Best regards, Andrew Stewart
Begin forwarded message: > From: H-Net Staff via H-REVIEW <[email protected]> > Date: July 10, 2021 at 10:26:47 AM EDT > To: [email protected] > Cc: H-Net Staff <[email protected]> > Subject: H-Net Review [H-TGS]: Alvis on Best, 'Heavenly Fatherland: German > Missionary Culture and Globalization in the Age of Empire' > Reply-To: [email protected] > > Jeremy Best. Heavenly Fatherland: German Missionary Culture and > Globalization in the Age of Empire. Toronto University of Toronto > Press, 2021. xiv + 322 pp. $75.00 (cloth), ISBN 978-1-4875-0563-9. > > Reviewed by Robert E. Alvis (Saint Meinrad Seminary and School of > Theology) > Published on H-TGS (July, 2021) > Commissioned by Caryn E. Neumann > > In our collective memory, Germany's overseas colonies are closely > associated with the political and economic concerns of the > Kaiserreich. Establishing colonies was one facet of the larger effort > to match the achievements of rival powers like France and Great > Britain. The colonies helped validate German national greatness, and > their inhabitants were exploited mercilessly for the sake of German > enrichment. German Christian missionaries have been seen as working > hand in glove with the German state to advance its interests. The > racist discourse and dehumanizing policies applied to Germany's > colonial subjects have been recognized by some as critical precursors > to the crimes of the Third Reich. > > In _Heavenly Fatherland_, an important new study of German Protestant > missionary work in the years 1860-1914, Jeremy Best challenges his > readers to rethink what they understand to be true about Germany's > colonial past by shedding light on the prominent role that Protestant > missionaries played in that project. Drawing upon an impressive trove > of primary-source material and focusing in particular on German East > Africa, he illustrates the internationalist vision and relatively > humane values that animated their efforts. He makes a convincing case > that they helped expand how ordinary Germans understood the country's > overseas colonies and the processes of globalization that were > transforming their lives. > > In the first of the book's six chapters, Best concentrates on a > distinctive feature of the German Protestant missionary endeavor: its > highly intellectualized character. Influenced by Germany's rigorous > academic culture, Protestant missionary leaders developed a new > scholarly discipline known as _Missionswissenschaft_. Its purpose was > to optimize missionary outreach through sustained reflection on its > overarching rationale and practical manifestations. Best describes > the discipline's leading lights, most notably Gustav Warneck > (1834-1910), and he reconstructs the shared worldview it helped > inculcate among missionaries throughout the colonial period. For the > first generation of _Missionswissenschaftler_, Christ's injunction > that his followers spread the gospel throughout the world (the "Great > Commission") remained a binding obligation. This work should be > international in scope, with Protestants from various countries > working together to cultivate autonomous Protestant _Völker_ in > every corner of the globe. They warned against entanglements with the > state, which they viewed as potentially corrupting. This perspective > came under scrutiny in the early twentieth century, and a new > generation of Protestant missionary leaders proved more receptive to > reconciling missionary work with German national interests, but these > inclinations ultimately did not dislodge the earlier internationalist > consensus. > > In the next two chapters, Best considers how Protestant missionary > theory translated into practice in the context of German East Africa. > In chapter 2, he focuses on the educational initiatives that were so > central to Protestant missionary outreach. Drawing from biblical > accounts of the Tower of Babel and the first Christian Pentecost, > Protestant missionaries concluded that the cultural and linguistic > diversity of humankind was part of God's plan. This reasoning was > reinforced by German understandings of nation, which emphasized the > centrality of language in national identity. As a result, they > determined that the best way to evangelize people was in their native > language and by respecting many aspects of their indigenous way of > life. Protestant missionaries went to great lengths to learn the > languages of their intended audiences and to build schools where they > offered basic instruction designed to foster new, autonomous branches > of a global Protestant community. As they pursued this agenda, they > had to contend with rival visions for the peoples of German East > Africa, including the demand by ardent German nationalists that > mission schools educate their students in German, with the larger > goal of enhancing the prestige and power of the German nation. > Protestant missionaries managed to resist these pressures, thanks in > large part to a shared vision that was grounded in > Missionswissenschaft. > > In chapter 3, Best considers a different kind of pressure experienced > by Protestant missionaries in German East Africa: the push to exploit > African labor for the economic benefit of Germany. This ran counter > to the missionaries' shared goal of nurturing autonomous communities > of African Protestants, but they had other reasons for opposing the > economic instrumentalization of the local population. Protestant > missionaries were generally skeptical of the modern industrial > economy, which they blamed for tearing at the fabric of society and > fostering radical ideologies like socialism. Best details how > Protestant missionaries resisted German efforts to exploit Africans, > but he also acknowledges how, through their missionary work, they > drew Africans into a global economy that did not serve the interests > of the colonized particularly well. > > The book's remaining chapters place the German Protestant missionary > endeavor in relationship to three other populations: Catholic > missionaries in German East Africa, Protestants in Germany, and > Protestant missionaries in other countries. As Best makes clear in > chapter 4, Protestant missionaries did not have German East Africa to > themselves; German Catholic missionaries were also active in the > region. Centuries of interconfessional conflict informed the contempt > Protestants generally felt toward their Catholic rivals. They took it > as a given that Catholics were more concerned with expanding Roman > power than building up the kingdom of God. At the same time, they > genuinely feared that Catholic missionaries were poised to gain > ground at Protestant expense. To counter the threat, Protestant > missionaries trafficked in anti-Catholic tropes and nationalist > discourse, warning that their rivals were not committed to advancing > German interests. Their internationalist ethos, it turns out, had its > limits. > > Best next examines Protestant missionary engagement with Protestants > in Germany itself, upon whom they depended for financial support and > new recruits, and among whom they felt a duty to encourage a > missionary spirit and Christian charity. He describes the elaborate > programs missionaries offered, with their reach extending from urban > areas to modest villages. Collectively, this messaging "distilled > globalization ... into a manageable message for German consumption," > which "contradicted prevailing notions of racial difference and > Africans' (and other cultures') supposed savagery" (p. 216). > > Best concludes with a chapter devoted to missionary conferences, both > at home and abroad. These conferences were designed to foster > cooperation among the various missionary organizations within Germany > and in other countries with vibrant missionary programs, notably > Great Britain and the United States. This effort was propelled > forward by the confidence that, through collective action, the global > Protestant community had the potential to check a variety of threats > (secularism, socialism, Islam, Catholicism) and remake the modern > world in its image. Owing in part to the prestige of > Missionswissenschaft, German missionary leaders exercised growing > influence in these global conversations, and they helped set the > agenda for the Edinburgh World Missionary Conference in 1910, which > was recognized at the time as a major step toward realizing their > goals. These efforts suffered severe setbacks during the Great War. > > Best makes an admirable effort to understand the various > relationships in which German Protestant missionaries were engaged. > It is therefore surprising that he neglects what was arguably the > most important relationship of all: the one they developed with the > indigenous peoples of German East Africa. This is due in part to his > stated purpose and method, which is to understand German Protestant > missionaries by examining the vast paper trail they left behind. Even > within the confines of his methodology, though, it is reasonable to > expect that the Africans being evangelized would surface in prominent > ways, that missionaries would reflect upon what they were learning in > the field and adjust their preconceived assumptions and approaches > accordingly. If Best overlooked evidence of an evolving relationship > between missionaries and the missionized, it would qualify as a > significant missed opportunity. If, in fact, German Protestant > missionaries did not take the Africans they encountered seriously > enough to learn from them and to be changed by these experiences--if > they "did not _listen_ or even try to listen much to what Africans > had to say," as Best notes at one point (p. 17)--it is damning > indictment of their cultural and religious chauvinism. > > This observation does not negate the very real strengths of Best's > effort. _Heavenly Fatherland _is an important contribution to our > understanding of German missionary work and the German imperial > context in which it took place. It is by no means a hagiographical > celebration of their achievements. For all of their purported > commitment to universalist aims mandated by scripture, missionaries > were very much of their time, deeply indebted to modern German > understandings of nation and race and centuries of > Protestant-Catholic conflict. For all of their avowed concern for the > best interests of the indigenous peoples of German East Africa, they > were highly paternalistic and presumed to know what those interests > were. While it may not have been their intention, they also > facilitated the integration of Africans into larger colonial > structures and processes, which took a brutal toll on so many. That > said, German Protestant missionaries also exercised a salubrious > influence. They challenged their fellow Germans to think beyond > nationalist categories and to envision themselves as part of > something larger. They appreciated the dangers of subjugating the > church to political and economic interests and fought to preserve its > autonomy. They summoned Germans to recognize the fundamental humanity > of the African people and sought to defend the indigenous languages, > ways of living, and autonomy of the peoples of German East Africa. > These ideas resonated widely, owing to the elaborate infrastructure > Protestant missionaries maintained throughout much of Germany, and > they shaped how ordinary Germans understood a rapidly evolving world. > > Citation: Robert E. Alvis. Review of Best, Jeremy, _Heavenly > Fatherland: German Missionary Culture and Globalization in the Age of > Empire_. H-TGS, H-Net Reviews. July, 2021. > URL: https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=56481 > > This work is licensed under a Creative Commons > Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States > License. > > -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. 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