THE LEGACY OF WILLIAM CAREY

OLUKAYODE ADARIJO AKINDELE

Multicultural Evangelism

Individual Assignment Study

September 2007

‘The legacy of William Carey” by Vishall and Ruth Mangalwadi is one of the must read titles for any mission minded Christian of the twenty first century. William Carey’s mission field was in India and being an Indian place the authors in the best position to collate the achievements and the challenges faced by the 17th Century missionary from an insider perspective.
This book tells us who actually William Carey was. According to the authors, Carey was a man of humble origin. His father Edmond encouraged him to be educated. At the age of 12 years, he had to abandon all formal education so as to earn a living. He tried his hands in agricultural labour, but due to his sensitive skin problem, he could not do this job for long. He then became an apprentice shoemaker to Clerk Nichols of Pidington. This job actually kept his hands and mind active. He taught himself Theology, Latin, Greek and Hebrew languages and these facilitated his understanding of the Bible. As a shoe maker, Carey came to the realisation that the grace of God was more sufficient for him than anything else. The author described him as ‘pioneer of modern western Christian Missionary movement reaching out to all parts of the world.’ He was an evangelist who used every available medium to illuminate ever dark facet of India with the light of truth. There is little wonder therefore that most people see Carey as the central character in the story of India modernisation. Carey was greatly influenced by the knowledge of the world of his time. His careful study of history and various reports especially those of Captain Cook gave him the initial impetus to prepare to work as a missionary in India. To understand Carey’s contribution, the author presented the chaotic situation that existed before Carey’s arrival in India. ‘When Carey came, Hindus were in a pitifully backward condition’ he said. It was this backward and Godless society where infanticide, widowhood, widow burning, child marriage and other barbaric culture prevailed that William Carey dedicated his life and love to. William Carey considered this battle against the social evils as spiritual battle that he must fight to win. He did not only fight against the ills of the society, he also educated the local in modern science, astronomy, development of vernacular language for the people, introduced printing, Christian theology, botany, and engineering etcetera. The biblical command of Mat 28 ‘Go into all the world and preach the good news’ is all that Carey needed for his passion for God’s work to be fired in him. Many of his colleagues did not quite believe or agree with him on the need to go to India, but as far as Carey was concerned, ‘What God could do for the once barbaric Briton and the once heathen Europe, He was able to accomplish anywhere’. As a Christian missionary and botanist, he believed in the biblical view that nature is declared ‘good’ by the creator. Carey introduced daisy and the linear gardening, His love for plants and animals is second to none among his contemporaries. There is little wonder that a variety of eucalyptus found only in India was named after him ‘Careya Herbacea’.
William Carey’s problems in India were great but the greatest of his problem was the opposition to his policies from the British Parliament and others who did not have the interest of the local Indians at heart. Most of Carey’s reform policies did not go down well with the government at home, but his greatest moment came on Dec 4 1821 when some of the barbaric acts were declared illegal and criminal. Carey saw this from the biblical point of view as contained in Isaiah 58:6 “ ...To loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and let the oppressed go free…”
Before going through this book I know nothing about this great man of God and his contributions toward Christianity. The legacy of William Carey has widened my horizon on this great evangelist, scientist and humanist who did not count the cost of leaving a modern society of Britain to sojourn in barbaric environments. I see this book as not just a biography of Carey but rather as a wake up call for Christians to respond to Gods work and be ready regardless of what others may think or say.