Christianity and colonialism
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Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...
and
colonialism Colonialism is a practice or policy of control by one people or power over other people or areas, often by establishing colony, colonies and generally with the aim of economic dominance. In the process of colonisation, colonisers may impose the ...
are often closely associated with each other due to the service of
Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...
, in its various sects (namely
Protestantism Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...
,
Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
and Orthodoxy), as the state religion of the historical
European colonial powers Colonialism is a practice or policy of control by one people or power over other people or areas, often by establishing colonies and generally with the aim of economic dominance. In the process of colonisation, colonisers may impose their reli ...
, in which
Christians Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
likewise made up the majority. Through a variety of methods,
Christian mission A Christian mission is an organized effort for the propagation of the Christian faith. Missions involve sending individuals and groups across boundaries, most commonly geographical boundaries, to carry on evangelism or other activities, such ...
aries acted as the "religious arms" of the imperialist powers of
Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
. According to Edward E. Andrews, Associate Professor of Providence College Christian missionaries were initially portrayed as "visible
saint In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of Q-D-Š, holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and Christian denomination, denominat ...
s, exemplars of ideal piety in a sea of persistent savagery". However, by the time the colonial era drew to a close in the later half of the 20th century, missionaries were viewed as "ideological
shock troops Shock troops or assault troops are formations created to lead an attack. They are often better trained and equipped than other infantry, and expected to take heavy casualties even in successful operations. "Shock troop" is a calque, a loose tra ...
for colonial invasion whose
zealotry The Zealots were a political movement in 1st-century Second Temple Judaism which sought to incite the people of Judea Province to rebel against the Roman Empire and expel it from the Holy Land by force of arms, most notably during the First J ...
blinded them", colonialism's "agent, scribe and moral alibi". In some regions, almost all of a colony's population was forcibly turned away from its traditional belief systems and forcibly turned towards the Christian faith, which colonizers used as a justification for their
extermination Extermination or exterminate may refer to: * Pest control, elimination of insects or vermin * Genocide, extermination—in whole or in part—of an ethnic, racial, religious, or national group * Homicide or murder in general * "Exterminate!", t ...
of adherents of other faiths, their enslavement of natives, and their exploitation of lands and seas.


Background

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...
is targeted by critics of
colonialism Colonialism is a practice or policy of control by one people or power over other people or areas, often by establishing colony, colonies and generally with the aim of economic dominance. In the process of colonisation, colonisers may impose the ...
because the tenets of the religion were used to justify the actions of the colonists. For example, Toyin Falola asserts that there were some missionaries who believed that "the agenda of colonialism in Africa was similar to that of Christianity". Falola cites Jan H. Boer of the Sudan United Mission as saying, "Colonialism is a form of imperialism based on a divine mandate and designed to bring liberation – spiritual, cultural, economic and political – by sharing the blessings of the Christ-inspired civilization of the West with a people suffering under satanic oppression, ignorance and disease, effected by a combination of political, economic and religious forces that cooperate under a regime seeking the benefit of both ruler and ruled." Edward Andrews writes: According to Lamin Sanneh, "(m)uch of the standard Western scholarship on Christian missions proceeds by looking at the motives of individual missionaries and concludes by faulting the entire missionary enterprise as being part of the machinery of Western
cultural imperialism Cultural imperialism (sometimes referred to as cultural colonialism) comprises the cultural dimensions of imperialism. The word "imperialism" often describes practices in which a social entity engages culture (including language, traditions, ...
." As an alternative to this view, Sanneh presents a different perspective arguing that "missions in the modern era have been far more, and far less, than the argument about motives customarily portrayed." Michael Wood asserts that during the 16th century, it was almost impossible for the
indigenous peoples Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...
to be considered human beings in their own right, and that the
conquistadors Conquistadors (, ) or conquistadores (, ; meaning 'conquerors') were the explorer-soldiers of the Spanish and Portuguese Empires of the 15th and 16th centuries. During the Age of Discovery, conquistadors sailed beyond Europe to the Americas, ...
brought with them the baggage of "centuries of Ethnocentrism, and Christian monotheism, which espoused one truth, one time and version of reality."


Age of Discovery

During the
Age of Discovery The Age of Discovery (or the Age of Exploration), also known as the early modern period, was a period largely overlapping with the Age of Sail, approximately from the 15th century to the 17th century in European history, during which seafarin ...
, the
Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
inaugurated a major effort to spread Christianity in the New World and to convert the Native Americans and other indigenous people. The missionary effort was a major part of, and a partial justification for the colonial efforts of European powers such as
Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...
,
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
and
Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...
. The idea of European exploration and Christian expansion were synonymous with each other as European Christians' religious views and settlements in new lands were a way to convert the indigenous peoples. Christian Missions to the indigenous peoples ran hand-in-hand with the colonial efforts of Catholic nations. In the Americas and other colonies in Asia and Africa, most missions were run by religious orders such as the Augustinians,
Franciscans , image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg , image_size = 200px , caption = A cross, Christ's arm and Saint Francis's arm, a universal symbol of the Franciscans , abbreviation = OFM , predecessor = , ...
,
Jesuits The Society of Jesus ( la, Societas Iesu; abbreviation: SJ), also known as the Jesuits (; la, Iesuitæ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...
and Dominicans. In both
Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...
and
Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...
, religion was an integral part of the state and
Christianization Christianization ( or Christianisation) is to make Christian; to imbue with Christian principles; to become Christian. It can apply to the conversion of an individual, a practice, a place or a whole society. It began in the Roman Empire, conti ...
was seen as having both secular and spiritual benefits. Portuguese explorers would propose ideas of venturing into new territories to religious executives, which were approved based on the idea that "honor and glory will befall not only all of
Christendom Christendom historically refers to the Christian states, Christian-majority countries and the countries in which Christianity dominates, prevails,SeMerriam-Webster.com : dictionary, "Christendom"/ref> or is culturally or historically intertwine ...
but also … this most sacred See of Peter." Wherever these powers attempted to expand their territories or influence, missionaries would soon follow. By the
Treaty of Tordesillas The Treaty of Tordesillas, ; pt, Tratado de Tordesilhas . signed in Tordesillas, Spain on 7 June 1494, and authenticated in Setúbal, Portugal, divided the newly discovered lands outside Europe between the Portuguese Empire and the Spanish Emp ...
, the two powers divided the world between them into exclusive spheres of influence, trade and colonization. The Roman Catholic world order was challenged by the
Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
and
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
. Theoretically, it was repudiated by
Grotius Hugo Grotius (; 10 April 1583 – 28 August 1645), also known as Huig de Groot () and Hugo de Groot (), was a Dutch humanist, diplomat, lawyer, theologian, jurist, poet and playwright. A teenage intellectual prodigy, he was born in Delft ...
's ''Mare Liberum''. Portugal's and Spain's colonial policies were also challenged by the Roman Catholic Church itself. The
Vatican Vatican may refer to: Vatican City, the city-state ruled by the pope in Rome, including St. Peter's Basilica, Sistine Chapel, Vatican Museum The Holy See * The Holy See, the governing body of the Catholic Church and sovereign entity recognized ...
founded the Congregatio de Propaganda Fide in 1622 and attempted to separate the churches from the influence of the Iberian kingdoms.


Americas

Jan van Butselaar writes that "for
Prince Henry the Navigator ''Dom'' Henrique of Portugal, Duke of Viseu (4 March 1394 – 13 November 1460), better known as Prince Henry the Navigator ( pt, Infante Dom Henrique, o Navegador), was a central figure in the early days of the Portuguese Empire and in the 15t ...
and his contemporaries, the colonial enterprise was based on the necessity to develop European commerce and the obligation to propagate the Christian faith." Christian leaders and Christian doctrines have been accused of justifying and perpetrating violence against Native Americans found in the New World.Carroll, Vincent, ''Christianity on trial: arguments against anti-religious bigotry'', p 87.


Spanish missions

Adriaan van Oss wrote: The Spanish were the first of the future European countries to colonize North and South America. They came into the region predominantly through Cuba and Puerto Rico and into Florida. The Spaniards were committed, by Vatican decree, to convert their
New World The term ''New World'' is often used to mean the majority of Earth's Western Hemisphere, specifically the Americas."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: Oxford University Press, p. 3 ...
indigenous subjects to
Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
. However, often initial efforts (both docile and coerced) were questionably successful, as the indigenous people added Catholicism into their longstanding traditional ceremonies and beliefs. An example of the successful integration of Catholicism into longstanding beliefs is the change in the Incan religion. Spaniards, especially, weaved Catholicism into Incan religious beliefs by altering the
Andean religion The Inca religion was a group of beliefs and rites that were related to a mythological system evolving from pre-Inca times to Inca Empire. Faith in the ''Tawantinsuyu'' was manifested in every aspect of his life, work, festivities, ceremonies, e ...
to align more with Catholic teachings. This religious integration resulted from the idea that the Incan indigenous people were better Catholics than the Europeans who preached to them. The many native expressions, forms, practices, and items of art could be considered idolatry and prohibited or destroyed by Spanish missionaries, military, and civilians. This included religious items, sculptures, and jewelry made of gold or silver, which were melted down before shipment to Spain. This shows the ideology of the Spanish conquerors, who were motivated by God, gold, and glory. Although the Spanish did not impose their language to the extent they did their religion, some
indigenous languages of the Americas Over a thousand indigenous languages are spoken by the Indigenous peoples of the Americas. These languages cannot all be demonstrated to be related to each other and are classified into a hundred or so language families (including a large numbe ...
evolved into replacing their native tongue with Spanish, and lost to present day tribal members. Priests who understood and could speak the indigenous languages were more efficient in religious conversion when they did evangelize in native languages. It was a collective effort by both groups to form a way of communication with each other as Quechua-speaking officials, and Andean officials learned the Spanish language. When more efficient they did evangelize in native languages. The introduction of writing systems to the Quechua, Nahuatl and Guarani peoples may have contributed to their expansion. In the early years most mission work was undertaken by the religious orders. Over time it was intended that a normal church structure would be established in the mission areas. The process began with the formation of special jurisdictions, known as apostolic prefectures and apostolic vicariates. These developing churches eventually graduated to regular diocesan status with the appointment of a local bishop. After
decolonization Decolonization or decolonisation is the undoing of colonialism, the latter being the process whereby imperial nations establish and dominate foreign territories, often overseas. Some scholars of decolonization focus especially on separatism, in ...
, this process increased in pace as church structures altered to reflect new political-administrative realities. Ralph Bauer describes the Franciscan missionaries as having been "unequivocally committed to Spanish imperialism, condoning the violence and coercion of the Conquest as the only viable method of bringing American natives under the saving rule of Christianity." Jordan writes "The catastrophe of Spanish America's rape at the hands of the Conquistadors remains one of the most potent and pungent examples in the entire history of human conquest of the wanton destruction of one culture by another in the name of religion"
Antonio de Montesinos Antonio de Montesinos or Antonio Montesino (c. 1475 - June 27, 1540) was a Spanish Dominican friar who was a missionary on the island of Hispaniola (now comprising the Dominican Republic and Haiti). With the backing of Pedro de Córdoba and ...
, a Dominican
friar A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders founded in the twelfth or thirteenth century; the term distinguishes the mendicants' itinerant apostolic character, exercised broadly under the jurisdiction of a superior general, from the ol ...
on the island of Hispaniola, was the first member of the clergy to publicly denounce all forms of enslavement and oppression of the
indigenous peoples of the Americas The Indigenous peoples of the Americas are the inhabitants of the Americas before the arrival of the European settlers in the 15th century, and the ethnic groups who now identify themselves with those peoples. Many Indigenous peoples of the A ...
. Theologians such as
Francisco de Vitoria Francisco de Vitoria ( – 12 August 1546; also known as Francisco de Victoria) was a Spanish Roman Catholic philosopher, theologian, and jurist of Renaissance Spain. He is the founder of the tradition in philosophy known as the School of Sala ...
and
Bartolomé de las Casas Bartolomé de las Casas, OP ( ; ; 11 November 1484 – 18 July 1566) was a 16th-century Spanish landowner, friar, priest, and bishop, famed as a historian and social reformer. He arrived in Hispaniola as a layman then became a Dominican friar ...
drew up theological and philosophical bases for the defense of the
human rights Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...
of the colonized native populations, thus creating the basis of
international law International law (also known as public international law and the law of nations) is the set of rules, norms, and standards generally recognized as binding between states. It establishes normative guidelines and a common conceptual framework for ...
, regulating the relationships between nations. The Native Americans only gave way to the force of the European after they were overcome with the diseases the Europeans had spread. The
Evangelization In Christianity, evangelism (or witnessing) is the act of preaching the gospel with the intention of sharing the message and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians who specialize in evangelism are often known as evangelists, whether they are i ...
of the natives in the Americas began with private colonization. The Crown tried to establish rules to protect the natives against any unjust war of conquest. The Spanish could start a war against those who rejected the kings authority and who were aware and also rejected Christianity. There was a doctrine developed that allowed the conquest of natives if they were uncivilized. Friars and Jesuits learned native languages instead of teaching the natives
Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
because they were trying to protect them from the colonists’ negative influences. In addition, the missionaries felt it was important to show the positive aspects of the new religion to the natives after the
epidemic An epidemic (from Greek ἐπί ''epi'' "upon or above" and δῆμος ''demos'' "people") is the rapid spread of disease to a large number of patients among a given population within an area in a short period of time. Epidemics of infectious ...
s and harsh conquest that had just occurred.


French missions

The Jesuit order (the Society of Jesus) established missions among the Iroquois in North America by the 1650s–1660s. Their success in the study of indigenous languages Was appreciated by the Iroquois, who helped them expand into the Great Lakes region by 1675. Their order was banished from France in 1736, but they did not entirely disappear from North America, and an American diocese was established in 1804. In the 1830s Marist missionaries from the Catholic Society of Mary promoted missions to various Pacific islands Oceana. The head of the order Friar Jean-Claude Colin and Bishop Jean-Baptiste-François Pompallier worked in close conjunction with the colonized imperialism and colony-building program of the French government. Trouble arose in Hawaii, where the local government strongly favored Protestant missionaries from the United States over the Picpusien Fathers, who had established a mission in Honolulu in 1827. Puritanical American missionaries wanted the Catholics expelled until the French Navy arrived in 1839 and issued an ultimatum to tolerate the Catholics.


Jesuit missions

Various missions and initiatives of the
Jesuits The Society of Jesus ( la, Societas Iesu; abbreviation: SJ), also known as the Jesuits (; la, Iesuitæ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...
predated, accompanied and followed western colonization across the world. In
Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...
, since 1579 the Jesuit-founded
Vilnius University Vilnius University ( lt, Vilniaus universitetas) is a public research university, oldest in the Baltic states and in Northern Europe outside the United Kingdom (or 6th overall following foundations of Oxford, Cambridge, St. Andrews, Glasgow and ...
spearheaded
Counterreformation The Counter-Reformation (), also called the Catholic Reformation () or the Catholic Revival, was the period of Catholic resurgence that was initiated in response to the Protestant Reformation. It began with the Council of Trent (1545–1563) a ...
, eradication of
indigenous religion Indigenous religions is a category used in the study of religion to demarcate the religious belief systems of communities described as being "indigenous". This category is often juxtaposed against others such as the "world religions" and "new re ...
and
language Language is a structured system of communication. The structure of a language is its grammar and the free components are its vocabulary. Languages are the primary means by which humans communicate, and may be conveyed through a variety of met ...
. At around the same time in China, Korea and Japan Jesuit missions predated western military incursions by a couple of centuries. The incursions were not only ideological but scientific – the Jesuits reformed the Chinese lunisolar calendar in 1645, a change described as "pathological". 17th-century India deserved a mission to study
Brahmanical The historical Vedic religion (also known as Vedicism, Vedism or ancient Hinduism and subsequently Brahmanism (also spelled as Brahminism)), constituted the religious ideas and practices among some Indo-Aryan peoples of northwest Indian Subco ...
knowledge and Christianizing missions were dispatched to native North Americans. Jesuit missions were documented in biannual Jesuit Relations: In "Harvest of Souls: The Jesuit Missions and Colonialism in North America, 1632–1650", Carole Blackburn uses the Jesuit Relations to shed light on the dialogue between Jesuit missionaries and the Native peoples of northeastern North America. In 1632 Jesuit missionary
Paul Le Jeune Paul Le Jeune (1591–1664) was a French Jesuit missionary in New France. He served as the Superior of the Jesuits in the French colony of Canada from 1632 to 1639. During his tenure, he began a mission at Trois-Rivières, founded the community ...
, newly arrived at the fort of Quebec, wrote the first of the Relations to his superior in Paris, initiating a series of biannual mission reports that came to be known as the Jesuit Relations. In other writings, Jesuit missionaries in
New France New France (french: Nouvelle-France) was the area colonized by France in North America, beginning with the exploration of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Great Britain and Spai ...
preaching to the
Amerindians The Indigenous peoples of the Americas are the inhabitants of the Americas before the arrival of the European settlers in the 15th century, and the ethnic groups who now identify themselves with those peoples. Many Indigenous peoples of the Ame ...
described the indigenous peoples as "savages" and tried to instill European standards of religion and civilization upon them. Jesuit missionaries attempted to culturally transform these people by creating confusion and disturbing their religious order and lifestyles. Blackburn presents a contemporary interpretation of the 1632–1650 Relations, arguing that they are colonizing texts in which the Jesuits use language, imagery, and forms of knowledge to legitimize relations of inequality with the Huron and Montagnais. ... Blackburn shows that this resulted in the displacement of much of the content of the message and demonstrates that the Native people's acts of resistance took up and transformed aspects of the Jesuits' teachings in ways that subverted their authority. In 1721, Jesuit Ippolito Desideri tried to Christianize Tibetans but permission from the Order was not granted. Jesuits themselves participated in economic colonization, founding and operating vast ranches in Peru and Argentina to this day.
Jesuit reductions , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders = ...
were socialist theocratic settlements for indigenous people specifically in the Rio Grande do Sul area of Brazil, Paraguay and neighbouring Argentina in South America, established by the Jesuit Order early in the 17th century and wound up in the 18th century with the banning of the order in several European countries. A large body of scientific work exists examining entanglements between Jesuit missions, western science emanating from Jesuit-founded universities, colonization and
globalization Globalization, or globalisation (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is the process of interaction and integration among people, companies, and governments worldwide. The term ''globalization'' first appeared in the early 20t ...
. Since the global Jesuit network grew so large as to necessitate direct connections between branches without passing though Vatican, Jesuit order can be seen as one of the earliest examples of global organizations and globalization.


Canada

In 2021, unmarked graves of indigenous children were found at
Marieval Indian Residential School The Marieval Indian Residential School was part of the Canadian Indian residential school system. Located on the Cowessess 73 reserve in Marieval, Saskatchewan, it operated from 1898 to 1997. It was located in Qu'Appelle Valley, east of Croo ...
and
Kamloops Indian Residential School The Kamloops Indian Residential School was part of the Canadian Indian residential school system. Located in Kamloops, British Columbia, it was once the largest residential school in Canada, with its enrolment peaking at 500 in the 1950s. The sc ...
, part of the
Canadian Indian residential school system In Canada, the Indian residential school system was a network of boarding schools for Indigenous peoples. The network was funded by the Canadian government's Department of Indian Affairs and administered by Christian churches. The school sy ...
. The majority (67 percent) of residential schools were run by the Catholic Church, with the remaining 33 percent including the Anglican, United, and Presbyterian Church.


Japan

First
Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...
missionaries arrived in
Kyushu is the third-largest island of Japan's five main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands ( i.e. excluding Okinawa). In the past, it has been known as , and . The historical regional name referred to Kyushu and its surroun ...
in 1542 from Portugal and brought gunpowder with them.
Francis Xavier Francis Xavier (born Francisco de Jasso y Azpilicueta; Latin: ''Franciscus Xaverius''; Basque: ''Frantzisko Xabierkoa''; French: ''François Xavier''; Spanish: ''Francisco Javier''; Portuguese: ''Francisco Xavier''; 7 April 15063 December ...
arrived in 1550. Father Xavier was a pioneer in the Christian colonization of Japanese culture as he attempted to understand the Japanese language to build up fidelity in the new Japanese converts. The success of his evangelizing came from gathering individuals and families rather than mass preaching. These preachings lead to baptisms and successful missions in Japan. Jesuit missionaries were also favorable of Japan as a mission destination rather than other destinations due to the highly civilized society of the Japanese people. Father Xavier admired the Japanese for their 'houses and palaces,' 'civilization,' and its 'luxuries.' In the late 1580s, Jesuit missionary and operative Gaspar Coelho attempted to create an axis of
Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
converts among southern feudatory lords who would support an armed Christian takeover of Japan. Arms were to be procured from
Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...
colonial outposts in
South South is one of the cardinal directions or Points of the compass, compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Pro ...
and
Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...
, however the plan was detected by the Toyotomi government and came to nothing. Later, in 1596, a Spanish
Manila galleon fil, Galyon ng Maynila , english_name = Manila Galleon , duration = From 1565 to 1815 (250 years) , venue = Between Manila and Acapulco , location = New Spain (Spanish Empire ...
became wrecked on the coast of
Shikoku is the smallest of the four main islands of Japan. It is long and between wide. It has a population of 3.8 million (, 3.1%). It is south of Honshu and northeast of Kyushu. Shikoku's ancient names include ''Iyo-no-futana-shima'' (), '' ...
. Its pilot, upon being interviewed, insinuated to the Japanese authorities that it was the Spanish '' modus operandi'' to subvert native societies from within via mass Christian conversion prior to conquest. Toyotomi Hideyoshi, chief advisor to the Emperor, commenced the first lethal suppression of Christianity at this time. In 1825, the military scholar
Aizawa Seishisai , born , was a Japanese samurai (retainer of the Mito Domain) and a nationalist thinker of the Mito school during the late shogunate period. In 1799 he became involved in the compilation of the ''Dai Nihon-shi'' (Great History of Japan) being un ...
published a series of essays to be presented to the
Tokugawa government The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Tokugawa-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia' ...
on, among other things, the threat to Japan's sovereignty posed by Christianity. In it, he suggested that the European and American powers used Christianity as a cultural weapon by which native populations could be turned on their own governments in order to facilitate conquest and colonization. The text discussed directly the Toyotomi-era encounters with the Jesuits, and warned that the countries of Asia, particularly Japan and China, had become geographically and politically isolated as the last surviving nations maintaining
polities A polity is an identifiable political entity – a group of people with a collective identity, who are organized by some form of institutionalized social relations, and have a capacity to mobilize resources. A polity can be any other group of p ...
not based on Abrahamic religion.


India

The first converts to Christianity in Goa were native Goan women who married Portuguese men that arrived with Afonso de Albuquerque during the
Portuguese conquest of Goa The Portuguese conquest of Goa occurred when the governor Afonso de Albuquerque captured the city in 1510 from the Adil Shahis. Goa became the capital of the Portuguese State of India which included possessions such as Fort Manuel, the territ ...
in 1510. Missionaries of various religious orders (
Franciscans , image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg , image_size = 200px , caption = A cross, Christ's arm and Saint Francis's arm, a universal symbol of the Franciscans , abbreviation = OFM , predecessor = , ...
, Dominicans,
Jesuits The Society of Jesus ( la, Societas Iesu; abbreviation: SJ), also known as the Jesuits (; la, Iesuitæ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...
, Augustinians, etc.) were sent from Portugal to Goa with the goal of fulfilling the papal bull ''
Romanus Pontifex (from Latin: "The Roman Pontiff") are papal bulls issued in 1436 by Pope Eugenius IV and in 1455 by Pope Nicholas V praising catholic King Afonso V of Portugal for his battles against the Muslims, endorsing his military expeditions into Weste ...
'', which granted the
patronage of the propagation of the Christian faith The ''Padroado'' (, "patronage") was an arrangement between the Holy See and the Kingdom of Portugal and later the Portugal, Portuguese Republic, through a series of concordats by which the Holy See delegated the administration of the local churche ...
in Asia to the Portuguese. To promote assimilation of the native Goans with the Portuguese people, the Portuguese authorities in Goa supported these missionaries. The rapid rise of converts in Goa was mostly the result of Portuguese economic and political control over the Hindus, who were vassals of the Portuguese crown. By the 1580s, the total population of Goa was about 60,000 with an estimated Hindu population then about a third or 20,000. The
Goa Inquisition The Goa Inquisition ( pt, Inquisição de Goa) was an extension of the Portuguese Inquisition in Portuguese India. Its objective was to enforce Catholic Orthodoxy and allegiance to the Apostolic See of Rome (Pontifex). The inquisition primaril ...
was an extension of the
Portuguese Inquisition The Portuguese Inquisition ( Portuguese: ''Inquisição Portuguesa''), officially known as the General Council of the Holy Office of the Inquisition in Portugal, was formally established in Portugal in 1536 at the request of its king, John III. ...
in
Portuguese India The State of India ( pt, Estado da Índia), also referred as the Portuguese State of India (''Estado Português da Índia'', EPI) or simply Portuguese India (), was a state of the Portuguese Empire founded six years after the discovery of a se ...
. Its objective was to enforce Catholic Orthodoxy and allegiance to the Apostolic See of Rome (
Pontifex A pontiff (from Latin ''pontifex'') was, in Roman antiquity, a member of the most illustrious of the colleges of priests of the Roman religion, the College of Pontiffs."Pontifex". "Oxford English Dictionary", March 2007 The term "pontiff" was la ...
). The inquisition primarily focused on the
New Christian New Christian ( es, Cristiano Nuevo; pt, Cristão-Novo; ca, Cristià Nou; lad, Christiano Muevo) was a socio-religious designation and legal distinction in the Spanish Empire and the Portuguese Empire. The term was used from the 15th century ...
s accused of secretly practicing their former religions, and
Old Christians Old Christian ( es, cristiano viejo, pt, cristão-velho, ca, cristià vell) was a social and law-effective category used in the Iberian Peninsula from the late 15th and early 16th century onwards, to distinguish Portuguese and Spanish people atte ...
accused of involvement in the
Protestant Revolution of the 16th century The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and i ...
. It was established in 1560, briefly suppressed from 1774 to 1778, continued thereafter until it was finally abolished in 1812. Over 90% of
Goans Goans ( kok, गोंयकार, Romi Konkani: , pt, Goeses) is the demonym used to describe the people native to Goa, India, who form an ethno-linguistic group resulting from the assimilation of Indo-Aryan, Dravidian, Indo-Portuguese, and ...
in the
Velhas Conquistas {{Unreferenced, date=November 2008 ''As Velhas Conquistas'' or "the Old Conquests" are a grouping of the areas in Goa which were incorporated into Portuguese India early in the sixteenth century AD; as these areas underwent urbanisation they were ...
became Catholic by the early 1700s.
Xenddi Xenddi, sometimes spelled as Xendi, was a discriminatory religious tax imposed on the resident Hindu minority by the colonial era Portuguese Christian government in Goa, Daman and Diu in 1704 and expanded to all of Portuguese colonies in the India ...
was a discriminatory religious tax imposed on the Goan Hindu minority by the colonial era Portuguese
Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
government in
Goa, Damaon& Diu Goa, Daman and Diu (, ) was a union territory of the Republic of India established in 1961 following the annexation of Portuguese India, with Maj Gen K P Candeth as its first Military Governor. The Goa portion of the territory was granted fu ...
in 1704. It was similar to the discriminatory Jizya religious tax imposed on Hindus by Muslim rulers in the region. In its initial formulation, the tax was introduced with the pretext that Hindus did not own any land in Goa and only the Christians did. Land revenues were paid by the
Goan Catholics Goan Catholics ( gom, Goenchem Katholik) are an ethno-religious community of Indian Christians following the Roman Rite of worship from the Goa state, in the southern part of the Konkan region along the west coast of India. They are Konkan ...
in Goa, and the regional Church argued that Xenddi tax would make Hindus pay their fair share. The tax and the tax rate on Hindus evolved to be an abusive form of religious discrimination. According to Rene Berendse, the Xenddi tax was considered to be an example of religious intolerance by the neighboring
Mahratta Confederacy The Maratha Empire, also referred to as the Maratha Confederacy, was an early modern Indian confederation that came to dominate much of the Indian subcontinent in the 18th century. Maratha rule formally began in 1674 with the coronation of Shi ...
, and its local leader Govind Das Pant made abolishment of the discriminatory tax against the Hindus as a condition for a mutual armistice agreement. The Goan government initially refused, stating that the Xenddi tax was a matter of the Church, which the Portuguese state cannot interfere in. Expanded to all of Portuguese colonies in the Indian subcontinent by 1705, the Xenddi tax was abolished in 1840, with J.J. Lopes de Lima – the Governor General of Goa declaring it to be "cruel, hateful tribute and ridiculous capitation tax" on Hindus. In India, the British missionaries were often in conflict with British administrators and businessmen. Missionaries had moderate success among the scheduled classes. In French-controlled Vietnam, and a Japanese-controlled Korea, the Christian missionaries had significant success in terms of membership. Christianity had a more subtle effect, reaching far beyond the converted population to potential modernizers. The introduction of European medicine was especially important, as well as the introduction of European political practices and ideals such as religious liberty, mass education, mass printing, newspapers, voluntary organizations, colonial reforms, and especially liberal democracy. However, more recent research finds no significant relationship between Protestant missions and the development of democracy.


Africa

Although there were some earlier small-scale efforts, the major missionary activities from Europe and North America came late in the 19th century, during the Scramble for Africa. Christian evangelists were intimately involved in the colonial process in southern Africa. The missionaries discovered increasingly that the medical and educational services they could provide were highly welcome to Africans who were not responsive to theological appeals. When Christian missionaries came to Africa, some native peoples were very hostile and not accepting of the missionaries in Africa. During the Scramble for Africa, there was a realization that African regions had valuable resources from which Western culture could profit. Christianity was a disguise for Western colonization in those areas to take valuable resources from the native African land. Despite the rush to Africa for its goods, in the book ''A History of Africa'' by J.D. Fage, he states, "Mid-and late-nineteenth-century Europeans were generally convinced that their Christian, scientific and industrial society was intrinsically far superior to anything that Africa had produced." The exploitation of natural resources can contribute to the hostility of African natives towards European colonizers. Even though there were some Christian missionaries that went about colonizing the native Africans in unchristian ways there were some missionaries who were truly devoted to colonizing through peaceful means and truly thought that the people of Africa needed to be taught that Jesus was their Savior.
David Livingstone David Livingstone (; 19 March 1813 – 1 May 1873) was a Scottish physician, Congregationalist, and pioneer Christian missionary with the London Missionary Society, an explorer in Africa, and one of the most popular British heroes of t ...
(1813–1873), a Scottish missionary, became world-famous in the Anglophone world. He worked after 1840 north of the
Orange River The Orange River (from Afrikaans/Dutch: ''Oranjerivier'') is a river in Southern Africa. It is the longest river in South Africa. With a total length of , the Orange River Basin extends from Lesotho into South Africa and Namibia to the north ...
with the
London Missionary Society The London Missionary Society was an interdenominational evangelical missionary society formed in England in 1795 at the instigation of Welsh Congregationalist minister Edward Williams. It was largely Reformed in outlook, with Congregational miss ...
, as an explorer, missionary and writer. He became one of the most popular British heroes of the late 19th-century
Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardia ...
. He had a mythical status that operated on a number of interconnected levels:
Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...
missionary martyr, inspirational story of rising from the poor, scientific investigator and explorer, imperial reformer, anti-slavery crusader, and advocate of British commercial and colonial expansion In the late 19th century,
Mwanga II Danieri Basammula-Ekkere Mwanga II Mukasa (1868 – 8 May 1903)D. A. Low''Fabrication of Empire: The British and the Uganda Kingdoms, 1890-1902'' Cambridge University Press, 2009, p. 210, note 196. was Kabaka of Buganda from 1884 until 1888 and fro ...
,
kabaka the kabaka Palace in kireka Kabaka is the title of the king of the Kingdom of Buganda.Stanley, H.M., 1899, Through the Dark Continent, London: G. Newnes, According to the traditions of the Baganda they are ruled by two kings, one spiritual and ...
of the kingdom of Buganda, was in conflict with Christian missionaries due to fears of cultural and political subversion with an eye to the ultimate conquest of Buganda by the
British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...
. In 1886, he began a campaign of violent suppression of Christianity. The British quickly moved to dethrone him and supported an armed uprising by Christian converts and local Muslims. He was swiftly defeated by a force under his half-brother, a Christian convert, at Mengo hill in 1888. After a period of political unrest, Mwanga agreed to surrender his temporal powers to the
Imperial British East Africa Company The Imperial British East Africa Company (IBEAC) was a commercial association founded to develop African trade in the areas controlled by the British Empire. The company was incorporated in London on 18 April 1888 and granted a royal charter by Q ...
in exchange for being allowed to nominally return to the throne. Thereafter the kingdom of Buganda became essentially a British
protectorate A protectorate, in the context of international relations, is a State (polity), state that is under protection by another state for defence against aggression and other violations of law. It is a dependent territory that enjoys autonomy over m ...
and was politically defunct. Mwanga himself ultimately died a Christian. French Catholic missionaries worked in the extensive colonial holdings in Africa. However, in independent Ethiopia (Abyssinia), four French Franciscan sisters arrived in 1897, summoned there by the Capuchin missionaries. By 1925, they were very well-established, running an orphanage, a dispensary, a leper colony and 10 schools with 350 girl students. The schools were highly attractive to upper-class Ethiopians. In French West Africa in the 1930s, a serious debate emerged between the French missionaries on the one side, and the upper-class local leadership that had been attending French schools in preparation for eventual leadership. Many of them had become Marxists, and French officials worried that they were creating their own Frankenstein monster. The French shifted priorities to set up rural schools for the poor lower classes, and an effort to support indigenous African culture and produce reliable collaborators with the French regime, instead of far-left revolutionaries seeking to overthrow it. The French plan to work through local traditional chiefs. For the same reason they also set up Koranic schools and Muslim areas. The traditional chiefs would be paid larger salaries and have charge of tax collection, local courts, military recruiting, and obtaining forced labor for public works projects. The government's program seemed a threat to the ambitions of the Marxist locals and they wanted them closed. The Marxist incited labor strikes, and encouraged immigration to British territories. When the far-right Petain government came to power in Vichy, France in 1940, a high priority was to remove the educated Marxist elite from any positions of authority in French West Africa.


Long-term impact

Walter Rodney Walter Anthony Rodney (23 March 1942 – 13 June 1980) was a Guyanese historian, political activist and academic. His notable works include '' How Europe Underdeveloped Africa'', first published in 1972. Rodney was assassinated in Georgeto ...
a Marxist historian based at the
University of Dar es Salaam The University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM) is a public university in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. It was established in 1961 as an affiliate college of the University of London. The university became an affiliate of the University of East Africa (UEA) in ...
in Tanzania developed an influential attack on Europe in ''
How Europe Underdeveloped Africa ''How Europe Underdeveloped Africa'' is a 1972 book written by Walter Rodney that describes how Africa was deliberately exploited and underdeveloped by European colonial regimes. One of his main arguments throughout the book is that Africa develop ...
'' (1972). He mentioned the missionaries: According to Heather Sharkey, the real impact of the activities of the missionaries is still a topic open to debate in academia today. Sharkey asserted that "the missionaries played manifold roles in colonial Africa and stimulated forms of cultural, political and religious change." Historians still debate the nature of their impact and question their relation to the system of European colonialism in the continent. Sharkey noted that the missionaries provided crucial social services such as modern education and health care that would have otherwise not been available. Sharkey said that, in societies that were traditionally male-dominated, female missionaries provided women in Africa with health care knowledge and basic education. Conversely, it has been argued that Christianity played a central role in colonial efforts, allowing Christian missionaries to "colonize the conscience and consciousness" of Africans, thus instilling the belief that any non-Christian spiritual ideas are inferior to Christianity, echoing the colonial hierarchical view of culture. A
Pew Center The Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan American think tank (referring to itself as a "fact tank") based in Washington, D.C. It provides information on social issues, public opinion, and demographic trends shaping the United States and the ...
study about
religion and education Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, tr ...
around the world in 2016, found that "there is a large and pervasive gap in educational attainment between Muslims and Christians in sub-Saharan Africa" as
Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
adults in this region are far less educated than their
Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
counterparts, with scholars suggesting that this gap is due to the educational facilities that were created by Christian missionaries during the colonial era for fellow believers. A major contribution of the Christian missionaries in
Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
was better health care of the people through
hygiene Hygiene is a series of practices performed to preserve health. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), "Hygiene refers to conditions and practices that help to maintain health and prevent the spread of diseases." Personal hygiene refer ...
and introducing and distributing the
soap Soap is a salt of a fatty acid used in a variety of cleansing and lubricating products. In a domestic setting, soaps are surfactants usually used for washing, bathing, and other types of housekeeping. In industrial settings, soaps are use ...
, and "cleanliness and hygiene became an important marker of being identified as a Christian".


Current Christian perspectives

Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...
, a Jesuit, has frequently criticised the colonialism and
neocolonialism Neocolonialism is the continuation or reimposition of imperialist rule by a state (usually, a former colonial power) over another nominally independent state (usually, a former colony). Neocolonialism takes the form of economic imperialism, ...
of the Christian nations of the
Global North Global means of or referring to a globe and may also refer to: Entertainment * ''Global'' (Paul van Dyk album), 2003 * ''Global'' (Bunji Garlin album), 2007 * ''Global'' (Humanoid album), 1989 * ''Global'' (Todd Rundgren album), 2015 * Bruno ...
, referring to colonialism as "blasphemy against God" and saying that "many grave sins were committed against the native peoples of America in the name of God." Speaking with hindsight and on the basis of current theology, Francis said: "No actual or established power has the right to deprive peoples of the full exercise of their sovereignty." He also speaks of "the new colonialism
hich Ij ( fa, ايج, also Romanized as Īj; also known as Hich and Īch) is a village in Golabar Rural District, in the Central District of Ijrud County, Zanjan Province, Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also ...
takes on different faces. At times it appears as the anonymous influence of mammon: corporations, loan agencies, certain 'free trade' treaties, and the imposition of measures of 'austerity' which always tighten the belt of workers and the poor."


See also

* Anti-Christian sentiment *
Christianity and other religions Christianity and other religions documents Christianity's relationship with other world religions, and the differences and similarities. Christian groups Christian views on religious pluralism Western Christian views Some Christians have argu ...
*
Christianity and violence Christians have had diverse attitudes towards violence and non-violence over time. Both currently and historically, there have been four attitudes towards violence and war and four resulting practices of them within Christianity: non-resistance ...
*
Christianization Christianization ( or Christianisation) is to make Christian; to imbue with Christian principles; to become Christian. It can apply to the conversion of an individual, a practice, a place or a whole society. It began in the Roman Empire, conti ...
*
Christian views on slavery Christian views on slavery are varied regionally, historically and spiritually. Slavery in various forms has been a part of the social environment for much of Christianity's history, spanning well over eighteen centuries. In the early years of ...
*
Criticism of Christianity Criticism of Christianity has a long history which stretches back to the initial formation of the religion during the Roman Empire. Critics have challenged Christian beliefs and teachings as well as Christian actions, from the Crusades to moder ...
*
Cultural imperialism Cultural imperialism (sometimes referred to as cultural colonialism) comprises the cultural dimensions of imperialism. The word "imperialism" often describes practices in which a social entity engages culture (including language, traditions, ...
*
Great Commission In Christianity, the Great Commission is the instruction of the resurrected Jesus Christ to his disciples to spread the gospel to all the nations of the world. The Great Commission is outlined in Matthew 28:16– 20, where on a mountain ...
*
History of Christianity The history of Christianity concerns the Christianity, Christian religion, Christendom, Christian countries, and the Christians with their various Christian denomination, denominations, from the Christianity in the 1st century, 1st century ...
* History of Christian thought on persecution and tolerance *
British Indian Department The Indian Department was established in 1755 to oversee relations between the British Empire and the First Nations of North America. The imperial government ceded control of the Indian Department to the Province of Canada in 1860, thus setting ...
(
Kingdom of Great Britain The Kingdom of Great Britain (officially Great Britain) was a Sovereign state, sovereign country in Western Europe from 1 May 1707 to the end of 31 December 1800. The state was created by the 1706 Treaty of Union and ratified by the Acts of ...
) *
Inculturation In Christianity, inculturation is the adaptation of Christian teachings and practices to cultures. This is a term that is generally used by Catholics, whereas Protestants, especially associated with the World Council of Churches, prefer to use th ...
*
Role of Christianity in civilization Christianity has been intricately intertwined with the history and formation of Western society. Throughout its long history, the Church has been a major source of social services like schooling and medical care; an inspiration for art, cult ...


References


Sources

* *


Further reading

* Cleall, Esme. ''Missionary discourses of difference: Negotiating otherness in the British Empire, 1840–1900'' (2012). * Dunch, Ryan. "Beyond cultural imperialism: Cultural theory, Christian missions, and global modernity." ''History and Theory'' 41.3 (2002): 301–325
online
* Latourette, Kenneth Scott, ''The Great Century: North Africa and Asia 1800 A.D. to 1914 A.D.'' (A History of The Expansion of Christianity, Volume 5) (1943), Comprehensive scholarly coverage
full text online
als
online review
* Moffett, Samuel Hugh. ''A History of Christianity in Asia, Vol. II: 1500–1900'' (2003
excerpt
* Mong, Ambrose. ''Guns and Gospels: Imperialism and Evangelism in China'' (James Clarke Company, 2016). * Neill, Stephen. ''A History of Christian Missions'' (1979), Global coverage over 19 centuries in 624 pages. * Panikkar, K. M. ''Asia and Western dominance, 1498–1945'' (Allen and Unwin, 1953) * Porter, Andrew. ''Religion Versus Empire?: British Protestant missionaries and overseas expansion, 1700–1914'' (2004) * Porter, Andrew. ''The Imperial Horizons of British Protestant Missions, 1880–1914'' (2003) * Prevost, Elizabeth. "Assessing Women, Gender, and Empire in Britain's Nineteenth‐Century Protestant Missionary Movement." ''History Compass'' 7#3 (2009): 765–799. * Stanley, Brian. ''The Bible and the Flag: Protestant Mission and British Imperialism in the 19th and 20th Centuries'' (1990) * Stuart, John. "Beyond sovereignty?: Protestant missions, empire and transnationalism, 1890–1950." in y Maryann Cusimano Love ed., ''Beyond sovereignty'' (Palgrave Macmillan, London, 2007) pp 103–125. * Ward, Kevin & Brian Stanley, eds. ''Church Mission Society & World Christianity. 1799–1999 (1999)'' * Wu, Albert. "Ernst Faber and the Consequences of Failure: A study of a nineteenth-century German missionary in China." ''Central European History'' 47.1 (2014): 1–29. {{DEFAULTSORT:Christianity And Colonialism Colonialism Anti-Christian sentiment Christianity in the early modern period
Colonialism Colonialism is a practice or policy of control by one people or power over other people or areas, often by establishing colony, colonies and generally with the aim of economic dominance. In the process of colonisation, colonisers may impose the ...
Christian missions Christianity-related controversies