Thirty Years of Mission in Taiwan: The Case of Presbyterian Missionary George Leslie Mackay

Magdaléna Rychetská

doi:10.3390/rel12030190

Abstract

The aims of this paper are to analyze the missionary endeavors of the first Canadian Presbyterian missionary in Taiwan, George Leslie Mackay (1844–1901), as described in From Far Formosa: The Islands, Its People and Missions, and to explore how Christian theology was established among and adapted to the Taiwanese people: the approaches that Mackay used and the missionary strategies that he implemented, as well as the difficulties that he faced. Given that Mackay’s missionary strategy was clearly highly successful—within 30 years, he had built 60 churches and made approximately 2000 converts—the question of how he achieved these results is certainly worth considering. Furthermore, from the outset, Mackay was perceived and received very positively in Taiwan and is considered something of a folk hero in the country even today. In the present-day narrative of the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan, Mackay is seen as someone whose efforts to establish an independent church with native local leadership helped to introduce democracy to Taiwan. However, in some of the scholarship, missionaries such as Mackay are portrayed as profit seekers. This paper seeks to give a voice to Mackay himself and thereby to provide a more symmetrical approach to mission history.

Highlights

The aims of this paper are to analyze the missionary endeavors of the first CanadianPresbyterian missionary in Taiwan, George Leslie Mackay (1844–1901),1 as described inFrom Far Formosa: The Islands, Its People and Missions,2 and to explore how Christianity was established among and adapted to the Taiwanese people: the approaches that Mackay used and the missionary strategies that he implemented, as well as the difficulties that he faced.Given that Mackay’s missionary strategy was clearly highly successful—within 30 years, he had built 60 churches and made more than 2000 converts (Peng 2012)3 —the question of how he achieved these results is certainly worth considering
To tackle the main puzzle, which is to use a critical analysis of From Far Formosa to reconstruct the ways in which Mackay carried out his missionary work, the research will be framed by secondary literature which further explains and reflects the historical and cultural context of the primary sources
Of the pioneer Canadian missionaries . . . Mackay stands out, because he alone created the mission in north Taiwan

Summary

Introduction

The aims of this paper are to analyze the missionary endeavors of the first Canadian. From Far Formosa: The Islands, Its People and Missions, and to explore how Christianity was established among and adapted to the Taiwanese people: the approaches that Mackay used and the missionary strategies that he implemented, as well as the difficulties that he faced. Many Taiwanese, especially members of the Presbyterian church, appreciate Mackay’s contributions to and support for local people (Lin 2017). His activities have been reinterpreted in light of homeland theology and theologies of liberation. To tackle the main puzzle, which is to use a critical analysis of From Far Formosa to reconstruct the ways in which Mackay carried out his missionary work, the research will be framed by secondary literature which further explains and reflects the historical and cultural context of the primary sources. Mackay’s missionary strategies were compared with those of the British mission in southern Taiwan

Hero or Villain?

George Leslie Mackay

Taiwan in the Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries

From Far Formosa

Missionary Strategies

Medical Mission

Delegating Responsibility to Native Ministry

Regular Tours and Supervision

Strategies Excluded from Mackay’s Book

Findings

Conclusions