Christianity has existed in Australia since the arrival of the first fleet dated in 1788, and was basically the most dominant religion as there was only a minor of other religious followers such as Islam and Judaism. In today's modern world, Christianity is still the most popular religion and has the greatest number of followers in Australia by far. Over 70 percent of the Australian population is Christian and the most popular branches of Christianity are Catholicism and Anglican. However, Christianity has suffered a decline over the past few years. In 1996 Catholicism dropped0.5 percent from 1991 and Anglican fell 2 percent from 1991 to 1996. Christianity will continue to be in danger of decline due to the many reasons such as immigration, attraction of other religions, materialism and bad reputation.
History of Christianity in Australia.
Christianity first came to Australia in 1788 with the Reverend Richard Johnson, a Church of England (Anglican) minister, who sailed with the First Fleet. He was licensed as chaplain to the Fleet and the settlement. On 3 February 1788 he conducted the first Christian service in Australia under a gum tree. With his wife, Mary he administered to 1,100 convicts, soldiers and settlers of several religions and many denominations of Christianity, financed the first church building completed in 1793 and established the colony's first school near Circular Quay. Since then Christianity spread to different parts in Australia and became the dominant religion. .
Immigration.
Australia is a multicultural society, which people all over the world such as Asia, Europe and the Middle East migrate to live a better life. Therefore as immigrants migrate to Australia, various religions that differ from Christianity with different beliefs and traditions are being introduced in Australia, which will lead to a decline in Christianity. This includes Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism and Jehovah Witnesses.
