A Piety Above the Common Standard.

A Piety Above the Common Standard. By Anthony I_ Chute. Macon, GA: Mercer University Press, 2004. 238 pp.

In analyzing the historical figure of Jesse Mercer as a representative theological leader of his era, Anthony Chute probes into the Calvinistic underpinnings of Mercer's theology and examines how Mercer used his theology to promote missions, education, and cooperative efforts.

Jesse Mercer (1769-1841), the foremost Baptist leader in antebellum Georgia, dedicated his entire life to the Baptist causes of his day. As the son of the venerated Baptist preacher, Silas Mercer, Jesse became the apparent heir of his father's congregations and his statewide influences. Jesse Mercer strengthened his own leadership in Georgia Baptist life through the initiation of two efforts to unite Georgia Baptists in 1803 and 1822. The final effort led to the successful formation of the Georgia Baptist Convention. Mercer also left his theological imprint upon his wide audience through the acquisition of The Christian Index from W. T. Brantly of Philadelphia, which he moved to Georgia in 1833. Through these two mediums of communication, Mercer argued for the establishment of missionary institutions (theological schools, protracted meetings, and missionary societies) while holding to the Calvinistic theology of his forefathers. Prior to his death, Mercer saw his synthesis of new methods with traditional Baptist theology demonstrated through the establishment of Mercer University and the departure of the antimissionary influence from the Georgia Baptist Convention.

Within this study of Mercer's theological life, Chute challenges the prevalent thesis that Calvinism in Baptist life in America significantly changed at the time missionary methods were adopted. Opting for the twentieth century as the time for the theological shift, Chute insists Oust as Mercer did) that new missionary means were compatible with Calvinist beliefs of God's sovereignty and God's desire to save the elect.

As an introduction to his study, Chute includes the history of Georgia Baptists emerging from the two traditions of the highly ordered Regular Baptists and the evangelistic Separate Baptists--both groups denying any form of Arminian theology. The person of Jesse Mercer represented these strands, accentuating them from the pulpit and editorials in The Christian Index. Chute notes that Mercer did not agree with the new missionary theology of Andrew Fuller but continued to hold to a strict view of limited atonement. Yet, Mercer's traditional Baptist theology did not interfere with his adoption of many new measures. He advocated protracted revival meetings, missionary giving, and ministerial education while at the same time stressing the traditional Calvinistic Baptist views of church discipline and doctrinal preaching.

The strengths of this work reside in its use of primary sources and appropriate explanations of Calvinist theology to help guide those not familiar with the tenets of this theological position. As the first major theological study of Jesse Mercer to appear in print, it is a highly commendable book. The only deficiency lies in the unanswered question of how Calvinists and non-Calvinists can cooperate through missions. The author, however, does answer this dilemma with a strong argument for the return to "the faith of our fathers."--Reviewed by Jarrett Burch, editor of Viewpoints: Georgia Baptist History, Georgia Baptist Historical Society, Macon, Georgia.