1816 ROBERT HALL. First American Edition - Terms of Communion between Baptists and Paedobaptists.

A rather scarce imprint. This 1816 first American edition of Robert Hall’s Terms of Communion brought the fierce British theological debate directly into the fracturing ecclesiastical landscape of the early American Republic.

While many Baptists had deeply exclusionary tendencies, Hall, one of the most famous Baptists of the era, argued instead for open communion. In his view, the doctrine of baptism was a secondary theological practice since it was not in and of itself salvific or necessary to salvation. There, he argued, paedobaptists who practiced infant baptism should still be welcomed to partake in the Lord’s Supper alongside credobaptists who practiced believer's baptism.

An important attempt by New England Baptists to cool the hyper-sectarian tendencies of some Baptist communities. Unsurprisingly, instead, the book became a lightning rod for controversy, forcing local churches and associations to explicitly choose between strict, closed communion as a marker of distinct Baptist identity or Hall's radical, inclusive approach that prioritized shared evangelical faith over baptismal theology and practice.