This week in Christian history: German missionary arrives in India, Puritans lash Baptist preacher

By Michael Gryboski, Mainline Church Editor Twitter

German missionary arrives in India – Sept. 8, 1741

Johann Philipp Fabricius (1711-1791), a German missionary to India known for his translation of the Bible and assorted hymns into the Tamil language.
Johann Philipp Fabricius (1711-1791), a German missionary to India known for his translation of the Bible and assorted hymns into the Tamil language. | Screengrab: christianhistoryinstitute.org

This week marks the anniversary of when missionary Johann Philipp Fabricius, known for his Tamil translation of the Bible and various hymns, arrived in India.

A native of what is now Germany, Fabricius would spend most of his life serving as a missionary in India, learning the languages of Tamil, Portuguese and Dutch.

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Although financial problems would dominate the final years of his life, Fabricius is still remembered for his often successful efforts to evangelize both natives and colonists in the region.

“He had a hand in converting seventeen thousand Indians and Portuguese. A few of his Tamil hymns are still sung, and his Tamil Bible is known as ‘the golden version,’” wrote Dan Graves of the Christian History Institute.

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