Publisher's Synopsis
This published collection of thirteen chapters from Australian and New Zealand religious progressives, edited by Rex Hunt and Greg Jenks, has grown out of the internationally acclaimed Common Dreams Conference of Religious Progressives in Australia and New Zealand. The first three Common Dreams conferences were held in 2007 (Sydney), 2010 (Melbourne), and 2013 (Canberra). The essays gathered here showcase some of the wisdom and imagination associated with Common Dreams. The essays cover diverse subjects including: prayer, liturgy, Bible, eco-theology, the influence of J. A. T. Robinson's book, Honest to God, as well as progressive theological thought in Judaism, Islam and Christianity. Some of these chapters were originally presented to one of the first three Common Dreams conferences, while others have been written especially for this collection. The authors include: Val Webb, Lloyd Geering, Lorraine Parkinson, Aviva Kipen, John W. Smith, Noel Preston, Glynn Cardy, Jenny Te Paa Daniel, Rex Hunt, Sherene Hassan, Greg Jenks, Nigel Leaves, and Heather Carter. David Felten (USA) provides a Foreword and Bruce Sanguin (Canada) contributes an Afterword. We hope that you find this collection of work by religious progressives from Australia and New Zealand assists you to plumb the depths of your own creativity, encourages you to remain alive to new possibilities, and invites you to imagine the new expressions that our Common Dreams will take in the years ahead. The best is yet to come, and we look forward to sharing the journey with you. --from the Introduction Rex A E Hunt is a retired Uniting Church in Australia minister, Founding Director and Life Member of The Centre for Progressive Religious Thought, Founder of The Network of Biblical Storytellers in Australia and New Zealand, and immediate past Chair of The Common Dreams Conference of Religious Progressives in Australia and New Zealand. His web site of Liturgies and Sermons is visited regularly by people from more than eighty five countries around the world. His recent books include Against the Stream: Progressive Christianity between Pulpit and Pew (2012), Why Weren't We Told? A Handbook on Progressive Christianity (with John W. H. Smith, 2012) and Cards, Carols, and Claus: Christmas in Popular Culture and Progressive Christianity (2013). Gregory C Jenks is an Anglican priest and biblical scholar. He is Academic Dean at St Francis Theological College, Brisbane and Senior Lecturer in the School of Theology, Charles Sturt University. A long-time Fellow of the Jesus Seminar, and a former Associate Director of the Westar Institute, Greg is also director of the Jesus Database project and a co-director of the Bethsaida Archaeology Project in Israel. His recent books include The Once and Future Bible: An Introduction to the Bible for Religious Progressives (2011) and Jesus Then and Jesus Now: Looking for Jesus, Finding Ourselves (2014).
