Editorial - Editorial

Baptist History and Heritage, Summer-Fall, 1999 by Merrill M. Hawkins, Jr.

The summer/fall issue of Baptist History and Heritage usually consists of selected papers read at the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Historical Society the previous spring. This year's, issue continues that tradition. Society members and other interested people gathered at William Jewell College in Liberty, Missouri, May 26-28 for the 1999 annual meeting. The meeting was especially full this year--both in attendance and in the number of program personalities.

Several of the presentations centered around issues of education for Southern Baptists. The Kansas City area has been the scene of conflict for Baptists and differing views of theological education. Jerry Faught discussed a story of an explicit controversy--the story of Ralph Elliott and the reaction to his book, The Genesis Story. Molly Marshall presented a history of Central Baptist Theological Seminary that includes the long and rich association of Southern Baptists with this American Baptist institution. The Southern Baptist decision to form a new seminary in the region was traced by Steve Prescott's paper, a story both of growth and increasing tension between two of the Baptist families in the Midwest. These presentations are a few of the articles that you will find in this edition. You will have many reactions to these articles. This year's meeting was one of the more provocative.

Other papers focused on Charles Haddon Spurgeon, and Harry S. Truman. In fact, the presentations covered a much wider range of topics than these three important subjects, and this edition is all the richer because of that breadth. Greg Wills of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary explored "The Ecclesiology of Charles H. Spurgeon" in his paper by that title. Glen Stassen of Fuller Theological Seminary delivered a paper entitled "Harry Truman as Baptist President." His study took a look at the president's Baptist roots and asked questions about how his religious background could have shaped his decisions in different ways.

Slayden Yarbrough both dreamed dreams for the Society and recorded his interpretation of the events that surrounded the dissolution of the Historical Commission. David O. Moore's article on the William Jewell story concludes this issue.

As always, I extend my thanks to all the people who have worked diligently to produce this journal, with a special word of gratitude for Jim Taulman's work. Jim not only gets each edition "camera ready"; he also spends countless days researching archival material to be included with each article.

Grace, Mel Hawkins