عنوان

Afrikaner Missionaries and the Slippery Slope of Praying for Rain

Number

LA110707

.Language of Text, Soundtrack etc

انگلیسی

Title Proper

Afrikaner Missionaries and the Slippery Slope of Praying for Rain

General Material Designation

[Article]

First Statement of Responsibility

Retief Müller

Place of Publication, Distribution, etc.

Leiden

Name of Publisher, Distributor, etc.

Brill

Text of Note

Rain prayers and 'rainmaking' have been much commented upon in respect to African religions including Christianity. This ritual practice was one of the issues that many colonial-era missionaries to Southern and Central Africa mentioned in their diaries and other materials. Their responses were often quite negative, but in certain cases there were attempts by missionaries to meet the indigenous discourse, if not exactly halfway, then at least in some manner by substituting Christian rain prayers for what was often seen as 'heathen superstition'. This article concerns a much neglected group of missionaries in academic discourse, Afrikaners from the Dutch Reformed Church in the Cape Colony to wider Africa. It considers how they responded to indigenous requests or demands for rain prayers, and subtly poses the thesis that they were in some cases influenced and even convinced against their self-proclaimed biases to consider rain prayers from the indigenous point of view. Rain prayers and 'rainmaking' have been much commented upon in respect to African religions including Christianity. This ritual practice was one of the issues that many colonial-era missionaries to Southern and Central Africa mentioned in their diaries and other materials. Their responses were often quite negative, but in certain cases there were attempts by missionaries to meet the indigenous discourse, if not exactly halfway, then at least in some manner by substituting Christian rain prayers for what was often seen as 'heathen superstition'. This article concerns a much neglected group of missionaries in academic discourse, Afrikaners from the Dutch Reformed Church in the Cape Colony to wider Africa. It considers how they responded to indigenous requests or demands for rain prayers, and subtly poses the thesis that they were in some cases influenced and even convinced against their self-proclaimed biases to consider rain prayers from the indigenous point of view.

Date of Publication

2017

Physical description

29-45

Title

Exchange

Volume Number

46/1

International Standard Serial Number

1572-543X

Subject Term

African religions

Subject Term

Afrikaner missionaries

Subject Term

Dutch Reformed Church

Subject Term

explanation prediction and control

Subject Term

mimicry

Subject Term

rainmaking

Retief Müller

Call Number

10.1163/1572543X-12341429

Electronic name

p

[Article]

275578

a

Y