Announcing The Baptists’ Bible

August 6, 2009

Check out this truly unique and valuable Baptist reference book titled The Acts of the Apostles: Four Centuries of Baptist Interpretation, courtesy of Baylor University Press.

Here’s a snippet from the press release:

WACO, Texas –Baylor University Press announces the publication of “The Acts of the Apostles: Four Centuries of Baptist Interpretation,” released this summer as part of a global and Baylor University celebration of 400 years of the Baptist tradition….The Baptist tradition is unique in that its beliefs and practices are not based upon those of a single theologian or creed but upon the way the Bible is interpreted freely by a community of faith. “The Acts of the Apostles” illustrates the diversity of Baptists wrestling with the scripture.

Also referred to as “The Baptists’ Bible,” the book contains examples of specific ways in which Baptists have used Acts in their commentaries, sermons, confessions of faith, scholarly essays, doctrinal debates and devotional literature from 1609 to 2009. The volume also includes a 1924 translation of the biblical text by Baptist Helen Barrett Montgomery—one of the first English versions of the New Testament by a woman. Recovering voices of the past, like Thomas Helwys, William Carey, and Lottie Moon, and joining them with contemporary Baptists, including Billy Graham, Charles Deweese and Rick Warren, “The Acts of the Apostles” displays the richness of Baptist biblical interpretation and Baptist identity.

“This book demonstrates that the Baptist interpretation of the Bible is as deep as it is wide,” commented Carey Newman, director of Baylor University Press. “It thwarts the criticism that Baptists are shallow. Being Baptist means wrestling with the text and with real issues. It’s about belonging to a community of people willing to listen to one another through the ages.”

Mikeal Parsons, one of the book’s four editors, noted that “lots of time and energy are spent on how to understand the world that produced the Bible. This book is an exploration of the world produced by the Bible.” The other editors are Bill J. Leonard, C. Douglas Weaver, and Beth Allison Barr.”

David Bebbington, Professor of History at the University of Stirling in Scotland, has endorsed The Baptists’ Bible:

“This is a pathbreaking scholarly undertaking. For Baptists, it is important for showing the scriptural reasoning that underlies their denominational existence. For Christians of other denominations, it is useful in understanding Baptists. And for New Testament scholars, it helpfully examines the ways the text has been interpreted throughout the denomination’s history.”

Who is this 1,000 page reference book for and why buy it? Here’s what editor Dr. Mikeal Parsons, respected New Testament scholar and Luke/Acts expert, told me:

“Baptist pastors and laypersons who are interested in knowing what Baptists have said over the past 400 years about a particular passage in Acts will have that information at their fingertips. As the conversation regarding Baptist identity continues into the twenty-first century, it is also important to return to those early Baptists whose writings continue to be relevant and formative for those conversations.”

Order your copy now for a 30% discount before October 15 (use promo code: ACT) through Hopkins Fulfillment Services at 1-800-537-5487. Amazon.com also has The Baptists’ Bible at a discounted price as well. Use the promo code with Hopkins and save yourself at least $10 over the already discounted Amazon price. This is not cheap - most reference books are not - but you do get what you pay for, a unique and truly “pathbreaking scholarly undertaking” that will be useful as we continue to talk about Being Baptist in the 21st century.

Thanks to Charles DeLancey, a member of Tallowood Baptist Church in Houston, free copies of The Baptists’ Bible were distributed at the recent gathering of the Baptist World Alliance in Ede, Netherlands.

I have compiled a list of the authors to this 1,000-page volume.

Take a look:

Reuben Allen (1795-1872) - Free Will Baptist pastor
Henry Alline (1748-1784) - Great Awakening evangelist in N. America
Benjamin Randall (1749-1808) - Free Will Baptist founder
Tappan Hilton Bachelor (1817-1885) - Free Will Baptist minister
James Bailey (d. 1893) - father of Seventh Day Baptist Historical Society
Francis Bampfield (1614/5 - 1683/4) - early English Baptist (Seventh Day)
Edward Barber (d. 1663) - outspoken General Baptist leader in London
George Raymond Beasley-Murray (1916-2000) - prof @ Spurgeon’s College/Southern Seminary
Benjamin Beddome (1717-1795) - English Particular Baptist minister
Christopher Blackwood (1607/8 - 1670) - English Particular Baptist minister
Carolyn DeArmond Blevins (1936 - ) - professor @ Carson-Newman College
James Petrigru Boyce (1827-1888) - co-founder of Southern Seminary
Walter Henderson Brooks (1851-1945) - Black Baptist pastor in Washington DC
Shirley Virginia Knight Budd - ministerial staff of NY Baptist church
John Bunyan (1628-1689) - English Baptist preacher/author
Robert Burnside (1759-1826) - Seventh-Day Baptist pastor in London
John Buzzell (1766-1863) - leading American Free Will Baptist pastor
Matthew Caffyn (1628-1714) - influential General Baptist minister
William Carey (1761-1834) - English Baptist missionary
B. H. Carroll - Founder/President Southwestern Seminary
William Owen Carver (1868-1954) - Southern Seminary professor
J. Bradley Chance (1953 - ) - professor, William Jewell College
Martin Cheney (1792 - 1852) - Free Will Baptist pastor, Rhode Island
Edmund Chillenden (1631 - 1678/80) - influential General Baptist leader
John Clarke (1609-1676) - early American Baptist leader
William Newton Clarke (1841-1912) - Northern Baptist pastor/theologian
John R. Claypool (1936-2005) - popular Baptist preacher
John Clifford (1836-1923) - British Baptist minister
John Colby (1787-1817) - Free Will Baptist evangelist in New England
Hercules Collins (d. 1702) - Particular Baptist minister
Walter Thomas Conner (1877-1952) - Southern Baptist theologian
Wallie Amos Criswell (1900-2003) - Southern Baptist preacher
Thomas Crosby (d. 1749) - Baptist historian
Hugo Culpepper (1913-2000) - Southern Baptist professor/missionary
Henry Danvers (1619-1687/8) - General Baptist preacher
Aaron P. Davis (d. 1870) - slave sent by SBC to be missionary in Africa
A.C. Dayton (1813-1865) - leading advocate of Landmark movement
Henry Denne (1605/6-1661) - Baptist evangelist, associated with Levellers
Charles Deweese - former Executive-Director of Baptist History & Heritage Society
Amzi Clarence Dixon (1854-1925) - Baptist pastor/evangelist
Ransom Dunn (1818-1900) - Free Will Baptist minister
Anne Dutton (1692-1765) - English Baptist writer, poet, autobiographer
John Alexis Edgren (1839-1908) - Swedish Baptist leader in America
Millard J. Erickson (1932 - ) - evangelical theologian
Howard M. Ervin (1915 - ) - American Baptist minister
Christmas Evans (1766-1838) - Welsh Baptist pastor
John Evans (1767- 1827) - General Baptist pastor
John Fawcett (1740-1817) - Particular Baptist minister
Harry Emerson Fosdick (1878 - 1969) - American Baptist pastor/theologian
David Garland (1947 - ) - Baptist theologian, Truett Seminary, Baylor University
James Leo Garrett Jr. (1926 - ) - Southern Baptist historian
John Gill (1697 - 1771) - influential Particular Baptist
Adoniram Judson Gordon (1836-1895) - American Baptist leader
Billy Graham (1918 - ) - Southern Baptist evangelist
Daniel M. Graham (1817 - 1889) - Free Will Baptist leader
Thomas Grantham (1633/34 - 1692) - English General Baptist minister
J.R. Graves (1820-1893) - Southern Baptist pastor, Landmark movement
Horatio B. Hackett (1808-1875) - American Baptist professor
George Hammon (d. 1680?) - English Baptist
James Hargreaves (1768- 1845) - English Baptist
Larry D. Hart - Professor of Theology, Oral Roberts, SBC pastor
Thomas Harrison (1606-1660) - English Baptist
Thomas Helwys (1575-1616) - founder first Baptist church
Carl F.H. Henry (1913-2003) - Southern Baptist theologian
Jesse Jackson Sr. (1941 - ) - Black Baptist leader/politician
Clarence Jordan (1912-1969) - Southern Baptist pastor
Benjamin Keach (1640-1704) - Particular Baptist minister
William Kiffin (1606-1701) - Particular Baptist minister
Hanserd Knollys (1598-1691) - Particular Baptist minister
George Eldon Ladd (1911-1982) - Northern Baptist minister/professor
Henry Lawrence (1600-1664) - English Puritan statesman
Kathleen Mallory (1897-1954) - Southern Baptist WMU leader
Basil Manly Jr. (1825-1892) - Southern Baptist minister
Carlyle Marney (1916-1978) - controversial Southern Baptist minister
Molly Marshall (1949 - ) - Baptist professor in U.S.
Jasper Cortenus Massee (1871-1965) - leading Northern Baptist fundamentalist
T.B. Maston (1897-1988) - Southern Baptist ethicist
James William McClendon (1924-2000) - Baptist theologian
Samuel Medley (1738-1799) - Particular Baptist minister
Ella Pearson Mitchell (1917-2008) - Black Baptist minister/educator
Helen Barrett Montgomery (1861-1934) - Northern Baptist leader
Dale Moody (1915-1992) - Southern Baptist theologian
Lottie Moon (1840-1912) - Southern Baptist missionary
Joanna Patterson Moore (1832-1916) - American Baptist missionary
Jitsuo Morikawa (1912-1987) - American Baptist leader
Elias Camp Morris - born slave in 1855, Black Baptist leader
E.Y. Mullins (1860-1928) - Southern Baptist pastor/theologian/educator
J. Frank Norris (1877-1952) - fundamentalist Texas Baptist pastor
Caleb Oluremi Oladipo (1955 - ) - Nigerian Baptist professor
Graham Paulson - first ordained Baptist of Australian aboriginal descent
Benjamin D. Peck (mid-19th cent) - Free Will Baptist preacher in NE
J.M. Pendleton (1811-1891) - Southern Baptist pastor
Clark Pinnock (1937 - ) - Baptist theologian
John B. Polhill (1939 - )Southern Seminary professor
Adam Clayton Powell (1865-1953) - prominent Black Baptist minister
Vavasor Powell (1617-1670) - Independent Baptist minister in Wales
Bernard L. Ramm (1916-19992) - professor/author in U.S.
Walter Rauschenbusch (1861-1918) - Social Gospel Movement
Samuel Richardson - Particular Baptist from England
Archibald Thomas Robertson (1863-1934) - Southern Baptist scholar
Henry Wheeler Robinson (1872-1945) - English Baptist pastor
H.H. Rowley (1890-1969) - Baptist minister/educator in England
John Ryland Jr. (1753-1825) - English Baptist pastor
Taylor Clarence Smith (1915 - Baptist professor in U.S.
John Smyth (1570-1612) - co-founder first Baptist church
F. Scott Spencer (1954 - ) - Baptist professor/author
Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892) - English Baptist preacher
Frank Stagg (1911-2001) - Baptist scholar/author/professor
Samuel Stennett (1727-1797) Baptist author/pastor in London
John Roach Straton (1875-1929) - Southern Baptist & Northern Baptist pastor
Augustus Strong (1836-1921) - president Rochester Seminary
Katherine Sutton - 17th century prophetess
Charles Talbert (1934 - ) - Baptist professor, Baylor & Wake Forest
Dan Taylor (1738-1816) - General Baptist
Edward Terrill (1634 - 1685) - English Baptist
Thomas Tillam (d. 1674) - English Baptist minister
Rick Warren (1954 - ) - Southern Baptist pastor
Anders Wieberg (1816-1887) - Swedish & American Baptist minister
A.D. Williams - Free Will Baptist pastor
Clement Writer - London General Baptists