Baptists in Colonial New Zealand: Documents Illustrating Baptist Life and Development

Baptist History and Heritage, Spring, 2004 by Christopher Beckham

Baptists in Colonial New Zealand: Documents Illustrating Baptist Life and Development. Edited by Martin Sutherland. Auckland: New Zealand Baptist Research and Historical Society, 2002. 223 pp.

In this interesting book of primary documents, editor Martin Sutherland demonstrates the many challenges and obstacles that Baptists in New Zealand faced. His skilled selection of primary materials reveals a complex and rich portrait. Using church minutes, correspondence, and the main Baptist newspaper, the New Zealand Baptist, Sutherland aims to give readers a "window" into the lives of "ordinary Baptists." He does this well; these documents comprise a rich social history that makes it useful and important. Scholars interested in nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Baptist history, the history of missions, or comparative studies of the Baptist denomination as it exists worldwide will benefit from reading this book.

This book gives a glimpse of New Zealand Baptist ecclesiology. Much like American Baptists, New Zealand Baptists struggled with issues of centralization and organization. Many wondered if it was appropriate to organize into a central organization, and whether or not such organization would undermine local church autonomy. Despite the division that existed on this issue, a central association was formed while local church autonomy was upheld. The remaining tensions over this issue added to the obstacles New Zealand Baptists faced due to ministerial shortages and logistical and geographical difficulties. Sutherland's selection of documents helps readers to see how doctrinal differences affected Baptist work within the larger Baptist union, from the role of women to different views on church membership standards.

Other important topics such as mission work and an account of the arrival of Thomas Spurgeon (son of the famous Charles Spurgeon) receive attention. Spurgeon brought a sort of notoriety that gave the New Zealand Baptists increased visibility. The final chapters deal with the interaction of Baptists with social issues such as temperance and non-sectarian state education. The documents show that Baptists in New Zealand labored under considerable difficulty in swaying the public mind because they were few in number and because they were often associated with fundamentalism or closed-mindedness.

Structurally, this book is well organized. The editorial comments before each chapter are helpful. The inclusion of a few maps would be useful for those not familiar with the geography of New Zealand, but this is only a minor criticism. Sutherland should be commended for this fine book; it merits careful reading.--Reviewed by Christopher Beckham, pastor, Flemingsburg Baptist Church, Flemingsburg, Kentucky, and adjunct professor of history, Morehead State University, Morehead, Kentucky.