John Nicol Farquhar

John Nicol Farquhar (1861-1929) was a Scottish educational missionary and Orientalist whose scholarly works on Indian religions remain foundational texts in the study of Hinduism and modern Indian religious movements.

Early Life and Education

Born in Aberdeen in 1861, Farquhar initially trained as a draper’s apprentice before returning to formal education at age 21. He attended Aberdeen Grammar School (1882), Aberdeen University (1883), and completed his studies at Christ Church, Oxford, earning his B.A. in 1889. He later received a D.Litt. from Oxford in recognition of his scholarly contributions.

Missionary Work in India

In 1891, Farquhar arrived in Calcutta as a lay educational missionary for the London Missionary Society. He spent eleven years teaching at Bhowanipur, immersing himself in Bengali and Sanskrit languages and engaging deeply with Hindu thought and practice. His intimate knowledge of Hindu source materials and personal interactions with adherents of various religious movements would later distinguish his scholarly work.

In 1902, he joined the Indian YMCA, first as national student secretary and later as literary secretary, a position he held until 1923. This role afforded him remarkable access to educated Indians across the subcontinent and enabled him to travel extensively, gathering firsthand information about religious movements in every part of India.

Scholarly Contributions

Farquhar was an exceptional linguist, fluent in Bengali and Sanskrit, with what contemporaries described as an “encyclopedic grasp” of Hindu source material. His scholarly approach combined rigorous textual analysis with extensive fieldwork and personal interviews.

His major works include:

• Gita and Gospel (1903) - A comparative study of the Bhagavad Gita and Christian teaching
• A Primer of Hinduism (1912) - An introduction to Hindu beliefs and practices
• The Crown of Hinduism (1913) - His influential articulation of “fulfillment theology”
• Modern Religious Movements in India (1915) - A comprehensive survey of nineteenth-century religious movements
• An Outline of the Religious Literature of India (1920) - A monumental survey of Indian religious texts

The Fulfillment Theory

Farquhar is most remembered for popularizing the “fulfillment” approach to Christianity and Hinduism—the idea that Christ came to fulfill, not destroy, the aspirations found in Hinduism. While this theological position has been critiqued in subsequent decades, it represented a significant shift from earlier missionary attitudes that simply condemned Hindu traditions as paganism.

As scholar Eric Sharpe observed, Farquhar was “more than any other individual responsible for bringing about a decisive change in the thinking of Christians over against the phenomena of other faiths.”

Later Life

Ill health forced Farquhar to leave India in 1923 after more than three decades of work on the subcontinent. He spent his final six years as Professor of Comparative Religion at the University of Manchester, where he continued his scholarly work until his death on 17 July 1929.

Legacy

Farquhar’s Modern Religious Movements in India remains a primary source for understanding the religious ferment of nineteenth-century India. His careful documentation of movements like the Brahma Samaj, Arya Samaj, Theosophy, and the Ramakrishna Mission provides invaluable historical evidence gathered from personal interviews and direct observation during the movements’ active periods.