Post‐Colonialism,Orientalism, and Understanding: Religious Studies and the Christian Missionary Imperative

This article explores issues related to the worldviews of Friedrich Max Müller and Monier Monier‐Williams, and contemporary critique of their work. Their indebtedness to their own age is explored, especially fulfilment theology and the missionary imperative, noting similarities and differences in their agendas. The conclusion considers how post‐colonial critique can be applied. While accepting the validity of such critique, it is suggested that it makes vast and sweeping judgments, engaging in a totalising narrative. It is argued that, applied too harshly, such critiques can ignore the positive contributions to understanding other faiths and cultures made by such figures. It ends with some reflections upon both their and our place within the evolving tradition of the study of religion, and the need for both understanding and critical judgment.     

THE LAST RIGHTS: MORE ON ARCHAEOLOGY AND THE DEAD

Summary. In a recent paper, one of us (Bahn 1984) made a preliminary sketch of the main issues involved in the question of whether archaeologists have the right to disturb the dead. Since then, a number of important new case studies have featured prominently in the media, and more literature on the subject has started to appear—most notably a collection of papers (Green 1984) which, though focused on the particular problems of North America, contains much food for thought for archaeologists elsewhere. In this article we propose to look at the new data and consider what light moral philosophy can throw on the problem as a whole.