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Periodical article | Leiden University catalogue | WorldCat |
Title: | Christians, Colonists, and Conversion: A View from the Nilotic Sudan |
Author: | Burton, John W. |
Year: | 1985 |
Periodical: | Journal of Modern African Studies |
Volume: | 23 |
Issue: | 2 |
Period: | June |
Pages: | 349-369 |
Language: | English |
Geographic terms: | Sudan Great Britain |
Subjects: | missionary history colonialism Religion and Witchcraft Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups) History and Exploration |
External link: | https://www.jstor.org/stable/160577 |
Abstract: | This article examines a number of interrelated factors which can be cited to account for the relative failure of evangelical Christianity in three pastoral, Nilotic-speaking communities of the Southern Sudan, the Dinka, Nuer, and Atuot. Whereas the British relied upon missionaries to advance the interests of secular rule, ultimately administrative directives frustrated their evangelical work. Consequently, if the 'success' of Christianity in the colonial period of the history of southern Sudan is measured by a gross number of individuals who experienced conversion, missionaries could claim no great achievement. In addition to these socio-historical factors, to enable a fuller understanding of colonialism and Christianity in the Nilotic Sudan a brief historical survey of both the secular and sacred missions is presented, followed by a discussion of colonialism and Christianity at the local level. A summary analysis deals with the indigenous response to these two agents of conversion. The conclusions reached have considerable relevance to an understanding of the social and political climate of the Sudan at present. - Notes. |