Anzac spirituality
Subtitle: the first AIF soldiers speak
By: Daniel Reynaud
Publisher: Australian Scholarly Publishing
Published: 2018
Place of publication: North Melbourne, Vic
Language: eng
Number of pages: 370
ISBN-13: 9781925588750
Copyright date: 2018
Subjects: Religious life; Soldiers; Great Britain. Army. Australian and New Zealand Army Corps; Great Britain
Description: We have absorbed the notion of the Anzac into the spiritual core of what it means to be Australian without ever examining the spiritual core of the Anzacs themselves. This study explores the Anzacsâ spiritual beliefs and experiences largely through their own words, taken from the diaries and letters of over 1,000 soldiers of the First AIF. Far from being indifferent to spiritual matters, their writings reveal an interest in matters of the soul more widespread than previously imagined, with significant numbers demonstrating a deep engagement with God, religion and the human spirit. In the pages of this book, we can hear the voices of the original Anzacs speaking directly to us on institutional religion, personal beliefs and spiritual practices, and on morality and ethics that go to the core of our humanity as spiritual beings.