One of the most notable achievements of Christian missionaries during the last quarter of the nineteenth century was their contribution to the emerging disciplines of anthropology and the comparative study of religion particularly in tribal societies. This study focuses on the twentieth century missionary landmark, the First World Missionary Conference at Edinburgh in 1910. This study breaks new ground by describing five models that demonstrate the range with which missionaries of the Imperialist Era (1880-1920) interpreted tribal religious traditions in relation to the Christian message. Friesen's study reflects both an interdependence and a critique of the political, religious and anthropological spirit of the times.
"In his study of missionary theory and practice in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, J. Stanley Friesen challenges some of the current attitudes concerning the work of missionaries among tribal peoples at that time in history. Friesen disabuses us of the notion that missionaries then had little or no regard for the positive values of tribal beliefs and practices and that they saw tribal religions simply as something to oppose and to replace with missionaries' presumably higher religion. ...Friesen's research has given us a linkage with the past that has significance for contemporary missiology." (Dr. James C. Spalding, University of Iowa, 'Excerpt from the Foreword')
"The close relationship between Christian missionaries and the development of anthropological studies in the nineteenth century has not been generally recognized. This work challenges the naïve assumptions that anthropological studies informed Old Testament studies and missions. The debt owed by secular university studies to 19th- and 20th-century missionary fieldwork has seldom been recognized. Friesen carefully documents and builds a case for the significance of missionary fieldwork and its contribution to the development of anthropology." (Dr. Millard C. Lind, Professor Emeritus of Old Testament, Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary)
"The world missionary conference held at Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1910 was a landmark event. It is an invaluable prism, through which to view basic attitudes and values that informed the western missionary response. In this careful and nuanced study, based on a fresh reading of the primary source documents, J. Stanley Friesen argues convincingly that the uniformly negative judgment of both western and African scholars needs to be corrected. Focusing on the Report of Commission IV, 'The Missionary Message in Relation to Non-Christian Religions', Dr. Friesen shows the range of opinions that mission thinkers brought to the table as they debated the relationship between Christian faith and African religio-cultural traditions. The easy dismissal of the turn-of-the-century missionary will not do." (Dr. Wilbert R. Shenk, Professor of Mission History and Contemporary Culture, School of World Mission, Fuller Theological Seminary)
"The close relationship between Christian missionaries and the development of anthropological studies in the nineteenth century has not been generally recognized. This work challenges the naïve assumptions that anthropological studies informed Old Testament studies and missions. The debt owed by secular university studies to 19th- and 20th-century missionary fieldwork has seldom been recognized. Friesen carefully documents and builds a case for the significance of missionary fieldwork and its contribution to the development of anthropology." (Dr. Millard C. Lind, Professor Emeritus of Old Testament, Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary)
"The world missionary conference held at Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1910 was a landmark event. It is an invaluable prism, through which to view basic attitudes and values that informed the western missionary response. In this careful and nuanced study, based on a fresh reading of the primary source documents, J. Stanley Friesen argues convincingly that the uniformly negative judgment of both western and African scholars needs to be corrected. Focusing on the Report of Commission IV, 'The Missionary Message in Relation to Non-Christian Religions', Dr. Friesen shows the range of opinions that mission thinkers brought to the table as they debated the relationship between Christian faith and African religio-cultural traditions. The easy dismissal of the turn-of-the-century missionary will not do." (Dr. Wilbert R. Shenk, Professor of Mission History and Contemporary Culture, School of World Mission, Fuller Theological Seminary)