“Directing Parents”: Benjamin Keach and Early Baptist Education Endeavors

Benjamin Keach (1640-1704), well-known for his role in the so-called hymn-singing controversy of the seventeenth century, initially rose to prominence as a catechist for baptists and like-minded associations within Protestant Reformed Orthodoxy. Despite the absence of formal educational opportunities (or perhaps because of that very lack), Keach’s pedagogical instinct reached far beyond mere theological indoctrination and remained a major factor in his continuing leadership amongst his fellow Particular Baptists. By considering the influences on Keach’s relevant publications, his various methodologies, and his disciples in the realm of education, this paper explores the pioneering educational efforts of the early generations of English Baptists as a whole and identifies the fingerprints of Benjamin Keach throughout them. In the years immediately following his death, Keach’s passion culminated in the establishment of the Horsly-down Charity School for Nonconformists (est. 1714), but Keach’s influence on the education of young Nonconformists exceeded even that long-lived “experiment” and should rightly be considered among Keach’s major contributions to the Baptist world.