SABINE BAPTIST ASSOCIATION (LA) NOT CALVINIST

 The Sabine Baptist Association in Louisiana, formed in 1847. It is the oldest association west of the Red River. All of the churches forming this association were constituted well before the formation of the association. For 15 to 20 years the churches were just scattered individual congregations, founded by various Baptist preachers from various association in Louisiana and Alabama, waiting on Texas to open up to Baptists and American settlers. 

 It is generally not within the scope of my research to document associations who changed their theology or 'evolved" from being strictly Calvinist to Non Calvinist/Provisionist. This is because my research does not show any 'evolution" occurring, but there are instances of immediate change. I am writing about this association because the change in doctrine was immediate, and did not evolve over time. This is interesting, first because the change happened very quickly, in the span of a specific year, and second, because of the reason for the change.

The Sabine association at first adopted strictly Calvinist articles of faith. They are as follows: 

1. The Trinity. 2. The Inspiration and Sufficiency of the Holy Scriptures. 
3. The fall of Adam; the imputation of his sin to his posterity, the total 
depravity of human nature, and man’s inability to recover himself. 4. The 
election of a definite number; efficient calling, and justification through the 
imputed righteousness of Christ, and the final perseverance of the saints. 
5. Christ the one Mediator by whom the elect were redeemed. 6. The abso¬ 
lute and eternal purpose of God does not set aside the necessity of secondary 
causes, but the means are a part of his decrees. These are made effectual 
through the agency of the Holy Spirit. 7. Good works the fruits and evi¬ 
dence of faith. 8. The resurrection of the dead, the eternal happiness of 
the righteous, and the everlasting misery of the wicked. 

In the period of the 1840's, the area where there was a cluster of calvinistic associations suffered from an onslaught of Parkerism or Two Seedism, extreme Calvinism/antinomianism and Campbellism, known at that time as "Christian Baptists".  In the book, A History of the Baptists of Louisiana, page 104, published by the Louisiana Baptist Convention in 1923, and written by John T. Christian, A.M., D.D., LL.D. professor of Christian history at Bible Baptist Institute, New Orleans, he writes the following concerning Campbellism and Parkerism (Two Seedism), both of which were wreaking havoc in Calvinist Baptist churches: 

 

"The second movement was that of Alexander Campbell, 
called by its adherents “The Current Reformation” but more 
generally known as “Campbellism.” The reaction was from 
a dead Antinomianism to a spiritless ritualism, equally fatal 
to vital godliness. Two causes operated to produce this re¬ 
action. The doctrines of grace had been formulated in such 
ill-chosen terms as to present a one-sided view of the plan 
of redemption, and to bring into disrepute these doctrines, 
always distasteful to the carnal mind." 

 To read "A History of the Baptists of Louisiana" see here.

The Campbellites rejected all creeds and confessions, and claimed the Bible alone as the source of their beliefs. This was also true of the Separate Baptists. However, the calvinistic Baptists were very confessional, and their associations adopted articles of faith which were the main points of the Philadelphia Confession. The Campbellite forces were successful in influencing many in calvinistic Baptist associations by accusing them of relying on creeds and confessions rather than scripture, accepting the articles of faith as truth and regarded them as more authoritative then the Bible. Those in the association who were influenced by the Campbellites, demanded new articles of faith, with scripture references to prove that those doctrines were in the Bible. The Sabine Association was forced to adopt new articles with scriptural references, in order to satisfy them. The new articles of faith, with references, are pictured below. Article continues after the pics.

 

 As the association tried to put scriptural references to their original articles of faith, they realized there was no scripture that proves particular atonement, so it was deleted. The articles we are most concerned with are articles 5 and 6 which state the following:

Art. 5 We believe that God has set forth his son to be the propitiation of the sins of the whole world, and where the gospel is preached, it is the duty of all men to repent and believe in Jesus Christ, that they may be saved, and if they do not, their rejection of the gospel is occasioned by their love of sin and aversion to holiness. ,

Art. 6 We believe that election is the sovereign exercise of that eternal, by which God hath according to his infinite wisdom chosen his people in Christ before the foundation of the world, and hath predestined them to the adoption of children through sanctification of the spirit and belief of the truth, and doth keep them by his power through faith unto salvation.

We see in these articles that the Sabine Association now said that Christ was "the propitiation of the sins of the whole world". This is pure scripture. We can also see that salvation was now the "sovereign exercise" of God, not a 'sovereign selection" of individuals, but a "people", or group found to be "in Christ." This denotes a more corporate view of election. The phrase "through sanctification of the spirit and belief of the truth" has been found to be a very common phrase in Baptist associations who were not Calvinists. In their minds, it was a clear statement that "belief" or faith brought you into election or salvation.  The only predestination mentioned is the predestination of those already saved, which is the 'adoption of children' or inheritance guaranteed in the future. The phrase "chose his people in Christ" is a commonly used phrase among Non Calvinist Baptists denoting a corporate view of election. For other proven Non Calvinist associations with similar articles of faith, see here , here and here. No one can deny that by the inclusion of 1 John 2:2 in their articles of faith, they were making clear their new stand on the extent of the atonement. They were also making clear in article 6, their new view that predestination referred to inheritance not salvation. Article 6 is missing "perseverance" mentioned in many Calvinist and Non Calvinist articles of faith. It appears the Sabine Baptists were stressing "preservation" over "perseverance".  

This is a remarkable change in doctrine, prompted by challenges from the Christian Baptists or Campbellites. Still, they held firmly to Baptist doctrines, although of a different stripe, and maintained a Baptist course in practice. They essentially became what was formerly called "Separate Baptists" who also rejected creeds and confessions, and echoed the sentiment that the Bible alone was their creed. Those associations who had a Separate Baptist heritage remained mostly immune to Campbellism. This is interesting, because Campbellism and Calvinism at first glance have nothing in common. As noted above, Dr, John Christian called them "equally fatal." Of course as a Non Calvinist Baptist, I'd say Calvinism falls apart when examined in light of scripture. Evidently this was the case in the Sabine Association as well. I have done some light research into the oldest existing Campbellite churches. About 80% of those who began as a Baptist church, originally held to strict Calvinism. Remember, that Alexander Campbell's churches were taken into Regular Baptist associations, even though he rejected the Philadelphia Confession. In light of the issue of Parkerism, Campbellism, and anti missionism, I must conclude that many of the calvinistic Baptists brought about their own demise, There was no "evolution" or drift away from Calvinism. Calvinism committed suicide when confronted with heresies that many of them embraced (Two-Seedism, antinomianism, anti missionism and hyperism). Those who were Non Calvinist to begin with, simply kept marching forward, founding new churches, mostly unaffected by those heresies.

If those who teach Baptist history, wish to say that the "roots" of all Baptists were calvinistic, and that Baptists changed or evolved over time into what they have now become, then they must deal with "why" Baptists changed. In my research, I've found very little evidence of any evolution of doctrine. This is a rare exception, but it is by no means an "evolution." It is a drastic change during a period of less than a year, and less than three years after the association's founding, the result of a challenge by outsiders, which forced them to examine their calvinistic doctrines, and prove them by scripture, which evidently they were unable to do.