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An Enquiry into the Obligations of Christians to Use Means for the Conversion of the Heathens

William Carey

Also known as: Carey's Enquiry · An Enquiry into the Obligations of Christians

1792 · 18th Century · Essays · English

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Abstract

Written: 1792
Setting: Late eighteenth century; Leicester
Author: William Carey
Country: England
Language: English
Genre: Argument
Form: Treatise in five sections with tables
Recommended: Grades 10–12 (Short eighteenth-century argument with statistical tables.)

Author. A self-taught former shoemaker serving as a Baptist pastor in Leicester published this short book in 1792, soon before sailing to Bengal.

First argument. Many of his fellow Calvinists believed Jesus's order to teach every nation was meant only for the apostles. If so, Carey replies, the instructions to baptize and the promise of Christ's presence would also have lapsed.

History. He reviews efforts from the early church through Moravian work and missionaries among Native Americans, such as the New England preacher Eliot and the young Brainerd, who both worked among Native peoples in the colonies.

Survey. Tables list the world's countries with estimated area, inhabitants and faith, compiled from geographies and voyage narratives; he concludes most people had never heard the Christian message.

Objections. Distance, danger, food and foreign tongues are answered by pointing to traders who face the same risks for profit. One aside brands the trade in human beings on Africa's coast as accursed.

Plan. He calls for united prayer and a voluntary society with members, funds and a committee. The Baptist Missionary Society was formed that autumn at Kettering, and within a year Carey and his family were on their way to India, where he spent the remaining four decades of his life.

Key figures

William Carey: Author, Baptist minister
Andrew Fuller: Colleague and secretary of the Baptist Missionary Society

Summary

An Enquiry into the Obligations of Christians, to Use Means for the Conversion of the Heathens is a short book published at Leicester in 1792 by William Carey, a young Baptist minister and former shoemaker. It argues that Christians of his day were still bound by Christ's command to make disciples of all nations and must organize practical means to carry it out. The book is often regarded as a founding document of the modern Protestant missionary movement. The Introduction and Section I answer the common view among Carey's fellow Calvinists that the Great Commission of Matthew 28 applied only to the apostles. Carey argues that if the command to teach all nations had expired, so had the command to baptize and the promise of Christ's presence. Section II surveys earlier efforts to spread Christianity, from the apostles and the early church through medieval missions, the Reformation, and recent work by Moravians, John Eliot and David Brainerd among Native Americans, and others. Section III is a remarkable survey of the world, presented in tables listing countries, their size, population and religion, compiled from geographies and travel accounts of the time, including Captain Cook's voyages. Carey concludes that most of humanity had never heard the Christian message. His figures are eighteenth-century estimates and many are inaccurate by modern standards. Section IV considers the obstacles: distance, the supposed barbarism of distant peoples, the danger of being killed, the difficulty of supplies and the problem of language. Carey answers each, pointing to merchants who undertook similar risks for profit. In passing he calls the slave trade on the African coast 'accursed', and later he welcomes the campaign to abolish it. Section V proposes the means: united prayer, and the formation of a society of committed Christians, with a committee and subscriptions, to send and support missionaries, comparing it to a trading company. Shortly afterwards, in October 1792, the Baptist Missionary Society was founded at Kettering, and in 1793 Carey sailed for India. His later work in translation, education and social reform in Bengal made him one of the most influential missionaries of the period.

Plot or Argument

Introduction
The duty to pray for and work toward the spread of the gospel.
Section I: The commission still binding
The Great Commission applies to Christians in every age.
Section II: Former undertakings
A history of missions from the apostles to the Moravians.
Section III: Survey of the world
Tables of countries, populations and religions.
Section IV: Impediments
Distance, danger, language and other objections answered.
Section V: Duty and means
Prayer and a voluntary society to send missionaries.

Lessons

Turning conviction into organization
Carey moves from argument to a practical plan for a society with members, money and a committee.
- Why does Carey compare a mission society to a trading company?
- What does this suggest about the role of voluntary associations in modern life?
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Data in an argument
Carey uses tables of population and religion to make his case.
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- What are the dangers of relying on incomplete data?
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Answering objections
Carey anticipates practical objections and answers each one.
- Which objection to missions does Carey treat most seriously?
- How effective is his comparison with merchants?
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For the Christian reader
Carey's Enquiry helped launch the Baptist Missionary Society and the modern Protestant missionary movement. Carey himself sailed to India in 1793 and spent forty-one years there, translating Scripture into many Indian languages. His argument rests on the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18–20), which he believed still bound the church of his own day.
- How does Carey answer the objection that the Great Commission applied only to the apostles?
- What practical steps did Carey propose, and how do churches carry out missions today?
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Context

By the 1790s British trade and exploration had reached much of the globe, and reports such as Cook's voyages were widely read. Many English Particular Baptists held that God would convert the heathen without human efforts.

Composition

Carey wrote the Enquiry while pastor at Leicester and published it in May 1792, around the time of his sermon on Isaiah 54 to the Northamptonshire Baptist Association. The Baptist Missionary Society was formed at Kettering that October.

Reception

Other mission societies followed, including the London Missionary Society (1795) and the Church Missionary Society (1799). Carey's work at Serampore in Bible translation, printing and education became a model, and he is often called the father of modern missions, though Catholic and Moravian missions had long preceded him.

Faith / Religion Science / Knowledge Race Slavery Justice Law

Comparisons

The Bible
The Great Commission (Matthew 28) is the text Carey argues remains binding.
Sermons on Several Occasions and Primitive Physick
The evangelical revival formed the setting from which Carey's movement grew.
Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God and A Faithful Narrative
Edwards's call for united prayer for revival influenced Carey's Baptist circle.
Early Franciscan Sources
Medieval mendicant missions are part of the history Carey surveys.
The Journal of John Woolman
Woolman's 1763 journey to the Delaware people at Wyalusing reflects a similar wish to carry the gospel to distant peoples.
In Darkest England and the Way Out
Booth's scheme a century later also turns Christian concern into organized social action.

Quotes

Frequently cited

“Suppose a company of serious Christians, ministers and private persons, were to form themselves into a society”

— William Carey, An Enquiry into the Obligations of Christians to Use Means for the Conversion of the Heathens, Section V (William Carey, An Enquiry into the Obligations of Christians (Leicester, 1792), via Project Gutenberg #11449).Quote card

Troilus and Cressida, Act I, Scene III
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“This commission was as extensive as possible, and laid them under obligation to disperse themselves into every country of the habitable globe, and preach to all the inhabitants, without exception, or limitation.”

— William Carey, An Enquiry into the Obligations of Christians to Use Means for the Conversion of the Heathens, Section I (William Carey, An Enquiry into the Obligations of Christians (Leicester, 1792), via Project Gutenberg #11449).Quote card

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For Students

A reading companion for classical Christian high school students. See the student guide.

Reading Guide

Watch for

The argument that the Great Commission still binds.
The history of earlier missions.
The world survey tables.
The proposal for a society in Section V.

Key terms and names

Great Commission: Christ's command in Matthew 28:19-20 to make disciples of all nations.
Particular Baptist: Calvinist Baptists in England.
Moravians: German Protestant community known for early missions.
Subscription: A regular voluntary contribution to a society.

Seminar Questions

Comprehension What objection does Carey answer in Section I?
Comprehension Name two impediments discussed in Section IV.
Comprehension What does Carey propose in Section V?
Interpretation Why does Carey compare missionaries to merchants?
Interpretation Why does Carey include detailed tables of the world's peoples?
Big Question When does a belief create a duty to act, and how far should that duty extend?

Faith Connections

Matthew 28:18-20 (Scripture)
The Great Commission, the text of Section I.
Isaiah 54:2-3 (Scripture)
'Enlarge the place of thy tent', the text of Carey's 1792 sermon.
Captain Cook's voyages (Great Conversation)
Travel accounts Carey used for his survey of the world.

Logic and Rhetoric

Central argument: Christians remain obliged to spread the gospel to all nations and should use practical means, prayer, money and organized societies, to do so.

Rhetorical device: objection and reply. Carey states common objections and answers each in turn.

Debate: Resolved: that Carey's comparison of a mission society to a trading company was apt.

Memory Work

This commission was as extensive as possible, and laid them under obligation to disperse themselves into every country of the habitable globe, and preach to all the inhabitants, without exception, or limitation.
Section I. The core of Carey's argument from the Great Commission.

Suppose a company of serious Christians, ministers and private persons, were to form themselves into a society
Section V. The practical proposal that led to the Baptist Missionary Society.

Writing Prompts

Essay: How does Carey combine Scripture, history and data to argue for missionary action?

Comparison with In Darkest England and the Way Out: Compare Carey's and Booth's plans for organizing Christian action.

Creative Prompts

Essay
Write a one-page proposal in Carey's style for a voluntary society to solve a present-day problem.
Classroom
Compare one row of Carey's world tables with modern population data and explain the differences.
Essay
Write a persuasive essay in the style of the Enquiry that answers three objections to a cause you support.