Confession of Faith (1689)

The Confession of Faith (1689), also known as the 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith, or the Second London Confession of Faith (2LCF), is a Particular Baptist confession of faith. It was written by English Baptists who subscribed to a Calvinistic soteriology as well as to a non-Westminsterian covenantal systematic theology. Because it was revised by the Philadelphia Baptist Association in the 18th century, it is also known as the Philadelphia Confession of Faith. The Philadelphia Confession, however, was a modification of the Second London Confession; it added an allowance for the singing of hymns, psalms, and spiritual songs in the Lord's Supper and made optional the laying on of hands after baptism (Confirmation).

The Second London Confession of Faith was first published in London in 1677 under the title "A confession of Faith put forth by the Elders and Brethren of many Congregations of Christians, Baptized upon Profession of their Faith in London and the Country. With an Appendix concerning Baptism." It was a revision of the Savoy Declaration (1658) with modifications to reflect Baptist theology. Savoy is itself a Congregationalist revision of the Westminster Confession (1646). The Confession was published again, under the same title, in 1688 and 1689.

The Act of Toleration passed by the Parliament of England in 1689 enabled religious freedom and plurality to co-exist alongside the established churches in England and Scotland. In response to the Act, representatives from over 100 Baptist churches assembled in the City of London from 3–12 September of 1689 to discuss and endorse the 1677 document. Thus, despite the fact that the document was written in 1677, the official preface to the Confession has ensured that it would be known as the "1689 Baptist Confession of Faith."

The Confession consists of 32 chapters, as well as an introduction and a list of signatories.

Baptists were quick to develop churches in colonial America, and in 1707 the Philadelphia Baptist Association was formed. The Association formally adopted a revision of the 1689 Confession in 1742 after years of tacit endorsement by local churches and congregational members. With the addition of two articles (on the singing of psalms and the laying on of hands), it was entitled The Philadelphia Confession of Faith. Further Baptists Associations and Calvinistic Baptist churches formed in the mid-late 18th century adopted the Confession as "The Baptist Confession."

Baptist churches around the world continue to subscribe to the 1689 Second London Confession of Faith as the fullest statement of their beliefs. Many of these churches are listed in directories like the Reformed Wiki, the Farese Church Directory and the 1689 Church Directory.

Efforts have been made in recent years to modernize the language of the 1689 Baptist Confession to make it more accessible to contemporary readers. Some approaches are rather free, such as SM Houghton's A Faith to Confess, while others, such as Jeremy Walker's Rooted and Grounded, are more conservative. Still others, like Stan Reeve's The 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith In Modern English lie somewhere between. A comparison from the first paragraph demonstrates this:

". . . which maketh the Holy Scriptures to be most necessary, those former ways of God's revealing His will unto His people being now ceased." (Banner of Truth, 1689)