The Relationship between Missionary Efforts and Colonialism

One of the main reasons Europeans sought to explore the world was to spread Christianity. As far as they knew, the New World had never heard of Christianity, and the Spanish Cardinal Trinlini said that this made them “heathens [who] live a barbarous life”. His motivation for exploring these new lands was to save the natives from their ignorance

Christianity – integrated – Coming of the light – as a driving influence of colonisation

BPQ#4: The colonial experience of Asian and African peoples during the long nineteenth century was somewhat similar to the earlier colonial experience in the Americas. The process of colonization in Africa and Asia occurred with similar missionary efforts to the missionary efforts “ in the Americas centuries earlier, as military defeat shook confidence in the old gods and local practices, fostering openness to new sources of supernatural power” (905). Yet, in the Americas, colonization resulted in higher rates of conversion to Christianity. Also, the impact of the Europeans, specifically their diseases, were much more devastating in the Americas. This was because the peoples of Africa and Asia had already been exposed at some level to European

This books tells us a lot about the relationship between Christianity and colonialism. Originally, the Spaniards went to the New World to convert the natives to Christianity but, they got lazy and greedy. De Las Casas stated that “The reason the Christians have murdered on such a vast scale and killed anyone and everyone in their way is purely and simply greed” (13). The Spaniards only cared about getting the gold and conquering the land. Of course, they had the intention of converting all of the natives to Christianity at first but it was easier to conquer and to just kill the natives in horrific ways to be able convert all the land to be Christian rather than keeping the people and just converting the people. The land was easier to convert than the people. The land was especially easy to conquer because the natives were such a docile group of people and had such giving nature and were always welcoming with open arms. The Spaniards took advantage of that characteristic of the natives. De Las Casas states how the natives were “submissive” by saying, “Their insatiable greed and overweening ambition know no bounds; the land is fertile and rich, the inhabitants simple, forbearing and submissive” (13). The

Islam came about from the trade from the North of Africa, with the trade came religion. The Christian population is largely composed of Roman Catholics and Protestants. The trade with Germany that occurred before imperialism, brought their Christian beliefs with them to the region, so many were forced to convert to a religion, that connected to the people who enforced colonization on them. A 2008-09 Pew survey found that, "51 percent of Tanzanian Christians described themselves as Catholic, and 44 percent described themselves as Protestant”(3) All of the people who imperialized have had some influence towards the religious views. Over time, by imperialism, more people started to convert to Christianity. People looked at the Christian missionaries in one of two ways. The first, people viewed the Christians as saints, they were exemplars of ideal piety because of their successes. However, later on, missionaries were then viewed as arrogant and rapacious imperialists. People started to realize that, this was an aggressive force that the missionaries imposed on them, "some Christians have tried to make sense of post-colonial Christianity by renouncing practically everything about the Christianity of the colonizers. They reason that if the colonialists’ understanding of Christianity could be used to justify rape, murder, theft, and empire then their understanding of

Religious motives of the ‘Old Land’ of Europe’s exploration can be traced back to the days of the Crusades down to the 11th and 15th century, where the European Christians tried to invade and claim the city of Jerusalem from its Muslim control. The struggle between the Islamic rule and the European Christians planted the ideology of ‘Reconquista’ in the latter’s religion. It influenced the Christian religion with an air of religious intolerance. With the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century, European Catholic’s interests in colonizing newer lands and declare global dominance earned a new momentum. And strong Catholic nations of Spain and Portugal were the

It is a fairly well known fact that the colonization of the New World in general, and more specifically, what would become eventually become the United States of America, was heavily based upon commercial endeavors. However, it was also heavily influenced by the desire of people to possess and preserve religious independence. Placing the potential for commercial success aside and focusing on the religious aspects of colonization, the proliferation of various religions over the course of colonial history is quite extensive and, by proxy, its’ influence upon developing colonial societies was far-reaching. Because of the historical significance of many different religions throughout the colonies, it would also suggest that religious diversity was likely equally impactful in eliciting change. All of this leads this author to speculate about how much influence religion had upon colonial upheaval over time and whether or not the ensuing dissent was a major factor in the lead up to The French and Indian War and eventual revolution of the American colonies. To uncover the significance and role religion played in the American colonies, a number of different articles were reviewed, each representing different perspectives, points of view, and empirical evidence about religion in colonial America.

In 1542, a Christian missionary named Bartolomé de Las Casas wrote about the little-known realities of the brutalities occurring in the New World between Spanish conquistadors and Native Americans. Even though the Spanish originally set out to bring Christianity to the New World and its inhabitants, those evangelizing efforts soon turned into torture, mass killings, rape, and brutal slavery of the innocent natives to fulfill their greed for gold and wealth, according to Las Casas. In his primary account A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies, Bartolomé de Las Casas attempts to inform King Phillip II of the cruel acts and injustices committed by the Spanish conquistadors. Despite this condemnation, Las Casas does not reject imperialism, because he feels Spain has the obligation to spread the word of Christianity around the world. Instead, he finds fault with the Spanish conquistadors for implementing this evangelization the wrong way, by both physically harming the Native Americans and, fundamentally, in their underlying perception of them as inferior. Furthermore, the key to the coexistence of imperialism with Las Casas’ Catholic ideas and his defense of indigenous peoples lies in considering and treating these Native Americans as equals and as humanity rather than inferiors.

People often confuse China with Japan, especially when it comes to their history together. Because of this, one might infer that the two have striking similarities. But in fact they have a multi duos amount of differences such as their economies, cultures and politics. As China and japan sport similar beliefs and curiosities towards Christianity and the European Missionaries, they feel threatened due to their underlying beliefs. Disagreements led to China and Japan's economy to launch by establishing grounds and Christianity also took a big toll onto their diplomacy.

The greed for gold and the race for El Dorado were the main inducements of the Spaniards who, at the peril of their lives, crossed the ocean in unfit vessels in a mad pursuit after the gold and all other precious property of the Indians” (Peace 479). The royal rulers of Spain made it a rule that nothing would jeopardize their ability to rob the land from the native people of Latin America. The missionary process, “had to be encouraged, but the missionaries could not be permitted to dominate the colony at the cost of royal rule” (Gibson 76). The European governments established missionaries to cleanse their minds of any guilt aroused by the slaughtering of innocent men, women, and children. When European “ships arrived in the 16th century to colonize the land and exploit its natural resources, they killed indigenous people and brought black slaves from Africa. Millions of indigenous people were slain and their cultures completely destroyed by the process of colonization” (Ribero). The overall devastations caused by the Christianization of the native inhabitants created a blend of cultures within the indigenous civilizations which gradually isolated old native ways into a small population of oppressed people. The Christianized people became a symbol of loyalty to the European powers and were left alone simply on their religious status. This long term mission of total religious replacement caused very strong and advanced

The overall purpose of the Roland Allen’s book is to convey the dramatic differences between the methods of modern day missionary organizations

With the lenses of a good historian, Noll has given us the role American Christianity has played in the changes that occur in global Christianity today. Terms like “American experience”, “American Christianity”, “American Mission”, “American power”, etc., undoubtedly express the American role in the expansion of Christianity. As they attempted to spread the gospel, Americans, by large, decontextualized neither their theology nor their understanding of missions. Hence, Noll rightly described in his book“…How American Experience Reflects Global Faith.” Both American orthodoxy and orthopraxis were taught and reinforced as a golden standard in various parts of the world.

In the first chapter of “Christianity Rediscovered” by Vincent J. Donovan he is introducing us to the idea that missionaries now have a poor reputation due to their history. He says “History has offered the opportunity to deflect and distort the meaning of missionary work in every age”. For a long time a missionary was a person spreading the word of God and after years of doing so we have diminished many different beliefs, practices, cultures and history. At the time it was thought to be the right thing, to spread out and share the gospel to help people find meaning and acceptance. In today’s age a missionary is a lot of different things, in many cases it is more focused on the health and physical wellbeing of the people. Many people still share the gospel through missionary work, but in other cases it is more of a material aid. Donovan introduces the book as a voyage of discovery he wants us to put our normal beliefs aside to see his perspective of living a missionaries life and struggling with the fact of if you are helping or hurting.

The book of Acts describes how Paul was ministering in Antioch with Barnabas, when he was directed by the Holy Spirit to be released from his Church duties. The Holy Spirit had another assignment for Paul, and that was to go and take the Gospel more widely. Some believe that this notion came from the Holy Spirit through fasting and prayer. Paul began his first missionary in the town of Antioch. Throughout Paul’s first missionary journey he was accompanied by Barnabas and Barnabas cousin John Mark.

Missionary expansion throughout the centuries has taken a hard, often violent road. The expansion of Christianity begins with the adherents of Jesus Christ and ended with the premature demise of many of the disciples. In the centuries following the disciples, many missionaries were faced with percussion and death as the gospel was proclaimed. As missionary expansion occurs throughout the centuries, often times facing trial and difficulty, the question comes up; is the capital cost of missionary expansion worth the monetary value? This paper will highlight many trials that have been faced by three missionaries in particular and explain often by the words of these missionaries why the enormous cost of missionary expansion is worth the cost. The thesis of this paper is: everyone is called to preach the gospel; the calling of the missionary is called to live by faith even when facing difficulty.