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Baylor University.

James M. Dunn and soul freedom : a paradigm for Baptist political engagement in the public arena.

Abstract

dc:description.abstract

In the last half of the twentieth century, James Dunn has been the most aggressive Baptist proponent for religious liberty in the United States. As the leader of the Baptist Joint Committee on Public Affairs, Dunn's understanding of church-state separation was a battleground in the Southern Baptist Controversy of the 1980s. "Conservative Resurgence" leaders opposed Dunn and the Southern Baptist Convention eventually withdrew from the BJC. This thesis analyzes the public career of James Dunn, especially his views on religious liberty. Dunn embodied and articulated a paradigm for Baptist political engagement in the public arena which was based upon the concept of soul freedom: voluntary uncoerced faith and an unfettered individual conscience before God. Dunn defended soul freedom as the historic Baptist basis of religious liberty against critics whom he believed had forfeited their Baptist identity by aligning with the Religious Right and its rejection of church-state separation.

Degree

thesis:*
Name thesis:degree_name
M.A.
Level thesis:degree_level
Masters
Grantor
Baylor University.
Year dc:date.issued
2008

Author and committee

dc:creator, dc:contributor.*
Author dc:creator
  • Weaver, Aaron Douglas.
Advisor dc:contributor.advisor
  • Hankins, Barry, 1956-

Subjects

dc:subject × 8

Rights

dc:rights
Statement dc:rights
  • Baylor University works are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. Contact libraryquestions@baylor.edu for inquiries about permission.
Language dc:language.iso
en

Identifiers

dc:identifier.*
Handle dc:identifier.uri
https://hdl.handle.net/2104/5213
OAI identifier oai:identifier
oai:baylor-ir.tdl.org:2104/5213

Chain of custody

source
Harvested from
Baylor University
Base URL
baylor-ir.tdl.org/server/oai/request
Last updated
2026-07-24
Source record
OAI-PMH GetRecord
citation

Weaver, Aaron Douglas.. James M. Dunn and soul freedom : a paradigm for Baptist political engagement in the public arena.. Masters thesis, Baylor University., 2008. https://hdl.handle.net/2104/5213