Into the wild: Early modern Protestant missionaries and their encounters with nature
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 b...
Main Author: | |
---|---|
Other Authors: | , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
2022
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://dspace.library.uu.nl/handle/1874/426159 |
id |
ftunivutrecht:oai:dspace.library.uu.nl:1874/426159 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftunivutrecht:oai:dspace.library.uu.nl:1874/426159 2023-07-23T04:19:32+02:00 Into the wild: Early modern Protestant missionaries and their encounters with nature Onnekink, David LS History of Intern. Rel. & Global Gov. OGKG - Internationale en Politieke geschiedenis 2022 application/pdf https://dspace.library.uu.nl/handle/1874/426159 en eng 0166-2740 https://dspace.library.uu.nl/handle/1874/426159 info:eu-repo/semantics/OpenAccess arly modern mission Protestant mission Greenland Ceylon New Netherland ecotheology animal rights Article 2022 ftunivutrecht 2023-07-02T03:52:07Z 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 Utrecht University Repository Greenland |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Utrecht University Repository |
op_collection_id |
ftunivutrecht |
language |
English |
topic |
arly modern mission Protestant mission Greenland Ceylon New Netherland ecotheology animal rights |
spellingShingle |
arly modern mission Protestant mission Greenland Ceylon New Netherland ecotheology animal rights Onnekink, David Into the wild: Early modern Protestant missionaries and their encounters with nature |
topic_facet |
arly modern mission Protestant mission Greenland Ceylon New Netherland ecotheology animal rights |
description |
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. |
author2 |
LS History of Intern. Rel. & Global Gov. OGKG - Internationale en Politieke geschiedenis |
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 encounters with nature |
title_short |
Into the wild: Early modern Protestant missionaries and their encounters with nature |
title_full |
Into the wild: Early modern Protestant missionaries and their encounters with nature |
title_fullStr |
Into the wild: Early modern Protestant missionaries and their encounters with nature |
title_full_unstemmed |
Into the wild: Early modern Protestant missionaries and their encounters with nature |
title_sort |
into the wild: early modern protestant missionaries and their encounters with nature |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://dspace.library.uu.nl/handle/1874/426159 |
geographic |
Greenland |
geographic_facet |
Greenland |
genre |
Greenland |
genre_facet |
Greenland |
op_relation |
0166-2740 https://dspace.library.uu.nl/handle/1874/426159 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/OpenAccess |
_version_ |
1772182721193312256 |