Haase_UZ_x007E_DTh (2).pdf - South African Theological Seminary

“The subtle assumption of Western mission was that the church’s missionary mandate lay
not only in forming the church of Jesus Christ, but in shaping the Christian communities
that it birthed in the image of the church of Western European culture” (Guder, 1998:4).
This attitude of Western intellectual
superiority had its roots in the ideas of
progress and ‘manifest destiny’ in which both
Christianity and science worked together to
contribute to the betterment of the world
morally and materially… In many parts of the
world, Christianity became equated with
Western civilization and commerce, and the
reshaping of the entire world in the image of
‘modernity’ was seen as a forgone conclusion
(Hiebert, 1999:25).
Westerners have sometimes tragically disrespected indigenous cultures, ranging from
Native Americans, to Australian Aboriginals, to Africans, Latin Americans, Chinese and
more. Still fresh in the minds of millions of people, are the mixed consequences of
Western Imperialism. While Western nations brought technological advancements
(medicines, etc.) and the gospel to millions, they also left a sordid history of exploitation,
greed and abuse. Professor Walls provides this invaluable insight:
Colonialism, in fact, helped to transform the
Christian position in the world by forcing a
distinction between Christianity and
Christendom. Colonial experience
undermined the identification of Christianity
with territory and immobilized the idea of
crusade.... it is the colonial period that marks
the divergence of interest between Christianity
and the Western power, the separation of the
religion of the West from its political and
economic interests. If several generations of
missionaries once felt betrayed when a state
nominally Christian refused to offer the
support they felt due, we now may be humbly
grateful that God is kinder than to answer all
the prayers of his people... colonialism helped
to ensure that new Christendoms did not arise.
The pattern of colonial rule prevented the
development of the relationship of throne and
altar that developed in the northern lands.
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University of Zululand, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa