An aboriginal woman from NSW recently came into the Tasmanian Creation Discovery Centre claiming she was a Christian pastor. Upon her mention of 2600 generations and 65,000 years of Aboriginals in Australia, I gently mentioned how the flood of Noah, which our display focusses on, and dispersal of all peoples from Babel would mean that Aboriginal people could not have been in Australia for any more than about 4,000 years. This seemed to be an offensive suggestion to her. As I tried to invite her in to view the chart of Patriarchs from Adam to Noah and through to Jacob, to support my case, there was a flat refusal and a suggestion that the ‘spirit’ of the place was not something she felt comfortable with. I realised later, after a lengthy discussion, that any hint of contradicting her authority about Aboriginal matters was offensive even as I attempted to use biblical history to question her conclusions.

The point that all of us who claim to be Christ followers must consider, is what authority do we trust when we examine history and biblical truths? Do we really trust that:
“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.” (2 Tim. 3:16).

The creation issue is full of instances where people try to insert their opinions and understanding of science into the scriptures such that the otherwise plain meaning of them is adulterated. Perhaps the most obvious example regards the days of creation and if they are really literal days or not, but there are many other cases. My encounter demonstrated that the same issue can happen with cultural understandings. When I finally asked the aboriginal woman if she considered aboriginal legend of equal importance to the Bible her answer was “yes”. Furthermore, she made the outrageous claim that Jesus Christ personally baptized aboriginal people in Central Australia, and that there is an aboriginal story in the region of Mount Warning (in northeast NSW) that equates to the story of Moses receiving the ten commandments on Mount Sinai. These legends are supposed to predate the arrival of Europeans to Australia.

Now there is a remote possibility ancient missionaries did make it to Australia and that stories of Christ and Moses were conveyed in some way and perhaps confused, since there was no written language. However, there is no evidence of this being the case and it is pure speculation. The more likely Biblical stories retained by the aboriginal people in some form would include stories from before the Babel dispersal. These include creation stories such as a single creator God and mankind made from the earth, and also knowledge of the flood.

So those who trust the scriptures can see how I had an uphill battle trying to be agreeable to the claims of my Discovery Centre visitor. To state that Jesus was never recorded baptizing anyone, nor travelled any further than basically Judea, Samaria and Galilee during his ministry according to scripture, was highly offensive to her. The final straw came when I was told that aboriginal people are indeed descendants of Noah but were also around before him. Yes, I was confused too, so I sincerely asked how 2600 generations, being descendants of Noah and a global flood that destroyed all flesh fitted together in her understanding of aboriginal history. “You haven’t been listening to a single thing I have been saying” came the reply as our conversation ended abruptly.

Yes, pray for us as we stand up for the truth of scripture and cop criticism from all sides at times. It is unpopular to stand against the world and its scientific and cultural objections to what the Bible clearly teaches. But we will continue to stand for truth on the very foundations of our faith from creation, fall and flood to the coming of the Messiah. We appreciate your encouragement and support as we do so.