America In Crimson Red: The Baptist History Of America by James R. BellerMy review
rating: 4 of 5 starsThis is the best worst written book I have ever read. Or maybe it is the worst best written book I have ever read. Either way, everyone should read it. "The Baptist History of America" is really a history of how the United States went from independent states that almost uniformly practiced religious persecution to United States that understood religious freedom as a basic right. Before the formation of the United States, many Baptists died, lost their homes and other property, and were kicked out of their communities merely because they refused to baptize infants and refused to pay the tax for the salaries of the pastors of government-established churches. Through the persecution, the Baptists in America thrived and ultimately led America to embrace religious freedom. We have since lost that understanding, meshing Baptists into Protestantism. James Beller, importantly, reminds us of this history and the important people who played a part in this history, with great attention to detail, good story telling, and impeccable research. Unfortunately, he needed an editor, or a better one, for every page of the book contains poor sentence structure, commas out of place, and many other grammatical problems. Nevertheless, everyone should overlook those faults and read this book.
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