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Size: 6 x 9
Pages: 248
Illustrations:

Southern History
 Religious Studies
 ebook
 hardcover
 Forthcoming
 Books
 Education Policy & History

New Christianity for the New South

William Louis Poteat and Liberal Religion in the Baptist South

Paul A. Sanchez

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Hardcover
978-1-64336-631-9
 Published: Jul 2 2026

$44.99

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978-1-64336-686-9
 Published: Jul 2 2026

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978-1-64336-686-9
 Published: Jul 2 2026

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An unlikely champion of modern faith in the heart of the New South

In A New Christianity for the New South, Paul Anthony Sanchez examines the life and legacy of William Louis Poteat, influential president of Wake Forest College and a key figure in the rise of theological liberalism in the early twentieth-century Baptist South. At a time when Southern religious culture largely resisted modern intellectual trends, Poteat argued that science and faith could coexist and Protestantism must adapt to a world shaped by contemporary science.

Sanchez places Poteat's career within the broader cultural and political context of the New South, examining how debates over evolution, biblical interpretation, education, and social order unsettled both the Baptist Church and Southern society. Although the New South's rising professional class praised Poteat for modernizing the region's image, critics resented his self-appointed leadership and progressive theology.

Sanchez shows how, despite resistance, Poteat remained within the Baptist denomination where he promoted a progressive Christianity that was shaped by modern ideas and sensibilities. Poteat's story illuminates the broader trends in the modernization of the American South.



Paul Anthony Sanchez is assistant professor of religion at Oklahoma Baptist University and author of California Dreaming: Evangelical Christianity and American Culture in the Golden State.

"Paul Sanchez makes a significant contribution to a topic that remains debated by scholars: the extent to which southern evangelicals, and particular Southern Baptists, were influenced by Protestant liberalism in the early twentieth century"—Nathan Finn, North Greenville University, Executive Director, Institute for Faith and Culture

"An outstanding study of Poteat both as an icon of liberal religious modernism in the conservative Baptist South and as a progressive proponent of an educated white elite and eugenics."—Paul Harvey, University of Colorado, author of Christianity and Race in the American South: A History

"Persuasive and original, this engaging study of William Lewis Poteat offers a cogent analysis of his role in the Fundamentalist/Modernist controversies and the religious life of the New South."—Carol Holcomb, University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, author of Saving Souls and Society

"Paying close attention to the ways religion and culture interact, Sanchez has produced a fine contribution to the growing body of scholarship on liberal religion in America. This is an important book for our understanding of religion in the South as well."—Barry Hankins, Baylor University, Co-author w/Thomas Kidd of Baptists in America: A History