Abstract
The principal objective of this thesis is to examine the
interaction during the period 1846-1900, between the Christian
preaching of the United Presbyterian Church of Scotland and the
local response of the Efik people in the Cross River basin of
present day South-Eastern Nigeria. The historical development of
mission preaching in Calabar, as well as its theological
background is established. The interpretation of the mission's
proclamation by the Efik people in terms of their local religion
and culture is treated. The history of Christian proclamation and
local response in the region is thus explored through the
following categories of cultural interaction: the representation,
rejection, reception, and reformulation of the mission message.
The work is an attempt to get beyond crude stereotypes in
academic literature of mission preaching as merely a destroyer of
indigenous culture. The thesis contends that mission preaching and
local response were more diverse than previous scholarly work
suggests, and that the sources for this study demonstrate how the
Efik people were active agents in the transmission of Christianity
within the region, rather than passive recipients. It argues that
the nature of the mission's evangelism cannot be properly
understood without a proper recognition of the local religious and
cultural categories used by the Efik people to reject, receive,
reformulate, and "re-present" the biblical message in the region.
Conversely, we maintain that in order properly to assess the
contribution of the Efik people in the interpretation and
transmission of emerging Efik Christianity, it is necessary to
establish the form, the content, and the extent of mission
preaching.
In order to test these hypotheses, this work documents the
actual patterns of preaching and response "on the ground" through
attention to primary sources. The thesis is divided into three
sections. The first section, offers a historical treatment of the
origins and expansion of the United Presbyterian Mission in
Calabar, and how its message was represented. In the second
section, the development of United Presbyterian preaching is
analysed from a historical and theological perspective. The third
section undertakes a historical exploration of Efik response to
the mission message, as interpreted through features of local
religion and culture.
A conclusion is offered in which a number of findings are
summarised. The diversity of mission preaching at Calabar is
maintained. Sources depict a more complex relationship between
preaching for conversion and social change than has been generally
thought. The role of ex-patriate missionary preaching in both
evangelism and social change was scaled down considerably as the
century progressed, particularly after the introduction of the
vernacular translation of the Bible and in light of the increasing
colonial presence. This prompted Efik Christians to take more
initiative in the interpretation and expansion of a distinctively
indigenous Christianity throughout the Cross River area.
