Customer Reviews (1)

old but good and informative
This book was published in 1979, but it gave a good account of the subject. Not only did it tell a broad story, but it gave interesting stories of individuals, discussed both sides of the issue and covered not only developments in the SBC since the 1600's but in Christianity as well. It was a fun, informative, emotional read with some surprises. ... Read more

Product Description
How did a southern evangelical religion, culturally, racially, and geographically homogeneous, become the largest Protestant denomination by 1960 in a region as diverse as New Mexico? And why did the Baptist Church's growth in New Mexico level off after the mid 1980s? In examining these two questions, historian Daniel Carnett connects the answers to national trends in the history of Protestant America in the twentieth century.

The Baptists worked hard to provide social and religious services throughout New Mexico in an effort to increase their membership. By the 1960s they managed to create a religious climate where nearly one out of every two Protestants in the state was a Baptist. But after the cultural transformations of the 1960s, the Baptists appeared out of harmony, even in conflict, with a more relativistic world.

Today, Carnett argues, Baptists in New Mexico and around the United States are again trying to adapt to the world around them, but in the process they are being shaped more by the culture than transforming it. Their shift in focus to helping people cope with the difficulties of modern life at the expense of theology alienates as many Baptists as it converts new ones. ... Read more

Product Description
Anthony Cross examines the theology and practice of believer's baptism among the twentieth-century Baptists associated with the Baptist Union of Great Britain and identifies the major influences which have led to its development. ... Read more

Product Description
1. Contending for the Faith follows the succession method of church history study based on the History of the Baptists by John T. Christian.2. The history includes four chapters which bring the history up to date from 1845.3. The history demonstrates the fallacies of the "1641" theory advocated by William H. Whitsitt which claims that the Baptists initiated baptism by immersion in 1641.4. The history substantiates the claim that the John Clarke Memorial Church in Newport, RI is the oldest continuous Baptist church in America.5. Contending for the Faith contains 776 pages and includes both people and subject indexes and also a PDF compact disk. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

From Editor-in-Chief, Larry E. Clements
This historical volume is a collaborative project of the History and Archives Committee and the Baptist Sunday School Committee of the American Baptist Association.
The purpose of Contending for the Faith is to update the History of the Baptists, written by Dr. John T. Christian in 1922 and 1926. Information from other authors has been added, as well as four chapters that brought the history from 1845 to the present.
The intent is to present historical material within a clearly organized format, thus enabling readers to better understand the history of the Baptists.
His work in editing Contending for the Faith is the fruition of 59 years of active ministry and historical study within the churches of the American Baptist Association.
It is our prayer that Contending for the Faith will be helpful to students of church history in clearly presenting the history of the Baptists from the first century to the present.
--Larry E. Clements, Editor-in-Chief, American Baptist Association publications ... Read more