In this series Dr Clark considers what was perhaps the earliest Reformed response to the Particular Baptist movement, a treatise by the Anglican theologian and Westminster Divine, Daniel Featley (1582–1645), which recounts a disputation (a debate) between Featley, an anonymous Scot, and a rather younger Particular Baptist theologian, William Kiffin (1616–1701). The text that he considers was published as Καταβαπτισται καταπτιστοι or the dippers dipt, or, The anabaptists duck’d and plung’d over head and eares, at a disputation in Southwark: together with a large and full discourse of their 1. Original. 2. Severall sorts. 3. Peculiar errours. 4. High attempts against the state. 5. Capitall punishments, with an application to these times. (London, 1645).

The significance of this text, for the purpose of this series, is not necessarily the arguments that Featley made against the Baptist position, but rather how Featley (and the Reformed in the 1640s) received the Baptists (both Particular and General). This is significant because it has become widely held by Baptists over the last twenty-five years that since they identify as Reformed they are Reformed. This is a poor way to define a term with a five-hundred year history; but for the sake of discussion, if this is how we are going to proceed, then it seems worthwhile to examine how the Baptist movement was originally received by the Reformed.

You can find the article series here.

All Episodes