The Writings of the Late Elder John Leland: Including Some Events in His Life

by John Leland, L.F. Greene

This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book.

756 pages, Paperback

First published February 3, 2010

About the author

American Baptist minister who preached in Massachusetts and Virginia, as well as an outspoken abolitionist. He was an important figure in the struggle for religious liberty in the United States.

Reviews

[Jonathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A few years after Leland's death, his works were compiled and published posthumously. Since then, this collection has been republished every several decades. One copy of this collection made it into the hands of George Truett. A few years ago, I found a copy in the Liberty University library. I could not put it down. When the collection was recently republished, I had to own my own copy.

Now, I am not going to say that Leland was a normal anything or that Virginian Baptists were somehow representative of Baptists as a whole. Also, though Leland's thoughts were refined in the cauldron of Virginian persecution and politics, he spent the vast majority of his life in Massachusetts where he was by no means representative of local Baptist thought. However, there is a refreshing that comes from reading that Christianity must be saved from the government's attempts to help. If Christianity cannot stand without chaplains, blue laws, and state seminaries, she does not deserve to stand. Leland thought that the federal government should deliver mail on Sundays, because it exalts a particular religious opinion by picking Sunday over any other day. Congress should take up donations to pay their chaplain instead of tax payers paying for prayers and sermons they would never hear.

Since 9/11 our President has called us to prayer at least five days a year and still lack of faith is on the rise. Perhaps we need Leland to return to put forth that government is not the solution to our problem. Government is the problem.

PS - It has been said that Leland was more involved in politics than any minister should be. Honestly in my view that is the case. For this reason, he serves a great read for early 19th century politics particularly on Jefferson and Jackson. Leland argued that he only delved into politics to get the state out of the religion business. Since Massachusetts funded religion until 1833, he had his hands full. However, I think he enjoyed speaking out on the debt and spending. He traveled the state promoting Jefferson, Madison, Jackson, and Van Buren.