The Bible in Australia: A Cultural History by Dr Meredith Lake
(By Dr. David Knox – member of St. Columb’s)
How important is the Bible in today’s Australia? You might think the obvious answer is “not very". However, I want to let you know that it has been really important in developing Australian society as we know it today.
The Bible in Australiaby Meredith Lake traces the role of the Bible from white settlement to the 21stcentury. Although written from an historical perspective, it is both enjoyable and educational. As Julia Baird notes on the back cover, the book “breathes colour, poetry and life into our understanding of the Bible in Australia.”
Meredith Lake is an excellent communicator and currently hosts Soul Search, a weekly program on Radio National about the lived experience of religion and spirituality.
But back to the book which won both the Australian history prize at the 2019 NSW Premier's history awards and the 2018 Australian Christian Book of the Year.
As the judges to the history award commented:
“The Bible is there in (our) politics, literature and art, in the colonisation of Indigenous people as well as their resistance, and it is an ingredient of popular culture. This deeply researched, highly accessible book helps us to see familiar aspects of the past in startlingly new ways while introducing readers to a fresh cast of characters. … As the songwriter Paul Kelly says, biblical stories and language ‘are part of the cultural air that we breathe’.”
I absolutely agree with these comments. From the convicts and early encounters with the indigenous population to today, this book engages, explains and encourages the reader to understand the important role of the Bible has had and continues to have in shaping modern Australia.
For example, Sir Robert Menzies, Australia’s longest serving Prime Minister, adopted a life-long habit of daily Bible reading after hearing a lecture by C H Nash, a former vicar of St Columb’s! Biblical ideas continue to sustain the ethical and thinking and action of numerous influential Australians. Geoffrey Robertson, the international human rights lawyer, noted on a Q&A program in 2015 that there are three enduring philosophic bases for the widely shared idea of human dignity. Each one can be traced back to the Bible.
Such anecdotes and stories highlight the historical and ongoing influence of the Bible. I strongly recommend the book.
(By Dr. David Knox – member of St. Columb’s)
How important is the Bible in today’s Australia? You might think the obvious answer is “not very". However, I want to let you know that it has been really important in developing Australian society as we know it today.
The Bible in Australiaby Meredith Lake traces the role of the Bible from white settlement to the 21stcentury. Although written from an historical perspective, it is both enjoyable and educational. As Julia Baird notes on the back cover, the book “breathes colour, poetry and life into our understanding of the Bible in Australia.”
Meredith Lake is an excellent communicator and currently hosts Soul Search, a weekly program on Radio National about the lived experience of religion and spirituality.
But back to the book which won both the Australian history prize at the 2019 NSW Premier's history awards and the 2018 Australian Christian Book of the Year.
As the judges to the history award commented:
“The Bible is there in (our) politics, literature and art, in the colonisation of Indigenous people as well as their resistance, and it is an ingredient of popular culture. This deeply researched, highly accessible book helps us to see familiar aspects of the past in startlingly new ways while introducing readers to a fresh cast of characters. … As the songwriter Paul Kelly says, biblical stories and language ‘are part of the cultural air that we breathe’.”
I absolutely agree with these comments. From the convicts and early encounters with the indigenous population to today, this book engages, explains and encourages the reader to understand the important role of the Bible has had and continues to have in shaping modern Australia.
For example, Sir Robert Menzies, Australia’s longest serving Prime Minister, adopted a life-long habit of daily Bible reading after hearing a lecture by C H Nash, a former vicar of St Columb’s! Biblical ideas continue to sustain the ethical and thinking and action of numerous influential Australians. Geoffrey Robertson, the international human rights lawyer, noted on a Q&A program in 2015 that there are three enduring philosophic bases for the widely shared idea of human dignity. Each one can be traced back to the Bible.
Such anecdotes and stories highlight the historical and ongoing influence of the Bible. I strongly recommend the book.
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