{"id":516,"date":"2014-03-08T23:32:57","date_gmt":"2014-03-09T04:32:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fwbhistory.com\/?p=516"},"modified":"2015-01-15T11:13:55","modified_gmt":"2015-01-15T16:13:55","slug":"whats-in-a-name","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fwbhistory.com\/?p=516","title":{"rendered":"Free Will Baptists: What’s in a Name?"},"content":{"rendered":"
By Robert E. Picirilli\u00a0[1]\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n

Many seem to think that the Free Will Baptists of the North<\/a>\u2014the Randall movement\u2014consistently used \u201cFreewill Baptist,\u201d while those in the South<\/a>\u2014the Palmer movement\u2014usually used \u201cFree Will Baptist.\u201d The facts tell a different story.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\u00a0<\/span>The Randall Movement\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The Northern denomination began with the planting of a church in New Durham, New Hampshire, by Benjamin Randall in 1780. \u201cThey organized simply as a Baptist church.\u201d\u00a0[2] That was the only name used for more than twenty years.<\/p>\n

Freewill, a Derogatory Name Finally Accepted<\/em><\/p>\n

Long before 1780, believers of Arminian persuasion were mocked as \u201cfree willers.\u201d\u00a0 Historians of the Northern movement agree that this was first a term of derision, accepted only gradually and with some reluctance.\u00a0 Frederick L. Wiley observes that the name, \u201cthough a contemptuous nickname, was eventually accepted by the majority of our people.\u201d\u00a0[3]\u00a0In 1804, the Legislature of New Hampshire, in response to a request from the Randallites, passed the following resolution:<\/p>\n

Resolved, <\/i>That the people in this State, commonly known by the name of Freewill Antipedo Baptist church and society<\/i>, shall be considered as a distinct religious sect or denomination, with all the privileges, as such, agreeable to the Constitution.\u00a0[4]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

That, <\/i>minus the \u201cAntipedo,\u201d\u00a0[5] is the name that stuck.<\/p>\n

Different Spellings of the Freewill Name<\/em><\/p>\n

When we read the work of an author like Stewart, we should realize that, for the sake of consistency, he chose to represent the name the same way all the time and in the form he preferred. From his book we would never learn that the Freewill<\/i> took any other form. But it did. At least two other variations are possible and were widely used: Free-will<\/i> (hyphenated, with or without a capital on Will<\/i>) or Free Will<\/i> (two words).<\/p>\n

Within the Northern denomination, even official documents sometimes used Free-will <\/i>(or Free-Will<\/i>) and sometimes Freewill<\/i>. The 1839 edition of the Treatise of Faith and Practices<\/i>, for example, has Freewill<\/i> both in the title and in \u201cPublished by the Trustees of the Freewill Baptist Connection.\u201d But the 1850 edition has Free-will<\/i> in both places. In any printed publication, the name will be represented in the form chosen by the writer, editor, or printer.<\/p>\n

The Morning Star<\/i> was the Northern denomination\u2019s leading periodical. The issue for July 15, 1835, was \u201cPublished \u2026 by the Freewill Baptist Connexion.\u201d The one for May 26, 1852, was \u201cPublished by the Free-will Baptist Printing Establishment.\u201d Other publications show the same variety, including The Free-will Baptist Magazine<\/i> that began in 1826.<\/p>\n

They also used Free Will <\/i>as two words. While the printing establishment did not do this, many of the things published or written across the Randall movement did.\u00a0 John Buzzell, a close associate of Randall\u2019s, after describing the founding of the New Durham church by Randall, observes: \u201cThis is the beginning of the now large and extensive connection, called Free Will Baptist.\u201d\u00a0[6]\u00a0In Abel Thornton\u2019s 1828 autobiography<\/a>, the writer of the preface uses Free Will Baptist <\/i>(pictured below). An 1876 handwritten journal is identified as the record of \u201cMill Creek Free Will Baptist Church\u201d (in Kansas). The handwritten minutes of the Ohio River Yearly Meeting, for 1833, refer to \u201cthe Treatise on the Faith of the Free Will Baptist [sic].\u201d An 1846 obituary in Anson, Maine, indicates that the deceased, Rev. William Paine, was converted \u201cunder the labors of \u2026 a Free Will Baptist preacher.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"AbelThorntonExcerpt\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Many other instances could be cited, making clear that across the broad sweep of the Randall movement the name often appeared as Free Will Baptist<\/i>. <\/i>It is correct to say that the Randallites were \u201cFree Will Baptists.\u201d Harrison and Barfield called them that (in 1897), and so did the record of the old Bethel Conference in North Carolina (in 1832)\u00a0[7]\u2014just as publications in the North often referred to the freewillers in the South as \u201cFreewill Baptists.\u201d<\/p>\n

From Freewill to Free Baptists<\/em><\/p>\n

The Randallites officially became Free Baptists<\/i> in 1892. Stewart notes that many preferred this shorter name as \u201cmore expressive and appropriate \u2026 since we believe, not only in free will, but free <\/i>salvation and free<\/i> communion.\u201d\u00a0[8]\u00a0In 1910-11, it was the \u201cGeneral Conference of Free Baptists\u201d that completed a merger with the Northern Baptists and ensured that as a separate denomination the Randall movement would go out of existence.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\u00a0<\/span>The Palmer Movement<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Although there are significant parts of the denomination, now, that had their origins in the Randall movement, the greater parts trace their origins to Paul Palmer in 1727 in eastern North Carolina.<\/p>\n

Baptist the Original Name; Free Will a Nickname<\/em><\/p>\n

Like those in New England, the North Carolina Free Will Baptists also at first simply called themselves Baptists<\/i>. There, too, it was apparently common for Baptists holding to Arminian sentiments to be derided as freewillers<\/i>\u2014whether one word or two! \u00a0This was evidently a carry-over from England. Adam Taylor notes that Thomas Helwys, the founding pastor of the original General Baptist church in London, and those who followed his lead, were derisively called \u201cheretics, anabaptists, and free-willers.\u201d\u00a0[9]\u00a0William F. Davidson observes that the nickname was in fairly common use throughout the 17th<\/sup> century in England.\u201d [10]<\/p>\n

Baptists in the Lineage of English General Baptists<\/em><\/p>\n

The Baptists who were ultimately called Free Will Baptists<\/i> in North Carolina, and spreading out from there, traced their spiritual lineage to the English General Baptists. When they needed to distinguish themselves from Calvinistic Baptists, they said something like \u201cBaptists holding to a general atonement,\u201d and so they came to be known as General Baptists<\/i>.\u00a0 In 1812, they produced a revision of the 1660 Standard Confession entitled, \u201cAn abstract of the Former Articles of Faith confessed by the original Baptist Church, holding the doctrine of general provision.\u201d<\/p>\n

When the North Carolina General Baptists first applied the name Free Will Baptist<\/i> (spelled one way or another) to themselves is not clear.\u00a0 Rufus K. Hearn said, in 1875, \u201cWe were called Ana-Baptists, Baptists, and General Baptists, until the year 1828, when we adopted the name of Free-Will Baptists.\u201d\u00a0[11]\u00a0For this date he was apparently relying on a statement by Elias Hutchins of the Northern Freewill Baptists, who visited in North Carolina during the period 1829-1833. Michael Pelt observes, \u201cThere is no reason to doubt Hutchins\u2019 statement.\u201d\u00a0[12]\u00a0Regardless, Free Will Baptist <\/i>had become the name that stuck.<\/p>\n

Spellings of Free Will in the South<\/em><\/p>\n

Once again, however, as in the North, the Southern brethren, here and there, used Free Will<\/i>, Freewill<\/i>, and Free-will <\/i>with equal freedom. To illustrate this I cite things published before 1900, but the variety continued after that.<\/p>\n

In North Carolina, the oldest conference was the Bethel Conference. On the cover of the 1833 minutes the name is Free Will Baptist<\/i>, but inside there is reference to Free-will Baptist<\/i> churches. The North Carolina General Conference replaced the Bethel; in 1845 the name is Free Will Baptist<\/i>; in 1851 Free-Will Baptist<\/i>; in 1857 Freewill-Baptist<\/i>; in 1864 Freewill Baptist<\/i>. The Cape Fear Conference shows similar vacillation, alternating betwee Free-Will Baptist<\/i> and Free Will Baptist<\/i> at least until 1901.<\/p>\n

Interestingly, the denominational paper published in Ayden, N. C., for May 27, 1896, <\/i>is titled The Free Will Baptist<\/i>. But in smaller print to the left of the masthead it is identified as the \u201cOrgan of the Freewill Baptist Church\u201d and published by the \u201cFreewill Baptist Pub. Co.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the early histories of Free Will Baptists in North Carolina was by Rufus K. Hearn<\/a>, first published in 1875 (referenced above). Hearn used Free Will<\/i> and Free-Will<\/i> interchangeably. Another early history was by Harrison and Barfield, apparently published in 1897. They, too, alternated between Free-Will<\/i> and Free Will<\/i>. [13]<\/p>\n

Varieties Outside North Carolina<\/em><\/p>\n

Given that this was true in North Carolina, one is not surprised to find it so across the Palmer movement. In the handwritten record book of the South Carolina Conference, for example, in 1858 the form is Freewill<\/i> and in 1860 it is Free Will<\/i>; the rest of the years show first one and then the other. In Alabama, the oldest association is apparently the Mount Moriah: the minutes for the late nineteenth century (beginning 1874) sometimes use Free-Will<\/i> and sometimes Freewill<\/i>.\u00a0Free Will<\/i> does not appear until 1906. In Tennessee, the minutes of the Cumberland Association from 1876 on show at various times Free Will<\/i>, Free-will<\/i>, and Freewill<\/i>. In Arkansas and Oklahoma the old minutes show similar variety.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0Conclusion<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The evidence certainly demonstrates that Free Will Baptists, both in the Randall movement and in the Palmer movement, have throughout their history been very inconsistent in the spelling of the name. All three forms\u2014Free Will<\/i>, Free-will <\/i>(or Free-Will<\/i>), and Freewill<\/i>\u2014are equally valid and equally old in both segments of the denomination.<\/p>\n

These days, however, it is appropriate that all of the denomination, for consistency, express our name in the way that has become dominant: Free Will Baptists<\/i>.\u00a0 Everyone should know that we write our name with two words!<\/p>\n

I have an appeal to make: Free Will Baptist<\/i> and the plural Free Will Baptists <\/i>should be used correctly! Without an \u201cs\u201d on the end, Free Will Baptist <\/i>is either an adjective or a singular noun. As an adjective, it modifies some other noun in phrases like \u201cFree Will Baptist people,\u201d \u201cFree Will Baptist doctrine,\u201d \u201ca Free Will Baptist preacher,\u201d or even \u201cCumberland Free Will Baptist Association.\u201d As a singular noun it refers to one person, as in \u201cI am a Free Will Baptist.\u201d But Free Will Baptists <\/i>is a plural noun and should always be used when not modifying some other word and meaning more than one of us.\u00a0 It still embarrasses me to see, plastered on the front page of the minutes of some of our associations, words like \u201cThe John Doe Association of Free Will Baptist<\/i>.\u201d\u00a0 Then I can\u2019t help asking myself, \u201cFree Will Baptist what<\/i>?\u201d<\/p>\n

We have a time-honored name, one we can wear without embarrassment. These two little four-letter words, Free Will<\/i>, give any knowledgeable hearer a quick summation of our theology of salvation.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
\n
\n

[1]\u00a0This article represents a much larger chapter to be published in a book by Randall House Publication.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

[2]\u00a0I. D. Stewart, The History of the Freewill Baptists, for Half a Century, with an Introductory Chapter: Volume I. from the year 1780 to 1830 <\/i><\/a>(Dover, NH: Freewill Baptist Printing Establishment, 1862), 55.\u00a0 (There never was a volume II.)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

[3]\u00a0F. L. Wiley, Centennial Souvenir of the New Hampshire Yearly Meeting of Free Baptists 1792-1892<\/i><\/a>, second unnumbered page in front.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

[4]\u00a0Hosea Quinby, Freewill Baptist Quarterly Magazine<\/i> 1:3 (December 1839), 81.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

[5]\u00a0The \u201cAnti-paedo\u201d was an old name for all Baptists because they were opposed (anti<\/i>) to infant (paedo<\/i>) baptism.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

[6]\u00a0John Buzzell, The Life of Elder Benjamin Randall: Principally Taken from Documents Written by Himself<\/i> (Limerick, ME: Hobbs, Woodman & Co., 1827), 84.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

[7]\u00a0T. F. Harrison and J. M. Barfield, History of the Free Will Baptists of North Carolina<\/i> (W. E. Moye, 1897?), 57, 219.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

[8]\u00a0Stewart, 176.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

[9]\u00a0Adam Taylor, The History of the English General Baptists<\/i>, vol. 1, The English General Baptists of the Seventeenth Century<\/i><\/a> (London: Printed for the Author by T. Bore, 1818), 86.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

[10]\u00a0William F. Davidson, The Free Will Baptists in America 1727-1984<\/i> (Nashville: Randall House Publications, 1985), 19.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

[11]\u00a0R. K. Hearn, \u201cOrigin of the Free Will Baptist Church of North Carolina<\/a>,\u201d in the Toisnot Transcript<\/i> (May 20-June 17, 1875), <\/i>reprinted in D. B. Montgomery, General Baptist History<\/i> (Evansville, IN: Courier Company, Book and Job Printers, 1882, 148-178), 169.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

[12]\u00a0Michael R. Pelt, A History of Original Free Will Baptists<\/i> (Mount Olive, NC: Mount Olive College Press, 1996), 107.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

[13]\u00a0See Harrison and Barfield, 84-85 for a few of many such examples.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Robert E. Picirilli\u00a0[1]\u00a0 Many seem to think that the Free Will Baptists of the North\u2014the Randall movement\u2014consistently used \u201cFreewill Baptist,\u201d while those in the South\u2014the Palmer movement\u2014usually used \u201cFree Will Baptist.\u201d The facts tell a different story.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-516","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog","category-featured"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fwbhistory.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/516","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fwbhistory.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fwbhistory.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fwbhistory.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fwbhistory.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=516"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/fwbhistory.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/516\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3680,"href":"https:\/\/fwbhistory.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/516\/revisions\/3680"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fwbhistory.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=516"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fwbhistory.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=516"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fwbhistory.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=516"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}