All According to God's Plan: Southern Baptist Missions and Race, 1945-1970 (Religion in the South): Southern Baptist Missions and Race, 1945-1970 (Religion in the South)

" Southern Baptists had long considered themselves a missionary people, but when, after World War II, they embarked on a dramatic expansion of missionary efforts, they confronted headlong the problem of racism. Believing that racism hindered their evangelical efforts, the Convention's full-time missionaries and mission board leaders attacked racism as unchristian, thus finding themselves at odds with the pervasive racist and segregationist ideologies that dominated the South. This progressive view of race stressed the biblical unity of humanity, encompassing all races and transcending specific ethnic divisions. In All According to God's Plan, Alan Scot Willis explores these beliefs and the chasm they created within the Convention. He shows how, in the post-World War II era, the most respected members of the Southern Baptists Convention publicly challenged the most dearly held ideologies of the white South. Alan Scot Willis is assistant professor of history at Northern Michigan University. He lives in Marquette, Michigan. Having Long Considered Themselves A Missionary People, Southern Baptists Dramatically Expanded Their Missionary Efforts After World War Ii, Confronting Headlong The Problem Of Racism In America. Believing That Racism Hindered Their Evangelical Efforts, The Southern Baptist Convention's Full-time Missionaries And Mission Board Leaders Attacked Racism As Unchristian. In Doing So, However, They Found Themselves At Odds With The Pervasive Racist And Segregationist Ideologies Dominating The South. Thanks In Part To This Ideological Conflict, A New, Prophetic Theology Grounded In The Belief That Christians Should Confront Social Issues Slowly Began To Replace The Traditional, Provincial, And Dogmatic Theology Prevalent Among Southern Baptists. In All According To God's Plan, Author Alan Scot Willis Explores The Tension And Gradual Change The Race Issue Brought To The Church. After The Supreme Court's Decision In Brown V. The Board Of Education, Baptist Missionaries Became Increasingly Concerned About The Hypocrisy Of Southerners Who Continued To Defend Segregation Yet Claimed To Be Christians. The Civil Rights Movement Further Illuminated Tensions Between Christian Beliefs And Social Practice In The South. As Baptist Educational Institutions Moved Closer Towards Integration, Southern Resistance To The Progressive Message Continued.--jacket. Introduction -- Go Ye : Missions And Race In Progressive Baptist Theology -- All Nations In God's Plan : Peace, Race, And Missions In The Postwar World -- Our Preaching Has Caught Up With Us : African Missions And The Race Question -- An American Amos : Baptist Missionaries And Postwar American Culture -- The Tower Of Babel : Language Missions And The Race Question -- Living Our Christianity : Southern Baptist Missions And Blacks In America. Alan Scot Willis. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 239-248) And Index.