William Carey and India Today
William Carey and India Today
I cannot in a few pages offer an adequate overview of William Carey's life and work. He is called "The Father of Modern Missions," for he was the first to clearly see the great spiritual need of the lost multitudes in places like Africa, the South Pacific, Asia, and India, and present the case that it was incumbent for we Christians to use means to effect the conversion of the lost, not in our home countries, but in foreign lands, in heathen pagan lands. He was the first to personally go, and enlist others to go also. He left England in 1793 and spent the next 41 years in India. He translated the entire Bible into Bengali and Sanskrit, and the New Testament and Bible portions into 34 other Indian languages. Though many of these translations were improved upon by others, it was a significant start into a spiritually dark country, a country still captive today to Satan.
He preached every day in villages and market places, having a perpetual rotation of 200 villages. He and his fellow workers preached with a sense of urgency, because of their conviction that people without Christ are eternally lost. Carey set forth this mind set when he wrote in their Form of Agreement: In order to be prepared for our great and solemn work it is absolutely necessary that we set infinite value upon the immortal souls; that we often endeavor to affect our minds with the dreadful loss sustained by an unconverted soul launched into eternity. It becomes us to fix in our minds the awful doctrine of eternal punishment, and to realize frequently the inconceivably awful condition of this vast country, lying in the arms of the wicked one. If we have not this awful sense of the value of souls, it is impossible that we can feel aright in any other part of our work, and in this case it had been better for us to have been in any other situation rather that in that of a missionary.
https://abwe.org/blog/read-william-carey-serampore-form-agreement-online/
We today ought to give serious consideration to that statement, that we too might be stirred up to bring the Gospel to those in the dark countries of the world.
As people were saved, he put into practice the Biblical pattern of self-propagating, self-supporting and self-governing churches. Neither he, nor his associates, pastored any church they started, but from the first pressed upon the new believers their responsibility to reach their own people with the Gospel, and committed to them the care and keeping of their local assemblies. They set forth their thoughts in a meeting of new believers as follows: 1. That the intention of their Savior in calling them out of darkness into marvelous light, was that they should labor to the uttermost in advancing His cause among their countrymen. 2. That it was therefore their indispensable duty, both collectively and individually, to strive by every means to bring their countrymen to the knowledge of the Savior; that if we, who were strangers, thought it our duty to come from a country so distant for this purpose, much more was it incumbent on them to labor for the same end.
William Carey the cobbler, or William Carey the school teacher, or William Carey the pastor, would probably have died in obscurity, but William Carey the missionary is known to all Christians in the West and in India. Where did his vision for the lost originate? Certainly it was of God, but its development can be followed. He apprenticed as a cobbler, but upon the death of his employer, was unable to survive financially, so he started a school in the town where he lived in England. He also assumed the position as pastor of the local Baptist church; though born into an Anglican home, he became a Non-conformist, and then a Baptist. His study of the Scriptures greatly stirred up in him a concern for the lost in far away places, a stirring which arose from his conviction that Christians were still under obligation to preach the Gospel to every creature. His reading of David Brainerd's life moved him to prayer for the conversion of the heathen. And we have all heard of his putting a world map up on the wall above his cobbler's work-bench, and praying for the various countries of the world.
But, he found little support from his fellow pastors. The famous, or rather infamous, statement of Mr. Ryland Sr. to Carey: Young man, sit down, sit down. When God pleases to convert the heathen, He will do it without consulting you or me, well expressed their sentiment. Carey was greatly troubled by the indifference of his fellow pastors. If the preachers were indifferent, no wonder the people were indifferent. These thoughts gave rise to his pamphlet: An Enquiry into the Obligations of Christians to use means for the Conversion of the Heathen, in which the Religious State of the Different Nations of the World, the success of Former undertakings, and the practicability of further undertakings are considered. His sermon on Is. 54:2-3: Enlarge the place of thy tent ... spare not, lengthen thy cords, in which he made his famous statement, Expect great things from God, attempt great things for God, reveals Carey's longing to step out in faith, to reach the lost far away, trusting the Lord to honor His Word as it is preached, and not only supply all the needs which would arise, but also to open doors of opportunity for the expansion of His Kingdom.
The Lord blessed Carey's preaching and writing, the need was recognized, and action was taken: a Baptist Missionary Association was formed, and Carey was sent to India.
Have you ever heard of Krishna Chandra Pal? He was the first convert to Christ under Carey's work. He was saved in 1800, and was baptized in the River Hoogly on December 28, 1800, before a large foreboding crowd of Hindus and Muslims; within three years, 40 others had been called out of darkness into Gospel light, and were also baptized.
https://archive.org/details/firsthindooconv00unkngoog
These dear brothers and sisters in Christ bore bold testimony to their new birth. Great pressure was placed upon them not to be baptized. They could say what they wanted, but public profession in baptism was different. Yet they stood, and witnessed, and evangelized, for they could not but speak the things which they had seen and heard (Acts 4:20). Carey and his fellow workers openly admitted the success of the Gospel in Serampore area of India was not due to them, but to the Indian Christians themselves, who every Sunday would preach in all the surrounding hamlets, villages, and towns. The Lord raised up pastors and teachers, evangelists and missionaries from these Bengali believers, and the Gospel spread.
In many ways Carey's importance to mission history is not due to his personal missionary efforts, but to the Biblical principles upon which he operated, such as: his clear position that the Kingdom of Christ is extended by preaching the Gospel, not by social works. His zeal to become one with the people of India in custom and language, and to preach and translate into their languages. His insistence that the new believers themselves evangelize and have the oversight of their churches, seeking direct guidance from God the Holy Spirit. His outward looking perspective, to keep pushing outward into new areas.
He died June 9, 1843, clinging to the Savior whom he so faithfully preached and so dearly loved. He selected these words to be inscribed on his tombstone: A WRETCHED, POOR, AND HELPLESS WORM, ON THY KIND ARMS I FALL.
So what of India today?
India is the most populated country in the world, with 1.46 Billion people.
There are over 19,500 languages and dialects reported as mother tongue languages. It has 122 recognized Major Languages. The Indian Constitution recognizes 22 languages as official Government scheduled languages, into which all laws etc must be translated.
Hinduism is the largest religion, claiming 79.8% of the population, or 1.16 Billion people; 3 Americas!!
One of William Carey's main arguments in "The Enquiry," was a numerical one. At that time, there was one pastor/minister for each 1000 people in the United Kingdom; in India, it was not even measurable! Shelden Dibble and Hudson Taylor made parallel arguments. See my Blog "Fathers of The Modern Missionary Movement."
Today, in India, 2.3% of the population is Christian, but they are mainly in south and northeast of India.
Hindu India is in total satanic darkness; 1.16 BILLION people! It is truly the most needy country in the world for gospel work.
"If thou sayest, Behold, we knew it not; doth not he that pondereth the heart consider it? and he that keepeth thy soul, doth not he know it? and shall not he render to every man according to his works?" Pro 24:12
If I was starting out as a missionary today, I would go to Hindu India.
26 December 2025