Playing God

Review by Emmet O’Cuana

VIDEO GAME | DRAGON AGE: INQUISITION

I did not expect to find myself reflecting on the nature of religion while playing a horned giant ‘Qunari’ using magic spells to fend off attacks from a demon horde. But then Dragon Age: Inquisition is a game full of surprises.

Let’s take a step back for a moment.

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The legacy of Augustine

Review by Nick Mattiske

BOOK | ON AUGUSTINE | ROWAN WILLIAMS

Born in 354 AD, Saint Augustine was a modern thinker, relentless in his inquiring, and insightful on the formation of the self, traits that endear him to the secular as well as religious reader. But – just as playing a Beethoven symphony on a ukulele may result in the ...

Letters home

Review by Renate Howe

BOOK | DEAR FAMILY: LETTERS FROM ARNHEM LAND 1962-1966 | BETH GRAHAM

How fortunate that these letters, written 50 years ago while Beth Graham and her husband Leigh were Methodist missionaries at Yirrkala and Croker Island in the Northern Territory, have survived. Their publication is a significant contribution to understanding an important era in Australian ...

Reasonable to believe

Review by David Southwell

BOOK | BEYOND BELIEF | HUGH MACKAY

Beyond Belief is both a survey of contemporary Australian approaches to spirituality and a polemic tract outlining the author’s view of how God, Jesus and the Bible should be understood.

One of the most valuable aspects of the book is the strong first-person stories that Mackay collects from people ...

Reason to believe

Review by NICK MATTISKE

BOOK | GOD IS NO THING: COHERENT CHRISTIANITY | RUPERT SHORTT

There is a strain of English Christianity that sees faith as entirely reasonable and sensible, like packing an umbrella when the weather looks inclement.

We see it in the theology of Alister McGrath and John Polkinghorne, who make arguments from natural theology, who explain how ...

Please disturb

Review by Bob Faser

BOOK | DISTURBING MUCH, DISTURBING MANY: THEOLOGY PROVOKED BY THE BASIS OF UNION | GEOFF THOMPSON

Since 1977, there have been numerous studies of the Basis of Union of the Uniting Church in Australia. Nevertheless, this recent volume by Rev Dr Geoff Thompson (coordinator of Studies in Systematic Theology, Pilgrim Theological College) breaks new ground.

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Born to preach

Review by GARTH JONES

TELEVISION | PREACHER | MA

Critic Adam Marshall, writing for Christianity Today, characterises AMC Television’s adaptation of cult graphic novel Preacher as being part of the presently popular vanguard of superhero entertainment.

Reflecting upon these stories as miracle narratives in which good reliably triumphs over cosmic evil, Marshall characterises Preacher protagonist Rev Jesse Custer as a ...

Back to basis

Review by Rev Dr Craig Thompson

BOOK | MANIFESTO FOR RENEWAL | ANDREW DUTNEY

A good history is informative, sobering and inspiring. Rev Prof Andrew Dutney’s 2016 revised and expanded edition of his 1986 Manifesto for Renewal is such a history. Manifesto tracks the progress of the parent denominations of the Uniting Church towards Union, with particular attention to ...

Bigger than…perhaps, but not better than

Review by Penny Mulvey

FILM | BEN-HUR | M

It is a brave director who takes on the might of a movie so iconic for its size and excesses that it is part of our lexicon.

The 1959 version of Ben-Hur won 11 Academy Awards, including best actor for Charlton Heston. It cost more than any movie in the history ...

Faith in science

Review by Garth Jones

BOOK | CONFRONTING RELIGIOUS DENIAL OF SCIENCE: CHRISTIAN HUMANISM AND THE MORAL IMAGINATION | CATHERINE M. WALLACE

In last June’s Crosslight, I reviewed Prof David Tacey’s Beyond Literal Belief: Religion As Metaphor. Tacey’s book characterised the Bible as ‘a tapestry of stories designed to challenge and enhance life’s meaning’. Tacey acknowledged the work of ‘fundamentalist ...

Traveller’s tales

Book | People, Places and Planes: Presidential Field Notes and Reflections | Andrew Dutney

Review by DAVID SOUTHWELL

The alliterative title promises a blur of meetings, travel and activity, which is what you largely get in this collection of Andrew Dutney’s on-the-go articles, speeches, sermons and blogs from his term as President of the Assembly of the Uniting Church in Australia from ...

Busting stereotypes

Film | Ghostbusters | PG

Review by GARTH JONES

If you’re not a reader of online social media, you may be happily unaware of a toxic strain of male ‘geek’ known as a Men’s Rights Activist (MRA). MRAs see themselves as the final line of defence between the patriarchy and what they perceive as aggressive feminist persecution in popular ...