A fresh, provocative new interpretation of the story of Churches of Christ as they fashioned a new identity in the opening decades of the twentieth century.

A Wild Democracy begins with the separation from the Disciples of Christ/Christian Church, viewing the division from the perspective of four leaders in Churches of Christ: Daniel Sommer, David Lipscomb, Samuel W. Womack, and T. B. Larimore.

The long ordeal of separation was followed by several decades of intense identity-forming controversy - a theological free-for-all, a "wild democracy." Everyone could express their convictions and press their case; no one could dictate with any finality a list of required beliefs, though many tried. Schism was inevitable.

In the midst of this, three main traditions emerged seeking to define the new identity. Many sharp controversies ensued: The two biggest of the first decade were rebaptism and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit; the most controversial one of the 1920s and 30s was premillennialism.

By the 1930s, after several decades of steady and intense, often uncivil controversy, something like a doctrinal standard emerged. For a time, it held together a loose and tenuous unity between the three traditions. But by mid-century, a major division was approaching, with others to follow - stories that volumes two and three will tell.