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Keach’s Purposes Theological
Benjamin Keach had numerous reasons for publishing his catechetical works, but, as with all of his publications, his over-arching goals were theological in nature.
The fifth edition (1695) does not include this picture. Also, the title of the work changed between the fifth edition and the sixteenth edition. The sixteenth edition includes the primary title The Baptist Catechism before the extended title of the fifth edition.
As Keach’s theology will be dissected in the remainder of this work, this section only deals with the theological impetus behind Keach’s writing of the types of work in question.
Based on his understanding of two specific doctrines—justification (specifically, the role of knowledge in justification); ecclesiology—Keach not only found a glaring need for his catechetical works, but he actually found a theological and Biblical mandate for these works.
The Necessity of Knowledge for Justification
The catechisms in both of Keach’s Primers included early questions on the nature of effectual calling. The prescribed answer provided a glimpse of Keach’s understanding of the necessity of education for salvation.
Qu. What is effectual Calling?
Ans. Effectual Calling is the work of God’s Holy Spirit, whereby he Convincing ns [sic] of Sin and Misery, Enlightning our Minds in the Knowledge of Christ, and renewing our Wills, he doth persuade us to leave and loath our sins, and joyfully to embrace Jesus Christ, as offered to us in the Gospel,
2 Tim. 1.9. Acts 2. 36, 37, 38, 39, 40. Acts 26.18, 1 Thess. 1.5.4.5.54
Not surprisingly, both of the additional catechisms provided in Instructions for children included encouragements for the student to obtain the knowledge of Christ as preparation for justification. At one point, Keach had the child in the middle age range (c. ten years old) inquire about the ability of someone at that age to understand the basics of Christianity:
But, pray Sir, have any Children so young as I am, attained to the Knowledge of God and Jesus Christ? Doth God, I mean, call any so young?
The Father, in answer to those questions, responded in the affirmative and provided several examples of young children (between four and six years old)coming to this ‘knowledge of God and Jesus Christ’. Likewise, at the end of that same catechism, the Father asked the child whether or not he is‘resolved to get upon [his] knees, and beg Grace and Knowledge of Go[d], through Christ, and intreat him for hi Sons sake, to open your Eyes ... ?’
53 For a full discussion of Keach’s doctrine of justification, see Chapter VI.
54 Keach, The child's delight, 31. Cf. Keach, Instructions for children [1695], 73-4.
55 Keach, Instructions for children [1695], 30.
56 Keach, Instructions for children [1695], 34.
Keach did not focus solely on religious knowledge, arguing that basic literacy also played a significant role in the process of justification because without the ability to read the Bible, a person could easily remain woefully ignorant of both his/her condition in sin and the nature and person of Christ. Tellingly, Keach presented The Prince of Darkness as being ‘so greatly set against Learning ... Lest by their attaining to the Knowledge of Letters, they should take to read the Holy Bible, which [the Devil] dreads exceedingly; because when understood, it vanquishes (at once) his Darling Ignorance’. Keach expected parents to ‘Educate and Catechize’ their children in order that the children may ‘read their Mother-Tongue ... that they may be able to read God’s holy Word’
and thereby come to a knowledge of God and saving faith.
Thus, Keach saw the writing of catechisms and primers—basic tools for combating illiteracy—as being mandated by his understanding of justification. Keach attempted to remain cautiously optimistic regarding the benefits of knowledge. He did not allow that knowledge, by itself, could bring about salvation.
He argued that some of the reprobate ‘may attain unto the Knowledge of all the great and essential Principles of the Christian Religion, ... Yet observe, and note it well, they may be utter Strangers to that Grace, Faith, Love and Regeneration’.Knowledge alone could not guarantee salvation.
Ecclesiology
For know
Given that knowledge played a significant, even foundational, role in salvation, one would expect Keach to find an equal impetus for the production of educational materials in the doctrine of the church. Keach, indeed, found that impetus. First and foremost, Keach identified the church as an assembly of Christians who were baptized upon a profession of faith.
While his specific definitions of ‘church’ in his catechisms did not specify that members must be baptized,the qualifications of a church member within a few questions:
Who ought to be received into God’s Church?
Keach quickly clarified
Only true Penitent and believing Persons, Acts 2.42, 45. [1] Pet. 2.5, 6, 7, 8, 9.
Elsewhere, Keach defined the true church of Jesus Christ as being ‘those Churches which consist of godly persons owning all the essentials of the true religion, among whom the word of God is truly preached, and the Sacraments are duly administered.
In order to qualify as a ‘penitent and believing Person’ or one who ‘owns all the essentials of the true religion’, the believer must be able to discuss ‘the chief Principles of the Christian Religion’ which Keach purported to include in his catechisms.
Thus, knowledge—and, specifically, the knowledge that could be found in Keach’s catechisms—served as one of the most prominent distinguishing aspects of the true church.
Though knowledge did not guarantee salvation—‘common Grace, and good Education, may, it is true, restrain or bridle youthful Lusts; but the way [to be saved] is to obtain special Grace’—it was an absolute necessity, and the inculcation of knowledge served as one of the steps the church could take to further the Gospel cause. Indeed, this type of education was part of the ‘Duty of Parents to Children and Servants’ as those charged with the care of souls, a charge which was transferred to
the minister only after the conversion of the child/servant.
Interestingly, despite his high view of knowledge and its role in salvation, Keach—nor the Baptists as a whole—did not utilize the catechism as a requirement for the church in preparing candidates for church membership.
Instead, the process
62 The catechism in The child’s delight did not include a question specifically defining the church. In fact, the term church only appeared once in the catechism—in answer to the question regarding the
correct recipients of the Lord’s Supper—and another six times in some of the additional materials.
of becoming a member of a Baptist church generally focused on the candidate’s experience rather than on the orthodoxy of his/her beliefs. The process only included the candidate giving ‘a satisfactory Acct. of their Experience, and their Conversation being found agreeable, and having been baptized’.
Practical
Due to the Act of Uniformity in 1662 and the subsequent closing of the English universities to those outside the Church of England, non-conformists had few educational opportunities during the majority of Benjamin Keach’s lifetime. Keach, himself, had no known formal education outside of a short apprenticeship. His love for reading and his influential and well-educated contacts provided ample opportunity for Keach to develop his own wealth of knowledge.70 Keach understood, however, that the majority of young Baptists (and other dissenters) did not have the same contacts, opportunities, and/or self-motivation to achieve a similar educational level. He also understood that heads of households—who were charged by God with the education of their children and servants—were not necessarily well-educated or capable of educating those in their charge. Thus, one of Keach’s major goals in producing his primers—including his major catechetical works—was to ‘[direct] Parents in a Right and Spiritual Manner to Educate their CHILDREN’.
Keach’s primers began with basic grammar lessons, including alphabets, word lists, and verses intended to embed the necessity and good of learning. These verses provided a glimpse into Keach’s practical intent:
To learn to Read, good Child, give heed,
For ‘tis a precious thing;
What may compare with Learning rare?
From hence doth Vertue spring.
Minutes and Records of the Unicorn Yard Chapel, Angus Library, Regent's Park College, Oxford.
This record book follows the section of the Horsleydown congregation who, after the death of Keach’s
successor, did not accept the call of John Gill and consequently formed a separate church in 1719. This same language appears throughout the Baptist record books and even in Keach’s writings on the
church. See Keach, The glory of a true church, 6. Likewise, the Maze Pond Church followed this same
general practice. See Maze Pond Church Book, Angus Library, Regent's Park College, Oxford.
Take therefore Care, Learning is rare,
Like Chains of purest Gold;
Look, look about, and find it out
Its Worth cannot be told.
Consonants know, and Vowels too,
Nay, learn rightly to spell;
Be not a Fool, but go to School
‘Till thou read English well.
In his dedicatory letter attached to Instructions for children, Hanserd Knollys highlighted Keach’s practical intent, commending the primer to ‘all Religious Parents, who are willing to Catechize their Children’ and also to ‘all the English School Masters in and about this City (nay, throughout the Nation) [who should] make use of it for the Instruction of their Scholars’.73
A further glimpse of Keach’s practical intent for his primers can be seen in his inclusion of sample legal and book-keeping documents undoubtedly useful to someone entering a trade, a common path for children in dissenting congregations. These sample documents included a bond, a bill of acknowledgement of a debt, a will, a bill of sale, and a letter of attorney. Keach also included a variety of basic measurement tables and conversions, all reflecting a utilitarian concern in a decidedly commercial culture. These works, then, were not exclusively religious in nature, though Keach’s religious fervor touched all aspects of his educational attempts. For instance, in the
dictionary at the end of his primers, Keach included such entries as Hallelujah, Jesus, Israel, and Jehoshaphat alongside more basic entries such as center or abridge.
Benjamin Keach had numerous reasons for publishing his catechetical works, but, as with all of his publications, his over-arching goals were theological in nature.
The fifth edition (1695) does not include this picture. Also, the title of the work changed between the fifth edition and the sixteenth edition. The sixteenth edition includes the primary title The Baptist Catechism before the extended title of the fifth edition.
As Keach’s theology will be dissected in the remainder of this work, this section only deals with the theological impetus behind Keach’s writing of the types of work in question.
Based on his understanding of two specific doctrines—justification (specifically, the role of knowledge in justification); ecclesiology—Keach not only found a glaring need for his catechetical works, but he actually found a theological and Biblical mandate for these works.
The Necessity of Knowledge for Justification
The catechisms in both of Keach’s Primers included early questions on the nature of effectual calling. The prescribed answer provided a glimpse of Keach’s understanding of the necessity of education for salvation.
Qu. What is effectual Calling?
Ans. Effectual Calling is the work of God’s Holy Spirit, whereby he Convincing ns [sic] of Sin and Misery, Enlightning our Minds in the Knowledge of Christ, and renewing our Wills, he doth persuade us to leave and loath our sins, and joyfully to embrace Jesus Christ, as offered to us in the Gospel,
2 Tim. 1.9. Acts 2. 36, 37, 38, 39, 40. Acts 26.18, 1 Thess. 1.5.4.5.54
Not surprisingly, both of the additional catechisms provided in Instructions for children included encouragements for the student to obtain the knowledge of Christ as preparation for justification. At one point, Keach had the child in the middle age range (c. ten years old) inquire about the ability of someone at that age to understand the basics of Christianity:
But, pray Sir, have any Children so young as I am, attained to the Knowledge of God and Jesus Christ? Doth God, I mean, call any so young?
The Father, in answer to those questions, responded in the affirmative and provided several examples of young children (between four and six years old)coming to this ‘knowledge of God and Jesus Christ’. Likewise, at the end of that same catechism, the Father asked the child whether or not he is‘resolved to get upon [his] knees, and beg Grace and Knowledge of Go[d], through Christ, and intreat him for hi
53 For a full discussion of Keach’s doctrine of justification, see Chapter VI.
54 Keach, The child's delight, 31. Cf. Keach, Instructions for children [1695], 73-4.
55 Keach, Instructions for children [1695], 30.
56 Keach, Instructions for children [1695], 34.
Keach did not focus solely on religious knowledge, arguing that basic literacy also played a significant role in the process of justification because without the ability to read the Bible, a person could easily remain woefully ignorant of both his/her condition in sin and the nature and person of Christ. Tellingly, Keach presented The Prince of Darkness as being ‘so greatly set against Learning ... Lest by their attaining to the Knowledge of Letters, they should take to read the Holy Bible, which [the Devil] dreads exceedingly; because when understood, it vanquishes (at once) his Darling Ignorance’. Keach expected parents to ‘Educate and Catechize’ their children in order that the children may ‘read their Mother-Tongue ... that they may be able to read God’s holy Word’
and thereby come to a knowledge of God and saving faith.
Thus, Keach saw the writing of catechisms and primers—basic tools for combating illiteracy—as being mandated by his understanding of justification. Keach attempted to remain cautiously optimistic regarding the benefits of knowledge. He did not allow that knowledge, by itself, could bring about salvation.
He argued that some of the reprobate ‘may attain unto the Knowledge of all the great and essential Principles of the Christian Religion, ... Yet observe, and note it well, they may be utter Strangers to that Grace, Faith, Love and Regeneration’.Knowledge alone could not guarantee salvation.
Ecclesiology
For know
Given that knowledge played a significant, even foundational, role in salvation, one would expect Keach to find an equal impetus for the production of educational materials in the doctrine of the church. Keach, indeed, found that impetus. First and foremost, Keach identified the church as an assembly of Christians who were baptized upon a profession of faith.
While his specific definitions of ‘church’ in his catechisms did not specify that members must be baptized,the qualifications of a church member within a few questions:
Who ought to be received into God’s Church?
Keach quickly clarified
Only true Penitent and believing Persons, Acts 2.42, 45. [1] Pet. 2.5, 6, 7, 8, 9.
Elsewhere, Keach defined the true church of Jesus Christ as being ‘those Churches which consist of godly persons owning all the essentials of the true religion, among whom the word of God is truly preached, and the Sacraments are duly administered.
In order to qualify as a ‘penitent and believing Person’ or one who ‘owns all the essentials of the true religion’, the believer must be able to discuss ‘the chief Principles of the Christian Religion’ which Keach purported to include in his catechisms.
Thus, knowledge—and, specifically, the knowledge that could be found in Keach’s catechisms—served as one of the most prominent distinguishing aspects of the true church.
Though knowledge did not guarantee salvation—‘common Grace, and good Education, may, it is true, restrain or bridle youthful Lusts; but the way [to be saved] is to obtain special Grace’—it was an absolute necessity, and the inculcation of knowledge served as one of the steps the church could take to further the Gospel cause. Indeed, this type of education was part of the ‘Duty of Parents to Children and Servants’ as those charged with the care of souls, a charge which was transferred to
the minister only after the conversion of the child/servant.
Interestingly, despite his high view of knowledge and its role in salvation, Keach—nor the Baptists as a whole—did not utilize the catechism as a requirement for the church in preparing candidates for church membership.
Instead, the process
62 The catechism in The child’s delight did not include a question specifically defining the church. In fact, the term church only appeared once in the catechism—in answer to the question regarding the
correct recipients of the Lord’s Supper—and another six times in some of the additional materials.
of becoming a member of a Baptist church generally focused on the candidate’s experience rather than on the orthodoxy of his/her beliefs. The process only included the candidate giving ‘a satisfactory Acct. of their Experience, and their Conversation being found agreeable, and having been baptized’.
Practical
Due to the Act of Uniformity in 1662 and the subsequent closing of the English universities to those outside the Church of England, non-conformists had few educational opportunities during the majority of Benjamin Keach’s lifetime. Keach, himself, had no known formal education outside of a short apprenticeship. His love for reading and his influential and well-educated contacts provided ample opportunity for Keach to develop his own wealth of knowledge.70 Keach understood, however, that the majority of young Baptists (and other dissenters) did not have the same contacts, opportunities, and/or self-motivation to achieve a similar educational level. He also understood that heads of households—who were charged by God with the education of their children and servants—were not necessarily well-educated or capable of educating those in their charge. Thus, one of Keach’s major goals in producing his primers—including his major catechetical works—was to ‘[direct] Parents in a Right and Spiritual Manner to Educate their CHILDREN’.
Keach’s primers began with basic grammar lessons, including alphabets, word lists, and verses intended to embed the necessity and good of learning. These verses provided a glimpse into Keach’s practical intent:
To learn to Read, good Child, give heed,
For ‘tis a precious thing;
What may compare with Learning rare?
From hence doth Vertue spring.
Minutes and Records of the Unicorn Yard Chapel, Angus Library, Regent's Park College, Oxford.
This record book follows the section of the Horsleydown congregation who, after the death of Keach’s
successor, did not accept the call of John Gill and consequently formed a separate church in 1719. This same language appears throughout the Baptist record books and even in Keach’s writings on the
church. See Keach, The glory of a true church, 6. Likewise, the Maze Pond Church followed this same
general practice. See Maze Pond Church Book, Angus Library, Regent's Park College, Oxford.
Take therefore Care, Learning is rare,
Like Chains of purest Gold;
Look, look about, and find it out
Its Worth cannot be told.
Consonants know, and Vowels too,
Nay, learn rightly to spell;
Be not a Fool, but go to School
‘Till thou read English well.
In his dedicatory letter attached to Instructions for children, Hanserd Knollys highlighted Keach’s practical intent, commending the primer to ‘all Religious Parents, who are willing to Catechize their Children’ and also to ‘all the English School Masters in and about this City (nay, throughout the Nation) [who should] make use of it for the Instruction of their Scholars’.73
A further glimpse of Keach’s practical intent for his primers can be seen in his inclusion of sample legal and book-keeping documents undoubtedly useful to someone entering a trade, a common path for children in dissenting congregations. These sample documents included a bond, a bill of acknowledgement of a debt, a will, a bill of sale, and a letter of attorney. Keach also included a variety of basic measurement tables and conversions, all reflecting a utilitarian concern in a decidedly commercial culture. These works, then, were not exclusively religious in nature, though Keach’s religious fervor touched all aspects of his educational attempts. For instance, in the
dictionary at the end of his primers, Keach included such entries as Hallelujah, Jesus, Israel, and Jehoshaphat alongside more basic entries such as center or abridge.