Undiscovered Sermons of Rev Davida Malo: Hawaii’s First Apologist for Christianity

by Nicholas A. Freeman

The Rev. Davida Malo (1795-1853) was one of the earliest Hawaiian converts and ordained Protestant ministers of the Christian mission who subsequently became a primary Hawaiian author and historian, whose book Moolelo Hawaii has been a resource in the study of Hawaiian culture for over one hundred fifty years. It covers a wide variety of subjects including Hawaiian lore, old-time traditions, mele, and genealogies, and masterful arrangements of the hula, (Emerson, Hawaiian Antiquities) as well as “30 names of the moon phases, food taboos, etiquette, and the Kauwa slave caste. Malo was also a member of the court of the High Chief Kuakini (Governor Adams) and a graduate of Lahainaluna School and served as a schoolteacher along with pastoring a local church, (Honolulu Star-Bulletin Features) where he was ordained as pastor before his death in 1853. (Sandwich Islands Mission Minutes, 1853)

His book’s first English translation was completed by Dr. N.B. Emerson in 1898, and has since been edited and or retranslated by others, including the well-established Jeffrey (Kapali) Lyon, assistant professor at the University of Manoa (The Moʻolelo Hawaiʻi of Davida Malo Volume 1: Ka ‘Ōlelo Kumu – UH Press). Additionally, Malo was well published in Hawaiian language newspapers of his day, covering a diversity of subjects, but very little supplementary material has been brought to light.

A seemingly overlooked source buried in the digital archive of www.ulukau.com, is the first book of Hawaiian missionary sermons, I Kakauia E Na Misionari, published 1841, which contains two sermons penned by Malo himself (Na haiao — Ulukau books pgs 1-16), which were also published in Hawaiian language papers at that time. These sermons were apparently written years before he became an ordained minister.  

The two, both entitled “Ua Hewa loa ka Manao o ka poe Aia,” (The Unbelievers thoughts are Very Wrong) are not just sermons for his parishioners, but perhaps the first Hawaiian Christian apologetic publication in book form. In his defense of two primary tenets of Christianity, he challenges Hawaiian disbelievers and seeks to reason with them on two fronts: the existence of the soul and the existence of God. His method of approach involves using a classical apologetic by presenting observable natural and historical evidence while keeping his commitment to Scripture to hopefully reason them back to God.  This commitment is also illustrated in his Moolelo Hawaii when he states, “But the book that contains the word of Jehovah is of a value above every other treasure because it contains salvation for the soul.” (p.110, Hawaiian Antiquities)

The biblical verse that Malo used as the text for his first sermon is Psalm 14:1: “The fool has said in his heart there is no God.[1]” In his sermon, Malo has two key challenges for his fellow Hawaiians who have become disbelievers. The setting for their disbelief has come after the kapu was discontinued, the former temples were destroyed, and the missionaries have been preaching the gospel message for some time.

His first point challenges their assertion that there is no soul, which was leading them to believe that because of this there would be no resurrection, which is also a cornerstone of the Christian faith. In answering this, he appeals to a logical argument in that if a body does not have a soul, then it is simply the same as a piece of wood or stone. Then he asks a key question as to where their thought that there is no soul originated. He states:

Mahea la oukou e manao ai pela? Ina aole uhane o ke kanaka, ua like kona kmo me ka pauku laau, a me ka pohaku. A ina i like oukou me ka pauku laau a me ka pohaku, mahea la i kupu mai ai ka manao, “Aohe he uhane?” Ma ka manamanalima anei? Ma ke poo anei? Ma ka wawae anei? Ina aole uhane, nohea mai ka manao? Pehea la e hiki ai ia oukou ke olelo ae, Aole uhane, he kino ivale no? Ina e hiki ia oukou ke hoole me ka maopopo, Aoh uhane, e hiki paha ke hooakaka mai i kahi i kupu mai ai ka manao; ina ma ke poo, e hoike mai, ina ma ka opu, e hoike mai, ina ma na lima a ma na wawae paha, e hoike mai, i ike au. Ua maopopo loa, he manao no ko ke kanaka, aole pono ke hoole aku, a ina aole ona uhane, ma ka lala hea o ke kino i kupu mai ai ka manao?

General English Translation:

“I have a question for you; I will ask you what you say. You said, there is no soul, only a body. Why do you think so? If a person does not have a soul, his body is the same as the one wood section and stone. And if you are like a piece of wood and stone, where did the thought come from, "There is no soul?" Is it on the finger? Is it in the head? Is it on the foot? If there is no soul, where does the mind come from? How can you say, "There is no soul, but only an evil body?" If you can deny with certainty, the soul, it may be possible to explain where the thought arose; if it is in the head, show it, if it is in the belly, show it, if it is in the hands or feet, show it, so that I can see. It is very clear that if a person has a thought, it should not be denied, and if he does not have a soul, in which part of the body does the thought originate?”[2]

Malo then moves to the long held Hawaiian tradition of throwing a feather wreath, following the death of a ruler, in order that his soul may be set free. Other examples noted in his Moolelo Hawaii: “the soul of the king was changed into a real god,” “oio, procession of the soul,” and “kino-wailua, the second soul.” (Malo with Emerson editing, Hawaiian Antiquities, pp. 143-154)  This he used to help establish the notion that the belief in a soul was not just a Western concept, but also one already held in traditional Hawaiian religious beliefs, and that if they discard that belief now, they have discarded it all together.

He states:

No hea mai la keia manao lapuwale? Ua ike no kakou a pau loa he uhane ko kanaka, nolaila, i hooliloia’i ke kanaka make i akua unihipili, a i ka make ana o ke alii, uko iho la na kahuua, a hoolei iho la i ka lei hulu manu i hiki aku ka uhane io Akea la.

Auhea oukou, he ike anei a he naauao ia kakou i ka wa kahiko, a i keia wa hou ua nalowale anei, ea? A no ka nalowale o ka manao kahiko e hiki anei ia oukou ke olelo ae aohe uhane?

General English Translation:

Where does this nonsense come from? We all know that people have souls, so the dead man was made into a universal deity, and when the king died, the priests bowed down and threw a bird's feather wreath so that the soul could reach Akea.

Where are you, did we have knowledge and wisdom in the old days, and in the new time has it been lost, right? And because of the loss of the old belief, can you say that there is no soul?[3]

‘Akea’ refers to ‘Pueo-nui-akea’ a Mauian owl god associated with protecting souls and warriors. 

Secondly, he challenges their disbelief in God, asking them where they received this thought from. He uses the argument of the observation of creation all around them as evidence for a Creator, including the landscape, the people both in Hawaii and around the world.

He states:

Ua olelo iho hoi oukou, Aole he Akua.

Alia oukou e olelo ae pela a e noonoo iho. Ke ninau aku nei au ia oukou; owai ka oukou kumu i ao ai pela? “I iho la ka aia, aohe Akua.”  O ke kanaka aia oia anei ka oukou kumu? Aole paha. Owai hai ka mea i hiki ai ke hoomaopopo, Aohe Akua? ua ike oukou i kela mea keia mea, aole anei he wahi raea e hoike mai ana, he hana ia na ke Akua? Nawai oukou i hana, ea? Nawai i hana i keia pae aina? O Akea anei? Ina na Akea i hana mai, ina he Akua maua no ok Ina o Akea i hana mai i ko oukou poe kiso, inaheaktra akamai loa ia. A kia na Akea i hana mai i keia poe aina a me kanaka maluna iho, nawai i hana i ka poe haole i holo mai la mai na aina e mai? O Akea anei ke akua nui o na kanaka a pau? Ina pela, uamaopopohe Akua no.

General English Translation:

You have said, there is no God.

Maybe you say that and think about it. I ask you; Who taught you that? "He said, there is no God." Is the person your teacher? Maybe not. Who else was able to understand, there is no God? You have seen everything, isn't there a place that shows that it is God's work?

Who did you, right? Who created this landscape? Is it Akea? If Akea made it, then we are God ok. If Akea made your people, he is a very clever actor. And look at the people who made these people and people on it, who made the foreigners who fled from other countries? Is Akea the greatest god of all people? If so, God knows.

Next, he uses an example of a boat lying on the seashore, which illustrates his point that everything that is observed logically has to have had a creator.

He reasons:

Ina i ike kakou i ka waa e waiho wale ana ma kahakai, a e olelo mai oukou ia’u nowai ia waa? E i aku au, aohe ona kahu, ua waiho wale iho no, aohe mea nana e malama. E olelo hou mai paha oukou ia’u, nawai i hana? E i aku au, aohe mea nana i hana, aole i hanaia e kekahi, ua waiho wale ia mai mai ka po mai. Aole anei oukou i kahaha mai ia’u me ka i ana, “Aole paha e hiki, eia ae la ua kalai pono ia i ke koi, ua paa hoi ke ama, he waa maikai, ua maopopo no ua hanaia e kekahi. Aole hoi i hiki i ka waa ke waiho wale mai, mai ka po mai, ke malama ole ia e kekahi, ina pela, ina ua pau mamua loa i ka popopo. E, lapuwale ka manao o ia la i kana i i mai ai, Aohe mea nana i hana, aole i hanaia e kekahi, aohe mea nana e malama; eia ae na mea he nui loa e hoomaopopo ana ua hanaia no ia e kekahi. A ua malamaia no ia e kekahi.”

General English Translation:

If we see a boat lying alone on the beach, and you tell me who it is and when it was made? I said, it has no guardian, it is left alone, there is no one to take care of it. Can you tell me again who did it? I said, no one did it, no one did it, it was just left there since the night. Didn't you surprise me by saying, "It can't be possible, here it is properly carved, the handle is also fixed, it's a good boat, it's clear that someone made it. And the boat couldn't have been left alone since the night, if someone didn't take care of it, if that's the case, it would have already rotted. Oh, that day's thought is stupid when he said, No one made it, no one has done it." created by others, no one cares; there are many things that are understood by others. And they are cared for by others."[4]

Fourthly, he reminds them that their disbelief did not originate with Hawaiians but is new and therefore a mistaken mindset. He again points out their traditional Hawaiian religious beliefs down through history, which always recognized the existence of God or gods (Including Kane and Lolo, see Malo with Emerson, Moolelo Hawaii, p. 131) and ends with a rebuke for their unbelief in the light that has now been shown to them.

He states:

Auhea oukou, ea, Auhea ka manawa naauao, o keia manawa hou anei, o ka manawa kahiko paha? O ka olelo ana, aohe he Akua, ea, he olelo hou ia, no ka mea, o ka noho kahiko ana o na kanaka o keia pae aina o Hawaii nei, mai Akea mai, hookahi no olelo nui o ke akua, ua kapaia’ku kela mea keia mea he akua, oia ka hana nui ma keia pae aina. Ia oukou i noho ai ma ka naaupo hiki no ke olelo ae o ke Akua, a i keia wa hou, i keia w a malamalama, ia oukou i naauao ai, alaila, hiki no ia oukou ke hoole aku, aole he Akua. I ka ke Akua haawi ana mai i ka malamalama, hoole oukou, aole malamalama. I ko ke Akua hoike ana ia ia iho, a maopopo loa, alaila, hoole oukou, aole he Akua.

General English Translation:

Where are you, where is the time of wisdom, is it the new time, or the old time? The saying that there is no God, yes, is a new word, because the ancient life of the people of this area of ​​Hawaii, from Akea, is one of the main words of God, each thing is called a god. When you lived in ignorance, God's word allowed, and in this new age, in this enlightened world, when you became wise, then you can deny that there is no God. When God gives you light, you reject it, there is no light. When God reveals himself, and it is clear, then you deny that there is no God.[5]

Lastly, he declares a sort of doxology, proclaiming in a power the greatness of his God Jehovah and the gospel message, stating:

Haku maluna o na haku a pau, ke Alii maluna o na’lii, oia no ka mua loa, oia no ka hope loa, oia no ke kumu i paa ai na mea a pau, oia ka mea pau ole a mau loa aku no, aole loa oia e pau iki. A no ke kipi wale ana o na kanaka ia ia a me ka haalele ana, ua inaina io mai oia. Aka, ua haawi mai o kana keiki ia ia iho i kalahala no na kanaka, a ua lilo o Iesu Kristo i mea uwao mawaena o ke Akua a me kakou, oia no ka i make ma ke kea no ka poe hewa e like me kakou nei.

General English Translation:

He is Lord of all lords, King of kings, he is the first, he is the last, he is the reason for all things, he is everlasting to everlasting, he will never end. And because the people rebelled against him and deserted him, he really hated him. But his son gave himself as an atonement for people, and Jesus Christ became a mediator between God and us, he died on the cross for sinners like us.

This sermon is historically and culturally significant in that it illustrates the depth of Malo’s faith and provides insight into one if not the first of Hawaii’s Christian apologists. Using both traditional Hawaiian beliefs and elements of classical apologetics, he defends his faith against disbelief.

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Nicholas A. Freeman is a PhD student who is the final stages of his dissertation at Liberty University on the Great Hawaiian Revival and has spent time on Maui and the Big Island researching the numerous revival participants to help tell the full story of this historical event.

FOOTNOTES: