Amitav Ghosh and Theodore Austin-Sparks: Difference between pages

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Theodore Austin-Sparks (1888–1971) (usually known as "T. Austin-Sparks" or just "TAS") was a British Christian evangelist.

Born in London in 1888, Mr Austin-Sparks was sent as a boy to live in Scotland with his father's relatives. It was there that he became a Christian at the age of 17 while listening to a group of young street-preachers in Glasgow. Within a short time, he too was giving his public testimony with this band of young people.

He was ordained as a Baptist pastor at the age of 24, and from 1912 to 1926 led three congregations in Greater London. During these years, he was also closely related to Jessie Penn-Lewis and her publication and speaking ministry, the "Overcomer Testimony".

In 1926, T. Austin-Sparks broke with this organisation and resigned his Baptist ordination. Together with like-minded Christians, he established a conference and training centre at Honor Oak in southeast London. A great number of Christians participated in conferences and classes at the centre while staying at available guest quarters, some living there years at a time participating in Bible courses, practical services and church meetings. There was a similar, but smaller centre maintained during the summer at Kilgreggan House in Scotland.

From the Christian Fellowship Centre, Austin-Sparks and his co-workers also ran a publishing operation which printed a bi-monthly magazine, A Witness and a Testimony (published from 1923 until the death of Austin-Sparks in 1971), and books either written by Austin-Sparks or edited from transcripts of his recorded messages. On the first page of this magazine he had this statement:

"The object of the ministry of this little paper, issued bi-monthly, is to contribute to the Divine end which is presented in the words of Ephesians 4:13 - "...till we all attain unto the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge (literally - full knowledge) of the Son of God, unto a fullgrown man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: that we be no longer children... It is not connected with any 'Movement', 'Organization', 'Mission' or separate body of Christians, but is just a ministry to "all saints". Its going forth is with the prayer and hope that it will so result in a fuller measure of Christ, a richer and higher level of spiritual life, that, while bringing the Church of God into a growing approximation to His revealed will as to its 'attainment', the Church may be better qualified to be used of Him in testimony in the nations, and to the completing of its own number by the salvation of those yet to be added by the Lord."

Among the many books which he wrote, at least three are regarded as Christian classics: The School of Christ, The Centrality and Supremacy of the Lord Jesus Christ and We Beheld His Glory. The golden chord which runs through Sparks' books is the exaltation of the Lord Jesus Christ.

His speaking ministry took him around Europe, North America and Asia holding major conferences in the United Kingdom, United States, Switzerland, Taiwan, the Philippines and elsewhere. Many of his spoken messages were recorded and a great number of audio tapes and books are available to this day. He was insistent that his writings and tapes should not be copyrighted and as a result they are still freely available today. In spite of not copyrighting his messages, he was particular about them being reproduced word for word as originally spoken or written by him. The largest collection of his writings and audio messages online are found at Austin-Sparks.Net.

Mr Austin-Sparks' work at the Christian Fellowship Centre was international in scope, with the sole purpose of glorifying the Lord Jesus Christ. Many who trained under his ministry became missionaries and Christian teachers. This enabled him to work closely with several well known Christian leaders in other countries, notably Bakht Singh of India, Watchman Nee of China and Stephen Kaung of Richmond, Virginia.

T. Austin-Sparks died in 1971. His wife, Florence died in 1986.

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+'''Theodore Austin-Sparks''' (1888–1971) (usually known as [["T. Austin-Sparks"]] or just "TAS") was a [[United Kingdom|British]] [[Christianity|Christian]] [[Evangelism|evangelist]].
-{{dablink|For the banker and RBI Governor, see [[Amitav Ghosh (banker)]].}}
-[[Image:Amitav Ghosh by David Shankbone.jpg|thumb|Amitav Ghosh]]
-'''Amitav Ghosh''' (born 1956), is an [[India]]n-[[Bengali people|Bengali]] author known for his work in the [[English language]].
+Born in [[London]] in 1888, Mr Austin-Sparks was sent as a boy to live in [[Scotland]] with his father's relatives.  It was there that he became a Christian at the age of 17 while listening to a group of young street-preachers in Glasgow.  Within a short time, he too was giving his public testimony with this band of young people.
-==Biography==
-Ghosh was born in [[Kolkata]] and was educated at [[The Doon School]]; [[St. Stephen's College, Delhi]]; [[Delhi University]]; and the [[University of Oxford]], where he was awarded a [[Doctor of Philosophy|Ph.D.]] in [[social anthropology]].<ref>http://www.inlaksfoundation.org/Inlaks-Alumni-List.asp?sb=Anthropology&currpage=1&sort=subj&stat=old</ref>
+He was [[ordination|ordained]] as a [[Baptist]] pastor at the age of 24, and from 1912 to 1926 led three congregations in [[Greater London]].  During these years, he was also closely related to [[Jessie Penn-Lewis]] and her publication and speaking ministry, the "[[Overcomer Testimony]]".
-Ghosh lives in [[New York]] with his wife, [[Deborah Baker]], author of the [[Laura Riding]] biography ''In Extremis: The Life of Laura Riding'' (1993) and a senior editor at [[Little, Brown and Company]]. They have two children, Lila and Nayan. He has been a Fellow at the [[Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta]]. In 1999, Ghosh joined the faculty at [[Queens College, City University of New York]] as Distinguished Professor in [[Comparative literature|Comparative Literature]]. He has also been a [[Professor|visiting professor]] to the [[English studies|English]] department of [[Harvard University]] since 2005. Ghosh has recently purchased a property in [[Goa]] and is returning to India. He is working on a [[trilogy]] to be published by [[Penguin Books|Penguin Books India]].
+In 1926, T. Austin-Sparks broke with this organisation and resigned his Baptist ordination. Together with like-minded Christians, he established a [[Honor Oak Christian Fellowship Centre|conference and training centre]] at [[Honor Oak]] in southeast London. A great number of Christians participated in conferences and classes at the centre while staying at available guest quarters, some living there years at a time participating in [[Bible]] courses, practical services and church meetings. There was a similar, but smaller centre maintained during the summer at [[Kilgreggan House]] in Scotland.
-==Bibliography==
-Ghosh's latest work of fiction is ''[[Sea of Poppies]]'' (2008) an epic saga, set just before the [[Opium Wars]] which encapsulates the colonial history of the East. His other novels are ''[[The Circle of Reason]]'' (1986), ''[[The Shadow Lines]]'' (1990), ''[[The Calcutta Chromosome]]'' (1995), ''[[The Glass Palace]]'' (2000) and ''[[The Hungry Tide]]'' (2004). The ''Shadow Lines'' won the [[Sahitya Akademi Award]], India's most prestigious [[literary award]].<ref>http://www.indiapicks.com/Literature/Sahitya_Academy/SA_English.htm</ref> The ''Calcutta Chromosome'' won the [[Arthur C. Clarke Award]] for 1997.<ref>http://www.clarkeaward.com/index.php?view=article&catid=34%3APrevious+Winners&id=59%3A1997+Winner&option=com_content&Itemid=58</ref> ''Sea of Poppies'' is shortlisted for the 2008 Booker Prize<ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7606147.stm</ref>. Ghosh's fiction is characterised by strong themes that may be somewhat identified with [[postcolonialism]] but could be labelled as historical novels. His topics are unique and personal; some of his appeal lies in his ability to weave "[[Indian English literature|Indo-nostalgic]]" elements into more serious themes.
+From the Christian Fellowship Centre, Austin-Sparks and his co-workers also ran a publishing operation which printed a bi-monthly magazine, ''[[A Witness and a Testimony]]'' (published from 1923 until the death of Austin-Sparks in 1971), and books either written by Austin-Sparks or edited from transcripts of his recorded messages. On the first page of this magazine he had this statement:
-Ghosh has also written ''[[In an Antique Land]]'' (1992), ''[[Dancing in Cambodia, At Large in Burma]]'' (1998), ''[[Countdown (book)|Countdown]]'' (1999), and ''[[The Imam and the Indian]]'' (2002, a large collection of essays on different themes such as [[fundamentalism]], history of the [[novel]], [[Culture of Egypt|Egyptian culture]], and [[literature]]). In 2007, he was awarded the [[Padma Shri]] by the [[Government of India|Indian government]]. <ref>india.gov.in/hindi/myindia/Padma%20Awards.pdf</ref>
+"The object of the ministry of this little paper, issued bi-monthly, is to contribute to the Divine end which is presented in the words of Ephesians 4:13 - "...till we all attain unto the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge (literally - full knowledge) of the Son of God, unto a fullgrown man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: that we be no longer children... It is not connected with any 'Movement', 'Organization', 'Mission' or separate body of Christians, but is just a ministry to "all saints".  Its going forth is with the prayer and hope that it will so result in a fuller measure of Christ, a richer and higher level of spiritual life, that, while bringing the Church of God into a growing approximation to His revealed will as to its 'attainment', the Church may be better qualified to be used of Him in testimony in the nations, and to the completing of its own number by the salvation of those yet to be added by the Lord."
-==Awards==
-* The Circle of Reason won the Prix Medicis Etranger, one of France's top literary awards<ref>http://www.hindu.com/2008/05/24/stories/2008052461680200.htm</ref>
+Among the many books which he wrote, at least three are regarded as Christian classics: [http://www.austin-sparks.net/english/books/the_school_of_christ.html The School of Christ], [http://www.austin-sparks.net/english/books/the_centrality_and_supremacy_of_the_lord_jesus_christ.html The Centrality and Supremacy of the Lord Jesus Christ] and [http://www.austin-sparks.net/english/books/we_beheld_his_glory_volume_1.html We Beheld His Glory]. The golden chord which runs through Sparks' books is the exaltation of the Lord Jesus Christ.
-* The Shadow Lines won the Sahitya Akademi Award & the Ananda Puraskar<ref>http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/g/amitav-ghosh/</ref>
-* The Calcutta Chromosome won the Arthur C. Clarke Award for 1997<ref>http://www.clarkeaward.com/index.php?view=article&catid=34%3APrevious+Winners&id=59%3A1997+Winner&option=com_content&Itemid=58</ref>
+His speaking ministry took him around [[Europe]], [[North America]] and [[Asia]] holding major conferences in the [[United Kingdom]], [[United States]], [[Switzerland]], [[Taiwan]], the [[Philippines]] and elsewhere. Many of his spoken messages were recorded and a great number of audio tapes and books are available to this day. He was insistent that his writings and tapes should not be copyrighted and as a result they are still freely available today. In spite of not copyrighting his messages, he was particular about them being reproduced word for word as originally spoken or written by him. The largest collection of his writings and audio messages online are found at Austin-Sparks.Net.
-* The Glass Palace won the Grand Prize for Fiction at the Frankfurt International e-Book Awards in 2001<ref>http://www.hindu.com/2008/05/24/stories/2008052461680200.htm</ref>
-* The Hungry Tide won the Hutch Crossword Book Prize in 2006
+Mr Austin-Sparks' work at the Christian Fellowship Centre was international in scope, with the sole purpose of glorifying the Lord Jesus Christ.  Many who trained under his ministry became missionaries and Christian teachers. This enabled him to work closely with several well known Christian leaders in other countries, notably [[Bakht Singh]] of [[India]], [[Watchman Nee]] of China and [[Stephen Kaung]] of [[Richmond, Virginia]].
-* In 2007 Amitav Ghosh was awarded the Grinzane Cavour Prize in Turin, Italy<ref>http://www.amitavghosh.com/about/index.php</ref>
+T. Austin-Sparks died in 1971.  His wife, [[Florence Austin-Sparks|Florence]] died in 1986.
+==See also==
+*[[Honor Oak Christian Fellowship Centre|The Honor Oak Christian Fellowship & Conference Centre]]
+*[[Watchman Nee]]
 ==External links==
+*[http://www.austin-sparks.net The Online Library of T. Austin-Sparks]
-{{wikiquote}}
-*[http://www.amitavghosh.com/ Official website]
+*[http://www.refleks-publishing.com/Files/T.%20Austin-Sparks.pdf REFLEKS-Publishing]
-*[http://us.macmillan.com/seaofpoppies ''Sea of Poppies'' at Farrar, Straus and Giroux site]
-*[http://www.english.emory.edu/Bahri/Ghosh.html Amitav Ghosh in Emory University Site]
-*[http://www.du.edu/~bkiteley/ghoshtalk.html Trapped by Language: On Amitav Ghosh's In an Antique Land] - [[University of Denver]]
-*[http://www.ibnlive.com/videos/67363/06_2008/amitav_ghosh_1/reading-between-the-lines-with-author-amitav-ghosh.html  Interview with Amitav Ghosh on CNN-IBN/ibnlive.com on his book Sea of Poppies]
+{{Reli-bio-stub}}
-==References==
-{{reflist}}
-{{DEFAULTSORT:Ghosh, Amitav}}
+{{DEFAULTSORT:Austin-Sparks, T.}}
-[[Category:1956 births]]
+[[Category:1888 births]]
-[[Category:Living people]]
+[[Category:1971 deaths]]
-[[Category:Indian novelists]]
+[[Category:English Evangelicals]]
-[[Category:People from Kolkata]]
+[[Category:Christian religious leaders]]
-[[Category:Dosco]]
+[[Category:Christian writers]]
-[[Category:Bengali writers]]
-[[Category:Indian American writers]]
-[[Category:Padma Shri recipients]]
-[[Category:Sahitya Akademi Award recipients]]
-[[Category:Alumni of the University of Oxford]]
+[[pt:Theodore Austin-Sparks]]
-[[bn:অমিতাভ ঘোষ]]
-[[da:Amitav Ghosh]]
+[[zh:史百克]]
-[[de:Amitav Ghosh]]
-[[fr:Amitav Ghosh]]
-[[he:אמיטב גוש]]
-[[it:Amitav Ghosh]]
-[[mr:अमिताभ घोष]]
-[[nl:Amitav Ghosh]]
-[[sv:Amitav Ghosh]]