On Wednesday this week the Church will remember Henry Martyn,
translator of the Scriptures and missionary in India
and Persia. Martyn was born in Truro in
1781 and studied at Cambridge. He was planning to go into Law but at
University had undergone a conversion experience and instead was ordained as a
Priest.
Martyn had an impressive gift for languages and a desire to
serve in the mission fields of the growing British Empire. At the time, however, the British East India
Company discouraged mission work for fear of offending Hindu
sensibilities. Nevertheless, Martyn
eventually got a post as Chaplain to the Company and sailed for Calcutta in 1805. When he arrived, he spent much time debating
matters of faith with Muslims and Hindus.
He also put his language skills to use and in just six years he
translated the New Testament and the Book of Common Prayer into Urdu and
Persian. Sadly by 1809, he was suffering
from tuberculosis and eventually died on 16 October 1812.
When I was studying in Cambridge,
I often used a library now dedicated to his memory and had time to reflect on
issues of Christian mission and dialogue between faiths. I find it interesting to note that then as
now, it is often states and businesses that worry more about the possible offence
of religion than the religious themselves.
In our ever more globalised society where faith and cultures
meet every day it strikes me that we need more dialogue rather than less. But, as Martin discovered, for such dialogue
to be worthwhile we may well need to travel well beyond our comfort zone and to
immerse ourselves in the culture of others.
No comments:
Post a Comment