The Baptist Directory

Throughout the late 1800's and early-to-mid 1900's, Baptists in America operated on a system which banned Southern Baptists from doing mission work in the American North, and which banned Northern Baptists from doing mission work in the American South. How was that necessitated? How did it work? Why did it fall apart? This episode answers these and other questions.

In 1934, the Baptist World Alliance had their Congress in Berlin at the exact time that Adolf Hitler was elevated from Chancellor to Fuhrer. As the Nazis had official positions on religious practice, the Baptists took the opportunity to have meetings with Hitler and Reichsbishop Ludwig Müller. Representatives of the Southern Baptist Convention, Northern Baptist Convention, and Baptist Union of Great Britain sought to discuss religion with Hitler, and influence antisemitism and nationalism with German Baptists.

In 1928, Clinton Samuel (C.S.) Carnes was the treasurer of the Southern Baptist Home Mission Board (now NAMB). Carnes stole around $1,000,000 and disappeared. This is his story, and the story of how he did it.

Alexander MacLaren (1826-1910) was a Scottish Baptist preacher and contemporary of Charles Spurgeon. He was known as the "Prince of Expositors" and is considered the second-most-widely-read Baptist of all time, trailing only Spurgeon himself. His 17-volume Expositions of the Holy Scripture is still in widespread use on both sides of the Atlantic, and his impact continues to be felt generations later.

J.D. Grey is most famous for being the pastor of the First Baptist Church in New Orleans, LA., but was also a monumental figure in Baptist politics throughout the mid-1900s, serving as President of the SBC and Executive Committee member of the BWA.

Roger Williams University was a Baptist institution for the education of black men and women immediately following the Civil War. While occupying prime real estate in downtown Nashville, TN., Roger Williams University faced adversity as Jim Crow laws pushed them out. Ultimately, theirs is a story of rags-to-riches perseverance in the face of fierce and constant opposition, and though the University itself no longer exists, many of the schools and organizations which sprang from it are still making a major impact in the world today.

John Bunyan (1628-1688) is famously known as the author of Pilgrim's Progress, the second best-selling book of all-time in the English language. While little-known for his theological works and distinctives, Bunyan is an interesting character with many unique identifiers that distinguish him from Baptists of his day. Having spent over a decade in prison for preaching outside the Anglican tradition, Bunyan is a name all Baptists should know.

John Collett Ryland is famous (or infamous) for reprimanding William Carey when he asked to begin doing missionary work. However, in this episode we look at the life of Ryland and spend time examining that encounter with Carey, discussing if it went how the common story is told - or if it ever happened at all.

John Leadley Dagg was the first Southern Baptist to publish a Systematic Theology in America. He was also a leading member of the Triennial Convention, Southern Baptist Convention, and many missionary sending agencies. He served as the President of Mercer University for 10 years, as well as President of at least two other institutions.

An in-depth look at the life of R.G. Lee (1886-1978) with particular attention to his accolades, upbringing and family, college, marriage, pastoral experience, Bellevue Baptist Church, distinctives, influences, impact on the Southern Baptist Convention, retirement, late ministry effectiveness, quotes, death, and biographical literature.