The Presentation of the Bible to Her Majesty the Queen
at her Coronation June 1953
by the moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland
'The most valuable thing that this world affords.
Here is wisdom;
This is the royal law;
These are the oracles of God'.
There are plans to bring about a greater recognition of the first Parliament being a Christian service.
Elizabeth Macarthur has been referred to as “Australia’s first and greatest lady”. Upon her death in 1850, her grand-daughter wrote of her: “Through all the difficulties and trials that beset her path, her Christian spirit shines forth, and in all her letters to her children, with whom she corresponded regularly until her death, there is found no complaining or ill-natured word”.
Have you ever wondered about the woman on the old five dollar note? For 30 years she helped Australian immigrants. Her name - Caroline Chisholm and she was known as the immigrants' friend. What was she like?
Soldiers of the Cross - the first feature length film ever produced. But who made it?
Emblazoned over the gates of what used to be Dacau concentration camp is this sombre warning:"Those who refuse to learn the lessons of history will be condemned to re-live them." Are today's Australians learning the lessons of history?
On the first Sunday of February each year we celebrate the arrival of the Gospel of Jesus Christ on Australia’s shores.
Download this brochure to learn more
Speech by Dr Graham McLennan on the 226th Anniversary of the First Christian Service in Australia by the Rev Richard Johnson. Richard Johnson Square, Bligh St Sydney
Many Christians were instrumental in the formation of South Australia, amongst them was a man named Robert Torrens who stated in a speech in the House of Commons in 1827 that "we are co-operating in the scheme of Providence and are the favoured instruments in causing Christian civilisation to 'cover the earth as the waters cover the sea!' "
A talk by Dr. Graham McLennan for the Christian Fellowship Tours, Bathurst, March 2022.
The Christian History Research website contains a large collection of information and resources to help you understand more about Australia's Christian heritage. Resources can be used online and many can be downloaded for educational use and personal research.
Included on the site you will find interactive applications, books, documents, maps, video, audio, and more. Whatever your purpose is for researching Australia's Christian history, we trust you will find this site helpful.
Correction on Caroline Chisholm: Later, when marrying, she became a Catholic. There was a condition that her husband Captain Archibald Chisholm would support her if God was to call her to a special act of public service.
Dr. Kevin Donnelly AM, Senior Research Fellow at the Australian Catholic University, is one of Australia's leading education authors and commentators. Kevin co-chaired the review of the National Curriculum in 2014.
John talks to him about the state of school education in Australia today and expounds some of the reasons why Australian students are not performing as well now as they did in previous generations. An excellent interview of 45 minutes.
A/Professor Stuart Piggin talking on Australia's Cultural Heritage.
with world-renowned Stanford University Historian Niall Ferguson about the history, standing, and trajectory of Western Civilisation.
with Dr. Augusto Zimmerman on his First Volume of "Christian Foundations of the Common Law"
Read reviews and purchase here
Queen Elizabeth II (1926-2022)
...the longest-living and longest-reigning British monarch, died at the age of 96 at Balmoral Castle in Scotland.
To learn more, follow the links on this site:
The Queen's funeral and committal services:
The third and final volume of the 3-volume collection on the ‘Christian Foundations of the Common Law’ Volume III: Australia by Prof Augusto Zimmermann (Connor Court, 2018). This final volume traces the historical and inextricable nexus between Australian law and Christianity.
While the Australian legal tradition cannot lay claim to the historical depth it has in America and England, it was undeniably built on a similar solid Christian foundation. To state that Christianity is infused in both the legal and governmental institutions and customs of Australia is a fact which history fully supports.
First the Battle of Beersheba led to the liberation of Jerusalem, the following year the Battle of Megiddo led to the liberation of Israel. Read more about the Battle of Megiddo at the website of The National Army Museum, London.
Canon DJ Garland and Trans-Tasman Commemoration
by John A. Moses and George F. Davis.
By: Dr Graham McLennan
National Christian Heritage Sunday celebrates the Gospel of Jesus Christ arriving on Australia’s shores. The date for 2021 will be Sunday 4th February.
Australia’s first minister, Rev. Richard Johnson, arrived with the first fleet on the 20th January 1788. Then, on 3rd February 1788, Rev. Johnson held the first Christian service in Australia. This event is celebrated on the first Sunday in February each year.
Evangelical Christians in Australian History 1740-1914
By Stuart Piggin and Robert D. Linder
This well-researched, academic book of 670+ pages says:
"The official religion brought to Australia with the First Fleet was Evangelical Christianity, the 'vital religion' then shaping public policy through William Wilberforce and his fellow evangelicals. That it has shaped Australian history ever since, making a substantial contribution to the public prosperity of the nation, is an untold story."
Attending the National Soul
640+ pages
The authors offer an extensive treatment of evangelical involvement in World Wars I and II and in the wars in Korea and Vietnam as well as social issues from a conservative, progressive, liberal, and Pentecostal background.
A Christian History of Australia
by Mike Spencer. 368 pages and well illustrated.
Our walk with Jesus has transformed our lives, our families, and our communities.
Please (40stories.com.au)
The purpose of this Tribute to Influential Australian Christians website is to provide one form of acknowledgement of the Christian men and women who have contributed to the development of the Australian nation, in which we are now privileged to live.
This 97-slide presentation is a comprehensive overview of Australia's Christian Heritage.
Through this interactive presentation you will be able to explore the lives of many people from Australia's history. You will also explore some of the key events that have shaped this nation.
Emerging from the many sections of this presentation is a picture of the very clear influence of God in the discovery and foundation of Australia.
Take an interactive journey through the life of the man who started the Royal Flying Doctor Service.
Dr. Christopher Reynold's latest book Leaders and Larrikins. Please read the First Chapter which is on William Dampier.
These two books available from Reynold Learning
Reflecting on the Sydney Olympics in 2000 it is interesting to know the gold for the Gold Medals came from the Orange district especially Ophir named after the many Biblical references to fine gold.
Cadia mine near Orange has for many years mined over a billion dollars of gold annually and has sufficient gold deposits in the region to continue mining for several decades.
The first gold nugget found in 1851 was by a Christian family member William Tom and his brother James, two sons of Pastor Tom as well as their friend John Lister.
Pastor Tom preached from Pulpit Rock at Byng especially among the Wesleyan Cornish settlers. Please watch this three-minute video scrolling down to Australian National Days of Prayer which outlines a remarkable day of prayer and fasting in 1838 when the severe drought was broken but only within seven miles around where the Byng Cornish settlement prayed!
As the first payable gold found in Australia, Edward Hargraves received the reward though the Tom brothers first found the precious metal along with John Lister.
Earlier discoveries of gold had been made by Europeans such as the convicts building the road over the Blue Mountains in 1814. As the government didn't want this disclosed threats of punishment were made to them. Apparently, some were flogged to make an impression on the convicts to not spread the word!
National Christian Heritage Sunday celebrates the Gospel of Jesus Christ arriving on Australia's shores. Australia's first minister was the Reverend Richard Johnson. He arrived with the first fleet. On 3rd February 1788, Rev. Johnson held the first Christian service in Australia. The day will now be celebrated on the first Sunday in February each year. The date for 2024 will be Sunday 4th February.
On this website you will find information and resources about:
Participating in National Christian Heritage Sunday
Richard Johnson and the First Christian Service in Australia
Listen to this podcast on Australia's First Minister Richard Johnson and the First Christian Service on Australian Soil.
by John Harris
on revivals by Robert Evans
You can read the whole story from pages 231 to 237 here:
A book by Naval Surgeon and Christian, Dr Colin A. Browning called "The Convict Ship and England's Exiles"
(London: Hamilton 1847).
By Rev. Joseph King
DIDUNO has stories such as the beginnings of the Fairfax Press, Aboriginal William Cooper and Kristallnacht and Andrew Gillison at Gallipoli.
Website: Henry Holden
Henry Holden (1859 – 1926) saddler, motor-body manufacturer
By 1923 Holden’s employed over a thousand men and produced 240 car-bodies per week, more than half the national output. Henry Holden was president of the Baptist Union for twenty-one years, a deacon for twenty-five and a Sunday-school superintendent. In 1904 he established the Norwood Cottage Homes for the aged poor. He was president of the Young Men’s Christian Association...
Read more of his story and and of other Influential Australians...