I have 12 volumes by the Christian law professor Augusto Zimmermann. He has penned a few more books than this, and he certainly keeps busy with his crucial ministry. In between his lecturing and speaking duties, he keeps coming out with important new books and numerous key articles. Here I want to discuss his two most recent volumes, but before doing so, let me speak about the man and his ministry a bit more.
I first met Brazilian-born Augusto when he lived in Melbourne and was attending Monash University. He moved to Perth and taught there for some years, and has most recently shifted to Sydney. The first ten books I have by Augusto I have already reviewed. They are:
Bear in mind that these books, and his two new ones, were all either written by him, co-written by him, or co-edited by him. And I must thank him for kindly asking me to contribute chapters to several of these volumes. Here then are his two most recent offerings:
Against Tyranny, edited by Augusto Zimmermann and Joshua Forrester (Connor Court, 2025)
As can be seen from some of the above titles, the battle against statism and tyranny ramped up significantly during the Covid Wars. If most people assumed that tyrannical governments were not part of life in the West, the reckless and unchecked Big Brother actions during this period certainly woke up plenty of folks.
Using a health crisis as a pretext to strip away basic human rights and fundamental civil liberties of the masses was a shocking thing to live through, and now many are much more aware of how any government – no matter how seemingly benign – can go full tilt totalitarian in no time at all.
This volume looks at tyranny through various lenses: legal, political, religious and historical. The best way to give you a feel for the volume’s contents is simply to present the Contents here:
Introduction, Against Tyranny – Joshua Forrester and Augusto Zimmermann
1. The Obedient Rebel: Should Christians Always Obey Their Government? – Luke D D Barbrick
2. Law and Reality: A Dialogue Between Herman Dooyeweerd and John Finnis – Renato S M Costa
3. Our Present Fight Against Tyranny – Kevin Donnelly AM
4. What Invites Tyranny? A Post-Covid Reflection on the Individual and Social Contributors to Social Enslavement – Gigi Foster
5. C H Douglas on Tyranny: Its Nature, Origins and Remedies – M Oliver Heydorn
6. Rex Non Potest Peccare an Rex Est Super Legem: A Study on Property Rights in Western Australia with Particular Attention to Land Tax – Susan Hoddinott
7. Against Tyranny of Religious Neutrality: A Comparative Perspective of the French and American Approaches to Religious Freedom in Public School Systems – Weronika Kudla
8. C S Lewis, Tyranny, Technology and Transcendence – Bill Muehlenberg
9. Rise of a Power Class in ‘Sheepskins’: A Threat to Humanity – Monika Nagel
10. Institutional Despotism: A Preliminary Etiology – Steven Alan Samson
11. Constitutional Monarchy or Elective Dictatorship? Why Australia has Become an Elective Dictatorship – Augusto Zimmermann and Gabriël A. Moens AM
12. Legal Note – Review of Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization – Christopher Brohier
This terrific collection of essays is a must read, given that the things being warned about here simply seem to get worse with each passing month.
Against Tyrannyby Forrester, Joshua (Editor), Zimmermann, Augusto (Editor)
The Battle for the Soul of Western Civilisation, Augusto Zimmermann and Gabriel Moens (Connor Court, 2025)
As I just said above, the new battleground for creeping totalitarianism and the loss of our culture and our freedoms is now squarely located in the West. We need no longer simply focus on places like North Korea or Communist China, or Muslim majority nations. It is the West itself that is now under threat of being eviscerated from those within.
So while we still must be alert to the many threats from without, our internal struggles and conflicts dare not be ignored. The four main parts of this book speak to four major challenges: The socialist ogre; The war on free speech; the politics of gender; and the unpalatable engagement with conflict.
As to the socialist threat, we already have clear warnings from other parts of the West, including Europe and the UK. Australia is well on its way in to becoming a third world nation by its dogged pursuit of harmful and destructive economic and political policies being pushed by Labor and the Greens – and sadly too many Liberals.
The war on freedom of speech down under is proceeding at breakneck speed. The latest hate crime laws that have gone almost totally unchallenged simply contributes to the death of critical thought and free speech. Mass migration and the growth of Islam in Australia is contributing to this as well, and few have the guts or determination to start calling all this out.
Sadly too, Australia is leading much of the West in destructive gender warfare. Radical feminists, trans activists, fake marriage proponents, and other sexual revolutionaries are having a field day here, with women and children especially being the main victims.
Culture wars and civil wars are breaking out all over the place, and too often those who are most concerned about all this are doing little or nothing to resist it. Of course the other side seems to have all the advantages here, and lawfare is one chief tool being used to silence opposing voices.
Underpinning all these flash points is the deliberate rejection of, and assault on, our Christian past. What made Australia and the West great is now being treated with contempt and disdain, not just by academia, the media, and the secular left, but by so many of our political rulers as well.
Cultural and civilisational suicide can be the only outcome of such internal assaults. Given all this, the book’s penultimate chapter looks at the question of “When Is It Lawful to Disobey the Law?” Good question indeed.
That is now where we are at in Australia and the West. But the authors have not thrown in the towel. One of the books concluding paragraphs says this:
As academics who value freedom and wish to advocate for our fellow citizens, we remain fully committed to the advancement of the common good. We feel a moral duty to stay on the side of those who are forced to endure this dramatic situation, a situation that we believe is not going to be resolved without the level of courage required of those who wish to restore the values and traditions that were bestowed on us by our forefathers, sometimes at the cost of much blood, sweat and tears.
As mentioned, it is getting ever more difficult to keep up with this prolific Christian legal expert and social commentator. Vital new books and articles keep on coming. Can I encourage you to grab a few of these useful works? You will profit tremendously from perusing these excellent volumes.
Thank you, Bill, for your excellent write-up of Christian law professor Augusto Zimmermann’s life and work.
You’re doing far better than I am in keeping up with Augusto’s vast published output!
Not only have you read all his books; but, as can be seen in your post above, you’ve also written detailed reviews of them.
In my opinion, Augusto’s book, Western Legal Theory: History, Concepts and Perspectives (Sydney: LexisNexis Butterworths, 2012), deserves to be studied by every first-year law and humanities undergraduate.
It is brilliantly conceived, comprehensive in its scope and eminently readable.
I intend, in the very near future, to read Augusto’s Christian Foundations of the Common Law, 3 vols (Brisbane: Connor Court, 2018), Vol. 1: England; Vol. 2: The United States; and Vol. 3: Australia.
Like you, Bill, Augusto is a man with a mission to rally people to save Christian civilisation.
Thank you, Bill, for your excellent write-up of Christian law professor Augusto Zimmermann’s life and work.
You’re doing far better than I am in keeping up with Augusto’s vast published output!
Not only have you read all his books; but, as can be seen in your post above, you’ve also written detailed reviews of them.
In my opinion, Augusto’s book, Western Legal Theory: History, Concepts and Perspectives (Sydney: LexisNexis Butterworths, 2012), deserves to be studied by every first-year law and humanities undergraduate.
It is brilliantly conceived, comprehensive in its scope and eminently readable.
I intend, in the very near future, to read Augusto’s Christian Foundations of the Common Law, 3 vols (Brisbane: Connor Court, 2018), Vol. 1: England; Vol. 2: The United States; and Vol. 3: Australia.
Like you, Bill, Augusto is a man with a mission to rally people to save Christian civilisation.
Thanks for that John.