Pickles Book 2 Review

Stephen Pickles Cotswolds Pastor and Hymn Writer: The Divinity of Benjamin Beddome (Upham, Southampton, England: The James Bourne Society, 2025, hardback), 718 pages

Beddome studies are enjoying a welcome renaissance and Stephen Pickles from the Gospel Standard grouping has now produced the promised second follow up volume, following his initial largely biographical tome of 2023. Again a handsome presentation, this lightly illustrated volume is even longer than the first and is enhanced by an index at the end and a 51 person dramatis personae with pen pictures of each at the beginning. There is also an appendix and an addendum.

Like the first volume, this one is also divided into parts, this time eight unequal parts. The first four parts are fairly uncontroversial as Mr Pickles seeks to systematically take us through Beddome's theology as revealed in his sermons, hymns and his catechism. First, in three parts, there is his doctrine of God, then second his soteriology, covered in nine sections, from original sin via new birth to salvation being wholly of God. The third part is on a Christian's walk and conversation in another nine sections, including sanctification via Christian conversation to the observance of the Lord's Day. The fourth part is on the means of grace, that is preaching and the sacraments. So, nothing on ecclesiology or eschatology but a good sweep otherwise. As in the previous volume, there is a tendency to quote Beddome at length and there is little attempt to integrate what has been found, which is probably a fault.

It is when we come to the other four sections of the book that things become more controversial. Under the heading “Religious controversies” we have something first on Socinianism, a real threat in Beddome's lifetime. Joseph Priestley, whose portrait adorns page 372, was the leading opponent of orthodoxy and was opposed by Benjamin Francis, Caleb Evans, John Fawcett, Samuel Rowles and others with whom Beddome would have been in agreement.

Mr Pickles then goes on to the law. This material extends over several parts. Given his pedigree, it is no surprise to see that Mr Pickles spends a long time on this question. He looks at Beddome himself, an attack on the Midland Association by a man called John Bradford and William Huntington's dispute with Caleb Evans. This is all very interesting and helpful and ends with a final attempt to reconcile the antinomian view and the more orthodox one.

Finally, in this section, there is something on self-examination and the marks of grace and on ministerial education.

Part 6 is headed “Dr Gill, John Brine, Andrew Fuller & the Bristol Divines”. Gospel Standard Baptists have long been unhappy with Andrew Fuller and his work Gospel worthy of all acceptation which caused something of a revolution among Particular Baptists at the time. There were two editions of the latter book and it is suggested that there is a marked difference between the two. Mr Pickles posits a sharp difference between Fuller and the Bristol Divines, including Beddome. The section also includes material on Caleb Evans. With the necessarily selective quotations from Fuller and others, it is difficult to be sure whether Mr Pickles has been fair and therefore whether he is right in his contentions. He is eager to keep Beddome on his side and so to say he was at variance with Fuller. Not all will agree.

He seems to be on surer ground in the seventh section when he chooses to disagree with Dr Michael Haykin on the matter of whether Baptists experienced revival in the latter half of the eighteenth century. Once again, he shows himself more than familiar with the content of the Bourton-on-the-Water church book and quotes it several times. He adds a sermon by Beddome on Revelation 2:5,6 which does nothing to resolve the question but is good to read.

The final eighth section uncontroversially sums up the enduring legacy of the great Benjamin Beddome.

An appendix suggests that Andrew Fuller and George Whitefield differed in their theology with regard to the atonement but, as with the contrasting of Fuller and the Bristol divines, it is not entirely certain that Mr Pickles has made his case.

The addendum responds to the recently published book on Robert Hall Junior by Austin Walker (The theology of Robert Hall jr. The undermining of Calvinism among the English Particular Baptists). Strictly speaking, this has nothing to do with Beddome but one understands the desire to make some comment on such an important and otherwise germane book.

Mr Pickles has given us the fruits his labour of love and anyone who has an interest in Beddome will not fail to benefit from what has been published. Whether Beddome has been rightly understood or not will be hotly debated for some time to come.

Pickles Book 1 Review

Stephen Pickles Cotswolds Pastor and Hymn Writer: The Life and Times of Benjamin Beddome (Upham, Southampton, England: The James Bourne Society, 2023, hardback), 471 pages

After long neglect, Beddome studies seem to be enjoying a welcome renaissance. This current offering from the world of High Calvinism is a large, handsome and appreciative biographical treatment enhanced by numerous illustrations, a full bibliography, the confession and covenant of the church where Beddome's father pastored in an appendix and a list of hymns quoted. The book grows in part out of a lecture given in 2017 but is really the fruit of a life time's interest. It is the first of a proposed two volumes. The second will concentrate on Beddome's writings, although this present volume extensively quotes 75 hymns, several sermons and other writings.

The volume is divided into six unequal parts dealing with Beddome's early life; long pastorate; the vicissitudes of life he knew; two educationalists he baptised; the Bible, missionary work and the slave trade and his last years.

Part 1 takes us from Beddome's birth in the Midlands through to pastoral studies in London. Pickles quotes a hymn by Beddome's father and outlines at length doctrinal declension in nonconformist churches and the revival under Whitefield and others that followed and had such an effect on Baptists. The section ends with a chapter on Samuel Wilson, who baptised Beddome.

The book's longest part on Beddome's pastorate is 16 chapters long. It begins with his ordination and marriage, invitations to go elsewhere (dealing only with the call to London), his new home and the new chapel. The 1765 letter to the Midland Association is reproduced in a further chapter followed by a chapter on his catechism. That is appropriately followed by a digest of an extant sermon on nurturing the spiritual welfare of the young. Nothing is said of Bourton before Beddome's arrival.

The book's longest chapter examines Beddome's religious experience by means of a catena of extended quotations mostly from hymns but also from sermons. Pickles concludes that Beddome wanted to keep Christ central and live for his praise but, very much aware of human depravity, knew that salvation has to be by means of Christ's satisfaction alone. Full of thankfulness for his conversion, he was aware of a tendency to regress at times and greatly desired Christ's presence. Pickles posits fluctuations in Beddome's assurance and underlines that he taught that Christ is always the answer. Beddome longed to grow in grace and loved to meet with God's people. At the end of this chapter some Beddome letters from 1759 and 1760 that were published in The Evangelical Magazine in 1800 are reproduced.

A chapter headed Spiritual Darkness follows. It alerts us to apparent problems Beddome knew in 1762 but, in the absence of any discussion, most of the chapter is taken up with Daniel Turner's long letter to Beddome about it. A more interesting chapter comes next. It begins with statistics from Brooks' history of the church and is enhanced by its use not only of hymns and sermons dealing with church membership and discipline but also content from the Bourton-on-the-Water church book. Pickles is very familiar with this material and makes excellent use of it also in the next chapter where he outlines the generosity of the Bourton church to various people.

A number of chapters deal with people Beddome knew. There is an expected chapter on seven men Beddome sent into the ministry and a less expected one on his deacons. As for friends of Beddome, Sarah Evans, Benjamin Seward, Henry Keene and Benjamin Francis are singled out. For some reason Pickles makes little reference to Snooke and Hall who married Seward's daughters and were members of Beddome's congregation.

There is also a chapter on family bereavements and two substantial chapters at the end of the second section looking at The Midland Association to which Bourton belonged and relations with Anglican ministers. This final chapter attempts to connect Beddome and Whitefield but there is probably not enough evidence to establish this attractive proposition beyond a doubt.

Part 3 on the vicissitudes of life looks at weather and harvesting, general sickness and war and peace. Once again intimacy with the church book makes it possible to round out the picture of Beddome and his congregation in a most interesting way. Part 4 is mostly on John Ryland with some material on William Fox, both baptised by Beddome and both leading educationalists.

In Part 5 four chapters cover the preciousness of the Bible, its distribution to the nations, the Baptist Society for the propagation of the gospel and the slave trade. Here the and his times comes into its own with a great deal of material about others other than Beddome. The helpful chapter on slavery hardly mentions him. The book closes with Part 6, a relatively short section on Beddome's closing years. This is very well done.

There are a very tiny number of typos and one or two possible minor errors in the book but overall it is a solid contribution to studies in this area. Many editors would have been much more brutal and may have cut the contents by as much as a half. Readers will be divided as to whether including so much extraneous material is a merit or demerit.

Two new books on Beddome

Readers of this blog will be pleased to know that two new books on Beddome have recently appeared or are about to appear. Firsty, a second volume and final volume by Stephen Pickles completes the record of his extensive research into Beddome's life and testimony. The first part of the book I have read and it uncontroversially ransacks Beddome's works to piece together a theology, something I have longed to do myself. The second part of the book gets into Huntington, Fuller, etc, and the more controversial matters among Particular Baptists. I have not yet read that part but hope to do so in the near future.

Meanwhile, Yuta Seki has put his PhD on Beddome into popular form. “Long May Thy Servant Feed Thy Sheep” looks at Beddome's pastoral theology, making use of letters, sermons and other materials. I am not sure when this volume will appear but I have seen it and it looks excellent. “Long May Thy Servant Feed Thy Sheep” is a quote from a Beddome hymn.

Church Book Entry February 15 1778

Mr Beddome took Occasion last Sabbath to speak of the wretched and shameful Profanation of the Sabbath by the Children in the Village of Bourton and wish'd that someone would speak to the Curate and other Officers to join their Endeavours for the suppression of that Evil - the curate was advis'd of it and this day preached upon the 4th Commandment. The Clerk also read a paper (I suppose drawn up by the said Curate) the Purport of which was that those who were hereafter guilty of that offence should be prosecuted by the Church wardens and a similar Paper was stuck up at the Church meeting house doors and upon a Tree in the middle of the Town.

(Quoted in Stephen Pickles new book on Beddome - more of that anon)

New book here

The book by Stephen Pickles has now arrived from Osset. This blog is duly acknowledged. Beddome is a life time's interest, however, and this is only the first of two proposed volumes. Mr Pickles (who sadly I have never met) is slightly coy about launching another biography but this is a much larger and more rambling piece that contains many things not found elsewhere. The hymns, sermons and other materials are quoted extensively and there is lots to learn. Mr Pickles is also apprehensive that people will not be happy with his take on Beddome. This, no doubt, is due to the matter of one's attitude towards Andrew Fuller. It will be interesting to see what evidence he is able to find of non-Fullerism.

Life and Times of Benjamin Beddome

A new biography of Beddome by Stephen Pickles has been published by The James Bourne Society. It is distributed by the Huntingtonian Press. The book is a hardback and makes use of Beddome's hymns and letters to spell out the story. It grows out of a lecture given in 2017 in rural Wiltshire. The current blurb claims that Beddome wrote a catechism for his congregation, which is not quite right. Probably a slip. So like the proverbial London bus, along come two at once - this one and the briefer David Luke.  I am assuming Mr Pickles work is substantial. I see it has 471 pages. More here.