Part 1 of 2
CHAPTER 2: ZIEGENBALG AND THE RESIDUAL IMAGE OF GOD
2.1 Discerning the residual image of GodWhen Ziegenbalg was ordained on November 11, 1705 in Copenhagen as a missionary, he made certain vows and was mindful of them throughout his life.1 [Germann, II, 1868, 194 f.: Germann reproduces the text of these vows.] Six days later,
he received from King Frederick IV further ministerial exhortations.2 [AFSt/M I C 1:59:
A copy of the same job description was given to J.E. Gruendler when he was ordained in Copenhagen on October 22, 1708. It is preserved in Box No. 11, at the Tranquebar Archives housed in the Library of the Leipzig Evangelical Lutheran Mission, Leipzig, Germany.] The third and fourth exhortations are important to understand Ziegenbalg's religious research. The third instruction revolves around the complex relationship between the Book of Nature and the Book of Grace,3 [AFSt/M I C 1 :59:
The third instruction reads as follows: "It is of great help if the missionary would find out the eternal knowledge of God that is still found naturally among the people, and lead them from that standpoint to the right knowledge of God, which God has revealed in his Word. It is left to the discretion of the missionary to find out
the residual knowledge and use it appropriately, whenever it is necessary. However, the missionary should adhere to the Word of God believing firmly that God would not allow the power of his Word be without blessing among the
naturally inclined [literally:
wild] people."] and advises Ziegenbalg first to study
the (pre-Christian) knowledge of God found among the South Indians, and then
find ways of leading the South Indians to the knowledge of God that is revealed in the Bible. The fourth instruction fixes Ziegenbalg's theological frame of reference4 [AFSt/M I C 1:59: The missionary "in East India (i.e., Tranquebar) should not teach anything that is not found in the Word of God or in the Books of Symbols that are fixed
according to the principles laid down in the Augsburg Confession. The missionary should follow the example of the Lord Jesus who began his teaching ministry by
preaching the need for repentance and conversion, and asked His disciples to preach on repentance and the forgiveness of sins."] by
requiring him to hold on to the Lutheran doctrines enshrined in the Augsburg Confession. This instruction has also some political and legal implication in Tranquebar because,
when Ove Giedde (1594-1660),5 [For detailed information about Ove Giedde (also written as Gedde, Gjedde and Gidde) see Diller, 1999, 42-44.]
the representative of the Danish King Christian IV (1588-1648), and Rakunata Nayak (1600-1634), the King of Tancavur, signed their trade treaty on November 19, 1620, they granted the European inhabitants of Tranquebar the full freedom to practice their "Religion of Augsburg."6 [Registratur 14, pages 504-507, No.5.
Ove Giedde became the first governor of Tranquebar (October 11, 1620 - February 13, 1620). The German version of the entire treaty agreement is reproduced in Diller, 1999, 152-158. The third point reads: "We [Rakunata Nayak] will defend the subjects of the King of Denmark, and allow them to practice their religion called Religio Augsburgica. We will not allow them to be troubled on account of their faith."] As a result, Ziegenbalg was asked to be sensitive to this religious provision and make use of it.
The basic Lutheran beliefs about the natural law, justification by faith and salvation in Christ7 [Triglot Concordia, 1921, 45: Orthodox Lutheranism believes that human beings "cannot be justified before God by their own strength, merits, or works, but are freely justified for Christ's sake, through faith."] enabled Ziegenbalg to study the nature of the major South Indian religions and ascertain their usefulness. In this effort he followed several methods, of which the following two are significant.
2.1.1 Through language studyZiegenbalg began to learn Tamil just eight days after his arrival in Tranquebar. Initially an old Tamil schoolteacher, who did not know any European language, helped Ziegenbalg acquire the basics of the language. However,
in October 1706, Ziegenbalg hired Alakappan (1660-1730, cf. Liebau, 1997, especially 1998, 18),
who was well versed in Tamil, Portuguese, Danish, Dutch and German.8 [AFSt/M I C 1:33: Ziegenbalg's letter dated September 22, 1707: Ziegenbalg outlines how he learned the language from his teacher and his school children.]
Alakappan lived with Ziegenbalg for two years, taught him Tamil and procured for him several Tamil palm leaf manuscripts (HR, I, 2. Con., 82; cf. Fenger, 1845,27 f.).
By August 1708 Ziegenbalg read 119 Tamil books, twenty-one Tamil books written by Roman Catholic missionaries and also eleven books on Islam. He reviewed these 151 books in Bibliotheca malabarica ('Tamil Library').9 [AFSt/M II A 6, 34; printed in HR, I, 1. Con., 18: Ziegenbalg reported that
he had sent his scribes to distant places in the Tamil country to buy the available Tamil palm leaf manuscripts. Often, Brahmin widows sold them. Ziegenbalg devoted considerable attention to collecting manuscripts of Indian literature, as this would help him to understand the old beliefs of the Hindus which he proposed to refute. In this connection he wrote as follows: —
"I have often sent some Malabarick Writers a great way into the Country, in order to buy up Malabarian Books from the Widows of the deceased Brahmans. But there are a great many more of those Books, which being grown very scarce, are not so easily found out. However, I do what I can to get 'em into my Hands, and to purchase 'em at any rate, that so I may be able to unravel the better, the Mysteries and fundamental Principles of their Idolatrous Religion. Which I hope to lay open in time, in all its black and odious Colours, and to confute it out of their own Writings. And on this Account a good Store of Books, you know, will do me much service. However, my present Design is chiefly bent upon Translating the Word of God into the Language of the Heathens.'" 10 [Ibid., pp. 7-8.]
-- The Printing Press in India: It's Beginnings and Early Development Being a Quatercentenary Commemoration Study of the Advent of Printing in India (In 1556), by Anant Kakba Priolkar
Ziegenbalg believed that besides the manuscripts that he could acquire for his mission library there were many thousands of other manuscripts to be found among the Tamils, but he found it exceedingly difficult to obtain them.] The Tamil books that Ziegenbalg read were on many subjects including "theology, ethics, public debate, rhetoric, poetry, philosophy, physics, medicine, politics, mathematics, astronomy, geometry, music, and the like" (HR, I, 3. Con., 127 f.). Though
Ziegenbalg could read and understand the classical Tamil texts, he decided to get familiar with the spoken form of Tamil mainly because the written form of classical Tamil consisted of metrical verses. Common people who did not have formal education could not understand these writings that contained rare Tamil words, idioms and Sanskrit loan words.10 [Ziegenbalg, B.: Ausfuhrlicher Bericht, 1710, 34: Ziegenbalg reported (on 22.8.1708) that he did not consciously write in metrical verses because only a very few people could understand it.]. In Ziegenbalg's view,
the poetic and spoken forms of Tamil constituted almost two different languages[???] (Ziegenbalg, 1926, 223).
Ziegenbalg's study of the Tamil language and literature transformed him for the rest of his life. Firstly, it confirmed his missionary call and service among the South Indians. In September 1713 he summarized his experience as follows:
"The blessed language acquisition motivated us [i.e., Ziegenbalg and Plutschau] strongly to persevere in missionary work without wavering. Learning the languages was the main reason that within one year after our arrival in Tranquebar we began to organize a church named Jerusalem for the Tamil people and Portuguese speaking Indians. Now, we have worked in this church, faithfully communicating the Word of God in oral and written forms for six years."
(AFSt/M II C 5, pages 54 f.).
It is interesting to note that Ziegenbalg saw the establishment of the church in relation to his learning the Tamil language. As will be discussed later, the instructions given to Ziegenbalg after his ordination by the King of Denmark did not make any provision for an institutionalized form of Christian faith.11 [Whether King Frederick was aware of the so-called "Apostolic Missionary Idealism" is unclear. Cf. Sandegren, 1928, 7: '
'That Ziegenbalg was called 'missionary' was a shock to many orthodox people who considered it a great presumption showing that he thereby made himself an equal to the apostles (the Latin word 'missionarius' corresponds to the Greek word 'apostle' meaning 'sent out'). If Ziegenbalg called himself a missionary,
he ought, according to the opinion of many enthusiastic pietists, wander about in poverty and everywhere preach the Gospel, never settling down in one place to build a church, school and a comfortable bungalow."] The learning of the Tamil language also convinced Ziegenbalg to plan for a permanent establishment of Protestant Christianity in Tranquebar and work for intercultural learning.12 [AFSt/M II A 6: 5, 30, printed in HR, I, 1. Con., 44 f.: In 1708 Ziegenbalg encouraged his European contemporaries to give up their erroneous ideas about the South Indians. Because of the importance of this passage the full text is translated: "Most Christians in Europe are of such opinions that the South Indians are an extremely barbarous people without knowing anything about the one true God, and that among them there are no academic disciplines, good customs, virtues or moral code of conduct. This opinion comes from the fact that some Europeans came to the South Indians not knowing their language or reading their books. They derived their conclusions from their external observations. I myself have to confess that, at the time of my first arrival among them, I thought that their language did not have reasonable grammatical rules and that they were living an unorganised life without any civil code of conduct. Basing my judgement on what they did and what they failed to do I had all kinds of wrong conceptions about them thinking that the South Indians possessed neither civil nor moral code of conduct. For this reason I excuse those who have never known the South Indians, yet have such wrong preconceptions about them. Before I lived among the South Indians, I too had the same kind of prejudice. After I learned to speak their language to some extent and discuss with them all kinds of things, I was freed gradually from such vain imaginations. I began to have a much better opinion about them. Finally, when I acquired the ability to read the literature, I realised the following: in their own orderly way they teach well-organised philosophical disciplines that are similar to the disciplines discussed only by experts in Europe. Moreover, they have religious scriptures that are written systematically. All theological subject matters should be derived from and based on these scriptures."] Moreover, Ziegenbalg's study of Tamil helped him to write firsthand information on the evidence of the image of God in the South Indians. For example, in 1711 he wrote a Detailed Description of the South Indian Society (in German: Ausfuhrliche Beschreibung des Malabarischen Heidenthums, published by Willem Caland in 1926). It is one of the much-studied works of Ziegenbalg.13 [In 1927, Ihmels reviewed this book, affirming that it described South Indian society accurately (Ihmels, 1927). Theodore Zechariae (1851-1934), an eminent Indologist in Halle, wrote a critical review of Caland's publication (Zachariae, 1927). In recent years, Ziegenbalg's South Indian Society has occupied an important place in Gita Dharampal-Frick's major works (Dharampal-Frick, 1994, 95-108, 120, 145, 149-152, 171-173, 308-310, 314, 322, 348-373, 376 and 1999) She has examined the socio-cultural contribution of Ziegenbalg with a view to an authentic understanding of "Tamil Hinduism" (Dharampal-Frick, 1994, 369).] Throughout this book he stated that he was strictly following the Tamil way of thinking and writing. Though he did not agree with many religious stories of the Tamil people, he cited them to demonstrate the collective thinking and beliefs of the people (Ziegenbalg, 1926, 13, point no. 16) and went on illustrating how the Tamil people, who did not know anything about the Bible, bore the marks of the image of God and developed certain spiritual teachings that did not contradict the teachings of the Christian Bible (Ziegenbalg, 1926, point no. 26).
2.1.2 Through letter correspondenceZiegenbalg, a European missionary, could freely work in the Danish colony, but not in the territory that was under the rule of the King of Tancavur; but he wanted to know what the people this kingdom did and how they worshipped their deities. Hence, he invited informed Tamil for interreligious dialogue. Later, he wrote to many scholars and requested his correspondents to comment on his questions about religion and society. One of Ziegenbalg's correspondents wrote that Vairaventa Guru, Pancaccara Guru, Mappillai Guru, Sesa Sastrin, Minaksi Sastrin, Citampara Sastrin and Mokampara Sastrinr14 [A Guru is respectable spiritual preceptor from whom the disciples receive their special prayers. The guru teaches his disciples in Sastras and conducts other religious ceremonies. A Sastrin ('one who recites') is considered to be an expert on the Sastras.] were a few of the learned scholars in the Kingdom of Tancavur. These well-informed scholars professed as well as practiced their religious faith. These and other correspondents wrote to Ziegenbalg about the rituals and ceremonies held in temples, public places and at homes; about the generally available religious scriptures and famous places of pilgrimage. They also included discussions about their ideas about sin and virtue, about the different types of religious austerities, the various ceremonies related to marriage, death, burial, widow burning, and the ways and means to attain salvation. In addition, they outlined the genealogical lineage of their deities and informed him about available written source materials.
On September 17, 1712 Ziegenbalg reported that he had received twenty-six letters from his correspondents (Ziegenbalg, 1957, 249). By January 1, 1713 he had received fifty-eight detailed letters.15 [HR, 1,11. Cont., 871-959: When Ziegenbalg travelled to Germany in 1714, his colleague J.E. Grundler continued to receive letters from the Tamils. He translated forty-four that were later published as a second collection of the Tamil Letters.] He translated them into German because they gave an insider view of South Indian religions, and revealed the degree to which the South Indians were able to understand spiritual matters without the aid of the revealed Word of God. He explained in footnotes almost all the major terms and concepts that were not readily understandable to his European readers. The collection of these letters is known as the Tamil Letters (in German: Malabarische Correspondenz, 'South Indian Correspondence,' i.e., letters from the Tamils).
These letters testify to the distinct self-identify of the Tamil people and their own articulation (TamLet, 337-505).[???] They also show Ziegenbalg's comprehensive knowledge about South Indian religions, sacred scriptures and culture. His critical acumen concentrated on the evidence of the image of God among the Tamil people.
Aleppa was born around 1660 into a family (probably of higher Tamil Shudra caste) that had long worked for Europeans. Around 1700 he was "Ober-Tolk" (head translator) of the Danish trading company and the top representative of the Tamil inhabitants of the city (Grundler and Ziegenbalg 1998:18). It is not clear for what grave reasons this influential man was banished from Tranquebar; but his value to the mission is reflected both in the decision to let him return to the city and in his extraordinarily high yearly salary of 100 thalers, which surpassed even that of European employees (p. 20). After two years of work with the missionaries, Aleppa was again expelled in 1709. However, the missionaries managed to keep him on their payroll as collaborator from afar. And collaborate he did: in 1710-11 he was even imprisoned by the king of neighboring Tancavur for having "revealed all the secrets of their law and worship [Gesetzes und Gottesdienstes]" to the missionaries (p. 21).Aleppa clearly played a central role in Ziegenbalg's introduction to the Malabar language and religion, but his influence did not end there.
When Ziegenbalg and his associate Grundler needed more European support and were preparing for Ziegenbalg's journey to Germany, Denmark, and England, they paid Aleppa to write letters from exile in answer to the missionaries' questions. These answers were almost immediately translated or edited, annotated, and sent to Europe where they were published; but since Aleppa was in exile and could for various reasons not be named as a source, the missionaries decided to omit all names of correspondents. They tried to create the impression that these letters came from many different informants, and their habit of sometimes splitting a single letter into several pieces (p. 27) that supposedly came from different correspondents enhanced the readers' impression that a substantial number of Indians were involved. The first batch of fifty-five letters was printed in 1714 with a preface emphasizing that "all of these letters without exception are from heathens of the most understanding kind" who write so excellently about God that "one could hardly find better ones with the ancient Greeks and Romans, and many so-called Christians will rightly feel ashamed" (pp. 42-43). Though the Indian heathens had no way of knowing Christ "through the light of nature" and had to be saved "from their misery and blindness," the "Christian readers could not but be pleased, and the atheists ashamed, that even these heathens recognize a single supreme being and are convinced that all men can know with absolute certainty that there is a lord who created this world and everything in it" (p. 44).
Here the letter collection's preface refers to letter number 6, which is "written by someone who read and copied many books of the Christian religion in his language" (p. 115). Though unnamed, this man was, of course, Aleppa; and as
in many other letters, he wonders why the missionaries, whom he had orally informed in such detail, wanted him to write about things that they already perfectly knew. The missionaries had obviously asked him to send, against payment of course, a whole series of letters with answers to their questions. The task set for this particular letter was to explain the difference between Christianity and his own religion (p. 116). Aleppa began his explanation as follows:
You know me very well and are already well aware of the limits of my knowledge and my utter incapacity of demonstrating such a difference of religion [Gesetz] -- all the more since I was about 15 years old when I entered your [colonial] services and could not yet read nor write well, not to speak of knowing something about the doctrines of our religious texts [Gesetzbucher] .... Since I know many things of your religion [Gesetz] and was educated in my best years not so much according to our but rather according to your ways, it is very difficult and even impossible for me to write about a true difference between these religions [Gesetze] based on your and our religious texts [Gesetzbucher]. But to show you my good will, I will briefly write down my opinion .... All men can know with the utmost certainty that there is a lord who created the world and everything in it. (pp. 116-17)
Time and again, Aleppa wrote to the missionaries that they already knew what they wanted him to explain, and I think that this was not just a polite formula:
"You know everything much better than what I can write" (p. 49); "I also know that you already know more about our doctrines [Lehrsatze] than I can write" (p. 89); "You are those who know everything and understand what can be learned by men .... Concerning theology, wisdom, and virtue, I know nothing that you do not already know and understand; you have read and understood much more about this, and I do not presume to instruct people such as you" (p. 114).
Of course, Aleppa was well informed about the missionaries' knowledge; after all, he had been instrumental in teaching them his language and religion, and as their highest-paid, best connected, and most knowledgeable employee,
he was also deeply involved in their effort to collect and study the Tamil texts listed in the Bibliotheca Malabarica of 1708. Ignorant about the planned use of his letters for raising mission funds in Europe, he could not figure out why the missionaries wanted letters about things he had so much discussed with them over the years. He expressed his puzzlement once more at the beginning of the twelfth letter:
In the year Nandanawaruschum [1712], October 15. I, N., inform the two reverends in Tranquebar that thanks to your prayers I am to date well and without the slightest ill. You desire to know something from me, namely, if we Malabars worship one God or many gods. But can it be that you are in this matter ignorant, you who have for such a long time heard all our doctrines and read in our books and have also preached against [our doctrines] to us? But since you so desire, I will write what I know about it and what everybody knows. (p. 141)
After this interesting introduction, Aleppa repeats what he apparently learned so well since his youth and discussed so many times with the missionaries:
The fact that God is a unique God [einiger Gott] is known and professed by all. ... We also say that among all [gods] there is only one who is the highest being, called at times Barabarawastu [Skt. paraparavastu, divine substance] and at times Tschiwen [Shiva], Tschatatschiwum [Skt. sadasiva, eternally graceful one], or Barabiruma [Skt. para-brahma, supreme Brahman]. This God has created all others, given each of them his duties and tasks, and ordered that they must be worshipped and prayed to. All of this is written in our law [Gesetz] and is commanded in old history books. Therefore it is among us everywhere customary to pray to the said persons. At the same time it is written in our books of law that God promised various modes of recompensation to those who worship such persons and accept them in faith and love. (p. 142)
The ordinary people of South India were thus depicted as fundamentally monotheistic, even though they had a tendency to worship the true God under different names and forms. But Aleppa also mentioned radical monotheists:
Other than that, there are also people among us who worship God the supreme being alone and always honor only this lord while they renounce everything in the world in order to keep contemplating God in their heart at all times. It is said of these [Gnanigol] that God unites with them and transforms them into himself [in sich verwandele], and also that they become invisible in the world. (p. 142)
The first fifty-five Malabar letters were published in 1714 (reprints in 1718 and 1735) and the remaining forty-four in 1717 (reprints in 1718 and 1735). A number of them soon were excerpted in English translation (Philipps 1717; Ziegenbalg and Grundler 1719), and in 1724,
La Croze quoted numerous passages from Ziegenbalg's correspondence and manuscripts.6 Only in 1729, five years after the publication of La Croze's book, did readers of the Halle mission reports first learn that these letters "were mostly written by the translator of the erstwhile missionaries, Arhagappen [Aleppa], who remains a heathen, when he lived nearby and earned his living from this [letter writing] while in exile" (Grundler and Ziegenbalg 1998:17). Though some scholars still believe that many different letter authors were involved, the tone and content of the vast majority of the letters point to a single author who on occasion interviewed knowledgeable persons in his vicinity. The sequence of the first fifty-five letters supports this; the first is from October 2, 1712, and the fifty-fifth from December 10 of the same year. This comes to a bit less than one letter a day, and I may not be too wrong in hypothesizing that Aleppa was contracted to write about one letter per day. In October 1712, twenty-three letters were written, and a letter-free day is often followed by a day with two letters. Though Aleppa certainly integrated information gained from others and sometimes apologizes for drawing only on his own knowledge,
these letters for the most part reflect Aleppa's views, which were, of course, developed during his long acquaintance with Europeans, his Western-style education, his years as an official interpreter, and especially his prolonged daily contact with the missionaries in his function as teacher, informant, and translator. He clearly tried to present his own religion in the best light and had adopted the Europeans' fundamental conviction that monotheism was good, while polytheism and idol-worship were evil and the devil's work. In this way European readers, including La Croze, thus read, in a manner of saying, Aleppa's correspondence course on Tamil religion that reflects his earlier lessons to the German missionaries and their discussions.
The European readership learned about Indian monotheism from the very man who had introduced Ziegenbalg to Indian religions and had helped him find texts that supported this idea of Indian monotheism.
To illustrate the language and content of such correspondence, the twentieth letter of the Tamil Letter collection can be summarized. The correspondent begins his letter with the following words:
"You [Ziegenbalg] reject our deities. How can I write to you about them? If I communicate to you something that is not written in our books, then you will accuse me of lies. If I write to you the accounts of the deities as they are recorded in the books, then they will appear to you illogical. Don't be angry with me for not fulfilling your desire. However, I shall summarize the important things that are written in our religious books about our deities."
(TamLet, 434).
Then the correspondent proceeded to state the importance of the Mummurttis, namely Brahma, Visnu and Siva, their respective principal consorts and children.
He wrote of Brahma as the god who created the world and destined the fate of each human being. Much attention was given to Visnu's consorts Laksmi and Bhumidevi. The correspondent elaborated the various incarnations of Visnu and Laksmi as Rama and Sita, their own son Kusa, and adopted son Lava who was created by Valmikirsi. The correspondent cited Siva, his two consorts Parvati and Gangabhavani, their two sons, namely Pillaiyar and Subrahmanya. He further stated that
the titular deities, who were worshipped in temples such as Periyatampiran, Aiyanar, Pitariyar, Durga, Kali and Virabhadra, who could be appeased only through the sacrifice of goats, pigs, or cocks, and through the offerings of strong alcohol drinks and rice lumps. The prayer formulas spoken in honor of Visnu and Siva were named Astaksara and Pancaksara respectively. The writer informed Ziegenbalg that
in Devaloka there are 330 million Devas ('deities, gods') and 48,000 sages. Though the South Indians do not know the names of these gods and sages in the Devaloka, they know many stories about them. Finally,
the correspondent requested Ziegenbalg to refer to the metrical, monolingual, specialized dictionary of synonyms, antonyms, and contextual meanings known as the Nikantu16 [Zvelebil, 1995, 494: A Nikantu is a glossary "containing synonyms and meanings of words. [ ... ] The main feature of nikantu-type is the fact that
entries are not arranged alphabetically but in sections designating groups of items (e.g., celestial beings, animals, plants, places, qualities, actions etc.), and that they give synonyms besides defining meanings." Cf. TamLet, 412:
Ziegenbalg mentioned that Nikantu "is a poetical book. Every one who wishes to understand either the old or the new poetical writings, or tries to compose verses should learn it. It contains such difficult idioms that it amounts to almost a new language. No one, except the poets can understand and teach it." [???] Cf. Ziegenbalg, 1880, 62 and Gaur, 1967,69: Ziegenbalg used another dictionary titled Centam Tivakaram (written in the eighth century [???). Gaur translates Ziegenbalg's review of Centam Tivakaram: Tivakaram is "a poetical book rich in words; it is usually studied by young students when they are eight or nine years of age. The author of this book was called Diwagaram [???], he was from the Schammaner nation [i.e., a Jain] and the Malabaris [i.e., Tamils] look upon him as a highly learned man. He died five hundred and forty years ago.
This book will only be studied by those who want to become scholars or at least know how to associate with scholars and understand their literary language. Common Malabaris do not understand a word of it, or at least only very little."[???]] for further information on the South Indian deities. He then concluded his letter with the following remark:
"You [Ziegenbalg] want me to explain to you our deities according to their genealogical order. How can it be possible? If you would consult the book Nikantu, you will find all the appellations of the deities that are mentioned in our poetical books. If someone wishes to write comprehensively about the deities, there is no end to it. I wished to write to you only this much. Calam ['Peace']."
(TamLet, 439).
Thus Ziegenbalg's correspondents
expounded the complexities of their spirituality [???] and helped Ziegenbalg understand them. Without their help he may not have gained such a deep insight into
the closely guarded secrets [???] and values of the religious systems and traditional institutions. This kind of interaction between Europeans and South Indians is unique in the history of South Indian religions.
"You [Ziegenbalg] reject our deities. How can I write to you about them?... Don't be angry with me for not fulfilling your desire. However, I shall summarize the important things that are written in our religious books about our deities."
Ziegenbalg's original concern to find out the presence of the image of God had resulted in
comprehensive studies [???] on South Indian religions, society and culture.
His relentless quest for the evidence of the image of God became more refined and focused. He interpreted the readily available residual image of God in the South Indians as "medium paedagogicum oder Hulfmittel" ('medium for further education and helpful resource,' HR, II, 13. Con., 47 f.).17 [Modern comparative religious studies have shown many kinds and degrees of similarities and dissimilarities among different religious traditions. Cf. Wahling, 2000, 79: Frank Whaling has identified at the observable level eight similarities among religious traditions: Each religious tradition contains a religious community, prescribes rituals for worship, rites of passage (i.e., birth, initiation, marriage and death) and festivals, unique moral system, social (at times also political) involvement, normative sacred stories, a particular view on aesthetics (in the form of art, architecture, music and iconography) and "the element of spirituality and inward prayer. Underlying all is faith."] Hence, he desired to lead the South Indians to a higher, or rather divine light that in Ziegenbalg's view was Jesus Christ.
2.2 Using the residual image of GodZiegenbalg viewed the different kinds of religious similarities as preparatory steps necessary to effectively communicate the gospel of Jesus Christ, and
having established the presence and function of the residual image of God in the South Indians, [???] Ziegenbalg addressed the various forces that shaped their beliefs, values and customs. He recognized the need for preserving their dignity, identity and continuity of all that was good and acceptable in the light of the Word of God. Thus he set himself to explore with the South Indians suitable means for an alternate way of life that would be more fulfilling.
2.2.1 By producing Christian literature in TamilZiegenbalg was not the first person to translate portions of the Christian Bible into Tamil. Jesuit missionaries such as Henerique Henriques (1502-1600)18 [Cf. Rajamanickam, 1968: Since 1548 Henriques lived in the harbour city of Tuttukkutti (commonly known as Tuticorin) on the Coromandal Coast. Cf. Henriques, 1967: In the year 1586, Henriques translated the Flos Sanctorum ('Life of Saints,' i.e., the Apostles and other saints of the Roman Catholic Church) from French into Tamil.]
and Roberto de Nobili (1577-1656) translated large sections of the Christian Bible into Tamil. These translated portions of the Bible may have been only with the clergy of the Roman Catholic Church. However, in 1708 Ziegenbalg managed to obtain a few Tamil manuscripts that were written by Henriques19 [Of these manuscripts, Ziegenbalg liked the text that bore the German title Evangelia auff alle Sonn- und Fest-Tage durchs gantze Jahr ('Gospel readings for all Sundays and festivals throughout the year,' OIOC, SL 3027), which contained several New Testament passages meant for public reading for divine services on Sundays. Ziegenbalg explained further that ''passages were translated very accurately according to the original [Greek] text," and that he had to correct certain things and this mistake seems to have come "not from the translator, but from the copyists." He added that the Jesuits did not translate the entire Bible into Tamil because "the papal law did not allow the Bible to be read by common people," and that they would recite Latin texts and liturgies that "no Tamil could understand."]
and de Nobili and read them for the sake of their style of language (Ziegenbalg, 1880, 15).
It is possible that Ziegenbalg was familiar with the Tamil works of de Nobili (De Nobili, 1964, 1965, 1966 and 1970).20 [
De Nobili christianized several theological terms for God, angel, devil, wisdom, ignorance, good deeds, sin, human beings, soul, death, forgiveness, eternal life, and so forth.] Ulla Sandgren has shown that
Ziegenbalg borrowed most of the theological terms from the Jesuits (Sandgren, 1991) and used them to creatively express Lutheran theological concepts.
During a phase of persecution in a neighboring region, a Jesuit missionary's library was stored in Tranquebar, and Ziegenbalg found himself suddenly in possession of much interesting materials that included a Tamil translation of the New Testament. This stroke of luck made him an heir to Jesuit research on terminology that had flourished since the days of Roberto de Nobili. In the Bibliotheca Malabarica of 1708, Ziegenbalg already listed sixteen Roman Catholic works and wrote that he had corrected five of them to such an extent that they could be used by his Protestant flock "without any problem" (p. 291-92).
At this early stage he thus began to employ de Nobili's loaded terminology; for example, he often used the word Caruvecuran (Skt. sarvesvara, lord of all) for God. According to Jeyaraj (2003:292), the twenty-six Tamil sermons of de Nobili contain many words picked up by Ziegenbalg -- for example, the Tamil words for God, angels, devil, world, man, soul, death, salvation, remission, and eternal life. Ziegenbalg's Tamil community was likely to learn, just like de Nobili's flock a century earlier, how important it is for manusan (Skt manusa, man) to avoid pavam (Skt. papa, evil), to embrace punniyam (Skt. punya, virtue), and to worship Caruvecuran (Skt. sarvesvara, lord of all) in the form of Barabarawastu (Skt. paraparavastu, divine substance) because there is no other path to the other shore (karai-erutal) of motcam (Skt. moksa, liberation) (p. 292).
Apart from terms for God such as Caruvecuran and Barabarawastu, the juxtaposition of jnana (knowledge, wisdom) and ajnana (ignorance) was particularly important for Ziegenbalg's view of Indian religions and his mission enterprise.
The title of the first pamphlet from the brand-new Tamil mission press in Tranquebar reads: "The Veta-pramanam (Skt. vedapramana, Vedic norm) demonstrating that akkiyanam [ajnana] must be detested and how those in akkiyanam can be saved" (pp. 309-10). In the very first sentence Ziegenbalg comes straight to the point: "We have come to you in order to save you from akkiyanam" (Grafe 2004:83-84). Grafe summarizes the pamphlet's contents as follows:
(1) What is a-jnana? -- It is idol worship and moral perversion according to Rom. 1:21-32. (2) How a-jnana spread in this world. -- It did so because of the devil's deceit and men's guilt and not because of God. (3) There is much a-jnana in the whole of Tamilnadu. (4) How detestable a-jnana is. -- Because by a-jnana soul and body will be perverted and punished. (5) How God is helping those in a-jnana to be saved. -- Jesus Christ took upon himself the burden of a-jnana and delivers from ajnana saving soul and body. (6) What the things are which those who wish to be saved from a-jnana have to do .... (7) The trials and tribulations which those who give up a-jnana and enter the Church experience in the world for the sake of righteousness. (8) The benefits promised to those who give up a-jnana, accept true religion and stand in the Christian faith unshaken. (p. 84)
It is clear that Ziegenbalg used the word ajnana (ignorance) for sin, heathendom, and idolatry. On the other hand, jnana (knowledge or wisdom) stood for monotheism and the acceptance of Jesus as savior. For Ziegenbalg, ajnana involves the veneration of false devas and the worship of vikrakams (Skt. vigraha, forms or shapes) made of earth, wood, stone, and metal. By contrast, jnana signifies the exclusive worship of Baribarawastu (Skt. paraparavastu, divine substance).
-- The Birth of Orientalism, by Urs App
However,
Ziegenbalg was the first person to translate the entire New Testament into Tamil and, by doing so, made it available to all people (cf. Sabapathy, 1967; Pakiamuthu, 1990; Jeyaraj, 1997).
SPCK has worked overseas since its foundation. The initial focus was the British colonies in the Americas. Libraries were established for the use of clergy and their parishioners, and books were frequently shipped across the Atlantic by sail throughout the 18th century.
By 1709, SPCK was spreading further afield: a printing press and trained printer were sent to Tranquebar in East India to assist in the production of the first translation of the Bible into Tamil. This was accomplished by the German Lutheran missionaries Bartholomaeus Ziegenbalg and Heinrich Pluetschau from the Danish-Halle Mission.-- Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, by Wikipedia
He found the Tamil language fitting to translate the Word of God with clarity, precision and simplicity, enabling easy understanding (Ziegenbalg, 1957, 171).
In October 1708, he began translating the New Testament and completed it on the 31st of November 1711.21 [Ziegenbalg had a copy of this translation neatly written on palm leaves and had it sent to King Frederick IV. This palmleaf manuscript is now kept in the Manuscript Department of the Royal Library in Copenhagen (Call No.: Cod. Tamul 58-1).] After a few revisions
he had the four Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles printed and published in Tranquebar (on September 25, 1714). Later he translated the Old Testament books from Genesis to Judges. Ziegenbalg's Bible translation constituted the first large prose text in Kotuntamil ('coarse, i.e., colloquial Tamil').22 [Like the authors of the books of the New Testament, who did not choose to use the literary language of the Greek philosophers such as Aristotle or Plato, but used the ordinary Koine Greek, Ziegenbalg used the colloquial form of the Tamil language. Cf. Britto, 1986: Tamil has been and remains to be diglossic language.
Tamil colloquialism has a separate existence, to some extent associated with, yet independent of, the classical Tamil.] He wanted that ordinary people with or without formal education could understand the message of the New Testament. He acknowledged the following:
"We thank our father Luther greatly, even in his grave, for giving us the Word of God in our hands to be read in our mother tongue so that we ourselves can search for and know of God's Will. Who will not appreciate the great blessing that God has given to the Tamil people that now they have the Gospel in their own language, because the missionaries have translated the New Testament into the Tamil language? Now they can know and accept the plan of God for their salvation."
(AFSt/M I C 7:11, points 12 and 13).
Ziegenbalg's translation would have had great impact on the Tamil people. It is natural, simple, clear and authentic, and is still intelligible.23 [However,
the Jesuit missionary, C.G. Beschi (1680-1747, from 1709/10 in Tamil country), who had mastered the Centamil ('chaste Tamil'), and probably did not like the Bible being made available to ordinary people, criticized the quality of Ziegenbalg's Tamil translation of the New Testament. Cf. Viramamunivar, 1936, 345 f. Cf. AFSt/M II B 7:14: Around 1728 Beschi had sent a Tamil letter to the Tranquebar missionary Benjamin Schultze (1689-1760). Now this letter is recovered. It shows how Beschi
rebukes the Lutherans for translating the Bible into the common language of the Tamils and making it available to them. He accuses them of having mixed poison (i.e., translation) with food (the Bible), and of hiding the pearl (i.e., the Bible) in mud (i.e., translation).] It is indeed a great achievement of Ziegenbalg.
However, Ziegenbalg was sometimes overconfident and denied the help of the Tamil people.24 [HR, I, 1. Con., 19 ff.: Ziegenbalg's own words reveal his pride and they can be summarized as follows: "I want to do this translation alone. I wish to have a Tamil secretary to write down my dictated text. In this translation I do not need the help of any person. Even if I want to get help, I cannot get any assistance.
There is no Christian or Tamil, who can translate and write a correct sentence in prose."] As a result he used certain phrases that his readers would not readily understand. For example, like the Jesuits before him, he used the Portuguese word: ispirintu cantu for the 'Holy Spirit.' On the seacoast where people were familiar with the Portuguese terms, this might have made some sense; others however would not have understood it. Had Ziegenbalg used the neutral noun paricutta avi ('very clean spirit,' i.e., Holy Spirit) and addressed the Holy Spirit in the honorific third person singular (e.g., paricutta aviyanavar, 'the respected person, who is the Holy Spirit'), all Tamil people would have grasped the meaning better.