Motivated by a theology that declared missionary work was independent of secular colonial pursuits, Protestant missionaries from Germany operated in ways that contradict current and prevailing interpretations of nineteenth-century missionary work. As a result of their travels, these missionaries contributed to Germany's colonial culture. Because of their theology of Christian universalism, they worked against the bigoted racialism and ultra-nationalism of secular German empire-building. Heavenly Fatherland provides a detailed political and cultural analysis of missionaries, mission societies, mission intellectuals, and missionary supporters.

Combining case studies from East Africa with studies of the metropole, this book demonstrates that missionaries' ideas about race and colonialism influenced ordinary Germans' experience of globalization and colonialism at the same time that the missionaries shaped colonial governance. By bringing together religious and colonial history, the book opens new avenues of inquiry into Christian participation in colonialism. During the Age of Empire, German missionaries promoted an internationalist vision of the modern world that aimed to create a multinational, multiracial "heavenly Fatherland" spread across the globe.

About the Author
Jeremy Best is an assistant professor in the Department of History at Iowa State University of Science and Technology.

Reviews

"In Heavenly Fatherland, an important new study of German Protestant missionary work in the years 1860-1914, Jeremy Best challenges his readers to rethink what they understand to be true about Germany's colonial past by shedding light on the prominent role that Protestant missionaries played in that project."

-- Robert E. Alvis, Saint Meinrad Seminary and School of Theology * H-Transnational German Studies *

"In the past twenty-five years, historians of Germany's short-lived colonial empire have delved into the impact of colonialism on ideas of race and nation in imperial Germany. Jeremy Best's Heavenly Fatherland is a lively and illuminating contribution to this literature."

-- Brandon Bloch, University of Wisconsin-Madison * German Studies Review *

"Jeremy Best's Heavenly Fatherland offers an insightful new perspective on Germany's overseas engagement - one that makes us seriously rethink many of the broader characterizations about the nationalism, colonialism, and racism of the Kaiserreich."

-- David Ciarlo, University of Colorado Boulder * H-Soz-Kult *

"Framed within an awareness of the limitations of his study on colonialism and missionary activities, this is an excellent book. Even when assessing some of Best's interpretations differently, Heavenly Fatherland is an important read."

-- Bjoern Krondorfer, Northern Arizona University * Contemporary Church History Quarterly *

"Heavenly Fatherland emphasizes and relies upon archival sources that amplify the international reach of Missionswissenschaftler. In doing so, it offers an important opportunity for scholars to examine missionaries' role overseas more holistically."

-- Adam A. Blackler, University of Wyoming * Monatshefte *


Awards
Winner of Phi Alpha Theta History Honor Society First Book Award 2021 (United States). Short-listed for 2021 WCGS Book Prize awarded by the Waterloo Centre for German Studies 2022 (Canada).



Book Information
ISBN 9781487505639
Author Jeremy Best
Format Hardback
Page Count 344
Imprint University of Toronto Press
Publisher University of Toronto Press
Weight(grams) 660g
Dimensions(mm) 236mm * 159mm * 28mm