Australian religious thought

This book is the first major historical study of Australian religious thought, arguing that religious thought can be found in many of Australia's intellectuals, both in the religiously inclined and in those who are not conventionally religious. Drawing together existing and new research, the book opens up new perspectives and re-thematizes the field in six exploratory studies. Each study is revisionist in some respects. Shapes of disbelief are explored in intellectuals of many types. The concept of sacral secularity is used to promote and to contest discussions of 'the secular' in Australia. Religious liberalism is interpreted as being transnational and as often being a source of social reform. Interactions between religious thought and philosophy are discussed in some detail, as is the development of theology, which has received relatively little attention from historians. Account is also taken of what might perhaps be called post-secular consciousness in many intellectuals. Taking religious thought more seriously suggests possible revisions to the way the national story has been told. There has been more serious intellectual life in Australia than some historians have claimed, and a considerable part of it was in a broad sense 'religious.' The book provides new perspectives on the relationship between religious thought and social reform in Australia.