Revelation, Rationality, Knowledge & Truth — Page 236
THE CONCEPT OF GOD AMONG. THE ABORIGINES OF AUSTRALIA explore some avenues of escape to hide behind the mist of obscure, shady explanations. . Such is the case of F. Graebner. While accepting that the 'great god' was certainly a Creator for the Aborigines and a 6 “. . . first cause of, at least, everything which is important for men. . . , he goes on to argue: ' 'But Preuss is perhaps right in doubting that so abstract an idea as the first cause could have been capable, among primitive men, of producing a figure which is always so full of life. ". Like Howitt, Graebner is reluctant to commit himself to the view that the Aborigines could have perceived the attributes of a Supreme Being all by themselves, yet he lacks the moral strength to draw the inevitable conclusion. . A prefixed atheistic bias is evident. . In some tribes of Australia, the idea of one High Gods is found intermixed with some mythical figures around him such as wives, children etc. This does not cast any doubt on our claim that the image of High Gods of the Aborigines is no different from that of God elsewhere in the conventional monotheistic religions. The scholars who discovered the prevalence of such myths have highlighted some of their distinctive features, which help the reader to draw a clear line of demarcation between them and God, with whom they are claimed to be related. It is a mistake to ascribe the same meaning to the so-called Aboriginal myths as normally related to the word 'myth' elsewhere in the world. . Elsewhere, the myths are always created around the figures of gods in idolatrous religions, while among the Aborigines no such 'gods' are either worshipped or revered. Whatever myths the sociologists may refer to were certainly not 230