The Decline of Welsh Nonconformity 4: Doctrine

The period after 1870 saw great changes in the doctrine of Welsh Nonconformity, and in their view of Scripture. The largely Calvinistic doctrine of nonconformity in the 1850s, with its emphasis on the Sovereignty of God and the inerrancy of the Bible, was slowly replaced by a muddier doctrine that emphasized the Love of God and viewed the Bible as a human document containing errors of fact. By 1906, it was possible for theologians in the Calvinistic Methodist Connexion to confess themselves unable to name the five points of Calvinism.

In 1887, Baptist Minister Charles Haddon Spurgeon published a series of articles arguing that nonconformists were allowing ideas that conflicted with the historic belief of nonconformity to penetrate their churches.[1] In Wales, voices were heard agreeing with this belief. In 1901, Garmon Roberts, Gobowen observed: ‘Our age is an age of doubt.’[2] This doubt was over fundamental issues, such as the historical nature of much of the Old Testament, informed by evolution and developments in historical criticism.


[1] The articles can be found on the internet at

The Spurgeon Archive

[2] Quoted in: Jones: Faith, pp.193.