Gary Bouma Wins First Prize from the Australasian Theological Forum
Faculty of Arts May 5th, 2008
Press Release
The Australasian Theological Forum (ATF) Ltd awards an annual prize for outstanding theological books published in the area of Christian theology in the past year. Recently it announced the recipients of the 2007 prize for books published in 2006.
Rev Dr Paul Babie, Associate Dean of Law (Research) at the University of Adelaide Law School, Priest of the Eparchy for Ukrainian Catholics of Australia, New Zealand and Oceania, and Chair of the Board of Directors of ATF Ltd, announced the winners at the ATF Office in Adelaide on 2 May 2008.
Rev Dr Babie said that ‘the criteria used by the panel of judges require that a book be well-written, of international standard, and that it be challenging and constitute an original contribution to its field of theology.’
‘In awarding its prize the ATF aims to recognise and encourage theological work of real quality in Australia and New Zealand’, Rev Dr Babie said.
Professor Emeritus Gary D Bouma has been awarded the first prize for 2008 for his book Australian Soul: Religion and Spirituality in the 21st Century, published by Cambridge University Press. Professor Bouma is an Anglican Priest and Emeritus Professor of Sociology in the School of Political and Social Inquiry at Monash University and the UNESCO Chair in Interreligious and Intercultural Relations, Asia Pacific.
In awarding the prize, Rev Dr Babie said that ‘Professor Bouma’s research has primarily focussed on the interaction between religion and society in Western societies including Canada, the United States, Australia, New Zealand and Europe. His current work includes a major study of religious plurality in multicultural Australia making strategic comparisons with other societies and an attempt to delineate Australia’s religious institutions and continuing work on Post-Modernity as a context for interfaith dialogue and theological reflection. In Australian Soul, Professor Bouma challenges the idea that religious and spiritual life in Australia is in decline, arguing instead that far from petering out, religion and spirituality are thriving. This makes a very important contribution to contemporary political and social dialogue.’
Rev Dr Babie also announced the second prize, highly commending Aloysius Rego, OCD, of the Discalced Carmelite Friars in Victoria, for Suffering and Salvation: The salvific meaning of suffering in the later theology of Edward Schillebeeckx, published by Peeters Press and WB Eerdmans. Rev Dr Babie said that ‘Fr Rego’s book is a challenging and significant work exploring the deeper questions of God’s role in suffering and salvation through the lens of Edward Schillebeeckx’s later theology. The project ultimately builds a contemporary soteriology.’
Further information:
Mr Hilary Regan
ATF Press
0411 876 099