Tag Archives: Book Review

Billy Griffiths’ latest book Deep Time Dreaming uncovers the role archaeology has played in shaping our understanding of Australia’s vast history, particularly in relation to Indigenous culture, and what this means for contemporary relations between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. Nick Mattiske reviews. In the 1960s the archaeologist John Mulvaney was told by the ABC that there would be “no interest” ...

The “Good Book” has played a crucial role in shaping Australia’s modern history, from its arrival on Australian shores via the First Fleet through to its influence on politics in the 20th century. Meredith Lake’s latest book The Bible in Australia explores the history of the nation and how the Bible has been a mainstay of Australian society, touching the ...

While scientists continue to push forward into new frontiers of knowledge about physics, are they getting closer to answering the big questions about our universe’s origins or is the quest for science-based answers doomed to fail? Nick Mattiske reviews a pair of books exploring the big questions about our universe’s known knowns, unknown knowns and unknown unknowns. For some, religious ...

After being admitted to hospital following a serious fall, retired Uniting Church minister Anneli Sinkko used the time to write her latest spiritual memoir God is bigger than Google and explore her own relationship with Jesus. Queensland Synod’s Director of Mission Strategy Scott Guyatt and his daughter Riley Guyatt review. The introduction to retired Uniting Church minister Anneli Sinkko’s book ...

Ever wondered how beliefs in God, the supernatural and worship evolved in the period between the Old and New Testaments? Philip Jenkins’ latest book Crucible of Faith examines the development of Christianity in the “Crucible Era” (the intertestamental period) and will likely kickstart fascinating conversations about the faith. Nick Mattiske reviews. A universal God, monotheism, heaven, hell, the Day of ...

After a lifetime serving God and the Uniting Church throughout Queensland, Rev Trevor Foote has released More than 100 of the Best, a collection of sermons from his extensive archives built up from decades of preaching. Rev Bruce Raymond reviews. Preaching can be an unpredictable business. I have delivered sermons making some points which I thought were of secondary importance, ...

Australia could be reasonably described as a post-Christian nation, and Roy Williams’ Post-God Nation tackles the issue of faith in our current society head-on. Dr James Page reviews. Apologetics is an established theological genre, traditionally involving the defence of Christianity against pagan beliefs.  Roy Williams and his book Post-God Nation stands in this historic tradition, although, in this case, Williams ...

When Michelle and Yusef chose to embark on life together as a married couple, some things were sure to become a little complicated. For Michelle, an Australian-born Christian, and Yusef, a Muslim, one of their first experiences of balancing two different religious traditions was deciding how they would get married. And more specifically, who would conduct the service. Uniting Church ...

Leadership, it seems, is the new black. Whether in politics, sport, culture or the church, one need not scratch very deep to find a view that leadership is either the cause or the solution to whatever challenge faces the particular organisation. There are many writers on the topic, and many theories about how leadership works, what it looks like, and ...

Stanley Hauerwas talks about himself a lot, and this may confirm for some that he has bought into the hype that has him labelled as “America’s best theologian”. Quite the opposite! Because he is a prominent theologian, he has attracted his share of criticism and comment, and therefore much of Hauerwas’s writing is defensive. He requalifies, elaborates, apologises, restates, argues ...