Baptist History and Heritage – JR Graves – Short Articles on Heroes of the Faith – PART ONE- James Robinson Graves – “Mr. Baptist of the 19th Century”

Thomas E Kresal Admin · August 13, 2019AUGUST 13, 2019

Baptist History and Heritage – JR Graves – Short Articles on Heroes of the Faith – PART ONE- James Robinson Graves – “Mr. Baptist of the 19th Century”

James Robinson Graves (1820-93) more than any other single Baptist leader of the 19th century merits the accurate appellation, “Mr. Baptist,” for he it was whose trenchant pen, scholarly personal research and doctrinal solidarity contributed the most to expressing the great distinctives of the Baptist movement during half a century of fruitful ministry.His spiritual career practically paralleled the first 50 years of the Southern Baptist Convention, founded in 1845. During the pre-Civil War years Graves was editor of the Tennessee Baptist, which grew from 1,000 in circulation in 1846 to 13,000 in 1859, making it the largest Baptist paper in the world at the time and the most influential in Baptist circles.1Arriving in 1845 in Nashville, the 25-year-old Graves opened his Vine Street Classical and Mathematical Academy and shortly thereafter assumed the leadership of a local Baptist congregation, then known as Second Baptist Church. The following year he joined the staff of the Tennessee Baptist and became sole editor in the autumn of 1846. From then on the dynamic, young but maturing preacher became a major force in Southern Baptist affairs throughout the South, continuing until his passing into the presence of Christ in 1893.21 “James R. Graves”, The Baptist Encyclopedia, edited by William Cathcart (Philadelphia, Louis H. Everts, 1883), reprint 1988, pp. 466.
2 “J. R. Graves”, Baptist Theologians, Edited by Timothy George and David S. Dockery, Article by H. S. Smith, (Nashville, Broadman Press, 1990) 223.
3 “Baptist Theologians,” 226; Baptist Encyclopedia, 467.Thomas E. Kresal – from: Baptist Bible Tribune, October 15, 1998.