Zealous for the Lord: The Life and Thought of the Seventeenth-Century Baptist Hanserd Knollys

By Dennis C. Bustin and Barry H. Howson

Hanserd Knollys (1609-91) was a godly pastor/leader and prolific writer among the early Calvinistic Baptists of the seventeenth century. His life and ministry demonstrated a heart for the gospel of Jesus Christ. Despite imprisonment and persecution, he preached the gospel continuously and asked nonbelievers to "open the door" of their hearts to Christ. As for believers, he exhorted them to worship God "in spirit and truth," live holy lives in both "the form and power of godliness," and prepare and watch for the imminent second coming of Christ. As his friend Thomas Harrison said, "He was a Preacher out of the Pulpit as well as in it." It is hoped that this summary of his life and timeless message will spur believers to reach the world with the gospel.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Pickwick Publications
• Release date: Apr 16, 2019
• ISBN: 9781532636295

Dennis C. Bustin

Dennis C. Bustin’s early studies concentrated on New Testament studies and backgrounds.He earned an MDiv with a focus on the New Testament from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, after which he completed a ThM at Harvard University in Greco-Roman and Jewish backgrounds of the New Testament. Following this, Dennis shifted his attention to British/European history, receiving an MA and PhD, from Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. His research concentrates on the Stuart era of British history, particularly on dissenting religion. His first book, Paradox and Perseverance, examined the life and thought of Hanserd Knollys, one of the founders of the Particular Baptists in London. Dennis is currently Associate Professor of History at Crandall University in Moncton, NB, Canada, where he resides with his wife Diane.

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Zealous for the Lord

The Life and Thought of the Seventeenth-Century Baptist Hanserd Knollys

Dennis C. Bustin and Barry H. Howson

25817.png

Zealous for the Lord

The Life and Thought of the

Seventeenth-Century Baptist Hanserd Knollys

Copyright ©

2019

Dennis C. Bustin and Barry H. Howson. All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in critical publications or reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without prior written permission from the publisher. Write: Permissions, Wipf and Stock Publishers,

199

W.

8

th Ave., Suite

3

, Eugene, OR

97401

.

Pickwick Publications

An Imprint of Wipf and Stock Publishers

199

W.

8

th Ave., Suite

3

Eugene, OR

97401

www.wipfandstock.com

paperback isbn: 978-1-5326-3628-8

hardcover isbn: 978-1-5326-3630-1

ebook isbn: 978-1-5326-3629-5

Cataloguing-in-Publication data:

Names: Bustin, Dennis C., author. | Howson, Barry H., author

Title: Zealous for the Lord : the life and thought of the seventeenth-century Baptist Hanserd Knollys / by Dennis C. Bustin and Barry H. Howson.

Description: Eugene, OR: Pickwick Publications,

2019

| Series: Monographs in Baptist History

10

| Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers:

isbn 978-1-5326-3628-8 (

paperback

) | isbn 978-1-5326-3630-1 (

hardcover

) | isbn 978-1-5326-3629-5 (

ebook

)

Subjects: LCSH: Knollys, Hanserd, 1599?–1691. | Dissenters, Religious–England–History–

17

th century. | Baptists–Doctrines–History–17th century. | Theology, Doctrinal–England–History–

17

th century.

Classification:

call number 2019 (

paperback

) | call number (

ebook

)

Manufactured in the U.S.A.

05/13/19

Material from Paradox and Perseverance by Dennis C Bustin reprinted with permission from Authentic Media, PO Box

6326

, Bletchley, Milton Keynes, MK

1

9

GG, United Kingdom. Material from Erroneous and Schismatical Opinions by Barry Howson reprinted with permission from Koninklijke BRILL, P.O. Box

9000

, Plantijnstraat

2

,

2321

JC Leiden,| The Netherlands.

Table of Contents

Title Page

Preface

Timeline

Chapter 1: The Early Years

Chapter 2: Civil War and Christian Liberty

Chapter 3: The Commonwealth Years and the Struggle for Legitimacy

Chapter 4: The Commonwealth Years and the Struggle for Legitimacy: Quakers

Chapter 5: Persecution, Ministry, and Writing

Chapter 6: Knollys on the Christian Life, Church, and Ministry

Chapter 7: Knollys and His Eschatology

Chapter 8: Lessons We Can Learn from Hanserd Knollys

Select Bibliography

Monographs in Baptist History

volume 10

Series editor

Michael A. G. Haykin, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

Editorial board

Matthew Barrett, California Baptist University

Peter Beck, Charleston Southern University

Anthony L. Chute, California Baptist University

Jason G. Duesing, Midwest Baptist Theological Seminary

Nathan A. Finn, Union University

Crawford Gribben, Queen’s University, Belfast

Gordon L. Heath, McMaster Divinity College

Barry Howson, Heritage Theological Seminary

Jason K. Lee, Cedarville University

Thomas J. Nettles, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, retired

James A. Patterson, Union University

James M. Renihan, Institute of Reformed Baptist Studies

Jeffrey P. Straub, Central Seminary

Brian R. Talbot, Broughty Ferry Baptist Church, Scotland

Malcolm B. Yarnell III, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary

Ours is a day in which not only the gaze of western culture but also increasingly that of Evangelicals is riveted to the present. The past seems to be nowhere in view and hence it is disparagingly dismissed as being of little value for our rapidly changing world. Such historical amnesia is fatal for any culture, but particularly so for Christian communities whose identity is profoundly bound up with their history. The goal of this new series of monographs, Studies in Baptist History, seeks to provide one of these Christian communities, that of evangelical Baptists, with reasons and resources for remembering the past. The editors are deeply convinced that Baptist history contains rich resources of theological reflection, praxis and spirituality that can help Baptists, as well as other Christians, live more Christianly in the present. The monographs in this series will therefore aim at illuminating various aspects of the Baptist tradition and in the process provide Baptists with a usable past.

figure%201.jpg

Preface

T

his work has been

a labor of love for both of us. Each of us did our PhD theses on Hanserd Knollys and we were privileged to have them published: Dennis’s Paradox and Perseverance (Paternoster,

2007

) and Barry’s Erroneous and Schismatical Opinions (Brill,

2001

). Unfortunately, due to the academic nature of the books and their higher cost, few have become acquainted with this seventeenth-century Baptist pastor and theologian. We hope that this book will rectify this loss. Hanserd Knollys was part of the beginnings of the English Calvinistic Baptist movement. He signed their first confession of faith (

1646

revision of

1644

) and lived through the days of expansion (

1640

s and ’

50

s) and the days of trial and persecution (

1660

s to

1680

s). In addition, he signed the historic confession of faith known as the Second London Baptist Confession of

1689

. He wrote over

25

works of which the majority are pastoral in nature.

Our desire is to make it possible for a greater number of people, not least of which are Baptists, to become familiar with early Baptist history in general and with this evangelical Baptist pastor in particular.

A very special thanks to Ruth Engler who did an excellent job of editing the chapters and taking care of the many details necessary for pre-publication.

We thank our publisher Pickwick Publications, and in particular series editor Dr. Michael Haykin, for their willingness to publish this biography of Hanserd Knollys.

We also want to thank our families, especially for their support through all our years of studying Hanserd Knollys. In particular, we thank our wives, Diane and Sharon, and our children, Jay and Abby and Natalie and Shawna.

Timeline

1

The Early Years

I

n 1603 a new

day had come for the citizens of England. The Tudor line had ended with the death of Elizabeth I and the accession of the house of Stuart brought hope, especially for English Protestants.¹ However, the first five years of rule by James I saw an erosion of the relationship between the King and Parliament and a rise of religious dissension fuelled by Catholic-Protestant tension. In the midst of this, in the early fall of

1609

, a baby boy was born in Cawkwell, an inconsequential village in Lincolnshire.² His life would intersect at various points with the turbulent political and religious milieu of seventeenth-century England.

Birth and Early Life

The proud parents of the baby were Richard Knowles (or Knollys) and his new bride, Rachell Pagett. They named the boy Hanserd after Rachell’s family name.³ As the vicar in the Cawkwell parish, Richard baptized his son on November

13

,

1609

. Five years later, the family moved to the towns of Scartho and Grimsby where Hanserd lived for the remainder of his younger years.⁴

Hanserd’s family had connections with the lesser Lincolnshire gentry, particularly on his mother’s side. His maternal grandmother, Christobel Lacon, was born a Sutcliffe (an influential family in the market town of Grimsby) and was connected to several gentry families. Her grandfather, John, had been a prominent urban gentleman, and her father, Matthew, was an influential scholar. Solomon, her uncle, had served several terms as the mayor of Grimsby (

1598

,

1599

,

1603

, and

1608

), and his eldest son was an Esquire of the Body to James I.⁵ Hanserd Knollys’ maternal grandfather was Richard Hanserd Jr. of Biscathorpe, who came from a prominent family as well. His father, Richard Hanserd Sr., had served as the mayor of Grimsby in

1569

. In

1597

Richard Hanserd Jr. died and Christobel married Harbert Lacon of Humberstone. Lacon was a man of good financial standing who solidified her economic position considerably. Therefore, it would seem that young Hanserd Knollys was blessed to have been raised in a home of the newly emerging middling sort: the social group that was becoming increasingly involved in the economic, political, and religious affairs of England.⁶

The county of Lincoln in the early sixteenth century had experienced some political upheavals, and a growing spirit of nonconformity emerged there in the last quarter of the sixteenth century.⁷ Hanserd’s father, Richard, who was a cleric in the Church of England, was well educated and placed a high importance on education. Richard had graduated from Cambridge University, which was dominated by Puritan thought at the time. After graduation, he served as vicar in several churches in Lincolnshire.⁸

Richard played a formative role in the life of his son in terms of both religion and education. It seems fairly certain that his home was a devout one in which religious observance was taken very seriously. In his autobiography, Hanserd Knollys recounted several events from his childhood that give evidence of this fact. One such event took place when Hanserd was six. He nearly drowned in a pond but was preserved from being drowned by the water bearing up my Coats, till my Father came, leaped in, and pulled me out.⁹ Another such incident related to how his father attempted to disswade me from the love and use of strong Drink¹⁰ whereupon Hanserd made a vow to such an end.

In an effort to see that his sons received instruction in both book knowledge and religious piety, Richard hired a tutor who was a godly and conscientious Young Man who gave us good Instructions for our Souls.¹¹ From an early age, Hanserd began his education. By age ten, he could already read the Latin Bible.¹² This mastery of Latin as well as Greek and Hebrew, which he would also learn, served him well throughout his life. In between tutors Hanserd and his brother Zacharie also attended the Grimsby Grammar School.¹³

Having received a good foundation through his tutors and his time at grammar school, Hanserd Knollys followed his father’s path by continuing his education at St. Catharine’s Hall, Cambridge University, where he matriculated as a pensioner at age

18

in

1627

.¹⁴ At this point in its history, Cambridge University was at its peak as a Puritan stronghold. In fact Hanserd studied under the well-known Puritan master, Richard Sibbes.¹⁵ Although his father Richard Knollys undoubtedly introduced him to Puritan ideas, his years at Cambridge reinforced them.¹⁶ After two years of study at Cambridge, Hanserd Knollys was ordained on June

29

,

1629

, as a deacon. The next day, the bishop of Peterborough ordained him as a priest.¹⁷

Unable to secure a living, Knollys spent the next couple of years teaching in the Gainsborough Free School. This period was another key one in shaping Knollys, for throughout his life, he would be involved actively in education as a tutor or teacher. Also, the Gainsborough area was a seedbed for separatist and dissenting thought. John Smythe and Thomas Helwys, the earliest founders of what would become the General Baptists, hailed from this region, as well as the Pilgrim Fathers. During this period, Knollys met a godly old Widow . . . who told me of one called a Brownist, who used to pray and expound Scriptures in his Family, whom I went sometimes to hear, and with whom I had Conference, and very good Counsel.¹⁸ Perhaps Knollys began entertaining openness to separatist ideas during these Gainsborough years.¹⁹

Ministry, Marriage, and Move into Non-Conformity

In

1631

Knollys finally secured a living in the Church of England. He was appointed Vicar of Humberstone, which was the home of Hanserd’s grandmother, Christobel Sutcliffe, and was a town not far from Scartho and Grimsby where he had spent his childhood and where his father continued to minister. Knollys served this parish for the next three years. These were busy years for him, and he approached his duties very diligently and in a manner strict and laborious.²⁰ He preached at least twice on Sundays (often three or four times) and at all church festivals, on holy days, and at the funerals of his parishioners. Usually, he spent his mornings in study and his afternoons visiting parishioners or family members.²¹

In

1632

Knollys met and married Anne Cheney. She would be his wife for

39

years. The wedding took place on May

22

,

1632

, in Wyberton, Lincolnshire, not far from Boston and near Anne’s childhood home. Like her husband, Anne also descended from Lincolnshire gentry, with several of her ancestors having been knighted.²² According to Knollys, Anne not only fulfilled her expected wifely domestic duties, but she also played a significant role as a companion: she was a Holy, Discreet Woman, and a meet Help for me, in the ways of her Houshold, and also in the way of Holiness; who was my companion in all my Sufferings, Travels, and Hardships that we endured for the Gospel.²³ Intensely spiritual, this Holy, Discreet Woman actively participated in Knollys’s ministry and in his own spiritual development throughout his life.²⁴

Hanserd and Anne had ten children: seven sons and three daughters.²⁵ Their first son, Cheney, was born in early

1633

, and Knollys baptized him in Humberstone, Lincolnshire, on March

13

,

1633

. Like his father and grandfather, Cheney would become a clergyman.²⁶ One year later, their second son, John, was born; and Knollys baptized him in Goulceby, Lincolnshire, on March

11

,

1634

.²⁷

According to Knollys’s autobiography, he tackled his pastoral ministry with great conscientiousness and realized a measure of success.²⁸ Nevertheless, shortly after his marriage, he began to question several practices within the established Church of England: the Surplice, the Cross in Baptism, and admitting wicked persons to the Lords Supper.²⁹ These practices had begun to encounter Puritan resistance in the early seventeenth century, as they were offensive due to their ceremonial nature. Because of these doubts, Knollys resigned his living to John Williams, the Bishop of Lincoln, around

1636

. Williams himself embraced Puritan teachings on a variety of issues, having disagreed strongly with William Laud, the Archbishop of Canterbury, about the placement of the communion table. He sought to convince Knollys to reconsider and offered him a better living. However, conformity to the Church of England was no longer an option for Knollys. A short time later, he also renounced his ordination, which he felt was not right.³⁰ His doubts continued to plague him, and at this point, he began even to question