Book Review of ‘Meet the General Baptists!!!’

The following is a book review of the book “Meet the General Baptists,” by Edwin Runyan. According to Runyan, the book has a threefold purpose. Recapturing the vision of Benoni Stinson, Helping the Christian who has accepted the grace of God understand his relationship with Christ, and to help Christians understand their role in  the community of believers. The book is divided into seven chapters, with an appendix on the end. The focus of Stinson’s ministry was to oppose the teaching of limited atonement. Stinson believed in unlimited atonement or general atonement – the idea that Christ died for all. It is the doctrine of General Atonement that puts the word “General” in General Baptist. The following review will contain both a synopsis of what Runyan wrote and my own take on that material.�

Chapter 1 – Formative Forces

In chapter one, Runyan traced formative forces in  church history that lead to the rise of the General Baptists. The early Church preached the apostles’ doctrine, but as time went on they began to puff prominent leaders by transferring authority from the message to the messengers. Once this transition  happened, it became easy to insert innovations into Church life. This process resulted in the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches becoming far removed from apostolic teaching. While the Middle Ages was marked by Roman Catholic Papocaesarism in the West and Eastern Orthodox Caesaropapism in the East, there has always been Churches outside this orbit. While Runyan does not mention the political forces that were formative, it should also be noted that civil rulers were inconsistent at accepting the claims of the Catholic Church. By  1125 There was significant push-back from groups like the Waldensians. By 1517 Martin Luther gained sufficient following to change the cultural paradigm to allow Protestant Churches to exist without persecution.

The Reformation of Luther was not complete. Often called the Magisterial Reformation, it left many elements of Catholicism in place, including elements that came in  through mashup with ancient Greco-Roman Paganism. While the Roman Catholic Church rejected Paganism openly, elements if those philosophical systems made their way into the Church. The Reformers, particularly John Calvin, relied heavily on Augustine who was influenced by Paganism. This resulted in an interpretation of predestination that had more in common with fatalism¹ than with Scriptural teaching concerning predestination.

The early Reformers were what could be described as Magisterial. they set out to reform the Catholic Church. As such they still possessed many Romish doctrines, including official relationships with the state   There emerged a growing movement to separate from the state Church and recognition that Christ, not Caesar, was head of the Church. These groups included such group as the Anabaptists and Mennonites. Out of these group emerged a congregation out of which would emerge the movement that would be called General Baptist. John Smythe and Thomas Helwys started the first General Baptist congregation. The Church first met in Holland where they were exposed to Arminianism. In 1611 Helwys led a group back to England to found the first General Baptist Church.

The first General Baptist Church in the United States was established by Roger Williams in Rhode Island. This is the same Roger Williams who founded Rhode Island as an island of religious liberty. The growing General Baptist movement was at the vanguard of the development of   religious liberty, embracing a doctrine that understands God sovereignty  and predestination in ways that preserve human  freedom rather than destroy it.

 

Chapter 2 – The General Atonement

The issue in which General Baptists differ from Particular Baptists and Calvinists is the doctrine of general atonement or unlimited atonement – the idea that Christ died for everyone. This is in contrast to the Calvinistic doctrine of limited atonement that posits that Christ died only for the elect.

Numerous Scripture plainly state that Christ died for everyone

Rom 5:18  Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life.

1 Ti 2:1-7  Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men,  (2)  for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence.  (3)  For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior,  (4)  who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.  (5)  For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus,  (6)  who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time,  (7)  for which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle—I am speaking the truth in Christ and not lying—a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.

Tit 2:11-14  For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men,  (12)  teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age,  (13)  looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,  (14)  who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.

1 Jn 2:1-2  My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.  (2)  And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.

And many more…

Calvinism, like all theological systems, suffers from a tendency to superimpose the system on the text. This is because we use systematic theology to gain a broad understanding of Scripture that can help us resolve issues where Scripture is difficult or vague. There is temptation to force Scripture to fit the system. Runyan correctly points point out that Calvin was heavy on reason and light on Scripture.

 

Chapter 3 – Salvation

The story of salvation begins with Creation. When God created the heavens and the earth, He created man differently. Humanity was  created in God’s image. This does not mean physical resemblance, as God is a spirit. it mean humanity possesses  the moral and spiritual categories of God without possessing the essence  or hypo-stasis of God.

In Genesis 2:7 it is written that God breathed into man the breath of life, and he BECAME a living being. This was not the full anointing of the Holy Spirit but a puff of life from God. Also, man was neither a biological being that contained a soul nor an unentangled spirit, but that the human spirit is a spirit that comes entangled in a body – i.e. became a living soul.

Man was created in a state of sinlessness in a good creation. Morally significant free will carried risk of introducing evil into the world. Because God is love, such a world is better than a world where humans could not love because they were organic robots. With this free will man possessed limited ability to seek truth and form a relationship with God.�

We do not know how long man was in the state of innocence, but  Adam and Eve sinned and became   entangled with sin, affecting both human nature and the creation.

Man became corrupted, and corrupted to the point God has to initiate salvation. Man did not become totally corrupt, as the image of God did not get completely destroyed. While man  is unable to seek God, there is still the image of God that can give some ability to respond to His grace. God’s redemption  permits the response of free will  as part of His plan.

God’s Plan is Covenantal. He began with Abraham and established both a Covenant of Circumcisions and he Covenant of the Pieces, with the covenant of circumcision fulfilled in the Mosaic Covenant in Israel and the Covenant of the Pieces  which is fulfilled in the New Covenant.

We see in the Covenant of the Pieces the grace of God in the Old Testament. At the point in which Abraham was supposed to walk through the pieces to commit to the covenant God walked through for him. We see grace seen in the New Covenant when Christ would be broken and die for our sins.    We see shadows of this is the sacrificial system of the Mosaic Covenant, but as Hebrews tells us, animal sacrifices can never take away sins but it was necessary for Christ Himself to be the propitiation for our sins.

 

Chapter 4 – Authority and Inspiration of the Scriptures

Runyan begins this chapter  by briefing us on the history of the authorship of Scripture, that it was written by 40 authors over a period of about 1500-1600 years. This set of documents presents itself as the words of God. The inspiration Scripture declares for itself can be described as full verbal plenary inspiration. Second Tim 3:16 describes it as “God-breathed.” Every word in Scripture is there by divine intention.�

2Ti 3:16-17  All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,  (17)  that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

This  one verse gives a comprehensive snapshot concerning God’s purpose in inspiration of Scripture and setting it as the final authority in faith and practice. All Scripture is (1) given by inspiration of God, and (2)      is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,  (3) that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

(1)   Scripture is God breathed (theopneustos = theo pneo). The words came from God Himself. While the Words of Scripture are expressed in cultural and though-form familiar to the human context, these words are not selected by the will of man, but every word is selected by God’s intention as the holy spirit moved upon human authors (2 Peter 1:19-21)

(2)      Is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. Scripture is the authoritative standard for training and correction. this requires Sola Scriptura as it uphold Scripture as THE standard for doctrine, faith, and life.

(3) That the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. This point to the sufficiency of Scripture for humanity.

Runyan grapples with the issue of how do we know that the Bible is indeed inspired. He concludes that objective evidences are not adequate. Although Runyan does not go deep into bibliology let’s keep in mind that there are narrower claims that are supported by evidence. We do have evidence supporting the authenticity and historical reliability of the texts.  Inspiration, however, goes deeper than that  and refers to whether the text is ultimately of  divine origin. Runyan argues that  this requires subjective evidence of the word of God transforming life and producing evidence subsequent to faith.

Scripture echoes this “believing is seeing” phenomena. According to Scripture, God’s word is the objective evidence, and as we believe the consequences of the Word at work produce evidence we can see. Romans 10:17 instructs us “faith comes, but hearing, and hearing by the world of God.” God’s word transforms the senses which lead to faith that enables us to both see evidence and transformation of life. As it is written “Rom 10:10  For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”

While Runyan did not cover the social dimension of this, there’s a social layer to this. Irenaeus, in Against Heresies², introduced what I called the Gnostic Argument against Gnosticism³. Ireneaus  begins his argument in book 3, chapter 3 by affirming if the apostles were to privily  give secret knowledge to the Church they would have given to the bishops to whom they committed the Churches. He then proceeds to show a chain of custody of the gospels as they disseminated from the apostles through the Churches. After he finished the argument he advocates reverting to the Scriptural Proof in Book 5, chapter 1.

Biblically the proof of the Bible has been the apostles and prophets. The Bible is the word of God because the books came from men who have seen God and received His Word. They preached that word with power that transformed lives individually and transformed history on the aggregate. Today, that same Word has power to change lives, vindicating itself.�

 

Chapter 5 – The Trinity

Runyan begins by saying God is a spirit. We see evident in Scripture God portrayed as a spirit rather than material reality. He is like the rind but not dead wind but very much alive. Runyan points out correctly that the emphasis in the OT was the unity of the one true God – there is only one God (Deut 6:4). There are penumbras of the Trinity in the Old Testament. Deuteronomy 6:4 uses the Hebrew “אֶחָד’echâd.” Echad can mean composite unities or collective unities. It is used in Genesis 2:4 to refer to the one flesh relationship between husband and wife. Gen 1:26-27 “Let Us” suggests a diversity of personalities united seamlessly in the godhead.

The   New Testament plainly present the Trinity in numerous places. This paper cannot exhaustively list references⁴ to the Trinity, but 1 John 5:5-12, Mat 28:19-20, and John 14:16-28 show all lines of argument for the Trinity. The New Testament  presents in defense of the Trinity the following lines of evidence:  the essential unity of the godhead, the Father as God, the Son as God, the Holy Spirit as God, and the distinctions among the divine persons.�

Chapter 6 – The Church and the Christian

It has been said that salvation is individual, but not individualistic. Runyan points out the General Baptists believe that Christians are saved through faith in Christ, in contrast to the absurdity of the Calvinists who claim regeneration precedes faith in contradiction to both Scripture and reason. As Eph 2:8 says “We are saved by grace through faith…”

This salvation, however, is not individualistic. We are both one with Christ and part of  community of believers who evangelize, fellowship and disciple.  As Runyan points out, while General Baptists did not have an official statement concerning the Church until 1970, there have been common unofficial understandings concerning the Church. There is such a thing as the universal church  composed of all believers in Christ united in Him and upholding the essentials of the faith such as our need for a Savior,  the Cross, the resurrection, and the return of Christ. This unity does not hinder the individual expressions of the local church and does not prevent individual distinctive on non-essentials  in doctrine and practice. Runyan notes that Baptist Churches practice local autonomy and practice baptism by immersion as the rite of passage into the Church, where baptism is a symbol of our union with Christ in His death and resurrection.

Chapter 7 – Matters of Structure

General Baptists, like Baptist in general, are loosely organized into associations of autonomous local congregations. Liberty Association was organized in 1824 followed by The union of Kentucky Association. Other associations soon  followed. In 1870 the General Association of General Baptists was formed to unite the various associations. The structure of the General Baptist Movement is advisory and associational (sometimes called Congregational), with autonomy in the local congregations. It is to be contrasted with episcopal and apostolic governance. Episcopal governance involves a central authority imposing rule top down, both setting rules binding upon the churches and making personnel decisions concerning who will be pastor or bishop of a given congregation. Apostolic governance posits that God has directly placed apostles over the various congregations and associations. Genuine apostolic governance was only possible in the first century with apostles who could fulfill the requirement to be actual witnesses of the resurrection of Christ. There is no evidence of anyone outside the first century meeting the requirement to be an apostle of Christ. The Churches in the New Testament, once you get below the apostolic layer, were associational.

Associational governance is the closest paradigm to Biblical Church government that we have today. Its strengths include both its resistance to apostasy and closer proximity of individual believers to the life of the Church. The debacle of the United Methodist Church is an example of how an entire church can be apostatized simply by capturing the elite leadership. The New Testament Church was organic, and associational governance allows individuals the best access to leadership so that they may both be equipped and plug into the life of the Church.

 

Appendix 1 – Statements of Faith

Runyan concludes with an Appendix showing the General Baptist Statement of Faith. I’ll just briefly touch on the points here rather than copy verbatim. In the Book he lists detailed descriptions with accompanying Scriptures. I’ll be more Brief

 I

God – There is one eternally existent Triune God as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

II

The Bible  – The Bible is the inspired and infallible Word of God and is the only reliable guide to faith and practice.

    III

Man – Man was created in the image of God, and when he disobeyed God became unable to save himself.

  IV

Salvation – Salvation in all its forms is provided through the redemptive work of Jesus Christ on the Cross and his resurrection.

Salvation is accessed by repentance through faith.

V

Assurance – We have assurance of salvation. It is impossible to a Christian to lose salvation like one loses keys.

This assurance, however, does not prevent a Christian from intentionally rejecting God and throwing salvation away.

There is the necessity of enduring and continuing  to the end.

VI

Christian Duties – It is God’s will for Christians to be active in their local church, serving, praying, witnessing, engaging in sound financial stewardship, and practicing Christian tolerance to brothers and sisters in the Lord Jesus Christ.

VII

The Church – The Church Universal is the body of all believers in Christ under the Headship of Christ,

and the local Church is a voluntary fellowship  of Christians banded together for worship, nurture, and service.

VIII

Ordinances – There is universal recognition of the ordinances of the Baptism and Communion.

Some General Baptist associations and individuals affirm foot washing as an ordinance, but it is not universally accepted, nor a requirement or bar to fellowship.

IX

The Lord’s Day – The first day of the week, Sunday, should be dedicated for worshiping God and the work of the ministry.

Secular work on Sundays should be limited to cases of necessity or mercy.

X

Last Things – Jesus Christ will personally return to earth and administer the resurrection of all the dead.

There will be a final judgment that will result in eternal life for the righteous, and everlasting punishment of the unrighteous in hell.