Copyright © 2020 Paul Anthony Sanchez All rights reserved. The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary has permission to reproduce and disseminate this document in any form by any means for purposes chosen by the Seminary, including, without limitation, preservation or instruction. CHRISTIANITY AT THE CROSSROADS: WILLIAM LOUIS POTEAT AND LIBERAL RELIGION IN THE BAPTIST SOUTH __________________ A Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary __________________ In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy __________________ by Paul Anthony Sanchez May 2020 APPROVAL SHEET CHRISTIANITY AT THE CROSSROADS: WILLIAM LOUIS POTEAT AND LIBERAL RELIGION IN THE BAPTIST SOUTH Paul Anthony Sanchez Read and Approved by: __________________________________________ Gregory A. Wills (Chair) __________________________________________ John D. Wilsey __________________________________________ Stephen J. Wellum Date______________________________ For Joy, Dixie, and Jackson TABLE OF CONTENTS Page PREFACE ........................................................................................................................ viii Chapter 1. POTEAT'S PATH TO LIBERALISM ...................................................................1 Religious Background ..................................................................................................3 Early Education ............................................................................................................4 "The Coming of a Cool Peace" .................................................................. 6 Wake Forest College .................................................................................. 7 A University of Berlin Education ...............................................................................12 When Two World's Collide: Poteat's Path to Liberalism ...........................................15 The Conflict between Faith and Science ................................................. 16 Experience versus Doctrine ..................................................................... 20 Poteat and the Liberal Movement ............................................................ 23 An Apologist for Modernism .................................................................................... 26 Poteat's Academic Lectures .................................................................... 30 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................37 2. A MODERNIZED BIBLE FOR MODERNIZED BAPTISTS: POTEAT'S THEOLOGY OF SCRIPTURE AND REVELATION ........................................38 Liberalizing the Bible .................................................................................................39 Resolving Antagonism: Science and Religion ........................................ 43 A New Antagonism: The Fundamentalists .............................................. 45 The Problem with the Literalists .............................................................. 49 iv Page Reconceptualizing Revelation ....................................................................................51 The Doctrine of Inspiration ..................................................................... 53 Inspiration Revised .................................................................................. 57 An Invasion of Alien Logic: The Problem of Rationalism ...................... 65 Jesus is Revelation .................................................................................. 69 Doctrineless Religion .................................................................................................71 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................73 3. POTEAT'S RELIGIOUS EPISTEMOLOGY .......................................................74 Romantic Religiousness .............................................................................................75 Friedrich Schleiermacher: The Father of Religious Liberalism .................................77 Poteat's Philosophy of Two Spheres ..........................................................................81 The Path to Harmony ............................................................................... 82 Achieving Harmony ................................................................................. 85 Theology of Religious Experience .............................................................................92 Conclusion ................................................................................................................102 4. POTEAT'S ENLIGHTENED ANTHROPOLOGY AND SOCIAL SOTERIOLOGY ................................................................................................103 A New Redemption ..................................................................................................103 The Universal Fatherhood of God and the Brotherhood of Men .............................110 Poteat's Theology of the Atonement ........................................................................115 Poteat's Theology of the Kingdom ...........................................................................123 Poteat's Mission of Social Salvation ........................................................................129 Conclusion ................................................................................................................136 5. A NEW RELIGION FOR THE NEW SOUTH .................................................138 The Rise of the New South .......................................................................................139 The Vision for a New South .................................................................. 140 The New South in North Carolina ......................................................... 149 v Page An Apostle for New South Religion ........................................................................152 Conclusion ................................................................................................................159 6. THE MODERN CULTURE OF REFINEMENT AND PIOUS RESPECTABILITY ...........................................................................................160 The Southern Bourgeoisie ........................................................................................161 The Cosmopolitan Image ....................................................................... 162 A Southern Intellectual .......................................................................... 165 A Victorian Middle Class ...................................................................... 167 A Symbol of Respectability: Religious Piety ...........................................................170 Poteat's Philosophy of Education: A Class of Cultured and Enlightened Men ........173 A Sage of Modern Enlightenment ......................................................... 179 Conclusion ................................................................................................................181 7. AN IMPREGNABLE LEADERSHIP: POTEAT'S CONTROVERSIES AND THE TRIUMPH OF A SOUTHERN BAPTIST LIBERAL .........................183 The Rise of Conservative Opposition ......................................................................184 Denominational Education and the Seventy-Five Million Campaign ... 187 The First Movement for Poteat's Removal, 1922 .....................................................191 The Second Movement for Poteat's Removal, 1925 ................................................199 Safe and Secure ...................................................................................... 206 Conclusion ................................................................................................................208 8. A SOUTHERN PROPHET OF EVOLUTION ..................................................210 Poteat's Vision of Elite Leadership ..........................................................................211 Poteat's Theistic Evolution .......................................................................................216 The Path to the Poole Bill .........................................................................................223 The Poole Bill of North Carolina, 1925-1927 ..........................................................224 An Enduring Symbol ............................................................................. 230 vi Page Conclusion ................................................................................................................232 9. POTEAT'S VIEWS ON RACE AND EUGENICS ...........................................233 Enlightened White Supremacy .................................................................................234 Eugenics: The Science of Progress ..........................................................................244 Poteat's Advocacy of Eugenics .................................................................................249 Conclusion ................................................................................................................256 10. CONCLUSION ...............................................................................................258 BIBLIOGRAPHY ........................................................................................................... 263 vii PREFACE The topic for this project originated with