Historical sources and contemporary resources of minority Christian churches: a baptist contribution

European discussions about what are often called “Church and State relations” do not begin from an ahistorical contemporary starting-point. Rather, they are rooted in historical heritages that are, in turn, informed by a mixture of principled religious, social and political presuppositions; unreflective inherited assumptions; and, all too often, sloppy and inconsistent use of concepts such as “secular state”, “state church”, “Christian society”, “secular society” and the like. This article, however, seeks to go beyond the traditional shape of such debates in at least three ways. Firstly, it frames matters in terms of religion (more broadly) and state. Secondly, it also includes within its frame of reference “belief” (in the sense inclusive of “non-religious” beliefs) alongside the more traditional focus on “religion(s)”. Thirdly, it includes “society” alongside the more traditional focus on the “state” alone. Arising from this, the article proposes a possibility for framing such debates in ways that it argues are more theologically, ecclesiologically, socially and politically adequate for the present and the future. This includes the affirmation of creative space for other than Christian religion and belief traditions in the context of what the author of this article has elsewhere characterised as a European context that can be seen as increasingly “three dimensional” in terms of its Christian, secular and religiously plural heritages and contemporary realities. Nevertheless, the article especially focuses on the resources for these debates that can especially be contributed minority Christian theological and ecclesiological traditions across Europe. All too often both the historical sources and potential contemporary resources of such traditions have been left out of debates on these issues that more usually draw almost exclusively on Roman Catholic, Orthodox or Anglican Christian traditions, or else those of the Reformed, Lutheran and Zwinglian Magisterial Reformation. Contributions from Christian minority traditions could in principle include from such Protestant denominations such as the Waldensians or the Hussites, or also the "Old Catholic" tradition. However, this article primarily focuses on what might be called the “baptistic” traditions of European Christianity. Within that, it also highlights the distinctive form of Baptist Christian tradition that emerged out a process of dialogical confluence and differentiation between English Separatism and strands of continental Anabaptism, including especially that of Mennonites in the Netherlands. In doing that, this article refers to and discusses some Baptist historical sources for what it argues can, in turn, become an important part of the contemporary ecumenical resources which can, in turn, be deployed for the benefit of Churches, states and societies in Europe, both now and in the future