Resent articles by the "Baptist History and Heritage" from The Free Libraryhttp://www.thefreelibrary.comen-usFarlex, Inc.Sun, 27 Dec 2009 01:27:27 GMT360http://www.thefreelibrary.comhttp://www.thefreelibrary.com/_/static/TFLbyFarlex.gif17565Thu, 1 Jan 2009 00:00:00 http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Virginians+Reborn%3a+Anglican+Monopoly%2c+Evangelical+Dissent%2c+and+the...-a0199461810
Virginians Reborn: Anglican Monopoly, Evangelical Dissent, and the Rise of the Baptists in the Late Eighteenth Century. By Jewel L. Spangler, Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2008. 288 pp.

Baptists' success in eighteenth-century Virginia has long interested historians. Baptists' rise is often explained by describing Baptists as oppositional: Baptists demanded that...]]>Thu, 1 Jan 2009 00:00:00 http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Journal%3a+John+Frederick+Weishampel%2c+Jr.%2c+Baltimore%2c+MD%2c+1858-1895.-a0199461809
Journal: John Frederick Weishampel, Jr., Baltimore, MD, 1858-1895. Transcribed and edited by A. E. Weishampel and C. V. Weishampel. Columbus, GA: Brentwood Christian Press, 2007. 146 pp.

"In reading History," wrote John Frederick Weishampel, Jr., in 1862, "we are apt to think that the characters who flourished ... years ago were essentially different from those existing around...]]>Thu, 1 Jan 2009 00:00:00 http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Selected+Spiritual+Writings+of+Anne+Dutton%2c+Eighteenth-Century%2c...-a0199461808
Selected Spiritual Writings of Anne Dutton, Eighteenth-Century, British-Baptist, Woman Theologian (Volume 4: Theological Works). Compiled and with an Introduction by Joann Ford Watson, Macon: Mercer University Press, 2007. 321 pp.

Thanks to the work of Joann Ford Watson and Mercer University Press, I have become acquainted with the life and ministry of an extraordinary...]]>Thu, 1 Jan 2009 00:00:00 http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Paradox+and+Perseverance%3a+Hanserd+Knollys%2c+Particular+Baptist+Pioneer...-a0199461807
Paradox and Perseverance: Hanserd Knollys, Particular Baptist Pioneer in Seventeenth-Century England. Studies in Baptist History and Thought, vol. 23. By Dennis C. Bustin. Milton Keynes, UK: Paternoster, 2006. 380 pp.

Paradox and Perseverance is an outstanding biography of an early Baptist leader whose life nearly spanned the seventeenth century; it is also is a splendid...]]>Thu, 1 Jan 2009 00:00:00 http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Cecil+Sherman%3a+By+My+Own+Reckoning.-a0199461806
Cecil Sherman: By My Own Reckoning. By Cecil Sherman. Macon, GA: Smyth & Helwys, 2008. 280 pp.

I have reviewed books by and about Baptists for thirty-five years. Never has a book in Baptist studies charged my intellect, memory, and emotions as much as this one. By My Own Reckoning reveals a Baptist leader who possesses the honesty of Thomas Helwys, the courage of Roger...]]>Thu, 1 Jan 2009 00:00:00 http://www.thefreelibrary.com/No+Armor+for+the+Back%3a+Baptist+Prison+Writings%2c+1600s-1700s.-a0199461805
No Armor for the Back: Baptist Prison Writings, 1600s-1700s. By Keith E. Durso, Brentwood, TN: Baptist History and Heritage Society and Macon, GA: Mercer University Press, Macon, GA, 2007. 292 pp.

For centuries Baptists were a hated sect, persecuted over their insistence in practicing believer's baptism by immersion and their belief in religious liberty for all religious...]]>Thu, 1 Jan 2009 00:00:00 http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Readings+in+Baptist+History%3a+Four+Centuries+of+Selected+Documents.-a0199461804
Readings in Baptist History: Four Centuries of Selected Documents. By Joseph Early, Jr., Nashville, TN: B&H Academic, 2008. 281 pp.

In Readings in Baptist History: Four Centuries of Selected Documents, Joseph Early, Jr., notes in his preface, "Since this is a sourcebook of primary materials, the documents are the central aspect of the book." And then he explains that he...]]>Thu, 1 Jan 2009 00:00:00 http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Turning+Points+in+Baptist+History%3a+A+Festschrift+in+Honor+of+Harry...-a0199461803
Turning Points in Baptist History: A Festschrift in Honor of Harry Leon McBeth. Edited by Michael E. Williams, Sr. and Walter B. Shurden, Macon, GA: Mercer University Press, 2008. 332 pp.

Excellent teachers and writers of Baptist history inevitably shape future historians and influence colleagues. Leon McBeth rises to the top in contributions to preserving and interpreting...]]>Thu, 1 Jan 2009 00:00:00 http://www.thefreelibrary.com/James+Robinson+Graves%3a+history+in+the+service+of+ecclesiology%3a+many...-a0199461802
This 56-page sprint through almost two thousand years of church history comes equipped with a foldout timeline that is generously peppered with red dots, dots that indicate the sufferings and martyrdoms of true Christians (i.e., Baptists) through the ages, usually at the hands of "papal" Rome. On this chart, the author boldly proclaimed his purpose: "To show according...]]>Thu, 1 Jan 2009 00:00:00 http://www.thefreelibrary.com/The+peculiar+ventures+of+particular+Baptist+pastor+William+Kiffin+and...-a0199461801
As the story goes, Kiffin responded by offering the king a gift of ten thousand pounds in lieu of the loan. Charles accepted the gift. Kiffin later quipped that he had saved thirty thousand pounds. English Baptist historian Thomas Crosby contributed this anecdote to the historical understanding of Kiffin. (1) Subsequent historians of Baptists during the Restoration employed the...]]>Thu, 1 Jan 2009 00:00:00 http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Hanserd+Knollys+and+Mystical+Babylon+Unveiled%3a+contemporary...-a0199461800
The son of an Anglican rector, (1) Knollys pursued a career in the Church of England until his Puritan-influenced disagreements with Anglicanism led him to abandon the Church entirely. (2) Following a short and harrowing stay in Puritan New England, he adopted Baptist views; a perspective that, along with other dissenters in seventeenth-century England, relegated him to a life...]]>Thu, 1 Jan 2009 00:00:00 http://www.thefreelibrary.com/John+Griffith%3a+Baptist+prisoner+of+conscience%3a+Baptists+in+late...-a0199461799
Several English laws made the practice of any faith except that of the Church of England (the Anglican Church) dangerous. Since 1534, the Act of Supremacy demanded that English citizens declare that the king was not only "the only Supreme Governor of this realm, and all other [of] His Highness's dominions and countries," but also "in all spiritual or ecclesiastical things or...]]>Thu, 1 Jan 2009 00:00:00 http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Arguing+regenerate+church+membership%3a+Baptist+identity+during+its...-a0199461798
The explanation normally takes a while: they are told that Baptists understand baptism differently than do most denominations. (1) Whereas most denominations practice infant baptism, according to the thinking of most Baptists baptism should follow expression of faith in Christ that can only cxme from one who has made a self-conscious commitment to Christ. Thus, infant baptism is not...]]>Thu, 1 Jan 2009 00:00:00 http://www.thefreelibrary.com/John+Smyth's+request+for+Mennonite+recognition+and+admission%3a+four...-a0199461797
Prompted by a theological disagreement with Smyth, Helwys returned to England in 1612 and planted the first General Baptist church. The disagreement centered on the validity of Smyth's se-baptism and differing views on joining the Waterlander Mennonite church in Amsterdam. (1)

Correspondence regarding the English affair, as the Mennonites referred to Smyth's request...]]>Thu, 1 Jan 2009 00:00:00 http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Early+English+Baptists.-a0199461796
Upwards of seven hundred Baptist congregations are utilizing the Baptists' 400th Anniversary Celebration free bulletin inserts produced by the Baptist History and Heritage Society and Mercer University's Center for Baptist Studies. I suspect several thousand additional churches are making some effort to observe this year's historic anniversary. Yet, in true Baptist fashion, these...]]>Thu, 1 Jan 2009 00:00:00 http://www.thefreelibrary.com/A+Baptist+reality+check.-a0199461795
It's 2009. Baptists' 400th anniversary has arrived. This year provides wonderful opportunities to assess Baptist history and identity. Three points occur to me. First, Baptists have made enormous contributions to human civilization and to the forward progress of Christianity. Second, Baptists have suffered under many delusions about their identity and status. Third, Baptists hold in...]]>Thu, 1 Jan 2009 00:00:00 http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Telling+Baptist+stories%3a+400+years+later.-a0199461794
For the past few years, the Baptist History and Heritage Society has been in an informational mode--seeking to get the word out about the 400th anniversary of Baptist beginnings. We have encouraged churches to celebrate and have promoted ways in which all Baptists can observe this significant year. Now 2009 has finally arrived, and a good many Baptist churches have already had a...]]>Sun, 22 Jun 2008 00:00:00 http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Rethinking+Zion%3a+How+the+Print+Media+Place+Fundamentalism+in+the...-a0190196753
Rethinking Zion: How the Print Media Place Fundamentalism in the South. By Mary Beth Swetnam Mathews. Knoxville: The University of Tennessee Press, 2006. 177 pages.

How did the South become the home of Christian fundamentalism in the United States? Was it always the case? Did it show up in the earliest colonial churches in the South? Or did it begin in 1925 with the Scopes...]]>