Mission History Research Articles

State of the Field Report XV: Contemporary Chinese Studies of the Scholastic-Aristotelian Soul in Late-Ming and Early-Qing China

AbstractThe Jesuit China mission coincided with a sophisticated attempt to place Chinese and Western concepts of human nature in dialogue with Confucianism. The Jesuits believed that they could facilitate evangelization by drawing upon Confucian concepts to explain the soul. In so doing, they and their Chinese collaborators also pioneered a genre of hybrid philosophical texts, which used Aristotelian conceptions of the soul to critique and supplement autochthonous Chinese conceptions of human nature. These texts are not just of significance for Chinese Christian theology, but also anthropology, psychology, and even medicine, given the role played by the soul in both Chinese and Western conceptions of human physiology at the time. Until recently these texts have been little studied except by missiologists who were more interested in their relevance for mission history than for comparative philosophy. Scholarship has perhaps also been hampered by the immense linguistic demands of studying texts that sit between the Chinese and Western intellectual traditions. Recently, however, a number of Chinese scholars have turned their attention to these texts, intrigued by novel philosophical ideas contained therein and their complex relationship to both the Western and Chinese intellectual and religious traditions. Since many of these Chinese-language contributions are published in volumes which are not easily accessible outside of China, they have not enjoyed great visibility in Western-language scholarship. This article will review the major developments in Chinese scholarship and will conclude with suggestions for future research.

Questioning Devotions, Reorienting Commitments

This paper is a methodological reflection on my time as a graduate student studying Indian Residential Schools through archival sources. I broadly survey relevant secondary studies to access the current state of the field and to chart prospective avenues for future scholarly engagement. I suggest that, for religionists, the frameworks of church history and mission history can be selectively utilized to examine the history of residential schooling. I argue that the ‘Indian Residential School’ (or IRS) terminology creates a narrowed understanding of colonialism and assimilative education by disregarding other modes of schooling deployed in Indigenous communities: the day schools and mission schools, but also hospitals, convents, and other church-operated institutions. Largely dating to the pre-Confederation period, mission schools especially fade from view when studies focus on the national model of the IRS launched in 1879 and expanded in 1884. In many regional contexts, mission schools of the colonial era laid the literal and conceptual groundwork for the later launching of the IRS system. By studying the works and the records of specific church bodies, religionists might elucidate with greater clarity the evolving differences, synchronicities, or collaborations of ideologies, policies, and practices among members of church and state over several centuries. Attending to pre-Confederation, colonial history also lends a transnational scope to a topic that is often framed in the context of national history, i.e., ‘Canada’s residential school system’. A global perspective on colonial education could assist historians of religion to assess the legacies of church, empire, and imperialism on Canada’s national model of residential schooling.

A Study on the Beginning of the Mission History of the Korean Methodist Church: Commemorating the 140th Anniversary of Korean Missions in 2024

A Study on the Beginning of the Mission History of the Korean Methodist Church: Commemorating the 140th Anniversary of Korean Missions in 2024

Spatial Expansion, Planning, and Their Influences on the Urban Landscape of Christian Churches in Canton (1582–1732 and 1844–1911)

Canton (present-day Guangzhou, China) has a long history as a trading port and serves as a window for studying the history of Sino-Western cultural exchanges. Canton was a city built under Confucian orders, leading to significant differences (when compared to Christian cities) in urban functional zoning, layout, urban landscape, and methods for shaping spatial order. Therefore, the churches constructed by Christian missionary societies in Canton merit particular attention in missionary history research and urban planning history. Based on local gazetteers, historical maps, export paintings, Western travelogues, and archives at that time, from a cultural landscape perspective, this article compares and analyzes the spatial expansion of Christian churches and their influences on the urban landscape in Canton in two stages. In the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, the spatial layout of the churches indicated an active integration into Canton City. After the Opium War, churches were not only used for religious purposes but also served as symbols asserting the presence of Christians and Western powers (which made the situation more complicated). Missionary societies attracted believers through the construction of public facilities, building Christian communities centered around churches, thereby competing with authorities for spatial power and influencing the urban functional system and spatial layout controlled by the authorities. Comparatively, the Roman Catholic Cathedral has profoundly changed the traditional landscape order in Canton, while the Protestant Dongshan Church interacted more closely with the city.

Reclaiming Voices: We Sent Women First

“We sent women first” could well describe Australian Baptist mission history. Australian Baptist State associations were formed in the crucible of 19th-century history, shaped by divisive issues of their British Baptist heritage and the colonial influences as each pursued an independent identity. Mission work in Bengal, India, inspired by William Carey, the BMS and BZA traditions, was the common factor, and in the six independent Australian Baptist Missionary Societies, women were sent first, starting with two from South Australia in 1882. The first man (also from South Australia) joined eleven of these women for their first ‘Convention’ in 1888.

Multilingual Complexities in the Origins and Development of the Harrist Movement and Its Worship Patterns in Ivory Coast

The Harrist Church in Ivory Coast, West Africa, emerged from the ministry of Liberian William Wadé Harris who baptized between 10,000 and 200,000 people during his eighteen-month evangelistic tour, 1913–1915. This story is full of linguistic complexities and anomalies. Harris himself spoke only English and his own local Liberian Glebo language. He was therefore compelled to work through expatriate English-speaking merchants, knowledgeable of and conversant in local languages, as interpreters and translators in addressing the twelve ethnic groups who heard and accepted his message. Harris encouraged new converts to compose hymns in their own indigenous languages by transforming musical genres embedded in their local musical traditions. Additionally fascinating is that during this early colonial period, the twelve ethnic groups impacted by Harris’s ministry lived in almost total isolation from each other and developed their own hymn traditions for thirty-five years (1914–1949), unaware of the existence of churches and worship patterns in neighboring ethnic districts. Only in 1949 did they suddenly become acquainted with the broader, multi-musical, multilingual reality of the Harrist movement. Since then, individual musicians and choirs from local congregations have gradually begun to sing a few of each other’s songs, though the challenge of becoming a truly multicultural, multiethnic church remains a work in progress. Documentation of these developments include written colonial and early Protestant and Catholic missionary sources and a large number of eye-witness interviews. Primary research methods employed here come from four intersecting disciplines and theoretical frameworks: orality studies, with particular focus on oral sources in constructing historical narrative; religious phenomenology; mission history; and ethnodoxological research.

Local Women in the Christian Mission History of the Protestant Church in Southeast Sulawesi (Gepsultra), Indonesia

In the history of Protestant missions, women do not play a significant role in the collective memory. This study endeavors to examine and analyze the involvement of women in the historical records of the Protestant Church mission in Southeast Sulawesi, employing a feminist perspective. The primary thesis of this article posits that the adoption of feminist perspectives is imperative in order to elucidate the interrelated nature of masculine hegemony, Indonesian historiography, and the marginalization of women as individuals who have been excluded from the annals of missionary history and the collective recollection of the Protestant church in Southeast Sulawesi. The article commences with an examination of women and historiography, situated within the framework of feminist discourse. The results indicate that local women deserve to be dubbed missionaries because they serve as missionary heroes, leaders, and cultural bridges.

Pentecost Mission, Eschatology, and the Embodiment of the Full Gospel in a Wounded World

Abstract Pentecostal mission activity was initially motivated by a commitment to the premillennial return of Christ. This eschatological basis for mission was driven by a number of factors, not least being interpretations of Matthew 24:14, in which the gospel needed to reach every nation before the end would come. But a focus on the next world also led Pentecostal mission strategy away from this world concerns, and Pentecostals have long been criticized for a history of mission that involved proclamation of a future hope without any form of present-day relief. In an increasingly wounded world, such an approach becomes less and less palatable, which is why there has now been a significant shift towards social justice and welfare aspects of mission within Pentecostal efforts. However, it has been argued that the relegation of eschatological motivation to the periphery of mission has detrimental consequences for Pentecostal mission as a whole and therefore needs to be rethought (Ma and Ma 2010:280). This article endeavors to contribute to this discussion by drawing together theological and missiological reflections on the Pentecostal full gospel to reflect on whether such relegation is inevitable, or whether an amended eschatological vision is still helpful for mission efforts in a wounded world.

The Economics of Missionary Colonialism: Evaluating the Church Missionary Society's Complicity in Dispossessing the Tsimshian of Metlakatla, 1882–1887

The 1882 religious schism in the mission village of Metlakatla, British Columbia, and the subsequent battle over land rights between the Tsimshian First Nations and settler governments, are some of the most extensively analysed events in the history of missions in nineteenth‐century Canada. Yet historians have overlooked the role played by the Church Missionary Society in perpetuating these events. Most importantly, historians have failed to ask why a society that was in financial difficulties and that regularly abandoned mission stations all over the world was so determined to hold on to this one station. The Society's official story was that it needed to protect its converts from persecution, but this article argues that two economic factors also contributed to the value of Metlakatla for the Society. First, competition with Methodist missionaries in the region made Metlakatla a valuable asset for attracting government grants and private donations. Second, the religious schism in Metlakatla undermined the Society's branding as a bastion of doctrinal purity, rendering it necessary to protect the Society's marketing strategy. Attending to these economic factors complicates simplistic narratives of imperial missionary work as only about Christianisation and civilisation, and contributes to ongoing efforts to understand missionary societies as corporations.

THE RUSSIAN-SAFAVID RELATIONS AND RUSSIAN DIPLOMACY IN 1715-1735

The issue of studying the history of diplomatic missions, consulates and embassies is particularly important for the study of international relations in the 18th century. In the absence at that time of a tradition of permanent diplomatic embassies in the Safavid empire, the exchange of missions and the establishment of consulates, together with and diplomatic correspondence were the main forms of establishing and maintaining intergovernmental contacts. This article describes the Russian diplomatic missions attempts’ to ratify the Treaty of St Petersburg in 1723, during a turbulent period for the Safavid dynasty offers a significant perspective on the region's history. The paper relies on official and semi-official historiography, contemporary mainly Russian accounts, and archival dates, as well some secondary sources.

Role of the Russian Spiritual Mission in China in Training of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Officials

Activity of the Russian Spiritual Mission in Beijing helped to strengthen the relationships between Russia and China. The history of the Russian spiritual mission in Beijing is represented by a wide range of publications of Soviet and church researchers. At the same time, the civil service of the mission students was out of the scope of the study. The purpose of this work is to conduct a comprehensive study of the organizational and legal basis of the institute of apprenticeship of the Russian spiritual mission in Beijing, to determine the role of the Russian spiritual mission in the training of officials of the Board, later the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The right to send the mission to Beijing regularly was agreed with both Russia and China in Khakhta Treaty in 1727. In addition, the treaty stipulated the sending of four students to Beijing. The students studied the Chinese and the Manchu languages. Students had to be engaged in scientific activities. Legal status of the students of the Mission was defined by regulations on civil servants. Production to higher ranks for special merits was carried out by the Mission Council with the approval of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. A student returning from Beijing was determined to a further place of state civil service as it was decided by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. As a whole, apprenticeship as a part of the Russian spiritual mission became a factor of successful career growth and a certain social lift for many students of the mission. The author concludes that the institute created under the spiritual mission was an effective mechanism for training highly qualified specialists for diplomatic activities.

More than a Biography . . . Emma Wild‐Wood on Religious Change and African Agency in the Missionary History of Uganda and Eastern Africa

More than a Biography . . . Emma Wild‐Wood on Religious Change and African Agency in the Missionary History of Uganda and Eastern Africa

Bible Study as Postcolonial Witnessing

AbstractThis article contextualizes Stef Craps’ concept of postcolonial witnessing and Shelly Rambo's concept of the afterlife of trauma to offer a model of Bible study as a postcolonial witnessing to the afterlife. The aim is to identify the contextual and multilayered dimensions of Bible study as a witnessing practice embedded in an Indonesian local Christian community's story of post‐religious communal violence and cultural trauma and its rereading of the Bible as a narrative of the afterlife. The community's story unveils an intergenerational community of survivors witnessing life within the intersection of the rupturing presence of violence, mission history, and its collective memory. I argue that a contextual Bible study from the lens of the afterlife imbued with a local Christian community's story of trauma and witnessing exemplifies an intergenerational, intertextual, and intercultural witnessing of life – thus, a postcolonial witnessing – which is relevant to mission studies in the context of trauma history and interreligious relationships.

Arts and mission: An emerging conversation

The relationship between arts and mission has been a particularly troubled one. Today, many believe that Christian mission has too often dismissed, demeaned, or even destroyed local arts expressions around the world in an effort to impose the West's imperial project of “The 3 Cs”—Commerce, Christianity, and Civilization. But a new conversation is emerging that examines more closely the intersectional relationship between arts and mission when they are understood and carried out in more fruitful and healthy ways. In this introductory article to the April 2024 issue of “Transformation,” five conversation areas between the arts and mission are explored: Biblical roots, creative expressions, mission history, cultural influences, and worship practices. Subsequent articles throughout this issue of the journal then illustrate the five conversations in more detail.

Orthodox Old Believers in the synthesis of cultures of the Trans-Baikal region (on the history of Spiritual Missions of Transbaikalia)

Orthodox Old Believers in the synthesis of cultures of the Trans-Baikal region (on the history of Spiritual Missions of Transbaikalia)

So fresh, so clean: Cloud forensic analysis of the Amazon iRobot Roomba vacuum

The advent of the smart home has been made possible by Internet of Things (IoT) devices that continually collect and transmit private user data. In this paper, we explore how data from these devices can be accessed and applied for forensic investigations. Our research focuses on the iRobot Roomba autonomous vacuum cleaner. Through detailed analysis of Roomba's cloud infrastructure, we discovered undocumented Application Program Interfaces (APIs). Leveraging these APIs, we developed PyRoomba – an open-source Python application that acquires a Roomba's complete mission history and navigational data. From this information, PyRoomba generates detailed mission logs and maps of navigated spaces, informing the user about mission duration, detected objects, degree of coverage, and encrypted image captures. We compared the outcomes of PyRoomba with Roomba's mobile application across six navigation runs in two environments of different sizes. We found that PyRoomba provides more detailed environmental information. A simulated crime scene case study demonstrated PyRoomba's ability to detect environmental changes, such as bodies and knives, which were identified as hazards or obstacles. PyRoomba offers a more forensically sound approach to cloud acquisition compared to Roomba's standard mobile application, minimizing the risk of inadvertently triggering the device during a crime scene investigation.

A., The (Un)told Mission History of the Sisters of the Society of Jesus Mary Joseph (JMJ) in India. An Historical Study of Missionary Generations Shifting between Dutch Legacy and Indian Inculturation (1904-1969)

A., The (Un)told Mission History of the Sisters of the Society of Jesus Mary Joseph (JMJ) in India. An Historical Study of Missionary Generations Shifting between Dutch Legacy and Indian Inculturation (1904-1969)

Stationed at the Gateway

Abstract As a missionary with the Church Missionary Society, Claud Field lived and worked in Peshawar between the years of 1892 and 1903. At the time, Peshawar was a geopolitically sensitive and missionally strategic city, and subsequent to Field’s missionary years there, he began writing and translating publications relating to the history of mission, the Afghan people and culture, notable figures of Islamic history, and Christian-Muslim relations. However, Field is little known today. This research introduces Field and a historical puzzle regarding his shift in tone, reviews his first five published books, analyses the import of the books for his time, offers an explanation to the historical puzzle, and concludes with a call for further research into Field’s life and publications. These findings help to begin filling the gap of historical research and literary criticism of Field’s corpus of works.

Oldendorp’s “Amina”

Abstract This article seeks both to model an approach to African and diasporic ethnonyms and to contribute to a long-running debate on the significance of “Mina”/ “Amina,” an ethnonym that was widespread throughout the Americas. In a narrow sense, it argues that the term “Amina,” as used in one key source, C.G.A. Oldendorp’s history of the Moravian missions in the Danish Caribbean, signified the Asante state, specifically, and not the broader pan-Akan identity implied in some sources, nor the narrower “Aquambo” identity that emerges from others. More broadly, it proposes that the proper historical contextualization of ethnonyms is essential to understanding the process of identity formation in the Diaspora.

Protestant Missions in the Igbo Heartland: Strategies and Impacts of Anglicanism and Adventism in Owerri Province, 1905-1950

The history of Christianity in Owerri area especially since 1902 after the historic Arochukwu expedition has been an impressive one. It is to be noted that this much celebrated spread of Christianity in the Igbo heartland was the hand work of mainly the Protestant missions. Yet the history of Protestant missions in the area has not received commensurable scholarly attention. This study is a systematic intent to re-examine and reconstruct the history of Protestant Christianity in Owerri area from 1902 to 1950. The study focuses on the strategies and approaches used by Anglicans and Adventists in the region to promote their particular brands of Christianity and leave their impacts amongst the indigenes. Qualitative research approach was adopted for data collection through primary and secondary sources. Data collected were analyzed using phenomenological approach. The study reveals that the Protestant missionaries had a significant impact on the daily life of the people, influencing the region’s education system, economic development, health care system, human capital development through the engagement of indigenous agents, and even some of its traditional customs, and provided a platform for the expansion of Christianity in the Igbo interiors.