Revelation, Rationality, Knowledge & Truth — Page 226
THE CONCEPT OF GOD AMONG. THE ABORIGINES OF AUSTRALIA left, in view of this, to their theories of an evolutionary development of the idea of God. . As for Howitt, even if we accept his tall claim that all. Aborigines believed that if they were not killed by magic they could have evolved into something like the Creator. Himself, it offers no haven of escape to him. In no way does it support the sociologists' myth of evolution of the idea of God. One is amazed how a scholar of Howitt's reputation could confuse the two distinctly separate issues. . The theory of ultimate evolution of belief in one God, from the primitive superstitious beliefs in many gods, has nothing whatsoever to do with the hypothetical discussion of the possible evolution of men into gods, had death not terminated their span of life. At best this Aboriginal view could be likened unto a similar discussion in the Old. Testament in relation to the story of Adam and Eve and the. Serpent. God, according to the serpent, had denied Adam and Eve access to the fruit of the forbidden tree, lest they should become like the Creator Himself, sharing eternity with Him. This similarity between the the primitive. Aborigines' view with the Judeo-Christian beliefs brings their faith even closer to the comity of traditional religions. . One really wonders how Howitt could fail to register this evident similarity. . Obviously, it is the Aborigine way to draw a clear-cut line between the Creator and the created. The message delivered is simply this: the Creator is not only Eternal in relation to the past, He is also Everlasting in relation to the future. He is the only One who possesses these attributes. . No man can ever achieve eternity in relation to the future because every man is mortal. This brings them in line with all the Unitarian religions which share the same belief that. God alone is Eternal and Everlasting. 222