Historia ya Wabaptisti na Maendeleo ya Dhehebu — Sehemu ya 4: Wabaptisti Maalum na Maungamo ya London (1644, 1689)Baptist History and Denominational Development — Unit 4: The Particular Baptists and the London Confessions (1644, 1689)

Mstari MkuuKey Verse

"Ushikilie kwa imani na upendo ulio katika Kristo Yesu kielelezo cha maneno yenye afya, ulizosikia kwangu." (2 Timotheo 1:13, SUV)"Hold fast the pattern of sound words which you have heard from me, in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus." (2 Timothy 1:13, NKJV)

Malengo ya KujifunzaLearning Objectives

Utakapomaliza kipindi hiki, unapaswa kuweza:When you finish this unit, you should be able to:

1. Kueleza jinsi Wabaptisti Maalum (Particular Baptists) walivyotokea London katika miaka ya 1630 na 1640, na jinsi walivyotofautiana na Wabaptisti Wajumla.1. Explain how the Particular Baptists arose in London in the 1630s and 1640s, and how they differed from the General Baptists.

2. Kueleza ni kwa nini Maungamo ya Kwanza ya London yaliandikwa mwaka 1644 na kutaja mambo matatu yaliyofundisha.2. Describe why the First London Confession was written in 1644 and name three things it taught.

3. Kueleza jinsi mateso baada ya 1660 yalivyoumba maisha ya Kibaptisti, na kutaja Wabaptisti wawili walioteseka kwa ajili ya imani yao.3. Explain how persecution after 1660 shaped Baptist life, and name two Baptists who suffered for their faith.

4. Kueleza Maungamo ya Pili ya London (yaliyochapishwa 1677, yakachapishwa tena 1689): nyaraka yaliyozifuata, na pale yalipotofautiana nazo.4. Describe the Second London Confession (published 1677, reissued 1689): the documents it followed, and where it differed from them.

5. Kueleza swali la Ukalvini kwa haki, na kueleza jibu la Kibaptisti kuhusu thamani na mipaka ya maungamo ya imani.5. State the Calvinism question fairly, and explain the Baptist answer about the value and the limits of a confession of faith.

Sauti ya Kipindi HikiThe Voice of This Unit

Kipindi hiki kimeandikwa kutoka ndani ya utamaduni wa Kibaptisti, kwa wanafunzi Wabaptisti. Ni cha kihafidhina. Tunashikilia kwamba Biblia ni Neno la Mungu lililopumuliwa na Mungu na linaloaminika kikamilifu, na ndiyo mamlaka yetu ya mwisho. Pale wanahistoria wanapotofautiana, au pale Wakristo wengine wanapopinga yale Wabaptisti wanayoamini, tunaeleza mtazamo wao kwa haki kisha tunatoa jibu la Kibaptisti. Maandiko yasema, "Jaribuni mambo yote; mkamateni sana lililo jema" (1 Wathesalonike 5:21).This unit is written from inside the Baptist tradition, for Baptist students. It is conservative. We hold that the Bible is the inspired and fully trustworthy Word of God and our final authority. Where historians disagree, or where other Christians object to what Baptists believe, we state their view fairly and then give the Baptist answer. Scripture says, "Test all things; hold fast what is good" (1 Thessalonians 5:21).

Vijito Viwili, Mianzo MiwiliTwo Streams, Two Beginnings

Katika Kipindi cha 3 tulikutana na Wabaptisti Wajumla. Walianza karibu na John Smyth na Thomas Helwys, na Helwys alilirudisha kanisa la kwanza la Kibaptisti Uingereza mwaka 1612. Walifundisha kwamba Kristo alikufa kwa ajili ya watu wote, na kwamba yeyote anayeamini anaweza kuokolewa.In Unit 3 we met the General Baptists. They began around John Smyth and Thomas Helwys, and Helwys brought the first Baptist church back to England in 1612. They taught that Christ died for all people, and that anyone who believes may be saved.

Katika karne hiyohiyo kijito cha pili cha Kibaptisti kilitokea London. Wabaptisti hawa walifundisha kwamba Kristo alikufa kuwaokoa watu wake aliowachagua hasa. Kwa sababu hii waliitwa Wabaptisti Maalum (Particular Baptists). Majina hayo mawili yanahusu upeo wa upatanisho: je, Kristo alikufa kwa ajili ya kila mtu, au kwa ajili ya wale ambao Mungu aliwachagua? Kuhusu kanisa, ubatizo na Maandiko, vijito viwili vilikubaliana. Vilitofautiana kuhusu swali hili na mafundisho yanayohusiana nalo.In the same century a second Baptist stream appeared in London. These Baptists taught that Christ died to save His chosen people in particular. For this reason they were called Particular Baptists. The two names are about the extent of the atonement: did Christ die for every person, or for those whom God chose? On the church, on baptism and on Scripture, the two streams agreed. They differed on this question and on the doctrines connected with it.

Wabaptisti Maalum hawakutoka kwa Wamenoni wa Uholanzi, kama Wabaptisti Wajumla walivyotoka. Walitoka katika Utengano wa Kiingereza. Kanisa lao la mama lilikuwa kusanyiko la Watengano London, lililoanzishwa mwaka 1616 na Henry Jacob. Mara nyingi huitwa kanisa la Jacob-Lathrop-Jessey kwa majina ya wachungaji watatu wa mwanzo. Baadhi ya washiriki walianza kutilia shaka ubatizo wa watoto wachanga. Kadhaa waliondoka kanisa hili katika miaka ya 1630, na kundi lililoongozwa na John Spilsbury liliunda kanisa la waumini waliobatizwa. Makanisa mengine yalifuata. Kufikia mwanzoni mwa miaka ya 1640 kulikuwa na makanisa kadhaa ya Wabaptisti Maalum London.The Particular Baptists did not come from the Dutch Mennonites, as the General Baptists did. They came out of English Separatism. Their mother church was a Separatist congregation in London, started in 1616 by Henry Jacob. It is often called the Jacob-Lathrop-Jessey church after three of its early pastors. Some members began to doubt infant baptism. Several left this church in the 1630s, and a group led by John Spilsbury formed a church of baptized believers. Other churches followed. By the early 1640s there were several Particular Baptist churches in London.

Swali la kuzamishwaThe question of immersion

Mwanzoni makanisa haya yalibatiza waumini, lakini wanahistoria wengi wanafikiri hawakuanza kuzamisha mara moja. Kufikia karibu mwaka 1641 walikuwa wamefikia kubatiza kwa kuzamisha. Hili lilitokeaje? Maelezo moja ya zamani yanasema kwamba mtu aitwaye Richard Blunt alikwenda Uholanzi kujifunza kutoka kwa kundi lililokuwa likizamisha huko, na akaleta desturi hiyo. Wanahistoria wengine wanatilia shaka hilo, kwa sababu chanzo kiliandikwa baadaye. Jibu la Kibaptisti ni rahisi. Msaada wowote wa kibinadamu waliokuwa nao, Wabaptisti Maalum walitetea kuzamishwa kutoka katika Biblia. Neno la Kigiriki baptizo linamaanisha kutumbukiza au kuzamisha. Agano Jipya linaonyesha ubatizo kama mazishi na kufufuka: "Basi tulizikwa pamoja naye kwa ubatizo huu wa mauti, ili kama vile Kristo alivyofufuliwa katika wafu kwa utukufu wa Baba, vivyo hivyo sisi nasi tuende katika upya wa uzima" (Warumi 6:4). Waliwaona Filipo na towashi Mwethiopia wakishuka "majini" (Matendo 8:38). Hawakujenga desturi yao juu ya mapokeo ya kanisa. Waliijenga juu ya Neno.At first these churches baptized believers, but many historians think they did not at once practice immersion. By about 1641 they had come to baptize by immersion. How did this happen? One old account says that a man named Richard Blunt went to the Netherlands to learn from a group there who immersed, and brought the practice back. Other historians doubt it, because the source was written later. The Baptist answer is simple. Whatever human help they had, the Particular Baptists defended immersion from the Bible. The Greek word baptizo means to dip or plunge. The New Testament pictures baptism as a burial and a rising: "Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life" (Romans 6:4). They saw Philip and the Ethiopian go "down into the water" (Acts 8:38). They did not build their practice on a church tradition. They built it on the Word.

Maungamo ya Kwanza ya London (1644)The First London Confession (1644)

Mwaka 1644 makanisa saba ya Wabaptisti Maalum London yalichapisha taarifa ya imani. Inaitwa Maungamo ya Kwanza ya London. Wanahistoria wanahesabu vifungu hamsini na viwili ndani yake.In 1644 seven Particular Baptist churches in London published a statement of faith. It is called the First London Confession. Historians count fifty-two articles in it.

Kwa nini waliyaandikaWhy they wrote it

Wabaptisti walikuwa wakisingiziwa. Maadui zao waliwaita "Waanabaptisti," neno lililowakumbusha watu waasi wenye msimamo mkali wa Munster huko Ujerumani katika miaka ya 1530, waliokuwa wameteka mji, kutumia vurugu na kufundisha mafundisho ya ajabu. Wabaptisti wa Kiingereza hawakuwa na uhusiano wowote na Munster. Hawakuchukua upanga, na walikuwa na imani sahihi kuhusu Mungu. Lakini Uingereza ilikuwa katika msukosuko katika miaka ya 1640, na kundi lolote la ajabu lingeweza kushtakiwa kwa kuvuruga amani. Kwa hiyo makanisa yaliandika maungamo kuonyesha wao ni akina nani. Walitaka kusema wazi: tunaamini Utatu, tunaheshimu Maandiko, tunamtii hakimu halali, na sisi si waasi.The Baptists were slandered. Their enemies called them "Anabaptists," a word that reminded people of the radical rebels at Münster in Germany in the 1530s, who had seized a city, practiced violence and taught strange doctrines. The English Baptists had nothing to do with Münster. They did not take up the sword, and they were orthodox about God. But England was in turmoil in the 1640s, and any strange group could be accused of disorder. So the churches wrote a confession to show who they were. They wanted to say plainly: we believe in the Trinity, we honor Scripture, we obey the lawful magistrate, and we are not rebels.

YaliyofundishaWhat it taught

Maungamo ya Kwanza ya London yalifanya mambo makuu matatu.The First London Confession did three main things.

Kwanza, yalionyesha kukubaliana na imani pana ya Kiprotestanti. Yalifundisha Utatu, uungu wa Kristo, mamlaka ya Maandiko, wokovu kwa Kristo peke yake, na ufufuo wa wafu. Katika mambo haya Wabaptisti walisimama pamoja na Waprotestanti wengine.First, it showed agreement with the wider Protestant faith. It taught the Trinity, the deity of Christ, the authority of Scripture, salvation through Christ alone, and the resurrection of the dead. In these matters the Baptists stood with other Protestants.

Pili, yalieleza mafundisho ya Wabaptisti Maalum kuhusu wokovu. Yalifundisha kwamba Kristo alikufa kwa ajili ya wateule, kwamba Mungu huwaita wenye dhambi kwa Neno lake na Roho wake, na kwamba wale anaowaokoa watalindwa.Second, it stated the Particular Baptist teaching on salvation. It taught that Christ died for the elect, that God calls sinners by His Word and Spirit, and that those whom He saves will be kept.

Tatu, yalieleza yale yaliyokuwa ya pekee kuhusu Wabaptisti. Yalilieleza kanisa kama kundi la waumini wanaoonekana, waliokusanywa kwa Neno na kuunganishwa kwa agano, na Kristo kama Kichwa chake pekee. Yalisema kwamba ubatizo ni wa wale wanaoungama imani, na yalieleza ubatizo kama kuzamishwa majini. Pia yalifundisha kwamba Kristo peke yake ndiye Bwana wa dhamiri. Hata hivyo, hayakukana mamlaka ya serikali ya kiraia katika mambo ya kiraia. Makanisa yaliomba kwamba hakimu asilazimishe dhamiri, na waliahidi kutii katika mambo yote halali.Third, it stated what was distinctive about Baptists. It described the church as a company of visible believers, gathered by the Word and joined together by covenant, with Christ as its only Head. It said that baptism belongs to those who profess faith, and it described baptism as an immersion in water. It also taught that Christ alone is Lord of the conscience. Even so, it did not deny the authority of the civil government in civil matters. The churches asked that the magistrate not force the conscience, and they promised to obey in all lawful things.

Toleo la pili lilitokea mwaka 1646. William Kiffin, mfanyabiashara wa London, alikuwa kiongozi mmoja maarufu wa makanisa haya katika miaka hiyo.A second edition appeared in 1646. William Kiffin, a London merchant, was one well-known leader of these churches in those years.

Mateso na UaminifuPersecution and Faithfulness

Kwa muda mfupi wakati wa kipindi cha Jumuiya ya Madola (Commonwealth) Wabaptisti walifurahia uhuru fulani. Mwaka 1660 utawala wa kifalme ulirudi chini ya Charles wa Pili, na pamoja nao Kanisa la Uingereza lililoanzishwa na dola likarudi katika nguvu kamili. Mfululizo wa sheria, mara nyingi huitwa Kanuni za Clarendon (Clarendon Code), ulitungwa dhidi ya Wakristo waliokataa kufuata. Sheria ya Umoja ya 1662 iliwataka makasisi kutumia Kitabu cha Sala ya Pamoja. Sheria za Mikutano (Conventicle Acts) zilikataza mikutano ya ibada nje ya kanisa lililoanzishwa na dola. Wabaptisti waliokutana hata hivyo walihatarisha faini, kifungo na kupoteza mali zao.For a short time during the Commonwealth period the Baptists enjoyed some freedom. In 1660 the monarchy returned under Charles II, and with it came the established Church of England in full power. A series of laws, often called the Clarendon Code, was passed against Christians who would not conform. The Act of Uniformity of 1662 required clergy to use the Book of Common Prayer. The Conventicle Acts forbade meetings for worship outside the established church. Baptists who met anyway risked fines, prison and the loss of their goods.

Wabaptisti wawili wanatuonyesha gharama ya haya.Two Baptists show us what this cost.

John Bunyan (1628-1688) alikuwa fundi wa kutengeneza vyungu, aliyekuwa mhubiri huko Bedfordshire. Alikamatwa mwaka 1660 kwa kuhubiri bila leseni. Alikataa kuahidi kwamba angeacha, na akakaa gerezani karibu miaka kumi na miwili. Alitengeneza kamba za viatu ili kuitegemeza familia yake, na akaandika. Kitabu chake maarufu zaidi, The Pilgrim's Progress (Safari ya Msafiri), kilichapishwa mwaka 1678. Bunyan alikuwa Mbaptisti, ingawa kanisa lake huko Bedford lilikaribisha waumini wa mitazamo mingine na hakufanya ubatizo kuwa kipimo cha ushirika. Wabaptisti kwa muda mrefu wamempenda kwa imani yake na ujasiri wake.John Bunyan (1628-1688) was a tinker, a mender of pots and pans, who became a preacher in Bedfordshire. He was arrested in 1660 for preaching without a license. He refused to promise that he would stop, and he spent about twelve years in prison. He made laces to support his family, and he wrote. His best-known book, The Pilgrim's Progress, was published in 1678. Bunyan was a Baptist, though his church in Bedford welcomed believers of other views and he did not make baptism a test of fellowship. Baptists have long loved him for his faith and for his courage.

Benjamin Keach (1640-1704) alikuwa mhubiri Mbaptisti London. Mwaka 1664 alihukumiwa kwa kuandika kijitabu kidogo kwa ajili ya watoto kilichofundisha imani za Kibaptisti. Aliadhibiwa hadharani. Keach baadaye alichunga kanisa huko Southwark na kuanzisha uimbaji wa nyimbo za dini katika ibada, jambo lililoleta mzozo mkali miongoni mwa Wabaptisti. Tutarudi kwa Keach katika Kozi ya 4.Benjamin Keach (1640-1704) was a Baptist preacher in London. In 1664 he was tried for writing a small book for children that taught Baptist beliefs. He was punished in public. Keach later pastored a church in Southwark and introduced the singing of hymns in worship, which brought a hot controversy among Baptists. We shall come back to Keach in Course 4.

Jibu la Kibaptisti kwa mateso halikuwa vurugu. Waliteseka na walidumisha ushuhuda wao. Walitumia mateso yao kutetea kanuni tutakayoifuata katika kozi hii yote: Mungu peke yake ndiye Bwana wa dhamiri, na hakuna serikali yenye haki ya kulazimisha imani ya mtu (tazama Matendo 5:29). Mateso yao pia yaliumba makanisa yao. Makusanyiko yalikutana kimya kimya, yalidumisha agano kati yao, na yakajifunza kumtegemea Bwana.The Baptist answer to persecution was not violence. They suffered and they kept their testimony. They used their sufferings to argue for a principle we shall follow through this course: God alone is Lord of the conscience, and no government has the right to force a person's faith (see Acts 5:29). Their suffering also shaped their churches. Congregations met quietly, kept covenant with each other, and learned to depend on the Lord.

Maungamo ya Pili ya London (1677, 1689)The Second London Confession (1677, 1689)

Kufikia miaka ya 1670 Wabaptisti Maalum walitaka taarifa kamili zaidi ya imani. Walikuwa na sababu mbili.By the 1670s the Particular Baptists wanted a fuller statement of faith. They had two reasons.

Sababu ya kwanza ilikuwa kwamba Wakristo wengine wa Kiingereza walikuwa wametoa maungamo makubwa zaidi. Wapresbiteri walikuwa na Westminster Confession of Faith (Maungamo ya Westminster ya Imani) (1646). Waongozi wa Kusanyiko (Congregationalists) waliyarekebisha katika Savoy Declaration (Tamko la Savoy) (1658). Hizi zilikuwa nyaraka makini na za kina. Hawakutaka kuonekana kama kikundi cha ajabu.The first reason was that other English Christians had produced larger confessions. The Presbyterians had the Westminster Confession of Faith (1646). The Congregationalists adapted it in the Savoy Declaration (1658). These were careful, detailed documents. They did not wish to appear as a strange sect.

Sababu ya pili ilikuwa kufundisha watu wao wenyewe, kwa sababu kanisa linalojua linaloamini linaweza kupinga kosa vizuri zaidi.The second reason was to teach their own people, because a church that knows what it believes can better resist error.

Kwa hiyo Wabaptisti walichukua Tamko la Savoy na Maungamo ya Westminster kama kielelezo, na mahali pengi walifuata maneno yake. Lakini walibadilisha yale ambayo hawakuweza kuyakubali. Walibadilisha sura za ubatizo na kanisa. Walifundisha ubatizo wa waumini kwa kuzamishwa, si ubatizo wa watoto wachanga. Walifundisha kwamba kila kanisa la mahali linaongozwa na washiriki wake wenyewe chini ya Kristo, si na sinodi au mabaraza ya wazee. Walifundisha kwamba Meza ya Bwana ni agizo la kanisa, na kwamba waumini wanamlisha Kristo kwa imani, kiroho na si kimwili. Kwa njia hii Wabaptisti walisema: tunakubaliana nanyi katika mafundisho makuu ya neema, lakini Maandiko yanatufundisha vinginevyo kuhusu ubatizo na mpangilio wa kanisa.So the Baptists took the Savoy Declaration and the Westminster Confession as a model, and in many places followed their words. But they changed what they could not accept. They changed the chapters on baptism and the church. They taught believer's baptism by immersion, and not the baptism of infants. They taught that each local church is governed by its own members under Christ, not by synods or presbyteries. They taught that the Lord's Supper is an ordinance of the church, and that believers feed upon Christ by faith, spiritually and not physically. In this way the Baptists said: we agree with you in the great doctrines of grace, but Scripture teaches us otherwise about baptism and church order.

Maungamo yalichapishwa mwaka 1677. Mwaka 1689, baada ya Sheria ya Uvumilivu (Toleration Act) ya mwaka huo kuwapa Wapinzani uhuru wa kuabudu, makanisa ya Kibaptisti kutoka Uingereza na Wales yalituma viongozi kwenye Mkutano Mkuu London. Waliyaidhinisha tena na kuyachapisha waziwazi. Kwa sababu hii kwa kawaida huitwa Maungamo ya Pili ya London, au Maungamo ya Kibaptisti ya 1689. Yana sura thelathini na mbili. Zinahusu Maandiko, Mungu na Utatu, anguko la mwanadamu, Kristo mpatanishi, neema ya bure, toba, kuhesabiwa haki, kufanywa wana, utakaso, imani ya kuokoa, uvumilivu wa watakatifu hadi mwisho, sheria ya Mungu, injili na upeo wake, uhuru wa Kikristo, ibada, Siku ya Bwana, kanisa, ubatizo, Meza ya Bwana, hakimu wa kiraia, ndoa, na ufufuo na hukumu ya mwisho.The confession was published in 1677. In 1689, after the Toleration Act of that year gave Dissenters the freedom to worship, Baptist churches from England and Wales sent leaders to a General Assembly in London. They approved it again and published it openly. For this reason it is usually called the Second London Confession, or the Baptist Confession of 1689. It has thirty-two chapters. They cover Scripture, God and the Trinity, the fall of man, Christ the mediator, free grace, repentance, justification, adoption, sanctification, saving faith, the perseverance of the saints, the law of God, the gospel and its reach, Christian liberty, worship, the Lord's Day, the church, baptism, the Lord's Supper, the civil magistrate, marriage, and the resurrection and last judgment.

Kwa nini 1689 ilikuwa muhimuWhy 1689 mattered

Kwa muda mrefu haya yalikuwa maungamo yaliyotumika zaidi miongoni mwa Wabaptisti Maalum. Mwaka 1707 makanisa ya Kibaptisti karibu na Philadelphia huko Amerika yaliunda Chama cha Philadelphia (Philadelphia Association), na mwaka 1742 Chama kilipokea Maungamo ya 1689, pamoja na nyongeza mbili ndogo. Matokeo yanaitwa Maungamo ya Philadelphia. Yalibeba mafundisho ya 1689 hadi maisha ya Kibaptisti ya Amerika. Maungamo ya New Hampshire (1833), ambayo utakutana nayo katika vipindi vya baadaye, yalikuwa mafupi na ya upole zaidi, lakini nayo yalitoka katika utamaduni huu.For a long time this was the most widely used confession among Particular Baptists. In 1707 the Baptist churches near Philadelphia in America formed the Philadelphia Association, and in 1742 the Association adopted the 1689 Confession, with two small additions. The result is called the Philadelphia Confession. It carried the 1689 teaching into American Baptist life. The New Hampshire Confession (1833), which you will meet in later units, was shorter and milder, but it too came from this tradition.

Swali la Ukalvini, Lililoelezwa kwa HakiThe Calvinism Question, Stated Fairly

Wabaptisti wengi leo ni Wakalvini. Wengine si Wakalvini. Lazima tueleze tofauti hiyo kwa uaminifu.Many Baptists today are Calvinistic. Others are not. We must describe the disagreement honestly.

Mtazamo wa Wabaptisti Maalum (wa Kireformed). Maungamo ya 1689 yanafundisha kwamba Mungu alichagua watu fulani waokolewe kabla ya msingi wa ulimwengu, kwamba Kristo alikufa ili kuhakikisha wokovu wa watu hao, na kwamba Mungu huwaita kwa ufanisi ili waamini. Watetezi wake wanataja maandiko kama Waefeso 1:4-5 na Yohana 10:11, ambapo Kristo anaweka uhai wake kwa ajili ya kondoo zake. Wanafundisha kwamba waliookolewa watavumilia hadi mwisho, kwa kuwa Mungu humaliza alichoanza (Wafilipi 1:6).The Particular Baptist (Reformed) view. The 1689 Confession teaches that God chose some people to be saved before the world began, that Christ died to secure the salvation of those people, and that God effectively calls them so that they believe. Its defenders point to texts such as Ephesians 1:4-5 and John 10:11, where Christ lays down His life for His sheep. They teach that the saved will persevere to the end, since God finishes what He begins (Philippians 1:6).

Pingamizi. Wabaptisti wengine, wakiwemo Wabaptisti Wajumla wa wakati huo na Wabaptisti wengi wa "Jadi" leo, wanajibu kwamba Biblia inasema Kristo alikufa kwa ajili ya wote. Wanataja Yohana 3:16, 1 Timotheo 2:4, 2 Petro 3:9 na 1 Yohana 2:2. Wanasema kwamba toleo la Mungu la wokovu ni la kweli kwa kila mtu, na kwamba watu wanawajibika kulijibu. Wanaogopa kwamba ukombozi maalum unafanya toleo hilo kuwa si la kweli na kudhoofisha uinjilisti.The objection. Other Baptists, including the General Baptists of that day and many "Traditional" Baptists today, reply that the Bible says Christ died for all. They point to John 3:16, 1 Timothy 2:4, 2 Peter 3:9 and 1 John 2:2. They say that God's offer of salvation is real for everyone, and that people are responsible to answer it. They fear that particular redemption makes the offer unreal and weakens evangelism.

Jibu la Kibaptisti. Wabaptisti Maalum hawakuamini kwamba injili ihubiriwe kwa wachache tu. Maungamo ya 1689 yenyewe yanafundisha kwamba injili inapaswa kuhubiriwa kwa wote, pamoja na amri ya kutubu na kuamini. Wabaptisti pande zote mbili wanafundisha kwamba Kristo humpokea kila anayekuja kwake (Yohana 6:37). Wabaptisti wengi wahafidhina leo wanakubaliana katika mambo haya: wokovu ni kwa neema kwa imani peke yake, injili inatolewa bure kwa wote, na muumini wa kweli analindwa kwa nguvu za Mungu (1 Petro 1:5). Kuhusu swali la ndani zaidi la jinsi kuchagua kwa Mungu na jibu letu vinavyoungana, Wabaptisti wametofautiana wao kwa wao kwa upendo kwa karibu miaka mia nne, na Kozi ya 2 italichukua kikamilifu. Tunashikilia kiini cha pamoja kwa uthabiti. Hatuvunji ushirika kwa ajili ya mengine.The Baptist answer. The Particular Baptists did not believe that the gospel should be preached only to a few. The 1689 Confession itself teaches that the gospel is to be preached to all, with the command to repent and believe. Baptists on both sides teach that Christ receives everyone who comes to Him (John 6:37). Most conservative Baptists today agree on these points: salvation is by grace through faith alone, the gospel is freely offered to all, and the true believer is kept by God's power (1 Peter 1:5). On the deeper question of how God's choosing and our response fit together, Baptists have disagreed with each other in love for nearly four hundred years, and Course 2 will take it up fully. We hold the common core firmly. We do not break fellowship over the rest.

Maungamo na BibliaConfessions and the Bible

Baadhi ya Wakristo wanapinga maungamo ya imani. Wanasema, "Hatuna imani ya kanuni ila Biblia." Wabaptisti wanajibu kwamba upendo huu kwa Maandiko ni sahihi, lakini unahitaji uangalifu.Some Christians object to confessions of faith. They say, "We have no creed but the Bible." The Baptists reply that this love for Scripture is right, but it needs care.

Pingamizi linasema kwamba maungamo yaliyoandikwa yanaongeza juu ya Biblia na yanaweza kuichukua nafasi yake. Jibu ni kwamba Wabaptisti hawajawahi kuyapa maungamo yao mamlaka ya Maandiko. Maungamo ya 1689 yenyewe yanaweka Maandiko kwanza, kama kanuni pekee inayotosha na isiyokosea ya imani na maisha. Maungamo ni muhtasari wa yale kanisa linayoelewa Biblia inafundisha. Yako chini ya Biblia, na yanaweza kusahihishwa na Biblia. Waberoya "walichunguza Maandiko kila siku, waone kama mambo hayo ndivyo yalivyo" (Matendo 17:11), na Mbaptisti anaalikwa kufanya vivyo hivyo kwa maungamo yoyote.The objection says that written confessions add to the Bible and may replace it. The answer is that the Baptists never gave their confessions the authority of Scripture. The 1689 Confession itself puts Scripture first, as the only sufficient and infallible rule of faith and life. A confession is a summary of what a church understands the Bible to teach. It is subordinate to the Bible, and it can be corrected by the Bible. The Bereans "searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so" (Acts 17:11), and a Baptist is invited to do the same with any confession.

Kwa nini basi Wabaptisti wanayatumia? Kuna sababu tatu. Maungamo yanawaambia watu wengine kwa uaminifu tunaamini nini; Wabaptisti wa 1644 walihitaji hili. Yanawafundisha watu wetu wenyewe na kuwalinda dhidi ya kosa; Paulo alimwambia Timotheo "ushikilie kielelezo cha maneno yenye afya" (2 Timotheo 1:13). Na yanasaidia makanisa kufanya kazi pamoja, kwa sababu wanaokubaliana katika mambo makuu wanaweza kushirikiana. Kila mtu anayesema "hatuna imani ya kanuni ila Biblia" bado ana ufahamu wa kile Biblia inasema. Kukiandika kunakifanya kiwe wazi kupimwa.Why then do Baptists use them? There are three reasons. A confession tells other people honestly what we believe; the Baptists of 1644 needed this. It teaches our own people and guards them from error; Paul told Timothy to "hold fast the pattern of sound words" (2 Timothy 1:13). And it helps churches work together, because those who agree on the main matters can cooperate. Everyone who says "we have no creed but the Bible" still has an understanding of what the Bible says. Writing it down makes it open to test.

Matumizi ya KichungajiPastoral Application

Wewe ni mchungaji katika kanisa la Kibaptisti katika mji mmoja nchini Meksiko. Mgeni kutoka kanisa lingine anaacha nakala iliyochapishwa ya Maungamo ya 1689 kanisani kwako. Shemasi anayasoma na anakuja kwako akiwa na wasiwasi. "Mchungaji, yanasema Kristo alikufa kwa ajili ya wateule tu. Wainjilisti wetu wanawaambia watu kwamba Yesu alikufa kwa ajili yao. Je, tumekosea? Je, tunapaswa kuchagua kati ya Wakalvini na wengine?"You are a pastor in a Baptist church in a town in Mexico. A visitor from another church leaves a printed copy of the 1689 Confession at your church. A deacon reads it and comes to you troubled. "Pastor, it says Christ died only for the elect. Our evangelists tell people that Jesus died for them. Are we wrong? Do we have to choose between Calvinists and the rest?"

Mchungaji mwenye hekima atafanya mambo kadhaa. Kwanza, anamshukuru shemasi kwa kusoma na kwa kuuliza. Pili, anakaa naye na kufungua Biblia, akisoma pamoja Yohana 3:16, Waefeso 1:3-6 na Yohana 10:11, na kuuliza kila andiko linasema nini. Tatu, anaeleza kwamba Wabaptisti Maalum na Wajumla wote walimpenda Kristo, walibatiza waumini, na walishikilia Maandiko. Nne, anamkumbusha shemasi kwamba Maungamo ya 1689 ni hazina lakini si Biblia. Tano, anaonyesha kwamba kanisa linaweza kuendelea kumwambia kila mtu kwamba Kristo anamwita atubu na aamini, kwa sababu wito wa injili ni kwa wote. Mchungaji anadumisha umoja wa kanisa na hageuzi swali la kujifunza kuwa ugomvi.A wise pastor will do several things. First, he thanks the deacon for reading and for asking. Second, he sits down with him and opens the Bible, reading John 3:16, Ephesians 1:3-6 and John 10:11 together, and asks what each text says. Third, he explains that Particular and General Baptists both loved Christ, baptized believers, and held to Scripture. Fourth, he reminds the deacon that the 1689 Confession is a treasure but not the Bible. Fifth, he shows that the church can keep telling every person that Christ calls them to repent and believe, because the call to the gospel is for all. The pastor keeps the unity of the church and does not turn a question for study into a quarrel.

MuhtasariSummary

Wabaptisti Maalum walitokea London katika miaka ya 1630 na 1640 kutoka katika Utengano wa Kiingereza, wakifundisha kwamba Kristo alikufa kwa ajili ya wateule wake, na kufikia karibu mwaka 1641 walibatiza waumini kwa kuzamisha. Mwaka 1644 makanisa saba ya London yalichapisha Maungamo ya Kwanza ya London, yenye vifungu hamsini na viwili, kujibu kashfa na kuonyesha kwamba walikuwa na imani sahihi na wanatii sheria. Baada ya 1660 Wabaptisti waliteseka chini ya sheria dhidi ya wasiofuata kanisa lililoanzishwa na dola, na Bunyan na Keach ni wawili waliovumilia kifungo au adhabu. Maungamo ya Pili ya London, yaliyochapishwa mwaka 1677 na kuchapishwa tena mwaka 1689 baada ya Sheria ya Uvumilivu, yalifuata Maungamo ya Westminster na Tamko la Savoy, lakini yalibadilisha mafundisho kuhusu ubatizo na mpangilio wa kanisa. Chama cha Philadelphia kiliyapokea mwaka 1742 huko Amerika. Wabaptisti wametofautiana kuhusu upeo wa upatanisho, lakini kiini cha pamoja kiko imara: neema kwa imani, injili kwa wote, na muumini anayelindwa na Mungu. Maungamo ni mtumishi wa Maandiko, si bwana wake.The Particular Baptists arose in London in the 1630s and 1640s out of English Separatism, teaching that Christ died for His elect, and by about 1641 they baptized believers by immersion. In 1644 seven London churches published the First London Confession, with fifty-two articles, to answer slander and to show that they were orthodox and law-abiding. After 1660 the Baptists suffered under laws against nonconformists, and Bunyan and Keach are two who endured prison or punishment. The Second London Confession, published in 1677 and reissued in 1689 after the Toleration Act, followed the Westminster Confession and the Savoy Declaration, but it changed the teaching on baptism and church order. The Philadelphia Association adopted it in 1742 in America. Baptists have disagreed about the extent of the atonement, but the common core is firm: grace through faith, the gospel for all, and the believer kept by God. A confession is a servant of Scripture, not its master.

Usomaji ZaidiFurther Reading

• The First London Confession of Faith (Maungamo ya Kwanza ya London ya Imani) (1644; toleo la pili 1646), kikoa cha umma.• The First London Confession of Faith (1644; second edition 1646), public domain.

• The Second London Confession of Faith (Maungamo ya Pili ya London ya Imani) (1677; 1689), kikoa cha umma.• The Second London Confession of Faith (1677; 1689), public domain.

• John Bunyan, The Pilgrim's Progress (Safari ya Msafiri) (1678), kikoa cha umma.• John Bunyan, The Pilgrim's Progress (1678), public domain.

• H. Leon McBeth, The Baptist Heritage (Urithi wa Kibaptisti) (1987).• H. Leon McBeth, The Baptist Heritage (1987).

• David W. Bebbington, Baptists Through the Centuries (Wabaptisti Katika Karne Zote) (2010).• David W. Bebbington, Baptists Through the Centuries (2010).

• Anthony L. Chute, Nathan A. Finn na Michael A. G. Haykin, The Baptist Story (Hadithi ya Wabaptisti) (2015).• Anthony L. Chute, Nathan A. Finn and Michael A. G. Haykin, The Baptist Story (2015).

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