ADEB Online

Introduction to the First Edition... 

by Brian Dickey, General Editor.

May 1994. 

The most powerful Christian tradition brought by the first white settlers to Australia in 1788, and a tradition which remained creative, energetic, dedicated to self-propagation and to the transformation of Australian society through the next two centuries, was evangelical Protestantism. The Australian Dictionary of Evangelical Biography contains biographical entries about almost 700 men and women who have contributed to the making and transmission of that Christian tradition in and from Australia. 

The project began in 1987 in discussions among members of the newly established Evangelical History Association (EHA). ... 

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Introduction to the Online Edition... 

by Paul F Cooper, Secretary.

March 2020. 

The first edition of ADEB emerged as an extension of the other projects to write the history of Evangelical Christianity in Australia. It was a collection which expanded on the broader collections being published overseas, and designed to be a bridge and reference point for building higher level works.  In particular, it contributed to the emergence of the magisterial work of Stuart Piggin and Robert D. Linder, volume 1 of which emerged in 2018 under the title The Fountain of Public Prosperity: Evangelical Christians in Australian History 1740–1914 (Monash, 2018) and volume 2 published in 2020 under the title Attending to the National Soul: Evangelical Christians in Australian History 1914-2014 (Monash, 2020).  It was clear that the work was more helpful as an online resource, however, a form which would enable not only dynamic searches but also the capacity for being continuously updated and with additional entries being added as scholarship advanced. 

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