Baptists and Anabaptists: The Australian Experience in its Global Context

Abstract

The article provides an overview of Baptist and Anabaptist connections in a global context, followed by detailed exploration of three key areas: Anabaptist connection with Baptist origins, Anabaptist connection with Baptist identity, and Baptist affinity with specific Anabaptist ideals. The Australian Baptist knowledge of and response to each of these themes is outlined. It is concluded that while Australian Baptist leadership alerted Australian Baptists to all three themes, apart from a minority of Australian Baptists that identified passionately with some Anabaptist ideals, the leadership essentially remained focused on maintaining unity among Baptists so they could corporately engage in evangelism and mission.