Shaping Godzone: Public Issues and Church Voices in New Zealand 1840-2000

Publishing Details

Classifications

Physical Properties

Description

Highlighting the influence of churches and Christians in the development of GodzoneAotearoa, New Zealandthis groundbreaking book boldly claims that without missionary influence there would have been neither a Treaty of Waitangi nor a New Zealand as it is known today. The book chronicles the churchs position on a wide variety of issues from the 19th and 20th centuries, including alcohol restraint, voting rights for women, the use of Sunday, the exploitation of workers, the Vietnam War, a nuclear-free New Zealand, and the 1981 Springbok Tour. It demonstrates how the church shaped the nation, while contending that its influence has waned in the present day despite still playing a relevant role in public issues.

Reviews

Churches as institutions, and Christians as individuals and groups, have made significant and often contentious contributions to shaping private and public morality and issues of social justice in New Zealand. [This book] provides a lively account of church and Christian involvement in a selection of these issues. These Christian voices and influences have often been relegated to footnotes in our historical writing or ignored altogether. This book persuasively argues that churches and Christians were major players, not always successfully, in contributing to the public debates determining the shape of New Zealand society." Allan Davidson

Author Bio

Laurie Guy is a lecturer in church history at Carey Baptist College. He is the author of Introducing Early Christianity, Making Sense of the Book of Revelation, and Worlds in Collision.