Spiritual in the Secular: Missionaries and Knowledge about Africa

David Livingstone's visit to Cambridge in 1857 was seen as much as a scientific event as a religious one. But he was by no means alone among missionaries in integrating mission with science and other fields of research. Rather, many missionaries were remarkable, pioneering polymaths.

This collection of essays explores the ways in which late-nineteenth- and twentieth-century missionaries to Africa contributed to various academic disciplines, such as linguistics, ethnography, social anthropology, zoology, medicine, and many more. This volume includes an introductory chapter by the editors and eleven chapters that analyze missionary research and its impact on knowledge about African contexts. Several themes emerge, including many missionaries' positive views of indigenous discourses and the complicated relationship between missionaries and professional anthropologists.

Contributors:
John Cinnamon
Erika Eichholzer
Natasha Erlank
Deborah Gaitskell
Patrick Harries
Walima T. Kalusa
John Manton
David Maxwell
John Stuart
Dmitri van den Bersselaar
Honor Vinck

Author: Patrick Harries
Publisher: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company
Published: 06/01/2012
Pages: 358
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 1.15lbs
Size: 9.10h x 6.20w x 1.00d
ISBN: 9780802866349

About the Author
Patrick Harries is professor of African history at the University of Basel, Switzerland.

David Maxwell is Dixie Professor of Ecclesiastical History at Cambridge University and Fellow of Emmanuel College.

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