Carroll presents modern Baptists as the direct successors of a strain of Christianity dating to
apostolic times, reflecting a
Landmarkist view first promoted in the mid-nineteenth century by
James Robinson Graves (1820-1893). Graves had started an influential movement in
Tennessee and the
western states. The Landmark controversy divided many Baptists, and ultimately led to the formation of the
American Baptist Association in 1924, as well as of Gospel Missions and unaffiliated churches. This is a belief called
Baptist successionism. Carroll claims that modern Baptists descend from such earlier groups as: • the
Waldensians (founded in the 1170s, based in the Cottian Alps) • the
Novatianists (or
Cathari) (founded in the 3rd century) • the
Paulicians (founded 650 in Armenia) • the
Donatists (originating in North Africa in the 4th century) Carroll acknowledges a number of other writers, including G.H. Orchard (1796–1861) and
John T. Christian (1854–1925). The title is taken from
James Robinson Graves'
The Trilemma. The book was published in the year Carroll died. James Edward McGoldrick wrote a response to Carroll's work called
Baptist Successionism which gave researched opposition to the theory of "
Baptist successionism." Ashland Avenue Baptist Church in
Lexington, Kentucky held the copyright to Carroll's book. ==See also==