Apparent Danger, the True Story of Fundamentalist Preacher J. Frank Norris, Murder and Faith

Apparent Danger, The Pastor of America's First Megachurch and the Texas Murder Trial of the Decade in the 1920's, by David Stokes, ISBN 978-1-935456-11-7, is a story of manipulation, arrogance, murder and faith. Sounds like fiction, but this is one story that was not just headline news-it was and is true.

Many like to think crime, especially murder and violence, are a symptoms of today's disconnect with the Judeo-Christian foundations of this nation. But long before we had the present church scandals and school shootings, a fundamentalist pastor was on trial-for murder in Fort Worth, Texas.

By pretty much all accounts, fundamentalist preacher, J. Frank Norris, was a flamboyant paster who had a natural ability to market his faith and his church, First Baptist Church of Fort Worth, Texas-the nation's first megachurch. Norris was aggressive at a time pastors were expected be gentle shepherds, not firebrands of truth. At a time evolution was gaining a foothold, Norris stepped forward to bring America back to the foundations of faith and created what became known as the Christian "Fundamentalist" movement.

Unfortunately his venom was not directed just at Biblical incompatibility, it was often directed at individuals who thwarted his vision. J. Frank Norris's prejudices ran long and deep-evolutionists, communists, Jews, Catholics and anyone who didn't like the way he ran his life and his Fort Worth megachurch. He also consorted with members of the Ku Klux Klan.

Had his flamboyant personality, founding the first megachurch, becoming one of the first Fundamentalists been his only claim to fame, there would have been a worthy a story, but mostly to the Christian and/or Fundamentalist community as well as Texas and Fort Worth historians. What changed everything was the day D. E.. Chipps came to Norris's office in anger and left on a stretcher, shot by J. Frank Norris.

The sensational trial drew journalists from all over the United States and the trial of J. Frank Norris for the murder of D. E. Chipps was front page headlines for weeks.

Apparent Danger takes the reader on a search for the real Fundamentalist J. Frank Norris, culminating in the trial that both shocked and fascinated the nation. Author David Stokes, using news articles, testimony, eye-witness accounts, transcripts, and Norris's own writings and newspaper, delves into the man and the legend, of J. Frank Norris. Was he a murderer or a man defending himself? Did his actions against the "movers and shakers" of Fort Worth bring on the confrontation?

Apparent Danger by David Stokes highlights the Texas murder trial of the 1920's, a trial that still raises questions today.

Released by Bascom Hill Books, Apparent Danger is not an easy read, but for those who love research and history, it brings to life a fascinating period of Christian and American history. Takes some time, but well worth the read.