For many years, both Baptists and humanists have been embroiled in heated controversy in the public square. Fundamentalist Baptists have leveled strong charges against humanists, especially secular humanists, accusing them of undermining the moral and social fabric of America. And secular humanists have, in turn, accused some Baptists of betraying democracy and working to establish a theocracy. Can there be common ground between Baptists and humanists?
At a historic dialogue convened at the University of Richmond, Virginia, Baptist and secular humanist scholars in theology, history, philosophy, and the social sciences, came together to define shared concerns and common values. The dialogue focused on major areas of concern: academic freedom; social, political, and religious tolerance; biblical scholarship; separation of church and state; the social agenda of the Christian Coalition and the Southern Baptist Convention; the danger of militant fundamentalism; freedom of conscience and the historic and current role of American Baptists; as well as the plight of pluralistic democracy.
The result of that historic meeting is Freedom of Conscience: A Baptist/Humanist Dialogue, which includes essays by Robert S. Alley, Joe Barnhart, Vern L. Bullough, Bernard C. Farr, George H. Shriver, Paul D. Simmons, George D. Smith, and Dan O. Via. The book concludes with "In Defense of Freedom of Conscience," a cooperative Baptist/Secular Humanist Declaration, authorized by twenty-two distinguished
humanist and Baptist leaders.

The record is clear that Baptists, historically, have prioritized conversion, Jesus, and God. Equally clear is that Baptists have never known what to do with the Holy Spirit. In Baptists and the Holy Spirit , Baptist historian C. Douglas Weaver traces the way Baptists have engagedaand, at times, embracedathe Holiness, Pentecostal, and charismatic movements. Chronicling the interactions between Baptists and these Spirit-filled movements reveals the historical context for the development of Baptists' theology of the Spirit. Baptists and the Holy Spirit provides the first in-depth interpretation of Baptist involvement with the Holiness, Pentecostal, and charismatic movements that have found a prominent place in America's religious landscape. Weaver reads these traditions through the nuanced lens of Baptist identity, as well as the frames of gender, race, and class. He shows that, while most Baptists reacted against all three Spirit-focused groups, each movement flourished among a Baptist minority who were attracted by the post-conversion experience of the "baptism of the Holy Spirit." Weaver also explores the overlap between Baptist and Pentecostal efforts to restore and embody the practices and experiences of the New Testament church. The diversity of BaptistsaSouthern Baptist, American Baptist, African American Baptistaleads to an equally diverse understanding of the Spirit. Even those who strongly opposed charismatic expressions of the Spirit still acknowledged a connection between the Holy Spirit and a holy life. If, historically, Baptists were suspicious of Roman Catholics' ecclesial hierarchy, then Baptists were equally wary of free church pneumatology. However, as Weaver shows, Baptist interactions with the Holiness, Pentecostal, and charismatic movements and their vibrant experience with the Spirit were key in shaping Baptist identity and theology.

Chronologically arranged: exhibiting their distinct communities, with their orders in various kingdoms, under several discriminative appellations from the establishment of Christianity to the present age: with correlative information, supporting the early and only practice of believers' immersion: also observations and notes on the abuse of the ordinance, and the rise of minor and infant baptism. By G. H. Orchard ... With an introductory essay, by J. R. Graves.

Black Baptists and African Missions is an exceptional study tracing the development of black interests in the South. The focus upon religious developments and changes offers unique insights into the nature, changes, and function of religion in black communities, while chapters take a historical approach in tracing the African mission movement through different states and time periods.

This study is an in-depth focus upon mission idealogy as well as black Baptist evolution and activity and provides a specific focus lacking in similar literature and explorations. It will appeal to those seeking a scholarly analysis of the relationship between black social and economic struggles and religious influences.