The Fountain of Public Prosperity

Winner of the 2019 Australian Christian Book of the Year Award

'...this is
a very valuable work and should be read by every Catholic historian to balance
any isolationism and reliance on the stereotypes that may remain in our
approach. It is a veritable lode for mining.' - Michael Belcher, Journal of the
Australian Catholic Historical Society

'Stuart Piggin and Bob Linder have produced a
monumental history of evangelical Christianity in Australia ... After this
landmark book, it will no longer be possible to dismiss or minimise the
influence of religion on the rise and development of modern
Australia.' - Dr
Geoff Treloar,

Australian College of
Theology

'[The authors] have written one of the great
works of Australian history, not to mention one of the great studies of
evangelicalism globally.' - Dr
Meredith Lake, University of Sydney, author of The Bible in Australia

'It resonates significantly with current
discussions about the character of our society. It is a masterwork of
Australian history.' - Dr
Brian Dickey, formerly Flinders University

'...a meticulous, magisterial work of
scholarship' - Roy Williams

The official
religion brought to Australia with the First Fleet was Evangelical
Christianity, the 'vital religion' then shaping public policy through William
Wilberforce and his fellow evangelicals. That it has shaped Australian history
ever since, making a substantial contribution to the public prosperity of the
nation, is an untold story.

Christian
values and identity were the main components of Australian values and identity.
Evangelical 'moralising' may be understood as a concern to address the 'hard'
cultures associated with convicts, the liquor industry, and male misogyny. The
movement provided opportunities for women to work in reform, charitable,
evangelistic and missionary organisations, thus laying strong foundations for
feminism. In their concern for 'Christlike citizenship', evangelicals cared for
the nation's children in Sunday schools and its youth in societies for young
people such as the YMCA, YWCA, and Christian Endeavour.

The major
component of the humanitarian movement, evangelicals ensured that the convict
settlement of Australia was more humane than is generally recognised. They did
most of the all-too-little that was done to protect the Indigenous population
and to educate settlers, keeping alive in the latter a conscience over
maltreatment of the former. In a profusion of charities, evangelicals in the
nineteenth century, as today, provided most of the welfare for the population's
disadvantaged.

The
Fountain of Public Prosperity presents propositions which require a
radical revision of received understandings, an appreciation of unmined riches
in the Australian experience, and reconnection with an often buried past.
Drawing on these untapped resources is the safest route to reimagining a future
for Australia.