World History Bulletin

Spring 2007 Vol. XXIII No. 1

H. Micheal Tarver Editor [email protected]

In This Issue

Editor’s Note Inside Front Cover

Letter from the President 1

Combined WHB Focus Issue and Teaching Forum, Guest Editor - Joel Tishken, Columbus State University 5

The Concept of “World Religions” as Currently Used in Religious Studies Textbooks 6 by David Lindenfeld, Louisiana State University Of Borders and Boundaries: World History, World Christianity, and the Pedagogy of Religion 7 by Phillip Luke Sinitiere, Second Baptist School (TX) Lies Teachers Teach about World Religious History by Joel E. Tishken, Columbus State University (GA) 14 From the Mission to the Classroom: The Global Perspective and the History of Teaching Religion 18 by Luke Clossey, Simon Fraser University (Canada) From Adam to the Apocalypse: Post-Classical Christianity and the Patterns of World History 21 by Brett Edward Whalen, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill The Rebirth of Hope in a Time of Upheaval: An Analysis of Early-Modern Millennial Movements 26 Across the Abrahamic Tradition by Brandon Marriott, Simon Fraser University (Canada) The Catholic Church and Human Rights: Enemies or Allies? by Philip F. Riley, James Madison University (VA) 31 Thinking Religion Globally, Acting Missionary Locally: Last Century’s American Missionary 33 Experience in the Near East by Emrah Sahin, McGill University (Canada) “Our Preaching Has Caught Up With Us”: Exploring the Impact of Southern Baptist Missions 36 in Africa on the Southern Baptist Heartland by Alan Scot Willis, Northern Michigan University Mini-Essays on Religion and World History 39 Selling Sanctity: The Pilgrimage Trade is Good Business by Annika Fisher Confucianism, Buddhism and Daoism: Transformation of Chinese Religion, 300-1000 CE by Jeffrey Richey Korean Buddhism, 400-1000 CE by Daniel C. Kane Kalam: Islamic Speculative Theology to ca. 1000 CE by Kimberly Georgedes

Book Reviews 43

2006 WHA-PAT Undergraduate Student Paper Prize Winner - Power and Performance in Bombay’s Victoria Terminus 54 by Robert Cole, The University of Richmond

Institutes and Workshops in AP World History 63 April 2007

Greetings. On behalf of the various individuals who work on the World History Bulletin, I am pleased to once again present what we believe is an excellent collection of essays and book reviews. This issue of the Bulletin has Joel Tishken serving as Guest Editor, and he has written an excellent introduction that synthesizes the outstanding essays in this issue that address some aspect of religion and world history. This issue also contains the prize-winning essay by Robert Cole, undergraduate winner of the 2006 World History Association - Phi Alpha Theta Honor Society in History Paper Prize in World History. Finally, I am pleased to include the following last-minute announcement from the WHA Headquarters. Micheal

World History Association Announces New Executive Director

It is with great pleasure that the WHA Executive Council announces that Winston Welch has accepted the permanent position of WHA Executive Director, after having served as the

Editor’s Note temporary ED for the past two and a half months. Winston grew up in New Mexico, and attended the University of New Mexico. His graduate studies were at Thunderbird -- aka the American Graduate School of International Management, followed by his experiences in Japan during the 1990s where he taught college students with a speciality in Global Studies/Global Issues. During this time, Winston was also fortunate enough to have six months of vacation a year, which allowed him to travel extensively and experience a rich- ness of different cultures and settings. According to Winston, divine providence brought him to Hawaii, a place which had always held a special place in his heart. Winston is a nat- urally inquisitive person with a quick and friendly nature who is eager to hear your stories and thoughts. Please ask him for travel advice for your next trip to Hawaii!

World History Bulletin Call For Contributors - World History Bulletin ISSN: 0886-117X The World History Bulletin is seeking quality essays for inclusion in upcoming issues. Editor H. Micheal Tarver Volume XXIV Number 1 (Spring 2008): Focus Issue: Food in World History. Deadline: 1 February 2008. Guest Editor: Rick Warner, Wabash College Book Review Coordinator Peter Dykema Volume XXIV Number 2 (Fall 2008): Focus Issue: Asia in World History. Deadline: 15 September 2008. Guest Editor: Dorothea A. L. Martin, Appalachian State University Copy Editor Carlos E. Marquez Volume XXV Number 1 (Spring 2009): Focus Issue: Science and Technology in World History. Deadline: 1 February 2009. Guest Editor: Paul Buckingham, Editorial Assistants Brenda Murray Morrisville State College Bonnie Prater Beau Pumphrey Essays and classroom activities are also sought which deal with any aspect of the teaching of world history. Interested parties should direct their inquiries to Micheal Tarver, WHB Editor, at Social Sciences and Philosophy either [email protected] or (479) 968-0265. International submissions are especially encour- Arkansas Tech University aged. Submission guidelines are available online at: Witherspoon 255 Russellville, Arkansas USA www.thewha.org/WHB.pdf. Letter from the President

Spring 2007

Dear Colleagues,

This year we celebrate the WHA’s 25th anniversary. Thanks to the vision of the founding members and the work of countless others committed to the goals of our organization we have grown and flourished, initiating and supporting world history teaching, research, and publications.

Over the past sixteen years, our annual conferences have embodied the WHA’s commitment to support teach- ing and scholarship. Last year’s conference in Long Beach, California was our largest to date in terms of atten- dance and number of offerings, and this year’s conference, “Expanding Horizons, Collapsing Frontiers: the Macro and Micro in World History,” promises to be the best yet. Currently, our website features information about this, our 16th annual World History Association conference to be held in Milwaukee from June 28 through July 1. It will feature two exciting keynote speakers, a wide assortment of panels, workshops, roundtables, visual demonstrations, and a full complement of exhibits of textbooks and other instruction-related materials. In addition to bringing us the most recent world history scholarship and pedagogy, the conference is an oppor- tunity for us to come together as scholars and teachers. The three receptions, three continental breakfasts, and periodic refreshment breaks — all included in the registration fee — will give us further opportunities to get together. In addition, our conference will be held during Milwaukee’s Summerfest, the World’s Largest Music Festival, which is within walking distance of the conference site. Al Andrea’s article elsewhere in this Bulletin gives further, detailed information about the conference. Be sure to join us to celebrate the WHA’s 25th birth- day.

Please take a look at our newly redesigned website, www.thewha.org. It contains information about the confer- ence, and you can register on-line. Continuing efforts to improve the site to make it more accessible and up- to-date have produced a more useful and attractive resource for our members and those interested in learning about the WHA. Using our website can also raise money for the WHA at no expense to users. Look for the link to Amazon.com on our site. When you use the WHA as a portal to purchase materials from Amazon, the company will donate money to the WHA for each purchase you make, at no cost to you. Help the WHA by making your Amazon purchases through our site.

As always, I invite your comments and active participation in the WHA. Our organization can continue to grow and better serve its members nationally and internationally with your help. If you are willing to join a commit- tee, run for office, or work on a project, please let me know at [email protected]. And be sure to join us in Milwaukee to celebrate an important 25th birthday.

Sincerely, Michele Museum that evening for the reduced fee of $8. WHA Conferences, 2006, 2007, 2008 Other receptions at the Long Beach conference were sponsored by CSULB on Friday evening and by College Board AP World History on A. J. Andrea Saturday evening. Each was a rousing success. For the first time, a BBQ luncheon was offered, free of charge, to all participants, thanks to the generosity of McGraw Hill Publishers. The The annual June conferences held by the WHA have traditionally been and Committee faced a crisis-in-the-making: CSULB’s public food facilities remain the organization’s major venue for bringing together members and were shut down on Saturday. Because of the shortness of time between ses- non-members alike to share and learn about the most recent developments sions, the distance from campus of all other dining establishments, and the in world history scholarship and pedagogy. Beyond that, they are a mid- fact that many conferees lacked automobiles for easy transportation, it was summer opportunity for colleagues from around the world to enjoy one feared that many would go hungry. McGraw Hill solved the problem by another’s company in a warm social environment. Fun and learning go hand sponsoring a barbeque luncheon—hamburgers, franks, veggie burgers, and in hand whenever the WHA convenes. As evidence of that proposition, con- all the usual side dishes and fixings—on the patio that was enjoyed by all. sider last year’s conference at Long Beach, this year’s coming conference in One interesting twist was that conferees were invited to write a short Milwaukee, and the WHA’s plans for 2008 in London. review of a sample chapter from Felipe Fernández-Armesto’s The World: A History (Prentice-Hall, 2007). For each review returned before the end of the conference, Pearson Prentice Hall donated $25 to the WHA. As a result, Fifteenth Annual Conference over $1000 was added to WHA coffers. Long Beach, 22-25 June 2006 Other highlights included occasional free raffles of books, thanks to the generosity of Berkshire Publishing Group and ABC-CLIO. Two raffle win- ners, Linda Black and Anand Yang, donated the encyclopedias that they The annual conference, held at California State University at Long Beach, won, respectively ABC-CLIO's Southeast Asia: A Historical Encyclopedia 22-25 June, focused on the dual themes: “Teaching World History” and from Angkor Wat to East Timor and the Berkshire Encyclopedia of World “The Americas in World History.” By every measure, it was a rousing suc- History, to the Teachers’ Institute that Tim Keirn and Ken Curtis held in con- cess, thanks in large part to the hard work of the Local Arrangements junction with the conference. Committee (especially Ken Curtis and Tim Keirn) and the generosity of And certainly that Teachers’ Institute for AP World History (20-29 Interim Provost Dorothy (Dee) Abrahamsee (a WHA member!) and Dean June), sponsored by College Board, and the one-day Teachers’ Gerry Riposa of CSULB. Preconference Meeting of 22 June that Ken and Tim conducted were major Another factor contributing to the conference’s success were its two additions to the conference. Not only did they enroll a significant number of keynote speakers: Thomas Bender of New York University, who spoke on teachers as conferees, but they nicely underscored one of the conferences “Putting the United States into World (or Global) History,” and Tom Laichas two themes “Teaching World History.” of Crossroads School for Arts and Sciences, who delivered the address In summary, CSULB was a great venue for the conference, and it was “From Charnel House to Schoolhouse: Event and Lesson in World History.” a success of the highest order. Those measures of success alluded to above include the fact that this conference attracted the largest number of attendees in the association’s his- tory—almost 400—including one of the largest cohorts of conferees from outside North America ever present at a WHA conference held within the Sixteenth Annual Conference USA. Representatives from Peking University and Capital Normal Milwaukee, 28 June—1 July 2007 University, both located in Beijing, PRC, were among those present. It also drew the largest number of exhibitors, sponsors, and patrons for any WHA The WHA’s 2007 conference will be co-sponsored by the University of conference to date—a total of 34. Added to these impressive numbers was Wisconsin at Milwaukee and Marquette University and held in downtown the fact that attendees had a great deal of fun, thanks to the ambience of Milwaukee, at UWM’s Conference Center, 28 June—1 July. Its theme is southern California, first-rate hotel and campus accommodations, and gen- “Expanding Horizons, Collapsing Frontiers: The Macro and Micro in World erously sponsored receptions, refreshment breaks, and meals. History.” This theme has particular relevance to Wisconsin’s place in world These receptions, breakfasts, luncheon, and refreshment breaks made history inasmuch as it has served as a land through and into which various the fairly low conference fee a bargain for all in attendance. This was espe- American Indian populations have migrated, a land teeming with rivers and cially true for student conferees, whose $35 conference fee was far below lakes that served as highways for voyageurs, explorers, missionaries, cost, but the WHA is committed to keeping the fee for students at a heavily colonists, and entrepreneurs, a major portion of the nascent United States’ subsidized level, and it remains at that same dollar amount for any full-time initial Northwest Territory, and a place of refuge and new opportunity for student (with valid ID) attending the 2007 conference. After all, students are generations of immigrants. Beyond that, the theme is sufficiently elastic to the future of the profession. allow for a wide variety of panels, roundtables, and papers. For the first time, a reception was offered on Thursday evening, thanks Details regarding the conference are now available at www.thewha.org, to the generosity of ABC-CLIO of Santa Barbara, California. One recurring but a few items deserve underscoring. problem at conferences has been that officially the conference begins on The two keynote speakers will be Marnie Hughes-Warrington of Thursday afternoon/evening with the meeting of the Executive Council and Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia, who will offer the address “Sizing the opening of the registration desk. But otherwise there have been no activ- Up World History” and Jean Fleet of Riverside University High School in ities for conferees who are not officers or members of the Executive Wisconsin will speak on “Reconstruction and World History: Theory and Council. ABC-CLIO elegantly solved that problem by offering hospitality— Practice.” Both of these much-admired WHA members will give us a lot to snack foods and beverages, including beer and wine—set in a lounge, where think about. registering conferees could meet colleagues and relax. Given the success of A new feature will be two mixed media displays that will be open for that reception, ABC-CLIO will offer similar hospitality in Milwaukee on viewing and discussion at certain periodic times throughout the 2 ½ days of Thursday afternoon/evening, 28 June 2007. Moreover, the WHA the conference. Conferences Committee and the Local Arrangements Committee are In addition to the ABC-CLIO-sponsored reception on Thursday engaged in finding other Thursday activities at future conferences for atten- evening (see above), there will be two other receptions: On Friday. we will dees who arrive and register early. In Milwaukee, conferees will have the enjoy hospitality and a special exhibition at the American Geographical opportunity to participate in a docent-led tour of the Milwaukee Art Society’s Collection, which is housed in UWM’s Golda Meier Library; on Saturday, Marquette University will host us at the Haggerty Museum of Art is only minutes away from Queen Mary by Underground. And after the on its campus. Additionally, Houghton Mifflin, Inc. will host a bratwurst reception is over, the allures of downtown London on a summer’s evening BBQ luncheon on Saturday (after all, Milwaukee is the city of brats) at cannot be resisted. Marquette, with veggie burgers and other foods, as well. The Local Arrangements Committee at Queen Mary will soon begin its In addition to the Thursday evening docent-led tour of the Milwaukee meetings and will establish the conference themes and a detailed program Art Museum (mentioned above), a second tour will be offered on Sunday (or programme for our British friends). afternoon. Each is for the reduced fee of $8, payable with conference regis- tration. Two world historians from abroad will be hosted by the WHA as initial recipients of travel grants from the newly created World Scholar Travel The Southeast World History Association Fund. Please see the article regarding this program and the two recipients on (SEWHA), a regional affiliate of the World page 49. History Association, invites submissions for its As everyone must know by now, the world-famous Summerfest, a cel- ebration of music, will be in full swing during our conference and held only Nineteenth Annual Conference, at Armstrong a few blocks away from our downtown location. That location also places Atlantic State University in Savannah, Georgia conferees a short walking distance from the lake and right in the heart of from 12 to 14 October 2007. The conference Milwaukee’s restaurant and entertainment district. As always, the confer- ence will demonstrate that fun and serious academic pursuits are not anti- organizers welcome proposals that connect world thetical. history research and teaching, as well as focused The popularity of Summerfest means that rooms will be at a premium, paper topics dealing with world history themes or The Local Arrangements Committee has secured rooms at special, better than reasonable conference rates at the Hyatt Regency and Strasz Tower. It pedagogical issues. is each conferee’s responsibility to arrange her/his accommodations. The deadline for submissions is 1 July 2007. Because these rooms will fill up fast, we urge that no one delay in reserving Proposals are welcome from educators and stu- a room at the hotel of choice. Contact information is available on the WHA’s conference web page. dents of world history at all levels and should not exceed 250 words. Complete panel proposals are especially welcome. Include contact information Seventeenth Annual Conference on the proposal. Submit proposals electronically to London, 25-29 June 2008 [email protected], or in hard copy to Dr. Rob Willingham, Department of History, Roanoke Our 2008 conference will be held 25-29 June at Queen Mary College, University of London. Those inclusive dates, which cover Wednesday College, 221 College Lane, Salem, VA 24153. through Sunday, are for the convenience of long-distance travelers. For additional information regarding the con- Although no activities are (yet) planned for Wednesday, travelers from ference contact Dr. Michael Hall at abroad can register at the Queen Mary dormitories, which will be our prin- cipal residence, on Wednesday and rest up for the conference. The [email protected] or (912) 927-5283. Conferences Committee and the Local Arrangements Committee will try but cannot guarantee to have some activity for Wednesday afternoon. Registration and the Executive Council Meeting will take place on Thursday World History Association Mission Statement afternoon, and the WHA will endeavor to hold a modest reception during Thursday registration hours. Persons who wish to arrive even earlier than Adhering to its founding principles, the WHA supports teaching and Wednesday and/or depart after the morning of the 30th may do so for a per scholarship within a global perspective. Through the teachers, diem charge payable directly to Queen Mary College that will be far below researchers, and authors who are its members the WHA fosters his- the cost of the most modestly priced hotels in London. The dormitory suites torical analysis undertaken not from the viewpoint of nation-states, at Queen Mary are quite comfortable and its kitchen is first-class, so resid- ing on campus for at least these five nights is highly recommended. but rather from that of the global community. To this end, the WHA The conference fee for travelers who elect to stay at Queen Mary has provides forums for the discussion of changing approaches to the yet to be firmly established due to fluctuating pound sterling/dollar study and teaching of world history at all levels and works with exchange rates (but the 2006 rates for B&B at Queen Mary, for which data other organizations to encourage public support for world history. are available, are extremely reasonable). The fee, once established, will include conference registration, housing for 5 nights (with a differential for single rooms), and 5 breakfasts. The conference fee might also include lunches in the college restaurant for an additional amount, but there are a number of nearby and on-campus establishments (including several pubs) The World History Bulletin will that might be more attractive to many conferees. Given the proximity of downtown by tube (roughly 15-20 minutes including walking and waiting publish a special issue in time), few if any will want to stay on campus in the evening. The West End November, in celebration of the and its theatres and restaurants beckon. Persons who elect to stay elsewhere for whatever reason or who elect World History Association’s 25th to stay at Queen Mary for fewer days will pay, of course, a different fee. One activity that is already promised is a reception by Pearson anniversary. Prentice-Hall at its offices on the lower Strand—the heart of West End London. Conferees will have to make their way there independently, but it

WHB Focus Issue & Teaching Forum

“Religion and World History”

Joel Tishken Guest Editor

The global significance of religion, past and pres- norm. Periodization is addressed in Whalen's come to place the Catholic Church, in his estima- ent, is surely undeniable. The study of religion contribution through a case study of premodern tion, as "one of the most articulate and vigorous provides great material for the world historian as Christian writers. As the geographic and cultural champions of the Universal Declaration of religion intersects with every other aspect of the knowledge of Europe grew, their system of expla- Human Rights in the twenty-first century." human condition. It is my honor to introduce this nation did not. Non-European cultures were sim- Sahin challenges many of the commonly per- collection of articles on various aspects of reli- ply inserted into the Christian system of explana- ceived notions of missionaries, arguing for a gious history. The collection begins with some tion. Whalen concludes by reminding us how more nuanced understanding. Firstly, he con- articles on historiography, theory, and pedagogy, arbitrary periodization can be and cautions tends that the records of ABCFM missionaries and concludes with a number of case studies. world historians to insure we do not simply insert reveal that these missionaries were overwhelm- However, most contributions blend several of the "diverse peoples of the world into frameworks ingly New Englanders, and this impacted their these issues making comment on both our disci- of [our] own making." mission approach. They were not focused upon pline as well as our classrooms. Marriott, Riley, Sahin, and Willis provide a instantaneous conversions but rather felt that Though the significance of religion for variety of case studies that probe the intersection serving as a Christian model would cause others world history may be undeniable, the precise of global and local approaches to religion. to choose to convert. Secondly, records also indi- nature of how to study and teach religion is quite Marriott traces the universal characteristics, cate that relations between the missionaries and another matter. As Lindenfeld's contribution dis- interconnections, and local manifestations, of the local people of Turkey were peaceful, not hos- cusses, even the very terminology is contentious. three millennial movements of the premodern tile as typically portrayed. These missionaries Lindenfeld finds that the term "world religions" is era: the Islamic Nuqtavi movement of Safavid partook of Turkish culture and sought to reform highly biased in favor of textual religions. He Iran, the Christian Fifth Monarchy movement in existing Eastern Christian churches, not strictly concludes that for world historians a religion Britain and the United States, and the Judaic impose their own worldview. ought to be considered a world religion if its Sabbatian movement in the Ottoman Empire. All Race and religion had a complex interplay, "...adherents are to be found in a multiplicity of three have some commonalities because of their argues Willis, for Southern Baptists on both sides geographical world regions." Tishken argues the descent from a common Abrahamic tradition. Yet of the Atlantic. The Southern Baptist Convention case even further stating that world religions Marriott also contends that there were a number was well aware of the paradox of promoting ought to be the religions of the world. He states of interconnected socio-economic conditions, Christian missions while defending segregation that the world historian should provide a global- such as astrology, the discovery of new cultures, at home. In several instances the mission experi- ly representative sample of religions, as is done social and political crises, and increased commu- ence and African converts caused desegregation for empires or cultures, through a framework of nication among members of different religions, in the southern United States. "There is much in ethnic and evangelical religions. He polemically that provided an environment conducive to the the American South for the world historian, and contends that our definition of "world religions is emergence of such movements, providing addi- much in the broader world for the Southern histo- the partly failed attempt at preserving Christian tional parallels among the three. In the end rian." primacy." (please forgive the pun) Marriott argues that it is Please enjoy this exploration of historiogra- A number of contributors challenge us to the common global features that provided the phy, religious theory, pedagogy, and history from further consider our intellectual inheritance in atmosphere for the emergence of these move- our collection of authors. It is clear that religion regards to religion. Clossey suggests that the sec- ments, even as each developed their own local has a significant role to play in the conceptualiza- ular nature of the modern academy has reduced peculiarities. tion, writing, and teaching of world history. religion to a sterile assemblage of beliefs and Catholicism's seemingly paradoxical history Sinitiere notes a paucity of material on religion rites. Our academic definition of religion, as an as both the violator of, and champion for, human within our field's journals, until quite recently. We abstraction separate from the rest of life, is not rights is the starting point of Riley's essay. hope this collection will help to redress this and one shared by most peoples, past and present, but However, Riley explains that in the twentieth cen- spur further dialogue in the future. is an invention of modernity. He and Sinitiere tury, Catholicism has, in fact, become a champi- both suggest we find ways to "re-enchant" the on of human rights. Following the philosophy of Joel Tishken lived experience of religion, illustrating the Jacques Maritain, many Catholic leaders, includ- Columbus State University power of religion, past and present, in our class- ing some popes, have come to see human rights rooms. Religion does matter to most humans, past as the embrace of individual rights as well as the and present, and we must find ways to represent simultaneous embrace of responsibility to insure that power of religion remembering that the the rights of others are protected. Riley traces the academy's views on religion are not the global various events of the twentieth century that have The Concept of “World Religions” are newer names for what was formerly other’s beliefs and feelings clearly, care- labeled “primitive.” There is certainly a ves- fully, and compassionately, and bring as Currently Used in Religious tige of a pro-Western bias here; the question truly religious responses into play. To Studies Textbooks becomes how this issue is handled in con- take such a journey does not mean for- temporary textbooks. saking our own religious beliefs or our David Lindenfeld The books included in this survey are skepticism. But the journey is likely to those which publishers sent as examination broaden our perspective and thus bring Louisiana State University copies to several of my colleagues in the us closer to understanding other mem- religion departments at Louisiana State bers of our human family.3 The neglect of religion as a major factor in University and Loyola University in New Many of the textbooks also emphasize the world history (both in teaching and research) Orleans, who generously lent them to me. I physical presence of non-Western religions is coming to be recognized, but the question included only works which had a copyright in Europe and America to a greater extent of how to incorporate it raises a lot of issues. date after 2000. They are, in alphabetical than ever before. In short, one does not find For those of us faced with decisions on how order by author: in these books any overtly pro-Western or to structure a course or a curriculum, 1) Robert S. Ellwood and Barbara A. pro-Christian stances. whether at the college or high-school level, McGraw, Many Peoples, Many Faiths: As for the organization of the books, all questions regarding what to include and Women and Men in World Religions, 8th follow the same pattern of beginning with exclude are paramount—as in other fields of ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson the non-literate religions, usually in the world history. It might be useful, therefore, Prentice Hall, 2005. space of a single chapter, followed by the to see how our colleagues in religious stud- 2) John L. Esposito, Darrell J. Fasching, and bulk of the book dealing with scriptural tra- ies handle this issue. Courses in comparative Todd Lewis, World Religions Today, 2nd ditions. There is a great deal of variety, how- religion have been a staple of college curric- ed. New York: Oxford University Press, ever, in how the nonliterate religions are pre- ula for a long time, and the textbooks avail- 2006. sented. To begin with terminology, the pre- able for such courses can at least provide 3) Mary Pat Fisher, Living Religions, 6th ed. ferred term is “indigenous”—four out of the examples of how to subdivide, classify, and Upper Saddle River, make selections within this vast subject-mat- NJ: Pearson . . . the evidence points more unambiguously to a bias in favor of writ- ter. Prentice Hall, 2005. ten traditions. In other words, membership in the canon of “world reli- In such an enterprise, a seemingly 4) Lewis M. Hopfe unavoidable construct raises its head, name- gions” is marked by a common feature of having a scripture or scrip- and Mark R. tures which have been around for a long time . . . ly, “world religion,” or “world’s religions,” Woodward, or “world’s great religions.” Scholars have Religions of the pointed out that, as a guide to a consistent World, 9th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: nine books use it (Fisher, Ludwig, Molloy, classificatory scheme, the concept poses 1 Pearson Prentice Hall, 2004. and Young). Two prefer “primal” (Esposito many difficulties. Are world religions those 5) Theodore M. Ludwig, The Sacred Paths: and Noss); one uses “basic” (Hopfe); one which are held by a plurality of nationalities Understanding the Religions of the World, “tribal” (Ellwood); and one avoids labeling or ethnic groups? Then Judaism and 3rd ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice altogether (Matthews). The tendency is to Hinduism would have to be excluded. Are Hall, 2001. treat these religions in very general terms, world religions characterized by a “univer- 6) Warren Matthews, World Religions, 4th employing such topics as animism, shamans, sal” message or content that transcends the ed. Belmont, CA: Thomson Wadsworth, totem, taboo, myth, rites of passage, etc., concerns of more localized religions? If 2004. with illustrations drawn from scattered tribes “universal” is taken to include an elaborate 7) Michael Molloy, Experiencing the across the globe (Molloy has an emphasis on cosmology, then many Native American, World’s Religions: Tradition, Challenge, Hawaiian illustrations). Several of the text- African, and Melanesian religions deserve to and Change, 4th ed. New York: McGraw books compensate for this approach by be included, which they are not. Does Hill, 2008 [sic]. offering more detailed case studies or sepa- “world religion” simply refer to those with 8) David S. Noss, A History of the World’s rate chapters on geographical regions. Thus greater numbers of adherents? If one goes by Religions, 11th ed. Upper Saddle River, Young offers fairly detailed portraits of the the statistics in the 2005 Encyclopedia NJ: Prentice Hall, 2003. Yoruba and the Oglala Lakota Sioux; Noss Britannica’s Book of the Year, the answer 9) William A. Young, The World’s Religions: concentrates on the Dieri of southeast would have to be no: Jews, Sikhs, and Jains, Worldviews and Contemporary Issues, 2nd Australia, the Bavenda of South Africa, and which usually get a chapter each devoted to ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson the Cherokee. In keeping with his historical their respective religions, make up less than Prentice Hall, 2005. approach, he also includes a chapter on 1% of the world’s population, compared to The most fascinating differences among “Bygone Religions”—Mesopotamia, Greco- 4% in the “ethnoreligionist” category (i.e., these textbooks are to be found in the intro- Roman, and Maya. Hopfe, in addition to a tribal or indigenous) and 12% listed as “non- 2 ductory chapters, where the authors attempt very general chapter on basic religions, has a religious.” to define religion itself (the exception is chapter on Native-American and one on While some recent works have inter- Noss, who takes a strictly historical African religions, although these are again preted these asymmetries as symptomatic of approach and begins with the prehistoric). treated very broadly. The book that goes fur- a pro-Western or pro-Christian bias, the evi- These comparisons would take us far thest in discussing specific cases (and is, dence points more unambiguously to a bias beyond the scope of this paper. It is worth therefore, I think, most helpful to history in favor of written traditions. In other words, noting, however, that in justifying the impor- teachers), is Matthews, who simply has a membership in the canon of “world reli- tance of the study of religion in the twenty- chapter on the Americas and one on Africa gions” is marked by a common feature of first century, the above textbooks all contain (why not one on Oceania as well?). This is having a scripture or scriptures which have statements affirming the value of appreciat- consistent with the geographical organiza- been around for a long time (the most recent ing religious diversity—especially in light of tion that most of the texts follow in the rest being Sikhism, whose holy book dates back the obvious potential of religion to ignite of the books. In the American chapter, to the sixteenth century). Religions which violent conflict. Fisher provides perhaps the Matthews discusses, in varying degrees of lack such writings are lumped together in a most emphatic statement: depth, the Naskapi of Quebec and Labrador, single category, which regardless of what This is not the time to think of the world the Powhatans of Virginia, the Cherokee, the part of the world they come from, is various- in terms of superficial, rigid distinctions Aztecs, and the Incas. In the African one, we ly labeled “traditional”, “primal”, “basic”, between “us” and “them.” It is the time meet the ancient Egyptians, the Basongye of “tribal”, or “indigenous”. These, of course, when we must try to understand each the Congo, the Zulu, and the Yoruba. These chapters also emphasize, in with a section on the encounter with an 5 Musozawa, 266. greater or lesser degree, the continuities aspect of modernity; there follows a rather 6 On the concept of world regions, see Martin W. Lewis and between indigenous religions and the rest. extensive historical section which takes us Kären E. Wigen, The Myth of Continents: A Critique of Ellwood, for example, discusses the survival through the clashes with colonialism and Metageography (Berkeley: University of California Press, of pagan traces in such festivals as into the postmodern period. This is not to 1997), ch. 6. Christmas, Halloween, and May Day. say that such themes are absent in the other Esposito and Fisher provide examples of the textbooks; many of them include sections ongoing presence of Shamanism in Asia. that deal with contemporary expressions of The theme of encounter between indigenous the scriptural religions. Ellwood highlights religions and modernity comes up repeated- the role of women in each section; Fisher ly, notably in Fisher, Ludwig, and most includes interviews with representatives of prominently, Esposito. The theme of colo- each tradition. Of Borders and Boundaries: nialism and its impact on all world religions Six of the nine books follow with chap- is in fact an organizing theme of the latter ters on new religious movements (all except World History, World book. Hopfe, Noss, and Matthews). Here, as in the Christianity, and It should be noted in passing that the indigenous sections, the reader is taken on a 1 idea of commonalities among indigenous whirlwind tour, including a brief introduc- the Pedagogy of Religion peoples, however scattered they may be geo- tion to such groups as Mormons, Moonies, graphically, is no longer a mere academic New Age, Neo-Pagan Wiccans, Phillip Luke Sinitiere construct, but a rallying point of political Rastafarians, Scientologists, Theosophists, Second Baptist School mobilization. There are several international and Baha’i, to mention the most prominent organizations of indigenes, including a ones (Hopfe eschews the survey and con- United Nations Working Group on cludes with a chapter on Baha’i alone). Six Historiographically speaking, the particular is connect- Indigenous Populations, which produced a of the nine textbooks (all but Esposito, ed to the whole, the local to the global, and the contex- draft declaration on indigenous rights. Many Hopfe, and Noss) also have concluding tual to the catholic.-- Gerald J. Pillay, “The Challenge of the documents produced by these organi- chapters dealing with contemporary issues of Teaching Church History from a Global Perspective” zations emphasize the special relationship to such as science and technology, environ- (2002) land and place as embodied in indigenous mental crisis, gender issues, and interfaith religions.4 dialogue. On this material, Young stands out The global and intercultural character of world When it comes to the scriptural reli- by devoting an entire section—four chap- Christianity demands expertise in numerous fields of gions, all of the textbooks—with one excep- ters—to contemporary ethical issues academic specialization: history and religions are two tion—follow the same trajectory, with only (including one on abortion/euthanasia), plus obvious areas, but also anthropology, philosophy, minor variations. The main organizing prin- a final chapter on the future of the world’s human rights, politics, international relations, the study ciple is geographical region of origin, with religions. of language and literature, customary law, and indige- chronology serving as a secondary principle. Let me conclude by offering a sugges- nous healing systems.-- Lamin Sanneh, “World Thus one begins in India with Hinduism, fol- tion on how world history can contribute to Christianity and the New Historiography” (2002) lowed by Buddhism, and in most cases, clarifying the terminological confusion over Jainism and Sikhism. One then moves to the term “world religion.” By approaching One can be certain that the issues of religion and spiri- East Asia for a discussion of Daoism and religion in terms of cultural interactions, one tuality will not disappear from studies of world history. Confucianism (often treated together), fol- might say that a world religion is simply one -- Patrick Manning, Navigating World History (2003) lowed by Shinto. Some of the books whose adherents are to be found in a multi- (Ellwood, Ludwig, and Matthews) follow a plicity of geographical world regions.6 This Introduction - “The most striking feature of more strictly geographical scheme here, may occur either as the result of conscious Christianity at the beginning of the third mil- using China and Japan themselves as the proselytizing or conquest, as with lennium,” writes scholar Andrew Walls, “is that it is predominantly a non-Western reli- main headings, allowing for easier discus- Buddhism, Christianity, or Islam, or simply 2 sion of the intermixing of religions within by migration and the creation of diasporas, gion.” It is widely acknowledged now, each one; another (Young) even includes as with Judaism and Hinduism. This is also notably due to works such as Philip Jenkins’ Mahayana Buddhism in the East Asian sec- one way of reconceptualizing the distinction The Next Christendom: The Coming of tion rather than in the Indian one. In any between “world” and “indigenous” reli- Global Christianity (2002) and The New case, these sections are invariably followed gions. The Yoruba, for example, as they Faces of Christianity: Bible Believers in the by the religions originating in the Middle were transplanted to the Western Global South (2006), as well as the dizzying East, namely Judaism, Christianity, and Hemisphere by the slave trade, brought their quantitative data of David Barrett and his Islam, in that order. Fidelity to the scriptural religion with them, which continues to flour- team in the World Christian Encyclopedia (2001), that Christianity in the global South criterion is revealed by giving the Jains and ish in combination with other elements in 3 Sikhs each a separate chapter in five cases such movements as Candomblé, Vodoun, is alive and well. and combining them into a single chapter in and Santería. Significant scholarly analysis of these two others; Zoroastrians merit their own trends is also underway. In addition to a chapter also in five cases, and are combined ENDNOTES number of monographs on the subject, two with ancient Mesopotamians in another. In recent volumes in Cambridge University other words, these texts highlight the same 1 For example, Rosalind Shaw, “The Invention of ‘African Press’s History of Christianity series cover ten religions that were identified as the Traditional Religion,’ Religion vol. 20 (1990), pp. 340-2; what editors call “world Christianities” from world’s “great” religions by the World Tomoko Masuzawa, The Invention of World Religions, or, How 1815-2000, and both Eerdmans and Oxford European Universalism Was Preserved in the Language of University Press recently inaugurated series’ Parliament of Religions in 1893—with the Pluralism (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2005), pp. 2- 5 that investigate dimensions of mission histo- addition of Sikhism. 6. The exception to this pattern is 2 ry and evangelicalism in the Southern Encyclopedia Britannica 2005 Book of the Year (Chicago: Hemisphere. Also, two schools recently Esposito. Here one begins with Judaism, fol- Encyclopedia Britannica, 2005), p. 282. lowed by Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, 3 Fisher, 28; cf. Ellwood, 2; Esposito, 32; Hopfe, 4; Ludwig, opened study centers devoted to world Buddhism, and East Asia. No special justifi- 23, Matthews, 11, Molloy, 23; Young, 10. Christianity: New York Theological cation is offered; I would guess that the 4 Ken S. Coates, A Global History of Indigenous Peoples. Seminary’s Center for World Christianity author’s intent is to begin with the relatively Struggle and Survival (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2004), opened in 2004, and Calvin College’s Nagel more familiar. Each of these chapters begins esp. pp. 5-13, 250-7. Institute for the Study of World Christianity opened the following year. A final attesta- fields of world Christianity and world histo- 2005), sixteenth-century Franciscan tion of the current analysis of Christian ry might intersect both in terms of research Inquisition in New Spain (March 2006), expressions in the global South, Baylor and pedagogy. I write both as an instructor American missionary involvement in the University hosted (November 2005) an of history with six years teaching experience Opium trade in nineteenth-century China international symposium on world in a religiously-affiliated college-preparato- (June 2006), and in the December 2006 issue Christianity called “Global Christianity: ry academy and as a student, presently a articles on Christian spiritual meditation in Challenging Modernity and the West.” A Ph.D. candidate in history at a state univer- the Dar al-Islam and religious pluralism in clear reflection of the surging importance of sity. I teach courses in world, United States, early modern society. Although relatively the field, sociologists, anthropologists, his- and European history, and my graduate sparse in number, these articles cover a con- torians, theologians, and religion scholars training focuses on American religious his- siderable geographical swath across a large turned out in significant numbers, though tory with secondary fields in world history block of time, analyze macro and micro world historians were few and far between.4 and African history. dimensions of religious institutions and reli- Perhaps world historians steered clear gious expression, and offer a variety of ways of the conference due to lack of advertising, Christianity and the New World History to imagine religious experience throughout or maybe world history scholars found the Before proceeding, it is imperative to world history. conference’s presence at a denominational measure the extent to which studies of school suspicious; or maybe it had to do Christianity show up in the new world histo- World History Bulletin - As for the World with the relative youth of world Christianity ry. While many could quibble with books on History Bulletin, my initial perusal of its as an academic subfield, the sometimes religious topics that might constitute a bibli- archives indicates that out of approximately obtuse nature of religious studies and theo- ography of “world history” texts, although 200 articles, five address religious history logical scholarship along with its absence one might survey seminal volumes of edited and one marginally engages Christianity. from secular academic settings, or the under- essays or even prominent world history Publication of the issue in which this article standable reticence historians sometimes encyclopedias, a more manageable and logi- appears obviously changes the numbers have when making intersections with reli- cal measure comes from what many consid- cited previously, and no doubt all of the arti- gious or theological studies, particularly er the major journals and publications in the cles found herein will prompt further inves- those strains that study and examine field.6 For the sake of convenience, I date tigation and spark subsequent discussion.7 Christian experience. Whatever the case, as the new world history to 1990, the year the the title of this article suggests, I wish to Journal of World History (JWH) began pub- Journal of Global History - The Journal of reexamine the borders and boundaries of lication. In addition to the JWH, I surveyed Global History has a very short tenure, with the World History only three issues (seventeen articles) pub- Bulletin, the Journal of lished to date. Only the March 2006 issue Patrick Manning, . . . one of the leading theorists, practitioners, and Global History, World contained an essay on a religious topic, an advocates of world history, brings considerable depth to discussions of History Connected, and article by Luke Clossey on the intersections world Christianity. H-World. I examined the of merchants, missionaries, and migration archives from each of conceptualized as early-modern, transpacific these publications, globalization. these fields in order to bring world history including book reviews, and selected sever- and world Christianity into more rigorous al search terms to harvest the archives of H- World History Connected - Turning to conversation, both in terms of scholarship World. My results are as follows. World History Connected, we notice that and pedagogy. In short, I suggest that world prior to the November 2006 issue, there historians more rigorously engage the work Journal of World History - Since 1990, the were no articles with Christianity as the of religious studies scholars, and, in some Journal of World History has published main topic of analysis since its debut in cases, perhaps even those in theological dis- approximately 183 articles, with 12 on top- November 2003. The only exceptions were ciplines. Such encounters, I submit, would ics related to Christianity. Two issues, Fall Mary Jane Maxwell’s column on the world walk a fine line among various disciplines, 1992 and Spring 1995, featured two articles history survey course that focuses primarily yet offer ways to more fully explain the his- a piece on Christianity, and from Fall 1997 on comparative religion as an analytical torical rootedness of contemporary religious to June 2004 there were no articles on the theme (May 2005), and three book reviews: experience across the globe, while also pro- topic. From another angle, out of approxi- one on religion and the Silk Road (May viding additional materials from which to mately 325 book reviews published to date 2004) and two on the historical development enhance pedagogy. Thus, in general terms, I in its sixteen year history, the JWH contains of monotheism in Western culture (May make a plea for restoring the place of reli- reviews of 12 books on topics related to the 2005, July 2006). gion in the new world history, in particular, history of Christianity. Notably, since June The November 2006 issue focused on calling for careful studies of global Christian 2004, there have been articles on religion and opened with an article on reli- experiences (especially in the global South) Christianity in the September 2005 issue and gious illiteracy and prescriptions for over- that aim to provide textured understandings in three of the four 2006 issues there coming it in secondary settings, followed by of faith experiences, not essentialist presen- appeared at least one article on the history of reflections on the importance of religion, tations that misinform or come across as Christianity. I do not seek to explain this, but teacher training, and pedagogy; the place of proselytizing. My suggestion implicitly only to report it. teaching religious experience in a world his- questions the comparative world religions In terms of topics covered, JWH articles tory setting; religion in contemporary world approach, while it subtly advocates dimen- examined: Jesuit mission work in Brazil history; Buddhism; religious syncretism; sions of what Joel Tishken terms an “ethnic” (Fall 1992), Christian conversion to Islam in neo-Confucianism; and Sufism and gender. approach to global religion, and the fifth-century Cordoba (Spring 1992), reli- Mike Weber’s article “Teaching Religion in approach David Lindenfeld champions as gion and trade in Eurasia between A.D. 600- World History” highlighted the importance comparative inculturation (and accultura- 1200 (Spring 1995), the YMCA in Meiji of understanding and teaching religion not tion) of varying cultural combinations.5 Japan (Spring 1995), the Christianization of solely as theoretical or doctrinal construc- In the analysis that follows, I (unscien- Muslim princes during holy war (Fall 1996), tions, but as lived experience, and David tifically) measure the extent to which studies Christian conversion in modern India (Fall Fahey’s thoughts on religion’s ubiquity of Christian history and experience exist in 1997), YWCA activities in postwar Japan across time and space identified challenges the field of world history, exploring and (June 2004), a comparative look at mission- world history teachers face as they seek to defining what scholars call world ary work in eighteenth- and nineteenth-cen- explain today’s complex religious worlds. Christianity, and suggesting ways that the tury China and West Africa (September Similar to my reflections below, Weber’s call for the study of lived religion uncovers and Mark Noll and anthropologist Brian observes, leaves traditional top-down church the textures of religious experience, while Howell, there are relatively clear parameters history behind. Drawing from the streams of Fahey’s essay highlights the collaborative for the field and important questions on its diverse academic fields, or, to modify nature of studying and teaching about reli- research agenda, even as there remains much metaphors, plunging into the pool of inter- gion. Overall, this issue provides rich mate- work to be done. disciplinary study, allows historians to cap- rial from which to engage theoretical reflec- A Gambian-born historian, Sanneh ture the lives of laypeople who adopt local tion, and, in turn, more fully inform peda- draws from deep interfaith and cross-cultur- dynamics of the Christian faith and express gogical practices. al religious experience to offer an outline of this faith in contextualized, indigenous the field of world Christianity. In his Whose terms. The new historiography about which H-World - In cyberspace, discussion of var- Religion is Christianity?: The Gospel Sanneh writes also eschews explanations ious aspects of Christianity along the threads Beyond the West (2003), an innovative self- that move along traditional denominational of H-World cropped up 421 times across 19 interview that fleshes out numerous issues lines; emerging bodies of Christianity out- pages of messages since the first post in related to Christianity’s global presence, side of the Western world often exist outside August 1994. Using the search word Sanneh notes that the term “world of customary denominational restraints.10 “Pentecostal,” for example, yielded 28 mes- Christianity” implies a scholarly and peda- The study and analysis of indigenous sages across two pages, and resulted in some gogical focus on indigenous location and expressions of faith, then, for much of the of the most vigorous conversation amongst expression of Christian religious experience. work on world Christianity, favors contem- H-Worlders. I should note that Miami (Ohio) “World Christianity,” Sanneh describes, “is porary history and thus, most of the subjects University’s David Fahey initiated recent not one thing but a variety of indigenous historians of world Christianity study hap- discussions on this topic, once in March responses through more or less effective pened within the last 500 years or so. 2005 and then again in March 2006. In a local idioms, but in any case without neces- Sanneh’s voice on this topic does not post from 30 March 2005, entitled “Religion sarily the European Enlightenment frame.” include cadences of advocacy, but reverber- and World History,” Fahey wrote: “As I have As Sanneh relates, the emergence of a ates with vibrant cultural experiences borne said before (never getting a reaction), I find vibrant Christianity in the global South came out of critical historical analysis. In addition, it puzzling that world historians seem to find “with the shift into native languages, [as] the Sanneh’s terminological precision not only no contemporary religion worth analysis logic of religious conversion assumed an helps to bring clarity to discussions about with the exception of Islam. Maybe I should internal dynamic, with a sharp turn away the contemporary global Christian scene, but recognize that Eurocentrism is not confined from external direction and control. also suggests that scholars of world to economic history.” Fahey echoed these Indigenizing the faith meant decolonizing its Christianity (and world history) must tra- sentiments again on 25 April 2006, in a post theology, and membership of the fellowship verse traditional disciplinary boundaries, entitled “Pentecostalism at 100,” when he implied spiritual home rule. World much the same way the global faith about noted “Over the years I have argued that Christianity was thereby weaned of the which scholars write and teach moves with- world historians are strangely selective in political habits of Christendom.” In this way, in, between, and across cultural, ethnic, identifying what religious are worth study- Sanneh argues that the emergence of a racial, linguistic, and class lines. The future ing in modern history. Islam is fashionable, vibrant Christianity in the global South came of world Christianity and world history is of while Pentecostal Christianity is not.” This with the translation of religious texts into necessity a collaborative project compara- article is one response to Fahey’s comments indigenous languages along with the indi- tive in nature.11 even while his observations suggest there is vidual and collective dynamics that ensued; The field of world Christianity’s inter- work to do. what he calls the “indigenous discovery of pretive power, via the reflections of world Such statistics and observations suggest Christianity.” Writing about Bible transla- historian Patrick Manning, rests most logi- that while a more frequent topic in on-line tion in contemporary Africa, for example, cally within a cultural studies (and even forums, Christianity as an analytical topic in Sanneh observes: social history) framework. While I cite the new world history is an area ripe for A corresponding double effect attended examples and offer pedagogical strategies analysis and discussion. The recent frequen- the work of missionaries themselves, below, it is helpful, at this point, to interlace cy of articles in the Journal of World for by translating the Bible into the world Christianity more concretely with the History, a recent issue of World History mother tongue, missionaries, with the field of world history in order to discuss the Connected, and the current issue of the assistance and leadership of local lan- collaborative imperative identified previous- World History Bulletin indicate significant guage experts, learnt the vernacular and ly. conversations are underway. Nevertheless, it so made the strategic shift from the Patrick Manning, of the University of is clear that a more rigorous incorporation of familiar Western idiom to a totally new Pittsburgh and one of the leading theorists, the various dimensions of contemporary system. Thus Bible translation in its practitioners, and advocates of world histo- Christian history and religious experience consequences affected ethnic sensibili- ry, brings considerable depth to discussions into the new world history would greatly ty, gave it material expression, moral of world Christianity. In his Navigating enhance the scope of the field and bring new affirmation and historical vocation even World History (2003), Manning suggests pedagogical possibilities to the table. if at the same time it mediated the that historians bring analytical approaches spread of European cultural ideas.9 that the field of cultural history offers to the Defining World Christianity Acts and events of indigenization, then, var- table of world history. With such investiga- If the reasons for a more thorough and ied as they are across time, space, and tions it is prudent, Manning argues, to draw innovative incorporation of contemporary region, surface as a key feature in the field of a distinction between micro- and macro- Christian history are both legitimate and world Christianity, since, as Sanneh argues level analyses, especially if one seeks to obvious, then a clearer picture of what I in his larger study, Translating the Message: study linguistic patterns, for example, or mean by world Christianity is necessary. The Missionary Impact on Culture (1989), how peoples in various times and places rep- With comparatively few “world from its earliest days Christianity was a resent their world. These concerns are of Christianity” studies as such currently in translatable and translating religion. particular importance for studies of spiritual print (in English) and with only two English- In a 2002 essay titled “World experience and religious phenomena, and language journals that deal with the topic Christianity and the New Historiography,” Manning suggests that historians reframe specifically—Studies in World Christianity Sanneh argues that a historiography that these kinds of analyses more as a dynamic of and the forthcoming Journal of World takes into account world Christianity will global interconnection than as a flicker of Christianity—the field itself is quite young.8 focus on “the principles of local agency and local culture. Importantly, Manning points As Yale’s Lamin Sanneh notes, along with indigenous cultural appropriation.” The real- out that studies of recent world history fail to the reflections of historians Patrick Manning ity of such a historiography, Sanneh consider seriously the fluorescence about and historical situatedness of religious expe- historical knowledge” might do well to lis- non-Western Christianity is moving (or rience, strongly suggesting that future work ten to the missiological voices of individuals has moved?) to the center of the global tackle such issues.12 Manning’s historio- like Lesslie Newbingen, a missionary priest Church, it is time to bring in those who graphical contention thus complements who worked in India and engaged scholarly have been working with the concepts of Sanneh’s terminological articulation and, discussions about religious pluralism, culture and culture change in the non- together with the reflections of historian Andrew Walls, a Scottish academic with Western world for the entire life of their Mark Noll and anthropologist Brian Howell missionary experience in West Africa and discipline. Learning about this sea below, moves the discussion forward. one who is sensitive to critical analysis of change is going to remain two-dimen- The historiographical shift I wish to religious experience, or Lamin Sanneh, all sional without the on-the-ground data identify—and one that is in many ways of whom in various ways explore the that anthropology provides….[for] the already underway—comports with the dynamics of Christianity at the nexus of var- anthropological conviction that study- recent trend of interdisciplinarity, creative ious cultures.14 In short, Noll argues that if ing the Other always sheds light on the disciplinary boundary crossing that aims to one considers the future of Christian history Self is never more true than in the case more fully unpack and more fully explain as world history and listens patiently and of Christianity.17 historical experience. For the fields of world attentively to missiological reflection, the To better understand, interpret, and explicate Christianity and world history, this suggests ways in which various cultures inculturate the experiences of Christian believers, a particular kind of engagement world histo- the Christian gospel might provide a wealth Howell contends that scholars take the reli- rians could make with religious or theologi- of material for historical analysis that could gious beliefs and rituals of their subjects as cal studies, spliced of course with theoretical further illuminate the depths of cultural seriously as the subjects take them them- perspectives from history, anthropology, exchange. The possibility of cross-cultural selves. This is not to find a back door for any psychology, sociology, and so on. Again, analysis that would compare, contrast, con- kind of advocacy, Howell maintains, but to such encounters would walk a fine line nect, and/or explain change over time holds interrogate conventional approaches con- among various disciplines yet offer a way to significant promise for those who wish to cerned with distance from and proximity to more fully and completely explain the his- attempt explanations of world Christianity. the religious worlds scholars study. In the torical rootedness of religious experience. Defined this way, Noll’s proposal seems end, along with the reflections of Noll and Mark Noll, well-known for his work in appropriate for the field of world history.15 Sanneh, Howell suggests that anthropologi- many facets of eighteenth- and nineteenth- Thus, the “potential” that Noll sees in cal insight has much to offer world histori- century American religion, is a Notre Dame missiology rests with its disciplinary flexi- ans as a way to capture the complexity of historian whose recent work and teaching bility and its ability to negotiate “the all- religious experience, and attend to the more fully engage world Christianity, important discussion between history con- nuances of change across time and space. including a Calvin College seminar on glob- sidered as a function of Christian truth As the reflections of Sanneh, Noll, and al Christianity, a March 2004 University of understood only by believers, and history Howell indicate, there is an identifiable Chicago lecture titled “The New Shape of considered as a general social science open research agenda that exists in the field of World Christianity: Where Did it Come to all humanity.”16 Noll’s comments implic- world Christianity. Considered with Patrick From? Where is it Going?,” a March 2005 itly identify an important dimension of Manning’s contention that cultural history presentation before the Council on Foreign world Christianity: the pedagogical possibil- provides an appropriate framework in which Relations titled “Faith and Conflict: The ity of past missionary efforts, seen in the world historians might investigate contem- Global Rise of Christianity,” and a plenary recent explosion of Pentecostal and charis- porary religious experience, the theoretical address at Baylor University’s Pruit matic expressions of Christianity in Africa, and terminological discussions among histo- Symposium on world Christianity. Latin America, and Asia, to inform and rians of world Christianity have something In addition to these activities, Noll’s instruct contemporary thinking and teaching to offer world historians. Similarly, the 1998 essay, “The Potential of Missiology for about Christianity of and in cultures. expansive vision and pedagogical precision the Crises of History,” suggests that histori- As Sanneh, Manning, and Noll craft art- of world historians must inform historians of ans might beneficially blur the disciplinary ful and engaging suggestions as to how his- world Christianity as well. It is to the peda- boundaries of (Christian) church history, torians might benefit from interdisciplinary gogy of both world history and world missions history, and world history in order insight, Wheaton College anthropologist Christianity we now turn. to more clearly capture the reality of reli- Brian Howell more closely identifies and gious experience. Accounting for an aca- analyzes the interdisciplinary dimension of Pedagogical Reflections and Teaching demic climate open to discussing the history the field of world Christianity. In “The Strategies of religious experience, and the increasingly Anthropology of Christianity: Beyond It is obvious that pedagogy is important global interconnectedness via technology Missions and Conversion – A Review to any scholarship. The pedagogy of world and communications, Noll argues that Essay,” Howell writes of “the stirrings of an Christianity, however, interconnected with “Christian history now simply is world his- identifiable anthropology of Christianity,” world history and spliced with observations tory” and as such places missiologists, aca- that is, rigorous anthropological work that and approaches from fields such as religious demically trained missionary scholar-practi- considers religious ritual as organic and studies or theological studies, and even tioners, in a unique position to interpret the original, practices that resonate with individ- social, cultural, or material history, reveals past “because of the sensitivities they have ual and collective encounters with transcen- significant promise and offers the possibility developed as historians of faith, historians of dence. Citing studies of Christian experience of considerable innovation. Before taking up culture, and historians of the interactions in Jamaica, Ghana, and Papau New Guineau, classroom concerns, it is important to dis- between faith and culture.”13 As subsequent Howell and others argue that some of the cuss my own history relative to teaching comments indicate, here Noll, like Sanneh, best anthropological work on Christianity world Christianity. does not suggest a kind of triumphalistic takes seriously the language, ritual, and cul- My first experience teaching world world Christian history, but rather an inquis- tural location of the people studied, and Christianity, outside of the world history sur- itive and critical engagement with (scholar- interprets their religious and ecstatic experi- vey course, came during the 2003-04 aca- ly) missionary writing sensitive to, couched ences as legitimate responses to reported demic year in an elective (three sections) in, and presented with legitimate scholarly encounters with the God of Christianity. called “The Future of Christianity: acumen. Howell highlights the possibilities that Exploring an Ancient Faith in Contemporary Noll further observes that those “who anthropology, and thus interdisciplinarity, Contexts.” This course aimed to introduce are concerned about history, historical writ- might bring to pedagogy of world college preparatory students to the general ing, and the increasingly contentious argu- Christianity. He writes: trends of world Christianity, to examine the ments about the nature (or possibility) of But with the now-unassailable truth that reasons observers offer as to why Christianity is growing in many developing erature that examines Christian resurgence “space.” Doctrine and theology, therefore, areas, to understand what comprises in the global South. are not concerns of lived religion as such, Christian practices outside of North With these concerns in mind, I set out to though researching and teaching about why, America, to identify who practices diverse create a course that would both challenge where, when, and how individuals express forms of Christianity across the globe, and and inform. Since all of the students in my doctrine and theology is. With lived religion, above all to seek to explain and elucidate Future of Christianity course previously thus, come a number of questions: How do how faithful Christians experience their faith took my world geography class, I began with lay believers construct a sense of place? outside of a Western setting. geography: Where is world Christianity? In What local and global factors contribute to Several concerns shaped the creation of other words, I first addressed world the construction of religious identity? What the curriculum. First, given that most of my Christianity in all of its geographical com- local and global trends inform individual students are Protestant, field membership in plexity, while engaging a terminological dis- religious expression? What local and global a variety of evangelical denominations, and cussion regarding three key terms: world or dynamics inform conceptions of religious often participate in high school youth group global Christianity, church history, and mis- community? Still other concerns surface: summer mission trips, I found distinguishing sions history. With working definitions in How do explanations of lived religion offer between world Christianity and a simple place, I then set out to describe a particular insight into the distance between religious “summer missions trip” mentality crucially geographical setting, and then explain in institutions and lay practices, into the spaces important. I found that many of my students general terms its social, political, economic, between official religious proclamations and initially associated the phrase world and cultural context. Students read articles the adoption or embodiment of these pro- Christianity with missionary activity, the and book chapters and visited web sites in nouncements outside of elite circles? Put exportation of the Christian gospel to what order to situate local expressions of another way, how does the study of popular they called “unreached” peoples, rather than Christianity in the contexts about which I religion seeks to explain the religious dilem- with the inculturation of the Christian faith lectured. Guest lecturers (and occasionally mas with which lay believers grapple; the in non-Western settings. At the same time, I media) augmented reading and discussion. ambiguities with which lay believers found it necessary to explain the political All told, through reading, lectures, and dis- embrace religious teaching; the energy with and economic dimensions of contemporary cussion, the Future of Christianity course which lay believers protest sanctioned doc- missionary work, and contextualize histori- covered Latin America, the Middle East, trines; or even the creative sparks lay believ- cally imperialism and colonialism as reli- South Asia, various parts of Africa, and ers use to forge individual expressions of giously informed political movements with China, and students heard guest lectures faith? 20 economic motivations. A second issue, given specifically on Latin America (with a focus Since the study of lived religion within the denominational affiliations of many of on Brazil), Sudan, South Africa, and the the context of world Christianity involves my students, dealt with interrogating their Middle East, while reading notable authors, making sense of doctrinal formulations, tendency to caricature, and therefore, misun- such as historian Lamin Sanneh, along with “official” religious dogma, and the complex derstand Roman Catholicism and Eastern shorter journalistic pieces. Student assess- realities of religious experience, I adopt a Orthodoxy, important players on the global ment came from daily journaling, thoughtful concept which University of North Carolina- Christian scene. A third concern, and one participation in class discussion, and a final Chapel Hill religious studies scholar related to the first two, sought to address the reflection paper. Thomas Tweed calls “crossing and reality that many of my students tend to I offer a brief review of teaching world dwelling.” Tweed’s theoretical tour de force, think of the Christian faith in individual, Christianity to shed light on the discussions Crossing and Dwelling: A Theory of local, provincial, and in some ways strictly underway. I now turn to what are some Religion (2006) conceptualizes religion and doctrinal terms. I found it neces- religious experience as spatial sary to pursue discussions that yet bounded, “real” yet ever- sought to expand their thinking Over the course of the last few years, theologians, religious studies changing, positioned yet fluid. about Christian faith and practice scholars, and a host of social science practitioners have documented the Tweed defines religions as “con- outside of such parameters. A rapid resurgence of global Christianity, resulting in the birth of the field fluences of organic-cultural fourth issue, particularly relevant of world Christianity. flows that intensify joy and con- in a Protestant, sectarian, college front suffering by drawing on preparatory setting, focused on human and superhuman forces to setting conceptualizations of the seculariza- important considerations as one conceptual- make homes and cross boundaries,” and uses tion thesis in context. Although some izes a course on world Christianity, and the term “sacroscopes” to capture the com- notable prophets of secularization (here attempts to demonstrate possibilities for plexity of positions from which human Peter Berger comes to mind) have modified intersections between world history, world beings live, understand, and interpret the contentions about the inevitability of secu- Christianity, and other academic fields. Most visible and invisible worlds. For Tweed, larization, many of my students, ironically, of the examples I offer, though not all, come interpretations are “positioned sightings,” harbor a kind of secularization thesis men- from East Africa since one of my secondary and influence not only research, but inform tality: a latent evil awaits to sabotage the fields in graduate school is African history. pedagogies as well. As Tweed points out in road to the future and a militant missionary Not only does the pedagogy of world the book’s conclusion, “Interpreters are not response is the only viable course of Christianity call for terminological preci- in one place or between places, but always action.18 Informed by Protestant evangelical sion, but its interdisciplinary thrust demands crossing boundaries, always moving thinking about end-times scenarios, mani- that scholars and teachers address displays across….[a]nd interpretation is translocative festations of this apocalyptic perspective of lived religion; in short, the everyday and transtemporal too. The scholar moves varied among students in my classes. experiences of lay believers. Since explana- back and forth from the desk to the archives, However, within the context of teaching tions and interpretations of lived religious from home to the field, from here to there world Christianity, the massive growth of experience often rely on explanatory tools and now to then.”21 Since world historians vibrant charismatic Christianity outside of from sociology, anthropology, and ethnogra- customarily think in large, spatial terms the West provokes striking interest and prob- phy, I term the study and teaching of lived while they also explain the specificities of ing analysis while challenging the secular- religion in a world history/world experience in the particularities of ization narrative. In a non-sectarian setting, Christianity context the social geography of context(s), Tweed’s theoretical and geo- other issues and concerns will naturally per- religious experience.19 This phrase covers graphical formulation of crossing and vade, and instructors may wish to start with lived religion’s theoretical, practical, and dwelling could allow for richer and more readings or discussions related to the secu- epistemological concerns and acknowledges compelling research and pedagogy. larization thesis followed by some of the lit- the varied ways individuals define religious If crossing and dwelling provide a way for scholars and students to better under- ing infused with spiritual significance. Of Witnesses to the Gospel.29 stand the social geography of religious expe- interest here is Nikkel’s examination, Gabriel Meyer relates stories that rience, then a few examples will demon- through oral culture, of the confluence of embrace life amidst devastation and destruc- strate how these thoughts can inform and indigenous religious concepts of divinity tion, demonstrate resilience despite destitu- enhance the fields of world history and and Christian conceptions of God. His tion, and document survival through reli- world Christianity. What follows focuses on analysis of songs like “Conflict with Death,” gious faith. His War and Faith in Sudan contemporary Sudan. “Owners of the Land,” and “Cover Us” cap- (2005) chronicles the lives of Nuba residents Popular religion in modern-day Sudan ture the degree of physical and environmen- of south central Sudan, slightly north of the offers a compelling and gripping case in tal trauma suffered through warfare and indi- Upper Nile region. In what is clearly a jour- point. While some history of Sudan is nec- cate the degree to which the Dinka grappled nalistic account of wartime experiences, he essary to any discussion of its current status, (and grapple) with the spiritual dynamics of identifies aspects of Nuba Christianity that most American observers of Sudanese such intense suffering. Remarkably, Nikkel fit within explanations of popular religion. affairs are no doubt familiar with the “Lost notes that the Dinka have created over two For Roman Catholic Christians in southern Boys” of Sudan (and increasing numbers of thousand “songs of suffering” in the midst of Sudan, the dry and barren terrain serves as “Lost Girls”), orphaned men, several thou- civil conflict and that in “a period dominat- something of a metaphor for the scarcity of sand of whom were first granted refugee sta- ed by famine, prolonged civil war, and reli- priests and the infrequency with which they tus in the United States in 2001 as the result gious polarization, the social and religious are able to visit parishes. Such a situation of the latest scourge of civil war. Many of institutions of many of Sudan’s peoples are calls for a catechist-led faith, and thus, on a the “Lost Boys” are Dinka from southwest being irreversibly transformed” in the day-to-day basis lay believers lead and influ- Sudan and the Bahr el-Ghazal region.22 The process. While some might relegate this to ence other lay believers, no doubt fostering Sudanese people, particularly the residents optimistic missionary reporting, the texts of the creation of local traditions and expres- of southern Sudan, have a long and storied the Dinka songs undeniably possess a reli- sions of faith. Although the title of Meyer’s history of engagement with Christianity, gious and spiritual edge borne from intense book promises more than it delivers in terms from ancient times to the present.23 Yet it is pain and suffering.26 of rich explanations of Sudanese religious the present experiences of many of the Historian Andrew Wheeler’s study of faith, his comments do confirm that Nuba southern Sudanese—not to neglect the har- conversion and indigenous appropriation in Christian experiences belong to the realm of rowing stories of Muslims and practitioners the midst of civil conflict confirms the world Christianity. “Here, in the middle of of indigenous religions in regions like importance and pedagogical usability of Africa,” Meyer explains, “one could feel the Darfur— which scholars can study and teach Nikkel’s work on Dinka songs. Wheeler gravitational shift that Church experts on under the rubric of lived religion and in the documents the work of Episcopal and missiology, mission studies, and, indeed, context of world Christianity and world his- Catholic missionaries and priests among the many cultural commentators have long tory.24 At the center of much of this experi- displaced Sudanese, both in refugee camps noted: The shift from the hegemony of an ence rests the impact of civil conflict; many and scattered settlements across the southern increasingly secularized Western Sudanese, and particularly residents of the Sudanese landscapes. The result, according Hemisphere where faith is viewed as a cul- Bahr el-Ghazal region in the southern part of to Wheeler, is that an “indigenous and high- tural option, to Christianity’s growth sector, the country, have lived through intermittent ly contextualized form of Christianity has its vital front line in Africa and Latin civil war since independence in 1956, become the major means by which many America, where faith is still a matter of life though the last twenty years or so witnessed Sudanese societies are recreating them- and death.”30 sustained conflict. Along with the ethno- selves, redefining their identity and equip- Though Nikkel, Wheeler, and Meyer do graphic reflections of Stephanie Beswick ping themselves to face the future.”27 not engage this field directly, enterprising and Sharon Hutchinson, the late missionary Wheeler reports that Bible reading, recita- scholars and teachers might beneficially and professor Mark Nikkel, historian tion of prayer books, or the power of memo- draw from sensory history or aural history— Andrew Wheeler, and journalist Gabriel ry invoked and evoked through expressions the history of the human senses—in order to Meyer offer important insight and analysis of oral culture, provide structures of mean- more fully capture the essence of Dinka reli- on this score, and their work provides ways ing for Sudanese Christians such that: gious expression. Ethnomusicology could to demonstrate how world historians might The distinctive features of the Christian also bring additional insight here as well, as enhance our understanding through engage- faith have spoken deeply to communi- could the filmmaking of sociologist James ment with work from the field of religious ties and individuals in extremis—the Ault, who is in the process of completing a studies.25 central message of Cross and documentary film for scholars and students Nikkel’s Dinka Christianity: The Resurrection, the presence of God with titled “Toward a New Christianity: The Rise Origins and Development of Christianity his people through the Holy Spirit, of African Christianity.”31 Examination and among the Dinka of Sudan with Special deliverance from the powers of evil, the analysis of the musical and spiritual medita- Reference to the Songs of Dinka Christians invitation to forgive and be forgiven, the tions provide a way for scholars and students (2001) is the result of humanitarian work, solidarity experienced in Christian com- to better understand the ways some Dinka missionary activity, and scholarly reflection. munity, the healing and protection (and other Sudanese) understand their world Published posthumously, Nikkel completed received through prayer, divine judg- by “translating” various facets of the the initial dissertation under the tutelage of ment on evil, injustice and unbelief and Christian faith into local expressions. world Christianity scholar Andrew Walls at the hope of heaven where suffering and Also useful at this point could be a more the University of Edinburgh. Before he died pain will have no place.28 general discussion of conflict in East Africa in 2000, Nikkel served as an Episcopal mis- Wheeler’s careful work on religious under- as a way to offer comparative perspectives. sionary, priest, and professor in Africa. The standings of conflict and war along with Here the 1994 Rwandan genocide would opening chapter of Dinka Christianity intro- Nikkel’s study of Dinka songs offer a way seem to loom the largest. Duke University duces the Dinka and their multifaceted cul- for students and scholars to understand the theologian and Ugandan-born Roman ture, including an important discussion of indigenous appropriation and vernacular Catholic priest Emmanuel Katongole offers Dinka dialects. The major contribution of expression of one example of world reflections about the religious role of mean- Nikkel’s work is its descriptive, historical Christianity. To further clarify the theoretical ing in the midst of the Rwandan conflict.32 approach borne out of personal experience reflections of the above, scholars and stu- Comparative projects that examine indige- and careful discussion and translation of dents might benefit from a collection of nization and translation in other locales, Dinka songs. The words not only describe biographical studies on Sudanese Christians such as China, India, or even Korea,33 add Dinka landscape and environment, but also suited for classroom use (edited by Wheeler) texture to the discussion and, therefore, meet recall a potent and moving history of suffer- titled Announcing the Light: Sudanese the comparative criteria of the new world David Barrett, George T. Kurian, and Todd M. Johnson, World comments written for the inaugural meeting of the Journal of history. These are some of the areas where Christian Encyclopedia: A Comparative Survey of Churches World Christianity. See Dale Irvin, “World Christianity: A Brief world Christianity and world history can and Religions in the Modern World, 2nd ed. (New York: Oxford Definition.” University Press, 2001). 12 Patrick Manning, Navigating World History: Historians meet, crossing and dwelling through the 4 Create a Global Past (New York: Palgrave, 2003), 229-254, complex interactions of cultures and peo- Although these two schools have sectarian affiliations, as this article suggests, broader understanding could come from especially 248. ples, investigating the rich fabrics of multi- world historians engaging the scholarship from symposia and 13 Mark A. Noll, “The Potential of Missiology for the Crises layered intersections. other related projects at these institutions. There are several col- of History,” in History and the Christian Historian, ed., Ronald lections of essays that canvass the growth of world Christianity A. Wells (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1996), 106-123, quotes Conclusion - While it takes time to learn the and thus offer representative samples of that which Walls iden- from 108, 106. grammars associated with understanding tifies. See Mark Hutchinson and Ogbu Kalu, eds., A Global 14 Ibid., 112. Faith: Essays on Evangelicalism and Globalization (Sydney: 15 Patrick Manning expounds upon interpretive strategies in multidisciplinary ways of interpreting popu- Centre for the Study of Australian Christianity, 1998); Donald world history in Navigating World History, 275-323. Also help- lar religion, not to mention the careful expla- M. Lewis, ed., Christianity Reborn: The Global Expansion of ful is Manning’s essay “Methods and Materials,” in World nations students need, abundant material Evangelicalism in the Twentieth Century (Grand Rapids: Histories, ed. Marnie Hughes-Warrington (London: Palgrave, Eerdmans, 2004); and Lamin Sanneh and Joel A. Carpenter, exists to aid student understanding and 2005), 44-63. eds., The Changing Face of Christianity: Africa, the West, and analysis of popular religion, as examples 16 the World (New York: Oxford University Press, 2005). Two Noll, “The Potential of Missiology for the Crises of from Sudan and East Africa more generally collections, no doubt to become standard reference works, History,” 108. would suggest. Understanding world deserve mention as well: Sheridan Gilley and Brian Stanley, 17 Brian Howell, “The Anthropology of Christianity: Christianity’s focus on translatability and eds., World Christianities,c.1815-c.1914 (Cambridge: Beyond Missions and Conversion – A Review Essay,” Christian indigenization comports with world histo- Cambridge University Press, 2006) and Hugh McLeod, ed., Scholars Review XXXIV/3 (Spring 2005): 353-362, quote from ry’s aims to identify broad and expansive World Christianities, c.1914-c.2000 (Cambridge: Cambridge 361. University Press, 2006). Oxford University Press’ new series is 18 See, for example, Peter L. Berger, The Sacred Canopy: connections across vast periods of time and called “Evangelical Christianity and Democracy Series,” and space. Elements of a Sociological Theory of Religion (Garden City, the title of Eerdmans’ world Christianity series is titled “Studies NY: Doubleday, 1967); Peter L. Berger, ed., The Over the course of the last few years, in the History of Christian Missions.” See the Pruit Memorial Desecularization of the World: Resurgent Religion and World theologians, religious studies scholars, and a Symposium program at Politics (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1999); Linda Woodhead, host of social science practitioners have doc- http://www3.baylor.edu/IFL/Pruit2005/about.htm. ed., Peter Berger and the Study of Religion (New York: umented the rapid resurgence of global 5 Joel E. Tishken, “Ethnic vs. Evangelical Religions: Routledge, 2002); and Peter L. Berger, Questions of Faith: A Christianity, resulting in the birth of the field Beyond Teaching the World Religion Approach,” The History Skeptical Affirmation of Christianity (Malden, MA: Blackwell, Teacher 33/3 (May 2000): 303-320; and David Lindenfeld, 2004). of world Christianity. During the same time, “Indigenous Encounters with Christian Missionaries in China the field of world history emerged under 19 As Mike Weber highlights in his November 2006 World and West Africa, 1800-1920: A Comparative Study,” Journal of History Connected article “Teaching Religion in World new auspices and in a new context, offering World History 16/3 (September 2005): 327-369. While not con- History,” a fruitful way to study and to teach religion in the con- ideas and employing strategies to better sciously modeled according to the approaches advocated by text of world history is to focus on lived religious experience of understand and more compellingly explain Tishken or Lindenfeld, Terry Bilhartz provides a way for schol- the faithful. This moves away from strict doctrinal formulations ars and students to explore these agendas in Sacred Words: A of religion and religious history while it provides avenues of global interconnections and cross-cultural Sourcebook on the Great Religions of the World (New York: contacts. This exploratory essay attempts to understanding into the richly textured worlds of religious devo- McGraw-Hill, 2006). It is important to note that Bilhartz’s tion, religious ritual, and religious practice. Weber’s perspective bring both fields into more rigorous conver- “great religions” includes indigenous religions of the Americas, informs my own considerations of scholarship and pedagogy of sation, and suggests that world historians Africa, and Oceania. world history and world Christianity, though his work moves in might profitably benefit, both in terms of 6 Here I refer to Ross Dunn, ed., The New World History: A more of a pluralistic direction with a focus world religions. See research and pedagogy, by drawing from Teacher’s Companion (Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 1996); also his earlier reflections on the subject in “A Humanistic much of the work that world Christianity Across Cultural Borders: Historiography in Global Approach to Teaching Religion in the World History Class,” Perspective, eds. Eckhardt Fuchs and Benedikt Stuchtey World History Bulletin (Spring 2000). scholars offer. And, parenthetically, perhaps (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2002); Writing World religious studies scholars and theologians 20 My questions here result from much of the work I do on History, 1800-2000, eds. Benedikt Stuchtey and Eckhardt Fuchs early American religion, investigations that consider questions might enhance the work in their own fields (New York: Oxford University Press, 2003); Patrick Manning, of popular or lived religion as well. My theoretical considera- by adopting approaches offered by the world Navigation World History: Historians Create a Global Past tions here come from engagement with the following studies: history guild. Such a project is collaborative (London: Palgrave MacMillan, 2003); World Histories, ed. David D. Hall, ed., Lived Religion in America: Toward a Marnie Hughes-Warrington (London: Palgrave Macmillan, History of Practice (Princeton: Princeton University Press, in nature, collective in scope, and, I hope, 2005); Interactions: Transregional Perspectives on World fruitful in application. 1997). For conceptions of religious space, see the introductory History, eds. Jerry Bentley, Renate Bridenthal, and Anand A. essay in Experiences of Place, ed., Mary N. MacDonald Yang (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2005); and ENDNOTES (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2003), 1-20. With Berkshire Encyclopedia of World History, ed. William H. respect to popular religion, in Between Heaven and Earth: The 1 I delivered earlier versions of this article in November McNeill, et. al. (Great Barrington, MA: Berkshire, 2005). Religious Worlds People Make and the Scholars Who Study 2005 at Baylor University’s Pruit Symposium titled “Global 7 I want to thank the current World History Bulletin editor, Them (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2004), ethnogra- Christianity: Challenging Modernity and the West,” and at the Micheal Tarver, for providing archives of WHB issues. pher of religion Robert Orsi advocates an approach he calls World History Association’s annual meeting, held at California 8 “disciplined attentiveness” (198), a scholarly posture that walks State University, Long Beach, in June 2006. For helpful and Walter de Gruyter USA will publish the Journal of World a middle way “between confessional or theological scholarship, insightful comments, criticism, and discussion on and about Christianity and its inaugural issue is scheduled to appear some- on the one hand, and radically secular scholarship on the other,” world Christianity I thank Michael McClymond (Saint Louis time in 2007. an approach that “is characterized by a discipline suspension of University), Al Andrea (University of Vermont), Luke Clossey 9 Lamin Sanneh, Whose Religion is Christinaity?: the impulse to locate the other (with all her or his discrepant (Simon Fraser University), David Lindenfeld (Louisiana State Christianity beyond the West (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2003), moralities, ways of knowing, and religious impulses) securely University), and Joel Tishken (Columbus State University). 22-24, 10 (italics in original); “The African Transformation of in relation to one’s own cosmos” (198). Thanks also go to Mark Noll (University of Notre Dame) for Christianity: Comparative Reflections on Ethnicity and 21 sharing syllabi from his Calvin College Seminar on world Religious Mobilization in Africa,” in Bible Translation on the Thomas A. Tweed, Crossing and Dwelling: A Theory of Christianity and his as yet unpublished paper from “Global Threshold of the Twenty-First Century, eds. Athalya Brenner Religion (Cambridge: Harvard, 2006), 13-14, 54-79, 181. Christianity: Challenging Modernity and the West” titled and Jan Willem van Henten, (London: Sheffield Academic 22 In addition to the Lost Boys receiving television and “Reconceiving the Twentieth-Century World History of Press, 2002), 70-85, quote from 76. For the latter quote, Internet exposure, five recent books tell stories from several dif- Christianity: Making a Start with 1899-1900”; and to Dale Irvin Sanneh’s indigenous receptors include the Ashanti (Ghana), the ferent angles. See Francis Bok with Edward Tivnan, Escape (New York Theological Seminary) for providing a position Kaka (Cameroon), the Gikuyu (Kenya), the Ndebele and Shona from Slavery (New York: St. Martin’s, 2003); Abraham Nhial paper and report on the inaugural meeting of the Journal of (Zimbabwe), and the Zulu (South Africa). and DiAnn Mills, Lost Boy No More: A True Story of Survival World Christianity. 10 Lamin Sanneh, “World Christianity and the New and Salvation (Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 2004); Mark 2 Andrew F. Walls, “Eusebius Tries Again: The Task of Historiography,” in Enlarging the Story, ed. Shenk, 94-114, Bixler, The Lost Boys of Sudan: An American Story of the Reconceiving and Re-visioning the Study of Christian History,” quotes from 99, 103. Also helpful here is Ogbu U. Kalu, “CLIO Refugee Experience (Athens, GA: University of Georgia Press, in Enlarging the Story: Perspectives on Writing World Christian in a Sacred Garb: Telling the Story of Gospel-People 2005); Alephonsion Deng, Judy A. Bernstein, Benjamin Ajak, History, ed. Wilbert R. Shenk (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 2002), 1. Encounters in Our Time,” Fides et Historia XXXV/1 and Benson Deng, They Poured Fire On Us From the Sky: The True Story of Three Lost Boys From Sudan (Philadelphia: 3 Philip Jenkins, The Next Christendom: The Coming of (Winter/Spring 2003): 27-39. Kalu argues for a wider ranging Perseus, 2005) ; and Joan Hecht, A Journey of the Lost Boys Global Christianity (New York: Oxford University Press, conception of a global church history. (Jacksonville, FL: Allswell, 2005). 2002); The New Faces of Christianity: Believing the Bible in the 11 Though absent any mention of the field of world history, 23 Global South (New York: Oxford University Press, 2006); Dale Irvin importantly notes this collaboration in unpublished The latest and most thorough account of Christianity’s history in Sudan is Roland Werner, William Anderson, and false ones as they are hardly universal. They Andrew Wheeler, Day of Devastation, Day of Contentment: The may apply to this particular handful of reli- History of the Sudanese Church Across 2000 Years (Nairobi, Lies Teachers Teach Kenya: Paulines Publications, 2000). gions, but broadening our examination 1 24 Julie Flint and Alex de Waal, Darfur: A Short History of about World Religious History beyond the “world” religions demonstrates a Long War (New York: Zed, 2005); Gerard Prunier, Darfur: that they do not represent the normative The Ambiguous Genocide (New York: Cornell University Press, experience within human religious history.6 Joel E. Tishken 2005). What may appear common to this small 25 For general background of indigenous religious concepts Columbus State University group of religions will appear otherwise and practices in the context of civil conflict, see Stephanie when applied beyond their limited number. Beswick, Sudan’s Blood Memory: The Legacy of War, Ethnicity, It is these false “norms” and simplifications and Slavery in South Sudan (Rochester, NY: Rochester University Press, 2004), 98-133; and Sharon Elaine Hutchison, Introduction - Please permit me to begin that this article addresses. I challenge these “Spiritual Fragments of an Unfinished War,” in Religion and this piece with an explanation of the title. I generalizations and misconceptions in order African Civil Wars, ed. Niels Kastfelt (New York: Palgrave, chose the word lies because I wished to to produce a more nuanced understanding of 2005), 28-53. evoke strong language. Yet a lie connotes the religions of the world’s past. 26 See Mark Nikkel, Dinka Christianity: The Origins and conscious intent to deceive.2 With perhaps a Development of Christianity among the Dinka of Sudan with few exceptions, I do not believe there are Lie Number One: “There are five Special Reference to the Songs of Dinka Christians (Nairobi, ‘world’ religions”7 -- The study of world Kenya: Paulines Publications, 2001). Readers who wish to educators who knowingly deceive their stu- know more about Nikkel may refer to Grant LeMarquand, “A dents on issues of religious history. religions has suffered from a similar theoret- Tribute to Marc Nikkel (1950-2000), Missionary to the Sudan,” However, I do believe there are many ical crisis as has world history. Both world Anglican and Episcopal History LXXI/2 (June 2002): 241-246. instructors who do offer generalizations and history and world religions have had to See also “Jieng “Songs of Suffering” and the Nature of God,” support biases that may produce the same address what is meant by the term “world.” Anglican and Episcopal History LXXI/2 (June 2002): 223-240. Each has additionally grown out of a 27 false information or perspective as a lie. We Andrew C. Wheeler, “Finding Meaning Amid the Chaos: have unknowingly inherited most of these Western intellectual milieu. I would posit Narratives of Significance in the Sudanese Church,” in Religion and African Civil Wars, ed. Niels Kastfelt (New York: Palgrave, generalizations from the powerful intellectu- that these two issues are thoroughly inter- 2005), 74. al legacy of the nineteenth and early-twenti- twined as the debate over the concept of 28 Ibid., 75. eth centuries that defined the academic dis- “world” largely revolves around the degree 29 See Andrew C. Wheeler, ed., Announcing the Light: ciplines. The study of religion was defined to which “world” is, or is not, “Western,” or, Sudanese Witnesses to the Gospel (Nairobi, Kenya: Paulines in such a way as to preserve the intellectual the degree to which “rise of the West” narra- Publications, 1998). Also important is Isaiah Majok Dau, and professional dominance of Christianity tives are valid. Some concepts of world his- Suffering and God: A Theological Reflection on the War in within the Western imagination. We must tory have yet to move beyond a Western Sudan (Nairobi, Kenya: Paulines Publications, 2003). recall that the modern academic disciplines Civilizations “plus” approach. The dominant 30 Gabriel Meyer, War and Faith in Sudan (Grand Rapids: formed contemporaneously with the expan- narrative in these cases remains Western Eerdmans, 2005), 88-89. .3 Europe (and later neo-Europes), with nods to 31 sion of European and American empire The My thoughts on aural history and ethnomusicology come “superiority” of the West and its institutions, regions like India and China, and cursory, from: Mark M. Smith in Listening to Nineteenth-Century America (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, including Christianity, was hardly doubted. scantily-integrated coverage of most every- 2002) and Mark M. Smith, ed., Hearing History: A Reader Yet the expanding political boundaries of where else. A good case can be made that (Athens, GA: University of Georgia Press, 2004); Richard Europe and the United States also expanded such Western-driven narratives of world his- Cullen Rath, How Early America Sounded (Ithica: Cornell the West’s intellectual frontier of non- tory suffer from a legacy of Eurocentrism University Press, 2003); Leigh Eric Schmidt, Hearing Things: Western/non-Christian religions and thus, and presumed Western primacy.8 The study Religion, Illusion, and the American Enlightenment of religion suffers from a similar legacy of (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2000); Ann Taves, Fits, required addressing. Trances, and Visions: Experiencing Religion and Explaining The intellectual and spiritual threat of Western primacy. Here, it is the religion of Experience from Wesley to James (Princeton: Princeton non-Christian religions was met through the the West, Christianity (both Catholic and University Press, 1999); and Amy Catlin-Jairazbhoy, “A Sidi application of evolutionary theory to reli- Protestant), that became the dominant stan- CD?: Globalising African Indian Music and the Sacred,” in gion, which posited that Christianity was the dard for the study of religion. Sidis and Scholars: Essays on African Indians, eds. Edward A. .4 For most of Western intellectual history, Alpers and Amy Catlin-Jairazbhoy, (India: Rainbow culmination of religious evolution The con- Publishers/Trenton: Red Sea Press, 2004), 178-211. Finally, see cept of “world” religions evolved from the the religious universe had two realms: 9 also Katherine J. Hagedorn, “Toward a Theology of Sound: effort to retain Christian primacy in the face Christianity and everything else. The Drum Talk, Oricha Worship, and other Ecstatic Phenomena” of an expanding and undeniably rich reli- remainder was an undifferentiated mass of Harvard Divinity Bulletin 34/2 (Spring 2006), available online gious frontier. The term “world” paganism or heathenry. This intellectual sys- at http://www.hds.harvard.edu/news/bulletin_mag/articles/34- 2_hagedorn.html. Hagedom reports that she is at work on a suggested a façade of inclusive- project that investigates what she calls the theology of sound. ness, yet in reality was based far If one adds up all the religions that have ever existed, very few For more on James Ault’s documentary, visit more upon exclusion.5 For the were monotheistic. www.jamesault.com. most part, scholars and theolo- 32 See Emmanuel M. Katongole, “Christianity, Tribalism, gians were successful at holding and the Rwandan Genocide: A Catholic Reassessment of Christianity, and to a degree monotheisms as tem changed little until the early-nineteenth ‘Social Responsibility,’ Logos 8/3 (Summer 2005): 67-93; and a whole, apart from the deluge of knowledge century. Two events in particular changed “African Renaissance and the Challenge of Narrative Theology the way the West thought about religion. The in Africa,” in African Theology Today, ed. Emmanuel swirling about them. Yet, the intellectual and Katongole (Scranton, PA: The University of Scranton Press, theological threat of some religions proved first was the translation of the Rosetta Stone 2002), 207-219. For helpful perspectives and engaging stories too great, and they were “permitted the priv- in 1822. The second was the discovery of the from East Africa more generally see Thomas Spear and Isaria ilege” of joining Christianity within the con- remains of Babylon in 1840. Both of them N. Kimambo, eds., East African Expressions of Christianity cept of the “world” religions. I assert that spurred an interest in the ancient (Athens, OH: Ohio University Press, 1999). Mediterranean and Near East, which led to a 33 there is nothing “worldly” about the notion Here I have in mind the essays in Steven Kaplan, ed. of so-called “world” religions. What we call querying of the roots of Christianity, and Indigenous Responses to Western Christianity (New York: New later, Judaism. Renewed exegesis of the York University Press, 1995); Daniel H. Bays, ed., Christianity “world” religions is a partly failed attempt at in China: From the Eighteenth Century to the Present preserving Christian primacy; a handful of New and Old Testaments was revitalized by (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1996); Selva J. Raj and religions proved too great a challenge and the synthesis of ancient historical and Corinne G. Dempsey, eds., Popular Christianity in India: Riting were “permitted” entrance into the academy, archaeological evidence. A similar interest Between the Lines (Albany: State University of New York while the others were ignored. It is from this in ancient Indo-European culture also devel- Press, 2002); and Robert E. Buswell Jr. and Timothy S. Lee, oped and found a complement in the expli- eds., Christianity in Korea (Honolulu: University of Hawaii elite corps of religions that we (the West) Press, 2005). have derived most of our standards concern- cation of Aryan, Hindu, and Buddhist ing religious history. Yet, these standards are texts.10 The intellectual and theological threat might be expanded to include the “Big 5” (or dozen), would do a great posed by Judaism and Hinduism was met Zoroastrianism, Jainism, and Sikhism.17 But service to one’s students. Rather than show- with the application of evolutionary theory whether one’s list is five religions long, or ing the “Big 5” oozing across a blank reli- to religion, permitting scholars to place nearly a dozen, does little to change the fact gious map like lava subsuming everything in Christianity atop the pinnacle of religious that such a concept largely preserves a West its wake, the approach I’m suggesting per- evolution. Because Christianity was held to and the rest mentality, or perhaps a West, mits one to highlight religious interactions be the culmination of religious evolution, it East, and the rest mentality. Take a look at and borrowings among a constellation of was thought that it should be studied sepa- the faculty of most religion departments and ethnic and evangelical religions. Perhaps rately from non-Christian religions, thus you can still see this is true within academia. most importantly, it permits one to escape preserving the old dichotomy of Christianity Likewise, open up any world history text the legacy of Eurocentrism and Christian versus paganism in a new guise. This there- and one will see clear evidence of this pow- primacy that the “world” religion approach by left a window for scholars to claim erful intellectual legacy that gives serious is grounded upon, thus fostering greater Christian uniqueness and primacy, which discussion to only a handful of religions.18 global and cultural representation. Rather remains preserved in the academic division Such an intellectual division of the human than inheriting the West’s limited and biased of religious studies and theology.11 religious universe ignores thousands of reli- definition of a “world” religion, I here argue When Europeans created contact with gions. for a concept of world religions as the reli- Oceania and Native America and enhanced The majority of human history has not gions of the world—all of them. Clearly one their contact with Africa and Siberia, the been dominated by the religions named cannot teach all religions. But, we can offer religions of these places were seen as clear- above, regardless of whether one’s concept students a representative global sample, just ly “inferior.”12 Because of that, they were of “world” religions embraces the “Big 5” or as we manage to do with empires, cultures, placed at the lowest rungs of the evolution- a full dozen. The majority of religions in or individuals in a world history course. ary ladder. The religions of these cultures human history, both in terms of the number Lie Number Two: “Monotheism is were seen as living fossils, or windows to of religions, as well as the amount of time common” -- The first “lie” is likely the early human history. Terms such as animism, they have dominated history, have been eth- greatest of all as it then generates many oth- totemism, shamanism, and fetishism arose to nic-based, largely-polytheistic, religions. ers, including this second one that monothe- explain the various stages of “primitive” This was particularly true outside Eurasia. ism is normative or the logical and religions.13 Much of the earliest evidence of religion inevitable goal of all genuine religious The next stage in the hierarchy con- suggests that the first religions were impulses. Within the concept of the “Big 5,” tained the literate traditions of South and designed for members of a group where reli- three of the religions are monotheistic: East Asia—namely Hinduism and gion and identity were thoroughly inter- Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Thus, if Buddhism. Hinduism enjoyed a privileged twined.19 They were so thoroughly intercon- this is one’s concept of the religions of the position because of its religious texts and its nected that some scholars suggest that the world, it does appear that monotheism is Indo-European heritage. While some nine- very concept of religion is an outside con- normal in three-fifths of the cases. While the teenth-century scholars thought Buddhism struct for many peoples because myth, ritu- “world” religion concept evolved, the argu- had a “primitive” idea of monotheism, it was al, and the various components we might ment was made that monotheism was the too alien for easy classification by European now identify as religion were inseparable most “advanced” form of religion, having 20 scholars.14 Its numerous holy books, howev- from the definition of self and group. For eclipsed fetishism, totemism, animism, er, also earned it a degree of respect in most of history, conversion was a matter of a shamanism, and polytheism across the European eyes. Judaism and Islam came total transformation of identity and culture. course of civilizational evolution. next in the evolutionary hierarchy. It should Evangelical religions, such as Buddhism, Furthermore, among monotheisms, the be clear that it was the relationship that both Christianity, Islam, and Baha’i, on the other Christian variant was considered the most of these religions shared with Christianity hand, are not dependent upon ethnicity and advanced; some theologians argued that the that gave them a privileged position in the are relative newcomers to world history. theological “complexity” of the Trinity European imagination. In addition, they They are not primordial ideologies—they made it more advanced than the “simple” were both textual and monotheistic, like were built upon many ethnic-based (or monotheism of Islam or Judaism.21 Christianity.15 sometimes even evangelical) religions. Monotheisms have indeed emerged from Thus was the idea of “world” religions Illustrating the emergence of evangelical polytheistic milieus. Only to the monotheis- born, revolving around monotheism, textual- religions from an ethnic-based and polythe- tic faithful is this a sign of religious ity, and a likeness to Christianity. The istic milieu, and highlighting the interaction “advancement.” “world” religions concept is barely more between ethnic religions and evangelical In one sense, the above “lie” is true. By than a “West and the rest” or “Christianity ones (or even multiple ethnic or evangelical the twentieth century, monotheism had and everything else” approach to history. religions) makes for great world history become normal, to a significant degree. The From a religious universe composed entirely moments. The model I am proposing can majority of people in the world today are of Christianity and paganism developed the provide far more sophisticated world history monotheists. This is largely due to the recent hesitant acknowledgment that other parts of discussions than simple coverage of the “Big growth of Christianity and Islam in Africa, the world also had noteworthy religions. The 5.” I am not advocating for a classroom Asia, and Oceania. To the large numbers of religions with Western scholastic supporters abandonment of the “Big 5.” I am simply Christians and Muslims can be added the in the nineteenth century managed to work suggesting that one expand one’s coverage smaller populations of Jews, Sikhs, Baha’is, their way into the academy, and into the def- of religion beyond them. and others, making monotheists account for inition of a “world” religion, while the The categories of ethnic and evangelical roughly two-thirds of the world’s population remainder were ignored. For most scholars religions are not fast ones. Clearly, an evan- today. and teachers, “world” religions remains a gelical religion like Islam has a significant Nonetheless, there are two significant short list composed of Hinduism, Buddhism, ethnic component (particularly early in its ways that the “lie” above is utterly false. The and the three monotheisms from southwest- history) as do the Orthodox and Oriental first is historically. Were most people of the ern Asia: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, Orthodox Christian churches. A number of past monotheists? The answer to that ques- what I have elsewhere called the “Big 5.”16 ethnic religions like Chinese religion, tion is a resounding “no.” The religions that Some definitions expand their concept to Yoruba religion, Lakota religion, and dominate today’s world, namely Islam and include more East Asian religions such as Judaism have all had noteworthy evangelical Christianity, have grown steadily since they Daoism, Confucianism, and Shinto. moments. I am not suggesting one teach began, but only in the last few centuries has Occasionally, though rarely, the concept from a strict dual typology. However, teach- their growth been demographically domi- ing beyond the “world” religions, beyond nant. There were no monotheists in the Americas before 1492, none in Australasia common ethnic ancestry, that is still a great monotheists nor were most religions in before European contact, few in Siberia number of religions. human history monotheistic. Monotheism is before Russian conquest, and scarcely any in The number of monotheistic religions, not the model for human religious history, Oceania before 1800. Monotheists have on the other hand, is very small. The world’s even if monotheisms do dominate today’s been in the Nile valley, North Africa, and list of monotheistic religions includes: world. However, the emergence of parts of West and East Africa for centuries. Baha’i, Christianity, Druzism, Hare Krishna, monotheisms from within polytheistic But the Atlantic coastline of West Africa, Islam, Judaism, Rastafarianism, Saivism, milieus and their subsequent spread across inland regions of East Africa, Central Africa, Sikhism, Smartism, Vaishnavism, and vast parts of the globe do provide wonderful and Southern Africa had very few monothe- Yezidism. This list is a generous one as world-history moments to discuss. Just ists prior to the nineteenth century. Some many of these religions are henotheist and remember that the map is not blank as they parts of the world, most noticeably East not monotheistic. Perhaps some varieties of spread. Asia, mainland Southeast Asia, and parts of Mahayana Buddhism and Neopaganism Lie Number Three: “Written scrip- South Asia, regions that have often dominat- might qualify as monotheistic, but practi- tures are a normal feature of religion” -- ed the world demographically, still lack sig- tioners of these faiths would likely see this The “Big 5” may once again make this state- nificant numbers of monotheists. as stretching their beliefs beyond recogni- ment appear to be true. Written holy books Even in places we might tend to think of tion. To this list might be added some forms are an important part of what has historical- as long-term bastions of a monotheistic of dualism such as Bogomilism, Catharism, ly been called the “world” religions, includ- faith, the situation is often more complicat- Gnosticism, Mandaeanism, Manicheism, ing those who appear in the definition more ed. Christianity has been in Europe from Marcionism, Paulicainism, Tondrakianism, sporadically like Daoism and nearly its inception. Yet, Europe’s conver- Zoroastrianism, and Zurvanism. Whether or Zoroastrianism. Yet just like monotheism, it sion to Christianity was very gradual and not dualism is a form of monotheism is cer- is again a false standard in more than one disjointed; conversion is a selective process tainly debatable. But, for the moment, let us sense of the word. and not an instantaneous transformation, put that aside and simply count them as It is a false standard in the sense that the after all, at both the individual and cultural monotheistic. Likewise, henotheism is, interplay of textuality and orality is more levels.22 Ireland’s conversion took 1000 strictly speaking, not monotheism; but, for complicated than we might recall today. In years, from the fourth to fourteenth cen- the moment, let us add ancient Israelite reli- our contemporary world, where literacy is turies. Pockets of non-Christians lived in gion, Aten-worship, the Cult of Isis, widespread, books are widely available, and Ireland until the fourteenth century and non- Mithraism, and Platonism to the list as well. the Protestant Reformation has made per- Christian practices continue to this day. That gives us roughly thirty monotheistic sonal exegesis of a holy book seem ordinary Thus, Ireland was not a fully-Christian faiths. I cannot pretend that the list is com- in Western society, we might have difficulty island from the moment of St. Patrick’s prehensive. Let us say for the sake of argu- imagining a time when even scripturally- arrival. Portions of Russia and Scandinavia ment that I have neglected to place about grounded religions had little to do with texts. resisted Christianity as recently as the fif- two-thirds of the world’s monotheisms on First, all religions had a period of time where teenth century. Lithuania did not even begin the list. Even tripling the list still only brings their precepts were oral. No holy book to convert to Christianity until the thirteenth the number to one hundred, well below the descended from the sky in a completed form, century and remained Europe’s oldest pagan number of non-monotheistic religions in even though the faithful might often hold state. Thus, polytheists could be found in Aboriginal Australia alone. such beliefs. Compilation of a holy text is Europe until relatively recently. Granted, some of these forms of often an arduous, complicated process that The second way in which the above monotheism, Islam and Christianity in par- leads to schisms and multiple versions. With “lie” is false is statistically. If one adds up all ticular, represent immense diversity. One the possible exception of Islam, the process the religions that have ever existed, very few might be inclined to argue that each variant is generally not all that speedy either and were monotheistic. A precise count of all the should be counted as a separate religion. The there is a significant amount of time during religions of human history is likely impossi- difference between some of them is so vast which such a religion is entirely oral. ble, but I beg the reader’s indulgence as I that they might have more in common with Second, some religions limited access to the construct an approximation. Even with the the faithful of a different religion. For texts to properly-trained authorities who data we have available, it should quickly instance, the theology of Jehovah’s were qualified to interpret the scriptures, become evident that monotheism is in no Witnesses or Arianism may have more in such as most of the years of Judaism, classi- way “normal.” The majority of the world’s common with Judaism than they do with cal Hinduism, and pre-Protestant religions have been ethnic-based religions, many variants of Christianity. Counting Christianity. In cases such as these, the read- largely polytheistic. For instance, Africa has Lutheranism, Russian Orthodoxy, Mukyokai ing of texts was generally not a private had somewhere in the area of 400-600 reli- … as separate forms of monotheism would affair; most faithful would be part of an oral gions, depending on how one counts an eth- indeed increase the number of monotheistic performance, yet unable to read themselves. nic group. No doubt there were probably religions. However, ethnic-based religions Third, in other cases memorization and oral more, as ancient African ethnicities (and represent similar diversity within themselves recitation were believed to be necessary thereby religions) shifted in ways of which as well. The religion of the Xhosa people of parts of “reading” a written text.25 To this we are not yet aware. Indigenous North southern Africa, for example, was not static day, memorization and oral recitation America had about 500 religions, and or homogenous but was composed of many remains a duty to most Muslims because Aboriginal Australia also roughly the same sub-ethnic traditions, as well as healing they believe the Qur’an is the living word of number. One-quarter of the world’s cultures, movements, purification/ anti-witchcraft Allah, which requires active personal languages, and religions were from Oceania, cults, and prophetic movements that some- engagement, not passive reading. The and none of the religions were monotheistic times transcended ethnicity. Thus, adjusting Ramayana continues to be performed prior to Christianity’s arrival.23 Add to this the count of monotheisms to account for throughout Southeast Asia despite the wide- the religions of pre-Columbian Central and diversity within a faith, will not change the spread disappearance of Hinduism there. South America, pre-Christian Uralic-Altaic ratio at all as ethnic religions possess similar Performance of this text was so significant peoples, pre-Christian Europe, pre-Islamic diversity. Simply put, non-monotheistic reli- that it even outlasted the presence of the reli- Southeast Asia, pre-Islamic Arabia, pre- gions have vastly outnumbered the gion. We must remember the presence of Judaic Near East… and one quickly begins monotheistic ones historically. orality within all religions, even those that to arrive at a list of thousands of world reli- In sum, though most of the people in the might appear to be focused upon textuality. gions. Even allowing for the fact that the line world today are monotheists, do not make The majority of the world’s religions between some of these religions would have the mistake of telescoping this onto the did not possess written scriptures of any sort. been indistinct among peoples sharing a past.24 Most people of the past were not In the majority of cases, religious precepts were passed down orally. Such knowledge closed system. All religions have borrowed works, past or present, arguing for the special position of may not have been available universally; or built upon ideas from other religions, and Christianity in an evolutionary hierarchy. See E. Washburn Hopkins, The History of Religions, 1918 (New York: some knowledge was secret and known only this is true not just for their founding but for Macmillan, 1928), William James, The Varieties of Religious to priests. But whatever level of knowledge their continual practice as well. The reality is Experience, 1902 (New York: Penguin, 1985), Edward B. Tylor, might be available to the community would that all religions are syncretic in some fash- Researches into the Early History of Mankind and the be memorized and orally recited. The secret ion; the primary difference is the degree to Development of Civilization (London: Murray, 1865), and Ward knowledge would be memorized and passed which a religion’s practitioners are willing to McAfee, A History of the World’s Great Religions (Lanham: University Press of America, 1983), for perspectives from the along to new priests. Memorization and per- admit it. Some religions admit their syncret- disciplines of religion, philosophy, anthropology, and history, formance were part of what connected peo- ic elements, but many more deny it feeling it respectively. ple to the other members of the group, past threatens their authenticity. Yet, can one 5 This is the entire thesis of Tomoko Masuzawa, The and present, thereby reinforcing identity. even begin to explain Catholicism in Ireland Invention of World Religions: Or, How European Universalism That does not mean that these religions did without a discussion of Celtic religion, was Preserved in the Language of Pluralism (Chicago: not possess a text; only that the text never describe Hawaiian religion without mention University of Chicago Press, 2005), as the title reveals. reached a written form as it did in other reli- of other Eastern Polynesian religions, or 6 Armin W. Geertz, “Can we move beyond primitivism?: On gions. explain the foundation of Islam without ref- recovering the indigenes of indigenous religions in the academ- ic study of religion,” in Beyond Primitivism: Indigenous In teaching world history, I would erence to Arab religion, Judaism, and vari- Religions and Modernity, Jacob K. Olupona, ed. (New York; encourage an expansion of the definition of ous forms of Christianity? Clearly the fullest London: Routledge, 2004), 37. religious “text” or scripture beyond that of a explanation of any religion is one that 7 This section borrows significantly from some previous book. All religions possess some form of acknowledges all the sources that have con- works of mine: Joel E. Tishken, “Lies Teachers Teach about religious text whether it was written down tributed to its development, regardless of World Religious History,” 17th Annual Meeting of the early, later, or not at all. It simply takes a bit that source’s origin. In short, no religion is Southeast World History Association, Lexington, VA, 2005; more time or imagination to locate video “pure” in the sense that the totality of its Joel E. Tishken, “Dismantling the World Religions Paradigm,” footage or recordings of an oral performance ideas are self-created, just as there is no 18th Annual Meeting of the Southeast World History or even transcribed oral testimony (clearly it “pure” language or culture. An examination Association, Boone, NC, 2006; and in particular Joel E. is not quite the same but at least it can intro- of the multiplicity of religious influences on Tishken, “Ethnic vs. Evangelical Religions: Beyond Teaching 26 the World Religions Approach,” The History Teacher 33: 3 duce that religion.) I would advise against any religion provides great material for (May 2000): 303–20. simulations/recreations that could become world history. Highlighting the exchange, 8 Blaut, Colonizer’s Model, 1-30. irreverent at best, an apocryphal mimicking modification, syncretism, and hybridity that 9 Masuzawa, Invention, xi-xiii; Eric Sharpe, Comparative at worst, and potentially lead to professional all religions and their practitioners undergo Religion: A History, 1975, (La Salle, Illinois: Open Court, trouble. In sum, written scriptures are not would provide our students with a much 1986), 10-11. normal, but religious precepts are, regardless more accurate and nuanced understanding of 10 Sharpe, Comparative Religion, 24; Jacques Waardenburg, of their format. The history, legends, and human religious history. We must not teach Classical Approaches to the Study of Religion: Aims, Methods beliefs (or “text”) of any religion can be pre- religions as “pure” contained systems, since and Theories of Research (Hague; Paris: Mouton, 1973), 24-27. sented in class. no such thing has ever existed. 11 Waardenburg, Classical Approaches, 31-32; Donald Lie Number Four: “Pure religions Wiebe, The Politics of Religious Studies: The Continuing exist” -- This “lie” derives from the political Conclusion: The evolution of religious Conflict with Theology in the Academy (New York: Palgrave, motivations of a religion’s faithful who wish studies and the Western study of religion 1990), 69. 12 Charles H. Long, “Primitive/Civilized: The Locus of a to present their religion as a hermetic entity. continues to color the way in which Western Problem,” History of Religions 20:1/2 (Aug.-Nov. 1980): 43-61 Believers of a religion typically pride them- academia defines and teaches religion. The 13 See E. A. Wallis Budge, From Fetish to God in Ancient selves on their religion’s distinctiveness or concept of the “world” religions is grounded Egypt, 1934 (New York: Dover, 1988), Sigmund Freud, Totem uniqueness and generally do not want to upon Christian privilege and Eurocentrism. and Taboo: Some Points of Agreement between the Mental Lives imagine that their religion owes anything to Using this limited number of religions as our of Savages and Neorotics, 1950, James Strachey, trans. and ed. other religions. This is particularly the case standard will only lead to limited compre- (New York: W. W. Norton, 1989), and Bronislaw Malinowski, in “revealed” religions—those religions hension as it represents a false standard. I Argonauts of the Western Pacific: An Account of Native Enterprise and Adventure in the Archipelagoes of Melanesian founded by a prophetic leader. The goal of have presented a number of the most signif- New Guinea, 1922 (Prospect Heights, Illinois: Waveland Press, this “lie” is to insist that a religion can spring icant of these false standards here to demon- 1984). forth from nothing based entirely upon the strate their inadequacy for understanding the 14 Waardenburg, Classical Approaches, 455-57; Masuzawa, teaching of a founder, where 100% of the human religious past. Only when we Invention, 121, 126, 131-33. religion’s teachings derive from itself. embrace all of the world’s religions within 15 Waardenburg, Classical Approaches, 31-32; Sharpe, Within Western scholarship, this has been our definition of world religion will we gain Comparative Religion, 12-15; Masuzawa, Invention, 72-73, 76, used as a means of insisting upon the “truth” a more accurate and sophisticated apprecia- 205. and supremacy of Christianity. For example, tion for the complex constellation of reli- 16 Tishken, “Ethnic vs. Evangelical,” 304-6. Ward McAfee, in A History of the World’s gions that compose humanity’s religious his- 17 Masuzawa, Invention, 2. Great Religions, begins his discussion of tory. 18 Most texts will make mention of quite a few other reli- Christianity not with competing Jewish mes- gions, such as that of Egypt, Greece, Rome, Mesopotamia, sianic movements, or the context of a ENDNOTES Aztecs, Mithraism…as it discusses the people/civilization in question. But discussion of religion beyond a few sentences is 1 I am using the word teacher to refer to educators of all lev- Hellenizing Israel, or with the mysteries, typically reserved for the “Big 5.” els. World history educators, regardless of employment, rank, or rites, and beliefs of the Hellenistic Mystery 19 Religions, or even with the concept of the other demographic variants, are collectively (though surely not Julian Ries, The Origins of Religions, Kate Singleton, individually) guilty of the “lies” I discuss here. trans., (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Pub. Co., 1993), mosiach. He begins his discussion of 2 My use of the term lies thereby differs from the famous use 87-102. 27 Christianity with the message of Jesus. of the term in James W. Louwen, Lies My Teacher Told Me: 20 See Jonathan Z. Smith, “Religion, Religions, Religious,” This presents Christianity as a hermetic reli- Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong (New in Mark C. Taylor, ed., Critical Terms for Religious Studies gion that is a pure invention and owes noth- York: The New Press, 1995), 3-5 (Chicago; London: University of Chicago Press, 1998), 269- ing within itself to other religions. Denying 3 J. M. Blaut, The Colonizer’s Model of the World (New 284. Christianity’s exogenous sources thereby York; London: The Guilford Press, 1993), 18-19, 60-61, 114- 21 Masuzawa, Invention, 81-83 glorifies the process of revelation reinforc- 15, 123-24; Tomoko Masuzawa, The Invention of World 22 Lewis R. Rambo, Understanding Religious Conversion ing the belief in Jesus as the son of God. Religions: Or, How European Universalism was Preserved in (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1993), 1, 5-7; Jacob K. the Language of Pluralism (Chicago: University of Chicago Olupona, “Introduction,” in Beyond Primitivism: Indigenous The truth is that all religions have built Press, 2005), 13, 16. Religions and Modernity, Jacob K. Olupona, ed. (New York; upon preexisting religions at the same time 4 Jacques Waardenburg, Classical Approaches to the Study London: Routledge, 2004), 4. that they created new ones. No religion, of Religion: Aims, Methods and Theories of Research (Hague; 23 Tony Swain and Garry Trompf, The Religions of Oceania whether revealed or not, has existed as a Paris: Mouton, 1973), 28-29, 31-32. No shortage exists of (London; New York: Routledge, 1995), 1-2. 24 Blaut, Colonizer’s Model, 114-15. Continuing Conflict with Theology in the Academy. New creation of discrete “world religions.”3 The York: Palgrave, 1990. 25 Jaroslav Pelikan, Whose Bible is it? A History of the latter, and arguably the former, is a conse- Scriptures Through the Ages (New York: Viking, 2005), 15, 21, quence of global processes—the expansion 22-25. See William A. Graham, Beyond the Written Word: Oral of religions, their pressing up against each Aspects of Scripture in the History of Religion (Cambridge: Support the WHA World other, and the growing awareness of multi- Cambridge University Press, 1987). ple religious traditions. This is monstrously 26 For example, these printed works provide transcriptions Scholar Travel Fund of a number of Zulu “texts:” Irving Hexham, ed., Texts on Zulu mixed up in modernity. As Hans Kippenberg Religion: Traditional Zulu Ideas about God (Lewiston, N. Y.; pointed out, it was not by chance that the rise Queenston, Ont.: E. Mellen Press, 1987) and Axel-Ivar of comparative religion in Europe (between Berglund, Zulu Thought-patterns and Symbolism 1850 and 1930) coincided “with a period of (Bloomington; Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 1989). From the Mission to the modernization. Scholars and their audience The following books contain the sacred traditions, some initial- ly oral and some written, of the Nazareth Baptist Church, a Zulu Classroom: The Global were confronted with the passing away of 4 Christian Church: Irving Hexham and G. C. Oosthuizen, eds., religious traditions.” Around the turn of the Hans-Jürgen Becken, trans., The Story of Isaiah Shembe: Perspective and the History of century discoveries of new customs around History and Traditions Centered on Ekuphakameni and Mount Teaching Religion the expanding British Empire were referred Nhlangakazi (Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen Press, 1996) and to James George Frazer. Although he had Irving Hexham, ed., Londa Shembe and Hans-Jürgen Becken, never traveled farther than Greece, his work, trans., The Scriptures of the amaNazaretha of EKuphaKameni: Luke Clossey The Golden Bough, made him an expert on Selected Writings of the Zulu Prophets Isaiah and Londa Simon Fraser University Shembe (Calgary: University of Calgary Press, 1994); Elizabeth religions from around the world. Gunner, The Man of Heaven and the Beautiful Ones of God Let us look first at the idea of “world (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 2002); and Carol Ann Muller, Rituals of Teaching and researching world history are religions,” which did not exist as a concept Fertility and the Sacrifice of Desire (Chicago: University of mutually reinforcing activities, and I enjoy until created by the West. The early-modern Chicago Press, 1999). Muller’s book also has an accompanying doing both professionally. I regularly CD of song and dance clips. The material on the Nazareth Christian missionaries could count the reli- Baptist Church would be useful in providing an indigenous per- describe the seventeenth-century Jesuit mis- gions on one hand: Christianity, Judaism, spective on missions, colonialism, and theology. sionaries I study to the students in my world- Islam, and Miscellaneous, which they called 27 Ward McAfee, A History of the World's Great Religions history classes. Less often, typically after a “paganism” or “idolatry.” Adherents of other (Lanham: University Press of America, 1983), 141. frustrating day in the classroom, this works traditions would not have been offended by the other way, and I find myself discussing their omissions, for the other traditions are teaching in conversations with long-dead Bibliography themselves—probably—relatively recent Jesuits.1 Western inventions by Christians whose Blaut, J. M. The Colonizer’s Model of the World. New York; The most productive of these imaginary background predisposed them to seek delin- London: The Guilford Press, 1993. conversations have naturally centered on the eated churches and clearly defined doctrines. Geertz, Armin W. “Can we move beyond primitivism?: On teaching of religion and the history of reli- Hinduism, for example, is not a single reli- recovering the indigenes of indigenous religions in the aca- gion, a topic in which my Jesuits command gion. Indeed, Sanskrit, the holy language of demic study of religion.” In Beyond Primitivism: Indigenous considerable expertise. Early-modern mis- Religions and Modernity, Jacob K. Olupona, ed. New York; Hinduism, has no word for “Hinduism.” London: Routledge, 2004. sionaries traveled globally to teach the world Similarly, “Buddhism,” as a religious con- Graham, William A. Beyond the Written Word: Oral Aspects of about Christianity. Contemporary teachers struct, is not much more than two hundred Scripture in the History of Religion. Cambridge: Cambridge look globally to teach world religions in a years old, even though for millennia millions University Press, 1987. secular setting. My Jesuits and I appreciate of people have followed what they under- Long, Charles H. “Primitive/Civilized: The Locus of a some similarities between the challenges we stood as the teachings of the Buddha. Even Problem.” History of Religions 20:1/2 (Aug.-Nov. 1980): face and the strategies we adopt. For exam- 43-61. today, surveys indicate that most Japanese Masuzawa, Tomoko. The Invention of World Religions: Or, ple, power issues are attendant in both cases, identify as simultaneously nonreligious and How European Universalism was Preserved in the whether in the form of failing grades or eter- Buddhist.5 Language of Pluralism. Chicago: University of Chicago nal damnation. On the other hand, we find Just as the oriental religions were form- Press, 2005. ourselves with fundamental differences ing as analytical categories, the occidental McAfee, Ward. A History of the World’s Great Religions. between our ultimate goals and our attitudes Lanham: University Press of America, 1983. religions were paling, in a process Peter Olupona, Jacob K. “Introduction.” In Beyond Primitivism: toward religion. Berger calls the “universalisation of Indigenous Religions and Modernity. Jacob K. Olupona, ed. When scholars trace the early-modern heresy,”6 whereby even orthodox believers New York; London: Routledge, 2004. prehistory of the study of religion, they typ- consciously choose, rather than simply Pelikan, Jaroslav. Whose Bible is it? A History of the Scriptures ically look to Rousseau and Kant, to Hobbes inherit, their orthodoxy. In modern times, Through the Ages. New York: Viking, 2005. and Hume. The origins of some aspects of Rambo, Lewis R. Understanding Religious Conversion. New “religion” thus became famously difficult to Haven: Yale University Press, 1993. religious studies, however, are better sought define. To my mind, no one has gotten clos- Ries, Julian. The Origins of Religions. Kate Singleton, trans. in missionary history rather than in intellec- er than the member of the British Parliament Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Pub. Co., 1993. tual history. Our early-modern missionary who, in a moment of frustration, declared Sharpe, Eric. Comparative Religion: A History. 1975. La Salle, predecessors adopted a global perspective to that “surely we all believe in some sort of Illinois: Open Court, 1986. explain, and to prove, the truth of 7 Smith, Jonathan Z. “Religion, Religions, Religious.” In Mark C. something.” Taylor, ed., Critical Terms for Religious Studies. Chicago; Christianity. From Mexico to China, Jesuits The ancient Hebrews have been London: University of Chicago Press, 1998. used world maps to demon- strate that Christianity was a Swain, Tony and Garry Trompf. The Religions of Oceania. Postmodernism has created an extreme relativity, willing to London; New York: Routledge, 1995. truly world religion, and that Tishken, Joel E. “Ethnic vs. Evangelical Religions: Beyond the faiths of their potential con- accept everything—except a traditionalist understanding that Teaching the World Religions Approach.” The History verts were merely local, and by takes religion seriously on its own terms. Teacher 33: 3 (May 2000): 303–20. Tishken, Joel E. “Lies Teachers Teach about World Religious implication inferior. The Third History.” 17th Annual Meeting of the Southeast World Catechism of Lima (1585) includes this described as “henotheistic,” a neologism History Association, Lexington, VA, 2005 global spread in a list of reasons why one created by Max Müller to describe belief Tishken, Joel E. “Dismantling the World Religions Paradigm.” should believe Christianity.2 systems that are polytheistic in their recogni- 18th Annual Meeting of the Southeast World History The global perspective is no longer used tion of many gods, but monotheistic in their Association, Boone, NC, 2006. to argue for the truth of Christianity. acknowledgement of a single god as particu- Waardenburg, Jacques. Classical Approaches to the Study of Perhaps the most important stories in the larly worthy of devotion. In a way, tolerance Religion: Aims, Methods and Theories of Research. Hague; world history of religion are the advent of Paris: Mouton, 1973. and ecumenicism have brought us back to Wiebe, Donald. The Politics of Religious Studies: The the modern, whatever that means, and the henotheism: We acknowledge that various religious traditions have their own “validi- because he saw no point in needlessly pro- gion in a professional, objective manner, but ty,” even if we ourselves may have a “pref- voking their gods.12 Today, however, pray- they often reveal more about historians than erence” for only one of them. ing Muslims are not removed from planes about history. Geoffrey Koziol writes of rit- A crucial distinction between traditional for fear of the wrath of Allah, but because uals “whose meaning can be as puzzling to (verifiable, and thus, indubitable) and mod- the passengers understand recited Arabic as contemporaries as it is to scholars” and com- ern (safely beyond empiricism, and thus, a symbol of a certain mentality. We have all plains that “not even the most solemn rituals interchangeable) religious belief is illustrat- become anthropologists. need mean anything to contemporaries,” for ed by a gag from Emo Philips: “When I was A more current example of the disasso- indeed “members of a culture are often less a kid, I used to pray every night for a new ciation of religion with the present comes knowledgeable about the meanings of their bicycle. Then I realized that the Lord, in His from a playful but powerful video by Adam rites and symbols than the scholars who visit wisdom, doesn’t work that way. So I just Buxton. His voice-over narrates a papal cer- them.”16 Even Mircea Eliade urged caution stole one and asked Him to forgive me.” It emony before St. Peter’s as if it were a scene here: “A religious phenomenon will only be is easier to check if a god gives you a bicy- from the Star Wars films. Benedict XVI is recognized as such if it is grasped at its own cle than if a god forgives you, and the move explained as the “sixth of the twenty-eight level, that is to say, if it is studied as some- from bikes to forgiveness allows a prolifera- stages of metageneration for Jessel,” and a thing religious. To try to grasp the essence of tion of religions and a different take on truth. globus cruciger becomes a “jewel-encrusted such a phenomenon by means of physiology, Emo’s follow-up line got just as many ceremonial stasis orb” for the “still-living psychology, sociology, economics, art or any laughs and is telling: “And I got it”—for- brain of the mighty Keppel.” Here the ritual other study is false; it misses the one unique giveness. behavior and costume is so essentially non- irreducible element in it—the element of the This transition from traditional religion modern that it transfers naturally even to a sacred.”17 Can we have religion as an to modern religion may be a necessarily postmodern science fiction.13 explanans rather than an explanandum? world-historical topic. Anthony Giddens Reality rarely cooperates with world Postmodernism has created an extreme understands globalization as an evolving historians intent on grand narrative, and the relativity, willing to accept everything— modernity, for “modern organizations are millions—almost billions—of intensely reli- except a traditionalist understanding that able to connect the local and the global in gious people of modern times disrupt any takes religion seriously on its own terms. ways which would have been unthinkable in nice transition between an intensely reli- Russell McCutcheon has attacked the sug- more traditional societies.”8 He links the two gious before and a lukewarm perfunctori- gestion that anything-goes postmodernism concepts by arguing that modernization is ness after. As a planet, we are in some ways so relativizes everything that anything might the globalization of what were once inde- equally or more religious than our medieval enter the Religious Studies canon.18 For all pendent regional cultures. Through global- ancestors. In the United States, for example, its liberality, McCutcheon argues, postmod- ization, cultural (and especially religious) belief in the literal and looming realization ernism has to draw the line at a “theory” of traditions have lost their connections to par- of Revelations is astonishingly widespread religion as conservative as that of Karl ticular places and times. As these suddenly and mainstream.14 Warning signs from a Barth, who understood religion as a human- rootless traditions circulated along global- security company share my neighbor's bal- created barrier to true belief and to the ization networks they created a world of cony with a pantheon of images of apotropa- acceptance of revelation.19 McCutcheon “more religious options and less religious ic Tibetan deities. Still, economists chart a cites a Monty Python sketch, in which certainty.”9 This is the seed of secularizing path from gathering berries to ordering gro- Ann[e] Elk explains on a talk show her the- modernity. It may be that the very success ceries on websites, without always pointing ory of the brontosaurus: “My theory of the of missionary Christianity, whether through out that most humans do not surf the inter- brontosaurus is that it is skinny on one end, missionary agency or through the natural net. Can some slightly more accurate reli- fat in the middle, and skinny on the other transmission of ideas, led to a pluralistic gious narrative be drafted, then, perhaps by end.” McCutcheon believes that the humour ecumenism, and thence to modern secular- looking at issues of sycrentism and extinc- lurks in the “confusion of two semantic lev- ism. That is, a global perspective teaches us tion (as do historians of language), or by els,” between a “vacuous,” “folk” sense of that the plurality of religion leads to the rel- telling a story of how atheism and apathy the term “theory” and the “technical” sense. ativity of religion, which leads, in turn, to affect religion, beyond the easy stereotype of For McCutcheon, a theory must be “a set of bracketed truth, and religions that have lost marginalization and cowing? statements about relationships among a set their totalizing authority. In any case, this sense of division of abstract concepts”—statements that “say In our modern age, history adds an addi- between a hotly religious past (or future, fol- how and why the concepts are interrelated” tional level of complication. There is now a lowing Buxton) and a cool present is in itself and “give rise to implications that potential- sense that genuine, intense religious belief is an historical phenomenon. The Transmission ly are falsifiable empirically.” These criteria something intrinsically historical, in the of the Lamp (first published 1011) presents of “theory” come from Rodney Stark and past. One popular modern world-history Chan Buddhism’s second patriarch (Huike, William Sims Bainbridge, and validated textbook mentions religion about four times c.487-593) as imagining something like this them through an appeal to the HarperCollins as frequently in its medieval chapters as in same division of religious intensity between Dictionary of Religion.20 its modern ones.10 In Flannery O’Connor’s “modern” (i.e., sixth century) and historical: McCutcheon is wrong about theory and Wise Blood (1952), Hazel Motes walks with “Men of old sought the Way by smashing wrong about Monty Python. Nobody watch- glass and stones in his shoes. He is con- their bones to take out the marrow, slashing ing that Monty Python episode in 1972 had fronted by his landlady, who explains that their veins to feed hungry [animals], spread- any familiarity with the narrow, somewhat “it’s not natural . . . it’s not normal. It’s like ing their hair to cover the muddy road in arbitrary definition of “theory” that would one of them gory stories, it’s something that order to let a spiritual man pass through develop fifteen years later. They laughed people have quit doing—like boiling in oil safely, or leaping off a cliff to feed a hungry because, despite Anne Elk’s haughty or being a saint or walling up cats . . . tigress. All through the ages people have demeanor, and the serious talk-show for- There’s no reason for it. People have quit behaved like this. Who am I [not to do mat,21 her theory of the brontosaurus was doing it.” Motes understands that it is his so]?”15 Huike himself then became one of profoundly bad. Even considered as a “folk” own religious intensity that extends the his- these “men of old” by chopping off his left theory, Elk’s theory is useless. The humour tory of religion into our antagonistic, anti- arm, to be offered up to his teacher. comes not from the disconnect between septic, and modernizing present: “They I see a gaping division between chop- semantic levels, but from how extremely ain’t quit doing it as long as I’m doing it.”11 ping off an arm on the one hand, and on the simple and devoid of explanatory power Attitudes toward religious tolerance other, using relativist theory to explain away Elk’s theory is. illustrate this change from a different angle. the need for such mutilation. Theory and McCutcheon uses this as a way to drive Genghis Khan tolerated various faiths interpretation are ways of approaching reli- home the idea that a theory must have cer- tain characteristics. Barth’s conservative tory to inmates enrolled in the prison’s two- we at least restore power to religion? How understanding of religion—neo-orthodox year degree program. After a lecture on can we re-enchant it? and theological and, in some ways, close Mesopotamian religion, one of the students One way is to use “native informants,” minded—does not meet these criteria and took me aside. “I want you to know,” he con- actual adherents of a religion. Historians of therefore is unacceptable for academic use. fided, “that I know your job requires you to people without history routinely make con- For all his postmodernism, McCutcheon is teach us about these false gods. But I want clusions based on anthropological data from not postmodern enough, and sustains a mod- you to know that I know there’s only one a later time period. With historical sources, ernist’s privileging of a narrower tradition, true God, and that’s the Lord God Jehovah.” the links between contemporary and histori- one that includes everything but the reli- His tone was not that of a confession of cal practitioners need not be so tenuous. gion’s own orthodox self-interpretation, faith. It was more like the boast of someone There is, however, the danger of variations everything but the religion itself. A more who had seen through an illusionist’s trick. of what has been called the “Christian intrepid drive out of the postmodernist rela- Prof. Clossey had fooled all the other stu- Mafia,” students (or guest speakers) who can tivist quandary might instead judge interpre- dents into believing in Enlil and Inanna, but not step back from their religious tradition to tations for their explanatory power. Perhaps he could not fool me. approach the subject in an “objective” pro- religion should not ask permission from the Of course, I had no intention of convert- fessional way. A variation on this is to per- postmodernists, and perhaps it forfeits its ing anyone to the ancient Sumerian religion, form religious laboratory exercises in the moral authority in the same breath that it or of asserting anything about the existence classroom. In one course on Chinese histo- voices the request. of ancient Sumerian gods, or even anything ry, instead of reading ritual manuals, we per- Religion can be as powerless in the about their importance or usefulness for any- formed the rituals themselves. My colleague classroom as it is in our scholarly debates. thing beyond understanding ancient lectures on Shang Dynasty divination meth- The worst lecture I have ever given was one Sumerians. The student understood instinc- ods armed with a dried cow scapula and a of my first, on the Protestant Reformation. I tively what I am only coming to understand blowtorch. was studying for doctoral examinations at now—that any discussion of religion con- Another way to re-enchant religion is to the time, and had crammed my skull full of tains implications of truth. take students on field trips to places of wor- arcane theological knowledge, which I Philosophers of language use the word ship. One semester I took students to an inflicted on the class. Afterwards, one “perlocutionary” to describe utterances that urban mosque, arguably a context different stunned student commented, “You really are true merely by virtue of having been from any we had considered in the course, know a lot about the Reformation.” By ana- said. “It’s six o’clock” is not perlocutionary, but still with a unique and powerful atmos- lyzing away the mystery I killed off the reli- because it is false if I say it at seven o’clock. phere. This experience was far removed gion. “I promise I will always love you” is per- from the assumptions and rules of a con- Last semester, during a seminar discus- locutionary, because by stating it I have trolled classroom: One student, female and sion of religion, one of my students made the promise, and I have to dispel its feminist, agreed to wear a head scarf but described the assertion that the words of the magic by making quotation marks with my balked when asked to stand behind the Qu’ran had been delivered by the angel fingers. Because of its nature, I suspect that women’s partition during prayer. In the end, Gabriel to Mohammad as “bullsh**,” short- religion might be understood to have some- she preferred to spend the rest of the field hand for something like “not verified with thing approaching perlocutionary force; trip waiting for us on the street in front of the objective evidence.” His colleagues raised thus, the meaning of a statement about reli- mosque. Most of the remainder of the tour no objections, and the students laughing gion is closely tied up with the its utterance. centered on our host’s defense of the place of hardest were Muslims. This is not about Teaching religion without the truth— women in Islam. This was the worst field- politeness. No one was offended, and any that is, interpreting religion—is like explain- trip disaster I have had, yet, but it suggests offense would have devastated my students’ ing a joke. You understand the joke, but you that we were visiting something powerful. polite-Canadian self-image. Indeed, in a par- can not really “get” it until you have laughed No one has ever honored one of my lectures ticularly modern process, while religion at it. on the history of religion by fuming angrily fades politeness seems to continue Because I write on Jesuit missionaries outside the lecture theater. unashamedly.* In another course, my refer- and am often associated with Catholic insti- A powerful way to take religion serious- ence to the “dry sh** stick” (Kan-shiketsu) tutions, colleagues often assume I am ly is to use it in our histories. Religion plays of Zen koans22 shocked a class into silence, Catholic. The issue is more pointed for a rather limited role in the new world histo- not because I had insulted religion but teaching. In most modern, public class- ry. To be sure, the various religious tradi- because I had used the “s-word.” rooms, teachers who themselves “are reli- tions are given respectful nods in the text- In contrast, I can present two examples gious” tend not to announce this, nor to draw books. Researchers pursue comparative and of students still feeling the power of religion. explicitly on their background—perhaps out transnational religious phenomena. Neither example, it is important to note, of fear of giving the impression of trying to However, nowhere does religion play any- comes from within a traditional western win converts, perhaps because of the thing like the starring roles it commanded in classroom. The first takes place at Capital assumption that believers cannot be objec- the world histories of Spengler or Toynbee. Normal University in Beijing. After my lec- tive and is, therefore, less qualified to teach World historians used religion to get at the- ture on early Pacific globalization, the stu- their beliefs. In one history of Christianity ses that were unprovable, and have now dents raised many questions, some of which course, students had secretly formed a bet- become unforgivable. These early works had nothing to do with the lecture. When the ting pool about my own religious identity— may have cost historians of religion their formal question session had concluded, one I had flirted with enough traditions, and had pivotal role, if not their welcome altogether, student cautiously drew me away to the far inadvertently made enough biographical in the new world history. Religion has lost end of the chalkboard. “Explain to me this asides while lecturing, so as to make this ter- its explanatory power, and its centrality, for symbol,” she asked, drawing with chalk a rific fun for the class. Having taught the his- the most part to economic history. Historians Star of David. Presumably, the star was tory of three different religious traditions in of religion have produced no ReORIENT, no erased not long after my sixty-second expla- another course, I surveyed the students as to Great Divergence. In part, this is because nation of Judaism ended, but she drew this which appealed the most to them. My own world historians have shied away from the rune with such intense concentration and religion came in last place. Had I subcon- excesses of the Spenglers and the Toynbees. care that it seemed she was investing it with sciously tried too hard not to sell it? In part, this is because the prevailing fashion power, etching it for the ages. Most likely, it is neither possible nor among historians of religion is local reli- The more explicit example comes from advisable for teachers of the history of reli- gious practices. This has been a welcome California’s San Quentin State Prison, where gion to treat religion in the same way mis- correction to an earlier emphasis on unroot- I spent a summer teaching ancient world his- sionaries used to and still do. But how can ed, universal, doctrinal history, but we some- times forget that a global religious phenom- Doctrina christiana y catecismo para instruccion de los indios, than the idea that the Koran is not the revealed word of God. enon need be no more doctrinal and univer- Corpus Hispanorum de Pace XXVI-2 (Madrid: Consejo 22 Koan 21 of the Wu-men Kuan. Superior de Investigaciones cientificas, 1985), fol. 24v [p. 396]. 23 Adolf Harnack, "Besprechung von W. Bousset, sal than a local religious phenomenon. 3 Adolf Harnack’s contemporary review For a critique of which, see Joel E. Tishken, "Lies Teachers Hauptprobleme der Gnosis," Theologische Literaturzeitung 33 Teach about World Religions," in this issue. (1908): 10-13, cited in Kippenberg, 118-19. of a 1907 study of gnosticism distinguishes 4 between church history and “world history.” Hans G. Kippenberg, Discovering Religious History in the 24 See Augustine's De gratia et libero arbitrio and Thomas Modern Age (Princeton: Princeton UP, 2002), xi. Aquinas's Summa theologiae (1.14.13). Gnosticism is merely a part of church histo- 5 A powerful description of this process can be found in 25 ry, because “it did not have any significance, See the Bodhicharyavatara. This phrasing is from Andrew Tuck, Comparative Philosophy and the Philosophy of William Hursthouse, who recommended Shantideva to me. was not a factor, but rather a passive ele- Scholarship: On the Western Interpretation of Nagarjuna When I admitted my first reading left me baffled, he suggested ment, eternally obsolete, a hodgepodge of (Oxford: Oxford UP, 1990). For the opposing view see David my first mistake was reading it -- a reminder that scholars and fossils, a storeroom and a rubbish heap.”23 N. Lorenzen, Who invented Hinduism? Essays on Religion in believers do different things to texts. History (New Delhi: Yoda, 2006). World history, by implication, should be 6 about religious phenomena that are active, P. L. Berger, "Modernity as the Universalization of relevant, and current. Is it possible for pow- Heresy," in The Heretical Imperative: Contemporary Possibilities of Religious Affirmation (Garden City, New York: Expanding Horizons, Collapsing Frontiers: erful religion to reclaim center stage? Anchor Press, Doubleday, 1979), 1-31. The Macro and Micro in World History Writing a sacred history is likely to help 7 Huston Smith, The World's Religions: Our Great Wisdom little in getting tenure, but drawing on non- Traditions (San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1991), 385. Milwaukee, 28 June-1 July 2007 western religious or philosophical traditions 8 Anthony Giddens, The Consequences of Modernity might wean us off our dependence on a (Stanford: Stanford UP, 1990), 29, 63. Western intellectual tradition. For indeed, 9 Ann Taves, "From Religious History to the Cultural From Adam to the Apocalypse: even the insistence that all peoples (or reli- History Of Religion," Journal Of the American Academy Of gions) are equal (what does this really Religion December 2003, Vol. 71, No. 4, pp. 885-893 Postclassical Christianity and the 10 Bentley and Ziegler's Traditions & Encounters (McGraw mean?), which I recently heard presented by Hill, 2003) has, roughly, one reference to religion for every six Patterns of World History a professional world historian as an axiom of pages of medieval history, and one reference to religion for the new world history, is likely one more every fifteen pages of modern history. Brett Edward Whalen common to the Western tradition. Rooted as 11 Flannery O'Connor, Wise Blood: A Novel (Farrar, Straus University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill it is in liberal optimism as much as it is in the and Giroux: 1962), 224. writings of Catholic theologians,24 the cur- 12 René Grousset puts it pointedly: "General superstitious rent dogma that all peoples, especially colo- dread thus engendered general tolerance. Not until they lost this nized subalterns, have agency might find a superstitious timidity did the descendants of Jenghiz Khan in Commenting on the challenges that face much-needed foil in Shantideva’s blanket Turkestan and Persia become intolerant in outlook and behav- scholars and teachers of World History, negation, that everyone is a “walking skele- ior." Grousset, The Empire of the Steppes (New Brunswick, William A. Green has observed that N.J.: Rutgers UP, 1970), 220. “Periodization is rooted in historical theory. ton, occasionally jerked about by impuls- 13 Adam Buxton, "A New Pope." http://adam- 25 It reflects our priorities, our values, and our es.” At the time of his death, Andre Gunder buxton.com/ad/wp-content/ANEWPOPE2SCRENDER.mp4 Frank had been developing with Weiwei (accessed January 30, 2007). understanding of the forces of continuity and 1 Zhang at Nankai University a new defense 14 See Nicholas Guyatt, Have a Nice Doomsday: Why change.” The question of how to divide, of his ReORIENT thesis of a sino-centric Millions of Americans Are Looking Forward to the End of the subdivide, and organize history into mean- early-modern world economy. This justifi- World ( London: Ebury Press , 2007). ingful units, of course, is not something that cation came not from the theories of Adam 15 Nelson Foster and Jack Shoemaker, ed., The Roaring uniquely confronts world historians, Smith or Karl Marx, but from the ideas of Stream: A New Zen Reader (Hopwell, New Jersey: Ecco Press, although the vast chronological and geo- 1996), 7. graphical scope of their investigations into interdependence attributed to the fourth-cen- 16 tury BCE Daoist philosopher Zhuangzi. Geoffrey Koziol, Begging Pardon and Favor: Ritual and the past makes it a particularly pressing Political Order in Early Medieval France (Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell problem for practitioners in the field. Nor is There has been a sea change of world- University Press, 1992), 289, 308. historical importance regarding how we 17 it a uniquely modern problem in the Mircea Eliade, Patterns in Comparative Religion, trans. European intellectual tradition. For premod- understand religion. Perhaps today only a Rosemary Sheed (Cleveland: The World Publishing Company, minority of the world’s population finds 1963), xiii. ern Christian thinkers of medieval Europe, itself on the far side—the side that might be 18 Russell T. McCutcheon, "'My Theory of the however, there was a specific kind of histor- described as secular, objective, or modern— Brontosaurus…': Postmodernism and 'Theory' of Religion," in ical theorizing that shaped their efforts to of that divide, but most historians are in that Critics Not Caretakers: Redescribing the Public Study of organize history into coherent patterns: the- minority. This paper has ranged over too Religion (Albany, NY: SUNY Press, 2001), 103-121. The dis- ology of history, an interpretation of the cussion continued, though not about the points I raise here, in past, present, and future that attributed order much ground to offer an argument, but in William E. Arnal, "What if I Don't Want to Play Tennis?: A compensation, it offers secular, objective, Rejoinder to Russell McCutcheon on Postmodernism and and meaning in earthly events to a divine and modern historians three impossibly big Theory of Religion," Studies in Religion/Sciences Religieuses plan for the course of human salvation. From questions: 1) How can we teach religion 27.1 (1998): 61-68; and McCutcheon, "Returning the Volley to its origins in scripture, Christian theorizing without killing it?; 2) Is there a world histo- William E. Arnal," Studies in Religion/Sciences Religieuses about the nature of history was totalizing in 27.1 (1998): 67-68. I am grateful to Derryl MacLean for intro- its potential, spanning the ages from the ry of religion?; and 3) What place can reli- ducing me to McCutcheon's scholarship. gion have in world history? Clearly, world moment of Creation until the End of Time. 19 His criticism is directed at Garrett Green, "Challenging Christian theories of history were also historians of religion have much work to do. the Religious Studies Canon: Karl Barth's Theory of Religion," Journal of Religion 75 [1995] 473-86. “global” in their scope, cognizant of Christ’s declaration that the Gospels would spread ENDNOTES 20 Rodney Stark and William Sims Bainbridge, A Theory of 1 This paper was originally presented at the World History Religion (Bern and New York: Peter Lang, 1987), 13. Jonathan everywhere before the end of time (Mt. Association meeting in Long Beach, California, June 24, 2006, Z. Smith, et al., ed., The HarperCollins Dictionary of Religion 24:14) and of his commandment to his fol- and I have gratefully incorporated improvements suggested by (San Francisco: Harper, 1995). lowers that they go forth and baptize “all the the lively post-panel discussion. Special thanks are due to co- 21 The talk show is called "Thrust-A Quite Controversial nations” in the name of the Father, the Son, panelist Phillip Luke Sinitiere, chair Alfred Andrea, and panel Look at the World around Us." "All brontosauruses are thin on and the Holy Spirit (Mt. 28:19). organizer Mary Jane Maxwell. one end, much much thicker in the middle and then thin again 2 This essay draws attention to Christian "Con esta misma fé, y palabra de Dios convirtieron a todo at the far end. That is my theory, it is mine, and belongs to me theories about the structures and patterns of el mundo, a Reyes, y a señores, y a sabios, y a poderosos, y and I own it and what it is too." From "The All-England todos se subjectaron a la palabra de Dios, y fé de Iesu Christo." Summarize Proust Competition," Monty Python's Flying Circus history, ranging from around the third Tercero Cathecismo y exposición de la doctrina christiana por 31 (Recorded 24-04-72 , Aired 16-11-72 , Prod. #78491). through the eleventh centuries. In the mod- sermones, para que los curas y otros ministros prediquen y * As another example of politeness outranking religion, it ern terminology employed by world histori- enseñen a los indios y a otras personas [Lima: 1585], in was the word “bulsh*t” that the Bulletin Editor censored, rather ans, this stretch of time constitutes the post- classical era (specialists in Mediterranean Christ marked an era of transition and trans- Starting in the third and fourth cen- and medieval European history divide this formation from the events recorded in the turies, Christian historiographers and same period into the eras of Late Antiquity “Old Testament” of the Jews (the holy writ- exegetes consecrated a sometimes uneasy and the early Middle Ages). The focus is pri- ings of the Synagogue), and the “New marriage between the “sacred” history of the marily on the intellectual tradition of what Testament” of the Gentiles (the revelation Bible and the “profane” universal history of postclassical Christians themselves called that was given to the Church).4 non-Christian traditions, crafting chronolo- the “Western” or “Latin” Church, a region The groundwork for this model of histo- gies that harmonized biblical events with the that was roughly equivalent to modern ry was located in passages of the Christian reigns of pagan emperors. Such straightfor- Europe, or at least it was after northwestern New Testament itself, in particular the ward narratives of universal history, howev- Africa was brought into the orbit of Islamic Pauline epistles, which declared that the er, did not solve the problem of how post- civilization in the seventh century CE. As coming of Christ had brought with it a new biblical events might be organized into early as the ninth century, contemporaries dispensation that superseded a literal adher- broader and more meaningful patterns that began to call this region “Christendom” ence to Jewish Law. The potentially disas- demonstrated God’s temporal plan for salva- (Christianitas), a community of believers trous impact of this position on long-term tion. Early Christian chroniclers established that shared Latin as their sacred language, Christian attitudes toward Judaism is well one basic principle for the division of histo- used a common rite, and took the church of known. It is somewhat ironic that the patris- ry, arguing that the world would last for six Rome as their spiritual head.2 tic insistence on the linkage between the Old thousand years followed by the eternal The members of Christendom, or at and New Testaments was largely formulated Sabbath, based on the seven days of creation least the educated members of the clergy to refute alternate Christian theologies, ones and the notion that “one day with the Lord is among them, also shared a common, if which denied the relevance of the Hebrew as a thousand years” (2 Peter 3:8).8 In the sometimes contentious, set of beliefs about scriptures for Christ’s message of salvation. Latin intellectual tradition, Augustine of the providential organization of history. To To counter the views of such “heretics,” Hippo was a key figure who popularized this account for continuity and change—a cen- influential churchmen, such as Augustine of division of history into seven ages. His basic tral goal of any periodizing scheme—cleri- Hippo (d. 430), formulated a view of salva- scheme ran as follows: the first age lasted cal authors looked first and foremost to the tion history that affirmed the Old Testament from Adam to Noah; the second, from Noah Christian Bible to provide them with a tem- and the former status of the Jews as the to Abraham; the third, from Abraham to plate for discerning historical patterns. From Chosen People of God, while insisting that David; the fourth, from David to the such scriptural building blocks, they devised history itself had moved onward and left the Babylonian captivity; the fifth, from the multiple schemes to divide history into Jews behind.5 With the Incarnation of Christ, Babylonian captivity to the coming of meaningful units. The postclassical history had progressed from one stage (the Christ; and the sixth, from Christ until the Christian response to the problem of peri- Old Dispensation) to another (the New end of time.9 The Second Coming of Christ odization (not that they would have called it Dispensation). The result was that the and final judgment would be followed by the that) reflected their own priorities, values, Jewish people and their scriptures were left seventh Sabbath age of eternal rest. Once and understanding of the forces that shaped behind as “theological relics,” unwitting again, the birth, ministry, death, and resur- the experience of both Christian and non- witnesses to the prophecies that foretold the rection of Christ formed the pivotal point of Christian peoples on a universal stage. These coming of Christ. According to Christian transformation in the history of God’s plan were not idle intellectual speculations, but exegetes and theologians, this transferal of for salvation, marking the dawn of the sixth rather contributed to how Christians of the divine favor from the period reacted to concrete historical devel- Synagogue to the Church opments. In some cases, the basic blueprints was made evident when In the Eastern Roman Empire, Christian thinkers did not have to that they applied to the sweep of history Roman armies sacked directly confront the fragmentation of imperial power or the histor- from Adam until the Apocalypse had a Jerusalem in the year 70 ical questions that it raised. Byzantium, as we now call it, endured. remarkably long and active life. Indeed, they CE, fulfilling Christ’s own continued to influence the Christian inhabi- predictions that the Temple tants of what became medieval Europe would be destroyed.6 and final age of history. throughout the remainder of the Middle Building on this basic premise, patristic The problem with this popular scheme, Ages and into the early-modern period, authors such as Augustine additionally however, was the ever increasing stretch of when Europe initiated its phase of colonial organized history into three stages: first, the time from Christ until the end of time. It was and imperial overseas expansion.3 time before the Jewish Law (ante legem), the safe to organize historical moments of tran- By its very nature, Christian theology of time under the Law (sub lege), and the time sition around biblical episodes, such as the history incorporated a basic division of time of Christian grace (sub gratia), followed by institution of the written Law under Moses into two distinct epochs: that of the Old and eternal rest.7 Once again, the coming of or the building of the Temple under New Testaments. This arrangement also car- Christ was the hinge-point in the critical Solomon. These were known quantities. ried what we might now call ethnographic transition from the age under the law to the Finding an organizational principle for the implications, linked to a corollary division age of grace. This progression involved a constantly expanding years of post-biblical between two peoples: Jews and Gentiles. transformation in the building blocks of sal- history was not nearly as simple. In the The reality of the “Jesus Movement” in the vation, the proper forms of worship owed to heady days after the conversion of the first and early-second centuries of the God. With the arrival of the new dispensa- Roman emperor Constantine (d. 337) to Common Era was far more complex than tion, the “carnal” rites of the Jews (carnalia) Christianity in the fourth century, perhaps this tidy binary indicates. Scholars use labels yielded to the sacraments (sacramenta) of not unsurprisingly, Christian intellectuals like “Jewish Christianity” to illustrate the the Christian Church (for example, “fleshly” such as Eusebius of Caesarea (d. 341) began fact that many early followers of Christ con- circumcision giving way to the “spiritual” to argue that the power of the Roman Empire tinued to observe Jewish religious rites and mark of baptism). This transferal from the had a critical role to play in the triumph of habits, while there were a variety of attitudes tradition of the Levitical priests to the new the Church. It was not by coincidence, among the growing numbers of non-Jewish Christian priesthood was yet another trans- Eusebius declared, that Christ was born dur- Christians about the need to preserve or jet- formation in the economy of salvation that ing the reign of Augustus, the first Roman tison Jewish religious practices. the Jews had failed to recognize, clinging to emperor.10 By contrast, Augustine famously Nevertheless, within the proto-orthodox tra- their ancient rituals. From this perspective, rejected the notion that earthly events could dition of what became the mainstream the Jews were not a people without a histo- be used to chart out the course of God’s plan Church, lines began to harden around the ry; they were a people frozen in the past for history during the sixth and final age of hermeneutical notion that the message of while history moved onward. history. In the turbulent times after the sack of Rome in 410 CE, it seemed safer to scheme for theorizing about history and its although imperial power itself remained Augustine to sever any ties that linked the conclusion. In his commentary on the Book “Roman” in name and would until the end of fortunes of God’s “heavenly City” from the of Daniel, Jerome canonized a popular inter- time.16 In the famous forgery “The Donation vicissitudes and vagaries of the earthly one. pretation of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream of the of Constantine,” written in papal circles The impact of Augustine’s refusal to alloyed statue with a head of gold, chest of around the late-eighth or early-ninth century, speculate about the divine patterns of histo- silver, thighs of bronze, legs of iron, and feet it was declared that Constantine had trans- ry on the Latin intellectual tradition of the mixed with iron and clay (Dan. 2: 36-45), as ferred the seat of his imperial power to a new Middle Ages is famous, although it should well as Daniel’s dream of the four beasts capital at Byzantium (i.e., Constantinople) not be exaggerated. The urge and temptation emerging from the sea (Dan. 7:3-28): out of respect for the bishops of Rome and to see the recent past and current events as Jerome read both passages as prophecies of their role in the governance of the holy part of a greater divine plan would not go the four “world empires” progressing from Church.17 In the ninth century, after the away, despite the best efforts of Augustine the Babylonians through the Persians and Carolingian dynasty resurrected the imperial and other Latin patristic theologians. As we Macedonians to the Romans.14 According to title starting in the year 800, Frankish have already seen, in his own works, Jerome and other authorities, the “iron” churchmen began to insist that the dignity Augustine disseminated models of peri- empire of Rome, the fourth beast, would and power of empire had been transferred odization that provided Latin theologians endure until the end of time, when it would back from the Greeks at Constantinople to with a starting point for their efforts to be divided up into a series of petty king- the Franks under Charlemagne. In the tenth organize history into comprehensive stages. doms, symbolized by the mixed feet of iron century, this same argument would be Some of Augustine’s own students and cor- and clay, and by the “ten horns” on the extended to include the German Ottonian respondents, such as Orosius (d. 420) and fourth beast. Jerome was ready to acknowl- emperors and their Salian successors. Like Quodvultdeus (d. 454), continued to devise edge that this process of decline had already history itself, empire was on the move, and divinely-ordained schemes for the division begun, evident in the incursions of barbarian its progression provided yet another means of the past (such as the notion that there had peoples into the western portions of the to read God’s hand in earthly events. been ten persecutions against the Church Roman Empire. These developments set the As noted above, many patristic authors before Constantine, matching the ten stage for the arrival of the Antichrist, the came to believe that the Roman Empire plagues in the Book of Exodus). Theorizing “son of Perdition” (2 Thess. 2:3), who was would endure until the end of time when it about the meaning of history was too attrac- symbolized in the “little horn” that emerged would fragment into various petty king- tive and too deeply embedded a practice in from the midst of the ten others. While doms, thereby setting the stage for the emer- the clerical culture of the Latin church to be Jerome’s apocalypticism was tepid to say the gence of the Antichrist. Unlike modern his- entirely expunged. Over subsequent genera- least, his exegesis assured that the “world torians, their premodern Christian counter- tions, popular Christian authors that includ- empires” model of history would enjoy great parts had an additional problem of figuring ed Isidore (d. 636) and Bede (d. 735) popularity in Latin clerical culture as a out how to “periodize” the apocalyptic enshrined the Augustinian taboo against model to organize universal history. future and explain developments such as the speculating about the divine patterns of his- In the Eastern Roman Empire, Christian coming of the Antichrist, the malignant tory while, at the same time, preserving the thinkers did not have to directly confront the polar-opposite of the Christian Messiah, and model of the “six world ages” as a crucial fragmentation of imperial power or the his- the parousia, Christ’s own return in Final part of the Latin historical vocabulary.11 torical questions that it raised. Byzantium, as Judgment. By the time of the patristic peri- Empire (imperium) remained another we now call it, endured. In the seventh cen- od, a general consensus had emerged that the important concept. In some of the earliest tury, however, the Byzantine world suffered consummation of history would involve a Christian apocalyptic writings, there was a its own trauma when Muslims armies from climactic struggle between the forces of tendency to associate Rome with Babylon, a the Arabian peninsula rapidly seized vast good and evil, the latter led by the source of persecution against the faithful. portions of its empire in Egypt and the Near Antichrist, followed by the triumph of the This connection was made particularly clear East. This development occasioned a similar faithful, the demise of the Antichrist, and the by an early association of the Emperor Nero reaction among Eastern Christians as the Second Coming. From the days of the earli- (d. 68 CE) with the Antichrist, or one of his barbarian invasions had in the Western est Christian communities, however, there predecessors in evil.12 After the conversion church, namely a sense that the tumultuous was also debate about the precise nature of of Constantine, the Christian Roman Empire events of the present indicated the precipi- the “Last Things.” When would they arrive? was well suited to take on a new role as the tous rush of history towards its inevitable How would they be recognized? Would the patron and protector of the Church. As we conclusion. For some commentators, such as time of the Antichrist be immediately fol- saw above, Eusebius of Caesarea assigned it the famous Pseudo-Methodius, the Muslim lowed by Christ’s return or would there be a this role with great enthusiasm, styling conquests were a punishment by God period of “refreshment” for the faithful, per- Constantine as a “new Moses” and law-giver against his sinful people, but faithful haps even a “millennial” kingdom of peace for the Church, as was evident in the emper- Christians could also look forward to the on earth while Satan was bound in chains or’s calling of the first ecumenical council at coming of a messiah-like “Last World (Rev. 20:2)? Debate swirled around these Nicaea in 325 CE. Several generations later, Emperor,” whose “indignation and fury” questions. Some mainstream thinkers cele- Prosper of Aquitaine (d. 465), a former stu- would “blaze forth against those who deny brated the idea of a future earthly kingdom dent of Augustine, could still openly cele- the Lord Jesus Christ.”15 This final king of of peace and prosperity to counter the belief brate the role of the Roman Empire in the the Greeks (i.e., Byzantine ruler) would cast of “Gnostic heretics” that the material world spreading of Christianity throughout the out the nonbelievers, restore Christianity, was inherently corrupt and evil. Others saw world, while acknowledging (as we will see, and usher in an era of peace before the final the promise of a millennial Sabbath on earth like his former master) that there were apocalyptic battle, followed by the end of as a lingering form of Jewish “carnality.” numerous peoples awaiting the Gospels time. Still others, taking their cue from Christ’s beyond the boundaries of the Roman Despite the disintegration of imperial admonishments that only God knew the world.13 power in the western half of the Roman exact time of the end (Mk. 13:32), refused to According to some thinkers, the for- world during the fifth and sixth centuries, speculate about the nature of the Last tunes of empire provided another key to dis- the notion of empire continued to be viewed Things.18 cerning the progress of history. Like as a determining force in the unfolding his- Augustine of Hippo was particularly at Augustine, Jerome (d. 420) was another tory of salvation. Part of its persistent appli- pains to defuse Christian forms of apocalyp- patristic theologian and exegete who cation involved the argument that the “trans- tic eschatology, that is, speculation about the attempted to pull the fangs of historical feral of empire” (translatio imperii) from course of historical events leading up to the speculation, but he also preserved a basic people to people was an ongoing process, approaching end of time.19 In his mature works, he vehemently denied the theory of a were his descriptions of the final Antichrist. modern scholars have labeled the “reform millennial kingdom on earth. Satan’s bind- It seems clear that Gregory’s pessimism and movement” within the Roman church, ing, he asserted, had begun with the triumph sense of impending doom spurred his inter- which was transformed by a far-reaching of Christ and the number of a “thousand ests in missionary work in far-off places effort to “liberate” ecclesiastical institutions years” in the Book of Revelation a symbolic such as the kingdom of Kent in England: from secular interference. Although the ide- figure that referred to the age of the present The end was near and the need to harvest ology of the reform papacy was not explicit- Church, not a future development. After the souls pressing.22 ly set in apocalyptic terms, papal efforts to sixth age of history, there would arrive the Needless to say, the world did not end, reshape the “medieval world order” were ahistorical Sabbath, the “seventh age” of but Christian authors continued to find inspi- implicitly eschatological.28 Finally, at the eternal rest. Although he did not deny the ration in the Book of Revelation and other close of the eleventh century, the capture of historical appearance of Antichrist at the end apocalyptic writings for their speculations Jerusalem from its Muslim rulers by the of time, Augustine did not infuse his apoca- about the course of history. One popular First Crusade on 15 July 1099, marked lyptic scenarios with much in the way of scheme, featured prominently in the exege- another point of transformation in the histor- color or immediacy. In fact, he used the sis of Bede, developed around the opening ical sensibilities of Western Christians. promise of Christianity’s universal spread as of the seven seals of the Apocalypse (Rev. 6- Although there is considerable debate about one way to limit apocalyptic expectation. 8): the first seal and the “white horse” the importance of eschatological expecta- Biblical passages made it clear that the marked the age of the Primitive Church, the tions in fueling the origins and course of the Christian faith would be spread among all second seal and the “red horse” marked the crusade, there is little doubt that its dramatic peoples before the end of time, a process that age of the Church of the Martyrs and its outcome contributed to a new sense among had begun with the apostles and was being bloody persecution by pagans, the third seal the followers of the Roman Church that they carried out under the aegis of the Roman and the “black horse” marked the age of the were carrying out God’s will on the world Empire. This extension of the Church, Constantine Church and its struggle with the stage in a way not seen since the Bible.29 The Augustine observed, was far from complete. internal threat of heresy, and the fourth seal following century would prove to be an even There remained numerous peoples outside and “pale horse” marked the age of the con- more creative period in the Latin theology of the borders of the Roman world, some not temporary Church and the problem posed by history, due in large part to apocalyptic far from his own home in northern Africa, lax or hypocritical Christians. The remaining thinker Joachim of Fiore (d. 1202), who who had yet to hear the news of Christ, seals indicated the future trials under the openly broke with Augustine and attempted strongly suggesting that the end of the world Antichrist and the triumph of the saints. This to chart out the course of post-biblical histo- could not be near at hand.20 In the basic premise of using the “seven seals” as ry in remarkable detail.30 Augustinian geography of salvation, the des- another scheme for periodizing history had a All of these subsequent transformations, tiny of the true Church was not limited to the long life ahead of it.23 however, built in one way or another on the fortunes of the Roman Empire or, for that A persistent fascination with apocalyp- basic models of history developed during the matter, any earthly institution. Considering tic thought was on display in Adso of preceding centuries of postclassical the fraying fabric of imperial power in the Montier-en-Der’s tenth-century (ca. 950 CE) Christianity. Jerry Bentley has declared that fifth century, this was a timely position to commentary on the Antichrist.24 Judging by periodization “depends on prior decisions take, as Augustine himself was well aware. the manuscript evidence, Adso’s commen- about the issues and processes that are the Without exaggerating the disruption by tary was immensely popular. It has been most important for the shaping of human the barbarian takeover of political authority called, in effect, a piece of reverse-hagiogra- societies, and it requires the establishment of in the western parts of the empire, the disin- phy, taking the well-known tropes and criteria or principles that enable historians to tegration of imperial power in places like the rhythms of a saint’s life and inverting to sort through masses of information and rec- Italian peninsula could not help but strike form the vita of the Antichrist, who will be ognize patterns of continuity and change.”31 observers like Pope Gregory I (d. 604) as a “contrary to Christ in all things.” As part of The premodern historians of the sacred sign that things were winding down in terms his eschatological narrative, Adso predicted examined above made their own set of of the course of history. As the Bishop of that a final “Roman” emperor would arise “prior decisions” and established their own Rome declared in his well known letter (601 from among the Franks, who then rightfully “criteria or principles” for determining the CE) to Ethelbert, King of the Angels: held the power of empire.25Echoing Pseudo- course of history on a universal scale. Those the End of the present world is already Methodius (although it is not clear whether decisions and principles tell us a great deal near and the unending kingdom of the Adso had direct knowledge of that text), the about their view of the world. Taking their Saints is approaching. As this same End Frankish churchman envisioned a prominent lead from the Bible, Latin theologians and of the world is drawing nigh, many role for this Last World Emperor, who would exegetes from the third to the eleventh cen- unusual things will happen—climatic defeat the enemies of the Christian faith and turies crafted a number of overlapping and changes, terrors from heaven, unseason- recover the holy places from the infidels sometimes contradictory blueprints for mak- able tempests, wars, famines, pesti- who possessed them. Ultimately, this “last ing sense out of history, including its pro- lences, earthquakes. All these things are and greatest of all rulers” would journey to gression from the Old to the New not to come in our own days, but will the Mount of Olives and surrender his Dispensations, its organization into distinct follow upon our times.21 scepter and crown, thereby bringing “the end epochs, and its future culmination. The the- Not a cheerful scenario. Gregory did not and the consummation of the Roman and ology of history provided Latin Christians abandon the Augustinian caution against Christian Empire.” with a lens through which they could view predicting concrete events or setting an Adso’s commentary on the Antichrist the historical destiny of their own Christian exact date for the end of the world. He also also brings an end and consummation to this community, as well as the roles of non- subscribed to a “corporate” interpretation of brief essay. The Frankish abbot was writing Christian groups, including Jews, Muslims, the Antichrist as an aggregate of internalized on the verge of a new era in the Latin theol- and pagans. sin among those who strayed from God, ogy of history.26 First, there was a cluster of In the High and Late Middle Ages, including heretics and false Christians, a eschatological expectations and anxieties stretching from the eleventh to the fifteenth view of the Antichrist that had developed that developed before, during, and after the centuries, repeated crusading expeditions right alongside the notion of the Antichrist year 1000, which, in appraisal of recent and far-ranging missions to places such as as an historical figure whose reign of terror scholarship, did not cause an outbreak of the Mongol Empire would bring Christian would precede the Second Coming. irrational millennial terror, but did infuse Europe into closer contact than ever before Nevertheless, the Pope’s anticipation of new creativity into Latin apocalyptic think- with the wider world. Among their options apocalyptic tribulations was far more imme- ing.27 Second, starting around the middle of for making sense out of this process of diate and dramatic than that of Augustine, as the eleventh century, there developed what expansion were schemes of history and apocalyptic expectations that traced their Judaism,” in Christianity in Relation to Jews, Greeks and 1998), pp. 1-36. intellectual genealogy to the authors and Romans, ed. Everett Ferguson (New York, 1999), pp. 37-62, 19 On Augustine’s anti-apocalyptic eschatology, see Paula sources discussed in this essay. In time, along with Paula Fredriksen, “Secundum Carnem: History and Fredriksen, “Apocalypse and Redemption in Early Israel in the Theology of St Augustine,” in The Limits of Ancient Christianity,” Vigilae Christianae 45 (1991): 151-183, Paula these theories of history would be applied to Christianity: Essays on Late Antique Thought and Culture in Frederiksen, “Tyconius and Augustine on the Apocalypse,” in lands that the earlier Christian intellectuals Honor of R. A. Markus, ed. William Klingshirn and Mark The Apocalypse in the Middle Ages, ed. Richard Emmerson and could have never even imagined. To take Vessey (Ann Arbor, 1999), pp. 26-41. Bernard McGinn (Ithaca, 1992), pp. 20-37, and Richard one notable example, Christopher Columbus 6 For a overview of these developments in patristic and Landes, “The Fear of an Apocalyptic Year 1000: Augustinian spent time, with the help of a Franciscan medieval Christian attitudes toward the Jews, see Jeremy Historiography, Medieval and Modern,” Speculum 75 (2000): friar, between his third and fourth voyages to Cohen, Living Letters of the Law: Ideas of the Jew in Medieval 97-145. the Americas, assembling The Book of Christianity (Berkeley, 1996). 20 See Augustine’s letter to Hesychius, bishop of Salona (ca. 7 On Augustine’s theology of history, see Auguste Luneau, 418), Ep. 199, ed. Alois Goldbacher, Corpus scriptorium eccle- Prophecies, which complied biblical, patris- Histoire du salut chez les pères de l’église: la doctrine des âges siasticorum latinorum 57/4 (1911; London, 1961), pp. 285-89. tic, and medieval authorities that supported du monde, Théologie historique 2 (Paris, 1964), and Robert This letter and its implications are discussed by Jacques Columbus’ own view of his activities as an Markus, Saeculum: History and Society in the Theology of St Chocheyras, “Fin des terres et fin des temps d’Hésychius (Ve Augustine (1970; Cambridge, 1989). explorer. As the dedicatory letter of the book siècle) à Béatus (VIIIe siècle),” in Use and Abuse of 8 declared: Typically the earliest chroniclers dated the birth to the year Eschatology, ed. Verbeke et al., pp. 72-81. 5500 AM (annus mundi), although as the year 500CE This is the beginning of the book or col- 21 Translation from McGinn, Visions of the End, p. 64. approached (which would be the end of the world by this reck- lection of auctoritates, sayings, opin- 22 oning) this practice fell out of favor. See the observations of Bernard McGinn, “The End of the World and the ions, and prophecies concerning the Martin Haeusler, Das Ende der Geschichte in der mittelalter- Beginning of Christendom,” in Apocalypse Theory and the need to recover the holy city and Mount lichen Weltchronistik, Beihefte zum Archiv für Ends of the World, ed. M. Bull (Oxford, 1995), pp. 58-89, has Zion, and the discovery and conversion Kulturgeschichte 13 (Cologne, 1980), pp. 6-32, Richard suggested that broad sentiments about the approaching end of of the islands of the Indies and of all the Landes, “Lest the Millennium Be Fulfilled: Apocalyptic the world, expressed not just by Gregory but shared by other Expectations and the Pattern of Western Chronography 100- contemporaries in the Western church, were a crucial ingredient peoples and nations, for Ferdinand and in the formation of Christian Europe during the early Middle 32 800,” in The Use and Abuse of Eschatology in the Middle Ages, Isabella, our Spanish rulers. ed. Werner Verbeke, Daniel Verhelst and Andries Welkenhuysen Ages. Among the “authorities” that Columbus and (Leuven, 1988), pp. 137-211, and Michael Allen, “Universal 23 On the seven-seals model, see Wilhelm Kamlah, his Franciscan helper cited were Augustine History 300-1000: Origins and Western Developments,” in Apokalypse und Geschichtstheologie: die Mittelalterliche and Pseudo-Methodius, as well as later Historiography in the Middle Ages, ed. Deborah Mauskopf Auslegung der Apokalypse vor Joachim von Fiore (1935; medieval thinkers not examined here, such Deliyannis, Orbis mediaevalis 1 (Leiden, 2003), pp. 17-42. Vaduz, 1965). as Joachim of Fiore. In this regard, if for no 9 On the seven ages of history, see Augustine, De Genesi 24 Adso of Montier-en-Der, De ortu et tempore antichristi, other reason, the development of the Latin contra Manichaeos, ed. Dorothy Weber, Corpus scriptorium Daniel Verhelst, Corpus christianorum continuatio mediaevalis ecclesiasticorum latinorum 91 (Vienna, 1998), pp. 104-10. This 45 (Turnholt, 1976). See also the commentary of Richard theology of history in the Middle Ages is a scheme is surveyed by Roderich Schmidt, “Aetates mundi: Die Emmerson, “Antichrist as Anti-Saint: The Significance of subject that requires close attention from Weltalter als Gliederungsprinzip der Geschichte,” Zeitschrift Abbot Adso’s Libellus de Antichristo,” American Benedictine scholars of World History. If nothing else, für Kirchengeschichte 67 (1955-56): 287-317. Review 30 (1979): 175-90. Another possible source for Adso exploring these premodern efforts at peri- 10 See Allen, “Universal History,” pp. 20-23. was the so-called Tiburtine Sybille, a text first redacted around the fourth century and translated into Latin around the mid- odizing world history can remind world his- 11 See Haeusler, Das Ende der Geschichte, pp. 24-32. eleventh century at the latest. Under the guise of recording the 12 torians about just how arbitrary such For a survey of developing notions of the Antichrist in the predictions of a pre-Christian oracle, the text prophecies the schemes are, and about the caution needed early Christian tradition, see Kevin Hughes, Constructing coming of Christ, the tribulations of the Roman Empire, and the before they assign frameworks of their own Antichrist: Paul, Biblical Commentary, and the Development of arrival of a final “emperor of the Greeks and Romans” (named making to the diverse peoples of the world. Doctrine in the Early Middle Ages (Washington, 2005). Constans) who would destroy pagans, convert the Jews, and 13 Propser of Aquitaine, De vocatione omnium gentium, in spread Christianity before the final persecutions under the ENDNOTES the Patrologia Latina, ed. J. P. Migne, vol 51 (Paris, 1841- Antichrist. The text is edited in Sibyllinische Texte und 1864), cols. 647-722, especially cols. 703-06. Forschungen, ed. Sackur, pp. 177-87 . See also the comments of 1 William A. Green, “Periodizing World History,” History 14 Bernard McGinn, “Teste David cum Sibylla: the Significance of and Theory 34 (1995): 99-111 (cited here, p. 99). For a further Jerome, Commentariorum in Danielem libri III, ed. the Sybilline Tradition in the Middle Ages,” in Women of the discussion of this problem, see also Jerry Bentley, “Cross- Francis Glorie, Corpus christianorum series Latina vol. 75A Medieval World, ed. Julius Kirschner and Suzanne Wemple Cultural Interactions and Periodization in World History,” The (Turnholt, 1964), pp. 793-95. (Oxford, 1985), pp. 7-35. American Historical Review 101 (1996): 749-70, and response 15 A Latin edition of Pseudo-Methodius is available in Ernst 25 of Patrick Manning, “The Problem of Interactions in World Sackur, Sibyllinische Texte und Forschungen: The initial recipient of his tract, Gerberga, was married to History,” The American Historical Review 101 (1996): 771-82. Pseudomethodius, Adso und Tiburtinische Sibylle (1898; Turin, the Western Frankish king, Louis IV, and sister to the Saxon king, Otto I, who would be crowed Roman emperor just over a 2 See John Van Engen, “Faith as a Concept of Order,” in 1963), pp. 59-96. For some observations about both traditions, decade later. Belief in History: Innovative Approaches to European and see G. J. Reinink, “Pseudo-Methodius und die Legende vom 26 American Religion, ed. Thomas Kselman (Notre Dame, 1991), Römischen Endkaiser,” in Use and Abuse of Eschatology, ed. I am currently working on a book, Christendom as World pp. 19-67. Van Engen, ibid., p. 20, observes that christianitas Verbeke et al., pp. 82-111. Order: History, Prophecy, and the Rise of the Medieval West, came to have three distinct but related meanings, referring to 1) 16 On the concept of translatio imperii, see Werner Goez, that explores the importance of historical thinking and apoca- the “simple quality of being a Christian or professing the Translatio Imperii: ein Betrag zur Geschichte des lyptic thought for the medieval expansion of Europe ca. 1050- Christian faith,” 2) the “rites and rituals, especially sacramental Geschichtsdenkens und der politischen Theorien im Mittelalter 1350. ministrations, which set most Europeans apart religiously” from und in der frühen Neuzeit (Tübingen, 1958). 27 In addition to Landes, “The Fear of an Apocalyptic Year other peoples, and 3) the “whole society of Latin Christians and 17 Das Constitutum Constantini (Konstantinische 1000,” see Johannes Fried, “Endzeiterwartung um die the lands they occupied.” It is this final meaning of the concept Schenkung) Text, ed. Horst Furhmann MGH Fontes (in us. Jahrtausendwende,” Deutsches Archiv für Erforschung des that concerns us here. schol.) 10 (Hannover, 1968). In the ninth century, the Mittelalters 45 (1989): 381-473. 3 Historians of medieval Europe commonly draw a connec- Constitutum Constantini was widely circulated as part of the 28 See Bernard McGinn, “Apocalypticism and Church tion between the developing notion of Christendom in the pseudo-Isidorean decretals, Decretales Pseudo-Isidorianae et Reform: 1100-1500,” in The Encyclopedia of Apocalypticism: Middle Ages and the emergence of modern Europe. Among capitula Angilramni, ed. Paul Hinschius (1863; Leipzig, 1963), Apocalypticism in Western History and Culture, ed. Bernard many works, see Christopher Dawson, The Making of Europe: pp. 249-54. McGinn (New York, 1998), pp. 74-109. An Introduction to the History of European Unity (1932; New 18 Scholars widely distinguish between general forms of 29 On the First Crusade and the historical consciousness of York, 1952), pp. 188-282, and Denys Hay, Europe: The eschatology (including any set of beliefs about the end of time, Latin Europe, see Paul Rousset, Les origines et les caractères Emergence of An Idea (Edinburgh, 1957), pp. 16-36. See also including the fate of the individual soul) and apocalyptic escha- de la première croisade (Neuchâtel, 1945), and James Powell, the introduction to The Medieval World, ed. Paul Linehan and tology (the belief that the end of history is imminent and will “Myth, Legend, Propaganda, and History: The First Crusade, Janet Nelson (London, 2001), pp. 7-13, Anthony Pagden, involve a series of crises, followed by the ultimate defeat of evil 1140-ca. 1300,” in Autour de la première croisade, ed. Michel “Europe: Conceptualizing a Continent,” in The Idea of Europe, and the triumph of the elect). Millennarianism is a form of Balard (Paris, 1996), pp. 127-141. On the question of the cru- ed. Anthony Pagden (Cambridge, U.K., 2002), pp. 33-54, and apocalyptic eschatology that anticipated a miraculous “thou- sade’s eschatological ramifications, see Paul Alphandéry, La William C. Jordan, “Europe in the Middle Ages,” in The Idea of sand-year” reign of Christ on earth (Rev. 20:2), which would chrétienté et l’idée de croisade, ed. Alfons Dupront, 2 vols. Europe, ed. Pagden, pp. 72-90. completely transform terrestrial institutions and bring collective (Paris, 1954-59), especially pp. 43-135, André Vauchez, “Les 4 On the principles of Christian exegesis, see Henri de salvation. Prophecy is a more generic term, referring to any sort composantes eschatologiques de l’idée de croisade,” in Le con- Lubac, Exégèse médiévale, 2 vols. (Paris, 1961). of divine revelation about the future, although commonly cile de Clermont de 1095 et l’appel à la croisade (Rome, 1997), 5 On the development of the Augustinian theology of histo- involving a reinterpretation of the past and present. See the pp. 233-43, and Jay Rubenstein, “How, or How Much, to ry and his position toward Judaism, see Paula Fredriksen, introduction to Bernard McGinn, Visions of the End: Reevaluate Peter the Hermit,” in The Medieval Crusade, ed. “Excaecati Occulta Justitia Dei: Augustine on Jews and Apocalyptic Traditions in the Middle Ages (1979; New York, Susan Ridyard (Woodbridge, U.K., 2004), pp. 53-69. 30 Important studies on the abbot in modern scholarship reconfiguration of South Asian history that During the sixteenth century, the Nuqtavi include Marjorie Reeves, The Influence of Prophecy in the millennial movements as a widespread flourished and expanded to Persian Iraq, Later Middle Ages (1969; repr. Notre Dame, 1993), and Bernard early-modern occurrence are not readily where it became an urban religious millenni- McGinn, The Calabrian Abbot: Joachim of Fiore in the History .1 of Western Thought (New York, 1985). See also the recent biog- studied al movement with support from literate 6 raphy of the abbot by Gian L. Potestà, Il tempo dell’apocalisse: Both of these approaches, however, do craftsmen, artists, and poets. Politically, the vita di Gioacchino da Fiore (Rome, 2004). not acknowledge these movements in a Nuqtavi started to move against the Shah, 31 Bentley, “Cross-Cultural Interaction,” p. 749. global structure, although they occurred and in the late-sixteenth century, began to 32 The Book of Prophecies Edited by Christopher concurrently throughout the world, nor do claim that a Nuqtavi member should replace Columbus, trans. Blair Sullivan, ed. Robert Rusconi, vol. 3, they focus on the non-elite individuals with- the Shah, who had lost his legitimacy. In Repertorium Columbianum (Berkeley, 1997), p. 59. in the movements, who make up the majori- order to appease the Nuqtavi, Shah Abbas ty of the participants. Therefore, this study tried to make himself a disciple; however, uses the evidentiary foundation of these this did not reduce the political threat. works and incorporates elements of these Meanwhile, a Safavid court astrologer pred- two approaches in order to examine the fea- icated that the conjunction of Saturn and tures of the early-modern world that con- Jupiter would lead to the death of the ruling nected these movements together. This study sovereign. Therefore, Shah Abbas placed a will also explore the neglected aspects of the Nuqtavi follower on his throne for these four The Rebirth of Hope in a Time of movements in order to tell a more compli- days and then after the astrological phenom- Upheaval: An Analysis of Early- cated and fluid history of early-modern enon ended, he killed the Nuqtavi follower Abrahamic millennial movements. to fulfil the prophecy and began a ruthless Modern Millennial Movements The current framework used to view persecution of the Nuqtavi.7 Across the Abrahamic Tradition millennial movements is problematic While the Nuqtavi are often treated as a because these movements are often narrow- unified whole and the leaders tend to be the ly labeled as heretical. This, however, is focus of most writings on the Nuqtavi, read- based in the discourses of power as millen- ing the sources against the grain shows that Brandon Marriott nial movements are categorized as heretical people from diverse classes and ethnic back- Simon Fraser University due to their position vis-à-vis the dominant grounds subscribed to the Nuqtavi doctrine religious orthodoxy. This binary is unneces- at varying levels. Moreover, the move- Introduction - Despite their extraordinary sary, and these movements need to be under- ment’s “social and ethnic hierarchies were nature, millennial movements have occurred stood as simply part of the wide variety of blurred.”8 Although contemporaries criti- in diverse religious traditions throughout the early-modern religious experience.2 cized Nuqtavi leaders, such as Darwish many historical periods. In the early-modern Some historians, such as Abbas Khusraw, for “luring to his convent the ‘low- period, millennial movements emerged Amanat, believe that millennial movements minded commoners’ and the ‘penniless vil- within the Abrahamic framework: the are specifically associated with the “Other,” lains among Turkmen and Persians’,”9 Islamic Nuqtavi movement in Safavid Iran, because, while the beliefs of mainstream Nuqtavi popularity was predominant in the Christian Fifth Monarchy movement in groups, such as the Methodists, could be urban guilds and among dervishes, poets, Britain and America, and the Judaic labelled “millennial,” this term is usually artists, calligraphers and storytellers, and Sabbatian movement in the Ottoman reserved for subaltern or marginalized mem- many literate men were engrossed in the Empire. This study seeks to explain the near bers of society that form these movements Nuqtavi doctrine.10 These followers and simultaneous rise of Abrahamic millennial seeking some measure of reform.3 While this sympathizers were of diverse backgrounds movements by arguing that the socioeco- study explores the subaltern aspects of these and included individuals such as the Persian nomic structure of the early-modern world movements, it is necessary to acknowledge poet of Jewish origin Sarmad Kashani and created an environment that was conducive that individuals from all social classes join Hafiz from Shiraz.11 to their parallel growth. While these features millennial movements and they are not just While the Nuqtavi were able to “amass created a similar base for the rise of these comprised of marginalized members of soci- popular support in the Iranian heartland,” movements, each movement was distinct ety. For instance, Abraham Pereira, a they considered themselves “carefree” and due to the specific historical situation and European millionaire, was a member of the were loosely organized.12 They did not sub- religious tradition that the individuals in Sabbatian movement who gave his entire scribe to the teachings of any single spiritu- each movement appropriated to create and fortune to the messiah.4 Finally, although our al leader, as they “rejected systematic and further their millennial beliefs. social and intellectual present may consider homogenous spirituality,” instead embracing millennial movements as irrational, it is a variety of meanings and experiences.13 Historiography and Framework -- important Thus, while Historians studying early-modern millennial to Nuqtavi is often movements have generally undertaken one acknowl- Thus, increased communications in the early-modern period used as a singu- of two strategies. First, the majority of his- edge that facilitated the spread of Abrahamic millennial movements lar term, it torians, such as Gershom Scholem, John in the across political borders, cultural zones, and religious ideologies. describes a Phelan, Bernard Capp, and Kathryn early-mod- wide variety of Babayan, have approached these movements ern world, individuals by conducting in-depth, non-comparative the acceptance of supernatural intervention from diverse backgrounds with many differ- studies on them. While these studies are in human affairs was “almost universal” ent beliefs. detailed and have a well-grounded founda- among both the educated and uneducated. tion, they do not acknowledge the rise of This would explain the preoccupation shared The Fifth Monarchy Movement - The other similar movements in the wider histor- by early-modern societies with supernatural Fifth Monarchy movement emerged in ical landscape. beliefs, such as witchcraft, during this peri- England during the early 1650s as a “politi- The other strategy explores millennial od.5 cal and religious sect” that anticipated the movements in the broader framework; how- return of the Kingdom of Christ. The begin- ever, these works, by historians such as The Islamic Nuqtavi Movement - The nings of the movement can be traced back to Sanjay Subrahmanyam, are relatively sparse Islamic Nuqtavi doctrine was devised by the execution of Charles I, which set the and usually only focus on a specific location, Mahmud Pasikhani in the fifteenth century Fifth Monarchist plan in motion since they such as the Mediterranean. Nonetheless, as a derivative of Hurufism, which emerged viewed the King’s execution as the symbol- Subrahmanyam has acknowledged in his from the “Shiite-tinged” Sufi tradition. ic removal of the leader to make way for the kingship of Jesus.14 While the Fifth goals. Despite these tensions, they did agree on the movement illustrate the primacy Monarchy movement denounced on their fundamental platform as they all given to its leader, including Gershom Cromwell’s regime, their plan to circulate a believed in the nearness of the millennium.23 Scholem’s Sabbatai Sevi: The Mystical petition amongst the army and Parliament in George Shepperson states that British Messiah and John Freely’s The Lost hopes of removing the government failed, millennialism is potentially rich for compar- Messiah: In Search of the Mystical Rabbi and their actions led to the arrest of some of ative study because of the interaction with Sabbatai Sevi. As such, it is necessary to the Movement’s leaders.15 The Movement American millennial movements, as individ- move beyond a focus on the elite members gained thousands of followers; however, the uals build a movement on both sides of the of the movement and examine the individu- Restoration led to persecution from both Atlantic using similar sources.24 As such, als that are so often simply labelled the “fol- Charles II and James II.16 These persecutions this study seeks to take Shepperson’s lowers” or “masses.” created a dichotomy amongst the Fifth approach a step further by employing Although some sources state that Monarchists, as some became submissive Subrahmanyam’s “connected histories” Sabbatai Sevi’s followers comprised “the and took a quietist approach, while others, approach,25 and discuss not only this transat- poorest Jews in the city, including ‘fisher- such as Thomas Venner, continued to be lantic connection, but also other potential men, venders of eggs and poultry, oarsmen active and were put on trial and executed.17 connections among millennial movements in the port, and servants, and more of this The traditional historiography states the end throughout the world. For example, Thomas sort of noblemen, even the richest of whom of the Fifth Monarchy movement came Venner, one of the more radical members of had nothing to lose,’” other sources state that about with the failed rebellion by the Duke the Fifth Monarchy movement, was both a distinguished rabbis and prominent laymen of Monmouth in 1685.18 preacher in Britain and America in the sev- also became followers. For instance, a num- Exploring the non-elite Fifth enteenth century, and while millennialism in ber of rabbis became followers and eventual Monarchists, it appears that their millennial America may have been more “low-key” leaders of the Sabbatian movement, includ- ideas were appropriated and reshaped by than in Britain, numerous people in both ing Samuel Primo, Judah Sharaf, and David individuals as such ideas transcended class countries were fervently waiting for the Yishaki.30 Many followers of the Sabbatian barriers. For instance, Rhys Evans, a tailor Fifth Monarchy.26 movement were “normally described as and member of a Fifth Monarchist congrega- clever, rational and having common sense,” tion, appropriated millennial ideas and The Sabbatian Movement - The tra- and some of these individuals even contin- claimed that he was Christ. Moreover, while ditional historiography holds that the ued to visit him after his apostasy.31 some prominent women, such as Anna Sabbatian movement started in 1648 when While Scholem states that the Sabbatian Trapnel and Mary Cary, played important Sabbatai Sevi had his first messianic vision; movement was structured with the elites roles in this movement as Fifth Monarchy however, it did not emerge as a mass move- among the believers drawing support from prophetesses, others simply harnessed mil- ment until 1666. Sabbatai Sevi, the leader of ordinary people, even the prophets who dis- lennial sentiments by claiming that they the movement, travelled throughout the seminated information were not all men of were carrying the Messiah.19 Ottoman Empire gaining a following among stature, as Sabbatai Raphael, one of the lead- Unlike other millennial movements, the the Jews as he committed his “strange acts” ers of the movement, was known as a char- Fifth Monarchy movement was never an in which he would transgress the traditional latan.32 Thus, the common people were not egalitarian movement. It was an elitist Jewish law. Sabbatai Sevi was accompanied merely followers; they also played essential movement found primarily in urban centers, by his prophet Nathan, who, in a role of sec- roles in the movement, which consisted of a where higher literacy rates gave people the ondary leadership, played a vital part in the great diversity of people including individu- opportunity to read about these ideas in movement by creating, propagating, and als from all age and gender groups, includ- pamphlets.20 The elite members of the Fifth recording the doctrine of the Sabbatian ing boys, young and old men, virgins and Monarchy movement comprised individuals movement.27 As the Sabbatian movement pregnant women.33 According to Scholem, from such occupations as ministers, sheriffs, grew, the Ottoman authorities noticed it and “the movement knew no class distinc- members of the Council of the State, justices brought Sabbatai Sevi before the Sultan, tions.”34 of the peace, and army officers; however, the whereby he was forced to apostatize to Islam While the Sabbatian movement was movement did attract followers from all under threat of death. Although the messiah diverse both geographically and in terms of social classes, including laborers, servants, apostatized, the prophet Nathan carried on its followers, its beliefs also varied, as there and journeymen. By the 1650s, it appears his message, reformulating the doctrine to was no uniformity in the reaction of different that millenarianism in England was wide- accommodate the apostasy. While the wide- rabbis to the messianic reports since each spread, as evidenced by the case of the five- spread support for the movement faded, the explained and interpreted them in the man- year-old daughter of Ralph Josselin, who Sabbatian movement still exists today in the ner that suited him best.35 Finally, while the told her father that Jesus came to her in a Turkish Donme.28 Sabbatian movement is often viewed simply dream and said, “he should come and rayne Although the traditional perspective as heresy, it was not merely a separatist sect upon the earth 10000 years.”21 acknowledges the followers of the Sabbatian and thus, should not be labelled as such.36 Some historians, such as Michael Adas, movement, the primary focus is on the life have recognized the role of secondary lead- and actions of Sabbatai Sevi. For instance, Influence of Religious History - The spe- ership in millennial movements, as these while the spotlight is often on the strange cific history, social circumstances and intel- movements do not just contain a leader with acts of Sabbatai Sevi, he was not alone in lectual situation of each community played a hordes of followers. Instead, there are usu- committing odd ritualistic acts, as both the significant part in constructing each move- ally secondary leaders that play a crucial prophet Nathan and over a hundred follow- ment. For instance, the 1648 Jewish mas- role in the propagation and continuation of ers performed devotions by rolling stark sacre in Poland was a crucial disaster that these movements.22 In the case of the Fifth naked in the snow.29 While Sabbatai Sevi contributed to the rise of support for the Monarchy movement, secondary leadership played an essential role in the movement, it Sabbatian movement. Similarly, the Islamic was found in the Puritan preachers that were would not have gained such notoriety, and lunar calendar approaching and ending its instrumental in spreading millennial beliefs attention from academics, if it were not for first millennia (1591-1592 C.E.) led to a among their congregations. the great amount of people that followed degree of “chiliastic expectation” which was Like the Nuqtavi, the Fifth Monarchy him. The followers’ voices, however, are harnessed by individuals to create support movement was “loosely coordinated” and often overshadowed by the predominant for the Islamic Nuqtavi movement. did not contain a “common programme.” focus on the charismatic leader as the move- To avoid reducing millennial move- The movement was also not a unified whole ment is named after him and is given a start- ments down to mere socio-political factors, as members were divided over many issues, ing date based on his first messianic vision. it is necessary to also recognize the impact such as the usage of violence to fulfill their Even the titles of the academic texts written of religion on these movements as they were not simply manifestations of socio-political sixteenth-century.45 Portuguese explorer Therefore, the changes brought about by the causes, but also heavily indebted to their Afonso de Alburquerque claimed to see a Age of Discovery led to people reinterpret- religious tradition. For example, the origins “sign in the sky…a great and very bright ing history in an apocalyptic fashion, and of seventeenth-century Christian millennial- cross” and interpreted this “celestial sign” as thus encouraged the rise of millennial move- ism are found primarily in the tensions gen- a message to ally with Ethiopia’s Prester ments. The Age of Discovery was interpret- erated by the Reformation.37 These factors, John and destroy Medina and Mecca, in ed in an apocalyptic fashion because explor- however, only promoted support for each order to affirm the Portuguese destiny of cre- ers and missionaries viewed colonizing as a specific millennial movement, whereas a ating a Universal empire.46 Astrology was so fulfillment of apocalyptic prophecies.54 global perspective brings to light the impor- extensive in early-modern Europe that Although this facilitated the easier reception tant connections between these movements. someone noted in 1561 that people would for millennial movements, it affected rarely journey without consulting an European Christian movements the most The Impact and Interconnectedness of the astrologer.47 because they were forced to directly interact Early-Modern World - The underlying The Islamic Nuqtavi also connected with the realities of the discovery and colo- socio-economic features of the early-modern human history to astronomy: The Arab nization. world aided in creating an environment con- dynasty would end with the first Islamic mil- While the social consequences of the ducive to the simultaneous rise of the lennium as Saturn and Jupiter took their sig- discovery of the Americas, such as inflation, Abrahamic-based millennial movements. nificant positions, and Persian autonomy became a large concern in the sixteenth cen- The importance of these features lies in their would re-emerge.48 Thus, the astrology of tury, this discovery only started to impact interconnectedness. As Norman Cohn argues the early-modern world, coupled with these Christian thinkers in the seventeenth centu- in his sociological inquiry into the rise of movements’ shared history and perspective, ry.55 Since some writers argue that discovery medieval millennial movements, the combi- led to similar astrological interpretations led to the “unsettling of the mind,”56 and nation of certain circumstances creates an which aid in explaining these movements’ since discovery only affected Christian environment that favours their growth.38 parallel structures and analogous rise. thinkers in the seventeenth century, it seems Similarly, the emergence of a multiplicity of Even the terms that scholars use to refer plausible that this could have also influenced interrelated factors in the early-modern peri- to the different millennial movements the growth of millennial movements because od contributed to the analogous rise of these demonstrate their interconnectedness. For the seventeenth century experienced vast different religious movements. instance, Said Arjomand refers to the growth in Christian millennial movements in The connectedness between the three Nuqtavi as a movement with a “cabalistic Europe, which people often join during different movements is due to their corre- emphasis…[and a] central belief in Gnostic times of immense change.57 sponding basis in the Abrahamic framework, union with God.”49 The terms “cabalistic Cohn argues that millennial movements a factor that is significant in creating their and Gnostic” are usually reserved for the occur due to “catastrophe or the fear of parallel structures. There is a shared history Jewish and Christian traditions, and the catastrophe,” such as famines or plagues.58 and philosophy among these major reli- usage in the Muslim context implies that Discovery initiated exactly such social and gions, which led to the rise of Judaic, either Arjomand is being metaphorical or, environmental crises that encouraged the Christian, and Islamic millennial move- more likely, that there are certain interreli- rise of the early-modern movements. For ments all sharing similar sources, since all gious commonalities. example, the spread of syphilis from the three connected the Book of Daniel or New World to Europe in 1494, and China by Kitab-I Daniyal with other texts, including Discovery and the New World - “The New 1505, led to the undermining of gender rela- the “science of signs, and astrology” in the World equals the end of the world.”50 This tionships, which created havoc for this early-modern world to interpret and promote quotation best demonstrates that the discov- important societal relationship.59 These their millennial visions.39 For instance, ery of the New World facilitated the rise of plagues decimated populations at both ends Jerónimo Mendieta interpreted the reign of millennial movements in the early-modern of Eurasia, which led to the collapse of pop- Charles V to be a “Golden Age” and Philip period. The discoveries, such as Columbus’ ulations. Specifically, a wave of bubonic II’s to be a “Silver Age,” which John Phelan sighting of the Americas in 1492 and the plague in northern India led to millennial argues would have been understood by his probable circumnavigation of the world by apprehensions and a growth in millennial contemporaries as the commonly held belief Malay slave Pangilima Awang in 1521, cre- beliefs.60 that mankind is deteriorating from a Golden ated “truly global sea passages”51 which Similarly, the last chapters of to a Silver to an eventual Iron Age.40 were accompanied by momentous changes Mendieta’s Historia contain an apocalyptic Moreover, Edmund Spenser wrote about the in geographical redefinition, travel, the con- mood partially because the Franciscan mis- discoveries in the New World in terms of the ceptions of space, cartography and the sionary wrote these chapters during a partic- prophecies in the Book of Daniel,41 and the development of new empirical ethnogra- ularly cruel winter in New Spain in which Fifth Monarchy Men (as the name implies) phies.52 This massive chain of events led to there was both an economic and a demo- harnessed the prophecies in the Book of further changes, such as the spread of dis- graphic crisis.61 Indeed, the decimation of Daniel, which they used to justify the cre- ease and increased communications and the Indian population forced the Europeans ation of “one supreme world power.”42 trade, all of which collectively promoted the to deal with an event that they explained and Early-modern millennial movements growth of shared millennial beliefs. justified using end-of-the-world thought.62 were also connected because the individuals The discovery of the New World also Mendieta interpreted this drastic demo- within them interpreted astrology in a simi- assisted the rise of these movements by forc- graphic change by claiming that God was larly apocalyptic fashion.43 One of the cen- ing the re-evaluation of past perspectives. filling heaven with the Indians, a sign of the tral components of the world views of all For instance, European thinkers had to impending end of the world.63 Mendieta three of these religious traditions is that they explain their discovery of people in even interpreted economic depression in connect time and history with the celestial America, whom they interpreted as people apocalyptic fashion,64 demonstrating that the world. For example, Sabbatai Sevi used the with Hebraic origin. By making the Indians changing social climate of the New World symbolism of a fish to explain the prophecy Jewish, the apocalyptic predictions of the led to the spread of apocalyptic thought in that the messiah would emerge under the Bible could be fulfilled through their con- order to explain seemingly unexplainable astrological sign of Pisces.44 Similarly, some version. For example, both José de Acosta events, and encouraging the rise of millenni- early-modern European Christians har- and Flemish theologian Joannes Luminus al movements. nessed this philosophy in their Christian identified the American Indians as the lost eschatology, as reflected in their beliefs that tribe of Israel, a sign of the impending end, Early-Modern Crisis - Increasing structur- the antichrist would arise with certain astro- in which the spread of the Christian message al conflict between urban and nomadic peo- logical positions of Saturn and Jupiter in the would be the last stage in the world.53 ples heightened the social crises prompted by the discovery of the New World. This nent.73 Thus, while this early-modern feature Iranian millennial statements claiming the overarching societal conflict led to clashes may have aided in promoting the social cri- Shah was the saviour and, instead, claimed over both the usage of resources and sis that fueled millennial movements in he was the antichrist.79 lifestyle, such as the powerful impact that some places, it did not do so in others. Individuals also spread texts and publi- the unprecedented rise of the slave trade and Specifically, using the example of the Fifth cations. Abu Ma’shar’s text, which was the the creation of new cash crops, had on soci- Monarchy movement as evidence, Bernard textual basis for the Nuqtavi millennial ety.65 The global population also doubled in Capp states, “Fifth Monarchism and the hopes, was used by early-modern Christian the early-modern period,66 which negatively great millenarian wave of the seventeenth millennialists in conjunction with their own dislocated various groups of people. century, was the result of the political and eschatology to further Christian millennial Bernard Capp states, “Any form of cri- religious crisis, not of economic circum- beliefs and movements.80 This appropria- sis, whether conquest, plague, social disrup- stances.”74 tion also occurred in the Jewish context as tion or religious innovation was likely to the seventeenth-century Jewish rabbi produce such a [millennial] movement,”67 Cultural Dialogue and Early-modern Yehuda Ben El-Azer drew connections and the early-modern period contained Communications - The early-modern world between the philosophies of the Islamic numerous crises. Specifically, the failure of also witnessed the ongoing cultural dialogue Nuqtavi and the Jewish Kabbalists.81 In par- the Fifth Monarchy movement to reappear among members of the three main world ticular, the creation and advancement of after 1685 has been attributed to the contin- religions. One of the reasons that astrology publications was a central form of early- uing political and social stability at the was interpreted in a similar apocalyptic fash- modern communication that aided in the time.68 If social and political stability can ion among the Jews, Christians, and growth of millennial movements. By pub- halt the re-emergence of millennial move- Muslims during this period was due to their lishing pamphlets promoting millennial ments, then it also very likely that the shared Hellenistic repertoire of apocalyptic beliefs, individuals were able to reach a larg- reverse is true — millennial movements symbolism and interpretation, a repertoire er audience and spread their movements. For emerge out of political and social instability, that was created through the discourse example, the 1640s in England witnessed the which was a rampant feature of the early- between Jews, Christians, and Muslims in first publication of a millennial text in modern period. Spain. This arena of discussion allowed sim- English. Shortly after, numerous millennial David Aberle asserts that change can ilar ideas to spread between religions from texts being published, including Mede’s initiate a form of relative deprivation in Europe to Asia and explains why members Apocalyptica, John Vaux’s almanacs, and which either individuals or groups perceive of both Queen Elizabeth I’s and Shah Abbas’ even newspapers started stating publicly that that their legitimate expectations are courts predicted similar apocalyptic phe- “The Antichrist is falling.”82 In England, blocked, creating a situation conducive to nomena in their day.75 between 1640 and 1653, 78% of ministers the rise of millennial movements.69 These The increased cultural dialogue who published works were millenarian, early-modern social and political changes between members of the different demonstrating that, at least in Europe, publi- could have initiated such a reaction. For Abrahamic millennial movements, which cations were being used to spread millennial instance, the Fifth Monarchy movement also facilitated their mutual rise, was due to sentiments.83 Thus, increased communica- arose as a response to the diminishing the ever-improving communications in the tions in the early-modern period facilitated expectations and disillusionment of individ- early-modern world and the increasing inter- the spread of Abrahamic millennial move- uals who realized that the removal of the action amongst people. While most histori- ments across political borders, cultural political regime would not occur without ans focus on the spread of gold and silver in zones, and religious ideologies. their active involvement.70 This specific the early-modern world, “ideas and mental The increase in communication thus example demonstrates that when an individ- constructs” accompanying trade also tran- promoted the growth of millennialism. ual’s expectation (the removal of the politi- scended political borders and created inter- However, continuing deficiencies in early- cal regime) is incongruent with reality (the connected histories due to the permeability modern communications were ironically regime is firmly in power), they more readi- of supposedly “closed cultural zones.” For equally propitious to the growth of millenni- ly subscribe to millennial movements (the instance, the Mughal ruler Akbar, whose al movements. Without fast and extensive Fifth Monarchy movement) in order to ful- court was full of many different millennial communication, individuals had a greater fill their goals. texts, held discussions relating to the end of ability to appropriate and change unauthen- While social and political crisis affected time with Christians such as Jesuit Antonio ticated millennial myths and prophetic senti- support for early-modern millennial move- Monserrate.76 Further, Sabbatai Sevi’s father ments to fit their current situations. ments, the connection between economic and brother were employed by English mer- Alongside the aforementioned example of change or crisis and early-modern millenni- chants of the Levant Company.77 As such, an Armenian group’s reinterpretation of al movements is more ambiguous. Some his- ideas from the Fifth Monarchy movement in Safavid millennial statements, individuals torians, such as Norman Cohn and Ernst England, a nation which was steadily grow- also spread prophetic rumors that the lost Werner, assert that millennial movements ing during this period, may have reached tribes of Israel were heading through Persia emerge out of a situation of mounting ten- Sabbatai Sevi through his family and influ- to conquer Mecca. This rumor, which facili- sion from social and economic causes.71 enced the creation and doctrine of the tated the growth of the emerging Sabbatian Although the early-modern period witnessed Sabbatian movement. movement, spread to Europe, where massive economic changes, such as the dis- Increased communications in the early- Protestants were also waiting for this covery and exportation of silver and metals modern world allowed individuals to spread prophecy to be fulfilled, promoting support from the mines of Potosí and the exportation millennial ideas across political borders for Christian millennial movements in of Japanese metals throughout the world. throughout Asia, among Christians, Jews, places such as the Netherlands and These global events which led to the begin- and Sunni and Shia Muslims, promoting the England.84 Moreover, a particular Iranian ning of “dramatic transformations in world growth of these movements. While millenni- Nuqtavi migrant brought documents written bullion flows” and the creation of a “vast alism usually flourishes in the Shia tradition, by the Nuqtavi founder to India, which stat- interpenetrating network of silver” which the sixteenth-century Ottoman Sultans ed that a person would arise in 990 A.H. “girdled the globe” in the sixteenth century, began to borrow and use the millennial ter- (Anno Hegirae) [1582-1583 C.E.] to and which had varying repercussions in dif- minology that the Shiite Iranian Ismail “cleanse the world of lies,” and implied that ferent countries.72 For instance, while this invoked.78 Not only did the rulers appropri- this person was supposed to be Akbar.85 economic change led to inflation and social ate these millennial sentiments, members of These prophetic rumors were a critical unrest in the Iberian Peninsula, these crises the Armenian population that the Safavids element of early-modern millennial dissemi- were minor in the Ottoman Empire and had had persecuted also used Ismail’s millennial nation because both literate and illiterate even less of an effect in the Indian subconti- language; however, they reinterpreted the individuals could use them to spread their beliefs to fit their changing circumstances. ronment conducive to their simultaneous 43 Babayan, Mystics, Monarchs, and Messiahs, 33. These prophetic rumors were also state- rise. 44 Freely, The Lost Messiah, 34. ments of power that could affect both indi- 45 Babayan, Mystics, Monarchs, and Messiahs, 9, 10, 11. ENDNOTES vidual and collective behavior, as well as 46 Subrahmanyam, “Turning the Stones Over,” 132. 1 Sanjay Subrahmanyam, “Turning the Stones Over: decentralize the controlling discourse of the 47 Capp, The Fifth Monarchy Men, 17. 86 Sixteenth-century Millenarianism from the Tagus to the elite. These rumors, however, could also 48 Ganges,” Indian Economic and Social History Review, Vol. 40, Babayan, Mystics, Monarchs, and Messiahs, 11, 12, 15. negatively influence millennial ideology as No. 2 (India: 2003), 131. 49 they could transmit falsehoods that were Arjomand, “Religious Extremism,” 8. 2 This idea is influenced by elements of both Ranajit Guha’s 50 Phelan, The Millennial Kingdom, 110. damaging to the movement. For instance, a Elementary Aspects of Peasant Insurgency in Colonial India (2, 51 fictitiously written news report containing Luke Clossey, “Early Modern World,” Berkshire 3) and Michael Weber’s “Teaching Religion in a World History Encyclopaedia of World History (2004), 595. pictures of Sabbatai Sevi’s supposed execu- Class” (3-5). 52 87 3 Subrahmanyam, “Connected Histories,” 737. tion appeared in Germany in 1666. Notes from a Conversation with Abbas Amanat 53 (Vancouver: 23 November 2006), 1. Phelan, The Millennial Kingdom, 24, 25, 26. Therefore, quite paradoxically, both the 54 lack of immediate and extensive communi- 4 Scholem, Sabbatai Sevi, 5. Phelan, The Millennial Kingdom, 17. 55 cations coupled with an increase in existing 5 Bernard Capp, The Fifth Monarchy Men: A Study in Owen Chadwick, The Reformation (London: Penguin Seventeenth-century English Millenarianism (London, Faber Books, 1972), 24. communications and inter-religious dialogue 56 created a situation in which communication and Faber, 1972), 16. Chadwick, The Reformation, 24. was not so advanced as to halt the spread of 6 Said Arjomand, “Religious Extremism, Sufism and 57 Chadwick denies the connection between discovery and Sunnism in Safavid Iran: 1501-1722” Journal of Asian History, the “unsettling of the mind.” A discussion of change affecting millennial myths, yet extensive enough to the support for millennial movements will be found in a later allow for the communication that helped Vol. 15, No. 1 (1981), 7, 8, 9. 7 Arjomand, “Religious Extremism,” 9. section. these movements grow. Moreover, although 8 58 Thrupp, Millennial Dreams in Action, 40. the early-modern communication system Kathryn Babayan, Mystics, Monarchs, and Messiahs: Cultural Landscapes of Early Modern Iran (Cambridge: 59 Alfred Crosby, The Columbian Exchange: Biological and supported these movements, the spread of Harvard University Press, 2002), 100, 102. Cultural Consequences of 1492 (London: Preager, 2003), 160. unauthenticated rumors could also be very 9 Farhad Daftary, Mediaeval Ismaili History and Thought 60 Subrahmanyam, “Turning the Stones Over,” 148. damaging to them. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996), 291; 61 Phelan, The Millennial Kingdom, 84. Babayan, Mystics, Monarchs, and Messiahs, 102. 62 Phelan, The Millennial Kingdom, 42. Conclusion - Millennial movements are tied 10 Babayan, Mystics, Monarchs, and Messiahs, 5, 83, 94. 63 Phelan, The Millennial Kingdom, 94. to the natural process of humanity striving to 11 Daftary, Mediaeval Ismail, 292-295. 64 Phelan, The Millennial Kingdom, 102. 12 simultaneously end current torment and start Babayan, Mystics, Monarchs, and Messiahs, 83. 65 88 Subrahmanyam, “Connected Histories,” 738. a new beginning. As the dynamic of the 13 Babayan, Mystics, Monarchs, and Messiahs, 87. 66 Clossey, “Early Modern World,” 595. early-modern world is best explained 14 Capp, The Fifth Monarchy Men, 50, 51. through the interaction between the micro- 67 Capp, The Fifth Monarchy Men, 16. 15 Capp, The Fifth Monarchy Men, 105-107. level or local, and the macro-level or glob- 68 Capp, The Fifth Monarchy Men, 227. 16 Capp, The Fifth Monarchy Men, 14, 85, 195. 89 69 While relative deprivation theory aids in explaining the al, this study takes into account the interac- 17 tion between individuals’ appropriation of Capp, The Fifth Monarchy Men, 199, 200, 216. growth of certain millennial movements, it is necessary to the past millennial beliefs of their religious 18 Capp, The Fifth Monarchy Men, 221. acknowledge that this is not the cause for all millennial move- traditions and the general socio-economic 19 Capp, The Fifth Monarchy Men, 42. ments. Moreover, millennial movements are just one way in 20 which people respond to their changing environments and their factors of the early-modern world for the Capp, The Fifth Monarchy Men, 63, 76, 79. occurrence is not inevitable just because this change may occur. creation of these movements. Sanjay 21 Capp, The Fifth Monarchy Men, 38, 60, 68, 85. For a more extensive discussion on relative deprivation theory, Subrahmanyam also states that although 22 Michael Adas, Prophets of Rebellion: Millenarian see David Aberle’s “A Note on Relative Deprivation Theory as there are global effects, the effects are differ- Protest Movements against the European Colonial Order applied to Millenarian and other Cult Movements” in Thrupp’s 90 (Cambridge: University of Cambridge, 1979), 132. Millennial Dreams in Action. ent due to local manifestations. In a similar 70 23 Capp, The Fifth Monarchy Men, 38, 131, 135. Capp, The Fifth Monarchy Men, 58. manner, this study shows that the same glob- 71 al features led to corresponding, yet differ- 24 Sylvia Thrupp, Millennial Dreams in Action: Essays in Thrupp, Millennial Dreams in Action, 20. ing, millennial movements dependent upon Comparative Study (The Hague: Moulton & Co., 1962), 50. 72 Subrahmanyam, “Turning the Stones Over,” 135. the actions of the individuals in each specif- 25 See Subrahmanyam’s “Turning the Stones Over,” 130. 73 Subrahmanyam, “Turning the Stones Over,” 131, 135, ic movement. At a conference on millennial 26 J.F. Maclear, “New England and the Fifth Monarchy: The 137. movements held at the University of Quest for the Millennium in Early American Puritanism” The 74 Capp, The Fifth Monarchy Men, 230, 231. William and Mary Quarterly (1975), 223, 225. 75 Babayan, Mystics, Monarchs, and Messiahs, 33. Chicago in 1960, there was a lack of consen- 27 Gershom Scholem, Sabbatai Sevi: The Mystical Messiah 76 Subrahmanyam, “Connected Histories,” 748. sus regarding the postulation that an analyti- (New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1973), 130. 77 Freely, The Lost Messiah, 14. cal schema could account for the formation 28John Freely, The Lost Messiah: In Search of the Mystical 91 78 of all millennial movements. While a com- Rabbi Sabbatai Sevi (New York: Overlook Pr. 2001), 9, 17, 31. Subrahmanyam, “Turning the Stones Over,” 137. 79 plete overarching approach seems infeasi- 29 Freely, The Lost Messiah, 76. Subrahmanyam, “Turning the Stones Over,” 139, 141. 80 ble, this study shows that certain features of 30 Freely, The Lost Messiah, 43, 82, 83. Babayan, Mystics, Monarchs, and Messiahs, 33. early-modernity created an environment 81 31 Scholem, Sabbatai Sevi, 827. Babayan, Mystics, Monarchs, and Messiahs, 61. conducive to the rise of these movements 82 32 Scholem, Sabbatai Sevi, 331, 781. Capp, The Fifth Monarchy Men, 36, 37. throughout the world. 83 33 Freely, The Lost Messiah, 65. Capp, The Fifth Monarchy Men, 38. Before this study reaches its final con- 84 34 Scholem, Sabbatai Sevi, 5. Freely, The Lost Messiah, 70, 71, 72. clusion, it is important to qualify the afore- 85 35 Scholem, Sabbatai Sevi, 505. Subrahmanyam, “Turning the Stones Over,” 150. mentioned argument by stating that this 86 analysis and its conclusions are based only 36 Scholem, Sabbatai Sevi, 828. Julia Clancy-Smith, Rebel and Saint: Muslim Notables, 37 Populist Protest, Colonial Encounters (Berkeley: University of upon secondary-source research into the Capp, The Fifth Monarchy Men, 23. California Press, 1997), 100-104. 38 context and circulation of ideas. Despite Thrupp, Millennial Dreams in Action, 40. 87 Scholem, Sabbatai Sevi, Picture VI. 39 this, the study echoes and expands Subrahmanyam, “Turning the Stones Over,” 145. 88 Amanat, Imagining the End, 1. 40 Subrahmanyam’s conclusion that millennial John Phelan, The Millennial Kingdom of the Franciscans 89 Subrahmanyam, “Connected Histories,” 745. movements need to be viewed on a wider in the New World (Los Angeles: The University of California 90 Press, 1970), 83. Subrahmanyam, “Connected Histories,” 745. and even global scale by showing that the 91 diverse early-modern Abrahamic millennial 41 Arthur Williamson, “An Empire to End Empire: The Thrupp, Millennial Dreams in Action, 25. Dynamic of Early Modern British Expansionism” Huntington movements were connected across the globe [Editor’s Note: Due to space limitations, the through the underlying structure of the Library Quarterly 68 (2005), 12. 42 Bibliography for this essay was not included.] early-modern world which created an envi- Capp, The Fifth Monarchy Men, 20-22. period placed its hopes on conservative, Catholicism is Maritain’s influence in shap- monarchical governments, which ensured a ing the great ecumenical Vatican Council, close union of “throne and altar.” Fyodor Vatican II (1962-1965). The documents of Dostoevsky, in his novel The Brothers Vatican II are the most robust and transpar- Karamazov, has a marvelous scene that cap- ent embrace of human rights in the history of tures so well this mentality when his Grand the Catholic Church. Vatican II describes the The Catholic Church and Human Inquisitor reminds his prisoner (Christ) that Catholic Church as a pilgrim church on a mankind does not want freedom but only journey and, therefore, all pilgrims on this Rights: Enemies or Allies? “miracle, mystery and authority”—some- journey irrespective of their religion must be thing the Catholic Church knew well how to treated with dignity and respect. Indeed, the Philip F. Riley provide.2 Finally, not until the twentieth cen- words “dignity,” “respect,” and “person” so James Madison University tury did Catholics take biblical scholarship prevalent in the 1948 UDHR declaration seriously. The Council of Trent discouraged abound in the documents of Vatican II. In Seemingly Catholicism and human serious biblical scholarship and as a result this respect post-Vatican II Catholicism rights should be a very close fit. “Catholic,” Catholics failed to understand the close con- approaches human rights out of the same after all, means universal and the 1948 nections between the Bible and human deep sense of respect for the human commu- United Nations Universal Declaration on rights. Remarkably, by the early twenty-first nity as expressed in the UDHR. In a radical Human Rights (UDHR) incorporates the century, this scholarly failure has been departure from the past Vatican II insists that word “Universal” in its title. Unfortunately repaired to the degree that Catholic Scholars Catholics do not possess a monopoly on this has not always been the case. are now at the forefront of biblical scholar- truth: Every authentic religious tradition Catholicism is a most ancient faith that has ship. such as Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, and been in existence for two millennia. Yet, for This sea change of renewed awareness other Christian traditions all possess truth, most of this time it has viewed human rights regarding the Catholic Church and human and Catholics have much to learn from these with a great deal of skepticism. To be sure, rights begins late in the nineteenth century religious traditions. Catholicism is an institution marked by with Pope Leo XIII (1878-1903) who was Having said this, it is necessary to note frailty, error, scandal and sin. Certainly, the the first Pope to promote human rights in his that more than forty years after Vatican II not current scandals of the American Catholic encyclical (“Letter to the World”) Rerum all of these ideals have been achieved. All Church are not terribly unusual—indeed if Novarum (1891) an incredibly dense letter, too often, the Catholic hierarchy has been one looks at the two millennia of the full implications of which were not felt slow to embrace human rights. Certainly Catholicism, one can find equally embar- for decades. Rerum Novarum recognizes the during the Cold War, many Church leaders rassing moments. For example, Lord right of workers to form labor unions and saw Communism as the greatest threat to Acton’s dictum “All power corrupts and affirms the right of workers to strike. Catholicism; therefore, we have the bizarre absolute power corrupts absolutely” appears Although Rerum Novarum rejects examples of members of the American first in his review of a book on the Communism, it insists that free market cap- Catholic hierarchy endorsing the witch- Renaissance Papacy. italism must provide justice, dignity, and a hunts of Senator Joseph McCarthy or that of Yet, it is important to note at the outset living wage for all of its members, especial- the papal legate in Argentina playing tennis that the Catholic Church— even in its most ly the workers. with the generals who were daily executing grotesquely-misshapen periods—has proved Perhaps the single most important twen- opponents of their oppressive regime. capable of reform, regeneration, and renew- tieth-century Catholic voice endorsing Despite this Argentine example, one of al. In part, this is possible because the human rights came not from the Vatican but the most powerful demands for the Catholic Catholic Church has a tradition of spelling from France in the person of Jacques Church to embrace human rights came from reform with a hyphen i.e., re-form. Thus, to Maritain (1882-1973). A professed agnostic, the Church of Latin America. In 1968, Pope the surprise of many –including its own Maritain converted to Catholicism after dis- Paul VI (1963-1978) attended a meeting of members— it has shown that it can reform covering Thomas Aquinas and, through him, Church officials in Medellín Colombia. At and renew itself, correct its errors, and, in Aristotle. One of his early books was a blis- this meeting, he tried to rein in those mem- some cases, become the champion of the tering condemnation of Three Reformers: bers of the clergy who were engaging in a party it has grievously wronged.1 It is this Luther, Descartes and paradox of Catholicism’s new role as the Jean Jacques Perhaps the most emblematic example of Catholicism’s embrace of protector and, in some cases, even the pro- Rousseau (1925). human rights may be seen in the twenty-six year reign of Pope John Maritain criticized moter of human rights, that I would like to Paul II. touch upon. Luther, Descartes, and As a starting point, one could begin by Rousseau for their asking the question”Why did the Catholic excessive individualism, arguing that these type of political activism popularly called Church display so little interest in human three reformers enunciated a political philos- “Liberation Theology.” In the course of the rights before the twentieth century?” At least ophy that promoted individual rights to the meeting, the assembled bishops posed two three reasons may account for this. First, the degree that they corroded any authentic questions for the Pope: 1) What should the siege mentality stemming from the great six- sense of community. Maritain insisted that Church do when the violence against the teenth-century Council of Trent (1545- human rights differ from individual rights in people is institutionalized?; and 2) What 1563), which not only clarified what that human rights not only affirm personal should the Church do when the “people cry Catholics must believe, but also gave birth to freedom, but they also carry a special to heaven for justice”? The Pontiff could not the proposition that “error has no rights.” responsibility to ensure that all members of answer either question. Then, from the floor, Therefore, any belief conflicting with the community have their rights protected. the bishops spontaneously insisted that, Catholicism was declared an “error” and In this case, Maritain insisted that there can henceforth, the Catholic Church must pro- need not be considered. For more than four be no rights without responsibilities, an vide a “preferential option for the poor.” And centuries—from the sixteenth through the argument that is eventually embedded in the that it is now the mission of the Catholic twentieth century—the Catholic Church 1948 UDHR. Maritain’s influence on Church to stand with the poor and the refused to recognize human rights as defined Catholicism is even more pronounced. Both oppressed in the face of state-sponsored vio- by the Enlightenment and the great eigh- Pope John XXIII (1958-1963) and Pope lence.3 A number of Latin American church teenth-century revolutions in America and John Paul II (1978-2005) credit his writings leaders, including Oscar Romero, France. Second, Catholicism throughout this in forming their understanding of human Archbishop of San Salvador, would be rights. Even more important for assassinated for embracing this agenda. Perhaps the most emblematic example For example, Pope John Paul II frequently one would hope. of Catholicism’s embrace of human rights argued that nations should grant regional 4. The Dalai Lama speaks eloquently may be seen in the twenty-six year reign of localities greater autonomy thereby encour- on human rights issues, though he does Pope John Paul II. No Pope in history has aging a more democratic and collegial not have 1 billion constituents. So too, written more and spoken more about human approach to national politics. Yet, he was not the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. rights—at last count he authored one-hun- so tolerant of his own theologians who chal- Rowan Williams, is an articulate cham- dred fifty documents dealing with human lenged him. All too often those Catholics pion of human rights, but his audience rights. John Paul II’s support of human who challenged this pope have been silenced is limited largely to the Anglican rights may be seen in the two overriding and denied the right to teach or publish their Church. themes of his papacy. First, his attack on dissenting views. Probably the greatest dis- 5. Simply put, the Pope weighs in what he called the twentieth century’s “cul- parity between the Catholic Church’s with more moral authority than any ture of death,” which included war, geno- endorsement of human rights and its own other world religious leader. cide, abortion, and violence of all stripes. practices has been its treatment of women, At the end of her, life Eleanor But his attack on all forms of violence did both within the Church and also in the Roosevelt, reflecting on her work as an edi- not make him a pacifist. He urged “humani- United Nation’s international meetings on tor of the 1948 UDHR and a long-time tarian intervention” to stop genocides; he women, particularly on matters of “repro- human rights activist, observed that even endorsed NATO’s role in bombing ductive rights,” family life, and education. though more than a hundred nation states Yugoslavia in 1999, and he recognized the To this day, the Vatican remains adamantly had signed the UDHR, she believed that right of the United States to defend itself opposed to any effort to disseminate artifi- NGOs would serve as a “curious grapevine” against terrorism by invading Afghanistan. cial birth control. Ironically, in matters to slowly, but securely advance human rights John Paul II did not, however, support oper- affecting women’s rights the Catholic throughout the world.5 Given her well-docu- ation Iraqi Freedom and asked the Bush Church finds itself more in agreement with mented critical views of Catholicism, she Administration not to invade Iraq. A second radical Islamic states than First World would be surprised that the Catholic Church, theme of John Paul II’s was that of promot- democracies. It will be interesting to see if an admittedly flawed organization, and a ing the inherent dignity of every person in Pope Benedict XVI (2005- ) will continue long-time opponent of human rights has not the human community irrespective of race, this pattern of aligning with conservative only recognized finally that human rights are sex, creed, or political affiliation. This theme Muslim states on those issues involving inextricably linked to Catholicism but now has been ever so transparent in the prodi- women, marriage and the family. has become—most ironically—one of the gious number of essays, books, speeches, Despite these incongruities, the role and most articulate and vigorous champions of papal visits around the globe, and, above all, influence of the Catholic Church in advanc- the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in his encyclicals focusing on human rights. ing human rights is increasing in direct pro- in the twenty-first century. One of these encyclicals, Centismus Annus portion to the failure of nation-states, partic- (1991) celebrating the centennial of Rerum ularly the United States, to take a leadership ENDNOTES Novarum, condemned Communism’s depri- role in promoting and protecting human 1 The attack upon Islam associated with the Crusades and vations of human rights but was quick to rights. Certainly, this is not the place to the growth of virulent anti-Semitism are two obvious examples point out that unbridled capitalism has pro- reflect or comment upon the United States’ where the Catholic Church promoted both phenomena. Slowly, duced a consumer-driven mentality that pro- position on human rights, but the evidence however, over centuries the Catholic Church has admitted its culpability and starting in the late twentieth century has sought motes materialism and consumerism at the of the last sixty- years is not very encourag- to heal the divide with the Muslim world. With the opening of expense of human rights, while perpetuating ing if one looks at the genocides in the second Vatican Council in 1962, the Catholic Church has a Third World poverty. In 1998, on the fiftieth Cambodia, Rwanda, Yugoslavia, the Congo, made a vigorous effort to acknowledge its responsibility for the anniversary of the UDHR, John Paul II, in and now Darfur. The United States’ record in persecution of the Jewish people and has repeatedly sought rec- his commemorative message, underscored suppressing genocides is hardly exemplary. onciliation. I am indebted to Rev. John Grace, C.S.P. for these the “universal and indivisible character” of In part this is due to America’s reluctance to examples. 2 Fydor Dostoevsky, The Brothers Karamazov, trans. human rights and pointed to two worrisome embrace fully all of the articles in the 1948 Constance Garnett (New York: Random House, 1950), 305. “shadows on the anniversary.” The first of UDHR, i.e., the United States has only 3 A starting point here is Walter LaFeber, Inevitable these shadows is China’s argument that she endorsed the political rights; we have never Revolutions: The United States in Central America¸ 2nd ed., should not be criticized for human rights signed off on social and economic rights. (New York and London: W.W. Norton, 1993), 219-220. violations because, in China’s view, human Only by a fluke did we sign the UN 4 Mary Ann Glendon, “Catholic Thought and the Dilemmas rights are not universal and indivisible; they Genocide Convention (l948) and this was of Human Rights, in Higher Learning and Catholic Traditions, are relative and culturally based and do not done forty-one years after it was first prom- ed. Robert E. Sullivan (Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre connect with China’s unique history which ulgated. Dame Press, 2001), 126. John Paul II’s words are “If there is no privileges the group over the individual. The By default, then, the Catholic Church is transcendent truth, in obedience to which man achieves his full identity, then there is no sure principle for guaranteeing just second shadow is the claim by a number of positioned to be a strong advocate for human relations between people.” Cited in ibid., 129. Islamic states that argues that human rights rights in the coming decade. The following 5 William Korey, NGOs and the Universal Declaration of are but a new form of Western Imperialism, points could be kept in mind: Human Rights: “A Curious Grapevine” (New York: St. one promoting a Judeo-Christian agenda, in 1. There are more than 1 billion Martins, 1998), ix. the guise of the 1948 UDHR. John Paul II’s Catholics in the World who do pay answer to China and the Islamic states was attention to Church teachings on human that if there are no universal truths to which rights. all men and women can appeal to, then the 2. Despite the fact that many only arbiters of disputes in human affairs are Catholics ignore the Church’s teaching force and violence.4 on contraception, and homosexuality, If we take the measure of the huge cor- the Church’s pronouncements on pus of writings of Pope John Paul II and esti- human rights do strike a resonant chord WHA mate the effects of his thousands of miles of with many Catholics and non-Catholics global visits and speeches, we would con- as well. clude that the Catholic Church is in the fore- 3. In many respects, the papal London front of advancing all aspects of human encyclicals are the only game in town, rights today. However, this is not quite true. e.g., Amnesty International does a mar- What the Catholic Church professes and velous job of promoting human rights, 2008 what it practices are not always the same. but its audience is not always as large as bread earned by the sweet of other brows Foreign Missions (ABCFM) were not Thinking Religion Globally, than their own. Has New York political absolutely “American.” They originated in Acting Missionary Locally: Last scheming? Add Albany and Washington to New England and often represented the New York throw the ‘Eastern Question’ into region’s tradition and culture in the Near Century’s American Missionary the seething cauldron; take out all but the East. Second, ABCFM missionaries did not Experience in the Near East fewest grains of patriotism, moral principle, care to immediately convert natives to and the fear of God; lose conscience out of Christianity. They meshed their missions life of the masses, and you have the political with New England’s Puritan tradition based Emrah Sahin atmosphere and influence of on consensus, reformation, family-centered 1 McGill University Constantinople.” education, and self-discipline. In Istanbul, Herrick was not alone to inform fellow ABCFM missionaries most often times Americans of the situation in the Near East. allowed their addressees the choice to con- Rev. George F. Herrick, an intellectual, elo- Between the years 1830 and 1930, one hun- vert. Their primary objective, as their mis- quent preacher, and old hand missionary dred twenty nine missionaries published sions resulted in, was to reform the existing with tremendous contributions to American pamphlets, wrote letters or memoirs in churches, which were already functioning. missionary efforts, had proved his potentials Istanbul to be read in the United States.2 As a result of their missions, the mis- among his confreres in the Near East even Despite the authenticity and originality of sionaries displayed various social and cul- some years before he gave in the 1870s his these manuscripts as sources to understand tural characteristics that have contributed to influential lectures such as “the Bible in the social and cultural connections between Near Eastern society. They sometimes came Turkey” and “the Present Condition of the the missionaries and the Near East, only a for permanent stays and often integrated into Ottoman Empire” in Beloit College, handful of scholars have bothered to look native culture. Many historians of the Wisconsin. In 1869, Herrick was regarded as into them. Much scholarship, furthermore, American missionaries mention ongoing the great missionary by friends at work and came from either anti-Americans in Turkey tension between missionaries, natives, and a trustworthy foreigner by the natives in or the old missionaries and their kin in the local governments, and argue that missionar- Istanbul, the cosmopolitan capital of the United States. They have hitherto offered ies and natives did not get along. However, Ottoman Empire. On February 29 of that into the field interpretations that are either such enmity did not exist on the whole. year, he further showed his talents in making sympathetic or derogatory. Some observed Indeed, quite a few missionaries and mis- observations and comparisons. In a dispatch continuity among “the crusaders and mis- sionary schools were popular, such as Cyrus he sent from Istanbul back to New York; he sionaries” and their analyses presented the Hamlin and Robert College. The missions’ compared Istanbul to New York, then per- missionaries as the sworn enemies of the tangible influences on the national and haps the most sophisticated city in America Islamic World and Near Eastern cultures. women’s awakening among the natives, as as a result of urbanization, industrialization, Others observed continuity among well as the fact that the local government did and immigration. This dispatch intuitively “American pilgrims, traders, and missionar- not persistently act against the missions, showed why his global religious thinking ies” and their analyses presented the mis- suggest that the relations between the mis- made him act as missionary in this locality. sionaries as U.S. communication agents sionaries and natives were not belligerent in Herrick began comparing Istanbul and abroad. Both divided American missionary the Near East. New York in terms of their political impor- history into periods relating to U.S. foreign Some scholars consider the American tance, ethnic composition, and religious relations or Ottoman history.3 Such pilgrims and traders as the first Americans in deformation. Both Istanbul and New York diachronic fallacies have nothing in particu- the Near East during the 1780s.4 However, were the commercial centers, but Istanbul lar to do with was also a political center with a more het- the missionar- erogeneous population. While New Yorkers ies, and their could assimilate diversities, the Istanbul res- one-sided idents were grouped in “separate hostile approaches clans and camps.” He asked, have you usually attrib- worldliness? And he responded, in Istanbul ute a political “we have it in a form far more engrossing, role to the more universal, and more sordid.” He asked, missionaries, “have you vices which attend high civiliza- often robbing tion? And he responded, “We have pride of them of knowledge without the knowledge, luxury integrity as and waste of which the imperial establish- historical sub- ments are the most bloated and appalling jects them- example, with no solid wealth – luxury and selves. wealth of the few built upon the crying This oppression and misery of the many.” study expli- He was discontent how New York was cates the doing, but he was fed up with how Istanbul American did. And questions followed questions with Protestant answers following answers, with more missions as a Pollyannaism in favor of New Yorkers. He distinct socio- asked if New Yorkers had sluggishness, a cultural phe- From: Joseph L. Grabill, Protestant Diplomacy and the Near East: Missionary Influence on growing number of place-seekers and lazy- nomenon in American Foreign Policy, 1810-1027 (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1971), bones in the community. There is such a an effort to 17. Reprinted with Permission. Copyright The University of Minnesota Press. class in Istanbul, he answered, “already so situate the large that it has no room to grow, -venerable American mushrooms, represented on the one hand by missionary experience in the Near East in the social and cultural effects of the tempo- the polite, gentlemanly hanger-on of great scholarly and complicated context. To begin rary stays of these Americans were not men, and on the other, by the swarm of dirty, with, and contrary to the existing scholar- apparent. They did not arrive in the Near lazy, beggarly idlers that throng around any ship, this essay argues that the missions of East to live and make contact with the door where they may hope for a piece of the American Board of Commissioners for natives, but rather to visit Holy Lands and trade with the natives. ABCFM missionaries Near East is more complex and independent and converts from missionary institutions were the first Americans who came into con- of diplomatic history than previous scholars led the Student Volunteer Movement of the tact with the Near Eastern natives socially anticipated. To begin with, as noted above Turkish Empire in the 1910s. They encour- and culturally.5 the American missionaries were not aged and supported the missionaries. The A fallacy of chronological contextual- absolutely “American” and the Near East alumna formed associations and donated ization suffers from American missionary did not have a monolithic culture. The mis- dearly to their old schools. These associa- historiography. Whether pro-missionary or sionaries were from New England and repre- tions would later lead to the unification of anti-American, major works have tended to sented an evangelical tradition inherited the graduates in local levels and sort out divide American missionary history into from their Puritan ancestors. They defended ways to fight for civil rights as in cases of periods within the framework of U.S. for- in the Near East many ideas like egalitarian- Bulgaria and Izmir. Some members even eign relations or Ottoman histo- became missionaries themselves and were ry. A prominent historian in the assigned to missions out of their hometowns field, Joseph Grabill interpreted Between the years 1830 and 1930, one hundred twenty nine once their neighbors reacted to their mis- the American missionaries as missionaries published pamphlets, wrote letters or memoirs in sionary work.13 U.S. diplomatic agents and Istanbul to be read in the United States. American missionaries meant to refur- their missions as ancillary to bish Eastern Christianity. They endorsed a U.S. Government interests in simple, non-ornamented, and evangelical the Near East. Another scholar, Nurdan ism, simplicity, consensus-building, gender form of Christianity. According to them, Safak interpreted the American missionaries equality, pragmatism, and religious and hard Jesus had no successor, and his church rec- as U.S. imperialists and their missions as the work. For instance, “Work for the Gospel ommended no hierarchical system to rule promotions of Americanism in the Near Truth” was an accepted motto in New after him. And the only way for salvation East. While Grabill regarded the Near England from the early-nineteenth century. went through the Bible. It was a reason for Eastern missions as the cultural consequence While the ABCFM missionaries arrived to why they did not approve of the existing of American expansion, Safak regarded work like the Apostles among the natives in Patriarchates in the Near East, and this was them as the signs of American imperialism the Near East, this mindset did not appeal to the main reason for why the missionaries at the expense of Ottoman vulnerability.6 all Christian Americans.8 requested that the natives break away from Like Grabill and Safak, Betul Basaran A basic reason that the ABCFM mis- their old churches.14 did not focus on the missions as an historical sions became New England’s missions was A few scholars noted that ABCFM mis- theme of its own, but rather interpreted the that almost all these missionaries were New sionaries worked for the United States. But, American missionaries as aliens in the Englanders. Many of them studied in they also provided Americans with informa- Ottoman Empire and their missions as influ- Boston, New Jersey, and New York.9 For tion about Near Eastern politics, economy, ences on the Ottoman education system. In instance, a dynamic missionary leader from society, and culture they would know from an organic approach, she divided the mis- Boston, William Goodell led the establish- no other source. Their notes, personal letters, sions into First, Second, and Third Periods. ment of the Istanbul station and began to life sketches, and news columns were pub- She suggested that the missions were born, lead the Near Eastern missions from lished in an assortment of American newspa- developed, and died like human beings; and Istanbul. As mission-minded parents in New pers, including the Missionary Herald.15 her analysis was ties in large measure to the England often brought up mission-minded Therefore, their writings served religious Ottoman political situation.7 children, many children of these missionar- Americans informatively rather than sug- Although dates are applicable to history ies became missionaries themselves. gesting that their missions undertook intelli- writing, such a periodization is inapplicable Goodell’s entire family worked as mission- gence duties in the Near East. to the case of the missionaries. First, mis- aries in the Near East. New Englanders often In the Near East, missionary writings in sionary activities did not, as implied by admired their Puritan heritage and highly native languages greatly appealed to the Grabill and Safak, follow a uniform pattern respected the church’s founding fathers. So natives. In literary works, the missionaries of organization, advancement, and decline. did the missionaries in the Near East. wrote the hymns and inspired the Christian For instance, missionaries had just estab- Goodell’s children and other missionaries songs of the Near East. Translations and the lished the missionary stations in Northern held annual memorial services in his name, references to Christianity in the newspapers, Turkey when the colleges in Izmir and and his son-in-law wrote his biography.10 pamphlets, songs, and religious extracts Istanbul reported several conversions and A few scholars are also mistaken when throughout the region adapted to the Near the success of the missionary works among they argue that the notion of “evangelical Eastern environment. They paid particular the locals. Elsewhere, on the other hand, Protestantism” focused on “instantaneous attention to their use of language; they conversions did not happen so quickly. conversions,” and that the missionaries intended to speak fluently and write with Furthermore, while the stations were always failed in their missions because there were faultless accuracy and precision because established first, there was no model for not many conversions.11 However, the mis- they thought it would enable the congrega- establishment of outstations. sionaries had not made such a deliberate tions of their missions to better understand In addition, American missionary analy- effort at conversion. In fact, it was the inad- them.16 sis by Basaran had less to do with the mis- vertent effects of their activities that led to The missionaries had a manifold cultur- sionaries’ activities and more to do with the the conversion. As noted above, the mission- al impact that previous historians have Ottoman situations at the time. For instance, aries often allowed their addressees to make ignored so far. For instance, the work of her work has very much to do with the situ- the choice to convert. In this way, they female missionaries seemed to be an innova- ation of the Ottoman Empire when the regarded themselves as being similar to the tive idea for the Near East of the nineteenth Sultan proclaimed edicts granting social and Apostles who flashed Jesus’ message to as century. On the one hand, the Near Eastern religious tolerance among his subjects. many people as possible. They were as they woman embodied the cult of domesticity, as Similar to Basaran, Grabill dated the history believed the “messengers from without, they were submissive, stayed at home, and of American missionaries according to the called by God to proclaim his truth and to engaged in typical housekeeping chores changes in the American foreign policy, and carry to others the impulse to a new and spir- such as looking after their children and Safak did so according to the changes in itual life.” As such, their mission was simply pleasing their husbands. On the other hand, Ottoman policy. However, it must again be to hold and reveal the Gospel truth.12 female missionaries were assertive and pointed out that such approaches deny the It is accurate to state that the number of worked inside and outside their homes, and missionaries their opportunity to be histori- converts to Protestant Christianity was not often taught and preached to the natives.17 cal subjects themselves. substantial, but those who converted became Native females began to work actively dur- American missionary history in the active and devout. Various former graduates ing the late-nineteenth century, and they bor- rowed from the experiences of the female demics, bad nutrition, and the frequency of among the natives. In final analysis, we need missionaries in large degree. city fires, than they did about the measures to know more about American missionary New Englanders were proud of their of the government against their missionary experience in the Near East as it includes family connections and wanted to preserve activities.22 invaluable messages for today. Today, the their family structure. Likewise, ABCFM There were 148 organized Protestant U.S.-Turkish alliance for the reformation of missionaries in the Near East became churches with 15,500 members in the Near the Middle East and America’s backing of remarkably family-oriented. For instance, all East at the close of the nineteenth century. Turkey in its effort to enter the European the missionaries that came to Istanbul during Most of them were opened or helped by Union, demonstrate the intentions of these the nineteenth century were married with ABCFM missionaries. Missionary schools two countries to strengthen their ties. If they children. Only twenty percent of recorded educated native pupils of both sexes. David want to better understand each other, they missionaries were single, and two-thirds of Eddy estimated that twenty-five thousand ought to make further analyses and benefit them had arrived in their missionary stations students were studying in their schools and from the legacy that American missionaries at the turn of the twentieth century when the houses, and argued that they were growing left in the Near East. missions called upon more female mission- “the leaders of the next generation.”23 aries. There was truth in Eddy’s assertions. ENDNOTES American missionaries believed women For example, Halide Edip Adivar, a Turkish 1 Herrick derives the expression “the sweet of other brows” to be wives during the early-nineteenth cen- graduate of the Uskudar Home College for from Turkish, which might be translated as an honest penny tury. Seeing that female missionaries relied girls, became a leader of the Turkish free- turned by others. Constantinople is the contemporary name upon the aid and conversion of native dom movement shortly after the First World used for Istanbul. For a complete comparison of Istanbul and New York by Herrick, see Dr. Herrick from Constantinople, females, they later encouraged new estab- War. Her famous speech of independence in 1869, in Papers of the American Board of Commissioners for lishments under the leadership of women Sultan Ahmet Square during the “Izmir Foreign Missions, Microform Reel 583 (Woodbridge, CT: missionaries. This encouragement changed Protest Meeting of Invasion,” encouraging Research Publications, c1984-1985), or Emrah Sahin, Errand the missionary ideal of the missions. Leaders many women as well as men to get involved into the East: A History of Evangelical American Protestant were convinced that educated and intellectu- in the Turkish War of Independence, was a Missionaries and Their Missions to Ottoman Istanbul During the Nineteenth Century (Bilkent University: Unpublished MA al women could lead native women and their reflection of her exposure to a New England thesis, 2004). .18 children Women missionaries were very evangelical tradition. In her life, she also 2 For a list of American missionaries that worked in Istanbul, successful, and the wives of missionaries exhibited various other attitudes cultivated see Appendix in Emrah Sahin, Errand into the East. were becoming missionaries themselves. by missionaries: egalitarianism, consensus- 3 Fred Field Goodell, They Lived Their Faith: An Almanac Their houses became the most effective hub building, pragmatism, and esteem for hard of Faith, Hope and Love (Boston: ABCFM, 1961); Musa Cakir, of late-nineteenth century missionary activi- work. Overall, she illustrates the idea that Anadolumuz Asla Hiristiyan Olmayacak: Misyonerler, ty in the Near East.19 the leaders of the next generation were the Memleketinize Donunuz (Istanbul: M.S. Matbaasi, 1966). The primary objective of the ABCFM students of the American evangelical 4 M. Philip and Ethel Klutznik, Pilgrims and Travelers to missionaries was to represent evangelical Protestant missionaries.24 the Holy Land (Omaha, Nebraska: Creighton University Press, Protestantism in the Near East, with the Adivar was a Turkish woman who pro- 1996). Bible and the teachings of Christ as its only moted evangelical Protestant values for 5 Valentin H. Rabe, The American Protestant Foreign Missions Movement: 1820-1920 (Harvard University: Ph.D. guide. For this purpose, houses became the Turkish national cause. There are interesting Dissertation, 1965). actual places where the missionaries operat- similarities between her novels Kubbede 6 Joseph L. Grabill, Protestant Diplomacy and the Near ed efficiently. The diary of Penka Racheva, a Hos Seda and Yeni Turan, and missionaries’ East: Missionary Influence on American Foreign Policy, 1810- Bulgarian female student at the Istanbul image of paradise. While Kubbede Hos Seda 1927 (Minneapolis: University of Minneapolis Press, 1971); Missionary Home, mentioned that the mis- and Yeni Turan analyzed the past and envi- Nurdan Safak, Osmanli-Amerikan Iliskileri (Istanbul: Osmanli sionaries were working in their homes for sioned a paradise in which Turks believed Arastirmalari Vakfi, 2003), 59-79. the common good. Preaching and religious they all would eventually be happy and in 7 Betul Basaran, Reinterpreting American Missionary services were held in the houses every day. peace, Paradise Lost found a place in the Presence in the Ottoman Empire: American Schools and Evolution of Ottoman Educational Policies, 1820-1908 (Bilkent Racheva later became the chair of the Robert New England Puritan tradition, on which the University: Unpublished MA thesis, 1997). College Alumni Association in Bulgaria, and American missionaries in Istanbul always 8 Perry Miller, Errand into the Wilderness (Cambridge: The used her own house to teach and preach to relied. Paradise Lost represented the para- Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2000), 16-47. 20 her neighbors. dise for which missionaries believed all the 9 Cyrus Hamlin, My Life and Times (Boston: Congregational The approaches to the missionaries by evangelical Protestants should work toward Sunday-School and Publishing Society, 1893). both the Ottoman and United States govern- in order to eventually meet Christ and live in 10 Doreen Rosman, Evangelicals and Culture (Hampshire: ments often changed according to spatial high spirits and peace.25 Gregg Revivals, 1992), 97-118; E. D. G. Prime, Forty Years in and chronological contexts. Indeed, the In conclusion, various missionary ideals the Turkish Empire, or, Memoirs of Rev. William Goodell(New York: Robert Carter, 1876). diplomatic behaviors illustrated disunity and originated in New England but the missions 11 Robert W. Stookey, “The Holy Land: The American discontinuity in their treatment of the mis- were not absolutely “American.” They were Experience, the Christian American Concern” Middle East sionaries. For instance, British pressure and made of Puritans in a very strict sense. Journal 30 (1976): 351-368. intentions to fortify and modernize the “Since Christianity had made America the 12 Joseph K. Greene, “Our Native Co-Laborers” Services at Ottoman State had made the Sultan declare great nation it was, the nation owed the Seventy-Fifth Anniversary of the Establishment of the the Imperial Edicts of 1839 and 1856. These Christianity a debt, namely, ‘proper and law- American Mission at Constantinople Duty of American Christians to the Heathen (Boston: Published by the Board, edicts granted freedom regardless of their ful endeavors to reconstruct all 1866). religious affiliation. From this time on, the other[s]….”26 In unison with this idea of 13 S. Ralph Harlow, Student Witnesses for Christ (New Ottoman administration allowed missionar- manifest destiny, the missionaries worked York: Association Press, 1919), 3-11 ies to teach and preach.21 for the reformation of the existing Near 14 James S. Dennis, Islam and Christian Missions (New Public health conditions were the most Eastern churches on peaceful terms. As a York: Funk and Wangalis, 1889), 9-21; Henry G. O. Dwight, Missionary Herald, 11 May 1859 (Boston: ABCFM, 1821- nagging hardship for the missionaries in the result of the Near Eastern missions, 1934). Near East, and not official harassment as has Americans learned about Near Eastern cul- 15 Papers of Cyrus Hamlin and George Washburn, 1850- been argued so far. Many missionaries had ture and society through the eyes of mission- 1915 28 January 1839, 29 August 1836, 28 July 1910. physical difficulties in adjusting to the aries. The Near Eastern natives learned and 16 George F. Frederick, “The First Missionaries to Turkey” region, and their correspondences illustrate were educated by the missionaries in various Services at the Seventy-Fifth Anniversary of the Establishment of the American Mission at Constantinople (Gloucester: John the struggles to adapt to the weather condi- ways. The interactions between the mission- Bellows, 1906?), 45; Eddy Brewer, The Social Aspects of the tions and climate. A careful examination of aries and Near Eastern natives were not bel- American Board’s Work Eddy (Boston: ABCFM, n.d.), 11. their papers show that the missionaries com- ligerent but often affable. American mission- 17 New Turkey (Boston: American Board of Commissioners plained more about life-threatening epi- aries in the field acquired a high reputation for Foreign Missions, n.d.) [Pamphlet BV 3160. Z9]. 18 “Qualifications of a Missionary’s Wife” In E. D. G. tional identity.”2 interested few Southern religious historians. Prime, Forty Years in the Turkish Empire: Memoirs of Rev. White Southerners continued to defend World historians—and others—have William Goodell. 19 Edward B. Haskell, Pamphlet 817.83, 3-5. their society (in particular, their segregated studied missionaries for many decades now. 20 Carolyn McCue Goffman, “Masking the Mission: society) as Christian well into the twentieth Some of those studies have been barely Cultural Conversion at the American College for Girls” Paper century. After World War Two, that defense more than triumphal accounts of souls given at Altruism and Imperialism: The Western Religious and made the Southern United States a rarity in saved; more serious work has looked at the Cultural Missionary Enterprise in the Middle East. Middle East the rapidly-changing world. Southern reli- social, political, and economic changes mis- Institute Conference at Bellagio, Italy, August 2000. 21 R. Salahi Sonyel, “Tanzimat and its Effects on the Non- gious historians have long pointed to the sionaries brought with them. Often, and not Muslim Subjects of the Ottoman Empire” Tanzimat’in contradictions of Jim Crow Christianity, and without reason, missionaries have been Yildonumu Uluslarasi Sempozyumu (Ankara: Turk Tarih rejected the idea that South’s segregated was viewed as agents—knowing or otherwise— Kurumu, 1994), 353-358. society was the epitome of a Christian soci- of Western imperialism. While world histo- 22 Papers of Cyrus Hamlin and George Washburn, 1850- ety. Nevertheless, Southern historians have rians interested in religion have examined 1915, 16 April 1899, 26 February 1915. 23 David Brewer Eddy, What Next in Turkey: Glimpses of tended to operate, sometimes though not the impact missionaries had on the societies the American Board’s Work in the Near East (Boston: ABCFM, always, self-consciously within the frame- where they worked, far fewer have consid- c1913), 77. work of Southern exceptionalism.3 ered how this global interconnectedness 24 Halide Edip Adivar, Izmir’den Bursa’ya Hikayeler, Scholars who have placed the American changed the sending society. As the Mektuplar ve Yunan Ordusunun Mesuliyetine Dair Bir Tetkik South in a more global context, have fre- American South has often been considered (Istanbul: Akþam, 1919). quently let religion fall into the background. largely isolated from world currents, such 25 Halide Edip Adivar, Yeni Turan (Istanbul: Atlas Kitabevi, Indeed, in the quite-recently published interconnected studies of the Southern reli- 1973) and Kubbede Kalan Hos Sada: Hikayeler,Mensur Siirler, (2005) collection of essays, The American gious experience have been quite rare Sohbetler (Istanbul: Atlas Kitabevi, 1974); Keith W. F. Stavely, South in a Global World, religion is almost indeed.7 That notwithstanding, both Puritan Legacies: Paradise Lost and the New England entirely absent. Only Ajantha Subramanian Southern and World religious history could Tradition, 1630-1890 (Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 1987). examines religion, particularly Hinduism, as be enriched if the two were more thorough- ly and frequently brought together. 26 Joseph L. Grabill, Stookey,Robert W. “The Holy Land: part of the globalizing South. Subramanian’s The American Experience, the Christian American Concern” analysis, however, shows that Southern This historiographical argument rests Middle East Journal 30 (1976): 351-368. politicians, in particular former North upon an historical argument. The Southern Carolina Governor Jim Hunt, view the high Baptist Convention dominated the religious degree of religiousity of the South’s Hindu landscape of the American South in the [Editor’s Note: Due to space limitations, the Indian population as making that immigrant years following World War Two. Not only Bibliography for this essay was not included.] population compatible with “Southerness.” was it the largest denomination in the United Her analysis suggests, interestingly, that States South, it was also the fastest growing. members of North Carolina’s Hindu popula- While it was staunchly conservative and tion are more religious in the American earned a reputation for defending segrega- South than they had been in India. Similarly, tion, the Southern Baptist Convention was scholars like Mary L. Dudziak have placed adamantly evangelical and sent missionaries the American Civil Rights movement in its around the world. Its progressive leadership, global context, but have not seriously con- its missionaries, and those whom the mis- tended with the religious aspects of that sionaries brought to the Baptist faith all saw “Our Preaching Has Caught Up movement when doing so. By contrast, in the contradictions between racial segrega- With Us”: Exploring the Impact Religion in the Contemporary South, reli- tion and the missionary enterprise. Put plain- of Southern Baptist Missions gion is clearly the main focus, yet global ly, the mission effort abroad forced Southern trends are limited to the establishment of Baptists to confront racism at home on reli- in Africa on the immigrant religious communities, and little gious—as opposed to political—grounds.8 Southern Baptist Heartland is said about the interrelationship between Thus, historians seeking to bring “Southern” religions and the immigrant, par- Southern and World religious history togeth- ticularly “non-Western,” religions.4 er might well look to the confluence of reli- Alan Scot Willis The Southern religious experience, gious and racial ideology. Several recent Northern Michigan University which exemplified the region’s isolation, lay books examine this issue in the South, pri- at the heart of this Southern exceptionalism.5 marily focused on particular denominations: During the wave of early-nineteenth century When Southern religious leaders recognized Joel Alvis examined Presbyterians, Mark revivals in the United States, Southern that the region’s isolation had been shat- Newman investigated the Southern Baptists, Protestants, scattered about the rolling fron- tered, they often overlooked the extent to and Peter Murray studied the Methodists. tier of Southern society, became the epitome which their region had long been involved in Paul Harvey crossed denominational, if not of isolated, individualistic Americans— the world community. In the late 1980s, regional, borders with Freedom’s Coming. manifestations of Fredrick Jackson Turner’s North Carolina’s first Buddhist Temple, in But none of these studies looked beyond the frontier democrats.1 The religious fervor Bolivia, prompted the pastor of the local American experience.9 never subsided. After the Civil War—and for Antioch Baptist Church to comment that his Certainly Alvis, Newman, Murray, and much of the twentieth century—Southern town had been “thrust into becoming an Harvey are not “exceptionalist” historians in Protestants held onto the Agrarian myth of international town overnight.” Perhaps, but any strict sense; indeed, American histori- American Democracy, and to a self-serving how different was that response from the one ans, and Southern historians with them, have certainty that they, and they alone, had creat- of a South Georgia Baptist who seemed sur- long recognized the problems and limita- ed a truly Christian society. This sense of prised by the arrival of migrant farmers in tions of American Exceptionalism. Southern exceptionalism—religious and his town during the late 1950s, despite the Nevertheless, as Ian Tyrrell pointed out his otherwise—persisted long after World War fact that the process had been repeated annu- article for the American Historical Review, II. Indeed, Gregory Stephens wrote of relo- ally for years. Had Antioch’s pastor, like the “even though many American historians cating to North Carolina from Texas: “As a Georgia pastor thirty years earlier, just never today eschew exceptionalism, in the absence southwesterner, when I first relocated to noticed? The isolation and the exceptional- of an alternative organizing framework the North Carolina, I was impressed by the fact ism of the South, then, has been unraveling vast bulk of U.S. history is still written in that my colleagues thought of the border as for years, but both Southerners and Southern terms that accept the primacy of the national being the Mason-Dixon line—that would be historians have been slow to examine its focus.” Tyrrell wrote in 1991, and in 2007 the North as the Other of southern opposi- unraveling.6 As a result, world history has Southern religious historians continued to maintain their focus largely in regional instances of discrimination. The most hurt- Reynolds significantly influenced the insti- terms. Of course, this is not without reason, ful, he said, “came from Southern Baptists tutions they attended, and by 1963 African and one reason is—no doubt—that the through whose missionaries we had come to students were influencing Southern society Southern religious experience remains cen- know Jesus Christ and whose support beyond their campus communities. trally important to understanding the enabled us to be in the United States.”15 The 1962-1963 academic year brought region’s social and political development. Southern Baptist Missionaries serving the issue of integration to Mercer University Despite there being good reason for the in Africa understood Dahunsi’s point; they in Macon, Georgia. Sam Oni, a convert, and regional focus, it has its limitations.10 One of knew racism in the United States under- Harris Mobley, a missionary in Ghana, those limitations is the failure to see the mined their efforts. In 1957, Southern decided to challenge segregation at Mercer. interrelationship between foreign missions Baptist missionaries serving in Nigeria Mobley had graduated from Mercer and and race relations. Missionaries could not announced that they had “become increas- Southeastern Seminary in North Carolina. ignore the perspectives of the people with ingly aware of the degree to which relation- He had already helped secure scholarships whom they worked—even if they worked to ships between the Negro and White races in for two Ghanaian Baptists, Stephen change those perspectives—and that experi- America determine the effectiveness of car- Akinleye and Alfred Oteng, to attend ence led them to understand that the world rying out our mission task in Africa.”16 Southeastern Seminary, although had something to teach the “Christian” Africans had clearly influenced the mission- Southeastern had been integrated for a South, especially about race.11 aries. It was one thing to convince the mis- decade.22 Southern Baptist missionaries in Africa sionaries who worked in Africa, however, it Oni and Mobley intended the applica- and African Christians affected racial would be much more difficult to influence tion to challenge their “Southern Baptist thought in the American South by challeng- those Americans staying comfortably at brothers and sisters in America to confront ing segregation in religious institutions. home in the United States South. While mis- the gross contradictions in their Christian They did so both in word and in deed. By sionaries at home on furlough worked to witnesses at home and abroad.” They applying to and, ultimately, attending reli- persuade their co-religionists, African stu- believed that Oni, as an African convert, giously-affiliated Southern colleges and uni- dents studying in the United States brought offered the “most compelling and unassail- versities, Africans became something of the message to America more emphatically able argument against the continuation of missionaries in reverse. They brought with and forced change in Southern Baptist insti- racial segregation as practiced in Southern them the Christian message of the unity of tutions. Baptist churches, schools, hospitals, and humanity to the American South, the region International students increasingly other establishments across the Southern that sent many of the missionaries from attended American universities in the Post- United States.” Mobley, at home on fur- whom they had learned about Christianity to World War II era, including over 5,000 from lough, told a group of Mercer students that Africa in the first place. Here, in the question Africa in any given year during the 1960s.17 “our preaching has caught up with us”; no of race and missions, world and Southern One, Edward Reynolds, a mission convert longer could Americans send missionaries to religious history met face-to-face.12 from Ghana, applied to Wake Forest College Africa and practice racial segregation at Missionaries and African Christians, recent in 1960. The College—then segregated and home.23 converts and lifelong believers alike, chal- Baptist—took over a year to act on Oni’s application and Mercer’s integra- lenged Southern Protestants to be Christians Reynolds’s application. Meanwhile, editors tion became a matter of public debate when first, and Southerners second—if at all. at The Commission, the monthly publication Russell Hillard, a Southern Baptist mission- Southern Baptists faced a particularly of the Foreign Mission Board, speculated ary, wrote about Oni’s application to The difficult situation. After World War Two, that the questions raised by a mission con- Christian Index, the weekly publication of they expanded their missionary activity in an vert’s application to the school had prompt- the Georgia Baptist Convention. Based on effort that Stephan Neill called “second to no ed Wake Forest to integrate its graduate- that letter, John Hurt, the editor, wrote a col- other in the world,”13 but they were also level programs that year. umn advocating that Mercer admit Oni as an more clearly identified with the South and Wake Forest ultimately admitted international student, but not admit African with segregation than was any other denom- Reynolds and removed all racial barriers Americans. Hurt quoted Hillard as saying ination. Segregation infiltrated every impor- from undergraduate admission. After that Oni’s acceptance would “not signify a tant Southern Baptist institution. According decision, the college administration wrote to change in our tradition, but it will mean a to religious historian Bill Leonard, growing the Ghana Baptist Mission stating Wake slight change in our hearts!” His editorial up Southern Baptist meant growing up Forest’s willingness to accept students of brought a steady stream of letters to the Southern—it meant never sitting next to a any race. The Mission responded by sending Christian Index.24 black person at church, in a restaurant, on a a letter of appreciation to the college For Hurt, Oni’s application involved the bus, or at school.14 The centrality of trustees.18 Four year later, Reynolds graduat- mission program, but did not challenge seg- “Southerness” to being a Southern Baptist ed with honors, an achievement attained by regation itself. He announced, “We either presented Southern Baptist missionaries only 24 other scholars in Wake Forests’ admit him [Oni] or we should have the with an enormous problem. graduating class of 400 students.19 courage to call home all of our missionaries In 1955, Dr. E. A. Dahunsi led the Like Reynolds, Vincent Amachree and go out of the business.” Hurt believed Nigerian Baptist Convention in passing a clearly demonstrated African students’ suc- that if Mercer did not admit Oni, it would resolution stating: “Nigerians are acutely cess in American colleges. Amachree hailed prove that “we are in greater need of mis- aware of the problems of race relations in from the mission at Buguma, Nigeria, and sionary preaching than Ghana.” Only a few America, they identify themselves with the obtained a degree in History from Oklahoma correspondents advocated closing the mis- American Negro, and they consider racism Baptist University in 1963. While attending sions. One, W. J. Thurmond, suggested that in any form unjust.” The gathered Nigerians the University, Amachree served as a if the success of missionary activity was asked the Southern Baptist Foreign Mission Student Government Congressman, as vice- “contingent upon the admission of this Board—since renamed the International president of the United Nations club, as Negro student to Mercer, then I also say let’s Mission Board—to circulate their resolution president of the international relations club, call all our missionaries home.” That would throughout the American South and remind- and as an executive member of the Baptist not happen. As Romeo J. Martin of Atlanta ed Southern Baptists that racism damaged Student Union.20 Amachree clearly found realized, calling home the missionaries their mission program. acceptance among the students and faculty would make Georgia—and, by extension, Dahunsi spoke from personal experi- at Oklahoma Baptist. James R. Scales, pres- Southern—Baptists the “ultimate hyp- ence. He related his experiences as a teach- ident of the University, called Amachree ocrites.”25 ing fellow at the Southern Baptist Seminary “the embodiment of a Christian gentle- Unlike Hurt, most Georgia Baptists in Louisville, Kentucky, recalling several man.”21 Students like Amachree and writing to The Christian Index argued that Oni’s application was tied to integration as Gainesville, Florida; and Macon, Georgia— Williams all gained fellowship in congrega- well as missions. Rowena Almand of exemplified the pressures African missions tions willing to consider the world context of Doraville asked: “what would Christ think and converts put on Southern Baptist local actions, Sam Oni, in Macon, faced about the hair-splitting legalistic distinctions churches. rejection by a church more concerned with made by the recent editorial advising that the First Baptist of Richmond was closely maintaining local traditions. admission of the Ghana student be separated tied to the mission program. Theodore F. Tattnall Square Baptist Church was a from the broader issue of our own American Adams, the pastor, was a long-time member logical choice for Mercer students; its Negroes?” Almand believed that “the time is of the Foreign Mission Board. Several Board grounds bordered the campus. Sam Oni, long past for Mercer, if it is really a Christ- employees, including Rogers M. Smith, sec- however, attended Vineville Baptist during centered college, to accept all students on retary for missionary personnel, belonged to his years at Mercer, while Tattnall Square the basis of character and ability, rather than the church. In 1965, two Nigerian students, remained segregated. In the fall of 1966, Oni the color of their skin.”26 Adbokun Oshoniyi and Bisi Adegbile—both tried to worship at Tattnall Square, but was Just as Mobley and Oni intended, the sons of Baptist ministers in Nigeria— twice turned away. He made the connection Mercer case caused some Baptists to recon- applied for membership. Both men saw the to missions explicit, saying “their segrega- sider their stand on integration. Jack upcoming fellowship vote as a referendum tionist policy is torpedoing their own mis- Carpenter of Dahlonega believed, “my good on the entire mission effort, as did mission- sion program in Africa.” The incident friends and brethren will understand and for- minded members; they all believed that brought outraged editorials and letters in the give me if I say that, in spite of my middle- rejecting the two men would damage the Baptist press; one recommended divorcing age conservatism, I cannot help but gag at Baptist mission effort in Africa and around Tattnall Square from the mission effort by the idea of excluding a young African con- the world. The Board of Deacons, however, returning all the money its members had vert from our beloved Mercer simply rejected Pastor Adams’ counsel and recom- given to support missions. because God gave him dark skin.”27 mended against accepting the two students The uproar over segregation at Tattnall The Trustees ultimately came to the as members. Rogers Smith was so concerned Square forced some Southern Christians to same conclusion. They met on 18 April about the potential impact on the mission question their segregationist views. Two 1963, barely four months after a Committee effort that he wrote one of the most promi- Macon churches, First Baptist and recommended against integration, and voted nent—and progressive—Southern Baptists Centenary Methodist, desegregated as a to drop all racial barriers in admissions. Hurt in the nation, T. B. Maston, asking him to direct result of the attention brought to wrote that missionaries could “point to offer words of encouragement to the pastor. Middle Georgia by the Tattnall Square inci- Mercer University, in Georgia and in the The mission leaders’ efforts paid off. When dent. No longer could decisions about segre- Deep South, as having sacrificed comfort to the question of accepting Oshoniyi and gation in religious institutions be purely show Christian concern for young men and Adegbile into fellowship came to a vote by local; the global context had to be consid- women ‘without regard to race, color of the membership, it passed.29 ered, or condemnation would surely ensue. skin, creed, or origin’.”28 First Baptist thus opened its doors to This was the work of missionaries and, most Clearly, Wake Forest and Mercer deseg- international students and accepted Oshoniyi especially, African Christians.32 regated specifically because of the mission and Adegbile into full membership. But the The Southern Baptist mission program, program and the application by mission con- vote failed to settle the matter completely; especially in Africa, led many Baptists to verts from Africa. That policy change is easy instead, it led to a six-month study of segre- examine segregation in its global context. In enough to identify. Whatever personal con- gated church membership carried out “in at least a few instances, Baptists ended seg- science searching Reynold’s application to light of changed world conditions.” Still, the regation in their institutions in light of the Wake Forest caused, it took the institution a decision reflected an understanding of the mission program. The mission program led year to act on the application. While Mercer international context. It directly involved the to an exchange of ideas that transcended acted more quickly than Wake Forest, the question of Baptist missions in Africa.30 boundaries, but these exchanges hardly tran- fact that Oni’s application became a matter When the New York Times reported the scended all boundaries. Southern Baptist of public debate allows the historian to see integration of First Baptist, its photograph missionaries never freed themselves of all conscience wrangling that impacted both the showed Oshoniyi and Adegbile in distinctly their cultural biases. For example, they con- Mercer community and the larger communi- African dress, clearly offering an intellectu- tinued to offer a particularly negative vision ty of Georgia Baptists. Once on campus, al separation between Africans and African of Islam, persistently referring to Muslims as Amachree, Reynolds, and Oni all impacted Americans. In Florida, however, one church “Mohammedan” and Islam as their campuses. Amachree’s record of realized that the connection between segre- “Mohammedanism,” terms as insulting as involvement in campus organizations makes gation at home and the mission effort abroad they were incorrect (which suggests a possi- it clear that he was a visible presence at involved African Americans as well as bility for studying the ebbs and flows of Oklahoma Baptist. Oni’s activities would be Africans. Johncyna Williams, an African- anti-Islamic sentiment in recent America). far more controversial and put him back in American student at the University of Furthermore, Africans who became Baptist news, this time well beyond the Florida and a member of the Black Student Christian, particularly those who studied in Georgia state line. Oni, like other African Union, entered full fellowship at Westside the United States, often adopted parts of the students in the South, would seek acceptance Baptist in Gainesville, a previously segre- Southern Baptist discourse. Indeed, like at a local church, and that action would put gated church. Even though Williams was not Vincent Amachree, they were often seen a him back in the spotlight. from Africa, the decision to desegregate laudable because they adopted a Christian African Baptists studying in the United Westside took the world context into worldview. African Baptists found that they States naturally sought to affiliate with local account. During the debate over ending seg- could represent Africa to a Southern Baptist churches. Many attended as visitors, but regation at Westside, one member queried: audience, but only within a circumscribed those students staying in the country for sev- “How can we send missionaries to Africa and Christian context. An awareness of such eral years sought full membership in a and then discriminate against the American limitations clearly needs to be incorporated Southern Baptist Church. Their efforts to Negro”? This was precisely the point mis- into placing Southern religious history in its join those churches occasionally gained the sionaries and Africans had been making for global context. attention of a broad range of Southern over a decade, and precisely the issue Clearly, where issues of race and reli- Baptists, thus helping spread the students’ Mobley had posed to Mercer students when gion came into contact, the Southern situa- direct influence beyond their campuses. Oni’s application was being debated. In light tion was influenced by factors far beyond While many churches across the South of such questions, three-quarters of the the borders of the South or even the United accepted Africans, three particular members voted to accept Williams as a States. What I have suggested here is that a instances—in Richmond, Virginia; member.31 While Oshoniyi, Adegbile, and fuller understanding of both Southern and World religious history requires putting the 1920: A comparative Study,” Journal of World History 16:3 1959): 28. supposedly provincial Southern evangelicals (Sept. 2005): 327-369. Something of an exception to my char- 26 “Majority of Letters Favor Admitting Ghanaian,” into their global context. While this paper is acterization is William D. Campbell’s work, which looks Christian Index, March 7, 1963, 3; “Pros & Cons on Ghana explicitly at the Mercer case. Campbell provides a detailed case Student,” Christian Index, April 4, 1963, 8; “Letters,” Christian but a bare scratching of the surface, once this study, but lacks some broader context and says little about the Index, April 18, 1963, 8. surface is scratched, I believe we will dis- mission in Ghana. William D. Campbell, The Stem of Jessie: 27 “Missionary Agrees,” Christian Index March 14, 1963, 7; The Costs of Community at a 1960s Southern School (Macon: cover a wealth of topics to pursue. There is “Differ on Ghanian,” Christian Index, April 11, 1963, 8. Mercer University Press, 1995). Dana Robert provides an inter- much in the American South for the world 28 esting study of the impact of mission work on gender ideology John J. Hurt, Jr., “Mercer Took Christian Action, Let’s Do historian, and much in the broader world for in the United States in Dana L. Robert, American Women n the Same,” Christian Index, April 25, 1963 6; Minutes: Board the Southern historian. Missions: A Social History of Their Thought and Practice of Trustees and Presidents Council of Mercer University, April (Macon: Mercer University Press, 1996). A recent sampling of 18, 1963, 12; “News in the Christian World,” Baptist Student ENDNOTES articles from the Journal of World History suggests that even 42:8 (May 1963): 32. 29 I would like to thank Cassie Dupras for her research assis- when world historians engage the American religious experi- Willis, All According to God’s Plan, p. 179-80. ence, they do not focus on the American South. For example: tance. Although this paper offers both new research and new 30 “Two Negroes Join Richmond Church,” The New York Michael C. Lazich, “American Missionaries and the Opium interpretations, some of this research has been previously pub- Times Jan. 25, 1965, p. 23; “Richmond Church Suit Dismissed,” Trade in Nineteenth-Century China” Journal of World History lished or presented. Notably: “’Our Preaching Has Caught Up The Christian Century 83 (March 30, 1966), p. 411. 17:2 (June 2006): 197-233. With Us’: The Impact of Missions and Mission Converts on 31 8 “Two Negroes Join Richmond Church,” The New York American Race Relations” World History Association 14th Mark Newman, Getting Right With God: Southern Baptists Times Jan. 25, 1965, p. 23; Willis, All According to God’s Plan, Annual Conference, Ifrane, Morrocco; “A Baptist Dilemma: and Desegregation 1945-1995 (Tuscaloosa: University of p. 173. Christianity and Discrimination, and the Desegregation of Alabama Press, 2001); Eighmy, Churches in Cultural Captivity; 32 Willis, All According to God’s Plan, p. 180. Mercer University” Georgia Historical Quarterly 80(Fall Willis, All According to God’s Plan, esp. 13-14. 1996); All According to God’s Plan: Southern Baptist Missions 9 Joel L. Alvis, Jr., Religion and Race: Southern and Race, 1945-1970 (Lexington: University Press of Presbyterians, 1946-1983 (Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Kentucky, 2005). Press, 1994); Newman, Getting Right With God; Gardiner H. Mini-Essays on 1 Dickson Bruce, And They All Sang Hallelujah (Knoxville: Shattuck, Episcopalians and Race: Civil War to Civil Rights University Press of Tennessee, 1974), passim. (Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 2000); Peter C. Religion and World History Murray, Methodists and the Crucible of Race (Columbia and 2 Gregory Stephens, “Monolingualism and Racialism as London: University of Missouri Press, 2004); Harvey, Curable Diseases: Nuestra América in the Transnational South” Freedom’s Coming. in James L. Peacock, Herry L. Watson, and Carrie R. Matthews, 10 based upon the forthcoming eds., The American South in a Global World (Chapel Hill: Ian Tyrell, “American Exceptionalism in an Age of University of North Carolina Press, 2005) 205; Sam Hill, The International History,” American Historical Review 96:4 (Oct. South and North in American Religion (Athens: University of 1991): 1032. Georgia Press, 1980) 2-6. 11 Willis, All According to God’s Plan, passim. World History Encyclopedia, 3 Paul Harvey, Freedom’s Coming: Religious Culture and 12 Willis, All According to God’s Plan, 169-174. A. J. Andrea, General Editor the Shaping of the South from the Civil War through the Civil 13 Stephen Neill, A History of Christian Missions, rev. ed. Published by permission of ABC-CLIO. Rights Era (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, (1964; rpr., New York: Penguin Gooks, 1986) 421 n. 8. 2005); Rufus B. Spain, At Ease in Zion: A Social History of 14 Copyright ABC-CLIO Southern Baptstis, 1865-1900 (Nashville: Vanderbilt University Bill J. Leonard, God’s Last and Only Hope: The Press, 1967); Barry Hankins, Uneasy in Babylon: Southern Fragmentation of the Southern Baptist Convention (Grand Baptist Conservatives and American Culture (Tuscaloosa: Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 1990), 2. University of Alabama Press, 1971); Beth Barton Schweiger, 15 “Report of the Committee on Race Relations,” Minutes Selling Sanctity: The Pilgrimage “Max Weber in Mt. Airy, Or, Revivals and Social Theory in the of the Nigerian Baptist Mission, (1955), p.46, FMB Archives; Early South,” in Schweiger and Donald G. Mathews, ed., E. A. Dahunsi, “On Race Relations in the U.S.A,” Minutes of Trade is Good Business Religion in the American South: Protestants and others in the Nigerian Baptist Mission, (1955), 20-23, International History and Culture (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Mission Board Archives. Annika Fisher Press, 2004); George F. Frederickson, Racism: A Short History 16 “Foreign Mission News: Racial Policy is Affirmed,” (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2002, passim, par- Commission 26:9 (October 1963): 29. ticularly Chapter 3. Although motivated by otherworldly goals, pil- 17 Jane Steinberg, “African Students in the U.S.” 4 Ajantha Subramanian, “North Carolina’s Indians: Erasing Mademoiselle 68 (November, 1968): 179; “Foreign Mission grimage brought immediate earthly rewards to Race to Make the Citizen,” in James L. Peacock, Harry L. News,” Commission 20: 6 (June 1961): 12; “Alumni Ministers popular destinations. Taxes on pilgrims, dona- Watson, and Carrie R. Matthews, eds., The American South in a Group Backs African Student Admissions,” Biblical Recorder tions to shrines, and purchases made at the mar- Global World (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, April 8, 1961, 17; “Wake Forest to Admit Negroes to Graduate kets that sprang up around holy sites, allowed pil- 2005), 192-201; Mary L. Dudziak: Cold War Civil Rights: Race Schools,” Biblical Recorder May 6, 1961, 7. and the Image of American Democracy (Princeton: Princeton grimage towns to thrive. 18 “Report of the Executive Committee,” and “Matters University Press, 2000); Corrie E Norman and Don S. Arising from Minutes,” Minutes of the Ghana Baptist Pilgrimage trade could single-handedly sup- Armentrout, eds. Religion in the Contemporary South: Convention, (July 1962), International Mission Board Archives; port a local economy. On the sacred mountains of Changes, Continuities, and Contexts (Knoxville: University of “All Racial Bars Dropped at Undergraduate Levels,” Biblical Tennessee Press, 2005), 123-225. Tibet, strict parameters preserved the hallowed Recorder May 5, 1962, 6. 5 Spain, At Ease in Zion; John Lee Eighmy, Churches in landscape, forbidding hunting, land cultivation, 19 “Wake Forest Graduates 400” The New York Times, June Cultural Captivity: A History of the Social Attitudes of the 9, 1964, p. 20 and husbandry of unclean animals. Income from Southern Baptists introduction and epilogue by Samuel S. Hill, 20 the Bonpo and Buddhist pilgrims enabled the sur- Jr. (Knoxville, University of Tennessee Press, 1972). H. Randall Pettus, ed., Who’s Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges XXIX (1962-63), p. 17. vival of the resident communities. In India, mas- 6 Thomas A. Tween, “Our Lady of Guadeloupe Visits the 21 Confederate Memorial: Latino and Asian Religions in the James R. Scales quoted in “Foreign Mission News,” sive Hindu temples, like that of Nathdwara in South,” in Norman and Armentrout, eds., Religion in the Commission 24, no. 6 (June, 1961): 13. Rajasthan, could sustain over 1,000 families. Contemporary South, 147; Alan Scot Willis, All According to 22 “Foreign Mission News,” Commission 26:3 (March Pilgrimage could also permit a town to God’s Plan: Southern Baptist Missions and Race, 1945-1970 1963): 29; Vele Keyata Y. Redding, “Mercer Celebrates accrue great wealth. Due to the miracles that fol- (Lexington: University Press of Kentucky), 125. Anniversary of Integration,” The Mercerian 4 (Spring, 1994): 1; lowed Thomas Becket's murder and their subse- 7 A complete historiographic entry on Christian Missions Campbell, The Stem of Jessie. See also Alan Scot Willis, “A would run the length of sizable article. An early work of critical Baptist Dilemma: Christianity, Discrimination, and the quent promotion by the town's clergy, scholarship on missions in Africa is Roland Oliver, The Desegregation of Mercer University,” The Georgia Historical Canterbury, England became a major pilgrimage Quarterly 80:3 (Fall 1996): 595-615. Missionary Factor in East Africa (London: Longmans, 1965). center, at its height rivaling even Rome and An example of triumphalist history is Baker James Cauthen, et. 23 Redding, “Mercer Celebrates,” 1; Willis, All According to al. Advance: A History of Southern Baptist Foreign Missions God’s Plan, pp. 67, 81. Mobley quoted on page 67. Jerusalem. The shrine's healing powers, extolled (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1970). A very good comparative 24 John J. Hurt, Jr., “Separate Ghana Student from in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, motivated vast study of the reaction of the Chinese and of West Africans by Integration Issue,” Christian Index, February 21, 1963, 6. numbers of pilgrims during the Black Death in David Linfield recently appeared in the Journal of World 25 “Majority of Letters Favor Admitting Ghanaian,” the 1340s. The plentiful visitors (100,000 during History. It exemplifies the effort by historians to understand the Christian Index, March 7, 1963, 3; “Missionary Agrees,” impact of missionaries on the societies they attempted to con- the 1420 Jubilee alone) and sustained royal Christian Index, March 14, 1963, 7; Dr. and Mrs. William R. vert to Christianity. David Linfield, “Indigenous encounters Norman, “Mangled Missions,” Baptist Student 38:9 (January patronage yielded great prosperity. Until the six- with Christian Missionaries in China and West Africa, 1800- teenth century, Thomas's tomb remained among the greatest concentrations of wealth in England. both to travelers motivated by profit and by piety level, techniques for attaining physical immortal- Such accumulation of revenue was possible made it wealthy for over 1000 years. Generations ity were in vogue, especially among the gentry of due the expenditures required of pilgrims on their of artists were employed decorating the 492 labo- the south, to which Chinese regimes had retreat- trek. Food and shelter were sometimes free, such riously dug-out grottos of the cave complex. ed in the wake of northern “barbarian” invasions. as the provisions placed in Buddhists' begging By the fourth century C.E., Buddhism had bowls or the housing offered Christians in developed from a hitherto little-known South Jerusalem by the Hospitalers, but they usually Bibliography Asian faith introduced by merchants and mission- required money. Donations and further purchases, Appadurai, A. and C. A. Breckenridge. "The South Indian aries traveling the “Silk Road” trade routes into a such as incense or flowers, were necessary for rit- Temple: Authority, Honor, and Redistribution." growing tradition patronized by Chinese elites. Contributions to Indian Sociology 10 (1976): 187-211. uals. Souvenirs were also common. Butler, John. The Quest for Becket's Bones: The Mystery of the Initially, it did not appear likely that Buddhism The French town of Conques was supported Relics of St. Thomas Becket of Canterbury. New Haven, CT: would take root in China. Although trade routes from the ninth to the thirteenth centuries by pil- Yale University Press, 1995. had linked China to other regions of Eurasia for Coleman, Simon and John Elsner, Pilgrimages: Past and grims visiting St. Foy. The saint's bones resided in Present in the World Religions. Cambridge, MA: Harvard centuries, travel always was difficult and danger- a statue that embodied her requests for gifts. University Press, 1995. ous, especially across the Himalayas to the south Miracle accounts report how Foy, who was mar- Liber miraculorum sancta Fidis (The Book of Sainte Foy). and the great deserts to the west. The scriptural tyred as a young girl, particularly desired jewelry. Edited and translated by Pamela Sheingorn. Philadelphia: languages of Buddhism, such as Pali and University of Pennsylvania Press, 1995. Pilgrims were compelled to "donate" such items Mortel, Richard T. "Taxation in the Amirate of Mecca during Sanskrit, are completely unrelated to Chinese, after Foy appeared-and occasionally threatened the Medieval Period." Bulletin of the School of Oriental and and thus the translation of foreign texts and con- them-in visions. The reliquary that contained St. African Studies, University of London 58, 1 (1995): 1-16. cepts into the vernacular presented an enormous Stokstad, Marilyn. Santiago de Compostella in the Age of the Foy's earthly remains was such a reliable source Great Pilgrimages. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, challenge. Perhaps the most formidable obstacle of income that it was paraded through the coun- 1978. to Buddhism in China was the uniformly nativist tryside whenever the cathedral needed funds. and negative Confucian reaction that it provoked. Conques lay on the Iter Sancti Jacobi (Route But in the absence of state support, Confucianism of Saint James), a major pilgrimage road that cul- was at a profound disadvantage and was unable to minated in Santiago de Compostella, Spain. The Confucianism, Buddhism and mount any effective resistance to Buddhist prose- pilgrimage business was so lucrative at Conques Daoism: Transformation of lytization efforts. that the burgers and clergy fought for decades Chinese Religion 300-1000 CE Daoist movements were in nascent stages of over control of the marketplaces. When cathe- development and could not compete with the bet- dral-owned souvenir stands cut into the people's Jeffrey Richey ter-organized Buddhist missions. Many Daoists, profits, rioters nearly assassinated the bishop. The as well as some disillusioned Confucians, were clergy claimed it required the funds to aggrandize By 300 C.E., China was no longer under unified attracted to the apparent similarity of Buddhist the cathedral, which would in turn encourage rule. The fortunes of the most prominent indige- teachings with those familiar to them from texts more pilgrimage. Such tactics spurred the great nous religious tradition, Confucianism, had fallen such as the Laozi (Daodejing) and the Zhuangzi church building boom of the High Middle Ages. with the Han dynasty (202 B.C.E.-220 C.E.), and movements such as the “Dark Learning” Whereas European Christian pilgrims were while those of its lesser-known native and foreign (xuanxue) school. This attraction was encour- exempt from taxes, cities on other continents counterparts, Daoism and Buddhism, were rising aged by early translators of Buddhist texts into often taxed pilgrims. Muslims arriving in Mecca steadily. These three transformations influenced Chinese, many of whom adopted Daoist termi- had to pay eight gold dinars to the amir or they, the subsequent development of Chinese religious nology in order to express Buddhist concepts. together with the ship captains who brought history throughout the first millennium C.E. and Later sectarian Daoist movements, such as the them, were severely punished. At times, such beyond. From the “period of disunity” (220-589 “Highest Clarity” (Shangqing) and “Spiritual heavy fees even worked to decrease the number C.E.) onward, Chinese religion would be defined Treasure” (Lingbao) sects, borrowed other of pilgrims undertaking the hajj to this holiest site by the interactions between Confucianism, Buddhist ideas (such as the doctrine of karmic in Islam. Excessive taxation similarly affected the Buddhism, and Daoism. retribution), resulting in further Buddhist-Daoist Anasazi pilgrimage destination of Chaco Canyon During the Han, the term “Daoism” (daojia) syncretism. in New Mexico. Around 1050, construction of denoted a mélange of legal, medical, philosophi- By the end of the long interregnum between elaborate tombs, ceremonial kivas, and broad cal, and occult lore. Later it signified a constella- unifying dynasties, Buddhism’s prestige had roads jumped 600 percent as the area became a tion of sectarian movements, each claiming a host reached its zenith. Yang Jian, the general who major center. By 1111, however, the Anasazi cer- of divinely revealed writings as authoritative reunified the empire and reigned as Emperor emonial capital moved north to a site today scripture alongside well-established texts such as Wendi of the short-lived Sui dynasty (581-618 known as Aztec, New Mexico, likely due to the the Laozi (Daodejing) and Zhuangzi. These C.E.), assumed the mantle of a Buddhist excessive tribute pilgrims were charged. movements’ healing and longevity practices and chakravartin-raja (“wheel-turning king,” e.g., Commercial venues also worked in conver- commitment to moral rectitude no doubt made universal monarch) in order to legitimize his rule. gence with pilgrimage traffic. Medieval them doubly attractive to those searching for Under the succeeding Tang dynasty (618-906 European markets and fairs were timed to fall meaning in the fragmented post-Han world. Led C.E.), Chinese Buddhists and their elite patrons upon the feast days of local saints when pilgrims by Zhang Ling (later known as Zhang Daoling), sponsored missions to the regions now known as flooded the towns. A similar symbiosis occurred the “Celestial Masters” (Tianshi) venerated Laozi Vietnam, Korea, and Japan, and Buddhist diplo- at the Hindu Vitthala temple in Vijayanagara, as a god and required rituals of confession for its macy helped to cement cultural and political links where markets surrounded the shrines and path- members in anticipation of the imminent end of between East Asian courts. Chinese sensibilities ways led the pilgrims away from residential the world. “Celestial Masters,” whose title signi- also transformed Buddhist iconography, as the zones and toward these ritual and commercial fied initiation into an unseen cosmic bureaucracy, bodhisattva Avalokitesvara (masculine in South areas. devoutly expected to assume positions of power and Central Asian representations) became Many pilgrimage sites were along trade in a purified society ruled by the elect. Daoist Guanyin, a highly feminine figure in Tang art. arteries, like Mecca on the major route between theocracies ruled by groups such as the “Celestial Tang trade links to Central, South, and West Asia India and the Mediterranean or the Buddhist Masters” and the “Yellow Turbans” (huangjin) enabled the transmission of still more foreign caves near Dunhuang in the Gobi Desert along briefly flourished here and there. At the personal religions to China, including Islam, Judaism, the Silk Road. Dunhuang's success at appealing Manichaeism, and Nestorian Christianity. Although none of these ever attained the popular- Bibliography: Silla, monarchs of that kingdom took on Buddhist ity enjoyed by Buddhism, sizeable communities Bokenkamp, Stephen R. Early Daoist Scriptures. Berkeley and names and styled themselves Buddhist kings and affiliated with each tradition thrived throughout Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1997. Silla in particular as a Buddhist Land, specially Dien, Albert, ed. State and Society in Early Medieval China. chosen to take the lead in the promotion of the the medieval period, and large Muslim communi- Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1990. ties still exist in China today. While elites in each Ebrey, Patricia and Peter Gregory, eds. Religion and Society in doctrine. In the Silla capital of Kyongju the mas- religious tradition maintained the ideals of exclu- T’ang and Sung China. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i sive Hwangnyong Temple symbolized Silla’s Press, 1993. own vision of itself as Buddhist Land. The sivity and orthodoxy, there is no evidence that Knapp, Keith Nathaniel: Selfless Offspring: Filial Children and youthful bands of male Hwarang, who gained average Chinese showed much concern for exclu- Social Order in Medieval China. Honolulu: University of their greatest glory during the battles for unifica- sive religious participation or pure doctrinal Hawaii Press, 2005 tion, became linked to the worship of the teachings. Instead, syncretism prevailed, and Wright, Arthur F. Buddhism in Chinese History. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1959. Maitreya Buddha. In short, Silla’s promotion of each of the “Three Teachings” (sanjiao) Buddhism was intimately tied to the growth of (Buddhism, Confucianism and Daoism) was royal power and the drive for peninsula hegemo- enveloped in the trappings of Chinese popular Korean Buddhism, 400-1000 CE ny. religion, with its myriad local cults, deities, and With the aim of promoting Buddhism on the mythologies. Daniel C. Kane peninsula, many monks from the Three Both the Sui and the Tang patronized Kingdoms, and later Unified Silla, made the pil- Confucianism (in addition to Buddhism), reestab- For nearly a millennium, from its arrival around grimage to China, and even India, in search of lishing its canon as the basis for civil service 400 CE until well into the Koryo era (918-1392), Buddhist sutras and personal enlightenment. The examinations. Confucian ethics, with its “three Buddhism played a dominant role in the political, Silla monk Hye’cho (704-787), for instance, recorded his long journey to the birthplace of bonds” of obedience (ministers to rulers, sons to social, and cultural life of the Korean peninsula. During this period it overshadowed Buddha in India in a five-volume travelogue fathers, and wives to husbands), continued to (which was presumed lost until its rediscovery in define social relationships among the educated. Confucianism as the guiding state ethos and was a primary focus of intellectual and artistic ener- a Buddhist grotto in Dunhuang, China in 1908). Confucian ritual dominated all ceremonies of Likewise renowned was the Paekche monk public life and influenced religious practices gies. By most accounts, Buddhism first arrived on Kyomik, who voyaged to India and returned safe- among families and extended communities such the Korean peninsula through a proselytizing ly to Paekche in 526, carrying vast amounts of as villages. Near the end of the Tang, Confucian Buddhist monk of the Chinese Eastern Qin king- Buddhist sutras that were eventually translated and Daoist cliques at court persuaded the dom, who brought the new religion to Koguryo in into Chinese (then being used by the Korean Emperor Wuzong (r. 841-846 C.E.) to launch a the late fourth century. Shortly thereafter, the kingdoms). It is a testament to the efforts of such fierce persecution, directed at “foreign” religions, more southerly Korean kingdom of Paekche pilgrimages that the Silla monk Wonhyo in the destroying Buddhist institutions, confiscating adopted the faith. The kingdom of Silla, furthest seventh century was able to assimilate and har- Buddhist property, and secularizing monks and south, was certainly exposed to Buddhism from monize the bewildering array of Buddhist doc- trine without ever having left Korea. nuns throughout his realm. This disaster prompt- around 400 CE. But in a situation closely analo- In 668, with help from Tang China Silla ed Chinese Buddhists to view their era as “the last gous with Japan, Buddhism seems to have been first greeted by Silla with animosity and distrust. finally succeeded in defeating its rivals and unify- days of the dharma” (mofa), a degenerate period ing the peninsula. Though relations with Tang in which customary methods of transmitting the The Silla aristocracy in particular perceived in the foreign religion a threat to their privileges, found- were initially troublesome, with Tang wishing to Buddha’s teachings would not suffice. carve its own colonies out of the defeated king- Subsequently, new Chinese Buddhist sects devel- ed in part upon their close association with the worship of native shamanistic deities. But one doms, Silla eventually prevailed. Following oped around reliance upon a single practice, such secret of Buddhism’s success worldwide has been Silla’s absorption of the Buddhist legacies of as meditation (in Chinese, chan, in Japanese, its ability to accommodate native beliefs. Silla Paekche and Koguryo, and then the normaliza- Zen) or the recitation of a particular sutra, officially adopted Buddhism in 527, after legend tion of Silla-Tang relations around 700, Korean thought to be uniquely useful for gaining salva- states the Buddhist official Ich’adon was mar- Buddhism was prepared to enter a more intellec- tion in such troubled times. These developments tyred and his blood flowed the color of milk. The tually mature period. in China strongly influenced Buddhist move- Silla aristocracy soon found grounds of accom- For Buddhism in Korea, Unified Silla was a ments throughout East Asia. modation with the new faith, while the Silla period of unparalleled intellectual vigor and development. Foremost among the Buddhist fig- After the fall of the Tang, various warlords monarchy would also use it to bolster royal authority. ures of the period were the contemporaries competed for supremacy until a former Tang Uisang (625-702) and Wonhyo (617-698). commander, Zhao Kuangyin, restored imperial Though the Hinayana school of Buddhism, with its stress on individual meditation and salva- Uisang studied in Tang China and returned to unity as the Emperor Taizu (r. 960-976 C.E.) of Silla to found the Korean Hwaom (Huayen, the Song dynasty. Having relied upon Confucian tion, was tolerated, it was the Mahayana school, with its vast hierarchy of Bodhisattvas, emphasis Kegon) school, one of the major sects of Silla scholars to help stabilize and legitimize their on prayer over meditation, and its appeal to the Buddhism. By the time of Silla unification so regime, early Song emperors gratefully embraced masses, that prevailed in Three Kingdoms Korea. many various Buddhist sutras and doctrines had Confucianism and continued the anti-Buddhist For one thing, the hierarchical nature of entered Korea that what emerged was a crisis policies of the late Tang. Some endorsed Daoism, Mahayana Buddhism conformed well to social mirroring the confusion of Buddhist doctrine then leading to the imperial compilation of the Daoist realities on the Korean peninsula. Similarly, the prevalent in China. The overall result was a scriptural canon in 1019 C.E. Nonetheless, while Mahayana concept of Bodhisattvas – lesser Buddhism whose ultimate meaning was lost in the influence of Confucianism only grew stronger Buddhas who had forsaken final enlightenment to the cacophony of various teachings. While W?nhyo never benefited from study abroad, his under Song rule, Buddhism and Daoism retained aid humans in their everyday struggles – readily intellectual efforts are credited with bringing the their permanent places as fixtures in the Chinese accommodated many native deities. When Buddhism arrived on the peninsula various Buddhist doctrines under a unifying sys- religious landscape. The patterns of interaction tem of thought. between these three traditions set in motion dur- the Three Kingdoms were in the process of cen- tralization and mutual rivalry. It was perhaps nat- Ironies aside, the material splendor of ing the “period of disunity” and the political Korean Buddhism is one of its most striking precedents established by the succeeding dynas- ural then that the monarchies of those kingdoms took the lead in the acceptance and promotion of aspects, especially in the case of Silla. The Silla ties ensured that Chinese religion would continue the faith. Silla in particular linked Buddhism with capital of Kyongju (its modern name) remains a to be defined by syncretism, state control, and royal power and the protection of the homeland. vast storehouse of Silla period Buddhist temples, struggles for supremacy. For a century or so after the faith’s adoption in pagodas, murals, statues, and stupas. Most impressive is perhaps the stone Buddhist grotto of Sokkuram, just outside the Silla capital. Echoing history of Islam. their theology. Kalam was thus studied by only a similar Buddhist grottos in Northwest and In the Umayyad period (661-750) there were very small minority in Islam. The Asharite Western China, Silla’s Sokkuram (“stone cave discussions concerning whether the Quran was school of theology (after al-Ashari, died c. 935) hermitage”) is a masterpiece of Silla craftsman- the created or eternal Word of God, debates con- arose in response to Mutazilite positions. Al- ship and testament to the deep inroads the faith cerning works and faith, as well as free will ver- Ashari (a former Mutazilite) held that God's had made by the eight century. sus predestination. The debate concerning attributes did exist and were in some way distinct The socially turbulent period of Late Silla whether a Muslim who sins remains a Muslim, from his essence. The Quran is uncreated and saw a new development in Korean Buddhism and whether faith alone or works were necessary eternal. Therefore, Quranic phrases about God's with the growth in popularity of Son (Chan or to be a Muslim was significant because of the attributes must be accepted without question. Al- Zen) thought. Though this meditative sect of political situation of the time, particularly the Ashari rejected the Mutazilite doctrine of free Buddhism had arrived from China as early as the assassination of Uthman, the civil wars, and the will and developed his doctrine of "acquisition." seventh century, it failed to make an impact until establishment of the Umayyad Caliphate in 661. An omnipotent God creates both good and evil the early ninth century. Its rise in popularity has The Kharijites (the Seceders, those who initially acts of man, and the acts are acquired by man. been linked to the social realities of late Unified followed Ali) militantly opposed the Umayyads Man acts because God has given him the ability Silla, namely the rise in power of local gentry at and believed that works not only reflected, but to "acquire" or perform the acts which He has the expense of capital aristocracy. The powerful also affected one's faith and that one did not already created. Moreover, since God is the cre- local gentry of late Unified Silla, including Wang remain a Muslim after a grave sin. The Murjites ator of everything, he is continually creating, Kon, the future first king of Koryo, became the (those who postpone), who acquiesced to without which creativity all life would immedi- primary supporters of Son Buddhism. But its Umayyad rule and represented the majority of ately cease. Thus, there is no cause and effect, appeal may also be attributed to its dismissal of religious opinion, argued that faith alone is suffi- only atomism, or occasionalism. Al-Maturidi textual learning for personal meditation and sud- cient, that a grave sinner remains a Muslim, and (died 945) developed a system almost contempo- den enlightenment. Over the century bridging works can neither quantitatively increase nor raneously with al-Ashari's. The two systems late Unified Silla and early Koryo a total of nine decrease faith. The judgment of a sinner should were similar, but although al-Maturidi holds that independent Son monasteries were established on be reserved for God alone. On the issue of all acts are willed by God, God does not take nine different Korean mountains, each headed by degrees of faith, orthodox Sunni theology took a pleasure when evil acts are performed. Although a patriarch. Unlike the earlier urban-centered middle road, but inclined toward the Murijite emphasizing the omnipotence of God, he allowed Buddhist temples, Son temples chose as their position. Arguably the central topic of discus- for the ability of the human being to produce acts. locale isolated mountain retreats. In time Son sion, around which many of the theological Determinism prevailed medieval Islamic theolo- overtook the textual schools of Korean Buddhism schools developed, was the problem of predesti- gy, for logically, only an omnipotent being can to become the main current of Buddhism in the nation and free will. On the one extreme were the act. Koryo period. Jabirites (jabr, coercion, force), who maintained The most widely discussed problem in sys- Following the fall of Silla in 927, Buddhism, strict determinism; on the other, the Qadarites tematic theology was the problem of Being, that notably Son, continued to play key social and cul- (qadar, decree, power), who argued for free will is, whether essence and existence are one. The tural roles during the succeeding Koryo dynasty, and personal responsibility. Broadly speaking, theologians tended to reject any difference though it would slowly be eclipsed by Chinese those who believe in a created Quran also between existence and essence and held that inspired Confucian statecraft in the realm of pol- believed in man's free will, while those who essences are created at the time of their existence, itics. argued for an eternal Quran also believed that while philosophers generally tended to make a God determines everything. distinction between existence and essence. Bibliography: Kalam began to develop systematically after Discussions of being among the theologians Iryon. Samguk Yusa, Legends and History of the Three 750 C.E. during the Abbasid period, and it, too, would affect discussions among the philosophers Kingdoms of Ancient Korea. Translated by Ha Tae-Hung and was affected by politics. The first significant the- as well. Grafton K. Mintz. Seoul: Yonsei University Press, 1972. Korean Buddhist Research Institute, ed. The History and ological school in Islam was the Mutazilite Culture of Buddhism in Korea. Seoul: Dongguk University school (those who refrain), which initiated the Bibliography: Press, 1993. discussion of Islamic doctrine in terms of Greek Abdel Haleem, M. "Early Kalam." In S. H. Nasr and O. Korean Buddhist Research Institute, ed. Son Thought in Korean philosophical conceptions. They attempted to Leaman, eds., History of Islamic Philosophy, pp. 71-88. Buddhism. Seoul: Dongguk University Press, 1998. London, New York: Routledge, 1996. find rational proofs for Islamic beliefs. The Hourani, George. Reason and Tradition in Islamic Ethics. Lancaster, Lewis R. and C.S. Yu, eds. Assimilation of Buddhism Mutazilites held five main points: in Korea: Religious Maturity and Innovation in the Silla New York: Cambridge University Press, 1985. Dynasty. Berkeley: Asian Humanities Press, 1991. 1) God's unity (tauhid), which entailed MacCarthy, Richard. The Theology of al-Ashcari. Toronto, Nam Dong-shin. “Buddhism in Medieval Korea.” Korea allegorical interpretation of divine attributes, and 1953. Journal v. 43, no. 4 (Winter 2003): 30-58. that the Qu'an was created; Makdisi, George. Religion, Law and Learning in Classical 2) emphasis on God's justice (God must Islam. Brookfield, VT: Variorum, 1991. Morewedge, P., ed. Islamic Philosophical Theology. Albany, reward the good and punish evil); New York: State University of New York Press, 1979. 3)"The Promise and the Threat" (i.e. reward Pavlin, James. "Sunni Kalam and Theological Controversies." and punishment, Paradise and Hell); In S. H. Nasr and O. Leaman,eds., History of Islamic Kalam: Islamic Speculative 4) the "intermediate position" (regarding a Philosophy, pp. 105-118. London, New York: Routledge, Theology to ca. 1000 CE grave sinner, i.e. that he was neither a Muslim nor 1996. a non-Muslim); Kimberly Georgedes 5) "commanding the good and forbidding NEEDED the evil," i.e. interfering publicly to maintain K-12 Teachers to Review The expansion of Islam beginning in the 630s, the observance of the Sharia. Regarding the issue of establishment of the Umayyad Caliphate at free will, God is bound by justice to do what is Books for Classroom and Damascus (A.D. 661-750) and the subsequent best for man (i.e., send prophets, reveal the law, establishment of the Abbasid Caliphate in Persia etc.), but it is man's responsibility to obey, and Library Use ca. 750, meant that the Muslims had to deal with works can affect faith. various religious questions that arose from politi- Although the Mutazilites were politically in cal developments, the development of religious favor for a short time, there was both popular and law (Sharia), as well as coming into contact with intellectual opposition to their views, and when Peter Dykema other religious traditions, such as Christianity and they lost political support, they were considered Book Review Coordinator Zoroastrianism. The development of kalam heretics. Indeed, the majority of Muslims, (speculative theology) is very significant for the including the ulama (religious scholars) rejected the mutakallimun (speculative theologians) and [email protected] 16th Annual WHA Conference The University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee June 28-July 1, 2007

Expanding Horizons, Collapsing Frontiers: The Macro and Micro in World History

The 16th Annual World History Association Conference, jointly sponsored by the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee and Marquette University will be held in downtown Milwaukee at the UWM’s Conference Center. Registration begins on Thursday afternoon, 28 June, and sessions run from Friday morning through early Sunday afternoon. Located 6 blocks from Lake Michigan and the Milwaukee Art Museum and 9 blocks from the grounds of Summerfest, the World’s Largest Music Festival, this venue will afford conferees easy access to the many fine restaurants and cultural activities available in one of the USA’s most exciting cities. Low-cost public transportation is available throughout the downtown area. Conference special events include, but are not limited to, a reception, tour, and special exhibit of the American Geographical Society Library, University of Wisconsin—Milwaukee, on Friday afternoon and a reception and special exhibit at the Haggarty Museum of Art, Marquette University, on Saturday. The conference theme,has relevance to Wisconsin, the historic land of the Voyageurs and Jesuit mission- aries, as well as the heartland of the Old Northwest Territories. But beyond that, the theme is sufficiently flexible to allow for a wide vari- ety of sessions and papers.

Registration: A conference registration form is included on the following page and on the WHA web site . Because there is a late-registration fee after 1 May, conferees are urged to register as soon as possible. The conference fee before 1 May is $120 for WHA members, $175 for non-members, and $35 for students. Day passes are also available. The conference fee includes two receptions, welcoming hospitality on Thursday afternoon during registration, 3 continental breakfasts, 1 luncheon, and 5 refreshment breaks.

Housing: Because of the popularity of Summerfest, which draws large crowds from afar, downtown accommodations should also be arranged as soon as possible. The Local Arrangements Committee has secured blocks of rooms at two locations. The Hyatt Regency Hotel, situated one block from the conference, offers a special conference rate of $112 for a single or double, $132 for a triple, and $152 for a quad. Considering the usual cost for a room at a Hyatt and the fact that this is the height of Summerfest, this is a bargain. Parking is at the rate of $15 per night. This special rate is good only for the first 100 rooms and the cutoff date for reserving at this rate is 30 May 2007. Reservations can be secured directly at (414) 276-1234 or (800) 233-1234 or www.hyatt.com. Conferees should request the special WHA rate. For persons on a very limited budget, there is Straz Tower, a former YMCA now run by Marquette University as a residence hall. Located 7 blocks from the conference site, its 2006 rates were $41 for a single, $56 for a double, $66 for a triple, and $72 for a quad. The rates for 2007 will be slightly higher. Regardless, this rock-bottom price will allow conferees to reflect on how much they saved as they walk the extra 6 blocks. Rooms are air-conditioned and have private bathrooms. Parking is $5 per night. Reservations must be made direct- ly by calling (414) 288-7208.

Special Events for the Conference: The 2007 WHA Conference will be held at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Conference Center in downtown Milwaukee, six blocks from Lake Michigan and the Milwaukee Art Museum with its spectacular Calatrava addition (www.mam.org), and nine blocks from the grounds of Summerfest, the World’s Largest Music Festival (www.summerfest.com). Low-cost public transportation is available throughout the downtown area. Reception, tour, and special exhibit of the American Geographical Society Library at UW-Milwaukee (www.uwm.edu/Libraries/AGSL), Friday afternoon Reception and special exhibit at the Haggerty Museum of Art, Marquette University (www.marquette.edu/haggerty), Saturday after- noon Reduced price ($8 per person, including entrance to the featured exhibit) for admission for conference attendees (with a conference badge) any time throughout the weekend at the Milwaukee Art Museum. Special docent-led orientations of the museum from a world his- tory perspective: Thursday at 6:00 PM and Sunday at 1:30 PM. Tickets for the orientation (also $8) must be purchased in advance with con- ference registration. Exhibit and reduced price at the Pabst Mansion, an enormous 1890s Flemish revival mansion built by the Pabst family (www.pabst- mansion.com), throughout the weekend Film Festival, with films provided by the Milwaukee International Film Festival (www.milwaukeefilmfest.org), running throughout the conference Receptions, coffee breaks, and at least one lunch sponsored by ABC-CLIO, Houghton-Mifflin, Marquette University Department of History, Alverno College, and others. For information on other Milwaukee attractions, see the article in the September 2006 issue of National Geographic Traveler, pp. 54- 7 or at: www.nationalgeographic.com/traveler/features/ 48hours_milwaukee0609/milwaukee.html. The website links to a very interesting podcast of a socialist history walking tour of downtown Milwaukee. BOOK REVIEWS Peter Dykema Book Review Coordinator

Donald Johnson and Jean Elliot Johnson. Universal Religions in World History: The Spread of Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam to 1500. Explorations in World History. McGraw-Hill, 2007. 226 pp.

Alexander Mirkovic Arkansas Tech University

The book under review belongs to an ambitious new series called Explorations in World History, a series conceived as thematic surveys of a particular issue in world history, such as oceans, socialism and revolution, or in this case, universal religions. All the books in the series—five volumes have appeared so far—are envisioned as supplements to a standard textbook and provide more ambitious students with an opportunity to expand their knowledge and take a snap-shop of world history from a particular angle. With a clearly defined thematic, global, and comparative approach, the series, and this book in particular, further enhances McGraw-Hill’s strong offerings in world history. The strengths of Donald and Jean Johnson’s book on universal religions, especially its usefulness in the classroom, outweigh its weaknesses, which mainly lie in the lack of a clear definition of what constitutes a universal religion. The book is a brief, but exceptionally dense, informative historical sur- vey of Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam up to the 1500s. It often goes beyond just covering the well-known facts and describing the most impor- tant groups as they emerged in each tradition. It stresses historical develop- ments, adaptations and assimilations of each religion to historical circum- stances through time and space. Common social patterns are often men- tioned, but they are not the main focus. Because the authors believe that one of the characteristics of a univer- sal religion is the role of a historical founder, the introduction includes short biographies of the three founders. Following the introductory chapter, come three chapters that cover the expansions and diversifications of the three religions. These chapters, emphasizing the diversity within each religion, often bring to light a number of less-well-known groups that are frequently missing from even far more comprehensive surveys. For example, a lot of space is given to the spread of Christianity in the direction of Asia and Africa, including Ethiopia, Thomas Christians of India, and Nestorian groups that spread their version of Christianity from Mesopotamia to China. In the conclusion Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam are compared and con- trasted in terms of their mutual influences and borrowings, similar rituals and practices, as well as attitudes toward religious toleration, among other topics. Because it is clearly written and avoids refined theoretical concepts often used by scholars of comparative religions, the students will enjoy this book especially for the wealth of information that it makes available. The weakest point of the book is the unfortunate choice of the title, which reflects the lack of clarity throughout the book about what actually makes a religion “universal.” The authors’ definition of universal religions as those that “anyone can join”, that were “founded by a historic person,” and are “usually focused on a single all-powerful divinity” (6) clearly leaves many unanswered questions. The phrase “universal religions” is especially controversial because it was very popular in the Victorian period, when a strong distinction was made between “national” or “tribal” religions vs. transnational or universal (see the classic: Abraham Kuenen, National Religions and Universal Religions, 1882). The world “universal” is tainted by Victorian racist and Eurocentric views, which saw religions as develop- ing from primitive (non-white races) to more civ- er copy, it is clear that Fortress is targeting col- Reformation movement as their lay leaders spoke ilized forms (usually the religion of contemporary lege and seminary classes but also the interested and wrote with an immediacy and an expectation Britain). In my opinion the word is inappropriate reading public. of imminent change. Also in part 3 is a chapter on and should have been avoided, especially for a In volume 5, Reformation Christianity, the the experiences of those outside the normative textbook aimed at undergraduate students. The reader is promised that “the likes of Luther, Christian community: Muslims, Jews, heretics, word “transnational” religions, even though it has Calvin, Leo X, Henry VIII, and Charles V [will] and refugees. its problems, could be more appropriate, but it recede into the wings, taking on supporting roles” From the 1960s to the 1980s, a great deal of would involve a greater level of theoretical defi- (xv). For the most part, this is achieved. Peter research on the Reformation focused on two nition, which the authors were apparently trying Matheson, the volume editor, and his eleven themes: the Reformation in the cities and the rev- to avoid. capable and experienced contributors have set up olution of the common man. Both topics stressed Also in the conclusion the authors touch the structure of the book and chosen their topics the communal nature of early modern upon the current debate about the “clash of civi- to recast the analysis so that the common people Christianity and how the Protestant message was lizations,” trying to make the book’s material and their religious experiences take center stage. channeled through existing local structures and more relevant for the contemporary world. Part 1, addressing “The Life of Faith,” unfolds embraced by specific social groups. In the 1990s, Surprisingly, however, this section only focuses the lived piety of urban and rural Christians, and the field experienced a cultural turn and the focus on turbulent relations between Christianity and raises the question to what extent the shifted to the formation of confessional identity Islam, forgetting about the third “universal” reli- Reformation was a people’s movement. Topics through religious ritual, gender construction, and gion, Buddhism. One wonders how is it possible, discussed include the sacraments and other rituals the coercive power of the state. Reformation when one talks about the “clash of civilizations,” tightening social bonds and building unity, fami- Christianity provides a clear assessment and sum- to overlook the destruction of the Bamiyan ly worship in the home, lay participation in serv- mary of this generation of scholarly research. Buddhas in Afghanistan by Islamic fundamental- ices and confraternities, the use of vernacular While nothing in this collection is explicitly ists? liturgies, poor relief and communal discipline, as “global” (the intended audience is not world his- In spite of its weaknesses, the book is a good well as rural and urban complaints against the torians), the authors do address several hotly supplement to any basic textbook of world histo- clergy. The overarching conclusion of the first debated issues at many points throughout the vol- ry. What it lacks in theoretical sophistication, it three chapters is that the lay people of Europe ume: the impact of the Reformation on women, compensates with the abundance of information, always adapted clerical expectations to their own the success or failure of the various Reformation clear outline, and accessible language, making it needs. When this adaptation was accomplished in movements, and the formation of parallel and appealing for classroom use. a spirit of pragmatism and compromise with the competing confessional cultures over the course religious and political elites, then the movements of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. for Reformation were usually a success. When Finally, the contributors have succeeded in lifting A People’s History of Christianity, vol. 5, reforming ideas were imposed on the people and up the stories and voices of ordinary Europeans. Reformation Christianity, ed. Peter conflicted with urban and rural needs, then the A look at the pages and the index still reveals sev- Reformation was a failure or was only embraced eral references to Luther, Calvin and the like, but Matheson. Fortress Press, 2007. 306 pp. by the people over the course of decades or even just as many to Anne Askew, the Archer family, Hardcover, $35.00. centuries. Katharina Schütz Zell, Argula von Grumbach, Part 2 presents the life cycle of ordinary and Utz Rychsner. The people are now a key part Peter Dykema Christians “From Cradle to Grave”: maternity rit- of the story. Arkansas Tech University uals, childbirth, infant and maternal mortality, baptism, childhood, play and religious instruc- Fortress Press and the general editor, Denis Janz, tion, relations between parents and children, love are to be commended for this attractive and use- Philip Jenkins. The Next Christendom: and discipline, orphans, gendered politics and The Coming of Global Christianity. ful People’s History of Christianity. While writ- economics, courtship and marriage, inheritance, Oxford University Press, 2002. 270 pp. ing history “from the bottom up” can no longer be confraternities and women’s orders, preparing for described as cutting edge, this series and its edi- a “good death,” the Protestant rejection of purga- $15.95. tors have done a fine job to ensure that the focus tory, and new forms of managing the relationship stays firmly on the people in the title. In his gen- between the living and the dead. The authors Peter Dykema eral foreword, Janz notes it is the goal of these reveal lay agency in all of these areas, sometimes Arkansas Tech University volumes to provide neither a history of theology as autonomous activity and sometimes as actions nor an institutional history of the church but, taken against the desires of clerical leaders and The prolific author of twenty books ranging in rather, a history of Christians, taking “lay piety as state officials. While the contributors avoid any subject matter from a basic U.S. history textbook, the central narrative” (xv). The series thus offers detailed elaboration of Zwingli’s ideas on the to a whole series on “moral panics” (the Klan, the the opportunity to sum up the findings–over the eucharist or Calvin’s stress on the catechism, the red scare, child molesters, serial killers, and ter- past 50 years–of social and cultural historians of phrase “the reformers sought to ...” does appear rorists), to analyses of contemporary religion, Christianity and present them to a general reading with regularity across the pages, as if the use of Philip Jenkins intends the volume under review to public. A People’s History is made up of seven the generic plural really dilutes the role played by be part of a trilogy on the changing demographics volumes, the first five of which have been pub- the religious elites. It’s not so easy to push the and shifting beliefs of world Christianity. The lished, addressing Christian Origins, Late Pope, Luther, or Henry VIII into the wings! In Next Christendom introduces the decline of west- Ancient Christianity, Byzantine Christianity, any case, conflicts between the authorities and ern, mainstream, European and North American Medieval Christianity, and Reformation the people were indeed commonplace and a char- Christianity and the rise of “Southern Christianity. Readers of the Bulletin may be most acteristic of the era. Christianity,” a Bible-oriented, spirit-friendly, interested in the two volumes set to arrive later in Part 3 is entitled “Finding Their Voice,” and conservative form of Christianity growing rapid- 2007, Modern Christianity to 1900 and addresses peasant movements, resistance, and ly in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Jenkins Twentieth-Century Global Christianity. Each of revolts, as well as lay theologies and the language published a more detailed study of the beliefs of the volumes has an inviting page layout, with of the common folk as expressed in the writings Southern Christians last year in The New Faces of judicious use (but not overuse) of illustrations of popular pamphleteers. Ordinary Christians Christianity: Believing the Bible in the Global and primary-source boxes. At $35 for a hardcov- were emboldened and empowered in the early South and, later this year, he will detail the chang- ing religious face of Europe in God’s Continent: there are over 120 million. Whether we look at “infidel” by both radical Islam and Southern Christianity, Islam, and Europe’s Religious Catholics, Anglicans, Pentecostals, or independ- Christianity? Crisis. A revised edition of The Next Christendom ent/indigenous evangelical churches: all are Much of Jenkins’ book seeks to probe these is due to hit bookstores any day now (but too late growing across the global South. Jenkins explains future possibilities but he does so in a careful, to be used for this issue of the Bulletin). All three this growth by pointing out the estrangement felt even-handed fashion. His projections are based volumes are published by Oxford University by many as people move from rural villages to on solid demographic evidence from the past and Press, ensuring quality, availability, and a very the growing, impoverished metropolises of the present. His conclusions often reveal his own fair price. region. This estrangement creates a need filled by Christian perspective (he’s an Episcopalian, if The main points in The Next Christendom churches and religious organizations. They offer that’s relevant) but one that is both cautious can be summarized as follows. The population of fellowship, community, and better lives to towards certain aspects of Southern Christianity the global South (Africa, Asia, and Latin women, children and the poor. Furthermore, as well as frustrated with the ignorance of America) has grown and will continue to grow. Jenkins argues, Southern forms of Christianity Western Christians and the exclusively secular- Christianity has boomed in the global South and have always provided protection against spiritual minded. His work is well-written and nicely will continue to expand rapidly. In the face of evil and demonic forces deemed very real by the organized, with clear subdivisions to each of the these demographic shifts, the relative influence of common folk of Africa, Asia, and Latin America. chapters. For this reader, and for many world his- “Western” Christianity in Europe and North This has been a point of concern: “If there is a torians, the greatest strength of The Next America will decline. As Southern Christianity single key area of faith and practice that divides Christendom is how it reveals the unfamiliar grows in numbers and influence, global Northern and Southern Christians, it is this matter global dynamics of a seemingly familiar religion. Christianity will probably become more conser- of spiritual forces and their effects on the every- vative and traditionalist, will read the Bible more day human world” (123). Providing instances of literally, will be focused on spiritual warfare exorcisms, witchcraft trials, divination, miracu- between forces of good and evil, and could well lous healing, and prophetic utterances, the author Jürgen Osterhammel. Colonialism: A be supportive of reactionary politics. Since reli- raises what he admits is a distinctly Western ques- Theoretical Overview. Shelley Frisch, gion, not loyalty to a nation-state, provides the tion: are these beliefs really Christian or are they translator. 2nd ed. Markus Wiener core of identity for most Southern Christians, the simply pagan, tribal, animist beliefs covered by a Publishers, 2005. 147 pp. $24.95. potential exists for a new kind of “Christendom,” thin veneer of Christianity? Jenkins concludes whereby Southern Christians would unite and that while Southern Christianity is enthusiastic, seek to shape societies across the globe according charismatic, and literalist, and thus very different Kevin Kreiner to their beliefs. This opens the door for potential from liberal, contemporary Western forms, it is Broome Community College conflicts, not only between Southern Christianity also very recognizably Christian. Indeed, he and the other rapidly expanding world religion, implies that perhaps it is rational Western Picking up the newest edition of Jürgen Islam, but also between Southern Christianity and Christians who have moved away from the his- Osterhammel’s Colonialism, it’s hard to imagine the secular (and/or liberal Christian) global toric mainstream of Christian practice. a thorough and innovative treatment of a subject North. Jenkins is clearly a member of the “clash In the final three chapters of the book, as complex as colonialism in such a small pack- of civilizations” school of prognostication. Jenkins addresses the “next Christendom” and the age. Osterhammel engages the monumental Two other dynamics, perhaps straw men, potential conflicts it may pose. Southern world system of Immanuel Wallerstein, re-inter- drive aspects of Jenkins’ presentation. He relish- Christians, he argues, do not feel the need to com- prets the issue of power and agency in the strug- es pointing out the cultural arrogance of Western partmentalize spiritual issues within a more gle between colonized and colonizer, and sets out Christians, who assume that Western Christianity broadly secular framework of their lives; that is a a definition of colonization intended to be appli- has always been the normative form of the reli- Western phenomenon. In the global South, politi- cable across three continents and five hundred gion, and he does not hesitate to show up the cal life is deeply shaped by notions of the sacred. years in a book barely more than one hundred short-sightedness of those, who would argue that In the 20th century, Southern clerics often partic- pages in length. Its size alone would suggest this the future of global society belongs to liberal ipated in activist politics and movements for lib- book as a student’s introduction to colonialism. democracy, global capitalism, and secularism. In eration, revolution, and human rights; The history of colonization, as Osterhammel contrast, Jenkins suggests “that it is precisely reli- Archbishops Romero and Tutu being two exam- points out, usually appeared in older textbooks as gious changes that are the most significant, and the history of a particular colony. Writers who ples. Jenkins predicts that in the 21st century, this even the most revolutionary, in the contemporary were still operating within the old assumptions of activism will move beyond priests and pastors world” (1). the colonizers saw their endeavor as a “civilizing and will take a decidedly more conservative turn, In the historical sections of his study, mission.” Modern scholarship has tended to especially on the social issues of abortion, AIDS, Jenkins does well to remind readers that reverse the issue, seeing European colonizers as and rights for women and homosexuals. In 1991, Christianity has deep, ancient, and long-lasting nothing but invaders to be resisted. Osterhammel Zambia declared itself a Christian nation, with roots in north and east Africa, the Middle East goes beyond both these approaches. He argues for the vice president urging Zambians to “have a and central Asia, and that (cultural imperialism a more unified view of colonialism as a process Christian orientation in all fields, at all levels” not withstanding) Christianity has been embraced that began with the first European expansions (153). In these varieties of politicized by hundreds of millions of native and mestizo after the Middle Ages and is in many ways still Christianity, Jenkins sees the potential for con- Americans, Africans, and Asians over the course going on today. “The history of colonialisms is flict not only among rival Christian groups but, of the past 500 years. While many assumed that thus not only – perhaps not even chiefly – a his- more importantly, between Christians and the retreat of European colonial powers would tory of conquest, acquisition, and flag-hoisting. It Muslims, especially in those regions of the world lead to a decline of Christianity in the Third is a history of the gradual emergence of state where each faith has significant numbers, for World, in fact older mission churches as well as structures and societal forms and their geograph- example, the Sudan, Nigeria, the Balkans, and indigenous varieties of the faith strengthened the ic expansion or contraction within nominally areas of Southeast Asia. And what will be the religion all the more. “It was precisely as Western claimed regions” (28). role of the global North, the West, in these con- colonialism ended that Christianity began a peri- For students, the most useful aspect of this flicts? Will Western Christians support their co- od of explosive growth that still continues book is Osterhammel’s ability to define a highly religionists or will the West seek increasingly sec- unchecked, above all in Africa” (56). In 1955, complex problem in terms that can be applied to ular solutions, perhaps leading to it being labeled there were 16 million Catholics in Africa, today many situations. By considering colonialism as “a relationship of domination between an indige- American, give insight to the emphasis given, or ans. nous (or forcibly imported) majority and a minor- not given, to military history in their professional Brevity and clarity are the best features of ity of foreign invaders ... [who] ... are convinced education, and also insight into the reality of bat- this book. The book, just under four hundred of their own superiority and of their ordained tle and the uses of history in that reality. pages long, divides the material in sixteen clearly mandate to rule” (16-17), Osterhammel is able to Academic historians, who face battle primarily defined chapters, appropriate for the sixteen week break down barriers of location and periodization on paper, need contact with those who have faced long semester, contains a useful glossary at the that previous definitions of colonialism often get the chaotic reality of battle. Eight articles, written end, and provides the student as well as the spe- hung up on. He is therefore able to apply the by historians, complete the book. These are wide- cialist with well-chosen suggestions for further insights of this book to areas in which formal col- ranging articles, from Thucydides and Clausewitz reading. The expected features of any excellent onization may not have occurred, making this to modern terrorism and U.S. civil-military rela- textbook are there, including attractive illustra- work useful in topics courses of any sort that con- tions. Both Thucydides and Clausewitz, in odd tions, chronological tables, and valuable lists of sider historical power relations. For example, combination, can be considered the theorists of primary sources available in English translation. Osterhammel sees missionaries as agents of cul- war. While Thucydides was describing one par- Especially appealing are what the author calls tural change which colonial authorities, who ticular war his great talent was an understanding “boxes,” used to break the pace of the slowly often preferred to leave in place existing social of the human dimension of war. Clausewitz still moving political narrative and intended to pro- and political structures and rule from behind the stands as the greatest theorist on the nature of vide a “window” into the mentalite of the scenes, did not want. Osterhammel’s ability to see war. It never harms to be reminded of these two Byzantine society. The boxes are engaging colonialism as a multi-faceted issue, with differ- very different authors. The remaining articles are because they provide an insight in the economic, ent forces at work among both colonizers and col- more clearly confined to the twentieth century, social, and cultural life of Byzantium beyond the onized is among the greatest strengths of this often grappling with the effects of technological confines of the imperial palace, and they also tes- book. This is in keeping with his focus on colo- change, the ways the professional military envi- tify to the originality, the breath of knowledge nization as a process that goes on even after for- sioned the use of these changes, and the ways and the depth of the teaching experience of the mal colonization came to an end. This, in turn, these changes actually worked on the battlefield. author. They are ideally suited for spirited discus- makes this book useful for those interested in This is a fascinating topic not only to the histori- sions in the classroom. I would single out the fol- post-colonial situations. an, but to the professional officer. It is particular- lowing “boxes” as especially useful for world his- What Osterhammel does not do is spend ly interesting to note the “lessons” often drawn by torians: (a) Digenes Akritas, focusing on a popu- much time on the details of the different colonial the professional military from their own experi- lar hero of Byzantine medieval epics, which con- situations. In a small book with such a broad ences have often led to the next failure. It may be tains a wealth of information on the interaction scope, this is necessary, but it does mean that in this area that the academic historian can pro- between Christian and Muslims in the border Colonialism requires a certain knowledge of vide the greatest service. While The Past as areas; (b) the box on Byzantine golden coinage, world history to be fully appreciated, making it Prologue is not written for the beginning novice, which had a world-wide appeal; (c) the box on unsuitable for younger or beginning students. In whether a serving officer or a student of history, Byzantine views on the origins of Islam; and the end, this is a mere quibble. Osterhammel has it is a thought provoking introduction to a wide finally (d) the box on Byzantium and the Brothers mapped out a new approach between the apolo- variety of trends within the modern military Karamazov exploring the enduring fascination of getics of the old colonial historians and the cur- world. Russia with the Byzantine tradition. rent writers who diminish the effects of coloniza- Every teacher of Byzantine history has to tion on the history of the non-western world. His justify to his or her students and the administra- “long duration” approach is a history almost Timothy E. Gregory. A History of tion why it is necessary to go through the often without people, in which forces shape all those Byzantium. Blackwell History of the excruciating minutia of Byzantine political con- who come into contact with conqueror and con- Ancient World. Blackwell, 2005. 381 pp. spiracies and the tedious details of religious con- quered alike. In doing so, he has created not only troversies that were the integral part of the a theoretical overview, as the subtitle promises, empire’s social and cultural life. Gregory’s deci- Alexander Mirkovic but a new working definition of colonialism that sion to follow the traditional political narrative is Arkansas Tech University should serve as a base for further re-evaluating counter-productive here. In other words, while such an important and difficult topic. the author is right that a coherent chronological Since undergraduate surveys of Byzantine history narrative is necessary for an introductory text- are not published often, Timothy Gregory’s new book, his narrative lacks an appealing organiza- textbook fills an important gap in the contempo- Williamson Murray and Richard Hart tional focus (or one might even say “a selling rary offerings. Teachers of Byzantine history will point”) that would make this book more engag- Sinnreich, editors. The Past as Prologue: welcome it with great enthusiasm. The book is an ing. I would go even further and say, while the The Importance of History to the Military excellent survey, clearly written and accessible. It book contains information and examples that the Profession. Cambridge University Press, follows a traditional political narrative of students and the teachers will love because they 2006. 265 pp. Byzantine history. In the introduction, the author will be introduced to a world that is both similar makes a valid argument that a survey should fol- and different from the well-known history of low the narrative framework based on “kings and Georgena Duncan Western Civilization, the book’s good points are battles” because of the lack of knowledge about Arkansas Tech University diminished and often hidden behind the tradition- the basics of Byzantine history in the English- al chronological narrative. speaking world. This is a controversial decision The Past as Prologue is a collection of fourteen A teacher of Byzantine history today has to taken by the author, who made his name by incor- articles and essays on the need for historical study justify why Byzantine history is relevant in the porating archeology and anthropology in his his- within the military, particularly among officers. existing globalized world. The answers often sug- torical research. In spite of the author’s argument, The editors’ choice to include both reflections of gested are as follows: (1) Byzantium, as a sister one still wonders whether the book clings to this professional military officers as well as academic civilization of the West, is relevant because it was chronological arrangement to the detriment of articles broadens the scope of the book. The four a repository and a transmitter of the Classical other aspects of history. The text has many useful essays written by officers on their own uses for Tradition (see Robert Browning, The Byzantine features, but because of its narrative framework, and interests in history are valuable for the aca- Empire, 1992); (2) Byzantium represents a histor- it falls short of the ideal desired by world histori- demic historian. These officers, both British and ical link of the modern Greeks with their ancient heritage, and an understanding of its history is ble; challenging without being hostile; friendly.” dent to a large number of primary source materi- necessary for the national history of the Greeks as Dr. Fernández-Armesto breaks his textbook als that will certainly complement material found well as the peoples of the Byzantine down into ten parts and thirty chapters. In each in the textbook itself. Here, for example, are some Commonwealth (see Dimitri Oblensky, Phoenix: part he makes a successful effort to stay true to of the Ana1ect of Confucius and excerpts from The Byzantine Commonwealth, 2000); (3) As an the title of his book, so that the various parts of the edicts of Asoka. empire that spread over three continents, the world are included in almost every chapter. In conclusion, Dr. Fernández-Armesto has On page 355, for example, he begins a discussion written a fine textbook; it covers many individu- Byzantium was unique among world civilizations of “Eurasia’s Extremities Japan and Western als and trends, but it does not bog down the read- linking Africa with Europe and Asia, the steppe Europe.” To accommodate this approach he er with unnecessary details. It convinces the read- with the Mediterranean, the South with the North, places emphasis upon trends and inter-relation- er that the study of history can be both interesting and Christianity with Islam (currently no text- ships far more than on individuals; such persons and rewarding and therefore can be read with a book exclusively follows this approach but see as Julius Caesar and Lord Nelson, for example, great deal of enjoyment by a significant number Angeliki E. Laiou and Henry Maquire, eds., receive little or no coverage, and for whatever of the general public, who, like the students them- Byzantium: A World Civilization, 1995). reason, my favorites, the Aramaeans, make no selves, will become aware of the great debt we Gregory’s narrative is focused on the second appearance. owe to the past and the ways society has constant- point (and to a lesser extent on the first), making The book is well edited; maps and illustra- ly been changing in order to deal successfully this book attractive to the audience of Greek and tions appear in the text at positions where they with problems it will certainly face in the future. Eastern European heritage. Therefore, the book most complement the material being presented, does not fully emphasize the global aspect of although the photograph of Elizabeth Cady Byzantine history, even though the author occa- Stanton and Susan B. Anthony could be a bit mis- ¬leading, since Stanton’s name is mentioned first, sionally includes material, especially in the even though she is sitting on the right (913). Alan V. Murray, editor, The Crusades: An “boxes”, that illustrates the cultural mixture that For students, the strengths of this textbook Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO, 2006. 1314pp. was Byzantium. A slightly different emphasis are many; it is written in a style that makes the outside of the purely chronological would help, in subject matter easy to follow, and the well chosen Alexander Mirkovic my opinion, the book (and the discipline) to over- illustrations are accompanied by a number of Arkansas Tech University come the narrow confines of the western and helpful notes. For example, from the photograph national histories, and make the book and of the Grand Canal in China (page 316) students Byzantine history in general, attractive, if not learn that the project itself dates all the way back Adopting the notion of crusading, this four vol- irresistible, to world or comparative historians. to the Seventh Century C.E. ume encyclopedia is ideally suited for both prac- In conclusion I must say that, even though I The text is further strengthened by the inclu- titioners and teachers of world history. found some organizational faults with this text- sion of a series of excellent maps, many of which Chronologically, the encyclopedia covers not book, I will use it in my courses since it is clear- allow the reader to see obvious comparisons only the nine "canonical" crusades, but also and/or differences, such as the ones on page 295 ly written, attractive for both teachers and stu- events and missions well into the early-modern that focus on the extent of Islam and Buddhism dents, and includes many global connections that period. Organized into entries on persons, dynas- around 1000 C.E. There are also a number of spe- ties, and historical sources and places, the project are not present in current offerings. However, in cial features, such as “A Closer Look,” which some ways, Gregory’s text represents a missed includes the classical coverage of expeditions to provide more detailed information about a partic- the Holy Land, but widens its coverage to also opportunity to make Byzantine history more ular subject or event, such as “Board Game from include such “crusades” as those against the vari- global, especially today in the world of the “clash Ancient Sumer,” “Royal Blood-letting,” and “An ous "heretics" and "schismatics," the Baltic of civilizations.” The long-lasting Byzantine Ethiopian View of the Battle of Adowa.” These society and its widely disseminated culture that sections are complemented by other entries called Crusades, and the Spanish Reconquista. Judicious included peoples from three continents and an “Going to the Source,” in which “a key problem” yet clear editing combined with an international enormous diversity of creeds and customs, is discussed and compared. For example, the arti- team of distinguished contributors make this deserves to become more relevant on college cle entitled “Feasting” discusses this custom in encyclopedia much more than a reference tool. campuses. Gregory’s textbook will contribute to different parts of the world, from Hambledon Hill Students and academics who study the relations that goal, but it falls short of its full potential. The in England to Sumer in ancient Mesopotarnia. between Christianity and Islam in all periods of Since students can relate easily to well known reason for this shortfall is, in my opinion, the history will keep coming back to it again and holidays which feature “feasting,” such as again. An excellent resource! author’s decision to hold on closely to the tradi- Thanksgiving Day, such entries should arouse tional “kings and battles” narrative. Because interest from all but the most lethargic scholars. Call For Contributors - kings and queens are so numerous in Byzantine Another entry, certain to stimulate class discus- World History Bulletin history, their shadow does not allow the gems of sion, compares the teachings of Jesus Christ and Byzantine social and cultural diversity to shine. Mozi on the subject of Love. Students are asked The World History Bulletin is seeking quality to explain how the doctrines of these two teachers essays for inclusion in upcoming issues. were related to the needs of the people and the Felipe Fernández-Armesto. The World: A state. The author consistently emphasizes the Volume XXIV Number 1 (Spring 2008): History. Pearson-Prentice Hall, 2007. 1056 human side of history, often by including Focus Issue: Food in World History. Deadline: pages, Combined Volume. accounts of individuals who were sent by their 1 February 2008. Guest Editor: Rick Warner, rulers on specific missions. The Egyptian ambas- Wabash College David W. Krueger sador, Wenamun, was such a person. Sent by his Arkansas Tech University pharaoh to purchase timber for the Egyptian navy Essays and classroom activities are also sought from the Phoenicians, Wenamun has a series of which deal with any aspect of the teaching of The author, about whom there is a fine bit of adventures that demonstrate the author’s belief world history. Interested parties should direct biographical background on page xlii, explains in that History can be both entertaining and instruc- their inquiries to Micheal Tarver, WHB Editor, his introduction to the text that “History is sto- tive. at either [email protected] or (479) 968- ries” and reminds his readers that “History isn’t Another great strength of this book is the 0265. International submissions are especially availability, if the instructor chooses, of a CD- over.” On that same page he attracts his readers encouraged. Submission guidelines are avail- ROM: “Primary Sources: Documents in Global by stating that “a textbook can be entertaining, able online at: www.thewha.org/WHB.pdf. even amusing, as well as instructive and accessi- History.” This academic tool introduces the stu- Milwaukee the paper “Global Disequilibrium and transnational experiences influenced his career as Two Chinese Scholars Named as Expanding Horizons: A Noncentric Approach to a congressman from Minnesota (1943 -1963) and Collapsing Frontiers from 1000 to 1900 CE.” his work in Sino-US relations. First WHA World Scholar Travel Foreign scholars who are interested in being Fund Recipients Gao, an associ- considered for travel grants to future WHA con- ate professor in ferences from this fund should submit a curricu- During the 2006 WHA Conference at California the Department lum vitae or biographical resume and a one-page State University at Long Beach, the Fund Raising of English at statement of their needs and the paper or panel and Conferences Committees announced the Peking session they propose to offer to the chair of the inauguration of the WHA Conference Travel University, has Conferences Committee, A. J. Andrea at aan- Fund to underwrite travel to future WHA confer- held a Freeman [email protected]. At the same time, they must ences by historians and teachers from abroad. Fellowship at make formal application to the WHA’s Program Generous donations by Bedford/St Martin’s the Center for Committee to present a paper or session. Those Press, the Center for International Education at East Asian and paper and session proposal forms can be found at California State University, Long Beach, the Pacific Studies the WHA website www.thewha.org In order to Department of History, California State at the University allow time for the Conferences and Program University, Channel Islands, and The Society for of Illinois at Committees to make their decision and for the History Education provided the initial money to Urbana- Executive Directorate to arrange travel for recip- make this fund a reality. This program was subse- Champaign ients, both applications must be received no later quently renamed the WHA World Scholar Travel (2005-2006), and in 2002 was a fellow in than 31 January of the year in which the confer- Fund to underscore its global and academic American Studies at the Salzburg Seminar. She ence is being held. dimensions. was also a visiting scholar at the University of In order to grow the fund into a more robust The first two recipients of a travel purse Nebraska at Lincoln, 2000-2001. Although locat- entity, the WHA offers its members and friends from this fund are Dr. Zhang Weiwei of the ed in the Department of English, where she teach- an opportunity to contribute to this travel fund on College of History, Nankai University, Tianjin, es English language and culture, Gao also offers the association’s website www.thewha.org. China, and Professor Gao Yanli of Peking courses in modern Chinese and U.S. history. Please go to the Conference Registration page. University in Beijing, who have been invited to Her conference paper, “When the West Met Contributions can also be mailed to The World attend the WHA Conference in Milwaukee, 28 the East: The Transnational Experiences of History Association, 2530 Dole Street, The June-1 July 2007. Walter H. Judd,” will focus on Walter Henry Judd University of Hawai’i, Sakamaki Hall A203, (1898-1994), a medical missionary to China, Honolulu, HI 96822. Unless otherwise instructed, An associate 1925-1931 and 1934-1938, and his perceptions patrons of the fund will be acknowledged in the professor of of Chinese culture, society, and politics. Further, 2007 Conference Program, if their contributions global history in it discusses how those perceptions and his are received by 15 May 2007. the Department of World Reviewers Sought for the Following Books: History, where he has been Title: Author: teaching Modern World Oceans in World History Rainer Buschmann History since History of Central America Thomas Pearcy 1978 and for History of Venezuela M. Tarver and J. Frederick which he In the Beginning: From Human Evolution to the First States Lauren Ristvet The Communist Experiment Robert Strayer received two Warfare State: Britain 1920-1970 David Edgerton University Global South Asians: the Modern Diaspora Judith Brown Excellence Terror, Mass Murder, and Everyday Life in Nazi Germany E. Johnson and K. Reuband Awards (1985, The Business of Empire: The East India Company H. V. Bowen 1998), Zhang Race and Scripture in the Protestant Atlantic World Colin Kidd Guns for the Sultan: Weapons Industry in the Ottoman Empire Gábor Ágoston offers such graduate- and undergraduate-level A Time for Peace: The Legacy of the Vietnam War Robert Schulzinger courses as “A History of World-Systems,” “A The Mexicans: Coming to America C. J. Shane History of International Trade,” ”China in World Contagion and the State in Europe, 1830-1930 Peter Baldwin History,” and “The West and China in Global Graves of Tarim: Genealogy and Mobility acr. the Indian Ocean Engseng Ho History.” During the spring and fall semesters of Frontiers of History: Historical Inquiry in the 20th Century Donald Kelley Life Among the Inca James Corrick 2002, he served as Distinguished Scholar-in- Catastrophe in Southern Asia: The Tsunami of 2004 GailStewart Residence at the University of Louisville. He has Morocco Kevin Delgado twice been a visiting scholar at the University of A History of the Two Indies Peter Jimack London’s Institute of Historical Research (1987- Tales from Spandau: Nazi Criminals and the Cold War Norman Goda 88, 1999-2000) and in 1997 was Visiting Scholar The Guiana Travels of Robert Schomburgk, 1835-1844 Peter Riviere Minorities in the Ottoman Empire Molly Greene at Seoul National University. The Ottoman Balkans, 1750-1830 Frederick Anscombe Dr. Zhang approaches world history from a The New Face of Lebanon: History’s Revenge William Harris perspective that he describes as “noncentric and Iraq Adrian Sinkler holistic,” and within that context he argues that Ibn Fadlan’s Journey to Russia Richard Frye global disequilibrium has determined world his- Libya Debra Miller A Concise History of Finland David Kirby tory in general and shaped the histories of its Trading Tastes: Commodity and Cultural Exchange to 1750 E. Gilbert and J. Reynolds parts, which in the modern era are its nation- The Atlantic in Global History 1500-2000 Cañizares-Esquerra, Seeman states. With this theory in mind, he will offer at Imperialism in the Modern World: Sources and Interpretations Bowman, Chiteji, and Greene

the nuances of architectural motif, might suggest vergence of these two forms of agency (the dis- WHA-Phi Alpha Theta at first that the British were exclusively responsi- cursive and the authorial) had an important role in ble for the conceptualization, design, and con- giving rise to the specific form the terminus ulti- Student Paper Prize in struction of buildings such as the Victoria mately took. Finally, the Gothic architectural Terminus. The European composition and overt style, in which the VT was built, was simultane- World History colonial messages of the building seem to ously mobile and mutable. Certain aspects of bespeak a colonial power relationship in which “Gothic” architecture traveled unchanged from the colonizing power created and manipulated a London to Bombay, while other aspects were Note: The WHA-Phi Alpha Theta Student unified repertoire and vocabulary of urbanization altered in a way that fundamentally changed their while all other members of the society were meanings. When viewed through the lens of these Paper Prize in World History Committee essentially powerless. Closer analysis reveals the three dual roles, the Victoria Terminus takes on a invited both 2006 laureates to submit their power relationships of colonial Bombay, though much more dynamic quality—a quality which papers for publication to the WHA Bulletin. far from equal, to have been more negotiated than reflects the dynamic nature of colonial power Robert Cole accepted; Jeffer Daykin chose the top-down, single-agent narrative suggests. It relationships as a whole. to submit his paper to another journal. also yields the realization that no unified vocabu- lary of urbanization ever existed; rather, it was a Artifact and Performance fractured and diverse urban discourse.3 The Victoria Terminus, sprawling in size and Even in the single case of the Victoria grand in scale, is like a massive clot in the main Power and Performance in Terminus, a building which exudes the imagery artery of contemporary Mumbai’s traffic flow. It Bombay’s Victoria Terminus* of the colonialist endeavor, the top-down narra- sits awkwardly at the intersection of three major tive falls short on several accounts. For one, it roads, each of which must bend or turn to negoti- Robert Cole collapses the British into a single category — that ate the terminus building. This quality makes the of the “colonizer” — even while there were clear intersection more of a node of destination or The University of Richmond disputes among the British regarding the shape arrival rather than a zone of passage, since the and context in which the new terminus should be straight lines of streets dissolve into a pool of realized. For another, it fails to account for the traffic, where the ubiquitous yellow and black uniqueness of Bombay’s Indian merchant popula- taxicabs pick up and drop off passengers, where tion, whose power in the sphere of urban affairs vendors and beggars congregate, where the Introduction should not be discounted or underestimated. crowd of rush hour commuters begins and termi- On New Year’s Day 1882, the first public Perhaps most importantly, the single-agent narra- nates. The epicenter of this flow of urban life is trains pulled out of the Victoria Railway tive creates the illusion that the physical structure the commanding façade of the Victoria Terminus Terminus in Bombay. Riding on those inaugural of the Victoria Terminus had a single symbolic itself. In all aspects of its construction, it is a lines were more than passengers, cargo, and the meaning that was inherently stable, which is an remarkable building, from its unique adaptation best wishes of a municipal Bombay government oversimplification of the process by which sym- of Gothic architectural sensibilities to its oriental- that had just spent a sizeable sum in the construc- bols acquire and retain meaning.4 Although this ist embellishments. These various attributes of tion of the terminus and its surrounding railway top-down narrative attempts to address the ques- the Victoria Terminus—its physical interaction system. These trains also bore with them an tion of agency, its answer is unsatisfying. with the city’s urban order, its significance and evocative symbol of the colonial order—one This study of the Victoria Terminus illumi- meaning in the minds of the people who use it, which emphasized the centrality of the city as a nates the overlap and interplay of the several dif- and its architectural uniqueness—fit together to node of administrative, economic, and cultural ferent forms of agency that contributed to the create a structure that is both meaningful as an power.1 The Victoria Terminus, a monumental building’s creation example of British colonial architecture, was thus both as a structure the emblematic center of the colonial economy and as a symbol. around which life in late-nineteenth century These intersections of Bombay revolved. agency can be To British imperialists, architectural expressed most clear- achievements in the colonial hinterlands served ly by addressing them both as space with utilitarian purpose and as a in terms of three physical canvas on which to project the cultural dualisms that the statements of superiority that undergirded the Victoria Terminus colonialist project. Colonial architecture in embodies. First, the Bombay was to be not only a display of real terminus was British power, but also a representation of the assigned meaning aims and ideals which British colonialists held even while it was regarding the city and the people who lived in it.2 producing meaning. The proliferation in Bombay of what have habit- In other words, the ually (and somewhat inaccurately) been referred people who used and to as European architectural forms testifies to the experienced the VT Figure 1 - Victoria Terminus, c. 1895 6 profound and pervasive nature of the impact of gave the building British colonialism on the organization and their own meaning, development of the city’s urban space. In fact, but the building was also affecting them (causing historical artifact and active as a representational the ostensibly unmitigated control which British reaction, eliciting response) in return. Second, the performance.5 administrators and architects exercised over the building represents the influence both of a larger To state that a physical structure can func- process of urbanization in Bombay, ranging in British colonial urban discourse and of the tion both as an “artifact” and as a “performance” scale from the broad aims of urban planning to authorship of an individual architect. The con- is to imply that it has the capacity to embody meaning or have meaning assigned to it, while formative meaning quite effectively, an ability also actively participating in the creation of that can be attributed to its location within the meaning. In the case of the contemporary Victoria city, its physical size, and its functional signifi- Terminus, it is evident that the terminus has cance. x intrinsic meaning by virtue of its architectural Where the terminus was not as effective was history; that it is assigned meaning by the com- in projecting a unified, singular meaning. Unlike muters, vendors, and beggars who frequently pass by or through it; and that the terminus creates physiognomic meaning as it sits in the middle of a complex intersection, forcing traffic to move around it and becoming the physical, visual, and figurative center of this piece of urban space. This line of thought proves immensely fruitful in analyzing the symbolic nature of the Victoria Terminus today, but how is it to be translated into late-nineteenth century terms, when the VT exist- ed in a very different urban context from the VT of 2006? The first two forms of symbolic meaning— intrinsic and assigned—are those which describe the Victoria Terminus’s behavior as an artifact, and these forms of meaning can only be under- other Bombay buildings such as the Town Hall stood historically through texts and analysis of (1804) or the Bombay University Convocation sources other than the physical building itself. Hall (1874), which evoked a sense of almost The context in which the terminus was created no untempered European influence and power, the longer exists, and it would be impossible to recre- Victoria Terminus suggested a relationship of ate it without extensive reference to historical hybridity and mediation.11 The performative documents that give insight into the thoughts and voice of the VT spoke neither English nor intents of the people who designed the building. Marathi; instead, it was built in an architectural The third form of meaning—the performative—is pidgin, making free reference to symbols and different from the first two in that it is concerned motifs that were both British and Indian in ori- not with intentions and origins but with effects. gin.12 The result of this combination, which one For this reason, it is possible to analyze the VT as historian has memorably called a “riotous extrav- an active late-nineteenth century architectural aganza,”13 is a structure which itself is neither performance by experiencing the building in its British nor Indian. European stained glass and contemporary context, even while it is not possi- Mughal multicolored stone arches coexist, mon- ble to grasp its artifactual meaning in the same keys and mongooses watch over the distinctly manner. To be certain, this form of analysis has Gothic entrances to the terminus, and a Western its conceptual limitations, since performative representation of Progress stands atop an Indian- symbolism requires an audience if it is to be influenced dome flanked by gargoyles designed meaningful, and the audience of today is vastly to handle the unique water challenges of the tor- obscured the directness and immediacy of the ter- different from the audience of 1888 when the rential South Indian monsoons. Regardless of the minus’s physical connection to the rest of the city. building was completed. Nonetheless, the intentions of the people who designed it, the Whereas the VT is today only visible once one hermeneutic stance adopted by this approach is Victoria Terminus is a building without a unified enters the intersection on which it is located, in capable of shedding light on the ways in which performative meaning. It suggests the power of 1888 the spacious maidans (open fields) of the the Victoria Terminus may have spoken when the British Empire even as it undermines that Esplanade and relatively uncomplicated street first given its performative voice.7 What we find power by diluting the British colonial symbology patterns would have given a less obstructed line is that this voice, though loud and boldly declam- with Indian architectural notions. of sight to the VT and thus reinforced the visual atory, was characterized largely by its instability, Ultimately, it is the viewer of the building— 9 uncertainty, and multiplicity. impact of the terminus as city center. the audience to the terminus’s performance—that When it was originally built, the VT formed In addition to the breadth of impact the must give meaning to the VT. The interpretation the crux at the intersection of two axes, one of Victoria Terminus was able to effect because of of the structure’s unique hybridity is not self-evi- which ran down the Bombay peninsula to Apollo its location, the building’s physical structure itself dent. Whether the terminus’s design and original Bunder, and the other of which crossed the city by contributed to the effective reach of the termi- intention was the result of British appropriation way of the Esplanade from the docks to Marine nus’s performative voice. As one of the largest and domination or of mutual mitigation and Drive. These axes physically connected the ter- and most elaborate structures in Bombay of the exchange is impossible to determine based on the minus with the Court of Justice building, Bombay late-nineteenth century, the VT imposed itself building’s performative aspects alone. This ques- University, the General Post Office, Elphinstone upon the consciousness of the city both in terms tion, then, is left to the viewer, since the instabil- College, the police headquarters, the Town Hall, of its epic scale as a performance writ large and ity and multiplicity of the terminus’s voice render the European GeneralvHospital, the Mint, and a as a stunning artistic achievement. Furthermore, it unable to project an unambiguous message. In number of barracks facilities. Thus, the Victoria as the basis of operation for a railroad industry the presence of such ambiguity, the viewer Terminus’s ability to project a sense of its own that was of increasing importance to the colonial becomes the final arbiter of the competing mean- centrality is not a modern phenomenon; on the economy, the terminus’s function enabled the ings bound up within the performative aspects of contrary, that sense was likely even more palpa- building to assert itself as a key participant in the terminus’s physiognomic form. Whether one ble in 1888 before Bombay’s rapid growth Bombay’s economic and industrial spheres. The sees the monkeys and mongooses as evidence of Victoria Terminus was thus able to project its per- a colonial power demonstrating its mastery of the than Bori Bunder. ty existed among British architects in India as “Orient,” or as physical representations of the For the design of the building itself, GIP well, but their argument was of a markedly differ- processes of compromise and mediation that typ- Railway executives turned to a young architect, ent timbre. Since British colonial architects rec- ified the colonial order, is the decision of the per- Frederick William Stevens, who had just recently ognized the significance of their work in the cre- son looking at the building. On this point, the begun to attract attention for his bold neo-Gothic ation of an imperial India, they argued over voice of the Victoria Terminus falls silent. designs commissioned for buildings including the whether their efforts would be most effective by Royal Alfred Sailor’s Home in Bombay and sev- aiming to build a distinctly European architectur- Discourse and Authorship eral municipal structures in Pune.19 Born in al presence in India, or whether they should aim Where the first section was concerned with England in 1848, Stevens moved to India in 1867, to build in a style more indigenous to India, cre- the building’s meaning as a performance, this and where he had worked with the Public Works ating the visual impression that they were the the following section analyze the building’s Department until he received the commission for rightful successors of the Mughal kings. This meaning as an historical artifact. The same ambi- the GIP Railway terminus (named the Victoria sharp disagreement was a hallmark of British guity discussed in the previous section extends to Terminus upon its completion).20 The terminus colonial architecture until the rise of Indian the artifactual meanings of the Victoria Terminus, was a project much larger in scale than any of nationalism brought an end to British imperial further challenging the notion that the terminus is Stevens’s previous commissions; thus, in order to aspirations.27 Rather than a unified architectural exclusively a symbol of the colonizing power. become acquainted with the styles and techniques discourse, British colonial India had widely One historian of the architecture of India being used to construct similar stations in Europe, divergent approaches to urbanization and archi- captured the difficulties of describing the origins as well as to cull inspiration for his own project, tecture, differing by region, city, and historical of the Victoria Terminus when he wrote that the Stevens spent ten months in 1878 traveling and moment. building “is a highly original work,” even while it studying European terminus designs.21 In most Indian cities, it was the second is “rooted firmly in the tradition of Ruskin, Scott, During his ten months in Europe, and approach to British colonial architecture that and Burges.”14 The perplexing quality of the ter- throughout his architectural education, Stevens most flourished, giving rise to a style often minus identified here is its resistance to being was exposed to two competing architectural termed “Indo-Saracenic” to express the style’s reduced to a single author or authorial intention. styles. The first was the Victorian Gothic Revival studied incorporation of Indian motifs and prac- On the one hand, the building is clearly a unique style of public architecture, which in the mid- tices. Bombay, however, proved to be a special accomplishment which fits into the stylistic nineteenth century was at the height of its popu- case in that it was the only city in which a Gothic development of the architect who designed it. On larity in England. The Gothic style also enjoyed ideal was pursued by its colonial architects, of the other, the terminus also shows the influence wide use throughout much of continental Europe, which Frederick Stevens is among the most of larger ways of thinking about architecture and including France, Germany, and Italy. Although notable. This trend of preference toward Gothic urban space that connected individuals from all it was most often incorporated into the design of and against Indo-Saracenic did not begin with parts of the British Empire in what might be churches or academic buildings,22 the Gothic Stevens, even though he did contribute to the called the colonialist “project.” Thus, the Victoria mode of construction also appeared in govern- solidification of Bombay’s status as a “Gothic” Terminus, though designed and built by architect ment buildings, offices, museums, railroad sta- city. For the source of Bombay architects’ pro- Frederick William Stevens (1848-1900), was not tions, and private residences.23 The British pro- clivity for the Gothic style, we turn both to the his project alone; nor was it wholly the avatar of ponents of Gothic architecture argued that theirs career of Henry Bartle Edward Frere, Governor 15 an overarching colonial urban “discourse.” was an authentically British style, since it was of the Bombay Presidency (1862-1867) and to the The relationship between F.W. Stevens and believed to have stemmed from the architectural philanthropic Parsi business leaders who financed the colonial urban discourse was a mutual one.16 practices of the Anglo-Saxons who were native to the transformation of Bombay in the mid- to late- nineteenth century. Stevens’s ways of thinking about architecture and the British isles.24 Until 1862, when Bartle Frere became the its role in a colonial society were not entirely This argument of authenticity was made in presidency’s governor, Bombay’s retained a fea- original—they were informed by the styles and order to set up Gothic architecture against its sty- ture common to many British colonial settle- ideologies both of London and of Bombay. He listic competitor: the Classical mode. The Greek ments: a fortress wall. In his first year as gover- was also forced to respond to the rising dissent Revival and later Greco-Roman styles traced nor, Frere had the wall demolished, making way regarding the form that urbanization in Bombay their architectural influences back through the for the realization of his plans for a new Bombay should take. At the same time, Stevens participat- Renaissance to classical Greece and Rome. built in the Gothic style. Earlier in his career as an ed in developing the urban discourse in Bombay, Although Classicist architecture continued to be administrator in India, Frere had come to favor and his individual effects on the city and its way built throughout the Victorian era,25 Gothic was Gothic architecture while participating with of thinking about urbanization were tangible. It indisputably the preferred mode for large public George Gilbert Scott (an important British neo- was out of this interplay of author and discourse structures. Given this stylistic preference in Gothic architect) in the design of the Church of that the Victoria Terminus and its unique architec- Europe of the mid- to late-nineteenth century, it is St. John the Evangelist in Bombay. This same tural form emerged. not surprising that Stevens chose to work within attachment to the Gothic style followed Frere to In 1876, the Great Indian Peninsular (GIP) the Gothic oeuvre as he drew up his plans for the the governorship of the city, where he initiated Railway chose Bori Bunder, a warehouse in the GIP commission. This was also possibly due to extensive improvements and developments of Fort district of Bombay, as the site for the con- the fact that Classicism simply did not have the Bombay’s infrastructure. Frere’s comprehensive struction of its new offices and railroad termi- contemporary equivalent of such Gothic achieve- 17 plan led—directly or indirectly—to the construc- nus. In terms of city geography, the location ments as St. Pancras Station (which greatly influ- tion of such Gothic-inspired buildings as the was ideal. Bori Bunder was situated at the center enced Stevens’s work),26 the Palace of of Bombay’s residential, administrative, and eco- Bombay University library, the University convo- Westminster, or the Royal Courts of Justice cation hall, the Secretariat, the High Court, and nomic spheres, with the main harbor located just (which were nearing completion during Stevens’s a few blocks behind, the Crawford Market imme- the General Post Office. In fact, Frere was the tour of Europe) to serve as a model for a more first to mention the possibility of constructing a diately north, and the municipal offices and uni- Classicist vision of the GIP terminus. 18 new railroad station for the Great Indian versity a short walk southward. For a railway Upon returning to Bombay from his fur- Peninsula Railway.28 company wishing to establish a dominant pres- lough in Europe, Stevens entered another divided Governor Frere was not the only one with a ence in the economic life of the city, few sites architectural milieu. The competition of architec- sweeping vision for the remaking of Bombay’s would have lent themselves to that goal better tural styles based on considerations of authentici- urban landscape. From the beginning of the artisanship. Accordingly, the school was charged evident throughout Stevens’s work, reaching its British colonial enterprise in India, Bombay’s with the dual mandate of preserving knowledge grandest realization in the Victoria Terminus. native population had exercised a degree of of the area’s crafts while also ensuring that they With its echoes of London’s St. Pancras Station, power and autonomy that was unparalleled in evolved so as to avoid obsolescence. The school the VT is clearly a product of Victorian England other Indian cities. This was due to the fact that flourished, and when the Gothic Revival reached sensibilities. The Victoria Terminus was the con- Bombay was founded as a trading and commer- the peak of its popularity in India, JJ School tinuation of a Bombay Gothic tradition spanning cial city; thus, successful merchants and busi- artists, who were primarily of Indian descent, several decades. At the same time, however, the nessmen held considerable influence over the designed and created many of the stone and VT was a new configuration of this tradition, affairs of the city.29 Rather than imposing rule wrought iron elements that gave Bombay Gothic pushing Bombay Gothic architecture and Stevens over an already existent Indian population in buildings their distinctive look.37 The Victoria into stylistic territory neither had ever explored. Bombay (as occurred in other colonial cities), the Terminus was one such building. The Victoria Terminus represents a key turning British invited Indian merchants and traders to do Even though Gothic was the favored style in point both in Stevens’s personal style and in the business in the new settlement, creating from its Bombay, a fact that was largely due to the influ- development of Bombay’s late-nineteenth centu- inception a relationship that suggested greater ence of Governor Frere and wealthy Parsi busi- ry approach to urbanization. equality and mutual dependence than the habitual nessmen, it did not go unchallenged in the urban As Indo-Saracenic architects brought their narrative of colonialism depicts.30 public discourse. As was mentioned earlier, the ideas to Bombay and grew more prominent with- Of particular note is the city’s Parsi popula- style of architecture that was most popular in the in the city’s urban discourse, Stevens began to tion, which, though small in number, exerted such rest of colonial India was not Gothic Revival. make subtle alterations to his style to respond to extensive power over the urban development of Instead, the Indo-Saracenic style, which aimed to the emergent voice of Indo-Saracenic dissent. Bombay that a 1907 observer was led to remark, design buildings in a more authentically “Indian” When compared with Stevens’s earlier and later “at the first aspect Bombay gives the impression manner, was more widely practiced. A particular- projects, the Victoria Terminus appears to be sit- of a city of Parsis. They are visible, they and their ly prominent proponent of Indo-Saracenic was uated at the beginning of a trend in Stevens’s work, everywhere.”31 Over the course of several Robert Fellowes Chisholm (1840-1915), who work that saw increasing incorporation of ele- hundred years of British presence in Bombay, the enjoyed great success in Madras and Baroda but ments of the Indo-Saracenic style. His earliest Parsis had carved out a unique niche in the power found stiff resistance to his style in Bombay.38 In Bombay project, the Royal Alfred Sailors’ Home dynamics of the city, associating themselves eco- fact, only one of Chisholm’s designs for projects (1876), showed only a minimum of influence nomically and politically with the British and in Bombay was ever built,39 and it was not until from Hindu and Mughal architecture, mostly in working to distinguish themselves from other the first decade of the twentieth century that the the form of the multicolored stone motif above 41 Indians in Bombay.32 By the mid-nineteenth cen- Indo-Saracenic style was used widely in Bombay. the windows, while the BB&CI Railway tury, a number of Parsi merchants had used their The respective architectural visions of Chisholm Offices (1893), with its multitude of white onion privileged position in Bombay to amass sizeable and Stevens clashed on several occasions, the domes, represented a more complete merging of fortunes, and many of these successful individu- most celebrated example of which was in the Gothic and Indo-Saracenic.42 The Victoria als chose to use their wealth to contribute to pub- design of the Bombay Municipal Corporation Terminus fell somewhere between these two lic works and urban development. In fact, were it Building (1893). Although Chisholm’s Indo- extremes. It retained the form and feel of Gothic not for the philanthropic contributions of Saracenic design won the initial competition, it architecture, but it was also the first of Stevens’s Bombay’s Parsi merchants, Frere’s plans for a was later shelved in favor of a Gothic design by buildings to incorporate a central dome, a hall- new Gothic Bombay would have been impossi- Stevens after the city’s enthusiastic reception of mark of Indo-Saracenic design.43 The Indian ble.33 On the whole, the Parsi magnates were sup- the newly completed VT elevated him to the level imagery in the building’s ornamentation, portive of the Gothic style both because it created of celebrity architect. Stevens’s Gothic style was designed by artists at the JJ School, was indica- a visual association with Europe (affirming their to remain the dominant public architectural mode tive of an architect—and, indeed, a city—strug- feelings of closeness with the British) and in Bombay for at least another decade. gling to resolve the question of architectural because it was capable of evoking the sense of Nonetheless, Chisholm had asserted himself as a authenticity that had colored the colonial urban ornamentation and detail that characterized dissenting participant in the public urban dis- discourse since architects had become aware of Mughal and Hindu architecture (making it more course of Bombay, as he adamantly defended his their own potential role within the making of the familiar and appealing than Classicist approach- views both in design competitions and in special- colonial order. es).34 ty periodicals such as Britain’s The Builder.40 The conceptualization and construction of Not all Parsi tastes were motivated by a Between the architectural trends in Europe the Victoria Terminus was characterized more by desire to strengthen and reaffirm their connec- contemporary to Stevens, the historical legacies synthesis and exchange than by the imposition of tions with the British. The actions of one Parsi of Governor Frere and the Parsis, the artistic pres- a monolithic colonial will. There was no unified philanthropist of the mid-nineteenth century, Sir ence of the JJ School, and the conflicting views of colonial urban discourse in Bombay of the late- Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy (1783-1859), had a signifi- practitioners of Indo-Saracenic such as Chisholm, nineteenth century. It was instead a fractured and cant impact on the urban discourse of Bombay,35 it is evident that the urban discourse of late-nine- flexible one, a fact captured by Frederick William shaping the context in which Frederick William teenth century Bombay was richly variegated and Stevens in his masterful design for the VT. The Stevens would draw up his design for the Victoria by no means constituted a unified vocabulary. mutual histories of Bombay city, F.W. Stevens, Terminus. In addition to his many contributions This left the task of negotiating a dense web of and the Victoria Terminus suggest a colonialist to public works including hospitals and city infra- overlapping and intersecting ideas to Stevens endeavor that was more ambiguous, locally real- ized, and multifarious than once thought. The structure,36 Jeejeebhoy established the Sir himself. The trajectory of Stevens’s stylistic origins of the Victoria Terminus are disparate and Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy (JJ) School of Art in 1855 development mirrored concurrent shifts in the multiple, belying the notion that it was the sym- as an institute to encourage and preserve the tra- Bombay urban discourse. Each time Stevens bol of unmitigated colonial power. ditional arts of southwestern India. His decision designed a new building, he was variously influ- to found the JJ School was based both on a real- enced by the constantly changing urban modali- Mobility and Mutability ization of the marketability of Indian artistic ties in Bombay, leading to the creation of struc- After demonstrating the uncertainty and goods in an increasingly global market and on an tures that had their origins both in the colonial instability of the Victoria Terminus’s performa- understanding that the technical knowledge of the discourse and in Stevens’s own personal genius. tive voice and suggesting the complexity of the British directly threatened the viability of Indian The overwhelming influence of Gothic is building’s origins, a final problem still remains in European city.48 In either case, the architecture of Terminus, perhaps most notably in the building’s the interpretation of the terminus as a colonial the Gothic Revival acquired a significant symbol- response to the environmental and climactic chal- symbol: the question of the relationship between ic association that medieval Gothic did not share. lenges of Bombay. The European Gothic style Gothic and Indian motifs in the imagery of the It was no longer a form of architecture that only that proved most influential in Bombay was building’s design. It has already been argued that expressed religious sublimity and power; in its Italian (or Venetian) Gothic rather than English this confluence of style prevented the terminus revival, Gothic architecture was suffused with a Gothic, since the Mediterranean climate was from speaking with an unambiguous voice, a fact self-reflexive “Europeanness” (or, to be more more comparable to Bombay than that of that has been attributed to the lack of a unified specific, “Britishness” or “Germanness”). Gothic London. The heat and humidity of Bombay authorial intent for the building, but what does the Revival architects, like other artists, were willing weather necessitated the conscientious design of Victoria Terminus’s unique syncretism imply participants in the production of modern national public buildings that would allow for airflow and about the nature of power in late-nineteenth cen- identity, and they used the powerful imagery of open space.53 The Victoria Terminus’s open gal- tury Bombay? Gothic architecture to create buildings that would leries, placement of arches, and window configu- Previous scholars, particularly those versed reinforce that identity.49 ration all show evidence of a concern for the in the Orientalist critique, have suggested that the This European Gothic symbology was not management of shade and air movement.54 Victoria Terminus and buildings like it were transported verbatim when it was brought to Gargoyles as functional and decorative demonstrations of the imperial power’s mastery Bombay. Certain elements of Gothic did make it devices are a feature of all Gothic buildings, but and knowledge of its colonial subjects—that the through the journey intact, including the bold on the Victoria Terminus they are particularly relationship between Gothic and Indian was one expressiveness that contributed to the ability of prominent, both in size and in number. During solely of appropriation and representation.44 The the Victoria Terminus to project itself as a per- each monsoon season, Bombay’s buildings are assumption made by such an argument is that the formance. The same proclivity of Gothic style for assailed by storms of an intensity that far surpass- process of taking the Gothic style out of Europe ornamentation was translated into an Indian con- es those even of rainy London. As such, Bombay and adding Indian-inspired embellishments to its text, in which there was already a tradition of rich architects were forced to modify the water-han- exterior did not significantly change the fact that decoration and embellishment in architecture.50 dling capacities of European buildings. F.W. the Victoria Terminus was a Gothic building. Bombay’s public Gothic architecture also exhib- Stevens and the artists at the J.J. School took this However, these changes did not have as superfi- ited a similar sense of visual scale to that of functional requirement and turned it into a fanci- cial an effect as the Orientalist narrative suppos- London and greater Europe. In general terms, fully active form of ornamentation—one can es; instead, the change of cultural and geographic Bombay Gothic structures retained the European almost imagine the Victoria Terminus being context and the incorporation of Hindu and connotation with public power, but, as will be dis- transformed into a monumental fountain during Mughal elements caused a fundamental shift in cussed later in this section, the types of power monsoon season as torrents stream from the meaning, even while the building retained certain connoted by either the Bombay or the European mouths of the myriad gargoyles scattered over the elements of the European Gothic symbology. In version of Gothic were not exactly the same. building’s exterior.55 The terminus was thus dis- this process of adaptation and change, the These continuities between London and tinctive from its European counterparts in that it Victoria Terminus demonstrates the capacity for Bombay have been highlighted in numerous past interacted with the Indian environment to create colonial institutions and systems of meaning to be studies.51 What has not received as much atten- new architectural ideas. both mobile and mutable. tion is the extent and significance of the mutabil- A second way in which the Victoria If a late-nineteenth century colonialist were ity of the Bombay Gothic style. In its cross-conti- Terminus illustrates the mutability of the Gothic to choose an architectural style based specifically nental transit, the European Gothic can be seen style is the manner in which it takes traditionally on a desire to project a sense of unmitigated changing in response to the physical environment religious symbols and alters them to create a European power, he would not go wrong in of Bombay, merging its religious overtones with building that celebrates the colonial economy. selecting the Gothic. In Europe, Gothic was commercial imagery, and being mobilized to The terminus is in some respects reminiscent of extraordinarily expressive, and its practitioners express several different forms of power. The the Gothic cathedrals of Europe. The stained were painstakingly conscientious in creating consideration of these manifestations of Gothic’s glass, high vaulted ceilings, ornate statuary, and buildings that presented a clear message.45 The mutability yield the observation that it is mislead- perpendicular layout of the platforms against the Gothic style, whether in its medieval conception ing to claim that Bombay’s Gothic structures company’s headquarters call to mind the central or its later revivals, was most effectively used to were simply lifted from their original European nave of a cathedral, but in the VT the altar is convey ideas of power, grandeur, and sublimity. context and brought to Bombay with their mean- replaced by ticket counters and railway offices, The emphasis on verticality and upward-sweep- ings as Gothic buildings intact. On the contrary, and parishioners arrive and depart by train not to ing lines emphasized the transcendent, almost the Gothic architecture of Bombay was so far worship, but to do business. The images at the spiritual nature of the Gothic aesthetic, fitting removed from Europe’s Gothic Revival that it entrance to the office building are not of saints, qualities for a style that originated in the ceased to connote a purely European or national but of powerful men in the history of the Great Christian architecture of the middle ages.46 identity, sharply delineating it from the self-con- Indian Peninsular Railway. And standing at the Various reasons have been proposed as sciously nationalist work of many Gothic Revival highest point of the building is not a cross, but a explanation for the resurgence of the Gothic style practitioners in Europe.52 The mutability of the human representation of the spirit of Progress. in late-nineteenth century Europe. One common Bombay Gothic style suggests that buildings such Colonial Bombay was a city defined by its com- argument places the Gothic style within the larg- as the Victoria Terminus can be better understood mercial significance, and this fact is reflected and er context of romanticist nationalism, suggesting as quotations of several different styles, which reinforced in the Victoria Terminus’s appropria- that the search for a “national” style of architec- makes the terminus a unique product of colonial tion of religious imagery to create an economic ture led Europeans away from the Classical archi- power relationships specific to Bombay. “cathedral.” tecture that had dominated the previous centu- In analyzing the mutability of colonial insti- The mutability of Gothic in Bombay took on ry.47 A related view claims that British architec- tutions, post-colonial scholars have often referred a temporal dimension as well. As power relation- ture of the late nineteenth century was a response to the idea of “transculturation” as a method of ships within the colonial city changed, so did the to ongoing urbanization and industrialization. describing the reciprocal and mutual (though by meaning of Bombay Gothic and the contexts in Gothic Revival architecture, by this argument, no means always equal) relationships that com- which the Gothic symbology could be mobilized. was a style that responded specifically to the prised the colonial order. Transculturation and its This quality is perhaps most salient in a compari- unique circumstances of the nineteenth century syncretic effects were at work in the Victoria son of the Victoria Terminus and the building located just across the intersection from it: the be placed identically in any context, Gothic archi- mise and exchange rather than relationships of Bombay Municipal Corporation headquarters, tecture offered a malleable repertoire that could dominance. It is an unstable symbol, making ref- completed only five years after the VT. During be quoted, mimicked, and modified by architects erence to Gothic and Hindu motifs as it speaks the last thirty years of the nineteenth century, the in Europe and abroad. with a performative voice that is neither wholly Indian population of Bombay as a whole began to It is this process of quotation that gives any British nor purely Indian in origin. This instabil- claim increasingly more power in the administra- building its cultural, political, and temporal ity was perhaps an inevitable result of the multi- tion of city affairs. One result of this trend was meaning.57 Architects in colonial Bombay made plicity of influences, both authorial and discur- the foundation of the Bombay Municipal visual references to Indian and European archi- sive, that came to bear on the building’s design. Corporation (BMC), which was intended as a tectural forms when designing buildings such as In this respect, the terminus and its architectural form of self-government for the city’s Indian res- the Victoria Terminus. These references do not style owed their existence and symbolic salience idents. The power and significance of the BMC make the terminus an example of a European not to their Gothic and Hindu progenitors, but grew as the turn of the century neared, leading to building whose designers appropriated Indian instead to the specific historical context of the decision to build a headquarters fitting of its symbols and motifs. After all, Stevens and other Bombay of the late-nineteenth century. Indeed, proponents of the Bombay Gothic style were the Victoria Terminus is of Bombay—of the his- appropriating the symbology of Gothic Revival tory that shaped it, the politics that moved it, and architecture, modifying it, and deploying it in its the people that made it. altered form. Thus, the building quotes and assimilates both European and Indian architectur- al sources in the creation of a symbol that is * This project would have been impossible with- unique to the Bombay context out of which it out the support of the Richmond Quest and its emerged. generous funding of two weeks of on-site research in Mumbai in January 2006. Conclusions Today, the Victoria Terminus has assumed new meanings in a city that is rapidly changing. Once devoted almost entirely to long-distance ENDNOTES trains to the interior of India, the terminus now 1 serves the millions of commuters who flood into Mariam Dossal, Imperial Designs and Indian Realities (Oxford: Oxford UP, 1991), 175-85. the city from the outlying suburbs everyday. It 2 John Lang, Madhavi Desai, and Miki Desai. Architecture handles a volume of traffic which it was never and Independence: The Search for Identity—India 1880 to 1980 intended to accommodate, a shortcoming that is (Oxford: Oxford UP, 1997) 72-73. most acutely felt during rush hour as crowds of 3 Preeti Chopra’s PhD dissertation (Preeti Chopra, “The City commuters try to press into or out of the terminus and its Fragments: Colonial Bombay, 1854-1918,” [Ph.D. diss., Figure 4 - BMC Building, c. 1900 56 through only a handful of small entrances. The University of California, Berkeley, 2003.]) explores this idea in great detail and with considerable success. terminus is now fronted by a large iron fence 4 Arjun Appadurai provides a lucid analysis of the instabili- new status. After the previously mentioned con- intended to separate walking traffic from the ty of the symbology of locality. See (Arjun Appadurai, frontation between Indo-Saracenic and Gothic chaotic intersection. Caterpillar-like structures Modernity at Large (Minneapolis: Minnesota UP, 1996).). designs for the BMC project, it was Stevens’s emerge from the ground to weave their way 5 My conversations with John Marx and Kathleen Hewett- Gothic-inspired design that ultimately won the around the intersection, allowing pedestrians to Smith while in Mumbai were instrumental in the process of bringing this argument together. commission. go underground and pass beneath the busy streets. 6Metropolitan Museum of Art, Victoria Terminus, Bombay, If we accept the argument that Bombay Changes have brought a new identity for the (2 February 2006). we are faced with a contradiction in the BMC ruling Shiv Sena party renamed the station the 7 Prof. Carol Breckenridge of the New School contributed building as compared to the Victoria Terminus. Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, enabling it to fit immensely to my articulation of this issue during our meeting in Where the VT represents the economic nature of Mumbai, January 2006. within their vision of a city—now called 8 the relationship between London and Bombay, Constable’s 1893 Hand Atlas to India, Mumbai—that would strive to divest itself of any (2 February 2006). erosion of imperial control over the city’s urban become a point of political contention, with sup- 9 Vikas Dilawari, an architect with the Indian National Trust spaces. This erosion was manifested in the more porters of the Shiv Sena preferring to call the city for Art and Cultural Heritage, was the first to draw my attention prominent influence of Indian architecture in the “Mumbai,” while opponents sometimes insist on to this larger physical connection of the Victoria Terminus with the rest of Bombay. design of the BMC building. That the Gothic the use of “Bombay.” Such controversies are not 10 BEST Undertaking, A Hundred Years Ago, style could be invoked in Bombay both to express as inconsequential as they might seem. (5 February the power of the colonial economy and to accom- Historians’ role in the creation and perpetuation 2006). pany the emergence of anti-colonial forms of of the Eurocentric narrative myth of colonialism 11 Hybridity as a post-colonial concept is a fascinating one, power is further proof that the Gothic of Bombay is clear, and the study of history must be recog- but its further exploration is beyond the scope of this paper. See is a fundamentally different system of meaning nized as having contributed to the development of (Bill Ashcroft, Gareth Griffiths, and Hellen Tiffin, eds., The from its public, political, and national Gothic a contemporary Mumbai political environment in Post-Colonial Studies Reader [London: Routledge, 1995].). 12 Revival progenitor in Europe. which it is more desirable to forget the colonial A variety of sources aim to describe the manner in which Indian and British artistic forms interacted. See (Catherine 58 In light of this observation of Bombay past than to understand it. King, ed. Views of Difference: Different View of Art [New Gothic’s mutability, the question of the relation- The history of the former Victoria Terminus, Haven: Yale UP, 1999].), and (Partha Mitter, Much Maligned ship between Indian and Gothic styles in build- imprinted with the evidence of many different Monsters: A History of European Reactions to Indian Art ings such as the Victoria Terminus takes on new [Chicago: Chicago UP, 1992].). forms of agency, offers a particularly significant 13 significance. If the Gothic style was capable of Philip Davies, Splendours of the Raj, (London: John challenge to the top-down narrative of colonial Murray Publishers, 1985), 173. being changed so dramatically in its move to urbanization. As has been argued in this study, 14 John Ruskin, Giles Gilbert Scott, and William Burges India, this suggests that, rather than being a the terminus emerged from processes of compro- were major proponents of Gothic revival architecture in Great ready-made set of European symbols that could Britain. See (Davies, Splendours of the Raj, 173.). 15 I am grateful to Prof. Mariam Dossal of the University of Line: The History of the Western Suburban Railway and its 1991. Mumbai for her help in developing the line of thought which Headquarters in Bombay, 1899-1999 (Mumbai: Eminence Dwivedi, Sharada and Rahul Mehrotra. Bombay: The Cities guides this section of the paper. Designs, 2000). Within. Mumbai: India Book House, 1995. 43 —————-. Fort Walks: Around Bombay’s Fort Area. 16 The use of the term “discourse” has in many ways Dilawari, Personal communication. Mumbai: Eminence Designs, 1999. become its own discourse. I use the concept in its simplest 44 Thomas Metcalf is perhaps the most prolific author in this form: for referring to dialogue and exchange centered around a vein. See (Thomas Metcalf, An Imperial Vision: Indian —————-. Anchoring a City Line: The History of the certain topic or problem. I realize that wider, more abstract his- Architecture and Britain’s Raj [Berkeley: University of Western Suburban Railway and its Headquarters in Bombay, toriographical applications of “discourse” exist, but they go California Press, 1989].) and (Thomas Metcalf, Forging the 1899-1999. Mumbai: Eminence Designs, 2000. beyond the aims and intentions of this study. For sources of Raj: Essays on British India in the Heyday of Empire [Oxford: Kulke, Eckehard. The Parsees in India: A Minority as Agent of these other forms of discursive analysis, there is a volume edit- Oxford UP, 2005].). The more general line of thought under- Social Change. Munich: Weltforum Verlag, 1974. ed by Carol Breckenridge and Peter van der Veer that offers sev- girding Metcalf’s work can be traced back to Michel Foucault Low, Sidney. A Vision of India. New York: E.P. Dutton and eral substantial essays which make use of discursive analysis to (Michel Foucault, The Archaeology of Knowledge [New York: Company, 1907. understand the specificities of colonial power: (Carol Harper Colophon, 1972].), but it has been expanded by such Mehta, Suketu. Maximum City: Bombay Lost and Found. New Breckenridge and Peter van der Veer, eds., Orientalism and the authors as Edward Said (Edward Said, Orientalism [New York: York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2004. Postcolonial Predicament [Philadelphia: University of Pantheon, 1978].), Timothy Mitchell (Timothy Mitchell, Naik, J. V. “An Early Appraisal of British Colonial Policy.” Pennsylvania Press, 1993].). Sumit Sarkar’s chapter entitled Colonising Egypt [Berkeley: University of California Press, Journal of the University of Bombay 44-45 (1975-6). “The City Imagined” (Sumit Sarkar, “The City Imagined,” 1991].), and Bernard Cohn (Bernard Cohn, Colonialism and its Siddiqi, Asiya. “The Business World of Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy.” Writing Social History [Delhi: Oxford UP 1997], 159-185.), Forms of Knowledge [Princeton: Princeton UP, 1996].). Indian Economic and Social History Review 19 (1982): 301- while not explicitly dealing with discourse, nonetheless uses 45 George Hersey, High Victorian Gothic: A Study in 304. discursive considerations to develop a new understanding of the Associationism (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins UP, 1972). manner in which Calcutta was viewed by its residents, British 46 Clark, The Gothic Revival. Architecture and Art and Indian alike. J.V. Naik approaches discourse from a stand- 47 point similar to intellectual history in a 1976 essay (J.V. Naik, Ronald Bradbury, The Romantic Theories of Architecture Addison, Agnes. Romanticism and the Gothic Revival. New “An Early Appraisal of British Colonial Policy,” Journal of the in the Nineteenth Century (New York: AMS Press, 1976). York: Richard R Smith, 1938. University of Bombay XLIV & XLV [1975-96].). Finally, 48 Stamp and Amery, Victorian Buildings of London, 15 Ballantyne, Andrew. Architecture. London: Oxford UP, 2002. Anthony King applies discursive analysis to the question of 49 Allison Agnes, Romanticism and the Gothic Revival Ballhatchet, K. and J. Harrison (eds.). The City in South Asia: colonial urbanization: (Anthony King, “The Language of (New York: Richard R Smith, 1938). Pre-Modern and Modern. London: Curzon Press, 1980. Colonial Urbanization,” Sociology 8 [Jan 1974]: 81-110.). 50 Bradbury, Ronald. The Romantic Theories of Architecture in the 17 Chopra, “The City and its Fragments,” 435. Vikas Dilawari, Personal communication. Nineteenth Century. New York: AMS Press, 1976. 51 Several of the works heavily cited in this paper have 18 Clark, Kenneth. The Gothic Revival. New York: Holt, Reinhart Christopher London, Bombay Gothic (Mumbai: India focused on the mobility of the Gothic style. See (Metcalf, & Winston, 1962. Book House, 2002), 89. “Architecture and the Representation of Empire.”), (Davies, Davies, Philip. Splendours of the Raj. London: John Murray 19 Ibid., 78. Splendours of the Raj.), and (London, Bombay Gothic.) Publishers, 1985. 20 52 Fort Walks, 86. A robust literature on the Gothic Revival and its national- Eastlake, Charles. A History of the Gothic Revival. Watkins 21 Bombay to Mumbai: Changing Perspectives, 239. ist associations exists. See [Georg Germann, Gothic Revival in Glen, NY: American Life Foundation, 1979. Europe and Britain: Sources, Influences, and Ideas, tr. Gerald 22 Kenneth Clark, The Gothic Revival (New York: Holt, Fergusson, James. A History of Indian and Eastern Onn (London: Lund Humphries for the Architectural Reinhart & Winston, 1962), 20. Architecture. Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal, 1967. Association, 1972).] and [Nikolaus Pevsner, Ruskin and Viollet- Germann, Georg. Gothic Revival in Europe and Britain: 23 Ibid. le-Duc: Englishness and Frenchness in the Appreciation of Sources, Influences, and Ideas. Translated by Gerald Onn. 24 Charles Eastlake, A History of the Gothic Revival. Gothic Architecture (London: Thames & Hudson, 1969).], as London: Lund Humphries for the Architectural Association, (Watkins Glen, NY: American Life Foundation, 1979), 4-5. well as previously cited [Ronald Bradbury, The Romantic 1972. 25 Gavin Stamp and Colin Amery, Victorian Buildings of Theories of Architecture in the Nineteenth Century.], [Allison Hersey, George. High Victorian Gothic: A Study in London: 1837-1887. (London: The Architectural Press, 1980), Agnes, Romanticism and the Gothic Revival.], and [Charles Associationism. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins UP, 1972. 17. Eastlake, A History of the Gothic Revival.]. Jain, Kulbhushan. Thematic Space in Indian Architecture. New 53 26 Lang, Desai, and Desai, Architecture and Independence, Chopra, 434. Delhi: Indian Research Press, 2002. 97. 54 London, Bombay Gothic, 93. King, Catherine, ed. Views of Difference: Different View of Art. New Haven: Yale UP, 1999. 27 Thomas Metcalf, “Architecture and the Representation of 55 I cannot take full credit for the articulation of this image. Lang, John, Madhavi Desai, and Miki Desai. Architecture and Empire: India, 1860-1910,” Representations 6 (1984): 6-10. Dr. Kathleen Hewett-Smith first took note of the distinctive gar- Independence: The Search for Identity—India 1880 to 1980. 28 goyles and their effect when we visited the VT in January 2006. Bombay Gothic, 16-30. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1997. 56 29 Chopra, “The City and its Fragments,” p. 104. Homolka Bombay Abb. 67, London, Christopher. Bombay Gothic. Mumbai: India Book (1 February 30 Mariam Dossal, Personal communication. House, 2002. 2006) Metcalf, Thomas. An Imperial Vision: Indian Architecture and 31 Sidney Low, A Vision of India (New York: E.P. Dutton 57 See (Robert Venturi, Denise Scott Brown, and Steven Britain’s Raj. Berkeley: University of California Press, and Company, 1907), 44. Izenour, Learning from Las Vegas: The Forgotten Symbolism of 1989. 32 Chopra, “The City and its Fragments,” 104. Architectural Form [Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT —————. Forging the Raj: Essays on British India in the 33 It is perhaps my greatest regret in this study that I was Press, 1977].) for a particularly provocative application of this Heyday of Empire. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2005. unable to further explore the contributions of Bombay’s influ- idea. —————. “Architecture and the Representation of Empire: ential Indian and Parsi populations. A rich historiography has 58 Breckenridge, Personal communication. India, 1860-1910.” Representations 6 (1984): 37-65. developed recently around these questions of Indian agency and Mitter, Partha. Much Maligned Monsters: A History of identity. See Dobbins (Christine Dobbins, Urban Leadership in European Reactions to Indian Art. Chicago: Chicago UP, Western India: Politics and Communities in Bombay City, 1840- 1992. 1885 [Oxford: Oxford UP, 1972].) for a particularly insightful BIBLIOGRAPHY Pevsner, Nikolaus. Ruskin and Viollet-le-Duc: Englishness and study of Indian communities and their role within the formation Frenchness in the Appreciation of Gothic Architecture. London: Thames & Hudson, 1969. of broader urban policy. Eckehard Kulke authored one of the Print Sources definitive works on Parsi history: (Eckehard Kulke, The Stamp, Gavin and Colin Amery. Victorian Buildings of London: 1837-1887. London: The Architectural Press, 1980. Parsees in India: A Minority as Agent of Social Change, Bombay History [Munich: Weltforum Verlag, 1974].) Thapar, Bindia. Introduction to Indian Architecture. Singapore: Periplus Editions, 2004. 34 London, Bombay Gothic, 30. Albuquerque, T. Urbs Prima in Indis, Bombay 1840-1865. New Turnor, Reginald. Nineteenth Century Architecture in Britain. 35 Delhi: Promilla & Co., 1985. See (Asiya Siddiqi, “The Trading World of Jamsetjee London: Batsford, 1950. Jeejeebhoy,” Indian Economic and Social History Review 19 Burke, S. M. and Salim Al-Din Quraishi. The British Raj in India: An Historical Review. Karachi: Oxford UP, 1995. (1982): 301-304.). Theory, Historiography, and Context Chopra, Preeti. “The City and its Fragments: Colonial Bombay, 36 Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th ed., s.v. “Jeejeebhoy 1854-1918.” Ph.D. diss., University of California, Berkeley, (Jijibhai), Sir Jamsetjee (Jamsetji).” Appadurai, Arjun. Modernity at Large. Minneapolis: Minnesota 2003. 37 UP, 1996. London, Bombay Gothic, 20. David, M.D. Bombay, The City of Dreams: A History of the Ashcroft, Bill, Gareth Griffiths, and Hellen Tiffin, eds. The 38 First City in India. Mumbai: Himalaya Publishing House, Lang, Desai, and Desai, Architecture and Independence, Post-Colonial Studies Reader. London: Routledge, 1995. 1995. 102. Breckenridge, Carol and Peter van der Veer, eds. Orientalism Dobbin, Christine. Urban Leadership in Western India: Politics 39 London, Bombay Gothic, 34 and the Postcolonial Predicament. Philadelphia: University and Communities in Bombay City 1840-1885. Oxford: 40 of Pennsylvania Press, 1993. Ibid., 101. Oxford UP, 1972. Burke, Peter. “Unity and Variety in Cultural History,” In 41 Davies, Splendours of the Raj, 173. Dossal, Mariam. Imperial Designs and Indian Realities: the Varieties of Cultural History, 1-22. Ithaca: Cornell 42 Sharada Dwivedi and Rahul Mehrotra, Anchoring a City Planning of Bombay City. 1845-1875. Oxford: Oxford UP, University Press. Cohn, Bernard. Colonialism and its Forms of Knowledge: The British in India. Princeton: Princeton UP, 1996. Foucault, Michel. The Archaeology of Knowledge. New York: Harper Colophon, 1972. Update on 2005 Paper Prize Winner Goswami, Manu. Producing India: From Colonial Economy to National Space. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2004. Guha, Ranajit. Dominance without Hegemony. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard UP, 1997. From Luke Clossey at Simon Fraser: Most likely our executive direc- —————-. Elementary Aspects of Peasant Insurgency in Colonial India. Durham: Duke UP, tor had no idea what sequence of events he initiated by sending the 1999. Kaye, Harvey. British Marxist Historians: an Introductory Analysis. New York: Polity Press, award money to Kyle Jackson, 2005 winner of the World History 1984. Association & Phi Alpha Theta undergraduate paper prize. King, A. D. “The Language of Colonial Urbanization.” Sociology. 8th volume, no. 1, Jan. 1974. Combined with savings from Safeway pay cheques, the prize last Ludden, David. “Orientalist Empiricism: Transformations of Colonial Knowledge.” In Spring flew Kyle across the eleven thousand kilometers from Orientalism and the Postcolonial Predicament, eds. Carol Breckenridge and Peter van der Vancouver to Mizoram, the region he had studied in Simon Fraser Veer, 250-278. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1993. Misra, B.B. The Administrative History of India, 1834-1947. Bombay: Oxford UP, 1970. University's early-modern world history seminar the previous semes- Mitchell, Timothy. Colonising Egypt. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1988. ter. (Although the seminar instructor had never heard of Mizoram him- —————. Rule of Experts: Egypt, Techno-politics, Modernity. Los Angeles: California UP, self, his atlas confirmed its existence, at the southernmost part of the 2002. Prakesh, Gyan. “Edward Said in Bombay.” Critical Inquiry 31 (2005): 498-504. easternmost extension of India.) This was Kyle's first major trip Said, Edward. Orientalism. New York: Pantheon, 1978. abroad, but his landing was softened by the gracious hospitality of the Sarkar, Sumit. Writing Social History. Delhi: Oxford UP, 1997. economist Dr. Vanlalchhawna and his family. Venturi, Robert, Denise Scott Brown, and Steven Izenour. Learning from Las Vegas: The The Simon Fraser libraries' modest Mizoram holdings turned out Forgotten Symbolism of Architectural Form. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press, 1977. to be sometimes wrong, as did the basic language training Kyle con- Images scientiously took up in preparation, as he discovered by praising food as "A tui lo em em!"--which turned out to mean "This tastes exceed- BEST Undertaking. A Hundred Years Ago. . (5 February 2006). ingly bad!" He was the only undergraduate to present a paper at the Constable’s 1893 Hand Atlas to India. Indian Council of Historical Research Conference, at Mizoram . (2 February 2006). introduced by his "Integrative World History: Mizoram and the Early- Homolka Bombay Abb. 67. . (1 February 2006) Metropolitan Museum of Art. Victoria Terminus, Bombay. Modern World" was widely appreciated, except by the scholar who (2 February 2006). denounced it as a "futuristic" history possibly the work of a CIA oper- ative. Interviews and Conversations The WHA prize knocked him clear off the path towards a safe job Breckenridge, Carol. Associate Professor of History at New York’s New School. as a municipal bureaucrat and into the wider world, and into world Chopra, Preeti. Assistant Professor of Visual Culture at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. history. Please send all recommendations for a history graduate pro- Dehejia, Vidya. Professor of Art History at Columbia University. gram for northeast India to kylej at sfu.ca. Dilawari, Vikas. Conservation architect with Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage Dossal, Mariam. Professor of History at the University of Mumbai. Dwivedi, Sharada. Mumbai historian. Gordon, John. Professor of History at the University of Richmond, Virginia. Hewett-Smith, Kathleen. Associate Professor of English at the University of Richmond, Virgina. Khera, Dipti. PhD candidate at Columbia University. Lam, Tong. Assistant Professor of Historical Studies at the University of Toronto.

The World History Bulletin, an official publication of the World History Association, is published twice-yearly, in April and December. The Bulletin Editor invites articles and essays on all aspects of world history and the teach- ing of world history. The Bulletin pub- lishes articles of varying lengths, and will accept entries between 500 and 4000 words (including citations and works cited) for consideration. Authors are responsible for submitting accurate and error-free essays for con- sideration by the Bulletin editorial staff. While a certain degree of editorial assis- tance is expected, the burden of provid- ing quality essays for consideration rests with the authors. Names of non-WHA endorsed editors can be provided, upon written request to the Bulletin Editor, for those members who seek grammar and/or translation assistance. For more information, email the Bulletin Editor at [email protected]. World History Association Teaching Prize

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