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Textual Variants, Preservation of Scripture, and the Westminster Assembly (Part Six)

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In 1743, Benjamin Franklin — yes, that Benjamin Franklin, a printer — printed the first edition of the Philadelphia Baptist Confession (PBC) of Faith.  It essentially embraced still the 1689 Second London Baptist Confession, except adding two articles to that London original:  Chapter 23, “Of Singing of Psalms,” which defended congregational hymn-singing, and Chapter 31, “Of Laying On Hands,” which was specifically upon baptized believers.  This confession was formally adopted by the Philadelphia Baptist Association (PBA), made up from a small but influential group of Baptist churches.

This association had five or ten churches from cities or towns in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware.  Key men of the association were Jenkin Jones, pastor in Pennepek of Lower Dublin, Pennsylvania in the Philadelphia area, a primary leader of the association during this period, Benjamin Griffith, pastor of the Montgomery church and a leading theologian for the association, Owen Thomas, a prominent leader from the Welsh Tract church, and Joseph Eaton, also in the Montgomery, Pennsylvania area.

With the PBC, history of doctrine moves to the United States in geographical location, adding what already existed in Europe, tracing these confessions from 1566 to 1742 with the same view of the preservation of scripture, represented by WCF 1.8.  That belief travels into 1566 already held according to the Word of God from exposition of scripture and arrives in America into 1742 and beyond.  The PBC on the perfect preservation of scripture was identical to the WCF 1.8.

Key Beliefs Expressed by the PBA Leaders

The leaders’ writings and circular letters often touched on the themes of WCF 1.8 through three specific lenses:

Theme of 1.8 PBA Leader Interpretation
Providential Preservation They believed God intervened in history to ensure no “iota” of the original text was lost, making the Bible a stable foundation for the “Regular” Baptist faith.
The “Authentic” Text While they used the King James Version, they explicitly taught (per Benjamin Griffith) that the Hebrew and Greek were the “ultimate” authorities in theological disputes.
Accessibility They frequently wrote about the necessity of a learned ministry that could bridge the gap between the authentic languages and the common language of the congregation.
The PBA leaders didn’t seek to change WCF 1.8; they sought to defend it. In a colonial environment where enlightenment thinking was beginning to challenge the supernatural origin of books, the PBA leaders wrote to remind their churches that the Bible was not just a historical record, but a providentially guarded revelation.  The PBA leaders generally viewed WCF 1.8 as the gold standard for bibliology. They adopted its language almost verbatim, affirming that the Hebrew and Greek Scriptures were immediately inspired by God and kept pure through His singular care and providence.
Samuel Jones

In his Century Sermon (1807), Jones reflected on the doctrinal foundation the PBA had maintained since 1742.

We adore the riches of divine love and grace. . . . in providing us with the Holy Scripture, the only sufficient, certain, and infallible rule… kept pure in all ages by His singular care.

Morgan Edwards (Historian and Linguist)

Edwards was a world-class scholar of Hebrew and Greek and a central figure in the PBA during the mid-to-late 18th century.  He frequently argued that for a text to be authentical, it must be preserved down to the “jot and tittle.” In his Materials Toward a History of the Baptists, he discusses the necessity of a learned ministry because:

The Old Testament in Hebrew, and the New Testament in Greek. . . . being immediately inspired by God. . . . are therefore authentical; so as, in all controversies of religion, the Church is finally to appeal unto them. . . . The Hebrew and Greek are the only ‘Authentic’ copies of the Covenant. . . . all translations are but mirrors. . . . the originals are the very face of Truth itself.

Edwards held to a “Jot and Tittle” view of preservation. He believed God’s providence extended to the smallest grammatical marks in the “Received Text” (Textus Receptus).

Benjamin Griffith

He was formally commissioned to write the Short Treatise of Church Discipline (1743) to explain the Confession’s practical application.

  • His Writing on 1.8: In his Treatise, he argues that the original languages are the “Final Court of Appeal” because God kept them “pure.”

  • Specific Quote:

The Holy Scriptures. . . . are the only rule. . . . kept pure in all ages by [God’s] singular care and providence. . . . they are therefore authentical; so as, in all controversies of religion, the Church is finally to appeal unto them.

  • His Belief: Griffith believed that without perfect preservation of the Hebrew and Greek, the Standard of the Church would be lost to the fallible opinions of translators.

The Association ordered his Treatise to be printed with the Confession and in it he wrote that for a church to be a “Pillar of Truth,” its foundation must be the uncorrupted Word.  He argued that the “Final Appeal” in 1.8 was a legal necessity. If the Hebrew and Greek were not perfectly preserved, the “High Court” of the Church would be closed, leaving believers with no certain judge.  As the PBA’s official instruction writer, Griffith’s words are the closest we have to a commentary on the 1742 Confession.

  • On the Preservation of the Text:

    God has by his special providence preserved the Holy Scriptures through all the changes and revolutions of the world, and has kept them pure and uncorrupted to this day.

  • On the Sufficiency of the Original Languages:

    The Word of God in the original languages is the last resort and the only judge of all controversies. . . . it is the standard by which all doctrines and practices must be tried.

Abel Morgan

Morgan was the most academically rigorous of the group, a master of the biblical languages.  In his work Anti-Paedo-Rantism (1747), he defends the exact meaning of Greek words as the basis for Baptist doctrine.

God, in his infinite mercy, has not left us to grope in the dark. . . . but has given us his Word in a language we can understand, yet he has preserved the fountain [Greek/Hebrew] in its original purity, that we may always go back to the source when the streams are muddied.

He viewed the original languages as the “Fountain” and translations as the “Streams.” He believed the “Fountain” remained untainted by time.

The Greek text is our only infallible rule. . . . God has not suffered the streams of His Word to be so corrupted as to lose the sense of the Fountain.

Jenkin Jones

As the Moderator of the 1742 session, Jones was the “Guardian of the Confession.”  In his sermons and association leadership, he fought against the Quaker “Inner Light” doctrine by pointing back to the “Settled Word.”

The Holy Scriptures, which we have in our hands, are the very Word of the living God. . . . look to the Word which God has preserved as a settled monument of His will.

Jones believed that the written Word was a “monument” — stationary and unmoving — because God’s preservation prevented it from “weathering” or changing.

1744 Circular Letter

These men summarized their shared belief in the perfect preservation of the text collectively in this document.

Seeing that the Word of God is the only light to our feet. . . . let us take heed that we do not corrupt it. . . . but let us keep it pure and entire, as it has been handed down to us.

The 31 Signatories (Elders and Messengers)

The following men were present at the September 1742 meeting in Philadelphia:

  • Moderator: Benjamin Griffith (Montgomery)

  • Clerk: Jenkin Jones (Philadelphia)

Elders and Messengers by Church:

  • Philadelphia: Jenkin Jones, Ebenezer Kinnersley, William Branson, Andrew Edge, Thomas Pearse, Stephen Anthony, Augustus Stillman.

  • Pennepek (Lower Dublin): Samuel Ashmead, Matthias Ingles, John Perkins, John Standeland, Robert Shewell.

  • Montgomery: Benjamin Griffith, John Biddle, Joseph Crean, Henry Hartley.

  • Welsh Tract: Owen Thomas, John Lewis, Joseph Ingles.

  • Middletown: Samuel Brooks, Samuel Morgan.

  • Piscataway: Benjamin Stelle (often listed in associated records of this era).

  • Cohansey: Nathaniel Jenkins.

  • Additional Delegates (Brethren): John Davis, Joshua Potts, Peter Peterson Vanhorn, George Eaton, Griffith Owen, Josiah Jones, Isaac Eaton, and Andrew Bray.

These men held a unanimous conviction that PBC 1.8 was the literal truth: that God had “by his singular care and providence kept pure in all ages” the Hebrew and Greek Scriptures.

The Charleston Confession (1767)

If you are looking for the direct successor to PBA among Baptist confessions, it is the Charleston Confession, essentially a light revision of the PBA.  In 1751, Oliver Hart of the Philadelphia Association moved to South Carolina and helped form the Charleston Baptist Association.  The only significant difference was an omission of Chapter 31 (Of Laying on of Hands), as the Southern churches did not hold that practice as strictly.  Because it was nearly identical to the 1742 document, it retained the exact language of Paragraph 1.8 regarding the perfect preservation and final authority of the Hebrew and Greek Scriptures.

So far this biblical and historical position of the perfect preservation and availability of every and all the words of God in their original languages proceeded into 1566 in Europe and arriving at 1767 in late colonial America, two hundred straight years chronicling this same belief among God’s people and His churches.

More to Come

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