Content

This unit will explore a range of themes in the history of Australian churches from the early nineteenth until the late twentieth century. Themes will include community development and welfare, mission and evangelism, theological education, the role of women, and responses to war, injustice and indigenous encounter. Biographies and case studies will be used to illuminate these themes and will include the stories of Baptist leaders, Rev John Saunders and Margaret McLean, who engaged publically with issues of justice and equality for indigenous peoples and women. A focus will be the ongoing influence and impact of these themes upon Australian Christian identity.

Unit code: CH9017W

Unit status: Archived (New unit)

Points: 24.0

Unit level: Postgraduate Elective

Unit discipline: Church History

Delivery Mode: Face to Face

Proposing College: Whitley College

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Learning outcomes

1.

Identify and evaluate themes and challenges faced by Australia’s churches since white settlement

2.

Articulate the ways in which significant Christian individuals have engaged with and responded to these themes and challenges

3.

Evaluate the ongoing influence or impact of these responses upon the church and wider society

4.

Assess the implications of the issues and responses considered for Christian identity in the Australian context

5.

Respond critically and constructively to the historical and theological themes identified in the unit

Pedagogy

Face to face

Indicative Bibliography

  • Atkinson, Alan. The Europeans in Australia: A History (3 vols). Vol.1 Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1997; Vols 2 and 3. Sydney: UNSW Press, 2014, 2016.
  • Breward, Ian. A History of the churches in Australasia. Oxford: OUP, 2001.
  • Broome, Richard. Aboriginal Australians: black responses to white dominance, 1788-2001 (4th revised edn). Sydney: Allen and Unwin, 2010
  • Cadwallader, Alan, ed. In the land of larks and heroes. Hindmarsh, SA: ATF, 2010.
  • Carey, Hilary M. God’s empire: religion and colonialism in the British world. Cambridge: CUP, 2013.
  • Costello, Tim. Streets of hope: finding God in St Kilda. Sydney: Allen and Unwin, 1998.
  • Frame, Tom. Losing my religion: Unbelief in Australia. Sydney: UNSW Press, 2009.
  • Kenny, Robert. The lamb enters the dreaming: Nathaniel Pepper and the ruptured world. Melbourne: Scribe, 2007
  • Linder, Robert D. ‘The long tragedy’: Australian Evangelical Christians and the Great War, 1914-1918. Adelaide: Open Book, 2000
  • Maddox, Marion. God under Howard: The rise of the Religious Right in Australian politics. Sydney: Allen and Unwin, 2005.
  • Manley, Ken R. with B Coe. ‘The grace of goodness’: John Saunders Baptist pastor and activist Macquarie Park: Greenwood Press, 2014.
  • O'Brien, Anne. God's willing workers: women and religion in Australia. Sydney: UNSW Press, 2005.
  • Piggin, Stuart. Spirit, Word and world: Evangelical Christianity in Australia. Melbourne: Acorn, 2012
  • Thompson, Roger C. Religion in Australia: a history (2nd edn). Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 2002.

Assessment

Type Description Word count Weight (%)
Essay

Essay of 3,000 words

3000 50.0
Report

Project report of 1,500 words

1500 25.0
Seminar or Tutorial

Seminar paper of 1,500 words

1500 25.0
Approvals

Unit approved for the University of Divinity by John Capper on 16 Mar, 2017

Unit record last updated: 2020-10-09 14:13:51 +1100