Raccoon John Smith: Frontier Kentucky's Most Famous Preacher
The Disciples of Christ, one of the first Christian faiths to have originated in America, was established in 1832 in Lexington, Kentucky, by the union of two groups led by Alexander Campbell and Barton W. Stone. The modern churches resulting from the union are known collectively to religious scholars as part of the Stone-Campbell movement. If Stone and Campbell are considered the architects of the Disciples of Christ and America's first nondenominational movement, then Kentucky's Raccoon John...
Search in google:
Lexington, Kentucky, has the honor of being the birthplace of one of the first genuinely homegrown American Christian faiths: the Disciples of Christ. Established in 1832 by the union of two Christian groups led by Alexander Campbell and Barton W. Stone, their descendent churches are now referred to by religious scholars as the Stone-Campbell movement. In the state's best tradition, this historic movement soon acquired its own larger-than-life legend: Raccoon John Smith, the flamboyant frontier preacher of the southern Kentucky mountains. Smith moved to the lowland Bluegrass and braved considerable odds to preach and establish the self-described "pure, nondenominational" Christianity of Stone and Campbell throughout the state and beyond. The 1832 union of Stone and Campbell's churches was in fact formalized not by Stone and Campbell, but by Stone together with Smith, who represented Campbell's constituency in Kentucky. Raccoon John Smith occupies a well-deserved place both in Kentucky and Stone-Campbell history. All previous biographical studies have been colored by the religious faith he embraced and the legends that evolved around him, however, rather than giving an accurate account of Smith's life. In Raccoon John Smith, Elder John Sparks fills this void in the literature about Smith, using historical sources to present a faithful portrait of a seminal frontier preacher and colorful figure in early Kentucky history.
AcknowledgmentsixIntroduction: From the Papers of One Still Livingxi1The Fatherland12Training in Christianity293Stages on Life's Way694Sickness Unto Death1055Truth, and a Living1356Why I Make Use of This Newspaper1897The Attack Upon Christendom, Part I: The Moment2438The Attack Upon Christendom, Part II: This Has to Be Said2939The Repetition32910A Concluding Unscientific Postscript377Notes401Bibliography435Index445
\ From the Publisher""[John Smith] has certainly earned a spot in the myth of the frontier. Raccoon John Smith goes a long way toward placing Kentucky's most famous preacher in that place." -- Ohio Valley History" --\ \ \
