Baptists in America: A History

From seed form in the first colonies, to peak-Baptist in the late 1980s, for better or for worse, the Baptist influence in America cannot be denied. Surprisingly, following the Baptist thread of American history provides an amazingly instructive perspective for understanding the development of America, from its initial stage consisting of multiple officially Christian British colonies to its present stage of consolidated power and avowed religious neutrality. From Roger Williams’ encounter with the fledgling Massachusetts Bay Colony in the early 1600s, to Russell Moore in 2015, "Baptists in America" engagingly covers it all. Especially refreshing and enlightening is the bold commentary generously interjected by the authors, which keeps the history relevant and alive from beginning to end. I thoroughly tested the highlighting limits of my Kindle app! Baptists in America is a highly rewarding read.

Thomas Kidd and Barry Hankins bring the story of Baptists in America to life through the 252 pages of this volume. The writing is lucid. I was able to stay interested and engaged throughout the book. Kidd and Hankins trace the movement of Baptists from a persecuted minority to a cultural force. The story is compelling, no matter your view of Baptist life. The conclusion, where the authors grapple with defining a Baptist, is illuminating. In the end, Baptists represent an incredible diversity politically, theologically and socially. Kidd and Hankins rightly focus on African American Baptists throughout the book, making the important point that African American Baptists have been a powerful, but often overlooked cultural force.

Baptists are not the most homogenous group. This could make writing readable histories about them a significant challenge. In this volume, Kidd and Hankins provide a quality, readable, and engaging story. If you have read David Bebbington’s Baptists through the Centuries: a History of a Global People, you will find this volume fits with it like a puzzle, providing the American ‘zoom in’ that was not possible in Bebbington’s broader work. If you are looking for a book to bolster your personal Baptist polemics, this is not that book. It is even and thorough, a quality telling of the Baptist story. If you are a Baptist in America (whatever flavor), you will find your own history in the pages of this book.

I am particularly interested in the history of Christianity in America. I've written quite a bit and lectured extensively on this topic over the past few years. So, I was very excited to see that one of my favorite historians, Thomas Kidd, had a new work titled Baptists in America. I was less familiar with Barry Hankins (the book's co-author), but he and Kidd made an excellent team. I intend to read more from Hankins in the coming months.I love that Kidd and Hankins take great care to attach important moments in baptist history to historically noteworthy instances in American history. This is very helpful in aiding the reader to situate baptist history in its larger, contextual, setting. I commend the authors for being (in my opinion) very fair in the appraisal of controversial moments in baptist history. I would note that their handling of the conservative resurgence was well-written and gracious.One feature of the book that is especially timely is the discussion of the baptist emphasis on religious liberty. I think most readers will find this segment of the book quite useful. As debates over the role of religion continue in our country, it is a nice reminder that baptists have always stood for religious liberty.Baptists in America is an excellent text. I would strongly encourage all baptists, history buffs, church historians, and general readers alike to add this book to your summer reading list. Great work by Thomas Kidd and Barry Hankins.

Think you know about Baptists? I've been one all my life and the book's historical facts were more than enlightening. Did you know they had a relationship with Thomas Jefferson, and why? Did they baptize babies? Were they against slavery? You will find these answers and so much more within those pages.Russell S. Smith author of Steps into God's Country

Excellent! Learned so much about my denomination. Great information and a lot of detail. Despite all the ups and downs, still glad to be a Baptist in America! Great collaboration by both of our Baylor Professors.

I enjoyed this book a great deal. Having just joined a Baptist church, I had a lot of questions, such as "why is there no official creed or ordinances? Why is the denomination so loosely held to other churches? Why do African Americans have their own sub denominations? And why is there such a close link to Reformed and Calvinist denominations, but yet still distinct from them?" Kidd tackles all of those questions and more and the book explained a great deal to me about the how certain things came to be in this large American denomination. He explains the nuances, with all the warts, and places things in context with respectfulness and a skill of a wonderful historian. The chapter on the civil rights era is compelling in explaining the wide variety and points of view on the issue. The writing is well done and very smooth. If you wish to understand how Baptists have changed from the 17th century to the end of the 20th, this book will answer those questions well.