John R. Rice (1895–1980) was one of the most influential Baptist fundamentalists of the twentieth century. Like his early mentor, J. Frank Norris, the strident pastor of the First Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Texas, Rice learned to condemn anyone he thought was an enemy of true doctrine or right living. His constant target was the Southern Baptist Convention, and he followed Norris out of the Convention to become an independent Baptist. Rice was a militant, but he also had a winsome style as an evangelist and Bible teacher. In 1934, he founded the Sword of the Lord, a weekly newspaper, which eventually reached sixty thousand subscribers. Evidently, Norris became jealous, and he accused Rice of embracing Pentecostalism (which was abhorrent to Baptists). Rice struck back, and the men parted ways.
That was the first in a series of harsh personal conflicts over Rice's career, marking what the author wryly calls “the education of a fundamentalist leader” (chapter 1's title). Rice never backed away from a dispute and this book gives several blow-by-blow accounts. It would be easy to caricature the inhabitants of this realm, but the author writes the story calmly and he patiently explains the content and situation of these interminable debates. He also exposes Rice's troubling views of race relations and of women but is careful to establish the context for each.
Rice's story has not received much scholarly coverage, probably because it appears to wander off into isolationism and irrelevancy. The author insists, however, that Rice was a catalyst in the fundamentalist takeover of the Southern Baptist Convention and in the rise of the New Religious Right. Rice admired Jerry Falwell, a fellow independent Baptist who moved from denouncing America's apostasy from the pulpit to taking the fight into secular politics. Was that not a violation of separatist principles? No, said Rice. Separatism is for church affairs, not for politics. In times like these, Rice insisted, we need to reengage. So, Rice played a supportive role in Falwell's mobilizing fundamentalists to get back into right-wing politics.
John R. Rice has needed a good critical biography, and Keith Bates’s argument that Rice left a large legacy also helps us better understand Southern fundamentalism.
