Paige Patterson (1942-….) – Conservative Seminary President and Promoter of Anabaptist History

Dan Nelson April 23, 2020

Paige Patterson (1942-….)

Conservative Seminary President and Promoter of Anabaptist History

(A Synopsis of a biography in Baptist Biographies and Happenings in American History. Let me know if you would like a copy) Paige Patterson has a colorful history as a President of three colleges and seminaries, associate to Dr. W.A. Criswell at First Baptist Dallas and a leader in a conservative resurgence among Baptists. He is a native of Texas, whose Dad was a famous pastor for many years in Beaumont, Texas. Patterson has led three schools to hire professors who believed in Biblical Inerrancy and help the schools stay or move in the Conservative direction. He also directed the revision of the Baptist Faith and Message in 2000, making it an even more conservative document.

One fact you may not know is Dr. Patterson’s love of Christian History, Baptist History, and especially Anabaptist History. At his inauguration as President of Southwestern Baptist Seminary in 2003, his son-in-law preached the inauguration charge and closed with Balthasar Hubmaier’s closing chorus/poem before he was burned at the stake for being a Baptist. Patterson had loved Anabaptist History for a long time, especially after reading the “Anabaptist Story” by William Estep, a teacher at the time at Southwestern. He contacted Estep personally and maintained a friendship during his tenure there. It made an impact on Patterson for the rest of his life. He told me once: “Give a student a Bible and a copy of Estep’s book and they will always be a Baptist.”

One of the great historic events Patterson supported was the first-ever conference on Anabaptist history sponsored there at Southwestern in 2012. It was the first conference of its kind dealing with the subject. Scholars and students came from all over the world for the three-day conference along with students and professors from a sister seminary in Bonn, Germany. Addresses were heard on biographies, Anabaptist history, and doctrine. The conference closed with a chapel address by a world-renown scholar: Adam Friesen on The role of the Erasmus Greek Translation of the New Testament and its influence on the beginning of the Anabaptist movement with the Swiss Brethren. The new chapel was dedicated to carvings of Anabaptist leaders in it and a baptistry that local churches used.

The Anabaptist conference was long a dream of Dr. Patterson’s and was coordinated by Dr. Malcom Yarnell, a theology professor at Southwestern. The articles and addresses were preserved in a book that Dr. Yarnell sponsored as editor.

Patterson has always promoted Baptist History and inspired others to delve into our history. He preached at the commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the Sandy Creek movement under Shubal Stearns and his ministry. One of his goals in his fifteen-year tenure at Southwestern was to have more of an appreciation and study for Anabaptist history. He even sponsored trips to Switzerland and Germany where most of the history was made in the 16th century. His support and endorsement of the Anabaptist movement ran contrary to other schools believing Baptists as a larger body began with the English Baptists.

Patterson’s place in Baptist life has been varied in many ways, but an unappreciated part he has played is in directing Baptist to appreciate their historical heritage and particularly that of the Anabaptists.

References are included Baptist Biographies and Happenings in American History.