Between Worlds

John A. Broadus, the Southern Baptist Seminary, and the Prospects of the New South

by Eric C. Smith

306 Pages / 6.00 × 9.00 × 0.81 in / 15 halftones

Hardcover

9780807185223

Published: 2026-02-02

$49.95

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eBook

9780807186299

Published: 2026-02-02

(Requires the Leaf e-Reader app)

$19.95

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John A. Broadus (1827–95) was a highly influential Southern Baptist leader, preacher, scholar, and educator during the latter half of the nineteenth century. He cofounded the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, which today is among the largest seminaries in the world. Broadus’s enduring impact on American preaching stems in part from his 1870 homiletics manual, a widely adopted textbook that ministers continue to use today. A prominent southerner before and after the Civil War, Broadus actively shaped his region during the shift from the Old South to the New. Eric C. Smith’s Between Worlds—the first scholarly biography of Broadus—joins recent historical scholarship in reevaluating Broadus’s legacy.

Eric C. Smith is associate professor of church history at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and author of John Leland: A Jeffersonian Baptist in Early America.

“This is an excellent, timely, and long-overdue biography of a fascinating individual whose life is something of a case study in the history of the American South, the Southern Baptist Convention, the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, and a pivotal era in the life of the Republic.” ~Bill J. Leonard, author of A Sense of the Heart: Christian Religious Experience in the United States

“Well written and carefully researched, this work presents Broadus as one of America’s greatest preachers and a major shaper of the Baptist tradition. It is long to remain the definitive study.” ~Timothy George, author of Galatians: The Christian Standard Commentary

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Eric C. Smith Author Photo (Photo Credit: Mary Lea Photography)