"The Holy Catholick Church": Baptists, tradition and reception in the late seventeenth century

For these baptistic thinkers, a desire for Christian unity ran parallel with the reality of theological divergence and these authors often made catholic appeals to justify that which made them unique. These authors appealed to a diverse swath of patristic, medieval, and post-Reformation theologians and clearly aligned themselves with contemporary Protestant and Reformed groups. Despite their divergent views of the church and sacraments, baptistic Christians sought a theological method and ecclesiological practice which was shaped by, and consistent with, the Christian past and contemporary orthodox Protestants.

The present study considers the baptistic desire for catholicity through their writing, while acknowledging the contexts in which this catholicity was being articulated. As these figures expressed that which made them the same as other Christians, they began to better understand that which distinguished them from other Christians: namely, what it meant to be distinctly Baptist. <br><br><i>Thesis is embargoed until 31 July 2031.</i>