Johannes Avetaranian

Johannes Avetaranian
Johannes Avetaranian
Born	30 June 1861; Erzurum, Ottoman Empire
Died	11 December 1919 (aged 58); Wiesbaden, Weimar Republic

Johannes Avetaranian, born Mehmet Şükri (Erzurum, Ottoman Empire, 30 June 1861 – Wiesbaden, Germany, 11 December 1919) was originally a mullah in Turkey who converted from Islam to Christianity, and later became a missionary for the Swedish Mission Covenant Church in Southern Xinjiang (1892–1938).^[1] He translated the New Testament into the Uyghur language. He preached Christianity in Xinjiang and at a Swedish Protestant mission. He died in 1919, aged 58, in Wiesbaden.

According to his autobiography, he was a sayyid, meaning a direct descendant of the Islamic prophet Muhammad.

Biography

Avetaranian was born in Erzurum, in 1861, to a Muslim family. His mother was deaf, blind, and mute, and died when Avetaranian was only two years old. His father was a dervish.^[2] According to his autobiography, he would have been allowed to wear the green turban reserved for sayyids by a mullah after his aunt showed him their family genealogy.^[3] It appears that he received a rather good education, allowing him to speak multiple languages. Apart from Turkish, other Turkic languages, and Arabic, he also spoke German, English, and possibly French and Swedish.^[2]

Avetaranian initially became a mullah in the Ottoman Empire but gradually turned towards Christianity after reading the Gospels, he was particularly shocked after the drowning execution of twelve Turkish students who had converted to Christianity in the 1880s in Constantinople.^[2] He then came into contact with Pastor Amirkhaniantz and some priests of the Armenian Apostolic Church.^[2]

He took the Armenian name of Johannes (John) Avetaranian (Avetaran means 'Gospel') and was baptised either in Tiflis, Russia (modern-day Tbilisi, Georgia) or in Tabriz, Iran, on 28 February 1885.^[4]^[5]

He was the first person from the Mission Union of Sweden to stay in Kashgar (in 1892).^[6] He translated the New Testament into the Uyghur language.^[7]^[8] Avetaranian was significant in the understanding of the Uyghur language and stands as one of the pioneers in the study of this language.^[9] His knowledge of Turkish enabled him to be a proficient translator of Christian religious texts in both Turkish and other Turkic languages, unlike his missionary colleagues, most of whom were proficient only in Greek and Hebrew.^[2] He also translated in Uyghur some books of the Old Testament, such as Job, Genesis, the Psalms and in Turkish The Pilgrim's Progress of John Bunyan.^[2]

He left Kashgar in 1897, thinking that he would soon return, but that did not work out. Instead he worked with the German Orient Mission (DOM) in Bulgaria, where he started a Christian newspaper, Gunesh, in Turkish. The newspaper was circulated in Turkey proper.

Gösta Raquette came to Philipopol, now Plovdiv, Bulgaria, where he worked with Avetaranian on revision of the Bible translation.

He died in 1919, aged 58, in Wiesbaden.

References

^ Claydon, David (2005). A New Vision, A New Heart, A Renewed Call. Vol. 1. William Carey Library. p. 385. ISBN 978-0-87808-363-3.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Elia, Anthony J (2020). An American Novel in Central Asia: The Unfinished Translation of Ben-Hur and the Final Decade of the Swedish Missionary Project in Kashgar, 1928–1938 (Thesis). ProQuest 2469087423.^{[page needed]}
^ Johannes Avetaranian, Richard Schafer, John Bechard, A Muslim Who Became a Christian, Authors On Line Ltd, 2003, ISBN 0-7552-0069-1,Google Print, p. 4.
^ John Avetaranian and Richard Schafer. A Muslim Who Became a Christian: An Autobiography. Translated from German by John Bechard. (New Generational Publishing, 2018). p. 54.
^ Thomas, David; Chesworth, John; Bennett, Clinton; Pratt, Douglas; Steenbrink, Karel A., eds. (2021). Christian-Muslim relations: a bibliographical history. volume 17: Great Britain, the Netherlands and Scandinavia (1800-1914) / edited by David Thomas and John Chesworth; with Clinton Bennett, Douglas Pratt, Karel Steenbrink. History of Christian-Muslim relations. Leiden Boston: Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-44239-9.
^ Thomas, David; Chesworth, John; Bennett, Clinton; Pratt, Douglas; Steenbrink, Karel A., eds. (2021). Christian-Muslim relations: a bibliographical history. volume 17: Great Britain, the Netherlands and Scandinavia (1800-1914) / edited by David Thomas and John Chesworth; with Clinton Bennett, Douglas Pratt, Karel Steenbrink. History of Christian-Muslim relations. Leiden Boston: Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-44239-9.
^ Avetaranian, Johannes. "زبدة المنتخبات من الكتب المقدسة". (No Title) (in Uyghur).
^ The Holy Bible in Eastern (Kasiigar) Turki. The Long Now Foundation. 1950.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
^ Palm, Kara (2013). "Kashgar prints published by Swedish Mission Press in Kashgar (1892-1938)". International Journal of Uyghur Studies.

Avateranian, Johannes & Bechard, John (tr); A Muslim Who Became A Christian (Hertford: Authors Online Ltd.)

External links

[1] Claydon, David (2005). A New Vision, A New Heart, A Renewed Call. Vol. 1. William Carey Library. p. 385. ISBN 978-0-87808-363-3.

[:0-2] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Elia, Anthony J (2020). An American Novel in Central Asia: The Unfinished Translation of Ben-Hur and the Final Decade of the Swedish Missionary Project in Kashgar, 1928–1938 (Thesis). ProQuest 2469087423.^{[page needed]}

[Shukri-3] Johannes Avetaranian, Richard Schafer, John Bechard, A Muslim Who Became a Christian, Authors On Line Ltd, 2003, ISBN 0-7552-0069-1,Google Print, p. 4.

[4] John Avetaranian and Richard Schafer. A Muslim Who Became a Christian: An Autobiography. Translated from German by John Bechard. (New Generational Publishing, 2018). p. 54.

[5] Thomas, David; Chesworth, John; Bennett, Clinton; Pratt, Douglas; Steenbrink, Karel A., eds. (2021). Christian-Muslim relations: a bibliographical history. volume 17: Great Britain, the Netherlands and Scandinavia (1800-1914) / edited by David Thomas and John Chesworth; with Clinton Bennett, Douglas Pratt, Karel Steenbrink. History of Christian-Muslim relations. Leiden Boston: Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-44239-9.

[6] Thomas, David; Chesworth, John; Bennett, Clinton; Pratt, Douglas; Steenbrink, Karel A., eds. (2021). Christian-Muslim relations: a bibliographical history. volume 17: Great Britain, the Netherlands and Scandinavia (1800-1914) / edited by David Thomas and John Chesworth; with Clinton Bennett, Douglas Pratt, Karel Steenbrink. History of Christian-Muslim relations. Leiden Boston: Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-44239-9.

[7] Avetaranian, Johannes. "زبدة المنتخبات من الكتب المقدسة". (No Title) (in Uyghur).

[8] The Holy Bible in Eastern (Kasiigar) Turki. The Long Now Foundation. 1950.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)

[9] Palm, Kara (2013). "Kashgar prints published by Swedish Mission Press in Kashgar (1892-1938)". International Journal of Uyghur Studies.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

v t e Protestant missions to China
Background	Protestantism in China Protestantism in Sichuan Chinese history Missions timeline Christianity in China Nestorians Jesuits Protestant missions in China 1807–1953
People	David Howard Adeney Mary Ann Aldersey Roland Allen Thomas J. Arnold Gladys Aylward Joseph Beech John Birch William Jones Boone Pearl S. Buck John Burdon Thomas Cochrane Hunter Corbett Jonathan Goforth Frederick Graves Karl Gützlaff Francis Hanson Laura Askew Haygood Elizabeth G. K. Hewat Jennie V. Hughes Robert A. Jaffray Carl C. Jeremiassen Griffith John Walter Judd James Legge Eric Liddell Robert Samuel Maclay Lottie Moon Robert Morrison George Moule Gideon Nye David Paton Karl Ludvig Reichelt Timothy Richard Issachar Jacox Roberts Charles Scott Cambridge Seven George Smith Vincent John Stanton John and Betty Stam John Leighton Stuart Elwood Gardner Tewksbury Hudson Taylor Thomas Torrance William C. White (more missionaries)
Missionary agencies	American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions American Methodist Episcopal Mission Canadian Methodist Mission China Inland Mission Church Mission Society London Missionary Society National Christian Council US Presbyterian Mission Protestant Episcopal Church Mission List of Protestant missionary societies in China (1807–1953)
Colleges and universities	United Board University of Shanghai Cheeloo University Ginling College University of Nanking Soochow University Yenching University St. John's University Hangchow University Fukien Christian University Lingnan University College of Yale-in-China Huachung University West China Union University Peking Union Medical College Methodist Episcopal Church Hwa Nan College English Presbyterian Mission Chung Hua Sheng Kung Hui Oberlin Shansi Memorial Association Reformed Church in the United States
Impact	Bible translations into Chinese Medical missions in China Manchurian revival Chinese Christian colleges Chinese hymnody Chinese Roman Type Minnan Roman Type Foochow Roman Type Anti-footbinding Anti-opium
Pivotal events	Taiping Rebellion First Opium War Second Opium War Unequal treaty Yangzhou riot Tianjin Massacre Kucheng Massacre Boxer Crisis 1911 Revolution Chinese Civil War Second Sino-Japanese War People's Republic
Publications	The Chinese Repository Chinese Recorder and Missionary Journal The Christian Occupation of China Journal of the West China Border Research Society The West China Missionary News

Authority control databases
International	ISNI VIAF WorldCat
National	Germany Netherlands
People	Deutsche Biographie DDB

Biography

References

External links

Pfad - The Proxy pFad of © 2024 Garber Painting. All rights reserved.