A Texas Baptist History Sourcebook: A Companion to McBeth's Texas Baptists.

A Texas Baptist History Sourcebook: A Companion to McBeth's Texas Baptists. By Joseph E. Early, Jr. Denton, TX: University of North Texas Press, 2004. 676 pp.

Primary sources are the backbone and lifeblood for historical study. Baptist historians have long honored this maxim both in their writing of historical works and in their publication of "sourcebooks" that present primary sources to those interested in Baptist history. Earlier sourcebooks have covered broad areas of research. Robert Baker produced a sourcebook oriented toward Southern Baptist history. William Brackney and Leon McBeth both presented sources pertinent to the broader history of Baptists. Joe Early, Jr., has created a new category: a sourcebook that collects primary materials germane to an individual state.

Following the example of McBeth's earlier Sourcebook for Baptist Heritage, Early has compiled documents that relate specifically to the story of Texas Baptists. Intended as a companion to McBeth's Texas Baptists, Early's volume utilized the previous work's chapter divisions and topical arrangement. Each chapter presents documents that correspond to the narrative found in Texas Baptists. Although he faithfully followed the chapter divisions, Early did not restrict his presentation of sources by including only those that McBeth utilized.

This book is a resounding success for a number of reasons. It is both physically attractive and affordable. Beyond its aesthetic and economic value, Early has compiled perhaps the most significant collection of important sources for the study of Texas Baptist history. The wide variety of sources range from well-recognized documents such as Z. N, Morrell's Flowers and Fruits of the Wilderness to more obscure documents such as S. A. Hayden's Complete Conspiracy Trial Book. The number of documents gleaned from the Baptist Standard and from official proceedings of the Baptist General Convention of Texas is staggering. Early has also included an important selection of oral memoirs relating to Texas Baptist history of most recent vintage. A helpful index leads researchers to documents relating to their favorite subjects.

One could quarrel with few of Early's choices as to which documents to include. For example, R H. Carroll, a giant among Texas Baptists, is perhaps slightly underrepresented, garnering only three pages from two selections. Additionally, while Daniel Parker's Views on the Two Seeds is interesting in its obscure doctrines, his earlier work entitled A Public Address to the Baptist Society is more representative of Parker's opposition to mission societies. Finally, some documents in Early's sourcebook also appear in the Sourcebook for Baptist Heritage, but one can hardly fault him for including George W. Truett's "Baptists and Religious Liberty."

This book also follows McBeth's Texas Baptists in its orientation toward documenting the history of the Baptist General Convention of Texas and its programs. Only at the beginning and at the end of the book do any documents appear that are not related to the BGCT or its entities. Further, a bibliographical essay detailing where one might find the complete sources would have been helpful. These drawbacks are minor. On the whole this work is indispensable for the student of Texas Baptist history.--Reviewed by Michael A. Dain, adjunct professor of history, Dallas Baptist University, Dallas, Texas.