1
The Calvinism of William Carey
And Its Effect on His Mission Work
INTRODUCTION
William Carey was born August 17, 1761 into a confused and divided English
religious setting. He spent his early years as part of the Church of England but as a
young man switched to the Calvinistic Particular Baptists. True spiritual life for Carey
was initiated during his teen years by the persistent witness of a fellow cobbler's
apprentice named John Warr. Following his conversion William Carey fully involved
himself in spiritual things including a deep concern for his family. He was from the
beginning a believer who took evangelism seriously.
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John Warr continued to influence
his friend and on February 10, 1779, convinced Carey to attend a dissenter's worship
meeting. He heard Thomas Chater, a Baptist, preach on the cost of discipleship. Chater
became an influential friend to Carey recommending him to a church and taking him to
his first Baptist associational meeting in 1782 in Olney.
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Carey became an active part of
Particular Baptist life.
His influence would be spectacular. Soon Carey was asking if it was the duty of
modern Christians to publish the gospel in every place of spiritual darkness across the
world. He wrote An Inquiry into the Obligations of Christians, to use Means for the
Conversion of the Heathens (1792). The writing challenged Baptists to consider the
1
Timothy George, Faithful Witness: The Life and Mission of William Carey (Birmingham: New Hope,
1991), 8
2
Ibid., 10-11.