A reconsideration of the history of anthropology and christianity

Anthropology and Christianity seem to obtain a historical mutual hostility against each other. This hostile relationship is even more obvious in the disagreements between anthropologists and missionaries on local cultures. For quite a long period of time, Christianity has been treated as an inappropriate topic in anthropological studies. Similarly, many Christians and churches totally reject Anthropology as it is an antichrist discipline which bases on biological or social evolution theory. However, in the last decade, there has been some reconsideration on their relationship. More studies have realized that the long-lasting impact of Christian tradition in modern disciplines of social sciences. Meanwhile, Christianity, especially missiology is greatly affected by Anthropology. It is over-simplified to define their relationship as "hostile", and more detailed work should be done to analyze and interpret their relationship. A point worth noticing is that, compared to Protestant Anthropologists, more Catholic Anthropologists have got their reputations in the academic field. This article focus on several extraordinary anthropologists, including E. E. Evans-Pritchard, Victor Turner and Mary Douglas, and illustrates the possible connection between their anthropological studies or theories and their Catholic faith. Moreover, this article aims to reveal how these two interact with each other and how the theological background and religious practices correspond with Anthropology.