Worthy pastors are always inclined to seek ways to improve their office. The litany of resources is endless from online seminars, personal mentoring to a good old book. Moreover, the most significant sources of pastoral encouragement often arise from the lives of men whose exemplary conduct embodies the principles of being “living sacrifices.” Surely the lives of Graham, Rogers, MacArthur, Carey and Spurgeon will motivate the ordinary pastor in inspiring ways. However, even famous pastors were inspired to improve by ordinarily orthodox men who demonstrated godliness.
Much like a well-written biography should be filled with footnotes of source material and in-depth information, a well-lived life will also have great influences at the source. Hercules Collins has a legacy that fits this type of source. Collins was a Puritan pastor who made his mark simply by being conventional. Scarce is the information on his life and that is probably because he was more ordinary than extra. Yet in what we do have, he notably demonstrated how someone traditional can be extraordinary in intensity and application of theology in the pastorate.
According to G. Stephen Weaver, Collins has “largely been reduced to the status of a footnote,”1 when mentioned among historical Baptist pastors. Nevertheless, he is proven to be an exemplary source of fortitude, piety, and shepherding. In the sermon delivered at his funeral, his friend John Piggott said, “I doubt not but he was actually as well as habitually ready; you know I mean your late worthy pastor Mr. Hercules Collins, concerning whom I have need to say the less, because his doctrine you have heard, and his example you have seen for so many years.”2
Basic Fortitude
Hercules Collins lived during the latter half of the seventeenth century (1646/7-1702) in London. This time period and place could be considered the most formative and tumultuous setting in Protestant Baptist history. While the twenty-first century American church is struggling to keep churchgoers interested, the seventeenth century London Baptist church leaders were being imprisoned and violently persecuted. Yet the churches continued to thrive and multiply. One such church was the Petty France Baptist Church led by William Collins and Nehemiah Coxe, the credited authors of the Second London Baptist Confession of Faith.
Hercules Collins was a member of this church and likely received much of his elder training there.3 Soon after, Collins found himself with a congregation whose history goes back to one of the first Baptist churches in England, the congregation in Wapping, London. Founded by John Spilsbury—the first Particular Baptist pastor recorded as convinced of believer’s baptism—and continued with John Norcott, Hercules Collins accepted the pastoral role on March 23, 1677. For a faithful and humble duration of twenty-five years, this would be Collins’ only station as a pastor.
At the young age of 24, Collins was arrested as part of the persecution of the dissenting separatists in England. Thirteen years later he is arrested again during a service on the Lord’s Day for living within five miles of the town limits. Michael Haykin cites the Wapping Church Book of minutes recording, “By the providence of God our pastor Hercules Collins was taken from us & committed prisoner to Newgate.”4 Newgate was reportedly a horrendous prison for inmates, many of whom died there including other Baptist pastors. During his imprisonment, Collins would channel the posture of the Apostle Paul and see this bitter providence as a necessary advancement of the gospel there. Again, Piggott said of him, “How exemplary was his submission under personal and relative trials… I confess I have thought him in that respect one of the best examples that ever I knew.5
Orthodox Piety
Collins exemplified “a Word-centered piety,” a trait Haykin identifies as “a characteristic typical of Baptist leaders” during the Puritan dissenting era.6 From the little information about him and what he has written, a deeply rooted devotion to and reverence for the Bible as the central authority and guiding principle in his spiritual life is revealed. Authoring over a dozen works, his earliest was an edit of the beloved Heidelberg Catechism which he dubbed, An Orthodox Catechism, and it was clearly at the heart of his commitment. He chose the devotional language to express the sum of the Christian religion and for the sake of guarding the saints. In its preface Collins writes:
As there is but a small time allotted unto any of us in this world, and not knowing but my staff standeth next [to] the door ready to depart, I am desirous in this respect so to bestow my precious and present time in my Lord’s business, as I may not return to him with my talent wrapped up in a napkin, but may leave behind me some poor token and testimony of my love and duty towards him and his blessed Spouse the Church.7
A pastor would do well to note the effectiveness of his scriptural foundation and spiritual discipline amidst the challenges of his day. His piety teaches an ethos where Scripture is not merely referenced but deeply integrated into the believer’s faith, thought, and actions; an ethos that can apply to our context today and forever.
Faithful Shepherding
One might wonder how Collins can relate with a pastor in 2025 of a church in a suburb of Colorado when society seems to be progressing toward uncharted godlessness. The truth is, Collins’ pastoral example is a template for any pastor seeking to be successful in any setting. He was co-vocational, working also as a tailor in a time when pastors making supplemental income were regarded with contempt. Collins was self-taught theologically in this regard, often referred to by non-baptistic separatists as “uneducated” and “unordained.”8 Despite this, he was open and enthusiastic about associating with other Baptist churches. The Wapping Church was the hub for the training of elders and Collins was a regular attender of the General Assembly of Particular Baptists (This first assembly meeting in 1689 adopted the Second London Baptist Confession of Faith).
The area of Wapping certainly was not affluent or filled with royalty. It was crowded with blue collar workers, sailors and marine professions. The Wapping Church minutes often indicate elevated cases of spiritual discipline due to the temptation of rugged and indulgent living in the area. Until the Toleration Act was passed in 1689, the Wapping Church had to meet in secret and was often the recipient of much persecution from the state. Hercules Collins was serious about the charge he had to shepherd the flock among himself. Even during his second incarceration, he presented a case to his church for who is qualified to administer the Lord’s Supper in his absence. As alluded to earlier, the motivation behind producing An Orthodox Catechism was not for the sake of enshrining a contribution to Baptist confessionalism for centuries to come (Even though this became the case). It was for the sake of his people to pursue holiness and devotion to God.
Of his preaching Piggott says he, “had a solid acquaintance with divine things,” and even though he may have lacked precision in some instances, “It was made up by a constant flame.
For no man could preach with a more affectionate regard to the salvation of souls.”9 It was said of Collins that he offered a fatherly inspiration, for he lived what he passionately preached among his spiritual children; the gospel with fire.
Hercules Collins inspires other pastors to live modest lives that biographers typically would not consider. He proves that not much needs to be mentioned of a minister in accolades and achievements, for the real accomplishment is perseverance, holiness and teaching in ministry. Improvement is far more attainable when you can apply a man’s character and not simply admire it. Biographies are not read about these types of men because they are not written out, but rather lived out in the many people they have impacted in their day and beyond.
Inspiring men were once inspired men themselves and like a footnote contains the source, Hercules Collins is the source of many people’s inspiration. That is someone worth writing about. In the last sentence of his preface to An Orthodox Catechism, Collins writes:
And for those whom the Lord has committed to my charge, that the eternal God may be your refuge, and underneath you everlasting arms; that grace may be opened to your hearts, and your hearts to grace; that the blessing of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob may be upon you, and the eternal Spirit may be with you, shall be the prayer of your unworthy brother, but more unworthy pastor, H.C.”10
Bibliography
Collins, Hercules. “Devoted to the Service of the Temple”: Piety, Persecution, and Ministry in the Writings of Hercules Collins. Edited by Michael A. G. Haykin, Steve Weaver, and Joel R. Beeke. Profiles in Reformed Spirituality. Grand Rapids, MI: Reformation Heritage Books, 2007.
Collins, Hercules, Michael A. G. Haykin, and G. Stephen Weaver. An Orthodox Catechism. Palmdale, CA: Reformed Baptist Academic Press, 2013.
John Piggott, A Sermon Preached at the Funeral of The Reverend Mr. Hercules Collins, Late Minister of the Gospel London: A. Bell and J. Baker, 1702.
Weaver, Jr., Garry Stephen. “Hercules Collins: Orthodox, Puritan, Baptist.” PhD diss., The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, 2013. https://repository.sbts.edu/handle/10392/4514.
Whitley, W.T. The Baptists of London 1612–1928. London: Kingsgate Press, 1928.
Notes
1 Garry Stephen Weaver, Jr. “Hercules Collins: Orthodox, Puritan, Baptist.” PhD diss., The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, 2013.
https://repository.sbts.edu/handle/10392/4514.
2 John Piggott, A Sermon Preached at the Funeral of The Reverend Mr. Hercules Collins, Late Minister of the Gospel (London: A. Bell and J. Baker, 1702), 33–36.
3 W. T. Whitley. The Baptists of London 1612–1928. London: Kingsgate Press, 1928.
4 Hercules Collins, “Devoted to the Service of the Temple”: Piety, Persecution, and Ministry in the Writings of Hercules Collins, ed. Michael A. G. Haykin, Steve Weaver, and Joel R. Beeke, Profiles in Reformed Spirituality (Grand Rapids, MI: Reformation Heritage Books, 2007), 13. The Wapping Church Book, 1676–1712, Minute for September 14, 1684 (Strict Baptist Historical Society, Duntsable, Bedordshire).
5 Piggott, A Sermon Preached at the Funeral of The Reverend Mr. Hercules Collins.
6 Collins, “Devoted to the Service of the Temple,” 11.
7 Hercules Collins, Michael A. G. Haykin, and G. Stephen Weaver. An Orthodox Catechism. Palmdale, CA: Reformed Baptist Academic Press, 2013, 1.
8 Weaver. “Hercules Collins: Orthodox, Puritan, Baptist,” 14-15.
9 Collins, “Devoted to the Service of the Temple,” 131.
10 Collins, Haykin, and Weaver. An Orthodox Catechism, 6.
James Medina is the Pastor Teacher of Breathe Reformed Baptist Church
