Benjamin Keach (29 February 1640 – 18 July 1704) was an English

Baptist Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...

minister and author whose name was given to '' Keach's Catechism''.

Biography

Keach was born on 29 February 1640 to John and Fedora Keeche at Stoke Hammond,

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (, abbreviated ''Bucks'') is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-east, Hertfordshir ...

. His parents were poor. Keach worked as a tailor during his early years. He was baptized at the age of 15 by John Russell, the minister of an

Arminian Arminianism is a movement of Protestantism initiated in the early 17th century, based on the Christian theology, theological ideas of the Dutch Reformed Church, Dutch Reformed theologian Jacobus Arminius and his historic supporters known as Remo ...

Baptist church at

Chesham Chesham ( , ) is a market town and civil parish in Buckinghamshire, England, United Kingdom, south-east of the county town of Aylesbury, about north-west of Charing Cross, central London, and part of the London metropolitan area, London ...

, Buckinghamshire. In 1659, at the age of 18, Keach began preaching, and was the minister of the congregation at Winslow. The next year, the

Stuart Restoration The Stuart Restoration was the reinstatement in May 1660 of the Stuart monarchy in Kingdom of England, England, Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland, and Kingdom of Ireland, Ireland. It replaced the Commonwealth of England, established in January 164 ...

returned Charles II to the throne of England, and in the years that followed, the

penal laws Penal law refers to criminal law. It may also refer to: * Penal law (British), laws to uphold the establishment of the Church of England against Catholicism * Penal laws (Ireland) In Ireland, the penal laws () were a series of Disabilities (C ...

proscribed Protestant nonconformity. In 1664, Keach was arrested and indicted for publishing a children's catechism, ''The Child's Instructor''. The ''Instructor'', since lost, was alleged to be schismatical. In October, he was tried in

Aylesbury Aylesbury ( ) is the county town of Buckinghamshire, England. It is home to the Roald Dahl Children's Gallery and the Aylesbury Waterside Theatre, Waterside Theatre. It is located in central Buckinghamshire, midway between High Wycombe and Milt ...

before Sir Robert Hyde, and was sentenced to two weeks' imprisonment, fined twenty pounds, and on two days was

pilloried The pillory is a device made of a wooden or metal framework erected on a post, with holes for securing the head and hands, used during the medieval and renaissance periods for punishment by public humiliation and often further physical abuse. ...

for several hours in Aylesbury and Winslow. In 1668, Keach moved to London, taking the position of minister of the church at Horsleydown,

Southwark Southwark ( ) is a district of Central London situated on the south bank of the River Thames, forming the north-western part of the wider modern London Borough of Southwark. The district, which is the oldest part of South London, developed ...

. Keach developed

Calvinist Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Protestantism, Continenta ...

soteriological Soteriology (; ' "salvation" from σωτήρ ' "savior, preserver" and λόγος ' "study" or "word") is the study of religious doctrines of salvation. Salvation theory occupies a place of special significance in many religions. In the academic ...

views following his move to London, and he became a Reformed (or "Particular") Baptist. Keach remained pastor at the church in Horsleydown for 36 years, until his death in 1704. The congregation later moved its services to the

New Park Street Chapel The New Park Street Chapel, nowadays Metropolitan Tabernacle, was a Particular Baptist chapel in Southwark, London, built in 1833. The church was formed in 1650 and initially was General Baptist. Its first pastor was William Rider, and many notab ...

(built in 1833) and then to the

Metropolitan Tabernacle The Metropolitan Tabernacle is a Reformed Baptist, Reformed Independent Baptist, Independent Baptist Church in the Elephant and Castle area in London. It was the largest Nonconformist (Protestantism), non-conformist church of its day in 1861. ...

(built in 1861) under the pastorship of

Charles Spurgeon Charles Haddon Spurgeon (19 June 1834 – 31st January 1892) was an English Particular Baptist preacher. Spurgeon remains highly influential among Christians of various denominations, to some of whom he is known as the "Prince of Preachers." ...

. In 1673, part of Keach's congregation seceded due to a dispute over congregational singing, and left to form the Maze Pond Church at

Old Kent Road Old Kent Road is a major thoroughfare in South East London, England, passing through the London Borough of Southwark. It was originally part of an ancient trackway that was paved by the Romans and used by the Anglo-Saxons who named it Wæcel ...

As a representative of the Horsleydown church, Keach attended the 1689 General Assembly that endorsed the '' 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith''. Keach was one of the seven men who sent out the invitation to the 1689 General Assembly. The signing of the ''Confession'' was no mute doctrinal assent on the part of the church; in the same year they entered into a "Solemn Covenant" which reflected, at the practical and congregational level, some of the doctrines of the confession. Spurgeon later republished the ''Confession'' for use in the congregation. Keach wrote 43 works, of which his ''Parables and Metaphors of Scripture'' may be the best known. His catechism ''The Child's Instructor'', as noted, was the ground of his arrest and imprisonment in 1664. He is also attributed with the writing of a

catechism A catechism (; from , "to teach orally") is a summary or exposition of Catholic theology, doctrine and serves as a learning introduction to the Sacraments traditionally used in catechesis, or Christian religious teaching of children and adult co ...

commonly known as ''Keach's Catechism'', although its authorship is now disputed, and it was likely authored at least in part by William Collins. Keach is also known to have promoted the introduction of

hymn A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hymn'' d ...

singing in the

churches.Benjamin Keach Biography from Spurgeon's Autobiography
/ref> His church, Horsleydown, was probably the first church in England to sing hymns, as opposed to

psalms The Book of Psalms ( , ; ; ; ; , in Islam also called Zabur, ), also known as the Psalter, is the first book of the third section of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) called ('Writings'), and a book of the Old Testament. The book is an anthology of B ...

and paraphrases. Keach's hymnbook, published in 1691, provoked heated debate in the 1692 Assembly of Particular Baptists, as it conflicted with the position of exclusive psalmody. Keach's

eschatological Eschatology (; ) concerns expectations of the end of present age, human history, or the world itself. The end of the world or end times is predicted by several world religions (both Abrahamic and non-Abrahamic), which teach that negative world ...

beliefs were also controversial in his lifetime. His remarks regarding the

second coming of Christ The Second Coming (sometimes called the Second Advent or the Parousia) is the Christian and Islamic belief that Jesus Christ will return to Earth after his ascension to Heaven (which is said to have occurred about two thousand years ago). The ...

may have led to suspicions that he was a Fifth Monarchy man. Also among his eschatological convictions, Keach anticipated a major revival amongst the Jews at the end of the present age.

Personal life

Keach was twice married. In May 1660, he married Jane Grove of Winslow in the town of

. Keach and his first wife had four daughters and one son. In October 1670, Grove died, aged thirty. In 1672, Keach married again, to Susanna Partridge of

Rickmansworth Rickmansworth () is a town in south-west Hertfordshire, England, located approximately north-west of central London, south-west of Watford and inside the perimeter of the M25 motorway. The town is mainly to the north of the Grand Union Canal ( ...

. Partridge and Keach had five daughters, and remained wedded for thirty-two years. Keach died on July 18, 1704, and was buried in a Baptist burial ground in

. Partridge survived him, and lived until 1727.

Works

*''The Glory of a True Church, and Its Discipline Display’d'', London: John Robinson (1697) *''The Progress of Sin, Or the Travels of Ungodliness'', London: J. Clarke (5th edition, 1736) *''The Travels of True Godliness'', Boston: Lincoln & Edmands (Revised and Improved, 1831) *''Gold Refin’d, or, Baptism in Its Primitive Purity'', London: Printed for the author. (1689) *''An Exposition of the Parables and Express Similitudes of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ'', London: Aylott and Co. (1858) *''Spiritual Songs: Being the Marrow of the Scripture, in Songs of Praise to Almighty God; From the Old and New Testament'', London: John Marshal (Second Edition, 1700) *''The Baptist Catechism, Commonly Called Keach's Catechism: Or, a Brief Instruction in the Principles of the Christian Religion'', Philadelphia: American Baptist Publication Society. (1851) *''Tropologia: A Key to Open Scripture Metaphors'', London: William Hill Collingridge (1856) *''The Marrow of True Justification, or, Justification without Works'' London: Dorman Newman (1692) *''War with the Devil; or the Young Man's Conflict with the Powers of Darkness; Displayed in a Poetical Dialogue between Youth and Conscience'' Coventry: T. Luckman. (n.d.) *''The Scriptures Superior to All Spiritual Manifestations. In H. C. Fish (Ed.), History and Repository of Pulpit Eloquence, Deceased Divines, Containing the Masterpieces (Vol. I)'', New York: Dodd, Mead & Company. (1856) *''A Golden Mine Opened: Or, the Glory of God's Rich Grace Displayed in the Mediator to Believers: And His Direful Wrath against Impenitent Sinners: Containing the Substance of near Forty Sermons upon Several Subjects'', London: Printed for the author (1694)

References

* Brackney, William H. (2004). ''A Genetic History of Baptist Thought: With Special Reference to Baptists in Britain and North America.'' Macon, GA: Mercer University Press. pp. 33, 66–68, 74, 105, 116–117. *

External links

Information on Benjamin Keach at the Christian History InstituteA quotation from Keach's ''The Child's Instructor'', 'the first Baptist textbook'Recent Scholarship on Keach Available Online at The Benjamin Keach Journal
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Keach, Benjamin 1640 births 1704 deaths People from Buckinghamshire British evangelists 17th-century English Baptist ministers English Calvinist and Reformed Christians English Baptist theologians Baptist writers British sermon writers 18th-century English Baptist ministers