A Genealogy of Dissent: Southern Baptist Protest in the Twentieth Century.

By David Stricklin. Lexington: University of Kentucky Press, 1999. xvii + 229 pages.

For several decades, historians of southern religion have debated the prevalence of Social Christianity among southern religious groups. On the one hand, historians such as Samuel S. Hill Jr. and John B. Boles have argued that there was no discernible movement of Social Christianity in the South primarily because southern religion placed its greatest emphasis on individual salvation rather than social concern.

Conversely, several historians in recent years have challenged this traditional understanding arguing that Social Christianity was a much larger movement in the South than previously believed. Historians such as Wayne Flynt, John W. Storey, and Keith Harper have demonstrated that southern churches addressed social issues on a consistent basis beginning in the late-nineteenth century. Furthermore, these southerners were concerned with some of the same types of problems that concerned Social Gospelers in the North. In other words, southerners were concerned with more than just moral issues such as gambling, alcohol, card-playing, the theater, and dancing.

Most recently, a new book has appeared which further supports the thesis that southerners were greatly concerned about social issues. David Stricklin, in A Genealogy of Dissent, traces the dissenting voice among the strong, regional conservativism prevalent in the Southern Baptist Convention. Although he concentrates only on Southern Baptists, Stricklin's work proves that there was a strong, dissenting voice in Southern Baptist life, which was ever vigilant in its concern for social justice. Stricklin brilliantly traces the movement back to one individual named Walter Nathan Johnson, a North Carolinian who spent his career in pastorates and denominational work in North Carolina and Louisiana in the early part of the twentieth century. Johnson's concern for social justice in the conservative South had an impact on Martin England and Carlyle Marney. From these beginnings, Stricklin traces the "genealogy" of the dissenting tradition in Southern Baptist life, "a network of dissidents that operated in many respects like a family tree, with various members exerting varying levels of influence on other members as they `came along' within the family network" (p. 29).

Little can be said negatively about this book. It is written and researched well. The author's writing style keeps the reader engaged throughout the book. The addition of oral history interviews enhances the primary source material and makes the text all the more interesting. The few minor typographical errors do not detract in any way from the superb quality of this book. Anyone interested in Baptist history in the South should make this book an addition to his or her reading list.--Reviewed by Glenn Jonas, Associate Professor of Religion and Chairman of the Department of Religion and Philosophy, Campbell University, Buies Creek, North Carolina.