Henry Jessey

Henry Jessey (1601-1663) rose to prominence as pastor of the “Jacob-Lathrop-Jessey church” in Southwark in the early seventeenth-century London during the time when Baptists in England were undergoing their initial formalization. Jessey never married, wrote extensively, played key roles in the English Civil War, and served the early history of the English Particular Baptist movement, which would grow to shape Baptists around the world.

What People Are Saying About Henry Jessey

Finally, Henry Jessey gets the scholarly attention he so richly deserves. This very significant figure in the history of England and the beginnings of the Baptist movement has languished in obscurity for too long. In this new book, historian Jason Duesing brings Jessey to life and this book will make a great contribution to the fields of Baptist history, intellectual history, and the history of Britain. This book is solid scholarship matched to good timing. It belongs in every academic library and in the hands of a multitude of grateful readers.

—R. Albert Mohler, Jr., President, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

God’s faithful servants must not be forgotten and assigned to the dustbin of history. Thankfully, that will not happen to Henry Jessey as a result of this superb work by Jason Duesing. Informative, interesting and inspiring, this is a really fine work I gladly recommend.

—Daniel L. Akin, President, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary

Jason Duesing is one of this generation’s leading church historians, and I’m grateful he has brought his acumen to bear in Henry Jessey: Puritan Chaplain, Independent and Baptist Pastor, Millenarian Politician and Prophet. The story of Henry Jessey is worth being told, and told well, and Duesing does just that. Read this volume to
acquaint yourself with a significant figure in Baptist life, and to reacquaint yourself with a significant portion of Baptist history.

—Jason K. Allen, President, Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary

Jason Duesing has given us here a superb treatment of Henry Jessey, a seminal figure in the development of the Baptist cause in seventeenth-century England. Well researched and well written, this book shows us what made Jessey tick as well as what he thought, from ecclesiology to eschatology. Highly recommended!

—Timothy George, founding dean of Beeson Divinity School of Samford University and general editor of the Reformation Commentary on Scripture

Jason Duesing’s “Henry Jessey” is a theological biography of no small consequence. .Jessey, the patriarch of the Particular Baptist movement, was a Baptist pastor, millenarian prophet, and politician whose significance Duesing draws out as he views developments in 17th century British ecclesiology and eschatology. Highly recommended for theologians and historians, especially Baptist ones.

—Bruce Ashford, Provost and Dean of Faculty, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary

Jason Duesing’s Henry Jessey deserves a prominent place within the theological genre of biography established by such masterpieces as Peter Brown’s Augustine of Hippo, Roland Bainton’s Here I Stand, and Diarmaid MacCulloch’s Thomas Cranmer. This is a valuable text for a worthy life.

–from the foreword by Malcolm B. Yarnell, III, Research Professor of Systematic Theology and Director, Center for Theological Research, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary

Themelios 41/3 (Dec 2016) Review by Steve Weaver

Also by Jason G. Duesing and BorderStone Press: