Universally and repeatedly praised ever since it first appeared in 1983, Modern Baptists is the book that launched novelist James Wilcox's career and debuted the endearingly daft community of Tula Springs, Louisiana. It's the tale of Bobby Pickens, assistant manager of Sonny Boy Bargain Store, who gains a new lease on life, though he almost comes to regret it. Bobby's handsome half brother F.X. -- ex-con, ex-actor, and ex-husband three times over -- moves in, and things go awry all over town. Mistaken identities; entangled romances with Burma, Toinette, and Donna Lee; assault and battery; charges of degeneracy; a nervous breakdown -- it all comes to a head at a Christmas Eve party in a cabin on a poisoned swamp. This is sly, madcap romp that offers readers the gift of abundant laughter. Modern Baptists was included in Harold Bloom's The Western Canon, in GQ magazine's forty-fifth anniversary issue as one of the best works of fiction in the past forty-five years, and among Toni Morrison's "favorite works by unsung writers" in U.S. News and World Report.

Universally and repeatedly praised ever since it first appeared in 1983, Modern Baptists is the book that launched novelist James Wilcox's career and debuted the endearingly daft community of Tula Springs, Louisiana. It's the tale of Bobby Pickens, assistant manager of Sonny Boy Bargain Store, who gains a new lease on life, though he almost comes to regret it. Bobby's handsome half brother F.X. -- ex-con, ex-actor, and ex-husband three times over -- moves in, and things go awry all over town. Mistaken identities; entangled romances with Burma, Toinette, and Donna Lee; assault and battery; charges of degeneracy; a nervous breakdown -- it all comes to a head at a Christmas Eve party in a cabin on a poisoned swamp. This is sly, madcap romp that offers readers the gift of abundant laughter. Modern Baptists was included in Harold Bloom's The Western Canon, in GQ magazine's forty-fifth anniversary issue as one of the best works of fiction in the past forty-five years, and among Toni Morrison's "favorite works by unsung writers" in U.S. News and World Report.

The Mission of Today's Church is a compelling collection of twelve essays from current Baptist leaders addressing three major questions: (1) What does it mean to be a Christian today on individual, group, and societal levels? (2) How can Southern Baptists best work together? and (3) What is next for the Southern Baptist denomination? Those addressing these key topics in-depth include Stan Norman ("Together We Grow: Congregational Polity as a Form of Corporate Sanctification"), Ed Stetzer ("The Missional Nature of the Church"), and Daniel Akin ("Ten Mandates for Southern Baptists"). Among the many other contributors are Chad Brand, Charles Kelley, and Jim Richards.

Scholars and pastors (Paige Patterson, Rick Warren, etc.) offer essays on sixteenth-century Anabaptists (Balthasar Hubmaier, Leonhard Schiemer, Hans Denck, etc.) proposing to recover the Anabaptist vision among Baptists as a means of restoring New Testament Christianity.

A modern exposition of the 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith. In this extensive exposition of the 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith, Sam Waldron shows that this work is a masterly statement of the historic Christian faith. His direct and lucid style will help ministers, students and laymen alike to a clear understanding of the Confession and to see its relevance and application to our modern age. Modern Christianity is awash in a flood of doctrinal relativity. Satan and his forces love the imprecision and ambiguity which are rampant in our day. As C. H. Spurgeon observed, 'The arch-enemy of truth has invited us to level our walls and take away our fenced cities'. This exposition was originally published in 1989 to mark the 300th anniversary of the publication of the Second London Confession, which also became known as the 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith. Today, reformed Baptists world-wide hold this Confession in high esteem and many churches continue to regard it as their official statement of faith. Included in this publication is a helpful introduction on the legitimacy and use of confessions by Dr R. P. Martin, currently Pastor of Emmanuel Reformed Baptist Church in Seattle, Washington.

The inerrancy of the Bible--the belief that the Bible is without error--is often a contentious topic among mainstream Christianity. Like other titles in the Counterpoints collection, this volume gives those interested in theology the tools they need to draw informed conclusions on debated issues by showcasing the range of positions in a way that helps readers understand the perspectives--especially where and why they diverge. Each essay in Five Views on Biblical Inerrancy considers: The present context, viability, and relevance for the contemporary evangelical Christian witness. Whether and to what extent Scripture teaches its own inerrancy. The position's assumed or implied understandings of the nature of Scripture, God, and truth. Three difficult biblical texts: one that concerns intra-canonical contradictions, one that raises questions of theological plurality, and one that concerns historical authenticity. Five Views on Biblical Inerrancy serves not only as a single-volume resource for surveying the current debate, but also as a catalyst both for understanding and advancing the conversation further. Contributors include Al Mohler, Kevin Vanhoozer, Michael Bird, Peter Enns, and John Franke.

In this collection of essays, sixteen Southern Baptist leaders address key issues of theology, polity, and practice to ascertain the future of the Southern Baptist Convention in particular and evangelicalism in general.

A revised edition for students at the divinity school level who study the origins of modern Baptists in 17th Century England, bibliology of the 18th and 19th century Baptists of England and America, and the sources for present-day uncertainties in the field of bibliology, especially as it relates to the Southern Baptist Convention as well as the Northern Baptist Convention. An excellent tool for researchers, scholars, as well as laymen.

In attempting to write a history of the Baptists no one is more aware of the embarrassments surrounding the subject than the author. These embarrassments arise from many sources. We are far removed from many of the circumstances under survey; the representations of the Baptists were often made by enemies who did not scruple, when such a course suited their purpose, to blacken character; and hence the testimony from such sources must be received with discrimination and much allowance made for many statements; in some instances vigilant and sustained attempts were made to destroy every document relating to these people; the material that remains is scattered through many libraries and archives, in many lands and not always readily accessible; often, on account of persecutions, the Baptists were far more interested in hiding than they were in giving an account of themselves or their whereabouts; they were scattered through many countries, in city and cave, as they could find a place of concealment; and frequently they were called by different names by their enemies, which is confusing. Yet it is a right royal history they have. It is well worth the telling and the preserving.

"... a fascinating read for everyone interested in Russia, religion, and modernity." -- Nadieszda Kizenko In the early 20th century, Baptists were the fastest-growing non-Orthodox religious group among Russians and Ukrainians. Heather J. Coleman traces the development of Baptist evangelical communities through a period of rapid industrialization, war, and revolution, when Russians found themselves asking new questions about religion and its place in modern life. Baptists' faith helped them navigate the problems of dissent, of order and disorder, of modernization and westernization, and of national and social identity in their changing society. Making use of newly available archival material, this important book reveals the ways in which the Baptists' own experiences, and the widespread discussions that they generated, illuminate the emergence of new social and personal identities in late Imperial and early Soviet Russia, the creation of a public sphere and a civic culture, and the role of religious ideas in the modernization process.