Historic Baptist Political Theology

A short booklist for a wider perspective than mere separation of church and state.

If you’re like me, then you’ve heard for decades that the essence, the fundament, the beginning and end of Baptist political theology is a separate church and state. The Baptist Faith and Message (the confession of Southern Baptists) claims it, numerous public theologians today assume it, and many Baptist historians even insert it into the mouths of past Baptist heroes. Surely, the separation of church and state is as Baptist as regenerate church membership or believer’s baptism.

I’ve recently come to realize that this simply is not true.

In fact, the first three hundred years of Baptist doctrine and public argument (including the vigorous fight for religious liberty during America’s founding) never mentioned this phrase - separation of church and state. It was only after the turn of the twentieth century that Baptists began to speak in such terms, and only the most radical Baptists in history promoted anything close to this idea. It is true that Roger Williams and John Leland might be cited as evidence that at least some Baptists may have wanted something more akin to pluralism, but these men are hardly Baptist standard-bearers and even they never argued for a full separation of church and state.

If you read most books and articles on Baptist political theology today (including works of history and theology), you are not likely to encounter anything other than the full embrace of a separation between church and state. Religious liberty is assumed as synonymous with the concept of separation, and there is hardly a hint that any historic Baptists believed or practiced otherwise. Even seasoned and quality historians sometimes use anachronistic language to place the concept of separation where it did not exist. Most Baptists in history have argued for religious liberty without any argument for a separation of church and state. In many cases, Baptists wanted both religious liberty and cooperation between ecclesiastical and civil authorities.

I know that this may seem outlandish to some, but I have taken a deep dive into the history of religious liberty among eighteenth and nineteenth-century Baptists. I’ve read especially from two significant Baptist figures during the late 1700s and early 1800s, Isaac Backus and John Leland. And I’ve also read quite a number of more recent books on the history and theology of Baptist political theory. The reality is that all Baptists have argued for religious liberty, but many Baptists have neither wanted nor argued for a separation between church and state.

My goals in this brief article are (1) to assert the fact that religious liberty among Baptists has often been a concept quite different from the separation of church and state, and (2) to offer the reader a short list of books that might help provide a fuller perspective of historic Baptist political theology.

My first goal has already been accomplished. As I said, I want to assert the fact, not make a lengthy argument for it here. If you’re interested in the argument, then keep an eye out for a paper I’m going to publish soon (though I’ve not yet decided where).

My second goal is outlined below. The five books I’ve listed here are each different in their form and content, but they will help the reader gain a view of Baptist history, theology, and politics that goes largely unnoticed today. Those readers who feel a sense of desire to see Baptists play a role in the politics of America will find that they have many historical Baptist brethren who felt the same.

Once again, these books are (I think) a good introduction for the reader who wants to understand a basic overview Baptist history, theology, and politics. There are many other good resources, and the interested reader may want to explore far more than the five books here.

One last thing… I’ve also listed these books in a recommended order, one that will give the reader a historical framework and provide something of an overview of the development of ideas.

1) More Than Just a Name

More Than Just a Name: Preserving Our Baptist Identity by R. Stanton Norman

This book is not specifically about Baptist political theology, but it will introduce a theological framework for Baptist faith and practice. Norman is especially helpful by explaining how two basic streams have existed among Baptists in America (he calls them the Reformation Tradition and the Enlightenment Tradition). I am convinced that this will help the reader make sense of how Baptists can sometimes seem so different from one another in their argumentation and conclusions.

2) Let Men Be Free

Let Men Be Free: Baptist Politics in the Early United States 1776-1835 by Obbie Tyler Todd

To my knowledge, Todd is unique among Baptist historians in his treatment of two very different kinds of Baptists during America’s founding - Jeffersonian-republicans and Federalists. The Jeffersonian-republicans loom large in Baptist history, but this was not the only Baptist position at the turn of the nineteenth century. Many Baptists were Federalists, and these certainly wanted the disestablishment of religion (i.e., no state church), but they were quite aggressive in their promotion of religious involvement in civil affairs (for example, promoting Sabbath laws and requiring religious oaths for public office).

3) John Leland

John Leland: a Jeffersonian Baptist in Early America by Eric Smith

Smith has written an excellent biography of John Leland, introducing him as a representative of Baptists who were Jeffersonian-republicans. The story of Leland’s life and activism (which developed in many ways right along side the young American nation) will provide the reader with a face and a name for the sort of Baptists who believed that Thomas Jefferson (and James Madison after him) was the friend and even the hero of liberty-loving Baptists. There is a reason why many Baptists today celebrate Thomas Jefferson, and Leland is a historic example of this same posture.

4) An Appeal to the Public for Religious Liberty

An Appeal to the Public for Religious Liberty by Isaac Backus

One of the main places to observe historic Baptist arguments for religious liberty is the pamphlets and newspaper articles, which were an older form of social media and blogs. Baptists, like other Americans, made their public arguments through this medium, and one of the most significant pamphlets on Baptist political theology is this one from Isaac Backus. Backus was a long-time Baptist pastor and a statesman. He is a Baptist representative, who shared quite a bit with Leland (though Backus was a generation older than Leland), but Backus also differed with Leland (and other Baptists like him) in some significant ways. Backus was not a Federalist, but his views were more aligned with them than republicans. He argued for religious liberty without a separation of church and state, desiring instead a “sweet harmony” between the two. You can read his pamphlet for free online HERE.

5) Separation of Church and State

Separation of Church and State by Philip Hamburger

This last book recommendation was not written by a Baptist, nor is it about Baptists per se, but Hamburger provides a compelling case for the thesis that Thomas Jefferson and Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black are those primarily responsible for the now common American interpretation of the First Amendment’s establishment clause. Hamburger also makes the case that Black’s application of Jefferson’s interpretation was not at all intended by the American founders nor was it celebrated by most Baptists in American history. The reader may gain from this book a better perspective of how the common and simplistic view today seemed to drown out and overcome the more complicated views of the past.

These are my recommendations for a better understanding of Baptist political theology. I’d love to know about other books that you’ve found helpful on this subject. Please send me your recommendations at marc@fbcdiana.org or through the communication available on Substack.