Scottish Mission Research Articles

Alexander Chow (ed.). 2021. Scottish Missions to China: Commemorating the Legacy of James Legge (1815–1897)

Alexander Chow (ed.). 2021. <i>Scottish Missions to China: Commemorating the Legacy of James Legge (1815–1897)</i>

Scottish Missions to China. Commemorating the Legacy of James Legge (1815–1897), edited by Alexander Chow

Scottish Missions to China. Commemorating the Legacy of James Legge (1815–1897), edited by Alexander Chow

Scottish Missions to China: Commemorating the Legacy of James Legge (1815–1897), edited by Alexander Chow

Scottish Missions to China: Commemorating the Legacy of James Legge (1815–1897), edited by Alexander Chow

Paul Macpherson, saviour of the Scots College Rome

The Pontifical Scots College in Rome was founded in 1600 by Pope Clement VIII and still continues its work of training priests for the Catholic Church in Scotland. Paul Macpherson served as the Agent in Rome of the Scottish bishops from 1792 to 1798 and then again from 1800 to 1827. He was also the first Scottish secular priest to be College Rector. Macpherson returned in 1800 with the mission to recover and preserve the College for the work it eventually resumed in 1820. The episode has been treated in previous histories of the Scottish Mission and its Roman College; this article, based largely on draft (‘scroll’) letters of Macpherson in the Scots College archives (SCAR 28/1), gives a close account, from his own point of view, of the extreme difficulties and disappointments he had to face in his struggle to keep his beloved college in existence.

History of Karras Colony and Nearby Settlements of Europeans in 19th — First Half of 20th Centuries at Present Stage of Study

The issues of the current stage of studying the history of the Karras colony and nearby European settlements in the 19th and first half of the 20th centuries are considered. A review and analysis of new sources and historiography from 2000 to 2020 has been carried out. The relevance of the study is due to the poorly studied and fragmentary coverage of the history of European settlements in the central part of the North Caucasus in the 19th — first half of the 20th centuries in Russian historiography. The authors dwell on terminology issues. It is emphasized that the terms-cliches ‘mountaineers’ and ‘Tatars’ are characteristic of the historical literature of the 19th century and are inaccurately used by some authors today. The novelty of the research is seen in the fact that in this work the history of the Karras colony and neighboring settlements of Europeans in the 19th — first half of the 20th centuries is considered based on publications of 2000—2020. It is concluded that there is a possibility and a need for an independent review of the history of the Scottish mission, the center of which was originally located in Karras. The authors proceed from the fact that the history of the settlements of the colonists has a broader chronological framework and the main task of the colonists was not always missionary activity.

The Beginnings of Bible Mission of the British and Foreign Bible Society in Early Nineteenth Century Hungary

Abstract The paper examines the very beginnings of Bible Mission in Hungary within the Habsburg Empire in the first part of the nineteenth century. It divides the first thirty years into two major epochs: the one before Gottlieb August Wimmer, Lutheran pastor of Felsőlövő (Oberschützen) and agent of the British and Foreign Bible Society (BFBS) and the one characterized by his work until the revolution of 1848. In the paper, I summarize the main obstacles of Bible Mission both political and religious as well as the main achievements and formations of policies and practices that still define Bible Mission of the Bible Societies in all around the world. The work of BFBS in Hungary in this period was also intertwined with the formative period of the Budapest Scottish Mission, a topic that I also touch in the paper.

Revivalism, Bible Societies, and Tract Societies in the Kingdom of Hungary: A Multi-Ethnic, Multi-Cultural, and Multi-Denominational Work for Spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ

Abstract The current research paper seeks to investigate how Evangelicals and Pietist, the most fervent of Protestants sought to ‘educate’ the masses outside the educational framework of ecclesiastical and state structures within the Hungarian Kingdom. More specifically the study intends to offer a concise overview of the history of Protestants who spread the gospel through the distribution of affordable Bibles, New Testaments and Christian tracts. It shows how various denominations worked together as well as directs attention to their theological outlook which transcended ethnic boundaries. It is a well-known fact in mission and church history that such undertakings were carried out to stir revivalism. The study also throws light on how influential role the Scottish Mission as well as Archduchess Maria Dorothea played in stirring revivalism through the aforementioned means. The history of these kinds of endeavours, especially that of the most significant ones like the work of the British and Foreign Bible Society and Religious Tract Society has not been treated adequately by historians of religion and education, intellectual historians and social historians. This research output is a contribution to give an account of the multi-ethnic and transdenominational work of Hungarians, Jews, Germans, Slovaks and Romanians working for a common goal.

British Evangelicals and German Pietists Promoting Revival through the Work of the Bible and Tract Societies in Hungary

This article demonstrates how British evangelicals, German pietists, and Hungarian Protestants sought to ‘educate’ the masses outside the educational framework of ecclesiastical and state structures within the Hungarian Kingdom in the nineteenth century. More specifically the study intends to offer a concise overview of the history of Protestants who spread the gospel through the distribution of affordable Bibles, New Testaments and Christian tracts. It shows how various denominations worked together and directs attention to their theological outlook which transcended ethnic boundaries. It is a well-known fact in mission and church history that such undertakings were carried out to stir revivalism. The study also throws light on the influential role the Scottish Mission, as well as Archduchess Maria Dorothea, played in stirring revivalism through the aforementioned means. The history of these endeavours, especially those of the British and Foreign Bible Society and Religious Tract Society, has not been treated adequately by intellectual historians, social historians or historians of religion and education. This account adds to scholarly understanding of the multi-ethnic and trans-denominational work of international Protestantism in Central Europe.

The Rhetoric of Empire in the Scottish Mission in North America, 1732–63

In 1755, William Robertson delivered a sermon before the Society in Scotland for Propagating Christian Knowledge, entitled The Situation of the World at the Time of Christ's Appearance…. He addresses British imperial expansion and its prospects for civil and moral improvement, while denouncing the moral decay manifest in the growth of slavery and exploitation of natives. Through advocating a considered balance between submission to revealed religious principles and the exercise of reason, Robertson stresses the necessity of both for promoting virtue and preventing vice. The SSPCK, an organisation dedicated to spreading ‘reformed Christianity’ as a catalyst of cultural progress (and thus the growth of virtue) among rural Scots and Natives in North America, was responding to a perceived lack of government commitment to this very task. Empire provided the framework for mission, yet the government's secular agenda often outweighed religious commitments. This article makes use of SSPCK sermons from the eighteenth century to trace the attitudes of Scottish churchmen and missionaries towards the institutions and motives driving empire, in a period when they too were among its most prominent agents. This will shed light on the Scottish church's developing views on empire, evangelism, race, improvability and the role of government.

The Industrial Gospel of Robert Laws and the Livingstonia Expedition

It has been widely assumed that academic education lay at the heart of nineteenth century Scottish missions in Africa. This article will argue that a particular form of education that included artisan skills-based, commercial and industrial training was the basis of the Livingstonia expedition led by Robert Laws in Nyasaland from 1875. Inspired by Dr James Stewart of Lovedale, financed by Free Church businessmen from Glasgow and led by teams of tradesmen, the aim of this mission was to establish small settlements that would create a network of trading centres from which commerce, civilisation and Christianity would spread across Africa. The ambitions and character of these first missionaries, not least Laws, exercised a fundamental influence upon the nature and purpose of this enterprise. Livingstonia was the most industrial mission of the modern era in Africa. A practical skills-based education was central to the gospel according to Robert Laws.

Pre-suppression Jesuit Activity in the British Isles and Ireland

Abstract The British Isles and Ireland tested the self-proclaimed adaptability and flexibility of the new Society of Jesus. A mission to Ireland highlighted the complexities and ended in failure in the early 1580s, not to be revived until 1598. The fabled Jesuit mission to England in 1580 conceived in wistful optimism was baptized with blood with the execution of Edmund Campion in 1581 and the consequent political manoeuvres of Robert Persons. The Scottish mission began in December 1581. The three missions remained distinct in the pre-suppression period despite an occasional proposal for integration. The English mission was the largest, the bloodiest, the most controversial, and the only one to progress to full provincial status. The government tried to suppress it; the Benedictines tried to complement it; the vicars apostolic tried to control it; and foreign Jesuits tried to recognize it. Nonetheless, the English province forged a corporate identity that even withstood the suppression.

TO UNITE OR NOT TO UNITE? A CASE STUDY OF PRESBYTERIANISM IN SOUTH AFRICA, 1897-1923

As from 1891, attempts to bring all Presbyterians of Scottish and Scottish mission descent in South Africa together into one church faced insuperable barriers. Their histories and traditions, as well as their demographic and ethnic composition were all issues, despite their similarities. The Presbyterian Church of South Africa was formed in 1897, and the Bantu Presbyterian Church of South Africa in 1923. Discussions on various forms of relationship started in 1891 and continued in the years following the formation of the Bantu Presbyterian Church in South Africa. This article investigates the issues at stake in the attempts to establish one Presbyterian denomination from the disparate Scottish ecclesiastical bodies, using primary and secondary sources and focusing mainly on the issue of racism.

Impact of the Scottish Mission in the Development of Kalimpong

Impact of the Scottish Mission in the Development of Kalimpong

The Colonial Archive as Material Remains: Reflections on an “Endangered Archives Project”

Between January and April 2016,1 was part of a British Library-funded project to restore, preserve, and digitise the archive of the Presbyterian Church of East Africa (PCEA). The archive is held in a small room in the bell tower of St. Andrews church, Nairobi. The collection consists of the records of the colonialera Church of Scotland Mission (CSM) and its successor institution, the PCEA, which was formed in 1956 when the African church became independent from the Scottish mission. When I first accessed it, it was being used by the church as a place to store and dump all sorts of miscellaneous and unneeded objects. As well as the heaps of papers, it contained an old lectern, posters, brochures, parish leaflets, and general rubbish. Depending on one's perspective it could have been seen as not much of an “archive”, or much more than one.

From juvenile criminal to Jewish scholar: the nineteenth-century Protestant mission among Amsterdam Jews which culminated in a murder attempt on a clergyman

This article concerns the assassination attempt by Samuel Abraham Hirsch on a minister, Carl Schwartz, a converted Jew, on 1 August 1858. Hirsch, a member of the Orthodox Jewish establishment in Amsterdam, was fifteen years old. The incident, which took place in the Scottish Mission Church in Amsterdam, was motivated by growing resentment among Amsterdam Jews against the missionary endeavours of the Free Church of Scotland and sympathizing members of the Dutch Reformed orthodoxy. A remarkable fact is that the attempted assassination of a clergyman by a Jew during a church service had no repercussions, whereas a similar event in Eastern Europe might have incited a violent response. This episode can best be appreciated against the historical background of the position of the Jewish community in the Netherlands from the seventeenth century onwards. The present study, furthermore, sheds light on the role of the House of Orange regarding the request for royal recognition of an initiative to convert Jews. Schwartz was injured in the incident, but resumed work after two months. Hirsch was sentenced to twelve years in a correctional institution, and was pardoned after four. Eventually, he moved to London, where he grew into an erudite scholar. He published numerous scientific papers and served for years as the secretary of the London branch of Hovevei Zion (“those who love Zion”).

Boys to manly men of God: Scottish seminarian manliness in the nineteenth century

This article examines what it meant to be and to become a man of God in the nineteenth century. It concentrates on the gendered aspects of priesthood, developed and enforced in the seminaries employed by the Scottish Mission to mould its future labourers. The article sets the ideas in the context of nineteenth-century discourse on both clerical and secular manliness and masculinity. It addresses the peculiarities of the Roman Catholic seminary experience and the paradoxes of developing manliness in this environment, combining ideals of moral and religious superiority, fatherhood, camaraderie, chastity and maturity, developing in close contact with other boys and male superiors in the virtual absence of women. The research relies on archival sources on the students of the French colleges associated with the Scottish Mission after the French Revolution, supplemented by material relating to other Scots Colleges on the continent.

Representations of the ‘State of Popery’ in Scotland in the 1720s and 1730s

This collection of documents mainly consists of manuscripts held in the National Records of Scotland and the National Library of Scotland. The records all relate to Catholics in Scotland in the 1720s and 1730s and to the state of the Scottish Mission in that period. All but one were penned by Church of Scotland ministers and Royal Bounty catechists. The remaining item is a memorial to Propaganda Fide written by a Scottish Catholic. These riveting accounts shed valuable light on the Scottish Mission and on the contrasting perceptions Protestants and Catholics had of the ‘State of Popery’ in the early eighteenth century.

The discourse of self-presentation in Scottish university mission statements

This article investigates what the current mission statements of the 20 Scottish universities reveal about their aims and priorities in the challenging environment of higher education. It traces the origins and use of corporate mission statements and their transfer into United Kingdom higher education and then demonstrates how researchers have used university mission statements as sources of information on a wide range of topics. Through textual analysis, the study identifies the main themes present in the Scottish mission statements and examines the vocabulary more closely, comparing it with the wording of recent policy documents. The analysis reveals that the mission statements convey an overall impression of sameness rather than distinctiveness. Questions emerge about the striking emphasis on competitiveness at national and global level and the surprising lack of focus on some key areas, particularly the student experience. The final part of the article suggests that an understanding of the political context can shed light on why the universities are choosing to present themselves in this way.

Attempting to Bring the Gospel Home: Scottish Missions to Palestine, 1839-1917 - By Michael Marten

Attempting to Bring the Gospel Home: Scottish Missions to Palestine, 1839-1917 - By Michael Marten

Fr. Sir Alexander Strachan S.J. Bart 1727–1793

The Scottish Mission of the Jesuits was until the end of the eighteenth century entirely separate from the English Province with its own superior, houses on the continent and funds. Scottish candidates for the Society were educated at various houses in Europe. In the year 1729, for example, there were twelve missionaries in Scotland (plus one travelling and one in England), there were seven priests in the Scots College at Douai, two in Paris, three in the Scots College at Valladolid and one in Prague. About five were studying in preparation for ordination to the priesthood in the houses of various provinces of the Society, as were four novices. It was not a large mission—there were only thirty-nine members in that year. The last member of the old Scottish Jesuit mission, Fr. John Pepper, died in 1810. Occasionally, individual Scottish Jesuits worked in England or lived in the houses of the English Jesuits on the continent. One among these was Alexander Strachan.