Rammohun Roy, Celebrity Unitarian

Abstract

For all their commonalities, the personalized gospels produced by Rammohun Roy and Thomas Jefferson are distinguishable in one key respect. The Precepts of Jesus was not designed for the family library and private reading. It was a published work by a seasoned controversialist enjoying international renown as the Luther of India. In Britain, interest in it was enhanced by more than a century of scriptural debate, often bitterly conducted, as in the decade before 1820 over the Improved Version. The biblical views of prominent individuals mattered in this debate, particularly to Unitarians who believed supporters could be driven into secrecy by persecution. Adding to the prepublication interest in the Precepts was the idea that here, finally, was a neutral judgment on the merits of the contending arguments about the Trinity.