Nothing but Christ: Rufus Anderson and the Ideology of Protestant Foreign Missions

215 Pages·2000·1.27 MB·English

by  Paul William Harris

Nothing but Christ:
Rufus Anderson and
the Ideology of Protestant
Foreign Missions
PAUL WILLIAM HARRIS
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
Nothing but Christ
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Nothing
but CHRIST
Rufus Anderson and
the Ideology of Protestant
Foreign Missions
PAUL WILLIAM HARRIS
New York Oxford
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
1999
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Copyright(cid:1)1999byPaulWilliamHarris
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LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Harris,PaulWilliam.
NothingbutChrist:RufusAndersonandtheideologyof
Protestantforeignmissions/PaulWilliamHarris.
p. cm.—(ReligioninAmericaseries)
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN0-19-513172-X
1. Anderson,Rufus,1796–1880. 2. Protestant
churches—Missions—History—19thcentury. 3. Missions—Theory.
I. Title. II. Series:ReligioninAmericaseries(OxfordUniversityPress)
BV2063.H265 1999
266'.023'01—dc21 99-19369
1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
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PREFACE
In general, I refer to the American Board missions and stations by the names
usedatthetime,whileImodernizethespellingofplacenames.Occasionally,
this may cause some confusion, as, for example, with the Madura Missionin
Madurai, India, or the Aintab Station in Gaziantep, Turkey. I made a few ex-
ceptions to the general rule. I refer to the Ahmadnagar Mission, though that
isnothowitwasgenerallyspelled,becausetheA.B.C.F.M.wasnotconsistent
inthewaytheydidspellit.IalsouseConstantinopleandSmyrnaforIstanbul
andIzmir,respectively,becausetheoldernamesconveyadistinctidentityfor
thosecitiesinthemid–nineteenthcentury.
Missionariescommonlyreferredtonon-Christiansas‘‘heathens.’’Ididnot
feelthatIcoulddispensewiththewordentirelywithoutlosingsomesenseof
the missionaries’ worldview, but I consistently put it in quotation marks to
make it clear that I do not subscribe to the demeaning connotations of the
term.Itreatthewordscivilizationandcivilizinginthesamewaytoavoidgiving
the impression that I regard American society as superior to other nations. I
havenotfeltthesamescruplesabouttheuseofthewordnative,thoughsome
mightfinditdemeaningaswell.Tothem,Icanonlyoffermyassurancesthat
suchwasnevermyintentorinference.
I began work on the history of Protestant foreign missions as a graduate
student in the Program in American Culture at the University of Michigan.I
viii Preface
oweagreatdebttomyteachersthere,particularlyDavidA.Hollinger,Robert
F. Berkhofer Jr., and John O. King, and perhaps an even greater debt to my
fellowstudents.Icannotmentionthemall,butIwanttothankMartinBurke
inparticular.MoorheadStateUniversityinMinnesotahasprovidedkeyassis-
tance with the research for this project, for which I am grateful, and I would
alsoliketothankmycolleagueAndrewContehfordeepeningmyunderstand-
ing of Western imperialism. During my research trips to Harvard University,
my friends Mark Schneider and Linda Kaboolian offered invaluable practical
helpaswellasawonderfulsoundingboard.IamalsogratefultoBobSchneider
forgenerouslysharingmaterialswithme.Thanks,finally,toDarelPaulsonfor
reproducingthephotographofRufusAndersonandtoGarryRunningandhis
students Brad Roman and Nathan Phillippi of the University of Wisconsin–
EauClaireGeographyDepartmentforpreparingthevolume’smaps.
July1999 P.W.H.
CONTENTS
1. RufusAndersonandtheHistoriographyofMissions 3
2. IndianMissionsandthePuritanLegacy 10
3. Self-DenialandCivilization 24
4. EducationalEndsandMeans 38
5. HardTimes 59
6. TheAbolitionistAttack 77
7. ThePowersThatBe 96
8. ToOrdainPastorsoverThem 112
9. TheDeputationtoIndia 133
10. IntoHistory 153
Notes 165
Index 197