Between Worlds - by Eric C Smith Hardcover

Book Synopsis

John A. Broadus (1827-95) was a highly influential Southern Baptist leader, preacher, scholar, and educator during the latter half of the nineteenth century. He cofounded the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, which today is among the largest seminaries in the world. Broadus's enduring impact on American preaching stems in part from his 1870 homiletics manual, a widely adopted textbook that ministers continue to use today. A prominent southerner before and after the Civil War, Broadus actively shaped his region during the shift from the Old South to the New. Eric C. Smith's Between Worlds--the first scholarly biography of Broadus--joins recent historical scholarship in reevaluating Broadus's legacy.

Review Quotes

"More than a much-needed scholarly biography of a towering figure in Baptist and southern religious history, what emerges from this well-written and carefully researched book is an essential account of the crucible of white southern identity after the Civil War."--Robert Elder, Professor of History, Baylor University, author of Calhoun: American Heretic

"This first critical biography of nineteenth-century theologian and educator John Albert Broadus deserves a wide audience. Gracefully written and based on careful research, it tells of a long life marked by ambition, love, and doubt in an era of slavery and racial violence, political conflict, theological controversy, and war."--Beth Barton Schweiger, author of A Literate South: Reading Before Emancipation

"This is an excellent, timely, and long-overdue biography of a fascinating individual whose life is something of a case study in the history of the American South, the Southern Baptist Convention, the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, and a pivotal era in the life of the Republic."--Bill J. Leonard, author of A Sense of the Heart: Christian Religious Experience in the United States

"Well written and carefully researched, this work presents Broadus as one of America's greatest preachers and a major shaper of the Baptist tradition. It is long to remain the definitive study."--Timothy George, author of Galatians: The Christian Standard Commentary

About the Author

Eric C. Smith is associate professor of church history at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and author of John Leland: A Jeffersonian Baptist in Early America.