SWEETWATER UNITED BAPTIST ASSOCIATION (TN) NOT CALVINIST

 The Sweetwater United Baptist Association (now Sweetwater Baptist Association) Founded in 1830 is found to be Non Calvinist. In The History of the Sweetwater Baptist Association by Glenn Toomey, we see the Abstract of Principles on page 34, as follows;

1) We believe in the one true and living God; the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, and these three are one. 

2)  We believe that the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament are the Word of God and the only rule of saving knowledge. 

3)We believe in election according to the fore knowledge of God the Father through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth.

4) We believe in the doctrine of original sin.

5)  We believe in man's impotency to recover from the fallen state he is in by his won free will and ability.

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

7) We believe that the saints will persevere in grace and never fall finally away.

8) We believe that baptism and the Lord's Supper are ordinances of the church of Jesus Christ, and that true believers are the only proper subjects of the ordinances, and the true apostolic mode of Baptism is b y immersion.

9) we believe in the resurrection of the dead and a general judgement.

10) We believe that no minister has the right to the administration to the ordinances of the church, only such as are regularly called, and come under the imposition of hands of a presbytery.

Here we can see articles almost identical to other Non Calvinist associations, such as the Eastern District Primitive Baptist Association seen here . There is no mention of limited atonement, irresistible grace, and it affirms conditional salvation in article 3, namely, that belief brings you into election or salvation. If that is not enough, on page 48of the history, we see a description of the preachers of a camp meeting in which the Sweetwater Association participated,which consisted of Baptists, Methodists, and Presbyterians.

"The camp meeting preachers all emphasized the same themes --- universal redemption, free and full salvation,  and the joy of a living religion."

If all the preachers affirmed universal redemption, this certainly meant that the Sweetwater Baptist preachers were Non Calvinist. Some will question how Presbyterian preachers could could "emphasize" universal redemption. This was most likely Cumberland Presbyterians, who held views very similar to Non Calvinist Baptists, affirming general atonement as well as eternal security. Also remember that 200 years ago, free salvation referred to Non Calvinist views of election, whereas free grace referred to the Calvinist view.

On page 82, we see that  churches that had withdrawn from the association because they rejected mission societies and anything above the associational level, reunited with the association. This further shows that there were many churches that were Non Calvinist, in the anti mission movement, just as the Eastern District, Hiwassee and Original Tennessee Primitive Baptists were, as well as the remaining United Baptists still in existence today, all holding to general atonement and rejecting Calvinism. These churches believed much like Independent Baptists today, in that all missionaries are to be sent out of the local church, not a board. Most reunited with their former associations, as is the case here, eventually affiliating with their state conventions and the SBC. 


 


 

 



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