''Eternity'' is an Australian

Christian media Christian media, sometimes referred to as inspirational, faith and family, or simply Christian, is a cross-media genre that features a Christian message or moral. Several creative studios and mass media formats are considered to be aspects of C ...

service that produces a bi-annual magazine and a daily online publication. Published by

Bible Society Australia Bible Society Australia is an Australian non-profit, non-denominational, Christian organisation. It is part of a worldwide network of Bible Societies. Bible Society Australia maintains that the Bible is a significant historic text which has deepl ...

, ''Eternity'' is

interdenominational Interdenominationalism is an evangelical Protestant movement of cooperation among various Christian denominations. History The movement has its origins in the founding of the London Missionary Society, a missionary society, in 1795 by variou ...

, and is not affiliated with any particular church. After decades as Art Director at

Fairfax Media Fairfax Media was a media company in Australia and New Zealand, with investments in newspaper, magazines, radio and digital properties. The company was founded by John Fairfax as John Fairfax and Sons, who purchased ''The Sydney Morning Herald' ...

, John Sandeman, a

Sydney Anglican The Diocese of Sydney is a diocese in Sydney, within the Province of New South Wales of the Anglican Church of Australia. The majority of the diocese is evangelical and low church in tradition. The diocese goes as far as Lithgow in the west ...

, founded ''Eternity''. Having become part of the Bible Society Australia group in 2011, ''Eternity'' shifted away from news reporting in 2022, under new leadership. The ''Eternity'' magazine is printed bi-annually with a circulation of about 100,000, while ''Eternity'' online publishes articles daily. Th
online format
has seven main content categories: # Australia # Faith stories # Good news # In depth # Opinion # Culture # World

History

In 2009, David Maegraith and John Sandeman discussed a desire to address what they perceived as unfair

mainstream media In journalism, mainstream media (MSM) is a term and abbreviation used to refer collectively to the various large mass news media that influence many people and both reflect and shape prevailing currents of thought.Chomsky, Noam, ''"What makes mai ...

coverage of

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

, as well as disunity within the

Christian church In ecclesiology, the Christian Church is what different Christian denominations conceive of as being the true body of Christians or the original institution established by Jesus. "Christian Church" has also been used in academia as a synonym fo ...

. They founded ''Eternity,'' expressing an intention to emphasise high-quality, neutral

journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree. The word, a noun, applies to the occupation (profes ...

to benefit a Christian audience in Australia. A first draft of the paper was called ''Australian Christian''. The name was changed by Sandeman shortly after to ''Eternity'', a word notably used by

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

folklore legend

Arthur Stace Arthur Malcolm Stace (9 February 1885 – 30 July 1967), known as Mr Eternity, was an Australian soldier. He was an alcoholic from his teenage years until the early 1930s, when he converted to Christianity and began to spread his message by ...

. In May 2011, ''Eternity'' became part of the

, a broad-based interdenominational organisation that is a member of the worldwide

United Bible Societies The United Bible Societies (UBS) is a global fellowship of around 150 Bible Societies operating in more than 240 countries and territories. It has working hubs in England, Singapore, Nairobi and Miami. The headquarters are located in Swindon, Eng ...

. Sandeman subsequently moved from owning ''Eternity'' to being an employee of the Bible Society Australia, with Rebecca Abbott becoming Head of Eternity in August of 2022. This change was part of a broader shift in focus away from news reporting and towards faith-based media. Notable contributors to ''Eternity'' include John Dickson, Colin Buchanan
Amy Orr-Ewing

Tim Costello Timothy Ewen Costello AO (born 4 March 1955) is an Australian Baptist minister who was the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Advocate of World Vision Australia. Costello worked as a lawyer and served as mayor of St Kilda. He has authored a ...

Christine Caine Christine Caine (''née'' Caryofyllis, 23 September 1966) is an Australian activist, evangelism, evangelist, author, and international speaker.The 700 Club. (n.d.). Christine Caine: Unleashing Your Life. Retrieved 7 February 2014 from http://www ...

Iona Rossely

John Anderson John Anderson may refer to: Business *John Anderson (Scottish businessman) (1747–1820), Scottish merchant and founder of Fermoy, Ireland * John Byers Anderson (1817–1897), American educator, military officer and railroad executive, mentor of ...

Gordon MenziesNick Hawkes
John Swinton
Stephen McAlpine

Kanishka Raffel Kanishka de Silva Raffel (born 6 November 1964) is a British-born Australian Anglican bishop of Sri Lankan descent, who has served as the Anglican Archbishop of Sydney since 28 May 2021. He previously served as the 12th Dean of St Andrew's Cath ...

Broughton Knox David Broughton Knox (26 December 1916 – 14 January 1994) was principal of Moore Theological College from 1959 until 1985; and considered by some as the "Father of Contemporary Sydney Anglicanism". Knox was born in Adelaide and educated at K ...

, Mike Bird, John Harris
Sam Chan
Dominic Steele and

Philip Jensen Philip Jensen (born 8 November 1967 in Te Aroha) is a former New Zealand representative hammer thrower. His biggest success came at the 2002 Commonwealth Games held in Manchester, England where he won the silver medal. He also competed in ...

. Notable organisations which have collaborated with ''Eternity'' include

Voice of the Martyrs The Voice of the Martyrs (VOM) is an international nonprofit organization whose mission is to defend the human rights of persecuted Christians. History The organization was founded in 1967 by Richard Wurmbrand, a Lutheran priest, also a Pente ...

Australia, Centre for Public Christianity, Scots College, Youthworks,

Australian Christian Lobby The Australian Christian Lobby (ACL) is a conservative right-wing Christian advocacy organisation based in Canberra. It is similar to the other international Christian lobby groups, and seeks to represent Christian citizens and voters of Judeo-C ...

British and Foreign Bible Society The British and Foreign Bible Society, often known in England and Wales as simply the Bible Society, is a non-denominational Christian Bible society with charity status whose purpose is to make the Bible available throughout the world. The Soc ...

, Open Doors Australia and

In Media

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-own ...
(ABC)

In October 2011,

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

radio's John Cleary interviewed Sandeman about the publication's first year. In Julia Baird's 2017 article,
Christian conference attendees walk out after speakers suggest women should grow their hair long, defer to men at work
for the ABC, she referenced Anne Lim's ''Eternity'' article
When cutting your hair can be an ungodly act
which reported on a controversial meeting at a Christian women's conference. In a 2019 article entitled
When you don’t know that you don’t know: Academic misrepresentation of Australian Pentecostalism
author Mark Jennings references John Harrison's ''Eternity'' article
Why the media targets Pentecostals
"

''
The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper ...
''

In May 2018, Michael Kozial quoted Sydney law professor Patrick Parkinson's comments from an ''Eternity'' article
Religious Freedom Push Revs Up: Expectations set about Canberra response while Christian Democrats submit bill in NSW
, in an article for ''The Sydney Morning Herald''. In July 2022, Peter FitzSimons quoted then Investment NSW chief executive Amy Brown's comments from an ''Eternity'' article.

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

In 2019, in an article entitled
Scott Morrison calls for ‘more love’ as he prays for Australia at Hillsong conference
, Katharine Murphy referenced an ''Eternity'' article entitled
Scott Morrison prays for Australia at Hillsong Conference
.

''60 Minutes''

In 2021, ''60 Minutes'' responded to ''Eternitys article,
Hillsong is red meat for media: what 60 minutes is serving up this week
which described the actions of a Hillsong employee as a "story of a drunken encounter and an unpleasant touch". ''60 Minutes'' responded, "If you want to know what's wrong with Hillsong, you need only look at the completely tone-deaf way the megachurch and its supporters have responded to our investigation broadcast on Sunday night".

References

{{reflist

External links

Eternity Website

Eternity Podcast Network
Christian magazines Magazines established in 2009 Monthly magazines published in Australia Magazines published in Sydney