Baptists in America: A History - Hardcover

The authors wrestle capably with the oddly difficult question of what defines Baptists...an illuminating book. (The Economist)

Thomas Kidd and Barry Hankins are two of the most respectable church historians in the academy today. Their work is always incisive and illuminating- as in reading this book you will soon discover. (R. Albert Mohler, Jr., President of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary)

Baptists,' the authors say, 'are notorious for two things evangelism and schism.' Baptist successes as evangelists since the colonial era are the basis for their immense influence in American life. Their proneness to schism makes for good stories and is a reason why we need a clear and engaging account such as this. Baptists in America is both readable and fascinating. (George M. Marsden, author of Jonathan Edwards: A Life)

In clear and compelling prose, filled with enlightening anecdotes, this book tells the amazing story of how a persecuted minority of Christians, who rejected infant baptism and state control of the church, grew into the largest denomination in the United States with culture-shaping consequences. An important contribution to American Religious History, this book should be widely read by anyone interested in the history and present state of religion in U.S. culture and politics. (Albert J. Raboteau, Henry W. Putnam Professor of Religion, Princeton University)

Some books on Baptists in America sprinkle the reader with superficial simplicity, focusing on only one tribe or one aspect of the Baptist experience. Others drown the reader in historical narrative, but with no clear connection as to why non-Baptists ought to care. This book is different. This history offers a full immersion in the Baptist story, in every stream and fork of the Baptist river. This volume connects the Baptist experience to larger trends in American culture, politics, and theology in a way that informs both insiders and outsiders. This book is, without doubt, the definitive work on Baptists in America for this generation. (Russell D. Moore, President, Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission)

engaging ... a very good book. (P. W. Williams, CHOICE)

Baptists are the second-largest religious group in the United States, trailing only Catholics. They represent nearly 20% of the US population and a third of all American Protestants, and have attained a certain level of notoriety for their penchant for controversy. From their defiance of established churches in the Colonial period, to pastor Robert Jeffress calling Mitt Romney's Mormonism a "cult" during the Republican primaries of 2012 they have consistently been at the forefront of religion's collision with culture and society.

This book will offer a history of Baptists in America from the Colonial period to the present day, from their fight for the separation of church and state to their role as some of the chief combatants in today's culture wars. Their history has been marked by internal battles and schisms that were microcosms of national events, from the conflict over slavery that divided North from South to the ascendancy of conservatives within the Southern Baptist Convention, which mirrored developments within the Republican Party. The book's primary theme will be Baptists' struggles between seeing themselves as "insiders" or "outsiders" in American culture. The persecuted Baptists of the colonial period became one of the dominant churches in nineteenth-century America. Today, they are the primary spokespersons for evangelical America. Yet, even as they appear comfortable in this role, Baptists have never been sure if America represented a Babylon of spiritual exile, or a peaceful Zion. This book will offer a lively and accessible history of one of America's most important religious groups.