Richard Furman: Life and Legacy

Baptist History and Heritage, Summer-Fall, 2004 by Michael E. Williams, Sr.

Richard Furman: Life and Legacy. Reprint edition. By James A. Rogers. Macon: Mercer University Press, 2001. 335 pp.

Few Baptists had as great an influence upon the formation of Baptist institutional life, especially upon laying the foundations of the Southern Baptist Convention, as did Richard Furman. From his early days as a young South Carolina Baptist pastor supportive of the American Revolution to his days as a respected elder pastor on the eve of Jacksonian America, Furman's life spanned the most significant formative days of Baptist life in America. Fortunately, as one of the first volumes of Mercer University Press's series entitled Baptists, this reprint of James Rogers's biography of the Baptist giant provides a good introduction to Furman and his work.

Rogers begins his account describing Furman's early life. The next chapter describes an oft-overlooked aspect of Furman's ministry--his avid support of the American Revolution. The next two chapters focus upon Furman's move to Charleston's First Baptist Church, the most prominent Baptist position in the South. The next seven chapters deal with Furman's most lasting contributions--his relationship to the Second Great Awakening, his crucial support of higher education, his critical role in Baptist missions and the origins of the Triennial Convention, and his distinctive contributions to origins of the South Carolina Baptist Convention. Along the way, Rogers describes Furman's family problems as personal tragedy visited him, and the internal Baptist dissension that disrupted his attempts to solidify Baptist work into a "convention" model rather than a "society" model. Rogers also discusses Furman's well-known defense of slavery in the aftermath of Denmark Vesey's thwarted slave revolt. Rogers concludes with a chapter defining Furman's legacy and adds several important appendices, most notably the entire text of his letter to South Carolina's governor regarding the Vesey uprising.

Rogers's work is not without problems. He should have elaborated further upon the emergent Separate Baptist influence in the South since Furman successfully blended the evangelistic zeal of the Separates with the more staid tradition Walter Shurden identifies as the "Charleston Tradition." At times, Rogers fails to analyze Furman's actions and simply provides a description of the events that occurred. For example, much more could be made of Furman's support of the American Revolution and how this shaped the future context of his life. His analysis of Furman's position on slavery is lacking, and he fails to provide significant discussion on Furman's theology, especially his Calvinism and how his theology developed. Rogers frequently does not contextualize Furman within broader American life. Nor does he demonstrate adequately how Baptists were moving from the "have-nots" on the fringe of American religious life to the "haves," not only at the center of American religious life but also at the center of American culture as a whole, especially in the South.

As John Boles's foreword says, "others will explore more deeply the intellectual and theological implications of his writings," but readers will be grateful to Mercer University Press and series editor Walter Shurden for this solid introduction to Furman's life and work.-- Reviewed by Michael E. Williams, Sr., dean of humanities and social sciences, professor of history, Dallas Baptist University, Dallas, Texas.