Pilgrims of Paradox: Calvinism and Experience among the Primitive Baptists of the Blue Ridge (Smithsonian Series in Ethnographic Inquiry)

The Mountain District Primitive Baptist Association enfolds churches in four counties in the Blue Ridge Mountains--North Carolina's Ashe and Allegheny counties and Virginia's Grayson and Carroll counties. Primitive Baptists are found throughout the United States and are related to the Strict and Particular Baptists of the United Kingdom. They are Calvinists, adhering to the theologies of John Calvin, John Bunyan, and British theologians such as Henry Philpott. As Calvinists, they teach predestination--that before the creation of the Earth, God chose who would be saved and damned. No one knows who is which and no one can change this destiny.

Originally published in 1989, Pilgrims of Paradox is based on extensive fieldwork conducted in the 1980s. Despite what may seem a fatalistic doctrine, Peacock and Tyson show that the Primitive Baptists of this region live vigorous, sturdy lives marked by self-sufficiency and caring for their community. They also inspire others in the area with the beauty of their hymns and "discourses" and by accomplishments bounded by humility.