Introduction
William Carey (1761-1834), known as the Father of Modern Missions, was a pioneer of new-style of evangelism in India. William Carey implemented various methods to spread the gospel: preaching, teaching (in schools), and literature (translating the Bible into more than 35 languages). This written piece presents an account of William Carey who put his life at pledge for the sake of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Early Life of William Carey
William Carey was born in a small thatched cottage on August 17, 1761 in a village called Paulerspury in Northamptonshire, England, to Edmund Carey and Elizabeth. When Carey was seven years old, his father was appointed as an Anglican Church parish clerk and schoolmaster of the school in their village. Carey received only the basic formal education which included being taught to read from the scriptures as well as an extensive reading in religious and scientific works. He could not go to school beyond the age of 12 due to the poverty of his family. At the age of fourteen, being the eldest of five siblings, Carey was apprenticed to a Christian shoemaker (whose name was Clarke Nichols) in the neighboring village of Hackleton. Carey’s contact with the owner of the shoe company resulted in his joining a Baptist dissenters group in 1783, which opened the way for his baptism at Northampton under Dr. John Ryland.
Although Carey stopped his formal education due to poverty, he was enthusiastic to learn Biblical languages. As a result, William was very careful to use his leisure time appropriately and learned Greek, Latin, Hebrew, French, Italian, and Dutch by himself. He found in the shop of his master a small collection of books among which was a commentary on the New Testament mixed together with Greek words. He also began a systematic study of the Bible in Greek, Hebrew, Latin, and English.
When we study William Carey’s life, we can understand that he had very humble beginnings. As a child of the parish clerk he was brought up as a nominal Church member, but through his hard work and help from one of his pious fellow worker (whose name was John Warr), he began to study the Scriptures diligently and prayed for a new heart. He received Jesus Christ as the Lord and Savior of his life and was filled with joy and peace. He had a great desire to be used of God in bringing others to the knowledge Christ. When Carey was preparing for his ordination in 1785, he was rejected when he gave his first sermon as a candidate. In 1786 he moved to Moulton as pastor of a Baptist congregation and he was ordained in 1787. In September of 1790, he became pastor of another Baptist congregation at Leicester. The income he received from the parish was not sufficient to meet the needs of his family, so he opened a village school to increase his income and, as a result, he had to simultaneously serve as a pastor, school teacher, and a cobbler in order to meet the needs of his family. He served God faithfully wherever he was placed despite the unfavorable life situations he faced. It was in the process of teaching at the parish and his students that he became aware of the need for the Salvation of those in far parts of the world.
Formation of Baptist Missionary Society
On May 31, 1792 at a minister’s meeting in Nottingham, William Carey preached his ‘Deathless Sermon’ based on Isaiah 54:2-3, “Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitation: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes; for thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited.” It was one of the most powerful and life-changing sermons he ever delivered. He concluded the sermon saying, “Expect great things from God; Attempt great things for God.” As a result, through his concern and efforts, on October 14, 1792, Carey and fourteen other Baptist leaders came together and founded the Baptist Missionary Society for propagating the gospel of salvation among unbelievers who live across the geographical boundaries.
Carey’s Call for Overseas Ministry
As Carey continued to grow in the Lord and advance in the ministry of God extensively, he felt the call of God in his life to go beyond his familiar circumstances to preach the gospel to the untold millions. Meanwhile, he gained more knowledge of the overseas mission fields and expressed interest to go as a missionary to an overseas mission field. His original desire was to go as a missionary to China, but later, he felt that he was called to go to India and offered himself as a missionary to India. He told his peer groups, fellow-ministers, and leaders of the church, “There is a gold mine in India, but it is deep as the center of the earth and I will make an effort to go down but you all must hold the ropes.” Although, he did received a less-than-positive response from the group than he had expected, he decided to go ahead with the plan of going to India as the first missionary under the banner of newly founded Baptist Missionary Society. His love for God and the people of the world, and a great passion to preach the gospel of Jesus to all the nations led him to India. On January 10, 1793, he was appointed as a missionary to India. On March 20, 1793, at a farewell meeting held in Leicester, Rev. Andrew Fuller (1754-1815), the first appointed Secretary of Baptist Missionary Society, spoke thus in the closing: “Go then, my dear brethren, stimulated by these prospects. We shall meet again. Crowns of glory await you and us. Each of us, I trust, will be addressed at the last day by our Redeemer, ‘Come, ye blessed of my Father: these were hungry, and you fed them; athirst, and you gave them drink; in prison, and you visited them; enter ye into the joys of your Lord.’” Along with his missionary friend Dr. John Thomas, a medical doctor, and six family members, Carey embarked on June 13, 1793 to India and the voyage lasted five months. Finally, on November 14, 1793, they arrived at the port of Calcutta, India. Initially, Carey was unsuccessful in supporting his family through farming on the land. After few months, Carey became the manager of an indigo factory near Malda in March 1794. He remained in Malda, founding schools and preaching where possible until 1799. In January 1800 he moved to the Danish settlement at Serampore where he joined his colleagues William Ward and Joshua Marshman. His first convert in India was of Portuguese descent, and his first Indian convert was baptized in the Ganges River on December 28, 1800. God raised Carey from being a cobbler in his own country to being a great missionary in India.
Carey’s Family Life
In the midst of Carey’s call and enthusiasm for God’s ministry, he was not able to lead an excellent family life. However, God was faithful to him and his family. It was understood that Carey was married three times. Firstly, he married to Dorothy Plackett (also called as Dolly) on July 10, 1781. At the time of their marriage, Carey was 20 years old and Dorothy was 25. When Dorothy married to Carey, the young cobbler, she never knew that he would become a preacher/pastor in the same neighborhood or a missionary to a distance land called India. When Carey was doing all kinds of preparations to travel to India as a missionary, Dorothy was not so ready to travel to India at that phase of her life. However, she, along with their children born in England, accompanied him to India. As they arrived and settled down in Calcutta, she was completely baffled with the thoughts that they are not returning to their native land. In addition to that she had been struggling to adjust with her new surroundings in India, which was stricken by poverty, the unbearable weather patterns, sickness, and other everyday seen and unseen life challenges. With all these struggles, although she was present with him as a person, she was not of great help in his missionary endeavors. Carey and Dorothy had seven lovely children, namely Ann, Felix, William Jr, Peter, Lucy, Jabez, and Jonathan. However, three of their children (Ann, Lucy and Peter) died in their very young age. Along with the struggles Dorothy had been going through in India, the death of their three children at a very young age led her in to an unstable condition and she became mentally disoriented, which troubled her and the family until her death in 1807 in Serampore, India.
Secondly, Carey married to Charlotte Amelia Rumohr on 9 May 1808, a wealthy but handicap woman, who was a great help for him in his ministry. After thirteen years of married life, she died in 1821.
After the death of his second wife Charlotte, Carey married to Grace Forbes in 1822, who was also a great help for him in his ministry. She was at the side of Carey, along with his children born through Dorothy his first wife, when he died in 1834 at the age of 73. Grace Forbes died a year later in 1835.
Carey’s Interest in Translation Work
Along with Carey’s preaching and teaching ministries, he focused on learning Indian languages. His intention in learning the India languages were, primarily, to preach the gospel in the Indian languages to all levels of people in the society and, secondly, to translate the Bible into Indian languages so that people can understand the Scripture in their own language and it can reach to every household. Carey held high respect for the Scripture and believed that the Bible is the Word of God, uniquely inspired by the Holy Spirit; a totally truthful revelation from God; an infallible authority for doctrine, ethics, and all matters pertaining to the Christian life. He believed that, as Paul said, faith derives from hearing (Romans 10:17).
Carey had a desire to present the Scriptures to the people of India in their language. Thus, he ardently set forth to learn the Indian languages. According to Stephen Neill, the gospel must be taken to the people in their own language and the missionary must possess as much knowledge as possible of the local forms of speech and acquaint oneself with the values and customs of the people among whom he/she is to minister. Carey spent much time in preparation and educating himself about India before he did anything in relation to the gospel work. As a result, he learned that there are diverse linguistic groups which populate India and the translation of the Bible must be done in their own tongue. Carey felt that it was essential to preach the good news of Jesus Christ to all, not just the educated classes, which made him focus on the translation work of the Bible as an important part of his missionary task.
Over the years, he learned several Indian languages with the help of Pandits (scholars) who enabled him to translate the Bible into the many languages of North and East India. Bengali was the first Indian language that he learned while working as a manager of an indigo factory. Then he concentrated on Sanskrit. From the beginning, the goal of Carey was to translate the Bible into Indian languages. Therefore, as soon as he started learning the Bengali language and Sanskrit and had developed confidence regarding the linguistic structures and diction of these languages, he began the translation of the New Testament. In the process of the translation work, Carey became an expert in grammar and vocabulary of many Indian languages. Carey was not just a great linguist, but also a great lover of people and God.
Sanskrit and Other Languages
Carey learned that Sanskrit is the key to understanding other India languages. He learned Sanskrit well and translated parts of the Ramayana into English. He intended to learn and make the first translation of the Bible into Sanskrit and make use of the Sanskrit version of the Bible to translate the Bible into other Indian languages. With the help of local Scholars and Linguists, Carey translated the Bible into Marathi, Hindi, Oriya, Punjabi, Assamese, and Gujarati. Carey also learned Telugu and Kannada to bring out the translations of the Bible in these languages and later on undertook the work on the Pashto and Khasi dialects. It is estimated that Carey either worked or influenced profoundly the translation of the Bible into as many as thirty-five languages. Through learning and translating the Bible into all these languages and dialects, Carey was laying the foundation for the development of further education. Rabindranath Tagore, a master of Bengali literature, commended that: “I must acknowledge that whatever has been done towards the revival of the Bengali language and its improvement must be attributed to Dr. Carey and his Colleagues.” (Carey 1923).
Carey’s Teaching Position at College
Lord Wellesley, the then Governor-General of India, made arrangements for the establishment of a College at Fort William, Calcutta, for training the young English civilians in the knowledge of the vernaculars of the country, its laws and its customs. He invited Mr. Carey to accept the position of a teacher of Bengali in the new institution. With the appointment of Mr. Carey to the college, Carey began the publication of books in Bengali language for use in the classes. The compilation of Bengali grammar was at once undertaken and other books rapidly followed. When Mr. Carey was appointed a teacher of Sanskrit in the college, he immediately began the compilation of Sanskrit grammar for use in his classes. On February 7, 1801, the last sheet of the Bengali New Testament was issued from the press. Due to his eagerness and effective leadership, the Bible was translated into numerous Indian Languages during his lifetime itself.
Founding of Serampore College
The Serampore College in West Bengal, India, was established on July 15, 1818, under the founding initiative of William Carey, Joshua Marshman, and William Ward, who were known as the trio from the English Baptist Missionary Society. The College was started to provide education for Europeans and to any person who is interested in higher studies irrespective of caste or creed.
Since Serampore was a Danish colony, Frederick the Sixth, King of Denmark, issued Serampore College its Royal Charter of Incorporation on February 23, 1827 in Copenhagen, Denmark. On February 22, 1845 the ownership of Serampore College was transferred to the British Government after Denmark sold all of its Indian assets to Great Britain. In 1856, the Baptist Missionary Society in England took over the management of the College, and in 1857, the College became affiliated with the University of Calcutta. In 1883, the College closed as an Arts College and began functioning as a Christian Training Institution and a theological institute for the Baptist Churches in Bengal.
William Carey’s Social Involvements
There were many religious as well as social evil practices which existed in all levels of lives in the ancient India, especially among the Hindus. William Carey, along with his colleagues John Marshman and William Ward and numerous Indian supporters from all levels of life, labored hard to abolish all kinds of evil practices from society, especially infanticide, sati, and so on.
Sati is the ancient Hindu religious practice where a widow of a deceased man sacrifices herself by jumping into her deceased husband’s funeral pyre. Carey studied the Hindu sacred books with the help of the Hindu Pundits and learned that this custom was a rite simply encouraged as a virtue and not as a duty. Carey with the help of Pundit Raja Ram Mohan Roy, one of the well known Hindu Reformer and Scholar, worked towards the ban of sati. Finally, Sati was banned in all jurisdictions of British India on December 4, 1829 by the then Governor-General Lord William Bentinck.
Infanticide, especially female infanticide, was a common practice among all levels of Hindu society in the ancient India (it was not only practiced in India alone, but around the world as part of some kind of social and religious customs). Infanticide is the practice that a person kills their own young children intentionally for some religious or social reasons. Although none of the above mentioned people were alive to see the outcome, it is believed that in 1870, under the direction of the then Governor-General of India Richard Bourke passed the Infanticide Prevention Act.
His Literary Contribution
Although, William Carey was a great gospel preacher, he was not very effective in bringing Hindus and Muslims to the Christian faith through preaching the gospe. However, through his Bible translation work and various other publications he attracted the non-Christian community to Christ. He played a major role in inspiring numerous people for the development of the modern Indian languages, especially developing grammar and dictionaries. During his forty years of life and work in India, the whole or portions of the Bible had been translated and printed in thirty-five different dialects. One of the major milestones was the completion of the printing of 2000 copies of Bengali Bibles in February 1801, which is translated directly from the original Greek costing £612. It took around nine months of printing work and William Ward and Carey’s son Felix were the ones who set up the type. The Sikh, Mahratta, Hindustani, Orissa, Telinga, Assam, Kashmeerian and Kannada translations followed without much delay.
Carey’s outstanding accomplishments as a linguist led to his appointment as the first professor of Sanskrit, Bengali, and Mahratta in the college of Fort William, Calcutta. In 1805 he received a Doctorate of Divinity degree from a Scottish University and a year later he was elected member of the Asiatic Society of Calcutta. Prior to Andrew Fuller’s death in 1815, Carey wrote to him that we have now translations of the Bible going forward in twenty-seven languages, all of which are in the press except two or three. In 1823 Carey was appointed translator of the laws and regulations of the governor-general of India. His accomplishments included the formalization of grammar in various Indian dialects, translations of literature, and production of Bengali dictionaries. Carey was educationally unqualified for all that he had done, yet he knew God had given him a great gift for learning languages.
Carey’s Other Contributions
Dr. Carey’s interest in botany was outstanding. Parallel to his missionary work and Bible translation projects, Carey published a catalog of plants in the gardens at Calcutta with the title Hortus Bengalensis in 1812 and was editor of a three-volume work, The Flora Medica. Carey was instrumental to start the Agri Horticultural Society of India and served as the Secretary. Dr. Carey was also instrumental in establishing a hospital for the lepers and an institution for the poor and neglected Portuguese children within Calcutta in 1809.
In addition to the Baptist Missionary Society for World Mission (England) and Serampore College (Serampore, India, which is currently known as Serampore University where university-accredited theological degrees are also offered), his early notable contributions in India was to start schools for impoverished children. Carey was interested in teaching the children reading, writing, and accounting while they were still young. As a Christian missionary, along with other responsibilities, Carey introduced Christ to many of these children and taught them Christian-faith-based lessons.
William Carey’s Final Days
Ever since Carey’s father apprenticed him with a Christian shoemaker at a very young age, up until the last day of his life on Earth in Serampore, India, Carey tirelessly worked hard to make his life meaningful for his Master Jesus Christ. At the age of 70, Carey retired from all his official responsibilities, both secular and Christian missionary/ministerial responsibilities. Afterwards, he did not depend on anyone for his needs, rather he try to live his life on a very small pension he received from his tireless labor. Soon, his health began to decline and by 1833 he was seriously ill and unable to carryout anything for himself or for God. People from all levels of lives, Europeans as well as Indians, began to honor him and admire his accomplishments in the secular world as well as Christian world. One of his last visitors was Alexander Duff, a Scottish missionary, and one day as Duff was leaving, Carey called Duff to himself, as Duff knelt down by Carey’s bedside, Carey said very softly, “Mr. Duff, you are buckling on the armor. I am now almost out of the fray. As you continue your ministry in India, do not speak about Dr. Carey, or what Dr. Carey had accomplished, but when I am gone, say nothing about me but speak about Dr. Carey’s Savior.” At the very end of Carey’s life, he was bed-ridden for a month before he died. At the age of 73, in the presence of his wife Grace Hughes, his sons, his relatives, and close associates, as the morning sun broke over the horizon on June 9, 1834 Carey passed quietly into the presence of his beloved Master. Carey’s body was laid to rest at the Mission Cemetery, Serampore (near Calcutta). At Carey’s request, his simple grave marker states:
WILLIAM CAREY, D.D.,
BORN: 17 AUGUST 1761
DIED: 9 JUNE 1834
‘A WRETCHED POOR AND HELPLESS WORM
ON THY KIND ARMS I FALL’
William Carey was a precocious child and the voracious learner who was unafraid to master several new languages. Although, he started his career as an ordinary cobbler in his early childhood, he worked hard to become a conscientious cobbler and venture into new adventurous realms, which enabled him to take up the role of a preacher and pastor. His adventures continued as he took the journey to India where he flourished as a social reformer, cultural anthropologist, an exceptional naturalist, and as a good friend and colleague. In addition to this, Carey was a devoted husband and father and he lived long enough to see the third generation born to his sons through his first wife – Dorothy. Above all, Carey was a passionate preacher, enthusiastic pastor, an intrepid mission advocate, a scholarly educator, and a tireless translator, and a person ready-to-do-anything for his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Thus, an ordinary shoemaker from Paulerspury, England, became the Father and Founder of Modern Missions in Serampore, India.
According to Mary Drewery,
“Carey had a remarkable intelligence, which he used with remarkable application. He was patient, persistent, stubborn, humble and faithful. The unsuccessful schoolteacher of Moulton developed into the translator, orientalist and college professor of Serampore. The shoemaker of Northamptonshire took the gospel to India even as the tent-maker of Tarsus did to Europe. It is at once a glory and a wonder that faith in God can so transform a man.”
References
Mangalwadi, Vishal and Ruth, 1999 Legacy of William Carey: A Model for the Transformation of a Culture. Wheaton, IL: Good News Publishers.
Smalley, William Allen, 1991 Translation as Mission: Bible Translation in the Modern Missionary Movement. Macon, GA: Mercer University Press
Carey, William, 2004 Enquirey into the Obligation of Christian to Use Means for the Conversion of the Heathens (Re-printed copy). n.p., Kessinger Publishing
Beck, James R. 1992 Dorothy Carey: The Tragic and Untold Story of Mrs. William Carey. Oregon: WIPF & Stock Publishers.
Daniel, J.T.K., 1993 Carey’s Obligation and India’s Renaissance. Sermapore: Council of Serampore College.
Drewery, Mary. 1978 William Carey: A Biography of the Bible Translator, Orientalist, Botanist and Pioneer Missionary to India. London: Hodder & Stoughton.
Miller, Basil, 1952 William Carey: Cobbler to Mission. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publication House.
George, Timothy, 1991 Faithful witness: The life and mission of William Carey . Birmingham, AL: New Hope.
Miller, Basil, 1952 William Carey : The Father of modern mission, Minneapolis, Minn. : Bethany House Pub.
Daigle-Williamson, Marsha 2005 ‘The Writings of William Carey: Journalism as Mission in a Modern Age.’ Mission Studies. Volume: 22(1). Pp.85-113
Manley, Ken, 2004 ‘From William Carey in India to Rowe and Hassall in Australia: A Missionary Correspondence (1808-1813).’ Baptist Quarterly, Volume: 40(6). Pp. 326-345.
Kverndal, Roald, 1993 ‘In the Wake of William Carey: A Pioneer in Maritime Mission,’ Indian Journal of Theology. Volume: 0(0) p. 35.
Smith, Christopher, 1993 ‘The Legacy of William Carey.’ Evangelical Review of Theology. Volume: 17(3) Pp. 293-308.
Anderson, Justice, 1992 ‘William Carey: A Bi-centennial Tribute.’ Southwestern Journal of Theology. Volume: 35(1) Pp. 40-44.
George, Timothy 1992 ‘The Faithful Witness of William Carey.’ Evangelical Missions Quarterly Volume: 28(4) Pp. 350-356.
Smith, A. Christopher, 1992 ‘The Legacy of William Carey.’ International Bulletin of Missionary Research. Volume: 16(1) Pp. 2-8.
Mondal, Ashish K. 1991 ‘William Carey and Calcutta.’ Indian Church History Review. Volume: 25(1) Pp.1-16.
Very informative!
Glad you found it informative, Atara! Blessings!