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The early arrival of the missionaries in Aotearoa set the scene for a new 'moral colony' that would be founded on religious precepts and modern Christian beliefs. It did not take long for a combination of circumstances to confound the aspirations of the Church Missionary Society, the Church in Rome and all those who followed.
Historian Peter Lineham examines Christianity in New Zealand through the lens of cultural development, and asks: If the various denominations and faiths set out to shape New Zealand, how did the very fluid fact of New Zealand change those faiths? From the Presbyterian south to the enclaves of Catholicism, who shaped whom? And what is the legacy of that influence? Why do we have afternoon tea? And what were debutante balls? Religion had a hand in the societal habits and milestones we all take for granted.
Professor Peter Lineham has for many years written and lectured extensively on the religious history of New Zealand, although his earliest work, still continuing, was on the eighteenth- and nineteenth-century history of British Protestant sects. His recent work has focused on broader trends in contemporary religion, although he has not lost his fascination with the nineteenth-century adjustment of religion within New Zealand. His most recent book is Destiny: the Life and Times of a Self-made Apostle (Penguin, 2013). He is currently engaged in various projects on new religious movements in New Zealand, and on Brethren, Protestant, Evangelical and Anglican history.
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