Particular Pilgrims

If you ever heard the name of John Collett Ryland before these podcasts, it was probably in regard to an infamous interchange he was reported to have had with William Carey. There are several accounts of it in print, but I especially like the details and perspectives that Dr. Michael Haykin provides in his biography of John Sutcliff, entitled “One Heart and One Soul”.
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Having seen how John Collett Ryland’s wide friendships likely influenced his change of views regarding church communion, let us now examine his only writing on the subject. This came in a 3 page broadsheet-style publication in very small type dated June 15, 1772 and signed Pacificus. It was entitled “A Modest Plea for Free Communion at the Lord’s Table; between true believers of all denominations: In a letter to a friend.”

This defended free communion in the form of a letter beginning, “Dear Sir”. It gave eight reasons for Pacificus’ church practice and four answers to objections before a half-page conclusion. Given its small size and presumably small printing, it’s a marvel any of these pieces of ephemera survive. Two copies are known to exist. The first one was discovered by Robert Oliver about 1981.

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We now turn to John Collett Ryland’s espousal of what he called free communion, also known as open or mixed communion. His position was familiar to his fellow Baptists. For example, John Rippon states, “it is well known that he was what is commonly called, a mixed communion Baptist; that is, a Baptist admitting other good men to the Lord’s table, though in his opinion they are unbaptized."

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We continue with our survey of the open and closed communion debate. In 1816, the year following Robert Hall Jr.’s “Terms of communion” came out, Joseph Kinghorn answered Hall with “Baptism, A Term of Communion at the Lord’s Supper”. Kinghorn was the pastor of Norwich Baptist Church and a former pupil of Hall’s at the Bristol Baptist Academy.
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An open communion answer to Booth finally came in the formidable writing of Robert Hall Jr. In the early 1800s he was perhaps the greatest orator in England, possessed a genius mind, and liked to practice radical politics. In 1815 he produced “Terms of Communion”, a direct challenge to Booth’s Apology.

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We continue with our survey of the open and closed communion debate in preparation for a later review of John Collett Ryland’s principles and practices related to it. Next I’ll review the interactions of John Bunyan and William Kiffen.

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Before I finish the study of John Collett Ryland’s interesting life, I want to explore three topics in which he played a significant or exemplary role. One of these is his view of who was qualified to partake of the Lord’s Supper. Another is his version of High Calvinism and his interactions with William Carey. And finally, there is his important place in 18th-century English education.

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"Ryland was a friend to everyone he thought to be a true believer. So he was personal friends with like-minded men such as John Gill and John Brine. But he was also friends with those of a different kind of Calvinism such as Andrew Gifford, Robert Hall Sr., and John Rippon."

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The life and ministry of John Collett Ryland will transition our studies away from hyper-Calvinism among Particular Baptists. He is an appropriate figure for this move because he was
close friends with a number of orthodox men with varied views on Calvinism.
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Hyper-Calvinism in English Baptist circles in the 19th century grew and changed in significant ways. But rather than continue on into the 19th century too far, I want to take another approach to complete, for now, our look at hyper-Calvinism in Baptist circles. Let me point you to a 5 volume study entitled “The Strict Baptist Chapels of England.”

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