Scripture, Piety and the Practice of Peace in Nineteenth-Century New Zealand Missions. (August 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Troughton, Geoffrey
• Is Part Of: Studies in world Christianity. Volume 25:Part 2(2019)
• Page Start: 128
• Page End: 144
• Publication Date: 2019-08
• Subjects: peace -- peacemaking -- bible -- Māori -- New Zealand -- Church Missionary Society -- Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society; Christianity and culture; 270.83
• DOI: 10.3366/swc.2019.0253
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1354-9901

Abstract

Abstract : Nineteenth-century missionary activity is more commonly associated in historiography with the violence of colonisation and imperialism than with peace. Nevertheless, in some places, rhetoric proclaiming Christianity as a peace-bringer became tied more decisively with the preaching of peace as an ethical imperative. This article explores the emergence and cultivation of a peace gospel in the mission to Māori in nineteenth-century New Zealand. It argues that formations of piety, especially bible reading, were central to the inculcation of an influential peace ethic.