William Chalmers Burns

William Chalmers Burns

William Chalmers Burns (born April 1, 1815 in Dunnichen , † April 4, 1868 in Yingkou ) was a missionary of Scottish descent . He came from a well-off family home. His father was a pastor. William Burns became known because he worked in China just like Karl Gützlaff and later James Hudson Taylor in Chinese clothing. He had come to believe at the age of 17. Then he began a theological training. He had an experience at one meeting where he concluded that God had specifically called him to his ministry.

In 1839, at the age of 24, he received a license to preach in the Church of Scotland . He and the preacher Robert Murray M'Cheyne had real revival meetings here in Scotland . He was one of the tools that created the Kilsyth revival .

In 1847 he traveled to China. He used the long voyage to learn the Chinese language. It was here that his successful missionary service began.

In 1855 he met James Hudson Taylor and worked with him for a while. Both had the courage to venture into the interior of China. Taylor viewed Burns as one of his spiritual fathers who shaped him for missionary work. Burns preached in China for 20 years and went to prisons, etc. At the age of fifty-three he died after a brief illness.

literature

• Islay Burns: Memoir of the Rev. Wm. C. Burns, MA: missionary to China from the English Presbyterian Church . 1870. (Reprint: San Francisco: Chinese Materials Center, 1975)
• Agnes HL Clarke: China's man of the Book. The story of William Chalmers Burns, 1815-1868 . London: Overseas Missionary Fellowship, 1968.
• Timothy Tow: William C Burns: Grandfather of Bible-Presbyterians . Singapore: Christian Life Publishers, 1994. ISBN 9971-9913-4-9 .
• Howard and Geraldine Taylor: Hudson Taylor. A man who trusted God . Brunnenverlag Gießen, Überseeische Missionsgemeinschaft, Zurich 1969; last: 9th edition, Brunnen-Verlag, Gießen and Basel 1996, ISBN 3-7655-1521-3 .

Web links

• Short biography on www.watchword.org
• Short biography