Nehemiah Goreh (1825-1895)

Nehemiah Goreh (1825-1895)

Early life

Nehemia Goreh was born on 8th February 1825 to Sivaram Goreh. A well to do Marath Chitpvan Brahmin family, His father and family moved to Banares from Maharastra work under the Rajah of Banares. As his father Sivaram was well to do and well educated, Goreh was taught Sanskrit by his father and ancient Hindu Scripture under distinguish pundits. He had the opportunity of getting private education without going to the mission school run by the British or the missionary. Because of his learning he earned the title of pundit and sastri at a very young age (19). Goreh’s wife passed away and remarried at the age of 19 to Laksmi Bhai daughter of a Konkanasth Brahmin of Banares, and he had shifted his allegiance from the family’s tradition to Saivisin to Vaishnavism, which show his boldness in the peruse of truth. 

conversions

Goreh first contact with Christianity evoked in Him great animosity. Goreh vowed to himself that he will drive away the Christian street preacher, who was increasingly becoming very active in the streets at the provinces of Banares. So he took this vow as an act of devotion to his new diety Vishnu. So in order to execute his plan he went out to the street to listen to what the missionaries were preaching so that he can attack and deconstruct the missionary’s mission, as he was well confident in Himself and his education he took the challenge in the form of intellectual exhibition. In this process he met the CMS missionary and William Smith.  then  Goreh went on for an argument With William smith because Goreh  thought Christianity was not more than just a crude philosophy and was fit only for the ignorant people, and so Smith introduce the New testament to Goreh, and on reading it, the sermon on the mount gripped Him. “and the new testament once despised became the absorbing study of my life.” Nilakanth lost his faith in Hinduism nd then for some time he refused to accept any alternative religion, but in 1847 he attained the CMS church which alert the whole family. So his uncles, friends and Hindu pundit came and requested him not to come under the influence of the Christian missionary, and His father fell at his feet begging Him to consider at least for the sake of this old age, so Goreh postponed his final decision. But he finally made up his mind and leaves for Jausepur and receives baptism on 14 March 1849. As he said later “it was the force of conviction and the voice of conscience” that compiled him. As a result he was excommunicated.  

Contributions

In a nut shell Goreh’s thoughts can be summarized as church in witness and defense theology. His primary mission was to give an apologetic approach towards the Hindu reforms like the Bromo Samaj and Prathana Samaj, though not the militant Arya Samaj, thus Goreh comes in direct confrontation with Max Muller, the liberal oriental’s who was infatuated with anything Hindu. 

Creation, man and sin

In his apologetic Goreh find the doctrine of creation ex nihilo as he most important for theology. In the Hindu philosophies, the world has both existed from the eternity as well it has an ultimate material cause. As such none of them really understands Brahman or God as omnipotent. Only the Biblical account of the creation out of nothing makes God as sovereign.  Goreh’s own answer to Hindu anthropology is a Biblical one: man (sic) is only a part of God but also of maya. More than any other thinker he emphasized the fall and the fact of the sin with utmost seriousness. He approves that “the frightful nature of the sin deserves a punishment whose severity is beyond the reach of conception” but such punishments are not just for good but primarily to satisfy the justice of God- it is God’s due. Sin is a positive evil force not just privative good. The Hindu concept of karma making both virtue and vice lead to bondage lacks such serious understanding of sin. For Goreh, sin is serious but it is on this account that he return of Christianity. 

Meaning of Salvation

For him salvation from this terrible power of sin over man and from the wrath to come is purely by God’s grace through Christ’s atoning death and appropriate by faith. So it is only by the saving act of God through Christ, who gave his life in place of us on the cross had made this salvation available to us and thus we become the partaker of God’s nature as a church. 

Writings

This brings to us another vital theme Goreh dealt in his writing – the relation of Hinduism with the Christianity. Though he attack Hindu philosophy mercilessly, like all eminent Indian thinkers he too was wholly indigenous in his approach and in content. He rejects western style in all his varieties. “The western trappings of the church repelled him” he felt he was wholly Indian and belief that God was preparing Indians through Hinduism to respond positively to Christ. Goreh goes on saying that Christ is the fulfillment of the Hindu longings, and that this is the divine light which was to light every man who cometh into the world, namely the light of reason and logic. To logic he turned heavily in his defense of the Gospel.