ABSTRACT

The impact of Western ideas and conceptions upon the whole cultural life of the African can best be understood by reference to the religious sphere. Official action by missions in promoting the Christian ideal of marriage has never been initially or directly related in principle to what missions have learned about African indigenous marriage. The strength of African tradition has sometimes compelled the missions to investigate more closely even those features of customary marriage which are fundamentally incompatible with the Christian ideal. The African may himself be justified in claiming that Christian doctrine should in its turn be made the subject of renewed investigation. The African delegates to the World Conference of the International Missionary Council at Madras in 1938 raised the question as to whether monogamy was essential to Christianity or was merely a factor of Western civilization.