LE3 .A278 1994

1994

Wilson, Robert

Acadia University

Master of Divinity with Honours

Masters

Theology

Acadia Divinity College

The purpose of this thesis is to discover the Canadian Baptist view of warfare in the years 1919-1939, as well as the reasons for their belief. The research is confined to the churches that in 1944 united to become the Baptist Federation of Canada; The Baptist convention of the Maritime Provinces, The Baptist Convention of Ontario and Quebec, and The Baptist convention of Western Canada. The primary sources for the research are the convention Yearbooks and the three denominational magazines; The Western Baptist, The Canadian Baptist, and The Maritime Baptist. An examination of the sources indicates that athough Baptists supported the cause of, and participated in, both World Was, during the inter-war period they "flirted with Nirvana" and adopted a pacifist perspective. Further examination reveals that the Baptist shift in perspective from the just war to the pacifist perspective was a result of two primary influences: the experience of World War One; and the social gospel movement. In both their perspective of and their motivation for change, the Baptists of 1919-1939 followed the general societal and religious norm.

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