From the Protestant Reformation to the Southern Baptist Convention

In 1996 Founders Press began with the publication of a little booklet, From the Protestant Reformation to the Southern Baptist Convention: What Hath Geneva to Do with Nashville? by Tom Ascol, Senior Pastor of Grace Baptist Church in Cape Coral, Florida and Executive Director of Founders Ministries.

Ascol wrote it in part to respond to the widely-held assumption (and often-repeated refrain) that “Southern Baptists have never been Calvinists.” Founders had been making that case for years but Ascol thought it might be helpful to have an accessible, documented overview of it.

Though today that assumption is hardly ever heard in reasonable historical and theological discussions about the SBC, there is still a need for a concise statement of the doctrinal background of the SBC. Several years ago the late Roger Nicole encouraged Founders to reprint it even sending an unsolicited “Introduction” that he urged us to use. Due to other pressing concerns, this project kept being put on the back burner.

But Founders is pleased to announce that the electronic version of a new edition of From the Protestant Reformation to the Southern Baptist Convention has been released. A print copy is scheduled to be released by the end of the summer. In the new addition copies of the Charleston Confession of Faith and Summary of Church Discipline are included as appendices.

For more information, commendations and download instructions, go here.

Commendations

“This booklet provides an excellent summary of the doctrinal continuity between the sixteenth century Reformation and the confessional position of Southern Baptists at the time of the Convention’s founding. In this day of heightened interest in Baptist doctrinal identity, there is not a more accessible and accurate presentation of the doctrinal issues involved than this brief, clear, accurate treatment.”

Tom Nettles
Professor of Historical Theology
The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

“It is hard to write a classic, but that is what Tom Ascol did in 1996 when he first published this succinct and accurate summary of Baptist life from the Reformation to the SBC. This new edition is all the more valuable because it makes available classic documents from the Charleston tradition. Highly recommended!”

Timothy George
Founding Dean
Beeson Divinity School, Samford University
General Editor of the Reformation Commentary on Scripture

“Getting our history right as Southern Baptists is vital. This small booklet is a very helpful account of our roots, which gave shape, substance and mettle to the people known today as the Southern Baptists.”

Michael Haykin
Professor of Church History and Biblical Spirituality
The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

“Understanding where we have come from provides one of the best vantage points for staying on course for we are to head. Tom Ascol has done Southern Baptists a favor by offering a succinct history of our roots in the Reformation and how that divine awakening established a firm theological foundation for a new people called “Baptists.” As he points out, if what our Baptist forefathers believed was true then it is still true now. Read this small book and be challenged to continue standing upon the authority of God’s Word.”

Phil Newton
Senior Pastor
Southwoods Baptist Church, Memphis, TN

“We are not Calvinists because we are Southern Baptists.” Sadly, this statement can be heard on the lips of many Southern Baptists in our own day. It reveals, however, a historical naiveté. Contrary to popular belief, our founding Southern Baptist fathers, whose sweat and blood is in the very soil of the SBC, were Calvinists to the core, and unashamedly so. These men loved the doctrines of grace and saw their Baptist heritage firmly rooted in the Reformation. Therefore, I highly recommend Thomas Ascol’s book, From the Protestant Reformation to the Southern Baptist Convention. This updated and expanded edition is once again timely as today we are witnessing a recovery among Southern Baptists of the Reformed theology their Southern Baptists predecessors so cherished and believed in.”

Matthew Barrett
Assistant Professor of Christian Studies
California Baptist University
Executive Editor, Credo Magazine