Dr. Murray Thurston Titus (1885–October 31, 1964) was an American

People of the United States

The people of the United States, also known as simply Americans or American people, are the inhabitants or citizens of the United States. The United States is a multi-ethnic nation, home to people of different ethnic and national backgrounds...

 missionary

Missionary

A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin...

 in India especially known for encouraging understanding between Christians and Muslims.

Life

Born in Batavia, Ohio

Batavia, Ohio

Batavia is a village in and the county seat of Clermont County, Ohio, United States. The population was 1,617 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Batavia is located at ....

, Titus joined the Methodist Church in his childhood. He married Olive Glasgow (1884–1967) in July 1910, and together they sailed to India in August that year. They went to the United Provinces

United Provinces of Agra and Oudh

The United Provinces of Agra and Oudh was a province of India under the British Raj, which existed from 1902 to 1947; the official name was shortened by the Government of India Act 1935 to United Provinces, by which the province had been commonly known, and by which name it was also a province of...

, India (now Uttar Pradesh

Uttar Pradesh

Uttar Pradesh abbreviation U.P. , is a state located in the northern part of India. With a population of over 200 million people, it is India's most populous state, as well as the world's most populous sub-national entity...

, Pakistan) where Titus's first appointment was teaching English, history and philosophy at Reid Christian College, Lucknow

Lucknow

Lucknow is the capital city of Uttar Pradesh in India. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of Lucknow District and Lucknow Division....

. Titus was ordained in 1913, whereupon he was appointed to the Methodist Episcopal Church of North India to do evangelical work in villages in several districts of the United Provinces, including Lahore

Lahore

Lahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in the country. With a rich and fabulous history dating back to over a thousand years ago, Lahore is no doubt Pakistan's cultural capital. One of the most densely populated cities in the world, Lahore remains a...

. In 1916 he was made a district superintendent in the North India Conference. In 1941, Titus was appointed principal of Reid Christian College and returned to Lucknow.

Titus and his wife returned to the United States in 1951, whereupon Titus took the position of professor of comparative religion

Comparative religion

Comparative religion is a field of religious studies that analyzes the similarities and differences of themes, myths, rituals and concepts among the world's religions...

 at a seminary in Westminster, Maryland

Westminster, Maryland

Westminster is a city in northern Maryland, United States. It is the seat of Carroll County. The city's population was 18,590 at the 2010 census. Westminster is an outlying community within the Baltimore-Towson, MD MSA, which is part of a greater Washington-Baltimore-Northern Virginia, DC-MD-VA-WV...

. Titus died on October 31, 1964 in Elyria, Ohio

Elyria, Ohio

-Community:Elyria has an extensive, although financially burdened, community food pantry and "Hot Meals" program administered through the Second Harvest Food Bank and several churches Elyria is served by Elyria Memorial Hospital.-Recreation and parks:...

Islamic studies

In 1911, Titus met Samuel Zwemer, an American missionary and Islamicist. After that he began to study Islam, and believing there to be an emerging challenge to Christianity from Islam, worked to encourage mutual understanding between Christians and Muslims by telling missionaries and Indian Christians to read as much as possible about Islam. He was also the co-founder of Henry Martyn School for Islamic Studies in Lahore (which has now moved to Hyderabad). In 1932 and 1933 he was convener of the Committee on Work among Moslems of the National Christian Council of India, Burma and Ceylon, later taking the position of Honorary Secretary and Executive Secretary in that council. In 1935 he was one of the Council's representatives at the meeting of the International Missionary Council at Northfield, Massachusetts.

Titus was an associate editor of and frequent contributor to The Moslem World. He was co-editor of the Religious Quest of India series, to which he contributed Indian Islam, a volume published in 1930 by the Oxford University Press. He published The Young Moslem Looks at Life in 1937, which is a essay directed at Christian youths describing various aspects of Islam and the modern world.

Works

• 1930, Indian Islam: A Religious History of Islam in India
• 1934, The Young Moslem Looks at Life
• 1959, Islam in India and Pakistan

External links