Usury

Usury is the money charged for the use of money. What is understood as usury in the negative sense usually, is considered as interest in the positive or neutral sense.

Old Testament law discouraged practice of usury against fellow brethren. But, the Israelites were permitted to lend on interest to foreigners. Jesus mentions in His Parable of Talents that the servant with one talent should have deposited the money with bankers rather than hide it in the ground so that the Master could get back his amount along with interest. However, Aquinas considered the application of this suggestion in spiritual terms. For many centuries, usury was forbidden by the church (though Luther observes that many of the clergy did wickedly practice it). The Jews who practiced (or were marginalized to this trade) often became victims of persecution. A great example of the evil of usury is exemplified in Shakespeare's play, "Merchant of Venice", the usurer personified as the evil Shylock the Jew.

Aristotle considered usury as unnatural. In his Politics he wrote:

Now money-making, as we say, being twofold, it may be applied to two purposes, the service of the house or retail trade; of which the first is necessary and commendable, the other justly censurable; for it has not its origin in nature, but by it men gain from each other; for usury is most reasonably detested, as it is increasing our fortune by money itself, and not employing it for the purpose it was originally intended, namely exchange.

And this is the explanation of the name (TOKOS), which means the breeding of money. For as offspring resemble their parents, so usury is money bred of money. Whence of all forms of money-making it is most against nature. (A Treatise on Government, Gutenberg)

Thomas Aquinas, borrowing the argument from Aristotle, further argued:

To take usury for money lent is unjust in itself, because this is to sell what does not exist, and this evidently leads to inequality which is contrary to justice. In order to make this evident, we must observe that there are certain things the use of which consists in their consumption: thus we consume wine when we use it for drink and we consume wheat when we use it for food. Wherefore in such like things the use of the thing must not be reckoned apart from the thing itself, and whoever is granted the use of the thing, is granted the thing itself and for this reason, to lend things of this kin is to transfer the ownership. Accordingly if a man wanted to sell wine separately from the use of the wine, he would be selling the same thing twice, or he would be selling what does not exist, wherefore he would evidently commit a sin of injustice. On like manner he commits an injustice who lends wine or wheat, and asks for double payment, viz. one, the return of the thing in equal measure, the other, the price of the use, which is called usury.

On the other hand, there are things the use of which does not consist in their consumption: thus to use a house is to dwell in it, not to destroy it. Wherefore in such things both may be granted: for instance, one man may hand over to another the ownership of his house while reserving to himself the use of it for a time, or vice versa, he may grant the use of the house, while retaining the ownership. For this reason a man may lawfully make a charge for the use of his house, and, besides this, revendicate the house from the person to whom he has granted its use, as happens in renting and letting a house.

Now money, according to the Philosopher (Ethic. v, 5; Polit. i, 3) was invented chiefly for the purpose of exchange: and consequently the proper and principal use of money is its consumption or alienation whereby it is sunk in exchange. Hence it is by its very nature unlawful to take payment for the use of money lent, which payment is known as usury: and just as a man is bound to restore other ill-gotten goods, so is he bound to restore the money which he has taken in usury. (Summa)

Martin Luther also considered usury to be an evil; however, he rejected Aristotelianism altogether. His argument against usury was that it contravened the principle of Love. Luther considered that the Christian dealing and the right use of temporal goods consist in "giving them away, lending them without charge, and quietly letting them go when they are taken by force." (On Trading and Usury). He counters arguments in favor of usury in the following ways:

The concept of ”interesse”
We will now look at the arguments by which this tender business is justified. There is a little Latin word called interesse. This noble, precious, tender, little word may be rendered in German this way: If I have a hundred gulden with which I can trade, and by my labor and trouble make in a year five or six gulden or more, I place it with someone else, on a productive property, so that not I, but he, can trade with it, and for this I take from him five gulden, which I might have earned; thus he sells me the income – five gulden for a hundred – and I am the buyer and he the seller. Here they say, now, that the purchase of the income is proper because, with these gulden, I might perhaps have made more in a year, and the interest is just and sufficient. All that is so pretty that no one can find fault with it at any point. But it is also true that it is not possible to have such interest on earth, for there is another, counter-interest, which goes like this: If I have a hundred gulden, and am to do business with it, I may run a hundred kinds of risk of making no profits at all, nay, of losing four times as much besides. Because of the money itself, or because of illness, I may not be able to do business, or there may be no wares or goods on hand. Hindrances of this kind are innumerable, and we see that failures, losses, and injuries are greater than profits. Thus the interest on loss is as great as the interest of profits, or greater.

Safe profit
....money in trade and money at interest are different things, and the one cannot be compared with the other. For money invested in income has a basis which constantly grows and produces profit out of the earth, while money in trade has no certainty; the interest it yields is accidental, and one cannot count on it at all. Here they will say, perhaps, that, because they place money on land, there is an “interest of loss,” as well as an “interest of profit,” for the income stands or falls according as the land stays or not. This is all true, and we shall hear more about it below. But the fact remains that money which one can place on land increases the “first interest” too much and decreases the “second interest” as compared with money that moves in trade; for, as was said above, there is more risk in trade than in land. Since, then, one cannot get ground with a definite sum of money, neither can one buy income with a definite sum.

Usury
There are some who not only deal in little sums, but also take too much return – seven, eight, nine, ten percent. The rulers ought to look into this. Here the poor common people are secretly imposed upon and severely oppressed. For this reason these robbers and usurers often die an unnatural and sudden death, or come to a terrible end (as tyrants and robbers deserve), for God is a judge for the poor and needy, as He often says in the Old Law. (On Trading and Usury)

However, modern Christian economist, Gary North observes that Jesus annulled the Jubilee laws of the Old Testament, thus rendering slavery laws as ineffective. Secondly, Jesus authorized interest in His Parable of Talents. He concludes:

The Mosaic law prohibited interest on a narrow class of loans: charitable loans to fellow Israelites and resident aliens. It did not prohibit interest on all other loans.

Charitable loans were to be annulled in the seventh year, at one time. Loans collateralized by rural land were to end in the seventh seventh year, or jubilee year. The land reverted to the heirs of the conquest generation.

The sabbatical year and the jubilee year system were annulled by Jesus and ended when Israel ceased to exist as a nation.

Jesus authorized interest-bearing loans. (Usury, Interest, and Loans)

Analysis

• It is evident that personal loaning on interest is regarded as an evil even in scriptures. Or else, God would not have forbidden it for the Jews against their fellow-Jews. Usury contradicts the principle of love as it is based on profit-making and not on charity.
• However, the banking system is a system of lending and keeping. It not only pays interest to those who save money in the bank, but it also charges interest for those who would borrow from the bank. The interest rates can be regularized and governed by proper legislation. In addition, it is through the banking system that currency notes are issued and kept in check. Therefore, it is different from the personal loaning system. Jesus didn't discourage this banking. In fact, His parable encouraged depositing money with bankers who would give interest for the same. There are certainly bad and vicious banking systems; however, that is another topic altogether.
• Charitable loans must be distinguished from luxury and commercial loans. Charitable loans must not be charged interest. In fact, it is Christian to lend without expecting anything. However, Christians are not expected to lend money in order for people to enjoy luxuries. You can lend money to a man in need. But, you are not obligated to lend money to someone who wants money in order to buy a Mercedes Benz. The same holds for commercial loans that are non-charity in nature.
• The Bible discourages borrowing of money, but doesn't discourage giving.
• The Bible encourages that we do not owe anything to anyone. In other words, people are expected to pay back what they borrow.
• Jesus encouraged the idea of depositing with bankers rather than hiding money or keeping it unused, for God established multiplication as the nature of creation. But, hording wealth for selfish purposes is anti-social. We must distinguish between hording and pursing (pursing is keeping some money at hand for immediate uses). The modern banks actually can act as both purse and safety lockers, while at the same time having the advantage of the money not remaining unused.
• The Aristotelian concept of money breeding money doesn't apply to modern banking systems. Government systems may help inflate economies by not regulating the influx of fake currency or growth of black money. However, this is dilution and not growth. On the other hand, a banking system in modern times actually can help save money by providing proper loans on low interests so that people can use money to avail greatly and pay back. It is like the Master in Matthew 25 who gives talents to his servants and actually expects them to multiply them. He actually deposits or saves the talents with them. Wise stewardship is encouraged. Of course, this is not the Parable of the Forgiving Master, and banking is not about Masters and servants; the Parable was only quoted to highlight that multiplication is expected through wisdom, integrity, and diligence. But in the Parable of the Forgiving Master, Mercy (the quality upheld in Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice) comes into spotlight. The Master forgives the one who is indebted to him and expects him to do the same. This is the essence of the Gospel ethics. Contrary to the OT Law that would have made slaves of this debtor and his family, the NT principle encourages forgiving of debts when payment becomes impossible.
• The Bible discourages bad loans as well as merciless collaterizations. The poor man's cloak must be returned to him for the night. The poor man cannot borrow more than the value of his cloak. The poor man cannot engage in multiple borrowings.
• Greed and love of money is the root of all evil.
• An economy based on unjust and merciless practices of loans and borrowings is bound to collapse.
• The Christian principle is to give to the needy without expecting anything in return. However, it doesn't ask Christians to refuse the use of bank notes, banking, and systems of monetary use as long as the use doesn't blatantly rebel against the true revelation of God (e.g. Rev.13). Jesus knew that the Jews used the Roman coin that had the image of Caesar, and didn't tell them to forsake such use. Instead, He encouraged them to give to Caesar what is due to Caesar and to God what is due to God. 

IRENAEUS (c.130-c.200)

Adversary of the Gnostics

Significance:

• Doctrine of Christ’s Incarnation, Union of Natures, and Recapitulation theory of Atonement.


• The church is one and universal, and it confesses one and the same faith throughout the world. The common faith is confessed at baptism, at which one act the believer receives forgiveness of sins and the Holy Spirit.


• “Canon of truth” referred to the “rule of faith”, the content of the apostolic preaching in summary form that served as a norm for interpreting Scripture and determining the apostolic faith.


• Took church at Rome as the representative church in his argument for apostolic succession (from one teacher to the next; not, from ordainer to ordained). The apostolic faith was preserved at Rome.


• Affirmed the reality of the physical presence of Christ in the Eucharist against the Gnostic depreciation of material elements.


• Mary, in reversing the disobedience of Eve, found a place in Irenaeus’s doctrine of recapitulation.

JUSTIN MARTYR (c. 100- c.165)

Apologist and Martyr.

“For I myself, too, when I was delighting in the doctrines of Plato, and heard the Christians slandered, and saw them fearless of death … perceived that it was impossible that they could be living in wickedness and pleasure” (2Apol.12)

Significance
• One of the first highly educated Gentiles to use his learning to defend Christianity even before the emperor himself.

o His writings use citations from Euripides, Xenophon, and above all Plato to strengthen his case for Christianity.

• Opposed rival teacher Marcion who taught that the New Testament contradicted the Old Testament.
• Logos-theology: Even before the coming of Christ, the logos was manifested partially in such Greek philosophers as Socrates and Heraclitus, and in such Hebrews as Abraham, Ananias, Azarias, Misael, and Elijah (1st Apology). Plato’s truth was dependent on Moses (chs.59-60).

o The seed of God’s logos (logos spermatikos) was disseminated to all men in their God-given capacity to respond to truth. “Whatever things were rightly said among all men are the property of us Christians” (2Apol. 13:4)
o There were Christians before Christ, such as Socrates and Heraclitus (1Apol. 46:3)
o All Theophanies in OT were Christophanies “For the ineffable Father and Lord of all neither comes to any place… but remains in His own place…” (Dial.127:2)

• Fullest Accounts of Christian Rituals including baptism and Eucharist (1st Apology 61-67)
• On the basis of Isaiah 53:2 declared that Jesus was not of a comely appearance. (Dialogue with Trypho the Jew)
• Used the concept of typology in finding Christ prefigured in many other OT passages. (e.g. Noah’s ark – wood of the cross; Leah – synagogue; Rachel – church; Joshua – Jesus…) (Dialogue with Trypho the Jew)

According to an accurate account complies in the 3rd century, Justin was brought to trial with six other believers c.165. He answered his interrogator simply and went courageously to his death.

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REFERENCES
John D. Woodbridge (ed), Great Leaders of the Christian Church (Chicago: Moody Press, 1988)

Ignatius of Antioch (d. c. 98-117)

Fed to lions during the reign of Trajan (AD 98-117). Wrote 6 letters en route to Rome.

Significance:
• First to use the word Christianismos (Christianity, Ign.Rom 3:3; Magn.10:3)
• Opposed Docetism (Trallians 9;11-2; Smyr.1-3)
• First to stress the concept of “monepiscopacy” (or monarchical episcopacy): a single bishop in a given city presides over the 3-fold ministry of (i) bishop (ii) presbyters (iii) deacons

o The bishop presides in the place of God (Magn.6:1; Tral.3:1)
o Submission to bishop is necessary to achieve henosis (“unity,” Ign.Eph.5:1).
o Even when a bishop is youthful as at Magnesia (Magn.3:1) or is silent as at Ephesus (Ign.Eph.5:1) or at Philadelphia (Philad.1:1), they are not to be despised, for silence is a characteristic of God Himself.

• First to use the word katholikos (“universal”) of the church (Smyr 8:2) “Set on unity” (Philad.8:1). Urges Polycarp (1:2) “care for unity your concern for there is nothing better”.
• First to maintain that either the bishop or his authorized representative has to be present for a Eucharist to be valid (Smyr.8:1). He called the gathering of Christians to celebrate it the pharmakon athanasias, “the medicine of immortality” (Eph.20:2). He also began the association of the Eucharist with the concept of a sacrificial altar, thusiasterion (Magn.17:2; Philad.4:1)
• He begged the Romans not to prevent his martyrdom (Ign.Rom.1:2, 2:1). He proclaimed: “Suffer me to be eaten by the beasts, through whom I can attain to God. I am God’s wheat, and I am ground by the teeth of wild beasts that I may be found pure bread of Christ.” (Ign.Rom.4:1).

We are informed of his martyrdom in Rome in the reign of Trajan (c. A.D. 108) by Polycarp, Ireneaeus, Eusebius, and Jerome. Later legendary accounts from the 4th and 5th centuries (the Martyrium Colbertinum and Antiochenum) relate that his bones were collected and brought bak to Antioch. These relics were later brought back to Rome in the 6th or 7th century.

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REFERENCES
John D. Woodbridge (ed), Great Leaders of the Christian Church (Chicago: Moody Press, 1988)

A Short Historical Account of Christian Conversions in India

Palayur Church is the oldest Christian church in India and 
one of the seven founded by St Thomas the Apostle in 52 AD. 
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The first Indian convert to Christianity can be traced to the time when the Apostle Thomas, disciple of Jesus, came to India in around 48 AD. The Apostle Thomas sailed from Alexandra with Habban, the merchant king of Gundnaphor, to the Indus and reached Taxila (now in Punjab) about 48-49 AD. From there he went to Muziri on the Malabar Coast via Socotra about 50 AD. He reached Muziri in 51-52 AD. [1]

A study of the book of the Acts in the New Testament will reveal that the apostles often chose the synagogues established in various Jewish settlements of the world as an opening ground for the preaching of the Gospel. It has been reasoned that Apostle Thomas’ choice of the Tamil coast was because of the flourishing Jewish settlements along the coast, in Madras and Cochin dating back to the Jewish Diaspora or even back to King Solomon’s trading centres in the Tamil coast. There were also many Roman trade settlements flourishing in this coastal areas, as known by the abundant coin evidences in Arikkamedu, Calicut, Coimbatore and other places.

Tradition holds that many Brahmin families were converted through the ministry of St. Thomas and seven churches were established in Palur, Muziri, Parur, Gokkamangalam, Chayal, Niranam, and Quilon. After forming several more congregations out of Jews as well as of Dravidi people, Apostle Thomas went to Meliapur where even the Raja was converted with many of his subjects. This infuriated the Brahmins (of Aryan origin).

According to tradition, St. Thomas was speared to death by Brahmins near Mylapore. According to many early Church fathers, the mortal remains of Thomas were shifted from his tomb in India to Edessa.[2]

After Thomas, came the Apostle Bartholomew who ministered in the Kalyan area of the West Coast. He came around 55 AD. From this time onwards the area around Kalyan and the coasts had a large Christian population. This has been authenticated by historians such as Cosmos Indicopleustus (522 AD).

After Bartholomew came Pantaenus, the teacher of Clement, around 189AD on the West Coast. Bishop David of Barsa came around 295 AD. Thereafter, we can witness a number of immigrations from Syria. Kna Thomas came with Metropolitan Mar Joseph and a company of religious teachers as well as 400 Syrian Christians, who fled persecutions in Syria for their faith under Sapor II (339-379 AD). And thus, Christians grew in number in India and spread to different parts of the land. Many Dravidians got converted. There was slow and steady mixing of the community of followers from Jewish, Syrian, and Dravidi origin in the Southern peninsula.

Nestorian Christians as well as monks from Beth Abhe and other monasteries came into India during the 4^th century. Worshipping communities were found in large numbers in the Ganges Valley of North India in 525 AD, according to Assemani. Christians were found in Punjab and Bihar.

When Vasco DaGama visited Calicut in 1498 AD, he found over 2 lak Christians in the Kerala area.[3] The estimated population of Christians before Vasco DaGama’s arrival was about one million in India. The percentage is about the same as of today.

The ancient Christians of India were reputed for their industry, diction, respect for parents, elders, and clergy, and for their great contributions to Dravidian literature. Converts to Christianity such as Valluvar contributed to Tamil literature. Christian themes can be found in a bulk of non-Brahminic Tamil pietistic literature.

The era of Hindu revivals throughout the land of ancient India beginning at the 6^th and 7^th century AD led to active persecution of non-brahminical religious systems such as Buddhism, Jainism, and Christianity. There was mass extermination of Buddhist monks; many fled persecution. Non-brahminical literatures and signs were also wiped away. Thus, history shows an abrupt disappearance of even traces of these great religions. If it were not for the historical accounts of foreign travellers and some antiquities, we would not even have known about all those great conversions in India.

However strong the persecutions, they were not able to completely wipe out the Christian population, which flourished in, majorly, the coastal regions, even as Vasco DaGama testified.

Influx of European merchants such as the Portuguese, Dutch, and British did not result in Christian conversions, as history shows. All the colonial power consistently refused to allow the white missionaries till 1813 to sail by their ships. Most of the colonies refused entry to the missionaries into their colonies. The Britishers felt that the missionaries would dishevel their interests by preaching and teaching the pagans. It was for such reasons that William Carey had to seek asylum in a Danish territory in Serampore.

In 1837, the British Colonial Government, very reluctantly, permitted entry of white missionaries in its territory because of the pressure from the evangelical lobby in the British parliament. The missionaries received no spiritual support from the British government and had to look after themselves. It was their sacrificial lifestyle and social action that turned many Indians to Christianity. Missionaries like Fraser and Carey unleashed a relentless fight against social evils such as slavery and sati. The activity of missionaries against social evils, against liquor, and their preaching about the equality of men was irritant to the British Colonialists.

Many who were benefiting from the missionary ministries began to convert to Christianity. The untouchables who once were ashamed of themselves, now began to radiate joys of knowing Christ as their emancipator. The Christian missionaries went to their humble homes and awakened them to a sense of better earthly existence. Through the efforts of the Church Missionary Society in 1891, the “Padial Protection Law” was enacted. Other Acts such as the Bengal Tenants Protection Act, Indigo Planters Act, and the Abolition of Slavery Act of 1843, were initiated by Christian efforts.

Christian missionary activities amongst tribals have been more effective in turning them to Christ than among the rest of India. The once suppressed tribals were literated and educated. The tribal languages were given script and grammar. Mission work aimed at liberating and uplifting the tribals. As a result many of them flocked to Christianity. Many more turned to Christianity because of its doctrine of one God, the Savior, and deliverance from evil spirits. There were mass conversions.

In the 19^th century, the Great Awakening triggered an evangelistic and missionary zeal in the churches. Many missions began to look at India as a field of mission work. The American Baptist Mission brought the Gospel to many parts of North East. The Welsh Presbyterian Mission and the Baptist Missionary Society brought Christianity to Khasi and Jaintia Hills and to Mizoram. Hindu missionaries, at this time began to flood the left over Tripura areas and also portions of Manipur. The once head-hunters of Nagaland became Christians. Thus, Christianity spread in the North East. Assam was already taken over by Aryanism, though it blended with its Mongoloid background.

After the Independence, India began to unchain itself gradually from foreign supports, though missions in India were not able to completely shake off the need of the help of Christians outside of India. Though many more were converted to the various lines of Christianity, Christian population has suffered from both biological and conversion growths. Census reports reveal that the Christian population has declined in percentage levels. Conversions still take place in different parts of India. But there are as much as “going backs”.

In modern times, the growth of Charismatic and Spirit-filled ministries has triggered a great focus on spiritual transformations. The preaching concentrates on repentance from sin and turning to God through Jesus Christ. Deliverance from various maladies and demonic oppression is a regular experience. Consequentially, a large number of nominal (name-sake) Christians have been revived and have abandoned their past unchristian-like lifestyles. Also, a number of people from other faiths have embraced the Gospel message.

There are also a number of cases in which some false missionaries falsely report mass conversions in paper. This has engendered much consternation. However, their works are soon also exposed. The Bible tells us that even in the days of the apostles, there were people who got into the mission work just for the sake of money and looked at religion as a kind of commercial industry. They weren’t genuine, but were wolves in sheep clothing. The Bible called the church to beware of them and stay away from them. And, true worshippers do identify and expose the false ones.

The true people of God, however, cannot avoid testifying of what they have experienced in Jesus Christ; as the Apostle Paul said, “We can do nothing against the truth, but only for the truth”. It is an inbuilt nature of a human to share his/her joy, to not keep a good news secret, but celebrate it; and, witnessing about an inner spiritual transformation to others through words and action is just that.

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1. J.N. Farquhar, The Crown of Hinduism (London, 1913), p.20. As cited by Ebe Sunder Raj, The Confusion called Conversion (New Delhi: TRACI, 1998), p.4
2. “St. Gregory, Naceanceu, St. Ambrose, and St. Eranimus, all of the 4^th century and Bishop Canthencius, and St. Paulinus both of the 5^th century, bear evidence that the Apostle Thomas worked and was killed in India for his faith by those who opposed his message…” Sunder Raj, The Confusion called Conversion, pp.4,5
3. Kaa. Naa. Subramanyam, The Catholic Community in India, as cited by Sunder Raj, Op. Cit, p.7

Glossolalia (Speaking in Tongues) in Early Church History - Quotes from Eusebius, Novatian, and Tertullian

Eusebius Pamphilius (c. AD 263 – 339): Church History, Life of Constantine, Oration in Praise of Constantine Chapter VII
Quotes Irenæus (AD 140-203)
6. And in another place the same author [Irenæus] writes:
“As also we hear that many brethren in the Church possess prophetic gifts, and speak, through the Spirit, with all kinds of tongues, and bring to light the secret things of men for their good, and declare the mysteries of God.”

Novatian (210-280): Treatise Concerning the Trinity. Chapter 29.
This is He who places prophets in the Church, instructs teachers, directs tongues, gives powers and healings, does wonderful works, offers discrimination of spirits, affords powers of government, suggests counsels, and orders and arranges whatever other gifts there are of charismata; and thus make the Lord’s Church everywhere, and in all, perfected and completed.

Tertullian (c. 160 – c. 225 AD): Against Marcion, Book V, Chapter 8.
Let Marcion then exhibit, as gifts of his god, some prophets, such as have not spoken by human sense, but with the Spirit of God, such as have both predicted things to come, and have made manifest the secrets of the heart; let him produce a psalm, a vision, a prayer -- only let it be by the Spirit, in an ecstasy, that is, in a rapture, whenever an interpretation of tongues has occurred to him; let him show to me also, that any woman of boastful tongue in his community has ever prophesied from amongst those specially holy sisters of his. Now all these signs (of spiritual gifts) are forthcoming from my side without any difficulty, and they agree, too, with the rules, and the dispensations, and the instructions of the Creator; therefore without doubt the Christ, and the Spirit, and the apostle, belong severally to my God. Here, then, is my frank avowal for any one who cares to require it.

The Death of Herod Agrippa I (Luke in Acts 12 & Josephus Flavius inAnt.)

Agrippa I also known as Herod Agrippa or simply Herod (10 BCE - 44 CE), King of the Jews, was the grandson of Herod the Great, and son of Aristobulus IV and Berenice. His original name was Marcus Julius Agrippa, so named in honour of Roman statesman Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, and he is the king named Herod in the Acts of the Apostles, in the Bible, "Herod (Agrippa)" (Ἡρώδης Ἀγρίππας). He was, according to Josephus, known in his time as "Agrippa the Great."

His death is mentioned in Acts 12 in the words "an angel of the Lord struck him, because he did not give glory to God. And he was eaten by worms and died." Modern scholars believe he might have died of Fournier's gangrene, a kidney disease, the same that also killed his grandfather Herod the Great (See CNN article).

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Luke: Acts 12:20-23

Now Herod had been very angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon; but they came to him with one accord, and having made Blastus the king's personal aide their friend, they asked for peace, because their country was supplied with food by the king's country. So on a set day Herod, arrayed in royal apparel, sat on his throne and gave an oration to them. And the people kept shouting, "The voice of a god and not of a man!" Then immediately an angel of the Lord struck him, because he did not give glory to God. And he was eaten by worms and died.

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Josephus: Antiquities 19:8:2

Now when Agrippa had reigned three years over all Judea, he came to the city Cesarea, which was formerly called Strato’s Tower; and there he exhibited shows in honor of Caesar, upon his being informed that there was a certain festival celebrated to make vows for his safety. At which festival a great multitude was gotten together of the principal persons, and such as were of dignity through his province. On the second day of which shows he put on a garment made wholly of silver, and of a contexture truly wonderful, and came into the theater early in the morning; at which time the silver of his garment being illuminated by the fresh reflection of the sun’s rays upon it, shone out after a surprising manner, and was so resplendent as to spread a horror over those that looked intently upon him; and presently his flatterers cried out, one from one place, and another from another, (though not for his good), that he was a god; and they added, “Be thou merciful to us; for although we have hitherto reverenced thee only as a man, yet shall we henceforth own thee as superior to mortal nature.” Upon this the king did neither rebuke them, nor reject their impious flattery. But as he presently afterward looked up, he saw an owl sitting on a certain rope over his head, and immediately understood that this bird was the messenger of ill tidings, as it had once been the messenger of good tidings to him; and fell into the deepest sorrow. A severe pain also arose in his belly, and began in a most violent manner. He therefore looked upon his friends, and said, “I, whom you call a god, am commanded presently to depart this life; while Providence thus reproves the lying words you just now said to me; and I, who was by you called immortal, am immediately to be hurried away by death. But I am bound to accept of what Providence allots, as it pleases God; for we have by no means lived ill, but in a splendid and happy manner.” When he said this, his pain was become violent. Accordingly he was carried into the palace, and the rumor went abroad every where, that he would certainly die in a little time. But the multitude presently sat in sackcloth, with their wives and children, after the law of their country, and besought God for the king’s recovery. All places were also full of mourning and lamentation. Now the king rested in a high chamber, and as he saw them below lying prostrate on the ground, he could not himself forbear weeping. And when he had been quite worn out by the pain in his belly for five days, he departed this life, being in the fifty-fourth year of his age, and in the seventh year of his reign....

Missionaries and the Promotion of Secularism in India

From Secularism in India: A Historical Analysis (2010), pp. 54-64

THE earlier attitude of the British Government towards Missions was one of skepticism and vehement opposition. The British believed that if Protestant Missions were allowed in India that would only lead to tension and aggression among its Indian supporters and produce instability of governance. Therefore, in the beginning, the British followed the policy of supporting and patronizing the native religions as the earlier rulers had done. They undertook the management and patronage of a large number of temples, paid the salaries of temple officials, and sponsored the Hindu festivals and sacrifices. A pilgrim-tax was imposed to pay for all this. The British also refused permission to any missionary to settle in their territory. They also refused to employ native Christians and prevented by force any native soldier employed from becoming a Christian.^[1] Vishal points out that while the Christian Missions received no money from the Company or the Government, until 1858, at least 26,589 Hindu temples were receiving financial support from the Company in the Bombay Presidency alone.^[2] It was only through the long and toilsome struggle of reformers in England and India that this political patronage of superstitious idolatry was finally put down.^[3]

Two Englishmen who played a pivotal role towards granting permission for Missions to work in Indiawere Charles Grant and William Wilberforce. Charles Grant began his campaign for Missions in 1786-87. Grant observed that India was worse under the then British rule than it had been under the Mughal rule and tried to influence Christians in England to understand their moral responsibility for India’s welfare; this, so that they would endeavor to produce in India class of persons who would be able to govern India after the pattern of Britain after Independence.^[4] He believed that the problem of India was more a religious and a cultural one than anything else. He proposed religious conversion as the only solution for the Indian predicament.^[5]

Grant’s strive for getting official permission for missionary work in India had also in perspective the necessity of a political assurance of religious freedom to Indians so that they could evaluate their own beliefs and the beliefs of other faiths and, so, come to a rational conclusion as to which religion they should choose. Unless the Government back home, in England, guaranteed religious freedom and required the East India Company to enforce the same, there always lurked the danger of the Company’s turning against the Missions in face of political and economical threat from the Hindus.^[6] In fact, when the Vellore Mutiny broke out in 1806 and was erroneously attributed to missionary propaganda, Sir George Barlow prohibited the Serampore missionaries from leaving Serampore, from preaching openly in the bazaar, and the native converts from preaching unless they were sent forth as emissaries from Serampore.^[7]

By an Act of Parliament in 1813, missionaries were permitted to land and work in India. Thus began an era of missionary enterprise in Indiawhen missionaries from Europeand Americaentered Indiain large numbers and began preaching the Gospel in unreached areas.^[8]

Missions not only showed and proclaimed to the Indians the religion of the ruling Englishmen, who impressed them greatly,^[9] but also prepared Indians to develop ideas of individualism, democracy, human dignity, human rights, equality, justice, etc, through their ecclesiastical, social, and educational programs. Following are some of the ways in which Missions made a secular impact on the Indian scenario:

i. Evangelism that Respected Freedom of Choice: Promotion of the Ideas of Religious Freedom. The evangelistic methods of Christian missionaries in India were based on the Biblical principles of individual human choice and responsibility. Their objective was not religious conversions but human transformation. Based on the ethic of love and respect for all, they worked passionately to communicate the power and truth of Gospel. Laxminarayan Gupta writes that an attitude of tolerance was the reason why the missionaries did not attempt forced conversions as the earlier Muslims had done despite the fact that the British had been powerful in India for three centuries.^[10] The missionaries had deep respect for the human right to freedom of thought and religion. To the missionaries, conversion to religion had to be based on individual choice and decision.

ii. Morality Based on Humanism: Promotion of the Ideas of Human Dignity, Worth, and Freedom. Men like Raja Ram Mohan Roy and Mahatma Gandhi were greatly impressed by the moral teachings of Jesus. Roy’s The Precepts of Jesus- the Guide to Peace and Happiness was an expression of his indebtedness to Christ for the humanist moral ideas he had learnt from Him. Though traces of humanism can be found in both Buddhism and Jainism, the value of being human in both religions is obscured by the doctrines of karma, samsara, dukkha, maya, and punarjanma. In both the religions, man is caught up in a vicious cycle of births and rebirths of which he is unable to come out. Man and animals differed only externally. In fact, a man could become a dog in his next birth. The world, according to Hinduism, was illusory and the human predicament (caste, gender, and then colonial rule) was a fate determined by karma. Such concepts in the Indian religions could not stir Indians towards either independence or rational and humanist moral acts. What it means to be man was meaningless in a world-view where even animals and trees were worshipped as deities. However, the Christian concept of morality - of truth, patience, love, kindness, compassion, equal treatment, and justice - being built on a surer foundation of the doctrine of God, creation, man, salvation history, and the Church began to gradually spread over India through means of evangelism, education, social work, and the free press. Soon, a class of Indians emerged who, though they might not admit their indebtedness to Christian humanist morality, reflected Christian ideals of the good.

There were others, however, who based on secular revolutionary ideas from France, Germany, and Russia, began to fight for Indian independence through guerrilla warfare and terrorism.^[11] Western education was also introducing the youth of India to the radical nationalist thoughts of the West and stirring up a militant form of nationalism.^[12] The Congress, instead, under the leadership of Gandhi waged a non-violent battle for the freedom ofIndia.

Thus, the moral ideals of Christian humanism contributed towards the secular battle for national independence and the formation of a secular nation.

iii. Modernization of Education: Promotion of Secular Knowledge. Education was one of the best contributions of Missions to India. In fact, Christian Missions initiated educational programs in India long before the Government even thought of doing so. European missionaries opened 17 schools in 1725.^[13] The London Missionary Society opened schools, first, in south India, and then in Bengal. These schools provided free education and the native Hindus sent their children to study for service in the Company. William Carey came to India in 1792 and spearheaded in Bengal the establishment of several schools that imparted modern education. The subjects that these schools taught were English, Mathematics, Geography, and Science. Carey translated the Bible into Bengali, and then along with his associates translated it into several of the Indian languages. The printing press that the Serampore missionaries brought to India contributed greatly towards the cause of education. The American Missionary Society was the first in the history of India to open a native girls’ school in Bombay in 1824. In 1826, the Church Missionary Society established the first female school. With the conviction that only the English language could be the best medium for communication of modern education in India, the Scottish missionary, Alexander Duff opened a school for instruction in English at Calcutta.^[14] His success in such venture later helped Lord Bentick to decide in favour of English language.

Christian missionaries also contributed greatly towards the development of the vernacular languages. For instance, Bengali in the past was considered a language ‘fit only for women and demons.’^[15] Therefore, Carey had to be invited from Serampore to Calcutta to teach Bengali. Modern Bengali literature was introduced and developed by the Serampore missionaries and by the Fort William College.^[16]

The influence of the missionaries’ works in education was widespread. By the strenuous efforts of Raja Ram Mohan Roy, a supporter of English education who opposed the opening of a SanskritCollege, the HinduCollegewas opened in 1820 in Calcuttafor education in the modern arts and sciences.^[17] The Hunter Report of 1882 brings out well the facts of missionary contributions towards the modernization and propagation of education in India.^[18]

Thus, Christian Missions, by first initiating modern education and influencing the British Government towards the same, played an important role in the modernization of education inIndia. An age of Indian Renaissance dawned on the sub-continent as a result, and several reforms and rethinking were sparked in the field of science, society, religion, education, economics, and culture.

iv. Social Work: Application of the Ideas of Human Dignity, Equality, and Worth. The social works that the Christian missionaries did in India presented a living and visible example of their view of human dignity and equality. In addition to educational Missions that gave an occasion for all to study (irrespective of caste, race, or gender, the very first time in India), medical Missions brought ‘help to the millions of the common people of India, for whom no skilled assistance in the time of trouble and death was available.’^[19] MedicalMission also introduced women missionaries into the Indian sub-continent to minister unto the suffering women ofIndia.

Orphanages, widows’ homes, and hospitals were started at different places of India. Leprosy mission in Indiaowes its origin to the Christian missionaries. Hostels for non-Christians were built in considerable numbers and managed by Christian Missions. The results were so impressive that demand for the extension of the hostel system throughout the country increased. Missions also reached the youth of Indian society, irrespective of caste or creed, by the Young Men’s Christian Association, which also played an important role in the development of democratic orientations among them.^[20] The concept of social work, irrespective of caste, creed, or gender, evolved out of the example that the missionaries set in India. William Carey’s campaign against Sati in 1806, though motivated by his Christian attitude, could not have been successful on the basis of only biblical arguments. His campaign, together with that of Raja Ram Mohan Roy, with support from Lord Wellesley and Lord William Bentick, was right in a context that favoured humanist ethics in independence from religion. Some reformers, who had come to believe in the rationality of humanist ethics through English education and contact with the missionaries, traced these principles to their own religion than accepting it as particular only to Christianity. Thus, Missions inIndia influenced Indians to develop a humanist approach to culture, society, and religion and, in this way, contributed towards the development of a humanist kind of secularism inIndia.

v. Freedom of Press: Promotion of Free, Proven, and Unbiased Criticism of Politics. The beginning of the modern Indian secular press can be traced to the launching of Friend of India in English, Samachar Darpan in Bengali, and Dig Darshan in Hindi at the Serampore Mission in 1818.^[21] The Indian type was first founded and used in the Serampore Mission’s printing press.^[22] Earlier on, Hicky had started The Bengal Gazette as a weekly in 1780. However, its vociferous criticism of Warren Hastings’ policies led to the arrest of Hicky and the termination of the journal in 1782.^[23]

Under the Governor-Generalship of Lord Wellesley, censorship was established over all the newspapers that were published in the country in 1799. Consequentially, the editor of the Bengal Kirkaru, Charles Maclean was deported to England for censuring by the means of print a public officer 'for acts done in his official capacity.'^[24] However, Maclean didn’t stay silent inEngland but continued his agitation against power abuse inIndia, which ultimately led to the resignation of Lord Wellesley.

Lord Hastings (1813-1823) believed in the importance of an independent press in the formation of public opinion and good governance. Therefore, he slightly modified the regulations regarding censorship in 1813. In 1818, he abolished the post of Censor and, thus, began an era of free press. Immediately, new journals sprouted out. However, there continued conflicts between the press and the Government. The Government of India deputed Sir Thomas Munro to investigate and report on this problem. In accordance with the recommendations that Munro made, the Government placed new regulations before the Supreme Court in March 1823 that provided that no press was to be established nor any paper or book printed without prior licence from the Government. Indians like Raja Ram Mohan Roy and Dwarka Nath Tagore protested against those regulations. Finally, with the assistance of Lord Macaulay, Law Member of the Government of India, Sir Charles Metcalfe cancelled these regulations in 1835. As a result, the Indian press became as free as its counterpart in Englandwas.^[25]

Earlier on in 1830, William Carey had written in the Serampore journal Friend of India that the most gratifying of the many indications of the extension of freedom in the 19^th century was the establishment in India of a periodical press by whose potency the tyrannical dynasties of ages were crumbling rapidly away. He noted that it was the power of the press that had brought such a fast change in the Indian mind from superstition to rational thinking.^[26]

During the Sepoy Mutiny in 1857, temporary restrictions were placed on the press but were soon withdrawn after the Mutiny. The Act of 1867 that is still in force aimed at the regulation of the printing presses and newspapers. In 1878, the Vernacular Press Act was passed that made regulations to make sure that the press does not misuse their freedom to incite feelings of disaffection towards the Government or to incite communal feelings. Also nicknamed as 'The Gagging Act,' this Act was condemned by the Indians all over the country.^[27]Subsequent conflicts between the press and the Government went on.

The concept of free press that the Indians were conceiving and for which they were contending was not originally Indian. It came from the West and was popularised by the Serampore missionaries, despite the fact that the Government was quite opposed to it. They used the press to confront the Government. Prof. Tripti Chaudhari writes:

The British officials and trading groups were completely indifferent to their misery and the rising Bengali Intelligentsia, with a few exceptions, were struggling for their own recognition in the field of education and administrative sphere in the colonial set up. In this background only the Protestant missionaries in Bengal in the late nineteenth century came forward to voice the grievances of this [i.e., the peasants] class. It is hardly an exaggeration to state that they became almost the sole spokesmen of the ryots tied to the iniquitous land system.^[28]

Thus, Missions inIndiaplayed an important role in the initiation of printing press inIndiaand the development of the concept of free press. Later laws and regulations that saw the modern freedom of press were built upon the earlier work of the missionaries. The foundation of free press inIndiathat the Missions and the British Government laid was constituted after the principles of secularism that discouraged any abuse of the press for breeding communal ill feelings. The laws and regulations made were, consequentially, in line with those principles of factuality, rationality, fraternity, and humanism, unclouded by any religious fundamentalist zeal.

It has thus been seen that the Colonial rule in Indiaplayed a very important role in the promotion of secularism in India. Renaissance humanism, building on to cultural and social secularism, and Reformation religious privacy, developing on to political secularism, entered India with the Colonial conquest. Earlier on, the Government employed a non-interference policy towards Indian religions, but was soon awakened by the Evangelicals to its task of introducing reforms for the good of Indians.^[29] All through, however, the steps taken were to be in line with humanist reason and non-interfering as far as privacy of religion was concerned. However, where religious practices conflicted with humanist principles, laws were prescribed. The unification ofIndia under one British rule helped the spread of cultural, social, and political secularism even faster. Industrialists started industries to the cities leading on to mass migrations to them from the villages. This led to the beginning of the breaking of the traditional families as secularism began to invade social life through its economic impact.

The English law was adapted to the pluralist context ofIndia, though in accordance with the principles of secularism. People of all religious backgrounds fared well during this time. The Crown’s declaration in 1858 further assured secular policy and relieved Indians of any fears. Meanwhile, inter-communal suspicions and doubts intensified. The pluralist Hindus could not understand the fundamentalist Muslims. The Muslims, on the other hand, doubted if their future was safe in case the secular British departed and the Hindus got the country’s reins. Various levels of responses came out as a result. Some Indian reformers like Raja Ram Mohan Roy and Mahatma Gandhi resorted to pluralistic religious perspectives. Others like Sir Syed Ahmad Khan contended for a rational view of life. Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, on the other hand, fought for the emancipation of the oppressed dalits; the ideological influence behind the fight was the Western concept of human equality and rational existence. All these people were greatly impressed by Western culture and philosophy. In addition, the Governmental reforms also brought out in theIndiaa consciousness and realization of the possibility of change, reformation, and upliftment.

Missions played an important role in both the ideological and political development of secularism inIndia. Their ideological impact in the field of religion came in through their emphasis on rationality of religion and condemnation of superstition. Education played an important role in bringing out this ideological change. Idolatry, caste system, and inhumane practices that were endorsed by religion came under severe rational criticism. The printing press that the Serampore missionaries popularised became a great tool in the hands of the reformers who used it to circulate journals and pamphlets to awaken their countrymen to a modern and rational way of thinking that was free from religious domination. Missionaries played an important role in the Indian Renaissance and the secularization of culture and society. Mahajan says about the Christian missionaries:

… They spread not only Christianity but also education in the country. They opened schools and colleges and set up printing presses in the country. They opened hospitals and started other works of public charity. As a result of their activities, there spread a lot of skepticism among the Indians….^[30]

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[1] J.N. Farquhar, Modern Religious Movements in India, pp. 9, 10.
[2] Vishal Mangalwadi, Missionary Conspiracy, p. 137.
[3] Farquhar, Modern Religious Movements in India, p. 9.
[4] Vishal Mangalwadi, Missionary Conspiracy, pp. 138, 145.
[5] Ibid, p. 149.
[6] Ibid, p. 150.
[7] D.C. Ahir (ed.), Ambedkar on Christianity in India (New Delhi: Blumoon Books,1995), pp. 51-52.
[8] J.N. Farquhar, Modern Religious Movements in India, p. 10.
[9] Aleyamma Zachariah, Modern Religious and Secular Movements in India, p.20.
[10] Laxminarayan Gupta, History of Modern Indian Culture, p.218.
[11] Aleyamma Zachariah, Modern Religious and Secular Movements in India, p. 204.
[12] Krishna Reddy, Indian History, p. C149.
[13] Laxminarayan Gupta, History of Modern Indian Culture, p. 221.
[14] Aleyamma Zachariah, Modern Religious and Secular Movements in India, pp. 18, 19.
[15] Vishal Mangalwadi, India: The Grand Experiment, p. 171.
[16] K. Krishna Reddy, Indian History (New Delhi: Tata McGraw-Hill Publishing Co., Ltd., 2003), p. C86.
[17] Laxminarayan Gupta, History of Modern Indian Culture, p. 227.
[18] Pages 8-16 as excerpted in Vishal Mangalwadi’s, Missionary Conspiracy, pp. 360-373.
[19] J.N. Farquhar, Modern Religious Movements in India, p. 20.
[20] Ibid, p. 25.
[21] Vishal Mangalwadi, India: The Grand Experiment, p. 186 & Krishna Reddy, Indian History, p. C86.
[22] Farquhar, Modern Religious Movements in India, p. 14.
[23] V.D. Mahajan, Modern Indian History, p. 487.
[24] Ibid, pp. 487-88.
[25] Ibid, pp. 488-89.
[26] Vishal Mangalwadi, India: The Grand Experiment, pp. 190-1.
[27] V.D. Mahajan, Modern Indian History , p. 489.
[28] As cited by Vishal Mangalwadi, India: The Grand Experiment, p. 196 [Author's Parenthesis and Emphasis].
[29] Vishal Mangalwadi, India: The Grand Experiment, p. 83 & Missionary Conspiracy, pp. 168-69.
[30] V. D. Mahajan, Modern Indian History, p. 645.

© Domenic Marbaniang, 2005, 2010

Adoniram Judson, Missionary to Burma

HE hung, his ankles tied together and fastened to a pole several feet above the floor. The pain was excruciating, unimaginably. The prison smelt vermin infested “death”. By dawn he was so stiff and numb, he could barely walk. Though separated from her husband, his wife managed to smuggle in food to him by bribing the guards. These efforts were curtailed, however, within no great time. His location was to be changed. The journey was gruesome. He was terribly weak from the confinement, and the gravel road, sharp, hurt his barefoot. Some of the other prisoners with him died along the road. The pain was unbearable, but he continued on, vowing to live if only for Ann and the baby. Two years later, his wife would die. Ten years from now, he would present this land of his persecution, the Kingdom of Ava (the land of the Burmese), the greatest gift they could ever receive: the Bible in the Burmese language.

A Skeptic turns to the Savior

Adoniram Judson was born on the 9^th of August, 1788, the son of a stern and humorless Congregationalist minister, in Malden, Massachusetts, USA. When sixteen, Adoniram left home and entered Brown University. Here he was greatly influenced by the Deistic beliefs of his friend Jacob Eames. On his return home, he announced to his shocked parents his rejection of Christianity and left for New York to take up a career as a playwright. But success in New York proved to be elusive. A reckless, vagabond life was what accompanied him throughout this time. Frustrated, he left New York one night silently and set out for his uncle’s home in Sheffield. Desiring to rest for the night, he stopped at an inn, and this, next door to a dying man. The agonizing cries and groans of this sick man wouldn’t allow him to sleep. A question arose in his heart: Is the man in the next room prepared for death? Then, was he himself? He was terrified. And he felt as one mocked at. What would his classmates at Brown say to these terrors of the night, who thought of him as bold in thought? What would Eames say – the clear-headed, intelligent, witty, skeptic Eames? He imagined Eames laugh and felt abashed.

When he awoke in the morning, the terrors were no more. He ran downstairs to the innkeeper and asked for the bill. Then, casually, he asked whether the young man in the next room was better. “He is dead,” was the answer. Judson inquired if he knew the man who he was. “Oh yes,” replied the innkeeper, “Young man from the College in Providence. Name was Eames, Jacob Eames.”

Shocked, depressed, and weary Judson arrived home. He joined the Andover Theological Seminary. Here, after several months, he came to know the Lord by dedicating himself to him. This commitment was followed by a pledge to serve God as a missionary – America’s first such. After reading a copy of “An account of an Embassy to the kingdom of Ava,” Judson purposed to preach the Gospel to Burma. Finance was a problem, and so the American board sent him to the London Missionary Society to raise support there. On the way, his ship was captured by a French privateer. But God was with him and helped him to miraculously escape from the French prison bringing him safe to London. On his return to the States, it was decided that the new mission would be funded exclusively by Americans, rather than jointly with the LMS.

To the Land of the Burmese

On 19^th February 1812, and so, Adoniram, his wife Ann (Nancy) together with another missionary couple – Samuel and Harriet Newell – sailed from Salem, Massachusetts on board the big Caravan; their destination, India. On the voyage, Adoniram continued a translation of the New Testament from Greek into English, and as he did so he became convinced that he Baptist position of baptism by full immersion was the Scriptural one. After arriving at Serampore, Adoniram and Nancy were baptized by William Ward, one of Carey’s assistants – the result, he had to resign from the Congregationalists and solicit the American Baptists for support, though as yet they had no missionary society.

But, Adoniram Judson’s heart burnt for Burma. Carey informed him, although, that Burma was not an easy field. His own son, William, had been there for four years and was on the brink of abandoning the attempt. The East India Company interfered and forced the Judsons to evacuate their territories. Knowing not, now, what to do they were exasperated until they finally decided to sail on to Java or Penang. The Company still bothered them. 1813, they reached Rangoon the capital of Burma. A land of Pagodas, Buddhist shrines, of the little eyed stiff-strong people; a land all too strange for them and they had nowhere to go. Nancy was ill and so was Adoniram. And most terribly enough, the Judsons knew no Burmese and the Burmese, no English.

Miracles and Missions

The miraculous hand of God, however, led them to a shack (which an Englishman once owned). The little girl living there knew some English to the Judsons’ comfort. In addition, she was hospitable, though poor. Adoniram was willing to pay anything for a little land and to avail of shelter. But the Burmese law wouldn’t allow for that so easily. Added to that, the Burmese officials were horribly corrupt. The Lord used their personal tragedy for good. Nancy, now took the initiation (They had just lost their second child, Roger). She went directly to the Viceroy’s wife and soon formed friendship with both the Viceroy of Rangoon and his wife assuring them some protection from the unscrupulous, petty officials. They were soon able to have land and to build a house. Amazingly, God provided Judson a tutor in the Burmese language. Very soon he picked on the language.

Soon he began printing tracts, with the arrival of the printing press with Mr. George H. Hough and his wife Phebe. He also began to print portions of the New Testament which he had patiently translated into the Burmese language. Evangelism was not an easy go here. Then an idea occurred. Why not build a Zayat – a Buddhist-style meditation room (open) on a main street where he could hold meetings and passers in their own way? The idea worked, and they had their first convert, Maung Nau after a toil of about six years! It must be noted that conversion was not legal in Buddhist Burma. Judson once even tried to petition the despotic Emperor to allow religious freedom by presenting an English Bible to him. The Emperor threw the Book and an undesired event would soon have followed as it often did when the Emperor got angry, except for the immediate exhibition of dancing girls. Judson failed and there was no respite for these new believers from persecution.

Tragedies: God Works Them Towards Good

Then the undesirable happened – the war with the East India Company. Adoniram was thrown into death prison, where we find him at the beginning of this story, along with the other foreigners. Those were days of pain and torture. In 1825, after nearly a year and a half, Adoniram was released in order to serve as an interpreter for the peace negotiations. He spent a little time with his wife and baby Maria, but was called back to service. This separation from his wife and baby was final. Ann (Nancy) soon died, little Maria following soon after.

Adoniram, in an effort to assuage his grief, poured himself into his translation work. But the fact and shock of his wife’s death affected him greatly. It was a time of despondency and unbelief; at least for forty days. In his letter to his in laws, he wrote: “God to me is the great unknown. I believe in him, but I find him not.”

Prayers and support of fellow missionaries helped bring Adoniram back from this paralyzing depression. As a matter of fact, God used this convalescence to strengthen and energize him as never before. In the years that followed, Judson completed his translation of the Old Testament and the Burmese Church continued to grow. In 1834, eight years after Ann died, he married Sarah Boardman, a widowed missionary. She bore to Judson eight children in less than ten years. And then she died in 1845. The following year, he met and married Emily Chubbock, a “secular” author, and less than half his age. Emily rose to the occasion and served effectively alongside her husband and delighted readers back home with her fascinating descriptions of primitive missionary work.

A Legacy

Adoniram Judson died on 11^th April, 1850, after four decades of active ministry. And when he died, he left behind one of the greatest possessions the world, especially Burma, could ever receive – the complete Burmese Bible translated from the original Greek and Hebrew, not from a translation. He didn’t convert a many of the Burmese, though he became a Burmese to win the Burmese. He suffered pains which he could choose not to suffer. Yet, he was not despaired and confused by them forever, because Truth was paramount. He never compromised. When he realized baptism by immersion was the right method, he obeyed not caring for the consequences. God honored this man – the first great American missionary, a faithful missionary.

© Domenic Marbaniang                                               
September 18, 2000
Central India Theological Seminary

Pentecostalism

A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF THE ORIGIN AND WORLDWIDE GROWTH OF THE PENTECOSTAL MOVEMENT

Domenic Marbaniang

The Pentecostal Movement is one of the largest movements within Christianity. Since its beginning in 1901, it has grown to become one of the largest religious groups in the world. By the year 2000, the Pentecostal/Charismatic constituency is considered to have accounted for 8.7 percent of the world’s population, larger than the percentage of all Buddhists, and made up 26.7 percent of all Christendom.[1] This movement has also been called as the “Third Force” and the harbinger of “a revolution comparable in importance with the establishment of the original church and with the Protestant Reformation.”[2] Surprisingly not, this movement was looked at as heretic and fanatical in its incipient period. For instance, the Los Angeles Times reported in 1906:

Breathing strange utterances and mouthing a creed which it would seem no sane mortal could understand, the newest religious sect has started in Los Angeles. Meetings are held in a tumble-down shack on Azusa Street, near San Pedro Street, and the devotees of the weird doctrine practice the most fanatical rites, preach the wildest theories and work themselves into a state of mad excitement in their peculiar zeal.[3]

However, as Edward Caldwell Moore noted “The heresy of one generation is the orthodoxy of the next,”[4] Pentecostalism is no longer looked upon as a fanatical sect to beware of; but, it certainly has made its impact felt on Christian groups all over the world.

What is Pentecostalism?

Pentecostalism is a movement that centers around the belief of the presence and operation of the Holy Spirit with all the giftings within the Church as was present in the Apostolic period beginning with the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2. The distinguishing belief is that the baptism of the Holy Spirit is an experience following salvation and is evidenced by the gift of Speaking in Tongues. The two main groups related to Pentecostals are the Charismatics and the Third Wave. While the Pentecostals emphasize on the baptism of the Holy Spirit with tongues as evidence, the newer Third Wave movement “stresses “signs and wonders” and gifts such as prophecy and healing, primarily through independent churches and organizations that emerged in the 1980s.”[5] Pentecostals were ostracized by mainline liberals and even evangelicals until 1942; thus, they formed their own denominations[6] like the Church of God and the Assemblies of God churches along with innumerous smaller denominations and independent churches all over the world.

Origins

L. Grant McClung, Jr. enumerates one feature of the Pentecostal Movement as being “Leaderless leadership,”[7] which refers to the fact that “no main personality can be said to be the originator of the movement.”[8] He quotes Donald Gee:

…one highly significant feature of the Movement that distinguished it in a striking way from most of those that have gone before. The Pentecostal Movement does not owe its origin to any outstanding personality or religious leader, but was a spontaneous revival appearing almost simultaneously in various parts of the world. We instinctively connect the Reformation with Luther, the Quakers with George Fox, Methodism with Wesley, the Plymouth Brethren with Darby and Graves, the Salvation Army with William Booth, and so on. But the outstanding leaders of the Pentecostal Movement are themselves the product of the Movement. They did not make it; it made them.[9]

Roberts Liardon, however, in his book God’s Generals, calls Charles Fox Parham “The Father of Pentecost.”[10] During the Watch Night Service of December 31, 1900, one of the students, Agnes Ozman, at his Bible school in Topeka approached Parham and asked him to lay his hands on her so she would receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Earlier on, Parham had given an assignment to his students requiring them to study the Biblical evidence of the baptism in the Holy Spirit in the book of Acts. The students had turned in with the general conclusion that “Every recipient baptized by the Holy Spirit spoke in other tongues.” So, when Agnes Ozman approached him, Parham hesitated at first telling her that he himself didn’t speak in other tongues; but, when she persisted, he humbly laid his hands on her head and she immediately was filled with the Spirit and began to speak in the Chinese language. Parham reported that she “was unable to speak English for three days.”[11] Later on, Parham himself received the blessing and began preaching about the baptism of the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues. It was through the preaching ministry of Parham, his Bible schools, and his books that Pentecostalism began to find its theological basis. Liardon observes that “though some spoke in tongues long before Topeka, Kansas, it was Parham who pioneered the truth of tongues as the evidence of the baptism of the Holy Spirit.”[12]

The Pentecostal fire from Topeka spread to various places before it blazed into explosive radiance at Azusa Street. The Apostolic Faith magazine of September 1906, published from the Azusa Street Mission by William J. Seymour, the leader of the famous Azusa Street Revival, and Florence L. Crawford, reported:

This work began about five years ago last January, when a company of people under the leadership of Charles Parham who were studying God’s word, tarried for Pentecost in Topeka, Kansas….

Now after five years something like 13,000 people have received this gospel….

The meetings in Los Angeles started in a cottage meeting, and the Pentecost fell there three nights. The people had nothing to do but wait on the Lord and praise Him, and they commenced speaking in tongues, as they did at Pentecost, and the Spirit sang songs through them.

The meeting was then transferred to Azusa Street, and since then multitudes have been coming. The meetings begin about ten o’clock in the morning and can hardly stop before ten or twelve at night, and sometimes two or three in the morning, because so many are seeking, and some are slain under the power of God…. We cannot tell how many people have been saved, and sanctified, and baptized with the Holy Ghost, and healed of all manner of sicknesses. Many are speaking in new tongues, and some are on their way to the foreign fields, with the gift of the language.[13]

From these early experiences, Pentecostalism caught momentum and rapidly spread enveloping the whole world in its fire in the next few decades.

Pentecostal Fire in Calcutta

During the Pentecostal outpouring in Los Angeles in 1906, Alfred Garr, pastor of a Burning Bush congregation in Los Angeles, received the baptism of the Holy Spirit and spoke in Bengali – a language he did not know. Following this experience, and recognizing a call to serve in India, he along with his wife, Lilian, came to Calcutta. After arriving in Calcutta, the Garrs found an open door at when Pastor Hook invited Garr to conduct services at his Bow Bazar Baptist Church. Soon, the Pentecostal fire sparked into flames on this other side of the world, some 8,000 miles from the Azusa Street Mission.[14] Some of the leaders in India touched by this fire were Miss Susan Easton, head of the American Women’s Board of Missions and Fanny Simpson, a Methodist missionary from Boston. During the same time, Rai Bahadur Chandra, a Brahmin convert, heard of the Spirit’s outpouring at the meetings conducted by the Garrs and Miss Simpson. On a trip to England, the Chandras came in contact with Elim Pentecostals and received the baptism of the Holy Spirit. On returning to India they constructed a small chapel and residence next door to their house in Baniapuker where the Elim missionaries began conducting English and Bengali services. Later, this work was transferred to the American Assemblies of God.

To the Ends of the Earth

Gary McGee[15] points out three different groups of missionaries who went overseas as a result of the Spirit’s outpouring.

(1)    The first group represented those who received the call, but left for their mission fields without sufficient resources and training. As a result of this, the overall impact of such work appears to have been short-lived and disappointing. The missionaries soon realized that they definitely needed to learn the local language and culture and needed financial support in addition to long-term strategy for development of indigenous churches.

(2)    The second group consisted of those who were newly Spirit-filled veterans of other missionary agencies. These were missionaries like Miss Susan Easton of the American Women’s Board of Missions in India and William W. Simpson of the Christian and Missionary Alliance who contributed greatly towards the establishment and development of Pentecostal missions, especially the development of Bible institutes for the training of ministers in keeping with the Spirit of Pentecost.

(3)    These institutions prepared a third group of missionaries: men and women who had received Bible institute education in preparation for overseas missions. They were people like Marguerite Flint (India), Eric Booth-Clibbourn (Africa), John Burgess (India), Margaret Felch (India), Grace Walther (India), Ralph Riggs (Africa), and Edgar Pettenger (Africa). The Assemblies of God Bible colleges played an important role in training such personnel for missions.

Pentecostalism also spread strongly through the ministries of evangelists and preachers such as John G. Lake, Aimee Semple McPherson, Smith Wigglesworth, William Branham, A.A. Allen, Kathryn Kuhlman, and Oral Roberts. Thus, Pentecostalism took missionary leaps and spread into the whole world.

Several Pentecostal denominations and fellowships have arisen in the past century. In India, the Indian Pentecostal Church, founded by K. E. Abraham in 1939[16] and the Fellowship of the Pentecostal Churches of God in India, founded by Kurien Thomas in 1966, are examples of indigenous Pentecostal groups. In recent times, the New Life Churches under the leadership of Pastor Joseph in Mumbai and various other places have seen immense growth. There are also myriads of independent Pentecostal churches that continue to rise as the Pentecostal outpouring continues and spreads through out the land. In the global scene, the ministries of people like Benny Hinn, Reinhard Bonnke, Joyce Meyer, and television channels such as the God.tv continue to spread the Pentecostal fire across people groups all over the world.

References

Cairns, Earle E. Christianity Through the Centuries, 3^rd edn., Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1996.
Hamilton, Michael P. (ed.). The Charismatic Movement, Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1975.
Kelsey, Morton T. Tongue Speaking: An Experiment in Spiritual Experience, New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1964.
Liardon, Roberts. God’s Generals, Tulsa: Albury Publishing, 1996.
Lloyd-Jones, David Martyn. God the Holy Spirit, Illinois: Crossway Books, 1997.
McClung, Jr., L. Grant. Azusa Street and Beyond, NJ: Bridge Publishing, Inc., 1986.
Moore, Edward Caldwell. An Outline of the History of Christian Thought Since Kant, New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1912.
Pirouet, Louise. Christianity Worldwide, Delhi: ISPCK, 1996, 4^th edn.
Robinson, James. Pentecostal Origins, UK: Paternoster, 2005.
Rodman, William J. The Era of the Spirit, New Jersey: Logos International, 1971.
Synan, Vinson (ed.). Aspects of Pentecostal- Charismatic Origins, NJ: Logos International, 1975.
Synan, Vinson. The Century of the Holy Spirit, Nashville: Thomas Nelson, Inc., 2001.

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[1] James Robinson, Pentecostal Origins (UK: Paternoster, 2005), p.xxi.

[2] Henry P. Van Dusen, as quoted by Robinson, Ibid, p.xxi.

[3] As cited by L. Grant McClung, Jr., Azusa Street and Beyond (NJ: Bridge Publishing, Inc., 1986), p. 3.

[4] Edward Caldwell Moore, An Outline of the History of Christian Thought Since Kant (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1912).

[5] Earle E. Cairns, Christianity Through the Centuries, 3^rd edn. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1996), p. 489.

[6] Ibid, p. 490.

[7] Ibid, p.4.

[8] Ibid, p.4.

[9] Ibid, p.4.

[10] Roberts Liardon, God’s Generals (Tulsa: Albury Publishing, 1996), p.109.

[11] As cited by Liardon, Ibid, p. 119.

[12] Ibid, p. 155.

[13] L. Grant McClung, Jr. (ed.), Azusa Street and Beyond, p. 24.

[14] Maynard Ketcham and Wayne Warner, “When the Pentecostal Fire Fell in Calcutta,” Ibid, p. 28

[15] “Early Pentecostal Missionaries – They Went Everywhere Preaching the Gospel,” Ibid, pp. 33-36.

[16] http://www.ipcgeneralcouncil.org/

(c) Domenic Marbaniang, January 2010.