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= J._N._Farquhar =
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Introduction
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John Nicol Farquhar (6 April 1861 - 17 July 1929) was a Scottish
educational missionary to Calcutta, and an Orientalist. He is one of
the pioneers who popularised the 'Fulfilment theology' in India that
Christ is the crown of Hinduism, though, 'Fulfilment thesis' in Bengal
was built on foundation originally laid in Madras by William Miller.
He authored several books on Hinduism, notably, 'The Crown of
Hindustan', 'A Primer of Hinduism', 'Gita and Gospel', and many alike.
Biography
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Farquhar was born at Aberdeen in 1861. He was educated at Aberdeen
Grammar School and Aberdeen University and served an apprenticeship as
a draper, but he returned to school at an age of 21, and finished his
studies at Oxford University. With no prior ordination, he was
recruited by London Missionary Society as a lay educational missionary
and sent to India in 1891.
He arrived at Calcutta and started his missionary work by teaching at
Bhowanipur for eleven years from 1891. He joined Young Men's Christian
Association (YMCA) in 1902 as a national student secretary; later, as
a literary secretary, a post which he held until 1923. While working
at YMCA, he strived to enable the association to widen its appeal to
students through lectures, through personal friendships, and through
production of whole new body of literature of the highest grade that
India had ever known before.
Due to ill-health, he left India in 1923. He spent last six years of
his life working as a professor of comparative religion in the
University of Manchester. He died in Manchester in 1929.
Bibliography
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During his stint at YMCA, he wrote several books; notably, 'The Crown
of Hinduism' in 1913, 'A Primer of Hinduism' in 1914, and 'Modern
Religious Movements in India' in 1915, and edited many more.
In his famous publication 'The Crown of Hinduism', he aspired to
present Christ, rather than an organizational structure or
intellectual system to India. He argued that Karma and Caste,
traditional concepts enshrined in Hindu belief, are no longer
essential in the construction of modern nation; instead, the 'message
of Christ' with high regard to freedom, progress, and civic virtue
provides a better intellectual platform upon which to build a
progressive India. He accepts that the Caste-system itself is a
collective response to the pursuit of a structured and well-balanced
society, still, he points at the caste-system for devoid of social
justice and egalitarianism. However, he says a society that embraces
the heart of Christ's message will inevitably develop social freedom
for citizenry. According to Farquhar:
His work 'An Outline of the Religious Literature of India' published
in 1920, clearly demonstrates his excellent linguistic skills in both
Bengali and Sanskrit languages.
As an editor for "Religious life of India," he inspired missionaries
to write to the highest standards of accuracy, sympathy, and
Christian-centric; however, he was less fortunate in finding the right
Indian Christian co-workers, and never agreed fully to terms with the
changed climate of opinion in India after 1919.
Publications
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* 'The Apostle Thomas in South India' (1927)
* 'The Apostle Thomas in North India'. Bulletin of the John Rylands
Library 10 (1926): 80-111.
* 'The Fighting Ascetics of India' (1925)
* 'An Outline of the Religious Literature of India' (1920)
*[
https://archive.org/stream/modernreligiousm191500farq#page/n7/mode/2up
'Modern Religious Movements in India'] (1915)
* 'A Primer of Hinduism' (1914)
* 'The Crown of Hinduism' (1913)
* 'The Approach of Christ to Modern India' (1913)
* 'Gita and Gospel' (1906)
* 'Permanent Lessons of the Gita' (1903)
Fulfilment Theology
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According to O. Kandaswami Chetty, biographer of Dr. William Miller,
for Miller "Christ was the friend of all that was good and true not
only in Christianity, but in Hinduism.". The idea of "Christ the
fulfiller" was made familiar to the minds of South Indians of Madras
Presidency long before Farquhar's 'The Crown of Hinduism' published in
1913. Even the colleagues of Miller like Bernard Lucas and T.E.
Slater, author of 'The Higher Hinduism in Relation to Christianity'
published in 1909, long before articulated "Fulfilment theology" at
the World Missionary Conference held at Edinburgh in 1910
itself--Edinburgh conference is considered as the starting point for
modern theology of mission and also a launch-pad of the modern
ecumenical movement.
According to Eric J. Sharpe, professor of Religious studies at
University of Sydney; author of books like '"Not To Destroy, But To
Fulfil:the contribution of J.N. Farquhar to Protestant missionary
thought in India before 1914"', '"John Nicol Farquhar and the
missionary study of Hinduism"', '"John Nicol Farquhar, a memoir"', and
'"Faith meets Faith: Some Christian Attitudes to Hinduism in the
Nineteenth and Twentieth centuries"'; and who extensively wrote on
Farquhar's theology and missiological approach to Indian religions,
has observed that Farquhar, although fully worked out "Fulfillment
thesis" in his seminal work, yet his work on "Fulfillment theology" in
Bengal was built on foundations laid out initially at Madras by
William Miller itself.
He was the pioneer in popularising his missionary theology
'Fulfillment theology'. Although, he didn't invent it by himself, but
based his theology on William Miller 'Fulfilment theology' that took
its shape in Madras Presidency. According to this theology, "Christ
came to fulfill and bring to completion not only the law and the
prophets('Matt.'5:17) but all the world's higher religions."--in this
sense, Christ is the "Crown" of Hinduism.
He popularised and expressed the idea that Christianity was the
fulfilment of other religions; he advocated that Christianity was not
out to destroy other religions but to fulfill. He intended to develop
a workable apologetic to maintain a satisfactory relationship between
Christianity and Hinduism--during his days, there was a radical change
in Indian Christian thoughts against Western Christianity, sense of
nationalism and self-consciousness was growing among Indians, Hindu
nationalism started reasserting its opposition to Christianity,
Christian missionaries were considering non-Christian religions as
evil, and Church union movement towards Christian unity was growing
for Indianisation and indigenisation of Church in its administration,
liturgy and theology. With "Fulfilment theology," he affirmed that
Christianity or rather Christ, is the "Crown" of Hinduism. He hoped,
progressive Hindus will embrace the Christianity; Christians,
including Christian missionaries would be more sympathetic to other
religions. With an intention of developing satisfactory relationship
between Hinduism and Christianity, rather than of mere exclusion, he
gradually worked out his idea of "I came not to destroy but to
fulfill."(Mathew 5:17)
In his publication 'The Crown of Hinduism' published in 1913, Farquher
argued that:
Farquhar, though saw some amount of truth in non-Christian religions,
yet he denounced some elements that Christianity cannot accept. Caste
system is one among them, as he felt that equality, freedom, and
justice are distinctive aspects of Christianity. According to
Farquher, though, "Fulfilment" dictated sympathy and reverence as the
only "way of wisdom" for the missionary to the Hindu, it indirectly
spelt ultimate extinction for all non-Christian religions.
Eric Sharpe has remarked that Farquhar was "more than any other
individual responsible for bringing about a decisive change in the
thinking of Christians over against the phenomena of other faiths."
Criticism
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A.G. Hogg, professor at Madras Christian College and author of 'Karma
and Redemption' in 1904, criticised Farquhar's "Fulfilment thesis"
that says "Christianity fulfils all the noblest aspirations of the
Hindus," as Hogg perceived that "in Hinduism there was searching and
finding, and that a Christian was not offering what a Hindu was
searching. Under certain circumstances, a Christian however could make
the Hindu feel the need for what is available only in Christianity."
Farquhar's Fulfillment School has also been discussed, with praise and
/ or censor, by many writers on philosophy or theology of religion,
including Gavin D'Costa, Jacques Dupuis, John Hick, David Marshall,
Ivan Satyavrata, James Sharpe, and James Thrower: Satyavrata and
Sharpe provide extended analyses. Farquhar is often taken as a
leading representative of the Inclusivist School, though this would be
more plausible if the focus were on ontology and ethics, which are
Farquhar's foci, rather than on salvation.
References
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*[
http://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/article/oupww/whowaswho/U209264
FARQUHAR, John Nicol], 'Who Was Who', A & C Black, 1920-2015;
online edn, Oxford University Press, 2014
External links
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*
*
[
https://books.google.com/books?id=TVpEiC36VMUC&dq=John+Nicol,+Farquhar,+J.N.++Farquhar,+Crown+of+Hinduism&pg=PA96
Britain's Experience of Empire in the Twentieth Century - Author:By
Andrew Thompso - p.96]
*
[
https://web.archive.org/web/20110724035519/http://www.btz.lt/article/articleview/361/1/419
Home Pastor's Pages Academic works Academic works Academic works
Academic works The Gospel and Non-Christian Religions: an Irenic
Evangelical Assessment]
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