The Missionary Problem in Early Modern Protestantism: British, Irish and Scandinavian Perspectives

Ryrie, Alec

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-54458-4_15

The Missionary Problem in Early Modern Protestantism: British, Irish and Scandinavian Perspectives

Ryrie, Alec

Authors

Professor Alec Ryrie alec.ryrie@durham.ac.uk
Professor

Contributors

James E. Kelly
Editor

Henning Laugerud
Editor

Salvador Ryan
Editor

Abstract

Alec Ryrie considers why, despite rhetorical commitment to the enterprise, British and Scandinavian Protestants were so slow to engage in cross-cultural mission. After surveying the lacklustre efforts made, the chapter briefly considers the theological obstacles to early Protestant mission, before examining the “missions” to the “barbaric” peoples within these kingdoms’ European territories: the Celtic peoples of Britain and Ireland, and the Sámi of northern Scandinavia. The chapter argues that conformity, civility and state-building were the keynotes of those efforts; that figures like Bishop William Bedell in Ireland who bucked that trend were swimming against the tide; and that that model was exported to the New World. After a brief consideration of missions to slaves in the English Caribbean, the chapter concludes by observing the change of tone in the early eighteenth century and by comparing structural, institutional explanations of this history with theological, conceptual ones.

Citation

Ryrie, A. (2020). The Missionary Problem in Early Modern Protestantism: British, Irish and Scandinavian Perspectives. In J. E. Kelly, H. Laugerud, & S. Ryan (Eds.), Northern European Reformations: Transnational Perspectives (377-403). Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-54458-4_15

Acceptance Date	Mar 20, 2018
Online Publication Date	Sep 23, 2020
Publication Date	2020-09
Deposit Date	Feb 22, 2019
Publicly Available Date	Sep 23, 2022
Publisher	Palgrave Macmillan
Pages	377-403
Book Title	Northern European Reformations: Transnational Perspectives
Chapter Number	15
ISBN	9783030544577
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-54458-4_15
Additional Information	Title changed prior to publication. Previous title: The Curious Incident of the Early Modern Protestant Missionary

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Copyright Statement
This a post-peer-review, pre-copyedit version of a chapter published in Northern European Reformations: Transnational Perspectives. The final authenticated version is available online at: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-54458-4_15

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