This paper argues that the widening theological and ecclesiological divide between Northern and Southern Baptists in the early twentieth centuries can be traced, in part, to differing views on the binding and permanent nature of New Testament polity. While Southern Baptists experienced a heightened sensitivity to questions of church polity during the nineteenth century, many Northern Baptists, influenced by the latest trends in New Testament scholarship and motivated by the Social Gospel, came to view church polity as flexible and subject to historical development. As a result, the Northern Baptist Convention experienced a loosening of its confessional standards while Southern Baptist churches sought to further clarify their shared beliefs in adopting the Baptist Faith and Message (1925).
While scholars have long recognized the significance of the fundamentalist-modernist controversy and the impact of higher criticism and the Social Gospel on Baptist theology, the ecclesiological impacts of these shifts—particularly in relation to elders, baptism, and open membership—have received little sustained attention. This paper addresses this gap by demonstrating how debates over church governance reflected deeper disagreements about biblical authority, methods of biblical interpretation, and ecclesial identity.
A pivotal moment illustrating this shift occurred at the 1904 Baptist Congress, where Everette Gill, a Southern Baptist pastor and scholar, defended the New Testament’s authority in prescribing church polity, including the oft-neglected plurality of elders. In response, Walter Rauschenbusch, the influential Northern Baptist theologian and advocate of the Social Gospel, challenged the notion that Scripture mandates a fixed polity, arguing instead that the New Testament provides only broad principles adaptable to various contexts.
By analyzing this debate and its broader context, this paper offers a fresh perspective on the intellectual currents shaping Baptist identity in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Drawing on primary sources, including previously overlooked records from the 1904 Baptist Congress, this study demonstrates how shifting views on polity contributed to the deepening rift between Northern and Southern Baptists in the twentieth century, offering new insights into the intersection of hermeneutical methods, denominational identity, and ecclesiastical practice.