Posted on 07/09/2020 8:46:09 AM PDT by Perseverando
In 1778, British Captain James Cook discovered Hawaii, which he named "The Sandwich Islands" in honor of John Montagu, the 4th Earl of Sandwich -- the acting First Lord of the Admiralty.
Captain Cook was killed on his third visit to Hawaii in 1779.
When Captain Cook's voyages were read in England they raised awareness of new lands.
This inspired a missionary movement, led by William Carey, who took the Gospel to India in 1793.
The Hawaiian Islands were united by King Kamehameha I in 1810.
In 1819, King Kamehameha I died.
His wife, Kaʻahumanu, and his son, Liholiho (King Kamehameha II), abolished the pagan religion with its kapu rules and human sacrifice.
In 1807, two young Hawaiians, Thomas Hopu and Henry Opukahai'a stowed away on the whaling ship Triumph and sailed to New Haven, Connecticut, in the midst of the Second Great Awakening Revival.
They were befriended by Yale students who instructed and prayed with them to become the first Hawaiian Christians in 1815.
Henry Opukahai'a attempted to translate the Bible and wrote his Memoirs, which contributed to a world Christian missionary movement.
Thomas Hopu accompanied General Andrew Jackson to New Orleans and helped fight the British during the War of 1812, even rescuing many sailors after a shipwreck, as he was an excellent swimmer.
Henry Opukahai'a died of typhus, and two years later, Thomas Hopu went as interpreter with missionaries with Asa and Lucy Thurston and Hiram and Sybil Bingham back to the Hawaii.
Sailing on the ship Thaddeus, they arrived at Kailua on March 31, 1820.
Hiram Bingham's son, of the same name, attended Yale, then returned to spread Christianity in the Pacific.
He was the first to translate the Bible into the language of the people
(Excerpt) Read more at myemail.constantcontact.com ...
Great flick btw. Gene Hackman, Richard Harris and Max Von Sydow I believe. Max was the girlie man missionary.
Max von Sydow’s character was (very, very loosely) based on Hiram Bingham.
Mark Twain said of these missionary families, “They came to do good, and they done right well.”
I've read that the old Hawaiian religion had lots of taboos, but when sailors started visiting the islands and ignored the taboos, but nothing bad happened to them as a result, that caused a collapse in people's belief in their religion. Soon after that the Protestant missionaries arrived from the US.
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