Masters Theses

Date of Award

5-1994

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts

Major Professor

James C. Cobb

Committee Members

Susan D. Becker, W. Bruce Wheeler

Abstract

This thesis focuses on three East Tennessee associations of Southern Baptist churches, the Tennessee (later Knox County), the Nolachucky, and the Jefferson County, and describes these Baptists' responses to their perceptions of regional physical, demographic, and ideological changes during the "New South" period. From 1890 through the years around World War I, these Baptists engaged in their own brand of reform efforts, including support for a statewide orphanage, temperance agitation, a push for more denominational education, and increased mission work. Underlying this reform sentiment, however, was their concern for strengthening their denomination and augmenting its influence within southern society. After World War I, these Baptists reacted against the increasing popularity of evolution and higher criticism of the Bible, those factors of modernity that represented the greatest theological and cultural threats and symbolized an increasingly secular culture. This thesis uses sources that reveal how local associations of churches responded to demographic and ideological changes, an important consideration given the autonomous nature of Baptist churches.

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