The French Protestant Experience in Francophone World Christianity: Jean-François Zorn and the History of the Société des Missions Évangéliques de Paris

Abstract

During the last quarter century, a veritable flood of research has been made available on the role of French Protestants in the development of world Christianity. Generally unnoticed by scholarly communities outside the francophone world, this enterprise is transforming historiographies of Europe, Africa, and Oceania. It addresses questions of churches and mission, colonialism, conflict, intercultural relations, power, gender, racism, and more. The research has been largely provoked by that of Jean-François Zorn (professor emeritus, Institut Protestant de Théologie at Montpellier), especially his Le grand siècle d’une mission protestante; La Mission de Paris de 1822–1914. This work created cultural and intellectual space for other scholars. The resulting research is important not only for French Protestantism but for the Christianities of francophone countries, with implications generally for world Christianity. This essay introduces the work of Zorn and the last quarter century of research on the developments of Christianity in the francophone world.