Some Contradictions in Missionizing

International African Institute

Some Contradictions in MissionizingAuthor(s): R. W. WyllieSource: Africa: Journal of the International African Institute, Vol. 46, No. 2 (1976), pp. 196-204Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of the International African InstituteStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1158761 .

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[196]

SOME CONTRADICTIONS IN MISSIONIZING

R. W. WYLLIE

N a recent paper Beidelman (1974: 235-249) has argued cogently for a more systematic study of missions on the part of students of colonial societies and has

indicated, in a preliminary fashion, several analytical themes which might provide a

general theoretical framework for such a study. The present paper is not offered as a comment on Beidelman's overall scheme but has a somewhat narrower focus, addressing itself to two aspects of missionary study mentioned by that author: the contradictions in missionizing and the nature of colonial society.1 Given the

preliminary nature and schematic intent of Beidelman's paper it is understandable that the connections between these aspects are not made explicit. One of our tasks, therefore, will be to show how the contradictions revealed in the practice of

missionizing relate to the kind of society in which missions typically operate. Like Beidelman, we illustrate our argument with references to the work of an African mission, in this case the Wesleyan Methodist mission in southern Ghana (formerly the Gold Coast).

IDEALS AND ACTUALITIES

According to Beidelman (I974: 244):

The actual practice of missionizing is itself grounded in profound and insoluble contradictions. At a broad level this is experienced in all social life, but is particularly pronounced in spheres such as missions and newly formed religious (or political) communities where there is an especially keen awareness of the gap between ideal (sacred) and actual or necessary (secular) behaviour.

Operating with this sharp dichotomization of sacred and secular affairs, the missionary displays, in his thinking and behaviour, an ambivalent view of the relationship between his mission and society generally. When it seems to serve his purposes the mission is intimately related to the secular attainments of western society (e.g. medical, military, industrial, etc.) for the benefit of potential converts; secular skills, particularly those of reading and writing, are taught as an integral part of the mission's

programme of evangelization and proselytization; government funds and authority are used in support of the mission's work. At other times this holistic view breaks down into a highly compartmentalized one in which the missionary seeks to disassociate his work and himself from secular agencies of western society (e.g. debauched traders and administrators); materialistic attitudes, particularly those evident among the educated converts, are deplored; and attempts are made to underplay or even deny the closeness of the relationship between mission and colonial government, especially when it becomes clear that the latter's day is drawing to a close. (Beidelman 1974: 244-245).

All of these features, which Beidelman indicates were manifested in the work and experience of C.M.S. missionaries among the Kaguru of Tanzania, are also present in



SOME CONTRADICTIONS IN MISSIONIZING I97 the history of Methodism among the coastal Fanti and their neighbours in southern Ghana. While we are in basic agreement with Beidelman when he points to the sacred versus secular dichotomy as a major source of inconsistencies and contradictions in the practice of missionizing, we would argue further that another and perhaps equally important source is to be found in the very nature of colonial societies themselves.2

COLONIAL SOCIETY

In his view of the colonial society Beidelman departs somewhat from those writers who have emphasized the distinctive structural and cultural features of colonies (Furnivall 1948; Maunier I949; Mannoni I956; Fanon I961; Balandier I963). The various features commonly thought to be typical of colonial societies are, for Beidelman, simply features of all bureaucratic organizations; colonial societies (and indeed the missions which operate in them) are seen as variants of the complex bureaucratic organization:

Colonial societies exhibit qualities little different from those of most large-scale modern organizations. There is a cultural gulf separating the top administrator from the masses administered in a large city administration, a hospital, or an army. All such groups utilize a cadre culturally medial between the administrative leaders and the administered masses. The problems of resentment, exploitation, and lack of communication which characterize classic colonial societies clearly pervade modern life for very similar reasons. (Beidelman 1974: 248).

No doubt colonies, especially in the later phases of their development, do come to possess many of the attributes common to all complex organizations. These attributes will include bureaucratic principles and forms of organization, as well as their attendant problems, but this hardly constitutes a warrant for regarding colonial societies only, or even primarily, as examples of bureaucratically administered social systems. In the period of 'merchant government' in West African colonial history the dominant system of authority might best be described as patrimonial rather than bureaucratic; and even after the implanting of formal colonial administrations the system of authority was heavily infused with patrimonial and charismatic principles of legitimation.3

Historically, colonial societies were generally technologically backward societies which experienced, in a variety of ways, the domination of more technologically advanced, metropolitan or colonizing societies. Out of this experience of the colonial situation the structure and culture of the colonial society was shaped in a form which outlives the attainment of formal independence.4 Among its more obvious characteristics the colonial situation displayed a type of culture-contact notable for both its

range and its dynamic and whose results are, one feels, rather inadequately conveyed by the term 'cultural gulf'. The relationship between the two cultures was a dialectical one which amounted to the opposition of the forces of colonization (i.e. the ideas and actions of the colonizers which, intended or otherwise, enhance their power and influence over the lives of the colonized) and the forces of decolonization (i.e. the ideas and actions of the colonized which, intended or otherwise, militate against the power and influence of the colonizers).5 From our point of view colonization and decolonization are regarded, not as separate phases in the history of a colony, but as cultural processes which operate simultaneously during the life of a colony.6



I98 SOME CONTRADICTIONS IN MISSIONIZING

Implicit in this perspective is the notion that the cultural dialectic is manifested in a variety of cultural spheres other than the overtly political and in ways which may fall far short of violent physical conflict. Indeed, we should go so far as to suggest that its most common form-particularly in Britain's African colonies-was what one writer has called the 'working misunderstanding':

Colonialism presents a different picture from encapsulated opposition: in a colony the ruling group sees the local situation in terms of categories and problems-indeed, in terms of the very words-that they learned 'at home' in quite a different polity and economy. Their schools, their families, their books and art galleries, plays and political associations all go towards shaping their opinions. And besides opinions, people absorb from these institutions basic axioms for

viewing the world and thinking about life and about power that they do not even know they hold. The members of the subject group, in the same way, look at the situation with eyes and ideas grown accustomed to the local scene. They do so in words, moral and ethical values, and expected responses that have been learned largely unconsciously and that have remained unconscious. The 'ways' of nature and of the world are simply perceived and communicated

differently by the two. (Bohannan 1964: 23).

One of the hazards of this working misunderstanding is seen in the frequency with which the actions and ideas of the colonizers rebound upon their initiators in the most

unexpected and disagreeable ways, even when these were calculated to improve the condition (material, moral, spiritual, etc.) of the colonized. The problem of foreseeing the unintended consequences of ideas and actions is notoriously difficult even in the most favourable of circumstances; for colonizers, who are required to 'read' an alien culture, the task is rendered well-nigh impossible. As for controlling or reversing these consequences when they do become apparent, it is evident that even colonizers are normally lacking in the quality of power and skill necessary to do so without

generating even more unwelcome consequences.7 While it is convenient to portray colonial societies in terms of a fundamental

opposition between two cultures, the reality is, of course, much more complex. Neither the culture of the colonizers nor that of the colonized can be regarded as a

homogenous entity carried by an undifferentiated group, since cleavages clearly exist

within, as well as between, the two broad cultures. In a general sense all colonies may be said to exhibit social-structural and cultural features normally described as 'pluralistic', with traditional and modern structures and institutions co-existing in a very loosely integrated fashion. (Smith I960: 763-777; Van den Berghe 1964: --i 8). In African colonies this pluralism is greatly compounded by the co-existence of fairly large numbers of distinctive ethnic and regional cultures and structures. Similarly, the culture of the colonizers (e.g. traders, missionaries, administrators, etc.) has its own distinctive spheres and associated carriers. The sphere of missionary Christianity is itself highly pluralistic, even if the missionary message is typically framed in universalistic terms. (Beidelman I974: 239.) Hence the hazards of the working misunderstanding tend to be magnified by the sheer variety of more or less distinct

groups involved on both sides of the cultural encounter.

THE METHODIST EXPERIENCE

Having outlined our perspective on colonial African societies, we now proceed to




draw out some of its implications for the analysis of contradictions in missionizing. The Wesleyan Methodist mission in the Gold Coast began in 8 3 5 in the town of Cape Coast, which was at that time the major commercial and administrative centre in the colony.8 Despite attempts to establish mission stations in Ashanti, the Methodist missionaries throughout the gth century were concentrated mainly among the Fanti and related Akan peoples of the coastal belt west of Accra.9 The other major mission of this period-the Swiss-based Basel mission-was similarly identified with a particular area of the country, being active among the Twi people of the Akwapim ridge in the eastern region of the colony. Anglican missionary work began in a serious and systematic fashion only towards the close of the century, while the Roman Catholics returned after an absence of almost two hundred years to resume their work at Elmina in i 880. To all intents and purposes the Methodists enjoyed a virtual monopoly over their mission field during the greater part of the i 9th century, as did the Basel mission in its corner of the Gold Coast. This happy state of affairs came to an end around the turn of the century when American Adventist sects (Seventh-Day Adventists and Jehovah's Witnesses) entered the area and the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church (hereafter A.M. E. Zion) was introduced in several coastal towns. At the same time pastors and missionaries of the Anglican, Roman Catholic and Basel missions began to attach themselves to small congregations which had sprung up in Methodist territory, these congregations usually consisting of resident 'strangers' such as the Ga, Akwapim and Ewe.10

As representatives of God, the Methodist missionaries sought to convert as many of the local population as possible to the universal Christian faith. As agents of a particular branch of Christianity, however, they were primarily concerned with

making Methodists out of the people of their particular mission field. From the outset, therefore, the Methodist missionaries were required, through the denominational pluralism of Christianity and the ethnic and regional pluralism of Ghanaian society, to operate with a tacit 'non-interference' understanding with their Basel mission

counterparts. This did not mean, however, that they saw themselves principally as Christian evangelists who were, with their fellows in other missions, preparing Africans to choose which of the several branches of Christianity they would adopt. The departure of newly-won converts to rival missions was invariably viewed with the same sense of loss and failure as that occasioned by the 'backsliding' of local Christians into paganism; and the possibility of rival missions establishing a presence in their field caused as much concern as the possible introduction of a new pagan shrine. These concerns, though always present, remained in the background of Methodist missionary thought during the greater part of the i gth century, while the conventional

separation of mission spheres of influence was largely unchallenged. Yet it is clear that, during this same period, forces were at work which were destined to undermine the Methodist monopoly by generating a greater degree of Christian pluralism as well as secular alternatives to the Methodist mission. Ironically, the Methodists played a significant part in helping to bring about these developments.

When Methodist missionaries first began their work in the Gold Coast they found themselves face to face with a firmly entrenched, though relatively open and flexible, system of thaumaturgical folk religion." Through it its adherents sought protection from misfortune and calamity, as well as the attainment of health,

I99




happiness, long-life, peace, prosperity and success in everday undertakings. It offered the means whereby men sought fulfilment of what one noted African scholar regards as the 'basic human aspiration' in traditional Ghanaian society:

to obtain, preserve and increase what has been called 'life force': potency, vitality, elan; more vigorous, pulsating, prolific life. (Baeta 1962: 135).

In opposition to this the Methodists proclaimed the need for salvation through a personal search for grace and spiritual perfection, a search in which the ideas and practices of folk religion could find no place. The only redeeming feature the missionaries saw in a mass of'superstition' and 'idolatry' was the concept of a remote, creator God who was, they held, none other than the Christian God dimly perceived by his depraved children. On the other side of this working misunderstanding Methodism was generally viewed as the 'white man's religion' and, as such, obviously integrally related to the visible power and strength of European culture and its representatives. If the missionaries saw clearly that evangelical success depended upon their undermining of folk religion (and with it, basic traditional institutions and customs), the potential converts saw, equally clearly, that here was a new religion which could be made to serve well in the pursuit of mundane, this-worldly interests.

The efforts of the local population to 'operationalize' Methodism appear to have been conducted at two different levels and by two different, though not altogether distinct, social groups. For those most tightly bound to the old social order (i.e. the illiterate farmers and fishermen) Methodism was searched for signs that it could afford added spiritual power and protection in their daily activities. For those who were at least partially uprooted from the old order (i.e. the literate and semi-literate traders, artisans and some of the traditional rulers and leaders) fellowship in the Methodist fold was seen to confer opportunities for social advancement through close contact with Europeans. At both levels the process of operationalizing Methodism was greatly facilitated by the efforts of the missionaries in promoting literacy.

By 895 the Methodists had made available the Fanti New Testament, a publication designed to aid the mission in its attempts to spread its message to the non-evolue class and also to offset the threat posed by the earlier (I 87 ) Basel mission publication of the entire Bible in Twi, a language closely similar to that spoken by the Fanti.12 One effect of this, however, was to make possible a significant breakthrough-the independent evaluation of Methodist doctrine and practice by converts and others. For many, direct access to the scriptures seemed to indicate that Methodist doctrine was based upon a far from literal view of the Bible and was strangely silent on such matters as miracles, visions, spiritual healing, speaking-in-tongues and other dramatic forms of pentecostalism. The Fanti New Testament became a source of legitimation for the activities of new prophet-healing or spiritist sects which sprang up early in the zoth century, many of which were headed by persons who had been catechists or lay preachers in the Methodist mission.13 The particular brand of thaumaturgical Christianity produced by these sects has proved to be a constant source of embarrass- ment and concern to the major missions and their successors.14

The Methodist mission had been relatively late in turning its attention to vernacular studies, having operated with the assumption that English would naturally supersede the local languages. (Williamson I965: 7I). By I856 there were, in the Gold Coast,

200




some 3I Methodist schools with a total of I229 pupils receiving instruction through the medium of the English language. (Bartels 1965: 35I.) Once again we see the working misunderstanding between missionary and convert:

On the Akan side the desire for education was, as we have seen, a largely secular demand. Education meant new opportunity, in the social and economic spheres. The very form which education took, being largely, almost wholly, western literary education with emphasis on the acquirement of the English language, indicated this. ... In the intention of the Church education was a means of widening and disciplining the mental faculty, thereby increasing both opportunity in life and the apprehension of values. In the case of the convert to the Christian faith, education might open the way to a fuller expression of the Christian life. He who could read had open to him the treasures of the Bible, liturgy, and hymn-book and might be expected to be intelligently interested as well as personally attached to the faith. (Williamson 965 : 67.)

The consequences of Methodist educational activity went far beyond anything that the missionaries had intended. In preparing a class of Christians who were literate in English the missionaries unwittingly satisfied one of the major preconditions for the extablishment of American fundamentalism, especially in its Adventist form, towards the turn of the century.15 Sects' such as Jehovah's Witnesses and the Seventh-Day Adventists, which relied heavily upon published tracts, pamphlets and magazines in their proselytizing campaigns, found their initial base among the already literate (in English) sections of the population, thereby disregarding the conventional ideas about separate spheres of mission influence.16 As well as helping to provide charter members for these American sects, the Methodist schools also turned out numbers of people who were equipped to find employment as clerical assistants in various government departments or as clerks and storekeepers in the larger, European-owned trading establishments. In their jobs these persons were often required to take up residence in towns and villages outside their home area, usually forming small congregations of Methodists in places which had hitherto been regarded as the preserves of other missions. The geographical mobility of this class of clerical workers did much to help break down the territorial monoplies of the missions as the 'exiles' inevitably required the presence of a resident missionary or pastor and were joined, in however small a number, by members of the 'host' population.17 In the coastal area worked by the Methodists similar incursions were experienced as Basel, Anglican and Roman Catholic congregations of immigrant traders, clerks, professional and government workers developed and were formally incorporated within the pastoral systems of their respective missions.

Perhaps the most dramatic outcome of Methodist educational activity was the introduction of the A.M.E.Zion church to Cape Coast in I903.18 This body was pioneered in the Gold Coast by men who were largely products of the Methodist Mfantsipim secondary school in Cape Coast and who had become deeply imbued with the rising spirit of nationalism during the last decades of the i9th century. Several had been prominent as leaders in the Aborigines Rights Protection Society, an early nationalist movement which had sent a delegation to England in 1898 to protest against the Lands Bill which was to give the Crown rights of administration over 'public land'. (Kimble I963: 330-357.) The religious expression of their nationalism took the form of a demand for a black man's church and an end to foreign missionary

201



202 SOME CONTRADICTIONS IN MISSIONIZING control. Among the early leaders of A.M.E. Zion in the Gold Coast were a number of Methodist ministers, of whom the most notable were Egyir-Asaam and Attoh- Ahuma.19 Both of these men had been active in their opposition to the Rev. Dennis Kemp during his period as Chairman of the Gold Coast Methodist District, a period which was marked by a slowing-down of the process of devolution of authority in the mission. Drawing a substantial proportion of its initial membership from the ranks of disaffected Methodists, the A.M.E.Zion church quickly spread throughout the southern coastal district of the colony. It opened its own secondary school in Cape Coast with Egyir-Asaam as headmaster and this establishment began to draw pupils away from the nearby Mfantsipim school. (Bartels I965: 146.) In the early history of A.M.E.Zion we find clear evidence of the price the Methodist mission had to pay for its success in educating and training an indigenous ministry within the context of a

European controlled establishment. Equipped with a western education and taking seriously the distinctive egalitarian philosophy propounded by their missionary teachers, it was hardly surprising that indigenous Methodist pastors should lead the revolt against foreign control in both the mission and the colony generally.

Today the demand for education in Ghana is still secular in intent and although the autonomous Methodist church is still trying to cater to it, it does so within the context of a national system of public education which includes government-run schools, colleges and universities. These establishments, which constitute secular alternatives to the denominational schools, were built into a system whose foundations were laid by the Methodist and other I9th century missions. Not only have the missionaries provided the basis upon which rival, secular educational institutions could establish themselves, but they have also, in disseminating western values and skills, helped to foster an enlightenment which now appears to be increasingly turned against the church:

In days when the Church was the important contact point between the traditional Akan outlook and the western world, and largely monopolized the gateway to social and economic advantage, this enlightenment was at once a sound investment for the Church and a means of bringing Akans into the Christian faith. But in days when these conditions no longer apply it becomes plain that this enlightenment is as likely to become the basis of a revolt against the Church as a means of appropriating the Christian religion. (Williamson I 96 : 175.)

CONCLUSION

The numerous inconsistencies and contradictions evident in the practice of missionizing stem from two principal sources: one of these is the missionary dichotomization between the ideal and the actual or, more appropriately, between pure mission and the practical exigencies of missionary work; the other source-the one we have chosen to focus attention upon in this paper-is the social and cultural condition of the colony itself. In the colony, which is par excellence the domain of the missionary, both missionaries and potential converts find themselves as partners in a

working misunderstanding which is marked by recurring, mutual misperceptions and opposition of motives. The result of such a cultural encounter is a series of unintended consequences which tend, in the long run, to militate against the achievement of missionary ideals. The experience of the Wesleyan Methodist missionaries in I9th




century Gold Coast provides clear illustrations of both the nature and source of contradictions in African missionizing, especially (though not exclusively) in the educational sphere of mission activity.

NOTES

1 In selecting these two aspects we do not mean to imply that the other themes discussed in Beidelman's paper are necessarily of lesser importance or interest.

2 We do not entirely agree with Beidelman's characterization of the contradictions stemming from the sacred versus secular dichotomization as 'insoluble'. From the point of view of a logician this may well appear to be the case; the matter is likely to be viewed very differently by a theologian or, for that matter, by ordinary 'believers'. The problem of reconciling the ideal and the actual in religious terms constitutes the basis of theodicy, a matter which is treated in a most interesting fashion by Max Weber, The Sociology of Religion and by Peter Berger, The Sacred Canop,. 3

Especially during MacLean's administration between I 830 and I 844 when Cape Coast castle was more akin to the seat of a feudal baron than to a bureaucratic administrative centre.

4 In our view the attainment of formal independence does not put an end to the colonial situation, the prime characteristics of which are still evident in most modern African nations.

5 Here we imply that much of the opposition may not be experienced as such by the parties involved, who may well regard themselves as being engaged in co-operative partnership. This is certainly true in the area of missionary-convert relationships.

6 We may recognize, howeve, that one or the other may be in the ascendancy during a particular period in the history of a colony.

7 Here we mean simply that, while the colonizers may possess a monopoly on the legitimate use of force, they do not possess the social engineering knowledge and techniques required for such a complex undertaking. Nor can the various categories of colonizers active in a society always reach agreement on what are 'desirable' or 'unde- sirable' trends or developments. Colonial administrators may approve of missionaries' efforts to produce educated Christians, so long as the products fill a need for clerks and messengers within the administration; when the products begin to express an interest in taking over the administrations, it may be expected that administrators may revise their views as to the worth of mission schools.

8 Between I828 and 1843 administration of the British settlements on the Gold Coast was in the hands of a Council of Merchants with its head- quarters in Cape Coast castle.

9 Unsuccessful attempts to establish Methodist

mission stations in Ashanti were made in 1843, 1876 and 1884; a Methodist presence in this region became possible only after the final subjugation and annexation of Ashanti in I 90 I. 10 The Methodists, meanwhile, were themselves

encroaching upon Basel mission territory in places like Aburi, Awukugua and Larteh. 11 This openness and flexibility may be seen in the

general willingness of adherents to adopt and incorporate deities from the folk religions of other tribes and to neglect or discard deities which were deemed to be no longer potent.

12 Since Twi is also spoken by the Ashanti, the Basel mission's progress in this vernacular was a threat to Methodist hopes for later expansion of their mission in the Ashanti region.

13 Among the better-known Ghanaian sects founded by persons with strong Methodist connections are Musama Disco Christo Church, Chris- tian Church and Memeneda Gvidifo (Saviour Church).

14 The most sympathetic account of these sects in Ghana is provided by the distinguished Ghanaian churchman and student of religion, C. G. Baeta, in his Prophetism in Ghana. 15 It should be remembered that American and

British Pentecostalist missions, despite the em- otionalism and enthusiasm associated with their activities, also made their initial appeal-through published tracts and pamphlets-to sections of the literate class in Ghana and Nigeria. On this see my Pioneers of Ghanaian Pentecostalism: Peter Anim and James McKeown.

16 It is not suggested that these sects deliberately sought to wreck the old arrangements; it was simply that, given the literary cast of their appeal, they naturally took root in areas where the major missions had been active. 17 In Basel mission territory this was thought to

be because of the laxer discipline of the Methodists, combined with their emphasis on the English language, which was felt to offer greater scope for social advancement and success.

18 This church originated in New York in I796 and was established at Keta, in the Volta region of Ghana, in 898. 19 The Rev. F. Egyir-Asaam was a former head-

master of Mfantsipim school and had used the anglicized name, William J. Penney; the Rev. S. R. B. Attoh-Ahuma had been editor of the Gold Coast Methodist Times, had studied at Living- stone College (an A.M.E.Zion institution in the United States) and had used the anglicized name, S. R. B. Solomon.

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REFERENCES BAETA, C. G. 1962. Prophetism in Ghana. London: S.C.M. Press. BALANDIER, G. I963. Sociologie Actuelle de l'Afrique Noire. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France. BARTELS, F. L. 1965. The Roots of Ghana Methodism. Cambridge University Press. BEIDELMAN, T. 0. 1974. 'Social Theory and the Study of Christian Missions' Africa, xliv: 23 5-249. BERGER, P. L. 1967. The Sacred Canopy. New York: Doubleday. BOHANNAN, P. 1964. African Outline. Harmondsworth: Penguin African Library. FANON, F. 196 . Les Damnes de la Terre. Paris: Maspero Cahiers Libres. FURNIVALL, J. S. 1948. Colonial Policy and Practice. London: Cambridge University Press. KIMBLE, D. I963. A Political History of Ghana 18O0-1928. Oxford: Clarendon Press. MANNONI, O. I956. Prospero and Caliban: the Psychology of Colonization. London: Methuen. MAUNIER, R. I949. The Sociology of Colonies, (edited and translated by E. O. Lorimer). London: Routledge. SMITH, M. G. 1960. 'Social and Cultural Pluralism'. Annals of the New York Academy of Science, lxxxiii:

763-777. VAN DEN BERGHE, P. L. 1964. 'Toward a Sociology of Africa'. Social Forces, xliii: I I-I8. WEBER, MAX. 1963. The Sociology of Religion, (translated by Ephraim Fischoff). Boston: Beacon Press. WILLIAMSON, S. G. 1965. Akan Religion and the Christian Faith. Accra: Ghana Universities Press. WYLLIE, R. W. 1974. 'Pioneers of Ghanaian Pentecostalism; Peter Anim and James McKeown'. Journal of

Religion in Africa, vi: 09- 22.

Resume

PRESENCE DE CERTAINES CONTRADICTIONS DANS LE PROCESSUS D'EVANGELISATION

LA prdsente dtude examine certaines des contradictions qui sont prdsentes dans le processus d'dvangdlisation et telles qu'elles se manifestent dans l'action de la mission Methodiste

Wesleyenne dans le sud du Ghana: il est indiqud comment ces contradictions sont liees aux caracteres culturels et socio-structuraux de la situation coloniale dans cette rdgion d'Afrique occidentale.

La situation coloniale est envisagee sous la forme d'un affrontement dialectique entre cultures au sein desquelles les processus de colonisation et de decolonisation s'effectuent de maniere simultanee plut6t que consecutive. Dans le domaine religieux, cet affrontement culturel prend la forme d'un 'malentendu effectif' plutot que celle d'un conflit physique manifeste. Caractdrisd par des erreurs mutuelles sur le plan de la comprehension reciproque et par de

frdquents malentendus, cet affrontement culturel entre missionnaires et Africains entraine des resultats qui pour la plupart ne sont pas voulus et qui finissent par militer contre les buts que l'dvangelisation cherche a atteindre. Dans cette perspective, il faut souligner la grande importance des activitds effectuees par les missionnaires dans le domaine de l'dducation: ces activites contribuent, directement ou indirectement, a miner l'autorite du missionnaire ainsi

que les accords de non-intervention entre les missions et les sectes chretiennes rivales qui font leur apparition parmi les Africains convertis.

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Some Contradictions in Missionizing