January 25, 2005

In Christ There is No East or West

William Arthur Dunkerley
(John Oxenham), 1852-1941

      There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. Galatians 3:28.

   One of the clear teachings of the Bible is that the gospel does not presuppose the superiority of any race or culture. In the past, missionary endeavor has too frequently imposed "our" culture on others while spreading the gospel, often putting native believers in bondage to another culture rather than to Christ and the Scriptures alone.
    Dunkerley attended Old Trafford School and Victoria University in Manchester. As a businessman, he lived in France for a time, but upon returning to England he took up writing full time. He was an expert mountain climber, and served as deacon and teacher at the Euling Congregational Church in London.
    Dunkerley used two pseudonyms in his writings. One was John Oxenham, which most hymnals credit this hymn to. The other was Julian Ross. John Oxenham was from a character in the novel, Westward Ho!, by Charles Kingsley.
    Written in 1908, William Arthur Dunkerley, this missionary hymn text was part of a script for a pageant at a giant missionary event sponsored by the London Missionary Society's exhibition, The Orient in London. It is estimated that over a quarter of a million people viewed this presentation. It was continued from 1908-1914 both in England and in the United States.
    An interesting account of the impact of this hymn relates an incident during the closing days of World War II when two ships were anchored together, one containing Japanese aliens, and the other American soldiers, all waiting to be repatriated. For an entire day they lined the rails, glaring at one another. Suddenly someone began to sing In Christ There Is No East or West. Then another on the opposite ship joined in. Soon there was an extraordinary chorus of former enemies united praising God with these words.