This document discusses the ideological influence of ancient Rome on British imperial thought and missionary writings. It examines how the Roman Empire was viewed as a model for the British Empire to follow. Key points included portraying Ireland as a new barbaric land in need of civilization, as the Romans had civilized Britain. British archaeologists and writers emphasized direct links between Roman and British achievements to justify British imperialism using the precedent of Roman colonization. The Irish and other colonial peoples were aligned with Rome's enemies to portray the British as the new Romans civilizing barbarism.

1. NEW APOSTLES:
THE LASTING
EFFECTS OF
PAUL’S RECEPTION
AMONG BRITISH
MISSIONARIES
The
ideological
functions
of
Rome
and
Paul
within
British
imperial
thought
and
British
imperial
missionary
writings,
with
a
critique
of
anti-­‐
imperial
NT
criticism.
November
22,
2014
Christina
Harker

2. Rome &
British
Imperial
Thought
The
Roman
Empire
as
Model
to
the
British
Empire
The
Narrative
of
Cultural
and
Imperial
Transfer
Colonization
of
Ireland
in
the
Roman
Style
New
Barbarians:
Ireland
Barbarism
and
Paternalism
in
the
Age
of
Empire
Racial
Hierarchies
of
Emprie

3. | 3
Lessons from Rome
“The
man
who
studies
the
Roman
frontier
system,
studies
not
only
a
great
work
but
one
which
has
given
us
all
modern
Western
Europe.
“
Source: en.numista.com
Francis
Haverfield
(1860-­‐1919) was
a
British
archaeologist
who
sought
direct
links
between
the
Roman
and
British
Empires,
often
using
archaeological
study
to
connect
his
contemporary
Britain
to
the
ancient
Romans.
In
the
half
penny
below,
note
the
laureate
presentation
of
Victoria,
the
Latin
legend,
and
Britannia
presented
in
a
similar
way
to
how
Rome
was
on
ancient
Roman
coin
reverses
(see
next
slide).

4. | 4
The Roman Empire
as Model to the
British Empire
William
Fynes
Moryson’s
An
Itinerary
(1617):
The
wise
Romans
enlarged
their
conquests,
so
did
they
spread
their
language
with
their
laws,
and
the
divine
service
all
in
the
Latin
tongue,
and
by
their
rewards
and
preferments
invited
men
to
speak
it
Francis
Haverfield,
a
Roman
archaeologist:*
The
greatest
work
of
the
imperial
age
must
be
sought
in
its
imperial
administration—
in
the
organization
of
its
frontier
defences
which
repulsed
the
barbarian,
and
in
the
development
of
the
provinces
within
those
defences...
In
the
lands
that
[Rome]
had
sheltered,
Roman
civilisation
had
taken
firm
root.
*Hingley, Roman Officers and English
Gentlemen: The Imperial Origins of
Roman Archaeology, 37
A
bust
portrait
of
Elagabalus
facing
right,
with
a
laurel
crown
and
full
name
in
the
Latin
legend.
On
the
reverse,
his
titles
surround
Rome
who
sits
with
her
shield
by
her
side,
holding
the
goddess
of
Victory
who
offers
her
a
wreath.
This
style
was
often
copied
in
the
modern
period.

5. | 5
The Roman Empire
as Model to the
British Empire
J.C.
Stobart,
The
Grandeur
that
was
Rome
(1912):
The
modern
reader,
especially
if
he
be
an
Englishman,
is
a
citizen
of
an
empire
now
extremely
self-­‐conscious
and
somewhat
bewildered
at
its
own
magnitude.
He
cannot
help
drawing
analogies
from
Roman
history
and
seeking
in
it
‘morals’
for
his
own
guidance.
The
Roman
Empire
bears
such
an
obvious
and
unique
resemblance
to
the
British
that
the
fate
of
the
former
must
of
enormous
interest
to
the
latter.
*Hingley, Roman Officers and English Gentlemen: The Imperial Origins of Roman
Archaeology, 37 . Medal from Yale University Art Gallery. (2001.87.27595)
Other
Modern
European
nations
and
monarchs
also
modeled
themselves
on
the
Romans.
Notice
below
Louis
XIV
in
a
Roman
style
bust
portrait,
with
a
similarly
Roman
influenced
portrayal
of
Public
Happiness
on
the
reverse.

6. | 6
Cultural Transfer:
William Cowper
(1731-1800)
‘Princess!
If
our
aged
eyes
Weep
upon
thy
matchless
wrongs,
‘Tis
because
resentment
ties
All
the
terrors
of
our
tongues.
Rome
shall
perish—write
that
word
In
the
blood
that
she
has
spilt;
Perish,
hopeless
and
abhorred,
Deep
in
ruin
as
in
guilt.
‘Rome,
for
empire
far
renowned,
Tramples
on
a
thousand
states;
Soon
her
pride
shall
kiss
the
ground—
Hark!
the
Gaul
is
at
her
Gates!
Source: en.numista.com
Cowper
was
an
English
poet
who
wrote
“Boadicea:
An
Ode”
in
1782:
When
the
British
warrior
queen,
Bleeding
from
the
Roman
rods,
Sought
with
an
indignant
mien,
Counsel
of
her
country’s
gods,
Sage
beneath
a
spreading
oak,
Sat
the
Druid,
hoary
chief;
Every
burning
word
he
spoke
Full
of
rage,
and
full
of
grief.

7. | 7
The Narrative of
Cultural and Imperial
Transfer
“Boadicea:
An
Ode”
(cont.):
‘Other
Romans
shall
arise,
Heedless
of
a
soldier’s
name;
Sounds,
not
arms,
shall
win
the
prize—
Harmony
the
path
to
fame.
‘Then
the
progeny
that
springs
From
the
forests
of
our
land,
Armed
with
thunder,
clad
with
wings,
Shall
a
wider
world
command.
Source: en.numista.com
‘Regions
Caesar
never
knew
Thy
posterity
shall
sway,
Where
his
eagles
never
flew,
None
invincible
as
they.’
Such
the
bard’s
prophetic
words,
Pregnatn
with
celestial
fire,
Bending,
as
he
swept
the
chords,
Of
his
sweet
but
awful
lyre.
She,
with
a
monarch’s
pride,
Felt
them
in
her
bosom
glow;
Rushed
to
battle,
fought,
and
died;
Dying,
hurled
them
at
the
foe.
Ruffians,
pitiless
as
proud,
Heaven
awards
the
vengeance
due:
Empire
is
on
us
bestowed,
Shame
and
ruin
wait
for
you.

8. | 8
Cultural Transfer:
The Cantata,
“Caractatus”
H.A.
Ackworth
libretto
for
Elgar’s
cantata
(1897-­‐98)
:
Do
thy
worst
to
me:
my
people
spare
Whom
fought
for
freedom
in
our
land
at
home.
Slaves
they
are
not;
be
wise
and
teach
them
there
Order,
and
law,
and
liberty
with
Rome.
Georgians,
Victorians,
and
Edwardians
understood
ancient
Brittania
to
have
absorbed
the
virtues
and
strengths
of
its
conquerors,
the
Romans.
These
virtues
descended
to
the
modern
Britons,
who
identified
deeply
with
Rome
during
their
imperial
expansion.
In
this
gold
sovereign
produced
for
Queen
Elizabeth’s
diamond
jubilee,
one
of
the
first
dies—or
coin
images—from
her
reign
is
reproduced
with
the
new
date.
In
spite
of
her
modern
1950s
hairstyle
and
dress,
she
is
presented
bust
right
(typical
of
Roman
imperial
portraits
on
coins),
with
a
laurel
crown
in
her
hair
and
an
olive
branch
below.
The
latin
legend
reads,
“May
God
direct
my
steps.”
The
coin
uniquely
combines
material
evoking
her
role
as
Fidei
Defensatrix
and
the
legacy
of
British
imperial
sovereigns,
linked
back
to
ancient
Rome
through
the
iconography
of
Roman
emperors
in
the
presentation
of
British
ones.
Source: en.numista.com

9. Rome,
Italy.
Trajan’s
Column
(113).
Victory
columns,
like
the
iconography
of
coins,
betray
modern
empires’
ideological
debt
to
Rome.
The
most
famous
is
probably
Nelson’s
Column
in
London.
| 9
H. C. Coote, A
Neglected Fact in
English History
(1864)
On
theories
positing
a
Teutonic
origin
of
the
English:*
“[the
idea]
post-­‐dates
the
English
origines
and
dries
up
the
springs
of
our
early
history,
the
merits
and
interest
of
which
are
by
this
supposition
lavished
upon
a
race
of
strangers.
It
disentitles
a
large
proportion
of
the
Britons
of
Imperial
Rome
to
the
sympathies
of
the
present
race
of
Englishmen,
between
whom
and
the
Eternal
City
it
leaves
a
gap
without
connection
or
transition.
Provincial
Britain
becomes
a
lost
nation,
and
four
centuries
of
historical
associations,
with
their
momentous
consequences
are
divorced
from
our
annals.”
According
to
Coote’s
theory,
Roman
cultural
and
genetic
heritage
descended
to
the
modern
English
from
ancient
times.
The
arrival
of
“Gallo-­‐Roman”
reinforcements
in
1066
relieved
the
darkness
of
the
Anglo-­‐Saxon
and
Danish
conquests,
so
that
the
British-­‐Roman
descendants
of
Roman
colonists
could
become
“the
creator,
under
providence,
of
the
medieval
and
modern
greatness
of
England.”
*Hingley, Roman Officers and English Gentlemen: The Imperial Origins of Roman
Archaeology, 69-70.

10. |10
Colonization of
Ireland in the Roman
Style
In
1565,
Sir
Thomas
Smith
advocated
a
path
of
cultural
extermination
and
settlement
as
the
solution
to
the
“problem”
of
Ireland
in
his
letter
to
the
Secretary
of
State,
William
Cecil:*
...it
needeth
nothing
more
than
to
have
colonies.
To
augment
our
tongue,
our
laws,
and
our
religion
in
that
Isle,
which
three
be
the
true
bands
of
the
commonwealth
whereby
the
Romans
conquered
and
kept
for
a
long
time
a
great
part
of
the
world.
The
portrayal
of
the
British
as
New
Romans
required
the
creation
of
foils
that
could
be
aligned
with
ancient
Rome’s
enemies.
Ireland
fulfilled
this
role,
but
with
imperial
expansion
and
colonial
encounters
with
other
civilizations,
those
new
groups
and
peoples
began
to
function
as
Britain’s
ultimate
others.
*Raman, Renaissance Literature and Postcolonial Studies, 74.

11. | 11
Colonization of
Ireland in the Roman
Style
Sir
FitzWilliam
to
Lord
Burleigh:*
This
people...hath
been
long
misled
in
beastly
liberty
and
sensual
immunity
so
as
they
cannot
abide
to
hear
of
correction,
no;
not
for
the
horriblest
sins
that
they
can
commit.
Till
the
sword
have
thoroughly
and
universally
tamed...in
vain
is
law
brought
amongst
them:
nay
dangerously
is
the
bridle
thereof
shaked
towards
them...this
makes
them
all
tooth
and
nail...to
spurn,
kick
and
practice
against
it.
Sir
Henry
Smith,
Queen
Elizabeth’s
Secretary
of
State
to
Lord
FitzWilliam,
Lord
Deputy
of
Ireland.
Smith
proposed
establishing
settlements
in
Ulster
based
“almost
entirely
upon
Roman
methods
of
colonization”*
This
I
write
unto
you
as
I
do
understand
by
histories
of
things
past,
how
this
country
of
England,
once
as
uncivil
as
Ireland
now
is,
was
by
colonies
of
the
Romans
brought
to
understand
the
laws
and
orders
of
the
ancient
orders
whereof
there
hath
no
nation
more
straightly
and
truly
kept
the
moulds
even
to
this
day
than
we,
yea
more
than
the
Italians
and
Romans
themselves.
*Raman, Renaissance Literature and Postcolonial Studies, 74.

12. |12
New Barbarians:
Spenser, A Vewe of
the present state of
Irelande (c. 1598)
Spenser
advocates
colonization
based
on
a
Roman
model,
but
also
connects
the
Irish
to
the
Gauls
genealogically
through
Spain:
Mela,
beinge
himselfe
a
Spaniarde,
yet
saith
to
have
descended
from
the
Celtics
of
Fraunce,
whereby
yt
is
to
be
gathered,
that
that
nacon
which
came
out
of
Spain
into
Ireland
were
auncientlie
Gaules,
and
that
they
brought
with
them
those
letters
which
they
had
learned
in
Spain,
first
into
Ireland,
the
which
some
allso
saye
doe
muche
resemble
the
olde
Phenicon
carracter,
beinge
likewise
distinguished
with
pricke
and
accent,
as
theires
auncyentlie.
Spanish
descent
is
itself
an
insult,
and
Spenser
writes
before
the
decline
of
the
Spanish
Empire:
Soe
that
all
nacons
under
heaven,
I
suppose,
the
Spaniard
is
the
most
mingled,
most
uncerten,
and
most
bastardlie;
wherefore
most
foolishly
doe
the
Irish
thinke
to
enoble
themselves
by
wrestinge
theire
auncestrie
from
the
Spaniard,
whoe
is
unable
to
deryve
himselfe
from
any
nacon
certen.
Nominally
a
work
aimed
at
discovering
Ireland’s
“malady”
in
order
to
cure
it
with
“a
diet
with
streight
rules
and
orders
to
be
dayly
observed,
for
fear
of
relaps
into
the
former
disease”,
Spenser
expands
on
earlier
chronicles
and
genealogies
to
create
the
needed
contrast
to
the
English
link
to
Rome.

13. |13
New Barbarians:
Spenser’s Links
between Celtic Tribal
Names and the
Modern Irish
Spenser
links
the
Irish
to
ancient
Celts
through
group
names:
Moreover
there
be
of
the
olde
Galles
certaine
nacons
yett
remayninge
in
Irelande
which
retaine
the
olde
denominacons
of
the
Galles,
as
the
Manapi,
the
Cauci,
the
Venti
and
others;
by
all
which
and
many
other
very
reasonable
probabilities,
which
this
shorte
course,
will
not
suffer
to
be
laid
forth,
it
appeareth
that
the
cheef
inhabitantes
in
the
Iland
were
Galles
cominge
thither
first
from
Spayne,
and
afterwards
from
besides
Tannius,
where
the
Gothes,
Hunnes,
and
the
Getes
sat
downe,
they
allso
beinge
(as
it
is
said)
of
some
ancient
Galles,
and
lastly
passinge
out
of
Gallia
it
self,
from
all
the
sea
Coaste
of
Belgia
and
Celtica,
into
all
the
sotherne
coastes
of
Ireland,
which
they
possessed
and
inhabited,
whereupon
it
is
at
this
daye,
amongst
all
the
Irishe
a
common
use
to
call
any
strange
inhabitante
there
amongst
them,
Gald,
that
is,
descended
of
[or]
from
the
Gaules.
Rome,
Italy.
Justinian’s
Column
(543)

14. |14
Spenser and
Apocryphal stories
of Irish “barbarism”
The
possession
of
their
Bardes
was,
as
Caesar
writeth,
usuall
amongst
the
Gaules;
and
the
same
was
also
common
amongst
the
Brittans,
and
is
not
yett
altogether
left
of
with
the
Walshe,
which
are
ther
posterity.
…The
longe
dearts
came
also
from
the
Gaules,
as
ye
may
read
in
the
same
Caesar,
and
in
John
Boemius.
Likewise
the
said
Jo.
Boemius
wrighteth,
that
the
Gaules
used
swordes,
a
hanfull
broad,
and
soe
doe
the
Irish
nowe.
Also
that
they
used
long
wicker
sheilds
in
battell
that
should
cover
their
whole
bodyes,
and
soe
doe
the
Northerne
Irish.
But
because
I
have
not
seen
such
fashioned
targettes
in
the
Southerne
partes,
but
only
amongst
those
Northerne
people,
and
Irish
Scottes,
I
doe
thinke
that
they
were
brought
in
rather
by
the
Scythians,
then
by
the
Gaules.
Alsoe
the
Gaules
used
to
drincke
ther
enymyes
blood,
and
to
paynte
themselves
therewith:
soe
alsoe
they
wright,
that
the
ould
Irish
were
wonte,
and
soe
have
I
sene
some
of
the
Irish
doe,
but
not
theire
enymyes
but
frendes
bloode.
As
namely
at
the
execution
of
a
notable
traytor
at
Lymbricke,
called
Murrogh
Obrien,
I
saw
an
ould
woman,
which
was
his
foster
mother,
tooke
up
his
heade,
whilst
he
was
quartered,
and
sucked
up
all
the
blood
running
thereout,
saying,
that
the
earth
was
not
worthy
to
drincke
it,
and
therewith
also
steeped
her
face
and
brest,
and
tare
her
heare,
crying
and
shriking
out
most
terribly.
But
he
also
links
them
through
cultural
practices
he
ascribes
to
them:

15. |15
Theodore
Mommsen
(1817-1903), The
History of Rome
We
may
be
allowed
to
call
attention
to
the
fact,
that
in
the
accounts
of
the
ancients
as
to
the
Celts
on
the
Loire
and
Seine
we
find
almost
every
one
of
the
characteristic
traits
which
we
are
accustomed
to
recognize
as
marking
the
Irish.
Every
feature
reappears:
the
laziness
in
the
culture
of
the
fields;
the
delight
in
tippling
and
brawling;
the
ostentation—we
may
recall
that
sword
of
Caesar
hung
up
in
the
sacred
grove
of
the
Arvernians
after
the
victory
of
Gergovia,
which
its
alleged
former
owner
viewed
with
a
smile
at
the
consecrated
spot
and
ordered
the
sacred
property
to
be
carefully
spared;
the
language
full
of
comparisons
and
hyperboles,
of
allusions
and
quaint
turns;
the
droll
humour—an
excellent
example
of
which
was
the
rule,
that
if
any
one
interrupted
a
person
speaking
in
public,
a
substantial
and
very
visible
hole
should
be
cut,
as
a
measure
of
police,
in
the
coat
of
the
disturber
of
the
peace;
the
hearty
delight
in
singing
and
reciting
the
deeds
of
past
ages,
and
the
most
decided
talent
for
rhetoric
and
poetry;
the
curiosity—…no
trader
was
allowed
to
pass,
before
he
had
told
in
the
open
street
what
he
knew,
or
did
not
know,
in
the
shape
of
news—and
the
extravagant
credulity
which
acted
on
such
accounts,
for
which
reason
in
the
better
regulated
cantons
travellers
were
prohibited
on
pain
of
severe
punishment
from
communicating
unauthenticated
reports
to
others
than
the
public
magistrates;
Mommsen
echoes
Spenser’s
belief
in
the
endurance
of
racial
characteristics
he
identifies
in
his
ancient
sources
and
ascribes
to
the
Irish.
Theodor Mommsen, The History of Rome (London: Richard Bentley, 1867), 286-287.

16. |16
Theodore
Mommsen
(1817-1903), The
History of Rome
…the
childlike
piety,
which
sees
in
the
priest
a
father
and
asks
him
for
his
advice
in
all
things;
the
unsurpassed
fervour
of
national
feeling,
and
the
closeness
with
which
those
who
are
fellow-­‐countrymen
cling
together
almost
like
one
family
in
opposition
to
the
stranger;
the
inclination
to
rise
in
revolt
under
the
first
chance
leader
that
presents
himself
to
form
bands,
but
at
the
same
time
the
utter
incapacity
to
preserve
a
self-­‐reliant
courage
equally
remote
from
presumption
and
from
pusillanimity,
to
perceive
the
right
time
for
waiting
and
for
striking,
to
attain
or
even
barely
tolerate
any
organization,
any
sort
of
fixed
military
or
political
discipline.
It
is,
and
remains,
at
all
times
and
places
the
same
indolent,
poetical,
irresolute
and
fervid,
inquisitive,
credulous,
amiable,
clever,
but–in
a
political
point
of
view—
thoroughly
useless
nation;
and
therefore
its
fate
has
been
always
and
everywhere
the
same.
Hildesheim
Cathedral,
Germany.
Bernward
Column
(ca.
1000)
This
is
one
of
many
medieval
Christian
columns,
depicting
victories
of
spiritual
rather
than
earthly
powers,
but
note
how
these
columns
co-­‐opt
the
presentation
of
Roman
ones.
This
column
copies
the
helix
pattern
of
Trajan’s
column
with
its
individual
scenes
of
the
subjugation
of
unruly
peoples.

17. |17
Barbarism and
Paternalism in the
Age of Empire
Émile
Faguet:
The
barbarian
is
of
the
same
race,
after
all,
as
the
Roman
and
the
Greek.
He
is
a
cousin.
The
yellow
man,
the
black
man,
is
not
our
cousin
at
all.
Here
there
is
a
real
difference,
a
real
distance,
and
a
very
great
one:
an
ethnological
distance.
After
all,
civilization
has
never
yet
been
made
except
by
whites.
.
.
If
Europe
becomes
yellow,
there
will
certainly
be
a
regression,
a
new
period
of
darkness
and
confusion,
that
is,
another
Middle
Ages.
J.
R.
Seeley,
The
Expansion
of
England
(1883):
We
do
not
now
read
...
[history]
simply
for
pleasure,
but
in
order
that
we
may
discover
the
laws
of
political
growth
and
change
...
We
have
also
learnt
that
there
are
many
good
things
in
politics
beside
liberty;
for
instance
there
is
nationality,
there
is
civilisation.
Now
it
often
happens
that
a
Government
which
allows
no
liberty
is
nevertheless
most
valuable
and
most
favourable
to
progress
towards
these
other
goals.
As
European
empires
expanded,
the
colonial
encounter
with
civilizations
comprised
of
individuals
of
very
different
races
led
to
a
re-­‐evaluation
of
what
being
a
“barbarian”
might
mean
and
the
value
of
sharing
“civilization”.
Francis
Haverfield,
“The
Romanization
of
Roman
Britain”,
Proceedings
of
the
British
Academy
(1905):
Uncivilized
Africans
or
Asiatics
seem
sundered
for
ever
from
their
conquerors
by
a
broad
physical
distinction.

18. |18
The Racial
Hierarchies of
Empire
The
regeneration
of
the
inferior
or
degenerate
races
by
the
superior
races
is
part
of
the
providential
order
of
things
for
humanity.
With
us,
the
common
man
is
nearly
always
a
déclassé
nobleman,
his
heavy
hand
is
better
suited
to
handling
the
sword
than
the
menial
tool.
Rather
than
work,
he
chooses
to
fight,
that
is,
he
returns
to
his
first
estate.
Regere
imperio
populos,
that
is
our
vocation.
Pour
forth
this
all-­‐consuming
activity
onto
countries
which,
like
China,
are
crying
aloud
for
foreign
conquest.
Turn
the
adventurers
who
disturb
European
society
into
a
ver
sacrum,
a
horde
like
those
of
the
Franks,
the
Lombards,
or
the
Normans,
and
every
man
will
be
in
his
right
role.
Nature
has
made
a
race
of
workers,
the
Chinese
race,
who
have
wonderful
manual
dexterity
and
almost
no
sense
of
honor;
govern
them
with
justice,
levying
from
them,
in
return
for
the
blessing
of
such
a
government,
an
ample
allowance
for
the
conquering
race,
and
they
will
be
satisfied;
a
race
of
tillers
of
the
soil,
the
Negro;
treat
him
with
kindness
and
humanity,
and
all
will
be
as
it
should;
a
race
of
masters
and
soldiers,
the
European
race.
Reduce
this
noble
race
to
working
in
the
ergastulum
like
Negroes
and
Chinese,
and
they
rebel.
In
Europe,
every
rebel
is,
more
or
less,
a
soldier
who
has
missed
his
calling,
a
creature
made
for
the
heroic
life,
before
whom
you
are
setting
a
task
that
is
contrary
to
his
race—a
poor
worker,
too
good
a
soldier.
But
the
life
at
which
our
workers
rebel
would
make
a
Chinese
or
a
fellah
happy,
as
they
are
not
military
creatures
in
the
least.
Let
each
one
do
what
he
is
made
for,
and
all
will
be
well.
Ernest
Renan
(1823-­‐1892)
wrote
at
length
about
how
1)
certain
races
were
destined
to
particular
forms
of
labor
according
to
a
racialized
hierarchy
and
2)
that
“inferior
or
degenerate
races”
would
be
regenerated
by
the
“superior”
(read:
European)
races.
This
passage
from
Le
Reforme
Intellectuelle
et
Morale
is
peppered
with
Latin
phrases
that
evoke
justifying
discursive
role
of
the
Roman
Empire.

19. British
Imperial
Missionaries
A
Christian
British
Empire
Paul
as
Model
Missionary
where
Rome
is
Model
Empire
Paul
as
Exemplar
in
Death
and
Suffering
Christianity
v.
Heathenism
Equating
Ancient
“Heathenism”
with
Colonial
“Heathenism”
Language
of
Light,
“Heathen
Darkness”,
and
Race
Racism
and
Paternalistic
Appropriation
in
Missionary
Thought
The
Compatibility
of
Mission
and
Empire

20. |20
A Christian British
Empire
Rudyard
Kipling
and
C.R.L.
Fletcher,
A
School
History
of
England
(1911):
The
justice
and
mercy,
which
these
countries
had
not
known
since
the
fall
of
the
Roman
Empire
is
now
in
full
measure
given
them
by
the
British.
A
popular
poem
from
Victorian
Christian
circulars:
The
earth
with
all
its
fullness
is
the
Lord’s.
Great
things
attempt
for
Him,
great
things
expect,
Whose
love
imperial
is,
Whose
power
sublime.
Richard
Hakluyt
the
Elder
(c.
1553-­‐1616)
to
Sir
Walter
Raleigh:
Nothing
more
glorious
or
honourable
can
be
handed
down
to
the
future
than
to
tame
the
barbarian,
to
bring
back
the
savage
and
the
pagan
to
the
fellowship
of
civil
existence
and
to
induce
reverence
for
the
Holy
Spirit
into
atheists
and
others
distant
from
God.

21. |21
Paul as Model
Missionary where
Rome is Model
Empire
Sam
Stevenson,
“The
Source
of
Missionary
Enthusiasm,”
in
The
Lightbearer,
vol.
8
(1912),
78
“The
love
of
Christ
is
our
incentive”
II.
Corinthians
v.
14.
This
passage
of
Scripture
is
St.
Paul’s
answer
to
his
enemies
who
charged
him
with
being
mad.
His
movements
and
methods
of
work
were
so
much
out
of
the
ordinary
as
to
appear
extravagant.
His
zeal
in
Christ’s
service
was
untamed
by
opposition,
his
interest
unflagging.
He
is
the
unique
Missionary.
The
need
of
to-­‐day
undoubtedly
is—men
and
women
consumed
with
the
love
of
God,
men
and
women
ready
to
emulate
the
apostle’s
example.
The
only
hope
for
this
coming
about
is
to
get
people
to
go
to
the
source
of
the
apostle’s
inspiration.
And
what
that
was,
is
told
us
in
the
passage
quoted
above—“The
love
of
Christ”
Florence,
Italy.
Colonna
di
san
Zanobi
(before
1333).
This
simple
column
is
crowned
with
a
cross.

22. |22
Paul as Model
Missionary where
Rome is Model
Empire
Stevenson,
“The
Source
of
Missionary
Enthusiasm,”
78
His
missionary
tours
are
marvels
of
accomplishment.
They
put
to
shame
our
feeble
achievements
in
the
Mission
field.
His
writings
too
are
marvellous.
They
are
all
the
product
of
that
fiery
ardour.
They
are
not
mere
memoirs;
they
are
his
spirit
and
his
life.
And
the
explanation
of
all
his
accomplishments
is
given
in
Galatians
ii.20—‘I
am
crucified
with
Christ,
nevertheless
I
live
by
the
power
of
the
indwelling
Christ.’
Paul
was
in
union
with
Christ
and
shared
the
value
of
Christ’s
death
and
the
power
of
His
resurrection.
The
love
of
Christ
created
in
Paul
a
fire
of
love
that
acted
like
the
sacrificial
fire
on
the
altar
consuming
the
sacrifice,
for
Paul
was
consumed
as
he
spent
himself
in
sacrificial
service.
This,
then—the
love
of
Christ—is
the
dynamo
of
spiritual
power.
It
is
the
cure
for
the
manifest
apathy
shown
toward
Missions
to
the
heathen.
Munich,
Germany.
Mariensäule
(1638).
This
column
features
Mary
with
the
infant
Christ;
she
appears
as
the
Queen
of
Heaven
standing
on
a
crescent.

23. |23
Paul as Model
Missionary where
Rome is Model
Empire
The
Indian
Female
Evangelist
(London:
James
Nisbet
&
Co.,
1875),
60
And
so
it
has
been,
not
only
with
Abraham
and
Paul,
but
with
all
God’s
people—with
the
teachers
of
our
own
day;
with
the
founders
of
the
most
successful
missions,
both
at
home
and
abroad.
Blenheim
Palace,
England.
Column
of
Victory
(1730).
This
column
marks
a
return
to
victory
columns
that
celebrate
military
heroes
and
victories.

24. |24
Paul as Exemplar in
Death and in
Suffering
The
Missionary
Papers,
1816-­‐1878,
Church
Missionary
Paper,
No.
CCX.
June,
1868
I
passed
by
the
place
in
a
boat,
but
severe
illness
prevented
my
remaining.
In
a
day
or
two
after,
the
catechist
and
a
few
of
the
Christians
came
all
the
way
to
ascertain
the
nature
of
my
illness,
and
to
assure
me
that,
from
the
moment
they
heard
I
had
been
ill,
continual
prayer
had
been
made
by
them
all
for
my
speedy
recovery.
I
need
not
say
what
real
pleasure
this
assurance
afforded
me.
The
joy
thus
felt
can
be
realized,
I
believe,
only
by
the
Missionary
under
similar
circumstances,
and
the
feelings
of
the
Apostle
St.
Paul
are
better
understood
from
such
experiences
than
from
the
most
learned
disquisitions
of
all
his
commentators.
I
visited
Ming-­‐
ang-­‐teng
for
the
first
time
three
years
ago:
I
was
then
hooted
and
laughed
at.
There
was
not
a
Christian
there
at
that
time,
nor
one
who
knew
any
thing
of
Jesus
Christ.
Now,
when
I
am
weak
and
sick,
from
the
very
place,
and
from
among
the
very
people,
comes
a
message
of
affectionate
sympathy,
and
an
assurance
that
continued
prayer
is
offered
on
my
behalf
at
the
throne
of
grace
by
a
goodly
number
of,
I
believe
and
hope,
earnest
and
sincere
brethren
and
sisters
in
Christ.
Stowe
Park,
England.
The
Grenville
Column
(1749)

25. |25
Paul as Exemplar in
Death and in
Suffering
Dublin,
Ireland.
Nelson’s
Column
(1809)
Richard
Lovett,
The
History
of
the
London
Missionary
Society,
vol.
2
(London:
Henry
Frowde;
Oxford
University
Press,
1899),
136.
Throughout
his
life
[Mr.
Hay]
kept
the
thin,
spare,
erect
frame
he
had
when
he
came
to
the
country.
Looking
at
his
well-­‐
poised
head,
his
clear-­‐cut
face,
and
his
lofty,
dome-­‐like
forehead,
you
felt
the
presence
of
an
old
warrior-­‐saint,
such
an
one
as
Paul
the
aged,
whom
no
opposition
could
daunt
and
whose
indomitableness
no
obstacle
could
conquer.

26. |26
Christianity v.
Heathenism
…their
feet
have
been
swift
to
shed
blood,
and
human
sacrifices
have
been
almost
universally
practiced.
Such
was
Corinth,
when
St.
Paul
first
preached
the
Gospel
there,
and
established
a
Christian
Church.
He
then
addressed
them,
Ye
know
that
ye
were
Gentiles,
carried
away
unto
dumb
Idols,
even
as
ye
were
led.
Such
were
Greece
and
Rome,
with
all
their
boasted
refinement;
such
are
Pagan
Countries
and
Idolatrous
Islands
to
the
present
day.
Such
once
was
Britain!
Is
it
possible,
that
an
inhabitant
of
this
favoured
Island
can
look
at
the
Altar
of
Human
Sacrifice
without
horror;
without
gratitude
to
God,
who
has
redeemed
him
from
such
horrible
cruelties;
and
without
sympathy
and
compassion
to
the
many
thousands,
yea,
millions,
who
are
now
remaining
in
darkness
and
the
land
of
the
shadow
of
death?
The
Missionary
Papers,
1816-­‐1878,
no.
LIII.
Lady-­‐Day,
1829
For
this
detestable
impiety,
this
contempt
of
the
pure
and
holy
worship
of
JEHOVAH,
the
One
Living
and
True
God,
the
Almighty
hath,
in
righteous
indignation,
given
them
up
to
follow
their
own
devices.
Idolatry
has
proved
the
fatal
source
of
crimes
the
most
flagrant
and
abominable
nations
which
worship
Idols
have
been,
and
now
are,
distinguished
for
pride
and
cruelty,
intoxication
and
lust,
indolence,
tyranny,
and
revenge:

27. |27
Equating
“Heathenism” in the
Colonies and
Ancient Heathenism
The
Church
Missionary
Quarterly
Token:
“A
Book
of
Missionary
Incident
and
Instruction”
(Church
Missionary
House,
1856-­‐1865),
no.
11
October
1858
But
what
can
one
expect
from
those
who
have
been
born
and
brought
up
in
heathen
darkness?
‘Unmerciful’
is
one
of
the
terms
St.
Paul
applies
to
the
heathen
in
the
first
chapter
of
the
Epistle
to
the
Romans.
They
were
so
in
the
Apostle’s
days,
and
they
are
so
still.
The
Missionary
Papers,
1816-­‐1878,
Missionary
Papers,
No.
XXXIX.
Michaelmas,
1825
This
is
the
testimony
of
these
Heathens
against
themselves:
and
it
proves
that
the
awful
description
of
the
Gentiles
given
by
St.
Paul
in
the
latter
part
of
the
First
Chapter
to
the
Romans
is
true
of
these
miserable
men.
They
celebrate
with
feasting
and
shouts
the
acts
of
Falsehood
and
Impurity
of
their
pretended
god
[Krishna],
and
to
Falsehood
and
Impurity
they
are
themselves
devoted!
Paris,
France.
Colonne
Vendôme
(1809).
This
column
recalls
the
helix
pattern
of
Trajan’s
column.
Napoleon
stands
at
the
top,
above
a
series
of
bronze
reliefs
made
from
the
captured
cannons
from
his
victory
at
Austerlitz.

28. |28
Equating
“Heathenism” in the
Colonies and
Ancient Heathenism
Robert
Ward,
Life
Among
the
Maories
of
New
Zealand:
Being
a
Description
of
Missionary,
Colonial
and
Military
Achievements
(Canada:
G.
Lamb,
1872),
98-­‐99
We
cannot
conclude
this
chapter
in
more
appropriate
language
than
that
used
by
the
apostle
Paul
in
describing
the
effects
of
heathenism
eighteen
centuries
ago;
only
remarking
that
the
inspired
expressions
were
applicable
to
the
people
of
New
Zealand,
and
of
Polynesia
in
general,
in
an
intenser
degree
than
they
were
probably
applied,
at
least,
in
some
respects,
to
the
heathen
of
ancient
times:“God
also
gave
them
up
to
uncleanness
through
the
lusts
of
their
own
hearts,
to
dishonour
their
own
bodies
between
themselves.
.
.
to
vile
affections.
.
.
to
a
reprobate
mind,
to
do
those
things
which
are
not
convenient;
being
filled
with
all
unrighteousnessness,
fornication,
wickedness,
covetousness,
maliciousness;
full
of
envy,
murder,
debate,
deceit,
malignity;
whisperers,
backbiters,
haters
of
God,
despiteful,
proud,
boasters,
inventors
of
evil
things,
disobedient
to
parents,
without
understanding,
covenant
breakers,
without
natural
affections,
implacable,
unmerciful.
Great
Yarmouth,
England.
Britannia
Monument
(1819).
Britannia
tops
this
column
and
stands
on
a
globe
of
the
world,
supported
by
caryatids.

29. |29
Language of Light,
“Heathen Darkness”
and Race
Mary
Gaunt,
Alone
in
West
Africa
(New
York:
Scribner,
1912),
78-­‐9
Now
most
settlements
along
the
Coast
[of
West
Africa]
are
busy,
prosperous,
and
above
all,
sanitary.
Only
in
Liberia,
the
civilised
black
man’s
own
country,
does
a
different
state
of
things
prevail;
only
here
has
the
movement
been
retro-­‐
grade.
.
.
Who
shall
say
that
some
ultimate
good
may
not
yet
come
for
beautiful,
wealthy,
poverty-­‐stricken
Liberia.
That
the
civilised
nations,
sinking
their
own
jealousies,
may
step
in
and
save
her
despite
herself,
I
think,
is
the
only
hope.
But
it
must
be
as
Paul
would
have
saved,
not
as
the
pitiful
Christ...to
me
Liberia
seems
to
be
stretching
out
her
hands
crying
dumbly
to
the
white
man
the
cry
that
came
across
the
water
of
old,
the
cry
the
missionary
girl
listened
to,
the
cry
of
Macedonia,
‘Come
over
and
help
us.
Nantes,
France.
Column
of
Louis
XVI
(1823).

30. |30
Language of Light,
“Heathen Darkness”
and Race
William
Carey,
An
Enquiry
into
the
Obligations
of
the
Christians:
to
use
means
for
the
Conversion
of
the
Heathens.
In
which
the
religious
state
of
the
different
nations
of
the
world,
the
success
of
former
undertakings,
and
the
practicability
of
further
undertakings,
are
considered
(Leicester:
Printed
/
Sold
by
Ann
Ireland
[etc.],
1792),
10
Alas!
the
far
greater
part
of
the
world,
as
we
shall
see
presently,
are
still
covered
with
heathen
darkness!
Nor
can
we
produce
a
counter-­‐revelation,
concerning
any
particular
nation,
like
that
to
Paul
and
Silas,
when
forbidden
to
preach
to
those
heathens,
went
elsewhere,
and
preached
to
others.
Neither
can
we
alledge
[sic]
a
natural
impossibility
in
the
case.
Baltimore,
Maryland.
Washington
Monument
(1829)

31. London,
England.
Nelson’s
Column
(1843).
This
is
probably
the
most
famous
modern
victory
column.
Admiral
Nelson
appears
at
the
top,
surveying
Trafalgar
Square
below.
|31
Language of Light,
“Heathen Darkness”
and Race
C.
F.
Pascoe,
Two
Hundred
Years
of
the
S.P.G:
An
Historical
Account
of
the
Society
for
the
Propagation
of
the
Gospel
in
Foreign
Parts,
vol.
1
(London:
Published
at
the
Society’s
Office,
1901),
316d-­‐e
[The
Church]
trying
to
do
her
duty
to
the
natives—
‘to
give
them
the
best
we
can,
to
train
them.
.
.
that
we
may
use
them
for
carrying
on
the
light
which
they
gain
here
to
the
darkest
corners
of
South
Africa’—
and
the
Bishop’s
charge
contained
a
stirring
appeal
to
Churchmen
to
take
up
their
share
of
‘the
white
man’s
burden’;
doing
what
we
can
to
spell
out
this
mystery
which
is
being
unfolded
to
us,
as
great
as
was
the
mystery
seen
by
St.
Paul—the
place
of
the
native
of
Africa
in
the
Christian
Church
of
the
world.
God
has
set
us
our
task,
we
must
bear
it.’

32. |32
Racism and
Paternalistic
Appropriation in
Missionary Thought
H.
R.
Fox
Bourne,
The
Claims
of
Uncivilised
Races:
A
Paper
Submitted
to
the
International
Congress
on
Colonial
Sociology,
Paris
(Aborigines
Protection
Society,
1900),
7
It
may
be
true
not
only
that
enlightened
Europeans
have
a
right,
but
it
is
also
their
duty,
to
aim
at
the
overthrow
of
barbarism
and
at
the
improvement
of
regions
which
have
hitherto
been
insufficiently
or
improperly
used,
as
well
as
of
people
who
have
hitherto
been
the
victims
of
their
own
or
others’
faults.
But
the
economic,
as
well
as
the
ethical,
principles
which
our
modern
civilisation
boasts
that
it
has
firmly
established,
in
theory
at
any
rate,
forbid
the
perpetration
of
a
crime
in
order
that
other
and
even
greater
crimes
may
be
averted.
Condemning,
with
St.
Paul,
the
doctrine,
“Let
us
do
evil
that
good
may
come,”
those
principles
support
the
Christian
rule.
“As
ye
would
that
men
should
do
to
you,
do
ye
also
to
them
likewise.”
The
abominations
indulged
in
by
ignorant
savages
are
no
excuse
for
any
approach
towards
imitation
of
them
by
people
claiming
to
be
civilised
and
to
be
engaged
in
civilising
work.
‘Thou
shalt
not
kill;
thou
shalt
not
steal;
thou
shalt
not
covet
thy
neighbour’s
goods,’
are
commandments
more
binding
on
educated
white
men
than
on
benighted
blacks.
Berlin,
Germany.
Siegessäule
(1873).
Victory
appears
at
the
top
of
this
enormous
column.
She
carries
a
victory
wreath
and
a
staff
with
a
cross
and
fillets.

33. |33
Racism and
Paternalistic
Appropriation in
Missionary Thought
The
great
service
which
the
European
nations
and
peoples
of
the
Western
civilisation
can
render
to
the
Asiatic,
African,
American,
and
Oceanean
peoples
is
the
imparting
to
them
the
fullest
knowledge
of
the
arts
and
sciences
which
have
matured
in
Europe.
.
.
In
exchange
the
Asiatic,
African,
American,
and
Oceanean
peoples
will
cheerfully
and
heartily
co-­‐operate
with
the
European
peoples
in
the
great
work
of
developing
to
the
uttermost
degree
the
vast
economic
resources
of
the
tropical
and
sub-­‐tropical
regions
wherein
the
European
variety
of
the
Genus
Homo
endowed
with
an
‘unpigmented
skin’
can
neither
work
nor
fight
in
the
open
continuously
and
simultaneously
continue
their
own
variety
of
the
Genus
Homo.
.
.
The
Christian
principles
and
methods
of
Federal
Government
were
enunciated
by
St.
Paul
in
the
following
paraphrased
or
adapted
quotations
from
chapter
12
of
his
first
epistle
to
the
Corinthians,
which
are
applicable
not
only
to
the
organisation
of
spiritual
power,
but
are
applicable,
also,
to
the
organisation
of
temporal
power.
‘Now
concerning
spiritual
gifts,
brethren,
I
would
not
have
you
ignorant.
.
.
Now
there
are
diversities
of
gifts,
but
the
same
spirit
of
scientific
and
artistic
excellence.
.
.
And
there
are
differences
of
administrations,
but
the
same
Lord
of
emotional
and
sympathetic
devotion.
.
.
Jas
C.
Smith,
“Now
We
Are
The
Body
of
the
British
Empire”,
in
The
African
Times
and
Orient
Review,
ed.
Duse
Mohamed,
vol.
1
(London:
African
Times
/
Orient
Review,
1912),
14-­‐15.
(Cont.)

34. |34
Racism and
Paternalistic
Appropriation in
Missionary Thought
And
there
are
diversities
of
operations,
but
it
is
the
same
God
of
truth
and
righteousness
which
worketh
all
in
all.
But
the
manifestation
of
the
spirit
“of
patriotism”
is
given
to
every
man
to
profit
withal.
.
.
But
all.
.
.
worketh
that
one
and
the
self-­‐same
spirit
“of
patriotism,”
di
viding
to
every
man,
severally,
as
he
will.
For
as
the
body
is
one,
and
hath
many
members,
and
all
the
members
of
that
one
body,
being
many,
are
one
body,
so
also
is
the
one
body
of
the
British
Empire.’
For
by
one
Spirit
of
Patriotism
are
we
baptised
into
one
United
Empire,
whether
we
be
Europeans,
Asiatics,
Africans,
Americans,
or
Oceaneans;
and
have
been
all
sworn
to
bear
faithful
and
true
allegiance
unto
one
Sovereign
King-­‐
Emperor,
according
to
one
law
of
the
devolution
of
the
Crown.
…Nay,
much
more,
those
peoples
of
the
British
Empire,
which
seem
to
be
more
backward,
are
equally
necessary
for
executing
the
work
of
the
development
of
the
resources
of
territories
situate
within
the
tropical
and
sub-­‐tropical
regions
of
this
planet,
and,
also,
for
the
military
and
naval
protection
and
defence
of
these
territories,
as
are
those
nations
and
peoples,
of
the
British
Empire,
which
are
now
the
most
advanced,
which
execute
the
work
of
development
of
the
resources
of
our
territories
within
the
temperate
regions,
and
for
the
military
and
naval
defence
of
these
territories.
Jas
C.
Smith,
“Now
We
Are
The
Body
of
the
British
Empire”,
in
The
African
Times
and
Orient
Review,
ed.
Duse
Mohamed,
vol.
1
(London:
African
Times
/
Orient
Review,
1912),
14-­‐15.
(Cont.)

35. Richard
Hakluyt
the
Elder’s
(1553-­‐1616)
“Reasons
for
Colonisation”
(c.
1585),
written
to
support
English
expansion
into
Virginia.
The
ends
of
this
voyage
are
these:
To
plant
Christian
religion.
To
traffic.
Or,
to
do
all
three.
To
conquer.
|35
The Compatibility of
Mission and Empire
Rev.
Barde:*
[if
global
resources]
remained
divided
up
indefinitely,
as
they
would
be
without
colonization,
they
would
answer
neither
the
purposes
of
God
nor
the
just
demands
of
the
human
collectivity.
Rev.
Müller:*
humanity
must
not,
cannot
allow
the
incompetence,
negligence,
and
laziness
of
the
uncivilized
peoples
to
leave
idle
indefinitely
the
wealth
which
God
has
confided
to
them,
charging
them
to
make
it
serve
the
good
of
all.
* As cited by Aimé Césaire, Discourse on Colonialism, 17

36. Anti-Imperial
Biblical
Scholarship
An
Anti-­‐imperialism
with
No
Threat
to
the
Status
Quo
Paul’s
Lasting
Significance
as
a
Model
to
Christians
Binary
Divisions
of
Ancient
Society
Based
on
Allegiance
to
Paul
Paternalism
Paul’s
Imperial
Language
as
a
Positive
Imperial
Language
Used
as
a
Positive

37. Joseph
B.
Lightfoot,
St.
Paul’s
Epistle
to
the
Galatians
(1866),
1-­‐2,
64.
We
may
expect
to
have
light
thrown
upon
the
broad
features
of
national
character
which
thus
confront
us,
by
the
circumstances
of
the
descent
and
previous
history
of
the
race,
while
at
the
same
time
such
a
sketch
will
prepare
the
way
for
the
solution
of
some
questions
of
interest,
which
start
up
in
connexion
to
the
epistle.
(64)
He
is
dealing
with
a
thoughtless
half-­‐barbarous
people.
They
have
erred
like
children,
and
must
be
chastised
like
children.
Rebuke
may
prevail
where
reason
will
be
powerless.
|37
Discourses Present
in Imperial Biblical
Scholarship
Joseph
B.
Lightfoot,
St.
Paul’s
Epistle
to
the
Galatians
(1866),
187.
The
life
of
the
greatest
and
best
of
English
kings
presents
so
close
a
parallel
to
the
Apostle's
thorn
in
the
flesh,
that
I
cannot
forbear
quoting
the
passage
[from
Jowett]
at
length,
though
the
illustration
is
not
my
own.
In
J.
B.
Lightfoot’s
writings,
we
find
(1)
Paul
compared
to
English
kings,
(2)
his
audiences
derided
as
stupid
barbarians
(the
Galatians)
or
vicious
Greeks
(the
Corinthians)
,
and
(3)
Paul’s
activities
evaluated
through
a
paternalistic
lens:
his
great
spiritual
gifts
are
lost
on
his
audiences
because
of
the
inherent
failings
of
their
race(s).

38. |38
Discourses Present
in Imperial Biblical
Scholarship
Joseph
B.
Lightfoot,
St.
Paul’s
Epistle
to
the
Galatians
(1866),
30.
These
errors
found
in
Galatia
a
congenial
soil.
The
corruption
took
the
direction
which
might
have
been
expected
from
the
religious
education
of
the
people.
A
passionate
and
striking
ritualism
expressing
itself
in
bodily
mortifications
of
the
most
terrible
kind
had
been
supplanted
by
the
simple
spiritual
teaching
of
the
Gospel.
For
a
time
the
pure
morality
and
lofty
sanctions
of
the
faith
appealed
not
in
vain
to
their
higher
instincts,
but
they
soon
began
to
yearn
after
a
creed
which
suited
their
material
cravings
better,
and
was
more
allied
to
the
system
they
had
abandoned.
This
end
they
attained
by
overlaying
the
simplicity
of
the
Gospel
with
Judaic
observances.
This
new
phase
of
their
religious
life
is
ascribed
by
St.
Paul
himself
to
the
temper
which
their
old
heathen
education
had
fostered.
It
was
a
return
to
the
`weak
and
beggarly
elements'
which
they
had
outgrown,
a
renewed
subjection
to
the
`yoke
of
bondage'
which
they
had
thrown
off
in
Christ.
They
had
escaped
from
one
ritualistic
system
only
to
bow
before
another.
The
innate
failings
of
a
race
`excessive
in
its
devotion
to
external
observances'
was
here
reasserting
itself
Surprisingly,
some
aspects
of
these
discourses—these
ways
of
framing
history,
identity,
and
the
contemporary—continue
to
resonate
in
contemporary
“anti-­‐
imperial”
biblical
scholarship.

39. |39
An Anti-Imperialism
with No Threat to the
Status Quo
Wright,
N.
T.
Paul:
Fresh
Perspectives.
London:
SPCK,
2005,
78
Precisely
because
of
all
the
counter-­‐imperial
hints
Paul
has
given
not
only
in
this
letter
and
elsewhere
but
indeed
by
his
entire
gospel,
it
is
vital
that
he
steer
Christians
away
from
the
assumption
that
loyalty
to
Jesus
would
mean
the
kind
of
civil
disobedience
and
revolution
that
merely
reshuffles
the
political
cards
into
a
different
order.
Wright,
N.
T.
Paul:
Fresh
Perspectives.
London:
SPCK,
2005,
76-­‐77
[On
Paul’s
message
in
Romans]
Jesus
is
the
world’s
true
Lord,
constituted
as
such
by
his
resurrection.
He
claims
the
whole
world,
summoning
them
to
the
‘obedience
of
faith’,
that
obedient
loyalty
which
outmatches
the
loyalty
Caesar
demanded.
…
Through
the
gospel,
in
other
words,
the
one
true
God
is
claiming
the
allegiance
of
the
entire
world,
since
the
gospel
itself
carries
the
same
power
which
raises
Jesus
from
the
dead,
unveiling
the
true
salvation
and
the
true
justice
before
a
world
where
those
were
already
key
imperial
buzzwords.
New
Haven,
Connecticut.
Soldiers
and
Sailors
Monument
(1887).
The
soliders
at
the
base
represent
diferent
wars
(Revolutionary
War,
War
of
1812,
Civil
War,
and
Spanish-­‐American
War).
It
is
topped
by
the
Angel
of
Peace.

40. |40
Paul’s Lasting
Significance as a
Model to Christians
Barcelona,
Spain.
Columbus
Monument
(1888)
Horsley
and
Silberman.
The
Message
and
the
Kingdom:
How
Jesus
and
Paul
Ignited
a
Revolution
and
Transformed
the
Ancient
World.
New
York:
Grossett/Putnam,
1997,
231
The
movement
that
began
with
Jesus
of
Nazareth
was
primarily
concerned
with
the
way
that
people
could
somehow
resist
exploitation
by
the
rich
and
powerful,
without
either
surrendering
their
traditions
or
resorting
to
violence.
Likewise,
the
Apostle
Paul-­‐-­‐-­‐in
his
wide-­‐ranging
travels
throughout
the
lands
of
the
Eastern
Empire-­‐-­‐-­‐engaged
in
a
career
of
confrontation
with
the
forces
of
patronage
and
empire
and
died
in
the
attempt.
Time
and
again
over
the
succeeding
centuries
the
same
struggle
would
be
waged.
Whether
in
the
heretical
Christian
sects
of
Asia
Minor,
the
mystical
brotherhoods
of
the
Middle
Ages,
the
radical
religious
groups
of
the
Reformation,
the
utopian
communities
of
nineteenth-­‐
century
America,
or
the
visionary,
idealistic
political
movements
of
the
present,
the
quest
for
the
Kingdom
of
God
lives
on.
To
many
scholars,
the
often-­‐failed
protests
of
common
people
are
merely
footnotes
to
the
mainstream
history
of
Christianity,
which
is
traced
through
the
official
chronicles
of
church
councils
and
the
respectful
biographies
of
church
leaders
and
kings.
Certainly
the
words
and
deeds
of
the
rich
and
famous
should
not
be
ignored
or
neglected,
but
they
are
only
part
of
a
great,
complex
mosaic
of
social
and
religious
change.
Photo by David Iliff. License: CC-BY-SA 3.0

41. |41
Richard
Horsley,.
"1
Corinthians:
A
Case
Study
of
Paul's
Assembly
as
an
Alternative
Society."
in
Paul
&
Empire:
Religion
and
Power
in
Roman
Imperial
Society,
edited
by
Richard
A.
Horsley.
Harrisburg,
PA:
Trinity
Press
International,
1997,
244.
…In
1
Corinthians
his
gospel,
mission,
and
the
struggles
of
his
assembly
are
part
of
God’s
fulfillment
of
history
in
the
doom
and
destruction
of
Roman
imperial
rule.
Binary Divisions of
Ancient Society
Based on Allegiance
to Paul
Richard
Horlsey,
“1
Corinthians”,
244.
But
it
is
through
the
despicably
crucified
Christ
and
now
his
lowborn,
weak,
and
despised
followers,
the
Corinthian
believers
themselves,
that
God
has
shamed
the
pretentious
elite
questing
after
power,
wealth,
wisdom,
noble
birth,
and
honorific
public
office
(1:21-­‐23,
26-­‐29;
4:8,10).
These
terms,
of
course,
in
their
literal
meaning,
describe
not
simply
a
cultural
elite
but
the
provincial
(Corinthian)
political
elite.

42. |42
Binary Divisions of
Ancient Society
Based on Allegiance
to Paul
Richard
Horsley,
“1
Corinthians”,
245-­‐6.
Second,
beside
urging
group
solidarity,
Paul
insisted
that
the
Corinthian
assembly
conduct
its
own
affairs
autonomously,
in
complete
independence
of
“the
world”,
as
he
writes
in
no
uncertain
terms
in
1
Corinthians
5-­‐6.
That
did
not
mean
completely
shutting
themselves
off
from
the
society
in
which
they
lived.
The
purpose
of
the
mission,
of
course,
was
to
bring
people
into
the
community.
The
believers
should
thus
not
cut
off
all
contact
with
“the
immoral
of
this
world,
or
the
greedy,
and
robbers”
(5:10).
The
assembly,
however,
should
not
only
(a)
maintain
ethical
purity
and
group
discipline
in
stark
opposition
to
the
injustice
of
the
dominant
society,
but
also
(b)
it
should
handle
its
own
disputes
in
absolute
independence
of
the
established
courts…
The
assembly
stands
diametrically
opposed
to
“the
world”
as
a
community
of
“saints”.

43. |43
Binary Divisions of
Ancient Society
Based on Allegiance
to Paul
Richard
Horsley,
“1
Corinthians”,
248.
In
contrast
to
the
dominant
society
in
which
many
overlapping
social
bonds
were
established
in
sacrifices
to
multiple
gods,
however,
the
assembly
of
sharers
in
the
body
of
Christ
was
exclusive.
It
was
simply
impossible
and
forbidden
therefore
for
members
of
the
body
politic
established
and
perpetuated
in
the
cup
and
table
of
the
Lord
to
partake
also
in
the
cup
and
table
of
demons.
Richard
Horsley,
“1
Corinthians”,
249.
In
his
concern
to
“build
up”
the
assembly
of
saints
over
against
the
networks
of
power
relations
by
which
the
imperial
society
was
constituted,
he
could
not
allow
those
who
had
joined
the
assembly
to
participate
in
the
sacrificial
banquets
by
which
those
social
relations
were
ritually
established.

44. |44
Paternalism
Saint-­‐Denis,
Réunion.
Colonne
de
la
Victoire
(1923)
Horsley
and
Silberman.
The
Message
and
the
Kingdom:
How
Jesus
and
Paul
Ignited
a
Revolution
and
Transformed
the
Ancient
World.
New
York:
Grossett/Putnam,
1997,
169
The
idea
that
villagers
of
the
Galatian
highlands
should
abandon
their
own
village
traditions
and
adopt
the
festivals,
laws,
and
ceremonies
of
Israel
in
order
to
gain
a
share
in
God's
kingdom
struck
Paul
as
a
direct
challenge
to
all
the
work
that
he
had
been
carrying
out
for
the
previous
years.
Having
grown
to
understand
the
economic
and
political
plight
of
the
Galatians
during
his
sojourn
among
them,
Paul
believed
that
he
knew
far
better
than
the
newly
arrived
apostles
how
the
Galatian
peasantry
could
best
survive
under
the
new
conditions
of
empire
and
so
inherit—on
their
own
terms—the
Kingdom
of
God.

45. A
napoleonic
coin
claiming
the
Bourbon
Isles
(later
Réunion)
for
“France
et
Bonaparte”.
Note
the
laurel
wreath
on
the
reverse
and
the
Napoleonic
eagle,
evocative
of
and
based
on
the
Roman
eagles.
|45
Paternalism Richard
Horsley,
“1
Corinthians”,
243.
Populated
by
the
descendants
of
Roman
riffraff
and
deracinated
former
slaves,
Corinth
was
the
epitome
of
urban
society
created
by
empire:
a
conglomeration
of
atomized
individuals
cut
off
from
the
supportive
communities
and
particular
cultural
traditions
that
had
formerly
constituted
their
corporate
identities
and
solidarities
as
Syrians,
Judeans,
Italians,
or
Greeks.
As
freedpeople
and
urban
poor
isolated
from
any
horizontal
supportive
social
network,
they
were
either
already
part
of
or
readily
vulnerable
for
recruitment
into
the
lower
layers
of
patronage
pyramids
extending
downwards
into
the
social
hierarchy
as
the
power
bases
of
those
clambering
for
high
honor
and
office
expanded.
Coin of the British Museum (1857, 1221.20).

46. |46
Paul’s Imperial
Language as a
Positive
Wright,
N.
T.
"Paul
and
Empire."
In
The
Wiley-­‐Blackwell
Companion
to
Paul,
edited
by
Stephen
Westerholm,
285-­‐298.
Malden,
MA;
Oxford:
Wiley-­‐Blackwell,
2011,
292.
Often,
in
fact,
such
allusions
[to
“the
structures
of
power
and
those
who
embodied
and
enforced
them”]
are
the
only
way,
or
perhaps
the
best
way,
to
get
the
point
across.
But
in
the
case
of
Paul,
the
echoes
of
imperial
language
(not
necessarily
explicitly
“cultic”
language,
though
as
we
have
seen
the
cult
merges
into,
and
flows
out
from,
the
wider
ideology)
are
strong:
“good
news,”
“son
of
God,”
universal
allegiance,
Jesus
as
part
of
an
ancient
royal
family
and
as
kyrios
(“lord”),
and
then,
in
what
is
generally
reckoned
the
thematic
statement
of
the
letter
[to
the
Romans]
(1:16-­‐17),
this
“good
news”
as
being
the
means
of
“salvation”
and
“justice”
(dikaiosynē,
“righteousness”).
The
fact
that
these
notions
have
been
given
very
different
and
essentionally
non-­‐political,
meanings
in
some
Christian
theology
ought
not
to
make
us
deaf
to
the
echoes
they
would
almost
certainly
have
awakened
in
Rome.

47. |47
Paul’s Imperial
Language as a
Positive
Horsley,
“1
Corinthians”,
250-­‐251
In
his
explanation
of
why
he
did
not
accept
[financial]
support,
he
simply
resorted
to
the
imagery
of
household
administration
(“commission,”
9:17),
with
the
implied
image
of
God
as
the
divine
estate
owner
and
himself
as
the
steward.
Such
imagery
fits
with
similar
controlling
metaphors,
such
as
God
as
a
monarch,
Christ
as
the
alternative
emperor,
and
himself
as
the
Lord’s
“servant”
or
“slave”.
He
used
his
overall
controlling
vision
of
the
“kingdom”
of
God
as
a
basis
for
rejecting
the
patronage
system,
but
remained
within
that
traditional
biblical
vision.

48. |48
Imperial Language
Used as a Positive
Wright,
N.
T.
Paul:
Fresh
Perspectives.
London:
SPCK,
2005,
69
For
Paul,
Jesus
is
Lord
and
Caesar
is
not…
if
Jesus
is
Israel’s
Messiah
then
he
is
the
world’s
true
Lord.
Wright,
N.
T.
Paul:
Fresh
Perspectives.
London:
SPCK,
2005,
75
In
1
Corinthians
15,
Paul
describes
the
resurrection
of
Jesus
as
inaugurating
that
period
of
history
which
is
characterized
by
the
sovereign
rule
of
Jesus
which
will
end
with
the
destruction
of
all
enemies,
putting
all
things
under
his
feet.
Washington,
D.C.
The
Capital
Columns
(1985)

49. |49
Imperial Language
Used as a Positive
Wright,
N.
T.
"Paul
and
Empire”,
289.
When
we
consider
“Paul
and
Empire”,
we
are
not
talking
about
a
political
slideshow,
a
subcategory
of
“Pauline
ethics”
(“What
about
the
State?”).
We
are
talking
about
the
kingdom
of
God
and
the
lordship
of
Jesus
the
Messiah.
Wright,
N.
T.
"Paul
and
Empire”,
290.
Paul’s
gospel,
arguably,
remained
firmly
rooted
in
the
soil
of
ancient
Jewish
expectation.
He
believed
that
in
Jesus,
and
particularly
in
his
death
and
resurrection,
Israel’s
god
had
been
true
to
his
promises.
It
was
therefore
time
for
the
world
to
be
brought
under
the
lordship
of
this
god
and
his
anointed
king.
Silver
medal
(1783)
of
American
Liberty.
Here
she
appears
with
flowing
hair
and
her
pileus,
the
hat
of
a
freed
slave,
on
a
pole.
On
the
reverse,
Artemis
with
the
fleur-­‐de-­‐lis
of
France
shields
the
infant
Hercules
(the
US)
from
the
lion
of
the
British
monarchy
as
he
strangles
two
snakes
representing
British
forces
at
Saratoga
and
Yorktown.
The
legend
reads,
“non
sine
diis
animosus
infans”,
a
quote
from
Horace.
“The
infant
is
not
bold
without
(the
help
of
)
the
gods”.

50. Thank you.
Please direct feedback on
this slidedoc to:
christina.harker@yale.edu