Christianity and Myanmar2008

Christianity in Myanmar has undergone different political systems along the history. This chapter presents with five sub-topics: geographical setting of Myanmar, people of Myanmar, monarchical period of Myanmar, arrival of Christianity and Church expansion in Myanmar.

Geographical Setting of MyanmarMyanmar is the largest country by land area in Southeast Asia. The area of the country is 676, 552 square Kilometers, its neighboring countries are China and Laos in the Northeast and East, Thailand in the East, and India and Bangladesh in the West and Northwest. Myanmar has a physical landscape consisting of a central plain, a horseshoes curve of hilly areas in the West, North, and East, and a coastal strip extending to Southward.

The geographical setting of the country itself is one of the causes that contribute to the internal conflicts. Myanmar rivers valleys and deep mountain ranges, running from north to south, prepare migration of people from China. There are many tribes who migrated from Tibet down to Myanmar. The geographical situation inside the country divided these people into groups. The mountains, hills, valleys, plain and deltas inside the country have guided the tribes as they choose respective areas which are good for their settlement and occupation. Myanmar secluded from the outer world by mountains and sea, appears destined for political unity by nature. Anthropological relationships of mongoloid stock and at least remotely, akin. The geographical situation of the country seems to favor the unity of the country, but in fact it has created internal divisions in the country throughout its history. High Landers and low Landers settle down throughout Myanmar. National unity of the country depends on the relationship among the ethnic groups.

People of MyanmarAccording to the report of Myanmar Travel Information, there are 135 ethnic groups in Myanmar. Kachin, Kayah, Kayin (Karen), Chin, Bamar (Burman), Mon, Rakhines and Shan are major ethnic groups. The Bamars, who occupy the central plain, are ( 69% ) of population. Many of the ethnic minorities live in the hilly areas. The Shans ( 8.5% ), Kayins ( 6.2% ), Rakhine ( 4.5% ), Mons ( 2.4% ), Chins ( 2.2% ), Kachins (1.4% ), and Kayahs ( 0.4% ) have been given political recognition by having constituent states of the Union named after them.

Military regime took over power in 1988 from the Socialist government. Then, Burma, the name of the country, changed officially as Myanmar in 1989. Other anglicized names of some ethnic groups, were also changed; from Karen to Kayin, from Burman to Bamar, and Arakkhanese to Rakhine. Burmese language was changed as Myanmar language. Changing the names shows nationalism and anti-western spirit.

Of the nations in Southeast Asia, Myanmar is the one which encounters with the most perplexing ethnic minority problems. The traditional religion, culture, and languages of ethnic minorities in highlands area, are distinctive from the majority Bamars in

plain areas. Having past mission works in Myanmar re-evaluated, it is discovered that a greater number of Christians come in a massive form from the ethnic minority back ground while only a handful Christians come from the majority Bamar Buddhist background. So, it is sorrowful that the conflict between Bamars and other ethnic groups, is often seen as conflict between Buddhist and Christian.

The conflict between Bamars and other ethnic groups still going on. Some rebels of ethnic minorities turned to legal fold during the reign of military government which has ruled since 1988. Myanmar government always claims that this unity of different ethnic groups, is heritage of British Colonialism. On the other hand, leaders of ethnic minorities often accuse Myanmar Government as endeavoring to Burmanize all ethnic groups of the country. Globalization in twenty first century influences all people of Myanmar. Public media make ethnic minorities aware of their rights and opportunities. Civil society, especially in plain region, becomes multi-cultural nowadays.

Monarchical Period of MyanmarThe kingdom of Bamar, the Bagan kingdom, was established in the eleventh century AD by king Anawrahta. With the establishment of the Bagan kingdom, the Bamar could develop their military and political supremacy over other ethnic groups and gradually became the ethnic majority in Myanmar. For the promotion of ethics and morality in the kingdom king Anawrahta established Theravada Buddhism in his domain. He defeated and destroyed Thaton, the royal city of Mon people who had migrated into Myanmar before Bagan dynasty. Then he took all their monks and Buddhist scriptures to Bagan. With these resources King Anawrahta, with the help of the primate Shin Arhan, directed the propagation of Theravada Buddhism in the Kingdom, and Bagan rapidly became a great center of religion and culture. Then, the promotion of Buddhism came to be regarded as the duty of the king. Following king Anawrahta's example, the successive king's carried on their royal function for the propagation of Buddhism.

The Bagan Kingdom obtained ascendancy by conquering the neighboring kingdoms. Anawratta, who became king of Bagan in 1044, annexed territory of Shan people who had migrated into Myanmar before Bagan dynasty, as well as Mon kingdom in 1057. Mongol armies invaded the Bagan kingdom in 1289 and brought it to an end. Therefore the Bamar Kingdom became divided. The Bamar people re-established their kingdom at Ava city in 1364 and revived the Bagan culture and improved Burmese literature. The Shan regained their territory and could re-establish their rule in 1527. Under the leadership of king warrior, the Mon also re-established their kingdom in lower Myanmar with Martaban as its capital. Byinnya, who succeeded warrior, shifted the capital to Pegu in 1365. During the reign of Dhammazedi (1472-92), the Mon Kingdom reached a golden age through commerce. It also became a great center of Buddhism.

In 1531, a new Bamar kingdom was established with Toungoo as its center. Its King Tabinshwehti (1531-50) established a unified kingdom of Myanmar once again by conquering the Shan and the Mon. King Anaukpetlun, who came to the throne in 1605 shifted the capital to Ava. In 1752 the Mon people attacked Ava and all Myanmar came under the rule of the Mon. However, King Alungphaya established the third Bamar kingdom (Konbaung Dynasty) and expelled the Mon from upper Myanmar

and recaptured the Shan state. He conquered lower Myanmar from the Mon in 1757. His son, Bodawpaya, conquered Arakan in 1784 and Tenasserim in 1793. Then, Myanmar was brought, once again, into the rule of the Bamar king until it was colonized by the British in 1885 after the three Anglo-Bamar wars (1824-1885).

Christian mission entered Myanmar under monarchical rule. But church expansion among the ethnic groups was successful after British colonized the country.

The Arrival of Christianity(a) Roman Catholic MissionThe first Christians who came into Myanmar were captive Portuguese soldiers and a few traders and adventurers in fifteenth century. Among them, there were chaplains who were responsible for their spiritual welfare. It seemed that these chaplains worked only among the Portuguese traders and soldiers. There is no evidence of their work among the people of Myanmar.

The first Christian missionary to Myanmar was French Franciscan, named Pierre Bonfer. He arrived in Thanlyin which was principal seaport of the country in 1554. He learned Mon language and attempted to proselytize among the people. Failing in his efforts, he left in 1557. Then, a Portuguese mercenary, Filipe de Britto, took advantage of a confused political situation and established himself as ruler of Thanlyin in 1559. The Jesuit missionaries who arrived in Thanlyin made a number of converts, the most famous of whom was Natshinnaung, ruler of Toungoo and eminent poet. King Anaukpetlun captured Thanlyin in 1613 and resettled its Christian population in a number of villages in northern Myanmar. There Roman Catholics were known as bayingyis which derived from Arabic feringhi, denoting the Franks or Europeans. These Catholics served as royal musketeers and gunners.

The Italian Barnabite Order started a mission in 1721 to care for the bayingyi communities. The Barnabites established schools and a seminary, but their most outstanding achievement was their literary work in the Myanmar language and their printing on the press of the Congregation of Propaganda the first Myanmar books, such as a language primer and an expositions of Christian doctrine in 1776, a prayer book and a catechism in 1785. In 1869 there were already three Roman Catholic mission fields in eastern, northern and southern Myanmar. In 1894, there were thirteen Roman Catholic villages and churches were established in Thoneseh, Pegu, and Myaungmya. Roman Catholic missions were successful on a certain level. However, they sometimes had to face the hostilities of the Buddhist population and their kings. During the first Anglo-Bamar war (1824-26) the Bamar troops arrested some priests. Also during the second Anglo-Bamar war in 1853, many Christians were persecuted.

Under the monarchical rule, Catholic mission encountered with persecution during the times of political crisis. But it is found that some Myanmar kings granted freedom of worship to the Catholics in politically peaceful periods.

(b) Baptist MissionThe first Protestant missionaries arrived at Yangon in 1807. They were Chater and Felix Carey which were sent by the English Baptist mission in Serampore, India. Chater left Myanmar in 1812 to establish a Baptist mission in Srilanka. Carey, who had gained access to the Myanmar court by his skill in smallpox vaccination, resigned from the mission in 1814 to enter the service of the court. The work of the Baptist mission was soon taken over by the American Baptists.

Adoniram Judson and his wife, the first American Baptist missionaries arrived in Yangon in 1813. For a decade, he spent his time among the Burmese people learning Burmese language, translating the Bible, writing gospel tracts, and preaching the gospel. His work among the Bamar, however, was not successful because the gospel which he preached was unwelcome by the Bamar who continued to have a strong Bamar-Buddhist national spirit. Maung Naw, the fist convert in 1819, and few other Bamar were the only converts won during Judson's work among the Bamar. Shortly after the conversion of Maung Naw, Judson went to Ava in 1820 to ask the king's approval for his preaching, but he was scornfully rejected. Meanwhile, as the war broke out between Myanmar and British, Judson was arrested and confined in a death prison at Aungpinle where he awaited execution. After nearly one and half years of prison confinement, Judson was released in November 1825 to help interpret peace negotiations with the British.

The acquisition of the Tenasserim Coastal are of Myanmar by the British after the first Anglo-Myanmar war in 1826 opened the way for Judson's mission among the Karen, one of the ethnic minority groups in Myanmar. The Gospel was welcome by the Karen people who later became evangelist to other Karen tribes and other ethnic groups. The response to the Baptist mission among the ethnic minorities, except the Shans, Mons and Rakhines, has been very great, but the response of the Burman people has always been small.

In order to win converts from Buddhism, Adoniram Judson, accompanied by other American Baptist missionaries had used various means in their mission approach such as literacy mission, person-to-person evangelism, educational mission, social mission and medical mission. As soon as Judson and his wife arrived in Yangon, they learnt Burmese language. He wrote gospel tracts. He completed translation of the Bible into Burmese language in 1834 and the dictionaries (English to Bamar and Bamar to English) in 1843. He saw literary mission as one of his significant means to bring the Gospel to the Buddhist indigenous people in Myanmar. He used the method of person-to-person evangelism. In 1819, he built a small religious building called zayat in the Bamar fashion beside the public road where pedestrians and visitors could stop and hear the Gospel. His mission approach was neither monologue nor pupil model, but dialogue or round-table model. He could converse with visitors in that small building. Furthermore, Judson and the American Baptist missionaries introduced western education in Myanmar. They established two kinds of mission schools: Day School and Boarding school. These mission schools were established not only to train local converts regardless of race, religion and gender. These are attractive because girls were not allowed to study in Buddhist Monastic Schools. Medical mission was also attractive to Myanmar people. The first American Baptist medical missionary was Jonathan Price who arrived in Myanmar together with his wife and daughter on December 1821. His mission was famous so much so that Myanmar King Bagyidaw

invited him to stay in the capital. The missionaries did not only save the soul but they also heal the physical body.

Judson and other American Baptist missionaries used holistic mission approach. Therefore, they were successful to a certain level though they encountered with difficulties in Myanmar.

Church Expansion(a) Christianity under Colonial RuleOther protestant missions came into Myanmar under British rule. Anglican church originated in the chaplaincy of the British soldiers in Myanmar soon after the first Anglo-Bamar War (1824-26). The American Methodist Episcopal Mission work was begun in 1879. The Methodist work in Upper Myanmar started in 1886 with pioneer missionary G. H. Hateson, an army chaplain. The Adventist work was started in 1919. Leonard Bolton, the first Assemblies of God missionary, came in 1924, and the first Pentecostal church was established in Putao (Northern Myanmar) in about 1933. Salvation Army work began in 1915. Church of Christ missionaries came from China and established a church in Northern Myanmar in 1933. Presbyterianism was introduced when the British soldiers and traders came in the nineteenth century, after the second Anglo-Bamar War.

Catholics, Baptist and other Protestant groups could do their mission works freely under colonial rule. There was considerable growth of Christianity, eventhough; the British government did not enforce Christianity upon the people of Myanmar. They had the policy of "religious neutrality," which means that they did not interfere in religious affairs. There was a remarkable rate of conversion from the ethnic minorities. The Christian missions involved in educational, agricultural, and social work during colonial periods. There were schools run by Protestant and Roman Catholic Missions. Because of educational, agricultural, and social works the ethnic groups who were once oppressed and devoid of social status came to be aware of their ethnic identities.

On the other hand, unlike Myanmar Kings, the British government was neutral to religion, and thus they did not support Buddhism nor build pagodas. In the realm of education, the monastic Schools lost their position and the roles of monk in education declined. The traditional monastic schools were not compatible with the government, missionary and Buddhist day schools. The decline of monastic headship led to the rise of nationalistic monks who challenged the British government. Among them, U Ottama was so famous in Myanmar history. He and other political monks aroused an anti-colonial spirit among the Bamar Buddhist nationalists, and Christianity came to be viewed as the colonial religion.

Another reason for seeing Christianity as colonial religion has to do with British policy for Indian Army. In 1857, the British adopted the policy of recruiting for the Indian Army not from the more advanced communities of the plains but from the "martial races" of the hills. This policy was translated in Myanmar into one of recruiting for the military from the Christian ethnic minorities. The nationalist movement developed the gulf between the Buddhists and Christians challenged the colonial order and the Christians who loyally supported it.During World War II, the Japanese army with Bamar soldiers invaded Myanmar to

expel the British. But the ethnic minorities remained faithful to the British and many of them served in the British army. For this reason many Kayin people, being accused of being pro-British, were killed and persecuted by the Japanese army in the Pathein and Myaungmya areas of delta region of lower Myanmar.

Nationalistic Bamar Buddhists misunderstood local churches of ethnic minority groups to be British colonial heritage. This misunderstanding has been handed down to many people of Myanmar in 21st century. It is a challenge to church growth of Myanmar today.

(b) Religious Affairs Under U Nu (1948-1962)When Myanmar regained independence on January 4, 1948 at 4:20 am, the choice of date and time as astrological calculation indicated a traditionalist orientation in the post colonial order. So, the link between Buddhism and political authority which had been disrupted during the colonial period was restored. In the first decade after independence, Buddhism under the leadership of U Nu, became a part of the official ideology and the Communists who were in rebellion were castigated as a "danger to Buddhism." The revival of Buddhism became an important part of state activity, so much so that it became difficult for a non-Buddhist to become the symbolic head of state. The most visible event of this Buddhist revival was the conveying of the Sixth Buddhist Council in 1956.

On September 26, 1959, a year before the election was held U Nu declared that he would make Buddhism the state religion if he won the election. As he won election in 1960, he drew a constitution to rule the country via parliamentary democracy with Buddhism as the state religion. The non-Buddhist groups opposed the proposal for making Buddhism the state religion.

(c) The Church under Socialist Government (1962-1988)In 1962 the Revolutionary Council seized power and the rule of U Nu's Parliamentary Democracy came to an end. The proposal of making Buddhism the state religion was also set aside. In order to suppress the insurgencies in the country, the council established a military dictatorship and began to develop socialist rule over the country. Then they published the statement of their ideology "the Burmese Way to Socialism" in April 1962. The act of the Revolutionary Council, in implementing the socialist program, had a great impact on Christianity.

In 1966 the socialist Government expelled all foreign missionaries and 375 missionaries left the country. National Christian leaders have been carrying on the mission of the church in Myanmar. There has been a gradual accession of Christianity under the indigenous missions or leadership. In 1963, the Myanmar Baptist Convention celebrated the 150th anniversary of the arrival of the American Baptist mission work in Myanmar. By the time the total number of Baptist was 216, 632. According to the statistics of the Myanmar of Council of churches in 1970, the number of Baptists was 520, 000. This certifies the considerable growth of the Baptists within the decade after 1962. The mission movements such as "Chin for Christ in one century," "Three Hundred Three Years Mission," among Kachin people, and Kayin's "AD 2000 Mission" that had awakened in the last decades of twentieth century won a number of converts. In the same period, the Anglican Church and the Methodist Church in Myanmar, despite the loss of their Church members due to the

expulsion of foreigners in 1966, were growing and active in evangelism. When the Upper Myanmar Methodist Church became autonomous in 1964 they had only three districts. But later, they were able to establish new districts and new mission fields. The lower Myanmar Methodist could also establish new churches. The Anglican Church became autonomous in 1966 and conducted evangelistic work in four areas. Three new Anglican dioceses could be established within this period.After the return of foreign missionaries from Myanmar, national Christian leaders could implement their own vision which God revealed to them. Myanmar churches became independent to contextualize the gospel of Christ in the country.

Source: Christianblog.com