Brian Stanley, The World Missionary Conference, Edinburgh 1910, Studies in the History of Christian Missions Series, Grand Rapids mi: Eerdmans 2009, 352 p., ISBN 978-0-80286-360-7, price US $ 33.00 (original) (raw)

Historiography of missions: Cultural, social and economic implications

Revista Lusofona De Ciencia Das Religioes, 2014

Instead of reviewing here the predominantly Westbased historiographic efforts and pointing out their relative usefulness or uselessness to analyse the history of expansion of Christianity, I wish rather to raise issues that any Church historiography, worth its salt in today's world context, would need to address. My first blunt question for the self-examination of those engaged in such exercises would be: Are not the prevailing historiographies, consciously or unconsciously tainted by exclusive or quasi-exclusive religious (if not denominational) interest, leaving out or handling only marginally, the cultural, social or economic factors that underlie religious developments? I have yet to see any outstanding examples of research and publication which has paid a systematic attention to all the above mentioned aspects and have not failed to analyse in depth the nexus of Christianity and colonialism, a nexus that has moved to a new phase in the post-colonial era. Any historiography that sidelines or soft-pedals when it comes to exposing the historic realities of a large number of "converted faithful" among the third world citizens is bound to continue to serve the Western strategy of dissimulation through the simulation of impressive historiographic research and scholarship.

Christian Missions and Colonial Rule in Africa: Objective and Contemporary Analysis

European Scientific Journal, 2014

The purpose of this paper is to determine the correlation between the nineteenth century missionary enterprise and colonial occupation of Africa. European missionaries entered Africa simultaneously at the very beginning of colonial conquest and domination of Africa. What was the relationship between missionaries, traders and administrators in the colonial era? What can we identify as the predetermined objective of colonialism visa -vis missions in Africa? These are some of the questions that the present study will attempt to answer from the perspective of the historiography of European expansion in Africa.

La mission en Europe, Bulletin du SEDOS [Mission in a Secular Europe], 54, 3/4, 2-4

Bulletin du SEDOS [Mission in a Secular Europe], 54, 3/4, 2-4, 2022

La mission en Europe a-t-elle quelque chose de spécifique ? L’Europe du 21e siècle, en particulier l’Europe occidentale, accueille de plus en plus de personnes de tous les continents, de diverses cultures et religions. Dans ce contexte, les repères se brouillent parfois mais les expériences s’enrichissent les unes par les autres. L’Église en Europe est partie prenante de ce mouvement transnational, qu’elle connaît en fait depuis toujours. Les frontières politiques à ses yeux sont des réalités qui sont appelées à être dépassées : l’Église annonce le Royaume, le rassemblement des nations. Mais concrètement, les accueillants comme les accueillis n’ont pas toujours les clefs pour se comprendre et s’épauler dans des situations inédites. Ce qui manque peut-être le plus aux uns et aux autres, c’est de sortir de l’illusion que la foi se vit comme un en soi, en dehors des cultures.