Southern Baptists comprise the largest Protestant denomination in America. Although scholars of American religious history have given much attention to the South’s Baptists, no one has examined thoroughly the role that Southern Baptists played in the religious controversies of the 1920s. “Tried as by Fire” fills that gap in our knowledge. At the same time, it adds to our understanding of the decade of the 1920s, a time when American Protestantism in general underwent a period of intense controversy. In recounting the history of Southern Baptists in the 1920s, Thompson draws upon a wealth of sources, including sermons, theological works, memoirs, unpublished letters, Baptist periodicals, and the official records of the Southern Baptist Convention and of various Baptist state organizations. Those interested in the history of American religion will find here a careful analysis of a number of the key issues that have confronted American Protestants in this century. Those interested in the history of the 1920s will find this to be a useful contribution to the continuing controversy over the nature of American though in the years between World War I and the beginning of the Great Depression. And those interested in Baptist history in particular will find that this book supplies the first full treatment of an important era in the history of Southern Baptists. James H. Thompson, Jr., is affiliated with The Rockford Institute, where he is associate editor of Chronicles of Culture and The Rockford Papers. Previously he was Professor of History at the College of William and Mary.