About the writer
The Reverend Khup Za Go, M.A., M.Th., had a number of books published both in Tedim
Chin and English to his credit, namely,
Tedim Lai Siangtho Hong Piankhiatna, Tedim Pau leh Lai Khantoh Thu, Zo Minam Tawh Kisai Thu,
Lai Zat Tangzang, Khristian Khutzat, Leivui Panin, Christianity in Chinland, A
Critical Historical Study of Bible Translations among the Zo People in North
East India, Zo Chronicles, etc. This paper was prepared back in 1993 while
doing his theological study at the UTC, Bangalore.
I. Introduction of the Land and the People
The Union of Burma, officially known as Pyingdaungsu
Myanma Naingandaw, with an area of 676,577 square kilometres, is the largest
country in the Southeast Asia. The population of Burma in 1992 is 43,466,000. (1)
Burma shares long borders on the east with Thailand, on the northeast with
China, and the northwest with India as well as shorter borders with Laos and
Bangladesh on the east and the west.
Politically the country is divided into seven divisions, namely, Irrawaddy,
Magwe, Mandalay, Pagu, Sagaing, Tenasserim and Rangoon, and seven states of Arakan,
Chin, Kachin, Karen, Kayah, Mon, and Shan. Rangoon is the capital of the
country since British days. Burmese (2)
is the official language of the country and also the medium of instruction in
schools and colleges. Besides, there are several languages and dialects spoken
in different regions and states of the country.
Religiously Burma, famous as the land of Pagodas, is
the Buddhist country since the 9thcentury of Christian era. As such Buddhism exerted great influence on
the development of Burmese life and culture.
Islam is the religion of the minority Arakanese people who inhabitat the
southwest near the border with Bangladesh.
Among the hill tribes traditional religions and beliefs are still
practised.(3) “Religion is inextricably woven into the fabric of Burmese
society; religious beliefs and practices are integrated into the life of the
family, the community, the tribe and the nation. This is true both of the traditional faiths,
Buddhism and animism”. (4) Religious affiliations in Burma as recorded in 1983
is as follows: Buddhist 89.4%, Christian 4.9%, Muslim 3.8%, Tribal religions
1.1%, Hindu 0.5% and other 0.3%. (5)
Like many other Asian nations Burma also has bitter
experience with the British rule and Japanese invasion, and at last achieved
her independence from Britain on 4th January 1948.
With this brief background of the country and the
people now we turn to the coming of Christianity in Burma through the foreign
missionaries. We shall see the difficulties and hardships missionaries and
first converts were facing for the sake of the gospel and also the factors
which contributed to the growth and expansion of Christianity in the country.
II. History of Christianity in Burma
A. Beginning and growth of Christianity
(1812 -1862)
The first “Christians” as recorded in Burma were
Portuguese soldiers and a few traders and adventurers. In 1554 the first Catholic priests came to
serve as chaplains. But after three
years they left the country for they were not welcomed by the Burmese
Buddhists. Therefore, there was no
record of Christian conversion before the arrival of American Baptist
missionaries in 1813. (6)
Rev Adoniram Judson and Ann Judson started their
journey by ship from United Sates of America on February 19, 1812 and arrived
on July 13, 1813. Within a few days of their arrival Judson began to study the
Burmese language. When he realised that
much of the Buddhist religious thought was expressed in Pali terms he started
to compile a Pali-Burmese Dictionary of 4000 words as well as a Burmese-English
Dictionary. Judson was a rare combination of meticulous scholar and utterly
keen evangelist. In his study of Burmese
Felix Carey and his wife of Serampore Mission who were already in Burma were
very helpful. In January 1816 Judson
began the translation of the New Testament in Burmese and also began to
translate the gospel tracts. After six years of hard work the first Burmese, U
Naw was baptised by Judson in 1819. The Lanmadaw Baptist Church in Rangoon
called later U Naw Baptist Church was built in honour of the first Christian
convert in Burma. In 1823 Judson completed the New Testament in Burmese and by
1834 the complete Bible. The first
school was opened by Ann Judson in 1821 and in the same year the first medical missionary
Dr. Jonathan Price and his wife also arrived from USA. (7)
In 1823 the Burmese king invited the missionaries to
settle in Ava, the then capital of Burmese king in Mandalay. Soon after their arrival at Ava the first
Anglo-Burmese war broke out and Judson and Price were taken into
imprisonment. After 18 months Judson was
released to act as interpreter in the Anglo-Burmese peace talks.
Regarding to the methods of evangelism Judson right
from the beginning decided to preach the gospel rather than anti-Buddhism. He opened a small roadside zayat (rest
houses) where he talked about Jesus with anyone who would like to listen. Later they moved to Moulmein the capital of
Karen people, where a strong educational and evangelistic programme was
started. They soon realized that Moulmein was differed from Rangoon in its
large Mon population. In 1828 thirty-one
persons were converted in Moulmein and another 28 more were baptized the next
year. Among this group were Burmese, Mon, Arakanese, Indian and Karen. The
first Karen convert Ko Tha Byu was included here. Within two years the Moulmein
Mon Burmese Church, the 45th Regiment English Church and the Moulmein Indian
church were started. In this way the
gospel spread to those with languages other than Burmese to the Karens, the
Indians, and the British soldiers and the Mons.
“Down through the years Burmese-speaking Mon Christians have enriched
the growth of Burmese churches. It is
even said that U Naw, the first Burman to be baptized, was actually a Mon”. (8)
During this period before the end of the Judson era
the church was organized among the Burmese, Mon and Karen in the Lower
Burma. More details about the
evangelistic work and methods employed among these groups would be discussed later.
B. Consolidation of the Church in Lower
Burma and Outreach to Minority Groups (1852-1886)
By 1852 the Baptist Mission work in Burma was forty
years old. During this perod Burma has
passed through the three Anglo-Burmese wars.
First Anglo-Burmese war from 1824 to 1826 brought Arakan and Tenessarim
under the British control. With the second 1852 to 1853 Lower Burma was added
to the British section and the remainder of Burma came under the British rule
in the third Anglo-Burmese war of 1885.
These wars and political changes caused hardships as well as
opportunities for the missionary work in Burma.
During this period the church was consolidated in many areas. Missionary convention was held and ideas on
methods of evangelism were discussed.
Medical practice or the establishment of dispensaries was included as a
means of evangelism. The use of tracts
in evangelistic work was considered to be of great use. They also agreed that preaching should be
held at stated times in the chapel, or in the rooms used for the chapel, but
that this formal preaching should be supplemented by preaching in the zayat and
from house to house in the villages.
Another important discussion was that there were then 117 churches connected
with the Burmese and Karen Missions, with a membership of some 10,000
converts. Yet there were only 11
ordained pastors. Besides 11 pastors
there were more than 120 national workers.
So the ordination of more pastors was recommended to serve every
church. Also the need of more mission schools
was also felt. During this period the
new Baptist compound was also secured in Rangoon and the center office was
shifted from Moulmein to Rangoon again. The Burma Baptist Convention comprising
all the American Baptist related Christians was organized in 1865 and was
resolved to meet annually to transact business and to have fellowship with one
another.
The next Protestant group to arrive in Burma were
Lutherans and Methodist churches.
Salvation Army, Seventh Day Adventist, Assemblies of God, Church of
Christ and Presbyterians came in the early part of twentieth century. Regarding the Anglican Church though there
were Anglican chaplains in Burma as early as 1825 the founding of the church
was dated in 1877 when the first bishop of Rangoon was appointed. The United Society for Propagation of the
Gospel began its work first among the Burmese and then extended it to Karens
and Chins.
The first Catholic contacts with Burmese were made by
the Portuguese in the 16thcentury. But today 90% of the Catholism are Karen,
Kachin, Chin and Kaw(9). Catholics, like in other countries, were well-known
for their charities, social services and education in Burma also. They maintain leprosia, orphanages, homes for
the aged and infirm. During this period
the non-Burmese ethnic groups like Chin, Kachin, Shan, etc. were reached by the
Protestant missionaries.
1. Contact with Asho Chins: In 1863 Maung Coopany an evangelist of the
Bassein Pwo Karen association has reduced the Asho Chin language to
writing. He compiled and produced a
spelling book and a small hymn book which were printed in Rangoon. In 1866 Maung Coopany reported that twenty
Chins had been baptized. (10)
2. The Carsons and the Zomi Chins:
Ann and Arthur Carsons were the first missionaries appointed by the American
Baptist Mission to work among the Chins of Upper Burma who call themselves
Zomi. They arrived to Chin Hills (the present Chin State) and started the work
in 1899. The missionaries reduced the Chin languages to writing and prepared
small hymn books in different languages.
Although Arthur met his untimely death of appendicitis on April 1, 1908
Ann Carson continued the work till 1920.
Elizabeth and Herbert J. Copes came to Chin Hills in December 1908.
Herbert Cope gave 30 years to the Chin Mission and rendered a tremendous
service to the Chins. In addition to his
evangelization work and tour he translated the New Testament in Tedim Chin and
published in 1931(11) and prepared more than 35 small text books in several
languages for schools. In recognition of
his outstanding service for the Chin people he was awarded the Kaisar-I-Hind
medal by the British government in 1927.
Today the Zomi (Chin) Baptist Convention, with its baptized membership
of 91,170 in 1988 is one of the largest groups in Burma.
3. First contact with the Shans: Mr Moses H. Bixby and his wife who had worked
in Moulmein with the Burmese and Mon churches from 1853 to 1856 were
re-appointed in 1860 to work among Shans.
The first Shan convert was Maung Aung Myat, the son of Swabwa. He was baptized in September 1862 and four
months later two Shan women were baptized.
Mrs Bixly began a school for children and Mr Bixly a theological class
with ten students. They translated
tracts into Shan and prepared spelling book and vocabulary. (12) In 1866 Mr and
Mrs Josiah Cushing, another missionary couple from USA, Mr and Mrs Bixly in
Shan Mission. They made a tour of Shan
country and selected Mongnai town as the best location for the Shan Mission
centre. Unlike Chins and Karens there
was already Buddhist influence among the Shans. Therefore, Christian work among
them was making slow progress.
4. Beginning of the Mission to the Kachins: We have
already mentioned Mr Cushing’s involvement among the Shan mission work. Besides that, he was also partly responsible
for the pioneering work among the Kachins.
He reduced the Kachin language to written form. In February 13, 1878 Mr
and Mrs Lyon from USA reached Bhamo to work among the Kachins. Unfortunately, within a week of their arrival
Mr Lyon died of fever. Hearing the sad
news William Henry Roberts, a young pastor in Illinois, volunteered with his
wife to take up the missionary work.
They arrived on January 12, 1879.
The first baptism of Kachin took place in March 19, 1882.The gospel work
among the animistic Kachins was successful.
They form a strong church group in Burma today.
C. Joint activities of Christians from
1866 to the present
Under this section we shall see the highlights of the
activities of the Christians in Burma with sub-headings as follows:
1. Higher Education:
As already mentioned here and there we know the pioneer missionaries were the
people who reduced the languages of the minorities into written form and
prepared spelling books, textbooks and dictionaries. Therefore when the number
of Christians was increasing they felt the need of the church. To meet this long-felt need a junior college
was started in 1909. In 1920 the college
by the called Judson College after the name of the first missionary in Burma,
became a constituent college to the University of Rangoon.
2. Theological Education:
As the church was growing so also the need of the indigenous leadership. The first step taken in this regard was that
the Karen Theological seminary which was located at Moulmein was shifted to
centrally location at Insein in the suburb of Rangoon to serve more students
coming from different places in Burma. Also, under the initiative of Burma
Baptist Convention in co-operation with Methodist and other denominations, a
new theological institution called Burma Divinity School was established in
Insein. This institution, now called
Myanmar Institute of Theology, is affiliated with the Association for
theological education in South East Asia, offering courses like B.Th., B.R.E.,
B.D. Similarly regional Bible institutions such as Kachin Bible School at
Kutkai in Kachin State; Asho Chin Bible School at Thayetmyo; Pangwai Bible
School and Shan State Bible school in Shan State; Zomi Theological College,
Falam; Union Theological School, Matupi; Baptist Theological School, Tedim; in
Chin State, were started. All these
institutions, to mention a few, become the back-born of the church for
leadership training and advancement of theological education in the country.
3. Healing Ministry:
During this period when the missionary work was expanded in various fields, the
medical service occupied the vital part of the Christian mission. As a matter of fact, Dr Jonathan Price and Dr
J. Dawson were medical missionaries appointed by the American Baptist Mission
in the early mission work in Burma. Yet
comparing with programmes in some other countries of Asia and Africa medical
work was not given enough emphasis in Burma.
In 1890s medical programmes were started in Shan State at Hsiphaw,
Mongnai, Namkham and Kengtung. Because
of his dedicated and outstanding service Dr Gordon Seagrave is still remembered
as legendary Burma Surgeon. In the
farflung Indo-Burma border of Chin Hills Mr N. East and Dr J.G. Woodin came in
1902 and 1910 respectively. Unfortunately, due to health reasons they could not
continue the work and left for home. In Rangoon with the initiative of
Christian communities of Anglicans, Baptist, and Methodist a Christian hospital
was started. In the Sgaw Karen area Sir
San C. Po Memorial Hospital was maintained by the Bassein-Myangmya Karen Association
at Yedwinyegan.
4. Agricultural School:
As a part of the whole gospel missionaries started Agricultural School at
Pyimana in 1915. J.E. Case and his wife were responsible for this unique
ministry of the church among the rural poor in Burma. Case was very much concerned about the hill
peoples of Burma and their sub-marginal existence. Maung Shwe Wa in Burma Baptist Chronicle
wrote his moving account on this evangelism through agricultural as follows:
Staff and students were tireless in carrying the
gospel of better rural life not only took the graduating class on a launch tour
through the delta. They carried with them
band instruments, livestock, seeds, medicines, literature, and play
costumes. On arrival
at a village, the first item on the agenda was an inspection of the
nearby fields as a demonstration to the students and as a basis for giving
practical advice to the farmers. During
the noonday rest period, when the villagers returned from the fields, the brass
band would play and lectures on various subjects were given. Free medical
treatment was given to sufferers from itch and other diseases, and small
packets of medicines were sold. Charts
and demonstrations were prepared during the afternoon. Then more band music at dusk would bring
from two to five hundred villagers from the surrounding
fields and creeks. Agricultural and health talks, Burmese-style drams about the
Prodigal Son or the Good Samaritan, and the Christian testimonies filled the
evening and sent the villagers home with new ideas and new invention. (13)
5. Ecumenical Co-operation:
Among the Baptist Christians back in 1865 the Burma Baptist Missionary
Convention was formed with an objective to accelerate the evangelistic work in
Burma. Later the name was changed to
Burma Baptist Convention to which all the regional and linguistic groups were
affiliated. In 1963 when the
Sesquicentennial Celebration of the coming of the Judsons in Burma was held in
Rangoon the first Christian conversions took place among the tribes and races
of Burma were recorded chronologically as follows — Mon and Burmese in 1813,
English, Chinese and Indian in 1827, Sgaw Karen 1828, Pwo Karen 1836, Pa-O
1838, Karen Hill Tribes 1853, Asho Chin 1856, Shan 1860, Kachin & Lisu
1877, Zomi Chin 1899, Lahu & Wa 1904, Akha 1936, Naga 1953. (14) Burma
Baptist Convention is a member body of the Asian Baptist Federation and the
worldwide Baptist World Alliance.
As regards to the ecumenical movement a regional
Christian Council for Burma was formed in 1914 under the National Christian
Council of India. When Burma became
independent country in 1948 all Protestant groups in Burma formed Burma
Christian Council which became affiliated body to the East Asia Christian
Council (now Christian Conference of Asia).
All the major denominations like Anglican, Lutheran, Methodist,
Presbyterian, Baptist, etc are affiliated to the Burma Christian Council. Christians form 4.9% of the whole population.
(15)
III. Church and State
Buddhism is the religion of the predominant ethnic and
cultural group of Burmese who form the 89% of the whole population. It was Theravada Buddhism which entered Burma
in the first century of Christian era.
“A saying frequently repeated in Modern is: ‘To be a Burman is to be a
Buddhist’” (16) Therefore the relationship between the state and the religion
has been strongly influenced by the political development of the country. From 1950 till military take-over in March
1962 Burma followed a policy of close association between Buddhism and the
state. During U Nu’s government the Sixth Great Buddhist Council was held in
1954-1956 for promotion of Buddhism. The
proposal to make Buddhism the state religion became an important election
manifesto in the 1960 election. U Nu’s
party came into power and the constitutional amendment was passed to declare
Buddhism as the state religion of the country.
It was done against the wishes of religious and minorities in
Burma. When the military regime under
the leadership of General Ne Win took the administration of the country the new
policy of ‘Burmese Way to Socialism’ under the Burma Socialist Programme Party
which did not recognize the state religion was introduced. Under one-party state all the organizations
including Christian organizations were required to register with the
government. All the Christian schools
and hospitals were nationalized in 1965-66.
Government refused to renew the permits of foreign missionaries. As a result, 234 Catholic priests and nuns,
56 American Baptist, 29 Anglicans, 18 American Methodists, 15 British
Methodists, 8 Salvation Army and 7 A.G. workers were expelled from the country.
(17) Christian literatures, journals and magazines could not be printed without
being officially censored. Supply of printing papers were controlled by the government;
permits was required to buy papers for books and magazines.
Under such a critical situation what was the life and
witness of the church? How Christians were living in such hostile environments?
These are important issues for Asian Christians who live in a pluralistic
society. In connection with this issue,
I would like to quote the comment and observation Mr Kambawza Win has made on
nationalism and Christianity in Burma.
Mr Win is the coordinator of the Institute of Christian Participation in
the Development of Shan, Kayah and Karen State Communities. I believe what he has written in 1988 is
still relevant even today. I quote:
In 1965 the Christian Institutions like schools,
hospitals, training colleges were nationalized.
The military junta perspective was that these private schools especially
those run by the Christian constitute a system apart from the government run schools
undermine the Burmese culture and does not promote nationalism. Together with this
nationalization the foreign missionaries were asked to leave the country. Several
people thought that by these measures the Christians in Burma would disintegrate
and the church would only exist in name as in the Burmese monarchical days. But soon they were surprised to
discover that the Church not only survived but flourished by leaps and bounds.
The Christian with a little 2% has now became
5%. The hand of Providence can be clearly seen as the Burmese Christians
were emancipated from the strangle of the missionaries and could embark on its
own programme of propagating and identifying with the people. This incident
greatly changed the notion of Christianity in Burma. (18)
Today after forty years of military regime the
political situation is still fluid. In 1990 multi-party elections for the first
time after 1962 were held and the opposition party the National League for
Democracy under the leadership of Mrs Aung San Suu Kyi, daughter of General
Aung San, won the majority of seats in Parliament, yet the military government
under the name of State Law and Order Restoration Committee (SLORC) did not
like to hand over power. Recently many of Arakanese (Rakhine) Muslim minorities
in Burma fled from their country and took shelter in Bangladesh. Like minority
Christians in Pakistan and Bangladesh Christians in Burma also are silently
struggling for the fundamental rights of freedom of religion and worship as
envisaged by the international laws.
IV. Conclusion
An attempt has been made to trace the history of
Christianity from the arrival of Adoniram Judson in 1813. As we have seen
response to the gospel was slow from the Burmese Buddhist. Great conversions
took place only when the mission center was started in Moulmein in the area of
Karen tribesmen.
As regards to methods of evangelism, in addition to
personal evangelism with tract distribution, zayat preaching, house visits,
establishment of schools for children, hospitals and dispensaries for the sick,
agricultural evangelism among the rural poor, especially among the frontier
tribes, proved to be and useful instrument.
During U Nu’s government Buddhism, in spite of strong
protest from religious minorities, was made state religion in 1962. That was
the beginning of the political trouble in Burma. Under the military regime of
General Ne Win secular and materialistic philosophy of “Burmese Way to
Socialism” was introduced in the country. Since then, Christians and other
religious minorities have been facing all sorts of restrictions and hardships.
In the midst of political turmoil and vicissitudes the church has been growing
steadily both in quantity and in quality. Again, this created another problem
in the minds of majority Burmese. “Because Christians in the minority groups
have received more education and have arisen as new leaders, they have often
appeared to be anti-Burma and anti-nationalistic.” (19) The question could be
asked what is the role and function of the Christian church as prophetic
ministry in such a political and religious environment prevailing in the
present Burma? I believe this is the relevant issue for discussion not only in
Burma but also in other Asian countries we Christians are in confrontation
with.
Endnotes:
1. Encyclopeadia
Britannica, 1993, p. 676.
2. I have adopted
for this paper the term “Burmese” as employed by D.G.E. Hall in A History of Southeast
Asia as a dominant linguistic and racial group of Burma as distinct from the
non-Burmese peoples – Karens, Shans, Kachins and Chins, etc. See p. 708.
3. Barrett, David
B., World Christian Encyclopeadia, p. 202.
4. Hackett,
William D., “Burma” in Church in Asia, ed. Donald H. Hoke, Chicago, 1975, p.
119.
5. Encyclopeadia
Britannica, p. 676.
6. Hackett,
William D., op. cit. p. 123.
7. Ibid., p. 124
8.Wa, Maung Shwe,
Burma Baptist Chronicle, Board of Publication, Burma Baptist Convention,
Rangoon, 1963, p. 66.
9.Barrett, David
B., op. cit. p. 123.
10. Wa, Maung
Shwe, op. cit. p. 199.
11. Johnson,
Robert G., History of American Baptist Chin Mission, Vol. II, Valley Forge,
1988, p. 1,302.
12. Wa, Maung
Shwe, Op. cit. p. 204.
13. Ibid., p.
247-248.
14. Wa, Maung
Shwe, op. cit., p. xiv.
15. Encyclopeadia
Britannica, p. 676.
16. Smith, Donald
E., Religion and Politics in Burma, Princeton University Press, New Jersey,
1965, p. 83.
17. Barrett, David
B., op. cit., p. 203.
18. Win, Kanbawza,
“Colonialism and Christianity in Burma (A Burmese Perspective)” inAsia Journal
of Theology, Vol. 2, No. 2, October 1988, Singapore, p. 278-279.
19. Hackett, William D., op. cit., p. 108.
Bibliography
1. Smith, Donald
E., Religion and Politics in Burma, Princeton University Press, Jew Jersey,
1965.
2. Manikan, Rajah
B., Thomas, Winburn T., The Church in Southeast Asia, Friendship Press, New
York, 1956.
3. Hocke, Donald
E., The Church in Asia, Moody Press, Chicago, 1975, “Burma” by William D.
Hackett, p. 103-127.
4. Manikam, Rajah
B., ed. Christianity and the Asian Revolution, Madras, 1954.
5. Cady, John F.,
Southeast Asia: Its Historical Development, Mcgraw-Hill Book Company, New York,
1964.
6. Wa, Maung Shwe,
Sowards, Genevieve, Sowards, Erville, Burma Baptist Chronicles, Board of
Publication, Burma Baptist Convention, Rangoon, 1963.
7. Johnson, Robert
G., History of American Baptist Chin Mission, Vol. I and II, Valley Forge,
1988.
8. Latourette,
Kenneth S., Christianity in a Revolutionary Age, Vol. Pp. 338-343.
9. Hall, D.G.E., A
History of South-East Asia, Macmillan and Co. Ltd., London, 1960.
10. Seagrave,
Gordon S., Burma Surgeon, London, 1945.
11. Anderson,
Courtney, To the Golden Shore: The Life of Adoniram Judson, Boston, 1956.
12. Hall, Gordon
L., Golden Boats from Burma, Macrae Smith Company: Philadelphia, 1961.
13. Jessy, F.
Tennyson, The Story of Burma, Macmillan and Co., Ltd., London, 1946.
14. Barrett, David
B., World Christian Encyclopedia, Kenya, 1980.
15. Encyclopedia Britannica, 1993.
Magazines and Journals
1. Asia Journal of
Theology
2. International
Review of Mission
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