[Editor’s Note: The book, Cultural Gaps: Benjamin Robinson’s Experiences with Hindu Traditions, edited by HL Richard, is a republishing of the autobiography of the Scottish missionary Benjamin Robinson, who lived in India in the 1880’s. Along with the inclusion of Robinson’s original autobiography, HL Richard adds many footnotes describing the context of both India and the missionary societies of that time. Cultural Gaps is a book centered on the reflections of a man who clearly aspired to be what we in MARG Network would call an Alongsider, though that term was not used at the time. Of highlighted importance in the book are Robinson’s wrestlings with the possibilities and limitations of cultural adaptation and identification with Hindu culture as a Westerner and his early experiences with individuals who are what we would identify now as Hindu devotees of Jesus.

Below are excerpts from a review of the book originally published in the IJFM Vol 40:1-2, Spring-Summer 2023. The original review in the IJFM, which is approximately three times the length of this condensed review, can be read at this link (on page numbers 90-94). Used with permission.]

I am very happy that H. L. Richard took on the task of publishing Cultural Gaps. It is more accurate to say that he is editing and re-publishing In the Brahmans’ Holy Land: A Record of Service in the Mysore by Benjamin Robinson, a 19th century British missionary and educator in southern Karnataka, India. Robinson’s autobiography shares the story of his remarkable and controversial missionary journeys and study of sacred Hindu texts among the Hindu villages of southern Karnataka in the 1880s. It was first published in 1912, the year before Robinson’s death.

[One factor] that contributed to Robinson’s sense of isolation from Hindu communities was his identity with and tacit participation in the British rule of India. Robinson saw real hypocrisy between the words and deeds of Jesus whom he represented and the nature of colonial rule in British India. Although Robinson was very sensitive to the feelings of the missionary community, many of whom he respected, he was also convinced that missionaries had made some very bad cultural choices such as killing cows, wearing leather shoes or belts and the eating of beef. Every missionary knew that this was abhorrent to Hindu people, but they rationalized their behavior and did it anyway. Robinson felt that this alignment with British culture in contradistinction to Hindu culture contributed greatly to the widespread rejection of the Christian gospel. Robinson felt the pain of this and wanted to make changes (xxiii).

Robinson sums up the personal impact of these difficulties in the form of a searching question, which he called the question of his life, “Could I by any wise means get near to the heart of my brothers, so that one’s life might help them feel the meaning of a common Father’s love?” (6)? This question is what motivated Robinson to transcend the missionary narratives that shaped the thinking of his day and really face reality. He decided to take concrete steps to identify with the Hindu people. After receiving permission from missionary leadership, he took about a year to gradually adopt the dress and food of the local people. This amounted to wearing typical cotton shirts and sandals without leather and abstaining from meat (8). This was his first step toward identification with Hindu people.

Could I by any wise means get near to the heart of my brothers, so that one’s life might help them feel the meaning of a common Father’s love?

These adjustments seemed to work out well, so Robinson decided to continue to follow them during a period of itinerant evangelistic ministry among Hindu villages. Robinson knew that wearing Indian clothing and eating basic vegetarian food during an evangelism tour was a controversial choice within the missionary community, but his feelings regarding this decision represent the very best examples of the true missionary spirit. Robinson wanted to emulate the admirable, sacrificial faithfulness of the early missionaries as well as expand the preaching of the gospel to the unreached. It is obvious that Robinson’s movement away from the common mission wisdom of the day did not mean that he despised missionaries. He wanted to follow in their footsteps and serve the Lord among Hindu people. This nuanced thinking about the frequent differences that one may see between the ministry of individual missionaries of the global missions enterprise is still relevant today.

[After] Robinson finished [his evangelistic tour] and returned to the mission compound, he was exhausted, ill, depressed, and confused. At first, he was overwhelmed by what he had experienced, and simply couldn’t process it all. He needed time to physically heal and recover his strength. Over time, he came to certain conclusions and could “face the results of my experiments with food and dress” (23). The questions that needed sorting revolved around issues of identity and caste. It became clear to Robinson that identity [amongst the Hindu people] was fixed by birth into a given caste and was impossible to change. Furthermore, any attempt to adjust one’s lifestyle, such as dress, in order to identify with a certain caste (personal identity) was foolish and confusing. Robinson decided to limit his quest to identify with Hindu people to adopting a vegetarian diet (8–9, 26).

At this point, he also decided to focus on learning the sacred literature of the Hindu people among whom he lived. As he began to look into doing this, Robinson was appalled at his ignorance. “How little I knew of their inward thought, it’s heights and depths! My ignorance of their sacred scripture appalled me. I was most deeply ashamed that I had ever attempted to teach. I could no longer be content with second-hand presentations of their thought . . . Putting myself into the spiritual position of the people, I would thus teach them the life of Christ’s love.” (29)

How little I knew of their inward thought, it’s heights and depths! My ignorance of their sacred scripture appalled me. I was most deeply ashamed that I had ever attempted to teach. I could no longer be content with second-hand presentations of their thought . . . Putting myself into the spiritual position of the people, I would thus teach them the life of Christ’s love.

So Robinson began a serious immersion into Hindu scripture. He focused his study on ancient Kannada and Sanskrit. As he read their scriptures, he would speak with Brahmans and visit places that were holy to them. This proved to be a very effective way to enter into the spirit of the culture, which was his passion. He hoped that this would enable him to effectively represent the interests of Jesus Christ among the people, especially high caste people, such as Brahmans. Although his quest to identify with Hindus without regard to strict caste restrictions had been shown to be idealistic, his study of their scriptures gave him what may have been an even better approach. He was learning to understand Hindu culture and people and, eventually, to develop real empathy with them. He even ventured on writing a small booklet in Kannada, using vocabulary and concepts he had learned in his study to introduce the gospel (35).

Chapters 4 and 5 contain numerous accounts of Robinson’s growing ability to enter into real dialogue with high caste Hindu people. This did not mean that most people were ready to be discipled, but he was learning to explain the gospel and his way of life as a missionary. Throughout this book, Robinson provides numerous examples of people who were open to hear the gospel and those who were not.

I could not help but notice Robinson’s reactions to various occasions when Hindus responded to the gospel. Robinson himself tells stories of being presented with what could only be interpreted as clear evidence of the work of the Holy Spirit to reveal Jesus to high caste Hindus. But he did not seem to see these opportunities.

[From the footnotes: On page 41, he tells the story about giving a group of Brahmans a Sanskrit New Testament. They received it and told Robinson they needed a guru to teach them. Robinson felt badly that there was no one to do it and left! On page 16, Robinson met two elderly men who had developed habits of Christian worship but were not Christians. They simply needed to be wisely discipled toward devotion to Jesus. On page 25, Robinson described a Brahman who identified as a Wesleyan Hindu. He clearly was devoted to Jesus but could not convert and be baptized. On page 39, a grieving father took initiative to tell Robinson that his little daughter had died and gone to Jesus as she had learned in the mission school.]

Robinson also came across four people who loved Jesus but were not baptized as Christians. One of these people was a Brahman sastri, or scripture reader, whom everyone recognized as an influential disciple maker among his own people. He never converted to Christianity or was baptized. This is what is often today referred to as a Jesus bhakta or Hindus being devoted to Jesus apart from Christian conversion. Robinson had not yet developed a clear category for these kinds of people (62).

What if Robinson had been a bit more cautious and did not shatter his health? What if the missionary movement as a whole had (or still might yet learn to have) as much respect for Hindu traditions and the task of sharing Christ with Hindus as Robinson demonstrated? What if those few Hindu lovers of Jesus had been encouraged to develop whole new patterns of discipleship to Jesus?

Richard addresses the issues of how to assess the ministry of Benjamin Robinson. He asks a series of “what if” questions which put the life of Benjamin Robinson in a much clearer light than the false binary of success or failure: “What if Robinson had been a bit more cautious and did not shatter his health? What if the missionary movement as a whole had (or still might yet learn to have) as much respect for Hindu traditions and the task of sharing Christ with Hindus as Robinson demonstrated? What if those few Hindu lovers of Jesus had been encouraged to develop whole new patterns of discipleship to Jesus?” (xviii)

“What if” questions have value if they contribute to learning. There is much to learn from Richard’s treatment of Robinson’s autobiography. It is required reading for anyone serving the gospel among Hindus, especially in South Asia.