The missionaries on the eastern frontier of the Cape Colony, 1799-1853
Date
1959
Authors
Williams, D
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Abstract
This work attempts on the investigation into the activities of the
missionaries of the Scottish (1), Wesleyan Methodist, and London Missionary
Societies on the Eastern Frontier of the Cape Colony (2) during the
years 1799-1853. The theme of the half-century is a triple failure: the
failure to propagate Christianity among the amaXhosa, the failure to
retain the goodwill of the colonists, and the failure to exercise
significant political influence on the Cape administration. I have tried
to explain why this occurred.
There is a great need in South African historiography for detailed
investigation into the contact between the missionaries and the Bantu.
Missionary histories to date are of little value for an understanding of
the problem of culture contact (J). With regard to the amaXhosa, there is
no explanation, much less a frank admission, of the failure of the
missionaries significantly to influence th4t race . Hitherto the tradition
of missionary historiography has been to chronicle the increase of the
number of mission institutions, and to accept this as evidence of the
growth of Christianity as propagated by devoted and self-sacrificing
missionaries. A re-assessment is long overdue. During and after the
second half of the Nineteenth Century missionary circles were evaluating
their achievements in Kaffirland, and were disappointed at the results.
This missionary probe (4) has not been adequately reflected in contemporary
South African missionary historiography.
Of the missionary failure in Kaffirland, there is no doubt. Even today
the amaXhosa is not a Christian nation. The publication of scurrilous
attacks on missionaries in the form of pamphleteering literature (5) is
symptomatic of the way in which such intellectual~ as are under the sway of
Bantu Nationalism, is rejecting Christianity today (6). (Abbreviation abstract)
Description
Submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the
the University of the Witwatersrand.
Keywords
Missions -- South Africa., Missionaries -- South Africa., South Africa -- Church history.