The Excellent Benjamin Keach

Many figures from the Reformation are well known, like Martin Luther, John Calvin, and so forth. But for Baptists, we often neglect our specific history. Benjamin Keach was a stalwart of defending Particular Baptist doctrines amid decades of persecution before the Act of Toleration was passed in 1689. Additionally, he was a tender, caring pastor who shepherded one flock in central London for more than 30 years. Keach fought for the singing of hymns in corporate worship, and without his influence, much of the church might never have even imagined singing hymns, and we might not sing anything at all in our churches today.

Keach's influence also extended to the Americas through his son Elias Keach, who had a rather dramatic conversion experience of his own, and who later pastored a church in Philadelphia before returning to England and dying an untimely death.

Father and son deserve to be remembered and celebrated as godly figures of the Reformation, especially for Particular Baptist doctrines.