This week in Christian history: German missionary arrives in India, Jesuit martyred in Japan, papacy leaves France

By Michael Gryboski, Mainline Church Editor Sunday, September 08, 2024

Johann Philipp Fabricius arrives in India – Sept. 8, 1741

Johann Philipp Fabricius (1711-1791), a German missionary known for his work among the Tamil people of India. | Public Domain

This week marks the anniversary of when Johann Philipp Fabricius, a German missionary known for his work among the Tamil people of Southeast Asia, arrived in India.

Within a year of arriving, he learned enough of the Tamil language to preach a sermon in the tongue, then later learned to speak English, Dutch, and Portuguese as part of his mission work.

“Fabricius recognized that the Tamil Bible begun by his predecessors was faulty and he began revisions. Mutthu Kistna Moodely assisted him in linguistic work which included hymn translations. The duo also prepared a Malabar-English dictionary,” noted the Christian History Institute.

“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.’”