It is quite obvious that the Little River Association had both Calvinists and Non Calvinists, but how this came to be I cannot be certain. What is clear, is that the Calvinist faction thought they had a majority, but in fact did not, and were forced to split off and form another association, which they termed the "Original" Little River Baptist Assn. Obviously they did this in an attempt to claim they held the original doctrines. However, notice that the Calvinist faction "miscalculated their strength". The majority of Little River held to general atonement and universal operation of the Spirit. How this could go unnoticed by the Calvinist faction is a mystery. After the split, the Little River Association (the Non Calvinists) never changed their articles of faith, nor their constitution, so whatever they were, they could not have been decidedly Calvinist in wording.
The following comes from "A History of Kentucky Baptists" by J.H. Spence, Vol 2, Chapter 1, pages 468-469.
This
small fraternity, (the Original Little River Association) of Anti-missionary Baptists originated in a split of
Little River Association, in 1833. There has been much disputing in
regard to the causes which led to the division, and other circumstances
connected with it. But the subject does not appear to be of sufficient
importance to justify a lengthy investigation. It is sufficient to say,
that one party believed in a general atonement and the lawfulness of
benevolent societies, while the other rejected these positions, and
refused to tolerate them. Nor is it of any importance now, to determine
which party was in the majority, in the Association, at the time of the
split.
At the meeting of Little River Association, at Mt. Pleasant
meeting house, in Trigg county, in 1833, the letters from some of the
churches expressed a desire that the differences which had long existed
in the Association, should be adjusted, or, if this could not be done,
that the contending parties should separate by mutual consent. The
matter was brought before the body in due form. A motion was made to
determine the belief of the Association, on two points, viz.: "a general
atonement," and the "universal operation of the Spirit." According to a
statement in the circular letter of the Anti-missionary party, a
majority of the messengers voted adverse to the two points of doctrine.
This, however, was not a fair test of the strength of the contending
parties, as Parker's Two-Seeds doctrine, and the lawfulness of
benevolent societies had been involved in the controversy, neither of
which points were included in the motion. But the debate had been long
and heated, party spirit had run high, and the members of the body were
too much excited for calm deliberation. As soon as the Anti-missionaries
came to the conclusion, from the result of the vote, that they were in
the majority, one of them cried out: "I motion that all those that
cannot retain in fellowship those that preach and believe the doctrines
of general atonement and universal operation of the Spirit, manifest it
by rising to their feet, and collecting themselves together; and [that
they] organize themselves as Little River Association, to the exclusion
of those that believe the above doctrines, contrary to the constitution." Responsive
to this call, the messengers from nine churches arose, collected in one
corner of the house, and organized for business. It was soon
ascertained that the party had miscalculated it's strength. While
messengers from nine churches had responded to its call, those from
eleven, rejected it. The minor party withdrew to the grove, the
following day, leaving the Missionary party in possession of the records
and the house. Both parties claimed the name and prerogative of Little
River Association. But, subsequently, the minor organization prefixed
the word "Original" to its title. The relative strength of the two
parties may be best ascertained from the statistics of the two
organizations, for the following year, when the churches had settled
down in their true position. In 1834, Little River Association numbered
14 churches with 860 members, while the party that had split off from
it, and assumed the title of Original Little River Association, numbered
13 churches with 385 members. According to the statistics above, the Non Calvinist faction had twice as many adherents as the Calvinist faction had. This is coming to light more and more as I research Regular Baptist associations.
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