USA > Indiana > Indiana Baptist history, 1798-1908 > Part 3
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Signed "John Gano, Moderator, and. Hezekiah Smith, Clerk."
Mr. Backus went to Philadelphia and was joined by delegates of the Philadelphia Association. The gen- eral result of the deliberations of the Congress all the world knows; the petition sent to Parliament was ignored and scoffed-and the war of the Revolution came on.
When it was all over, and the great decision had been made at Yorktown, the country was ready for better
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government than Britain had ever afforded. The con- stitution was adopted; Baptists urged that an amend- ment be made absolutely guaranteeing religious liberty to all. The amendment was adopted, as was suggested in the sketch of Virginia.
After all this suffering and protest of a century, is it not certain that those Baptists who came into the Mississippi valley, whether from New England or Vir- ginia or other states, would come with clear-cut and deep-bedded convictions as to religion ?
And we are at a stage in our survey where we may with confidence state what the main principles were for which our people suffered and contended for a century and more. They were :
I. SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE.
II. REGENERATION THE CONDITION OF CHURCH MEMBERSHIP.
III. INDIVIDUAL RESPONSIBILITY TO GOD.
IV. CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH GOVERNMENT.
V. IMMERSION THE ONLY SCRIPTURAL BAPTISM.
A hasty inference might be that there was great unity, almost uniformity, in all things among these early Baptists; but it was not so. Agreeing in the essentials mentioned above, they yet were far apart as to incidental matters. Most persons at all acquainted with the religious history of this country know that there are many schools of Baptists. A partial classifica- tion would include at least these-Regular, Separate, United, General, Particular, Primitive and Freewill. It may be satisfactory to many to know something of the origin and distinctive features of these various schools.
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INDIANA BAPTIST HISTORY.
In Great Britain the two principal schools of Baptists were the General, and the Particular; the General in- clining, in the main to Arminian views, and the Par- ticular to the Calvanistic.
In America, especially in New England, as a conse- quence of the great revival under Edwards and White- field, many Baptist churches, taking on new life, and placing more emphasis on the necessity for spiritual- ity became more aggressive than the others-sepa- rated from the others, thus far, and so came to be called Separates; the churches that did not thus sepa- rate came to be called the Regulars. In Virginia the two schools, after some years of division, finally met to discuss the propriety of union. In August, 1787, at the fourth session of the General Committee, held at the Dover meeting house a report was submitted which was, in substance, as follows :
"To prevent the Confession of Faith usurping a tyrannical power over the conscience of any one; we do not mean that every person is bound by the strict observance of everything therein contained ; yet that it holds forth the essential truths of the gospel, and that the doctrine of salvation by Christ and free unmerited grace alone, ought to be believed by every christian, and maintained by every minister of the gospel. Upon these terms we are united; and desire that hereafter the names Regular and Separate be buried in oblivion, and that from henceforth we shall be known by the name of the United Baptists of Virginia."
Hence the term "United." It should be noted in passing, however, that these designations did not con-
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tinue to have the same meaning. In the United States to-day, and for some time past, the term Regular Bap- tists means those who, in the main, are Calvinistic and believe in the use of all right means for promoting the kingdom of God, as Missions, Education, Bible schools and so on. The distinction of General and Particular lies in this that the General believe in what is termed general atonement, while the Particulars do not. The former are usually Arminian in doctrine while the latter are Calvinistic. Primitive Baptists incline to ultra Calvinistic views and are therefore opposed to the ordinary use of human means for the promotion of the kingdom. Free-will Baptists believe in freedom of the human will in regeneration and conversion. The founder of the school was Benjamin Randall, of New Hampshire, who was converted under Whitefield's preaching. But let it be repeated that these various schools of Baptists all and always held to the five fun- damental doctrines enumerated above.
There were some subsidiary schools which may be named, but no extended notice is necessary: for in- stance, Primitive Baptists are divided into Means and Anti-means, but they are both ultra-Calvinistic. Seventh-day Baptists have the distinction that they ob- serve the seventh day of the week as their day of rest and worship, rather than the first. German Baptists or Dunkards, in general practice community life, believe in the washing of feet as a gospel ordinance, have love- feasts in connection with the celebration of the Lord's Supper, and in difficult matters call in the aid of the Annual Conference.
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INDIANA BAPTIST HISTORY.
In addition to these attempts of the various schools of Baptists, and the efforts of other christian denomi- nations to evangelize the west, there was also at least one attempt to show that a prosperous state was pos- sible without the aid of the christian religion ; this was generally known as the New Harmony Community, located in the southwestern part of Indiana. Below is an estimate of the organization made by Elder John M. Peck in 1825, after a personal visit to the place.
"I rode a few miles on purpose to see the Com- munity lately formed by Mr. Owen. The town of Harmony is situated on the right bank of the Wabash (he must have meant the left bank), and was origi- nally founded by a colony of Germans under a Mr. Rapp. There are a number of excellent buildings, fine gardens with walks, labyrinths, vineyards and so on, but at present much of it lies waste. The town is crowded with a population under somewhat peculiar police regulations. There is a mixture of every class of people as to their religious preferences ; but a large number, perhaps one fourth, are deists and atheists. These are the principles taught in the schools. The children are taught to believe nothing but what the senses can demonstrate. This society is only in the incipient stage of the social community which Mr. Owen contemplates. Here men are to be prepared by a state of probation and discipline, to enter into that rest and happiness which he contemplates will be en- joyed by those who shall be divested of all religious hopes and fears.
"At evening, by arrangement of the committee, the
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meeting of the society was postponed and an opportu- nity given for me to deliver a lecture in the meeting house. I did not begin in the usual way of public wor- ship but lectured on 'Man,' his nature, his character, his wants, etc., the necessity of religion to such a being, and the character of the gospel; and then enforced the duty of following the guiding light of the scrip- tures.
1555088
"A Mr. Jennings, head teacher and lecturer, pro- posed to deliver a lecture in defense of his system some ten days hence. But this did not satisfy the public mind. Finally it was agreed that he should lecture the next evening and give me an opportunity to reply. I soon found the whole town in commotion. Parties were collected at the street corners debating. Numbers called on me presenting their grateful acknowledge- ments for my lecture, and expressing the hope that I would defend the truth. I cannot but think that God in his providence has sent me here to stay the devouring flood of infidelity and atheism. The following evening I heard Mr. Jennings deliver his lecture, in which he displayed considerable ingenuity while supporting his principles of atheism. He did not come out fully and openly to the understanding of all, but presented the subject in such a way as could not be mistaken by an observing person. I replied to him in a short dis- course, in which my endeavor was to fully expose his principles, and fully declared that I would expose them through the country. It is now fully evident that Owen's system is based on atheism; and that every ef-
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INDIANA BAPTIST HISTORY.
fort will be made to erase from the minds of its re- ceivers every idea of God."
He further writes: "As a perfect demonstration of the bitter fruits of this system I visited a lady who was a member of a Baptist church in Cincinnati, and being in widowhood with several children, she joined this community of Owen. Here she was induced to marry one of the members of it, who turned out very soon to be an atheist in full, who now laughs and mocks at her, and in every way interferes with her religious duties. She evinced the utmost distress in regard to her situa- tion, and that of her poor children."
But to return: from such conditions in general, whether in New England, New York, Pennsylvania, the Carolinas or Virginia, the Baptists came into the west-into Indiana; and we shall not fail to find that they brought clear and strong denominational convic- tions with them.
DIVISION II.
HISTORY OF TWO OF THE EARLY CHURCHES.
The first Baptist church formed in the territory which now constitutes Indiana, in fact the first Protes- tant church, was organized November 22d, 1798, in the southern part of the state near the Ohio river and not far from "The Falls," Louisville, Ky. Here is the simple record of the organization :
"We, the church of Christ, on Owen's creek, in the county of Knox and territory northwest of the Ohio river, in the Illinois grant, was constituted as a church on the principles of the Baptist Confession of Faith adopted at Philadelphia in the year of our Lord 1765, being constituted by Brother Isaac Edwards. We have hereunto set our hands this day and date above writ- ten. John Fislar, Sophia Fislar, John Pettet and Cat- tern Pettet."
For thirty years this band of the disciples of Christ struggled manfully for the maintenance and promulga- tion of the gospel. Indeed it may be called "a heroic struggle of the church in the wilderness." Meetings seem to have been held on Owen's creek, Fourteen mile creek, (which was the name of the organization at first), and Silver creek. These three streams run south into the Ohio river ; the first is farthest east and the smallest, the last being farthest west and largest.
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INDIANA BAPTIST HISTORY.
(Let it be noted that some time after the organization of the Silver creek church there was another church organized on Fourteen mile creek, and called after the name of the stream; and still another church was formed at the mouth of Fourteen mile creek, and was called Mouth of Fourteen mile Creek). In this study of the first Baptist church in Indiana we have access to the records of the church, kindly loaned by Professor W. E. Henry, then Indiana State Librarian, and also to a pamphlet published by Deacon WV. H. McCoy, for many years a member of the church at Silver creek.
At the meeting July 27th, 1799, James Abbett "is given liberty to exercise his gifts." It seems that when a brother was impressed that God had called him to preach he made it known to the church; if after the church heard the trial sermon it approved of his "gifts" he was given license to preach in a small terri- tory, as for instance within the bounds of a single church. If after further trial he was still approved he was given the bounds of the Association; if not, he was advised to make no further attempts to preach. As an instance of how rigidly the church held control of its licentiates the records say that some years after this time Isaac McCoy appeared before the church with the confession that on a few occasions he had gone beyond the bounds assigned to him. He was forgiven! At the meeting August 30th, 1800, Brother Hobbs asked for a letter, and it was not granted. Probably his reasons were not good. Members were not received nor dis- missed for the mere asking; there must be satisfactory reasons. Again and again, as the records show, appli-
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TWO EARLY CHURCHES.
cants for membership were asked to wait for further examination. There was no feverish anxiety for mere numbers. On August 8th, 1801, messengers were chosen to the Association (The Salem, of Kentucky), thus showing that associational organization was already in force in the west. The church connected itself with a Kentucky association for the good reason that none had yet been formed in Indiana. The first church meeting at Silver creek was held on August 27th, 1801. An order of business was adopted and also some rules of procedure. Exclusion of members may be by majority, admission by unanimity. All members must attend the meetings, and excluded members are to have their names read in public. (This last rule was soon changed.) March 13th, 1802, the churchi agreed to pay the ferriage, over the Ohio, of any min- ister disposed to come over and preach. A prevalent conviction at that time was that if a man were called of God to preach he would be glad to go anywhere, if only his necessary expenses were paid.
May 8th, 1802, the records of the church show that "the doors of the church were left open to the close of the meeting." Possibly there was some person in the congregation who might want to join as the serv- ices proceeded. Another note is that "members are to be talked to who have so far omitted baptism." At the June meeting of this same year the subject of feet- washing came up, and "members were asked to throw light on the thirteenth chapter of John."
A later record indicates that feet-washing was not regarded as a gospel ordinance. At the same meeting
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INDIANA BAPTIST HISTORY.
a sister was excluded for the "heinous and abominable crime of defrauding." In matters of discipline it is evident that the church was intent on following the scriptural rule. Offended and offending brethren were first to meet each other; if that failed to effect a reconciliation two or three witnesses were to be taken along; if that failed then the matter was to be taken before the church; if it were a specially difficult case, then "helps" were asked to come in from neighboring churches. Sisters were in many cases appointed on committees to visit other sisters as to offenses against the church. A very happy word-"ripe"-is often found in the records, as "Is sister A- ripe for exclu- sion ;" or, "is brother B- ripe for ordination." There was a recognition not only of fitness but also of the law of development, whether it be in a good or a bad direction. July 10th, 1802, a brother was ex- cluded for "the heinous and abominable crime of falsehood;" and we are reminded of the action of the early church in the case of Annanias and Saphira. This excluded member was a preacher, and henceforth by a vote of the church its members "are not allowed to hear him preach, nor suffer him to preach in their houses" under pain of exclusion. Who can fail to see that this little church in the early wilderness was mak- ing an honest and earnest effort to do the will of the Master !
After six years the church had a meeting-house al- most completed, and the deacons were ordered to "put in glass, sash and shutters, and bring in the bill." It is noteworthy that scarcely a monthly meeting came
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TWO EARLY CHURCHES.
without some matters of discipline being attended to -and without accessions to the church. The effort to keep the church pure did not deter men and women from applying for membership; may we not rather say it was a cause for the request for membership?
October 12th, 1805, "Brother Harrod still asks to be released as elder, and gives as a reason that there is no scripture warrant for a lay elder. It appears that nobody could find any such authority and the brother was excused." Baptists have never recognized such an office.
At the meeting December 7th, 1805, a most interest- ing case was taken up; "Brother Isaac McCoy, mem . ber of a sister church, wants this church to hear himn in a grievance against Brother Newland, of this church." (A new case in church polity?) The church heard him and appointed a committee to try to settle the "distress." The committee failed in its effort. April 12th, 1806, the record runs-"Brother Newland is excluded for not hearing the church."
The high standing of Isaac McCoy in the churches must account for the decision that he was in the right; and the further evidence is that when Brother McCoy applied for membership by letter, and a member ob- jected, the objection did not seem to be valid, and he was received on the letter. Is there not evidence of christian wisdom too in that Brother McCoy wanted the "distress" removed before he applied for mem- bership ?
September 6th, 1806, the church entered upon a sys- tem of raising money for current expenses. "Each
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INDIANA BAPTIST HISTORY.
male member shall pay a proportionable part of church expenses according to their several abilities." And the sum of five dollars is to be "laid on" by the deacons for this year.
At a meeting held July 7th, 1807, it is known that Brother Isaac McCoy has an impression that he ought to preach; and the church gives him liberty to preach "in the bounds of the church."
June 11th, 1808, a query was submitted-"Does the church tolerate her members to practice false doc- trines?" The church answers that "it is contrary to the gospel and to good order."
August 13th, 1808, a sister was excluded for join- ing the Marshalites, and brother Isaac McCoy was given license to preach "wherever God in His provi- dence leads him." There are several instances during these years in which members bring accusations against themselves ; they express sorrow, and are forgiven.
On October 27th, 1810, came this query-"Is it in order for members to keep their letters while living in the bounds of the church?" The church replies that it is disorder.
September 21st, 1811, Brother Royse was charged with betting at a shooting match (shooting matches were common in pioneer times in Indiana). March 21st, 1812, the church took into consideration the mat- ter of forming an Association on this side of the Ohio river. The Association was afterwards formed, com- posed of the following churches: Silver Creek, Mount Pleasant, Fourteen Mile, Knob Creek, Indian Creek,
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TWO EARLY CHURCHES.
Upper Blue River, Lower Blue River, Camp Creek, Salem and White River.
July 24th, 1813, the church agreed to entertain the Silver Creek Association, and met on the following Thursday to repair the meeting-house and "erect a stage for the Association." (In the early times, and for many years the Associational meetings were held in a grove, and a kind of platform was built from which the speakers addressed the congregation; sometimes while a popular preacher addressed the assembly, the delegates from the churches would repair to the meet- ing-house for the transaction of the business of the As- sociation.) A few meetings previous to this time the church received a communication from some Baptists asking whether they could be constituted an "arm" of this church. (This was a somewhat common custom, but later, the name "branch" was used rather than arm.)
December 25th, 1813, two brethren were taken under dealings for violating the Sabbath; and a brother and sister were asked to explain why they left the meet- ing, at some recent date, before the communion.
April 23d, 1814, a deacon was to be chosen, and the question arose whether the church will "nominate or vote by Ballad." Although their spelling was at fault, their method was all right. At the next meeting the clerk was ordered to write to a certain neighboring church to inform it that one of its members, living in the vicinity of this church is not maintaining a chris- tian walk. (What loyalty to the Master and to chris- tian obligation !) As an evidence of the tender feelings
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INDIANA BAPTIST HISTORY.
of the church for the brethren we have this instance: June 25th, 1814, it fears that it had wounded the feel- ings of Elder Stark-it inquires of him directly and is glad to find that his feelings have not been wounded.
September 23d, 1815, the church agreed to purchase a copy of the Report of the Baptist Board of Foreign Missions (thus showing that at least up to this time the spirit of anti-missions had not manifested itself).
At a meeting on December 25th, 1816, a case came up that helps us to see how clearly the church under- stands the doctrine of church independency ; the ques- tion is, "Does the church approbate to the proceed- ings of the committee appointed by the association ?" The answer is, "it approbates." Such a question would have no place in episcopal church government -it does in Baptist polity. The association can recom- mend but not command; usually, however, the recom- mendation is given respectful attention-and except in rare cases is followed.
December 31st, 1816, the church asked Elder Jona- than Stark to serve the church as pastor, and arranged to get him a "great coat."
January 26th, 1817, the church ordered another copy of the Report of the Baptist Board of Foreign Mis- sions; and to the question "Is it proper to assist the Mission Board?" the answer is "it is proper."
July 26th, 1817, Brother Royce McCoy was given the privilege of preaching in Kentucky.
April 24th, 1819, a brother was disciplined for sell- ing spirituous liquors on the Sabbath.
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TWO EARLY CHURCHES.
June 26th, 1819, Sister Coombs was restored after having requested it four times.
July 14th, 1819, the church was asked "this ques- tion-"Is it proper to take tickets of the Jeffersonville lottery?" The answer is in the negative; although at one time in this country churches raised money to build meeting-houses and christian colleges raised money for endowment by means of the lottery.
November 29th, 1819, the church agreed to buy Butterworth's Dictionary and Concordance for Brother J. T. Little, the pastor.
March 23d, 1822, the Silver Creek Association, con- vening at Pigeon Roost, suggested to the churches to drop the term "Regular" from their name; a commit- tee was appointed to investigate the matter, but the term does not seem to have been dropped.
February 28th, 1823, the church selected John Mc- Coy, John Powell and Josiah Harris trustees to super- intend the building of a meeting-house which is "to be of brick, and with two chimneys." The size was to be 28 feet by 46.
At the meeting December 27th, 1823, the question came up-"Is it consistent with the gospel order for any church member, in common cases, to sue a brother or sister before bringing the case before the church?" The answer is in the negative. At the meeting Janu- ary 4th, 1824, the trustees were ordered to procure cherry lumber for the doors. (What a change in con- ditions! Cherry lumber could not be found now for any price that a church could afford to pay.)
January 25th, 1825, the trustees report that when
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INDIANA BAPTIST HISTORY.
all bills are paid there will be about $22.00 in the hands of the church! Here is manifest something of the spirit of the people when the material was being col- lected for the temple-the command had to be given to cease, for there was more than enough.
June 23d, 1825, the question was raised, "Where does the ordination rite lie according to the scriptures -with the ministry or with the church?" The reply was "the sole power is with the church." Somewhat later, September 22d, 1827, this query was put-"Shall the vote for ordination be by unanimity or majority?" The answer was "by unanimity, unless reasons can be shown." About the same time the church passed a vote that "the laying on of hands is not essentially necessary' "
April 25th, 1829, Brother George B. Campbell (quite a coincidence that his name should be Campbell !) pro- pounded the query-"Is the church governed by the scriptures or by articles of faith?" The answer of the church, of course, was "by the word of God." Much is implied in that query; the Christian Baptist, an organ published by Alexander Campbell and his friends, began its issues in 1823, and by this time had found its way even into the western wilderness. It seems to have had considerable influence in leading members of Baptist churches to question the utility of articles of faith, and in fact all creeds of whatever kind. The Baptists of Virginia and New England had always insisted that the church derived its power from the word of God and not from councils and bishops and so this insistence appeared to many but
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the reiteration and emphasis of an old and important doctrine-not discerning that the ultimate aim of the Christian Baptist was not so much to discredit the utility of articles of faith as it was to discredit and then deny the truth of the contents of those articles. All of the brethren in Silver Creek church were not mislead; and finding that they could not in any other way stand for the truth, and against this far-seeing error, decided to withdraw from those who persisted in thinking otherwise.
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