The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) fits the populist frame suggested by Michael J. Lee. The populist narrative highlights the eternal virtue of the Founders’ vision yet distrusts its current form. The populist vision, or its “restorationism” in Richard Hofstadter’s view, locates political victory in the resurrection of a simpler idealized history. Specifically, populism begins with the constitution of a virtuous “people,” then envisions a robust “enemy,” decries the current “system,” and finally finds the promise of reform in “apocalyptic confrontation.”
