Search Results (46)

This study focuses on Richard Wilhelm (1873–1930), a German Protestant missionary, employing archival research methods to examine his experiences in China and his contributions to the dissemination of Christianity. After arriving in Qingdao (青島) in 1899, Wilhelm adopted a missionary approach that was relatively new to the German missionary community. Under the influence of the theory of “direct Christianity”, he focused on “cultural evangelism” in an effort to establish a non-dogmatic Chinese Christianity. By establishing modern schools and hospitals, he played a pivotal role in fostering reconciliation between Christian and non-Christian communities in China, thereby enhancing the legitimacy of Christian educational institutions within the indigenous educational framework. Furthermore, through extensive dialogues with both intellectual elites and ordinary citizens, Wilhelm demonstrated that traditional Confucian values are not inherently in conflict with Christian teachings. His missionary endeavors thus promoted the indigenization of Christianity in China and significantly facilitated Sino-German cultural exchange. Full article

Expatriates and missionaries in China played a significant role in the development and transformation of Chinese architecture in the Late Qing period. However, a systematic comparison of their discourses and proposals on Chinese architecture has been hindered by a lack of historical literature and the complexities of fragmented data and methodologies. This article examines and compares the two most influential non-native newspapers: The North-China Daily News in English, edited by expatriates, and The Review of the Times in Chinese, founded by missionaries. By analyzing these two groups’ discourses and narratives on Chinese architecture, the study explores their similarities and distinctions, revealing the characteristics, strategies, attitudes, interests, and opinions of expatriates, missionaries, and non-missionaries in China on the transmission and transformation of architecture knowledge. The research highlights differences in their preferences for specific text types, subjects, and themes on Chinese architecture, as well as their attitudes toward native and foreign architecture, professional education, and architecture regulations in individual and official spheres. Despite these differences, overlapping characteristics and proposals existed among the three groups. The study further investigates the underlying reasons and mechanisms for their similar or divergent mindsets and behavioral patterns, drawing on human responsive psychology rather than relying on postcolonial or cultural theories. Full article

There is an ongoing debate about whether Christian theology has had positive or negative effects on the natural environment. Included in this debate is the role of Christian missions acting in colonial environments. This article investigates the relationship between Protestant agricultural missions and their environments, using the documents of the first World Missionary Conference (Edinburgh 1910) and the third World Missionary Conference (Tambaram 1938), as well as several related documents. Although the history of agricultural missions can be backtracked into the 19th century, they were not regarded as an independent branch of missions until the early twentieth century. In 1910, neither the home boards of Protestant missions nor the older generation of missionaries had any vision for agricultural missions, and traditional culture—including agriculture—was seen as superstitious and full of heathen beliefs. However, agricultural missions developed rapidly in the decades between Edinburgh and Tambaram and broadened into rural missions due to a change in vision. The deplorable rural areas of the younger Christian churches called for ‘rural reconstruction’, and rural missions were welcomed as the most important agents to undertake this challenge. The environment of the church and countryside was enlarged and, by 1938, included economic and social environments, known as the fourth dimension of the church and missions after preaching, education, and medical care. Full article

This study examines the role of Christian missionary interpreters from the Open Port Period to the Japanese colonial era, highlighting their historical significance and influence. During the Open Port Period, missionaries relied on Korean language teachers to serve as interpreters, translators, evangelists, and preachers. Although their English proficiency was often limited, they played a crucial role in early Christian missions. In the Japanese colonial era, elite intellectuals who had studied abroad increasingly assumed interpretation roles, actively contributing to theological education and social reform. This study analyzes historical records, newspaper articles, and existing research to reconstruct the evolving role and broader impact of Christian interpreters. The findings suggest that missionary interpreters were not merely linguistic mediators but key figures in evangelism and social transformation. Furthermore, the study highlights the historical transition from consecutive interpretation to simultaneous interpretation in Korean churches and underscores the need for systematic training programs. Given the growing linguistic diversity in Korean congregations, churches must recognize the importance of trained interpreters in ensuring effective multilingual worship and uphold the legacy of missionary interpretation. Full article

The Catholic missions in early twentieth-century Xiamen represent a complex intersection between Western religious ambitions and the cultural intricacies of Southern Fujian, China. Here, the author examines the missionary work of Manuel Prat Pujoldevall, a Spanish Dominican active in Xiamen, including the Kulangsu International Settlement. Drawing on primary archival records and historical sources, this study assesses Prat’s strategies for governance, cultural adaptation, and resource allocation. The findings reveal that Prat’s pragmatic methods significantly influenced local community dynamics while highlighting the challenges he faced in reconciling religious objectives with shifting political and social conditions. Overall, this paper underscores that the long-term success of cross-cultural missionary work depends on a delicate balance between steadfast religious commitment and culturally adapted management, thereby contributing to broader discussions on the interplay between faith and culture in complicated historical contexts. Full article

Through this article, I endeavor to foreground the topic of colonial education by focusing on how missionaries manifested a colonial mindset in the realm of theological education in Indonesia. This article begins by tracing the colonial discourses of the early missionaries through missionaries’ reports, newsletters, and other historical sources. It continues by delineating the colonial discourses in the development of the Seventh-Day Adventist (SDA) system of education. This survey shows how colonial discourses such as the discourse of othering, anti-conquest ideology, binary hierarchies, hegemonic mindsets, cultural imperialism, reproduction of workers, and a strict disciplinary system are present in the development of SDA theological education in Indonesia. Full article

Since the arrival of Protestants in Brazil, the presence of Protestant educational institutions became a reality. Seminaries were founded at the end of the 19th century, focusing on the training of clergy without much concern for dialogue with other churches or with society at large. Public issues, ecumenism—through dialogue and cooperation between Protestants and Catholics—and interdisciplinary theological approaches only became current concerns in the mid-twentieth century, especially with liberation theologies—both Protestant and Catholic. Before that, however, one of the authors who was able to grasp these dimensions in his theological endeavour was Richard Shaull, who, through his theological method, opened a dialogue with the social sciences in order to interpret the reality in which he placed Christian action and mission. Through bibliographical research and document analysis, focusing on the reading of “The New Revolutionary Mood in Latin America”, a report on Latin America presented by Shaull to the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. Missionary Board, the article aims to show Shaull’s theology, institutionally located, as one that thinks about public issues in dialogue with social sciences and considers its implications for and within Christian churches. In the light of studies on public theology, this paper presents Richard Shaull’s writings as a theological approach to the church, considering its ecumenical stance; to society, considering its most pressing issues of the time; and to academia, through the interdisciplinary dialogue he undertakes with the social sciences. Full article

During the many centuries of interaction and exchange between China and Europe, one of the most complex and ambiguous relationships was that of the Catholic Church and its missionaries in China. On one hand, they contributed to and can be seen as a part of the European imperial project of world colonisation, but on the other hand, they were instrumental in sharing and exchanging knowledge, as well as creating schools and other institutions in the places they created missions. At the same time, attempts were being made within the Catholic Church to promote the development of a Chinese clergy, although this issue remained divisive. This article examines these complex relationships through the eyes of a French Jesuit, André Yverneau, who was in China between 1948 and 1951 and who left a collection of letters back to his family describing these years. His experiences, observations, reactions and attitudes towards China and the mission are presented and analysed in order to re-evaluate some of the main debates surrounding the mission in China in the mid-twentieth century: education, language, indigenisation, and politics, both internal to the Catholic Church and with its relations in China. Full article

This study interrogates the changes in the roles and status of women in the Nigerian Baptist Convention, the largest Baptist denomination in Africa, with over 10,104 churches and about 11 million members. This paper attempts to answer the critical question of how and what processes stimulated and sustained the changes in the role and status of women among Nigerian Baptists from the colonial period to the contemporary era. This paper relied on primary source publications, interviews, and secondary publications, which provided invaluable data in analysing the historical and contemporary issues that have resulted in the changing roles and status of women in the Nigerian Baptist Convention. This study found that against patriarchal traditions that subordinated women to domestic activities in the homes, such factors as access to formal education, the formation of Women’s Missionary Union as an institutional framework to mainstream women’s religious activities, the employment of women with doctoral degrees as theological educators in Baptist seminaries in the 1980s, the ordination of women as Baptist ministers in the late 1990s, and the appointment of women to key positions in the Nigerian Baptist Convention were major factors that moved women from traditional subordinate positions to public leadership in the church. Generally, this has indirectly stirred a process of empowerment for women and agitation for equality with men in the NBC in the past one hundred years. This study concluded that this development has moved women from supportive roles to taking up significant leadership positions within an African patriarchal cultural system. Full article

The 17th and 18th centuries were a period of extensive cultural interaction between China and the West, and also the beginning of Chinese poetry translation in the West. Jesuit missionaries were pioneers in introducing Chinese poetry to Europe. Influenced by the Confucian poetic thought of Siwuxie 思無邪 (no depraved thoughts) and Ricci’s accommodation strategy, the Jesuits translated poems from the Shangshu 尚書, the Shijing 詩經, and the Emperor Qianlong’s Imperial Odes on Shengjing 禦制盛京賦, as well as works by Fan Zhongyan 范仲淹, Du Fu 杜甫, Shao Yong 邵雍, and even the poems in the exhortations of the Ming and Qing dynasties into European languages. These poems predominantly dealt with themes of moral education, the image of virtuous monarchs, and the Chinese concept of the Heaven–human relationship. Through intentional omissions and rewriting, the Jesuits incorporated their religious and political views into the Chinese poetry. Their translated works not only enriched European knowledge of Chinese culture but also demonstrated the complexity of Chinese–Western cultural exchange. Full article

Theological education in Africa is currently at a crossroads and requires a thorough re-evaluation. The framework for teaching and learning introduced by missionaries during colonial times, which often prioritized Western perspectives and ignored indigenous African contexts, does not adequately address the complex issues and needs of African communities today. As a result, the impact of theological practice lacks both relevance and sustainability within grassroots communities. There is therefore a need for a theological framework that is more relevant, contextual, and responsive to the realities and aspirations of African people in the present context. This article advocates for the decolonization of theological education for a praxical approach rooted in lived experiences. It is essential to firmly anchor theological reflection and action in African traditions in order to effectively address contextual issues. This calls for action beyond academic reform towards meeting the pressing needs of the population. This article sheds light on the inadequacies of the colonial framework within theological education, serving as crucial indicators for holistic and sustainable transformation within the field. Case studies drawn from theological institutions, and local churches from selected countries in East, Central and Southern Africa provide nuanced insights into the importance of this transformative process. Full article

This study explores the role of church museums represented by the Tsinanfu Institute in the spread of Christianity in modern China. Established in 1887, Tsinanfu Institute, formerly Tsingchowfu Museum, stands as an early pioneer of church museums in China with the mission of spreading Christianity. It has taken exhibition and knowledge dissemination and social education as its core functions, indirect evangelization and expansion of religious influence as its fundamental purpose, and the Chinese way of localization and the promotion of harmonious relations with the community as its important working guidelines. It has established a new operational concept as a “public cultural museum”, realizing the transformation of the church museum from a missionary venue for the intellectuals to a new type of missionary venue for the general public. The development stages of the church museum operational concept represented by Tsinanfu Institute are mainly socialization, education, localization, and the popularization of higher education, which is a microcosm of the development trend of the Christian Endeavour Movement, Social Gospel, and vernacularization thought. Tsinanfu Institute shows significant research value in studying new missionary concepts and exploring the new way of missionary work in the church during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Full article

This study explores the complexities of mission-state and church-state relations from a micro-level perspective, asking how the missionaries, teachers, and pupils at the Lutheran Middle School in Hunan Province negotiated conflicting claims on church membership and national citizenship. However, Hunan is not a microcosm of modern China. When dealing with nationalism in a Hunanese context, it is sometimes more accurate to speak of Hunanese nationalism rather than Chinese nationalism. This micro-level case study sheds light on the general trends of changing mission-state and church-state encounters, but it also emphasizes unexpected expressions of local Christianity in a context that has not so far been given much scholarly attention. Full article

It can be debated whether a Lutheran identity is still relevant in the midst of ecumenical development in (South) Africa, with special reference to theological education and Christian education. The Lutheran Church is a unique body within the ecumenical family as it contributes to work on the mission of God. Theological education and Christian education are educational centres which aim to promote social justice towards community development. These two educational centres are branches of the Lutheran Church. Taking into account the fact that theological education and Christian education were introduced by European and American missionaries with various church traditions in (South) Africa as part of community development, the purpose of this article is to discuss the impact of Lutheran theological education and Christian education, to demonstrate their contribution in the church, and call for their decolonisation and contextualisation. Full article

Christianity does not have as long of a history as other monotheistic religions and traditional ideologies in Korea, but—especially from the end of the 19th century—its new concepts have had a huge impact on the basic thoughts of Korean society. This paper focuses on the effects of Christianity and the activity of Christian communities on women’s lives. According to my preliminary findings, in the late 1800s, the Christian missionaries and their newly formed communities offered opportunities for girls and women to get education, a profession, access to better health care, and learn self-care. After the complicated decades between 1910 and 1950, South Korea was experiencing remarkable changes, and Christians were an active part of this rebuilding, helping the lives of those who were struggling with poverty, lack of daily necessities, education, and health care. This paper aims to examine the thoughts and actions of Korean Christian communities towards decisions on childbirth, children out of wedlock, adoption, and single motherhood. This study investigates the approaches of South Korean Christian communities towards women related to the above-mentioned circumstances, focusing on the early examples and the last five to six decades. It is assumed that even though South Korea is now considered a modernized country, the government sometimes fails to cope with current problems, and traditional notions are still strong in familial matters. Therefore, not obeying conventional forms may cause social conflicts, or the decisions are hidden because of taboos and stigmas. This research is based on the publications of Christian communities and involves documentaries and case studies, including the baby box operation and adoption. This paper contributes to the expanding studies on Korean Christian communities, highlighting the social norms and their changes generated by new religious thoughts, while giving an insight into the daily struggles of Korean women’s lives when it comes to decision-making about their motherhood. Full article