Benjamin Stinton is not a well-known name, but this man links together two others who were very well known both in their day and in ours.
Benjamin was born in England on this day (Feb. 2) in 1676. Although blessed by the Lord with a sharp mind, he was not afforded the opportunity for much secular education. But his spiritual education was thorough. The Lord convicted the young man of sin, righteousness and judgment and then saved his soul. He joined the Baptist church at Horsleydown whose pastor was Benjamin Keach. Keach was became sufficiently impressed with Bro. Stinton to granted him permission to marry one of the Keach daughters.
Unlike most Baptists in his day, Benjamin Keach encouraged hymn singing in his congregation, writing many hymns himself. He was pilloried by the state church for publishing a Christian book for children. And among his other children was Elias, who was converted to Christ while in the Americas and where he pastored for a short time before returning to Great Britain.
As Elder Keach saw death approaching, he became concerned about the leadership continuity of his church. Recognizing the gifts God had given his son-in-law, Benjamin Stinton, he told the young man not to reject the call of the church if it was offered. It was offered. Bro. Stinton with so little education, was reluctant to accept. But with the dying words of his father-in-law ringing in his ears, he acquiesced on one condition – if the church would permit him to hire a tutor to help him learn Greek and Hebrew. It was agreed. Benjamin Stinton went on to become a leader of the Baptists in Great Britain. When he was not in the pulpit or visiting his members, he began collecting information on Baptist history which he hoped to some day publish. He never did.
Bro. Stinton was married and the Lord blessed with several children. One of the Stinton daughters married a deacon in the Horsleydown church named Thomas Crosby. At Stinton’s death the historical materials he had collected fell into the hands of Crosby, who, after adding his own research, eventually published a four-volume set on the Baptist History of England – a publication which is still in use today.
