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Search Results for: nick mattiske

Illusions and mythmaking with Freud and Darwin

Freud and Darwin—two iconic-yet-controversial historical figures whose work continues to have a tremendous influence in helping us understand who we are and how we evolved. But with the release of new biographies on the pair, what other aspects of their life can we uncover? Nick Mattiske reviews. The grand theories of Darwin and Freud, along with that of Karl Marx, ...

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Journey’s last-minute Christmas gift guide

With Christmas less than two weeks away, news reports suggest Christmas spending is at its weakest in four years as shoppers struggle to find the must-have presents to put under the tree. Some blame economic factors such as rising utility costs and slow income growth, others cite the lack of new toys and trinkets in the market to stimulate demand ...

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Book review: The Cross

It is arguably the most famous item in Christian iconography but Robin Jensen’s book The Cross attempts to uncover the history behind the crucifix and the controversy behind the symbolism. Nick Mattiske reviews. We associate the cross with Christianity, so it is surprising to note, as Robin Jensen does in this elegantly produced book, that for the first decades, even ...

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Book review: Not for the Faint-Hearted

For many Australians former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd was a love-him-or-loathe-him figure and his career as leader of the Labor Party was anything but smooth sailing with infighting and leadership challenges eventually engulfing the later years of his parliamentary career. Nick Mattiske reviews his autobiography.   You’d be forgiven for thinking that the title, Not for the Faint-Hearted, refers to ...

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Exploring the big questions of science

Although some might see an irreconcilable tension between science and religion, the quest for knowledge and meaning lies at the heart of both. While our understanding of the universe and humanity is constantly evolving as scientific breakthroughs occur, where does religious faith sit in our thinking? Nick Mattiske explores the big questions of science and faith in two books on ...

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Book review: Reformations

It may have a staggering page-count but Carlos Eire’s latest book Reformations tackles an epic two hundred year period during the Protestant and Catholic Reformations as the West transitioned from the Middle Ages to modernity. Nick Mattiske reviews. You don’t want to drop this massive book on your foot, but you might like to lug it back home from the ...

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Turning the page on immigration

Book covers

The subject of migration is never too far from the news headlines in Australia, Europe and North America but with the recent release of two books—Migrant, Refugee, Smuggler, Saviour and The Refugee Crisis and Religion—issues around people smuggling and Islam are getting more attention. Nick Mattiske reviews. We are living in a new age of migration with over 60 million ...

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Book review: Why God?

Why God?

Religious faith draws in people from a wide array of cultural, economic and ethnic backgrounds but what makes humans attracted to religion in the first place, and why does religion feature heavily in human societies? Nick Mattiske reviews Rodney Stark’s latest book Why God? to look for the answers. As religion supposedly declines in the West, those on the outside ...

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Book review: Dear Life

Karen Hitchcock’s Dear Life is a compelling and troubling exploration of Australia’s ageism problem and how our society must deal with issues around end-of-life care and the complex needs of an ageing population. Nick Mattiske reviews. In the Bible and in traditional cultures there is a reverence for the wisdom that old age brings, but in our society increasing numbers ...

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Book review: The Beauty and the Horror

The Beauty and the Horror

Negotiating a belief in a powerful, loving God with the existence of evil in the world can often be a thorny task but in Richard Harries’ latest book The Beauty and the Horror, the author tries to address faith and theodicy. Nick Mattiske reviews. If you are going to write an apologia for the existence of the Christian God in ...

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