Thomas Grantham | |
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 Engraving of Thomas Grantham | |
| Born | January 1634 Halton Holegate, Lincolnshire,Kingdom of England |
| Died | 17 January 1692 (aged 58) Norwich, Norfolk,Kingdom of England |
| Occupations |
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| Notable work | |
| Spouse | Bridget |
| Children |
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| Theological work | |
| Main interests | Credobaptism,systematic theology,Church history |
| Notable ideas | Via Media ofcongregational andpresbyterian polity, |
Thomas Grantham (January 1634 – 17 January 1692) was an EnglishGeneral Baptistdivine (theologian),minister, and author. Grantham was one of the leading theologians for EnglishBaptists and made petitions on behalf of the Baptist tenets, having access toKing Charles II, in 17th century England.
Thomas Grantham was born in January 1634 atHalton Holegate, nearSpilsby, Lincolnshire, to William Grantham, being part of the ancient Grantham family in the region. Grantham was ahusbandman and tailor by trade, owning three plots of land at Halton,Hundleby, andAshby by Partney. He was initially anAnglicanlayman, and probably used to attend theparish church of St. Andrew's in his hometown. Travelling in South Marsh district, Grantham encountered a group ofPuritans who seceded from aNonconformist church between Spilsby andBoston in 1651, having adoptedBaptist views. Grantham became convinced of thebaptism of believers only, in contrast with thebaptism of infants, and went to Boston Baptist Church. There, Grantham was baptised and received into the church in 1653.
Shortly, Grantham wasordained minister in 1656 and brought the Baptist views to Halton Holegate. He organized the South Marsh church in Halton which initially had services held in private residence, but after considerable opposition, the church obtained a grant of themedieval Northolme Chapel, atThorpe Northolme, nearWainfleet.
Grantham's key convert was John Watts, a wealthy man of some property who had received proper university education. Watts was ordained minister of a Baptist church with services conducted in his residence. By the efforts of Grantham and his evangelists, a number ofNonconformistPuritan Baptist churches were established in the south of Lincolnshire holding a fullArminiansoteriology, differently from theParticular Baptists and other General Baptists.[1]
Grantham's name is not appended to the original 1660 edition of the Standard Confession of Faith, but he seems to have drawn up shortly after theNarrative and Complaint, which was signed by 35 General Baptists in Lincolnshire. Grantham and Joseph Wright were admitted on 26 July 1660 to present the Standard Confession and theNarrative toKing Charles II, with a petition for toleration.Thomas Venner's insurrection ofFifth Monarchy Men in January 1661 raised fears ofAnabaptist outbreaks. Two addresses to the throne were then drawn up by Baptists from Lincolnshire. The second of these was presented (23 February) by Grantham to Charles, who expressed himself as well disposed.[1]
Grantham soon came into conflict with the authorities. Twice in 1662 he was arrested. The first time he was bound over to appear at the next assize atLincoln; he was again arrested at Boston. His Arminian preaching having led to the rumour of his being aJesuit. He was thrown into Lincoln gaol, and kept there some fifteen months, till at the spring assize of 1663 he and others were released, pursuant to a petition drawn up by him and presented to the king on 26 December.[1]
In 1666 Grantham became a messenger, a position originally created by the English Baptists for the supervision of churches in a county (cf.Robert Everard,Faith and Order, 1649). Grantham developed this position into an itinerant ministry-at-large to "plant" churches. On 7 March 1670, he issued proposals for a public disputation with Robert Wright, formerly a Baptist pastor who had conformed at Lincoln; but neither Wright nor William Silverton, chaplain to BishopWilliam Fuller, would respond. Under theConventicle Act 1670 Grantham was imprisoned again for six months atLouth. Soon after his release, he baptised a married woman. The husband threatened him with an action for damages, libeling him of having assaulted her. The indulgence of 15 March 1672 did not meet the case of the Baptists in Lincolnshire; accordingly, Grantham had another interview with the king on their behalf and obtained an ineffectual promise of redress. He suffered several imprisonments during the remaining years of Charles's reign.[1]In 1678, Grantham published Christianismus Primitivus,opus magnum, a compilation of his treatises previously published during his ministry, considered the first Baptist work ofsystematics, that greatly shaped Baptist theology in the 17th and 18th century – mainly the General Baptist strand.
In 1685 or 1686, Grantham moved toNorwich, where he established a church in White Friars Yard. In 1686, he founded a similar church in King Street,Great Yarmouth; in 1688, he baptised persons atWarboys in Huntingdonshire; in 1689, he was allowed to preach in the town hall ofKing's Lynn, and established a church there.[1]
Grantham's closing years were full of controversies with other Nonconformists in Norwich, especiallyJohn Collinges andMartin Fynch. With the established clergy of the city he was on better terms; John Connould, vicar ofSt. Stephen's, was a good friend, from a theological correspondence. On 6 October 1691, John Willet, rector ofTattershall, Lincolnshire, was brought up before the mayor of Norwich, Thomas Blofield, for slandering Grantham at Yarmouth and Norwich. Willet admitted that there was no foundation for his statement that Grantham had been pilloried at Louth for sheep-stealing. Grantham paid Willet's costs, and kept him out of gaol.
Grantham died on Sunday, 17 January 1692, aged 58 years, and was buried just within the west door of St. Stephen's Church. A crowd attended the funeral; the service was read by his friend Connould. Connould was buried in the same grave in May 1703. A long memorial inscription was later placed in Grantham's meeting house, probably by his grandsonGrantham Killingworth.[1]
Thomas Grantham, being the leading divine of the General Baptists in the 17th century, wasArminian. Yet, he differed from theArminian Anglicans of his day. He advocated strong Calvinist doctrines ofhuman depravity (the absolute inability in spiritual matters apart from the convicting andprevenient grace of theHoly Spirit),penal substitutionary atonement, andjustification by theimputedpassive obedience andactive obedience of Christ, as well as a Calvinistsanctification. He believed inconditional preservation of the saints, which is that salvation could be forfeited only byapostasy from Christ through unbelief, happening only to thenon-elect, a condition from which one could never recover. Grantham, as any other English Puritan, also advocated theReformed view ofReal Presence in theEucharist (the view where the believer receives the real Body and Blood of Christ in a spiritual manner through faith), emphasizing spiritual nourishment.
Like other 17th century Baptists, Grantham advocated interdependence of local churches, in a "Via Media" betweencongregational andpresbyteral approaches to church polity through the existence of associations, which was a distinct church polity held by Baptists. These associations had more power than any later Baptist organizations, though the local church was still ultimately autonomous and could disagree with the findings of associations and messengers. The stronger view of interconnection between local churches melded with Grantham's development of the position of messenger, to which he was chosen. Messengers were seen as having duties like theapostles, yet without their authority andextraordinary gifts. Thus messengers engaged inevangelism,apologetic activities, advising churches, mentoring andordaining local ministers (when necessary), and helping to resolve congregational conflicts. He also believed in theimposition of hands on the newly baptized,anointing with oil for healing (but not theextraordinary gift of healing), and, like many Baptists of his day, believed in the singing ofpsalmody only bysoloists as a part of public worship. He also strongly believed in the doctrine ofreligious liberty andliberty of conscience, being one of the most prolific authors on the concept in the 17th century.
Grantham's views on theHoly Scriptures andChurch Tradition were similar to those of theMagisterial Reformers, asJohn Calvin, andBalthasar Hubmaier, in that he had a high esteem for theChurch Fathers and widely quoted them, considering as authorities for the Church today, while holding to a standard ReformedSola scriptura.
His debates withAnglicans,Presbyterians,Quakers, andRoman Catholics were widely read and quoted in the seventeenth century and evinced his unique Arminian soteriology which shaped the General Baptist strand.
Grantham published:[1]
Among his unpublished manuscripts wereThe Baptist's Complaints against the Persecuting Priests, 1685, andChristianitas Restaurata, of which the title seems borrowed from Servetus; both are quoted byThomas Crosby for their biographical matter. William Richard in 1805 could not gain access to Grantham's manuscripts.[1]
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Stephen, Leslie;Lee, Sidney, eds. (1890). "Grantham, Thomas (1634-1692)".Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 22. London:Smith, Elder & Co.
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