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Prelude to Irony: The Princeton Theology and the
Practice of American Presbyterian Missions in Northern Siam, 1867-1880
by
Herbert R. Swanson
 Protestant
Christianity first arrived in northern Siam in 1867, when the
Rev. Dan-iel and Sophia McGilvary, American Presbyterian missionaries,
moved their family to Chiang Mai, the chief city of the region,
and founded a new mission, known as the "Laos Mission."
After a brief period of evangelistic success, the mission experienced
a period of persecution and repression that severely limited its
growth. It only slowly managed to establish itself on a permanent
basis in a process that lasted until roughly 1880. In the course
of its work, the mission failed to contextualize its message and
methods, with the apparent result that only a relatively small
number of northern Thais converted to Christianity. This study
investigates the reasons behind the Laos Mission's rejection of
contextualization. Its thesis is that the mission drew on a "system
of meanings and doctrines" to shape its work, which system
led it to shun contextualization, and that the writings of the
Princeton circle of theologians help demonstrate the relationship
of that system to missionary behavior and strategies. The Princeton
Theology was related to the Laos Mission in two ways. First, the
two leading members of the mission both graduated from Princeton
Seminary, and their records reveal generally close parallels with
their mentors at Princeton. Second, the other pioneer members
of the mission did not show such direct parallels, but their work
and writings indicate that they shared Princeton's orthodox evangelical
theological and ideological orientation.
After discussing
the historical background of the Laos Mission (Chapter I) and
its relationship to the Princeton Theology (Chapter II), the dissertation
outlines the system of doctrines and meanings shared by the missionaries
and Princeton theologians (Chapter III). That system begins with
a set of assumed theological principles drawn from Reformed confessionalism
and Common Sense Philosophy, which principles informed their piety
and led them to emphasize the apologetical defense of their faith.
Their shared system of doctrines and meanings was a closed, dualistic
system that drew clear boundaries between truth and falsehood,
faith and impiety, and Christianity and heathenism. It was a "scholastic"
system that utilized an epistemological approach to establish
its own ability to know God and the truth. A survey of the history
of the mission's evangelistic and medical work (Chapter IV), work
with its converts (Chapter V), and educational activities (Chapter
VI) confirms the thesis of the dissertation. The Laos Mission
carried out its work on the basis of a closed system of doctrines
and meanings that encouraged it to preserve the Western, alien
form and content of the Christian faith it brought with it from
the United States.
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