I have up till now largely regarded the social reforms of the 19th century in India (eg the abolition of sati) an aspect of Empire rule and as such commendable but not perhaps something to trumpet too loudly.
What I am now realising through Stephen Neill's history, is just how much of it was driven by Christian conviction and faith. In ruling, toleration of different faiths, but in those matters which inform conscience and drive bottom line issues of right and wrong, Christian faith had a very large influence.
However, the modern missionary movement in India was closely related to British rule, in the form of the East India Company. It is interesting that the developing Protestant church does not seem to have suffered from this association in the early part of the nineteenth century at least. Was the sense of Christian faith being indigenous (the Thomas Church) a factor in this?
The meeting of faiths is of especial interest, with it's parallels to the UK today.
In my reading today, good to come across some old acquaintances, friends almost as I explore new things: Charles Simeon of Cambridge, in one sense almost a founding father of Anglican evangelicalism whose sermons I studied at theological College, and Henry Martyn, the Bible translator of the early 19th century, a friend of Simeon.
Interlocking branches, a bit like this tree:
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