Baptizing Burma: religious change in the last Buddhist kingdom
"The story of the American Baptist mission to Burma is a story of conversion-both failed and sweeping. Throughout the nineteenth century, Burmese Buddhists largely resisted Christian evangelism, whereas astonishing numbers of non-Burmese minority communities were being baptized. And American Ba...
| Résumé: | "The story of the American Baptist mission to Burma is a story of conversion-both failed and sweeping. Throughout the nineteenth century, Burmese Buddhists largely resisted Christian evangelism, whereas astonishing numbers of non-Burmese minority communities were being baptized. And American Baptist Christianity also found itself changed in the Buddhist kingdom. Missionaries who had arrived vilifying Buddha statues found themselves creating tree shrines and their converts hanging multicolored Jesus paintings in their churches. As eccentric as these objects might seem, they prove to be at the center of this story of religion in Burma. This book focuses on powerful Southeast Asian artifacts to understand how the Burmese majority transformed Buddhism to counter Christianity, how minority communities took on Baptist identities, and how Protestantism transformed into a kind of Southeast Asian religion. Each chapter examines a holy object to reveal the mechanics by which different communities presented themselves religiously in this period of clashing and converging empires-British, Burmese, and American. By telling stories of four key things-the sacred book, the school house, the pagoda, and the portrait-this book illuminates little-known histories of Burma's last kingdom and America's first foreign mission"-- In July 1813, a young American couple from Boston arrived in Rangoon to preach the gospel. Celebrated in the Protestant press, which ran dramatic accounts of exotic adventures, the attempt to convert the Burmese met with mixed results. Although Burmese Buddhists resisted Christian evangelism, people from minority communities were baptized in large numbers throughout the nineteenth century. American Baptist Christianity was itself transformed in the Buddhist kingdom. Missionaries who were initially horrified by what they saw as the idolatry of Buddha statues found themselves creating tree shrines and their converts hanging colorful Jesus paintings in their churches.Baptizing Burma explores the history of how the American Baptist mission to Burma failed to convert the country yet succeeded in transforming its religious landscape. Alexandra Kaloyanides examines how the Burmese majority positioned Buddhism to counter Christianity, how marginalized groups took on Baptist identities, and how Protestantism was reimagined as a Southeast Asian religion. She considers a series of holy objects to reveal the mechanics of religious practice in a period of entangled empires-British, Burmese, and American. By telling stories of four key things-the sacred book, the school house, the pagoda, and the portrait-this book illuminates the histories of Burma's last kingdom and the unexpected consequences of America's first overseas mission |
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| Description: | Includes bibliographical references and index |
| ISBN: | 0231199856 |