Issachar Jacox Roberts
Issachar Jacox Roberts was a Southern Baptist missionary in Qing China notable for being in direct contact with Hong Xiuquan and for denying him Christian baptism.
Early life
Roberts was born in Sumner County, Tennessee, 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 known to have influenced Hong Xiuquan, the Hakka who led the Taiping Rebellion against the Qing Dynasty which caused millions of deaths. Hong spent two months studying with Roberts at Canton in 1847. Roberts refused Hong's request for baptism. It is unclear why. The two men sent to investigate Hong reported nothing inappropriate or out of the ordinary. Hong completed the necessary statement of faith and purpose, as required for baptism in the Baptist faith, and Roberts found no reason to reject it. According to historian Jonathan D. Spence, it is possible that some Chinese converts, fearing that Hong might replace them and put them out of work, tricked Hong into asking for financial assistance, knowing that Roberts utterly despised people who convert in order to gain a job or stipend from missionaries.He was also the first Baptist missionary, arriving in Hong Kong in February 1842.