CONF501 is a graduate-level course offering a comprehensive study of the Second London Baptist Confession of Faith (1689), tracing its historical development from earlier confessions and working through all thirty-two chapters with attention to biblical, theological, and polemical dimensions. The course aims to form students not merely as scholars of the confession but as capable teachers and defenders of confessional Reformed Baptist doctrine.
CONF501
Reformed Confessions
The Second London Baptist Confession of Faith (1689)
New to Haddon?
Apply NowDates
10 weeks
Workload
10 hours per week
Class
Thurs 8:00 PM - 9:30 PM
Online and in-person
Location
1/14 Vanessa Blvd Springwood QLD
Tuition Fees
Enrol AUD $1,506
Audit fee is 50% of tuition fees
12-week payment plans available
Applications close
13 Jul 2026 at 5:00 pm AEST
Course Overview
This graduate course provides a rigorous, systematic study of the Second London Baptist Confession of Faith (1689), examining its historical origins, theological content, and ongoing confessional significance. Students will engage the 1689 as a primary source week by week, alongside the Westminster Confession, the Savoy Declaration, and significant historical and contemporary scholarship, to develop a precise and well-grounded account of Reformed Baptist doctrine.
CONF501 serves as the confessional spine of the Professional Credential program, equipping students to articulate what Reformed Baptists believe, situate those convictions within the broader Reformed tradition, and teach and defend confessional doctrine with precision, charity, and pastoral depth.
Please note that this course is a part of the Professional Credential in Theology program. Explore the full program to see how this course sits within the wider course of study.
Course Learning Objectives
1
Articulate the historical genesis, theological character, and confessional context of the 1689 LBCF, situating it accurately within the broader Reformed tradition (1644 LBC, Westminster, Savoy).
2
Explain the doctrine of God, the Trinity, the divine decree, creation, and providence as confessed in the 1689 (Chapters 1–5), in continuity with Nicene and Chalcedonian orthodoxy.
3
Demonstrate proficiency in 1689 Federalism: the distinctive Particular Baptist articulation of covenant theology, the law-gospel relation, and the substance/administration distinction (Chapters 6, 7, and 19).
4
Articulate the person and work of Christ and the Reformed ordo salutis as confessed in the 1689 (Chapters 8–18).
5
Apply the confession's teaching on the Christian life, worship, the Sabbath, oaths, civil magistracy, and marriage to contemporary congregational life (Chapters 20–25).
6
Defend the confessional distinctives of Reformed Baptist ecclesiology and the ordinances: congregational polity, plurality of elders, regenerate church membership, credobaptism, and the Lord's Supper (Chapters 26–30).
7
Evaluate the 1689 comparatively against the WCF and the Savoy Declaration, identifying continuity, deliberate dependence, and points of conscious departure.
8
Communicate confessional theology in written and oral academic form with precision, charity, and pastoral sensitivity.
Course Details
Applications close
13 Jul 2026 at 5:00 pm AEST
Timeframe
23 Jul - 24 Sep 2026
Lecture times
Thursday 8:00 PM ⎯ 9:30 PM
Location
1/14 Vanessa Blvd Springwood QLD
Duration
10 weeks
Workload
10 hours per week
Credits
2
Tuition Fees
Enrol AUD $1,506
Audit fee is 50% of tuition fees
Assessment
Course Readings
10%
Due Date
Ongoing
Weight
10%
Class Engagement
10%
Due Date
Ongoing
Weight
10%
Midterm Essay
20%
Due Date
TBC
Weight
20%
Final Research Essay
35%
Due Date
TBC
Weight
35%
Viva Voce Oral Defence
25%
Due Date
TBC
Weight
25%
About the Lecturer
A strategic ecclesiologist, he has pastored, planted, and revitalised churches in Australia and the United States, leading high-risk mission trips among unreached peoples. Through worldwide seminars, networks, and conferences, Dr. Ireland delivers theological depth, pastoral warmth, and prophetic clarity, fostering church faithfulness and renewal in turbulent times. Holding a Doctor of Education (University of the Cumberlands, USA), Doctor of Ministry (Columbia International University, USA), M.A. in Theology (University of Chester, UK), and B.A. in Theology (Charles Sturt University, Australia), his doctoral research examined leadership, innovation in theological education, and adult learning theories. At the Haddon Institute, he lectures in theology and worldview, leads Spurgeon symposia on spiritual warfare and missional advance, and has authored works such as By Grace Alone (an updated All of Grace) and No Higher Calling: Shepherding God's People According to Paul. Married to Katarina for over 22 years and father to four, he embodies conviction and compassion in scholarship and shepherding.
Lecture Content
1
Origins and Scripture
The genealogy running from the 1644 First London Baptist Confession through the Westminster Confession to the Savoy Declaration, and culminating in the 1689. The Particular Baptists situate themselves in the Reformed confessional stream. The doctrine of Scripture as foundational principle.
Date
22 Jul 2026
2
Theology Proper and the Decree
The doctrinal heart of the confession. Divine attributes, classical theism, the Trinity, the eternal decree, creation, providence. Continuity with Nicene-Constantinopolitan and Chalcedonian orthodoxy.
Date
29 Jul 2026
3
Anthropology, Covenant, and Law
1689 Federalism. The fall, covenant theology as the architecture of Scripture, the substance and administration distinction (and where the Particular Baptists modify Westminster), the threefold division of the law.
Date
5 Aug 2026
4
Christ and Initial Soteriology
Christ the Mediator, free will (and the Reformed doctrine of bondage to sin), effectual calling, and justification by faith alone. The first arc of the ordo salutis.
Date
12 Aug 2026
5
Applied Soteriology
Adoption, sanctification, saving faith, repentance, good works, perseverance, assurance. The second arc of the ordo salutis: the application of redemption from justification to glorification.
Date
19 Aug 2026
6
The Christian Life
Gospel and its extent, Christian liberty, religious worship and the Sabbath, lawful oaths and vows, the civil magistrate, marriage. The confession applied to daily and corporate life.
Date
26 Aug 2026
7
Ecclesiology and the Ordinances
The distinctively Baptist chapters. The nature and government of the church, the communion of saints, baptism and the Lord's Supper. The points at which the 1689 departs decisively from Westminster, and the reasons for that departure.
Date
2 Sep 2026
8
Eschatology and Confessional Synthesis
State of man after death, the last judgement. Synthesis: a comparative reading of WCF, Savoy, and the 1689 across selected loci. The shape of confessional Reformed Baptist identity.
Date
9 Sep 2026
9
Viva Voce Oral Defence
Each student presents an eight-minute oral defence of their final essay, followed by four minutes of questioning from instructor and peers combined.
Date
20 Aug 2026
10
Viva Voce Oral Defence
TBA
Date
27 Aug 2026
Required Readings
Primary Text Waldron, Samuel E. A Modern Exposition of the 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith. 5th ed. Leyland, England: Evangelical Press, 2016.
Link Unavailable
Required Primary Source The Second London Baptist Confession of Faith (1689). Any reputable modern edition. Recommended: the Founders Press critical edition or the Solid Ground Christian Books edition.
Link Unavailable
Renihan, James M. For the Vindication of the Truth: A Brief Exposition of the First London Baptist Confession of Faith. Baptist Symbolics Volume 1. Cape Coral, FL: Founders Press, 2021. (Selected sections, Week 1.)
Link Unavailable
Renihan, James M. To the Judicious and Impartial Reader: A Contextual-Historical Exposition of the Second London Baptist Confession of Faith. Baptist Symbolics Volume 2. Cape Coral, FL: Founders Press, 2022. (Selected sections, Weeks 1 and 7.)
Link Unavailable
Denault, Pascal. The Distinctiveness of Baptist Covenant Theology: A Comparison Between Seventeenth-Century Particular Baptist and Paedobaptist Federalism. Revised ed. Vestavia Hills, AL: Solid Ground Christian Books, 2017. (Selected chapter, Week 3.)
Link Unavailable
Westminster Confession of Faith and Savoy Declaration. Selected chapters for comparative work in Week 8.
Link Unavailable
Recommended Readings
Renihan, James M. Edification and Beauty: The Practical Ecclesiology of the English Particular Baptists, 1675–1705. Carlisle: Paternoster, 2008.
Link Unavailable
Barcellos, Richard C. Getting the Garden Right: Adam's Work and God's Rest in Light of Christ. Cape Coral, FL: Founders Press, 2017.
Link Unavailable
Letham, Robert. The Westminster Assembly: Reading Its Theology in Historical Context. Phillipsburg: P&R, 2009.
Link Unavailable
Trueman, Carl R. The Creedal Imperative. Wheaton: Crossway, 2012.
Link Unavailable
Haykin, Michael A. G. Kiffin, Knollys and Keach: Rediscovering Our English Baptist Heritage. Leeds: Reformation Today Trust, 1996.
Link Unavailable