[This biographical sketch first appeared in The Pillar].
On March 22, 1788, James Madison had reason to be distraught. He had just gotten word that the popular Baptist preacher John Leland was going to oppose his election as a Virginia delegate to the Constitutional Convention. “Then I am beaten," Madison soberly reported to the messenger. "Yes," came the reply, "unless you can convince him."
Leland had been a champion of religious freedom since his conversion to the Baptist faith in 1774, and he feared the rumors (spread mostly by Madison's opponents) that the distinguished politician was lukewarm about securing that freedom for all citizens. Madison set off on his horse that cold March morning and rode toward Orange County, Virginia, where he was told he could find the strong-willed pastor, to set the record straight. The two met on a road six miles out of Fredericksburg and sat down in an oak grove on the side of a hill.
They could not have been more different. The small, well-dressed Madison had attended Princeton and (with Washington and Jefferson now in Philadelphia) was the most celebrated and respected leader in Virginia. Leland, on the other hand, wore only homespun suits, was uneducated, and spent his days walking from county to county preaching the gospel.
They talked through the afternoon. The sun went down. They talked into the night. At length, Leland sprang to his feet and declared he was now convinced of Madison's intention to establish religious freedom and would support him.
"The rank and file of his counties will follow him," a close friend previously reported to Madison. And they did. The Baptist support of Madison, led by John Leland, nudged him into victory over Patrick Henry and consequently secured the narrow passing of the U.S. Constitution. Madison had heard Leland's previous complaints: “there is no Bill of Rights," Leland pointed out. "What is clearest of all — Religious Liberty is not sufficiently secured." It is no surprise, then, that it was Madison who personally introduced the Bill of Rights to Congress, complete with Leland's demands for freedom of religion and freedom of the press.
The story of John Leland's life is as rich as any novel—full of humor, adventure, intrigue, and crisis.
But how did Pastor Leland, born into humble beginnings in Massachusetts, come to be such a prominent influence among Virginia villagers and aristocrats alike? The simplest answer is: the zeal of his preaching. Shortly after his salvation, Leland became a Baptist pastor and moved to Virginia with his wife. He became an itinerant preacher, travelling across counties--and even states--to declare his belief in the Baptist principles of salvation by grace, believer’s baptism, and the individual's liberty of conscience concerning religious matters.
But it was an uphill fight. As late as 1714 there were no Baptists in Virginia. When the Baptists did arrive and began to preach freely they were fined, imprisoned, and sometimes whipped by the authorities of the church-state. Leland's tenacity in overcoming these odds became more and more evident and eventually found its way into the state's folklore. He decried state religion, saying, "The Gospel Church takes in no nation, but those who fear God, and work righteousness in every nation." He welcomed slaves into his services as spiritual equals. He performed a baptism while threatened at gunpoint by angry relatives of the candidate for baptism, and preached an entire sermon under these same conditions.
The establishment churches in Virginia tried desperately to discredit him, but by the time they took pastors like Leland seriously, the Baptist revival had gained too much momentum. Virginians had had too much of the dry and barren pedantry of the High Church. "The great doctrines of universal depravity, redemption by the blood of Christ, regeneration...are but seldom preached by them," Leland wrote. By the close of the 18th century, the Baptists were the largest denomination in Virginia, due largely to John Leland's ministry and example.
In his later years, Leland lamented the encroachment of committees and organizations within the Baptist church and gained a reputation for railing against these systems of church government. In 1792 he took his ministries back to Massachusetts and continued his powerful, down-to-earth preaching in several churches there. When he died in 1841 the colorful and controversial John Leland left behind a legacy of incessant witnessing, Bible-based revival, and religious freedom—a legacy to which all Christians are indebted.
On March 22, 1788, James Madison had reason to be distraught. He had just gotten word that the popular Baptist preacher John Leland was going to oppose his election as a Virginia delegate to the Constitutional Convention. “Then I am beaten," Madison soberly reported to the messenger. "Yes," came the reply, "unless you can convince him."
Leland had been a champion of religious freedom since his conversion to the Baptist faith in 1774, and he feared the rumors (spread mostly by Madison's opponents) that the distinguished politician was lukewarm about securing that freedom for all citizens. Madison set off on his horse that cold March morning and rode toward Orange County, Virginia, where he was told he could find the strong-willed pastor, to set the record straight. The two met on a road six miles out of Fredericksburg and sat down in an oak grove on the side of a hill.
They could not have been more different. The small, well-dressed Madison had attended Princeton and (with Washington and Jefferson now in Philadelphia) was the most celebrated and respected leader in Virginia. Leland, on the other hand, wore only homespun suits, was uneducated, and spent his days walking from county to county preaching the gospel.
They talked through the afternoon. The sun went down. They talked into the night. At length, Leland sprang to his feet and declared he was now convinced of Madison's intention to establish religious freedom and would support him.
"The rank and file of his counties will follow him," a close friend previously reported to Madison. And they did. The Baptist support of Madison, led by John Leland, nudged him into victory over Patrick Henry and consequently secured the narrow passing of the U.S. Constitution. Madison had heard Leland's previous complaints: “there is no Bill of Rights," Leland pointed out. "What is clearest of all — Religious Liberty is not sufficiently secured." It is no surprise, then, that it was Madison who personally introduced the Bill of Rights to Congress, complete with Leland's demands for freedom of religion and freedom of the press.
The story of John Leland's life is as rich as any novel—full of humor, adventure, intrigue, and crisis.
But how did Pastor Leland, born into humble beginnings in Massachusetts, come to be such a prominent influence among Virginia villagers and aristocrats alike? The simplest answer is: the zeal of his preaching. Shortly after his salvation, Leland became a Baptist pastor and moved to Virginia with his wife. He became an itinerant preacher, travelling across counties--and even states--to declare his belief in the Baptist principles of salvation by grace, believer’s baptism, and the individual's liberty of conscience concerning religious matters.
But it was an uphill fight. As late as 1714 there were no Baptists in Virginia. When the Baptists did arrive and began to preach freely they were fined, imprisoned, and sometimes whipped by the authorities of the church-state. Leland's tenacity in overcoming these odds became more and more evident and eventually found its way into the state's folklore. He decried state religion, saying, "The Gospel Church takes in no nation, but those who fear God, and work righteousness in every nation." He welcomed slaves into his services as spiritual equals. He performed a baptism while threatened at gunpoint by angry relatives of the candidate for baptism, and preached an entire sermon under these same conditions.
The establishment churches in Virginia tried desperately to discredit him, but by the time they took pastors like Leland seriously, the Baptist revival had gained too much momentum. Virginians had had too much of the dry and barren pedantry of the High Church. "The great doctrines of universal depravity, redemption by the blood of Christ, regeneration...are but seldom preached by them," Leland wrote. By the close of the 18th century, the Baptists were the largest denomination in Virginia, due largely to John Leland's ministry and example.
In his later years, Leland lamented the encroachment of committees and organizations within the Baptist church and gained a reputation for railing against these systems of church government. In 1792 he took his ministries back to Massachusetts and continued his powerful, down-to-earth preaching in several churches there. When he died in 1841 the colorful and controversial John Leland left behind a legacy of incessant witnessing, Bible-based revival, and religious freedom—a legacy to which all Christians are indebted.
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