Of merchants and missions: A historical study of the impact of British colonialism on American Methodism in Singapore from 1885 to 1910.

摘要

Colonialism and Christian mission have often been accused of collusion and complicity. While there have been an increasing number of researches pertaining to mission in a colonial context, interestingly most these are derived from the African, Indian or South Pacific contexts. This research deals with the specific case of interaction of American Methodism with British colonialism in Singapore at the close of the l9`h century. It seeks to investigate if Christianity (American Methodism, in this case) came to Singapore under the coattails of the British colonial administration.;It is evident that British colonialism provided the necessary context for Methodist mission in Singapore. It may also be said that Methodism and British colonialism had a symbiotic relationship which enabled the colony to be administered with minimal cost and yet with maximum efficiency, especially in regard to education. With a preoccupation on commerce and trade, the colony was administered in an atypical laissez faire context which worked to the advantage of the Methodist mission, as it very quickly embarked on a pluriform mission, reaching different ethnic groups with the different means of presentation of the Gospel.;The research yielded archival documentation that in regards to efforts at evangelism and church planting, education mission as well as matters involving ethics and Christian witness, the Methodist missionaries were constantly appealing against colonial administrative policies and praxes. Despite the implications of the Pangkor Treaty, the Methodists continued to minister to the local indigenous people and migrant population, through mission and evangelism. Despite the paltry grants they received from the colonial administration and prohibition against proselytism, the Methodists went ahead and established an effective Christian academic institution that till this day continues to be at the forefront of education in Singapore. Despite the nonchalance of a colonial administration against such social malaise as opium addiction, prostitution and poverty, the Methodists penetrated different levels of society to work for the benefit of those affected. Despite the colonial emphasis on economic profitability for a free port such as Singapore, the Methodist laboured instead to free the people with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.;The conclusion arrived through research of historical documents and various archival records, both secular and ecclesiastical, is that the charge of complicity of mission and colonialism is a generalization that is tenuous in the case of Methodism's advent and march in Singapore.