Isaac Backus and the American pietistic tradition / William G. McLoughlin ; edited by Oscar Handlin. [print]

Prologue: The Pietistic and the secular traditions of separation -- The new light and the old tradition -- The separate movement and the call to the ministry -- The Separate-Baptist movement -- The Separate-Baptists and the Old Baptists -- The Grievance Committee and the revolution -- The Massachusetts Constitution and religious liberty -- Defender of the Baptist faith -- Critical years for the new American nation -- Elder statesman of the Baptists -- Epilogue: The new light and the Enlightenment.

"William McLoughlin's vivid biography of Isaac Backus throws light on the developments that imparted a religious dimension to the struggle for American nationality. Already in the seventeenth century, the colonists had worried about the obligations imposed by conscience and the relationship of the individual to society. That anxiety grew deeper in the eighteenth century. Isaac Backus grew up in an environment that repeatedly thrust those problems upon men's attention. He lived at a time when religious issues raised the question of where the true source of spiritual authority. Backus and his Baptist following wrestled with both sets of issues, and the course they took as the Revolution unfolded would have a permanent effect upon American character and institutions." -- Oscar Handlin (excerpt from Editor's Preface)

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