Readings in Baptist History by
Readings in Baptist History compiles four centuries of notable religious documents, from John Smyth's "The Character of the Beast" in 1609 all the way to the 2000 revision of the Southern Baptist Convention's "Baptist Faith and Message." This primary source Baptist history book can be used as a companion to larger history texts or stand strongly on its own. In all, it contains key information concerning the theology, origins, conflicts, denominational organization, and historical events of early English Baptists, American Colonial Baptists, Southern Baptists, American Baptists, the Baptist Missionary Association, European Baptists, Baptist Bible Fellowship, the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, and much more. The book also profiles influential pastors, theologians, missionaries, and Baptist leaders.
The Baptists by
A brief, narrative survey of the Baptists in North America over the last three and a half centuries, from their roots in Europe to their present manifestations in contemporary America and the world. The six chapters are organized around five distinctives historically important to Baptists: the Bible, the Church, the ordinances/sacraments, voluntarism, and religious liberty. Concluding with a Chronology and extensive Bibliographic Essay, this is an ideal text for courses in Church History, North American Religious History, or American social and cultural history.
The Baptist Story by
The Baptist Story is a narrative history spanning over four centuries of a diverse group of people living among distinct cultures on separate continents while finding their identity in Christ and expressing their faith as Baptists. Baptist historians Anthony Chute, Nathan Finn, and Michael Haykin highlight the Baptist transition from a despised sect to a movement of global influence. Each chapter includes stories of people who made this history so fascinating. Although the emphasis is on the English-speaking world, The Baptist Story integrates stories of non-English-speaking Baptists, ethnic minorities, women, and minority theological traditions, all within the context of historic, orthodox Christianity. This volume provides more than just the essential events and necessary names to convey the grand history. It also addresses questions that students of Baptist history frequently ask, includes prayers and hymns of those who experienced hope and heartbreak, and directs the reader's attention to the mission of the church as a whole. Written with an irenic tone and illustrated with photographs in every chapter, The Baptist Story is ideally suited for graduate and undergraduate courses, as well as group study in the local church.
Baptists in America by
The Puritans called Baptists "the troublers of churches in all places" and hounded them out of Massachusetts Bay Colony. Four hundred years later, Baptists are the second-largest religious group in America, and their influence matches their numbers. They have built strong institutions, frommegachurches to publishing houses to charities to mission organizations, and have firmly established themselves in the mainstream of American culture. Yet the historical legacy of outsider status lingers, and the inherently fractured nature of their faith makes Baptists ever wary of threats fromwithin as well as without.In Baptists in America, Thomas S. Kidd and Barry Hankins explore the long-running tensions between church, state, and culture that Baptists have shaped and navigated. Despite the moment of unity that their early persecution provided, their history has been marked by internal battles and schisms thatwere microcosms of national events, from the conflict over slavery that divided North from South to the conservative revolution of the 1970s and 80s. Baptists have made an indelible impact on American religious and cultural history, from their early insistence that America should have no establishedchurch to their place in the modern-day culture wars, where they frequently advocate greater religious involvement in politics. Yet the more mainstream they have become, the more they have been pressured to conform to the mainstream, a paradox that defines - and is essential to understanding - theBaptist experience in America.Kidd and Hankins, both practicing Baptists, weave the threads of Baptist history alongside those of American history. Baptists in America is a remarkable story of how one religious denomination was transformed from persecuted minority into a leading actor on the national stage, with profoundimplications for American society and culture.
Baptists in America by
Baptists are a study in contrasts. From Little Dove Old Regular Baptist Church, up a hollow in the Appalachian Mountains, with its 25-member congregation, to the 18,000-strong Saddleback Valley Church in Orange County, California, where hymns appear on wide-screen projectors; from Jerry Falwell, Jesse Helms, and Tim LaHaye to Martin Luther King Jr., Jesse Jackson, Bill Clinton, and Maya Angelou, Baptist churches and their members have encompassed a range of theological interpretations and held a variety of social and political viewpoints. At first glance, Baptist theology seems classically Protestant in its emphasis on the Trinity, the incarnation of Jesus Christ, the authority of Scripture, salvation by faith alone, and baptism by immersion. Yet the interpretation and implementation of these beliefs have made Baptists one of the most fragmented denominations in the United States. Not surprisingly, they are often characterized as a people who "multiply by dividing." Baptists in America introduces readers to this fascinating and diverse denomination, offering a historical and sociological portrait of a group numbering some thirty million members. Bill J. Leonard traces the history of Baptists, beginning with their origins in seventeenth-century Holland and England. He examines the development of Baptist beliefs and practices, offering an overview of the various denominations and fellowships within Baptism. Leonard also considers the disputes surrounding the question of biblical authority, the ordinances (baptism and the Lord's Supper), congregational forms of church governance, and religious liberty. The social and political divisions among Baptists are often as dramatic, if not more so, than the theological divides. Leonard examines the role of Baptists in the Fundamentalist and Social Gospel movements of the early twentieth century. The Civil Rights movement began in African American Baptist churches. More recently, Baptists have been key figures in the growth of the Religious Right, criticizing the depravity of American popular culture, supporting school prayer, and championing other conservative social causes. Leonard also explores the social and religious issues currently dividing Baptists, including race, the ordination of women, the separation of church and state, and sexuality. In the final chapter Leonard discusses the future of Baptist identity in America.
The Baptists: Beginnings in Britain by
The nature of Baptist identity has come to a place of critical importance in Baptist studies. What exactly constitutes a Baptist? Tom Nettles seeks to answer this fascinating question through examining the lives of some of the most high profile and influential Baptists in history. The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky has a library loaded with Baptist materials including a rich archival collection, which Tom found indispensable for this book. Nettles establishes a clearly identifiable profile of Baptists. He looks at many influential spokesmen for Baptist lives who embraced the bible as an unerring divine revelation. From John Spilsbury to William Carey we are taken on an enlightening journey through the origin and expansion of the Baptist Church. Tom Nettles has produced a book that is wonderfully informative and, through its profiles of God honouring historical figures, should serve us encouragement to all Christians today. Tom Nettles has produced a book that is wonderfully informative and, through its profiles of God honouring historical figures, should serve us encouragement to all Christians Today.
The Baptists: Beginnings in America by
The nature of Baptist Identity has come to a place of critical importance in Baptist Studies. What exactly constitutes a Baptist? In Volume 1, Professor Nettles sought to answer this question through examining the lives of some of the most high profile Baptists, looking at the origins of the Baptist Church in Britain. Here, Volume 2 tells the story of Baptist beginnings in America, and looks at the inspirational contributions of those such as Lottie Moon and Ann Judson in the growth of the Baptist Church. They shared the views of their English brethren, and were able to be instrumental in the new world in the achievement of separation of church and state. The pioneer spirit combined with the movement of God's Spirit in the first Great Awakening to produce massive growth of Baptists in New England, the Middle Colonies particularly the South and indeed around the world. In this delightful second volume Nettles has picked up where he left of, with another hugely informative and authoritative work, which cements his standing as a groundbreaking pioneer in Baptist history.
The Baptists: Modern Era by
In the final part of Tom Nettle's Trilogy, he traces some of the modern movements with the Baptist diaspora. Nettles looks at the downgrade in the British Church through the lenses of C.H. Spurgeon and John Clifford and the decline in America looking at the influences of A. H. Strong, E. Y. Mullins and the Baptist Modernists.Key outcomes are explored that inevitably fomulate out of Baptist theology (e.g. separation of church and state). The 'renewed contours' of the present day Baptist movement are also covered with particular reference to recent changes in the Southern Baptist Convention. This series is a triumph! It serves as a neccessary addition to the story of the church.
Baptist Theologians by 
Baptist Theology by
This title offers a comprehensive analysis of Baptist theology. Embracing in one common trajectory the major Baptist confessions of faith, the major Baptist theologians, and the principal Baptist theological movements and controversies, this book spans four centuries of Baptist doctrinal history. Acknowledging first the pre-1609 roots (patristic, medieval, and Reformational) of Baptist theology, it examines the Arminian versus Calvinist issues that were first expressed by the General Baptists and the Particular Baptists; that dominated English and American Baptist theology during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries from Helwys and Smyth and from Bunyan and Kiffin to Gill, Fuller, Backus, and Boyce; and, that were quickened by the 'awakenings' and the missionary movement. Concurrently there were the Baptist defense of the Baptist distinctives vis-a-vis the pedobaptist world and the unfolding of a strong Baptist confessional tradition. Then during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries the liberal versus evangelical issues became dominant with Hovey, Strong, Rauschenbusch, and Henry in the North and Mullins, Conner, Hobbs, and Criswell in the South even as a distinctive Baptist Landmarkism developed, the discipline of biblical theology was practiced and a structured ecumenism was pursued. Missiology both impacted Baptist theology and took it to all the continents, where it became increasingly indigenous. Conscious that Baptists belong to the free churches and to the believers' churches, a new generation of Baptist theologians at the advent of the twenty-first century appears somewhat more Calvinist than Arminian and decidedly more evangelical than liberal.
Winds of Doctrines by
The Southern Baptist Convention has been torn by internal strife since 1979. This book traces the origins of Southern Baptist theology to its roots in seventeenth-century England, then turns its attention to the backgrounds of two forces which have embroiled the convention in controversy: fundamentalism and neo-orthodoxy. The author identifies the doctrinal stances which divide the two camps and suggests what the future may hold in the light of the dissension.
Baptist Theology by
This book considers the distinctive ideas and expressions of Christian faith to be found in the historic Baptist churches. An outline of the history of the Baptist movement will be offered, from its British beginnings in Amsterdam in 1609, through its varied developments in Britain, Europe and North America, to its worldwide presence and diversity today, and its relationship to many other churches with apparently-similar practices (Pentecostal and 'new' churches, e.g.). Holmes draws the various threads together, noting the real diversities in the history of Baptist theology, but suggesting that in a vision of the present and urgent Lordship of Christ experienced in the local congregation, there is a thread that links most of these distinctives.
Baptists and the Bible by
A revised edition for students at the divinity school level who study the origins of modern Baptists in 17th Century England, bibliology of the 18th and 19th century Baptists of England and America, and the sources for present-day uncertainties in the field of bibliology, especially as it relates to the Southern Baptist Convention as well as the Northern Baptist Convention. An excellent tool for researchers, scholars, as well as laymen.
Manual of Theology by
John L. Dagg's guide to theology offers superb spiritual insight from the viewpoint of a senior preacher and theologian of the American Baptist movement. As Dagg's masterwork, the Manual of Theology is an honest and practical guide to the many aspects and qualities of Bible theology. Perhaps significantly, Dagg opens his great work with a chapter on inspiration - the fact that God inspired and communicated the Bible, and why all Christians should acknowledge this truth if they are to understand His guidance in their lives. Dagg also discusses the individual Christian life and soul. The penalty of losing one's soul, if indeed one sins to such an extent as to be distant from the Lord, is confirmed to be the worst any person may suffer. However, Dagg continues on a more hopeful note: one's soul can be redeemed and saved, although the numbers of souls to have gained such redemption is only small.
Abstract of Systematic Theology by 
The Complete Works of Andrew Fuller by
Despite his prominent role during the last quarter of the eighteenth century in promoting evangelical Calvinism among British Particular Baptists, only portions of the diary of Andrew Fuller (1754-1815), one of the most important surviving manuscripts from that century, have appeared in print in various volumes published between 1816 and 1882, portions usually inaccurately transcribed and highly editorialized. The current edition is the first complete and accurate transcription of Fuller's diary based on the sole surviving volume now residing at Bristol Baptist College. This edition, with exhaustive identifications, notes, and valuable appendices for students of Baptist history, provides a fascinating glimpse into Fuller's ministry at Soham and Kettering during a period (1780-1801) when he became the titular head of the Particular Baptists as a result of his preaching throughout Northamptonshire and surrounding counties; his writing, such as his influential work, The Gospel Worthy of All Acceptation (1785); and his multi-national work as founding secretary of the Baptist Missionary Society (1792), a position he diligently maintained until his death in 1815, having left a legacy unequalled by any other minister of his generation.