Henry Martyn

Life

Martyn was born in 1781 in Truro, Cornwall, England. He studied at Truro Grammar School and at St John's College, Cambridge, where he reportedly excelled in mathematics. His meeting with Charles Simeon at university prompted his interest in missionary work. After becoming a priest in the Church of England, he served as Simeon's curate at Holy Trinity Church, Cambridge. He is also said to have been deeply moved by reading the diary of David Brainerd, a missionary to Native Americans in North America.

After losing his inherited family fortune, Martyn had to support his sister. He therefore accepted a post as chaplain (a clergyman ministering to soldiers and company employees) with the British East India Company, which paid more than a missionary's stipend, and went to India. During several years of work there, his health deteriorated severely. He decided to return home by way of the dry climates of Arabia and Persia (present-day Iran), intending also to have his Arabic and Persian translations checked locally. Stricken with a high fever on the journey, he died at Tokat on October 16, 1812, at the age of thirty-one, and was buried there. He never married.

Ministry and Achievements

• Bible translation: During roughly six years in India, he translated the New Testament into Urdu (Hindustani), Persian, and Arabic.
• Mission to Muslims: He is often called "the Protestant pioneer missionary to Muslims." He influenced the conversion to Christianity of Sheikh Salih (later Abdul Masih), who became the first Indian convert from Islam to be ordained in the Anglican Church.
• Chaplaincy: He visited hospitals and conducted funerals for British soldiers. He also fitted out a large room in his quarters as a place of worship.
• Journals: After his death, his journals and a biography were published. They were read by generations of prospective missionaries in the English-speaking world.

Influence on the Korean Church

Because Martyn died more than seventy years before Protestant missions in Korea began, he had no direct connection with Korea. He became known to the Korean church mainly through translations of his biography and journals. The Life and Journals of Henry Martyn appeared in the "World Christian Classics" series, and Richard France's biography was published by CH Books in a translation by Kim Ki-chan. These works present him as a model of devotion and prayer, and he is sometimes called "a second David Brainerd."

Assessment

The Anglican Communion commemorates him on October 19. In the Protestant evangelical tradition, he is highly regarded as a man who devoted his academic gifts to missions and Bible translation. Although he personally won only a few converts during his lifetime, his translations and journals are considered to have had a greater influence on later generations.

However, he was a chaplain employed by the East India Company, an instrument of colonial rule. This status should therefore be taken into account when examining the relationship between colonialism and missions.