Bringing Forth Light by J.W. Colenso

ISBN: 9780869802830 / 0869802836 - Bringing Forth Light by J.W. Colenso, edited by Ruth Edgecombe (Reprint Series #4). Published by University of Natal Press / Killie Campbell Africana Library, 1982. Hardcover. Used, Excellent condition. 252 pp.

The rarity and interest of Bishop Colenso's First steps of the Zulu Mission made it an obvious choice for inclusion in this reprint Series, Colenso's fresh and perceptive observations of the Zulu kingdom and his lively day-by-day account of his journey make this a rich historical source. Different perspectives on this journey are provided in Three native accounts of the visit of the Bishop of Natal in September and October 1859 to Umpande, King of the Zulus, which was written by 3 young Zulu converts who accompanied him.

Also included in this volume are some of the lesser-known and less easily accessible missionary publications of Colenso. Together with First Steps they constitute a comprehensive statement of the essential ideas and beliefs that shaped the first 11 years of his life as a missionary after his consecration as first Bishop of Natal in 1853.

The usefulness of this material extends beyond the interests of the student of missionary endeavour. For here there is vital information on the early history of the Zulu kingdom under Mpande. For the historian of ideas, fascinating light is cast on the interaction of intellectual currents emanating from England, and ideas and attitudes shaped in a colonial and tradition context. In a sense Colenso operated simultaneously in 3 kinds of environment: as thinker in the intellectual worlds of England, as bishop in the colony of Natal, and as missionary confronting the traditional world of the Zulu.

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