The following is an excerpt of a book review written by Anne Elvey (Monash University and Melbourne College of Divinity) of Mark Brett’s (Whitley College and Melbourne College of Divinity), Decolonizing God. A shorter version will appear in Pacifica: Australasian Theological Studies (http://www.facebook.com/l/fcccf;www.pacifica.org.au)

MARK G. BRETT, Decolonizing God: The Bible in the Tides of Empire Sheffield: Sheffield Phoenix Press, 2008

Decolonizing God will be published in a paperback edition by Australasian Theological Forum RRP $AUD 33.95.

Mark Brett introduces Decolonizing God as follows: “The argument of this book oscillates between ancient and modern contexts without suggesting, in line with current solipsistic fashions, that readers can only ever recreate the past in their own image” (p. 1). Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander dispossession and displacement due to European colonization of Australia (by colonial agents of the British Crown)

forms the specific, but not exclusive, modern context of engagement for Brett. Biblical texts situated in their own social, cultural and political circumstances supply the ancient contexts of Brett’s work. Using empire, in its ancient and modern manifestations, as one focus of his analysis, Brett interrogates the biblical text with a view to critical recovery of the Bible for a post-colonial ethics. His own ethical stance is clear from the outset; in relation to ‘the unfinished business of reconciliation with Indigenous people… [t]he recognition of past wrongs and the restoration of mutually respectful relationships are projects that have barely begun. A critical theology requires the praxis of repentance and genuine dialogue with Indigenous people. Moreover, the construction of Australian national identity needs to free itself from legal and economic dependence on historic injustices’ (pp.1-2). With this ethics of reconciliation and restitution in view, Brett brings to his analysis of biblical texts “especially those which have been used by imperial interests to support colonisation” categories which have come to his attention in his dialogue with Indigenous people and which may form the basis for ongoing dialogue, in particular the concept of ‘traditional owners’. He holds that a genuine and open conversation with the biblical texts is possible. Where he finds them useful, Brett draws on a variety of critical and post-colonial theorists to inform this conversation.

The rest of Anne Elvey’s book review may be read Theology Network (PTN) on Facebook under discussion topics.

Joe Duggan PTN Liaison University of Manchester, UK