Broadus Unbound

“Betsy Reeder reveals the man behind the world-famous preacher, seminary teacher and administrator, and author of Gospel commentaries and syntheses. Here is an unusually personal recounting of his life based on both archival and family-held materials. Those enamored by his theological and rhetorical prowess and those skeptical of the moral stature of a slave-owning Virginian advocating segregation of the races after emancipation will find a complex and passionate family man with a rich personal evolution.”


—Neal Broadus Abraham, Five College executive director emeritus and professor emeritus, Mount Holyoke College





“Betsy Reeder, the great, great granddaughter of John A. Broadus, is to be congratulated and commended for providing a fresh look at one of the Baptist giants of the nineteenth century through never-before-published materials that have been preserved for five generations by the descendants of Broadus. While a complex man with clay feet, Broadus was nevertheless a marvelously gifted preacher and a brilliant and insightful New Testament scholar. I am grateful for this fine work, and I am sure that readers of this publication will join me with their own expressions of gratitude.”


—David S. Dockery, president and distinguished professor of theology, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary