Clifford Allan Wilson PhD MRE MA (1923 - 2012)

Born 10 May 1923 in Concord West, New South Wales, Australia

Ancestors

Husband of Avis (Williams) Wilson — married 1942 in Concord, New South Wales, Australia

Husband of Barbara Joan (Baddeley) Wilson — married about 1998 in Victoria, Australia

Died 4 Apr 2012 at age 88 in Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia

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Biography

Cliff Wilson PhD MRE MA is Notable.

Doctor Clifford Wilson PhD MREd MA BD was a soldier, sailor, missionary, archaeologist, pastor, educator, psychologist, public speaker, and author.

Formative years

Cliff Wilson PhD MRE MA was born in New South Wales, Australia

Clifford Allan 'Cliff' Wilson was born on 10th May 1923 in Concord West, on the southern shore of the Parramatta River, mid-way between Parramatta and Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. He was the son of William Wilson. ^[1]

Cliff married Avis Williams in 1942 in Concord, New South Wales. ^[2] Their children are: Bruce, Elaine, David and Lynnette. Dr David Wilson was appointed Principal of Kingsley College, Glen Huntly (now Broadmeadows), Victoria.

Military service

Cliff Wilson PhD MRE MA is a Military Veteran.
Served in the Australian Army 1941-1942
5th Field Ambulance

Cliff Wilson PhD MRE MA is a Military Veteran.
Served in the Royal Australian Navy 1942-1946

On 20th October 1941, as it was seriously looking like an impending war in the Pacific with Japan, Clifford enlisted in the Commonwealth Military Force for service within Australia during this Second World War. ^[3] He was allocated to the 5th Field Ambulance.

Towards the end of 1942, on 11th December, he discharged from the army and enlisted in the Royal Australian Navy (transferring between forces is not possible). ^[4] At the end of the war, he assisted with repatriation of Australian prisoners of war from Ambon Island, Netherlands East Indies (Indonesia). His final posting was to HMAS Penguin and he was discharged on 16th January 1946.

Ministry

• Acting Principal for two years of Clarence High School (a mission-run school) in Bangalore, India
• Founding Principal of Emmaus Bible College in Sydney in 1953.
• Lecturer with the Australian Institute of Archaeology from 1954.
• Senior Lecturer at Melbourne Bible Institute from 1961–68.
• Director of the Australian Institute of Archaeology from 1967–70.
• Professor of Early Childhood Education at the University of South Carolina.
• Professor of Old Testament and Archaeology at Columbia Bible College in Columbia, South Carolina.
• Founding Editor of the archaeological magazine Bible and Spade in 1972.
• Founder and Director, Word of Truth Productions – as well as literature this included many 15-minute radio programmes entitled Stones Cry Out.
• Senior Lecturer in Education and Psycholinguistics at Monash University from 1973–80.
• Ordained Baptist minister, serving at three Baptist churches in the suburbs of Melbourne. He also did pastoral work in the United States.
• Founder of the Pacific College of Graduate Studies in 1980; its aim being to provide distance education for missionaries.
• In later years he was Associate Editor of the Christian newspaper New Life. ^[5]

Bible-land excavations

Cliff was involved in several archaeologocal excavations, including:

• at Gezer, Israel in 1969, on which he was area supervisor of excavations, sponsored by the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion.
• at Khirbet Nisya in 1979: at Ninevah he found a pathway between the palace of King Sennacherib and the temple.
• at Khirbet el-Maqatir, in Israel in 1986 with the Associates for Biblical Research dig team.

Honours, degrees and awards

Cliff earned several degrees, including:

• Bachelor of Arts (1951) from University of Sydney
• Master of Arts in Education (1958) from University of Sydney
• Bachelor of Divinity (1968) from Melbourne College of Divinity
• Doctor of Philosophy in Education with a major in psycholinguistics (1972) from University of South Carolina
• Master of Religious Education (1986) from Luther Rice Seminary

He was voted ‘Outstanding Educator of America’ in 1971.

He was a Fellow of the Commercial Education Society of Australia and a Member of both the Australian Psychological Society and the American Psychological Association.

The Clifford Wilson Memorial Collection, an archeological display curated by Cliff as a labour of love over many years to show the connection between the Biblical narrative and the archeological record, is on display at Kingsley College, the Wesleyan Methodist College Of Christian Ministry and Theology, Broadmeadows, Victoria. ^[5]

Bibliology

Following the popularity of Chariots of the Gods, Erich von Däniken’s argument that aliens had been visiting Earth throughout history, Cliff wrote Crash go the Chariots in 1972. It became an international best seller. This was followed by many other books on the theme of extra-terrestrials, along with a few responding to other themes in popular culture, such as his 1974 book, Crash goes The Exorcist! Where The Exorcist Failed.

He authored or co-authored a few books on language, highlighting the differences between humans and animals, including

• The Language Gap
• Monkeys Will Never Talk, or Will They?

Many of Cliff Wilson’s books were small volumes designed for the mass market. Others were pictorial books on the archaeology of the Bible lands. He contributed a chapter on archaeology:

• Does Archaeology Support the Bible? in The New Answers Book Volume 1, published by Answers in Genesis. ^[6]

No doubt, his magnum opus is the seventeen-volume The A.B.C. of Biblical Archaeology: Archaeology … the Bible and Christ. A Survey.

At rest

Following Avis' death in 1996, Cliff married a second time, to Barbara Baddeley. Their marriage lasted twelve years until her death in 2010. ^[7]

Cliff passed away, aged almost 89 years, on 4th April 2012 on Queensland's Gold Coast. A thanksgiving service was held in Canterbury Gardens Christian Church, Cliff and Barbara's church of some nine years. ^[8] He is survived by his four children, thirteen grandchildren and 23 great grandchildren. He awaits the return of His Lord and resurrection to everlasting life.

Sources

1. ↑ Birth Index (NSW Registry of Births Deaths & Marriages : accessed 22 Mar 2024), index entry for CLIFFORD A WILSON; Father's Given Names: WILLIAM L, Mother's Given Names: ISABELLA; District: BURWOOD; Registration Number: 19073/1923
2. ↑ New South Wales Marriage Index #20525/1942; registered at Burwood
3. ↑ Australian War Memorial nominal roll: N206438 Private Clifford Allan Wilson; accessed 28 Sep 2019
4. ↑ Australian War Memorial nominal roll: S7958 Writer Clifford Allan Wilson; accessed 28 Sep 2019
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1} New Life 15 October 2013Vol. 76 No. 8; accessed 4 Apr 2022
6. ↑ Does Archaeology Support the Bible?; accessed 4 Apr 2022
7. ↑ Field, Chris. 'Tribute to Barbara Joan Wilson', 3 Jun 2010; accessed 4 Apr 2022
8. ↑ Field, Chris. 'Dr Clifford Wilson Passes Into Glory'. 13 Apr 2013; accessed 4 Apr 2022

• A tribute to Australian Christians; accessed 28 Sep 2019.
• Wieland, Carl. Interview with Dr Clifford Wilson; accessed 4 Apr 2022.