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The Reformation of the sixteenth-century is commonly seen as the transitional period between the medieval and the modern worlds. This study examines the political thought of England during its period of religious reform from the reign of Edward VI to the death of Elizabeth I. The political thought of Tudor ecclesiastics was heavily informed by the institutional and intellectual upheavals in England and on the continent, producing tensions between traditional ways of conceptualising politics and new religious and political realities. This book offers a study of natural law, providentialism, cosmic order, political authority, and government by consent in Protestant political thought during a transitional period in English history. It shows how the Reformation was central to the birth of modern political thought.
Sir Robert Gordon Menzies was the founder of the Liberal Party of Australia. As well as being Australia’s longest-serving prime minister, Menzies was the most thoughtful. Menzies’ world picture was one where Britishness was the overriding normative principle, and in which cultural puritanism and philosophical idealism were pervasive. Unless we remember this cultural background of Menzies’ thought then we will seriously misunderstand what he meant by the very project of liberalism. The Forgotten Menzies argues that Menzies’ greatest aspiration was to protect the ideals of cultural puritanism Australia from two kinds of materialism: communism; and the mindset encouraged by affluence and technological progress. Central to Menzies’ project of cultural and civilisational preservation was the university, an institution he spent much of his career extolling and expanding. The Forgotten Menzies makes an important contribution to the history of political thought and ideology in Australia, as to understanding the largely forgotten but rich intellectual origins of the Liberal Party.
This volume offers both theoretical approaches and case studies on the relationship between religion and the secular world. Bringing together contributions from seasoned authors, religious leaders, and brilliant new scholars, it frames the long-standing debate on how to structure a comparative representation of any religion on the one side, and the secular world on the other. Often, the very act of comparing religions exposes them to an assessment of their role in history and politics, and risks leading to some sort of grading and ranking, which is highly unproductive. By candidly discussing the relation between religion and the secular and providing concrete examples from four case studies (Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Baha’I’), this book provides an important reference on how this can be achieved in a neutral way, while keeping in mind the normative finality of seeking conciliation to existing fractures, both within and among religions.
Is There Hope in the Chaos? Our civilisation is unstable. Everyone can feel it. We face a looming mental health crisis. Slavery, censorship and superstition are back. Our politics are polarising. All the affluence in the world can’t seem to quench our thirst for meaning and purpose. But maybe there is hope—if we know where to look. In this timely book, Kurt Mahlburg shows how profoundly the West has been shaped by the life and teachings of Jesus—from our democratic freedoms and our pursuit of reason and science to our belief that every life is precious. Could rediscovering Jesus be the answer to our crisis?
In Ordained Ministry in Free Church Perspective Jan Martijn Abrahamse presents a constructive theology of ordained ministry by returning to the life and thought of the English Separatist Robert Browne (c. 1550-1633). This study makes a substantial contribution not only by solving one of the most thorny problems in congregational ecclesiology, but also by recovering the legacy of this ecclesial pioneer. Through an in-depth analysis of Browne’s literature, the author provides a covenantal theology of ordained ministry in conversation with present-day authors Stanley Hauerwas and Kevin Vanhoozer. Inspired by the emerging trend of ‘theology of retrieval’ Abrahamse offers a methodologically innovative way of doing systematic theology in a manner in which voices from the past can be made fruitful for today.
This book examines the moral foundations of liberal societies through the role of Christian belief in public policy.
For some years, Melbourne's aborted East-West Link created intense picketing and protests, multiple court challenges, breathless media coverage and bitter politicking. The Link brought the downfall of the single-term Baillieu-Napthine Liberal government; its cancellation cost the state half a billion dollars; and it lives on in infamy, a byword in the Australian lexicon for political brinkmanship, waste and politicisation of infrastructure. In The Making and Unmaking of East-West Link, James C Murphy explores the saga from competing vantage points, detailing the layers of politics and intrigue that saturate infrastructure policymaking in Australia.
This book surveys some of the key intellectual influences in the formation of Australian society by emphasizing the impact of the Enlightenment, with its commitment to rational inquiry and progress. The first part analyzes the political and religious background of the period from the First Fleet (1788) to the mid-nineteenth century. The second demonstrates the pervasiveness of ideas of improvement across a range of human endeavors, from agriculture to education, penal discipline and race relations. Throughout, the book highlights the extent to which developments in Australia can be compared with those in Britain and the U.S.
Against a background of continuing erosion of Jewish numbers, the book investigates the many facets of Jewish identity by throwing the spotlight on people of part-Jewish descent, on born Jews on the fringes of Jewish life and those who have sought alternative affiliations. Emma Klein also calls for a response from religious and lay leaders to parochial communal attitudes and the anomaly of the definition of Jewish status in Jewish law which may be seen to contribute to the erosion.
This book describes how ideas about federalism influenced those who drafted the Australian Constitution.