In 1854, American Presbyterian missionaries arrived in Egypt as part
of a larger Anglo-American Protestant movement aiming for worldwide
evangelization. Protected by British imperial power, and later by
mounting American global influence, their enterprise flourished during
the next century. American Evangelicals in Egypt follows the ongoing
and often unexpected transformations initiated by missionary
activities between the mid-nineteenth century and 1967--when the
Six-Day Arab-Israeli War uprooted the Americans in Egypt. Heather
Sharkey uses Arabic and English sources to shed light on the many
facets of missionary encounters with Egyptians. These occurred through
institutions, such as schools and hospitals, and through literacy
programs and rural development projects that anticipated later efforts
of NGOs. To Egyptian Muslims and Coptic Christians, missionaries
presented new models for civic participation and for women's roles in
collective worship and community life. At the same time, missionary
efforts to convert Muslims and reform Copts stimulated new forms of
Egyptian social activism and prompted nationalists to enact laws
restricting missionary activities. Faced by Islamic strictures and
customs regarding apostasy and conversion, and by expectations
regarding the proper structure of Christian-Muslim relations,
missionaries in Egypt set off debates about religious liberty that
reverberate even today. Ultimately, the missionary experience in Egypt
led to reconsiderations of mission policy and evangelism in ways that
had long-term repercussions for the culture of American Protestantism.
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Produktdetaljer
ISBN
9781400837250
Publisert
2013
Utgiver
Vendor
Princeton University Press
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Digital bok
Forfatter