A Bloke Called Jesus is a significant book, first published in 1982, and is now released with a new Preface. This new edition is released ten years after the death of the artist, Pro Hart. Most of our Christmas art and verse have been inherited from English and European sources, but the Christian message is universal and other cultures commonly portray the characters and events surrounding Christs birth in line with local custom. This book portrays the nativity of Christ in bold images of the Australian Outback.
PRO HART (Kevin Charles Hart) was born in 1928 in the New South Wales town of Broken Hill, and spent his early years on a family owned sheep station. A world renowned artist who had for many years an art gallery in Broken Hill and is widely regarded as the father of Australian Outback painting and admired for capturing the spirit of the Outback. In his later life he developed motor Neurone disease and was unable to paint for the last six months of his life. He lived in Broken Hill and died in 2006. He was made an a Member of the Order of the British Empire in 1976.
Norman Habel was born Yulecart, near Hamilton in Victoria, Australia. He was professor of Biblical Studies in the USA from 1960-1973. In 1974 he returned to Australia and established the first Religion Studies Dept in Australia. From 1984-87 he was Principal of Kodaikanal International School in South India. Norman Habel is currently Professorial Fellow at Flinders University. His latest publications are entitled Exploring Ecological Hermeneutics, An Inconvenient Text and A Rainbow of Mysteries. He is a long term student of the Old Testament Book of Job, having written the commentary on Job. In recent years he has been heavily involved in an ecological reading of the Bible and working with First Nations Australia to enable their voice to be heard and to help them de-colonise the Biblical Narrative.
