Book Reviewed
by Carolyn W. Crumpler,
Exile
By Carl L. Kell,
University of Tennessee, Knoxville, 2006, $25.95
After a quarter of a century, it seemed that we had heard all there was to hear about the “Southern Baptist Convention Controversy.” Then there appeared Exiled; Voices of the Southern Baptist Convention Holy War edited by Carl Kell, who several years ago gave us In The Name of the Father, The Rhetoric of the New SBC. This new book is a must-read, for it is different from other writings about the past twenty-five years.
Most of what we have heard has been written or spoken by agency men and women, people employed at the national level by Southern Baptists. Only two of these appear in Exiled—James Dunn and myself. The two of us wrote forewords, The other 31 contributors are laity, pastors, seminary professors, associational leaders—a mixture of people who have been “exiled.” These stories are personal. They are must-reads for all of us who are still learning there is life after the SBC.
Former President Jimmy Carter (another former Southern Baptist) was asked by the publisher, University of Tennessee Press, to write a statement to be used in advertising. Here is what he said, “These personal narratives of distinguished Baptists illustrate the adverse consequences of exclusive fundamentalism, and the need for unity among traditional Baptists.” Buy it. Read it. Pass it along.
