Two Hundred Years of Australia

In April, 1770, Captain James Cook in his ship Endeavour made the first known sighting by a European of the eastern coast of Australia. In August, after sailing northward up the coast, he hoisted the English colors on Possession Island and formally took possession of the entire land, naming it New South Wales.

The continent was not completely unknown before that date. Dutch sailors and others had sighted parts of the coastline and even made landings. But for the most part they had seen the barren and inhospitable northwest. On the east coast Cook found a new and different land.

Little was done about his discovery immediately. But after the British had their misunderstanding with the American colonists, things began to happen in the south. The British had been in the habit of shipping their convicts to America, and when this convenient solution to their penal problem was no longer open to them, the gentlemen of England bethought themselves of the great southern continent. And so when the first fleet sailed for Australia, it was not carrying a group of idealists filled with the spirit of free enterprise and anxious to establish a new nation. Instead it was filled with a collection of convicts, together with their guards and the paraphernalia of government.

One wit has said that Australia’s first settlers were selected by the finest judges in England. His remark reminds us of their legal standing as convicts, but we should remember that this does not mean they were all desperate criminals, or even men of low moral standards. Those were the days when a hungry man who stole a loaf of bread might get seven years in jail. Many of the convicts were hardened criminals, but many others were not.

At the very least, however, they were all in some sense rebels against authority. They had refused to accept the standards laid down for them by English society. And as a group they could not be expected to be profoundly religious. Religion was part of the code of a society that they had rejected. Undoubtedly some among them had a very real religious faith. But most had little time for religion. When they had served their sentence and were released, they were not likely to build up a strong church life in the free community they formed.

Soon, however, free settlers arrived in Australia, and before very long they far outnumbered the convicts. Many of them were churchmen, and they strengthened the religious forces of the new land, though not necessarily in the old ways. The reason they had left their motherland was that they were not content with the old ways. They wanted to make a new start in new surroundings, and so they helped to develop independence of outlook.

Right from the beginning religious observances were carried out in the colony. The first fleet had a chaplain among its passengers, and when it arrived safely after the long voyage he preached the first sermon in Australia from the text, “What shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits toward me?” But the Reverend Richard Johnson did not receive much support. The instructions given to the governor by the British government included this: “And it is further our Royal Will and Pleasure that you do by all proper methods enforce a due observance of religion and good order among the inhabitants of the new settlement, and that you do take such steps for the due celebration of public worship as circumstances will permit.” But the effectiveness of such a directive depends, of course, on the man charged with enforcing it, and Governor Phillip does not seem to have been greatly interested in religion.

Some of the other early officials were men of real piety, however, and from them came the suggestion that one-seventh of the land of the colony be given to the Church of England. This, it was pointed out, would provide a magnificent endowment that would not only pay the stipends of the clergy but also enable the church to set up a system of schools on the best British model. The proposal was aimed at establishing the Church of England and securing a church-oriented system of education.

Understandably, the considerable number of Roman Catholics in the colony were less than enthusiastic about the proposal. The growing number of Presbyterians were also opposed, and a curious alliance between Rome and Geneva effectively ended the project.

This and other disputes left a legacy of bitterness. When an educational system was finally set up, there seemed to be no way of reconciling denominational differences, and so the system had to be largely secular. This was so in both schools and universities. To this day theology cannot be taught in the University of Melbourne, and, while the statutes of other universities are not quite so stringent, the situation does not differ greatly anywhere in Australia. Since theology has not been taught in Australian universities, there have been comparatively low standards of theological learning. Attempts have been made in the theological colleges (the Australian equivalents of the American seminaries) to keep up standards. But usually these colleges have been poor, and their teachers have had so many duties that they have not produced much significant theological writing.

Education has always been a state and not a federal responsibility, and the attitude toward religious teaching in schools varies from state to state. In some there has been no religious teaching at all. In others, some religion has been taught, often by the use of volunteer teachers from the denominations, or pupils have been allowed to read passages from the Bible without comment. On the whole, religion has not loomed large in Australian education.

There is a myth that Australians are an out-door people, athletic and vigorous, and that they derive these qualities at least in part from living far from the debilitating influence of the cities. In reality, Australians are largely city-dwellers. More than half of the population lives in the capital cities. Yet the myth persists. It is partly responsible for shaping an attitude toward life that makes for a love of sports and other pleasures but not for profound religious feeling.

But it would be wrong to leave a picture of unrelieved religious gloom. Even if there is less vital faith than church members would like, there is also much for which they are thankful. Church life has in fact been quite healthy, though many Australians remain outside the orbit of the churches. Australia has never experienced a real religious revival, but it has had its moments. A number of the world’s great evangelists have visited the country with fruitful consequences. Billy Graham’s crusades have been well attended and have had striking spiritual results. The largest audience ever to gather at the Melbourne Cricket Ground came not to a sporting event but to the final meeting in Graham’s 1959 crusade.

A great majority of Australians claim some church connection. The last census shows the Church of England as the largest denomination, with 33.5 per cent of the population. Next is the Roman Catholic Church, with 26.2 per cent, followed by the Methodist Church (9.7 per cent), the Presbyterian (9 per cent), the Orthodox (2.2 per cent), the Lutheran (1.5 per cent), and the Baptist (1.4 per cent). Slightly more than one-tenth of the people gave no reply to the question about their religious denomination. Since the census, the most significant changes are probably a slight drop in the percentage of Anglicans and a rise in that of Roman Catholics (helped by immigration, especially from southern Europe).

The churches are active throughout the country. They have been conspicuous in the missionary enterprise, and there is a greater number of Australians on the mission fields of the world than the population of the land would lead one to expect.

As the nation celebrates the year of its two-hundredth anniversary, there are signs that life within the church is far from static. There is a keen interest in evangelism, evidenced by attendance at the Graham crusades and by the presence of Australians at evangelism congresses held overseas. At the same time many oppose the old-style evangelism, preferring to concentrate on teaching and on living the faith in the life of the community.

The ecumenical movement claims the attention of many, and the next few years may see a merger of the Presbyterian, Methodist, and Congregational churches. There is a good deal of cooperation among the denomination that sometimes extends to the sharing of worship. The Roman Catholics are engaged in conversations with the Australian Council of Churches, and the resulting working party has issued some noteworthy statements on areas of agreement.

Probably never before have so many Christian youth organizations flourished in Australia. Some concentrate on building up the faith of believers, but many are concerned with evangelistic outreach. Bible institutes and colleges have large enrollments.

With 3,000 square miles of territory and only 12 million people, Australia is by far the world’s least densely populated continent. It is highly likely that continuing population problems will cause India, Southeast Asia, and Indonesia to look in the direction of this still largely underdeveloped and attractive land. At the moment the future of Australia is securely tied to the Western world, but the Asian influence will no doubt be felt increasingly. In the face of such possibilities, if Australian church life at the moment is not so vigorous as churchmen would like, at least things are being done. There is a readiness to experiment, and many are interested. Australian Christians face the future with hope and some enthusiasm.

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