Today’s Leader of Faith
HIRAM BINGHAM
Home Call : 11 Nov 1869
Missionary, Writer, Translater, Royal Adviser
Hiram Bingham (1789–1869) is best known as the leader of the first group of American Protestant missionaries to introduce Christianity to the Hawaiian Islands. He was born on October 30, 1789, in Bennington, Vermont. Bingham attended Middlebury College and Andover Theological Seminary, where he studied Greek and Latin.
Bingham and his wife arrived in Hawaii in 1820, learned the Hawaiian language, and began ministering actively. In 1823, Queen Ka’ahumanu, the Queen Consort of Hawaii, along with several high chiefs, converted to Christianity and requested baptism. Soon after, the Hawaiian government banned prostitution and alcohol, which led to resentment from the foreign community and the shipping industry toward Bingham and his missionary work. He supported the introduction of market values and the spread of Christianity.
Bingham became involved in developing the Hawaiian spelling system and, together with other missionaries, he began translating the Bible into Hawaiian. The New Testament was published in 1832, and the Old Testament in 1839. The entire Bible was revised and published in 1868. Between 1836 and 1842, he established Kawaiaha’o Church in Honolulu, which is one of the oldest places of worship in Hawaii. He also composed many Hawaiian hymns.
Bingham returned to England and served as pastor of an African-American church. He died and was buried in New Haven, Connecticut.