Abstract:
Tiyo Soga, the first black minister ordained in Scotland by the United Presbyterian Church of
Scotland in 1856, was, by any standards, a conflicted character. He stood both in and between
two worlds and suffered from the vulnerability that emerged from his dual allegiances. Yet he
made a significant contribution to the mission history of South Africa, particularly through his
early influence on the development of black consciousness and black nationalism, which were
to make significant contributions to black thinking in the 20th century. Soga’s life and ministry
are set in the context of Michael Ashley’s concept of ‘universes in collision’.
