From many Aboriginal elders, such as Tjangika Napaltjani, Bob Williams and Djiniyini
Gondarra, to painters, such as Arthur Boyd, Pro Hart and John Forrester-Clack, from
historians, such as Manning Clark, and poets, such as Maureen Watson, Francis Webb and
Henry Lawson, to celebrated novelists, such as Joseph Furphy, Patrick White and Tim Winton,
the figure of Jesus has occupied an endearing and idiosyncratic place in the Australian
imagination. It is evidence enough that ‘Australians have been anticlerical and antichurch,
but rarely antiJesus’ (Piggin 2000:163). But which Jesus? In what follows, I seek to listen to
what some Australians make of Jesus, and to consider some theological implications of their
contributions for the enduring quest for an Australian JesusDr Goroncy is participating in
the research project, ‘Gender
Studies and Practical
Theology Theory Formation’,
directed by Prof. Dr Yolanda
Dreyer, Department of
Practical Theology, Faculty of
Theology, University of
Pretoria.HTS 75th Anniversary Maake Masango Dedication.http://www.hts.org.zaam2020Practical Theolog