Adoniram Judson

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Adoniram Judson

Adoniram Judson (* 9. August 1788 in Malden , Massachusetts ; † 12. April 1850 at sea) was a Protestant American missionary Baptist.

Life

Adoniram Judson was born on August 9, 1788 in Malden, Middlesex Country, Massachusetts, to a  Congregational  minister. Judson studied at  Brown University , where he got on the wrong track and made bad friends. Afterwards he studied at the  Andover Theological Seminary . In 1808 he gave his life to God and made himself available to him. He graduated in 1810 and was called by the  American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions  as one of the first missionaries to serve in southern Asia. He then met Ann Hasseltine , became engaged to her and married her on February 5, 1812.

The crossing to  India took place in 1812. Luther Rice and Samuel and Harriet Newell were with them. On the drive, however, Judson and his wife Ann (often just called Nancy) turned to Baptism after long discussions and prayers   and were  baptized by Baptist missionary William Carey upon their arrival . Under pressure from the  East India Company  , they had to leave India and move to  Burma  .

Judson already knew Latin, Greek and Hebrew, and so he began to learn the Burmese language and grammar. He put twelve hours a day into this job, but it took three years before he could speak it fluently. Four years passed before Judson was able to speak about God in front of an audience of about 15 people. He watched the Buddhist teachers and noticed that they were all wearing yellow robes. Since he wanted to be recognized as a religion teacher, he dressed in the same way, but shortly afterwards he changed the color to white because he did not want to look exactly like a Buddhist teacher. He built a zayat close to the street in order to be able to teach and also to be able to speak to people on the street.

His first meeting was in April 1819. A first converted person joined in the same year, and by 1822 there were already 22 believers who had been baptized. During this time Adoniram also created a Burmese  dictionary  and translated the Bible  into Burmese by 1834  . In Burma they had a son named Roger William, and while Adoniram was innocently in prison, they also had a daughter named Maria. But both children died at an early age. After his release from prison, however, he received a letter with a black border informing him that his wife had also died on October 24, 1826 in Amerst (today: Kyaikkami), Burma. Her death was favored because she was alone and lonely for 21 months, which must have included a lot of stress and pain.

Seven and a half years later, in April 1834, he married Sarah Bordman Hall. She was a strong and courageous woman who always supported him. But she died on September 1, 1845 on the way to St. Helena.

When he arrived in the United States, he met Emily Chubbuk (born August 23, 1817 in Eaton, New York) in December 1845. He asked her to write a biography of Sarah Hall Bordman. On June 2, 1846, Adoniram and Emily married and drove back to Burma so he could continue working on the Burmese dictionary and finish it in 1849. They had two more children, Abbey Ann and Charles.

On April 12, 1850, Adoniram Judson died on a sea voyage. In total, he spent 37 years as a missionary overseas and made only one trip to his native America.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Gerald H. Anderson: Judson, Adoniram (1788-1850), Pioneer American Baptist missionary in Burma , Boston University website, English text from 1998
  2. ^ Robert I. Bradshaw: The Life and Work of Adoniram Judson, Missionary To Burma , Website theologicalstudies (English)
personal data
SURNAME Judson, Adoniram
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American Baptist missionary and Bible translator
DATE OF BIRTH August 9, 1788
PLACE OF BIRTH Malden, Massachusetts
DATE OF DEATH April 12, 1850
Place of death at sea