Units timetabled for 2013 and 2014 are provisional only, and details of semester and time will change. The official timetable for each year is released on 1 September of the prior year.

Archived unit descriptions for 2011 are available here.

Christian Theology and Australian Aboriginal Religions

Unit Code: 
CT475
RTI: 
United Faculty of Theology
Unit Value: 
15 points

In this unit the class will reflect on traditional Christian themes, such as Christology, Soteriology, Sacraments and Eschatology, in the light of Aboriginal beliefs and practices. This will involve a consideration of various aspects of the world-view of Australian Aboriginal peoples, and of their religious rituals. Also, the significance for theology of the interaction, over the last 200 years, of Aboriginal and European peoples, will be considered. The unit will be conducted in seminar style. Students will be expected to prepare material and lead discussion. There will be an optional field trip outside of regular class time.

Learning Outcomes: 

Upon successful completion of this unit, it is expected that students will be able to:

  1. enter, in some measure, into the thought-world of Aboriginal peoples, to appreciate something of their attitudes to fundamental issues of human life, and to realise the importance of religious ritual in Aboriginal culture
  2. reflect on how some of the principal doctrines of Christianity might be understood by Aboriginal peoples in light of their own culture
  3. realise the cultural relativity of theological thinking, as students try to see how the Gospel message might be expressed in a cultural tradition very different to that of the First World.
Lecturer/s: 
Robin Koning
Timetabling
Semester: 
Semester 1
Day: 
Monday
Time: 
10 - 1
Location: 
Centre for Theology and Ministry
Unit Frequency: 
Biennial
Years Offered: 
2011
Years Offered: 
2013
Unit Fields
Courses: 
Master of Arts (Theology)
Courses: 
Master of Theological Studies
Courses: 
Postgraduate
Field: 
Field C Christian Thought and History
Disciplines: 
Systematic Theology
Department Name: 
Department of Christian Thought and History
Prerequisites: 

30 points of Foundational study in Christian Thought and History

Mode of Teaching: 
Semester
Teaching Methods: 

Lectures and seminars

Workload
Number of timetabled hours per week: 
3
Expected personal study hours per week: 
9
Total workload hours per week: 
12
Total workload hours for unit: 
144
Assessment
Assessment TypeWeightingLearning Outcomes Assessed
Assessment Type: 

1 x 6000 word essay

Weighting: 
100%
Recommended reading: 

* = set texts recommended for purchase

  • Bell, D.  Daughters of the Dreaming. Melbourne: McPhee Gribble and Sydney: Allen & Unwin, 1983.
  • Berndt, R. M. & C. H. The World of the First Australians. Sydney: Ure/Smith, rev. ed. 1987.
  • Charlesworth M. et al. (eds) Religion in Aboriginal Australia. An Anthology. 
  • St Lucia: University of Queensland Press, 1984.
  • Isaacs, J. (ed.) Australian Dreaming. Sydney: Ure/Smith, 1991.
  • Neuner, J. & Dupuis J. (eds). The Christian Faith in the Doctrinal Documents of the Catholic Church. Bangalore: Theological Publications in India, 3rd ed. 1978.
  • Poirier, S. A World of Relationships: Itineraries, Dreams and Events in the Australian Western Desert. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2005.
  • Rainbow Spirit Elders. Rainbow Spirit Theology. Melbourne: HarperCollins Religious, 1997.
  • Rose, D. B. Dingo Makes us Human. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992.
  • Stanner, W. E. H. On Aboriginal Religion (Oceania Monograph 36). Sydney: University of Sydney, 1989.
  • Swain, T. A Place for Strangers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993.
  • Swain, T. & Rose D. B. (eds). Aboriginal Australians and Christian Missions. No 6. Adelaide: Australian Association for the Study of Religions, 1988.

© United Faculty of Theology, 2008-2012.