Biblical discourse as a technology of ‘othering’: A decolonial reading on the 1840 Moffat sermon at the Tabernacle, Moorfields, London

Abstract

In his sermon to the directors of the London Missionary Society (LMS) in London in 1840, in ‘othering’ the Batswana (Africans), Moffat engages in biblical discourse. He uses biblical descriptions to ‘other’ them and the land they occupied. This article analyses the 1840 sermon by Moffat, and in it I will argue that through his sermon, Moffat engaged in biblical discourse and performed epistemic privilege in his exposition of the Batswana to his audience, namely the directors of the LMS. At the same time, he used biblical texts and imagery to create in the mind of his listeners an image of heathenism and uncivility. In doing so, I argue that he further located the Batswana within the realm of the ‘damnés’. In the article, I apply two analytical lenses, namely decoloniality and critical race theory, as hermeneutical tools.Contribution: It is argued in this article that in doing so, Moffat further located the Batswana within the realm of the damnés.

Reception of biblical discourse in Africa

“…The articles in this special collection apply various theoretical lenses in their analysis of biblical discourse in South Africa. Mothoagae's (2022) article locates biblical discourse in the 1840 sermon by Robert Moffat preached in front of the London Missionary Society (LMS) directors. He argues that in his sermon, Robert Moffat uses biblical imagery to 'other' the land and those that occupy it (Batswana).…”

“…He argues that in his sermon, Robert Moffat uses biblical imagery to 'other' the land and those that occupy it (Batswana). Mothoagae (2022) analyses the 1840 sermon by R. Moffat, and argues that through his sermon Moffat engaged in biblical discourse and performed epistemic privilege in his exposition of the Batswana to his audience, namely the directors of the LMS. At the same time, he used biblical texts and imagery to create in the mind of his listeners an image of heathenism and uncivility.…”

“…At the same time, he used biblical texts and imagery to create in the mind of his listeners an image of heathenism and uncivility. According to Mothoagae (2022), Moffat further locates the Batswana within the realm of the damnés. Masoga (2022), in his article titled, 'Debriefing hermeneutics for a balanced reading of the biblical text', argues that the current hermeneutical approaches of promoting ancient biblical texts are not only imaginable but also too ambitious.…”