John Johnson

John Johnson (1706-1791) was raised a General Baptist in Cheshire. He became a High Calvinist Baptist and controversial founder of his own sect. After some very successful itinerant preaching among the Particular Baptist churches in the North West of England, Johnson accepted the call of the Byrom Street Chapel in Liverpool in April 1740. His increasing High Calvinism (and some Sabellian beliefs) began to stir dissension within the congregation, and when he returned from a tour of duty as a volunteer during the 1745 rebellion, a split occurred in the church. In 1747 Johnson took his followers and opened a new chapel in Stanley Street, becoming known as Johnsonian Baptists. Despite his High Calvinism, he remained busy as an evangelist and published a number of pamphlets, including The Faith of God’s Elect (1754), Evangelical Truths Vindicated (Liverpool, 1758?), and The Election of God Undisguised (1759). See Evan Owen, “A History of the Liverpool Baptists,” MS., Angus Library, Regent’s Park College, Oxford.