
Protestant Missionaries in the Levant
Ungodly Puritans, 1820-1860
Samir Khalaf(Author)
Routledge (Publisher)
1st Edition
Published on 23. July 2012
Book
Hardback
310 pages
978-0-415-50544-4 (ISBN)
Description
Through focusing on the unintended by-products of New England Puritanism as a cultural transplant in the Levant, this book explores the socio-historical forces which account for the failure of early envoys' attempts to convert the 'native,' population. Early failure in conversion led to later success in reinventing themselves as agents of secular and liberal education, welfare, and popular culture. Through making special efforts not to debase local culture, the missionaries' work resulted in large sections of society becoming protestantized without being evangelized.
An invaluable resource for postgraduates and those undertaking postdoctoral research, this book explores a seminal but overlooked interlude in the encounters between American Protestantism and the Levant. Using data from previously unexplored personal narrative accounts, Khalaf dates the emergence of the puritanical imagination, sparked by sentiments of American exceptionalism, voluntarism and "soft power" to at least a century before commonly assumed.
An invaluable resource for postgraduates and those undertaking postdoctoral research, this book explores a seminal but overlooked interlude in the encounters between American Protestantism and the Levant. Using data from previously unexplored personal narrative accounts, Khalaf dates the emergence of the puritanical imagination, sparked by sentiments of American exceptionalism, voluntarism and "soft power" to at least a century before commonly assumed.
Reviews / Votes
"As one of few books on American missionaries in Syria, Khalaf's work is a necessary read for anyone interested in Middle East mission history." Deanna Ferree Womack, Princeton Theological Seminary, New Jersey, USAMore details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Target group
College/higher education
Dimensions
Height: 240 mm
Width: 161 mm
Thickness: 22 mm
Weight
646 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-415-50544-4 (9780415505444)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Book
05/2017
1st Edition
Routledge
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E-Book
09/2012
1st Edition
Routledge
€64.49
Available for download

E-Book
09/2012
Routledge
€64.49
Available for download
Person
Samir Khalaf is Professor of Sociology at the American University of Beirut, Lebanon. He has held academic appointments at Princeton, Harvard, MIT and New York University. Among his books are Lebanon Adrift, Sexuality in the Arab World (with John Gagnon), The Heart of Beirut, Civil and Uncivil Violence in Lebanon, Cultural Resistance, and Lebanon's Predicament. He has been a recipient of several international fellowships and research awards, a trustee of numerous foundations and serves on the editorial boards of a score of international journals and publications.
Content
Part 1: On Calvinism, Evangelism and Puritanism 1. The Evangelical Imagination: New England Puritans and Foreign Missions 2. Universities as Nurseries of Piety 3. The World as an Enlarged New England 4. Images of Islam and the Orient Part 2: Leavening the Levant 5. Protestant Orientalism: Evangelical Christianity and Cultural Imperialism 6. The Levant as a Missionary Field 7. Puritans in Lebanon: Early Encounters 1830-1840 8. On Doing Much with Little Noise 9. Christianize or Civilize: Obstacles and Changing Strategies 1840-1860