Barriers and Openings in Missionary Work

This flow traces how political restrictions, unexpected redirection, legal change, and abolition alter the possibilities for Christian mission.

increasingBearing stren­gth in each eventdecreasing

A Mission Blocked

Missionaries Face Expulsion Arrival in Bengal Adoniram and Ann Judson seek to serve among people in the region, but authorities associated with the East India Company oppose missionary activity. Their presence is treated as a political or administrative problem. An Ordered Departure The Judsons are summoned to Calcutta and ordered to leave. Carson presents the restriction as a failure of a government that called itself Christian to permit religious work.

A Forced Change of Destination

Exclusion Redirects a Mission An Unwanted Departure The missionaries cannot establish themselves where they had first intended to work. Their plans are altered by governmental pressure rather than by a voluntary change of purpose. A New Field They proceed to Burma, where the mission later develops. Carson reads this redirection as an example of an obstacle becoming a means by which missionary activity reaches another population.

A Charter Is Revised

Legal Barriers Begin to Change Parliamentary Action Friends of missionary work press for changes during the renewal of the East India Company charter. The revision secures greater toleration for missionary efforts in British possessions in the East. A Shift in Permission Carson notes a subsequent change in official and European resident attitudes. Missionaries gain a more established opportunity to work, though the account presents this as a change in conditions rather than the end of every difficulty.

Abolition Opens a Field

Jamaica Becomes More Accessible A Violent Past Carson recalls attacks on worship, property, and Christian communities in Jamaica. He connects the possibility of missionary work with a wider change in the social and political order. A New Opportunity The abolition of slavery removes a grave barrier, in the author’s interpretation, and permits more extensive preaching among formerly enslaved people. The opening does not undo past injury but changes the field of future work.

Societies Multiply

Organized Missionary Effort Expands New Institutions Missionary, Bible, and education societies appear in increasing numbers. Carson interprets this growth as a sign that more Christians are directing organized effort toward the spread of Scripture. A Measure of Possibility The societies offer practical means of translation, printing, education, and distribution. In the essay’s account, institutional activity marks a new phase in the attempt to reach distant communities.

In 1812

After the Judsons’ expulsion from British India

In 1813

After the abolition of slavery in the British West Indies

In the decades before the book’s 1851 publication