In his 1977 book The
Welsh Baptists T M Bassett, having looked at the trinitarian
controversy goes on to say on page 124ff
The nature of the
atonement caused more contention. (He mentions John Jenkins of
Hengoed, Francis Hiley, Christmas Evans and John James of Brigend as
defenders of limited atonement). ... When these points of view came
under attack later on, it was not the all embracing grace of Christ
which was offered as an alternative but the teaching of Andrew Fuller
which was just fractionally more liberal. Micah Thomas was one of the
first in Wales to come under the influence of Fuller but, although he
invited him to Wales, in 1812, he also saw well to anticipate
criticism by publishing his Salvation of Sovereign Grace. But
he did not save himself from persecution. The main exponent of the
views of Andrew Fuller was however J. P. Davies, minister of
Tredegar. The debate spread to the pages of Seren Gomer in the
twenties until Gomer himself saw well to put an end to it. J. P.
Davies was refused the freedom of the pulpit in Hermon, Fishguard and
Benjamin Price (Cymro Bach) complained that he too had chapel doors
closed against him and speaks of orthodoxy eating up some of the
ministers like leprosy. As Daniel Davies (Swansea) noticed, there was
often more prejudice than understanding in people's attitudes. He
preached a sermon in Tredegar, the stronghold of the Fullerites,
where it was acclaimed for its liberal sentiments, and the identical
sermon in Hengoed, the rallying place of the opposition, where it was
acclaimed for its orthodoxy. Some churches were again split. The
Calvinists left Frogmore St., Abergavenny where Micah Thomas combined
his ministry with his post as head of the college. In Horeb,
Blaenafon it was the Fullerites who left to form the new church of
Ebenezer. Their application to join the Association was discussed in
Caerphilly in 1828 and was supported among others by J. P. Davies and
Micah Thomas and opposed by John Jenkins and Francis Riley, leading
the Calvinists. The two parties according to Daniel Davies sat "like
the ministerial and opposition parties in Parliament" and it
took all the good sense and pleading of John Jones of New-town to
prevent a split like the Meidrum split.
The denominational
college at Abergavenny did not escape. John Jenkins was refused
permission to speak at the annual meeting of 1827 on the grounds that
Hengoed had not contributed to the college that year - that, at
least, was the ostensible reason. He struck back and there would be
considerable sympathy for some of his remarks; that the Welsh
language was not given its proper place in the college, that the
governing committee of the college should be broader based, etc. More
savage was his charge that Micah Thomas profiteered on the £24 per
head which he received for lodging the students and his final
statement, "I have no idea what Mr. Thomas's views on religious
matters may be" was a piece of blatant hypocrisy. He was
supported by Francis Hiley and the bickering reached as far afield as
Pwllheli in Caernarvonshire where William Jones threatened to withold
his contributions to the college unless the Welsh language received
its proper due. But before rushing to acclaim him for his loyalty to
the language, it would be well to remember the extreme Calvinist tone
of his articles in Seren Gamer and that his unbending orthodoxy had
forced John Jones, a promising young minister who had been a student
at Abergavenny, to leave Pwllheli for Nefyn in 1826. Micah Thomas in
turn was defended by D. Phillips, secretary of the college.
A far more serious
quarrel broke out in 1834 when five students left the college; Joseph
Davies and John Williams of Castleton, Theophilus Jones of
Caerphilly, Enoch Price, a brother of Benjamin Price from Blaenafon
and William Graven, the man who later brought a charge of libel
against the secretary of the Glamorgan Association. Their complaints
reflected some of the strict rules of the academies of the period;
they had to show themselves to the monitor in the morning, they had
to be in by eight at night so that they could not attend the meetings
of the local Cymreigyddion who met in the Sun Inn whose landlord was
a member in Llanwenarth. We come near to the true cause of the
contention in the charge that Micah Thomas showed particular favour
to one of the students, Thomas Morgan, who was adjudged by the five
to be an Arminian. He was to become a missionary in India. And if the
charge of nurturing an Arminian was not enough, Micah Thomas was also
accused of reading portions from the works of John Wesley at the
breakfast table. A meeting was held in Pontypool on January 1, 1835,
with Francis Hiley's son, Isaac, in the chair. The father was also
present together with John Jenkins, David Jones of Cardiff and some
of the ministers of the students who had withdrawn - Evan Jones
(Gwrwst) and John Jones of Blaenafon. Behind them stood Thomas Kenvyn
and Thomas Morris (Tom of the ten chapels) who was accused of fanning
the embers of controversy. A committee was formed to support the five
students with Isaac Hiley as treasurer, and John Jones of Blaenafon
as secretary and they were sent for instruction to William Jones of
Cardiff. The college committee stood behind Micah Thomas, drawing its
strength from the strong body of middle class laymen which the
Baptists then possessed in Monmouthshire, men such as W. W. Phillips
of Pontymoel, George Brewer of Nantyglo, Charles Conway, etc. D. R.
Stephens maintained their point of view in the periodi-cals. He had
baptised Thomas Morgan in Swansea and now did his best to defend
Micah Thomas in a series of open letters to Christmas Evans. He was
attacked in turn by Evan Jones (Gwrwst) who taunted him with being a
supporter of open communion. The old arguments came to the surface
once more, that there was too little Welsh in the college, that the
institution should be more firmly under denominational control, etc.
One of the committee members was said to be an Independent while
another was not a member of any church at all. Echoes of contemporary
political battles are heard in the accusation that the college was a
'rotten borough'. The editor of Y Greal was wise enough to put
a quick end to the charge and counter charge but not before the
debate had reached the Associations. The Northern Association decided
to continue with its contributions to the college but only on the
understanding that it should become the property of the denomination.
In the Glamorgan Association there was some talk of setting up
another college in Cardiff and the suggestion made at the time that a
college be opened at Haverfordwest received some support from the
Monmouthshire Association. Nothing came of the threats at the time
and Micah Thomas soon resigned to be followed as head of the college
by Thomas Thomas. The college also moved to Pontypool but it remained
under the control of the same- committee and there was no reference
to Particular Baptists in the new trust deed.
This unpleasant bickering
went on for years. On the one hand there was the so-called Cardiff
club with a caucus drawn from among the old opponents of Micah Thomas
and including David and William Jones of Cardiff, John Jenkins,
Thomas Morris and others. On the other side was the cyfarfod
gweinidogaethol or ministers
meeting founded in the summer of 1840 by D. Rhys Stephens, Thomas
Davies of High Street, Merthyr and D. Llwyd Isaac … men such as …
D. D. Evans of Pontrhyd-yr-ynn and Nefydd took part from time to
time, as well as Evan Jones although he had been at one time an
opponent of Micah Thomas. These meetings were furiously condemned by
the deacons of Hengoed and Penygarn.
