Australia's Christian Heritage

 

by Graham McLennan

It is encouraging (and educational) to look at some of the godly elements displayed in Australia's colonial history, and its foundations.

Our oldest parliament in NSW opens with this prayer. "Almighty God we humbly beseech thee to vouchsafe thy blessing upon this parliament, direct and prosper our deliberations to the advancement of thy glory and the true welfare of the people, our State and Australia. Amen."

A similar prayer is said in our Federal Parliament. Our Australian Constitution was prayed over continually by the man mainly responsible for its passage through the House of Commons. Alfred Deakin, who was later to become Prime Minister, regarded the Federal Constitution as providential and that it only came into being through a series of miracles. The Constitution Preamble states: "Whereas the people of New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Queensland; and Tasmania humbly relying on the blessing of Almighty God, have agreed to unite in one indissoluble Federal Commonwealth under the Crown of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and under the Constitution hereby established...." This preamble was in response to numerous signed petitions from people from every colony represented in the Federal Convention.

Our Constitutional Christian Monarchy likewise expressed the Lordship of Christ when the Queen was presented with the Bible: "to keep your Majesty ever mindful of the law and the Gospel of God as the rule for the whole of life and government of Christian Princes, we present you with this Book, the most valuable thing this world affords. Here is wisdom; this is the royal law; these are the lively oracles of God." When the Orb was delivered to the Queen the Coronation Service stated: "Receive this Orb set under the cross, and remember that the whole world is subject to the power and empire of Christ our Redeemer." Our Australian flag has four Christian crosses. In the Southern Hemisphere God has placed the Southern Cross which is specially incorporated into our national flag, along with the crosses of St Andrew, St Patrick and St George.

As Christians we need to reflect on our foundations and recognise the hand of God in the commencement of a Christian nation in the Pacific within reach of the great Asian nations. While many Australians look to a convict past with its fear of authority and feeling of inferiority and isolation, there is another history; that of our Christian forefathers and their faith and contribution to the kingdom of God - a positive affirmation of a nation with a providential destiny.

It was Portuguese Catholic, Magellan who opened up the South Seas to the Europeans. Magellan's main purpose was to convert the barbarous nations to Christ. It was his faith that sustained him through terrible deprivations until a strait was found into the Pacific. Pedro Fernandez de Quiros, another Portuguese Catholic, was also seeking to convert the Inhabitants of the south seas to Christianity and believed he finally had discovered "Australia Del Espiritu Santo" - a land he dedicated to the Holy Spirit - which he described as being the region of the south as far as the pole. Since he in fact discovered Vanuatu (the New Hebrides) the region he described includes all of Australasia, which encompasses New Zealand as well.

Abel Tasman was the first European to sight New Zealand and Tasmania and on his return wrote in his journal "God be praised and thanked for this happy voyage." Tasman was encouraged by the voyages of Christopher Columbus who stated: "... It was the Lord who put into my mind - I could feel His hand upon me - the fact that it would be possible to sail from here to the Indies. All who heard of my project rejected it with laughter, ridiculing me.... There is no question that the inspiration was from the Holy Spirit, because He comforted me with rays of marvellous illumination from the Holy Scriptures... For the execution of the journey to the Indies I did not make use of intelligence, mathematics, or maps.

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