Skip to main content

The 3535 Transcription Project

The Second London Confession of Faith (2LCF) was the last confessional document produced following the Westminster Assembly (1643-1653). It benefitted from the work of the various Reformation churches and perhaps represents the most clear and biblically faithful articulation of the regulative principle of worship. This document formed the basis of the baptized congregations and has far reaching influence even to the present day. In many ways, it is the culmination of an extended conversation surrounding the nature and practice of a New Testament church.

The 3535 Foundation is publishing volumes to make available to the general public the documents referenced by the authors of the 2LCF and the documents produced by those associated with the churches that adopted the 2LCF. Its goal is to fulfill the overall project’s purpose to promote both the worship of God and proper order of the church, all according to the mind of Christ; as articulated by the Second London Confession of Faith and the churches of the congregational way. Additional works will be published that seek to provide greater clarity surrounding confessional issues, e.g. regulative principle of worship; ecclesiology; etc. We hope the volumes will provide a means to engage in the broader context of the 2LCF, that we might better understand the document and its implications upon church life.

Unpublished Manuscripts

Sadly, the great heritage left to the churches, by these fathers in the faith, has been lost to the detriment of the churches, pastors, and members. This has perhaps contributed to the drift towards apostasy that is working itself out in churches born out of commitments outlined in the 2LCF. Our hope is to provide quality volumes to reacquaint pastors and churches with pure biblical teaching, as identified in the 2LCF.

As they sent the 1689 edition of their Confession of Faith to the printers, the Particular Baptist writers reflected on the 50 years that had passed since they produced its precursor in the 1640s. One of the biggest challenges the movement faced had been a number of wild misconceptions regarding its very identity. It was due to this widespread case of misinformation that led the early Particular Baptists to “conceive ourselves to be under a necessity of publishing.” Thus, the following years witnessed a flourishing of Baptist literary activity, bookended by the publication of its confessional documents.

Recent decades have brought a renewed interest in Particular Baptist theology, taking shape in multiple national and international associations, conferences, print materials, and even a seminary. A great deal of progress has been made, but, in order to go forward, we must also be willing to go backward – to reacquaint ourselves with the individual voices of our theological forefathers. When we return to the original texts of the first Particular Baptists, we encounter a vibrant literary world of which most Reformed Baptists today are completely unaware. Hercules Collins, for example, is noted for his Orthodox Catechism, but most modern readers do not know that this is just one of several texts he wrote to teach children basic theology and biblical history. Similarly, though nearly anyone is familiar with John Bunyan and his famous allegory, Pilgrim’s Progress, what is less well-known is that he was only one of a circle of best-selling Particular Baptist novelists and poets. Likewise, Hanserd Knollys produced several now-out-of-print textbooks introducing Latin, Greek, and Hebrew grammar, written for academics and laypeople alike. Finally, the early Particular Baptists often kept detailed records of their own history, including church meeting minutes or William Kiffin’s manuscript on the origins of the movement. Most of these texts have either fallen out of print or are only accessible through academic channels, demonstrating the few texts we do have in print today represent only a limited picture of early Particular Baptist thought and practice. We run the risk of falling into the same problem our forefathers faced from the outside – we do not have a clear understanding of what our identity actually is.

Given this need, we propose the same solution undertaken by the Baptist writers of the 1640s: A return to print. Seventeenth-century Baptist authors wrote for a broad audience, including men and women, young and old, academics and laypeople, and their work was international. By establishing a publishing house dedicated to reprinting the forgotten or inaccessible texts of our Particular Baptist forefathers, we not only will be able to regain a better understanding of our heritage; we will also participate in it. Scholars and seminary students will gain access to printed editions of texts that frequently occur in their studies; pastors will be able to interact with transhistorical precedents set for Baptist church life; parents will have a number of engaging books to teach their children our faith; developing, international congregations will benefit from sound teaching amidst the limited and often heterodox materials available to them; church members and reading groups will finally be able to encounter their theological heritage directly through the voices that shaped it. We are publishing volumes to engage many kinds of readers—pastors, church officers, and Christians of all kinds. To this end, all volumes will include aids for readers. Some of the volumes will include additional editorial intervention to increase engagement with the text by the Twenty-First Century readers, while remaining faithful to the original intent of the volumes.

The following are the works we are transcribing for 2023-2024:
Title
Original Pages in PDF (additional pages will be added for table of contents, preface, ease of reading, index, etc.)
Rare Work
Tropologia Vol. 1 Benjamin Keach
117
Particular Paperbacks
Particular Paperbacks Benjamin Keach’s “The Glory of a True Church” (Also in the reader)
37
Particular Paperbacks Isaac Marlowe’s “A Tract on the Sabbath-Day
49
Children's Work
Illustrated Orthodox Catechism (assuming illustrations can be completed in time)
50
Conference Work—Polity Reader
Henry Jacob’s “A Declaration and Plainer Opening of Caartain Points, with a Sound Confirmation of some others, contained in a Treatise entitled, “The Divine Beginning and Institution of Christ’s True Visible and Ministerial Church”
23
Anon. (Henry Jacob is assumed author). “A Confession and Protestation of the Faith of Certain Christians in England, holding it necessary to observe, and keep all Christ's true substantial ordinances for his church visible and political…”
36
“An Apologetical Narration, Humbly Submitted to the Honorable Houses of Parliament”
18
Hansard Knollys’ “A Moderate Answer unto Dr. Bastwicks Book; Called, Independency not God’s Ordinance:
12
John Russel’s “A Brief Narrative of some Considerable Passages Concerning the First Gathering, and Further Progress of a Church of Christ, in Gospel-Order, in Boston in New-England, Commonly (though falsely) called by the Name of Anabaptists; for clearing their innocency from the Scandalous things laid to their charge.”
10
“Heads of Agreement Assented to by the United Ministers in and about London; formerly called Presbyterian and Congregational”
6
Particular Paperbacks Benjamin Keach’s “The Glory of a True Church” (Also in the reader)
37
Total Pages
395

In order to align transcription with the conference topic, all of the proposed works demonstrate the commitment of the Particular Baptists to broad Reformed theological commitments. Benjamin Keach’s “Tropologia” is a rare work and provides a unique contribution to the study of hermeneutics. It will also demonstrate his commitment to standard Reformed ways of reading the scriptures. There are facsimile scans available of the work, but it is otherwise unavailable to the reading public. We propose releasing “Tropologia” in three installments at the annual conference in 2024-2026. Releasing the work in three sections matches Keach’s three distinct segments within the work.

We are publishing two volumes within the Particular Paperbacks line this year. Both Isaac Marlowe’s work on the Sabbath and Benjamin Keach’s treatise “On the Glory of the True Church” will demonstrate continuity with the Reformed movement by way of content and their positive citation of Reformed sources. Keach’s treatise on the church is also included in the reader. Publishing the work within the Particular Paperbacks line will make it easier to use for group study and popular promotion.

The fourth work is an illustrated “Orthodox Catechism”. Christian Focus Publications recently published an illustrated Westminster Shorter Catechism and the proposed work would follow suit. This work would begin the line of materials for children.

A fifth work is proposed that will act as a sort of sourcebook to Matthew Bingham’s “Orthodox Radicals”. It takes a number of shorter treatises from 1612 to 1697 and arranges them chronologically to show general agreement among Puritans in the early 1600s, the move to separation in the 1640s, and the return to unity in the 1690s. Each treatise will have a brief introduction, but the work will strive to simply allow the authors to speak for themselves. Arranging the treatises in this fashion will implicitly show the commonalities between the Puritans and those who signed the First London Confession of Faith and the Second London Confession of Faith. This work will contribute to answering the conference question by demonstrating Particular Baptists are within the Congregational Way—both by way of content and self-identification.

Close Menu