Page 173 - LD215 History of the Church in Africa A4 final

Nineteenth-Century Challenges and Progress

Roman Catholics, leaning on the principle of religious freedom, sent two
priests in 1841.

According to Garlock, in the nineteenth century, Liberia was known
as the “white man’s grave”:

The death rate among missionaries was so high that some mission
societies decided to pull out of the country, believing it impossible
to evangelize. Of seventy-nine missionaries sent to Liberia by the
Church Missionary Society of London before 1830, forty-four died
of fever during their first year of service. Of seventy-five sent out
by the American Presbyterian Board, thirty-one died within a
very short time and many others returned home ill. (22)

Edward Blyden
One of the most influential and controversial nineteenth-century
Liberians was Edward W. Blyden. He had immigrated to Liberia from
the Caribbean in 1851 when he was only nineteen because he could not
enter a theological institution of his choice. However, his sharp intellect
was soon noted, and he was appointed professor at Liberia College when
it opened in 1861. Later he became the Liberian Secretary of State. As
a brilliant linguist, he mastered several languages, including Greek and
Hebrew. Sanneh notes the following:

The year 1888 saw the appearance of his magnum opus,
Christianity, Islam and the Negro Race. Its impact was immediate
and profound, and the issues it raised, albeit in journalistic fashion,
have continued to occupy us down to this day. (1983, 101)

Blyden’s book called for respect for Islam and other religions, as well as
African languages and cultures. However, he tended toward syncretism
and criticized Christian missions and embraced deism. Hanciles refers
to him as “the most accomplished African nationalist of his day and a
masterful advocate of Ethiopianism” (182).

Shaw indicates, “One of the ironies of Liberia where Blyden labored
for most of his life is that the Americo-Liberian ruling party never
seemed either willing or able to overcome the cultural arrogance against
which Blyden warned” (1996, 152). This is a lesson for all of Africa and

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