If I had a son, I would have named
him Adoniram. Thankfully, at least for my mum, she didn’t have to figure out
how to call her grandson. Although the name of her second granddaughter,
Theophilia is equally challenging, she just called her Mei Mei as she was the
younger sister to my elder daughter.
Adoniram Judson is my hero. American
pioneer missionary. The apostle to Burma. One can safely say that the church in
Burma was established due to his labour. Like the other famous missionary,
William Carey, Judson was also a first class linguist. His translation of the
Burmese Bible is still in use today. In the 1950s, when there was a discussion on
the possible need for a new colloquial translation of the Bible, U Nu, the
Buddhist prime minister then, declared, “Oh no, a new translation is not
necessary. Judson captures the language and idiom of Burmese perfectly and is
very clear and understandable.” After much consultation, the Christians agreed
and Judson’s version remains the most popular version till this day.
Furthermore, every dictionary and grammar written in Burma in the last two
centuries have been based on the ones that Judson originally created.
Judson was born in 1788 into a
Christian family. His father was a pastor. However, he became wayward during
his teenage years until one night while staying in an inn, he overheard the
dying groans of a man next room. The next morning, he discovered the man had
died and he was none other than his college friend who led him to reject the
faith of his father. It shook him to the core to consider the fate of his unrepentant
friend. Within a year after much reflection,
he formally confessed his faith and joined his father’s church. Not too long
afterwards, he resolved to be a missionary setting aside his earlier ambition
to make it in the literary or political arena.
I’m always fascinated by the letter
he wrote to his future father-in-law asking for his daughter’s hand in marriage.
No one in his right mind would have written such a letter. But it just shows how
realistic he was on the prospect of a missionary career and his devotion to his
task no matter the cost. It is worth quoting it in full here.
“I have now to ask, whether you
can consent to part with your daughter early next spring, to see her no more in
this world; whether you can consent to her departure for a heathen land, and
her subjection to hardships and sufferings of a missionary life; whether you
can consent to her exposure to the dangers of the ocean; to the fatal influence
of the southern climate of India; to every want and distress; to degradation,
insult, persecution, and perhaps violent death. Can you consent to all this,
for the sake of him who left his heavenly home, and died for her and for you;
for the sake of perishing immortal souls; for the sake of Zion, and the glory
of God? Can you consent to all this, in hope of soon meeting your daughter in
the world of glory, with crown of righteousness, brightened by the acclamations
of praise which shall redound to her Saviour from the heathens saved, through
her means, from eternal woe and despair?”
Any father who can consent to the
above must be equally mad! Providentially, he left the decision to his daughter,
Ann. Ann proved to be a great help mate to Judson and many agree that without
her intervention during Judson’s imprisonment later in Burma (being American
but white he was caught in the middle of the British-Burmese War at that time),
he wouldn’t have survived the ordeal in Burma’s notorious prison. While
pregnant with their third child (the first died stillborn while at sea, the
second died when he was seven months old and this one would also die six months after the death of
her mother), Ann would bring food and clothing to the prison and bribed the
guards to make life a little better for the prisoners. All the hardships proved
too much for Ann who died shortly after Judson was released from the prison.
After Ann’s death Judson went through
a period of deep depression. He wrote, “There lies, enclosed in the coffin, the
form of her I so much loved – the wife of my youth, the source and centre of my
domestic happiness. Her death deprived me of the one of the first women, the
best of wives.” He was to marry another two times in succession. Both were
equally capable women who greatly helped Judson in his ministry.
To read some of the current writings
produced by Asian and African missiologists, it would seem that the white men
can do not right. No doubt, the missionary enterprise during the 18th
and 19th centuries seem to co-exist with colonialism and in fact, may
have taken advantage of the western military power. Many missionaries may have
intentionally or unintentionally taken a condescending posture when dealing
with the locals. But many also have made great sacrifices to bring the gospel
to those who have never heard it before. They leave their country’s shores
knowing that it may be the last time they were seeing their families and
friends. Wives, husbands and children die young in a foreign land and sometimes
under violent circumstances. We are indebted to them whatever their faults may
be.
By today’s standards of the mega-churches,
many of them would have been considered failures. Judson baptised his first
convert after labouring for six years. Even at his death there were only a
handful of Burmese believers, though there were greater success with the tribal
people e.g. the Karens.
Another interesting point to note
was in 1823, Brown University granted Adoniram Judson the honorary degree of “Doctor
of Divinity”. Judson was in Burma at the time and so was unaware of his new
title. Five years later, however, he declined the honour: “I beg to be allowed the
privilege of requesting my correspondents and friends through the medium of
your magazine, no longer to apply to my name the title which was conferred on
me in 1823 by the corporation of Brown University, and which, with all
deference and respect, I hereby resign… I am now convinced that the commands of
Christ and the general spirit of the gospel are paramount to all prudential
considerations.” How different is Judson’s spirituality compared to some
Christian leaders nowadays who chase after titles and who even go to the extent
of misleading people into thinking they have an “earned degree” instead of an “honorary
degree”.
This short article cannot do
justice to Adoniram Judson. If you are interested to find out more here are my
suggested readings.
For a good biography, read Courtney
Anderson’s “To The Golden Shore”. To read about Judson’s spirituality go
to Evan Burn’s “The Supreme Desire to Please Him”. Sharon James’ book on
Judson’s wife, Ann (from where Judson’s letter to his future father-in-law is
found) is worth reading. It contains selections from Ann’s memoir and letters (My
Heart In His Hands: Ann Judson of Burma). The Christian History &
Biography magazine Issue 90 (Spring 2006) has a good write up on this
pioneer missionary couple.
