Additional information
by Retief Muller (Author)
Drawing primarily on Dutch and Afrikaans archival sources including the Dutch Reformed Church Archive and private collections this book presents a trans-generational narrative of the influence and role played by diasporic Scots and their descendants in the religious and political lives of Dutch/ Afrikaner people in British colonial southern Africa. It demonstrates how this Scottish religious culture helped to develop a complicated counter-narrative to what would become the mainstream discourse of Afrikaner Christian nationalism in the early 20th century. The reader will encounter new perspectives on the ways in which the historical changeover from British Imperial rule to apartheid South Africa was both contradicted, but also in often paradoxical ways facilitated, by the influence and legacies of Scottish religious emissaries.
Back Jacket
'This book reveals a welcome and lesser known aspect of Dutch Reformed Church history in South Africa, which contributed a significant stimulus to its historical development through Scots missionary and evangelical identity, grounded in a belief in the possibility of redemption which superceded ethnicity as it mutated into a counter-narrative to apartheid.' Graham A. Duncan, Professor of Church History and Church Polity, University of Pretoria Revealing the impact of diasporic Scots on church and society in South Africa and beyond Utilising a large trove of primary source documents, this book presents a trans-generational narrative of the influence and role played by diasporic Scots and some of their descendants in the religious and political lives of Dutch/Afrikaner people in British colonial southern Africa. It demonstrates how this Scottish religious culture helped to develop a complicated counter-narrative to what would become the mainstream discourse of Afrikaner Christian nationalism in the early 20th century. Retief Müller provides new perspectives on the ways in which the historical changeover from British Imperial rule to apartheid South Africa was both contradicted and facilitated by the influence and legacies of Scottish religious emissaries, and considers the backlash to the Scots-Afrikaner tradition from the side of Afrikaner Christian nationalist opponents. Retief Müller is Director of the Nagel Institute for the Study of World Christianity at Calvin University. Cover image: Nkhoma mission station ca 1937, from personal archive of author Cover design: www.hayesdesign.co.uk [EUP logo] edinburghuniversitypress.com ISBN 978-1-4744-6295-2 Barcode
Author Biography
Dr. Retief Müller Director of the Nagel Institute for the Study of World Christianity at Calvin University. He is also a research fellow at Stellenbosch University's discipline group of systematic theology and ecclesiology. Recently awarded a major research grant in this capacity by Templeton Religion Trust for a project focusing on African theology, Müller has published widely on southern and central African religious history and theology, e.g. African Pilgrimage: Ritual Travel in South Africa's Christianity of Zion (Ashgate, 2011). His previous academic appointment was as Associate Professor of Church History at Stellenbosch University, where he continues to serve in the capacity of research associate.
