Henry Martyn

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Henry Martyn

Henry Martyn (born February 18, 1781 in Truro , † October 16, 1812 in Tokat ) was an Anglican priest and missionary in British India and Persia . He was born in Truro , Cornwall and trained at Truro Grammar School and St John's College, Cambridge . A chance encounter with Charles Simeon led him to become a missionary. He was ordained a priest in the Church of England and sent as a chaplain for the British East India Company .

Martyn arrived in India in April 1806. He preached and occupied himself with studying languages. He translated the entire New Testament into Urdu , Persian, and Judaeo-Persian. He also translated the Psalms into Persian and the Book of Common Prayer into Urdu. From India he went to Bushire , Shiraz , Isfahan and Tabriz .

On his way he was caught in a fever and had to stay in Tokat , even though the plague was rampant there. He died on October 16, 1812. It was through this courage, selflessness and his religious passion that he became famous. In parts of the Anglican community , he is remembered on October 19th on a memorial day .

youth

Martyn was born in Truro as the son of Captain (= mine agent) John Martyn. As a child he received his first training at the Truro Grammar School under Dr. Cardew and in 1797 she continued at St John's College (Cambridge) , where he made it to Senior Wrangler , d. that is, he got the best grades and was awarded the Smith Prize in 1801. In 1802 he became a fellow at his college.

Originally he wanted to become a lawyer. But after happening to hear a lecture by Charles Simeon in October 1802, who spoke about the benefits of a single missionary, William Carey , in India , and some time later the biography of David Brainerd , a missionary to the indigenous people After reading the peoples of America, he decided to become a missionary himself. He was ordained a deacon in Ely on October 22, 1803, and later a priest. He served as Simeon's curate at Holy Trinity Church , Cambridge. His pastoral care district was the Parish Lolworth .

Start of missionary service

Martyn aspired to serve the Church Missionary Society when a financial crisis in Cornwall destroyed fortunes that had been inherited from his father and his unmarried sister. Now, needing an income to support his sister and himself, he accepted a chaplaincy with the British East India Company and set out for India on July 5, 1805. During the trip he witnessed the Battle of Blaauwberg and the capture of the Cap Colony on January 8, 1806. He helped wounded soldiers and was shocked by the horrors of the war. In doing so, he developed the conviction that it was Britain's task to convert the world and not to colonize it. In his diary he wrote:

“I prayed that… England whilst she sent the thunder of her arms to distant regions of the globe, might not remain proud and ungodly at home; but might show herself great indeed, by sending forth the ministers of her church to diffuse the gospel of peace. "

“I prayed that England would not remain proud and ungodly at home while sending the thunder of their weapons to distant parts of the world; on the other hand, may she show her greatness by sending out the servants of her church to spread the gospel of peace. "

But his frequent sermons for the soldiers went unheard.

India

Martyn reached India in April 1806 and stayed for a few months in Aldeen, near Serampore . In October 1806 he went to Danapur , where he soon began to hold services in the colloquial language of the locals and set up schools. In April 1809 he was transferred to Kanpur , where he preached in his own home for British employees and Indians, despite threats from local non-Christians.

He threw himself into linguistic studies. Since his stay in Danapur, he has been working on a revision of his translation of the New Testament into Hindustani . He also translated the entire New Testament into Urdu and twice into Persian . This was followed by the translation of the Psalms into Persian, the Gospels into Judaeo-Persian, and the Book of Common Prayer into Urdu, despite poor health and "the pride, pedantry and anger of his main language teacher Sabat." Then he received permission to to travel to Persia and improve his Persian New Testament. His doctors instructed him to make the trip by ship. From there he wanted to move on to Arabia to prepare an Arabic version of the New Testament. On October 1, 1810, he left Cawnpore, where a church had been opened the previous day to fulfill his work, and went to Calcutta. From there he sailed for Bombay on January 7th . The ship reached port on its thirtieth birthday.

Last journey and death

From Bombay he went to Bushire . He had letters of recommendation from Sir John Malcolm , the then British diplomat in Persia. After a grueling trip from the coast to Shiraz , he soon became embroiled in discussions with scholars of all kinds (Sufi, Muslims, Jews, Jewish Muslims, and Armenians), all of whom were competing to test their strengths against the first English priest to ever become had visited. He then traveled on to Tabriz , where he tried to present his translation of the New Testament to the Shah . Even if Sir Gore Ouseley , the British envoy to the Shah, could not arrange a meeting, he at least handed over the manuscript and although Martyn was unable to deliver the Bible translation personally, he received a letter of thanks from the Shah:

"In truth (said the royal letter of thanks to the ambassador) through the learned and unremitted exertions of the Reverend Henry Martyn it has been translated in a style most befitting sacred books, that is in an easy and simple diction ... The whole of the New Testament is completed in a most excellent manner, a source of pleasure to our enlightened and august mind. "

“In truth, through the learned and relentless endeavors of the Reverend Henry Martyn, it has been translated in a style very suitable for sacred books because it is written in easy and simple diction… The whole of the New Testament is made up in an outstanding manner , a source of joy for our enlightened and exalted minds. "

At that time he was gripped by a fever again and after a brief improvement in his health, he had to consider a change of climate again. He made his way to Constantinople , from where he wanted to travel on to England in order to regain his strength and to find help for his work in India. On September 12, 1812, he set out with two Armenian servants and crossed the Macaws . Their Tatar leader forcibly drove them from place to place, from Tabriz to Yerevan , from there to Kars and on to Erzurum . They also left Erzurum, although it was known that the plague was raging in the next destination, Tokat . Martyn had to stop there. He was unable to go any further. His last entry in his diary is from October 6th:

"Oh! when shall time give place to eternity? When shall appear that new heaven and new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness? There, there shall in no wise enter in any thing that defileth: none of that wickedness which has made men worse than wild beasts, none of those corruptions which add still more to the miseries of mortality, shall be seen or heard of any more. "

"O! When will time give way to eternity? When will the new heaven and the new earth appear, where righteousness dwells? There, there in no way will anything go in that is unclean: none of those wickednesses that have made humans worse than wild animals; none of these depravities, which add even more to the sufferings of mortality, are ever seen or heard there. "

He died on October 16, 1812 and was buried in a Christian style by an Armenian clergyman.

A quote that is characteristic of him is his resolution: Let me burn out for God ("Let me burn out for God").

legacy

His dedication to his task won much admiration in Great Britain and he became the hero of various popular publications. Thomas Macaulay's 1813 epitaph is testimony to the impression Martyn made:

Epitaph on Henry Martyn

Here Martyn lies. In Manhood's early bloom
The Christian Hero finds a Pagan tomb.
Religion, sorrowing o'er her favorite son,
Points to the glorious trophies that he won.
Eternal trophies! not with carnage red,
not stained with tears by hapless captives shed,
but trophies of the cross! for that dear name,
Through every form of danger, death, and shame,
Onward he journeyed to a happier shore,
Where danger, death, and shame assault no more.

Epitaph for Henry Martyn

Here lies Martyn. In the prime of the male years,
the Christian hero finds a pagan grave.
Religion that mourns its most beloved son, points
to the glorious awards he won.
Eternal trophies! Not with bloody red,
Not polluted by the tears of unhappy prisoners,
But trophies from the cross! For that dear name
Through every form of danger, death and shame, He
traveled on to a happier coast,
Where danger, death and shame no longer strike.

An institution in Hyderabad, India, was established in his name: the Henry Martyn Institute , an interfaith center for reconciliation and research. John McManners wrote in his Oxford Illustrated History of Christianity that Martyn was a man who is remembered for his courage, selflessness, and religious devotion. In parts of the Anglican Communion , it is celebrated with a Lesser Festival on October 19th.

The Henry Marty Trust in Cambridge dates back to 1897 when great enthusiasm for overseas mission was fashionable in Cambridge. At that time, a call was launched to establish a Proposed Missionary Library for Cambridge University to be housed in the Henry Martyn Hall , which had been built ten years earlier.

The Henry Martyn Library was opened in 1898 and remained there as a small collection of missionary biographies and other books until 1995. The further development into the Henry Marty Center began in 1992 when Graham Kings (* 1953), Bishop of Sherborne, was the first lecturer of the Henry Martyn Lectures in Missiology from the Cambridge Theological Federation .

In 1999 the center became an Associate Institute of the Cambridge Theological Federation . Today the center seeks to support missiology and study by the worldwide Church.

literature

  • David Bentley-Taylor: My Love Must Wait. The Story of Henry Martyn. IVP, Downers Grove 1975.
  • Kellsye M. Finnie: Beyond the Minarets. A Biography of Henry Martyn. STL Books, Bromley 1988.
  • BV Henry: Forsaking All for Christ. A Biography of Henry Martyn. Chapter Two, London 2003.
  • Peter Isaac: A history of Evangelical Christianity in Cornwall. Self-published, Polperro (Cornwall) 1999 (with a chapter on Martyn).
  • Constance Padwick: Henry Martyn: Confessor of the Faith. Inter-Varsity Fellowship, London 1953.
  • Jesse Page: Henry Martyn, His Life and Labor: Cambridge - India - Persia. SW Partridge & Co., London around 1890.
  • Karl W. Rennstich:  Martyn, Henry. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 5, Bautz, Herzberg 1993, ISBN 3-88309-043-3 , Sp. 955-957.  ( Article / beginning of article in Internet archive )
  • John Sargent: Memoir of the Rev. Henry Martyn BD Hatchard, London 1816 (1820 edition: books.google.com , 1844 edition books.google.com ).
  • George Smith: Henry Martyn, Saint and Scholar. Religious Tract Society, London 1892 ( books.google.com ).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Martyn, Henry . In: John Archibald Venn (Ed.): Alumni Cantabrigienses . A Biographical List of All Known Students, Graduates and Holders of Office at the University of Cambridge, from the Earliest Times to 1900. Part 2: From 1752 to 1900 , Volume 4 : Kahlenberg – Oyler . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1951, pp. 347 ( venn.lib.cam.ac.uk Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g F. L. Cross, EA Livingstone (ed.): The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church . 3. Edition. Oxford University Press, 1997, ISBN 0-19-211655-X , pp. 1046 .
  3. ↑ a b c Martyn, Henry . In: Sidney Lee (Ed.): Dictionary of National Biography. Volume 36. Smith, Elder & Co., London 1893, pp. 315-317.
  4. ^ A b John McManners: Oxford Illustrated History of Christianity. Oxford University Press, 1990, ISBN 0-19-822928-3 , p. 457.
  5. ↑ a b Samuel Wilberforce (Ed.): Journal and Letters of the Rev. Henry Martyn BD Seeley and Burnside, London 1837.
  6. ↑ the pride, pedantry and fury of his chief Munshi Sabat.
  7. ^ Hugh Chisholm (Ed.): Encyclopædia Britannica . 11th edition. Cambridge University Press .
  8. ↑ Constance Padwick: Henry Martyn, Confessor of the Faith. Inter-Varsity Fellowship, London 1953.
  9. ↑ www.hmiindia.org
  10. ↑ martynmission.cam.ac.uk
  11. ↑ theofed.cam.ac.uk
personal data
SURNAME Martyn, Henry
ALTERNATIVE NAMES هانری مارتین (Farsi)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British Anglican missionary, translator
DATE OF BIRTH February 18, 1781
PLACE OF BIRTH Truro
DATE OF DEATH October 16, 1812
Place of death Tokat