Revivals, Baptists and George Rawlyk: a Memorial Volume.

Edited by Daniel C. Goodwin. Wolfville: Acadia University. Distributed by Gaspereau Press, 2000. 191 pages.

This volume is the latest of a series of seventeen studies and/or collections of documents illustrative of the Baptist heritage of Atlantic Canada. It is also a memorial volume recalling the work of Canadian religious historian George A. Rawlyk, long-time professor at Queens University and mentor of a number of Ph.D. students. The papers were presented at a conference at Atlantic Baptist University in Moncton, New Brunswick, May 30-31, 1997. It is the Maritime Baptist community's affectionate farewell to one of its patron saints.

This series of essays is typical of Maritime scholarly conferences in that some of the papers deal with large themes, like the Allinite tradition, while others focus on relatively little-known regional institutions or people, like the United Baptist Training School, predecessor to the host institution. Contributors include those who held Professor Rawlyk in high esteem: Mark Noll at Wheaton College; Barry Moody at Acadia University; Daniel Goodwin, Stephen Dempster, and Benne Faber at Atlantic Baptist University; David Bell at the University of New Brunswick; Lorraine Coops, a free-lance writer; and Ronald Noble, a retired Baptist minister.

Essays by Noll and Reimer revisit the connections between Maritime Baptists and the American religious experience. Noll concludes that too little use has been made of Rawlyk's eighteenth-century work in American historiography. Reimer supports Rawlyk's idea that Canadian evangelicalism is more irenic than its U.S. counterpart, but calls for real data to support the thesis. Moody, Faber, and Coops extol the merits of Rawlyk's thirty-year preoccupation with Henry Alline and show how that preoccupation shaped later generations of Maritime Baptist experience and literature. In a turgid essay, Bell delineates some limitations on Rawlyk's work and argues for the relevance of the Christian Connection in the late Allinite movement. Wilson's essay is not obviously connected with Rawlyk's work, but it is an interesting excursus in regional educational history. A sermon by Stephen Dempster--included to suggest a relationship between "cult" and "culture"--is helpful in understanding Canadian evangelical contributions.

For the broader Baptist historical community, this thin volume is important for two reasons. First, it brings a fitting postscript to the life of admittedly the most influential religious historian of twentieth-century Canada. The warm-hearted essay by pastor Noble gives useful details on Rawlyk's life and personality. It remains for later examiners to write a fuller and balanced account of Rawlyk's controlling (and sometimes intimidating!) influence on both Canadian historiography and the teaching of history in Canadian institutions.

Second, the volume reminds us that Henry Alline and the revival experience in Nova Scotia are unmistakable features on the North American landscape. Too few people cross the Bay of Fundy or the St. John River to enjoy a view from the other shore of American religious culture.

As with other volumes in this series, good Baptist historical collections will want to include this volume. It contains useful acknowledgments but lacks an index, a standard feature in historical works. The book is well priced and nicely manufactured.--Reviewed by William H. Brackney, Professor of Religion and Chair of the Department of Religion, Baylor University, Waco, Texas.