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Landmarkism: Doctrinaire Ecclesiology Among Baptists*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 July 2009

Hugh Wamble
Hugh Wamble
Affiliation:
Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary
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Extract

The mid-nineteenth century, which spawned numerous doctrinaire systems, witnessed the rise, among Baptists in Trans-Appalachia and the Southwest, of a doctrinaire ecciesiology which is consistent and rigid, and which calls for denominational exclusivism.

Type
Research Article
Information
Church History , Volume 33 , Issue 4 , December 1964 , pp. 429 - 447
Copyright
Copyright © American Society of Church History 1964

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Footnotes

*

This paper was delivered before the American Society of Church History at St. Paul School of Theology Methodist, Kan is City, Missouri, on April 18, 1964.

References

1. Graves, J. R., Old Landmarkism: What Is It? Memphis, c. 1880, p. xii.Google Scholar Many of Graves' works have been reprinted by Baptist Sunday School Committee, Texarkana, Texas-Arkansas.

2. Dayton, A. C., Theodosia Ernest, Nashville, 1857, II, 16f.Google Scholar

3. Graves, J. R., The Dispensational Expositions of the Parables and Prophecies of Christ, Memphis, c. 1887 (reprint, c. 1928, 1939), p. 63Google Scholar; The Bible Doctrine of the Middle Life, Memphis, 1873 (reprint, c. 1928), p. 51Google Scholar; What Is Conscience? Memphis, c. 1881 (reprint, c. 1928), p. 57.Google Scholar

4. Graves' appendix to Adlam, S., The First Baptist Church in America, Memphis, c. 1887 (reprint, c. 1928, 1939), p. 194.Google Scholar

5. Graves, , Old Landmarkism, p. xi.Google Scholar

6. Ibid., p. xiv.

7. See excerpts in Smith, H. Shelton, Handy, Robert T., Loetscher, Lefferts A., eds., American Christianity, New York: Charles Seribner's Sons, 1963, II, 111.Google Scholar

8. Graves, , Old Landmarkism, pp. xi–xii.Google Scholar See Barnes, W. W., The Southern Baptist Convention 1845–1953, Nashville: Broadman Press, 1954, p. 104.Google Scholar

9. Graves, J. R., The Watchman's Reply, Nashville, 1853, p. 55.Google Scholar

10. Ibid., p. 57.

11. Pendleton, J. M., An Old Landmark Reset, 1854, in Bogard, Ben, ed., Pillars of Orthodoxy, or Defenders of the Faith, Fulton, Kentucky: National Baptist Publication House, 1901, p. 267.Google Scholar

12. Ibid., p. 274; see Smith-Handy-Loetscher, op. cit., II, 111.

13. Pendleton, op. cit., in Bogard, op. cit., p. 275; see Smith-Handy-Loetseher, op. cit., I, 111.

14. Bogard, op. cit., p. 276, note.

15. Quoted from The Tennessee Baptist, October 6, 1857, in Hailey, O. L., J. R. Graves, Life, Times and Teachings, [n. p], 1929, pp. 55f.Google Scholar The quotation comes from definitions of Baptist polity and principles which Graves frequently carried as his paper's editorial policy.

16. Graves, J. H., The Act of Christian Baptism, Memphis, c. 1881 (reprint, c. 1928), p. 7Google Scholar; Old Landmarkism, pp. 51f.

17. Graves, , The Act of Christian Baptism, p. 58Google Scholar; The Lord's Supper, A Church Ordinance, Memphis, c. 1881 (reprint, c. 1928), pp. 11fGoogle Scholar; Christian Baptism, Memphis, a. 1881 (reprint, a. 1928), p. 4.Google Scholar See article entitled “High Churchism Among Baptists,” in Biblical Recorder of North Carolina, 01 24, 1856, p. 1Google Scholar, in reaction to Graves' The Great Iron Wheel.

18. Smith-Handy-Loetscher, op. cit., II, 111.

19. Ibid.

20. Graves, , Christian Baptism, p. 3Google Scholar; Old Landmarkism, p. 64.

21. Graves' introduction to Dayton, A. C., Pedobaptist and Campbellite Immersions, Nashville, 1858, p. vii.Google Scholar

22. In the famous Graves-Ditzler debate at Carrollton, Mo., in 1875, the details of which are recorded in Graves, J. R., editor, The Graves-Ditzler; or, Great Carrollton Debate, Memphis, 1876, 1184Google Scholar pages, six subjects were dealt with. The “mode of baptism” received almost as much attention (pp. 10–552) as the other five subjects combined. A similar pre-oceupation with mode may be seen in Graves, , The Act of Christian Baptism, pp. 10–34Google Scholar, and Dayton, A. C., Theodosia Ernest, Nashville, 1856, I, 399p.Google Scholar

23. Graves, , The Act of Christian Baptism, pp. 9, 11.Google Scholar

24. Graves, , The Graves-Ditzler … Debate, pp. 521–524.Google Scholar

25. Graves, , Christian Baptism, p. 4Google Scholar; Old Landmarkism, pp. 65–78.

26. Pendleton, An Old Landmark Reset, in Bogard, op. cit., p. 271.

27. Graves, , The Graves-Ditzler … Debate, pp. 521–532.Google Scholar These pages summarize Grave's twenty “direct proofs” for immersion, as adduced in eighteen previous speeches.

28. Graves, , Christian Baptism, p. 4.Google Scholar

29. Dayton, A. C., Pedobaptist and Campbellite Immersions, pp. 197–201Google Scholar; Graves, , Old Landmarkism, P. x.Google Scholar

30. Dayton, , Theodosia Ernest, II, 43ff, 69Google Scholar; Graves, , Old Landmarkism, p. 33.Google Scholar

31. Pendleton, An Old Landmark Reset, in Bogard, op. cit., p. 280; Smith-Handy-Loetscher, op. cit., II, 112.

32. Pendleton, loc. cit.; Dayton, Pedobaptist and Campbellite Immersions, pp. 185–192.

33. Graves, , The Act of Christian Baptism, p. 51Google Scholar; cf. Old Landmarkism, pp. 33, 52.

34. Graves, , The Act of Christian Baptism, pp. 55f.Google Scholar

35. Graves, , Christian Baptism, p. 9Google Scholar; cf. Old Landmarkism, pp. 53–63.

36. Graves, , The Act of Christian Baptism, pp. 38–43Google Scholar; Old Landmarkism, pp. 64–79.

37. Graves, , The Act of Christian Baptism, p. 60Google Scholar; cf. Graves, J. R., The Relation of Baptism to Salvation, c. 1881 (reprint, c. 1928), pp. 18–20.Google Scholar

38. Graves, , The Relation of Baptism to Salvation, pp. 6–22.Google Scholar

39. Graves, , Christian Baptism, pp. 10–12;Google Scholar Graves' introduction to Dayton, , Pedobaptist and Campbellite Immersions, pp. iii–xii.Google Scholar

40. Graves, , Christian Baptism, pp. 34f;Google Scholar cf. Old Landmarkism, p. 79.

41. Graves, , Christian Baptism, p. 35.Google Scholar

42. Ibid., p. 46.

43. Graves, , The Relation of Baptism to Salvation, p. 5.Google Scholar

44. Graves, , Christian Baptism, p. 35Google Scholar; cf. The Relation of Baptism to Salvation, pp. 50–55.

45. Pendleton, J. M., Church Manual, Philadelphia: Judson Press, 1953, pp. 1fGoogle Scholar. This was first published in 1867.

46. Dayton, , Theodosia Ernest, II, 96, 99Google Scholar; Graves, , Old Landmarkism, pp. 35–42.Google Scholar

47. Dayton, , Theodosia Ernest, II, 127.Google Scholar

48. Graves, J. R., The New Great Iron Wheel, Memphis, c. 1884 (reprint, c. 1928), pp. 104, 140Google Scholar; cf. Old Landmarkism, pp. 29, 33.

49. Dayton, , Thodosia Ernest, II, 70, 127.Google Scholar

50. Ibid., p. 93; cf. II, 48, 85, 158; Graves, , The New Great Iron Wheel, pp. 131–135, 270, 341, 351ff.Google Scholar

51. Graves, , The New Great Iron Wheel, pp. 125f.Google Scholar

52. Ibid., p. 126.

53. Ibid., p. 127.

54. Ibid.

55. Graves, , Old Landmarkism, p. 43.Google Scholar

56. Ibid.

57. Ibid., p 45.

58. Ibid., pp. 45f.

59. Dayton, Theodosia Ernest, II, 38, 47, 127, 158ff, 175f; Graves, , The New Great Iron Wheel, pp. 140, 274Google Scholar; Carroll, J. M., The Trail of Blood,” Lexington, Kentucky: Ashland Avenne Baptist Church, c. 1931, p. 9.Google Scholar

60. Graves, , The New Great Iron Wheel, pp. 22, 29, 33, 112Google Scholar; Old Lanthnarkism, 29–31.

61. Graves, , The New Great Iron Wheel, p. 29.Google Scholar

62. Graves, , The New Great Iron Wheel, pp. 125, 135Google Scholar; Old Landmarkism, pp. 27–42; Dayton, , Theodosia Ernest, II, 131, 165, 480.Google Scholar

63. Graves, , Old Landmarkism, pp. 29–31.Google Scholar

64. Ibid., p. 32.

65. Ibid., pp. 33f.

66. Ibid., pp. 35–52.

67. Ibid., pp. 53–63.

68. Ibid., pp. 64–79.

69. Ibid., pp. 80–120.

70. Ibid., pp. 121–130.

71. Graves, , The New Great Iron Wheel, p. 88.Google Scholar

72. Ibid., pp. 135f, 145ff, 270, 341, 351ff; Graves, Old Landmarkism, 43–52; Dayton, , Theodosia Ernest, II, 85, 158ff.Google Scholar

73. Graves, , The Watchman's Reply, p. 17.Google Scholar

74. Ibid., pp. 14–51; Graves, J. R., The Trilemma, Memphis, c. 1881 (first published, 1860; reprint, c. 1928), p. 103;Google Scholar The New Great Iron Wheel, “dedication,” pp. 111ff, 133, 178ff, 231, 240, 245, 251, 261f, 267ff, 284, 320, 323, 341f, 353ff.

75. Graves, , The Watchman's Reply, p. 14.Google Scholar

76. Ibid., p. 16.

77. Graves, , The Graves-Ditzler … Debate, p. 797.Google Scholar

78. Ibid., p. 915.

79. Graves, , Old Landmarkism, p. 121.Google Scholar

80. Ibid., p. 123.

81. Graves, , The Graves-Ditzler … Debate, p. 1050Google Scholar; cf. Old Landmarkism, pp. 124f.

82. Graves, , Old Landmarkism, pp. 122f.Google Scholar

83. Ibid., p. 124.

84. Graves, , The New Great Iron Wheel, p. 104.Google Scholar

85. Graves, , Old Landmarkism, pp. 124f.Google Scholar

86. Ibid., pp. 125f.

87. Graves, , The Watchman's Reply, p. 57.Google Scholar

88. Graves, , The Act of Christian Baptism, pp. 11, 23, 33f, 54Google Scholar; The New Great Iron Wheel, pp. 390, 439–473; The Graves-Ditzler … Debate, pp. 506–532.

89. Graves, , The New Great Iron Wheel, pp. 392–439Google Scholar; The Relation of Baptism to Salvation, pp. 18–22; The Trilemma, pp. 190–197.

90. Graves, J. R., John's Baptism, Memphis, c. 1887 (reprint, c. 1928, 1939), pp. 177–191Google Scholar; The Trilemma, pp. 9–14, 97f; The New Great Iron Wheel, pp. 128, 383–390, 427ff; Dayton, , Theodosia Ernest, II, 95.Google Scholar

91. Graves, , The New Great Iron Wheel, pp. 124f;Google Scholar Old Landmarkism, pp. 35–42; Dayton, , Theodosia Ernest, II, 95.Google Scholar

92. Graves, , The New Great Iron Wheel, pp. 133, 140, 145, 152, 160, 178ff;Google Scholar Dayton, , Theodosia Ernest, II, 158ff.Google Scholar

93. See Ditzler's attack on Baptist succession in Graves, The Graves-Ditzler … Debate, pp. 923–926, 960–966, for examples.

94. Graves, , Old Landmarkism, pp. 124f.Google Scholar

95. Orchard, G. H., A Concise History of Baptists, Nashville, 1855; Reprinted by Ashland Avenue Baptist Church, Lexington, Kentucky, 1956.Google Scholar

97. Ibid., p. xiii.

98. Ibid., p. xii.

99. Ibid., p. xi.

100. Crosby, Thomas, The History of the English Baptists, 1738, vol. IGoogle Scholar Crosby was the first Baptist historian (p. xvii). He cited “no less than seven [eight] different periods of time” which anti-Baptist authors assign “for the first rise of the Baptists” (p. lvii). “Those who write against the Baptists, charge them [Albigenses and Waldenses] with abundance of heresies, and monstrous doctrines; so that it as not easy with certainty to come at their opinions,” even on baptism (pp. xxxiv.xxxv). Since Donatists and Arians “were accused of gross heresies, and the authors of a dreadful schism in the church, some writers against the Baptists are willing enough to represent these as their predecessors” (p. xlvi).

101. Quoted by Graves in introduction, Orchard, op. cit., p xiii.

102. Ibid., p. xv.

103. Graves, , Old Landmarkism, p. 128.Google Scholar

104. Graves, , The Trilemma, p. 120.Google Scholar

105. Quoted by Graves, in Orchard, op. cit., p. xiv.

106. Ibid., p. xviii.

107. Graves, , The Trilemma, p. 119.Google Scholar

108. Carroll, J. M., The Trail of Blood, c 1931.Google Scholar A chart is attached. It uses red ink to locate “Baptists” in various ages and countries. They are identified by other names before the 17th century.

109. Ibid., pp. 11f, 55f; see chart.

110. Graves, , The Trilemma, pp. 77–118, 162.Google Scholar

111. Ibid., pp. 13f, 71–79; The New Great Iron Wheel, pp. 86f.

112. Graves, , The Trilemma, pp. 83–85Google Scholar; The New Great Iron Wheel, pp. 35. 47; The Graves-Ditzler … Debate, pp. 935–938; Dayton, , Theodosia Ernest, II, 98f.Google Scholar

113. Graves, , Old Landmarkism, p. xv.Google Scholar

114. Ibid., pp. xv-xvi.