Thomas DeLaune

Thomas DeLaune (d. 1685), was an Irish non-conformist writer known for running a grammar school and printing house. He was born in Brinny, County Cork on an unknown date. Protestant persecution forced him to flee to England where he met Edward Hutchinson, a Baptist minister and writer. Thomas would later marry his daughter Hannah. Thomas was a scholar, not considering himself to be a minister or lay preacher but entered into many religious debates. He would speak against Richard Baxter, Obadiah Wills, and Joseph Whiston on the subject of infant baptism. Thomas DeLaune would end up dying in prison in 1685. He was accused and found guilty of writing seditious material against the king and the Book of Common Prayer in January of 1684. Deprived of his income as a schoolmaster, his wife and two children would move to live near his prison in Newgate. They would eventually suffer and die from undernourishment. Thomas died in Newgate, in prison, fifteen months after his incarceration. Thomas DeLaune would be considered a martyr for generations of Nonconformists. DeLaune would be one of 8,000 Dissenters who were executed or died in prison during Charles II's reign.

Thomas DeLaune was a Particular, or Calvinistic, Baptist in London. His occupation and scholarly demeanor led him to befriend Hanserd Knollys, William Kiffin, and Benjamin Keach--to name a few. Although he preached occasionally, he was mostly known for being a biblical scholar, translator, and author. His writings were mostly concerning baptism, covenant theology, church government, and the case for dissent from the state church of Anglicism. His most famous work was A Plea for the Non-Conformists (1683). He also argued for the case of believer's baptism amongst his learned peers who were Presbyterian, Congregationalist, and Episcopalian. In 1676, DeLaune wrote the Preface to Edward Hutchinson's A Treatise Concerning the Covenant and Baptism, Dialogue-wise, between a Baptist & a Poedo-Baptist, which was a response to Richard Baxter's case for infant baptism. Baxter's "massive independence of thought," showed a rather loose connection to Reformed orthodoxy, which was highlighted by many of his peers. DeLaune comments:

…only the great Creator is unerring. A man may preach and write of the most seraphic verities, and yet know but in part. Mr. Baxter is to be honoured as far as he has laid himself out to preach the Gospel, and improve his talent for the conversion of souls in this evil day. But when he forgets himself, and instead of promoting practical holiness, fills the nation with notions as uncertain as they are numberless, puzzling such as arrive not to the subtlety of his distinction, creating more doubts then ever he’ll be able to resolve, making Christianity a mere riddle which no man understands but he, and liable to as many forms and interpretations as his wavering mind. Then I humbly conceive he may be very safely left. *Cited from DeLaune's Preface to Hutchinson's Treatise against Baxter's argument for infant baptism*

DeLaune would go on to author his own work on Baptism in Truth Defended (1677). DeLaune would also participate with Rev. Benjamin Keach in Tropologia (1681). Keach notes in the Preface, speaking to DeLaune's character and skill, "And having many brief heads of my notes by me, it was judged worthy my time and pains to compile the work before thee; and to render the utility of the work as valuable as I could, I applied for the assistance of men most eminent in piety and literature, and was so happy as to succeed in the application." Keach acknowledged DeLaune's piety and literary ability, which we should keep in mind when we read his works--this man was a recognized scholar who followed Christ in his personal life, too. He strongly disagreed with and argued against the state church, whose use of force would lead to DeLaune and his family's premature deaths. He says:

No man can be forced to believe; he may be compelled to say this or that, but not to believe it ... A man may as easily make a man stark blind to read Greek, or distinguish colours, as an unbeliever to believe, for that is God's gift. Arguments are good inducements, but force has no countenance in the Gospel... Force may make one blind, but never to see clearer; it may make a hypocrite, but no true convert. We ought to have no religious communion with atheists, infidels, papists, or idolaters, profane or ill livers, or heretics, who err in fundamentals; yet not to persecute any of them merely for their principles, but where they transgress the temporal laws, let them, as others ought, suffer accordingly …

Thomas's comments would come a couple decades after Christopher Blackwood's treatise, The Storming of Antichrist (1644), which addressed the role of the church and government. If DeLaune had been influenced by Blackwood, there is not anything written down, save a reference to Mr. Blackwood in the Preface to Hutchinson's Treatise. In the Compulsion of Conscience Condemned, DeLaune calls Charles II to act in line with a statement he made before his coronation, as follows:

To evidence (further) the lenity of his Majesty, I shall quote a memorable passage in his Declaration from Breda, dated April 14, 1660. ‘We do declare a liberty to tender consciences; and that no man shall be disquieted or called in question for differences of opinion in matters of religion, which do not disturb the peace of the kingdom; and that we shall be ready to consent to such an Act of Parliament, as upon mature deliberation shall be offered to us for the full granting that indulgence’

DeLaune was very involved in defending the Dissenters or Nonconformists right to separate from the state church. His commentary suggests a strong appeal to Christian Liberty and liberty of conscience. Had DeLaune not been killed by his imprisonment, he may have been another signatory on the 1677/89 2nd London Baptist Confession of Faith.

List of works:

• Truth defended, or a triple answer to the late triumvirates opposition in their three pamphlets, viz., Mr. Baxter's review, Mr. Wills his censure, Mr. Whiston's postscript to his essay, &c. (1677)
• Angliae metropolis: or, the present state of London (1681)
• Тролоλoya, or, a key to open scripture metaphors (1681) *with Benjamin Keach*
• Compulsion of conscience condemned, wherein, is plainly demonstrated how inconsistent it is with Scripture, the Fundamental Laws of England, and Common Equity, &c. (1683)
• A Plea for the Non-Conformists (1683) *reprinted 23 times between 1684 - 1845. Here is a 1704 copy in good condition. In 1706, with a Preface by Daniel DeFoe*
• Two letters to Dr. Benjamin Calamy, one in English, the other in Latine (1684)
• Εικών του θηρίου or the image of the beast (1684) *pamphlet*
• A narrative of the sufferings of Thomas Delaune (1684)

Books and articles written about DeLaune:

• Delaune: The English Baptist Martyr (1870) by an American Baptist, Charles Thompson.
• Thomas Delaune (ca.1635-1645-1685) by Andy Compton, in The British Particular Baptists - Vol. I Revised, edited by Michael A. G. Haykin and Terry Wolever
• Thomas Delaune: The life and times of Ireland's first Baptist martyr by Andy Compton, in Occasional Publications edited Michael A. G. Haykin
• The History of the English Baptists by Thomas Crosby, *start on p. 366*