A Mistaken Issue - The Four-Mile Law!

Using primary and secondary sources (listed in the bibliography), this book begins with the regional tour of a Baptist missionary,

Brother William Nutt, into the area of northeast Arkansas in the late 1830s. Then, the reader is introduced to Elder John Pearce, whose desire was to form an association of Missionary Baptist churches from those early churches and mission points. The third chapter (same as the book title) describes the legal and religious background that divided area Missionary Baptist into two separate camps over their perception of how a purely political circumstance should be dealt with when considering the fellowship among the area's Missionary Baptist churches. After seven local churches had associational fellowship withdrawn from them, the next chapter describes the steps taken to create another association within northeast Arkansas. This sectional division spread statewide. So, the next chapter describes a state-wide split in 1902 that found the Jonesboro Association siding with the group identified as Landmark Baptist. Chapter Six details the courses charted by the Jonesboro Association in keeping with their agreed upon Constitution, Rules of Decorum, and Articles of Faith. The final chapter deals with the early organizational summary of the Association. There are several photos of the main characters placed near the text where they are first mentioned. Finally, four appendices share the activities of the main character, John Mace Rains; a list of the first ministers in the Association, those messengers indicated present at the 1898 organization, and the organizational documents mentioned earlier.