1861-1947
Minister

Early Ministry.

Fundamentalism.

Fighting Modernism.

Other Efforts.

Riley directed much of his energy to the struggle with modernists in the Northern Baptist Convention, although his congregation never severed its ties with the denomination In 1923 he joined J Frank Norris to form the Baptist Bible Union, which attempted to purge the Baptist conventions of their perceived weaknesses and to coordinate members' contributions into activities at home and abroad that met their theological standards The Baptist Bible Union collapsed not long after taking over Des Moines University in Iowa and discovering that it could not meet the financial commitments that had been made The decade ended on a sour note for Riley, who turned his attention back to his church and schools in Minneapolis

Sources

George W Dollar, A History of Fundamentalism in America (Greenville, S C Bob Jones University Press, 1973), "Faith of the Fundamentalists...