The origins of the Southern Baptist Convention: a historiographical study: the purpose of this paper is to describe how white Baptist church historians of the South have interpreted the founding of the Southern Baptist Convention since 1845

Baptist History and Heritage, Wntr, 2002 by Walter B. Shurden, Lori Redwine Varnadoe

Because Burrows thought the historical issues which led to the formation of the SBC had been adequately treated, he made only a passing comment regarding the origins of the denomination. As a result, he devoted his "Historical Sketch" to a brief history of the missionary work of the SBC. Burrows's passing comment regarding SBC origins, however, though brief, was significant. It added a bit more balance to the subject than had been presented by either Johnson or Williams.

Burrows spoke of how Northern Baptists and Southern Baptists viewed each other as "sinners" during the days of division. "Some of the Northern brethren," he said, "moved by the then recent agitation of the slavery question, gained new light as to the essential sinfulness of slavery, came to regard Southern Baptists as sinners in countenancing that institution, and concluded that the original terms of fellowship in missionary operations could not be consistently perpetuated." On the other hand, "Southern Baptists came to regard Northern Baptists as sinners because of the repudiation of the compact of the Constitution, under whose provisions they had worked together for more than a quarter of a century." (23)

While Burrows made the point that each side considered the other as sinful, he clearly leaned toward the "constitutional" argument so treasured by Southern Baptists. Not once but three times in a brief space, he noted that the two groups had worked together harmoniously under the constitution of the Triennial Convention for thirty years. Not only so, but he repeated the theme so important to Johnson and Williams that the SBC constitution was "essentially the same" as that under which Baptists had previously united.

That Burrows embraced the southern rationale should come as no surprise, for he had served historic Southern Baptist pulpits for over thirty-five years. Those churches included First Baptist Church, Richmond, Virginia; Broadway Baptist Church, Louisville, Kentucky; and Freemason Street Baptist Church in Norfolk, Virginia. Yet, Burrows was a northerner! Born in Albany, New York, educated at Andover Seminary, ordained in Poughkeepsie, New York, he served as pastor of significant Baptist churches in Pennsylvania before going south. His long stint of ministerial service in the South had "southernized" Burrows, but his northern roots may have caused him to want to spread the "sin" to both regions when he wrote his brief account of the origins of the SBC.

W. H. Whitsitt, 1895

In 1895, W. H. Whitsitt, the newly elected president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, delivered a historical address at the jubilee meeting of the SBC in Washington, D.C. Entitled "Historical Discourse on the Fiftieth Anniversary of the Southern Baptist Convention," the address gave all the evidence of the hand of a well-trained church historian. Superbly organized and extremely well written, the address, however, did not deal explicitly with the origins of the SBC. Whitsitt was obviously more interested in providing a comprehensive overview of the SBC from 1845 to 1895 than in depicting origins.