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Products>Select Works of Isaac Backus (9 vols.)

Select Works of Isaac Backus (9 vols.)

Publishers:
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, 1763–1871
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Overview

Considered part of the “pulpit of the American Revolution,” and a leading advocate of the separation of church and state in Revolutionary-era America, Baptist pastor Isaac Backus was a pillar of early American evangelical thought. His works such as Appeal to the Public for Religious Liberty and Government and Liberty Described and Ecclesiastical Tyranny Exposed open a valuable window into early America and the development of the ideals of religious liberty. Also an important historian, Backus wrote on the rise of Baptists in New England religious traditions. This collection samples a variety of his writings with treatises, histories, and theological works, along with a memoir of his life by Alvah Hovey.

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Continue your study—check out more classic Baptist works from Dan Taylor and Benjamin Keach.

The two volumes of A History of New England will be downloaded as a single resource.

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Key Features

  • Samples the writings of American Baptist pastor Isaac Backus
  • Sheds light on early American Separatist church movements
  • Examines New England religious history
  • Includes a biography of Backus

Product Details

Individual Titles

An Appeal to the Public for Religious Liberty

  • Author: Isaac Backus
  • Publisher: John Boyle
  • Publication Date: 1773
  • Pages: 73

Sample Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

In this treatise, Isaac Backus, an important voice in the “pulpit of the American Revolution,” discusses the problems of church-state relations, rallying the cry for religious liberty. Noting the unique roles of ecclesiastical and civil government, Backus argues for their separation and the protection of freedom of conscience. Backus argues that the “true liberty of man is, to know, obey, and enjoy his Creator, and to do all the good unto, and enjoy all the happiness with and in his fellow creatures that he is capable of.” This work was originally preached as a sermon in 1773.

A History of New England with Particular Reference to the Denomination of Christians Called Baptists, vol. 1

  • Author: Isaac Backus
  • Publisher: Backus Historical Society
  • Publication Date: 1871
  • Pages: 564

Sample Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

Isaac Backus’ history of religious development in New England offers a valuable window into early America and the rise of religious traditions, particularly the Baptists. Primarily created to remedy the lack of attention paid to Baptists and religious oppression in other Puritan histories, Isaac Backus presents a detailed account of important figures and events related to the Baptists, beginning with the “sentiments and character of the first planters of this country.”

A History of New England with Particular Reference to the Denomination of Christians Called Baptists, vol. 2

  • Author: Isaac Backus
  • Publisher: Backus Historical Society
  • Publication Date: 1871
  • Pages: 606

Sample Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

Isaac Backus’ history of religious development in New England offers a valuable window into early America and the rise of religious traditions, particularly the Baptists. Primarily created to remedy the lack of attention paid to Baptists and religious oppression in other Puritan histories, Isaac Backus presents a detailed account of important figures and events related to the Baptists. This volume takes the history of the New England Baptists from the “affairs of the Rhode Island Colony” to the “state of Vermont,” and finishes with “observations of the foregoing history.”

A Memoir of the Life and Times of Rev. Isaac Backus

  • Author: Isaac Backus
  • Publisher: W. F. Draper
  • Publication Date: 1858
  • Pages: 397

Sample Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

Learn more about Baptist preacher, Isaac Backus with Alvah Hovey’s classic biography. Hovey offers a detailed account of Backus’ life, work, and the times in which he lived. Hovey describes his early life, conversion, career as a preacher, developing theology, writing, and role in early American politics. He also includes a look at his family and personal life, a sampling of letters from correspondents, and seven appendixes.

Alvah Hovey (1820–1903) was born in Greene, New York, and educated at Dartmouth College and Newton Theological Institution (now Andover Newton Theological School). He stayed at Newton as a librarian and professor of Hebrew, church history, theology, and Christian ethics. His numerous books include Commentary on the Gospel of John and Commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians.

A Fish Caught in His Own Net

  • Author: Isaac Backus
  • Publisher: Edes and Gill
  • Publication Date: 1768
  • Pages: 132

Sample Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

Study the controversy over Separatist and Baptist churches in early New England with this response to Joseph Fish’s nine sermons on Matthew 16:18. Fish’s work argues that the “‘Standing Churches’ in New England, are built upon the Rock, and upon the same principles with the first fathers of this country: and that separates and Baptists are joining with the Gates of Hell against them.” Backus responds to these claims with this treatise in which “many of his mistakes are corrected; the constitution of those churches opened; the testimonies of prophets and apostles and also of many of those fathers are produced, which as plainly condemn his plan as any separate or Baptist can do.”

Government and Liberty Described and Ecclesiastical Tyranny Exposed

  • Author: Isaac Backus
  • Publisher: Powars and Willis
  • Publication Date: 1778
  • Pages: 19

Sample Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

Isaac Backus was an advocate of separating government and church, and ardent voice for the protection of religious liberty in early America. This, one of his most important treatises, defines and examines the role of government and the protection of freedom of religion, and the importance of separate churches.

Spiritual Ignorance

  • Author: Isaac Backus
  • Publisher: William Goddard
  • Publication Date: 1763
  • Pages: 31

Sample Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

In this discourse, American Baptist pastor Isaac Baptist examines Acts 13:27, offering insights for understanding why Jews did not recognize Jesus as the Messiah, and fulfilled prophecy by rejecting him. Backus first offers a brief survey of “the voices of the prophets of the Old Testament, which were exactly fulfilled in Jesus,” and then considers the “reason why the Jews did not receive him, though they had so often heard these plain predictions.”

The Doctrine of Universal Salvation Examined and Refuted

  • Author: Isaac Backus
  • Publisher: John Carter
  • Publication Date: 1782
  • Pages: 41

Sample Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

Better understand the doctrine of universal salvation and the historical debate surrounding it. Early American Baptist preacher Isaac Backus examines this doctrine and refutes it with Scripture. Particularly, Backus responds to the writings of Relly and Winchester, and argues against their claims.

True Faith Will Product Good Works

  • Author: Isaac Backus
  • Publisher: D. Kneeland
  • Publication Date: 1767
  • Pages: 92

Sample Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

Study faith and its influence with this discourse from Isaac Backus. In this volume Backus opens dialogue about “the nature of faith, and its powerful influence on the heart and life; together with the contrary nature and effects of unbelief and answers to various objections.” He also includes “a brief view of the present state of the present state of the Protestant world, with some remarks on the writings of Mr. Sandeman.”

About Isaac Backus

Isaac Backus (1724–1806) was an American Baptist preacher during the Revolutionary era and a leading advocate of Separatist churches. Backus was born in Yantic, now part of Norwich, Connecticut, to a farming family. Influenced by the First Great Awakening and revivalist James Davenport’s visit in 1741, the family became part of a Separatist Congregationalist church at Bean Hill. Ordained in 1748, Backus was much influenced by the writings of John Gill and became a Baptist, baptized in 1751. He pastored what became Middleborough First Baptist Church in Massachusetts for the rest of his life. He served as a delegate to the Massachusetts ratifying convention, voting in favor of ratifying the United States Constitution. He was a major leader of the transition from New Light to Baptist, and an outspoken advocate of religious liberty and the separation of church and state. His works on the subject, as well as his historical work, made important contributions to American evangelical thought.

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  1. Michael Lyman

    Michael Lyman

    10/13/2016

    Backus’s Crusade ~ From the "On This Day" devotional. October 14 George Whitefield had just finished preaching in Norwich, Connecticut, when a young man stepped up to shake his hand. Isaac Backus, heir of a family fortune, had been deeply moved, and he soon gave his life to Christ, was baptized, and became a pastor, church planter, and Baptist evangelist. As a home missionary, Backus made over 900 trips in colonial America, covering over 68,000 miles on horseback. He is best known, however, as a champion of religious liberty. From the beginning of his ministry, Backus fought doggedly for separation of church and state in the American colonies. When he entered his ministry, a tax in Massachusetts supported the “state church”—the Congregational Church in New England. Backus refused to pay it, was imprisoned, and when released, mounted a tireless campaign to abolish the state-supported church system. In 1774, when the First Continental Congress met in Philadelphia, Backus was there, lobbying the representatives. On October 14, 1774 he and his fellow ministers arranged a meeting with the Massachusetts representatives to the Congress and presented a petition requesting full religious liberty. The politicians were irritated. John Adams insisted that taxes collected to support the Congregational Church did not impinge on the freedom of other religious groups, and he ended the four-hour meeting saying, “Gentlemen, if you mean to try to effect a change in Massachusetts laws respecting religion, you may as well attempt to change the course of the sun in the heavens!” Backus determined to take his petition to John Hancock, then before the entire Continental Congress, but John Adams was always working to frustrate his efforts. Yet his ideas took root, and 27 years after Backus’s death, the last state church in Massachusetts was finally disestablished. More than any other man, Isaac Backus is credited with formulating and publicizing the evangelical position of church and state that ultimately prevailed in America.
    Reply
  2. Don Smith

    Don Smith

    3/28/2015

    Looks like 5 pamphlets and 4 books! I still want them!
    Reply

$42.99

Collection value: $52.42
Save $9.43 (18%)