Historians have painted an image of nineteenth-century Baptists huddled in clapboard meetinghouses preaching sermons and making a song hymns, likely blind to the broader international. in line with this view, Baptists have been "so heavenly-minded, they have been of no earthly good." ignored are the illustrative tales of Baptists battling poverty, selling abolition, petitioning Congress, and debating tax policy.
Politics and Piety is a cautious examine antebellum Baptist existence. it really is visible in figures equivalent to John Broadus, whose first sermon promoted temperance, David Barrow, who shaped an anti-slavery organization in Kentucky, and in a Savannah church that all started a ministry to the homeless. not just did Baptists advertise piety for the great in their church buildings, yet they did so for the betterment of society at huge. even though they aimed to alter the US one soul at a time, that's basically a part of the tale. additionally they engaged the political area, forcefully and at once. easily placed, Baptists have been social reformers.
Relying at the principles of rank-and-file Baptists present in the mins of neighborhood church buildings and institutions, in addition to the preferred, parochial newspapers of the day, Politics and Piety uncovers a theologically minded and arguable circulate to enhance the state. realizing the place those Baptists united and divided is a key to unlocking the diversities in evangelical political engagement today.
"For many years we've been informed by way of historians that early American evangelicals--especially Baptists--were so heavenly minded they have been of no earthly stable. the parable used to be that they have been simply attracted to evangelism and private piety. Aaron Menikoff has dispelled the parable and proven persuasively that Baptist leaders of 1770-1860 have been something yet disengaged from their tradition and its besetting sins. Social motion used to be excessive on their time table of priorities, now not least simply because they observed reform as an entailment of the gospel of the risen Christ."
--Ben Mitchell, Union college, Tennessee
"Carefully researched and good argued, this booklet bargains a clean research of the dynamic among social reform and private piety between Baptists in antebellum the US. In telling this tale, Aaron Menikoff destroys numerous sacred cows, together with the one who equates the Baptist dedication to the separation of church and nation with apathy and disrespect for the environing tradition. A old learn with modern relevance."
--Timothy George, Beeson Divinity college, Samford collage, Alabama
"In this richly researched and hugely readable ebook, Menikoff belies the declare that Baptists, together with Southern Baptists, are 'so heavenly minded they are no earthly good.' whereas underscoring their dedication to evangelism and piety, he demonstrates their far-reaching and lively engagement with social matters and issues of public policy--from dueling to insurrections, to abolition to temperance, to benevolence."
--Mark Coppenger, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Kentucky
Aaron Menikoff (PhD, Southern Seminary) is a pastor in Atlanta, Georgia. He formerly served as legislative assistant to U.S. Senator Mark O. Hatfield.