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Broadening the Picture of Nineteenth-Century Baptists: How Battles with Catholicism Moved Baptists Toward Separationism
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 25 September 2015
Extract
Discussions about the historical meaning of religious liberty in the United States often generate more heat than light. This has been true in the broad discussion of the meaning of the First Amendment in American life. The debate between “separationists” and “accommodationists” is often contentious and seldom satisfying. Both sides tend to believe that a few choice quotes that seem to disprove the other side's position prove their own. Each side is tempted to miss the more nuanced story that is reflected in the American experience. In recent years, this division has been reflected among those who call themselves Baptists. One group, best represented by the work of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, tends to argue that the Baptist heritage is clearly steeped in the separation of church and state. The other group, probably best represented by the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, tends to reject the term separation and sees value in promoting an American society that “affirms and practices Judeo-Christian values rooted in biblical authority.” This group tends to reject the separationist perspective as a way of defending religious liberty. They argue that Baptists have defended religious liberty without moving to the hostility toward religion that they see in separationism. Much like the broad story of America, the Baptist story is considerably more complicated than either side makes it appear.
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References
1. Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, http://erlc.com/ercl/about (last visited Dec. 30, 2009).
2. The following papers were examined for the period from 1830 to 1900: Christian Secretary (Connecticut); Watchman (Preceding title: Christian Watchman and Baptist Register [1819-1821]. Succeeding titles: Christian Reflector and Christian Watchman [1848] and Christian Reflector [1840-1848]); Religious Herald (Virginia), Christian Index (Preceding title: The Columbian Star [1822-1829]); Baptist Banner and Western Recorder (Kentucky). (Alternative title: Western Recorder Baptist Banner and Pioneer); Latter Day Luminary (Triennial Convention), Signs of the Times (Primitive Baptists), Morning Star (Free Baptists) and The Sabbath Recorder (Seventh Day Baptists); Christian Index and Southern Baptist (Alternative title: Christian Index and Southwestern Baptist [Mar. 23, 1882-Dec. 21, 1882[. Preceding title: The Christian Index [1872-1881]); Watchman (Preceding titles: The Christian Era [1852-1875], Watchman and Reflector [1867-1875]. Succeeding titles: The Examiner [1896-1913] when merged with the Examiner to form the Watchman-Examiner. Additionally, volumes for Jan. 6, 1876-Sept. 13, 1894 continue numbering of Watchman and Reflector (vol. 57, no. 1-v. 75, no. 37); and Christian era (Boston, Mass.) (vol. 26, no. 1-v. 44, no. 37). Many of these papers changed names slightly over the seventy years examined here. These names are used throughout the article, but the reference notes contain the current name of the paper. The goal in the selection of the papers was to find a cross-section of the larger Baptist family. Unfortunately, African-American Baptists were not included because they did not directly publish any papers until the end of the century.
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150. Id.
151. Id.
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156. Minutes of the Rhode Island Baptist Anniversaries, 1873, at 20 (1873)Google Scholar.
157. Id.
158. The State and Education, 55 Watchman & Reflector 2 (04 23, 1874)Google Scholar.
159. Id.
160. Burton, N.S., The Higher Education and the State, 8 Baptist Q. 485 (10 1874)Google Scholar.
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163. Id. at 346.
164. Id.
165. Id. at 347.
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167. Although it is beyond the scope of this article to argue it, it should be noted that Baptists maintained similar divisions concerning other church-state issues during the nineteenth century including Sunday laws, abolitionism, temperance and prohibition, laws against polygamy, national days of thanksgiving and chaplains. Baptists did not shift as much toward pluralistic separationism in any of these areas as they did in the area of aid to sectarian schools. See Martin L. McMahone, Liberty More Than Separation: The Multiple Streams of Baptist Thought on Church-State Issues, 1830-1900 (2001) (unpublished dissertation, Baylor University) (on file with Baylor University Library).