Attending to the National Soul: Evangelical Christians In Australian History, 1914-2014

- Blurb -

Following on from The Fountainof Public Prosperity, the acclaimed historical account ofAustralian evangelical Christianity in the period preceding the First WorldWar, in this major new contribution Stuart Piggin and Robert Linder tell thestory of how Australian evangelical Christians responded to the decline of theBritish empire and to the expanding international reach of their religiousmission and beliefs, of how these Christians reacted to the challenges ofsecularism, and of how they have sought to `attend to the national soul':sensitising the national conscience and helping to shape the nationalconsciousness.The authors offer an extensivetreatment of evangelical involvement in the First and Second World Wars, and inthe wars in Korea, Vietnam and Afghanistan. They consider Alan Walker and BillyGraham and the development of an energetic evangelism more calculated toaddress global fears and personal anxieties. And they show that although, bythe beginning of the twenty-first century, the movement had trifurcated intoconservative, progressive and Pentecostal branches, each had learned thenecessity of bringing a prophetic ministry to bear on social issues in order toachieve greater engagement with the wider society.This ambitious study seeks torecognise the influence of `the public opening up of the word of Christ to theworld', `to tell the truth about his influence' on Australia's social andcultural history, and to show that, in spite of secularism's success inmarginalising faith, evangelical Christianity continues to be as much a public ethicas a personal credo.`There has probably never been a betterhistory of evangelical traditions in a single country.' - Mark Noll, Fellow of the AmericanAcademy of Arts and Sciences`Stuart Piggin and Robert D. Linderdiscuss the impact of this vibrant interdenominational movement on Australiawith clarity, authority and critical sympathy.' - David Bebbington, Professor ofHistory, University of Stirling`A great achievement and one that willhelp over time to change the way Australian history is written.' - Wayne Hudson, Professor inAustralian Studies, Australian National University