Boniface, St. Francis of Assisi, Raymond Lull, Colonial Expansion, Robert de Nobili, Matteo Ricci

Boniface, the apostle of the Germans, the founder of Christian Europe, the most famous of martyrs from the conversion age in Northwestern Europe, led such a life. As a young man, he studied rhetoric, grammar, perhaps even Greek, and wrote a treatise on grammar and composed artful poems in the style of Aldhelm; as a middle-aged man he kept up a correspondence which became one of the most important collections of letters from that period, frequently asking his correspondents in England for books to aid him in his mission and give him comfort; and as a martyr he lives on not just in a great many vitae, but may also be said to live in and through a book, the Ragyndrudis Codex.

Little, if anything, is known about the missionary endeavors of such men as St. Francis of Assisi and Raymond Lull in the 13th and 14th centuries. This is particularly true when considering the history of missions among Muslims. For the most part, it is assumed, Christian interaction with Islam has consisted of fleeing in the face of marauding jihadists, answering Jihad with Crusades, or, in the face of immense pressure to one’s family and livelihood as a dhimmi, conversion. The fact is Christ has always had His martyrs (i.e. witnesses) and there is much to be gained from reading the stories of individuals who risked life and limb to spread the message of the Savior who descended from heaven to offer himself as a ransom for mankind. Theirs are stories of tremendous courage and sacrifice in the face of horrendous consequences for testifying to Christ.

The core of colonial expansion had two distinctive ideologies of superiority, one of civilizational superiority to more “barbarous” peoples, the other the superiority of Latin Christianity to pagan, Muslim or Eastern Christian religions. The periphery was seen as barbarous or benighted, or both, and the colonizers might see the civilizing or Christianization of the periphery as morally desirable. That the two might be inter-changeable – civilizing stressed in Catholic Ireland, religion in Islamic Spain, suggests a degree of rationalization of economic, military or political goals or means. However, religion also generated a subset of clerical colonists (often also younger sons) whose personal mission was to save souls, if necessary by force.

The Society of Jesus (or the Jesuits) work had circled the globe within 200 years. Some of their earliest missionaries included such famous figures as Francis Xavier, Apostle of India, Robert de Nobili, the Christian Brahmin and Matteo Ricci, the brilliant missions strategist who opened the door to China at the beginning of the 17th century. What most people don't know about the Jesuits is that they originally started among a band of seven students who were studying at the University of Paris, Francis Xavier was one of the original seven students who dedicated himself to the "greater glory of God," wherever it took him. Later, when Xavier was pioneering new works in India, he sent a message back to the University of Paris saying, "Tell the students to give up their small ambitions and come eastward to preach the Gospel of Christ..." The Jesuits started on the campus and continued to recruit missionaries from the student world over the centuries.