The first two parts of this book present four detailed historical studies, filled with Geertzian "thick description," of the encounters of Christianity and Buddhism (universal religions with a high quotient of "transcendence") with various primal religious traditions ("biocosmic" or "immanentist") of the Asian-Pacific region, namely, Aboriginal Australia and Melanesia (Christianity) and Sri Lanka and Japan (Buddhism). In each case, the encounters represented a failure of the "great" traditions. In the third, constructive and theological part of the book, the author shows how an acknowledgement of these failures may provide a back door to dialogue.

Social justice is not just a matter of applying well-known 'first principles' shared by all Christian traditions. As these papers by representatives of seven Australian Churches show, Christian approaches to social justice are star- tlingly distinctive, both in their starting points and in the positions arrived at on urgent matters of human rights, sexual ethics and economic justice. Led off by the well-known Jesuit human rights advocate, Professor Frank Brennan, the book includes contributions by: Fr Max Vodola (Roman Catholic), Revd Gerard Rose (Churches of Christ), Revd Geoff Pound (Baptist), Revd Raymond Cleary (Anglican), Mark Zirnsak (Uniting Church), Major Jenny Begent (Salvation Army) and Fr Shenouda Boutros (Coptic Orthodox Church), with concluding reflections by Margaret Coffey (ABC Radio National). This book is the work of the Yarra Institute for Religion and Social Policy, an independent ecumenical organisation promoting scholarship and research on Christian social traditions as they bear on current concerns. Launched in 2009 by Professor Brian Howe, the Yarra Institute is committed to engaging with our broader culture collaboratively to promote human wellbeing. The authors of these chapters come from seven of the Christian traditions which have theological Colleges comprising the University of Divinity in Melbourne, Australia.