Research Catalog

Prophets in the wilderness : the Wesleyan mission to New Zealand, 1819-27

Title
Prophets in the wilderness : the Wesleyan mission to New Zealand, 1819-27 / J.M.R. Owens.
Author
Owens, J. M. R. (John Morley Roberts), 1926-
Publication
[Auckland, N.Z.] : Auckland University Press, ©1974.

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Details

Description
192 pages, 4 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, map; 23 cm
Summary
"New Zealand missionaries have been variously painted as heroes, villains, or figures of fun ; and in this portrait of the origins of the Wesleyan mission at Whangaroa in the 1820s the reader can take his choice. For the story is largely told in the missionaries' own words, from contemporary letters and journals which have gradually become available in libraries and archives throughout New Zealand, Australia and Britain. The first part is a narrative, beginning with pious hopes, continuing with the slow erosion of unexpected stress, ending finally with an attack on the mission station and the missionaries fleeing for their lives. It is a dramatic story, told with a day-by-day human detail which gives it some of the immediacy of a historical novel. The second part of the book tackles the detective problem of why the mission station was attacked and by whom ; and goes on to examine the range of sanctions controlling behaviour of missionaries and Maoris and the exchange of religious ideas between them. It challenges many accepted views about the missionary role and the origin of race relations in New Zealand and is a case study inviting comparison with missionary and contact situations throughout the world."--Inside front cover.
Subject
  • Wesleyan Methodist Church > Missions > History. > New Zealand
  • Wesleyan Methodist Church
  • Māori (New Zealand people) > Missions
  • Māori (New Zealand people) > Missions
  • Missions
  • Mīhana
  • Hāhi Karaitiana
  • Kōrero nehe
  • New Zealand
Genre/Form
History
Note
  • Includes index.
Bibliography (note)
  • Bibliography: p. 179-183.
Contents
Origins -- Early days at Whangaroa -- The death of George -- Dreadful depravity -- The sack of Whangaroa -- Why was Whangaroa attacked? -- The social context of missionary activity -- The exchange of ideas.
ISBN
  • 0196478952
  • 9780196478951
LCCN
75308068
OCLC
  • ocm01288786
  • 1288786
  • SCSB-322364
Owning Institutions
Princeton University Library