Some professors come and go and leave little impression upon their students or their institutions. Others make an impression for a time but, after they pass from the scene, they also are forgotten. A very small minority become legends. William Owen Carver, typically known in Southern Baptist lore as “W. O.,” was one of the latter. As this biography suggests, “W. O. Carver's appointment as chair of the department of comparative religion and missions [at Southern Seminary] brought all of his life experiences, education, and life passions into full concert” (26). For more than forty years Carver served the flagship academic institution of Southern Baptists, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, as its professor of missions and comparative religions while also actively serving as a denominational leader and spokesperson. Written originally as the author's doctoral dissertation at Auburn University under the guidance of Wayne Flynt, this monograph presents a summary of Carver's life and career as a pioneer educator and thinker in Southern Baptist life.

Mark Wilson builds his discussion around Carver's involvement in several controversies that evolved in Southern Baptist life in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. After the initial chapter summarizes Carver's early life and education, chapter 2 delves into Carver's ecumenical involvement and how the professor's views brought him into conflict with a strong Southern Baptist religious triumphalism and a residual ecclesiology known as “Landmarkism.” Chapter 3 discusses Carver's response to the challenges of Darwinian evolution and theological liberalism. In these parallel conflicts, Carver consistently sought to steer a genuinely moderate course that identified those doctrines and ideas to which Southern Baptists must cling in order to remain orthodox, while challenging Southern Baptists to examine new ideas with an openness to fresh insights. Consequently, Wilson demonstrates, the noble professor sometimes appeared to vacillate and often angered constituents who believed him dishonest. However, the author shows that in reality, Carver truly held a position in the uncomfortable middle. This kept him constantly balancing a theology that remained orthodox while it also became progressive. Chapter 4 records how Carver adopted a progressive social vision that also often brought him into conflict with many Southern Baptist constituents. Wilson clearly denotes that despite his progressive mentality, at times Carver's views, including those on race and gender, remained a product of southern culture. While he adopted many ideas of the Social Gospel and found a “faithful balance” between it and the emphasis upon individual conversion, he could not completely divorce himself from inherent prejudices “concerning the equality of women and African Americans” (26–27). Although more moderate than most southerners on equality, his progressivism largely hesitated at that doorstep. In chapter 5 the author deals more directly with Carver's concerns regarding Southern Baptist missions and his intense concern regarding separation of church and state.

This work makes an important contribution to southern religious studies. Carver's influence on southern culture, especially in the dominant Baptist church of the South, was significant. His legacy at Southern Seminary probably is greater than any other individual up to the late twentieth century, besides the seminary's founders and E. Y. Mullins, president of Southern Seminary during a large part of Carver's tenure. His writing, in both scholarly and popular religious styles, left a deep impression upon Southern Baptist life. Gradually, Carver helped to move Southern Baptists beyond their narrow provincialism and into dialogue with the twentieth century. As Wilson's title and discussion suggest, Carver's efforts were not always appreciated by his constituents. However, one criticism that this reviewer has is that perhaps Wilson focused upon conflict too much in his work. Carver was a gifted teacher who influenced thousands of students. This reviewer wishes that the author would have spent more time describing Carver's gifts in the classroom, assuming such testimonials exist. In addition, while the majority of Wilson's explanations of Carver's “controversies” are excellent, as are his background discussions, the author's description of the Whitsitt controversy and the background of Landmarkism are not as strong. Readers who are familiar with this controversy and Landmarkism will understand why Whitsitt's views were so controversial. Readers who are not familiar might find themselves wondering what the fuss was about. Expansion of the background material on this subject would have strengthened that chapter. If there is a final criticism, it is that Carver served as such a monumental figure that Wilson's work is too short. The book might have been lengthened and strengthened with further expansion and discussion of Carver's historical context, a subject which Wilson clearly understands and upon which he might have built.

These minor criticisms aside, the book copy is clean with only one noticeable formatting error in the table of contents, and Wilson writes in an engaging style. He has researched Carver and his era thoroughly and grappled with Carver's extensive writing. He clearly understands the context in which Carver lived and worked and the many obstacles Carver had to overcome to promote his conservative progressivism. At the same time he also deals with Carver objectively, avoiding the pratfalls of biographers who fall in love with their subject. Wilson clearly demonstrates where Carver appeared to vacillate during times of conflict and deals honestly with Carver's prejudices regarding equality. His honesty reminds his readers that even progressive and prophetic professors can remain products of their culture.