Australians and the Christian God: An historical study

Description

Perhaps the most important question that anyone can ask is whether there is a God, and if so what sort of God. So much can turn on the answer that is given, not least whether life is seen to have any ultimate purpose or meaning. This book explores what Australians have made of the question of God from 1788 to the present. Belief, unbelief and indifference today all have a tradition behind them.

Australians and the Christian God, is specifically about Australians and the Christian God because, until recently, nearly all Australians considered themselves to be in some sense Christian. A central concern, therefore, is to what extent Australians, individually and as a people, have accepted the picture of God given in the Bible and the early Christian creeds: a revealed God who is both Judge and Saviour. While this study will be of value for clergy and for undergraduate courses in history and religion, it should have interest for anyone who wants to understand what makes Australians the way they are. It is also a book for Australians who are personally grappling with the question of God.
Author
Hugh Jackson has had a long academic interest in the history of religion in Australia, and is the author of Churches and People in Australia and New Zealand 1860-1930 (Allen & Unwin, 1987). After studying theology at the University of Cambridge, he served for a short period as an Anglican clergyman. From 1978 to 1988 he lectured in Australian History at the University of Auckland.