In October 1949 Edward concluded his ministry at Hobart and accepted an invitation to the pastorate at Brunswick, Victoria. Eric Burleigh, now a professor at the Baptist College of Victoria, inducted him on November 6. Ron Rogers, who later pastored the Hobart church, recalls that people did not speak much of Edward, and that memories of the more ‘colourful’ personalities of Harold Hackworthy and Merlyn Holly stayed longer in people’ s minds.[51] Little is recorded of Edward’s ministry at Brunswick; the Australian Baptist carried no relevant news of the church during these three years. But in December 1949 Edward commenced a weekly devotional column in the paper based on short OT and NT pericopes. In May and June 1951 the Australian Baptist published articles by Australian and British reviewers of his recent book, Baptists and Disciples of Christ.[52] In August 1952 Edward was appointed honorary Chief Librarian of the newly formed Australian Baptist Historical Society, housed at the Baptist College of Victoria.[53]

He led Bible study and prayer sessions at the 90th Annual Assembly of the Baptist Union of Victoria in 1952.[54]

Then in November 1952 he was appointed the third Principal of the New Zealand Baptist College, to commence from the beginning of 1954.[55] Events in New Zealand brought forward the date; he concluded his ministry at Brunswick on January 31, 1953, and soon after sailed for Auckland.[56]

Academic career

Edward’s academic career began long before 1953. He had demonstrated strong scholarly aptitude over many years. He had studied at the Baptist College of Victoria, Melbourne University, Melbourne College of Divinity, Bristol Baptist College, Western College of Theology and Bristol University.[57] An adaptation of his Bristol Master of Arts thesis, titled Baptists and Disciples of Christ, was published in 1948 by Carey Kingsgate Press. In it he appears to favour union of “immersionist” churches on the ground that unity would lead to numerical strength.[58] He had also taught at the Baptist College of Victoria.

The decade of the 1940s was beset by controversy and crisis for New Zealand Baptists, culminating in the forced resignation of Rev Luke Jenkins, the second Principal of the denominational college, which had opened in 1926. A 37-year-old British Baptist, Jenkins had trained at Regents Park, Oxford, and successfully pastored churches in England and Wales. The New Zealand Baptist described him as “keenly evangelical, a convinced Baptist, possessed of evident qualities of leadership, and has a brilliant scholastic career.” [59] What many were not aware of was that Jenkins was a pacifist (while a majority of the students were ex-servicemen), he had no lecturing experience, he leaned toward theological liberalism (his MA thesis was on the psychology of prayer), he supported the liberal-leaning Student Christian Movement rather than the staunchly evangelical Intervarsity Fellowship, and – scandalously – his wife smoked tobacco.

Jenkins succeeded Rev. Dr J.J. North, the most respected figure in New Zealand Baptist life, in 1945. He survived in an increasingly hostile environment until 1952. On October 31, at the Annual Assembly,

in a moment of high drama he used the occasion of his final Principal’s report to detail his conspiracy allegation, portray himself as a victim of a heresy hunt, and successively resign from the principalship, from Baptist ministry, and finally from Baptist membership altogether. He walked out of the meeting, slamming the door behind him . Soon after the 1952 Assembly, Luke Jenkins began a successful career in Presbyterian ministry.[60]

Into the breach tiptoed Edward Roberts-Thomson. New Zealand Baptist historian Martin Sutherland suggests that in Edward, “the College community discovered a healing force that enabled it quickly to regroup and progress. Neither was this bought at theological cost to the moderate faction . Roberts-Thomson proved to be more open to new theological movements than Jenkins had been.”[61] Ironically, a key reservation regarding Edward’s appointment to the New Zealand Baptist College was unease about whether he had a less than open attitude to other denominations. He silenced his critics with his Doctor of Divinity degree, taken at the Melbourne College of Divinity, and published in 1962 by Marshall, Morgan and Scott as With Hands Outstretched: Baptists and the Ecumenical Movement, in which he championed ecumenism.

In 1954 there were 18 students at the College; by 1960, when he left, there were 31. The College had a new campus, a larger faculty, and a stronger and more academically challenging curriculum. The College’s Golden Jubilee booklet affirmed that, when Edward left, “he had given eight years of unstinted service marked by high scholarship, fine Biblical exposition, and a good eye for property development.”[62] He was succeeded by the Rev. J. Ayson Clifford, who had served under all three Principals.

As 1960 approached, G.H. Morling signalled his intention to retire from the Baptist Theological College of NSW, in Sydney, and the College Council and Executive Committee of the Baptist Union searched for a suitable successor. Three lecturers associated with the College were informally considered by the Principalship Committee: Dr E.G. (Ted) Gibson (who would become Principal of the Baptist Theological College of Queensland), Dr J.A. Thompson (who later taught archaeology at the University of Melbourne), and Rev. B.G. Wright (who served as Principal of the NSW College from 1964 to 1973). But Edward Roberts-Thomson was the man recommended to the Annual Assembly of the Baptist Union of NSW in September 1960 as the best person to succeed Morling. His strongest advocates at this time were Revs Harry Orr and Alan Prior.

In early 1961 Edward and his family travelled to the United States, Britain, the Continent, Israel and India. They returned to Sydney on May 28, 1961 and he was officially welcomed as Principal of the Baptist Theological College of NSW on May 31.[63] He soon became affectionately known by students as “ERT” or “Ertie,” although they formally addressed him as “Principal.” An proper evaluation of Roberts-Thomson’s Principalship is beyond the scope of this paper, but the achievements over which he presided included relocating the College from Ashfield to a spacious new campus at Eastwood; implementing a common curriculum for ministerial and diploma students, thereby raising academic standards and expectations; and attaining record student numbers, including students from every Australian state and from New Guinea, Hong Kong, Pakistan, Ireland, Germany, Poland and Russia. By 1964 there were 94 students enrolled at the College.[64]

Two serious problems arose during Edward’s tenure that detracted from these gains: his apparently incessant statements and sermons advocating ecumenism in a denominational culture strongly opposed to ecumenism on various grounds; and the fact that the Dean of the College, Rev Neville Andersen, was also Secretary of the College Council, and allegedly used this dual role to Edward’s disadvantage. From this historical distance it is difficult to identify specific instances and implications of this potential conflict of interest (in which Andersen was accountable to the Principal and also to the Chairman of the College Council, Rev J.C. Martin), but the denomination’s attitude toward ecumenism, to which we now turn, is well documented.

NSW Baptists and ecumenism

Rev Bruce Thornton, who graduated from the College in 1959, recalls Roberts-Thomson appearing at the 1961 Annual Assembly in an academic gown and dog collar, and preaching on ecumenism from John 17. Both items of dress were, according to Thornton, rare and frowned upon by many NSW Baptists at the time. The same could be said for the theme of his sermon. To understand the tension surrounding ecumenism at the time it is helpful to examine significant debates culminating in two Special Assemblies of the Baptist Union of NSW, in 1950 and 1961, both of which addressed the question of affiliation with the World Council of Churches. Baptist historian Michael Petras has observed that

What characterised NSW Baptists during the interwar years and beyond (in contrast to other States, especially South Australia) was their resistance to trends which were occurring in the Protestant world: so-called theological ‘modernism’, church union, or membership of inter-church councils such as the Australian Council of Churches and the World Council of Churches.[65]

Certainly this resistance was one of a number of defining marks of the denomination in NSW. Resistance to ecumenism and reaction to theological pluralism grew increasingly intense from the late 1940s to the late 1980s, although only a minority of churches and individuals championed it. The 1950 Special Assembly proved a touchstone of this.

The relatively new World Council of Churches (WCC) was represented by its Australian Section, soon to be known as the Australian Council of Churches (ACC). The ACC liaised with national denominational agencies, and dialogue commenced with the Baptist Union of Australia with a view to Baptist affiliation. Baptists in Australia, however, were organised according to state boundaries. The BUA had limited powers and was not viewed by most Australian Baptists as a genuinely representative body. When the question of membership of the ACC arose (and therefore of affiliation with the World Council), each state was asked to vote on the matter and convey their decision to the BUA’s 1950 Triennial Assembly in Sydney.[66]

In NSW the Baptist Union’s Executive Committee discussed the matter and appointed a committee to consider the matter in detail. This committee advised the 1949 Assembly that “by reason of the importance of the matter; the diversity of opinions held concerning same; and the far-reaching effects of any decision arrived at, more mature thought and prayerful consideration need to be given and more information is desirable to enable our people to arrive at a just estimate of the value or otherwise of joining the World Council of Churches.”[67] In response the Assembly appointed a Commission to prepare arguments for and against the proposed affiliation of the BUA with the WCC. Its brief was to prepare a case setting out the salient features of the proposal for the Baptist Union of Australia to affiliate with the World Council of Churches, and the arguments for and against such affiliation. Its members were F.J. Church (chairman), F.H. Farrar, W.L. Jarvis, A.C. Joyce and G.H., Morling. A report was sent to member churches and a Special Assembly called for May 30-31, 1950. The report contained a brief history of the WCC; the Constitution of the WCC as at August 30, 1948; the Constitution of the Australian Council of the WCC as at February 16, 1949; a statement of the case for affiliation; a statement against affiliation; and a brief bibliography.

The arguments for and against affiliation were vigorous and varied. The arguments for affiliation may be summarised as follows: [68]

a.. the WCC gives expression to Christian unity b.. the WCC is a means of strategic inter-church cooperation c.. the basis and authority of the WCC parallels that of every Baptist Assembly d.. affiliation would not require the surrender of distinctive Baptist principles e.. affiliation would demonstrate that Baptists are not “an obscure or insignificant sect” f.. affiliation would signal that Baptists have forgiven other denominations for past injustices g.. affiliation would give Baptists greater credibility and power to act on “practical issues” h.. affiliation may encourage other denominations to engage in world evangelisation i.. affiliation may render Baptist witness more effective in a wider sphere j.. affiliation would allow Baptists to participate in shaping WCC pronouncements k.. affiliation would discourage the capture of the WCC by “Modernists” l.. affiliation would ameliorate our isolation from fellow Baptists (most other national Baptist associations were present at the first WCC Assembly)

m.. affiliation symbolically affirms that the universal church is a family of churches whose head is Christ n.. the threat of global annihilation through war demands that Christians “achieve a unity of purpose and demonstrate the Christ-like way of living in family harmony”

Similarly, the arguments against affiliation may be summarised as follows: [69]

a.. WCC pronouncements on faith and practice may unduly bind Baptists who historically have relied on Scripture as the sole and absolute authority b.. as a voluntary association, the Baptist Union of NSW has no authority to commit its constituent churches to such affiliation c.. the WCC “could drift towards a concentration of ecclesiastical power in a few hands,” threatening the autonomy of free churches d.. the WCC includes churches whose doctrines are diametrically opposed to those of Baptists e.. in referring to the Faith and Order and Life and Work movements, the WCC constitution indirectly defines its aim as the reunion of Christendom into one global Church f.. affiliation would require association with denominations which have persecuted Baptists g.. affiliation would “submerge” the distinctive Baptist witness in “a vague interdenominational [fellowship] . precariously balanced on the basis of the lowest common multiple of Christian belief” h.. fundamental Baptist convictions regarding the nature of the church, sacerdotal ministry and church polity would render genuine association with the WCC impossible i.. the WCC is driven by institutional elites rather than a popular spiritual movement, whereas “Christianity is democratic not autocratic in its origin and best expression” j.. in its zeal for unity the WCC discounts “real and sincere differences of conviction among Christians” and “appears to be an attempt to reverse the whole process of Christian history” k.. the Australian Section of the WCC has no statement of doctrine and therefore no real doctrinal basis l.. the Australian Section of the WCC does not grant equal representation to autonomous churches but gives numerical superiority to the Anglican Church m.. the WCC is regarded by the Roman Catholic Church as a move toward reunion with it n.. the WCC’s appropriation of the Lord’s High Priestly prayer, as a call for institutional rather than spiritual unity, is illegitimate o.. the WCC includes “men of so-called ‘Modernistic outlook,’ with whom, because it is alleged they deny the Deity of Christ, we should not associate.”

Additional factors not highlighted in the Commission’s report include the fact that Baptists in NSW already possessed a global network in the form of the Baptist World Alliance; and the conviction among some churches and individuals in NSW that the WCC was the actual fulfilment of biblical prophecy as the “whore of Babylon” referred to in Revelation 17, and therefore not an appropriate instrument by which to extend Baptist witness.

About 350 people attended the 1950 Special Assembly. The debate that ensued was reputedly “on a high level,” and the motion to affiliate with the WCC was resoundingly defeated by a vote of 67 for and 220 against. Baptists in Queensland and Western Australia also voted against affiliation; Victoria alone voted in favour; Tasmania made no decision. The Triennial Assembly resolved that due to lack of consensus it could not seek affiliation.

As already noted, throughout the twentieth century there were concerted efforts on the part of denominational officials to bring about organic unity between Baptists and the Churches of Christ. During 1951 G.H. Morling travelled to London where he addressed the Commonwealth and Empire Baptist Congress, and participated in a conference of Principals of Baptist Colleges following the Congress. He also addressed BBC radio listeners on the broad subject of “The wider religious outlook: observations on the contemporary situation in Great Britain.” A hand-written script for the radio address has been preserved. In reference to comments made at the Congress, Morling claimed that believers’ baptism is a means of grace, although he acknowledged that this was a truth that most Baptists did not emphasise. He critiqued the leading English Baptist theologian of the day, Dr H. Wheeler Robinson, regarding his understanding of j

[51] Interview with the author, April 9, 2003.

[52] Australian Baptist, May 23, 1951, p. 12 (review by E.C. Burleigh), and June 6, 1951, p. 3 (review by Dr Gilbert Laws of London).

[53] Australian Baptist, Aug 27, 1952, p. 6.

[54] Australian Baptist, Nov 5, 1952, p. 7.

[55] Australian Baptist, Nov 12, 1952, pp. 3, 12.

[56] Australian Baptist, Feb 11, 1953, p. 12.

[57] B.G. Wright, “A new era,” 29.

[58] See, for example, Baptists and Disciples of Christ, 86.

[59] Martin Sutherland, “The basis of union: New Zealand Baptists forge a denomination in the 1940s,” Journal of Religious History 27 (1), February 2003, 78.

[60] Sutherland, 81.

[61] Ibid., 82.

[62] Quoted in S.L. Edgar, A Handful of Grain: The Centenary History of the Baptist Union of New Zealand. Volume 4 – 1945-1982 (Wellington: New Zealand Baptist Historical Society, 1982) 19.

[63] Australian Baptist, Jun 7, 1961, p. 5.

[64] Australian Baptist, Mar 11, 1964, p. 10.

[65] Michael Petras, Australian Baptists Past and Present (Baptist Historical Studies No. 5; Eastwood: Baptist Historical Society of NSW, 1988)

25. I am not sure whether this paragraph is Petras’ own observation or a summary of Bollen’s argument, which Petras critiques here and elsewhere.

[66] Rev. Dr W.L. Jarvis, a leading Sydney Baptist, was elected President of the BUA in 1950 for the triennium.

[67] Report of the Commission Set Up by the Baptist Union of NSW on the Question of Affiliation with the World Council of Churches (Sydney: Baptist Union of NSW, 1950) 1.

[68] Ibid., 12-14.

[69] Ibid., 15-19.