The Stennetts of England - Addenda

I have decided that the funeral sermon by Joseph Stennett for Rev. Joseph Collet was by Joseph II rather than by Joseph III. At the end of the sermon, there are advertisements four sermons by "Joseph Stennett"; these are by Joseph Stennett II. As no differentiation is made, I suppose Joseph II also preached the sermon for Collet. Furthermore, it is more likely that the middle aged minister, rather than his young assistant, would be called on for the sermon. The British Museum -- Catalogue of Printed Books (1897) and Whitley's A Baptist Bibliography (1922) are the authorities which assign the sermon to Joseph III. A casual compiler might well note that the sermon was preached at Coate, in Oxfordshire and that Joseph III was the minister there most of his life: then it is easy to assign it to Joseph III rather than his father who is in London. (The British Museum Catalogue does say that Joseph III lived in Coate.) Once a "historical judgment" is made in an authoritative work, it is not surprising that Whitley (and myself for eight months) accepted the British Museum's judgment. Reassigning this sermon to Joseph II does not seriously affect any conclusion in the thesis.

Joseph Stennett's church sang hymns , but I have just read that Francis Bampfield, the founder of the church, had opposed singing to God in set forms. 001 On singing of hymns, Joseph Stennett, with a few others, opposed a large portion of the Baptists; besides that, in his own church, he had to counteract the opinion of his predecessor on that point. Thus, Joseph was a man who possessed originality, strength of character and personal integrity.

I have quoted Samuel Stennett as saying that religion does not include any special manner of dress. A century and a half previous, John Traske and Hamlet Jackson led the Traskites who, at least at the time, wore "peculiar dress" 002 It is likely, though not certain, that Samuel knew of the early Traskites, as they were observers of the seventh day Sabbath. If so, Samuel specifically rejected one peculiar belief of early"Sabbath Observer"; in any case, an evolution in "Sabbatarian" thought rejected outward forms as a sign of inward Christianity.

An Addition continues the same note that Christianity is not basically concerned with reproducing exactly the "indefferent" (non-essential) customs of cosmology which happen to be in the Bible. Francis Bampfield wrote a book entitled, All in One whose sub-titles sets forth its doctrine that "all useful sciences and profitable arts are comprehended and discovered in fullness and perfection of Scripture knowledges." 003 Samuel Stennett, a century later, restricts the authority of the Bible to spiritual matters. These last three addenda point out that the Stennetts were creative and not bound completely to any man-made theological orthodoxy.

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The Stennetts of England Addenda Footnotes

1     W. E. Melone, "Seventh-Day Christians.", Jewish Quarterly Review , Old Series, X (1897-1798), 427.
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2      Ibid ., p. 414; this is about 1647.
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3      Ibid ., p 427
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