Claudius Buchanan
Encyclopedia
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
theologian, an ordained minister of the Church of England, and an extremely 'low church' missionary for the Church Missionary Society.
Claudius Buchanan was born in Cambuslang
Cambuslang
Cambuslang is a suburban town on the south-eastern outskirts of Glasgow, Scotland. It is within the local authority area of South Lanarkshire. Historically, it was a large rural Parish incorporating nearby hamlets of Newton, Flemington, and Halfway. It is known as "the largest village in...
near Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
. He was educated at the University of Glasgow
University of Glasgow
The University of Glasgow is the fourth-oldest university in the English-speaking world and one of Scotland's four ancient universities. Located in Glasgow, the university was founded in 1451 and is presently one of seventeen British higher education institutions ranked amongst the top 100 of the...
and the Queens' College, Cambridge
Queens' College, Cambridge
Queens' College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England.The college was founded in 1448 by Margaret of Anjou , and refounded in 1465 by Elizabeth Woodville...
. He was ordained in 1795 by the Bishop of London, and after holding a chaplaincy in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
at Barrackpur (1797–1799) was appointed Calcutta chaplain and vice-principal of the college of Fort William. In this capacity he did much to advance Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
and native education in India, especially by organizing systematic translations of the scriptures.
Among St.Thomas Christians
During his visit to Malabar in 1806, present day South-western state of KeralaKerala
or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....
, Dr. Buchanan had visited Mar Thoma VI
Mar Thoma VI
-See also:* Indian Orthodox Church*Jacobite Syrian Church* Mar Thoma Church* Syrian Malabar Nasrani* Saint Thomas Christians* Christianity in India* List of Catholicoi of the East and Malankara Metropolitans* List of Syrian Malabar Nasranis* Mar Thoma V...
, head of the Malankara Church at Angamali, near Kochi. Mar Thoma was very happy to hear Buchanan’s intention of translating the Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
into Malayalam, the local language.
About the Bible
- At this time, a volume of the BibleBibleThe Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
was found in a remote church of the mountains, containing the Old and the New Testaments, engrossed on strong vellumVellumVellum is mammal skin prepared for writing or printing on, to produce single pages, scrolls, codices or books. It is generally smooth and durable, although there are great variations depending on preparation, the quality of the skin and the type of animal used...
in large folio, having three columns in the page, written with beautiful accuracy, in the Estrangelo Syriac (the character in which the oldest Syrian manuscripts are written), and illuminated; that the Syrian church assigns to this manuscript a high antiquity; and that it has been handed down to the present time under circumstances so peculiarly favourable to accurate preservation, as may justly entitle it to respect, in the collation of doubtful readings in the sacred text.
This volume was presented to Dr. Buchanan by Mar Thoma VI, and is now deposited among the Oriental Manuscripts in the public library of the University of Cambridge.
About Malankara Church
After returning to England Rev. Claudius Buchanan had mentioned about The Malankara ChurchMalankara Church
The Malankara Church is the church of the Saint Thomas Christians of Kerala, India, with particular emphasis on the part of the community that joined Archdeacon Mar Thoma in swearing to resist the authority of the Portuguese Padroado in 1653...
, in his sermon preached at the Parish Church of St. James, Bristol, on Sunday 26 February 1809.
- Another monument of the Christian religion in the east is the state of the Syrian Christians, subsisting for many ages a separate and distinct people, in the midst of the corruption and idolatry of the heathen world. They exist in the very midst of India, like the bush of Moses burning and not consumed; surrounded by the enemies of their faith, and subject to their power, and yet not destroyed. There they exist, having the pure word of God in their hands, and speaking in the churches that same language which our saviour himself spake in the streets of Jerusalem. We may contemplate the history of this people, existing so long in that dark region, as a type of the inextinguishable Light of Christ’s religion; and in this sense it may be truly said, “We have seen his Star in the east".
Translation of the Bible
Two of the Syriac scholars, Kayamkulam Philipose Ramban and Pulikottil Ramban, assisted by Subbayya Pillay translated the four Gospels from a very old manuscript written in Estrangelo Syriac. Dr. Buchanan took the initiative to take this Malaylam translation of the Bible to Bombay and get it printed.Reading the Bible in their own mother tongue helped the reformation in the Malankara Church. As a result of this reformation, the Malankara Church was split into two. In June 1876 one party invited Patriarch of Antioch
Patriarch of Antioch
Patriarch of Antioch is a traditional title held by the Bishop of Antioch. As the traditional "overseer" of the first gentile Christian community, the position has been of prime importance in the church from its earliest period...
and formed the Malankara Jacobite Church. The others, remained independent under their own bishop, which is now known as Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church.
Books published
An account of his travels in the south and west of India, which added considerably to our knowledge of nature life, is given in his Christian Researches in Asia (Cambridge, 1811). After his return to the United KingdomUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
in 1808, he still took an active part in matters connected with India, and by his book entitled Colonial Ecclesiastical Establishment (London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, 1813), he assisted in settling the controversy of 1813, which eventually ended in the establishment of an Anglican Indian episcopate in 1878 in the Travancore-Cochin
Travancore-Cochin
Travancore-Cochin or Thiru-Kochi is a former state of India . It was created on 1 July 1949 by the merger of two former princely states, the kingdoms of Travancore and Cochin....
states. This Church known as CMS Church merged with other Churches in South India on 27 September 1947 to form The Church of south India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
(CSI).
For further reading
- Buchanan, Rev. Claudius, LL.D. Memoir of the Expediency of an Ecclesiastical Establishment for British India. Second Cambridge Edition, 1811.
- Buchanan, Rev. Claudius. "The Star of The East". 1809.
- N.M.Mathew, Malankara Mar Thoma Sabha Charitram (Eng:History of The Mar Thoma Church). Vol.I. E.J.Institute, Tiruvalla, Kerala. 2006.