The Hall-Kinghorn Communion Debate of 1815-1827

About this book

"The controversy that is the subject of this book: Should believer's baptism be a prerequisite to participating in the Lord's Supper or communion? Answered in the affirmative is the close/closed/strict communion position, championed here by Joseph Kinghorn; answered in the negative is the open/mixed communion position advocated by Robert Hall, Jr. The debate certainly did not begin with these two men, and unfortunately, it did not end with them, either. . . . In the debate with Kinghorn, Hall maintained that "mixed" or open communion must be practiced, in keeping with brotherly love. He believed that as long as the brothers and sisters were in Christ, they had a right to participate in the communion table. . . . In response, the scholarly Kinghorn rebutted that strict communion was not an insult against the duty of love, but instead a necessity by the duty of conscience. Kinghorn's argument in Baptism, a Term of Communion is simple: baptism is commanded by God as a public profession of faith, and the example of the apostles was to only admit baptized persons into the churches. . . . Furthermore, he said the danger of Hall's arguments was its potentiality to annihilate other parts of "the revealed will of Christ." . . . Kinghorn's concerns were vindicated as Baptists fell further away from doctrinal fidelity." -- Introduction.