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Thursday, November 29, 2012

John Tombes: Introductory Concerns and Literature Review


Introductory Concerns
Introductory Concerns 
Thesis of the work

John Tombes, B.D., represents an untold chapter from the seventeenth century in two important ways. The first has to do with the history of Puritanism in England and New England. The second with his baptismal theology. This introduction will show how Tombes has been neglected and miscategorised from that age until the present. A fuller presentation in the body of the work will become a exposition of his thought in order to show his unique contribution to the history and development of Christian doctrine. It also will display the peculiarities of Tombes's ecclesiology which have further ostracised him from his theological progeny. Thus, there is one sustained argument with many facets. Tombes was unique. He deserves a place among his contemporary peers. 

This main thesis for which this paper contends is simple. It is for a new historical modifier for theologians like Tombes. The new term for which this work argues is Anglican Antipaedobaptist.1 Such a denominator is needed to give enough specificity to protect against the future miscategorisation of those who may have been or would be like-minded with the subject. The presentation of Tombes's theology is an attempt to codify what has fallen into disuse. It is also to show the brilliance of his thought drawn from an ingenious, yet typical, methodology. All but two of his fourteen antipaedobaptist works were collections of individual interactions with others with whom he disagreed. The remaining two works attempted to present his views in a popular form for his day. For the academics and divines, he wrote an exercitation2 and for the masses he penned a catechism.

Literature Review

Three of the major reference works used by those who seek to understand the seventeenth century are responsible for the pre

Antipaedobaptism in the Thought of John Tombes
vailing understanding of who Tombes was and what he represented. Calamy Revised presents Tombes as the ejected minister from his position as the "Vicar of Leominster, Herefs. 1662".3 The article is an accurate presentation of the historical facts. It does not, however, explain sufficiently the seemingly irreconcilable elements from Tombes's life. It simply presents ingredients of Tombes's life and thought that are difficult for most researchers to harmonise. Such a list leaves a great deal of incongruity unresolved. It is detail without needed interpretation.

T. L. Underwood wrote the article in the Biographical Dictionary of British Radicals in the Seventeenth Century.4 By using the denominator "Baptist minister", he biased the reader against a proper understanding of who Tombes was. "Baptist minister" gives the impression of service in a Baptist Church of one persuasion or at least a baptistic congregation. The term has sacramental and ecclesiological overtones, too. In the body of the article Underwood presents one of the apparent contradictions around the life of Tombes. He wrote, "Nevertheless, his refusal to conform as a minister cost him his living at Leominster, though he did conform as a lay communicant".5 The context is clearly and unambiguously referring to Tombes as a former minister and layman in the Anglican Church. Therefore, Baptist, as a modifier, lacks precision to define one who continued in outward lay conformity with the National Church.

Alexander Gordon wrote the article in the Dictionary of National Biography.6 His initial descriptive denominator for Tombes is "baptist divine". Again, the connotations of the term, "baptist", entail sacramental and ecclesiological positions. "Divine" captures the essential elements of Tombes's methodology and manner. It is from this article that many have misunderstood Tombes in the twentieth century.

A vague term or lack of historical precision in one generation leads to misunderstanding and miscategorisation in subsequent generations who look to the records of the earlier ones for guidance. The following progression is a representative sample of this phenomena. M. J. Walker penned an article for the Baptist Quarterly in

Introductory Concerns
1966. In the article he implied that Tombes was a Particular Baptist. Under Section Two of the article, where he dealt with the Particular Baptists as regards the Baptist theology of infancy, he wrote:

In addition to their insistence upon the prior authority of Christ. The Particulars also drew attention to the difference in the two covenants. In his An Exercitation about Infant-Baptism, submitted to the Westminster Assembly in 1646, John Tombes drew attention to the differences between the Abrahamic covenant and that enjoyed by believers.7

Walker linked Tombes with the Particular Baptists in another place as if he were their major spokesman with these words:

If the Particular Baptist understanding of covenant, church and baptism excluded children, they nevertheless recognised, as had the General Baptists, that the infants of believers stood in a particular relationship to the church. John Tombes could speak of the children of believers as being "born in the bosom of the Church, of godly parents, who by prayers, instruction, example, will undoubtedly educate them in the true faith of Christ...."8

Walker added a few more citations and allusions to Tombes. Walker was unaware that he was using a lifelong Anglican to present a positive doctrine of the Particular Baptists. The presentation and conclusions are therefore tainted by a misunderstanding drawn from some undocumented miscategorisation of Tombes, perhaps the DNB.9 The progression does not end there. In 1973, David Kingdon wrote a work on baptism using the Walker article as a source of historical data on Tombes. Kingdon refers to Tombes as "...another Calvinistic Baptist of the 17th century..."10 Based on the Kingdon allusion to Tombes by way of Walker, in 1993, Timothy George wrote an article for Interpretation on "The Reformed Doctrine of Believer's Baptism."11 In that work, he calls Tombes a "Reformed Baptist".12 All of the preceeding are in error.

Tombes will be shown to be reformational, Calvinistic, baptistic as regards baptism and his view of the Covenant of Grace, a "divine" in the sense of one who attained great proficiency in divinity. However, he was not a Baptist in the common use of the term, then, or in the present. A belief that states that baptism is for believ

Antipaedobaptism in the Thought of John Tombes
ers exclusively is not enough to call someone a Baptist, just as this view alone was not enough to denominate one as an Anabaptist in the seventeenth century. Strangely enough, to illustrate the point about the vagaries inherent in the use of some terms, "Baptist" as a title entails more than a certain view of baptism.

It is the Baptist historians who have muddied the historical waters surrounding John Tombes. They have perceived him as one of their own standing against the establishment for his ideals. In actuality, Tombes was trying to bring greater reform to the established church. This is a needed distinction in order to understand the tension between his sacramental theology and his ecclesiology.

Thomas Crosby set out to write as an English Baptist Historian and apologist for the movement. He published The History of the English Baptists from the Reformation to the Beginning of the Reign of George I between the years 1738 and 1740.13 He drew extensively from the Gould Manuscript, a self-proclaimed "Repository of Divers Historical Matters relating to the English Antipedobaptists".14 Benjamin Stinton began to make this collection in Jan 1710-11".15 Crosby presented the complexities that make up all that Tombes was in his time. He wrote about Tombes's position in restoring "right baptism",16 his letter to New England to help calm the disquiet over paedobaptism,17 and his personal history and theological development.18 It is in this context that Crosby is not careful. He presented Tombes as one who "gathered a separate church of those of his own persuasion, continuing at the same time minister of the parish." Crosby continued:
His society of Baptists was not large, but consisted of such who were of good esteem for their piety and solid judgment; and three eminent ministers of their persuasion were trained up in it, viz. Mr. Richard Adams, Mr. John Eccles, and Capt. Boylston; and it continued till about the time of the king's restoration.19

In the main portion of the work it will be demonstrated that Tombes was not a separatist. He could not justify withdrawal from the National Church. This "society" was not a gathered church, but a group

Introductory Concerns
within the church in Bewdley that met together for mutual encouragement and edification. All those who have used Crosby, the father of Baptist history, for their foundational understanding of Tombes as regards conformity, are liable to misunderstand an important part of Tombes's personal ethoshis continued conformity as a lay communicant in the Anglican Church after 1660.

Crosby pulled together citations from five near-contemporaries of Tombes to give a word about his character and achievements: Dr. Ward, Bishop of Salisbury, Richard Baxter, Anthony Wood, Edmund Calamy, and William Wall.20 All of these were well known Paedobaptists. This praise from all perspectives further confuses the casual reader unfamiliar with the dynamics of the personal history of John Tombes.

Joseph Ivemy was the next in the succession of Baptist historians. His History of the English Baptists appeared between 1811 and 1830.21 Ivemy presented Tombes in three ways. The first was to show Tombes's relationship to the Westminster Assembly and the history of personal persecution and discomfort that flowed therefrom.22 The second was to portray Tombes as a Baptist who gained great position as a trier under Cromwell.23 The final use of Tombes was to demonstrate that Tombes was the founder of the first Baptist Church in Bewdley.24 In the last case, wrong inferences were drawn from the data.

Not all historians were affected by these writings. John Aubrey's short biographical synopsis was included in his Lives of Eminent Men.25 It presents Tombes's life accurately as a personal reminiscence. Aubrey gives the impression, however, that "Putting aside his Anabaptistical positions, he was conformable enough to the Church of England".26 This study will point out that this was another misconception. Tombes never put aside his baptismal theology. He was gracious, however, in quiet protest. Tombes's outward conformity to Anglicanism after the restoration had everything to do with his ecclesiology and nothing to do with his antipaedobaptist (anabaptist) distinctives. His last antipaedobaptist work was published one year before his death in 1676. Outward continuity with

Antipaedobaptism in the Thought of John Tombes
the Anglican Church does not entail Tombes put any personal views aside.
In other biographical works of that era, Tombes is categorised as "one of the most learned Baptist divines of the seventeenth century",27 "a learned Baptist Divine",28 "conformable enough to the Church of England",29 and that "...in his day he was efficient beyond most men in securing the extension of the Baptist denomination".30 Tombes represents disparate ideas. These have hardly ever been rightly understood and presented to readers of any era. These are the basic research tools available to the modern enquirer. If they represent a man and his thought wrongly, subsequent generations have no other corrective than fresh attempts to understand those who are now deceased, yet speak through their words that were bound and sold for their contemporaries and posterity. It was Tombes who realised this present and future use of his writings. He wrote to Robert Baillie about some false accusations that appeared in print, "...[A]nd to remain a record to posterity".31 Although Tombes had his personal reputation in mind, the writings from his contemporaries to the present have cast Tombes in a mould he does not actually fit.

In the Leominster History Church Book, a product of the mid eighteenth century, Joshua Thomas perpetuated the common misconceptions. He wrote:

However, this is plain, about 1631, John Tombs was the public Minister of this Town and Parish. Tis true he was then a minister of the Church of England, a very great Scholar and as popular a Preacher, being more concerned with the glory of God and the Souls of Men than the generality of the Clergy are. He declared then that he was in doubt concerning Infant Baptism. In the beginning of the civil war, the King's forces coming his way, Mr. Tombs was plundered and drove off. He went to Bristol, and from thence to London, where he seriously consulted learned men and Books about the ordinance; but could never find Infant Baptism properly defended. At last upon full conviction, he was baptized according to scripture, and to answer a good conscience. He continued some years in London; but in the course of Providence some time after he was again settled at Leominster, in Cromwell's time, as the Public Minister of the Town and Parish as before. He was then a professed Baptist, very famous for his learning, and an ingenious Disputant: Therefore he was engaged in several of the debates of those times.32

Introductory Concerns
This obscure source is a faithful and succinct presentation as far as it goes. As will be shown, however, there is far more to the history and theology of John Tombes as regards infant baptism.

Tombes was enshrined twice in the Minutes of the Sessions of the Westminster Divines. On December 25, 1645, "Dr. Gouge moved about Mr. Tombes, his book, and the Committee licenser". There was much discomfort and agitation from Tombes's first public publication on the matter of Baptism. Four months later, Mr. Marshall was thanked for "...his great pains and respect..." after writing to answer Tombes.33 This mention of Tombes in this work has furthered the notion that Tombes was a non-conforming anabaptist of some sort.

The primary historian of the Puritan era, Daniel Neal, writing between 1732 and 1736, wrote of Tombes in the context of writing about the "Anabaptists" who penned the Baptist Confession of Faith published by seven congregations in London (1646). Neal wrote:

The Advocates of this Doctrine were, for the most part, of the meanest of the People; their Preachers were generally illiterate, and went about the Countries making Proselytes of all that would submit to their Immersion, without due regard to their Acquaintance with the Principles of Religion, or their moral Characters. The writers of these Times represent them as tinctured with a kind enthusiastick Fury against all that oppos'd them. Mr. Baxter says, "There were but few of them that had not been the Opposers and Troublers of faithful Ministers That in this they strengthen'd the Hands of the Profane, and in general, Reproach of Minister, Faction, Pride, and scandalous Practices, were fomented in their Way." But still there were among them some learned, and a great many sober and devout Christians, who disallowed of the Imprudence of their Country Friends. The two most learned Divines that espoused their cause were Mr. Francis Cornwall, M.A. of Emanuel College, and Mr. John Tombes, B.D. educated at the University of Oxford, a Person of incomparable Parts, well versed in the Greek and Hebrew languages, and a most excellent Disputant. He wrote several letters to Mr. Selden against Infant Baptism, and published a Latin Exercitation upon the same Subject containing several arguments, which he presented to the Committee appointed by the Assembly to put a stop to the Progress of this Opinion. The Exercitation being translated into English brought upon him a whole Army of Adversaries, among whom wer the Reverend Dr. Hammond, Dr. Holmes, Mr. Marshal, Fuller, Geree,

Antipaedobaptism in the Thought of John Tombes
Baxter, and others. The People of his Perswasion were more exposed to the publick Resentments, because they would not hold Communion with none but such as had been dipp'd. All must pass under the Cloud before they could be received into their Churches; and the same narrow Spirit prevails too generally among them even at this day.34

Neal commited a double fallacy: he lumped all perceived Baptists (Anabaptists) together as if they had one monolithic understanding of all doctrine and practise, and he imputed the errors of a movement onto an individual who never associated with Baptists of any sort. Tombes had nothing to do with the Confession that framed the context of Neal's words. Tombes did not practise a restricted Lord's Table because he was an Anglican. He was not an "open communion", nor any other kind of Baptist.

The modern presentations of Tombes do nothing but reiterate these prejudicial views. They draw from those of the past who are considered as faithful guides. However, as regards Tombes, truth is mingled with error, or at least misunderstanding.

Even one as aware of the times and tensions as B. R. White unknowingly perpetuated this understanding in his definitive work on the seventeenth century Baptists in England. While drawing together his summary conclusions, he wrote:

Some seven hundred ministers whose appointments had been made during the interregnum had already been compelled to vacate their livings by various kinds of pressure before this. Now another thousand or more ministers were to abandon their positions because they were unable to make the declarations required. Because, as has been seen, on principle the vast majority of Baptists, whether Arminian, Calvinistic, or Seventh Day rejected the whole concept of an established Church and its methods of appointment and payment even if they were qualified to receive them, as for example was Hanserd Knollys, formerly a Church of England minister himself, only a tiny minority of their men was affected. In England, these included John Tombes, perhaps the most learned of all the Baptists, vicar of Leominster....35

It should be noted that White used the language of Calamy and Chalmers as previously stated.

This use of the ancient sources to perpetuate a ossified un

Introductory Concerns
derstanding of Tombes is typical of other twentieth century Baptist historians. This is why a fresh appraisal of Tombes and his thought became necessary. A few examples should suffice.

W. T. Whitley gave an accurate assessment with the single exception of his use of "Baptist" as an imprecise term in an article on "Baptists and Bartholomew's Day". Therein he wrote:

John Tombes, B.D. Of Leominster, one of Cromwell's Tryers, by far the most learned Baptist of the age, who had never fallen into line with the Baptist churches and ministers, gave up his living and ended his days as a lay communicant of the Church of England, having married a rich widow.36

"Baptist" denotes a theological understanding of the sacraments, rather than a term that entails a given ecclesiology. However, in another article, Whitley implied that Tombes was a leader amongst some of these Baptist Churches. He wrote, "A second important group evolved from the Calvinistic Separatist Churches, often headed by exclergymen, such as Tombes...."37

While allowance must be made for scholars to grow in their specialities, realising that no one person is omniscient, even within an area of speciality, it is curious that these two irreconcilable allusions to Tombes by Whitley are found in the same volume not too many pages apart. Tombes cannot be a leader in the "Calvinistic Separatist Churches" and a man "who had never fallen into line with the Baptist Churches and ministers", who "ended his days as a lay communicant of the Church of England" at the same time and with the same sense. Yet, in the same issue of the Transactions of the Baptist Historical Society, James Ford further confuses the understanding of Tombes as he attempted to reconcile the twin notions of Tombes, the Anglican, and Tombes, the Baptist. He wrote, in the context of John Eckels, a one-time disciple of Tombes and a pastor of the Bromsgrove Church:

The name of the first pastor was John Eckels, who as a youth came from Bewdley, ten miles distant, to Bromsgrove to learn his trade as a "clothier," the town being then formed for its production of cloth and linen. This youth, according to Crosby, had been baptised at Bewdley by John Tombes, B.D., the "Anabaptist lecturer" of the Parish Church there, who formed the Baptist

Antipaedobaptism in the Thought of John Tombes
Church in that town whilst ministering at the Parish Church.38
Crosby's work became the authority for yet another misunderstanding.
A few years later there was "An Index of Notable Baptists whose Careers began within the British Empire before 1850". In the entry for Tombes, it was implied that he was a "Baptist". With an asterisk, the reader is directed to the DNB entry by Alexander Gordon who incautiously calls him a "baptist divine".39 "Baptistic" would be more accurate since it has the connotation of being only that which is of or pertains to being a "Baptist". "Baptist" has too many varied connotations. In the case of Tombes, the term lacks specificity, while passing misunderstandings on to subsequent generations.
Scholars have sought to put these facts together in a sensible manner. Inevitably, they fail to do justice to Tombes as they see him through the term "Baptist". Often assumptions are made that undermine the credibility of what is presented. M. A. R. Graves and Robin Silcock illustrate this point. Of Tombes and the Cromwellian period, they wrote:
Events in the Civil War and Interregnum seemed to justify the fears of those who wished to limit toleration. Indeed, they convinced some who had once been strong advocates of toleration that only a strong Church with extensive powers of discipline could prevent anarchy. One such was John Tombes, active in the West Midlands during the Interregnum as a Baptist. He opposed both the national Church and the schemes for voluntary co-operation among parish churches. By 1660 he had been converted, by his horror at the heresies of some sects, to acceptance of the Anglican Settlement.40
It will be shown that Tombes maintained conformity, although as a layman, to the National Church. It is lay conformity simply because he would not accept the Anglican Settlement. He laid down his living of his own volition. Tombes did not oppose a National Church on principle. His ecclesiology was based on the notion that God works to establish churches in nations. The work by Graves and Silcock shows, therefore, another attempt at creative synthesis based on a confusing set of historical writings.

Introductory Concerns
H. Leon McBeth calls Tombes a "...leading Baptist of that time...."41 Writing as a Baptist, McBeth's history and historiography of Baptists further upholds the misunderstanding of Tombes. McBeth implies that Tombes represented those essentials that define a "Baptist" for the modern reader. In another place, McBeth makes Tombes out to be a "Baptist" champion of religious liberty, although he adds, "...some doubt he was ever a Baptist.42

Therefore confusion reigns over content and context as regards Tombes and all he represents.

The need for a systematic query into the life and thought of John Tombes is therefore evident and justified by an examination of the writings of others to date. Tombes was a complex man, but one who can be understood and placed among the thinkers of his day with a specific denominator.

Methodology and Presentation

In the first chapter the work will argue for a new classification for Tombes and those like him. Their number may be proven to be less than compelling, yet Tombes's influence upon his contemporaries and the era through the shaping of covenantal paedobaptism and credobaptism43 was tremendous.

The use of some ecclesiastical denominators will be presented in order to make a case for specificity as regards John Tombes. In the taxonomy of Antipaedobaptists there exist a number of subsets. Those in common use include: Anabaptist, Baptist, and Abaptist. 
These will be shown deficient in order to argue for the use of Anglican as a modifier of antipaedobaptist in this specific instance.

The second chapter will argue for Tombes's place as a compelling thinker and prolific writer within the history of ideas of the seventeenth century. The development of his polemic provides a unique contribution to the debate. He engaged all of the major thinkers in England on the issue of Baptism. Everything Marshall and Baxter, among other notables from England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales, wrote touching the issue of baptism were usually penned in

Antipaedobaptism in the Thought of John Tombes
the context of discussions with Tombes or at least with others who were brought into the controversy. Tombes's interaction with the Divines at the Westminster Assembly is an untold portion of the history of the times.
The third chapter starts to codify the baptismal theology of John Tombes in order to give context and understanding to his views. The chapter develops the influences upon his slow acceptance of a divergent viewpoint to show that Tombes was not individualistic flotsam adrift on the seas of his age, but a careful thinker taking time to untie the Gordian knot. Through his career in academia and pulpit, Tombes's thought is perused to show a consistent application of his first principles. In some cases, principles taken from his early works are compared and expanded using his mature concerns.
The fourth chapter builds on this foundation in order to display the exegetical arguments used by Tombes to undermine a belief in Infant Baptism. It presents his rigid methodology borrowed from Reformed Scholasticism. In Tombes's argumentation, the syllogism is everything. The middle term is examined with the evidence brought from texts of Scripture. Tombes then compares texts with others to derive by good and necessary inference his doctrine. There is really one basic argument with fifteen subsets. These sub-arguments are fifteen exegetical presentations that establish the authoritative superstructure for his theology of Baptism.
The fifth chapter is a presentation of how Tombes dealt with the theological argumentation. These were attempts to draw together the texts in order to present a coherent and systematic presentation of the doctrine. There are five theological arguments he used to answer his critics. They show great insight into the issues pressed against him by so many.
The sixth chapter is a presentation of Tombes's three basic historical arguments. It displays Tombes's abilities as an antiquarian researcher and historian. Although the number of arguments is only three, these arguments cover the history of Baptism from the time of the Apostles to his own day. He deals with the fathers, the Scriptures, and the implications therefrom to show that his exegesis and

Introductory Concerns
theology was consistent with an understanding of the issues throughout the Christian era. Tombes's use of authorities from history is fascinating and compelling. As a pre-modern scholar, he shows how the craft of historical theology was practised in the twilight of an age steeped in a well-developed methodology. He teaches those in the modern age the need for thorough scholarship and commitment to accuracy in presentation.

Chapter Seven gives the arguments of a practical nature. Subsequent generations of Antipaedobaptists would demonstrate how many of these arguments could be turned upon the positions of the one proposing them. They are the least satisfying part of Tombes's entire polemic. Yet, without their rhetoric calling others to practical accountability, the discussion could have remained in the theological ivory tower. The practical concerns bring the discussion down to where people live and express some of the concerns of every day, ordinary folk.

This section also presents Tombes's ultimate starting point for his own view. His argument is presented and applied using one firm base for his view.

The eighth chapter deals with the reaction to Tombes's thought by his contemporaries. It shows the complexities of the discussion. It displays the lack of unanimity of thought. It directs the attention to one of the real issues-how one conceives of the doctrine of the Covenant of Grace and how that relates to children of believers and to those who profess faith in adulthood. It becomes clear that theologians can use the same vocabulary while never understanding what the other writer means. This is a problem with societal equivocation. People from a given societal group, the clergy, can use terms with non-analogous meanings.

This chapter deals also with some historical matters to give context to the importance of the dispute. Seventeenth century English society was dynamic in that changes were taking place quickly with great impact and upheaval at all levels. Tombes was a cause of schism as he was a product of an age that questioned all things against a variety of authorities. Tombes will be displayed with warts and moles.

Antipaedobaptism in the Thought of John Tombes
moles, beauty and brilliance in order to argue for a denominator of specificity and his rightful place amongst the theologians of his time.

Introductory Concerns
Notes for Introductory Concerns:
1. The term "Antipaedobaptist" should be understood as one who does not promote a belief in, or practise, the baptism of infants. "Antipaedobaptism" should be understood as the theological position that argues against infant baptism and for an alternative position. Some Antipaedobaptists are advocates of believer or disciple baptism (Credobaptists), some are not. To be an Antipaedobaptist is not to be against other Christians who practise infant baptism, but to argue against the theological foundations for the practise. Conversely, some Paedobaptists will baptise first generation adult Christians after they come to believe. Most Paedobaptists will baptise adults if they have had no previous baptism. Subsets and intramural controversies abound. See also M'Clintock and Strong "Antipaedobaptists" in Cyclopaedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature, New York, Harper and Brothers, 1894, Vol. I, p. 275.
2. Exercitation: a written polemic designed to elicit responses from other scholars on a particular point.
3. A. G. Matthews, "John Tombes", Calamy Revised, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1934, pp. 487f.
4. T.L. Underwood, "Tombes, John, 1603-1676", in Richard Greaves and Robert Zaller, Biographical Dictionary of British Radicals in the Seventeenth Century, Vol. III, Harvester House, Brighton, 1984, pp. 245f.
5. Underwood, Tombes, p. 247.
6. A. J. Gordon, "Tombes, John (1603?-1676)" in Dictionary of National Biography, Smith, Elder and Co., London, 1909. Reprinted at Oxford University Press 1921-22. Vol. XIX, p. 930, col. 2.
7. M. J. Walker, "The Relation of Infants to Church, Baptism and Gospel in Seventeenth Century Baptist Theology", Baptist Quarterly, Vol. XXI (1966), p. 254.
8. Walker, Relation, p. 256.
9. B. R. White admits to the need for an updated presentation in the DNB article. See, B.R. White, The English Baptists of the Seventeenth Century, London, The Baptist Historical Society, 1983, p. 73,

Antipaedobaptism in the Thought of John Tombes
n.12 "D.N.B. entry is extensive but requires bringing up to date".
10. David Kingdon, Children of Abraham, Sussex, Carey Publications, 1973, p. 98.
11. Timothy George, "The Reformed Doctrine of Believers Baptism" in Interpretation, Vol. XLVII, No. 3, July 1993. pp. 242-254.
12. George, Reformed Doctrine, p. 252.
13. Thomas Crosby, The History of the English Baptists from the Beginning of the Reign of George I, London, 1738-1740.
14. Gould Manuscript is housed at the Joseph Angus Library, Regents Park College, Oxford.
15. Gould Manuscript, note inside title page.
16. Crosby, History, Vol. I, pp. 104f.
17. Crosby, History, Vol. I, pp. 120ff.
18. Crosby, History, Vol. I, pp. 278-297.
19. Crosby, History, Vol. I, p. 288.
20. Crosby, History, Vol. I, pp. 292ff.
21. Joseph Ivemy, History of the English Baptists, Four Volumes, London, 1811-30.
22. Ivemy, History, Vol. I, pp. 180-183.
23. Ivemy, History, Vol. I, p. 262.
24. Ivemy, History, Vol. I, p. 588. The entire narrative as regards Tombes and his influence is found on pp. 588-594. Ivemy follows the outline of Crosby in this section. Ivemy adds new material perpetuating the misunderstanding of Tombes as a Baptist, rather than an Antipaedobaptist.
25. John Aubrey, Lives of Eminent Men, in British Biographical Archives, London, K C Saur, n.d., microfilm frames 413-416. This personal reminiscence was taken from Aubrey's Brief Lives, London, 1691.
26. John Aubrey, Lives of Eminent Men, microfilm frame 415.
27. A. Chalmers, The General Biographical Dictionary, 1812-1817, as it appeared in British Biographical Archives, London, K C Saur, microfilm frame 421.
28. "Tombs, John," unsigned article in John M'Clintock, and James Strong, Cyclopaedia,Vol. X, p. 459.

Introductory Concerns
29. Anthony Wood, Athenae Oxonienses: an exact history of all writers and bishops who have had their education in the University of Oxford, London, 1691-1692, pp. 409f.
30. "John Tombes", unsigned article in William Cathcart, The Baptist Encyclopaedia, Philadelphia, 1881, pp. 1156f.
31. Robert Baillee, Anabaptism, the True Fountain of Independency, Antinomy, Brownisme, and Familisme, and most of the other Errours, which for the time doe trouble the Church of England, Unsealed, London, 1647, p. 38.
32. Joshua Thomas, Manuscript copy of Leominster History Church Book, Joseph Angus Library, Regents Park College. The date of the work is approximately 1769. In conjunction with the date 1739, in the introduction, Thomas remarks "near 30 yrs".
33. Alex Mitchell, and John Struthers, Minutes of the Sessions of the Westminster Divines, Still Waters Revival Books, Edmonton, Canada, 1991 (from the 1874 edition), pp. 172f & 216.
34. Daniel Neal, The History of the Puritans or Protestant Non-Conformists, London, 1732-1736. Third edition, 1822. Vol. 3, pp. 162f.
35. Barry R. White, The English Baptists of the Seventeenth Century, The Baptist Historical Society, London, 1983, p. 102.
36. W. T. Whitley, "Baptists and Bartholomew's Day", Transactions of the Baptist Historical Society, (BHST), Vol. I, 1908-1909, p. 36.
37. W.T. Whitley, "Baptist Literature till 1688", BHST, Vol I, 1908-1909, p. 115.
38. James Ford, "A Seventeenth Century Baptist Church: Bromsgrove", BHST, Vol I, p. 100.
39. "An Index of Notable Baptists whose Careers began within the British Empire before 1850", BHST, Vol 7. 1920-1921.
40. Graves and Silcock, Revolution, p. 299.
41. H. Leon McBeth, The Baptist Heritage, Broadman Press, Nashville, 1987, p. 64.
42. McBeth, Heritage, p. 110. McBeth directs the reader to a work, The ancient Bounds, or Liberty of Conscience, Tenderly Stated, Modestly Asserted, and Mildly Vindicated, London, 1645, which he attributes to Tombes, the Champion of liberty of conscience. The work

Antipaedobaptism in the Thought of John Tombes
is misattributed to Tombes by McBeth. This writer believes it is spurious for the following reasons: 1. The work was not printed by Tombes's usual printer during those years; 2. It is not Tombes's choppy Latinesque style; 3. It is inconsistent with the vow taken in the Solemn League and Covenant; and it presents a more independent ecclesiology than Tombes believed and practised. Given the typical misunderstandings about Tombes, it is no surprise that such a work would be attributed to him assuming he was a "Baptist" in the full sense of the word, and a separatist which "Baptist" in the seventeenth century usually entails. He was neither, giving rise to the doubt of some. In this vein, Tombes's name is annexed to another curious document, A Proposall Humbly Offered, for the Farming of Liberty of Conscience, London, 1662. This work is an appeal for the magistracy to sell the right for liberty of conscience by way of license "...within the Kingdome of England, Dominion of Wales, and Town of Barwick..." It proposes various yearly rates one would pay for such liberties. The names of forty-three men are proposed as the Grand Commissioners and Farmers of Liberty of Conscience (p.3.). These names are an unlikely collection of notable figures from the era including Edmond Calamy, George Fox (The Quaker), Doctor Owen, Mr. Kiffen, Mr. Tombes, late of Lemster, Henry Jessey, Dr. Cornelius Burges and Thomas Brooks.
43. Credobaptism is the belief that those who believe should receive a subsequent baptism. It is a commingling of a Latin and Greek ideas. Credo meaning "I believe" as a descriptive modifier for baptism.