Jessa Duggar And Ben Seewald Accidentally Name Baby After Catholic Convert

Jessa Duggar and Ben Seewald probably didn’t do an internet search for their second son’s name before settling on it. The couple is notoriously anti-Catholic, but Jessa and Ben named their baby boy after a 19th-century Church of England clergyman who converted to Catholicism.

Fans of the Duggar family expected Jessa and Ben to give their second child an unusual first name similar to that of their first son, Spurgeon Elliot Seewald. However, this time around the parents opted for a conventional first name and a unique middle name. As Romper reports, Jessa Duggar and her husband named their second child Henry Wilberforce Seewald. Ben revealed that Wilberforce is the surname of a famous evangelical abolitionist who has influenced his faith.

“William Wilberforce was a British politician in the 1700s and he was very instrumental in abolishing the slave trade in the British Empire as well as doing a lot of other great things, and he’s a real hero of ours, someone that really walked with God and his closeness with Christ and his joy that he had in the Lord really fueled his life and all that he did,” Ben said of the name.

According to Ben, Jessa Duggar is responsible for blessing her baby boy with the first name Henry.

“Jessa really liked the name Henry and we just thought it was cute, but also there was another great man of God named Matthew Henry, who lived before Wilberforce, and he wrote a lot of great commentaries — he actually has a commentary series on the whole Bible.”

Interestingly, William Wilberforce had a son named Henry Wilberforce. Forum users on the Free Jinger website speculated that Jessa Duggar and Ben Seewald were unaware of this when they chose their baby name.

“Was it mentioned that William Wilberforce had a son named…..HENRY who converted to CATHOLICISM??? Someone didn’t do their research!” one commenter wrote.

According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, Henry Wilberforce was an Anglican clergyman who became a journalist after converting to Catholicism in 1850. He was the editor of the Catholic Standard and penned a controversial pamphlet titled “Reasons for Submitting to the Catholic Church.”

Longtime Duggar watchers find it amusing that Jessa Duggar and Ben Seewald accidentally named their son after a Catholic convert because the Counting On stars strongly oppose the teachings of the Catholic Church. As Us Weekly reports, Ben has expressed his belief that Catholics are making “deadly errors.” He also equated Catholicism to voodoo and accused Catholics of persecuting people in Honduras after returning from a mission trip there.

As the Inquisitr previously reported, Jessa and Ben’s first child is named after an anti-Catholic author and preacher. One-year-old Spurgeon’s namesake, Charles Spurgeon, was a 19th-century Baptist minister who preached that Catholicism is “rubbish” and “the masterpiece of Satan.” He was also an admirer of the “great man of God” whose surname is Henry Wilberforce Seewald’s first name.

“Every minister ought to read Matthew Henry entirely and carefully through once at least,” Spurgeon said of the Bible commentator.

Jessa Duggar and Ben Seewald have said that they might name all of their children after famous Christians, and they’ve also started a tradition of keeping fans in suspense by delaying their baby name reveals. As People reports, the couple waited an entire week after Henry Wilberforce’s February 6 arrival to share his moniker with their fans. Ben and Jessa kept it under wraps until Monday, which just so happens to be the day that their reality show, Counting On, airs on TLC.

Jill Duggar and Derick Dillard waited until Tuesday to share their reaction to Jessa and Ben’s baby name. As Us Weekly reports, Jill and Derick congratulated their Counting On co-stars in a short video.

“Well, congratulations Jessa and Ben on the birth of your second son, Henry Wilberforce. What an awesome name!” Derick said. “We’re really happy for you guys and Israel is happy for another cousin.”

Do you agree that Jessa Duggar and Ben Seewald’s baby name choice is “awesome”? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

[Featured Image by Ben Seewald/Facebook]