Theologians of the Baptist Tradition, a review

reviewed by  T. C. Pinckney                                                                                                                  Vol. XXII, No. 2, February 2009

Editors Timothy George and David Dockery offer what in the Preface they term, “an introduction to the life and thought of some of the most notable shapers of Baptist theology.” This they do with a chapter devoted to each of eighteen significant Baptist theologians, beginning (chronologically) with John Gill (1697 - 1771) and ending with Millard J. Erickson (b. 1932). The others discussed are: Andrew Fuller, John L. Dagg, James Petigru Boyce, John Albert Broadus & A. T. Robertson (in one chapter), C. H. Spurgeon, A. H. Strong, B. H. Carroll, E. Y. Mullins, W. T. Conner, Herschel H. Hobbs, W. A. Criswell, Frank Stagg, Carl F. H. Henry, James Leo Garrett, and Millard J. Erickson.

Each of these chapters is written by a well-known contemporary Baptist including the editors, Phil Roberts, Mark Dever, Lewis Drummond, Paige Patterson, and Al Mohler. And each chapter consists of three parts: a biographical sketch, an exposition of the individual’s contributions to Baptist theology, and an evaluation ... both pro and con.

Obviously it is impossible in a brief review to go into detail on each chapter. Just let me say that in my judgment Theologians is well worth your time, whether you are clergy or lay. Not only are you introduced to each of these important Baptists and their work, in the process you learn a lot about Baptist history.

And, laymen, there is no need to shy away from anticipated multisyllabic theological mysticism. Only rarely are such terms employed and then only when the chapter author presumably felt there was no practical alternative.

[Timothy George and David S. Dockery, eds., Theologians of the Baptist Tradition (Broadman & Holman, Nashville, 2001) 360 pp.]