A History of Christianity in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, 1450–1990: A Documentary Sourcebook (review)

This is clearly a "sourcebook" rather than a "history" as such. Nonetheless, as a collection of sources it is invaluable. Klaus Koschorke has long pioneered an approach to the study of church history which gives due place to the rise and importance of Christianity in the southern hemisphere, an approach that counterbalances church histories written by Europeans and North Americans and dominated by the concerns of the "North." This book consists of 317 documents, divided more or less evenly between Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Brief introductions, including descriptions of the author(s) and the contexts of the documents, are provided by the editors, and each piece is precisely located and accompanied by a reference to (mostly) published sources (in various languages). A generous list of important ancillary books is also included under a "further reading" category for each document. The texts are all short: few extend beyond a page—though some are arranged under a common theme that extends for several pages. The authors of most of the texts are indigenous Christians or enquiring observers, rather than missionaries or visitors. The aim is to "give a voice to the multitude of local initiatives, specific experiences and varieties of Christianity in very diverse cultural contexts" (xxix). The book is full of lively insights into the place of the Christian religion in societies where it is still regarded as strange or where the missionary culture is foreign. I particularly enjoyed this response by the philosopher Li Zhi to Matteo Ricci, the Jesuit missionary to China: after commending the intelligence, refinement, and openness of Ricci, Li confessed "I do not really know what he has come to do here. . . . I think it would be much too stupid for him to want to substitute his own teaching for that of . . . Zhou and Confucius. So that is surely not the reason" (36).

The section on Africa includes letters from the Manikongo in the sixteenth century complaining about the lax morals of some missionaries and pleading for restraints on the slave trade; correspondence from the rulers and church leaders of Ethiopia; a wealth of texts from nineteenth- and twentieth-century African Christians, illustrious figures in the history of African Christianity including Crowther, Blyden, Johnson, Agbebi, Aggrey, Tile, Shembe, Chilembe, Biko, Manas Buthelezi, Spartas, and Mbiti. Sadly, there are few women's voices here—largely because of the historic paucity of published written material by women. (The important contributions of the Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians are too recent to be included in a book that has 1990 as its terminal date.) Considerable attention is given to the African Independent Church tradition; but perhaps less attention than one might have expected is afforded to Catholic voices—particularly in the section on African theology toward the end of the period.

The extreme brevity of the texts means that this collection provides little more than a flavor of the writings of any individual writer. The deep chronological and broad geographical scales also mean that no theme can be treated in any great depth. There is a good collection of texts on the apartheid struggle, but even this section is too limited to cover the complexity of the issues. One subject with a particular paucity of documentation is the links between Africa, Asia, and Latin America. I remember Klaus once showing me a document from Christians in Tirunelveli in South India protesting the treatment of Bishop Crowther when he was harried by ardent young missionaries toward the end of his life. More such documents showing the intense concerns within communities would have been salutary: it's a pity that there was not a fourth section, or more documents within the three existing sections, to articulate these elusive connections.

This source book can provide illumination on the rich variety of Christianities in the South...