To the Judicious and Impartial Reader

To the Judicious and Impartial Reader is a trove of theological insight and research that situates the Second London Confession in its early modern context. Illuminated by documents and debates of the period, Dr. Renihan shines welcomed light on this important confession of faith. His diligent labors will benefit future generations of Reformed Baptists but it will also serve many others who profess the Westminster Confession and Savoy Declaration. Detailed in its analysis, thorough in its scope, and aimed at the heart, Dr. Renihan’s work is must-reading.

James M. Renihan presents here a magisterial exposition of the Second London Confession of 1677/1689— the most influential confessional document in Baptist history. A work of solid scholarship and genuine theological retrieval, destined to become a classic. Highly recommended!

This well-researched and historically sensitive exposition offers readers an indispensable guide to the Second London Baptist Confession. In clear, convincing fashion James Renihan explains what the Confession’s language would have meant to its original readers, excavates the various backgrounds which informed its composition, and points contemporary readers towards a fresh appreciation of both the Confession itself and the faith it sets forth. In doing so, Renihan successfully locates seventeenth-century English Calvinistic Baptists within the wider tradition of Reformed Protestantism with which they would have identified.

We are indebted to James Renihan for this masterful study of the 1689 Confession in its original historical context. His insights, drawn largely from primary sources and the fruit of more than twenty years of teaching on the Confession, illuminate and explain the text in a most helpful and edifying manner. We are led to understand the controversies of the 17th century, many of which are still relevant today. While we are grateful to Dr Renihan for his labours in historical theology, he reminds us that the ultimate goal is not veneration of the Confession itself; it is a means of leading us back to the Scriptures, to worship and adore the Lord and rejoice in our great salvation. There is much here to profit the reader.

While not a Reformed Baptist myself, I have long appreciated the 2LBCF as a key artifact of Baptist history and theology. Its commitment to historic Christian orthodoxy and its bold proclamation of the formal and material principles of the Reformation, sola scriptura & justification by faith alone, are in and of themselves enough to recommend it as a model of a reformational and catholic (small c!) spirit. When we recognize this spirit alongside the confession’s doctrinal precision and clarity and its exposition of congregational credobaptist distinctives, we see that it is a confession- al model for all Christians, Baptist and non-Baptist alike. James Renihan’s careful consideration of this foundational seventeenth century text elucidates its doctrinal beauty, truth, and goodness and brings it to bear on us today. Through retrieving this early Baptist statement of faith, Renihan aids all traditions in their pursuit of biblical and theological fidelity.

This book is required reading for anyone who wants to understand seventeenth century reformed theology in general or what it means to be a reformed Baptist.The exposition of the confession sets it in its historical context and illuminates its meaning using the sources of the doctrine summarized in it. It also explores the structure of the confession expertly. Modern Baptists are theologically diverse to the point of confusion in many cases and this study of our origins can help bring clarity to the question of what it means to confess the faith of our forefathers. It is a must read for anyone interested in Baptist theology.

In this second volume on Baptist Symbolics, Dr. Renihan gives us his “contextual historical exposition” of the Second London Baptist Confession of Faith of 1689. Renihan allows us to hear the discussions of the authors of our Confession as they endeavored to align themselves with historical confessional biblical Orthodoxy. He examines the words and phrases of the Confession with incisive clarity and relevance to our own current situation. Here we learn how to express biblical catholicity while humbly holding to our baptistic convictions that Renihan explains, defends, and endorses with convincing cogency.

James M. Renihan in his To the Judicious and Impartial Reader: A Contextual-Historical Exposition of the Second London Baptist Confession of Faith has given to the Christian world a veritable exegesis of our Confession.This is the fruit of our beloved brother’s love for Christ, Church, Scripture, and Confession – in that order – and I greatly regret not having this book before, especially since it has been my privilege to study and teach the Confession to the church which I serve. No Reformed Baptist should again teach the Confession before reading this marvelous Exposition.

James Renihan states, “I have made a conscious decision (with a few exceptions) not to interact with modern interpretations of the theological statements of the seventeenth century confessions which may differ from my own conclusions. The aim of this book is not primarily polemic but rather explanatory. From my perspective, the key question is what did the confession mean?” He has been faithful to his purpose and the result is a rich, comprehensive work of historical and systematic theology worthy of a lifetime of study and meditation. His engagement with the complete milieu of theological writing, beginning with the Particular Baptists of the seventeenth-century and including the Puritan literature that would have most influenced them, sets the confession in its most original doctrinal context and yields a rich and faithful engagement with the treasure of doctrinal truth so clearly expressed in it. He has given a four-fold structure to the entire confession, shown the logic of doc- trinal connection between the heads within each of the four divisions, and shown the inner-connections within each paragraph of the various heads. Renihan also has incorporated the genre of “pious meditations” on the family of confessions to which the Second London Confession belongs and has thus been enabled to turn doc- trine into devotion without becoming disconnected from the rigorously developed propositions of divine revelation. This work should be a consistently consulted treasure of truth-centered theological instruction and grace-centered, Christ centered, God-centered spiritual formation.