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Examined Doctrine

Second London Baptist Confession on the Trinity

1689 · REFORMED BAPTIST · DOCUMENT, NOT A PERSON
READ IN A PRIMARY SOURCEAFFIRMS°
STANCE

One substance, three persons, co-equal and co-eternal

In this divine and infinite Being there are three subsistences, the Father the Word (or Son) and Holy Spirit, of one substance, power, and Eternity, each having the whole Divine Essence, yet the Essence undivided.
2LBC 2.3 (1677/1689 printing, original spelling)

THE POSITION

Chapter 2.3 states three subsistences in one divine essence, of one substance, power and eternity, each having the whole essence undivided, distinguished only by relative properties — with the Son eternally begotten and the Spirit proceeding from Father and Son. The filioque is retained. The chapter closes by calling the doctrine 'the foundation of all our Communion with God', a devotional clause Westminster does not have.

SCRIPTURE
MATTHEW 28:19 · BSB

19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,

17 OTHERS HOLD THIS

AthanasiusBasil the GreatCalvinChrysostomConstantinople IJonathan EdwardsThe Church of Eleven22 Statement of FaithM. HeiserLutherJohn MacArthurPhilip MelanchthonNicaea IJohn OwenJustin PetersR.C. SproulWestminster ConfessionZwingli
Trinitarian in substance but pre-Nicene and terminologically undevelopedIRENAEUS
See all 19 figures on the trinity →

ABOUT THIS FIGURE

The confessional standard of the Particular Baptists, first printed 1677 and adopted by the London General Assembly of 1689. It takes over the Westminster Confession chapter by chapter and rewrites it at four points that matter: the covenant (ch. 7), the gospel and the extent of its grace (ch. 20, which Westminster has no counterpart to), the church (ch. 26), and baptism (ch. 29). This entry rests on the 1677/1689 printing with its own Scripture proofs, read against the Westminster text clause by clause.

18 OF 18 POSITIONS QUOTED
Everything Second London Baptist Confession holds →
Cite this page

"Second London Baptist Confession on the Trinity", Examined Doctrine, July 2026 edition, https://examineddoctrine.com/position/lbc1689/trinity (archived at https://examineddoctrine.com/editions/2026-07/position/lbc1689/trinity).

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