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The Christian faith came to the island of Taiwan over 150 years ago, and to this day is still viewed as a “Western Religion”. At the same time, in Taiwan, the conflicts between faith and culture can be felt at times even till this day which caused the author to wonder, is it because of these conflicts and views of the faith as a Western Religion that has led to the Christian faith not being able to really assimilate into Taiwanese culture? Moreover, has the Christian faith in the process of being shared brought a sense of colonization that has led to the conflicts between faith and culture? It is for these reasons that this thesis focuses on the early history of evangelism in Taiwan from a post-colonial perspective. In addition, an effort was made to find a suitable policy for post- colonial evangelism. The current research study is separated into two portions, a review of historical research and post- colonial research. The historical research portion of this study focuses on the periods of Dutch occupation in Taiwan, where the main persons of research were Reverend George Candidius and Reverend Robert Junius, and the period of time between the end of the Qing dynasty to the beginning of Japanese occupation in Taiwan through the experiences of missionaries William Campbell and George Leslie Mackay. Regarding post- colonial theory, Edward Wadie Said’s “orientalist” is referenced. Missions work during the Dutch occupation of Taiwan used a evangelistic approach of direct colonization where missionaries were directly involved in the colonization process. Conversely, missions work during the end of the Qing dynasty was packaged as layers. However, missionaries subconsciously still operated on imperialistic thought. Basically, during the period of Dutch occupation, missions work involved strong and forceful attitudes which included the backing of laws and military force. Conversely, during the end of the Qing dynasty, missions work used a softer and friendlier step by step approach. Regarding the attitudes of missions work amongst Taiwan Aborigines, both approaches were utilized. Aborigines were basically seen as poor barbarians that needed to be rescued and cultured. It is clear that missionaries of the time saw themselves as superior. During the Qing dynasty, missionaries used their experiences with the Malay people to justify their use of a firm approach to evangelize and enlighten the Aborigines of Taiwan. Basically, for these missonaries, the way of life for Taiwanese Aborigines could not be considered as civilized, or at the very least was an inferior form of civilization. Through a process of reflecting on past evangelism history, it is a hope that future evangelism can be a type of decolonization evangelism where Christ’s church can leave room and welcome those who are different from them.
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