The Particular Baptists of England emerged in the middle of the seventeenth century around the time of the Revolution. The first half of this thesis looks at the history of the first two London Particular Baptist Confessions of Faith written in 1644 and 1689. It examines the history behind the making of both Confessions as well as the sources from which they drew their material. The second half of the thesis is a comparison study. Firstly, the two Baptist Confessions are compared with each other in the areas of the atonement, baptism, the Church, and religious liberty, to see if Particular Baptist beliefs had changed. Secondly, the 1689 Baptist Confession is compared with the two leading English Calvinistic Confessions of the seventeenth century, the Presbyterian Westminster Confession and the Congregationalist Savoy Declaration, in order to see their similarities and differences in the same four areas.

Thesis (D. Min.)--Temple Baptist Seminary, 2007. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 96-101).

Thesis (Ph.D.) - University of St Andrews, August 2008.

Thesis (M.A.)--Baylor University, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 135-150)

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Baylor University, 2008. / Bibliographic references (p. 269-282)

Project report (D. Min.)--George W. Truett Theological Seminary, Baylor University, 2002. / Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 136-140).

Thesis (D. Min.)--Temple Baptist Seminary, 2007. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 96-101).

Thesis (M.A.)--Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, 1993. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 63-67).

Baptists, who have traditionally emphasised the authority of Scripture, agree strongly that New Testament teaching and practice allows them to baptize only believers upon profession of ~aith. There are, however, many remaining questions concerning the relation of children to God and the place of children in the church which are not as straightforwardly answered in Scripture; here Baptists often display little consensus. Although the principles of corporate solidarity and of individual responsibility operate in both Testaments, the development of individual responsibility, already apparent within later Old Testament history, is carried further in the New Testament where there is evidence of some breakdown in family solidarity and of division on the basis of individual allegiance to Jesus. Discussion of the place of the child in the early church to the fourth century centres around questions of original sin, the 'innocence' of children, the rise of infant baptism and the catachumenate. The historical survey also investigates the development of Anabaptist, early Baptist and modern Baptist views of childhood from the sixteenth to the twentieth centuries. Baptist perspectives in relation to four current issues in the theology of the child are considered: original sin and the 'age of accountability', infant salvation, 'faith development' and child evangelism. The South African situation is analysed by identifying amd interpreting areas of agreement and areas of uncertainty indicated by the results of a detailed questionnaire distributed amongst Baptists during 1990-1991. Baptists need to recognize that children of believers, although not necessarily saved, are in a creative relationship with the church, somewhat similar to that of the catechumenate in the early church. Two particularly problematic areas are the question of the appropriate age for baptism, church membership and communion of children. This is partly because although linked with faith rather than with ~ pastoral wisdom is needed to assess the evidence for true faith in particular cases. In spite of the difficulties to be faced, Baptist congregations and all Christians and churches have much to gain from a careful consideration of the theological issues related to the place of the child in the church. / Philosophy, Practical and Systematic Theology / D. Th. (Systematic Theology)

This dissertation is an inductive synthesis and study of the spirituality of Adoniram Judson. It argues that the center of Judson's spirituality was a heavenly-minded, self-denying submission to the sovereign will of God, which was motivated by an affectionate desire to please Christ, by obeying his final command revealed in the sacred Scriptures. Chapter 2 surveys Judson's life and the historical, theological, and spiritual contexts that formed him. Chapter 3 argues that the foundation of Judson's missionary spirituality was the Bible. His evangelical activism and conversionism grew out of his bibliocentrism. Chapter 4 contends for an all-consuming vision of God's sovereignty in Judson's piety. His submission to God's will affected his view of suffering, duty, and self-denial. Judson's response to his love for God was a self-denying asceticism. Chapter 5 demonstrates that Judson's interpretation of life's events was through the lens of eternity. His heavenly-mindedness permeated his vision for living and dying. Moreover, his eager expectancy of Christ's imminent millennial glory stimulated his evangelical activism. Chapter 6 highlights Judson's dominant spiritual motivation from his early days to his last days: to please Christ. Expressed many times in letters, journals, tracts, and sermons, Judson's supreme desire was to please him. Chapter 7 summarizes the research questions and the thesis, and it analyzes the unique features of Judson's spirituality. This chapter proposes other needed areas of research in the life and spirituality of Adoniram Judson, which were beyond the scope of this dissertation.