In the late 16th century and early 17th century, Puritan activity was strong in the English Midlands. In this period, a Puritanchurch gathered in Gainsborough, led by the clericJohn Smyth, recently excommunicated for dissatisfaction with the state of the Church of England, as persecution against Puritan reforms. The church came to be known as the Gainsborough Congregation. They later developed a distinctive Baptist theology and is considered one of the precursors of General Baptists.[5] Under Thomas Helwys' ministry, the church was reestablished at Spitalfields outside London in 1612, after a brief period of exile in Amsterdam.[6]
In 1660, all General Baptists ministers and deacons assembled together in the City of London to draw up a confession of faith defining their theology. They elected Thomas Grantham and Joseph Wright to present the confession to King Charles II in the same year. It was adopted by their ecclesiastical organization, the General Assembly of General Baptists.[7]
Charles Marie Du Veil, a respected French Huguenot Biblical scholar,[8] became a General Baptist. He was baptised into the St. Paul's Alley church and published his new views. Du Veil helped the General Baptist influence after 1685.[9][10]
In 1733, a case against several Northamptonshire churches was presented to the General Assembly for "singing the psalms of David or other men's composures" which determined no fixed rule on congregational singing, but deferred to the local church to set forth their own reasons as the General Assembly had in 1689.[11]
In America
In 1825, opponents of General Baptists in North Carolina dubbed them as "Freewillers" for their Arminian belief. Then, these Baptists assumed the name Free Will Baptists.[1][2][3]
12Brackney, William H. (13 April 2009). Historical Dictionary of the Baptists. Scarecrow Press. p.245. ISBN9780810862821.
12Garrett, James Leo (2009). Baptist Theology: A Four-century Study. Mercer University Press. p.119. ISBN9780881461299.
12Jonas, W. Glenn (2008). The Baptist River: Essays on Many Tributaries of a Diverse Tradition. Mercer University Press. p.151. ISBN9780881461206. General Baptists in North Carolina (the Palmer/Parker heritage) were often called "free willers" by their Regular (Reformed) Baptist neighbors. The name was becoming popular by the beginning of the nineteenth century, and in 1828 the group there adopted the name "Free Will Baptists." The reference, of course, was to the doctrine of General Atonement taught by the General Baptists.
↑Chute, Anthony L.; Finn, Nathan A.; Haykin, Michael A. G. (2015). The Baptist Story: From English Sect to Global Movement. B&H Publishing Group. ISBN978-1-4336-8316-9.
↑ William H. Brackney, Historical Dictionary of the Baptists, Scarecrow Press, USA, 2009, p. 243
↑Taylor, Adam. (1818). The History of the English General Baptists. Printed by T. Bore, London. pp. 359f. Google Books website Retrieved 27 April 2020.
↑Agnew, David Carnegie Andrew. (1886). Protestant exiles from France, chiefly in the reign of Louis XIV; or, The Huguenot refugees and their descendants in Great Britain and Ireland. Book one. Chapter VIII – Refugees being Converts from Romanism during the First Half of the Reign of Louis XIV. pp. 166f. Wikisource website Retrieved 27 April 2020.
↑Julian, John. editor. (1985)."Baptist Hymnody, English." Dictionary of hymnology: origin and history of Christian hymns and hymnwriters of all ages and nations. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Kregel Publications. Vol. 2, pp. 110f. Google Books website Retrieved 27 April 2020.
↑Lewis, James R. (2002). The Encyclopedia of Cults, Sects, and New Religions. Prometheus Books. ISBN9781615927388.
↑McBeth, H. Leon (29 January 1987). The Baptist Heritage. B&H Publishing Group. p.857. ISBN9781433671029.
↑Kurian, George Thomas; Day, Sarah Claudine (14 March 2017). The Essential Handbook of Denominations and Ministries. Baker Publishing Group. p.82. ISBN9781493406401.
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