Raccoon John Smith: Frontier Kentucky''s Most Famous Preacher
ISBN: 9780813171821
Platform/Publisher: JSTOR / University Press of Kentucky
Digital rights: Users: unlimited; Printing: chapter; Download: chapter
Subjects: Smith John 1784-1868; Disciples of Christ -- Clergy -- Biography;

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.

Stowe Dailey Shockey is a best-selling author and a gifted singer/songwriter. She had her first Top-10 in 1993 ("Leavin's Been a Long Time Comin'") with the group, Shenandoah. Her album, Angel Chants , was the inspirational soundtrack of Angel Stories , featured on TLC. Along with singing and speaking engagements, she is a volunteer music therapist for Alive Hospice and cancer clinics. She and her husband, Peter, have co-authored five books, including Journey of Light , the story of her own troubled childhood. Her latest book is Flying High: A True Story of Shared Inspiration .

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