Guests at the University of Sydney’s St John College were treated to a talk from noted journalist Greg Sheridan AO at the annual Kathleen Burrows Research Institute Lecture.
Instead of his views on the state of the world, The Australian’s foreign editor treated his audience to a short history of the early Christians and the reasons why Christianity is good for society.
Sheridan has written two books on Christianity called God is Good for You and Christians: The Urgent Case for Jesus in Our World and is preparing for the release of his third, which will focus on the lives of early Christians in the centuries after Jesus’ life.
His first book is based on the Old Testament and the second is based on the New Testament, and he said with the imminent arrival of his newest, it would be a trilogy on the faith.
Sheridan discussed life as a journalist and as a Christian, and said his first book on the faith was only published because he had good standing with the publishers. As a pro-Christian book, he never expected it to be a success.
“I started by writing articles in the paper about (the faith) and the readers encouraged me,” he said.
“They were terrifically positive.”
Sheridan said this reaction spurred his decision to write God is Good for You, which later became a best-seller.
In attendance were Archbishop Anthony Fisher OP, Catholic Schools NSW CEO Dallas McInerney, Catholic NSW Chairman Mark Dorney, and others.
Previous speakers at the Kathleen Burrows Research Institute Lecture include Archbishop Fisher, NSW Premier Chris Minns, and High Court Justice Jacqueline Gleeson.
The Kathleen Burrows Research Institute is a research unit within Catholic Schools NSW that conducts and publishes research on contemporary issues in school education to promote the advancement of education in all school sectors in Australia.
