Christian missions in Eastern New Guinea : a study of European, South Sea Island and Papuan influences, 1877-1942

Abstract

This study examines the relations among the various ethnic groups concerned in the conversion of the eastern Papuan people to Christianity, the response of the Massim people and their neighbours to this process, and the nature of the indigenous Christian leadership that emerged. Between 1877 and 1942, several groups of missionaries were influential in eastern New Guinea. The first were the Pacific Islands missionaries of the London Missionary Society who arrived in 1877. They were followed in 1891 by Anglicans and Methodists and the first European L.M.S. missionaries. Direct L.M.S. influence ceased, however, when the resident missionary at Kwato formed the Kwato Extension Association in 1918. A scrutiny of Kwato, Methodist and Anglican missionary methods reveals different approaches to traditional cultures and varying standards of civilization and Christianity. The first two missions derived their emphasis from the Evangelical Revival and were not diffident in setting forth their views about fallen man. They believed in the beneficent role of British civilization in human progress and thought that the law of man should conform to the law of God; so they devoted their energy to campaigns against features of heathen society which fell short of this standard. The Anglicans, strongly influenced by the Oxford Movement as well as by romantic concepts of the 'natural man', were more hesitant in their approach to traditional cultures and more sceptical of the value of material change. The missions involved, though holding different social and theological assumptions about their role, were uncomplicated by rivalry or competition for souls. Because of the compass of the analysis it was not possible to provide either a detailed account of the background of the European missionaries involved or a narrative account of major features of missionary activity such as education and health. A certain amount of work is already in progress or has been completed in these fields, particularly in education, and these studies can be consulted for a more rounded picture of the work of Papuan missions.