S01E10 Protestant Missionaries 2 of 2

Chinese Revolutions: A History Podcast

Protestant Missionaries Going to China 2 of 2

In this episode, we look a bit more at the work that Protestant missionaries are trying to do and why they spend so much time trying to learn the language and culture. We look at how this paved the way for the Taiping Rebellion to emerge.

What Missionaries Try to Do

Protestant missionary work in China started with translating the Bible into Chinese. The critical work went into things like determining exactly what to call God, how to express ethical teachings, and how to address the culture without totally condemning everything.

Getting exactly the right name for God helps communicate exactly what teachings missionaries want to teach. If you get that sort of thing wrong, you have to deal with weird cults. Like the Taiping Rebellion.

Robert Morrison (1782-1834)

London Missionary Society member Robert Morrison did the pioneering work for Protestants looking to learn Chinese, translate the Bible for Chinese audiences, and do evangelistic work in Chinese.

His early converts and his publishing and printing efforts set the agenda for future generations of Protestant missionaries coming to China. And we'll be hearing a lot more about them in this podcast ... but as part of the story now, and not just more exposition episodes.

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