The Shaping of Irish Presbyterian Attitudes to Mission, 1790–1840

Abstract

This article explores the various factors that both encouraged Irish Presbyterian involvement in mission and shaped how they understood their missionary calling. It contributes to the recent growth of interest in the Protestant missionary movement and takes issue with the predominant interpretation of Irish Presbyterianism offered by David Miller who misunderstands the complex relationship between traditional Presbyterianism, evangelicalism and modernity. After an overview of the main developments between 1790 and 1840, a consideration of the influence of the Reformed theological tradition, eschatology and the growth of evangelicalism is followed by an examination of the Enlightenment, the expansion of the British empire and the Presbyterian sense of patriotic duty. Though various non-religious factors shaped Presbyterian attitudes to mission, it will be argued that their active involvement was a product of sincere religious conviction and an eschatological reading of the signs of the times.

Presbyterians and science in the north of Ireland before 1874

“…19 The use evangelicals made of the rhetoric of science and the Enlightenment can best be seen in their attitude towards missionary activity at home and overseas, which was combined with a variety of other influences such as the Reformed theological tradition, eschatology, the expansion of the British Empire and a sense of patriotic duty. 20 The Revd Samuel Edgar, minister of the Burgher Seceder congregation of Ballynahinch and one of the founding members of the Down Missionary Society, laced a sermon he preached before that society in 1815 with an Enlightenment vocabulary which included ' rational ', ' enlighten', ' education ', ' improvement ', ' knowledge ' and ' civilisation '. 21 Elsewhere he maintained that by the means of missionary societies ' Christianity and civilisation, agriculture and commerce, have obtained a footing, where Hottentot barbarity had reigned for ages without control '.…”

‘It is Not Good for the Man to Be Alone?’ Irish Protestant Missionary Bachelorhood and Changes in Missionary Marriage Trends in the Late Nineteenth Century

“…Finally, this paper highlights the activities of Irish Protestant mission groups, which have been the focus of very limited scholarly study in comparison to other British mission organisations. 24 Ireland was part of the United Kingdom at this time, and the Protestant Irish in particular considered themselves as British. 25 Similarly, the Irish Protestant missionaries considered themselves as part of the British missionary movement, and maintained close relationships with other British mission groups, particularly the Scottish Free Church Mission (FCM), and the Scottish United Presbyterian Mission (UPM).…”

‘Scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd’

“…Indeed, this was how all of the missions of the church were supported -from the ground up, with ordinary churchgoers, prompted by their minsters, expected to contribute financially to each. 121 Monetary support for the Colonial Mission, however, was minimal. The monthly newspaper which documented all the church's missionary endeavours, the Missionary Herald, regularly published the yearly collections from each congregation and for each mission side by side.…”

“…Any underlying idea that the Colonial Mission was 'not really a mission' can therefore only have harmed its standing in a church in which mission was an increasingly powerful principle. 136 A final word on this must go to Rev. P. M. Pollock, who in a series of articles on mission work in Canada sharply outlinedthough in rather crude terms -what he saw as the reasons for the neglect of the religious needs of emigrant communities:…”