DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.70004#0025
23
II. A History of the Christian Missions in Zambia, as Seen in the
Diffusion of Mission Stations
1. The Context: The Expansion of Christianity in Africa1
Christianity expanded during the first centuries A.D. along the North African
coast, as well as in the whole of the Mediterranean area. Only the Coptic
Church in Egypt and the Ethiopian Church, however, survived the onset of
Islam in the 7th century. The most southerly point reached by Christianity
was Ethiopia which came under Christian influence from the 4th century on-
wards and has since remained a predominantly Christian country. The next
Christian advance in Africa occured in the 15th and 16th centuries as a result
of the Portuguese search for a sea route to India. At the Portuguese bases
along the West and East African coasts, Africans were won for Christianity,
and the Congo area south of the River Zaire was to a large degree Christianised
during the 16th and 17th centuries. With the decline of Portuguese influence
in Africa, however, at the end of the 17th century, Christianity virtually dis-
appeared, mainly because it had never been integrated into African life and
culture2.
After several isolated attempts by Moravian and Anglican missionaries along
the West African coast and in South Africa in the 18th century, a new Protes-
tant missionary movement began around 1800. This mainly had its roots in
German Pietism and in the English religious revivalist movement (GENSICHEN
1969, 31 - 37). Unlike the Catholic Church which mainly used the religious
orders to spread the faith, and also unlike earlier Protestant missions of the
17th and 18th centuries whereby the churches themselves performed mission-
ary work, Protestant Christianity in the 19th and 20th century expanded by
the means of voluntary missionary societies. Christians particularly commit-
ted to missionary work came together to form societies responsible for sending
missionaries abroad and supporting them. Parallels to the organisational form
of the missionary society can be seen in the scientific, commercial, philosophi-
cal, geographical and colonial societies which also came into being at the end of
the 18th century. All have Anglo-Saxon democratic origins (HAMMER 1981).
The earliest and largest missionary societies originated in the English-speaking
areas which up to the present time have appointed 80% of non-Catholic mis-
sionaries working in Africa. The earliest of these were the Baptist Missionary
Society (founded in 1792), the interdenominational London Missionary Soci-
ety (1795), the Anglican Church Missionary Society (1799) and the American
Board of Commissions for Foreign Missions (1810). Several years later simi-
lar societies arose in German-speaking areas, in France, in Scandinavia, and
in the Netherlands (the Basel Mission, 1815; the Berlin Mission, 1824; the
Rhenish Mission, 1828; the Paris Evangelical Mission, 1822). They also soon
sent missionaries out to Africa. At first missionaries went mainly to South
II. A History of the Christian Missions in Zambia, as Seen in the
Diffusion of Mission Stations
1. The Context: The Expansion of Christianity in Africa1
Christianity expanded during the first centuries A.D. along the North African
coast, as well as in the whole of the Mediterranean area. Only the Coptic
Church in Egypt and the Ethiopian Church, however, survived the onset of
Islam in the 7th century. The most southerly point reached by Christianity
was Ethiopia which came under Christian influence from the 4th century on-
wards and has since remained a predominantly Christian country. The next
Christian advance in Africa occured in the 15th and 16th centuries as a result
of the Portuguese search for a sea route to India. At the Portuguese bases
along the West and East African coasts, Africans were won for Christianity,
and the Congo area south of the River Zaire was to a large degree Christianised
during the 16th and 17th centuries. With the decline of Portuguese influence
in Africa, however, at the end of the 17th century, Christianity virtually dis-
appeared, mainly because it had never been integrated into African life and
culture2.
After several isolated attempts by Moravian and Anglican missionaries along
the West African coast and in South Africa in the 18th century, a new Protes-
tant missionary movement began around 1800. This mainly had its roots in
German Pietism and in the English religious revivalist movement (GENSICHEN
1969, 31 - 37). Unlike the Catholic Church which mainly used the religious
orders to spread the faith, and also unlike earlier Protestant missions of the
17th and 18th centuries whereby the churches themselves performed mission-
ary work, Protestant Christianity in the 19th and 20th century expanded by
the means of voluntary missionary societies. Christians particularly commit-
ted to missionary work came together to form societies responsible for sending
missionaries abroad and supporting them. Parallels to the organisational form
of the missionary society can be seen in the scientific, commercial, philosophi-
cal, geographical and colonial societies which also came into being at the end of
the 18th century. All have Anglo-Saxon democratic origins (HAMMER 1981).
The earliest and largest missionary societies originated in the English-speaking
areas which up to the present time have appointed 80% of non-Catholic mis-
sionaries working in Africa. The earliest of these were the Baptist Missionary
Society (founded in 1792), the interdenominational London Missionary Soci-
ety (1795), the Anglican Church Missionary Society (1799) and the American
Board of Commissions for Foreign Missions (1810). Several years later simi-
lar societies arose in German-speaking areas, in France, in Scandinavia, and
in the Netherlands (the Basel Mission, 1815; the Berlin Mission, 1824; the
Rhenish Mission, 1828; the Paris Evangelical Mission, 1822). They also soon
sent missionaries out to Africa. At first missionaries went mainly to South