All you need to know about Calvinism in the SBC

  The Bare Essentials

click on one of the book covers below to read about it on Amazon.com

Read more about these five books below

If you could only read five books written by Southern Baptists what should they be? Well I've certainly got some suggestions. I call this list "The Bare Essentials". You may not agree and you certainly have that right but if you can read these five books and still think we Southern Baptists began with Arminian leanings or at the very least began with a curious blend of Anabaptist doctrine, frontier independence, spiritualism and revivalist fervor then you certainly cannot be faulted for a lack of faith.

The fact that the Southern Baptist Convention formed in 1845 places the beginning point of our search for "essential" books in that era.   Keep in mind that in 1845, Baptists in the South had been exposed to the Philadelphia Confession of Faith of 1742, for one hundred and three years.  The New Hampshire Confession of Faith of 1833, was twelve years old and the new 'kid' on the block.  What did those first Southern Baptists in Augusta mean when they agreed that no new confession was needed?  Did they assume that the two circulating in the churches were sufficient?  And when only fourteen years later the founders of Southern Seminary chose to write the first Southern Baptist statement of faith called    The Abstract of Principles, why did they choose to write a patently Calvinistic statement if that was not the majority opinion among Southern Baptists?   These are interesting questions that you might find answers for as you read the five books.

# 1 Manual of Theology Christian Doctrine Church Order      John L. Dagg / Hardcover / Published 1980

The first book is actually a bonus book.  You get three works of John L. Dagg, the first writing theologian among Southern Baptists.   

 # 2 By His Grace and for His Glory,  A Historical, Theological, and Practical Study of the Doctrines of Grace in Baptist Life  The second book is a book by Dr. Thomas J. Nettles who is now a faculty member at the Southern Baptist Seminary in Louisville.   It is a must read for all Southern Baptists.

 # 3 Baptist Confessions, Covenants, and Catechisms (Lib. of Baptist Classics, Vol. 11)  

John A. Broadus, et al / Hardcover / Published 1996

The third book is one of the volumes in the Library of Baptist Classics, edited by Timothy and Denise George. You'll find this book very interesting.

# 4 Baptists and the Bible

L. Russ Bush, Tom J. Nettles / Paperback / Published 1999 

The fourth book is a brand new edition of a book published in the 1980's by Moody Press.  This book is one of the most comprehensive books available that explains how Baptists have changed their view about the Bible over the years.  Be Sure to buy this and read it!!!!!!  You won't regret it.

  # 5 The Axioms of Religion

Edgar Young Mullins, et al / Hardcover / Published 1997

The fifth book is not a book that can be labeled Calvinistic by any stretch of the imagination.  It is included in this list as an essential book to read because the work of E.Y. Mullins marks a pronounced shift in Southern Baptist theology away from the theology of the founders of the SBC and of Southern Seminary.   This edition of Mullins' work is a reprint in the Library of Baptist Classics series.  Albert Mohler is the compiler and Timothy George is editor.

back to homepage