Articles

Evangelical Christians weaved a sturdy thread in our history

07 Jun 2018  |  Author: Douglas Hynd  | Theme: Public theology and ethics; Civil society and politics

Douglas Hynd reviews The Fountain of Public Prosperity: Evangelical Christians in Australian History 1740-1914 by Stuart Piggin and Robert D. Linder. The authors of this book bring to it a lifetime of scholarly research on religion in Australian history. Piggin is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and of the Religious History Association of Australia. Linder is the Distinguished Professor of History at Kansas State University. His long interest in Australian religious history began with his visit here in 1987 as a Fulbright Scholar.
Download

Into the Great New World: Pilgrims toward the Common Good

05 Jun 2018  |  Author: Stephen Pickard  | Theme: Religions and dialogue; Civil society and politics

I am a cradle Christian if you like. I grew up in a Hunter Valley coal mining town, attended a local Anglican Church, worked at a Steelworks, went to university, met my wife to be at a church camp; went into fulltime Christian ministry and began a family. Because the deep mysteries of the universe and human life were a perennial source of interest I felt compelled to study theology. I spent the next 25 years teaching and offering leadership in Christian Theological Institutions and being a bishop in the Australian Anglican Church. I managed to do this without ever really getting to know the world of faiths; the people of the great religions of the world; and especially little to do with the religions of the people of the Book, the great Abrahamic religions; Islam and Judaism. I was basically ignorant in such things.
Download

Is peace as interesting as war?

30 May 2018  |  Author: Doug Hynd  | Theme: Civil society and politics; Leadership and institutions

Towards the conclusion of Judith Brett’s fascinating biography of Alfred Deakin, the author notes how quickly the nation-building moment of Federation – to which Deakin had devoted himself so wholeheartedly – was pushed aside from popular memory and esteem by the myth-laden rebirth of Australia as a nation at Anzac Cove and on the Western Front. How, she asked, could an achievement of peaceful political change compare in popular imagination with the glory of battle?
Download

Aust Churches' Engagement with the World Council of Churches

29 May 2018  |  Author: David Gill  | Theme: Religions and dialogue; Public theology and ethics

This week of Prayer for Christian Unity, for me, always brings back a painful memory. It was 1968, and I had just joined the staff of the World Council of Churches in Geneva. A staff meeting was discussing the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. In a moment of madness, I decided to give everyone the benefit of my wisdom.
Download

From Faith to Inter-Faith: A Personal Account

29 May 2018  |  Author: Stephen Pickard  | Theme: Religions and dialogue; Public theology and ethics

Faith: Early Stirrings of God I am a cradle Anglican. No doubt I am not alone in this gathering brought up on the BCP. I disliked Sunday School and couldn’t wait till I was confirmed and could attend Sunday morning Holy Communion. So, from the age of 12 on Sundays, usually with my parents but increasingly alone, my earliest stirrings of the divine consisted of a diet of hymns from Ancient and Modern, sermons of varying value, sacramental bread and wine, and of course singing the Nicene Creed as one does. It works better sung I feel. I look back on this early years as the beginnings of a somewhat pious young life, obedient, respectful, serious and conscientious in my religion.
Download