NEUSE BAPTIST ASSOCIATION (NC) DISMISSES "ARMINIAN" CHURCHES

The Neuse Baptist Association, in North Carolina, was a Regular Baptist association (Calvinist). I cannot find the date of their formation, but the earliest minutes I can find are for 1794. In that year, it was "discovered" that "part" members of Swift Creek Church "lies undercensure of Armenianism", and the Association sent two elders to inquire about it.

The next year's minutes states "that half or rather a majority, hold a universal provision made by Christ for the salvation of all mankind. The association resolved to bear with the church one more year, to "reclaim" them form their "error"

Then in 1797 the minutes state;

"After enquiring into the state of the church in Johnston County, Swift Creek under pastoral care of Rev. John Moore, they holding armenian principles, and every means of use to reclaim them, proves ineffectual  : resolved that as a fellowship cannot be regained, that this association withdraw from her, which was accordingly done, and a non fellowship declared."

So at first there was a "part" of Swift Creek who were Non Calvinist, the next year "half or a majority" were Non Calvinist, and the next year the entire church was declared Non Calvinist. We know this because associations always recognized any portion of a church as the 'true church" who were in agreement with the association. Evidently there was no faction within the church who sided with the association, who could be declared the continuation of the true church. The big question is why Swift Creek endured three years of inquiries, visits from elders in the association to persuade them of their "error" without simply withdrawing themselves from the association. They stayed until they were kicked out. 

This example may seem insignificant, but this same type of incident occurred time and time again in many Regular Baptist (Calvinist) associations. This further proves that even among Calvinist and Regular Baptist associations, there were churches who did not "comply" with Calvinist doctrine.  There is no hint as to how "armenian" Swift Creek Church was. Were they more like Free Will Baptists, or did they hold to eternal security? Again, no clues are given, but all examples I have studied show that churches disfellowshipped for being Arminian were almost always holding to eternal security, and general atonement and free agency. Three years later two more churches would be excluded for "armeninan principles". 

Keep in mind that pastors/elders were always ordained within the association, or if coming from another, inquiries into their "orthodoxy" were held before allowing them to preach within that association. Were some elders converting churches to Non Calvinist doctrines, or did the churches themselves evolve away from them? Neither of these seem likely because there were no minority factions who remained with the association and continued as the "true" churches. For the minutes showing these resolutions by the association, see pics below. To see the entire set of minutes of the Neuse Association see here .





 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

THE USHER - A BAPTIST HERO

 In 1934, in Charlotte North Carolina, A baptist evangelist was holding a tent revival. Every night the tent was filled to overflowing. One night, two young teen aged boys came by, heard the preaching and decided to check it out. As the neared the tent, they realized every seat was taken. They turned and walked away. One man, whose name we will never know, was an usher at the revival, having volunteered from a local Baptist church, helping people to their seats. How did this man end up being an usher in a tent revival? Let's go back to April 1855. A man named Edward Kimball taught a boys Sunday School class at the Congregational church in Boston. The class was full of anxious teen aged boys, unruly at times, but Edward Kimball made a commitment that he would seek out every single boy and present the gospel in a way that related that Christ had come for each one. One of the boys worked in his uncle's shoe store, and Kimball decided to pay him a visit at work. Later, Kimball reca...
Read more

Comparing Calvinist and Non Calvinist Articles of Faith

Image
When discerning whether old Baptist articles of faith are Calvinist or Non Calvinist, it is important to know the nuances of how they are written. Below are the articles of faith of the Concord Association in Georgia and the Coosa Association right next door to them. You may notice a few spelling "errors" but I have posted these exactly as originally written. The similarities between the two are striking, especially considering they hold two different doctrines. The Coosa Association is the OLDEST of the two, being founded in 1835, from churches in in an even older association founded in 1796, in a rare example of being called simply "the Association of the Baptist Churches of Christ" carrying with them the same articles of faith. Concord Association Articles of Faith  1. We believe in the only true and living God: and that there is a trinity of persons within the God-head, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and these three are one. 2. We believe that the Scr...
Read more

EASTERN DISTRICT ASSOCIATION OF PRIMITIVE BAPTISTS (VA) NOT CALVINIST

Image
To date I have found many Primitive Baptist (PB's) associations who were not Calvinists, some even calling it heresy. The reason many historians teach that all PB's are highly Calvinistic, is because the non Calvinist ones gradually rejoined their Missionary Baptist counterparts as their opposition to mission societies softened, The Non Calvinist portion of PB's, adopted Sunday Schools, musical instruments, revivals and other church activities that the Calvinistic PB's rejected. As an example, read the further down in this article from the Eastern District Association of PB's. Originally organized in 1835 as the Mulberry Gap Association of United Baptists, the Eastern District Association was organized in 1848 with the first meeting being held at Blackwater Lick (Big Door), when they broke away from the Mulberry Gap United Baptists over "new innovations not warranted by scripture", namely mission societies and anything beyond the associationa...
Read more