Paige Patterson
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Paige Patterson (* 1942; † ) is a Southern Baptist theologian who was president of the Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, North Carolina (1992-2003), and is currently the eighth president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas.
Patterson is a third generation Southern Baptist preacher who received his B.A. from Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene, Texas and a Th.M. and Ph.D. of theology studies from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary.
Patterson was elected president of the Southern Baptist Convention twice. He started preaching while still in his teens and has visited countries on five continents, leading Bible studies and conducting missionary work.
Patterson is best known for his leading of the fundamentalist takeover of the SBC during the late 1970s and 1980s. Recognizing that the SBC president could (albeit through a lengthy process) influence the direction of the SBC (which Patterson and other fundamentalists believed was taking a liberal track in opposition to their personal interpretations of the Scriptures), starting in 1979, Patterson led Southern Baptist fundamentalists to elect convention Presidents, beginning with Adrian Rogers, a trend which continued until 2006, when the Rev. Ronnie Floyd of Springdale, AR, was defeated on the first ballot by another fundamentalist South Carolina pastor Frank Page. The results of this election indicated the begining of infighting between groups of fundamentalists within the SBC.
The fundamentalists that Patterson led were known for their tenacity and use of any means possible (including secret meetings and wiretapping) to further their cause. By the time Patterson took over as president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Ft. Worth, TX, the fundamentalist leadership required that all faculty sign documents, stating their allegiance to fundamentalist doctrines such as total inerrancy of the Bible.
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