Ben Mitchell

Politics and Piety

History & Biography

“For decades we have been told by historians that early American evangelicals--especially Baptists--were so heavenly minded they were of no earthly good. The myth was that they were only interested in evangelism and personal piety. Aaron Menikoff has dispelled the myth and shown persuasively that Baptist leaders of 1770-1860 were anything but disengaged from their culture and its besetting sins. Social action was high on their agenda of priorities, not least because they saw reform as an entailment of the gospel of the risen Christ.”