled by John Sparks 

 The Old Zion Association of United Baptists was organized at Salem Meetinghouse in Wayne County, Virginia (now West Virginia) on the first Saturday in November 1848. Though “given off” as an “arm” of the Paint Union Association of United Baptists of eastern Kentucky, most of the earliest membership of Zion Association actually more or less represented churches and ministers formerly connected with the Teays Valley Baptist Association in what is now West Virginia who were disaffected by both Teay’s Valley Association’s adoption of organized financial support for foreign and domestic missions and the Pocatalico Primitive Baptist Association’s adoption of extreme Calvinistic predestinarian views. Elder Goodwin Lycans, an ordained minister in the Teay’s Valley Association since 1827, was the primary leader in this United Baptist movement (they were called “Go-Betweeners” in that day and age because they represented a middle ground between the Missionary and Primitive Baptist movements). 

It can also be discerned that the Burning Springs, Paint Union, Salem, and Mates Creek Associations were also general atonement Non Calvinists as they were sister associations "of like faith and order" according to the minutes of the Zion Assn.

The articles of faith have no mention of total depravity, or even corruption of humanity. Perhaps they did not accept the doctrine as defined by Calvinists, or maybe there were various views on it with the association's churches. Another peculiar things is that article 8 states  it is the "Church" that will persevere through grace to glory, rather than the "saints" stated in most other Baptist articles. What was meant by this cannot be said with any degree of certainty. Perhaps they meant the same thing as "perseverance of the saints", but they could also mean that there was wiggle room in defining perseverance. Remember, both the Separate Baptists, and the later United Baptists had Arminians among them, so while the "church" will definitely persevere as a company of the saved, perhaps some may lose their position in the church through apostasy. This is merely conjecture on my part.

So let's take a look at Old Zion's articles of faith. We can be certain of Teays Valley's beliefs, as Old Zion adopted the same constitution and articles of faith, as the mother association from which they sprang. Article 6 makes very clear their stand on the atonement and that any person may be saved. You can read the minutes of the Zion Assn. here.

ARTICLES OF FAITH

We, the Churches of Jesus Christ of United Baptists, are constituted on the following faith. 

1.  We believe in only one true and living God, the Creator of the Heavens and the earth, and all things that are therein contained.

2. We believe in Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, who is Head and King of his Church. 

3. We believe in the Holy Ghost, the sealer and applier of the redemption furnished by Christ. 

4.  We believe in the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, and these three are one.

5. We believe in the scriptures of the Old and New Testament, to be the infallible word of God, and take for our only rule of faith and practice, and nothing is to be added to, or taken from it.

6. We believe in the free atonement of Jesus Christ, and that he tasted death for every man, and that salvation is offered to all men upon terms of the gospel.

7. We believe that repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ are necessary previous to baptism, and that immsersion is the only right way of administering the ordinance.

8. We believe that Christ has but one true Gospel Church and that it will finally persevere through grace to glory. 

9. We believe in the communion of the Lord's Supper, that is, the taking of the bread and wine by the Church of Jesus Christ in commemoration of the death and suffering of the Son of God until his second coming. 

10. We believe that feet washing is and ordinance of Jesus Christ and ought to be observed and kept up by His Church until His second coming.

11. We believe that Jesus Christ is the first resurrection from the dead and the he lives forever.

12. We believe in the resurrection of the just and the unjust.

13. We believe in the final punishment of the wicked and the eternal happiness of the righteous. 

 


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