Raccoon John Smith : frontier Kentucky's most famous preacher /

Since the early 19th century, the legend of Rev. "Raccoon" John Smith (1784-1868) has loomed large in Kentucky history. Smith grew up without much formal schooling, but drew upon common sense, political savvy, and a powerful speaking voice to rise to public prominence. Few could best him in religious repartee. Overall, Smith might be described as a "religious controversialist." Beginning as a regular (Calvinist) Baptist, he abandoned these views in 1828. Thereafter, he advocated the perspectives of Alexander Campbell, cofounder of the Disciples of Christ, an important group that helped shape early Latter-day Saint history, as well as the religious world of the Ohio River Valley. Elder John Sparks does not portray Smith as a frontier hero. Instead, he depicts him as a sincere but ambitious striver whose theological shifts can largely be traced to his own personal tragedies. The author displays an encyclopedic knowledge of Appalachian religion but often loses Smith's story in extensive background discussions. Still, the book nicely describes a world of fierce frontier religious controversy, which often proved as divisive as the secular politics of the day. ^BSumming Up: Recommended. All levels. F. M. Szasz University of New Mexico

John Smith, born on the frontier in 1784 to devout parents, flirted with Deism and skepticism as a young man, but experienced a profound evangelical conversion after his father died. Taken with the teachings of Alexander Campbell, Smith devoted himself to preaching Campbell?s restorationist gospel. This biography is wide-ranging, taking us into Smith?s family life and his tangles in church politics. Sparks spells out in detail?sometimes too much detail?the fine denominational differences that distinguished Christian families from one another in the 19th century. Sparks?s prose is fluid and vigorous: the descriptions of the rural landscape are especially vivid (?the scrawny yellow?love apples? were ?simple and poor yard decorations?). But Sparks?s tendency toward digression quickly grows annoying. The reader could do without the frequent ruminations about Kierkegaard, and the supposition that had A.E. Housman lived in Appalachia, he might have preferred spicewood trees to English Worcestershire trees. Sparks, a Baptist minister, overreaches in his attempts to prove his historian?s bona fides; chapters open with unnecessary reflections on historical method. Still, for those interested in Smith?s life and times, this study will be welcome. (Jan.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.