Sacred Histories in Secular New Zealand

by Geoffrey Troughton (Editor), Stuart Lange (Editor)

The secular character of New Zealand has become an accepted ‘fact’ of our time. Nevertheless, Christian organizations and discourses have played an important role in framing New Zealand’s life and identity. In many ways, they continue to do so. Despite recent declines in church attendance, the persistence of religious tolerance, spiritual belief and celebration of Christian festivals and ideals suggests that Christianity plays a more enduring and significant role in New Zealand life than the country’s secular reputation would indicate.

Sacred Histories in Secular New Zealand examines some often neglected aspects of New Zealand’s history – from missionaries and Christian Māori to charismatic preachers and puritan novelists, from sectarian conflict and competition to increased co-operation and unity. Together these highlight the interweaving of Christianity with culture, and the interplay of sacred and secular throughout New Zealand’s history.

232 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2016

About the author

Geoffrey Troughton is a Senior Lecturer in Religious Studies at Victoria University of Wellington. His research focuses on issues relating to religion in New Zealand, the history of Christianity, and contemporary religious change. Major publications include New Zealand Jesus (2011), The Spirit of the Past (2011), edited with Hugh Morrison, and Sacred Histories in Secular New Zealand (2016), edited with Stuart Lange.

Reviews

[Brandon Hill · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of interesting essays on Christianity in NZ. Gave me a heap of recommendations for longer reads. Really cool to see how the gospel has influenced our society in little NZ, as it's not really super well documented like the religious history of the UK or US. Need to remember to take this back to the library so they fix my library card.