Tract For Hardshells

This is the title of an upcoming post I plan to make. Instead of "tract" I might rather say "pamphlet," due to the historical animosity of Hardshells against publishing and distributing "tracts." But, I think I will just stick with calling it a "tract." The tract will be capable of being published in tract form and passed out to those in the Hardshell cult with the hopes of delivering them from their errors.

The tract will be a list of citations of leading old Baptists of the past regarding the use of preaching the gospel in saving the elect, as well as from old Baptist confessions of faith. This will be done by century, beginning with the 17th century and ending with the birth of the Hardshell cult in the early to mid 19th century. The citations from the 19th century will conclude with statements from the founding fathers of the "Primitive Baptist Church" which showed how they believed that the preached word of the gospel was a means in bringing about the birth of the Spirit. The oldest Hardshell periodicals will be cited which will show that all the first Hardshell periodicals embraced the belief that God's "effectual calling" was "by God's word and Spirit."

The purpose of this tract will be to demonstrate how they are not really "primitive" or "original" Baptists, and that they have departed from the old Baptist faith.

It would be nice if today's Hardshells could produce such a succession of citations through the centuries (which I will do in the tract to show how the gospel means view is primitive), and which would demonstrate that their views on regeneration are not novel, but this they cannot do.