Testament. The
scholastic philosophy of the Hindus appeared to him, however, as
something superior to what he found elsewhere, and his efforts were
directed mainly to purifying the national faith, especially from
idolatry. It was at his instigation that the practice of widow-burning
was abolished (in 1829) by the British. He was finally ostracized from
home as a schismatic, and retired to Calcutta, uniting about him a
small body of Hindus and Jains, and there established a sort of church
or sect, the [=A]tm[=i]ya Sabh[=a],'spiritual society' (1816), which
met at his house, but eventually was crushed by the hostility of the
orthodox priests. He finally adopted a kind of Broad-church
Christianity or Unitarianism, and in 1820, in his 'Precepts of Jesus'
and in one of his later works, admits that the simple moral code of
the New Testament and the doctrines of Christ were the best that he
knew. He never, however, abjured caste; and his adoption of
Christianity, of course, did not include the dogma of the trinity:
"Whatever excuse may be pleaded in favor of a plurality of persons of
the Deity can be offered with equal propriety in defence of
polytheism" (Final Appeal). Founded by him, the first theistic church
was organized in 1828 at Calcutta, and formally opened in 1830 as the
Br[=a]hma Sam[=a]j; ('the Congregation of God'). In doing this he
wished it to be understood that he was not founding a new sect, but a
pure monotheistic worship. The only creed was a confession of faith in
the unity of God. For himself, he abandoned pantheism, adopted the
belief in a final judgment, in miracles, and in Christ as the 'Founder
of true religion.' He died in 1833 in England. His successor,
Debendran[=a]th T[=a]gore,[108] was not appointed leader of the
Br[=a]hma Sam[=a]j; till much later; after he had founded a church of
his own ('the Truth-teaching Society'), which lasted for twenty years
(1839-1859), before it was united with the Br[=a]hma Sam[=a]j. In the
meantime Debendran[=a]th become a member of the latter society (1841).
He established the covenant of the Sam[=a]j, a vow taken by every
member to lead holy lives, to abstain from idolatry, to worship no
created object, but only God, the One without a second,[109] the
Creator, Preserver, Destroyer, the Giver of Emancipation.

The church was newly organized in 1844 with a regularly appointed
president and minister, and with the administration of the oath to
each believer. This is the