“This book is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the roots of the Particular Baptist movement and the contribution it has made to the formation of Reformed theology.” —Crawford Gribben, Professor of Early Modern British History, Queen’s University Belfast

In For the Vindication of the Truth, James M. Renihan offers the definitive modern exposition of the First London Baptist Confession of Faith, the foundational doctrinal statement of the seventeenth-century Particular Baptists. As the opening volume of the Baptist Symbolics series, this work brings together rigorous historical scholarship, careful theological analysis, and deep pastoral sensitivity to help readers understand why the First London Confession was written—and why it remains so valuable today.

Renihan guides readers article by article through the Confession, uncovering its biblical foundations, its doctrinal clarity, and its rich connection to the broader Reformed tradition of the post-Reformation era. By engaging extensively with primary sources, including contemporary confessions and treatises, he shows how the Particular Baptists crafted a thoroughly orthodox, Christ-centered, covenantal statement of faith—one aimed at defending gospel truth in an age of confusion and opposition.

This volume explores the Confession in its major doctrinal units:

The Basics and the Confession’s introductory concerns

The Doctrine of God (Articles 2–6)

Scripture (Articles 7–8)

The Doctrine of Christ (Articles 9–20)

The Blessings of Salvation (Articles 21–32)

The Church (Articles 33–47)

The Civil Magistrate (Articles 48–52)

The Resurrection and concluding themes

In addition to the exposition, Renihan includes a wealth of scholarly appendices, featuring original prefatory material from early editions of the Confession, rare documents from seventeenth-century Baptist life (including works by Spilsbery, Steed, and others), and substantial studies on covenant theology, the Sabbath, and the possible influence of Mennonite sources.

Beautifully researched and clearly written, For the Vindication of the Truth is indispensable for pastors, seminarians, scholars, and all Christians who wish to understand the origins, theology, and distinctive contribution of the Particular Baptists. It sets the stage for the broader confessional tradition later articulated in the 1689 Confession—and for Renihan’s continuing exposition in Volume 2.

As a work of both historical retrieval and constructive theology, this volume equips the church to appreciate and preserve the rich doctrinal heritage entrusted to it, all for the vindication of the truth.