Description
Christian Warfare in Rhodesia-Zimbabwe takes a hard look at the history of the Salvation Army in Rhodesia-Zimbabwe and its long history with both the government and the rest of the Church. Norman H. Murdoch examines in depth the parallels between the events of the First Chimurenga, an uprising against European occupation in 1896-97, and the Second Chimurenga in the 1970s, the civil war that led to majority rule. At the time of the first, the Salvation Army was barely established in the country; by the second, it was fully entrenched in the ruling class. Murdoch explores the collaboration of this Christian mission with the institutions of white rule and the painful process of disentanglement necessary by the late twentieth century. Stories of martyrdom and colonial mythology are set in the carefully researched context of ecumenical relations and the Salvation Army’s largely unknown and seldom accessible internal politics.
About the Author
Norman H. Murdoch is Emeritus Professor of History at the University of Cincinnati, where he taught from 1968 until 2005. He is the author of Origins of the Salvation Army (1994) and numerous other books and articles.
Contents
Illustrations
Editorial Note by Harold Hill
Foreword by N.M. Bhebe
Preface
Acknowledgments (2014)
Norman Murdoch as Colleague, Historian and Teacher
Norman Murdoch, Historian of The Salvation Army
1. Christian and Cultural Warfare in Rhodesia/Zimbabwe, 1890-1990
2. The Salvation Army Invades Mashonaland, 1891-95
3. The First Chimurenga (1896-97) and the Death of Captain Cass
4. Rhodes and Booth: “Wholesale Salvation”, 1901-8
5. Father and Son in 1908: “My dear General” – “My dear Chief”
6. The Salvation Army and the Rhodesian State, 1908-65
7. Colonial, Conciliar, and Communist Forces Collide, 1950s and 1960s
8. Paying the Piper, Calling the Tune: A Salvation Army Power Shift, 1970-78
9. Conciliar Movements and The Salvation Army, 1970-78
10. The Program to Combat Racism and the Salvation Army Reaction, 1969-78
11. The 1978 Deaths at Usher Institute
12. Salvation Army Reaction to the Usher Killings, 1978-83
13. African Salvationists React to the Salvation Army’s Withdrawal from the World Council of Churches, 1981
14. Conclusions
Epilogue
Bibliography
Index
Endorsements and Reviews
In this carefully researched history, Norman Murdoch focuses on the Salvation Army’s involvement in Zimbabwe’s history, charting its erratic missionising career there and revealing hitherto undisclosed attitudes and influences regarding its partisan support of British colonialism. This book deserves to be read not only by Salvationists but by all who are interested in the missionary impulse or the history of British colonisation in Africa.
R.G. Moyles, Professor Emeritus, University of Alberta
This is a fascinating, well-researched history. Telling the truth about the past can still be a hard thing to do, but Norman Murdoch has made an excellent attempt to lay out the truth about the relationships between missionaries, the settler regime, and the Shona and Ndebele peoples. I recommend this candid and helpful book.
Commissioner Stuart Mungate, Salvation Army leader, Zimbabwe
