The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, more than two years after it acknowledged its complicity in slavery, still has the names of Confederates James Boyce, John Broadus, William Williams and Basil Manly Jr. on buildings and programs at its Lexington Road campus. Read full piece
Bill Leonard responds to Tom Nettles's defense of the slavery of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary's enslaver founders. Read full piece
Crowds gather every year at 16th Street Baptist Church to mark the anniversary of the horrific day when a bomb planted by Ku Klux Klansmen went off just before worship, killing four Black girls. This year’s 57th observance will be virtual because of the coronavirus
While electoral maps in the United States are often colored red and blue, aerial imagery of the country suggests that the real colors of our political spectrum are gray and green. And a Baptist school controversy from the 1800s demonstrates this. Read full piece
A prominent Southern Baptist theologian who sparked controversy for defending the slavery of the founders of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary doubled-down in another essay praising “the wisdom of Providence” that saw the evangelization of enslaved persons through the institution of slavery.
The prayer vigil Sunday served to bless an archaeological project that hopes to unearth signs of that building — First Baptist’s first physical home. The church was organized in 1776 as a congregation of free and enslaved Blacks. Read full piece
How are white supremacy and white Christianity entangled? And what work is being done today, by Christians inside and outside the church, to break those ties? Listen to the conversation on 1A — including comment by Word&Way Editor Brian Kaylor (at the 14:12 mark) Listen to
Buckner International, a Baptist charitable organization based in Texas, recently learned 160-year-old records show its long-revered namesake founder, R.C. Buckner, was a slaveholder. The 1860 “slave schedule” for Lamar County, Texas, revealed Buckner as the owner of an enslaved 16-year-old Black female.
President Donald Trump falsely claimed that “the Democrats took the word God out of the Pledge of Allegiance” at the Democratic National Convention. But while the DNC did include the phrase “under God” in the Pledge, the socialist Baptist minister who wrote the Pledge left
Bill J. Leonard reflects on Christian conscience and the role it plays in national citizenship. The best of early Baptist history in America, he argues, reflected the belief that citizenship in this new society should be open to all, whether they were Christian or not.