New Christianity for the New South: William Louis Poteat and Liberal Religion in the Baptist South

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

In New Christianity for the New South, Paul A. 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. Challenging the idea that Southern society was thoroughly insulated or unmoved by contemporary intellectual trends, Poteat and a loose coalition of progressive Southerners argued that Christianity needed to adapt to the changing ideals and sensibilities of modern society and embrace the authority of modern 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 Southern evangelicals and 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 Poteat thrived within the Baptist denomination where he promoted a progressive Christianity.