James Robinson Graves, James Madison Pendleton,
and Amos Cooper Dayton: Foundational to Old Landmarkism
By Klayton Carson
Introduction......................................................................1 Biography of James Robinson Graves................................................1 Biography of James Madison Pendleton..............................................3 Biography of Amos Cooper Dayton...................................................4 Old Landmarkism: What Is It?......................................................5 Against Improper Baptism..........................................................5 James Robinson Graves’s Comments.............................................6 James Madison Pendleton’s Comments...........................................8 Amos Cooper Dayton’s Comments...............................................11 Against Improper Ecclesiology....................................................12 James Robinson Graves’s Comments............................................12 James Madison Pendleton’s Comments..........................................14 On the Openness of the Lord’s Supper.............................................16 James Robinson Graves’s Comments............................................16 James Madison Pendleton’s Comments..........................................18 Amos Cooper Dayton’s Comments...............................................19 Lasting Impact...................................................................20 Conclusion.......................................................................21 Bibliography.....................................................................22
Introduction James Robinson (J.R.) Graves, James Madison (J.M.) Pendleton, and Amos Cooper (A.C.) Dayton are among the most influential Baptists in American history. The three men worked in tandem to articulate and defend the ancient beliefs of Baptists. Their work and contribution would become known as the doctrines of Old Landmarkism. Prolific in their writings, they defended the “old landmarks” against the errors of improper baptism and unbiblical ecclesiology. They did not waver on the unscriptural nature of ecumenism and the openness of the Lord’s Table. These men were valiant in their efforts. James Robinson Graves, James Madison Pendleton, and Amos Cooper Dayton through their polemics and propagations were foundational to the formulation of Old Landmarkist theology.
Biography of James Robinson Graves James Robinson Graves was born in Chester, Vermont on April 10, 1820. Baptized at the age of 15 at North Springfield Baptist Church, he soon after started his ministry.1 A lifelong preacher, revivalist, publisher, and polemist, his first four years of ministry were dedicated to studying the Scriptures, without a teacher, and having the Bible as his sole textbook.2 During this time of study, Mount Freedom Church licensed him to preach without his knowledge, as he saw himself as unworthy of the preaching
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1 J.H. Spencer and B.B. Spencer, A History of Kentucky Baptists: From 1769 to 1885, Including More Than 800 Biographical Sketches, v. 2 (Cincinatti, OH: J. R. Baumes, 1885). 353.2 J.H. Borum, Biographical Sketches of Tennessee Baptist Ministers (Johnson City, TN: Church History Research & Archives, 1976). 283.
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ministry. He was ordained at the age of 24 and married the following year. In 1846, he began his tenure as the editor of the Tennessee Baptist. One year prior, he accepted the pastorate of Second Baptist Church of Nashville, Tennessee, and after three years of ministry there, the church grew by 123 people, who joined by letter and baptism. He resigned from his pastorate at Second Baptist Church of Nashville towards the end of 1849. After the Civil War he moved to Memphis, Tennessee, becoming a member of First Baptist Church of Memphis, and for a six month period, served as supply pastor, yet was never elected as pastor. Many speak highly of his preaching, including J. B. Gambrell who refers to one of Graves’s sermons as “the greatest sermon I ever heard.” The Southern Baptist Historical Library and Archives refer to him as the man who influenced Southern Baptist life in the 19th century more than any other person. He
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3 Cathcart, The Baptist Encyclopaedia: Vol. 2 (hansebooks, 2019), 466.4 Spencer and Spencer, A History of Kentucky Baptists: From 1769 to 1885, Including More Than 800 Biographical Sketches, 353.
5 Spencer and Spencer, A History of Kentucky Baptists, 353.
6 J.R. Graves, “EXTRACT FROM THE ANNIVERSARY SERMON OF 1848 Delivered at the 2nd Baptist Church, Nashville Tennessee,” The Tennessee Baptist, February 8, 1849.
7 J.R. Graves, “Resignation,” The Tennessee Baptist, September 20, 1849.
8 Church Archives, The First Baptist Church of Memphis / Skip Howard, Church Archivist.
9 J. J. Burnett, Sketches of Tennessee’s Pioneer Baptist Preachers: Being, Incidentally, a History of Baptist Beginnings in the Several Associations in the State (Johnson City, TN: Overmountain Press, 1985), 200.
10 Southern Baptist Historical Library and Archives, “James Robinson Graves”. J.R. Graves.
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would marry a total of three times, being widowed twice. After 10 years as an invalid, brought on by a stroke he suffered in 1884, he died June 26, 1893 in Memphis, Tennessee.11
Biography of James Madison Pendleton James Madison Pendleton was born November 20, 1811, in Virginia, and was named after the fourth president of the United States.12 On the second Sunday of April, 1829, Pendleton was converted, and he was baptized in the creek near the church on the 14th of the month13. He was licensed to preach the following year in February, to his surprise, as he did not believe it possible for him to preach.14 Pendleton studied at Christian County Seminary at Hopkinsville for three years, focusing on Latin and Greek classes.15 He read through the New Testament in Greek 27 times.16 Pendleton married in March of 1838, and ultimately had seven children.17 In 1857, he joined the faculty at Union University in Murfreesboro, Tennessee as a professor of theology.18 J.H. Spencer
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11 Southern Baptist Historical Library and Archives, “James Robinson Graves.” J.R. Graves.12 J.M. Pendleton, Reminiscences of a Long Life (Louisville, Ky: Press Baptist Book Concern, 1891). 8.
13 Pendleton, Reminiscences of a Long Life. 29.
14 Pendleton, Reminiscences of a Long Life. 33.
15 Cathcart, The Baptist Encyclopaedia: Vol. 2. 97.
16 Burnett, Sketches of Tennessee’s Pioneer Baptist Preachers. 404.
17 Burnett, Sketches of Tennessee’s Pioneer Baptist Preachers. 402.
18 Spencer and Spencer, A History of Kentucky Baptists: From 1769 to 1885, Including More Than 800 Biographical Sketches. 524.
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says of Pendleton that likely no other pastor wrote more for the periodical press than him.19 Pendleton died at the age of 81 on March 4, 1891, never wavering on his position as a Landmark Baptist.20
Biography of Amos Cooper Dayton Amos Cooper Dayton was born September 4, 1813, in Plainfield, New Jersey, to a Presbyterian family.21 Though suffering an accident that nearly destroyed his eyesight, he worked his way through medical school, receiving his diploma at the age of 22.22 In 1852, he became a Baptist, and wrote about the struggles he went through in making the change in his fiction book Theodosia Ernest.23 Moving to Nashville, he accepted the position of secretary of the Southern Baptist Bible Board in 1855, an organization that published Baptist literature on behalf of the Southern Baptist Convention.24 In 1858, he resigned from the Bible Board due to serious opposition because of his Landmark Baptist beliefs.25 A popular religious fiction writer, his work was used as a sort of propaganda
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19 Spencer and Spencer, A History of Kentucky Baptists, 524.20 Ben M. Bogard, Pillars of Orthodoxy or Defenders of the Faith (Louisville, Ky: Baptist Book Conern, 1900), 264.
21 Bogard, Pillars of Orthodoxy or Defenders of the Faith, 13.
22 Bogard, Pillars of Orthodoxy or Defenders of the Faith, 14.
23 Bogard, Pillars of Orthodoxy or Defenders of the Faith, 14.
24 Burnett, Sketches of Tennessee’s Pioneer Baptist Preachers, 137.
25 Southern Baptist Historical Library and Archives, “A.C. Dayton”. A.C. Dayton.
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through the South to promote Landmark Baptist ideals.26 Dayton died of tuberculosis on June 11, 1865, the first among the trio.27
Old Landmarkism: What is It? To understand the impact these men had on Landmarkist theology, it is prudent to define it briefly. The system is best summarized by Graves, who says it is “...the policy of strictly and consistently carrying out in our practice those principles which all true Baptists, in all ages, have professed to believe.”28 Specific peculiarities of the system are the divine origin and unbroken nature of the New Testament church, the sole claim of being a New Testament church, and that the claim of being a true minister of the gospel belongs to the Baptists. The validity of a scriptural baptism in a New Testament church by immersion alone, and the Lord’s Supper as a local church ordinance alone are also Landmarkist distinctives.29 These peculiarities will become the focal points of many disputes.
Against Improper Baptism The defense of baptism was of high importance to the trio. Each, in different manners and mediums, struck blows to what they believed were invalid baptisms practiced by non-Baptist denominations. These men held high the banner of Landmarkist’s beliefs regarding baptism.
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26 Burnett, Sketches of Tennessee’s Pioneer Baptist Preachers, 137.27 Burnett, Sketches of Tennessee’s Pioneer Baptist Preachers, 137.
28 J.R. Graves, Old Landmarkism: What Is It? (Texarkana, AR-TX: Bogard Press, 1881), 16.
29 Burnett, Sketches of Tennessee’s Pioneer Baptist Preachers, 191-192.
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James Robinson Graves’s Comments “Christ before the church, blood before water” says Graves. Deeply rooted in the baptismal theology of J. R. Graves is the belief that only those who are professedly regenerate may be baptized. This theology compels him to contend against the baptism of the unregenerate. In his debates with [Jacob] Ditzler, he states clearly that the baptism of infants, in particular, and the unregenerate, in general, is unscriptural. He challenges his opponent to produce any evidence of pedobaptism in the word of God, and he will renounce his Baptist principles that very moment. In Graves’s examination, there is not a place in Scripture where the precept, nor the example of infant baptism can be found. Graves contends that the only authority Christians have to baptize comes from the command of Christ in the Great Commission and since Christ never commanded the baptism of infants, nor baptism of any who were not made disciples, the church has no right to baptize them. T. A. Patterson in his examination of Graves’s baptismal theology shows that Graves stresses that the act of baptism is the subject’s profession of faith. In propagating his view, Graves writes concerning baptism that it is “a specific act…to persons of specific qualifications, for the profession of specific truths.” To Graves, this makes infant baptism impermissible as an infant is incapable of professing anything, let
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30 Graves, Old Landmarkism: What Is It?. 53.31 J.R. Graves and Jacob Ditzler, The Graves-Ditzler: Or, Great Carrollton Debate. Infant Baptism (Memphis, TN: Southern Baptist Publication Society, 1876), 575-576.
32 T.A. Patterson, “The Theology of J. R. Graves and Its Influence on Southern Baptist Life” (Th.D., Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, 1944), 41.
33 J.R. Graves, Christian Baptism The Profession of the Faith (Texarkana, AR-TX: Baptist Sunday School Committee, 1928), 3.
7alone faith. Rather, Graves contends that the meaning of the Great Commission, and the law of baptism means only, “make as many disciples out of the nations as you can; preach the gospel to such as can, and to all who will hear you ‘βαπτιζοντες αυτους.’”34
Graves not only attacks the use of a wrong subject of baptism but also the wrong mode of it. Graves emphasizes the consensus lexicographers and historians had on βαπτιζω meaning “immerse.”35 Graves, in contention against Ditzler, claims that unless Christ meant to deceive, He intended the practice to be immersion.36 Since Christ did not intend to deceive, but rather gave a specific command, Graves says, that Christ, therefore, forbade all other modes.37
Graves gives special attention to the meaning of baptism as well. Graves writes that baptism is not the means to the actual remission of sin nor a sacrament that cleanses sins away.38 He further writes that “baptism is not a means by or through which we are regenerated or born again.”39 Graves strikes both the Romish church and the Campbellites, communicating that the error they have is believing that one can only come
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34 J.R. Graves and Jacob Ditzler, The Graves-Ditzler: Or, Great Carrollton Debate. Believer’s Baptism (Memphis, TN: Southern Baptist Publication Society, 1876), 1064. J.R. Graves and Jacob Ditzler, The Graves-Ditzler: Or, Great Carrollton Debate. Believer’s Baptism (Memphis, TN: Southern Baptist Publication Society, 1876), 1064.35 Patterson, “The Theology of J. R. Graves and Its Influence on Southern Baptist Life,” 40.
36 Graves and Ditzler, The Graves-Ditzler: Or, Great Carrollton Debate. Believer’s Baptism, 1064.
37 Graves, Old Landmarkism: What Is It?, 65.
38 J.R. Graves, The Relation of Baptism to Salvation (Texarkana, AR-TX: Bogard Press, 1881). 24, 28.
39 J.R. Graves, The Relation of Baptism to Salvation. 35.
8to Christ through the waters, putting water before blood.40 The meaning of baptism, as Graves believes, is “an act by which we profess the saving faith we possess, and in which we symbolize the death, burial and resurrection of Christ.”41
Graves in his polemics and in his propagation sees no other baptism as valid. According to Graves, if the subject, the mode, or the meaning is incorrect, then what is being done is not a scriptural baptism. Therefore, in this view, all other denominations do not practice valid baptism. Baptists alone, who practice correct subject, mode, and meaning, consequentially have valid baptisms.42
James Madison Pendleton’s Comments Pendleton similarly argued, “A human tradition arraying itself in deadly hostility to an ordinance of Heaven, and attempting with all the energy of desperation, to destroy it, and leave no memorial of its existence on the face of the globe!”43 These are the words Pendleton has for the practice of infant baptism and for the Pedobaptist. Pendleton writes to Dr. Hill, a Presbyterian, that the Pedobaptist has no baptism.44 He presses forward rather that “Baptists regard the baptism of unconscious infants as unscriptural, and insist on the baptism of believers in Christ; and of believers alone.”45 Pendleton appeals to the
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40 Graves, Old Landmarkism: What Is It?, 71.41 Graves, Old Landmarkism: What Is It?, 79.
42 Graves, Old Landmarkism: What Is It?, 79.
43 James M. Pendleton, “Infant Baptism,” The Tennessee Baptist, 1859, 2.
44 James M. Pendleton, “A Letter to Dr. Hill, Editor of the Presbyterian Herald,” The Tennessee Baptist, September 2, 1854.
45 J.M. Pendleton, Distinctive Principles of Baptists (Philadelphia, Pa: American Baptist Publication Society, 1882), 11.
9commission of Christ, saying apart from the commission there is no authority to baptize.46 Pendleton writes,
Matthew informs us that making disciples (for the word translated “teach” means to make disciples) is to precede baptism; Mark establishes the priority of faith to baptism; and Luke connects repentance and remission of sins with the execution of the commission. No man can, in obedience to this commission, baptize an unbeliever or an unconscious infant.47Pendleton gives no credence to the practice of infant baptism, holding firmly that the unbeliever is not a penitent disciple, and an infant is incapable to repent and believe the gospel.48 “All who immerse exclusively do, of course, consider immersion essential to baptism” Pendleton writes. Pendleton pens these words to N.L. Rice, contending against Rice’s notion that before the 16th century immersion was an unessential part of baptism.49 Pendleton writes that immersion is so essential to baptism that there is no baptism without it. He continues this thought saying that since baptism represents the death and burial of Christ, it must be by immersion. Sprinkling and pouring are incapable of picturing this event.50 So certain of this truth, he would write in his personal journal this comment about a debate concerning immersion:
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46 J. M. Pendleton, Christian Doctrines: A Compendium of Theology (Philadelphia, Pa: American Baptist publication society, 1878), 351.47 Pendleton, Christian Doctrine: A Compendium of Theology, 352.
48 J. M. Pendleton, Three Reasons Why I Am a Baptist (Baptist Book Concern, 1853).
49 James M. Pendleton, “A Letter to Dr. N.L. Rice [Presbyterian] and Immersion,” The Tennessee Baptist, August 18, 1855.
50 Pendleton, Three Reasons Why I Am a Baptist.
10The amount of what Mr. Rice says is that wash is one of the meanings of baptize and the art of washing can be performed in different ways. He ought to know that when baptize means wash the washing is a consequence of the immersion.51Pendleton supports the translating of βαπτιζω as immerse in the New Testament.52 He criticizes King James’s forbidding of the translation of βαπτιζω.53 Pendleton stands firm that immersion is the only acceptable mode of baptism.Pendleton also gives special attention to the administrator of baptism. Pendleton contends against an anonymous writer that an unbaptized evangelist cannot administer a valid baptism. He puts forward that a baptism, even if of a correct mode, meaning, and subject, done apart from a local Baptist church is invalid as the authority to baptize rests not in the man baptizing, but in the church’s authority.54 Pendleton writes that there is no other authority given, as Christ confers his authority through the churches.55
Pendleton formulates further that which Graves had started, the view that the sole validity of baptism belongs to the Baptist churches. He is unwavering in his conviction that the mode, subject, and administrator must be correct in order for a baptism to be valid.
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51 J.M. Pendleton, Journal of James Madison Pendleton, 1844.52 James M. Pendleton, “The Translation of ‘Baptizo,’” The Tennessee Baptist, December 3, 1859.
53 J.M. Pendleton, Church Manual, Designed for the Use of Baptist Churches (American Baptist Publication Society, 1867), 67.
54 James M. Pendleton, “The Validity of Baptism Administered by an Unbaptized Evangelist,” The Tennessee Baptist, June 21, 1856.
55 Pendleton, Church Manual, Designed for the Use of Baptist Churches, 66.
11Amos Cooper Dayton’s Comments Dayton, in propagating the Old Landmarks, uses the children’s catechism to state the nature of baptism. His questions and answers are as follows:
8. Does Jesus command all his followers to be baptized? He said, "Go make disciples of all nations, baptizing them.Dayton puts into simple words that which the trio contends on the topic of baptism.
9. What is baptism? An immersion in water, in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
10. What does the use of water in baptism signify? That the person's sins have been washed away.
11. Does the water wash away sin? No; it is the blood of Christ.
12. What docs the action of immersion signify? That the person is dead to sin, and risen to a new life
15. Who should be baptized? Those that repent and believe.
16. Should infants be baptized? No; God has not commanded it.
17. Is there any case of infant baptism in the Bible? No; not one.
18. Are there different ways to baptize? There is but one way.
19. What then must we say of those who have had water only sprinkled or poured upon them? That they are not baptized.56Dayton, through the medium of fiction, further condemns the practice of infant baptism. In the eighth chapter of Theodosia Ernest, he tells the story of Theodosia wrestling with the doctrine infant baptism, and has one of his characters say, “the baptism of an infant is an act of high-handed rebellion against the Son of God." Dayton, while much more limited in his writings on the topic than his peers, strikes without deviation on the nature of true baptism.57
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56 A.C. Dayton, A Catechism for Little Children (Augusta, Ga: Jam. N. Ells, Baptist Banner Office, 1864), 22-23.57 A.C. Dayton, Theodosia Ernest Or, The Heroine of Faith (Philadelphia, Pa: American Baptist Publication Society, 1857), 319.
12Against Improper Ecclesiology The nature of the church is the next area in which the trio established their defenses. Addressing both the constitution and the origin of the church, these men stood fast on the Landmarkist belief of the divine origin and continuation of the New Testament church.
James Robinson Graves’ Comments “The church is a local organization” says Graves. Graves writes this in opposition to the universal church theory, and the national church theory.58 Graves argues that the Greek word εκκλησια can only mean a local organization that gathers. He contends that of the 110 times εκκλησια is used, 100 of those instances refer to a local organization, and the other 10 references are a synecdoche. Never, though, is this term used to describe anything invisible, universal, or national.59 Graves says, since it is a local assembly, a church can be formed,
When a company of baptized disciples, if only two or three, associate themselves as a church, covenanting with each other to be governed by the authority of Christ as indicated in the New Testament, they are, to all intents and purposes, a gospel church under the constitution.60This, in Graves’s theology, does away with any need for a presbytery of two or more ordained ministers.61Graves also puts forward the claim that,
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58 Graves, Old Landmarkism: What Is It?, 36.59 Graves, Old Landmarkism: What Is It?, 39.
60 J.R. Graves, “Query on Church Constitution” The Baptist (1877).
61 Graves, “Query on Church Constitution”.
13The Church of Christ was organized during the entrance of his [Jesus’s] ministry, and not only the prophets, but Christ himself distinctly foretold that it should not be destroyed, but should stand and be perpetuated through successive and multiplied churches until it filled the whole world.62He says this in a letter written to the Methodist church claiming that because they find their origin in John Wesley, they are unable to be the church of Christ.63 The claim of Graves is that the church of Christ must be founded by Christ, not any man or group of men.64 Graves writes that Baptists have the claim of being the successors of the “Witnesses of Jesus,” as they have preserve the faith, keep the ordinances of the primitive church, and descend from the martyrs, who in practice were essentially like them, and who were outside the Romish church.65Graves further says that Baptist, Campbellite, and Pedobaptist organizations cannot all be rightly considered a church of Christ because each organization is fundamentally different in doctrine.66 If Baptists are the scriptural churches, as Baptists believe, then no other society can be considered a church. To do so would be to say that the churches of Christ antagonize each other. Rather, Graves says, “churches can not antagonize, but must be essentially one in fundamental doctrines and principles, having
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62 J.R. Graves, The Great Iron Wheel (Nashville, Tennessee: Graves and Marks, 1855), 21.63 Graves, The Great Iron Wheel, 21.
64 Graves, Old Landmarkism: What Is It?, 17.
65 J.R. Graves, The Tri-Lemma; or Death by Three Horns: “Is Baptism in the Romish Church Valid?” (Nashville, Tennessee: South-Western Publishing House, 1860), 119.
66 Graves, Old Landmarkism: What Is It?, 22-23.
14“one faith and one baptism” in form and design, as certainly as “one Lord and Savior.”67 Graves appeals to the history of Pedobaptists persecuting Baptist to show that for centuries even the Pedobaptists themselves knew that Baptists were not of the same ilk.68 To Graves, this means that the Baptists cannot recognize the ordinances of these non-church societies and therefore cannot invite their ministers to share the Baptist pulpit.69
Graves posits that the Baptist church alone patterns itself after the New Testament church. He contends that the Baptist church alone has divine origin and unbroken succession and he believes that Baptists alone can claim the name of the church of Christ. Graves’s positions encapsulate the basic Landmarkist doctrine of the church.
James Madison Pendleton’s Comments Pendleton writes, “I am a Baptist because Baptists adopt the form of church government adopted in the New Testament – that is to say, the congregational form of government.”70 Pendleton gives special attention to the government of the church, showing from the book of Acts that it was the voice of the assembly that decided who their officers would be.71 He contends that the governmental power must be in the hands of the members of the church, as opposed to ruling elders, or presiding bishops.72 Pendleton posits that each church is independent of other churches and any secular
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67 Graves, Old Landmarkism: What Is It?, 22.68 Pendleton, Three Reasons Why I Am a Baptist, Appendix 1.
69 Graves, Old Landmarkism: What Is It?, 206-8.
70 Pendleton, Three Reasons Why I Am a Baptist.
71 Pendleton, Three Reasons Why I Am a Baptist.
72 Pendleton, Christian Doctrines: A Compendium of Theology, 337.
15government, yet they are not independent of the Lordship of Christ and can only do what Christ requires of them. This tenet means that any actions outside the commands of Christ are null and void.73
One such action that is impermissible for churches, according to Pendleton, is to invite Pedobaptists to share their pulpits. Claiming that the Pedobaptists congregations are not true churches, he posits that the preachers among them have no authority to preach.74 Inviting the Pedobaptist to preach, Pendleton says, is to recognize them as a minister of Christ when they are not. He claims that to do so blurs the line between truth and error. Of those who invite the Pedobaptist to preach, Pendleton says he is heartily ashamed.75 Further, Pendleton says that the separation between Pedobaptists and Baptists is so great that even with parachurch ministries, the Baptists should have no union. He says,
It really appears that "Union Prayer Meetings," "Young Men's Christian Associations," "Sabbath School Conventions," &, Baptists are to be treated, if not with positive contempt, at least with reckless discourtesy. It is to be hoped that Baptists, North and South, will in [the] future feel the promptings of dignified self-respect, and act accordingly. This will save them many a mortification and happily put it out of the power of Pedobaptists to violate, as they have often done, the proprieties and courtesies of life.76
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73 James M. Pendleton, “Sovereignty of the Churches,” The Tennessee Baptist (Nashville, Tennessee, November 12, 1859).74 J.M. Pendleton, An Old Landmark Reset (BAPTIST STANDARD BEARER, 2021), 274.
75 J.M. Pendleton, An Old Landmark Reset. 276-77
76 J.M. Pendleton, “Union with the Pedobaptist,” The Tennessee Baptist December 15, 1860.
16Pendleton makes clear that since the Pedobaptist congregation has no claim to be called a church of Christ, the true churches of Christ must no fellowship with them.77
Pendleton shows that a Baptist church in its government is the only society that organizes itself after the model of the New Testament, and further shows that such a church has independence from all external authority, save the true head, which is Christ. He delineated out the standard of separation from those not a church, having the true church of Christ standing alone as a prized gem. His writings show the government and separateness that Landmarkism holds dear.
On the Openness of the Lord’s Supper Who is welcomed at the Table? This is the question that the trio had to answer given what they say concerning the nature of baptism and the church. These men are foundational to the Landmark Baptist belief of closed communion.
James Robinson Graves’s Comments “The Lord’s Supper is a religious rite instituted for and given to His church by Christ, to be restricted by the limits of its discipline,” says Graves. This was Graves’s first premise in his debate with Ditzler regarding the Lord’s Supper. Graves explains this premise by beginning with a claim that the Lord’s Supper belongs solely to the church of Christ. It is not a ceremony, like prayer or singing but rather a rite that was given to a church gathered in one place when Christ instituted it.78 Going to the institution of the Supper in the four Gospels, Graves says that the 11 disciples who partook of the first
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77 Pendleton, Distinctive Principles of Baptists, 173.78 J.R. Graves and Jacob Ditzler, The Graves-Ditzler: Or, Great Carrollton Debate. The Lord’s Supper (Memphis, Tenn: Southern Baptist Publication Society, 1876), 808-9.
17Supper were true believers in Christ, baptized, church members who were banded together, attended on systematic teaching, and maintained common fellowship. From such, he argues that all who come to the Table at a gathering of a church of Christ must also exhibit those characteristics.79 Baptism preceding the taking of the Table was so essential to Graves that he says it would pervert and abolish both ordinances to reverse the order.80 He argues that not only must a person be baptized but a member of an individual church, saying,
That the Supper being a church ordinance, it can only be observed by a church when assembled together as such, and observed by the church as a church, and therefore two or three members or two or three thousand members of the different local churches as Associations, Conventions, etc., cannot celebrate the Supper. Only an individual church can administer it, and only to those members whose faith and walk she approves.81Graves says that no Baptist church can allow even members of another Baptist church to her table, for she does not know the faith and practice of the person, but rather has the responsibility to exclude them.82 Graves certainly believes that the Pedobaptists must be excluded, for if they are not excluded, a Baptist church giving credence to their baptism, will end in their destruction.83 He charges all who open the Table to the unbaptized, particularly the Pedobaptists, as simply attempting to secure popular favor and gain
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79 Graves and Ditzler, The Graves-Ditzler:The Lord’s Supper, 810-11.80 J.R. Graves, “The Lord’s Supper,” The Baptist (July 20, 1867): 2.
81 Graves, “The Lord’s Supper.”
82 Graves, “The Lord’s Supper.”
83 G.H. Orchard and J.R. Graves, The History of Open Communion (Nashville: South-Western Publishing House, Graves, Marks, & Co, 1857), iii.
18external prosperity.84 According to Graves, the church of Christ is given sole guardianship of the Table, and she cannot abdicate this responsibility.85
James Madison Pendleton’s Comments “Church membership is the chief condition anterior to communion at the Lord's table,” says Pendleton. Pendleton posits the claim that no one should be allowed to the Table who is not a member of a local Baptist church.86 Pendleton argues at a later date that a Baptist church should offer the Table to a member of another Baptist church out of courtesy.87 This, therefore, according to Pendleton, must exclude the Pedobaptists as they have no baptism and no church membership.88 In defense of this, Pendleton delivers a sharp rebuke to the Prince of Preachers himself, Charles Spurgeon, saying that Spurgeon’s open communion was celebrated by the Pedobaptists and Methodists alike.89 He says of Spurgeon,
Mr. Spurgeon is amazingly inconsistent. No Baptist denounces infant baptism, and especially infant baptismal regeneration, with more terrible severity than he. No man bears stronger testimony to immersion as the exclusive baptismal act. When, however, he invites Pedobaptists to the
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84 Orchard, Graves, The History of Open Communion, v.85 Graves, Old Landmarkism: What Is It?, 85.
86 Pendleton, Church Manual, Designed for the Use of Baptist Churches, 91
87 John Jefferson Deyampert Renfroe and J.M. Pendleton, Vindication of the Communion of Baptist Churches: A Review of the Present Views of Rev. J.R. Graves L.L.D, as Found in His Book Entitled “Intercommunion Inconsistent, Unscriptural and Productive of Evil.” (Selma, Alabama: West, 1882). This author sees this as contradictory to his earlier statement and believes it is likely Pendleton’s way of separating himself from Graves after their personal conflicts.
88 Pendleton, Church Manual, Designed for the Use of Baptist Churches, 92
89 J.M. Pendleton, “The Communion Question Settled,” The Baptist (Memphis, Tennessee, October 3, 1868).
19Lord's table, he virtually nullifies all he says against infant baptism, and practically sets at naught all his arguments in favor of immersion. He who does not see the egregious inconsistency of all this must be blind indeed.90Pendleton argues that the exclusion of the Pedobaptist is not because of a lack of piety, but rather because of obedience to the decision the Lord made in determining who can eat at His Table. He says invitations must be given according to the Lord’s will.91Amos Cooper Dayton’s Comments Dayton spends his final chapter of Theodosia Ernest on the subject of communion. In his fiction, he weaves the argument for Baptists restricting the Table through Theodosia’s questioning. Dayton, in story form, shows that a true church of Christ not only has the right to limit the Table, but the responsibility to do so saying through one character, “That no church can refuse or neglect to exercise that right without being guilty open rebellion against the positive requirements of the law of Christ.”92 He further argues through his narrative that church members alone can participate and that one must be scripturally baptized before being a church member.93 Dayton contends that the Lord’s Table is closed, only available to the members of a true church of Christ — a Baptist congregation.
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90 J.M. Pendleton, “Sketch of ‘Open Communion,’” ed. S.H. Ford, The Christian Repository (1889): 331–333.91 J.M. Pendleton, Why Don’t You Invite Us? (Philadelphia, Pa: American Baptist Publication Society), 3.
92 Dayton, Theodosia Ernest Or, The Heroine of Faith, 370.
93 Dayton, Theodosia Ernest Or, The Heroine of Faith, 380.
20The works of Graves, Pendleton, and Dayton, which are far more numerous than what has been discussed herein has had far reaching impact into the current day. The American Baptist Association in its doctrinal statement has in it what this trio contended, saying about the Church,
We believe that Jesus Christ established His church during His ministry on earth and that it is always a local, visible assembly of scripturally baptized believers in covenant relationship to carry out the Commission of the Lord Jesus Christ, and each church is an independent, self-governing body, and no other ecclesiastical body may exercise authority over it. We believe that Jesus Christ gave the Great Commission to the New Testament churches only, and that He promised the perpetuity of His churches.94This statement is reminiscent of what was taught by Graves, Pendleton, and Dayton. Ben Bogard, a founder of the American Baptist Association, would write about all three of these men in Pillars of Orthodoxy.95 The American Baptist Association, as well as a few other smaller conventions and independent churches, stands on the shoulders of these three men.The Southern Baptist Convention has been greatly influenced by these men as well. J.M. Carroll wrote The Trail of Blood, which is an extended discussion on the perpetuity of the Baptist churches, which was read by many Southern Baptists. The title of Carroll’s book comes from a comment Graves makes in The Trilemma. They were also among the first polemists of the convention. They began writing during the formative years of the convention, laying a foundation of speaking against perceived errors. This
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94 American Baptist Association, “Doctrinal Statement of the American Baptist Association.”95 Bogard, Pillars of Orthodoxy or Defenders of the Faith.
21
would be especially necessary for the Conservative Resurgence of the Southern Baptist Convention, which utilized this theological foundation to address the liberal drift of the 20th century. These men made it commonplace to speak up and speak boldly about theological concerns in the Southern Baptist Convention.Conclusion What Graves, Pendleton, and Dayton, in polemics and in propagation, wrote became the foundation of Landmark Baptist theology. They defended the faith delivered to them, down to the peculiarities of it. Their works are still worthy of attention and consideration, and their charge to not move the “ancient landmarks” is still one worth heeding.
22
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Graves, J.R., and Jacob Ditzler. The Graves-Ditzler: Or, Great Carrollton Debate. Believer’s Baptism. Memphis, Tenn: Southern Baptist Publication Society, 1876.
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———. “The Translation of ‘Baptizo.’” The Tennessee Baptist, December 3, 1859. Accessed October 16, 2022. http://baptisthistoryhomepage.com.
———. “The Validity of Baptism Administered by an Unbaptized Evangelist.” The Tennessee Baptist, June 21, 1856. Accessed October 16, 2022. http://baptisthistoryhomepage.com.
Pendleton, J.M. An Old Landmark Reset. BAPTIST STANDARD BEARER, 2021. https://books.google.com/books?id=cRqMzgEACAAJ.
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———. “Union with the Pedobaptist.” The Tennessee Baptist. Nashville, Tennessee, December 15, 1860.
———. Why Don’t You Invite Us? Philadelphia, Pa: American Baptist Publication Society, n.d.
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Church Archives, The First Baptist Church of Memphis / Skip Howard, Church Archivist, n.d.
==================== [Mr. Carson is a student at Mid-America Baptist Seminary in Tennessee. Scanned and formatted by Jim Duvall.]
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