Issachar Jacox Roberts (Chinese: 罗孝全 ''Luó Xiàoquán'') (1802–1871) was a Southern Baptist missionary in Qing China notable for being in direct contact with Hong Xiuquan and for denying him Christian

baptism Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost ...

Early life

Roberts was born in

Sumner County, Tennessee Sumner County is a county located on the central northern border of the U.S. state of Tennessee, in what is called Middle Tennessee. As of the 2020 census, the population was 196,281. Its county seat is Gallatin, and its largest city is Hen ...

, and graduated from Furman University, a Baptist school in Greenville, South Carolina.

Significance

He was known for his erratic behaviour and "falling into difficulties with nearly everyone who worked with him", which cost him his connection with the Southern Baptist Convention. Roberts was the only

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only ( believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compe ...

known to have influenced Hong Xiuquan (洪秀全, Wade-Giles: Hung Hsiu-ch'üan), the

Hakka The Hakka (), sometimes also referred to as Hakka Han, or Hakka Chinese, or Hakkas are a Han Chinese subgroup whose ancestral homes are chiefly in the Hakka-speaking provincial areas of Guangdong, Fujian, Jiangxi, Guangxi, Sichuan, Hunan, Zhej ...

who led the

Taiping Rebellion The Taiping Rebellion, also known as the Taiping Civil War or the Taiping Revolution, was a massive rebellion and civil war that was waged in China between the Manchu-led Qing dynasty and the Han, Hakka-led Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. It laste ...

(1851–1864) against the

Qing Dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-spea ...

which caused millions of deaths. Hong spent two months studying with Roberts at Canton (

Guangzhou Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. Located on the Pearl River about north-northwest of Hong Kon ...

) in 1847. Roberts refused Hong's request for baptism, perhaps due to a misunderstanding. He was also the first Baptist missionary arrived in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

in February 1842.

With the Taipings

In 1860, Roberts left Canton for the Taiping capital at

Nanjing Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. T ...

. He was dismayed to find that the beliefs of the Taiping departed widely from his own Christianity, but nevertheless accepted a post as advisor to

Hong Rengan Hong Rengan (; 18 February 1822 – 23 November 1864) was an important leader of the Taiping Rebellion. He was a distant cousin of the movement's founder and spiritual leader Hong Xiuquan. His position as the Gan Wang (干王, lit. "the Shield K ...

, foreign minister at the Taiping court. While there, Roberts arranged for some Baptists from the United States to visit Nanjing and meet Hong directly. He left in January 1862 on board the British gunboat ''Renard'' following a dispute with Hong, accusing Hong of the murder of Issachar's servant, and was thereafter fiercely critical of the Taiping.

Death

Roberts died of

leprosy Leprosy, also known as Hansen's disease (HD), is a long-term infection by the bacteria ''Mycobacterium leprae'' or ''Mycobacterium lepromatosis''. Infection can lead to damage of the nerves, respiratory tract, skin, and eyes. This nerve damag ...

(which he had contracted in

Macao Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a po ...

in 1837) at the home of his niece in Upper Alton,

Madison County, Illinois Madison County is a county in the U.S. state of Illinois. It is a part of the Metro East in southern Illinois. According to the 2020 census, it had a population of 264,776, making it the eighth-most populous county in Illinois and the most po ...

on December 28, 1871.Madison County Deaths - Surnames "R"
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References

Bibliography

*American Baptist Foreign Missionary Society Archives, Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, Issachar J. Roberts papers and correspondence *Boardman, Eugene Powers, Christian Influence on the Ideology of the Taiping Rebellion, 1952 *Coughlin, Margaret Morgan, "Strangers in the House: J. Lewis Shuck and Issachar Roberts, First American Baptist Missionaries in China, Ph.D. dissertation, University of Virginia, 1972 *Pruden, George Blackburn Jr., "Issachar Jacox Roberts and American Diplomacy in China." Ph.D. dissertation, American University, 1977 *Rapp, John A., "Clashing Dilemmas: Hong Rengan, Issachar Roberts, and a Taiping "Murder" Mystery," Journal of Historical Biography 4 (Autumn 2008) *Teng, Yuan Chung, "Reverend Issachar Jacox Roberts and the Taiping Rebellion," ''

Journal of Asian Studies ''The Journal of Asian Studies'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Association for Asian Studies, covering Asian studies, ranging from history, the arts, social sciences, to phil ...

'', 23, no. 1, (1963) 55–67. Available via JSTOR. * Zetzsche, Jost: «Gützlaffs Bedeutung für die protestantischen Bibelübersetzungen ins Chinesische», i Karl Gützlaff (1803-1851) und das Christentum in Ostasien, s. 155–171, red. av Thoralf Klein, Reinhard Zöllner. Collectana Serica. Nettetal: Monumenta Serica, 2005 *For a fictionalized account of Robert's activities in Nanking during the Taiping years see ''Tienkuo: The Heavenly Kingdom'' by "Li Bo" (Steven Leibo) 1802 births 1871 deaths 19th-century American people 19th-century Baptists Baptist missionaries from the United States Baptist missionaries in China Furman University alumni People from Madison County, Illinois People from Sumner County, Tennessee People of the Taiping Rebellion American expatriates in China Baptists from Tennessee Deaths from leprosy {{Christianity-bio-stub