Centre for Public Christianity
The Centre for Public Christianity (CPX) is an Australian not-for-profit media company that supplies mainstream media and the general public with material about the relevance of Christianity in the 21st century.[1] The Centre has no denominational affiliation and seeks to represent historic Christianity as defined by the Nicene Creed.
History
CPX was established in 2007. John Dickson and Greg Clarke[2] were its first directors, with Richard Grellman Chairman. Initial funding from Mission Australia helped get the venture started. After support from Hammond Care, CPX signed a Memorandum of understanding with Bible Society Australia.[3] Simon Smart has Executive Director since 2018.[4][5]
Activities
Writers from CPX have contributed articles to The Sydney Morning Herald,[6] The Age,[7] and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).[8]
CPX has an online resource library featuring interviews with writers, scholars and commentators. CPX releases a weekly 'Life & Faith' podcast.[9]
CPX runs the annual Richard Johnson Lecture, a series that aims to "highlight Christianity’s relevance to society and positively contribute to public discourse on key aspects of civil life." 2018’s speaker was Nick Spencer, Research Director of Theos, a think thank in London.[10]
The Centre has produced popular and academic works exploring the relevance of the Christian faith, including Public Christianity: Talking about faith in a post-Christian world,[11] 10 Tips for Atheists and other conversations in faith and culture[12] and The Wisdom of Islam and the Foolishness of Christianity.[13] In 2013, Smart co-authored a book with Jane Caro, Antony Loewenstein and Rachel Woodlock called For God's Sake: An Atheist, a Jew, a Christian, and a Muslim debate religion.[14]
In 2009 CPX released an historical documentary called The Life of Jesus[15] that was shown nationally on the Seven Network.
In late 2015 CPX began work on a documentary: For the Love of God: How the Church is Better and Worse Than You Ever Imagined.[16] The project considers the impact of Christianity on the world, both good and bad. It combines on-location filming with interviews with experts, including Marilynne Robinson, Rowan Williams, Alister McGrath and Miroslav Volf.[17] The documentary was released in May 2018.
References
- "Centre for Public Christianity". Centre for Public Christianity. Retrieved 27 March 2018.
- "Greg Clarke to head new national Bible Society". sydneyanglicans.net. Retrieved 27 March 2018.
- "New Alliance Brings CPX and Bible Society Together". biblesociety.org.au. 14 September 2012. Retrieved 27 March 2018.
- http://www.abc.net.au/news/simon-smart/27792
- "Product Details - Pan Macmillan Australia". panmacmillan.com.au. Retrieved 27 March 2018.
- https://www.smh.com.au/opinion/the-generation-brought-up-on-selfesteem-is-struggling-20170413-gvk4ng.html
- Zwartz, Barney (2 December 2017). "Faith: When it comes to religion, as for gender, 'vive la difference!'". The Age. Retrieved 27 March 2018.
- "Finding the holy in Hollywood". Radio National. 1 December 2017. Retrieved 27 March 2018.
- "Life & Faith Podcast - Centre for Public Christianity". publicchristianity.org. Retrieved 27 March 2018.
- "Christianity's Unique Contribution to Western Civilisation: 2018 Richard Johnson Lecture with Nick Spencer - The Gospel Coalition - Australia". thegospelcoalition.org. Retrieved 27 March 2018.
- Smart, Simon (April 2011). Public Christianity: Talking about faith in a post-Christian world. Centre for Public Christianity.
- Moore, Natasha (June 2016). 10 Tips for Atheists and other conversations in faith and culture. Centre for Public Christianity.
- Shumack, Richard (April 2004). The Wisdom of Islam and the Foolishness of Christianity. Island View Publishing.
- Caro, Jane; Loewenstein, Antony; Smart, Simon; Woodlock, Rachel (July 2013). For God's Sake: An Atheist, a Jew, a Christian and a Muslim debate religion. Macmillan Publishers.
- https://www.publicchristianity.org/scenes-from-the-life-of-jesus-documentary/
- "For the Love of God: How the Church is better + worse than you ever imagined". Centre for Public Christianity. Retrieved 27 March 2018.
- "'We need to be honest about the failings of the church'". eternitynews.com.au. Retrieved 27 March 2018.