Themes in African Church History. Missionary Motives, Merits and Mistakes

Document from the year 2019 in the subject Theology - Historic Theology, Ecclesiastical History, Namibia Evangelical Theological Seminary, language: English, abstract: The Protestant missionary movements have for some time come under severe criticism. Writing from a Namibian perspective, Brendell and Prill demonstrate that the overall picture painted by the critics is often harsh. Most Protestant missionaries were driven by compassion for people who needed to hear the Christian Gospel. Of course, that does not mean that they were faultless. Their zeal for the mission of the Church did not prevent missionaries from making serious mistakes. One of these mistakes was the practice of paternalism, as the example of the Rhenish Missionary Society shows.