Comprehensive Study Notes on 17th-Century Baptist History in England and Colonial America
John Bunyan and 17th-Century English Particular Baptists
Early Life and Background:
John Bunyan was born into a relatively poor family in England.
His father worked as a tinkerer, a trade that involved traveling around repairing pots and pans.
His family was nominally Anglican, attending the Church of England as was standard, but lacking any active spiritual life or religious devotion in the household during his upbringing.
Marriage and Early Spiritual awakening:
Bunyan married his first wife in 1649. She also came from a relatively poor background.
Her wedding dowry consisted entirely of two books passed down through her family, which had previously received little attention.
One of these two books was Practice of Piety by the Puritan author Lewis Bailey, a work offering counsel to Christians on cultivating a piously dedicated and holy life.
Reading these books brought by his wife initiated Bunyan's drawn-out process of Christian conversion, awakening his awareness of God's holiness and his personal sinfulness.
Conversion and Early Ministry:
Bunyan experienced deep anguish over his salvation, holding an extremely high view of his own sinfulness that led him to fear he could never be saved (a struggle detailed in his autobiography, Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners).
By the age of 25, he professed faith, embraced believer's baptism by immersion, and joined the Baptist church in his hometown of Bedford.
At age 28 (around 1656–1657), he began his preaching ministry, filling the pulpit at Bedford and traveling to other local congregations as needs arose.
First Imprisonment (1660–1672):
In 1660, Bunyan was arrested for preaching without state sanction.
The presiding judge offered him immediate release on the condition that he promise never to preach again. Bunyan refused to make this commitment.
Consequently, Bunyan remained imprisoned in jail for a twelve-year period.
Family Trials during Imprisonment:
Bunyan’s first wife died approximately five years prior to his 1660 arrest (around 1655).
Shortly before his arrest, he remarried a woman named Elizabeth. At the time of his arrest, Elizabeth was pregnant and caring for Bunyan's four children from his first marriage, the eldest of whom was born blind.
The severe stress of Bunyan’s imprisonment caused Elizabeth to go into premature labor, resulting in the loss of their unborn child.
English prisons at the time did not provide food, drink, or clothing to inmates; prisoners depended entirely on family members. Elizabeth made daily trips to the jail to supply Bunyan's basic needs.
Authorities forbade Bunyan from having writing paper, requiring Elizabeth to secretly smuggle paper scraps into the cell. She frequently used paper scraps as stoppers in jugs of milk brought to him.
Authoring Pilgrim's Progress:
Distressed by his inability to personally mentor and disciple his children while incarcerated, Bunyan began writing spiritual materials and stories for them to read.
This effort grew into an extended allegory tracing the character "Christian" on his journey from his hometown of sin (the City of Destruction) to the Celestial City (Heaven).
The allegory comprehensively depicts Christian conversion, justification, sanctification, and ultimate glorification.
Bunyan was released from prison after twelve years when authorities simply decided to let him go, at which point he assumed the official pastorate of the Bedford Baptist Church.
Second Imprisonment and Publication:
Bunyan was rearrested in 1671 and incarcerated for a second stint lasting three months.
During these three months in jail, he completed the manuscript of Pilgrim's Progress.
He gathered the smuggled paper scraps into a single manuscript and published it in 1678. Within a single year, the book sold over 100,000 copies.
Following this success, Bunyan wrote his autobiography, Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners.
Preaching Ministry and John Owen's Testimony:
Bunyan pastored the church in Bedford (Bedfordshire) until his death and gained widespread renown as a powerful preacher.
John Owen, widely considered the premier Puritan theologian of his era who maintained direct access to the King of England, was an ardent admirer of Bunyan's preaching.
When King Charles II asked Owen why he went to hear a simple "tinkerer prattle," Owen replied: "May it please your majesty if I could possess that tinkerer's abilities to grip men's hearts through his preaching, I would gladly give in exchange for his preaching all my learning."
Theological Position on Open Communion:
Although a Calvinistic Particular Baptist, Bunyan broke with the majority of Particular Baptists over the ordinance of the Lord's Supper.
Bunyan advocated for open (mixed) communion, holding that any professed Christian should be permitted to partake of the Lord's Supper regardless of whether they had been baptized by immersion as a believer or held membership in a Baptist church.
Most Particular Baptists strictly insisted on believer's baptism by immersion and local Baptist church membership as prerequisites for communion, creating notable tension between Bunyan and his contemporaries.
Death and Historical Context:
Bunyan died in late 1688, just months before Parliament passed the 1689 Act of Toleration.
Having spent more than twelve years in prison and suffered the loss of a child due to state persecution, Bunyan did not live to see the formal legal toleration of non-Anglican Protestants established in England.
The 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith
Historical Origin:
In 1689, the English Parliament passed the Act of Toleration, establishing legal recognition and protection for non-Anglican Protestant groups ("nonconformists").
In response, Particular Baptist leaders assembled in London to draft a formal, unified confession of faith.
The effort was led prominent Particular Baptist figures, including William Kiffin and Hanserd Knollys. (William Kiffin was the sole leader to sign both the earlier 1644 London Baptist Confession and the 1689 Confession; Hanserd Knollys assisted with the 1646 revision and the 1689 edition).
Purpose and Structural Basis:
The confession was written to demonstrate Protestant orthodoxy to the English public and government, correcting public misconceptions that Baptists were radical or fanatical Anabaptists.
To show theological alignment with fellow nonconformists, the authors modeled the document directly on two existing confessions:
The Westminster Confession of Faith (written by Presbyterians).
The Savoy Declaration / Savoy Confession (written by Congregationalists).
The Baptist authors adopted the majority of the theological text from these documents verbatim, modifying only the sections pertaining to believer's baptism by immersion and local church polity.
Legacy:
The 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith became the most widely used and influential Baptist confession in church history.
It later served as the direct basis for the Philadelphia Confession of Faith, the first widely adopted Baptist confession in colonial America.
Roger Williams and the First Baptist Church of Providence, Rhode Island
Establishment of the First Baptist Church in America:
The first Baptist church in the Americas was established in Providence, Rhode Island, in early 1639 (or late 1638).
This occurred 32 years after the founding of Jamestown (1607) and 30 years after John Smyth performed his self-baptism in Amsterdam (1609).
Roger Williams' Background and Early Career:
Born in London to a middle-class Anglican family.
Graduated from Cambridge University, was ordained as an Anglican priest, and served as a chaplain on a private estate.
While at Cambridge, Williams shifted from Anglicanism to Puritanism, and ultimately to strict Separatism.
When King Charles I assumed the throne in 1625, he directed the Archbishop of Canterbury to purge Puritans from the Church of England and suppress Separatists.
In December 1630, Williams and his wife Mary fled England for North America as part of the Great Puritan Migration (led by John Winthrop, which began in 1630; the Plymouth Pilgrims had previously arrived in 1620).
Conflict in Massachusetts Bay Colony:
Upon arrival in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, Williams served several congregations, including the Separatist Pilgrim Church in Plymouth.
His evolving views caused rapid friction with colonial and ecclesiastical authorities, leading to his arrest and trial in October 1635 on charges of disturbing the peace.
The formal charges against Williams centered on four key teachings:
Land Rights of Native Americans: He asserted that colonial authorities had no right to occupy land without formally purchasing it from the native Indian tribes.
Unbiblical Oaths: He opposed mandatory oaths of allegiance enforced by civil authorities, arguing that forcing unregenerate people to take religious oaths was unscriptural and wrong.
Strict Separatism: He demanded total separation from the Church of England, refusing fellowship with anyone connected to it. (Massachusetts Puritans remained non-separating Anglicans attempting reform from within).
Separation of Church and State: He argued that civil governments had no jurisdiction over religious matters, the first table of the Ten Commandments, or personal sin categories (such as adultery), which belonged strictly to church discipline.
Banishment and Escape to Rhode Island:
The court found Williams guilty and sentenced him to banishment back to England (where he faced potential execution for treason due to disputing the King's land title).
Governor John Winthrop respected Williams personally and secretly warned him, prompting Williams to escape prison in the middle of a night in October 1635.
Williams fled into the wilderness during a harsh New England winter (1635–1636) and was sheltered by the Narragansett Indians.
Williams had previously befriended local tribes and studied their languages due to his background in linguistics. During his stay, he developed a written alphabet for the Narragansett language and translated substantial portions of the New Testament for them.
In the spring of 1636, Williams was joined by his wife Mary and several supporters. They purchased land from the Narragansett Indians and established a settlement named Providence Plantation (June 1636).
Transition of the Providence Church to Baptist Principles:
The settlement initially established a Separatist church with Williams as pastor.
In 1638, Richard and Catherine Scott migrated to Providence from Boston. (Catherine Scott was the sister of Anne Hutchinson; while Anne fled Massachusetts over heterodox theological controversies, Catherine fled because she was a Baptist).
Richard and Catherine Scott were English Baptists who convinced Roger Williams of believer's baptism.
In late 1638 or early 1639, church member Ezekiel Holloman baptized Roger Williams. Williams then baptized Holloman and approximately twelve other members of the congregation, formally founding the First Baptist Church of Providence.
Governor John Winthrop recorded this event in his journal, marking the founding of the first Baptist church outside England and in the Western Hemisphere.
Alternative Anabaptist Theory: A secondary historical hypothesis notes Williams owned a extensive library containing Dutch-language Anabaptist texts advocating believer's baptism. However, direct documentary evidence confirming an Anabaptist influence remains lacking.
Evolution of FBC Providence and Rhode Island's Charter
Roger Williams' Theological Departure:
Roger Williams remained pastor of First Baptist Church Providence for only four to five months following his baptism.
He developed a rigid successionist theology, asserting that a valid church required an unbroken line of succession directly tracing back to the New Testament apostles to legitimately administer ordinances.
Williams concluded that such an unbroken succession had been permanently lost and could not exist anywhere on Earth until Christ returned to restore the true church.
Consequently, Williams resigned from the church. For the rest of his life, he and his wife worshiped privately in their home, refusing formal church membership.
Despite leaving, Williams retained baptistic convictions regarding believer's baptism and maintained friendly relations with First Baptist Church Providence, regarding it as the closest approximation of a true biblical church available.
The Rhode Island Charter (1643):
In 1643, Williams traveled to England to secure a formal parliamentary charter for the settlements around Providence to prevent annexation by the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
The territory was officially designated "Rhode Island" due to a previous ship captain who had charted the coastline, noted its resemblance to the Mediterranean Isle of Rhodes, and filed formal naming paperwork.
Williams ensured that the 1643 Rhode Island Charter explicitly guaranteed absolute freedom of conscience and civil religious liberty, establishing the first modern government bound to religious freedom.
Williams derived his principles of religious liberty directly from the writings of John Murton (the third pastor of the first Baptist church in modern history founded by Thomas Helwys).
First Baptist Church Providence in Later History:
The congregation continued to exist across subsequent centuries, eventually shifting in a theologically liberal direction.
It officially changed its name to the First Baptist Church in America.
Its current historic sanctuary building dates to early to late 1900s, if I'm not mistaken.
First Baptist Church of Newport and Early Rhode Island Developments
Founding by Dr. John Clark:
Dr. John Clark, a physician educated in England, embraced Puritan Separatist views and emigrated to Massachusetts in 1637.
Clark opposed the banishment of Anne Hutchinson by Massachusetts authorities.
(Anne Hutchinson had organized home Bible studies to review sermons by pastor John Cotton. The meetings attracted large mixed audiences of men and women, leading to accusations of heterodox and heretical teaching and her eventual banishment).
In 1638, Clark, Anne Hutchinson, and their associates established the settlement of Portsmouth, Rhode Island, and organized a Separatist church.
After three years, the Portsmouth church disbanded amicably (~1641). Clark and his group relocated to Newport, Rhode Island, founding a new Separatist congregation practicing infant baptism.
Adoption of Believer's Baptism by Immersion (1648):
In 1648, Mark Lucar arrived in Newport from England, where he had been a member of John Spillsbury’s Particular Baptist church (which had adopted believer's baptism by immersion).
Lucar convinced Clark and his congregation of believer's baptism by immersion.
Mark Lucar baptized John Clark, and Clark subsequently baptized the members of the congregation.
This event represents the first documented practice of believer's baptism by immersion in North America. (First Baptist Church Providence subsequently adopted immersion as well).
Origin of Seventh Day Baptists (1671):
In 1671, a faction within First Baptist Church Newport embraced the Saturday Sabbath.
This group separated from the main body to form the first Seventh Day Baptist church in America.
Persecution and Early Baptist Presence in Massachusetts
Legal Prohibition:
Adhering to Baptist beliefs or questioning infant baptism was strictly illegal within the jurisdiction of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
The Whipping of Obadiah Holmes (July 1651):
In July 1651, three leaders from First Baptist Church Newport—Pastor John Clark, Elder Obadiah Holmes, and member John Randall—traveled to Lynn, Massachusetts.
They were visiting William Witter, an elderly Baptist residing in Lynn, to pray, study scripture, and review Clark's sermons in Witter's home.
Colonial authorities raided the home and arrested Clark, Holmes, and Randall for questioning infant baptism.
At trial, the judge imposed monetary fines, ordering their release upon payment. Anonymous supporters paid the fines for Clark and Randall, who were subsequently released.
Obadiah Holmes refused to allow his fine to be paid, stating that paying it would legitimize an unbiblical law penalizing believer's baptism.
On September 5, 1651, Holmes was bound to a stake in the public town center of Boston and publicly whipped.
The Case of Henry Dunster:
Henry Dunster served as the first President of Harvard College (1640–1654), an institution founded by Puritans to train Congregationalist ministers.
While serving as president, Dunster embraced Baptist convictions. When his wife gave birth, Dunster refused to present the newborn for infant baptism.
When interrogated by the Harvard Board of Trustees, Dunster stated that scripture taught only believer's baptism.
The trustees immediately dismissed Dunster from the presidency in 1654. Dunster relocated to Boston and died in 1659.
Establishment of Baptist Churches in Massachusetts
Swansea Baptist Church (1663):
In 1663, an entire Baptist congregation from Swansea, Wales/England, led by Pastor John Miles, emigrated to Boston.
Boston authorities ordered the congregation to relocate outside Massachusetts boundaries.
John Miles and his members established a town and church named Swansea. However, they miscalculated geographic boundary lines, inadvertently placing Swansea inside Massachusetts territory.
Due to the town's remote, sparsely populated location on the border, authorities tolerated its ongoing presence.
First Baptist Church of Boston (1665):
In 1665, Thomas Gould and his wife refused infant baptism for their newborn child.
Gould persuaded nine members of his local Congregational church of believer's baptism.
The group began meeting secretly in Gould's home in 1665 to form First Baptist Church Boston.
To evade detection, the congregation relocated its secret meetings to Nottles Island in Boston Harbor (an island later integrated into the mainland through land-reclamation projects).
Authorities discovered the group, periodically padlocking their meeting structure.
Following the passage of the 1689 Act of Toleration, First Baptist Boston built a public church house inside Boston proper, where the congregation continues to exist.
Baptists in the Southern Colonies: William Screven and FBC Charleston
William Screven in Maine (1668–1696):
William Screven was born in England, converted to Baptist principles, suffered persecution, and emigrated to Kittery, Maine, in 1668 to work in the timber industry.
Finding no Baptists in Kittery, Screven joined First Baptist Church Boston, traveling periodically to Boston for worship.
Through local evangelism, Screven gathered a group of believers. In 1682, with assistance from First Baptist Boston members who relocated to Kittery, he formally organized First Baptist Church of Kittery, Maine, serving as pastor.
Migration to South Carolina (1696):
In October 1696, the entire Kittery congregation (consisting of approximately 30 members led by Screven) boarded a ship and relocated to Charleston, South Carolina.
The relocation was prompted by severe Indian attacks in Maine and a decline in the local timber market, alongside existing personal contacts in Charleston.
Establishment of First Baptist Church Charleston:
Upon arrival in 1696, Screven's group united with individual Baptists already residing in Charleston to form First Baptist Church Charleston, the first Baptist church established in the Southern Colonies (covering Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia).
By 1700, First Baptist Charleston grew to 100 members and purchased land on Church Street (where the current sanctuary stands).
This congregation represents the historical ancestral origin of the Southern Baptist tradition.
Baptists in the Middle Colonies: Dungan, Keach, and the Philadelphia Association
Cold Spring Baptist Church (1684):
In 1684, Thomas Dungan and several members of First Baptist Church Newport relocated from Rhode Island to Pennsylvania.
They established Cold Spring Baptist Church in northeastern Pennsylvania, marking the first Baptist congregation in the Middle Colonies.
The church was small and disbanded upon Dungan's death in 1688.
Elias Keach and the Pennepack Baptist Church (1687–1688):
Elias Keach was the son of Benjamin Keach, the prominent London Particular Baptist pastor who introduced congregational hymn-singing to Baptist churches.
In 1687, Elias Keach arrived in Philadelphia as an unconverted young man fleeing his father's faith and shadow.
Running out of money, Keach posed as a Baptist minister to gain employment. Learning of a small prayer group of mostly elderly women meeting near Philadelphia, Keach introduced himself as Benjamin Keach's son and claimed to be an evangelist and church planter.
The group invited him to preach the following Sunday. During his sermon, Keach was overcome with conviction, stopped speaking, and began weeping uncontrollably.
Keach publicly confessed his deception to the gathered group, explaining that through the act of preaching his stolen sermon, he had genuine faith sparked and was converted by his own sermon.
The congregation directed Keach to Thomas Dungan at Cold Spring, who examined, baptized, and ordained him.
In 1688, Keach and his congregation organized the Pennepack Baptist Church outside Philadelphia (a congregation that remains active today).
Development of the Middle Colonies as the Baptist Center:
Following Dungan's death in 1688, Cold Spring members joined Pennepack Church, making Pennepack the primary Baptist hub of the Middle Colonies.
Pennepack Church subsequently planted First Baptist Church Philadelphia and multiple regional congregations.
In 1707, Pennepack and its daughter churches formed the Philadelphia Association, the first association of Baptist churches in North America.
The Philadelphia Association authored the Philadelphia Confession of Faith (adapted from the 1689 London Baptist Confession), establishing the Middle Colonies as the institutional center of American Baptist life through the Revolutionary War era.
Summary of 17th-Century Colonial Baptist Growth:
By the year 1700, the total Baptist presence in all American colonies comprised fewer than 25 local churches and a total combined membership of under 1,000 individuals prior to the extensive expansion of the 18th century.