荷蘭在台灣的宣教 The Dutch in Taiwan

Tao-jen Wang 王道仁
The Dutch in Taiwan. (That which occurred between 1624 and 1661)
Important events:
(1) The Dutch East India Company settled in Taiwan for commercial reasons in 1624. The company hired missionary to do translation, collect taxes and minister their workers. Some of the missionaries focused on Dutch people only, but some of them turned their attention to Pingpu aboriginal people.
(2) The Dutch started the immigration of Han Chinese to Taiwan.
(3) Candidus, the first ordained missionary, came in 1627. He lived with the villagers, not in the castle and suggested that missionary should stay lifelong and marry a local.
(4) Nika event occurred in 1629 and broke the locals’ trust in Candidus.
(5) Junius came in 1629 and translated part of the Bible. He trained local students and plan to open a seminary in Taiwan. Sadly this never happened because Jheng came to Taiwan and driven out the Dutch.
(6) The Seminary of Dutch East India Company was closed in 1633.
(7) Guo Huai-yi Incident occurred in 1651 and made the relationship between Han Chinese and the Dutch worse.
(8) Jheng Cheng-gong came to Taiwan in 1661 and defeated the Dutch. Antonius Hambroek was killed in this event and the Dutch surrendered and left Taiwan in 1662.

Theology:
(1) The missionaries contextualized Christianity and made the Ten Commandments very practical. But they also introduced western burial style and Dutch style nuclear family life. They also educate the locals and taught them how to write down what they spoke (the Singang language).
(2) The Dutch did not force conversion, but had laws against native religion.
(3) The missionaries had conflict of interests since they were paid by the company.
(4) Protestant theology did not think mission is important then, and the Great Commission was thought to be given to the apostles at that time only. So interest in mission was not that strong.

Evaluation:
(1) The Dutch was only in Taiwan for 37 years, and they did a good job in such a short period of time, especially their contextualization of Christianity.
(2) The missionaries did not minister and evangelize all people: some focus on the Dutch only, some focus on Pingpu, but the Han and the aboriginal people in the mountains were not their focus. But the Han rose to power and the Pingpu was assimilated. This might be the reason Christianity disappeared in Taiwan.
(3) The missionaries’ bond with the company made the missionaries be viewed as the ruling Dutch, which the Han Chinese resented. The Han Chinese wanted to rule themselves. And the mission in Taiwan stopped after the company was driven out. If mission was not dependent on the company, the missionaries and the Han Chinese might have better relationships.
(4) The missionaries tried to train local pastors, but the plan was not carried out. Maybe they should not wait for the company and should start the seminary earlier. But their ties with the company might prevent them to do so.
(5) The wrong exegesis and interpretation of the Great Commission hindered protestant mission. Correct exegesis and interpretation of the Bible is very important.
(6) If missionaries revisit Taiwan earlier, maybe the efforts of the Dutch missionaries might be preserved to some extent.

Reference:
Moffett, Samuel Hugh. A History of Christianity in Asia, Volume 2, Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2005.