Also on the program, [Prophetic Studies of the International Prophetic Conference held in Chicago, 1886] but unable to attend, was J. R. Graves of Memphis, Tennessee, a famed pastor of deep Scriptural insights and writer of the Landmark persuasion. The well-known Robert G. Lee described him as the greatest orator southern Baptists ever produced. This recognition from such a prominent Baptist leader is high praise indeed. Many books by Graves are today still available from the headquarters of the American Baptist Association in Texarkana, Texas. Graves believed Jesus began a Baptist church, and fellowship with, or immersion by, one other than one in a line of succession from John the Baptist would be error in thought and practice. Graves held it was not an organic line but a line of sound New Testament principal and polity. He was a foe of the "invisible church" theory, believing, as did B. H. Carroll, in the local church as the New Testament church, since ecclesia must mean an assembly. For a full understanding of this position, see B. H. Carroll's Ecclesia.
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[From George W. Dollar, A History of Fundamentalism in America, 1973, pp. 56-57. Document provided by J. C. Settlemoir, Lizton, Indiana. Scanned and formatted by Jim Duvall.]

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