What's New?


January 2023
Completed transcription of the remaining sermons from John Piggott's Eleven Sermons Preach’d Upon Special Occasions (London: John Darby, 1714). All sermons from this work can now be found in the Other Writings, year 1714, or Other Writings [Authur List] sections of this website.

May 2022
If you don't know much about William Perkins, take 5 minutes to listen to Stephen Nicols "5 minutes in Church History" from 11 May 2022 on William Perkins found here.

February 2021
A Golden ChainIt has been a long time since posted anything new here. However, I have not been idle. As I mentioned back in October 2019 (see below) TULIP Publishing here in Australia undertook to publish a slightly modernised verion of the text of William Perkins' A Golden Chain. In God's great kindness, this is now a reality and should be released in the US, UK and Australia by the end of February 2021. If you are interested, you can sget more information on the the TULIP Publishing website here.

I did not realise how much work it takes to get move something from a transcribed text into a format suitble for publication as a book. I want to thank the Lord for the priviledge of participating in this endeavour. I also want to thank Brett and Lucy Lee-Prince of TULIP Publishing for undertaking this. And I want to thank my co-editor, Matthew Payne of Stretch Theology, for all his work on the project. Matthew (doing his PhD thesis on Perkins) wrote the introductory chapter, revised/redrew all the daigrams and provided extremely help information on the structure of A Golden Chain. I think all of these make this version of Perkins' A Golden Chain much more accessible to the reader. I hope you agree.

"Theology is the science of living blessedly forever. Blessed life consists in the knowledge of God." William Perkins

I have also been working on putting all the Works of Hercules Collins into a book format. Juggeling this along with working on A Golden Chain, has been challenging. Unfortunately, Collins' "Works" have had to take a "back seat" to A Golden Chain on a number of occassions in the last year. This is all in the good providence of God.

 

October 2019
A Treatise Concerning the Lawfull Subject of Baptism by John Spilsbery (or John Spilsbury), 1652. John Spilsbury was the forst pastor of what is generally considered the first trul Particular Baptist Church in London (if not the world. I this treatise not only does Spilsbury argue that the only true scandidate for Biblical bapsism is a professed believer, he also argues that baptism "under Anti-christ" (Roman Catholicism) is no baptism at all, nor is there a succession in the administration of baptism. The Church pastored by Spilsbury was known to meet in Broad Street, Old Gravel Lane, Wapping and was formed around 1633. This Church was later pastored by John Norcott and then by Hercules Collins, both of whom also wrote works on believer's baptism. A transcription of Spilsbery's (Spilsbury) Treatise on the Lawful Subject of Baptism can be found along with other works in the Other Writings Section of this website.

The Rest of the People of GOD. A Funeral Sermon Occasion’d by the Death Of the Reverend Mr. John Piggott, Late Minister of the Gospel. Preach’d March 29 1713 by Joseph Stennett. This is a sermon at the end of John Piggott's, Eleven Sermons Preach’d Upon Special Occasions (London: John Darby, 1714), pp 490-539. The transcription can be found along with other works in the Other Writings Section of this website.

A slightly update version of William Perkin's A Golden Chaine has been uploaded (PDF and ebook versions). This update provides some footnotes on miscited Scriptures in the original text by Perkins. This update came about through work on a new modernised version to hoped be published through Tulip Publishing in Australia. The updated transcription in PDF and ebook format can be found along with other works in the Other Writings Section of this website.

May 2019
A Funeral Sermon Occasioned by the Death of Mr. George Stennett Preach'd The 17th of September, 1709. Preach by John Piggott and part of a book, Eleven Sermons Preach’d Upon Special Occasions (London: John Darby, 1714), pp 423-472. This transcription can be found along with other works in the Other Writings Section of this website.

April 2019
A Sermon Preach’d at the Funeral Of the Reverend Mr. Hercules Collins, Late Minister of the Gospel; Who died 4th of October, 1702. and was Inter’d the 9th of the same Month.. Preach by John Piggott and part of a book, Eleven Sermons Preach’d Upon Special Occasions (London: John Darby, 1714), pp 199-240.

A Funeral Sermon Occasioned by the Death of the Reverend Mr. Thomas Harrison, Late Minister of the Gospel in London; Who departed this Life Aug. 14. 1702. From Eleven Sermons Preach’d Upon Special Occasions (London: John Darby, 1714), pp 156-197.

A Funeral Sermon Occasioned by the Death of the Reverend Mr. Samuel Ewer, Late Minister of the Gospel at Hempstead in Hartfordshire. Preach'd Decemb, the 24th, 1708. From Eleven Sermons Preach’d Upon Special Occasions (London: John Darby, 1714), pp 372-422.

These can be found along with other transcribed works in the Other Writings Section of this website.

February 2019
A Just Vindication of Mr. William Collins, and of several other Elders and Ministers, from the unjust Reflections of Mr. Isaac Marlow (London, 1697) by Hercules Collins, Benjamin Keach, Richard Adams, Leonard Harrison, Joseph Stennett, Richard Allen, John Piggott, Jeremiah Basse, Benjamin Dennis, and Thomas Harrison.

A Funeral Sermon Occasioned by the Death of the Reverend Mr. William Collins, Late Minister of the Gospel in London; Who died the 30th of October, 1702. Preach by John Piggott and part of a book, Eleven Sermons Preach’d Upon Special Occasions (London: John Darby, 1714).

William Collins was a Pastor of the Petty France Church in London. He was one of the men that subscribed to the Second London Baptist Confession of Faith at the General Assembly in 1689. He is believed to be one of the co-editor (along with Nehemiah Coxe) of the Confession of Faith. William Collins was on the pro singing side of the late 17th Century "Singing Controversy" (the majority of the Petty France Church body was opposed). Isaac Marlow (who opposed singing) made several written attacks at William Collins' character and actions, which A Just Vindication seeks to address.   These can be found along with other transcribed works in the Other Writings Section of this website.

October 2018
The last three of the works of Hercules Collins have now been transcribed. The three books are:
1. An Orthodox Catechism: Being the Sum of Christian Religion, Contained in the Law and Gospel. Published For preventing the Canker and Poison of Heresy and Error. 1680.

2. Three Books: viz.
I. The Scribe instructed unto the Kingdom of Heaven.
II. Mountains of Brass: or, A Discourse upon the Decrees of God.
III. A POEM on the Birth, Life, Death, Resurrection and Ascension of our Lord and Saviour JESUS CHRIST
. 1696

3. The Temple Repaired. OR, An ESSAY to revive the long-neglected Ordinances, of exercising the spiritual Gift of Prophecy for the Edification of the Churches; and of ordaining Ministers duly qualified. With proper Directions as to Study and Preaching, for such as are inclin’d to the Ministry. 1702.

These work can be found along with the other Collins' works in the Other Writings Section of this website. Hercules Collins twelve identified works can be found listed chronologically and available for download here.

July 2018
Another work of Hercules Collins, this time from 1690, called Mountain of Brass: or, A Discourse upon the Decrees Of God. From Ephes. 1. 11. Of this work William Kiffin says, "the Subject treated of, hath More largely been insisted on by many Learned and Worthy Men; but being Printed with other Subjects, or else so amply handled, that many fearing God, have neither Money to purchase them, nor time to read them; I judge this small Piece may not be Unacceptable, nor without its Use; forasmuch as it comprehends those large Treatises with great clearness, proving from the Scriptures of Truth, That all we have and hope for, is the Fruit of the Counsel of God’s own Will, our Calling being a Fruit of Election; and where he effectually calls, doth endow the Soul with all saving Grace, which can never die."   This work can be found along with other Collins; works in the Other Writings Section of this website.

The transcription of another work from the pen of Hercules Collins; Counsel For the Living Occasioned from the Dead or A Discourse on Job III. 17, 18. Arising from the Deaths of Mr. Fran. Bampfield and Mr. Zach. Ralphson. This is the second of Collins' prison writings; the other being A Voice from the Prison. Dr Stephen Weaver [curator of HerculesCollins.com] says that these two works are the most devotional of all Collins' writings. This work can be found along with other Collins; works in the Other Writings Section of this website.

February 2018
Over the summer vacation I have transcribed the Narratives of the General Assemblies "of the Baptized Churches from divers parts of England and Wales: owning the doctrine of personal election, and final perseverance" for the years 1689, 1690, 1691 and 1692. These can be found in various electronic version in the Other Writings section of this website. My brother James M Renihan has already transcribed these, along with the years to 1694 in his book Faith and Life for Baptists: The Documents of the London Particular Baptist General Assemblies, 1689-1694.

The General Assembly of 1689 was the one in which the Second London Baptist Conferssion of Faith was commended to all the Churches. These narratives demonstrate the practical concerns of the Baptist Churches. Note: The Narrative of the 1690 General Assembly was downloaded and transcribed from and used with the kind permission of the Angus Library and Archive, Regent’s Park College, Oxford (http://theangus.rpc.ox.ac.uk/).

December 2017
John Norcott was the Pastor of the Baptist Church at Wapping prior to Hercules Collins. Norcott wrote a book on Baptism called, Baptism Discovered Plainly & Faithfully, According to the Word of God. This book was very popular and it appears that Hercules Collins used Norcott's book as a basis for hhis book Believer's Baptism from Heaven. I have transcribed three editions of Norcott's book and Norcott's Funeral sermon by his close friend Bejamin Keach. All these can be found in the Other Writings Section of this website.

The website has been updated with a slightly new look and the removal of some older programs that only worked on early versions of Windows. This includes removing my first program, BCFHelp. The text of the 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith whih was published in BCFHelp if now available in PDF and ebook formats on the Confessions of Faith page. The 16 bit version (for Windows 3.1) of the The BCF Assistant has also been removed from the website.

March 2017
Two more articles by Hercules Collins. The first, Truth And Innocency Vindicated or, An Impartial Account of the late Proceedings between Mr. Mence (a local pedobaptist minister) and Mr. Collins,concerning the Salvation of Infants by the Imputation of Christ's Righteousness. Intended for the Information and Satisfaction of the Godly about Wapping, or elsewhere. (1695). Is his account of the prceedings between himelf and Mr Mence over misinterpreted statments he made in his book, Believers Baptism from Heaven. Beccause of Mr Mence's writing and preach on this matter, in the town of Wapping in which it appears both men lived,, Collins seems to have been maligned and the general populace would quip him as he walked down the street saying, "There goeth Mr. Collins,who holds the Damnation of Infants". In this work Collins sets out the proceedings and the interactions between he and Mr Mence on this matter, so that all the town would know that he was not the antagonist in this interchange.

The second work is Animadversions Upon the Responses of the Athenian Mercury, to the Questions about Infant-Baptism 1692. An animadversion is an action or an act of turning the attention to a subject; the observation or consideration of something.Oxford English Dictionary, online. The Athenian Mercury seems to have published two articles on the infant baptism/believers baptism debate coming down on the side of the common view of infant baptism being correct. Collins in this article calls attention to these articles and seeks to rebut them. Benjamin Keach also wrote a response to the Atheniam Mercury's articles also, Pedo-Baptism disproved Being an Answer to Two printed papers (put forth by some Gentlemen Called the Athenian Society, Who pretend to Answer all Questions sent to them of what nature soever) called the Athenian Mercury, One put forth on November 14. the other November. 28, 1691. In which Papers they pretend to answer eight Queries about the lawfulness of Infant-Baptism. Likewise delivers Queries sent to them about the true Subjects of Baptism, &c.

PDF and some ebook formats of both the above, are avaiable in the Other Writings section of the website.

December 2016
A further work on Beleiver's Baptism by Hercules Collins titled The Sandy Foundation of Infant Baptism Shaken: or, An Answer to a Book, Entituled Vindiciæ Fœderis, Published by Mr. Mence.

It seems Mr. Mence was a local minister in or around Wapping, who had written and preached against Hercules Collin's earlier works. Mence appears to have concluded that Herculles Collin's taught that all children dying in infancy were damned, which he did not. Given that Collins subscribed to the Secnd London Baptist Confession of Faith, he would have beleived that, "Elect Infants dying in infancy, are regenerated and saved by Christ through the Spirit; who worketh when, and where, and how he pleaseth: so also are all other elect persons, who are uncapable of being outwardly called by the Ministry of the Word". 2LBCF Capter 10, Of Effectual Calling.

PDF, HTML and some ebook formats of both the above, are avaiable in the Other Writings section of the website.

July 2016
Another of Hercules Collins works titled, The Antidote Proved a Counterfeit Or Error Detected, and Believers Baptism Vindicated Containing An Answer to a Nameless Author's Book, Entituled, An Antidote to prevent the Prevalency of Anabaptism, 1693. This book is a response to a work called, An Antidote to prevent the Prevalency of Anabaptism or Infants Baptism Vindicated By Way of a Query and Answer: Together with A Few Reflections upon some Remarkable Passages I lately met with in a book intitled, Believers Baptism from Heaven and of Divine Institution: Infants Baptism from Earth and Humane Invention. Which is itself was a rebuttal of Collin's earlier work recently transcribed and available here. The Antidote to Prevent the Prevalency of Anabaptism is published as being written by H.C. of Wapping. Which is an attempt to insinuate that Hercules Collins recanted and published against his own work, Believers Baptism from Heaven. This is why, the title of this new work by Collins is The Antidote Proved a Counterfeit. Unfortunately, in EEBO, the Antidote to Prevent the Prevalency of Anabaptism is wrongfully attributed to Hercules Collins. A list of Collin's genuine works can be found at https://herculescollins.com/works-of-hercules-collins/.

Many arguments used in The Antidote Proved a Counterfeit are similar to those in Believers Baptism from Heaven. However,in this latter work Collins more directly demonstrates why Infants In-covenanting, and the priviledges Children once had with their Parents, repealed, or why the argument of Christian Baptism being based upon circumcision and a covenant theology associated with it is false. He also addresses the matter of Infants being baptised based upon what he opposing authors calls "Habitual Faith".

PDF, HTML and some ebook formats of both the above, are avaiable in the Other Writings section of the website.

March 2016
Another of Hercules Collins works titled, Believers Baptism from Heaven, and of Divine Institution. Infants Baptism from Earth, and Human Invention.1691. This provides, at least one 17th Century Calvinistic Baptist's view of the Ordinance of Baptism. It also shows some of the common arguments against beleiver's Baptism that were being used at the time and how Collin's addresses them. While Collins does not address the modern covenant theology arguments for infant baptism, his strong biblical arguments still hold true.

The Life and Death Of That Old Disciple of Jesus Christ, and Eminent Minister of the Gospel Mr. Hanserd Knollys Who Dyed In the Ninety Third Year of his Age. 1692. The autobiography of Hanserd Knolly's published posthumously by William Kiffin, with a preface and the last letter of Knolly's to the Church he had pastored for nearly 50 years.

PDF, HTML and some ebook formats of both the above, are avaiable in the Other Writings section of the website.

November 2015
A further transciption of a short work by Hercules Collins, titled, A Voice from the Prison or,Meditations on Revelations III. XI. tending to the Establishment of Gods Little Flock, in An Hour of Temptation. This was written in 1684 while Collins was a prisoner for his faith in Newgate Prison.

For most of the 17th Century, to be a Baptist was illegal and it was not uncommon for our Baptist forefathers to be imprisoned for their preach or writing. John Bunyan was not the only man with Baptist convictions to serve a prison sentences for his faith.

PDF, HTML and some ebook formats are found in the Other Writings section of the website.

July 2015
The lastest transcription project is a short work by Hercules Collins titled, Some Reasons for Separation from the Church of England, and the Unreasonableness of Persecution Upon that Account, Soberly Debted, in a Dialogue between a Conformist, and a Nonconformist (Baptist.)

We often forget that our Baptist forefathers were persecuted and imprisoned for their beliefs and practices.

While in no way wish to cause division of discention with my brothers of Anglican persuasion today; it is important to remember that Baptists are Baptists by conviction and that our "traditon" (as many like to call it nowdays) is based upon our understanding of what Scripture teaches, not only about the mode and subjects of baptism, but of the participants and celebration of the ordinance of the Lord's Supper, who are they that consitute a local church and that congregations involvement in its own organisation and government.

Two versions of this transcription (PDF and HTML) are found in the Other Writings section of the website.

January 2014
I did not realise just how long it has been since my last entry inn the "What's New?" section of the website (last post was in early 2010)! However, I have been working on a number of transcription projects, which I have neglected to upload until now. For this I apologise.

The source for all of these transcriptions is a wonderful repository called Early English Books Online (EEBO) project. Some of the transcription projects have been the works of some eary English Puritans.

These transcribe works are in the Other Writings section of the website. These recent transcriptions are:

February 2010
I have uploaded two PDF files that are expositions by myself of 1 Thessalonians 5:12-13 (Recognize Leadership) and 1 Peter 1:3-5 (The Hope of Heaven). These are print versions of mini-sermons preached at our local assembly. They are very imperfect works, however, I trust they may be of some use and encouragement to you, as they were to me in their preparation.

January 2010
Due to information provided by a user. A minor correction was made in the Children's "Prove It" Catechism. Accordingly all versions have been updated

August 2008
No new titles, but some more news about us. We have relocated to Lawson in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney. We are now attending Central Mountains Baptist Church. Therefore, the About Us page has been updated with this information.

July 2008
No new titles, but some news about us. Mark and Stephen attended the School of Theology held by the Grace Reformed Baptist Church, a member of the Fellowship Reformed Baptist Churches of New Zealand. The instructor was Dr James Renihan of the Institute for Reformed Baptist Studies, Escondido, CA, USA. The subject was Baptist History. It was great to meet with Dr. Renihan for the first time, although we had corresponded and worked much together in the past. Dr Renihan provided most of the historical background to the Second London Baptist Confession of Faith that is contained in the BCF Assistant. It was a wonderful experience and great privilege to meet a number of the men in the Reformed Baptist Churches of NZ.

March 2008
We have uploaded new "on line" version of the First London Confession of Faith.

We have also produce a new category of Portable Programs. These are a single file (.exe), portable program format. These programs can be placed on a USB stick/drive and carried with you. Alternately, you can copy them to your computer's hard disk drive and use them there. These programs open a stand alone browser-like window. It probably is not as feature-rich as the browser you normally use, however, it does have a built-in search function which is quite good. These programs should all run on Windows 98/2000/XP and Vista.

February 2008
Uploaded an online web version of The Children's "Prove It" Catechism, a ZIP compressed, version of the same (HTML format). There is also a single file (portable) version of The Children's "Prove It" Catechism that can be taken with you on a USB memory stck (Windows 2000/XP/Vista).

December 2007
Uploaded an XP/Vista compatible installer for the Children's "Prove It"Catechism. I do not have Vista myself, however, I have been told it works fine with this installer, by a user.

September 2006
The Reformed Baptist's Disk CD. Contains all A Reformed Baptist's Disk programs. Programs run from the CD so you can take them with you! Autorun feature, just insert the CD into the CD drive and a menu automatically displays. Small size - burn to a mini CD or business card CD for your wallet. An ISO CD image is available for you to burn to CD.

June 2005
A little bit of a facelift with a new Logo and some changes to the menu system. No new titles, sorry. If you are particularly interested in seeing something in electronic form that would be of use to you and to Christian's in general e-mail me.

January 2005
Valiant In Fight: A Review of The Christian Conflict by B.F.C Atkinson, has been uploaded as a Windows HTMLHelp file and as HTML (viewable "on line" and as a downloadable zip file). This book is a short church history written in the first half of the twentieth century. It is full of lessons to be learned and warnings against worldliness, lukewarmness and compromise.

June 2004
Joseph Ivimey's "A History of English Baptist's"; has been uploaded both as a Windows HTML Help file and as HTML (viewable "on line" and as a downloadable zip file). It is my design in this to provide a larger Historical setting to the times in which the First and Second London Baptist Confessions were constructed.

We have also revamped the web site including a Javascript menu system, which I trust is useful. I have also added a section on What is a Christian. I am aware that most people who visit this sit will be disciples of Jesus Christ, however I cannot assume this and so I have included something of a gospel emphasis. No doubt there is much wrong with it, but I am open to suggestions on its improvement.

A site search has been added. Hopefully, this will make the site more useful to you.

January 2003
The "online" and downloadable HTML version of Calvin's Institutes (Beveridge Translation) as indicated last September, has now been completed and uploaded. This requires your browser to have Run Time Java installed. A Java search facility has been included courtesy of David Faden's SearchToHTML and The Gilbert Post, an independent high school student paper.

September 2002
An update of Calvin's Institutes is finally here! This expanded version of the Beveridge Translation now includes all footnotes, Author Index, General Index and 100 Aphorisms found in the Eerdmans (1989) single volume edition (1995 reprint). This may not sound like much, but I can assure you it has been the labour of many hours over the last couple of years. I trust that you will find it useful. I hope, God willing, soon to produce an HTML version for "on line" use.

Something that has impressed me greatly as I have updated and expanded this version of the program is the great depth and breadth of this work of Calvin. I truly believe that every Christian would gain enormously from the reading and study of the Institutes. He addresses and answers many questions that arise as we study doctrines. Calvin addresses questions like; "if God knows everything, then why pray?", or "if there are those who are elect and those who are not, why preach the Gospel?". It is also very practical. Of course, Calvin holds tenaciously to infant Baptism and some views of Church government which I do not believe to be Biblical. However, there is much to learn from this great theologian and Christian teacher of a past generation. I commend it to you warmly.

December 2001
What's new? Well basically EVERYTHING! A Reformed Baptist's Disk (formerly "Free Christian Software" and "The Reformed Baptist Disk") has a new and (hopefully) permanent home on the www.vor.org server. This has been very kindly provided by the Grace Reformed Baptist Church of Mebane North Carolina. Along with a new home is a new look for the Web Site. I hope you like it and will return again soon.

I decided to change the name of the site to "A Reformed Baptist's Disk" because I believed the former title (The) to be too pretentious. I did not want to convey the impression that the software on this site is a "must have" if someone claims to be a "Reformed Baptist".

I have just released a small helpfile like The BCF Assistant and BCF Help that contains the First London Baptist Confession of Faith (1646 2nd Edition). Click Here to have a look.

Given that some of the downloads on this site are fairly large and in the interests of sharing the software around, the entire site can be obtained on CD ROM. if you are interested in obtaining the CD ROM of the site, please e-mail me and I will tell you how much it will cost. This is a service, I don't make any money out of it!

April 2001
The BCF Assistant for MS ReaderTM. The MS ReaderTM is a Microsoft product designed for Laptop and Handheld computers.


If you would like to be informed when something new is released, then please send me an e-mail at mcjemisc@hotmail.com and ask to be placed on my mailing list.


 



 

e-mail address:mcjemisc@hotmail.com.