The fountain of public prosperity : Evangelical Christians in Australian history, 1740-1914 /
Evangelical Christians in Australian history, 1740-1914
Stuart Piggin and Robert D. Linder.
- Clayton, Victoria : Monash University Publishing, (c)2018.
- 1 online resource (xiv, 674 pages)
- Australian history .
Includes bibliographies and index.
Machine generated contents note: part A Experiment in Social Renovation, 1740 -- 1835 -- chapter 1 From Private to Public Christianity, c. 1740 -- 1788 -- chapter 2 The Anglican Chaplaincy, the New Jerusalem and the Continent of Sin, 1788 -- 1822 -- chapter 3 Missions to the Pacific, Free Settlers, the Indigenous and the Poor, 1792 -- 1822 -- chapter 4 Getting out of both Gaol and the Establishment, 1823 -- 1835 -- chapter 5 Denominational Initiatives and Cross-cultural Missions, 1823 -- 1835 -- part B Christianity, Civilisation and Commerce, 1836 -- 1870 -- chapter 6 Laying Firmer Foundations: Nation-builders, 1836 -- 1850 -- chapter 7 Laying Broader Foundations: New Colonies, 1836 -- 1850 -- chapter 8 Consolidating the Denominations: The Plural Establishment, 1836 -- 1850 -- chapter 9 `Busy for both worlds': The Commerce of Godliness, 1851 -- 1870 -- chapter 10 `Alarming growth': Denominational Developments, 1851 -- 1870 -- chapter 11 Spiritual Giganticism: Revival and Cross-cultural Missions, 1851 -- 1870 Note continued: part C Parallel Empires at High Noon, 1870 -- 1914 -- chapter 12 Christian Feminism and Social Righteousness, 1871 -- 1889 -- chapter 13 The Anatomy of Defence: Facing Challenges to Faith, 1871 -- 1889 -- chapter 14 Church Growth and Cross-cultural Missions at Home and Abroad, 1871 -- 1889 -- chapter 15 The golden days of church history': Evangelistic Missions, Revivals and Holiness, 1871 -- 1889 -- chapter 16 The Workingman's Paradise in a Christian Commonwealth, 1890 -- 1914 -- chapter 17 Defending the Truth: Resisting Modernism and Anglo-Catholicism, 1890 -- 1914 -- chapter 18 `Days of God's Right Hand': Missions and Revivals, 1890 -- 1914 -- chapter 19 Cross-cultural Missions at Home and Abroad, 1890 -- 1914.
The official religion brought to Australia with the First Fleet was Evangelical Christianity, the 'vital religion' then shaping public policy through William Wilberforce and his fellow evangelicals. That it has shaped Australian history ever since, making a substantial contribution to the public prosperity of the nation, is an untold story. Christian values and identity were the main components of Australian values and identity. Evangelical 'moralising' may be understood as a concern to address the 'hard' cultures associated with convicts, the liquor industry, and male misogyny. The movement provided opportunities for women to work in reform, charitable, evangelistic, and missionary organisations, thus laying strong foundations for feminism. In their concern for 'Christlike citizenship', evangelicals cared for the nation's children in Sunday schools and its youth in societies for young people such as the YMCA, YWCA, and Christian Endeavour. The major component of the humanitarian movement, evangelicals ensured that the convict settlement of Australia was more humane than is generally recognised. They did most of the all-too-little that was done to protect the Indigenous population and to educate settlers, keeping alive in the latter a conscience over maltreatment of the former. In a profusion of charities, evangelicals in the nineteenth century, as today, provided most of the welfare for the population's disadvantaged. The Fountain of Public Prosperity presents propositions which require a radical revision of received understandings, an appreciation of unmined riches in the Australian experience, and reconnection with an often buried past. Drawing on these untapped resources is the safest route to reimagining a future for Australia --