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Part of a series on Protestant missions in India

William Carey

Background Christianity Thomas the Apostle Pantaenus Protestantism Indian history Missions timeline Christianity in India Image File history File links Broom_icon. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 388 × 599 pixel Image in higher resolution (1128 × 1740 pixel, file size: 312 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) From William Carey: The Shoemaker Who Became the Founder of Modern Missions; John Brown Myers; London 1887 This image is in the public... William Carey (August 17, 1761 – June 9, 1834) was an English missionary and Baptist minister, known as the father of modern missions. ... Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations · Other religions Ecumenism · Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas · Luther Calvin · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Archbishop of Canterbury · Catholic Pope Coptic Pope · Ecumenical Patriarch Christianity Portal This box:      Christianity is... Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations · Other religions Ecumenism · Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas · Luther Calvin · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Archbishop of Canterbury · Catholic Pope Coptic Pope · Ecumenical Patriarch Christianity Portal This box:      St Thomas... Saint Pantaenus (d. ... Protestantism encompasses the forms of Christian faith and practice that originated with the doctrines of the Reformation. ... This is a timeline of Indian history. ... Timeline of the spread of the Christian Gospel c. ... Distribution of Christian population in different Indian states [1] Christianity is Indias third-largest religion, following Hinduism and Islam. ...

People Bartholomäus Ziegenbalg Joshua Marshman William Ward Alexander Duff Anthony Norris Groves Amy Carmichael E. Stanley Jones James Mills Thoburn The Scudders more missionaries Bartholomäus Ziegenbalg monument in Tranquebar, Tamil Nadu, South India Bartholomäus Ziegenbalg (July 10, 1682 - February 23, 1719) was a member of the Lutheran clergy and the first Protestant missionary to India. ... The Reverend Dr.Joshua Marshman was born in 1768 in Westbury Leigh, Wiltshire, England and died In Serampore India in 1837. ... William Ward (Born 1769 Died 1823) was a pioneer Baptist missionary, author, printer and translator. ... Dr. Alexander Duff, D. D. LLD. (1806-1878), was the founder of what is now known as Scottish Church College or the Scottish Church College, Calcutta. ... Anthony Norris Groves (February 1, 1795 - May 20, 1853), has been described as the father of faith missions. He launched the first Protestant mission to Arabic-speaking Muslims, and settled in Baghdad, now the capital of Iraq, and later in southern India. ... Amy Beatrice (a. ... E. Stanley Jones E. (Eli) Stanley Jones (1884-1973) was a 20th century Methodist Christian missionary and theologian. ... Bishop James M Thoburn James Mills Thoburn (March 7, 1836 - November 28, 1922) was a bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church best known for his missionary work in India. ... The Scudders in India devoted more than 1,100 combined years to Christian medical mission service in South India by 42 members of 4 generations of the family. ... This is an incomplete list, which may never be able to satisfy certain standards for completeness. ...

Works Serampore College Scottish Church College Wilson College Madras Christian College St. Stephen's College Serampore College is a Christian Seminary located in India. ... Scottish Church College at 175 The Scottish Church College, which is located at 1 & 3 Urquhart Square, Calcutta 700006 is the oldest continuing Missionary administered liberal arts and sciences academy in India. ... Wilson College is a degree college affiliated to the University of Mumbai in Mumbai. ... The Madras Christian College in Chennai, South India, is one of the oldest colleges of the Indian subcontinent and was established in 1837. ... For other St. ...

Missionary agencies London Missionary Society Church Missionary Society Baptist Missionary Society Scottish General Assembly American Board The London Missionary Society was a non-denominational missionary society formed in England in 1795 by evangelical Anglicans and Nonconformists, largely Congregationalist in outlook, with missions in the islands of the South Pacific and Africa. ... The Church Mission Society (formerly the Church Missionary Society) is a voluntary society working with the Anglican Church and other Protestant Christians around the world. ... The Baptist Missionary Society (from 2000 BMS World Mission) is a Christian missionary society founded by Baptists from England around 1792AD. The original name of the society was the Particular Baptist Society for the Propagation of the Gospel Amongst the Heathen. ... The 2004 Assembly with Dr Alison Elliot as Moderator The General Assembly of the Church of Scotland is the sovereign and highest court of the Church of Scotland, and is thus the Churchs governing body. ... Proposed in 1810 by recent graduates of Williams College and officially chartered in 1812, the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) was the first American Christian foreign mission agency. ...

Pivotal events Indian Rebellion of 1857 Indian Republic Interactions with Ayyavazhi Combatants Indian Patriots, Rebellious East India Company Sepoys, 7 Indian princely states, deposed rulers of Oudh and Jhansi, Indian civilians in some areas. ... For historical and other uses of India, see India (disambiguation). ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ...

Indian Protestants Bakht Singh Krishna Mohan Banerjee Michael Madhusudan Dutt Pandita Ramabai Sadhu Sundar Singh Jashwant Rao Chitambar Victor Premasagar K. David Mahakavi K.V. Simon P. C. John Ravi Zacharias Bakht Singh (1902-2000) was an Christian evangelist in India and other parts of South Asia. ... Krishna Mohan Banerjee (Bengali: ) (1813-1885) (also referred to as Rev. ... Michael Madhusudan Dutt (Datta), (Bengali: ) (1824-1873), born Madhusudan Dutt, is a famous 19th century Bengali poet and dramatist. ... Pandita Ramabai (23rd April 1858, Maharashtra- 5th April 1922) was an eminent social reformer and activist. ... Jashwant Rao Chitambar (5 September 1879-4 September 1940) was an Indian Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, elected in 1931. ... Rev. ... Rev. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... P. C. John was an evangelist and Bible teacher among the Syrian Christians and the Plymouth Brethren for 38 years. ... Ravi Zacharias (full name Frederick Antony Ravi Kumar Zacharias, born 1946) is an Indian-born, Canadian-American evangelical Christian philosopher, apologist and evangelist. ... This box: view • talk • edit

Sadhu Sundar Singh (September 3, 1889 Patiala State, India) was an Indian Christian missionary. He is believed to have died in the foothills of the Himalayas in 1929. is the 246th day of the year (247th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1889 (MDCCCLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Sunday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... The Nasrani Menorah, the symbol of the Syrian Malabar Nasrani Christian community in South India. ... For other uses, see Missionary (disambiguation). ... For the movie Himalaya, see Himalaya (film). ... Year 1929 (MCMXXIX) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Biography

Early years

Sundar Singh was born into an important landowning Sikh family in Patiala State in northern India. Sikhs, rejecting Hindu polytheism and Muslim intolerance in the sixteenth century, had become a vigorous nation with a religion of their own. Sundar Singh's mother took him week by week to sit at the feet of a Sadhu, an ascetic holy man, who lived in the jungle some miles away, but she also sent him to a Christian mission school where he could learn English. Religions Sikhism Scriptures Guru Granth Sahib Languages English, Punjabi] A Sikh (English: or ; Punjabi: , , IPA: ) is an adherent to Sikhism. ... Religions Sikhism Scriptures Guru Granth Sahib Languages English, Punjabi] A Sikh (English: or ; Punjabi: , , IPA: ) is an adherent to Sikhism. ... Bhavna says there are 300 million gods in Hinduism. ... There is also a collection of Hadith called Sahih Muslim A Muslim (Arabic: مسلم, Persian: Mosalman or Mosalmon Urdu: مسلمان, Turkish: Müslüman, Albanian: Mysliman, Bosnian: Musliman) is an adherent of the religion of Islam. ... In Hinduism, sadhu is a common term for an ascetic or practitioner of yoga (yogi) who has given up pursuit of the first three Hindu goals of life: kama (pleasure), artha (wealth and power) and even dharma (duty). ... For other uses, see Christian (disambiguation). ...

The death of Sundar Singh's mother, when he was fourteen, plunged him into violence and despair. He turned on the missionaries, persecuted their Christian converts, and ridiculed their faith. In final defiance of their religion, he bought a Bible and burned it page by page in his home compound while his friends watched. Three nights later he went to his room determined to commit suicide on a railway line. A missionary is a propagator of religion, often an evangelist or other representative of a religious community who works among those outside of that community. ... For other uses, see Christian (disambiguation). ... This Gutenberg Bible is displayed by the United States Library. ... For other uses, see Suicide (disambiguation). ...

Religious awakening

However, before dawn, he wakened his father to announce that he had seen Jesus Christ in a vision and heard his voice. Henceforth he would follow Christ forever, he declared. Still no more than fifteen, he was utterly committed to Christ and in the twenty-five years left to him would witness extensively for his Lord. The discipleship of the teenager was immediately tested as his father pleaded and demanded that he give up this absurd conversion. When he refused, Sher Singh gave a farewell feast for his son, then denounced him and expelled him from the family. Several hours later, Sundar realised that his food had been poisoned, and his life was saved only by the help of a nearby Christian community ^[1]. Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... For other uses, see Christian (disambiguation). ...

On his sixteenth birthday he was publicly baptised as a Christian in the parish church in Simla, a town high in the Himalayan foothills. For some time previously he had been staying at the Christian Leprosy Home at Sabathu, not far from Simla, serving the leprosy patients there. It was to remain one of his most beloved bases and he returned there after his baptism. For other uses, see Christian (disambiguation). ... , Shimla   (Hindi: िशमला, Urdu: شملہ), originally called Simla, is a city in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. ... For the malady found in the Hebrew Bible, see the article Tzaraath. ...

Life of servitude

Then, in October 1906, he set out from it in quite a new way. He walked onto the road, a tall, good-looking, vigorous teenager, wearing a yellow robe and turban. Everyone stared at him as he passed. The yellow robe was the "uniform" of a Hindu sadhu, traditionally an ascetic devoted to the gods, who either begged his way along the roads or sat, silent, remote, and often filthy, meditating in the jungle or some lonely place. The young Sundar Singh had also chosen the sadhu's way, but he would be a sadhu with a difference. This article is about headwear. ... Bhavna says there are 300 million gods in Hinduism. ... In Hinduism, sadhu is a common term for an ascetic or practitioner of yoga (yogi) who has given up pursuit of the first three Hindu goals of life: kama (pleasure), artha (wealth and power) and even dharma (duty). ... In Hinduism, sadhu is a common term for an ascetic or practitioner of yoga (yogi) who has given up pursuit of the first three Hindu goals of life: kama (pleasure), artha (wealth and power) and even dharma (duty). ... In Hinduism, sadhu is a common term for an ascetic or practitioner of yoga (yogi) who has given up pursuit of the first three Hindu goals of life: kama (pleasure), artha (wealth and power) and even dharma (duty). ...

"I am not worthy to follow in the steps of my Lord," he is recorded as saying, "but, like Him, I want no home, no possessions. Like Him I will belong to the road, sharing the suffering of my people, eating with those who will give me shelter, and telling all men of the love of God."

He at once put his vocation to the test by going back to his home village, Rampur, where he was shown an unexpectedly warm welcome. Rampur is a city located in the Northern part of Uttar Pradesh between Moradabad and Bareilly, not far from Delhi. ...

This was poor preparation for the months that were to follow. Scarcely tough enough to meet physical hardship, the sixteen-year-old sadhu went northward through the Punjab, over the Bannihal Pass into Kashmir, and then back through Muslim Afghanistan and into the brigand-infested North-West Frontier and Baluchistan. His thin, yellow robe gave him little protection against the snows, and his feet became torn from the rough tracks. Not many months had passed before the little Christian communities of the north were referring to him as "the apostle with the bleeding feet." This initiation showed him what he might expect in the future. He was stoned, arrested, visited by a shepherd who talked with strange intimacy about Jesus and then was gone, and left to sleep in a way-side hut with an unexpected cobra for company. Meetings with the mystical and the sharply material, persecution and welcome, would all characterize his experience in years ahead. From the villages in the Simla hills, the long line of the snow-clad Himalayas and the rosy peak of Nanga Parbat, rose in the distance. Beyond them lay Tibet, a Buddhist land that missionaries had long failed to penetrate with the gospel. Ever since his baptism Tibet had beckoned Sundar, and in 1908, at the age of nineteen, he crossed its frontiers for the first time. Any stranger entering into this closed territory reputedly risked both terror as well as death. Singh took the risk with his eyes, and his heart, wide open. The state of the people appalled him. Their airless homes, like themselves, were filthy. He himself was stoned as he bathed in cold water because they believed that "holy men never washed." Food was mostly unobtainable and he existed on hard, parched barley. Everywhere there was hostility. And this was only "lower Tibet" just across the border. Sundar went back to Sabathu determined to return the next year. This article is about the geographical region. ... Kashmir (or Cashmere) may refer to: Kashmir region, the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent India, Kashmir conflict, the territorial dispute between India, Pakistan, and the China over the Kashmir region. ... The Chief Commissioners Province of Baluchistan was a former province of Pakistan located in the northern parts of modern Balochistan province. ... For other uses, see Christian (disambiguation). ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... Egyptian Cobra, Naga haje This article is about snakes. ... For the movie Himalaya, see Himalaya (film). ... Nanga Parbat (also known as Nangaparbat Peak or Diamir) is the ninth highest mountain on Earth and the second highest in Pakistan-administered Kashmir. ... This article is about historical/cultural Tibet. ... A replica of an ancient statue found among the ruins of a temple at Sarnath Buddhism is a philosophy based on the teachings of the Buddha, Siddhārtha Gautama, a prince of the Shakyas, whose lifetime is traditionally given as 566 to 486 BCE. It had subsequently been accepted by... This article is about historical/cultural Tibet. ... Sabathu is a cantonment town in Solan district in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. ...

He had a great desire: to visit Palestine and re-live some of the happenings in Jesus' life. In 1908 he went to Bombay, hoping to board a convenient ship. But, to his intense disappointment, the government refused to give him a permit, and he had to return to the north. It was on this trip that he suddenly recognised a basic dilemma of the Christian mission to India. A brahmin had collapsed in the hot, crowded carriage and, at the next station, the Anglo-Indian stationmaster came rushing with a cup of water from the refreshment room. The brahmin -- a high-caste Hindu -- thrust it away in horror. He needed water, but he could only accept it in his own drinking vessel. When that was brought, he drank and was revived. In the same way, Sundar Singh realised, India would not widely accept the gospel of Jesus offered in Western guise. That, he recognised, was why many listeners had responded to him in his Indian sadhu's robe. This article is about the geographical area known as Palestine. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... This article or section should be merged with Mumbai Mumbai (previously known as Bombay) is the worlds most populous conurbation, and is the sixth most populous agglomeration in the world. ... For other uses, see Christian (disambiguation). ... Bhavna says there are 300 million gods in Hinduism. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ...

Formal Christian training

There was still sharper disillusionment to come. In December 1909 he began training for the Christian ministry at the Anglican college in Lahore. Some of Singh's biographers depict his experience at college as one of an unhappy misfit. He did not form relationships with fellow students, and only met them at meal times and designated prayer sessions. From the beginning he found himself being tormented by fellow students for being "different" and no doubt too self assured. Certainly he appeared to fellow students as very conspicuous. For other uses, see Christian (disambiguation). ... The term Anglican describes those people and churches following the religious traditions of the Church of England, especially following the Reformation. ...   (Urdu: لاہور, Punjabi: لہور, pronounced ) is the capital of the province of Punjab and is the second largest city in Pakistan after Karachi. ...

Although Singh had been baptized by an Anglican priest, he was ignorant of the ecclesisatical culture and conventions of Anglicanism. His inability to adapt to Anglican life hindered him from fitting in with the routines of academic study. Much in the college course seemed to Singh to be irrelevant to the gospel as India needed to hear it. After eight months in the college Singh decided to leave in July 1910.

It is sometimes asserted by his biographers that the cause of Singh's withdrawal from ministry training was due to remarks made by Bishop Lefroy about the requirements of an ordained Anglican priest. The strictures, as the biographers report it, is that Singh was told he must now discard his sadhu's robe and wear "respectable" European clerical dress; use formal Anglican worship; sing English hymns; and never preach outside his parish without special permission. Never again visit Tibet, he asked? That would be, to him, an unthinkable rejection of God's call. However, his biographers omit to state that the stipulations laid down by the Bishop were normative for all Anglican priests of that day in India. This article is about historical/cultural Tibet. ...

With deep sadness he left the college, still dressed in his yellow robe, and in 1912 began his annual trek into Tibet as the winter snows began to melt on the Himalayan tracks and passes. This article is about historical/cultural Tibet. ...

Helping others

Stories from those years are astonishing and sometimes incredible. Indeed there were those, who insisted that they were mystical rather than real happenings. That first year, 1912, he returned with an extraordinary account of finding a three-hundred-year old Christian hermit in a mountain cave-the Maharishi of Kailas, with whom he spent some weeks in deep fellowship. For other uses, see Christian (disambiguation). ...

According to Singh in a town called Rasar he had been thrown in a dry well full of bones and rotting flesh and left to die. However three days later a rope was thrown to him and he was rescued. The difficulty with this account is that Singh is the sole witness to report this event. As Singh has been represented by some biographers as a suffering preacher, it is worth recalling that the three days spent down the well bears resemblances to the gospel narratives concerning the death and three days of burial for the Christ before his resurrection from the dead. ^[2]

At these and at other times Singh was said to have been rescued by members of the "Sunnyasi Mission" -- secret disciples of Jesus wearing their Hindu markings, whom he claimed to have found all over India. Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... Bhavna says there are 300 million gods in Hinduism. ...

One of the difficulties with the evidence to support this story of the secret Sunnyasi Mission is that this brotherhood was reputed to have numbered around 24,000 members across India.^[3] The origins of this brotherhood were reputed to be linked to one of the Magi at Christ's Nativity and then the second century AD disciples of the apostle Thomas circulating in India. Nothing was heard of this evangelistic fellowship until after William Carey began his missionary work in Serampore. The Maharishi of Kailas experienced ecstatic visions about the secret fellowship that he retold to Sundar Singh, and Singh himself built his spiritual life around visions.^[4]

Whether he won many continuing disciples on these hazardous Tibetan treks is not known. Singh did not keep written records and he was unaccompanied by any other Christian disciples who might have witnessed the events.

Footsteps of Christ

As Sundar Singh moved through his twenties his ministry widened greatly, and long before he was thirty years old his name and picture were familiar all over the Christian world. He described in terms of a vision a struggle with Satan to retain his humility but he was, in fact, always human, approachable and humble, with a sense of fun and a love of nature. This, with his "illustrations" from ordinary life, gave his addresses great impact. Many people said, "He not only looks like Jesus, he talks like Jesus must have talked." Yet all his talks and his personal speech sprang out of profound early morning meditation, especially on the Gospels. In 1918 he made a long tour of South India and Ceylon, and the following year he was invited to Burma, Malaya, China, and Japan. For other uses, see Christian (disambiguation). ... This article is about the concept of Satan. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... For other senses of this word, see Meditation (disambiguation). ... Map of Peninsular Malaysia Peninsular Malaysia (Malay: Semenanjung Malaysia) is the part of Malaysia which lies on the Malay Peninsula, and shares a land border with Thailand in the north. ...

Some of the stories from these tours were as strange as any of his Tibetan adventures. He had Christ-given power over wild things, like the leopard which crept up to him while he stood praying and crouched as he fondled its head, and over evil, typified by the sorcerer who tried to hypnotise him in a railway-carriage and blamed the Bible in the sadhu's pocket for his failure. He claimed even to have power over disease and illness, though he never allowed his presumed healing gifts to be publicised. For other uses, see Leopard (disambiguation). ... This Gutenberg Bible is displayed by the United States Library. ...

Universalism

Sundar Singh was a Christian universalist; he believed that all people would, eventually, attain salvation. Writing in 1925 he argued: Origen, a 3rd century proponent of universal reconciliation In Christian theology, universal reconciliation or universal salvation, is the doctrine or belief that all will eventually find salvation and reconciliation with God. ...

If the Divine spark in the soul cannot be destroyed, then we need despair of no sinner... Since God created men to have fellowship with Himself, they cannot for ever be separated from Him... After long wandering, and by devious paths, sinful man will at last return to Him in whose Image he was created; for this is his final destiny.^[5]

In 1929, before his final mission, he was asked about the doctrine of eternal punishment by some theology students in Calcutta. He said that "There was punishment, but it was not eternal," and that "Everyone after this life would be given a fair chance of making good, and attaining to the measure of fullness the soul was capable of. This might sometimes take ages."^[5]

Travels abroad

For a long time Sundar Singh had wanted to visit Britain, and the opportunity came when his father, Sher Singh, came to tell him that he too had become a Christian and wished to give him the money for his fare to Britain. He visited the West twice, travelling to Britain, the United States, and Australia in 1920, and to Europe again in 1922. He was welcomed by Christians of many traditions, and his words searched the hearts of people who now faced the aftermath of World War I and who seemed to evidence a shallow attitude to life. Sundar was appalled by what he saw as the materialism, emptiness, and irreligion he found everywhere, contrasting it with Asia's awareness of God, no matter how limited that might be. Once back in India he continued his ministry, though it was clear that he was getting more physically frail. For other uses, see Christian (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Europe (disambiguation). ... “The Great War ” redirects here. ...

Final trip

In 1923 Sundar Singh made the last of his regular summer visits to Tibet and came back exhausted. His preaching days were obviously over and, in the next years, in his own home or those of his friends in the Simla hills he gave himself to meditation, fellowship, and writing some of the things he had lived to preach. This article is about historical/cultural Tibet. ...

In 1929, against all his friends' advice, Sundar determined to make one last journey to Tibet. In April he reached Kalka, a small town below Simla, a prematurely aged figure in his yellow robe among pilgrims and holy men who were beginning their own trek to one of Hinduism's holy places some miles away. Where he went after that is unknown. Whether he fell from a precipitous path, died of exhaustion, or reached the mountains, will remain a mystery. Sundar Singh had been seen for the last time. But more than his memory remains, and he has continued to be one of the most treasured and formative figures in the development and story of Christ's church in India. This article is about historical/cultural Tibet. ... Kalka is an important town in Panchkula district of Haryana, India. ... , Shimla   (Hindi: िशमला, Urdu: شملہ), originally called Simla, is a city in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. ...

Biographical controversy

There have been several biographies written about Sundar Singh, many of which emphasize his piety, humility and Christian witness. The late Eric J. Sharpe has surveyed the various biographical studies of Sundar Singh and discerned a number of significant discrepancies in chronological details, in the accounts of his Christian conversion, and the accounts of his travels to Tibet. Eric John Sharpe (September 19, 1933-October 19, 2000) was the founding Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Sydney, Australia. ...

Sharpe indicates that different portraits of Sundar Singh were constructed by writers in continental Europe, England and the United States of America. He argues that the different portraits disclose much about the way Westerners thought about India in the 1920s and 1930s. Sharpe remarks:

"When in the spring of 1920 an Oxford don and his young Indian tutee conceived the idea of writing a book about Sadhu Sundar Singh, it was in their minds to interpret him to the West in terms that the West could grasp and according to a scale of values that the West could affirm."^[6]

Sharpe also points to significant omissions of detail between the biographies of A.J. Appasamy, B.H. Streeter, Janet Lynch-Watson, Cyril J. Davey and Phyllis Thompson. Perhaps the most glaring differences concerns the influence of Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1782) and Swedenborgian writers on Sadhu Sundar Singh. Sharpe refers to correspondence between Singh and A.E. Penn who was the secretary of the Indian Swedenborgian society where Singh stated that he had contact with Swedenborg in the spirit world: Emanuel Swedenborg, 75, holding the manuscript of Apocalypsis Revelata (1766). ...

"I saw him several times some years ago, but I did not know his earthly name. His name in the spiritual world is quite different just according to his high position or office and most beautiful character."^[7]

Sharpe also refers back to Singh's endorsement of Swedenborg as recorded by Appasamy:

"Swedenborg was a great man, philosopher, scientist and, above all seer of clear visions. I often speak with him in my visions. He occupies a high place in the spiritual world ... Having read his books and having come into contact with him in the spiritual world, I can thoroughly recommend him as a great seer."^[8]

Sundar Singh's correspondence with the Swedish Lutheran bishop Nathan Soderblom in November 1928 further confirms that he claimed visionary contact with Swedenborg.

For western evangelical Christians, Swedenborg has long been regarded as an unorthodox teacher. Some, such as the Christian apologist Walter Martin, have classified Swedenborg and his followers among the cults.^[9] In light of the evangelical rejection of Swedenborg's theology, the omission of Sundar Singh's endorsement of Swedenborg's teachings from evangelical biographies is very significant. The difficulty for evangelicals is compounded by Singh's confirmation of contact with Swedenborg in the spirit world. This visionary form of contact with an unorthodox deceased teacher clashes with the portraits of piety drawn by later evangelical biographers such as Cyril Davey and Phyllis Thompson. Dr. Walter Ralston Martin (September 10, 1928 – June 26, 1989), was an American Evangelical minister, author, and Christian apologist who founded the Christian Research Institute in 1960 as a para-church ministry specialising as a clearing-house of information in both general Christian apologetics and in countercult apologetics. ... This article does not discuss cult in its original meaning. ...

The results of Sharpe's survey of the various biographies, articles published in Indian and European periodicals, and the extant correspondence of Sundar Singh's, discloses a complex web of western images that portray Singh in contradictory ways: evangelical missionary, ecstatic visionary, and ascetic pilgrim. Sharpe pleaded:

"It is time to rescue his memory from oblivion on the one hand and romantic adulation on the other, to protect him from a few of his patrons, and give him his rightful place among those of whom he himself wrote."^[10]

As a Christian witness he had been rejected as well as welcomed, persecuted, and even left for dead. By many missionaries and even Indian Christian leaders he had been regarded as a highly eccentric convert, totally out of step with contemporary Christianity as he wandered the roads in his yellow robe and turban. Some of his biographers estimate that, even though he never heard the later vogue-word "indigenisation," he had done more than any man in the first half of the twentieth century to establish that "Jesus belongs to India." He made it clear that Christianity is not an imported, alien, foreign religion but is indigenous to Indian needs, aspirations, and faith. He remains one of the permanently significant figures of Indian Christianity.

Timeline

• 1889 - Born at Rampur, Punjab
• 1903 - Conversion
• 1904 - Cast out from home
• 1905 - Baptised in Simla; begins life as a sadhu
• 1907 - Works in leprosy hospital at Sabathu
• 1908 - First visit to Tibet
• 1909 - Enters divinity college, Lahore, to train for the ministry
• 1911 - Hands back his preacher's license; returns to the sadhu's life
• 1912 - Tours through north India and the Buddhist states of the Himalayas
• 1918 to 1922 - Travels worldwide
• 1923 - Turned back from Tibet
• 1925 to 1927 - Quietly spends time writing
• 1927 - Sets out for Tibet but returns due to illness
• 1929 - Attempts to reach Tibet and disappears

1972 - Sadhu Sunder Singh Evangelical Association formed.

Footnotes

1. ^ Mrs. Arthur Parker, Sadhu Sundar Singh: Called of God,(London: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1920) p. 28-29.
2. ^ Parker, Mrs. Arthur, Sadhu Sundar Singh: Called of God (London: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1920), p. 64-65
3. ^ Eric J. Sharpe, The Riddle of Sadhu Sundar Singh (New Delhi: Intercultural Publications, 2004 ISBN 81-85574-60-X), p.64.
4. ^ Sharpe, Riddle of Sadhu Sundar Singh, p. 65.
5. ^ ^{a b} Sadhu Sundar Singh at Tentmaker.org. Accessed July 13, 2007
6. ^ Sharpe, Riddle of Sadhu Sundar Singh p. 91.
7. ^ Sharpe, Riddle of Sadhu Sundar Singh, p. 152.
8. ^ Sharpe, Riddle of Sadhu Sundar Singh, p. 153.
9. ^ Walter R. Martin, The Kingdom of the Cults (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1965), pp. 241-251.
10. ^ Sharpe, Riddle of Sadhu Sundar Singh, p. 179.

is the 194th day of the year (195th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ...

Further reading

• Paul Gaebler: Sadhu Sundar Singh, Leipzig 1937 (German).
• Appasamy, A. J. Sundar Singh. Cambridge: Lutterworth, 1958.
• Benge, Janet & Geoff Sundar Singh: Footprints Over the Mountains
• Davey, Cyril J. The Story of Sadhu Sundar Singh (Chicago: Moody Press, 1963); reprinted as Sadhu Sundar Singh (Bromley: STL Books, 1980).
• Francis, Dayanandan, ed. The Christian Witness of Sadhu Sundar Singh. Alresford: Christian Literature Crusade, 1989.
• Streeter, Burnett and A. J. Appasamy. The Sadhu: a Study in Mysticism and Practical Religion. London: Macmillan, 1923.
• Thompson, Phyllis, Sadhu Sundar Singh (Carlisle: Operation Mobilisation, 1992).
• Watson, Janet Lynn. The Saffron Robe. London: Hodder and Stoughton,1975.
• In Australia KOORONG Books do an excellent little paperback called "Sadhu Sundar Singh"
• Woodbridge, John. More Than Conquerors. Australia, 1992.
• Benge, Geoff and Janet. "Sundar Singh: Footprints Over the Mountains" (Christian Heroes: Then and Now Series)
  • Much of the above detail was provided by this very well researched and illustrated book. It features lots of inspiring biographies. Thanks to the publishers & authors of this excellent volume!

Articles by Sadhu Sundar Singh on http://www.plough.com/ebooks/pdfs/WisdomSadhu.pdf