The Role Of Christianity In The Poisonwood Bible

The Europeans’ desire to expand and gain control over other land and groups of people was often a controversial matter. The missionaries went to these places to establish ascendancy; they shared their religion in order to try and sway the people into changing their beliefs. By doing so the original culture of the indigenous people, particularly in the Congo, was profoundly challenged. These missionaries showed no regard for any sense of individuality, powering through on their journey for absolute command; however, some Congolese were successful in exposing the truth behind the members of the church traveling on these missions. In the novel The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver, Nathaniel Price is one of these European missionaries who

uses religion to justify his actions, which harm the Congo and supports the fact that Europeans were overstepping their boundaries.
Nathaniel Price the Leader of the Mission to the Congo, and of the Price family, decided he would do God's work in the Congo, and by doing so the villages would be eternally grateful for his selflessness. However that was not the case, Price forced himself and his beliefs onto the natives and it only made them retract further from Christianity, “ Our Father could not seem to accept what seemed clear enough even to a child: when he showered the idea of baptism-batiza- on people here, it shrunk them away like water on a witch” (Kingsolver 73). Price was ruthless and determined to get his way by any means necessary; his skewed perception of what was right and wrong left the Congolese in a state of perplexity. Everything they once known was being ripped out from underneath them by some white stranger who does not know the history of their homeland, “ His brand of missionary work was, first of all, self serving and used Christianity as a whip to bend or break African culture to Western beliefs” (Bromberg, 13). Price is the example of how the Europeans were overstepping their boundaries and destroying the culture of the Congo.
On the other hand the missionaries were only reinforcing the original religion in the Congo, Christianity.

Christianity was predominantly in Europe and that is where the churches were built and flourished, “Christianity was established in Africa well before it reached Europe. Although Christianity was first confined to the early churches in Egypt and Ethiopia, historians record that it was the Portuguese who converted the Kongo people in the area around the mouth of the Congo River, for soon after the colonizers came the missionaries” (Heale, 82). Therefor the missionaries like Nathaniel Price were aiming to keep the history of this religion in the Congo alive and not just to simply vacate their newfounded beliefs and customs. The local traditions were also a part of christianity in Africa, “However, African Christianity ultimately developed its own special character in which local traditions played a role. This religion has had a profound effect on the social and political development of modern Africa. Today, membership in Christian churches is growing faster in Africa than anywhere else in the world” (Haley). Perhaps Nathaniel was simply trying to achieve this ideal community with a diverse culture and religion, yet it was not successful by any

means.
While it is true that Nathaniel Price is a fervent leader he does not appear to have pure intentions regarding the church or the Congolese people. The people of the village were alarmed by his behavior, as well as his family. Price without negotiation piled his family on a plane to a country much different than their own. Price went to the Congo because he believes he is superior to others and that they need him and that boosts his ego, “Price never bothered to learn the language of the people to whom he was preaching the gospel”(Bromberg 13). Because his focus was not on the people themselves but using them as a platform to boost himself, “ Nathan Price, the Baptist missionary who brings his family to the congo, is an autocratic man whose religious zeal makes him rigid and unsympathetic”(Kingsolver, 8, Gale Virtual Reference Library). Nathaniel was so obsessed with becoming this savior and being god like that he didn't even realize his own congregation was losing faith, “ How could father not have seen his mistake? The congregation of his very own church interrupted the sermon to hold an election on whether or not to accept Jesus Christ as the Personal Saviour of Kilanga” (Kingsolver 327). Furthermore missionaries like Nathaniel Price are responsible for the damage of small villages relationships with each other and God himself, because they did not do what they were intended to do.
In contrast the missionaries are to be thanked for making Africa what it is currently today; the Europeans are responsible for increasing the flow of money into the country and providing essentials.

For example, “ The missionaries established schools and hospitals and began preaching the gospel of Christianity” (Lugira 18). The missionaries were essential in creating breakthroughs, “Local acceptance of early missionaries in the eastern Cape hinged more upon their technological ability to introduce furrow irrigation into an otherwise drought - stricken land than upon their Christian teachings (Williams 1959)”(“European”). Price’s loyal and devoted daughter speaks well on her father's behalf, “Not everyone can see it, but my father’s heart is as large as his hands. And his wisdom is great. He was never one of those backwoods ministers who urged the taking up of copperhead snakes, baby-flining, or the shrieking of nonsense syllables. My father believes in enlightenment. As a boy he taught himself to read parts of the Bible in Hebrew, and before we came to Africa he made us all sit down and study French, for the furtherance of our mission” (Kingsolver 42). Perhaps Nathaniel Price is not as despotic as once thought, and cares about teaching the gospel to people around the

world.