| Chapter 1: | The Contribution of Rainisoalambo to the Indigenization of the Protestant Churches in Madagascar |
Rainisoalambo, a Malagasy traditional healer, was able to contribute significantly to the indigenization of Christianity in the context of Madagascar because he was convicted of the truth of Jesus and had a native-born understanding of the culture. The Fifohazana movement arose initially because of Rainisoalambo’s pioneering work and witness and his ability to indigenize the Gospel.
Protestant Missionary Approaches to Malagasy Traditional Religion
The Protestant missionaries who arrived in Madagascar in the nineteenth century came wrapped up in their culture. They assumed, without hesitation, that Western civilization was a good thing for the Malagasy. The Malagasy traditional religion was considered idolatry; it was understood as uncivilized and barbaric.1 In the beginning, Malagasy Christians confused European civilization and Christianity. But missionaries taught the Malagasy their culture before the Gospel. When the Malagasy were converted to Christianity, they received the Gospel mixed with Western culture. For example, European hymns were translated into the Malagasy language, and Malagasy Christians wore European clothing as a sign of worthiness, as Gow observed. “Missionaries…set out to transform the society and…to emphasize European clothing, food and building styles, as well as cleanliness, Christian morality, hard work, western individualism, and thrift. A petty bourgeoisie sprang up among the more affluent church members.”2
Thus, several Malagasy followed Christianity in its exterior forms as civilization, but they did not understand it very well, even though missionaries used the vernacular language. Even Rainisoalambo, the prophet whose work founded the Fifohazana movement, followed Christian practices in order to gain money and equality with European missionaries before Jesus appeared to him. This chapter aims to answer the following questions:
- 1. How did Rainisoalambo express Christianity according to Malagasy thought patterns?
- 2. How did he propagate the Gospel so that Malagasy people would grasp it in the context of their culture?