A Man of Books and a Man of the People: E. Y. Mullins and the Crisis of Moderate Southern Baptist Leadership

Baptist History and Heritage, Summer-Fall, 2004 by W. Glenn Jonas, Jr.

A Man of Books and a Man of the People: E. Y. Mullins and the Crisis of Moderate Southern Baptist Leadership. By William E. Ellis. Mercer University Press, 2003. 228 pp.

This very good biography of E. Y. Mullins was first published by Mercer University Press in hardback in 1985. This second printing now appears in paperback. William E. Ellis, professor of history at Eastern Kentucky State University, has done a superb job in researching the life and thought of one of Southern Baptists' most influential theologians and denominational statesmen.

Comprised of eleven chapters and a conclusion, Ellis begins with the birth and early influences on Mullins and chronologically follows his life until his death in 1928. Ellis provides thorough discussion of Mullins's academic career, his theological writings, and his work as president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary for almost three decades. Ellis also provides excellent insight into Mullins's own theological views and his ability to forge compromises where necessary. He chronicles Mullins's theological evolution from progressive in his early years to more conservative in his later life as evidenced by his "final crusade" against the presidential aspirations of Al Smith in 1928. Of particular interest in this vein is Ellis's discussion of Mullins and the Evolution Controversy among Southern Baptists and how Mullins sought to be a peacemaker rather than an ideologue.

The strength of this book is its use of primary sources. The author clearly spent hours reviewing the Mullins papers and examining correspondence, and this familiarity allows him to make Mullins "come alive" on the pages of the book. The only weakness is that the secondary sources referenced are dated. For example, on page 205, Ellis refers to "a recent book entitled Are Southern Baptists Evangelicals? That book is far from recent, having been published in 1983. Aside from this weakness, this book is written well and well edited.

Currently, among some revisionist historians in the Southern Baptist fundamentalist camp, there has been an attempt to portray Mullins in a less than positive light. This book serves as a good corrective to those attempts.--W. Glenn Jonas, Jr., Charles Howard Professor of Religion and chairman of the department of religion and philosophy, Campbell University, Buies Creek, North Carolina.