Born of Water & Spirit: The Baptist Impulse in Kentucky, 1776-1860.

Early, Joseph, Jr.

Born of Water & Spirit: The Baptist Impulse in Kentucky, 1776-1860. By Richard C. Traylor (Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 2015) 278 pp.

Since the first settlers traveled through the Cumberland Gap into what would become Kentucky, Baptists have been among their number. In Born of Water & Spirit, Richard Traylor provides an excellent account of these first Kentucky Baptists, how their Baptistic beliefs (impulses) laid a lasting foundation, and how this foundation helped shape what would become and remain the largest and most influential denomination in the Bluegrass State.

Traylor brings the reader back to a time when Kentucky was in its infancy. He divides his work into seven chapters, each of which depicts a different Baptist impulse. These chapters recount how the first Kentucky Baptists viewed conversion, the ordinances, the role of education, the roles of women, and the shifting views of soteriology; formed churches and associations; and dealt with Alexander Campbell's Restoration Movement, the issue of slavery, and the effect of the birth of the Southern Baptist Convention on Baptist life

Each of these subjects provide depth, clarity, and understanding to the developing Baptist impulse. Moreover, in each chapter, the reader can see how these first Baptists responded to these issues and how their responses shaped what many modern Kentucky Baptists currently believe and often take for granted. The documentation in these chapters demonstrates the author's detail in research.

The book's overriding theme rests on the author's belief that the theological tenets of these first Baptists were well suited for frontier life in a young democracy. He provides ample research to support this belief: the Baptist belief in the autonomy of the local church, a softening of Calvinistic soteriology, and that an educated ministry did not necessarily fit well into a region that was embracing the American Dream and Jacksonian Democracy. For these reasons, Kentucky Baptists grew in number and soon outpaced other denominations. Traylor also demonstrates that as Kentucky became more populated, cities emerged, and other denominations grew, Baptists adapted to their new environment and challenges.

Each chapter is strong and clearly exhibits the Baptist impulse, but nowhere is this better demonstrated than when Baptists faced the Campbellite challenge. The author's research in this chapter is impeccable. He skillfully delineates how the Restoration Movement wreaked havoc on Kentucky Baptists and forced them to realize the necessity of an educated clergy to answer the well-articulated Campbellite arguments. This chapter alone is worth the price of the book.

Traylor's research, notations, and bibliography make for a fine scholarly work. If researching early Kentucky Baptist history, Traylor's book is a necessary reference. The author's concept of Kentucky geography is the book's only drawback. Some churches designated in central Kentucky are actually in southeast Kentucky and vise versa. This is only a minor issue and unless read by a Kentuckian it would likely go unnoticed. As a native Kentucky Baptist and a professor in a Kentucky Baptist university, I heartily endorse this book.--Reviewed by Joseph Early Jr., associate professor of theology, Campbellsville University