Into the Wild: Early Modern Protestant Missionaries and Their Views on Animals
Abstract Christianity and the environment have a tense relationship. Although in recent years an eco-theology of stewardship has taken flight, according to theologians as well as philosophers the historical track record of Christians with regard to nature in general and animals in particular leaves...
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crbrillap:10.1163/1572543x-bja10006 2023-12-31T10:07:29+01:00 Into the Wild: Early Modern Protestant Missionaries and Their Views on Animals Onnekink, David 2022 http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/1572543x-bja10006 https://brill.com/view/journals/exch/51/3/article-p287_6.xml https://brill.com/downloadpdf/journals/exch/51/3/article-p287_6.xml unknown Brill https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Exchange volume 51, issue 3, page 287-320 ISSN 0166-2740 1572-543X Religious studies Cultural Studies journal-article 2022 crbrillap https://doi.org/10.1163/1572543x-bja10006 2023-12-06T12:19:25Z Abstract Christianity and the environment have a tense relationship. Although in recent years an eco-theology of stewardship has taken flight, according to theologians as well as philosophers the historical track record of Christians with regard to nature in general and animals in particular leaves much to be desired. However, this view has never been empirically tested. In this article three early modern accounts of Protestant missionaries who lived in Greenland, New Netherland (North America) and Ceylon (Sri Lanka) are analysed in order to uncover attitudes towards animals. The accounts describe local fauna, reflect upon the way in which animals are treated and discuss ‘pagan’ attitudes towards animals. The concepts of tropicality and arcticality are used to help to frame the missionaries’ views on animals in terms of othering non-European fauna. The article concludes that the critique of Christianity’s track record is essentially justified, but also that it was more nuanced and complex than has hitherto been thought. As such, the early modern missionary accounts’ focus on wildlife may well serve as a source of inspiration for present-day missionary organizations. Article in Journal/Newspaper Greenland Brill (via Crossref) Exchange 51 3 287 320 |
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Brill (via Crossref) |
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topic |
Religious studies Cultural Studies |
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Religious studies Cultural Studies Onnekink, David Into the Wild: Early Modern Protestant Missionaries and Their Views on Animals |
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Religious studies Cultural Studies |
description |
Abstract Christianity and the environment have a tense relationship. Although in recent years an eco-theology of stewardship has taken flight, according to theologians as well as philosophers the historical track record of Christians with regard to nature in general and animals in particular leaves much to be desired. However, this view has never been empirically tested. In this article three early modern accounts of Protestant missionaries who lived in Greenland, New Netherland (North America) and Ceylon (Sri Lanka) are analysed in order to uncover attitudes towards animals. The accounts describe local fauna, reflect upon the way in which animals are treated and discuss ‘pagan’ attitudes towards animals. The concepts of tropicality and arcticality are used to help to frame the missionaries’ views on animals in terms of othering non-European fauna. The article concludes that the critique of Christianity’s track record is essentially justified, but also that it was more nuanced and complex than has hitherto been thought. As such, the early modern missionary accounts’ focus on wildlife may well serve as a source of inspiration for present-day missionary organizations. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Onnekink, David |
author_facet |
Onnekink, David |
author_sort |
Onnekink, David |
title |
Into the Wild: Early Modern Protestant Missionaries and Their Views on Animals |
title_short |
Into the Wild: Early Modern Protestant Missionaries and Their Views on Animals |
title_full |
Into the Wild: Early Modern Protestant Missionaries and Their Views on Animals |
title_fullStr |
Into the Wild: Early Modern Protestant Missionaries and Their Views on Animals |
title_full_unstemmed |
Into the Wild: Early Modern Protestant Missionaries and Their Views on Animals |
title_sort |
into the wild: early modern protestant missionaries and their views on animals |
publisher |
Brill |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/1572543x-bja10006 https://brill.com/view/journals/exch/51/3/article-p287_6.xml https://brill.com/downloadpdf/journals/exch/51/3/article-p287_6.xml |
genre |
Greenland |
genre_facet |
Greenland |
op_source |
Exchange volume 51, issue 3, page 287-320 ISSN 0166-2740 1572-543X |
op_rights |
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1163/1572543x-bja10006 |
container_title |
Exchange |
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51 |
container_issue |
3 |
container_start_page |
287 |
op_container_end_page |
320 |
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1786839881453928448 |