I t l l l HU WW U l l l t MIWIWII W IWl iWIIWMIHHIIIIMIWillW'l miH i w « iwiui The Bible and Missions Br HELEN BARRETT MONTGOMERY 1 .10.2.0. ^ PRINCETON, N. J. ^^ Purchased by the Hamill Missionary Fund. BV 2073 .M6 1920 Montgomery, Helen Barrett, 1861-1934. The Bible and missions HELEN BARRETT AIONTGOMERY Author of Four United Study Text-books, Lecturer on All (Photograph used without permission) THE BIBLE AND MISSIONS /.^swifSfi JUL 10 19 BY V^ HELEN BARRETT MONTGOMERY \^OeiCAL %l^ '*This is the Book that 'with authority' GDmforts, commands, both wounds and heals the heart; Not like a poem, or a history, Nor yet like the flute and lute with all their art, What lack I? do I tremble? weep? or frown? Come, let me take this sovereign Bible down." Sarah N. Cleghorny in American Magazine. Published by The Central Committee ot< the United Study of Foreign Missions West Medford, Mass. Copyright, 1920 The Central Committee on the United Study OF Foreign Missions The Vermont Printing Co. Brattleboro, Vermont, U. S. A. FOREWORD The Central Committee on the United Study of Foreign Missions celebrates its twentieth anni- versary by the publication of the text-book. The Bible and Missions by Helen Barrett Montgomery. In these days of reconstruction of Church and State, it is important that we come back to the authority in the Word of God for our great missionary enter- prise. Plans of men, however wise, change with the changing years and with crises in history, but the plan of God is eternal. We rest our study this year on his own missionary message. The year 1920 has been appointed by Bible societies in Great Britain and America as Bible Year, which gives an added reason for a careful study of this subject and a wide effort to secure a more general use of the Bible throughout the world, especially in lands and among peoples who have never had the opportunity to read the Word of God. The Committee is indebted to the American Bible Society for many of the unique and valuable illustra- tions in the book. Mrs. Henry W. Peabody, Chairman. Miss Olivia H. Lawrence. Mrs. Frank Mason North. Mrs. James A. Webb, Jr. Mrs. a. V. Pohlman. Miss Alice M. Kyle. Deaconess Henrietta Goodwin. Miss Grace T. Colburn, Secretary. CONTENTS Page PART ONE Chapter I. The Missionary Message of the Old Testament 7 Chapter II. The Missionary Message of the New- Testament 54 PART TWO Chapter III. Every Man in His Own Tongue 96 Chapter IV. The Travels of the Book 141 Chapter V. The Influence of the Book on the Nations 167 Chapter VI. The Leaves of the Tree 198 A Brief Reading List 229 Index 233 LIST OF illustrations Faci.vo Page Helen Barrett Montgomery Frontispiece Thirty Million Bibles 9 Mandarin Company of Revisers, 191 5, China 24 Girls of Kemendine School, Burma 32 Buddhist Woman's Society . . r 41 Scripture Committee of the North Siam Mission .... 56 Telegra.m Sent by President of China 73 Hon. Wang K'ai Wen, Peking, China 88 Mr. M.atsuura Recommending God's Word 105 Sellin:^ Bibles in the Philippines 120 Letters from China 137 The Old, Old Story in the Philippines 152 Miss Anna Johnson — Mr. Wm. McPherson i6t The New Phonetic Script, China 169 Women of China Learning to Read 182 Amelia Josephine Burr 194 THE BIBLE AND MISSIONS PART ONE OUTLINE OF CHAPTER I. aim: To show that the Bible is God's missionary text-book; that the missionary message, although most clearly revealed in the New Testament, is woven into the fabric of the Old Testament, and definitely proclaimed in its every part. L THE MISSIONARY CHARACTER OF THE BIBLE SEEN IN ITS ES- SENCE AND SUBSTANCE. Its topics the great fundamentals of human thought. 2. Its style, uniquely adapted to translation. 3. Its reticence; the absence of crude cosmogonies that weigh down other religions. 4. Its psychology, a picture gallery of essential humanity. 5. Its social passion, humane legislation, and messages of the prophets. 6. Its literary greatness, impossible to exhaust or outgrow. 7. Its doctrine of God. The infinitely high, yet infinitely near. All these and other qualities fit it to be the Book of Man. II. THE MISSIONARY CHARACTER OF THE BIBLE IS SEEN IN ITS POSITIVE TEACHINGS. God's Plan of Salvation, laid down in the Old Testament. I. Missionary elements in the Law. a. Its Theism. d. Its prophetic note. b. Unity of mankind. e. The Angel of the Presence. r Tragedy of Israel's c. Enlarging circles of blessing ^ failure to apprehend [ trusteeship. 1. Missionary Elements in the Historic Books. a. Discipline of the Chosen People. b. Widening interests seen in Solomon's Prayer. c. God's gracious calling of those without the Law. The Bible and Missions 3. Missionary Message in the Poetical Books. a. Poets the true seers and revealers of God's wider purposes. b. Ruth and Job illustrations of wider vision. c. Psalms, the universal hymn book. fThe Heart of God. d. Particular messages of the Psalms-< The Messianic [ Kingdom. e. The Psalms in the life of Jesus. 4. Missionary Message of the Prophets. a. Missionary conceptions Israel, God's trustee for man. common to the prophets- Unity of human history. God's disciplinary Providences. _^The Coming Kingdom. b. Missionary Message of individual prophets. Amos, God's righteous reign over all mankind; true religion spiritual. Hosea, God loves his people. Micah, Forecast of universal peace. Isaiah, God's righteousness; Providential government of the world; vision of the Suffering Servant and of Redeemed Humanity. Jeremiah, his call; a type of Christ. Ezekiel, The first gospel for the individual; the hireling shepherd; the healing waters. Haggai and Zechariah, Truth to go forth from Jerusa- lem; Messiah to speak peace to the heathen; his dominion to the ends of the earth. Habbakuk, God's making the wrath of man to praise him; the glory of God to cover the earth. Malachi, God's name revered among the heathen; the coming of the Messenger. Daniel, The Everlasting Kingdom of the Son of Man. Joel, The outpouring of the Spirit. Jonah, God's thrusting forth his messengers; God's free grace over all his works. III. SUMMARY OF GROUND COVERED. THE BIBLE AND MISSIONS CHAPTER I. THE MISSIONARY MESSAGE OF THE OLD TESTAMENT "That Book is not the book of a nation, but the Book of nations, because it places before us the fortunes of one nation as a symbol unto all the rest, because it connects the history of this one people with the origin of the world, and by a series of earthly and spiritual developments, of facts necessary and accidental continues it unto the remotest regions of the farthest eternities." Goethe. The Missionary: The Missionary has a Book which he his Book. takes with him on all his wanderings; unless, in truth, it be the Book, which drives him forth on his great adventures. Certain it is that the biggest word for missions is the one spoken by the Book. Underneath all the smaller special appeals of the age, of races and nations, of terrible sufferings and appalling needs, is the great diapason of the Word — "Go ye; I am with you.'* God's Mission Reading the Bible meticulously for Text-book. proof texts and argument, it is possi- ble to escape its unmistakable drift; reading it in the large and simply as it was written, its mission- ary message is inescapable. For the Church to re- capture this great Word is to regain that 'first, fine, careless rapture' in which the Early Church set forth to win the world. If, leaving all little mission studies for a time, we could bend our minds and souls and strength to the study of God's Mission Study Text-book, the world could no longer fetter the Church. 8 The Bible and Missions Missionary Char- The missionary character of the acter of the Bible Bible is clearly seen in two great Twofold. categories; (i) in its essential char- acter; (2) in its expressed purpose and plan. I. The Bible Mis- The Bible is in its very subconscious sionary in Essence substancc missionary. Not only be- and Substance. cause of what it advocatcs or pur- poses or states, but because of what it is, the Bible is the great Missionary Charter of the Church. Just as in measuring a man it is not so much his conscious words and deeds that count, but his very atmosphere and selfhood. The Bible being what it is cannot avoid becoming the Book of Man. It is foreordained to universality. Take its topics. They are the great fundamentals in which all men alike are concerned; life and death, sin and righteousness, God and the soul. It sets out to answer questions that rise in the soul of man, savage and philosopher, saint and sinner, white and black alike, and will not be silenced. Whence am I? What does life mean.^ Where am I going.^ To what purpose is it all.? Its answers have a quiet authority like the mountains, which do not ask our poor consenting. Consider its style: so styleless that the Book can be translated into any language without loss of ener- gy; so devoid of ornament that its poetry in all its naked beauty is poetry to Occident as to Orient; so free from all self-consciousness or pose that its narra- tives need depend on no adjective or descriptive phrase to heighten their effectiveness or drive home their point. Some of the most precious treasures of the world's literature are pale or tasteless in trans- Drop Eight 8tbles at each telegraph post from New York to San rraneisco e:^j2 Mtev (31 tripiS there will be imOOO left of the 30,000,000 BffiLES ^Scripture Portions sold,1918-19 Message of the Old Testament 9 lation, because their beauty is so largely in the marriage of thought to sound and rhythm. The Koreans say of the Bible, "It can not be so beautiful in any other speech as in our Korean. It speaks to our souls." Of no other great literature can it be said that in translation it actually supplants the original in the world's esteem. Great in its reticence the Book is adapted to a long life of continued influence. Consider the handicap which any sacred literature written in the world's childhood has to surmount; those impossible cosmogonies of the Egyptians, the Greeks, the Romans; that central mountain of Buddhism with its seven encircling ocean belts, each millions of miles in circumference; that Chinese view of the great Demiurge at work on his world: "His breath made the wind, his voice the thunder; his left eye the sun, his right eye the moon; his legs and arms and fingers and toes into the four quarters of the earth; his blood into the rivers; his muscles into the strata of the earth; his flesh into the soil; his hair into the constellations; his skin and hair on it into plants and trees; his teeth and bones into the metals; the sweat of his body into rain, and the parasites upon him impregnated by the wind into the human species." The Three Religions of China, Soothill, Page 177. Over against these and all the other puerilities and coarsenesses with which the great ethnic Scrip- tures are weighed down, place the austere beauty of the first chapter of Genesis: "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." The Bible has all the simplicity of the early ages. lo The Bible and Missions It does not attempt to express in scientific language what would have been incomprehensible for many- centuries; but in what it does say there is a restraint, a reasonableness, a greatness, that enables it to hold its quiet way unashamed, while knowledge is in- creased in the earth. The student in India, Malay- sia, China, or Japan who must study Geography or Astronomy or History, finds his confidence in his sacred books undermined. In Christian lands the demoHtion of our false conceptions about the Bible, under the impact of fresh knowledge, only serves to bring into fresh relief the unshaken Book. In its omissions, no less than in its statements, the Book shines by contrast. In its psychology the Book is ageless. The heroes of ancient Hterature seem dwarfed by the centuries. Agamemnon, ^neas, Beowulf lose their power to stir our imagination or our admiration. But about the life stories of the Bible there is a per- ennial, a universal charm. The men and women of the Bible are modern, ageless. In their temptations we trace our own; in their weaknesses and in their streng'^li they are contemporary. With grave detach- ment the Bible sets them before us, glossing nothing, extenuating nothing, boasting nothing. "There they are, my men and women, bone of your bone, flesh of your fiesh; look at them and ponder on the swift and solemn trust of life." A picture of This psychology of the Bible seems humanity. never artificial. They are no puppets, but real folks, who react as we react under given stimuli. Hence their never-failing charm, their sup- ply of sermonic material to fresh generations of Message of the Old Testament ii sermonlzers, their attraction to a ring of African faces lifted up by the flickering camp fire or to a college audience listening with delight as the foibles of Jacob, the supplanter, are subtly analyzed by some keen lecturer. Not least interesting on the great Bible canvas are those background faces, those individuals, those real persons whom you recognize in Paul's thumb-nail sketches at the end of his letters. It is in this deep human interest that the Bible meets and vanquishes the greatest; so long as the most vital study for mankind is man, the Bible's title to universal love is sure. It is full of personalities, deep and rich. It develops personali- ty wherever it is read. In its social passion the Bible stands forth su- preme. In ages when the serf and the slave had no spokesman, the Old Testament gave the laws from a God who cared. When women and children were still considered as 'impedimenta in the pil- grimage of the race, in the Bible a tender concern, a growing respect were visible. The prophets thunder- ed for the poor in messages that are today tracts for the times, and in the New Testament the flowers of brotherhood bloomed in the world's darkness. No other sacred book even approaches the Bible in this concern for social values and social obligations. The golden The Outstanding illustration of this thought of the social point of view is found in the Kingdom. thought of the Kingdom of Heaven that runs through the prophets. Whether they write to a nation established in its own land or to bondsmen scattered in captivity, the thought of the righteous rule of God among men increasingly dominates the 12 The Bible and Missions prophets. They are social reformers with a ven- geance. Across the centuries their denunciations still throb with passionate protest. 'These men were so alive to God," says Rauschenbusch, "that they beat their naked hands against jagged injustice and inhumanity." The Bible alone of sacred books fervently cries aloud to a God of righteousness, whose will it is to set up justice in the earth. This one characteristic has made it instinctively feared and suppressed by all autocracies, religious and political, and beloved of the common people in every land. The Bible is great literature. Big books make their way. They fly over seas, they tunnel the mountains, they bridge the centuries. By the com- mon consent of man the Bible is supreme as htera- ture. In its poetry of grandeur and of tenderness, in its sublimity and terror, in its tragedy and doom, in its lofty teachings and profound philosophy, in its story of the matchless life and words and deeds of Jesus of Nazareth, the Bible has a unique claim to be the Book of books, the Book of man. In its presentation of the character of God lies the final claim of the Bible to universal interest. It is the conception of God which finally makes or breaks a man or nation, as man or nation tends to be conformed to the likeness of the being worshipped. The whole claim of the Bible to universal reverence might well be staked on this alone, the God whom it reveals. The Infinitely Beginning with the vague and inade- High is Infinitely quate idcas of God held by a primi- ^^^^' tive people, there is the steady edu- cation of the nation in the worship of one only God, Message of the Old Testament 13 infinite in power, awful in holiness, perfect in right- eousness. Other books have enshrined great hymns to the Creator and have not unworthily sung of his power and glory; but in no other book is there found in such combination and such clearness the idea of an infinite Creator who summons to himself not only man's worship, but his reason; who upholds and forgives as well as judges; who demands justice as well as reverence, and whose awful purity calls for purity of life and purpose in his worshippers. Failure of Ethnic The Hindus have seen God's im- Faiths in their manence, but not his transcendence, doctrine of God. J^q^ J^g J3 j^ j^^^ ^^^ ^^^^ j^Jg ^^^_ verse, and so have lost themselves in the fogs of pantheism. Failing to perceive his unity, the Greek, the Roman, the Egyptian, and the Indian faiths sank into the debasing superstitions of idolatry. In all literature there is not more biting satire than is poured upon the idolater in Isaiah and the Psalms. (Isa. xl; Psa. cxv.) God's holiness and The clear teaching in regard to the God's goodness, holiness of God has made impossible the divorce between religion and ethics wherever the Bible is adequately taught or obeyed. The thought of God's holiness is supplemented by that loftiest and sweetest thought of God, clearly revealed in Jesus Christ, his Fatherly love and compassion. God is light! God is love! The Book that reveals such a God cannot be kept from becoming the Book of the race. The Book begins In point of fact, the essential char- its joumeyings. acter of the Old Testament Scrip- tures was actually in process of beginning the Bible's i4 The Bible and Missions missionary pilgrimage years before the coming of Christ, when the Septuagint translation into the Greek language was made. This is the first instance in history in which the sacred books of one nation were translated into another language, and in trans- lation far outstripped the original in circulation and influence. II. The Bible is While the message of the Bible to Missionary in its mankind is thus presupposcd in its positive teachings, ggggj^^i^l nature and character, we are not left without the most clear and positive mis- sionary teachings. These are found in germ in the Old Testament and are fully developed in the New. This is what we should expect, as the Old Testament finds its completion and justification in the New. What is not so clearly evident regarding the plan while the foundation is being laid and the walls are rising, is evident when the complete structure is inspected. God's Plan of Jesus himself rejoiced in spirit as the Ages. the deep things of God dawned on men in the springtime of the Coming Kingdom. "I thank thee. Father," he cried, "that thou hast hidden these things from the wise and prudent, and revealed them unto babes." There is a sense of rapture in the letters of Paul, as he contemplates God's Plan of the Ages now so clearly seen in Christ. For there is a Plan, although the phrase **plan of salvation," so popular in times past, is now seldom heard. The trouble is not with the phrase or the idea behind it, but with its misapplication and misuse. We do not send out missionaries to proclaim a **plan of salvation," but Christ and the power of his Message of the Old Testament 15 resurrection. We are not saved by a '*plan," but by a Person. We do not exhibit the working drawings of our house; we show our friends through our home; nevertheless the architect had a plan and the builder followed it. John and Paul see So there is an august Plan of Salva- thePian. tion on which all Scripture is builded together for an habitation of the spirit of man. John catches a gleam of the vast design when he speaks of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Paul's great intellect is incandescent as the glory of God's purpose dawns upon him. Human language bends and breaks under the weight of glory with which he loads it as he tries to put into words, in the opening chapter of his letter to the Ephesians, his vision of the Plan. "For this reason," so he begins in the third chapter to sum up the mighty argument of the first and second chapters, "I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles, for surely you have heard of the stewardship of the grace of God entrusted to me for you; and hov/ by direct revelation the secret truth was made known to me, as I have already briefly written to you, by reading which you can judge of my insight into that secret truth of Christ which was not made plain to the sons of men in former generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to his holy apostles and prophets, namely, that in Christ Jesus the heathen are one body with us and are co-heirs and co-partners in the Prom- ises through the gospel. It is of this gospel I became a minis- ter according to the gift of the grace of God bestowed upon me by the energy of his power." "To me who am less than the least of all saints has this grace been given, that I should proclaim among the heathen the gos- pel of the unsearchable riches of Christ, and should make all men see the new dispensation of that secret purpose hidden from eternity in the God who founded the universe in order that now God's manifold wisdom should, through the church, be made i6 The Bible and Missions known to the principalities and powers in the heavenly sphere, according to his eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and access in the confidence of his faith. The scarlet thread This Plan of God SO clearly to be of Scripture. traced throughout the Scriptures is indeed a mystery. Here are writings separated by centuries, composed under circumstances the most diverse, written by men of varied gifts and capaci- ties, yet all so assembled about one master idea that no sense of violence is felt when all are gathered together in one volume and called ''The Book." There is no such underlying unity discernible in any other sacred writing; not in the Koran, written by the one prophet Mahomet; not in the multi- tudinous and contradictory scriptures of Hinduism; not in the Hina-Yana and Maha-Yana of Buddhism. Paul did not invent the plan; he discovered it. The Bible, the To sketch a plan so vast in a few record of God's words is wcU nigh impossible; but search for Man. ^y^^ jf inadequate it is still true to say that the Bible records God's search for man for the purpose of redemption and fellowship with himself. Other sacred books record the story of man's search for God. The Bible reverses the pro- cess. From first to last it is Christocentric. In the Old Testament may be traced the first working draw- ings of the Plan; the promise in the garden; the train- ing of the family and people chosen to bless all nations; the messages through the prophets; the promises of the Messiah; in its completion and fulfilment in the New Testament, by which the dimness and misun- derstandings of the past are done away in the light Message of the Old Testament 17 of the glory of God revealed in the face of Jesus Christ, God himself is seen fighting for man, to re- deem him from himself into sonship. Unfolding of It will be convenient to consider Plan in Old first the great Plan of God for the Testament. salvation of the world as it unfolds throughout the Old Testament under the four divi- sions into which the Hebrews divided their sacred writings — the Law, the History, the Prophets, the Writings — and then to take up the missionary teach- ings of the New Testament. (1) Missionary The Law, that is the Pentateuch, the Message in the Five Books of Moses, was the Bible ^^^- of Judaism. To it all other parts of the Scriptures were supplementary or subordinate. It was the Law to whose expounding the Rabbis gave their study, day and night. It was this venerable code out of which they formed a yoke intolerable to be borne because of its subtleties, its puerilities, its multitudinous legislations on the minutiae of human conduct. Yet it was the Law, out of whose inferences Scribes and Pharisees had created an instrument of oppressive formalism and into which they had read their own bitter intolerance and nationalism, that the author of the Hebrews recognized as the shadow of better things to come, "a living book, rich in vital growth and in symbolic anticipations, a long, fibrous root out of which came the new law of the Mount and a greater prophet like unto Moses.'* The Pentateuch's The Pentateuch plants itself square- revelation of God ly on Theism, and that in itself is and his Plan. ^ fundamental missionary message. The main conception, out of which sprang Christian!- i8 The Bible and Missions ty's most precious and distinctive thought of God, is planted in Genesis, and overshadows the Penta- teuch. **God," "I Am," "Jehovah," the righteous Ruler and Creator, is seen to have a purpose for his world of men. (a) God, the great A great deal of shallow criticism has Person. been passed upon the old Bible for what has been called its "anthropomorphism" — its God in the likeness of men. But through whatever naivete and childlikeness of statement the idea had to find its way, it is becoming increasingly evident that the theistic conception of the universe is today Christianity's final challenge to blank materialism. Since personality is our own final perception of reality, we must begin to interpret the Ultimate Reality in terms of the highest power within the circle of our own experience. Step by step the revelation of an orderly and rational universe has kept pace with man's experience of God, until today multi- tudes of every race find the meaning to existence in the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who of old time became the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob. Personaiism Professor Bordcn P. Bowne, in the translated into ripest work of his mature thought, Japanese. PersoTialism, has magnificently ex- pounded the philosophy to which the theistic con- ception of the universe, implicit in the ancient book of the Law, inevitably leads — "A world of persons with a Supreme Person at the head." His book has been felt to be of such value to the thought of Japan that it has been translated by a committee made up of American and Japanese scholars and pub- Message of the Old Testament 19 lished, after being subjected to the criticism of the classroom in the Doshisha University for three years. The reception of the book has shown that Japan is keen for this thorough-going philosophical inter- pretation of Christian theism. (b) Mankind, of The missionary message of the Law one blood. is found also in its story of the origin of man; "And God said, Let us make man in our own image/' declared the Old Law. Anthropology, Philol- ogy, Archeology, and Biology unite today to rein- force that sublime declaration. Every added bit of knowledge makes clearer the truth so long derided and denied, and so long affirmed by God's Holy Word, that mankind is one. In spite of confusion of tongues and deep social cleavages; in spite of differ- ences in color and customs that merely point to deeper divergencies of thought and ideal, the an- cient Scripture stands. Paul's bold declaration, so opposed to the belief of the educated Greek or Roman of his day, is today a foundation affirmation of science. "He caused to spring from one forefather people of every race, for them to live on the whole surface of the earth, and marked out for them an appointed span of life and the boundaries of their homes; that they might seek God, if perhaps they could grope for him and find him." Acts xvii, 26-27 {Weymouth). (c) The enlarging The missionary message of the Law circles of blessing, is found, too, in its story of the choice of a man, a family, a nation, to be Jehovah's servant for the world. Back of the choice is always the purpose to bless. "And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed." 20 The Bible and Missions A channel of This purpose of election, to be a blessing, not a pool channel of blessing, is repeated to of privilege. Jacob and reasserted to each of the patriarchs. (Gen. xii, 1-3; xviii, 18; xxii, 18; xxvi, 4; xxviii, 14.) In Jacob's wonderful blessings to his sons, the old man rises to the height of pure pro- phetic universalism: "The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, Nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, Until Shiloh come (He come whose it is — Syriac); And unto him shall the obedience of the peoples be." . Gen. xlix, 10. •-A^ Israel, trustee for In the picture of Exodus xix, 3-6, 'x Man. the new-born nation looks back across the Red Sea to its days of bondage and forward to the Land of Promise. At this solemn moment Moses received from the hand of God the nation's commis- sion, as Jehovah spoke to him from the burning mountain. "Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel: Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto myself. Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be mine own possession from among all peoples: for all the earth is mine: and ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation." Says Carver: "First let Israel get her bearings. First let the people learn the reason for their separate existence. Let them hear the mean- ing of their past preservation and their future career. It was God who had acted on them and on the Egyptians. He had brought the children of Israel, not to Canaan, not to glory, but *to him- self.' Now their future as peculiarly his own people will depend upon their obeying genuinely his voice and keeping his cove- Message of the Old Testament 21 nant — covenant inherited through Abraham and to be made anew with the nation. Such was his character and such his plan with Israel that only thus could he afford to make them his special own, above all peoples, as they reflected his glory among men. They must not forget that all the earth is his and all its peoples. If he takes this one tribe to his heart for the time it is not to forget the rest, but to do good to all. His aim is that Israel shall serve him as a kingdom of priests a nation set apart to pro- phetic service. But when the priest and the prophet are a na- tion, the people for whom they minister and to whom they proph- esy are the other nations. Abraham's call lies at the basis of Israel's election in the plan of God." Israel transmutes The central sin of Israel was its fail- election into ure to discern the meaning of God's privilege. election of his Servant Nation. What God meant for man, Israel monopolized. "A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people, Israel," was the vision of Simeon's enlightened heart. "I will give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation to the end of the earth," sang Isaiah. But the mind of the nation stuck on privilege, and its eyes were jealously bent earth- ward or haughtily averted from other nations. The election to service was transmuted into a charter of privilege. Pride in their distinctive calling became the ground of the narrowest exclusiveness. The na- tion chosen to be the servant of Jehovah turned Pharisee, thanking God that it was not as other nations, and perished behind the hedge of a law interpreted to exclude all Gentiles from the promises of Jehovah. The nation turned from the worldwide vision of the prophets to the disputations of warring sects, and, though custodians of the ideal of a King- 22 The Bible and Missions dom of God on earth, failed to recognize the King when he came. The tragedy of It IS one of the tragedies of history, Israel's failure. this failure of the Jewish nation to perform the service for which it had been chosen and set apart by God. A mystery, too, when all the time the Jew possessed the antidote to his fatal narrowness of vision in his own Scriptures. It was the vision of this tragedy over which Jesus wept as he looked upon the Holy City from the brow of the Mount of Olives. Other lights that Let US not be too hard upon the Jews. failed. Theirs is not the only instance of a nation richly dowered for service that failed God. The Jew, set apart to witness to the one true living God to all the earth, failed, and his candlestick was removed out of its place. The Greek, more richly gifted than any other race to spread the light of art and culture among the nations, looked with haughty scorn upon all outside 'barbarians,' dimmed the light of his radiant soul by unworthy pleasures, and his candlestick, too, was removed. The Roman, magnif- icently equipped to organize the world in one great system of law and justice, fell to worshipping brute force and cruelty, and his light also failed. Will the Christian Will the Christian Church prove an- Church fail? Other tragic instance of a thwarted purpose of God? Walking not by the flickering torch of the Old Testament, but in the full blaze of light that streams from the Cross of Christ, inheriting his promises, his commands, his love for the whole wide world, the Church has failed, up to the present moment, to interpret her own worldwide mission. Message of the Old Testament 23 She has spent her strength on definitions while the world lay in agony, has prated of "lesser folk without the law/' while millions were denied their birthright in the gospel, has wrapped race prejudice about her like a garment, and from her coffers of abundance flung a few coins now and then, with which to finance the army of the Prince of Peace for the winning of the world. She has withheld her sons and daughters, denied her oath of allegiance, and all the while the Bible she professes to believe has been summoning her to abjure self and take up her cross of sacrifice and follow Jesus for the salvation of the world. The gospel will The gospel will not fail. The Lord not fail. Jesus shall see of the travail of his soul and be satisfied. The kingdoms of this world shall become the Kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ. But the Church may fail^ may be set aside for another instrument. Today is the day of salva- tion for c :r Protestant churches. If we harden our hearts and close our eyes and refuse the plain call of God, other generations may see in us another Israel whose narrowness of vision was condemned by the very Scripture in which is our boast, (d) In the pro- The missionary message of the Law pheticnote. is found in its prophetic note. Run- ning through the book of Genesis like the first faint streaks of dawn are premonitions of universalism. The first promise of redemption is made to the mother of all living (Gen. iii, 15) in the person of that mysterious seed who shall bruise the serpent's head. In Melchizadek, King of Salem, priest of the Most High God, there rises a majestic figure out of the shadowy unknown peoples. To him Abraham, the 24 The Bible and Missions father of the chosen people, pays tithes as an inferior to a superior, recognizing in him a messenger of the Most High God, possessor of heaven and earth. The author of the letter to the Hebrews uses this incident at length to bring to the consciousness of Hebrew converts that wider priesthood which took its origin, not from the ritual of human legislation, but was made in the power of that Endless Life which enlightens every man born into the world, Jew or Gentile (Heb. vii, 1-16). (e) The Angel of The mysterious Angel of the Lord, the Presence. recognized with such awe and trem- bling as the dread presence of Divinity, comes and goes through the story, the first faint revelation of Immanuel, God with us, the glory and the heart of the Christian message. Gen. xvi, 7; Gen. xxii, 11 -15; Gen. xxxii, 24-30; Gen. xxxv, 9-13; Exod. iii, 2-6; Exod. xiv, 19; Exod. xxiii, 20-23; Num. xxii, 31; Josh. V, 13-15. II. Missionary The missionary meaning of the so- message of the called 'Historical Books' that follow Historical Books. ^|^g Pentateuch is not so clear as that of the Law. If the theories of the modern school of interpreters are correct, these are for the most part earlier writings in which the missionary understanding of Israel's mission is naturally less clear. Under any interpretation the life story of the Hebrew people is profitable for instruction in right- eousness. The long discipline of the people culminat- ing in the captivity sees Israel at last weaned from his idols and devoted in his soul to the worship of the one true God. It is interesting to note that the two other religions that are uncompromisingly Message of the Old Testament 25 monotheistic, Islam and Christianity, spring from Judaism. In these long centuries of disaster and apostasy the hope of a coming King beams con- stantly clearer. The Foreigner in One of the outstanding instances of Solomon's prayer a wider than national meaning in of dedication. ^j^^ gtory is found in I Kings v, where Hiram, King of Tyre, congratulates Solomon on his purpose to build a temple for God, furnishes him with great cedars of Lebanon, and the two kings cement one of the earliest ''leagues of nations." In Solomon's prayer of dedication that follows, we catch solemn overtones of the universal gospel. "Moreover concerning the foreigner, that is not of thy peo- ple Israel, when he shall come out of a far country for thy name's sake (for they shall hear of thy great name, and of thy mighty hand, and of thine outstretched arm); when he shall come and pray toward this house; hear thou in heaven thy dwelling-place, and do according to all that the foreigner calleth to thee for; that all the peoples of the earth may know thy name, to fear thee, as doth thy people Israel, and that they may know that this house which I Jiave built is called by thy name." I Kings viii, 41-43. God's gracious Our Lord was quick to call the atten- caUing outside tion of the orthodox Jews of his the Law. ^^y ^^ God's gracious care for his children outside of the pale of the chosen people. *T tell you truly," he said, "that in Israel there were many widows during the days of Elijah, when the sky was closed for three years and six months, when a great famine came over all the land; yet Elijah was not sent to any of these, but only to a widow woman at Zarephath in Sidon; and in Israel there were many lepers in the time of the prophet Elisha, 26 The Bible and Missions yet none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian." Luke iv, 25-27. Resented by the So violent are human prejudices, so orthodox. sJow of heart are men to believe and rejoice in the wide plans of God, who is no respecter of persons, that the effect of this gracious unfolding of the wider applications of their own Scriptures was that "all in the synagogue were filled with rage and rose up and put him out of the town and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, in order to hurl him down." The captive Still another exquisite missionary Syrian maid. pendant is the story of the captive maid in the house of Naaman the leper, whose heart goes out quite naturally and simply in the desire to share God's grace with those who know it not, hum- ble protagonist of those thousands who today in far distant lands are telling of the great fountain which God has opened for the cleansing of human sin. (II Kings V, 2-3.) III. Missionary The poets are ever the 'makers,' the message in the 'see-crs' who lead the advance of Poetical Books. human thought, and so it is not strange that some of the clearest missionary messages of the Old Testament should be found in the Psalms, and the poetic visions ot Isaiah. Man's gift of imag- ination enables him to fuse the present and the future, the actual and the ideal, into one glowing vision, transcending experience. Tennyson could visualize the 'Federation of the world, the Parlia- ment of man,' when as yet there was none of them. Kipling could describe the transatlantic voyage of a huge air ship. The Night Mail,' in what seemed Message of the Old Testament 27 to most people a mere fanciful tale. So David and the poets, out of the struggling earthly kingdoms, under the tutelage of God's Spirit, were able from afar off to rejoice in Messiah's reign and in the universal worship of Jehovah. The poet, the Says Horton: *'The story-teller, the real seer. poet, and the thinker give expression to the spontaneous feelings and aspirations of a people. . . . There can be no question that to find the real trend of a people you must examine the imaginative side of its life. If, for example, we wished to sum up the nineteenth century in England, we should feel that no parliamentary history and no legislative enactments would take us so surely to the heart of the question as the writings of Words- worth and Carlyle, of Browning and Ruskin." So we shall find that while priest and Levite were poring over the minutiae of the Law, David with his harp, as he watched his flock on the hillside, was listening to the voice of the God who spoke through both Law and Prophet to the heart of mankind. Ruth and Job While the lawgivers were becoming in the missionary constantly narrower and more bit- purpose, terly nationalistic in their outlook, the men of imagination were writing the exquisite story of Ruth, the Moabitess, a woman outside the covenant, who chose God to be her God and his people, her people, and became an ancestress of Israel's Messiah King. Another great thinker was going to the Land of Uz to find an example of a true servant of Jehovah in the person of Job. The Psalms are But it is in the Psalms that the rich- mankind's est missionary meaning is found, hymnal. jf gy^j. ^^^i were inspired by God's 28 The Bible and Missions Spirit to write not for their own, but for all time, not for a nation, but for man, it is surely the writers of the Psalms. These old hymn books of the Jews, written for the worship of the temple, have so little of ritual or particularity about them that quite sim- ply and inevitably they express the universal heart of man. ''Whoever were the human authors of the Psalms, the real author was the Spirit of God. No human poet or series of poets could have produced a collection capable of accomplishing such results as this has accomplished." "These inspired poets give the breadth and inner meaning of the national institutions, that universal and eternal element which clothed itself for a time in the forms and methods of the Tabernacle and the Temple, but broke away from the old system when its day was over, to be clothed upon with the tabernacle from heaven, with that universal and holy religion which was suitable to the whole world. "It would have been inconceivable beforehand how hymns could have been written in Judaism, to be sung in Christendom; how the songs of the Temple, which was to be destroyed, could be suitable to the Temple not made with hands; how a communi- ty which was thinking only of its exclusive privileges and of its superiority to the other nations of the world, could uncon- sciously forecast a holy King, to whom all the nations of the heathen should be given, and compose the grateful praises in which a ransomed humanity would join. But that inconceivable possibility is precisely the miracle which is realized in the Psalms, and the missionary significance of it must be plain as soon as it is pointed out." {Horton) Particular mes- Turning to a brief consideration of a sages of the few of the many missionary mes- Psaims. sages of the Psalms, we find a recogni- tion that Jehovah is the God of the whole worlds King of men as well as of the material universe. Psa. ii; Message of the Old Testament 29 xviii, 49; xix; xxii, 27-28; xxiv; xxxiii; xlvi; xlvii; Ixv; Ixvi; Ixvii; xcvi; xcviii; c; cxvii; cxlv. A revelation of God to the human heart. Such psalms as the twenty-third, the twenty-seventh with its rapturous 'The Lord is my Hght and my salva- tion; whom shall I fear?", the penitent joy of the thirty-fourth, the proud trust of the thirty-seventh, the panting of the soul for the living God in the forty-second, the heart-broken cry to a God who for- gives in the fifty-first, the overflowing gratitude of the one hundred and third, the help from the God of the hills in the one hundred and twenty-first, the overwhelming sense of God's presence in the one hundred and thirty-ninth, and the hallelujah chorus of the one hundred and fiftieth, are predestined to universality. They take the wings of the wind and fiy to the uttermost parts of the earth; wherever a human heart is found they create their own agencies of transmission. The pure water of life from out the hills of God must find its way to the ocean of man's need. The Vision of a Messianic Kingdom. There is in the Psalms a constant expectation and anticipation of a King who shall reign in righteousness over an Everlasting Kingdom. Doubtless many of these Psalms found their occasion in celebration of coro- nation or victory in the history of the monarchy. But any or all of the triumphs of David or Solomon, Josiah, or Hezekiah are far too small to fill the splendid canvas upon which the psalmist paints his glorious vision. Let any unprejudiced person carefully read Psalms ii, xxii, 1, Ixvii, Ixxii, Ixxx, xcviii, ex, and the conviction will be overwhelming that it JO The Bible and Missions is as prophet, rather than chronicler, that the poet is writing. Says Horton : "The King of whom they sing is more God than man, and the dominion which is promised to him is humanity rather than Israel. Of course the national colouring is there, and the flights of fancy are sometimes brought down rather suddenly to con- crete realities, before the poet's eye; but, as we put together the catena of those Psalms touching the King and the Kingdom, we know that we are dealing with a great missionary thought, which admits of no limitation short of humanity as a whole." Jesus nourished Moreover, these very Psalms were his soul on the part of thosc Scriptures on which was Psalms. nourished the soul of the Son of Man. That he did not fail to find in them this nobler note of prophecy is very evident on turning to the Gos- pels. Matthew saw in Jesus' use of parables on that day by the seaside an echo of Psa. Ixxviii, 2. Our Lord himself applies to himself the words of Psa. cxviii, 22, 23, concerning the stone rejected by the builders (Matt, xxi, 42), and to Judas the words of Psa. xli, 9, about the betrayal of a familiar friend. As the disciples watched the Figure on the Cross during the dark hours of the crucifixion, it was of the words of the twenty-second Psalm that they thought as they saw the soldiers gambling for the garments of the Son of Man; and of the sixty- ninth Psalm as the sponge dipped in vinegar was thrust between his dying lips. In his own perfect familiarity with the Jewish Scriptures, our Lord on the Cross gave expression to his anguish and his trust in the words of Psalm xxii, I (Matt, xxvii, 46) and Psalm xxxi, 5 (Luke xxiii, 46). Message of the Old Testament 31 The Psalms pre- There are, moreover, several details figured his in these Messianic psalms which were experience. exactly reproduced in the life of our Lord, although they are not so quoted in the New Testament. Such, for example, are the words of attestation at his baptism and transfiguration (Psa. ii, 7); his rejection by his brethren (Psa. Ixix, 8); his condemnation by false witnesses (Psa. XXXV, 11); the piercing of his hands and feet (Psa. xxii, 16), and the mocking of the crowd at his cru- cifixion (Psa. xxii, 7, 8). Peter's and Paul's Peter and Paul turned to the Mes- useoftheMes- sianic psalms for illustrations as they sianic Psalms. preached the risen Saviour, Psa. xvi, 8-10 (applied Acts ii, 25-31; Acts xiii, 35-37); Psa. ex, I (applied Acts ii, 32-^6) ; Psa. Ixix, 9 (ap- plied Rom. XV, 3); Psa. Ixviii, 18 (applied Acts ii, 23); Psa. ii, 7 (applied Acts xiii, 33); Psa. viii, 4-6 (applied I Cor. xv, 27); Psa. xlv, 6-7 (applied Heb. i, 8, 9); Psa. xxii, 22 (applied Heb. ii, 12). IV. The Missionary The most glorious missionary mes- message of the sages of the Old Testament, however. Prophets. ^j.g ^.q j^g found neither in Law, His- tory, nor Poetry, but in the writing of the prophets, when **holy men of old spake as they were moved by the Holy Spirit." The prophets It must not be forgotten that the seem our contem- structure of the Old Testament is poranes. j^q^ linear, but rather on four parallel lines covering somewhat the same periods of time with differing emphases. Thus, the prophets accom- pany the poets, and they the historians, over a great part of Israel's pilgrimage. But while Chronicles 32 The Bible and Missions narrates the story from the ecclesiastical point of view, the prophets are reacting to the same Provi- dences in the light of spiritual and universal applica- tions of the moral law. This is what makes the prophets so contemporary. The quaint and archaic in the fashion of thought of those who wrote the Chronicles of the Kings is wanting in the burning messages of the prophets. To us they speak with present authority; of our sins and problems they write; it is our faith that they reassure in the coming of the rule of God among men. Missionary con- There are certain great conceptions ceptions common more or less common to the prophets: to the prophets, (a) They regard Israel as God's chosen instrument for worldwide ends, (b) They perceive in varying degrees the unity of human history, (c) They recognize God's disciplinary prov- idences over his people, (d) They know that the chosen nation's privileges are not its property, but held in trust for mankind, (e) Their eyes are fixed not on the past, to see a vanished golden age, but on the future, with unquenchable hope. In this brief outline we can only hint at the missionary ma- terial of the prophets, in the hope that the sugges- tions given may lead out to more adequate study of the whole mind and heart enlarging subject. Four prophets of There are four prophets belonging the eighth cen- to the eighth century before Christ, tury, B. c. ^Amos and Hosea of the Northern Kingdom of Israel, and Micah and Isaiah of the Southern Kingdom of Judah. In Amos and Hosea, the most ancient, explicit missionary lessons are naturally fewest; yet these two writers are out- Message of the Old Testament ^3 standing figures in the development of human thought; their words contribute no slender stream to that river of the Water of Life that now runs sweetly through all the earth. The gospel in Amos, a herdsman and gatherer of Amos. wild figs, appears suddenly before the luxurious and oppressive court of Jeroboam with a strong message from Jehovah. In words of rough- hewn and passionate sincerity he announces God*s just judgment upon the surrounding nations, Da- mascus, Tyre, Edom, and Ammon, picturing the fate of Tyre, then in her glory. He lays bare IsraeFs oppression of the poor, the luxury and parasitism of her women, and prophesies famine and desolation. With wonderful tenderness he laments his country's fate and beseeches her in God's name to seek good and not evil, that she may live; to let justice run down as waters and righteousness as a mighty stream. With a social passion that we are wont to think be- longs to our own day, he foretells the sure destruc- tion and captivity to come, when God will sift Israel among all nations as corn is sifted in a sieve. His book closes with a majestic prophecy of restoration. (Amos ix, 11-15.) The gospel's familiar lines are in the prophecy of Amos, faint, but clear, (i) Democ- racy in God's choice of an instrument, (2) Considera- tion for the poor at a time when pity was unknown, (3) God's righteous government reaching out to the whole world, (4) A spiritual as opposed to a ritual religious emphasis. Hosea's gospel Hosea is the earliest great teacher of of the love of the love of God. Through the teach- ^^°^* ings of his own sufferings because of 34 The Bible and Missions an unfaithful wife, Hosea discerns the suffering love of God reaching out after his rebellious people. A new voice was heard in the world, one single thrilling note, when Hosea dared to figure the Eternal as drawing his people with the cords of a man, with the bands of love, and to sound the note of God's heart- break over his rebellious people. **How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? How shall I deliver thee, Israel? O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself; but in me is thine help. I will ransom thee from the power of the grave. O death, I will be thy plague." A note new in the world, but to grow and increase until it culminat- ed in the gospel of a God who so loved the world that he gave his Son to save it. Micah foretells After Samaria fell in her unrepented the coming King- evil doing, Micah and Isaiah took up ^°"^- the work of warning the Southern Kingdom of the fate that was sure to follow upon its godlessness and immorality. The conditions of industrial oppression and social vice which Micah reveals among the princes of Judah do not differ materially from those which Amos denounced in Israel or those which are to be found in our own day. Against them the prophet pronounced the sure doom which ever dogs the steps of the nations that forget God. In his fourth chapter is found the earliest clear forecast of that universal gospel at the heart of God's plan for his ancient people. "But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it. "And many nations shall come, and say, Come and let us go Message of the Old Testament 35 up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths; for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. "And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks; nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. "But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid; for the mouth of the Lord of hosts hath spoken it. "For all people will walk every one in the name of his god, and we will walk in the name of the Lord our God for ever and ever." Micah iv, 1-5. Micah's inter- In Micah, too, occurs the remark- pretation of true able prophecy in regard to Bethle- religion. j^^j^^ (Micah V, 2) and the most glorious setting forth of spiritual as opposed to for- mal religion; an interpretation of religion absolutely fatal to any partial, racial, or dispensational claims, and embracing all mankind under its wide sky. "Wherewith shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before the high God? Shall I come before him with burnt offer- ings, with calves of a year old? "Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my trans- gression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? "He hath showed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?" Micah vi, 6-8. The circumstances Isaiah has been called the fifth evan- of Isaiah's geHst, because in his prophecies the ministry. gospel note sounds clearest and most often. What were but scattered gleams and intima- tions in Hosea and Amos become settled convictions with Isaiah. In his writings for the first time we 26 The Bible and Missions recognize a world- vision. Isaiah lived and prophesied through four invasions of Judea, by the insolent and brutal power of Assyria. He lived when all the little nations of Western Asia alternately trembled and intrigued between the great world powers of that day; Assyria to the North, Egypt to the South. Judah was Assyria's Belgium, lying between her ambitions for world domination and her rival, Egypt. Two convictions Isaiah's missionary meaning rests underlying Upon two convictions; God's right- Isaiah's gospel. eousness and God's providential gov- ernment not alone of his chosen people, but of the world. In his superb confidence in the might of God's righteousness, he is able to reassure the hearts of his generation, paralyzed by the fear of a conscienceless tyranny. The first expression of the Christian philosophy of history was given in Isaiah's claim for Jehovah of an authority over all the nations, to use them as instruments to work out his providence. One Lord over In the **dooms" pronounced upon all all nations. the nations surrounding his own, Isaiah breaks in upon the exclusiveness of his people with a new world-note. "As you read his prophecies upon foreign nations," says George Adam Smith, *'you perceive that before the eyes of this man humanity, broken and scattered in his day as it was, rose up,one great whole, every part of which was sub- ject to the same laws of righteousness and deserved from the prophet of God the same love and pity.'* Isaiah takes From his watch tower of prophecy possession of the Isaiah looked out upon a world that world in God's seems Strangely small to our modern "^^^- eyes; but a world that filled the largest Message of the Old Testament 37 horizon of those times, a world stretching from the ultimate West of the Isles of the yEgean to the ulti- mate East beyond the Great River Euphrates. Of this world he took possession in the name of God; looking forward to the time when "the particular religious opportunities of the Jew should be the inheritance of humanity." In closing one of the noblest missionary sermons of the Old Testament, he writes: *'In that day shalllsrael be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth; for that Jehovah of hosts hath blessed them, saying, Blessed be Egypt my people and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel mine inheritance.'* (Isa. xix, 24-25.) Isaiah's challenge The same questions as those Isaiah for Today. faced are still at stake. Men are still in danger of believing in the right of might, rather than the might of right. Deep cleavages still divide the nations, making it difficult to believe in one Father God with a purpose that embraces all man- kind. Still are men fain to settle down in selfish ease when no foe menaces their own frontier, forget- ful of those others without the gate for whom Christ died. For the Christian Church of today, as for God's ancient Jewish people, Isaiah has a mes- sage. We, too, must in the name of God claim the world for our parish. A modern writer has phrased this missionary challenge in unforgetable terms. If Missions fail, "I am asked, *Do you believe in Christ a failure, foreign missions?' I answer, 'Do you believe in the gospel of Christ?* For be assured of this, if foreign missions, when considered in the large, arc a failure, the gospel is a failure. If Jesus 38 The Bible and Missions Christ has no message for the man in Shanghai that is worth giving my life, if need be, to get it to him, he has no message for the man in London that I need bother about. He is either the Saviour of the whole world or he is no man's Saviour." Other instances of Isaiah's vision of the world- meaning of his nation's faith may be found in Chapters ii; ix, 2-8; xi; xxxiii. The vision of the The latter chapters of the book, the Suffering Servant, fortieth to the sixty-sixth inclusive, have been called "one glowing rhapsody of Zion redeemed." Internal evidence of this portion of the prophecy has led many reverent students of the Bible to assign the prophecies to a later date and to an- other author. Whether this or the traditional view is taken does not alter the glorious missionary mes- sage of these marvelous prophecies. The ideas under- lying the earlier chapters are here expressed with a fulness and a glory of prophetic hope that put them on a plane nearer to the New Testament than any other portion of the Old Testament. Not only are the righteousness of God and his nearness to his people discerned, not only is Jehovah proclaimed as the God of the whole earth, but the vision of the Suffering Servant of Jehovah is so drawn that the heart of the world has recognized in it the portrait of the One who was, indeed, wounded for the trans- gressions of the whole world. See Isa. xlii, 1-4; lii, 7, 10, 15; Ix, 1-9; Ixi, 1-3, ii; Ixv, i; Ixvi, 10, 12, 13, 16, 18-23. The call of the The prophet Jeremiah delivered his Prophet Jeremiah, message during the terrible days of Message of the Old Testament 39 the dissolution and exile of his nation. His was the hard task of doing a patriot's duty in such a way that to the men of his day he seemed false to his country. In Jeremiah's call we have a noble prototype of the call of all true missionaries. Summoned out of his conscious weakness, girded with the power of the God who commissioned him, he is sent to ''nations and kingdoms, to root out and to pull down, to de- stroy and to throw down, to build and to plant.'* (Jer. i, 10.) Thus ever does the task of destroying the false precede and accompany the constructive work of laying the foundations of the unseen Empire of Jesus Christ. Jeremiah, a type In his personality Jeremiah stands of the Suffering out as the greatest of the prophets, Servant. ^j^^ q^q ^\^q typified in his suffering on behalf of his sinning people that Other who came as God's Missionary to his own, but whose own received him not, who was rejected and made of no reputation among his brethren, and who wept over Jerusalem, still rejecting the love of God, who sought her. Out of the agony of his witnessing Jeremiah comes to hope in the coming King in his Kingdom. See Jer. xxiii, 1-8; xxxi, 10-12,31-34. Ezekiel's gospel Ezekiel is the great prophet of the for the individual. Captivity, writing out of the land whither the exiled people had been taken. In Ezekiel we have the emergence of the gospel for the indi- vidual. The elder prophets, and even Isaiah and Jeremiah, fixed their thought for the most part on God's purpose for the nation and, through the na- tion, for the world. Ezekiel writes his message of 40 1"he Bible and Missions hope and restoration to the nation, but he writes also for the individual man. In one of the weigh- tiest utterances in the history of religions, Ezekiel makes use of an ancient proverb, — "The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge," — to declare the Eternal's care for every human soul. BEHOLD, ALL SOULS ARE MINE; AS THE SOULOFTHE FATHER, so ALSO THE SOUL OF THE SON IS MINE: THE SOUL THAT SINNETH, IT SHALL DIE. On this as his text he proceeds to build up his great discussion on heredity and environment, leading up to a conviction that lies at the very heart of the Good News which Jesus came to give to all mankind. See Ezek. xviii, 31-32; xi, 19, 10; xxxvi, 25-27. Not lost in the This gospcl of redemption for the crowd, the gospel's individual is one of the most 'precious glorious promise, treasures of Christianity. The right- eous individual is not lost sight of in a worthless family. The wicked has held out to him the promise of that new heart which is the gift of God. Such good news of salvation, like all good news, compels its own telling. It can no more be monopolized than sunshine or the stars. In Ezekiel's parable of the hireling shepherd (Chapter xxxiv), is to be found a missionary mes- sage that rebukes our selfish ease as it did that of the professedly religious in the long ago. Can it be that America, called to be a shepherd nation, will close her eyes to Christ's flock, scattered shep- herdless upon all the face of the earth, with none to search or seek after them ? See Ezek. xxxiv, 9-11. BUDDHIST WOMAN'S SOCIETY They Search their Scriptures in vain for a Gospel for Women. Message of the Old Testament 41 These words were echoed long after by the Lord Jesus when he said, "Other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd." The Healing The vision of the healing waters that Waters. flowed out of the sanctuary (Ezek. xlvii, I -13), is a symbol of the progress of the gospel throughout all lands. Issuing as a slender stream from out the house of God, it deepens and widens until it becomes water to swim in, a river that can not be crossed over; and, into whatever desert the river flows, there come trees of fadeless leaf and fruit which shall be for food and medicine, and everything shall live whither the river cometh. Speaking Peace to In Haggai and Zechariah we have the Heathen. messages regarding the rebuilding of the temple and the city from which truth shall go forth over the wide world. Zechariah has become forever precious to the Christian conscience in his foreshadowing of the betrayal and crucifixion of our Lord. (Zech. xi, 12, 13; xii, 10.) He joins in the great chorus of the prophets to invite all nations to share with the chosen people in the grace of God (Zech. ii, 11; Zech. viii, 7-8) and most gloriously, Zech. ix, 9-10: "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass. "And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim,and the horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow shall be cut off: and he shall speak peace unto the heathen: and his dominion shall be from sea even to sea, and from the river even t» the ends of the earth." 42 The Bible and Missions Habakkuk's Habakkuk's message seems peculiar- Message, ly meant for our day. Baffled by the wrong and insolent tyranny which he beholds every- where, the sensitive soul of the prophet turns to his God with a question: **How long will Jehovah per- mit wrong and violence to triumph, so that the Law is paralyzed and justice never gets done? Shall the oppressor forever draw his sword and ceaselessly massacre the nations?" And Jehovah answers: the prophet sets his answer down quite plainly, so that he that runs may read: 'It is God himself who is about to raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, swifter than leopard and more fierce than evening wolves, and use them for his own purposes.* The Everlasting The poet's faith climbs trembling to Yea. his watch tower, and again interrogates the Holy One of Israel: "Hast thou ordained them for judgment? and O, Mighty God, hast thou estab- lished them for corrections? O why dost thou, who art of purer eyes than to behold evil, look upon those who deal treacherously and keep silence when the wicked devour men more righteous than they, catching them like fish in their cruel net?" Again Jehovah answered his agonized prophet upon his little watch tower of faith, looking for evidences that . . . ."behind the dim unknown Standeth God within the shadow. Keeping watch above his own." God*s answer is the quiet 'Hush, my child,' of the Eternal. "Though the vision tarry, wait for it." "The just shall live by his faith." Message of the Old Testament 43 Just the old, old riddle of the world, so torn and sinful, in which somehow the wrath of man is made to praise God, and his will gets itself done in spite of Assyrian or Chaldean, Attila, scourge of God, or the insolent rage of the Hun. "Thy Kingdom The prophet, comforted, though not Come." answered, raises the bold challenge of faith against all insolent evil of whatever age. Sure of the downfall and confusion that await every wicked work, the prophet sees "That the glory of God shall cover the earth as the waters cover the sea." See also Hab. ii, 14. and in his renewed faith cries, "But the Lord is in his holy temple: Let all the earth keep silence before him.** Out of what littleness are we come to what a wide expanse, from the days when Israel thought jealously of her God in his temple on Mount Moriah to this theophany of God who makes wicked nations his instruments of justice and correction, and before whom the whole earth keeps reverent silence! The Messages of Of the "pointing prophets" in Sar- the Covenant. gent's great picture Malachi stands nearest, a messenger who tells the petulant people how the Lord will ''suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts. But who may abide the day of his coming.^ and who shall stand when he appeareth.^ for he is like a reliner*s fire, and like fullers' soap: and he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they 44 The Bible and Missions may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness/* Mai. iii, 1-3. "But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteous- ness arise with healing in his wings:. . . . "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord." Mai. iv, i, 5. "My Name Re- The most Striking missionary teach- vered among the ing of Malachi is found in the first Nations." chapter, in which the prophet con- trasts the grudging and polluted offerings of the priests with the worship offered to God outside the borders of Israel. The insertion in the authorized version of the words **shali be" in the eleventh verse, thus making of the statement a prophecy, has ob- scured the meaning of the prophet. George Adam Smith's faithful uanslation makes it beautifully plain: "A son honours a father, and a servant his lord. But if I am Father, where is My honour? and if I am Lord, where is reverence for Me? saith Jehovah of hosts to you, O priests, who despise My Name. Y^ say, 'How then have we despised Thy Name?* Ye are bringin.i; polluted food to Mine Altar. Ye say, 'How have we polluted Thee?' By saying, 'The Table of Jehovah may be despised*; and wLen ye bring a blind beast to sacrifice, 'No harm,' or when ye In.ig a lame or sick one, 'No harm.* Pray, take it to thy Satrap; vvill he be pleased with thee, or accept thy person? saith Jehovah cf Hosts. But now, propitiate God, that He may be gracious to u.-'. When things like this come from your hands, can He accept yoii- persons? saith Jehovah of Hosts. Who is there among you to close the doors of the Temple alto- gether, that ye kindle not Mine Altar in vain? I have no pleasure in you, saith Jehovah of Hosts, and I will not accept an offering from your hands. For from the rising of the sun and to its setting My Name is glorified among the nations; and in every sacred place incense is offered to My Name, and a pure offering; for Message of the Old Testament 45 great is My Name among the nations, saith Jehovah of Hosts. But ye are profaning it, in that ye think that the Table of the Lord is polluted, and its food contemptible. And ye say, What a weariness! and ye sniff at it, saith Jehovah of Hosts. When ye bring what has been plundered, and the lame and the diseased, yea, when ye so bring an offering, can I accept it with grace from your hands? saith Jehovah. Cursed be the cheat in whose flock is a male beast and he vows it, and slays for the Lord a mis- erable beast. For a great King am I, saith Jehovah of Hosts, and My Name is reverenced among the nations." Was It Reverenced This passage may be understood in by Jewish exiles? either of two ways: (ist), that the "reverencing of God's name among the heathen from the rising of the sun to its setting" may be due to the spread of the Jewish Scriptures and religion through- out the ancient world. We know that the demand for a translation of these Scriptures was so great that one called the Septuagint was made into Greek in the third century, B.C. We know, too, that this came into more general use than the original Hebrew, so that our Lord and his apostles, in quoting from the Old Testament, used the Septuagint. The wide diffusion of the Hebrew faith may be inferred also from the multitude of pilgrims who came annually to Jerusalem from every land to attend the Passover. (Acts ii, i-ii.) In Every Nation. ?^ ^^"^ ^^^^ ^^",d' ^he passage may be the acknowledgment on the part of the prophet that the One True God had those who served him in spirit and truth, all over the world, even as Paul said, "In every nation he that feareth God and worketh righteousness is accepted of him." "From the first," says George Adam Smith, "they (the prophets of Israel) had known their God as a 46 The Bible and Missions God of a grace so infinite that it was impossible that it should be exhausted upon themselves. If his righteousness, as Amos showed, was over all the Syrian states, and his pity and power to convert, as Isaiah showed, covered even the cities of Phoenicia, the great evangelist of the exile could declare that he quenched not the smoking wicks of the dim heathen faiths." The Prophet When we turn to the book of Daniel Daniel. we find oursclvcs on one of the battle- grounds of interpretation. The apocalyptic elements of Daniel's vision and those in the prophecy of Ezekiel form the background of John's glowing Apocalypse with which the New Testament closes. The diverse theories regarding the meaning of those apocalyptic elements are almost as numerous as the commentators. Such speculations are quite apart from the purpose of this brief survey, as are other disputes in regard to the date of composition. Wheth- er the book of Daniel, as we now have it, is of single or composite authorship, we know that all of it was written before the translation of the Old Testament into Greek, during the third century, B.C. Its mis- sionary message may be found by both radicals and conservatives. The Stone that In the second chapter there is an became a great account of Daniel's interpretation of mountain. ^ dream of Nebuchadnezzar, which none of the king's astrologers or sorcerers could in- terpret. The king dreamed of a great image with head of gold, breast and arms of silver, belly and thighs of brass, legs of iron, and feet part iron and part clay. Then he dreamed of a stone cut out with- Message of the Old Testament 47 out hands, which broke the great image in pieces like the chafFof the summer threshing floor, but the stone became a great mountain and filled the whole earth. Our attention is fixed not on what Daniel says about the four earthly kingdoms that shall arise in succession, but on his prophetic declaration that upon the destruction of the fourth kingdom: "In the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and con- sume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever. Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain with- out hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof is sure." Dan. ii, 44-45. The great Here we have reiterated the great expectation. hope that we have found expressed with varying degrees of clearness in all the prophets — the hope of a Messianic Kingdom. This indubit- able fact is one of the mysteries in human history. Why should the Jew have cherished it, unless it were given by that Spirit of God who was speaking in the hearts of men.? This expectation, phrased in such noble imagery, was fulfilled in the days of the break- up of Rome's kingdom of iron and clay, when the Lord Jesus came preaching in Galilee, "The King- dom is at hand." ^, , , Of the obscurer elements in Daniel's Obscure elements. .... Vision It IS not necessary to speak. Since our Lord himself declared that he did not know 'the day or the hour,' we can hardly expect to learn it by calculations based on Daniel's prophecy. 48 The Bible and Missions What is dark to us now may some day be made plain, but one thing is plain, the confident looking forward to the reign of the Son of Man in power. Through all the obscurities of apocalyptic vision certain promises shine out like stars; by them we may guide our course until the night is gone. The prophet The prophet Joel has left us one of of Pentecost. the noblest visions of the Old Testa- ment in his prophecy of the pouring out of the Spirit on all humanity, so that old men shall dream dreams and young men shall see visions, and even upon the servants and the hand-maidens shall the Spirit be poured out. In the great experience of the Day of Pentecost the disciples realized a fulfilment of this prophetic expectation. But that was only the be- ginning of fulfilment. In every land the Holy Spirit is today giving power to speak for God and wit- ness for Christ. In the long dispensation of the Holy Spirit grace is poured out upon all man- kind. Jonah, the It remains to speak of a prophet Missionary. whose book is in many respects the culminating message of the Old Testament. While men have gaped at the whale, they have quite over- looked the lesson which the story is meant to teach, whether we belong among the severe literalists, or to the company of those who understand the prophet to be making use of a parable or allegory to enforce the truth committed to him. Since questions of Biblical criticism are outside the purpose of this brief study, let us dismiss from our minds any ques- tion regarding the setting of the tale, and go at once to the missionary heart of it. Message of the Old Testament 49 A text for Jonah's Acts xi, 1 8, might well be taken for prophecy. the text of the sermon, *'God has granted to the Gentiles also repentance unto life." Jonah runs away Nineveh, the great, had already fallen from God. suddenly, irretrievably from her im- perial power, — a fall to which the sudden collapse of Vienna offers only a feeble analogy, — when Jeho- vah purposed to send a message of mercy to the citi- zens of this heathen city by the mouth of the proph- et Jonah. Jonah arose to flee, not from the perils of the journey, but because, as he said, he knew the nature of the God who was sending him forth, *A God gracious and tender and long suffering, plenteous in love and repenting of evil," and feared that God might actually make him the agent of his grace upon the heathen. Jonah started to go to the ultimate West, the end of the Mediterranean, to get away from his hated mission. The hound of heaven, God*s hurricane, pursued the runaway and flung him, re- pentant, into the sea and into the belly of a great sea monster whom God had prepared. Out of the depths Jonah cried unto his God and was delivered to be sent for a second time on the mission which he had refused. God's purpose in Though Outwardly obedient, Jonah Nineveh. was not in spirit reconciled to God's great purpose of mercy to the inhabitants of a city that had not known God's name. The repentance of the men ot Nineveh which followed upon Jonah*s summons, had as its purpose, according to George Adam Smith, to teach the chosen people that ''out there, beyond the Covenant, in the great world lying in darkness, there live, not beings created for igno- 50 The Bible and Missions ranee and hostility to God, elect for destruction, ^ ut men with consciences and hearts, able to turn at His Word and to hope in His Mercy — that to the farthest ends of the world, and even on the high places of unrighteousness. Word and Mercy work juiit as they do within the Covenant." The irony of And the prophet, looking upon the God. effect of his message, was not glad, but grieved, jealous that the God, the Covenant God of Israel, was admitting others to his mercy. Over the peevish prophet God caused a great gourd to grow as a shade from the fierce sun, and then shrivel- ed it with destruction. To the fainting prophet grieving over the loss of his gourd, God spoke in words of gentlest irony; **Thou carest for a gourd for which thou hast not travailed, a thing that came in a night, and shall I not care for Nineveh, that great city in which there are more than twelve times ten thousand children (persons that can not discern be- tween their right hand and their left hand) and also much cattle.^" Thus does God vindicate his bound- less love and pity for all creatures that he has made, to the jealousy which would appropriate such love and pity even for the chosen people. We have our If ever an age needed the missionary Nineveh. mcssagc of the Book of Jonah, it is our own. The physical barriers between the nations are down. We may take ship to Tarshish and dwell in the uttermost parts of the earth, but still our jealous hearts are slow to believe in a God of the whole world. That God has purposes of mercy to- ward England and America, we know, but that Japan and China, too, are within the circle of his plan, we Message of the Old Testament 51 seem to question. It is a great thing to discover in the Old Testament, in the days of men's ignorance, a purpose that includes Jew and Gentile in its ample folds, a revelation of a message for Man. Summary of Reviewing the ground already cover- ground covered, ed, we have found in the very nature of the Bible a Missionary Charter; and in its teach- ings a Plan of the Ages, evident in the Old Testa- ment, clearly revealed in the New. In a brief sur- vey of the various divisions of the Old Testament Scriptures, we have found definite missionary lessons in every part, but most clearly wrought out in the Psalms and the Prophets. These missionary teachings we have seen include: (i) A statement of the blessing for all the race held in trust by the chosen people: (2) A growing belief in the coming of a universal Kingdom of God under the sway of a Messianic ruler: (3) The universality of the Provi- dential Government of God among the nations: (4) The emergence of a message for the individual believer as well as for the nation: (5) The distinct teaching that heathen nations are instruments of God: (6) The preaching of God's purposes of mercy to those outside the law: (7) The sudden coming of the Messenger, and the setting up of the Kingdom of God. OUTLINE OF CHAPTER II. aim: To show that the missionary principles laid down in the Old Testament are fully revealed in the New in the funda- mental teachings of Jesus; in his life; and in his commands to his disciples; and that these principles are exemplified in the life of the Apostolic Church, Rooted in the Old Testament, the New blossoms with glorious intimations of universality in the very setting of Jesus' life. Its missionary message is found, I. IN THE TWO FUNDAMENTAL REVELATIONS OF JESUS. 1. His disclosure of God the Father , transcendent as well as immanent; righteous as well as loving; just as well as forgiving; fatherly to all men; a Father to his filial sons. 2. His teaching about the Kingdom of Heaven, a. Kingdom of Heaven no new idea. b. Cherished as noblest hope of Judaism. c. Nature of Christ's teachings about the coming of the Kingdom — not by revolution, but by silent transforma- tion; not a national privilege, but a universal hope. d. The Kingdom at hand. — Why then does it tarry.? It need not tarry. e. The delayed triumph of the Kingdom implied in his parables. f. How pass the long night of waiting? With loyal obedi- ence, subordination of all else to the Kingdom; with calm confidence in the ultimate triumph of the King- dom; with eager longing for its speedy consummation. II. IN THE LIFE AND DIRECT COMMANDS OF JESUS. I. Jesus was himself a missionary. a. His first evangelizing tour, — Woman of Samaria; Seed sowing and harvest. b. Choice of Twelve Disciples. c. Training and sending out of the Twelve. d. Enlarging circles of Ministry. e. Establishing a base line for the Gospel. Message of the Old Testament 53 2. Missionary commands oj Jesus. a. Missionary message not dependent on spoken com- mand, but inherent in the Gospel. b. Command four times repeated, — twice in Upper Room; on a hill top; just before his ascension. III. IN THE APOSTOLIC TEACHINGS AND LIFE OF CHURCH. a. Acts, the great Text-book of Missions, — Expansion of Church; strategy of occupation; demand for heroism. b. Paul's statement of missionary principles. c. Emergence of Missionary Finance. d. Lay ministry in the early Church. e. Prominence of Women. f. Fraternal and Missionary spirit. g. Missionary Program of Early Church: An Uplifted Christ; Audacity of faith; Participation in the task; Reliance upon spiritual means; Willingness to suffer or die; A buoyant hopefulness. h. Missionary Message of the Apocalypse: Written during terrible persecutions to encourage believers; Presents Christ's triumphant Kingdom; Social passion of Christianity; Doom of Materialistic Civilization; Shining vision of New Jerusalem. CHAPTER II. THE MISSIONARY MESSAGE OF THE NEW TESTAMENT "The Kingdom is an idea as broad as mankind, as inclusive as life itself, and as Christian as the Gospel." Rauschenbusch. From the twilight When we turn from the Old Testa- of the Old to the ment to the New in our study of the sunlight of the missionary message of the Bible, it New. is like passing out of a dimly lighted room into glorious sunshine, or like walking beside a broad, deep river, after following a rill of sweet water. For the New Testament is missionary from beginning to end; in its plan, in its teachings, in its philosophy. In one flashing circlet John iii, i6 in- cludes the whole gospel: "for god so LOVED THE WORLD THAT HE GAVE HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON, THAT WHOSOEVER BELIEV- ETH IN HIM SHOULD NOT PERISH, BUT HAVE EVERLAST- ING LIFE." The New Cove- The missionary meaning of the New nant rooted in the Testament grows out of the Old as 0\d, a tree is rooted in the ground, as a rose expresses the sweet heart of the rosebud. One who reads the New Testament with no background of knowledge of the Old would punctuate many pages with interrogation points, and much of the finer symbolism of the book would be blank to him. Jesus based his gospel squarely on the foundation laid in the Old Testament. It was in the fulness of time that God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, Message of the New Testament 55 made under the Law, to redeem them that wereunder the Law.* It was in the consummation of an age- long purpose of mercy to all mankind that the Good News was published abroad. •Intimations of This great purpose is clearly seen in Universality.' the very setting of the life of Jesus. The promise of a coming salvation trembles through the words of the angel visitant to Mary and Eliza- beth; and the joy of the Messiah so long promjsed by the ancient prophets throbs through the rnusic of the Magnificat and the Benedicite. "The heavens When Jesus is born the very sky declare the glory blossoms with angels singing tidings of God." Qf ^ great joy which shall be to all nations; neighboring shepherds crowd about him, and splendid visitors follow his Star from out the Ancient East. The Gospel in In aged Simeon the Law seems to the arms of the stand, holding the new-born Gospel ^^^- in its arms as he cries, "Now, Master, thou canst let thy servant go, and go in peace, as thou didst promise; for mine eyes have seen thy saving power which thou hast prepared before the face of all the peoples, to be a light of revelation for the Gentiles, and a glory to thy people Israel." Luke ii, 29-32 (Moffatt's translation). About him all The infant Jesus is carried into Egypt nations cluster. and returns to make his home, not in the royal city of David, but 'in despised Naza- reth/ Among the crowds which follow him we find Romans as well as Jews, dispatriated tax collectors, Samaritans, Syro-Phoenicians, Greeks, and African Simon of Cyrene, apolyglot cross-section of humanity. 56 The Bible and Missions Above him on the cross stood the inscription written in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin, in mute prophecy of the diffusion of his words among the nations. Two centers ot On this beautiful background of Jesus' thought. universality Jesus paints his gospel for man. There are two centers to his thought: (i) The Father God, whom he has come to reveal, and (2) The Kingdom of God, which he has come to establish. Christ's Message (i) We have already seen that the of the Father. Bible teaching about God was in its very essence a trust for mankind. What is true in degree about the whole Bible is uniquely true about Jesus' thought of God. Above the revelation of the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ hovers the very Shekinah of the New Testament. In that light all creedal and national and racial limitations disappear as the Son of Man unveils the Eternal. The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ is none other than humanity's one true and living God. Both Father and The modern thought of God has Lord. swung so far away from the Jewish thought of the transcendent holiness and absolute power and justice of God that it comes with a shock of surprise to us to find that our Lord, as Titius has said, did not emphasize God's omnipotence and infi- nite sublimity one whit less than did the Jewish view, but rather ''deepened it and intensified it to the absolute uttermost." It is the Judge of all the earth, the God who ''can not abide iniquity and the solemn assembly," the God who demands clean hands and pure hearts in his worshippers, and who is able to SCRIPTURE COMMITTEE, NORTH SIAM MISSION Translating Proverbs in Lao. From right to left they are: Rev. Roderick Gillis, D.D. ; Nai Oh; Rev. Howard Campbell. D.D.; J. W. McLean, AI.D. ; Elder Chaiwana; Rev. Kam Ai : the A. B. S. Agent. Message of the New Testament 57 destroy both soul and body in hell (Matt, x, 28) whom Jesus reveals as the Heavenly Father. "That is the paradox of Christ's revelation of God to us," says Hogg; ''Fear and love, — love casting out fear; fear deepening and purifying love. Our Father, therefore, near us and in us; yet our Father in Heaven, and, therefore, at the same time absolutely exalted above us." Over all and in In the religions that emphasize God's all God, blessed immanence, as does Hinduism, men forever. ^^j^^ Constantly to drift into panthe- ism, and to lose any clear conception of the black- ness and power of sin, or the necessity of personal righteousness. In a religion that emphasizes God's transcendence, as does Islam, men tend to dritt into formalism and fatalism. Only in the teachings of Jesus does mankind find a revelation of God infi- nite in holiness and absolute in power, who is also the Father, more eager than are earthly fathers to give good gifts to their little children, whose love runs out to the prodigal while still in the far country, and whose Holy Spirit makes his dwelling place in the hearts of his humble worshippers. God's Fatherhood Jesus' teaching regarding the Father- for all mankind, hood of God has become so much the possession of man's common thought that it is the general idea that the Christian message may be summed up in the phrase ''Fatherhood of God and brotherhood of man." It is, however, necessary to distinguish two senses in which the terms are used, (i) By the phrase "Fatherhood of God and brother- hood of man" is generally meant that all mankind, being made in the likeness of God, are his offspring, 58 The Bible and Missions sharing the Divine nature, with the ineradicable stamp of his image on their souls, however blurred and faint that image may be. "Though he is so bright and we are so dim, We are made in his likeness to image him." Out of this common relation to our Father, God, springs the fact of human brotherhood, overleaping all barriers of race or nationality or social condition. This great truth is undoubtedly taught in the Bible, in the Old Testament by implication, in the New as the basis of our Lord's teaching and that of his apostles. The Fatherly God who, through all the ages, has been going forth to meet his lost son while he was yet a long way off; the God in whom there is no respecter of persons, is that One from whom every fatherhood in heaven and earth is named. God's true and (2) But there is a deeper and more filial sons. intimate, a more intensive and, there- fore, less extensive sense in which the Lord Jesus uses the term, that has great force in considering the missionary message of the New Testament. Is there a sense in which Christ teaches that his disciples are sons of God and therefore brothers, which can not be affirmed of all men.^ A patient study of his words seems to establish this without doubt. It is a real spiritual union between God and man of which Jesus is speaking, and not of a possible or metaphy- sical relationship. It is the gentle, the forgiving, the merciful, the peace-makers, who are called children of God. It is those who love their enemies, do good to those who hate them, pray for their persecutors, that are the sons of the Father who is in heaven. It Message of the New Testament 59 is those who do good and lend, never despairing, whom Jesus calls sons of the Most High, who is kind to the unthankful and evil. It is those who enter in- to their secret place of prayer, whose Father, seeing in secret, shall recompense; and it is whoever does the will of Jesus* Father in heaven whom he recognizes as brother, sister, mother.* As John says (John i, 11-12): "He came to his own creation, yet his own folk did not wel- come him. But to all who did receive him, to them he has given the right of becoming children of God, even to those who trust in his name, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." A new and living The missionary implications of this Way to the Father, truth are momentous. Failure to per- ceive it is back of much indifference to the world- wide obligation of Christianity. Christ did not come simply to reaffirm a divine sonship in which all men share. In that case we might rest quite tranquilly on the hope that sooner or later all men would enter into the privileges of their sonship. He came to re- veal a new and living Way to the Father; to make possible a new and blessed fellowship with him, in order that through this new relationship he might establish the Kingdom of God on earth. The absoluteness Unless we understand the nature of of Christ's claims, this blessedness revealed in Christ, some of his own declarations may sound harsh to us. "All things have been handed to me by my Father, and no one fully knows the Son except the Father, nor does any one fully know the Father except the Son and all to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him." *See Shailer Mathews's illuminating discussion of the whole question {Social Teachings 0/ Jesus, pp. 64-6C)). 6o The Bible and Missions "I am the way, the truth, and the Hfe; no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also; and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him." The Riches of There IS no harshness here, but only God in Christ. a declaration of the exclusive claim on human reverence and obedience inherent in the nature of the message. God's grace has found a way so to express itself through the person and words of Christ that the resources of Divinity are placed at the disposal of men. It is in Christ we have our access, in Christ we realize our sonship, in Christ we put off the old man and put on that new life born from above; in Christ we who were dead in tres- passes and sins are made alive by the power of God: in Christ the love of God is shed abroad in our heart:>. This is what the New Testament calls The Good News. This it is that we are commissioned to tell to the whole, wide world, that God was * i Christ reconciling the world to himself. Privileges of From sheer familiarity with the priv- christian son?hip. ileges of Christian sonship, we fail to recognize their unique and precious character. As a matter of fact, the Christian consciousness of sonship is the gift of Christ. It does not exist apart from him. One of the glorious privileges of the missionary's life is to see the dawning of the new sense of sonship in the face of one who learns of its possibility for the first time. The consciousness of sin forgiven, of the warm, sweet, tender love of a Father, God, of springs of love rising in the heart to meet his great love, of a new brotherhood with fellow man, these are the gift of Christ. Message of the New Testament 6i Christ's Message (2) Growing out of Jesus' thought of of the Kingdom. God was his message of the King- dom. The term 'Father' is found oftenest on his Hps; but hardly less characteristic is the phrase ^Kingdom of God' or 'Kingdom of Heaven.' There are 122 passages in the Gospels that contain refer- ences to the Kingdom; §^ occur in Matthew, 19 in Mark, 44 in Luke, and 4 in John. Many of these occur in parallel passages. 'Church' replaces It is significant to note the change of 'Kingdom.* emphasis that occurred later in the New Testament and in the Church. The term 'God, the Father,' continues to characterize the other books of the New Testament, as it does the Gospels, although it is not used half so often in all the other books put together as in the Gospels. But another idea, 'the Church,' replaces the 'Kingdom of Heaven' in the attention of the writers of the New Testament. The Kingdom is mentioned eight times in Acts, once in Romans, four times in First Corinthians, once each in Galatians and Ephesians, twice in Colossians, once in each letter to the Thessalonians, twice in Second Timothy and three times in Revelation. The Kingdom, The missionary message of Jesus' no new idea. teaching about the Kingdom will become evident as we study a little more closely the meaning of the term. We note in the beginning that Jesus did not invent it. He simply used it. Neither did he define it, as would have been necessary, had he introduced an idea strange to the people. He took an old idea, widely held and deeply cherished, and enlarged and spiritualized it. Doubtless he had found the idea in the ancient Scriptures which he 62 The Bible and Missions pondered so deeply and knew so intimately. It is fascinating to think of the boy Jesus reading words of Isaiah or Jeremiah. How the words would open to him *skyey meanings in which great promises shone faithfully like stars!' Popular under- What then was the popular under- standing of the standing of the term, Kingdom of Kingdom. Qq^? i^ ^l^g j^yg Qf Christ there was a widespread expectation of a Messianic Kingdom which was shortly to be set up by the direct power of God. It was to be a new Jewish State in which God's Anointed, the Messiah, was to rule in right- eousness. All Jev/s were to be members of the King- dom, and all other nations subject. Of its glories no pen could fitly write. The noblest Now this great thought of the King- Hebrew hopes. dom had grown up through the ages of Israel's wanderings and sufferings. It meant differ- ent things to different minds; to Isaiah and the prophets it was a great spiritual hope; to the crowd it was often chiefly attractive for its material glories. The Kingdom It is one of the mysteries in the his- hope shone bright- tory of religion that the very catas- est m the dark. trophies and tragedies in the life of Israel which seemed likeliest to have destroyed all faith in God did, as a matter of fact, arouse ever keener and more passionate anticipations of the coming Kingdom. In it we may reverently discern the revelation of God himself to the soul of his chosen people. As ever fresh calamities overtook the nation, the prophet souls whispered, "Wait for the news of his coming. Soon and sud- denly he whom we look for will come into his tem- Message of the New Testament 6^ pie." The sense of immediacy had but deepened during the centuries, until when John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, renewing the proclama- tion of the prophets, all Jerusalem flocked out to hear him. Jesus proclaims After John had been thrown into the Kingdom. prison, Jesus came into Galilee, pro- claiming God's Good News, and this was his proc- lamation: **The time has fully come, and the King- dom of God is close at hand; repent and believe the Good News." That this was the subject of his preaching is shown in the summary which Matthew gives : "Then Jesus traveled through all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the Good News of the Kingdom, and curing every kind of disease and infirmity among the people." Matt, iv, 23-25. See also Matt, ix, 2^-26. The nature of Throughout the Gospel narrative Jesus* teaching Jesus is engaged in teaching his of the Kingdom disciples the true meaning of this Kingdom of God which he has already set up among them. His teachings form the very heart of our Chris- tian message. In this brief study it will be possible only to point out a few of them. (a) Not a Jesus refused to bring in the reign of revolution; God by a revolution. When he was tempted in the v/ilderness to choose the easy way of political revolution, rather than the hard way of the Cross, he put it behind him; when the people tried to make him a King, he hid himself; to his dis- ciples, eager for place and power in the New King- dom, he explained that the only greatness in the Kingdom was service. 64 The Bible and Missions _ ^ ., ^ r In our work for the Kingdom of God But a silent force . . . 1 1 • 1 It IS most important that this phase of our Lord's thought about the Kingdom be kept ; steadily in mind. The Kingdom of God is, indeed, a jrevolutionary force in the world, but it is not to be (set up by revolution. Silent and unseen as are all •forces of the first order, the Kingdom works within jthe soul of man and then, when the work is done, a new day is ushered in with all the miracle that at- tends the dawn. Temptation to There is a constant temptation to trust in lower forget this and to seek to win the methods. world to ChHst by the very methods he pushed one side; to trust to political reform, to social amelioration, to better environment (things all good in themselves, and to be desired), to bring the Kingdom, and to despise or to overlook the very simple measures on which Jesus relied. "And Germany Said a social worker in New York, had both." '*Ther are only two things needed to reconstruct the world." "What are they.'*" asked her friend. ''Compulsory sanitation and uni- versal education," was the answer. "Has it ever occurred to you," replied her friend, "that Germany had both in abundance.^" The might of The follower of Jesus can never ex- meekness, pect to advance his Kingdom by a resort to violence; he must always believe in the might of meekness, and seek to transform life from the centre outward. I (b) Not a national Jesus disappointed the high nation- I religion. alistic and patriotic hopes of the people, and so blighted their budding loyalty. They Message of the New Testament 65 were enraged when he pointed out to them in the synagogue at Capernaum that on the testimony of their own Scriptures God had reached out to show special mercy to t)ie widow of Zarephath and to Naaman the Syrian. He commended the faith of the Roman centurion, saying, "I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel." He raised a monument to the faith of the Syro-Phoenician woman. He angered and embittered all the orthodox of his day by his parables of the vine-dressers and the wedding feast. ''The Kingdom of God v/ill be taken away from you and given to a nation that will exhibit the pov/er of it." (Matt, xxi, 28-46.) He held up a hated Samaritan rather than the priest or Levite, as the good citizen. He spoke the deepest truths about his mission to a poor Samaritan woman by the wellside. Everything exclusive, haughty, selfish, or materialistic in the common idea of the Kingdom he sv/ept away. Imagine the wrath excited in patriotic breasts when Jesus said: "There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the Kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out. "And they shall come from the east, and from the west, and from the north, and from the south, and shall sit down in the Kingdom of God. "And, behold, there are last which shall be first, and there are first which shall be last." Christianity not The Son of Man still goes about our the property of streets. Still rebukes our narrow ideas Anglo-Saxons. ^f j^is heavenly Kingdom, still calls us to look up from our preoccupation with secondary truths, and look through his eyes of love at mankind. We are trustees of the gospel, not its owners. 66 The Bible and Missions Christ's message When John the Baptist's faith failed to John. him in the days of his imprisonment, and he began to question the validity of the vision which was his on the great day when Jesus had come to him for baptism, he sent two of his disciples to ask Jesus if He were in reality the Coming One, or whether they were still to look for some one else. In this request of John it is evident that his faith is struggling with his preconceptions of what the King- dom of God ought to be like. It is to Jesus himself that he takes his perplexity, a touching proof of his unshaken confidence in the character of the One on whom he had fixed such glowing hopes. In answer Jesus quotes another prophecy of Isaiah, a part of the radiant vision of the Coming Kingdom contained in the thirty-fifth chapter. "Go and report to John," said Jesus, "what you have seen and heard; that the blind see, the lame wallc, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have the Good News proclaimed to them. And blessed is every one who does not stumble because of my claims." It need not The missionary implications of this tarry. teaching of the Kingdom are tremen- dous. In our Christian fuith we have no simple system of ethics, no noble ritual of religious faith. We have a great overturning, transforming, revolu- tionary power to be released throughout the world. The Kingdom now is. Its King is present, working by the Spirit of the Living God on the hidden foun- dations of the unseen Empire of Jesus Christ. With no littleness, no sectarian bitterness, no nationalistic Hmitations, all Christians everywhere are summoned to share in the works which our Lord taught us are Message of the New Testament 67 the marks of his present Kingdom. With all its imperfections the missionary cause is today accom- plishing these Messianic works among the nations on a scale large enough and heroic enough to enable the whole Church of Christ to rejoice in what it sees and hears of the wonderful works of God. (d) The triumph While our Lord teaches the possible ofthe Kingdom to immediacy of the Kingdom, he rec- be delayed. ognizes also its gradual coming and delayed triumph. The New Jerusalem coming down from God out of Heaven is ever a 'becoming/ never a 'being.' In the Lord's Prayer itself we can clearly see that Jesus thinks of the Kingdom as coming on this present earth, else why teach us to pray for its arrival, and also that it is not yet fully come, else why pray for it to come? Whenever we pray, "Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven," we are asking for the continuance of a process, and for a hastening of the day of consumma- tion. Parables of the It is in his parables that Jesus states Kingdom. most fully the truth regarding the gradual growth and unfolding of the Kingdom of God. The thirteenth chapter of Matthew records a group of parables regarding the "mysteries of the Kingdom of God," spoken, many of them, as he sat in a boat near the shore of Galilee. In the parable of the mustard seed we have the growth of the King- dom from the least of all seeds to a great tree. In the parable of the leaven we have its hidden working in those three measures of meal (in which symbol Jesus included all mankind in one substance) "until the whole was leavened." 68 The Bible and Missions Jesus explains his Two of these parables, the Sower Parables. and the Tares of the Field, Jesus himself late rexplained to his disciples. We find that by the seed he meant the Word of God, by the Sower, the Son of Man, by the field, the worlds and by the harvest, the consummation of tn^ age. "My lord delays In the parable about the waiting his coming." servants (Luke xii, 35-48) we have an intimation that the return of the Master may not be until the third watch of the nigh ' hat in the long waiting the servants may grow c and say in the heart, "My lord delayeth his coming." In the parable of the pounds (Luke xix, n-28) the nobleman takes his journey into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return. In the parable of the marriage feast (Matt, xxii, 1-14), the whole long course of Jewish history is summed m under the figure of a day; it is not an unre; inference that the work of the servants -' ' : ..c king sent out to find guests for the marrh pQV may cover equally extended periods of time. Intimations of In the brief parable recounted in long, watchful Mark xiii, 34-37, while the purpose waiting. jg |.Q inculcate vv^atchfulness, there is again indicated the possibility that the coming may be delayed not only until ''cock-crowing," but until "morning." Perhaps the clearest intimation in any of the parables is to be found in Matthew's great story of the Ten Talents (Matt, xxv, 14-30). Here, too, the Master, going on a journey, delivers his goods to his slaves and departs. Of his return Jesus states (verse 19), "Now, after a long time the lord Message of the New Testament 69 of those servants coineth, and maketh a reckoning with them." The seed growing Perhaps Jesus' thought of the growth secretly. and progress of the Kingdom is best summed up in the parable of the seed growing secret- ly, which only Mark preserves: Chap, iv, 26-30. How pass the long We are now in the period of germina- night of waiting? tion, the long night of waiting. Christ has given to us each his task, and bidden us to occupy till he comes. With what attitude are we to face our life? (i) JVith loyal obedience. "Thou say est rightly, I am a King," said Jesus to the Roman Governor, asking. He demands the loyalty of all those who would belong to his heavenly Kingdom. No call- ing him "Lord! Lord!", no working of miracles will make up for the plain doing of his will. His' Kingdom belongs to the childlike, the gentle, the unselfish, the loving — only they can enter it. Disciples must take his yoke upon them and learn of him. To abjure self and take up the cross of sacrificial service is the price of following. There is no way to serve him except along the road of his commandments. (2) With subordination of all else to the Kingdom, The sternness of Christ's requirements that the King- dom is to be sought as the chief good of life is start- ling to those who have taken their ideas of him from mediaeval portraits. With regal authority Jesus claims the right of eminent domain for the Kingdom of God. For it we are to leave hom.e and family and counfr-- * t its service we are to endure hunger and cole. secution and death itself, but "he who endures to the end shall be saved." yo The Bible and Missions (3) ^it^ calm confidence in the ultimate triumph of the Kingdom. Jesus never doubted this. The seed cast into the ground was to grow secretly; the hidden leaven was to work until the whole was leavened; lifted up, he was to draw the whole world unto him- self; before him as King on his judgment seat were to be gathered all nations. He did not doubt in the wilderness; he did not despair on the cross; he be- queathed his joy and his peace to his disciples and bade them go forth with the Good News, because all power had been given to him and he would be with them always. (4) With eager longing for the speedy consummation of Christ's triumph. How faint is our hope, how lan- guid our endeavor! We take it quite as a matter of course that the Kingdom should tarry, and plan calmly on centuries of inch-worm progress. When a bold young spirit like John R. Mott arose a genera- tion ago and with fiery logic actually proved to the Church that the world could be evangelized in one generation, the Church smiled indulgently at the impetuosity of youth, and refused even to take the idea seriously. Yet we have seen that Jesus did. With terrible earnestness he sent forth his disciples to hasten to the ends of the earth with Good News that brooked no delay. Hastening his There is an expression in the second coming. epistle of Peter that is very beautiful — "Looking for and hasting the coming of the Day of God," — or in Moffatt's translation, *'You who ex- pect and hasten the advent of the Day of God." Expecting the Day and hastening it! What a glory that gives to missionary work! Message of the New Testament 71 The world can The war has given a worldwide il- be evangelized lustration of how, under the pressure "ow. of unprecedented need, social pro- cesses and changes that ordinarily require centuries to effect have been accomplished literally in a day. In the great Commonwealth of the Kingdom of God there are greater possibilities waiting only the putting forth of a supreme act of faith on the part of God's people. The world can be evangelized in this genera- tion. From teachings We turn now from considering the to life. missionary message contained in the fundamental teachings of Jesus to (i) his mission- ary activities, and (2) his explicit commands con- tained in the Gospels. "God had one (i) Jesus was himself a missionary — Son, and he was one Sent with a message. In the a missionary." delivery of his message he began by calling a group of disciples whom he took with him in his journeys as he proclaimed the Good News of the Kingdom. He evidently gained disciples, as we learn from the account of their baptism (John iii, 22; iv, 1-3). On his way from Jordan to Galilee he and his disciples stopped for a two days* mission in Samaria, during which the Samaritan woman and many of her fellow-citizens came to believe the gospel. In confessing their faith these men of Sychar use for the first time in history the great phrase that is in itself a missionary charter: "We no longer believe in him simply because of your state- ments, for we have now heard for ourselves and we know that this Man really is the Saviour of the World'' 72 The Bible and Missions Jesus* talk with This brief missionary journey is not- the Samaritan able also because it is the first pro- woman, clamation of the Good News of the Kingdom beyond the limits of Jewry, and because of a saying of our Lord, recorded by John, when his disciples returned to find him sitting by the well curb, wrapt in the contemplation of his Father's glorious will for the world. In his conversation with the woman he had been led from depth to depth, to the announcement of his Messiahship, with its gift of the Water of Life; to the disclosure of the spirit- uality of the true worship of God, — ''neither in this mountain nor yet in Jerusalem, but in spirit and in truth"; and to the deepest truth of all, the seeking Father God. Now, wathdrav/n into the sacred re- cesses of his soul, he sits alone, meditating, — may we not reverently imagine.^ — on the path along which the Father's will is to send his mighty gospel throughout the world. "Look up and see The disciples break in upon his soli- the fields." tude, anxious, hurried, "Master, eat something." "I have food to eat," said Jesus, "of which you do not know." "Can it be," said the literal-minded disciples, "that any one has brought him something to eat?" "My food," said Jesus, "is to do the will of him that sent me, and to accomplish his work." Then, as if the nature of the work which the Father had sent him to accoir :pt over him, he turned and, with a gesture tuNvaJu the sun-drenched plain across which the bright-turbaned throng was al- ready hurrying out to him, he continued: "Do you say 'It wants four months and then comes the har- i§. i^ ^ n K ^ lL ^ 4i 1,1 ^^ - ^ $ ^i nt ^ll /r #i '4 ^k ^ A Jl ik ^ IK ^ ^H ^ fi ■ ;da' Y, JX jXE 29, 1 919 Message of the New Testament 73 vest?' I tell you, look around, behold these plains — they are al- ready white for harvest!" Sower and reaper Then follow the pregnant sentences together. in which our Lord explains that spiritual seed-sowing and harvesting proceed togeth- er, one man sowing, another reaping, and the sower sharing the reaper's joy. "I sent you to reap a harvest which is not the result of your own labors. Others have toiled and you reap the fruit of their toil." Our waiting har- To his Church of the present Christ vest fields. still Speaks these words. We, too, are apt to think of a remote harvest and to neglect the fields that lie all white to harvest under our very eyes. We, too, forget that in our work of spreading the gospel we are reaping harvests whose seed was sown by men long since dead, many of them obscure, or unknown to us. Jesus chooses With the Opening of the Galilean twelve mission- ministry Jesus made a missionary ^"es, circuit of all the towns of Galilee (Matt, iv, 23; Matt, x, I-4). Later he chose twelve apostles, set them apart for missionary work, and gave himself to their training and preparation. It is due to an apparent accident of translation that these men are known to us as apostles rather than as missionaries. It means the same to say **He chose twelve missionaries" as to say *'He chose twelve apostles." In one case the word is derived from the Greek, in the other from the Latin; both alike mean *one sent,' 'a messenger.' The Twelve trained On his second missionary tour Jesus and sent out. takes the members of his Missionary 74 The Bible and Missions Training School with him (Luke viii, 1-3), and with them also go the members of the first Woman's Missionary Society. A third itinerary he makes, the twelve being with him (Mark vi, 6; Matt, ix, 35), and then, their training being sufficiently advanced, he sends them out by themselves, two by two, on their first home mission enterprise. The first 'League Matthew tells US the touching reason of Pity.' for the organization of this first League of Pity. When Jesus saw the crowds he was touched with compassion because they were dis- tressed and were fainting on the ground like sheep without a shepherd. He said to his disciples: "The harvest indeed is plenteous, but the labourers are few, therefore entreat the Lord of the harvest to send forth labourers into his harvest." Enlarging circles With this prayer in his own heart of ministry. he sent them forth with marvelous instructions for their journey. Not yet did he send them to the Gentiles, their sympathies were too nar- row, their prejudices too great. To the lost sheep of the House of Israel were they sent, while he himself continued his own tireless proclamation of the mes- sage, his own loving search for the lost sheep. (Matt. xi, I.) Later, during the Perean ministry, the Lord sent out seventy disciples into every city and place where he himself intended to come, and this time he placed no prohibition on their going to the Samaritans and the Gentiles. (Luke x, 1-24.) Establishing a In Jesus' own ministry he confined base line for the himself except in the case of a few s°sp^^' individuals to his own nation. He was sent to establish a base from which his gospel Message of the New Testament 75 could go out to the ends of the earth. While embrac- ing in his love and purpose the world, he wisely- spent himself on preparing a group whom he could so charge with his own spirit that through them the work for the whole might be done. Mission strategy. This missionary Strategy has its les- son for today. It is easier and more thrilling to scatter the Gospel message broadcast over a province or a country; but the birds of the air very soon pick up such chance sowings. To a prepared people and then to a selected group within that people Jesus gave himself day and night, that from this garden of his planting he might sow the earth. (2) The mission- The direct missionary injunctions of ary commands of Christ are in line with his teachings J^^^^- and his life. We quote more often and think more often of one which we call The Great Commission. When critics have called attention to the fact that the passage in which it occurs (Mark xvi, 15-20) is wanting in some of the ancient manu- scripts, some have felt greatly disturbed. Whether the words belong to the apparently unfinished Gospel of Mark or have come down to us from some other source does not greatly matter, since like the exqui- site little story of John viii, i-ii, they bear all the marks of authenticity. It is hard to counterfeit the sayings of Jesus. They all bear his image and superscription. Missionary mes- Even were the Great Commission, sage not dependent **Go ye into all the world and preach on 'commissions.' ^.j^^ gospel to every creature" absolute- ly blotted out, the missionary message of the New Testament would remain unshaken, for there are 76 The Bible and Missions other unquestioned commands of Jesus to the same effect. But even were all these lacking, the obliga- tion to spread the gospel would lie with inescapa- ble weight upon the Christian conscience. It does not depend upon enactment; it inheres in the nature of the gospel. We cannot imagine that those early Christians, scattered abroad during the first perse- cution, went everywhere spreading the Good News of God's Message because they remembered Mark xvi, 19 or Matt, xxviii, 19. They told because their hearts were glowing in the consciousness of a great salvation and they could not but speak of what they had themselves seen and heard and felt. Repetitions of The vaHous forms of Christ's com- Christ's great mand" to disciplc all nations are found command. ^^ j^/[^tt^ xxviii, i8-2o; Mark xvi, 9-20; Luke xxiv, 45-53; John xx, 19-21; Acts i, 1-8. Each one is precious, each one adding a touch to the whole. The command in We find from Luke*s introduction the Acts. to the Acts that it is his purpose to complete his former writing of v/hat Jesus began to do and to teach by an account of his continued ac- tion through the Acts of the Holy Spirit. Luke tells us there that the topic of Jesus' lessons during the forty days intervening between his resurrection and ascension was The Kingdom of God. The im- agination loves to dwell on the wonderful way in which the victorious Christ opened up to the wondering minds of his apostles God's great Plan of the Ages by which through the life and death and rising again of his own Son, he was to make possible the salvation of the world. Message of the New Testament 77 Witnesses to the Even after these marvelous days of ends of the earth, teaching, the disciples still harked back wistfully to their early conception of a Mes- sianic Kingdom set up by force. "Master, is this the time at which you are about to restore the Kingdom for Israel?" they asked. "It is not for you," he told them, "to know times or epochs which the Father has reserved within his own authority; and yet you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the remotest parts of the earth." "The faith of the Paul uses a great phrase, "The faith Lord Jesus.'* of the Lord Jesus/' Never was it more greatly manifested than when, his earthly pilgrimage accomplished,. Jesus gave his last charge to his dis- ciples. He had no organized church, no buildings, no synods, no bishops; there was no treasury, no written gospel. On his naked faith in his Father and with confidence in those to whose memory he had entrusted his own teachings, Jesus sends them forth, his commissioned witnesses, to the ends of the earth. The four zones of The four zones are significant. There missions. is Jerusalem — the place where we live; Judea — our native land; Samaria — our neigh- bor state, and those "Uttermost Parts of the World." Some one has named them parish missions, state missions, home missions, and foreign missions. All are there, present in the Master's thought, provided for in his plan. On a hill in Matthew records for us the words Galilee, to Jesus spoke on the hill to the Eleven the Eleven. whom he had summoned to meet him there. Though the record is very plain that the yS The Bible and Missions appearing and the command were to the Eleven, most of us in our mental picture visualize the five hundred who, as Paul tells us, saw him at one time. If we picture on that hill in Galilee only the little company of men who had loved and known him best, and see the mysterious figure of the risen Jesus appear before them as they prostrate themselves in wor- ship, it adds a wondrous touch of homely honesty when Matthew adds "but some doubted." No romancer could have thought of that touch. No one not an eye-witness could have added it. It is Mat- thew who remembers the shuddering joy with which they saw him, and then the questioning eyes which he and Thomas turned on the others when the radiant figure was no longer visible, saying, "Did we indeed see him.'' Did we not dream it?" The Great No, the Eleven remembered to their Commission. dying day the majestic words he spoke as he came near them: "All power has been given me in heaven and on earth. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations; baptize them into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy- Spirit; and teach them to obey every command which I have given you. And remember, I am with you always, day by day, until the close of the Age." Matt, xxviii, 18-20 {Weymouth) The command is This is the fullest report of any of the backed by power, commands of Jesus given during the solemn ministry of the forty days. Note that the command is based upon power, "all power in heaven and on earth." '*Go, therefore, because I have au- thority and power to send you." We need to recover more of the soldierly quality of obedience in our Message of the New Testament 79 missionary service. These are our marching orders, given by the Supreme Commander to his generals with the full sanction of his authority behind them. "What are your "What are your marching orders?" marching orders?" questioned the old Iron Duke when some one asked him whether he believed in foreign missions. We are not asked whether we wish to go, whether it will do good to go, whether it is practica- ble to go. The King has summoned us. It is enough. Promise is added To the command with its backing of to command. authority Jesus adds his gracious promise, "Lo, I am with you all the days." We often divorce the promise from the command, but there is a question about our warrant for it. It is to those who, trusting in his supreme authority, go forth in obedience to his command, that our Lord says, "Lo! I am with you alway." David Living- While battling against obstacles as stone's Journal, tangled and impenetrable as Africa's own jungle thicket, David Livingstone wrote in his journal: *'Felt much turmoil in view of having all my plans for the welfare of this great region knocked on the head by savages to- morrow. But Jesus came and said, 'All power is given to me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore and teach all nations, and lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world!' It is the word of a Gentleman of the most sacred and strictest honour, and there is an end on*t. I will not cross furtively by night as I intended. It would appear as flight, and why should such a man as I flee? Nay, verily, I shall take observations for longitude and latitude tonight, though they may be the last. I feel quite calm now, thank God." Not orders alone, Our Lord's last words to the Eleven but a program. give not only marching orders, but 8o The Bible and Missions a program. In the brief compass of thirty-five words we learn to whom the disciples are to go — all nations; what they are to do^make disciples; what ordinance they are to perpetuate — baptizing them; what meth- od they are to use — ** teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you." We have here the universality of the missionary mes- sage; its purpose of discipling the nations; its church- ly organization^ and its educational and disciplinary content. A preaching, teach- Those who would reduce missions ing church. to purely evangelical proclamation of the Good News (Mark xvi, 15) find here an equal- ly binding command to teach. Those who would make missions only social settlements and agencies for the diffusion of the blessings and benefits of modern civilization find here firmly embedded the perpetuation of one of the two ordinances left by our Lord to his Church, and by a fair implication the im- planting of the Church itself. Rightly has this pas- sage been called *'The Missionary's Great Charter." Luke's Gospel Luke's Other account, given in the records the first Gospel (Luke xxiv, 45-49) refers worldwide com- to a different occasion from that mission. recounted in the first chapter of Acts, as is evident from the ninth verse, in which we are told that, when Jesus had spoken these words and while they were looking at him, he was carried up and a cloud hid him from their sight. In the tw^enty- fourth chapter of Luke's Gospel, on the other hand, the evangelist is recording the first appearance of Jesus to the disciples, on that Sunday evening when the doors of the house were locked for fear of the Message of the New Testament 8i Jews. The two from Emmaus had just come, breath- less with their great news, and found that the story of the Master's appearance to Simon had already preceded them. And, while all were talking and doubting and wondering, Jesus himself stood among them and showed them the nail prints in his hands and feet. Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and he said, "Thus it is written that the Christ would suffer and on the third day rise again from the dead; and that proclamation would be made in his name of repentance and forgiveness of sins to all the nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses as to these things." Repentance and Here again the missionary accolade forgiveness to be IS laid on the shoulders of true proclaimed to all Christian Knights. The gospel is nations, rooted in God's plan of grace for the whole earth. In the name of the risen Christ re- pentance and forgiveness are to be preached through- out the earth and the disciples are to be witnesses of the truth. The innermost In John's Gospel there is preserved heart of the Great another word of Jesus, spoken on Commission. ^-j^jg very night, which contains the innermost heart of the . missionary commission. *'Jesus then repeated. Peace be with you. As my Father sent me forth, I am sending you forth," John XX, 21 (Moffatt). The Great Commission is here given in its highest form. Not simply are the disciples to go forth with good news to all nations; they are given the same commission which Jesus himself received from the Father. Whatever he came to do they are to do; whatever his message was 82 The Bible and Missions is their message; the width and height and length and breadth of his mission form the only boundaries to their mission. 'As my Father sent me forth' — to the lame, the blind, the deaf, the poor, the pris- oner, the stranger, the leper without the gate, — to them I send you forth. As my Father sent me forth *a light to lighten the Gentiles and the glory of my people Israel,' so I am sending you forth. 'As my Father sent me forth not to be served but to serve,' so I send you forth. *As my Father sent me forth, not that the world might be condemned, but that the world might be saved through me,' so I send you forth. 'As my Father sent me forth to endure the Cross,' so I am sending you forth, not to cling to my Cross, but to carry it. 'As my Father sent me forth to overcome the world,' so I send you forth. Never were words more glorious spoken to human hearts than these. O, the breadth and the length and the depth and the height of Christ's meaning in his last and great Commission! Summary of mis- In summing up the missionary mes- sionary message sage of the Gospels we have found of the Gospels. that it penetrates their entire struc- ture; is a necessary outcome of the two fundamental teachings of Jesus regarding the Father and the Kingdom; is contained in his parables and illustrated in his daily deeds; is explicitly stated by direct com- mand given under circumstances of the utmost sol- emnity, and that these final instructions were re- peated at least four times: Luke xxiv, 33-4? > John XX, 21; Matt, xxviii, 16-20; Mark xvi, 15-20; Acts i, 1-9. Message of the New Testament 83 Missionary mes- When we turn from the Gospels to sage of New Testa- the rest of the New Testament we ment outside the find that it consists of little else than Gospels. |.|^g account of missionary journeys, letters from missionaries to their converts, and a prophecy of the complete triumph of the gospel. TheActs: the great The Acts, written by Luke as an epi- mission-study logue to his gospel to show what Jesus text-book. ^continued to do and to teach through the Holy Spirit,' is the greatest text-book on mis- sions in existence. Here we see the widening circles by which Christianity spread out from Jerusalem to Rome, the enlarging conceptions wrought in the minds of Christian believers regarding the scope of the gospel, the strategy of occupation devised by master missionaries, and the eternal conflict with evil which the gospel meets in establishing its worldwide sway. Here we find the substance of the missionary message that has power to win the world, — Jesus Christ, Crucified and Risen from the Dead. The expansive Here we find that Christianity, when power of a new barely established in Jerusalem and affection. Antioch, did not wait to complete the task of local evangelization, but pressed out into new fields by the irresistible power of its expanding life. Where is there a nobler corrective of the point of view of those who say, ''There is plenty to be done at home," than in the example of that heroic pioneer church in Antioch which sent forth its two strongest leaders, Paul and Barnabas, on the summons of the Holy Spirit? 84 The Bible and Missions "There is that If counsels of sclf-interest and pru- scattereth and yet dence had prevailed, Christianity increaseth." would Still be a Struggling Jewish sect in the lands at the eastern end of the Mediterranean. But the missionary passion had free course and was glorified. Antioch, in giving her best to carry the gospel to distant lands, found her own spiritual strength renewed. It is due to no chance that the disciples were first called Christians at Antioch. Missionary strate- In the Book of the Acts are lessons gy of the Acts. of missionary strategy of permanent value. These hurrying missionaries of the Cross do not seek solitudes, but the crowded centres of life. In the chief cities of Greek and Roman culture and commerce they plant the first churches, and from these as centres the gospel seed is carried to the boundaries of the empire within a hundred years. A summons to , In the Acts the summons is to the Christian heroism, heroism of the crusader. The gospel is seen as no beautiful, ethical statement to be ad- mired and written about. It is a desperate cause to be fought for and died for. Christ's message is pre- sented not as something which wins easy acceptance, but as a challenge standing squarely athwart human selfishness and greed and sin, and so meeting deep hostility and opposition. The instinctive recogni- tion, on the part of evil forces, of the gospel as a deadly foe is disclosed again and again in this mis- sion text-book. Only a compro- When Opposition fails to materialize mising church in the life of the present day it is be- finds smooth causc the Cliurch is not aggressive saihng. jj^ asserting Christ's lordship over Message of the New Testament 85 life, as was this Early Church. A compromising church finds smooth sailing. A missionary church can always count on her full share of head winds and tempests. Paul's statement In Paul^s letters we find a treasury of the universal of tremendous statements of the gospel. Universal Gospel. To instance but a few of them : Rom. i, 16; Rom. ii, 10, 11; Rom. iii, 21-24; Rom. iii, 29; Rom, V, 15-19; Rom. x, 11-13; I Cor. i, 21-24; H* Cor. v, 18-19; Eph. ii, 11-18; I Tim. ii, 3-7. Emergence of mis- There is evident also the emergence sionary finance, of the problems of missionary finance as the expanding work requires increased funds. Immediately following PauFs great declaration of the universality of God's grace, "Every one without exception who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved," he finds it necessary to append a practical inquiry: Rom. x, 14-15. Giving money These words and those others of part of preaching Paul in regard to the missionary the gospel. contributions which he was gathering among his Gentile converts to take to the poor saints in Jerusalem have been read in innumerable mission- ary meetings, and have stirred many sluggish con- sciences in our days to realize that giving money is a part of preaching the gospel. (See Romans xv, 26; I Cor. xvi, 1-21; II Cor. viii, 1-15; Acts xi, 29.) A beautiful sidelight on the fellow- Lay ministry in t • r • • . i • i • i j • the Early Church. ^^^P ^^ ^imistry which prevailed ir. the Early Church is found in the personal greetings with which Paul closes his letters. Here is reflected no hierarchy propagating the faith 86 The Bible and Missions through solemnly official channels, but groups of men and women bound by one fraternal purpose. Phoebe is seen hurrying as a messenger from Cen- chrea to Rome with the great epistle to the Romans safely hidden under her robe. She would seem to have been a woman of wealth and prominence. Paul tells us that **she has been a kind friend to many including myself." Then there are Priscilla and Aquila who have a church in their house, travel about on the business of the Kingdom, and endanger their lives to help Paul. It is interesting that only once does Paul mention Aquila's name first; in all other allusions it would seem as if the wife were the real leader. In fact, the prominence of women workers in these early lists is little less than amazing, when the social customs of the times are considered. Women workers There is 'Mary who labored stren- prominent. uously among you,' *Junia, my fellow citizen, who once shared my imprisonment'; 'Try- phsena and Tryphosa, those Christian workers'; 'dear Persis who has labored strenuously in the Lord's work; and 'Rufus's mother who has also been a mother to me.' Fraternal and mis- In nothing is the fraternal and mis- sionary spirit of sionary spirit of these early Chris- the Early Church, tians more clcarly shown than in these passing allusions in the epistles. We see them packing missionary boxes, sending a messenger seven hundred miles to take food and clothing to the mis- sionary in prison at Rome, risking life itself in minis- try to *the brethren.' We love the abundant hospi- tality of Lydia and of *that household of Stephanus,' *the first converts in Achaia,' who 'laid themselves Message of the New Testament 87 out to serve the saints.' We see the strength of their brotherhood in that travehng band of beHevers, — Sopater of Beroea (the son of Pyrrhus), Aristarchus and Secundus from Thessalonica, Gaius of Derbe, TimotheuSj and Tychicus and Trophimus of Asia, who accompanied Paul in his return through Mace- donia and then went on to wait five days for him at Troas. We see it again in the elders of the church of Ephesus, who came down to Miletus to see Paul and broke into loud lamentations as they kissed him farewell, sorrowing because they should see his face no more. Paul 'tore himself away from them' only to meet another group of believers when the ship touch- ed at Tyre, who escorted him outside the town, Vomen and children and all,' and kneeled on the beach while Paul prayed with them and said good- bye. In Caesarea he was entertained by Philip the evangelist, who had four unmarried daughters who prophesied. When, *after a somewhat lengthy stay,' Paul loaded his baggage-cattle and continued his journey to Jerusalem, disciples from Caesarea ac- companied him on his journey and took him to lodge in the house of one of the early disciples, Mnason, a native of Cyprus.* We are told that the brethren in Jerusalem gave Paul a hearty welcome. When he landed in Italy on his way to Rome the disciples in Puteoli invited Paul to stay with them for a week, and those living in Rome walked out to meet him as far as the Ap- pian Forum and the Three Taverns. Similar scenes All these and Other homely incidents enacted today. picture to US the missionary churches *Acts xxi — ^Weymouth. 88 The Bible and Missions of the first century. Similar pictures are to be seen on many a frontier where little bands of Christians are cheering one another's faith, as they hold the 'thin red line' of occupation for their Master, Christ. Value of mission- The Study of this Missionary Church ary study of the of the ApostoHc Age is sorely needed ^^^^' in the present age. The greatest dan- ger of the missionary enterprise is that it may be officialized, externalized, becoming . the cult of a group rather than the expression of the church's life. No missionary study can so powerfully counter- act this danger as the study of New Testament Christianity both as interpreted by Christ himself, and in the life of the Apostolic Church. (i) y^n uplifted Christ, Note the features of their missionary program. It was Christ who was the substance of their preaching, Christ who was their hope of glory, Christ whose was the power in which they dared face the might of the Roman Empire. No missionary should be sent forth who goes to take \ a question, none v/ho has not in his soul a personal - experience of Christ's grace and redemption, "the inexpugnable reality of the life of God in the soul of man." (2) An audacity oj faith. These men actually ex- pected to convert the world. They were eager to penetrate unknown regions. Their horizon was ever expanding, their courage never daunted. (3) A participation in the task. The Early Church did not alone support missionaries; it was missionary. It did not take pride in the heroic faith of the mis- sionaries but feel that its own part was fulfilled if it paid the bills and listened with languid interest HON. WANG K'AI WEN Grand Pilaster of Ceremonies, Presidential ^Mansion, Peking, China. (By perinission of World Outlook) Message of the New Testament 89 to the stories the missionaries told of their successes. These little churches were themselves missionary bee- hives. Everybody felt called to tell the Good News. (4) A reliance upon spiritual means. Prayer per- vaded the life of this Early Church like fragrance. They really expected prayer to be answered, and they dared to pray for hard and difficult things. They walked in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, who honor- ed their faith by working mightily through and with them. Foreign missions contemplate tasks impossi- ble of realization if we are depending upon human resources alone. (5) A willingness to suffer and^ if need be^ to die. One cannot read the catalogue of Paul's privations and sufferings (II Cor. vi. 4-10; xi, 23-30) without a fresh realization that Christ's Kingdom can only be established at the cost of lives laid down. The enterprise on which we are embarked cost Christ his Cross. We cannot win the world unless we are willing to pour out life and treasure. {6) A buoyant hopefulness. Nothing can quench the joy of this Early Church; tribulation, or distress, or nakedness, or peril, or sv/ord! Nay, in all those, these missionary bands are more than conquerors, for they know that nothing can separate them from the love of God in Christ Jesus their Lord. We, too, need this supreme confidence of hope in a conquering, because a risen and present Saviour. Missionary mes- The closing book of the Ncw Tcsta- sage of the Apoc- ment, the Revelation of St. John, is aiypse. ^ fitting climax to its missionary mes- sage. In one apocalyptic sunset it floods the Book with hope. The Church had fallen on evil days. 9© The Bible and Missions Persecution threatened on every side. Multitudes had been thrown into prison for the Name; other multitudes had suffered exile. The brutal material- ism of the Caesars blasted every green shoot of faith and goodness by its idolatrous worship of the Emperor. The beloved disciple himself was banished to a lonely island. From this as from a throne he thundered a message to the fainting Christians; a message which they, familiar with the apocalyptic writings of the ancient Scriptures, could easily inter- pret, but one that would be meaningless to the spies of Rome. Think what this message must have meant to persecuted bands of Christians who met at dead of night in the dark recesses of the Catacombs to hear it read. They might be trembling under the displeasure of the Emperor whose nod meant hfe or death. John lifted their eyes to One who is Alpha and Omega, He who is, and was, and evermore will be, the Ruler of all. To each of the persecuted churches the glorified Lord writes a message with its promise to those who shall overcome, backed by Almighty power. Far above the world of sin and struggle John bade them see the Great White Throne and him who sat thereon. Above the cries of human anguish he bade them listen to the chorus of praise rising to the Lamb that was slain from ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands of thousands singing about the throne. He made them realize that the day of the oppressor was short, that **the kings of the earth, the great men, the military chiefs, the wealthy and the powerful" who now were persecuting Christ's followers should hide themselves in caves of the mountains while they Message of the New Testament 91 called upon the mountains to fall upon them, and hide them from the wrath of the Lamb. See in this connection Rev. vii, 13-17. Christ's trium- Through all the splendid symbolism phant Kingdom, of the poem runs this golden thread — Christ is living. He will never forget his own. He will cause the right to triumph. Many of the veiled allu- sions which were plain to those who first read the words illumined by the flaming torches of their present circumstances are obscure to us; but the main lesson is plain, and carries its missionary mes- sage without spilling. In spite of enthroned evil, in spite of apparent failure and defection, the King- dom of Christ will triumph. It is a universal King- dom. Men come into it out of every kingdom and tribe and tongue and nation. Great voices in heaven are heard to prophesy, "The sovereignty of the world now belongs to our Lord and to his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever." Social implications The social implications of the book of the Apocalypse, make the Revelation a great revolu- tionary document, one that would assuredly have met destruction at the hands of Rome had its full import been understood. God is the ruler of nations. His will is their supreme law. Great Babylon, the mother of harlots and of the abominations of the earth, shall be destroyed. The doom of The terrific doom song of the eighteenth materialistic chapter, 'Great Babylon is Fallen,* civihzation. could not have been obscure to those who knew Hebrew apocalypses and prophecies; but they could hardly have felt as we do the social pas- 92 The Bible and Missions sion that sweeps it all. This judgment of Babylon, 'through whom the merchants of the earth grew rich because of her excessive luxury/ this Babylon 'v/ho glorified herself and revelled in luxury with her cargoes of gold and silver, of fine linen, purple and silk and of scarlet stuff*; this Babylon who 'trafficked in wine and oil and fine flour and wheat and beasts and sheep and horses and chariots and slaves and the souls of men' ; do we not know her well? In one short hour, says the prophet, this great wealth shall be laid waste, when God takes vengeance upon her because of those slain souls crying to him from under his altar, 'How long, O Lord, how long?' The shining vision Beyond the Vision of judgment meted of the New out to all cruelty and oppression and Jerusalem. brutal materialism John sees the fair shining of the new heaven and the new earth, and the Holy City, the New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, and hears the voice which says, "God's dwelling place is among men And he will dwell among them, And they shall be his peoples. Yes, God himself v/ill be among them." This is the consummation for which we work, — a Holy City, a New Jerusalem, — not the old Jerusalem that slew her prophets, the old Rome that debauched the nations, the old New York or London that traded in the souls of men, but a New City, coming down out of heaven, a New City in a new earth where God will make his dwelling among men. Co-operating with The Old Testament begins with God for a new mankind in a garden; the New closes ^^^^- with mankind in a glorious city in . Message of the New Testament 93 which there needs to be no church or temple, for God's own presence fills it, and the Lamb is the light of it. The Bible is always forward-looking. Its golden age is never in the past. A great hope blows across its pages. A divine Adventure summons the souls of men to work together with God for the creation of a new earth in which righteousness, no longer pilgrim and stranger, is at home; and in which the Lamb for sinners slain is loved and worshipped by every heart. "Will it never come, that age of light and purity of heart? Never? Let me not entertain the doubt. Surely there will some day be reached that Eternal Gospel promised in the New Testa- ment." Lessing. "Come forth, out of thy royal chambers, O Prince of all the kings of the earth! Put on the visible robes of thine imperial majesty, take up that unlimited sceptre which thy Almighty Father hath bequeathed thee; for now the voice of the bride calls thee, and all creatures sigh to be renewed." Milton. PART TWO OUTLINE OF CHAPTER III. aim: To set forth the work of translators through whose labors the Bible has become the possession of the race; to trace the history of the early translations and versions, and to follow the missionary translators of the nineteenth century as they have grappled with the tremendous task of putting the Bible into hundreds of tongues, many of them never before reduced to writing, I. EARLIEST TRANSLATIONS. I. The Greek Septuagint B. C, and the Ancient Versions A.D. II. PLACE OF THE BIBLE AMONG EARLY CHRISTIANS. 1. Highly honored. 2. Open to the laity. 3. Used in education of children. III. THE BIBLE IN EARLY MISSIONARY ENTERPRISES. 1. The Greek Church makes the Coptic, Syriac, Ethiopic, and Gothic Versions. 2. Missionary expansion in India and China. 3. The Gothic Bible of Ulfilas. 4. Decline of Bible reading in Middle Ages. 5. The English Bible. IV. BIBLE TRANSLATION IN THE MODERN MISSIONARY MOVEMENT. 1. Bible wonderfully adapted to translation. 2. Great numbers of translations (Compared to other books, 'The Pilgrim* s Progress). 3. Bible Translations essential to missionary progress. 4. Difficulties of Bible Translation. 5. Benefits conferred by Bible Translation. Every Man in His Own Tongue 95 V. SOME NOTABLE TRANSLATORS. 1. William Carey. 2. Adoniram Judson of Burma. 3. Robert Morrison, Schereschewsky, Wells Williams, and Gutzlaff of China. 4. Brown and Hepburn of Japan. 5. Hiram Bingham, Henry Nott, John Williams, John G. Paton, and W. G. Lawes of the Pacific Islands. VI. ROMANCES OF BIBLE TRANSLATION. In Madagascar. In Darkest Africa (Pilkington of Uganda). The White Man's Book of Heaven. The Dakota, Navaho, and Cherokee Bibles. In Moslem lands. 5- VII. BIBLE TRIUMPHS OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. 1. Translation of Scriptures a mighty achievement. 2. Strategy of Bible Translation. CHAPTER III EVERY MAN IN HIS OWN TONGUE "The most important single agency in the work of evangelization is the Bible." 'John R. Mott. T,-!-, ^ 1 .• We have seen in the first two studies Bible Translation. , i tt, • i i • • i that the Bible in its nature and teachings is fundamentally missionary, a book built for man and carrying a message for man. In the present chapter we shall study the process of trans- lation by which the Bible itself became the active agent in the dissemination of Christian truth. The Septuagint The process of translation, as we have Version. seen, began in the third century be- fore Christ, when the OM Testament was translated into Greek, then the common language of trade, commerce, and intercourse between nations. With the wide dispersion of the Jews among the countries surrounding the Mediterranean, multitudes of them came to use Greek as their mother tongue. The in- fluence and popularity of this version may be judged from the fact that the quotations from the Old Testa- ment which appear in the New are for the most part taken from the Septuagint and not from the Hebrew original. Earliest versions of With the rapid Spread of Christianity the Christian era. during the first three centuries there arose a demand for the translation of the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments into the mother tongue of races that received the gospel. The earliest Every Man in His Own Tongue 97 of these 'ancient versions,' as they are called, are the Syrian, Armenian, Coptic, Latin, and Ethiopic. The Scriptures These early versions are an evidence among early of the exalted place which these early Chnstians. Christians gave to the Bible. Their Christianity was a living religion, an actively propa- gating faith. It could not do without its Bible. Jews were to be convinced that Jesus was the Messiah; and this could be done only through their ancient Scriptures. Heathen nations were to be won, and they, like the Jews, needed the Bible. The sacred Book was not a fetich kept in charge by a hierarchy; it was the voice of God speaking in reproof, in in- struction, and in upbuilding in righteousness. Use of the Bible The great German critic Harnack has by the laity. triumphantly proved by an examina- tion of the writings of the Church Fathers that the Bible was open to all Christians during these early centuries. More than that, the duty of daily Bible reading was enjoined upon all, catechumens and mature Christians alike; and the practice of a daily 'lectio' or Bible reading prevailed in family life. It is amazing, in the light of later prohibitions, to learn that during the whole of the first thousand years of the Christian era no instance is known either of prohibition or restriction of Bible reading. Church Fathers on There is not here space to quote from Bible reading. Clement, Polycarp, Tatian, Justin Martyr, and other early Church Fathers, but it is worthy of note that three of them say that they themselves became Christians through the reading of the Holy Scriptures. Harnack shows that during the period from Irenaeus to Eusebius, while the Church 98 The Bible and Missions Fathers were formulating church discipline in regard to baptism and the Lord's supper, no one ever thought of withdrawing the free use of the Scriptures from the laity, but, on the contrary, bishops and teachers united in urging the industrious reading of the Scriptures. Irenaeus says that the Holy Scrip- tures must, as far as possible, be read by each for himself. Clement writes that married people should pray and read the Scriptures together. He also says that the best time for Bible reading is before the chief meal of the day. The deepest reason for the reading of the Scriptures is that given by Cyprian. *In prayer,' he says, *we speak to God, but in reading the Scriptures he speaks to us.' Origen considers one or two hours daily not too long a time to devote to divine things. He tells us that his father had made a special point of seeing that his son was instructed in the Scriptures and made him each day learn by heart and repeat some passage. Children trained It brings these far-away Christians in the Scriptures, very close to US when we find instruc- tions that 'children in Christian homes should be introduced to the Bible from the very earliest age.* 'Little boys and girls should learn to put together Biblical names with their ivory letter-blocks, choos- ing the names from our Lord's genealogies.' 'Little girls from seven years onward should learn the Psalms by heart and should have read the Bible through be- fore the age of maturity.' "We have here," says Harnack, "a glimpse into the home of an ordinary Christian citizen; the children daily hear the Scrip- tures read and learn passages of them by heart; a Bible was not only in the home; the Bible was the Every Man in His Own Tongue 99 principal text-book of education; the chief aim in the whole training of a child was that he should be taught to understand the Bible." It was no accident that such use of the Bible made a missionary church and created the need of the first great translations. Translations by The Eastern or Greek Church was the Greek Church, especially active in this work of translation. To the labors of its earliest missionaries are due the translation into the vernacular tongue of Egypt, the Coptic version; the Syriac version, notably that known as the Peshito; and the Ethiopic or Abyssinian version. The limits of our study do not permit a detailed account of these ancient ver- sions. The Coptic Bible is still used in the worship of the Coptic churches of Egypt, an ancient church long moribund, but now, under the stimulating con- tact with the American Mission, rising to new life. The Syriac The Syriac version exerted a wide- Version, spread and commanding influence for centuries. The churches of Syria, Armenia, Persia, and Mesopotamia sent their missionaries far into the east and south, carrying the Bible with them. Monuments of this early missionary expansion still exist. In Southern India there is a large body of Christians known as the Syrian Christians, which has maintained an unbroken existence from the earliest years of the Christian Era. These Syrian Christians in Travancore and Cochin claim that the Apostle Thomas himself was the founder of their church. Whatever be the truth of this tradition it seems certain that early in the fourth century a bish- op from Edessa, with a large following of those who were driven out from the Persian Empire during loo The Bible and Missions the severe and long-continued persecutions of the Christians, came into India. Syrian Christians During the time when Portugal dom- of South India. inated South India these Indian Christians suffered persecution to force them to submit to the Church of Rome. These persecutions ceased only with the coming of Dutch and, later, British rule. There are today two bodies of these Syrian Christians, the Roman Catholic numbering about 300,000, and the Syrian Christians proper, not quite so many. These last are undergoing a wonderful awakening, sending their sons to modern schools, overcoming ancient sectarian prejudices and taking on a new sense of responsibility for Christianizing the communities in which they dwell. The Nestorian A monument to the far-flung mis- Tablet, sion line of the ancient Nestorian Church was disclosed in the discovery of the Nestorian Tablet at Si-nan-fu in Northwestern China. It was in 1625 that a Chinese laborer, digging the founda- tions of a house, unearthed a great slab, seven and one-half feet high by three feet wide. This was covered with Chinese characters surrounded by others which the Chinese could not decipher. It was in a state of perfect preservation. Jesuit missiona- ries made known the discovery of this treasure, but no attention was paid to it. Semedo, the priest who reported the discovery, was later transferred to South India, where he learned that the strange characters were undoubtedly Syriac. The Nestorian Tablet continued to excite discussion and for the most part derision (Voltaire scoffed at the idea of its authen- ticity) until 1853, when the American Oriental Every Man in His Own Tongue ioi Society, on the instigation of an American missionary, Dr. E. C. Bridgman, began a scientific investigatioru. A great sinologue, Mr. A. Wylie, made the investiga- tion, found the tablet, took a rubbing of it and published his translation. His findings and transla- tion were confirmed by later visitors before the precious monument was broken and partially defaced by vandals. The tablet contains an edict by a Chinese Emperor in 746 A.D. It eulogizes Christian- ity, gives a brief summary of Christian doctrine, speaks of twenty-seven sacred books (the New Testa- ment), of baptism, and of the Trinity. It further recounts the arrival of the missionaries in 6^^ A.D. and commends the new faith. The square border contains lists of the names of the priests and officials. Monuments of This ancient monument in China and Syrian missions, the three Persian Crosses with their old Syriac inscriptions found during some excava- tions near Madras, South India, are the permanent witnesses to the missionary activities of these Syrian Christians. The inscription about the cross in the India tablet reads: ''Lei me not glory except in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ,''* The Vulgate of The greatest translation of the Bible St. Jerome. during the early centuries of Chris- tianity was that by St. Jerome into Latin, common- ly called the Vulgate. This great version displaced earlier and crude Latin translations and became the authoritative Bible of the Roman Church. As the *Note: A picture of the tablet and also of the Nestorian Tablet found in .Si-nan-fu, with the translation of the same, may be found in The Conversion 0/ India, by George Smith (Revell, 1894), pp. 20-25, ^47"^5°> ^'so in Two Thousand Years 0/ Missions Be/ore Carey, L. C. Barnes, pp. 91, 109. 102 The Bible and Missions Eastern Empire broke up and the use of Greek de- clined, the Vulgate became the only Bible generally accessible in Europe, during the Middle Ages. The Vulgate, indeed, was the text from which the first great English translation, that of Wyclif, was made. The Bible of Before we leave the subject of these Ulfiias, the Goth, early translations one more must be mentioned, that of Ulfiias into Gothic during the middle of the fourth century, in order to give the gospel to the barbarian tribes who were continually pressing down upon the old Roman Empire from the north. The civilization of the Roman Empire was saved from complete destruction at the hands of the barbarians, because these conquering hordes had been in part already redeemed from barbarism by the missionaries of the Cross. Among the greatest of these was Ulfiias, who for the love of Christ and his gospel left the city of Constantinople and 'all its luxuries' to bury himself among the Goths in the dark forest, beyond the Danube. Before he died in 381 A.D. Ulfiias saw practically the whole Gothic nation following in the footsteps of their King Athanaric in the profession of the Christian faith. The Goths had no written language. Ulfiias in- vented one, borrowing some of his letters from Latin and Greek. They had no books. He translated the Bible for them, and it was circulated in manuscript among their roving tribes as their chief treasure. **We know,'* says Gibbon, "that the Goths and Vandals alike carried it with them on their wander- ings through Europe. The Vandals took it into Spain and Africa and with their leader Genseric it came round to Rome." A fragment of this earhest Every Man in His Own Tongue 103 writing in Germanic speech has been preserved for us and is now cherished in the Hbrary of the Univer- sity of Upsala, Sweden. The manuscript is written in letters of silver on purple vellum. Other fragments of the Bible of Ulfilas have been recovered from various monasteries. Decline of Bible During the break-up of the Roman reading and re- Empire the number of schools and vivai in Eleventh readers declined, and the Church steadi- Century. \y advanced in its hierarchical and liturgical features. It gradually came about that only the 'religious/ that is, those in monasteries or the priesthood, were expected to read the Scriptures. It was felt to be inexpedient to translate the Holy Writings into the crude new vernaculars of the people. Most people were illiterate and did not want the Bible, because they could not read it. But in the eleventh century, with the awakening of civilization, reading again became popular and the people suddenly began to want to read the Bible. The Church, fearful of heresy, opposed the idea of lay-reading of the Bible; but the idea would not down. In various parts of Europe different men began the attempt to translate the Bible into the mother tongue of the common people, undeterred by the fact that such attempts were sternly suppress- ed and often resulted in the imprisonment or execu- tion of the translator. The English The greatest among all the European Bible. translations are the English and German. Wyclif, Tyndale, Coverdale, and the later translators made the Christian Scriptures accessible to the common people of England, in a translation I04 The Bible and Missions that is acknowledged to be the greatest literary masterpiece of the English language. The circula- tion and influence of Wyclifs version is shown by the fact that, although every copy that could be found was burned, one hundred and seventy copies are still preserved. Lord Bacon tells us that at the time of Queen Elizabeth's coronation, when the petitions for the release of political prisoners were presented to Her Majesty, one of her courtiers told her that there were five other prisoners long and unjustly detained in prison. When asked to name them the petitioner replied that they were the four Evangelists and the Apostle Paul, who had long been shut up in an unknown tongue, so that they could not converse with the common people. Bible best adapted Our main business in this chapter is to translation. to trace the work of Bible translation in the modern Missionary Movement. The phenom- enon of Bible translation is without parallel in vast- ness and variety. No book was ever translated so often or into so many languages. No book ever stood the test of translation so triumphantly. The Bible neither shrinks nor fades in the process of transla- tion. Just the opposite is true of many of the sacred books. The Koran, for example, from the sonorous beauty of its Arabic style retains its charm for the Moslem mind, — but translate it! Of the result Carlyle says: "A wearisome, confused jumble, crude, incondite; endless iterations, long-windedness, en- tanglement, insupportable stupidity, in short." John Ruskin says: "I have read three or four pages of the translation of the Koran, and never want to read more." Every Man in His Own Tongue 105 Bible translations At the beginning of the modern era ofthe last century, of missions the Bible had been trans- lated into 28 languages. Since the opening of the nineteenth century the Bible has been translated in whole or in part into 456 languages; the complete Bible into 112 languages, the New Testament into 1 1 1 more languages, and one or more books of Scrip- ture into 233 other languages. Taking all agencies into account the Bible, in whole or in part, has now been translated into 600 distinct forms of human speech. There are still languages and dialects, spoken by people, into which the Bible has not yet gone. These are for the most part the languages not yet reduced to writing. In translating the Bible the missionaries have often needed to create an alphabet and written form for the spoken words. They have discovered to the people the capacity of their own tongue. Translations of When the vast work of Bible trans- Bible compared lation IS Compared with the trans- with those of lation of Other great works of litera- other books. ture, its unique position becomes evident. The Pilgrim's The book that stands next to the Bi- Progress. ble in the number of its translations is The Pilgrim's Progress, which has been put into one hundred languages. Bible translation The value of this network of Bible essential to mis- translation Spread over the whole sionary progress, ^^j-jj ^^n hardly be Overestimated. The problem of creating a self-sustaining, self- propagating church in a non-Christian country seems bound up with the supplying of the Bible in io6 The Bible and Missions the mother tongue and with making it accessible to the ordinary individual. In the ancient mission- ary enterprises of the Church this was not done. The Syrian Church made no translations, but took its Syriac Bible into India and China. The Roman Catholic missionaries were for the most part content to allow the Gospel to remain wrapped in its Latia vestments. The heroic Jesuit missionaries who en- deavored to win the North American Indians to Christ left no permanent impress, as they left no Gospels. Their great work in Japan was the more easily stamped out by the persecutions of the seventeenth century because the hundreds of thou- sands of Japanese Christians had no Japanese Bible on which to nourish their faith. On the other hand, the newly evangelized Christians of Madagascar lived through twenty-five years of the most awful persecution, increasing meanwhile from a handful to thousands, because they had the Bible in their possession. Difficulties of The difficulties of translating the Bible translation. Bible are enormous. In addition to those that inhere in any work of translation there ' are special difficulties due to the Bible's elevation of thought, and to the extremely backward condition of many of the peoples into whose language the Bible has been translated. There is the difficulty of ter- minology. How express abstract ideas like sanctifi- cation, justification, salvation, retribution, faith, in the language of barbarians or savages? In Tahitian there was no word for Jaith or conscience^ in the Maori tongue no word for hope or law. Yet these difficulties have been overcome. The stories of a Every Man in His Own Tongue 107 missionary's search for a word often cover months or even years in which he has been trying to explain the idea to the natives. They have assured him that they had no word to express such an idea, and then some day a word used in a more Hmited way proves just the one sought for. Hunting for Among the Kele people in the Congo 'thanksgiving.' Mr. Millman of the English Baptist Missionary Society had long sought the words for "thanks," ''thankfulness," "thanksgiving," but with- out success. One day he killed a leopard which had the day before attempted to carry off a poor woman's little daughter. The mother, leading a band of wom- en, came to his house to sing her gratitude. The first word of her song was Kelekele. In telling the story later one of the school boys said, "She gave the white man kelekele.^' Here was the word out of which Mr. Millman could make the various forms to indi- cate the idea of 'thanks' in his translation of the Bible. Where there are When the Moravian missionaries in no sheep or New Guinea translated the Lord's shepherds. Prayer they had to substitute "Come, thou Chieftain Great" for "Thy Kingdom Come." In Alaska, where there are no sheep nor shepherds, the missionaries rendered the opening words of the twenty-third Psalm by "The Lord is a first class mountain hunter." In Greenland, John's words, 'Behold the Lamb of God,' had to be rendered by substituting the name of the only animal about which the people had thoughts of tenderness, "Look, God's little Seal!" io8 The Bible and Missions Enlarging a Imagine the difficulties of a trans- people's soul. later who tries to phrase "the shadow of a great rock" in the language of Pacific Islanders who have never seen a rock, or to translate "hoar frost," "ice," "snow," for the natives of Equatorial Africa, or the "Rose of Sharon and the Lily of the Valley" for the inhabitants of the frozen north. Think of tribes who have no word for "conscience" or "chastity" or "virginity," and see by what dis- cipline the translated Bible enlarges the soul of a people. Difficulties in the Nor are the difficulties of transla- translator's heart, tion all exterior to the translator. The greatest assets are in his soul and mind; in his grasp on the truth, his knowledge of the new language; his appreciation of delicate distinctions ofmeaning;his ability to orientalize himself so as to "think black" with the African, or think Chinese with the Chinese; his willingness to lay aside prejudice and preconcep- tion so that the Book may flow through his mind unwarped and uncolored by sectarian or theological twists of his own; his pluck and endurance and un- wearied patience. All these enter into the making of a translation and make its excellence. It is the fight in his own soul that is the real battle ground in translation. Benefits of Bible The difficulties attending the trans- translation, lation of the Bible sink into insignif- icance when we contrast them with the benefits which the translators have conferred upon mankind. Without their aid the modern science of Philology could hardly have been created. No motive less com- pelling than that which drives the missionary to live Every Man in His Own Tongue 109 in desert and savage regions of the earth could have induced scientists to bury themselves for a lifetime in intimate daily association with degraded or savage peoples. The desire to reduce a 'language of clicks and grunts and squeaks and hiccoughs* to writing is hardly strong enough to compel the necessary sacrifice. From the days when Ulfilas reduced le writing the language of the Goths and gave them their Bible, and Cyril and Methodius invented an alphabet for the Slavic peoples, and translated the Scriptures into their language until the present time philological studies have been based largely upon materials supplied by missionary translators. It is necessary to mention only Carey's Sanskrit studies and his polyglot attainments in the languages of India, Koelle who compared one hundred African languages and dialects in his book, Polyglotta Ajricana^ and for these studies was awarded the Volney Prize in 1853 by the French Institute, Mr. J. T. Last of the Church Missionary Society and Rev. W. H. Staple- ton of the English Baptist Mission who have greatly furthered the scientific study and classification of the languages of the Congo tribes. 'J^he science of Lexicography is equally indebted to these missionary translators. In order to make Bibles they have needed to make dictionaries. These dic- tionaries have been indispensable to the diplomacy and commerce of Western nations with the Orient. To mention but a few: there is the astounding Dictionary of all Sanskrit-derived languages made by William Carey and destroyed by fire in the printing house of Serampore; there is the same missionary's three-volume Bengali dictionary. There no The Bible and Missions are Judson's monumental Burmese dictionary, Morri- son's Chinese dictionary, published by the East India Company at an expense of J6o,ooo, and the later work of S. Wells Williams. These books have laid the whole modern world in debt to their authors. Hepburn's dictionary of Japanese opened an era of contact between Japan and outside nations. The German-Tibetan and the English-Tibetan dic- tionaries are both the work of one Moravian mission- ary. Rev. H. A. Jaschke. James S. Dennis, in his Christian Missions and Social Progress ^ vol. Ill, pp. 409-420, lists sixty-one dictionaries of different African languages, among them the monumental dictionary of the Kaffir language in five hundred octavo pages, double columns, which occupied well-nigh the whole lifetime of Albert Krapf. There are thirty-seven dictionaries in the tongues of British India, among them the Tamil-English dictionary of Dr. Miron Winslow, consisting of 67,452 words; of these 30,551 were listed for the first time by this missionary lexicographer. The various dialects of China are served by twenty-one dictionaries. William Carey, The life stories of thcsc missionary translator of the translators are of surpassing interest. Book. Prominent among them all is William Carey, a man worthy to stand among the few most highly endowed men of all time. His life is too well known to need retelling; but many who are familiar with his services as a great missionary pioneer do not realize his superb gifts as a linguist. Extent of his Carey made or edited, between the labors. years 1801 and 1822, thirty-six trans- lations of the Scriptures; six were versions of the en- Every Man in His Own Tongue hi tire Bible, and twenty-three, of the entire New Testament. Not only were these translations made, but they were published, every step of the mechani- cal process being attended with incredible toil. When the traveler looks upon that row of ponderous tomes preserved in the library of the college founded by Carey at Serampore, and realizes that these and more are the product of one man's labors, or of his revision and direction of other men's work, the achievement seems superhuman. In addition to these thirty-six translations Carey edited and printed eight other versions for whose translating he was not responsible. It is not to be forgotten that he himself had to break ground, being for the most part without lexicons, grammars, and commentaries. Says Henry C. Vedder: "The mythical labors of Hercules are a feather-weight com- pared to Carey's actual labors. Well does he deserve the title that has been bestowed upon him, the Wyclif of India. Before he died, through his agency the Scriptures had been given in their own language to three hundred and thirty million people, one- third of the entire population of the globe; and two hundred and twelve thousand copies of these versions had been issued from the Serampore presses. Surely, it has been seldom given to any man to do a greater work than this, one more far-reaching in its consequences, more lasting in its results." Adoniram judson, Adoniram Judson of Burma is an- his sufferings for Other of the noble army of transla- Burma. ^ors whose exploits are part of the imperishable glory of the Christian Expeditionary Forces. In one respect, that of his sufferings for Christ, it is doubtful whether any other missionary since Paul has surpassed Judson. Burma was at that time an independent king- 112 The Bible and Missions dom, under the rule of a debased and despotic govern- ment. When war broke out between England and Burma, Judson was seized and thrown into the death prison. The Book in a In order to protect the precious manu- piliow. script of the portion of Dr. Judson's translation of the Bible already completed, Mrs. Judson had hidden it in a pillow which she sewed up in a stout pillowcase and took to her husband for his comfort in his imprisonment. When the prisoners were suddenly removed from Ava to Aungbinle, the pillow was carelessly thrown out into the yard. From here it was rescued by a faithful servant, who kept it hidden until the war was over and he could restore it to the Judsons. Thus were the precious pages, the work of years, preserved. Judson's task It was twenty-one years before Adoni- completed. ram Judson finished his translation of the entire Bible into Burmese. His fine scholarship, refusal to be satisfied with anything short of the best possible Burmese phrase, and unremitting toil com- bined to make this Burmese translation basic for any later work of revision, as Luther's Bible in Ger- man, and Tyndale's translation in English are basic. Importance of A major Strategic operation in Chris- transiating Bible tianity's conquest of the world was into Chinese. ^\^q translation of the Bible into Chinese, the language of one-fourth of the human race. To make the Christian message available to such a fraction is by virtue of its very vastness an outstanding fact in the story of human progress; but where the achievement is weighed as well as sur- veyed, its true importance appears. Every Man in His Own Tongue 113 Robert Morrison, As ever In any great enterprise, there master workman, is in this enterprise of translating the Bible into Chinese one outstanding man, Robert Morrison of England. In his early manhood he had dedicated himself to the work of Christ. He wrote: "Jesus, I have given myself to thy service. The question with me is, where shall I serve? I learn from thy Word that it is thy holy pleasure that the Gospel should be preached in all the world, for a witness to all nations.. . .When I view the field, O Lord, my Master, I perceive that by far the greater part is en- tirely without laborers.. . .whilst there are thousands crowded up in one corner. My desire is, O Lord, to engage where laborers are most wanted." God granted him his desire and sent him to China, where he worked faithfully against terrible obstacles to give the gospel to the Chinese. Since all public presentation of Christianity was forbidden, he saw that his one line of access lay in the preparing of books. He gave his remarkable powers to the study of Chinese. He prepared a grammar and an Anglo- Chinese dictionary. After sixteen years he published his dictionary, containing forty thousand words. In its preparation he had consulted ten thousand Chinese volumes, and gained a knowledge of Chinese writings such as no European had ever possessed. The East India Company published the dictionary in six huge volumes, at a cost of $6opoo, God's Providential God had been the great Pioneer, as preparation. he always is in making paths in the desert along which the human pioneer may find his way. An unknown Catholic missionary had com- pleted a translation of part of the New Testament^ Acts, Luke, and some of the Epistles — and his for- ii4 The Bible and Missions gotten manuscript was discovered by Morrison in the British Museum. A Chinese man was found living in London, at that time a very unusual cir- cumstance. This man guided Morrison in his first explorations of the language, and taught him how to use a Chinese camel's-hair brush in writing Chinese characters. With the help which this man could give him, Morrison began, and in a few months completed transcriptions of this manuscript copy of the New Testament. He took this book with him to China, and also a copy of a Latin-Chinese vocabulary which he had made in the same laborious manner. While very imperfect, these both proved valuable to him in unlocking the mysteries of the language. Publishing and The salary received by Morrison from distributing first the East India Company for his Chinese Bibles. services as translator enabled him to carry on his ceaseless studies in the preparation of a Bible for the Chinese. He was joined in these labors by Robert Milne, who worked with him with one heart and soul in the great enterprise. The Gos- pel of Luke was published in 1813, the New Testa- ment in 1 8 14, and the entire Bible in 18 19. The death penalty was still in force against any Chinese who adopted a foreign religion, and so Morrison and Milne were forced to distribute their Bibles for the most part among the Chinese who had emigrated from their own land and were both more liberal and more accessible. They were distributed in the Chinese colonies in Java, Molucca, and Penang. An indica- tion of the difficulties of Bible distribution in those days is given in a report written in 1822, in which it is recorded as "a matter for profound gratitude to Every Man in His Own Tongue 115 God that during the year five hundred copies of the New Testament and some books of the Old Testa- ment had been put into circulation, although it was still impracticable to distribute the Sacred Volume within the domains of the Emperor of China." At that time and for many years later all these books had to be given away. It was impossible to sell them. Later translators: The field of Bible translation in Schereschewsky. China is a fascinating one. Its ex- tent may be realized by perusing a pamphlet of thirty-nine pages published by the American Bible Society in 191 6. The entire pamphlet is simply a list of the various translations and revisions made up to that time. It is possible to mention but a few of the many men and women who have toiled to give the Word of God to the Chinese. Among the most picturesque characters is Bishop Schereschewsky (Pronounced Sker-es-kus'ky) of the Protestant Epis- copal Church. He was a Russian Jew, born in 1831. He was converted in Holland through reading the New Testament. He received his theological educa- tion in America, whence he was sent to China as a missionary of the Protestant Episcopal Church. Bishop Schereschewsky became one of the great translators. He had part in the revision of the Man- darin Bible and made a translation of the entire Bible into the Wenli or Classical Chinese. During many years of his life he was bedridden and paralyzed, having only partial use of one hand, but he com- pleted his task. Among other translators are Gutz- laff, who made the version used by the leaders of the Tai Ping rebellion, Rev. Wm. Dean, W. A. P. Mar- ii6 The Bible and Missions tin. Rev. Griffith John, Rev. C. W. Mateer, and Rev. Chauncey Goodrich. A Japanese Bible The Bible played a great part in the made in China. opening of Japan to the gospel. Here again Providential preparation is seen. Dr. Karl Friedrich August Gutzlaff was another of the linguistic giants whom God had endowed and brought into the world to make the Bible known outside the bounds of Christendom. Dr. Giitzlaflf had been sent to the Far East in 1828 by the Nether- lands Missionary Society. On his way to his field in China he was detained in Siam and improved his time by translating the Bi^le into Siamese. He reached China in 1831, the very year in which a Japanese junk was storm driven on the Pacific Ocean. The boat, after being tossed about for months, was wrecked on the Oregon coast, the survivors were made slaves by the Indians, rescued by the Hudson Bay Company, and were sent across Canada to England. From London they were sent back to China, and after four years of wandering landed at Macao in December of 1835. Gutzlaff took them to his own home, and, not satisfied with having made a beginning in the languages of Siam and China, promptly began to learn Japanese from his guests. In two years he had translated the Gospel and Epis- tles of John into Japanese, and had them printed at Singapore. It may not be without interest to men- tion that this same Dr. Gutzlaff was the one whose pamphlet on Medical Missions made Livingstone decide to be a medical missionary, whose Chinese translation of the Bible was republished by the lead- Every Man in His Own Tongue 117 ers of the Tai Ping rebellion, and who was the au- thor of sixty-one volumes in Chinese. Version of At about the same time that Dr. s. Wells Williams. GutzlafF was preparing his Japanese version of the Bible, another group of shipwrecked sailors had been returned by Americans. These may have been driven by the same storm that wrecked the other Japanese junk. They were rescued by some Christian men and sent to China, since the laws of Japan did not permit their return to their own coun- try. Dr. S. Wells Williams, one of the most remark- able men whom America has sent to the East, re- ceived and befriended them. Not content with his mastery of the Chinese language — an achievement quite sufficient for one man — he began to learn Jap- anese from these waifs, and made a translation of the Gospel of Matthew and the book of Genesis. While the Japanese of these sailors was probably none of the purest. Dr. Williams was able to get a sufficient grasp on the language so that he accom- panied Commodore Perry as interpreter when the American Navy succeeded in opening Japan to intercourse with the Western World. In 1837 he had tried to gain access to Japan, only to be driven away by the batteries in Yeddo Bay. The First Protes- It was not until 1 859 that the first tant missionaries. Protestant missionaries entered the newly opened Empire of Japan. One of their first tasks was to translate the Bible, since they were still strictly forbidden to do open or aggressive Chris- tian work. During these perilous times the early missionaries devoted themselves to language study and to translation. The five men who reached Japan Ii8 The Bible and Missions during the first year of Protestant missions were Rev. John Liggins and Rev., afterward Bishop, C. M. Williams of the Protestant Episcopal Church, Dr. J. C. Hepburn of the Presbyterian Church, and Dr. S. R. Brown and Rev. G. T. Verbeck of the Dutch Reformed. For nearly ten years these men practically had the field to themselves. All were mighty men of God. Quite unexpectedly to Mr. Liggins and Mr. Williams, who had been transferred from China, a demand sprang up for the Bible in Chinese translation. Since the Chinese and Japanese use the same characters (the Chinese) in their writing, the Japanese could understand the Chinese character, although reading it in Japanese words. This may be illustrated by the fact that the French and English both understand Arabic numerals though they give them different names. A Bible floating Some Chinese books had a big influ- on the water. ence in the introduction of the Jap- anese to Christianity. In 1855 a young nobleman named Murata Wasaka was in charge of the Western Coast near Nagasaki, to keep out all foreigners. He kept the harbor guarded by a cordon of boats. One day while on a trip of inspection he found a book floating on the water. The type and binding so in- terested him, that he picked it out of the water. He asked a Dutch interpreter about the book and was told that it was a New Testament in Dutch, but that there was a translation of it in Chinese. Wasaka sent a man to Shanghai to buy a copy, and began in secret to study its pages with his younger brother and two friends. Every Man in His Own Tongue 119 Murata and his When the first missionaries arrived brother question these young men were still engaged Verbeck. in the perilous study of the forbidden faith. In 1862 the younger brother, Ayabe, traveled to Nagasaki under pretense of studying medicine, but really to try to find some foreigner who could ex- plain passages which were hard to understand. One of his questions was whether Jesus was an English- man, a Dutchman, or a Spaniard. Here he formed the acquaintance of Guido Verbeck and warned him of a plot against his life. From time to time the two brothers, with elaborate precautions against discov- ery, sent a trusted servant named Motono with new lists of questions. At that time there were no rail- roads and the journey to Nagasaki took two days. Verbeck prepared a page of home helps for these young men every week. Finally the two brothers, with no witness except their trusted servant, were baptized, and Motono also, by Dr. Verbeck in the springtime of 1866. With great courage both broth- ers reported their act to their feudal lord. Neither of them suffered persecution, though some of Wasa- ka's Christian books were burned by order of the Central Government. Translators and The Japanese Bible of today Is the translations. work of a group of translators, the earliest and greatest of whom were Dr. S. R. Brown, Dr. Hepburn, Dr. Green, and Dr. Nathan Brown. This committee began its work in January, 1874, ^^^ worked for five. years before the first edition was published in April, 1880. Dr. Hepburn, one of the most famous of these men, was the maker of the first English-Japanese dictionary. When he went to I20 The Bible and Missions Japan there were no helps in the study of the lan- guage. He had to depend on writing down the sounds of words on tablets as he learned them. He studied with such good purpose that in eight years he was able to publish a superb specimen of lexicography, the English-Japanese dictionary, on which all sub- sequent dictionaries are based. The completed ver- sion of the New Testament was published by the Committee in 1880, and that of the entire Bible in 1888. Separate Gospels and portions were put into circulation as soon as they were completed; the Gos- pel of Mark in 1872 and that of Matthew a year later. The Revision The rapid progress of the Japanese Committee and language towards standardization, the Its work. introduction of new terms and the more intimate acquaintance with the language on the part of the missionaries made a revised version seem desirable. A Committee composed of Japanese and missionary members was chosen in 1910. Two of its members, Dr. Greene and Mr. Matsuyama, had been members of the original Committee; the others, both foreign and Japanese, were all chosen because of their expert knowledge of one or more phases of the work. This revision 'is in a modified classical style with archaic forms omitted and the language brought nearer to modern speech,* says Dr. C. K. Harring- ton, one of the translators. Since the difference be- tween the spoken and the written language is im- measurably greater than is the case in any modern Western language, all will echo Dr. Harrington*s hope that 'some day there may be a translation into the real vernacular, the colloquial.' Every Man in His Own Tongue 121 The Bible finds a The Christians of Korea are pre- prepared path. eminently Bible Christians. The Kore- ans seem to have had a wonderful preparation for the diffusion of the gospel. Owing to similarities in their life and customs with conditions pictured in the Scripture, it spoke to them from the first as a native and not a foreign book. The people of the Book said, 'Peace be with you' in their daily saluta- tions; so did the Koreans. Sacrifices and peace offer- ings were well known to Koreans; they Vent out to meet the bridegroom*; and 'two women grinding at the miir were no strange sight to them. They could pick up their beds and walk; they saw the fisher- men mending their nets and thewinnowing fans on the threshing fioor. They had feasts of the new moon, they wore long robes girt about with a fancy girdle. They put off their shoes when they stood on holy ground. They knew about demons and the demoniacs and the helplessness of the sorcerers to drive out the demons. They had visions and parables and dreams^ When the Book came it found its way prepared. The Korean They had a wonderful aid, too, in Script. their system of writing their language. The Chinese and Japanese were lumbering along with written characters so complex and difficult as virtually to fence away the domain of literature from the common people. Four hundred and seventy- five years ago (1445 A.D.), Korea prepared a simple form of syllabic alphabet or phonetic writing so that, as Moffatt says, *The old and the poor, the toil- worn, the prisoner, the hidden wife and mother, the slave behind the mule, the butcher, the baker, the hat-mender, the water-carrier, the bean-curd ped- 122 The Bible and Missions dler, the sorcerer, the witch-wife, the less than no man, all might read." King Sejong's simple alpha- bet, so simple that the art of reading might be learned in a few weeks, lay disused and despised for centuries by the Koreans. Chinese characters were used for their classical literature, while their own phonetic writing was called Un-Mun, "the dirty language." But when the Lord Jesus must needs go through Korea, he picked the despised alphabet from the dust, saying, 'This was made for my gospel.' The miraculously rapid circulation of the New Testa- ment was due in no small degree to the fact that it was printed in the native script. May it not be that this translation of the Bible into Korean will prove to be not only the means of preserving the Korean language, but also the model on which both Japan and China may modify their antiquated and compli- cated system of character writing? A Korean Bible The Bible entered Korea in advance made in of the missionary, partly because it Manchuria. ^^s easier to smuggle in a Bible than a missionary in the days when signposts along the road said: **If you meet a foreigner, kill him; he who has friendly relations with him is a traitor to his country." These signposts stood as late as 1880. It was in 1865, twenty years before the coming of the missionaries, that the earliest known attempt was made to bring the Bible into Korea. Mr. Thomas, an agent of the National Bible Society of Scotland, came bringing Chinese Bibles from Chefoo in a Korean junk. He knew that since Korean scholars wrote their own language with the Chinese charac- ters they could read this Chinese Bible. A year Every Man in His Own Tongue 123 later he was stranded in the Ill-fated Sherman, and both he and the crew were killed by the Koreans. In 1875 D^- Joh^ R<^ss and Rev. John Mclntyre of the United Presbyterian Church of Scotland, work- ing in Manchuria, made the acquaintance of Koreans who had gone to Manchuria on business. They found out that the Koreans could understand the Chinese Bible, since they read their own language in Chinese characters. A scholarly Korean was engaged to make a translation from the Chinese into the Un-Mun^ the vernacular writing of Korea. In 1882 translations of the Gospels of St. Luke and St. John had been made and published. Work done by such an agent under such conditions was bound to prove imperfect; but it surely was under the direction of the Great Strategist that these two missionaries in Manchuria were led to adopt the Korean rather than the Chinese script for their first translation. Coiporters Once printed, it looked hopeless to smuggle it into get the books introduced, since all K°^^^- foreign religious books were prohib- ited in the Hermit Kingdom. It was finally decided to make the Scriptures up into bundles, unbound, and send them in on the backs of the coolies who carried great bundles of old official papers bought up an- nually in Manchuria by Korean merchants. The plan succeeded. In a short time there was a little company of disciples among the merchants of Weiju in the northern end of the country. Three of these early disciples, at great personal risk, became coiporters. One of them. Saw Sang Yun, succeeded in getting to Seoul from Mukden with a few copies 124 The Bible and Missions of the Scripture. He was in Seoul when the Ameri- can missionaries came in 1885. Another transla- Meanwhile, another attempt to enter tion enters from Korea with a Korean Bible had been the East. made in Japan. Rev. Henry Loomis, agent of the American Bible Society in Yokohama, met a Korean and engaged him to translate the Gos- pel of Mark into Korean. When the pioneer mission- aries. Dr. H. G. Underwood, Dr. H. G. Appenzeller, and Dr. W. B. Scranton, passed through Japan in 1885, a few copies of this Gospel of Mark were given to them. It was the Ross translation, however, which was the real forerunner of missions. Between 1883 and 1886 no less than 15,690 copies of this translation had been circulated. Saw Sang Yun had led the first Korean congregation to Christ. To this day the Christian church in Weiju, where no mis- sionary is resident, numbers fifteen hundred believers. Authorized Version However valuable these first attempts of Korean Bible, at translation, the American mis- sionaries realized that another and better transla- tion must be made. A Board of Translators was formed in 1887. An authorized version of the New Testament was completed and published in 1906, six years after a tentative version had been put in circu- lation. It was not until 1910 that the translation of all the books of the Old Testament was completed. The Bible among Some of the great adventures in Bible the islanders. translation belong to the little peo- ples. The Gilbert Islanders, for example, clinging to their low-lying coral reefs, had the lifetime of a Christian hero given in their behalf, in the endeavor to give them the Bible. Hiram Bingham, Jr., son Every Man in His Own Tongue 125 of that Hiram Bingham who brought the Gospel to the Hawaiian Islanders, lived on the Gilbert Islands, reduced the language to writing, made a grammar and dictionary, and after years of toil translated the Bible. His manuscript, the fruit of a lifetime, was lost at sea on its way to America to be published. Although his health was shattered so that he could no longer continue to live in the Gil- bert Islands, Mr. Bingham, while living in Hawaii, patiently renewed his labors to retranslate the whole. On all the Pacific Islands there are similar stories of peoples sunk in degradation, and of the coming of the missionaries bringing the Book. It was in Aneityum, one of the islands of the New Hebrides, that John Geddie of Nova Scotia began in 1848 to learn the language of the fierce savages who inhabited the island. He reduced their language to writing, prepared school books, taught the people to read, translated the Bible for them. When he died, worn out after twenty-four years of service, a bronze tablet was placed in his memory in a church seating one thousand worshippers : "When he landed in 1848, there were no Christians here; When he left in 1872, there were no heathen." The people were so overjoyed at the thought of hav- ing the Bible in their own tongue that they contributed $5,000 for printing it. These same islanders gave the entire product of their cocoanut trees for six months to roof two churches, and sent out and paid more than fifty of their own members who went carrying their Bible as missionaries to heathen islands. Henry Nott of One of the master translators of the Tahiti. South Sea Islands was Henry Nott 126 The Bible and Missions of Tahiti. He gave twenty years of his life, amid circumstances full of horror and suffering, to the study of the language. He tamed it, cleared out its dense thickets of savage thought, discovered its hidden symmetries and beauties, and after he felt himself master gave another twenty years of a great life to the translation of the Scriptures. John Williams of When John Williams later began his Raratonga. cruises of ChHstianization, he trans- lated the New Testament into Raratongan, a closely allied dialect. He spent four years in England per- fecting his translation and seeing it through the press. When he returned to Raratonga with his big boxes of books, — five thousand of them, — the people crowded around to secure the priceless treasures. "Every one was eager to buy a copy,'* John Wil- liams says, "One man, as he secured his, hugged the book in ecstasy; another and another kissed it; others held them up and waved them in the air. Some sprang away like a dart, and did not stop till they entered their own dwellings, and exhibited their treasures to their wives and children, while others jumped and capered about like persons half frantic with joy.'* John G. Paton John G. Paton, translator of the New of Aniwa. Testament into Aniwan, one of the many languages of the New Hebrides, tells of the joy which the first book gave to the Chief Namekei; "Is it done .'^ Can it speak?" asked Namekei ex- citedly. "Make it speak to me! Let me hear it speak." When part of the book was read to him, he shouted in an ecstasy of joy, "It does speak! It speaks my own language, too! Oh, give it to me!" He grasped it hurriedly, opened and then closed it Every Man in His Own Tongue 127 with a look of disappointment, and said, "I can not make it speak! It will never speak to me." But it did, for the old Chief with painful persistence learned to read, and as children and strangers gathered round him he would produce his prized book and say, "Come, I will let you hear how the book speaks our own Aniwan words." The Bible in Sav- Time would fail to tell of two broth- age Island and ers, W. G. Lawes and F. E. Lawes, New Guinea. ^ho gave thirty-six years of their lives to clear a path for the Book into the minds of the men of Savage Island; or of the seven years given by this same W. G. Lawes to complete and re- vise the New Testament translated by James Chal- mers into the speech of one of the tribes of New Guinea, for men of the Stone Age. Searching for a The translator of the New Testa- name for God. ment into Toaripi, one of the lan- guages spoken in Southern New Guinea, Rev. E. Pryce Jones, tells of the difficulty he had to find a word for God that would convey the Christian idea to people still in the stage of totem worship. He could find the names of the different spirits who made the pig, the crocodile, or the crab, but all his searching failed to find any higher idea. One day when he was working with a native and asking him questions the man said, **Ualare knows that." "Who is Ualare.?" asked the missionary quickly, hoping that perhaps he was at last on the trail. "Ualare is the spirit who made the mountains, and out of whom the world came," said the man. Today the Papuan reads in his New Testament, "Ualare so loved the world that he gave his only 128 The Bible and Missions begotten Son," and slowly builds up his idea of a great Father God. Christianity comes The island of Madagascar, on the other to Madagascar, side of the world from these small, smiling lands circled about with silver seas, has been the scene of one of the greatest victories of the Bible translator. Madagascar is next to New Guinea the largest island in the world. Between four and five million people live on this rich island. They built comfortable homes, were decently clad, often in garments made of the silk they spun and wove so cunningly. They spun cotton, too, and hemp, and knew how to work iron so as to make their spears and spades. Some of their towns were surrounded by walls and moats. Their government was an ab- solute despotism. The slave trade cursed them. Although having considerable beginnings of civili- zation, they had no written language and their moral condition was exceedingly low. In 1818 the London Missionary Society sent two missionaries and their families. In six weeks all except one. Rev. David Jones, were dead. He escaped to Mauritius, tortured with fever. In 1820 he re-entered the coun- try; other missionaries joined him, and the task of hewing out a vocabulary and grammar of the lan- guage began. Schools were opened. King Radama sent ten picked youths to England to be educated. The schools in Madagascar grew mightily. In 1828 the Gospel of Luke was published. In that same year the wise king died and a reign of terror ensued, set up by rival claimants to the throne. All schools were closed, so that the missionaries were shut up to the one work of Bible translation. The printing press had EviRv Man in Hh Own Tongue 129 already been set up by the missionaries. By 1830 five thousand copies of the complete New Testament were printed. Then came edicts allowing the reopen- / ing of the schools, and the very next year the first converts were baptized and the Church began to grow in apostolic fashion. Ranavaiona Then began the opposition which begins the great later was to develop into ruthless persecution. persecution. Ranavaiona, the Queen, became the bitter enemy of the new religion. On March first, 1835, ^ decree went forth that all who met for prayer and worship must confess it within a month. In swift succession came decrees ordering the giving up and burning of all copies of the Scrip- tures. The missionaries were then driven out and the full fury of the storm broke on the infant church. The missionaries, before going, buried their boxes of Bibles, Testaments, and The Pilgrim ' s Progress, to await their return and the dawn of better days. Well that they did not dream that twenty-six years were to pass before the mission stations could again be opened. During that time no devilish refinement of torture was missing in the sufferings meted out to the Malagasy Christians. The only legacy which the missionaries had been able to leave to their sorely tried converts was the books which they had printed. Since these books were the only ones in the language, they had been read without distraction by all classes of the people. On the New Testament and The Pilgrim's Progress, the Christians were to feed their souls during the black years of persecution that followed. 130 The Bible and Missions Another eleventh There are no more glorious annals in chapter of the history of Christianity than those Hebrews. of Madagascar. All the Bibles which could be found were burned, but copies were secreted in hollow trees, in caves, in the rafters of houses. Rough copies were made by hand and passed secretly from disciple to disciple. When the years of agony were over, some of these precious tear-stained, blood- stained copies, worn thin from much handling, mend- ed again and again, were recovered, and may now be seen in the archives of the British and Foreign Bible Society. Those who refused to worship the idols and boldly confessed their belief in Christ were sold as slaves, forced to toil in chains, driven out into the forests, thrown over cliffs into the sea, suspended head downward in the rice pits and boiling water poured over them, burned alive, dismembered. Nobles saw their families scattered and reduced to slavery, their estates confiscated, themselves reduced to the ranks of the common soldiers and put to hard labor. This went on for year after year, yet still the faith grew and spread, irresistible, unquenchable. End of Reign When the reign of terror had ended of Terror. and the first consignment of Bibles, long stored in Mauritius in anticipation of the day of the gospel's re-entrance, arrived at the capital, so vast a crowd pressed forward to buy the books that the doors of the storehouse had to be closed, a line formed, and the Bibles passed out through the win- dow to the waiting purchasers. The Book that What shall we say of a Book that can sets men free. beget such heroism? Does it need other credentials that it is God's best gift to Man.^* Every Man in His Own Tongue 131 When the missionaries had been driven out, there were about fifteen hundred Christians. When they were allowed to return, there were seven thousand. During the twenty-six years ten thousand people had been sentenced to death or slavery or exile. What was the power which had sustained these new believers, fresh from heathen and debasing customs.^ The Book whose mere introduction could arouse such devotion may well be called the Charter of Man's Freedom. The Bible In i868,when Queen Ranavalona II. enthroned. was crowned, the royal seat was erected under a canopy on each side of which was emblazoned a quotation from the Bible: ''Glory to God"; "Good will among men"; *'0n earth Peace"; *'God be with us." In front of the queen were two tables, on one of them the crown of Madagascar, on the other, the Bible. The Bible The Dark Continent has been the in Africa. scene of many triumphs of the trans- lator. Africa is the true Tower of Babel. Here are 843 varieties of human speech, almost all of them to be reduced to written form, most of them spoken by savage tribes living under conditions almost in- supportable by white men. Yet into this darkness men have gone, and there they have lived and worked to bring the Book of God to the people. The mis- sionaries have made dictionaries and grammars and school books and translated the Bible into one hun- dred different languages; but there remain 443 dis- tinct languages and 300 dialects not yet reduced to writing. If Africa is transferred from a liability into an asset, it will be because the Africans receive the Christian Bible. 132 The Bible and Missions Pilkington of It Will be impossible to mention more Uganda. than one or two of these translators. George Lawrence Pilkington of Uganda is one of the most gifted in any land. Such was his facility in the acquisition of language that he learned the language on his way up from Zanzibar so that he was able to converse as soon as he reached his field. Within five years after reaching Uganda, Pilkington carried back to his home in Ireland the manuscript of the entire New Testament and a large part of the Old for final revision and printing. Although so rapid, his work was exceedingly careful and scholarly. Eliot's Bible for The story of the Bible among the the Indians. North American Indians must not be passed over. The first American translation of the Bible was that made by John Eliot in the lan- guage of the Mohicans of New England. It was only fifty years after the publication of the King James Version of the English Bible that John Eliot's trans- lation of the New Testament was printed in 1661, and two years later that of the Old Testament. The Indian tribes for whom the Book was translated have long since vanished, their very language is forgotten so that no one living can read one of the cherished copies of the beautifully printed Bible; but Eliot's work remains, as does his word inscribed at the end of his Indian Grammar, ''Prayer and pains, through faith in Jesus Christ, will do anything." Translations of portions of the Bible were early made into the language of the Delawares, the Mohawks, the Sene- cas, and the Chippewas. "The White Man's The story of the search for the Bible Book of Heaven." on the part of the Nez-Perces Indians Every Man in His Own Tongue 133 of Idaho is one of the most stirring in the annals of missions. In their far fastnesses the tribe had heard about a Book of Heaven through which the white man became wise and strong. In a great council the tribe set apart four chiefs to go to the distant white man's country and bring back the Book. It was in 1831 that these four men made their way over the desolate mountains, the vast prairies, the swift rivers, and came to St. Louis, a rough, roy- stering frontier town, asking, **Where is the white man's Book of Heaven ?" They met ridicule and indifference until Gen- eral Clark learned of their errand and befriend- ed them. Two of the Indians fell ill and died. Before the others started on their long homeward journey a big dinner was given in their honor, at which the officers at the fort and the leading citi- zens were present. The Oregon Although the Indians in far-away Trail. Idaho who waited month after month for the return of their emissaries with the Book waited in vain, yet this appeal did reach the hearts of the white people. As a result the first Protestant Mission west of the Rocky Mountains was es- tablished, Jason Lee of the Methodist Episcopal Church becoming the pioneer. Marcus Whitman and Henry H. Spalding, with their brides, began a honey- moon journey lasting seven months to the far North West. Greater issues, too, hung upon their mission than the Indian Chiefs who made the perilous journey could dream. On the fact that these Ameri- can missionaries with wagons, household goods, and families had actually crossed the Rocky Mountains 134 The Bible and Missions depended very largely Americans claim to the Oregon Country. After long, long delays the Nez-Perces actually got "The Book that makes the trail plain," printed in their own language by the American Bible Society in 1871. The Dakota The greatest Indian translation is Bible. that into the language of the Sioux of the Plains, the Dakotas. Two men, Rev. Thomas E. Williamson and Dr. Stephen Riggs, gave forty years of life to this task. Their joint work was re- vised by Dr. Williamson's son, the Rev. John P. Williamson. Dr. Riggs's autobiography, Mary and /, or Forty Years among the Sioux ^ is a moving and glorious record. The Navaho The most recent translation of the Bible. Bible into an Indian tongue is the Navaho. This numerous tribe living in Arizona and New Mexico has waited all these years for the white people to give them the Book. Three men, Rev. L. P. Brink, Rev. F. G. Mitchell, and Rev. John Butler, have collaborated in the work of transla- tion. An Indian invents The Cherokee Scriptures are notable an alphabet. not SO much because of the transla- tion as because they are printed in an alphabet in- vented by a Cherokee Indian, a half-breed, whose Indian name was Sequoya. Although illiterate him- self, he realized that the power of the white people was bound up in their books. He studied to see if he could supply the need of his own people. He made symbols on birch bark, and in some way got the idea of making symbols represent the sounds of the Cherokee language. After two years' work he in- Every Man in His Own Tongue 135 vented an alphabet consisting of eighty-four letters. This alphabet was adopted by the legislature of the Cherokee Nation, and a newspaper was published in it. The missionaries adopted it for the transla- tion of the Bible, as by means of this alphabet it was possible to represent the sounds of the Cherokee language more perfectly than by the English alpha- bet. In 1 83 1 the American Bible Society began the printing of the Cherokee New Testament and a large part of the Old Testament. The State of Okla- homa has recently presented to the Government a statue of Sequoya to be placed in the Capitol at Washington. The Indian's Twenty-third Psalm The Indian language is not easily subject to translation and in their intercourse with one another the various tribes use a sign language, more or less universal, which they have evolved. The following is a translation of the twenty-third Psalm which can easily be interpreted by this sign language: The Great Father above is a Shepherd Chief. I am His, and with Him I want not. He throws out to me a rope, and the name of the rope is Love, and He draws me, and He draws me, and He draws me to where the grass is green and the water not dangerous, and I eat and lie down satisfied. Sometimes my heart is very weak and falls down, but He lifts it up again and draws me into a good road. His name is Wonder- ful. Some time, It may be very soon, It may be longer, It may be a long, long time, He will draw me into a place between moun- tains. It is dark there, but I'll draw back not. I'll be afraid not, for it is in there between these mountains that the Shepherd Chief will meet me, and the hunger I have felt in my heart all through this life will be satisfied. Sometimes He makes the love rope into a whip, but afterwards He gives me a staff to lean on. 136 The Bible and Missions He spreads a table before me with all kinds of food. He puts His hands upon my head, and all the "tired" is gone. My cup He fills till it runs over. What I tell you is true, I lie not. These roads that are "away ahead" will stay with me through this life, and afterward I will go to live in the "Big Tepee" and sit down with the Shepherd Chief forever. Arabic, sacred The Bible has been made accessible language of through translation to Moslem pop- Moslems, ulations numbering 200,000,000. All of these revere one sacred language, the Arabic, in which the Koran was written by verbal inspiration, as they believe. So great is their reverence for the very word of Scripture that they discourage any translation of the Koran, which is read in its original Arabic wherever there is a Mosque, and forms the basis of education wherever there is a Moslem school. A well-known Moslem lawyer in Lahore, India, in addressing his coreligionists said recently, "The rea- son why Christians succeed is because wherever they go they have the Bible and say their prayers in their mother tongue; whereas we have wrapped up our religion in an Arabic dress. We ought to give the people the Koran in their own tongue." His only answer was, **Thou art an unbeliever thyself, to say such things." Translation of The importance of an Arabic version Arabic Bible. of the Bible becomes apparent when we consider the fanatical devotion to Arabic through- out the whole Moslem world scattered over Asia and Africa. This need was met by a wonderful transla- tion into Classical Arabic to which Rev. Cornelius VanDyke and Rev. Eli Smith gave sixteen years of life. Their translation ranks among the very greatest /u ■t -ft -«- 5: * -1- fA -^ ^ fsl ^ m # /^. -t i«l i) ^ fi ^ ,v;, k ^ ^ -t^; -f'l- ■^^ /^ JK •r*-. ^ '-h 4 'I ■Wt *. i--< -i K •# i' 4 % ^^ ^- i5v ^ t^ ^i -« 4. f^ «• rt % f^ 111 ;^ i 4- * -f 1 VJ 1^ a. iK fo- /•^ 1^ T- •f ^. * ^> I« f n f«1 m fl. ^k i^f in BS- /f ll 4 iK >:: ■% t 5 i£ ^. 5X. S 8± i^ <^ it ^ ^r .^•^ fe- .*t ^f «£ 7^ '/s J^ -S-. rj fo^ -^ # Jk J^^ *:. ;^^ i^ %\ ^ i-h ti: ^ ^;f ^- «% ^K -IH: n -^ -r-t ;i .«a ^ ■Jt ^^ To -S" \i) >'o ^■^) # -i: f 4 « ■a: ^f ^■^ — ift -6H ,«1 ■^ :9t- ,3^ ii )^'. J3. P/T 4 m K ^ * > /i # %^ ^ -t J^L rA «S1 4!i f- IS] A ;>•-. 4 /?- '$t -It ■tL n ft; k -5~ 5. # ^i m ^ ^ #. •k ^ A .3* iii <4 Pfr i- SURPRISING AND SIGNIFICANT LETTERS FROM CHINA Every Man in His Own Tongue 137 in its felicity and strength; its pure Arabic style makes it a delight to the reader of Arabic litera- ture. Not content with this version in high Arabic, the British and Foreign Bible Society has made trans- lations into the colloquial Arabic spoken in the various countries of the Near East. Other Moslem The Moslem World devoted to a Versions. Book must be won by a greater Book. To the winning of peoples who profess this most powerful religion now opposing Christianity the no- ble army of translators has contributed much. The Turkish Bible of Schauffler was the work of fourteen years. These two chief versions, the Arabic and the Turkish, are supplemented by ten others in the chief languages of the Levant, and in thirty dialects. Furthermore, the Turkish Bible is printed also in the Arabic, the Armenian, or the Greek char- acters for those who read Turkish in those alphabets. A superb The translation of the Bible has achievement. been perhaps the most fruitful ac- complishment of the nineteenth century. Until the Scriptures were made accessible to the great bulk of mankind in their mother tongue, there could be no wide expansion of Christianity. While there are mul- titudes belonging to the smaller and more scattered peoples who are still without a Bible, the great racial and national divisions have all had the Scrip- tures translated into their own language. While other faiths have remained more or less quiescent, permitting their sacred books, if translated at all, to be translated by others for the purposes of com- parative study of religion. Christians have boldly, persistently, with superb courage and devotion. 138 The Bible and Missions laid down life itself in the struggle to put the Bible into the speech of every tongue and tribe and nation. The first campaign is won. Strategy of Bible Into all these lands the Bible has translation. found entrance through the labor of the translators. As battles are won not solely or even chiefly by the armies who struggle with shot and shell in the front line, but by the makers of muni- tions and by the strategists who, far back, are di- recting the campaign, so Christianity's World Campaign depends upon these missionaries who are translating the Bible into living languages. Wher- ever it goes the Book carries its credentials. It speaks one message to the one heart of mankind. As a Greek Christian phrased it in his letter to the Bible House, in broken English but no doubtful meaning, "The gabs are many, but the ghost is one.'* OUTLINE OF CHAPTER IV. aim: To show how the work of the National Bible Societies has powerfully furthered the missionary movement by fi- nancing translations, and publishing and distributing Bibles. I. HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE NATIONAL BIBLE SOCIETIES. I. The British and Foreign Bible Society. a. Circumstances surrounding its organization. b. Its charter, activities, rapid development. 1. Continental Bible Societies. a. Fostered by British and Foreign Bible Society. b. Some short-lived. c. Most of them doing little missionary translation. 3. The National Bible Society of Scotland, 4. The American Bible Society, a. Its organization. b. Distinguished support. c. Bible publication endorsed by Congress. II. WORK OF THE NATIONAL BIBLE SOCIETIES. I. Common principles and policies. 1. Selling Bibles or giving them. 3. Promoting and financing of Bible translations and publications. 4. Enormous and continuous sale of the Bible. 5. Comparison of Bible sales with others. III. THE AGENT OF THE BIBLE SOCIETIES, I. The Colporter ubiquitous. 1. The Colporter from every race. 3. The Colporter of true heroic stuff. 140 The Bible and Missions IV. THE FRUITS OF BIBLE DISTRIBUTION. 1. In a Navaho hogan. 2. In Japanese prisons. 3. In a Korean prison. 4. In a Chinese philanthropist. 5. In an Indian /^^/V. V. MINISTRY OF THE BIBLE SOCIETIES TO THE SOLDIERS AND SAILORS. 1. Enormous number distributed; wide-spread contribu- tions to the fund; approval of military leaders, apprecia- tion of the boys. 2. The Pocket Testament League, its story. 3. Fruit of Bible work among soldiers. VI. DUTIES TOWARD THE BIBLE SOCIETIES. CHAPTER IV. THE TRAVELS OF THE BOOK "It is the great destiny of England and America to carry the Bible to the earth's remotest bounds." Hon. Joseph H. Choate. The Rise of the In chapter three we have studied the Bible Societies. ^Qj-k of Bible translators in aid of the worldwide diffusion of the Christian message. In chapter four we shall consider the history and ac- tivities of the great organizations through which the distribution of the manifold translations has been made possible. In reality these two agencies, the translators and the Bible Societies, are contempo- rary with the rise and development of a third agency, the Mission Boards and Societies. It seemed expe- dient in the interests of clearness to consider them separately. Bibles expensive In the Opening years of the nineteenth and scarce in 1800. century Bibles Were comparatively few and very expensive. Outside America and the Protestant nations of Europe they were almost un- obtainable by the laity. Even in Scotland among the Highlanders, most of whom at that time under- stood no language but the Gaelic, the scarcity of the Scriptures was extreme. Not only were the books very few and hard to obtain, but the price, twenty- five shillings (J6.25),put them beyond the reach of any except the wealthy. In Ireland, with a popula- tion of five and a quarter millions, there were very few places outside the capital where a Bible could be purchased at any price. In the Island of Jersey 142 The Bible and Missions old, second-hand family Bibles sold for £4. In the United States an equal destitution existed in the supply of Bibles both among the older settlers and among the pioneers on the frontiers, as was proved by the extensive investigations made by Samuel J. Mills in two journeys taken by him in 18 12 and 18 13. Education and in- The invention of printing had made vention democra- possible a Very great extension in the tize the Scriptures, circulation of the Scriptures, but the full eflFects of this miracle-working invention waited on two things; the diffusion of popular education and the perfecting of mechanical processes by which the cost of printing was greatly reduced. We do not often consider at how comparatively recent a day the public school system democratized the ability to read, and the power press and other inventions put books within the means of the great mass of men. What Mary Jones It was on March 7, 1804, that the helped to start. oldest of the National Bible Societies, the British and Foreign Bible Society, was founded at the London Tavern in the presence of about three hundred people. An incident that had been influen- tial in bringing about its founding was the search of a little Welsh girl for a Bible. The Rev. Thomas Charles of Bala had told her story at a meeting of the Committee of the Religious Tract Society one cold December morning in 1 802. It seemed that there lived in a valley under Caderldris, in the parish of Llanfihangel, a young Welsh girl named Mary Jones. She dearly loved the Bible, but the only chance she had to read it was by walking two miles to the house of a relative. She had formed a great resolution to save enough money to buy a Bible of her own. For The Travels of the Book. 143 years she had been hoarding up her chance pennies until when she was sixteen years old she found she had the price of a Bible in her hands. Mary gets her She Started out happily to walk the Bible. twenty-eight miles to the only place she knew where Bibles were sold. Her way lay along difficult and lonely paths through the mountains from Llanfihangel to Bala. When she reached Bala, tired and hungry, but happy in the accomplishment of her long-cherished purpKDse, she found that Mr. Charles, who was in charge of the depository, had sold the last copy he had. Strangely stirred by the child's tears and the revelation of her spiritual hunger, Mr. Charles gave her the only copy he had, one which had been laid aside on order of one of his friends. Fatigue and hunger were forgotten, as, tightly holding the Book in her hands, Mary Jones hastened to walk the long miles between her and home. Why not for When Mr. Charles had finished his the World? story with an appeal for the publica- tion of a new edition of the Welsh Bible, Rev. Joseph Hughes, minister of the Baptist congregation at Battersea and Secretary of the Committee, said in words that have become historic, "Surely a society might be formed for the purpose. But if for Wales, why not for the Kingdom? Why not for the world?" The British and The proposition took fire. Week by Foreign Bible week it was discusscd in churches and Society organized, newspapers. Mr. Hughes wrote an essay with the sort of ponderous title so dearly be- loved in those days, 'The Excellency of the Holy Scrip- tures; an Argument for their more general Dispersion, In this widely circulated pamphlet Mr. Hughes 144 T^^ Bible and Missions appealed to the public to assist in founding ''the first institution that ever emanated from one nation for the good of all." Other meetings were held in the hospitable counting house of Mr. Joseph Hardcastle at Old Swan Stairs, in which the proposition was debated again and again, and a code of regulations gradually took shape which later became the Con- stitution of the British and Foreign Bible Society. The name was the happy suggestion of Joseph Hughes. Difficulties and There were, of course, much opposi- obstacies. tion and many obstacles. Old General Conservatism, backed by his doughty lieutenants. Indifference and Sectarianism, did all he could to put down such an unprecedented enterprise. Added to the usual opposition which any new project must overcome, there were the formidable obstacles which the condition of the times presented. England was fighting for her life with Napoleon, who was confi- dently waiting for his 'six hours' mastery of the channel. Yet in such a time the Society was born. Stormy times no Troublous times have no terrors for bar to missions, the missionary enterprise. Like a stormy petrel it rides the waves. When Europe was convulsed with the French Revolution, William Carey launched the modern enterprise of foreign missions. The first American Societies were founded during the period of the war of 1812; the Women's Boards of Foreign Missions, during, and immediately after, the Civil War of 1861. During the last great war missionary societies have found a new response to their cause in many countries. The Travels or the Book 145 Charter of the The Catholicity of the Constitution British and Foreign of the British and Foreign Bible So- Bible Society. ciety is the more remarkable in that it was made during a period of bitter sectarian con- flicts between Churchmen and Nonconformists. Christians of all communions united in its formation. The Constitution then adopted is virtually that of the present day. The Society was to limit its work to the printing and circulation of the Bible without note or comment. It was not to supplant, but to supplement, agencies already in the field, such as the Church Missionary Society, the Sunday School Union, the Religious Tract Society. The servant of all, it was to be the rival of none. Rapid extension The expansion of the new Society of the Society. was rapid. Challenged by the vio- lence and atheism set free during the throes of the French Revolution, the hearts of Christian men turned, even as they are turning today, with pas- sionate eagerness to a fresh study of the Bible. With- in twelve years the operations of the Society had ex- tended toGreenland andCanada, to Australia and the South Seas, to India and China and the Malay Archi- pelago, to the backwoods of America, the planta- tions of the West Indies, to Brazil and Chili. These foreign grants came at that very moment when the first faint tappings of the translators were heard from the other side of Christianity's world tunnel. With- out the timely grants of the British and Foreign Bible Society the first Bibles of Carey and Marsh- man, of Morrison and GiitzlafF and Moffat could with difficulty have been published. 146 The Bible and Missions The Welsh get In the homeland the Welsh got their their Bible. Bibles. Ten thousand copies of the New Testament were brought to Bala in 1806. When the people knew that the cart containing the books was on the road they went out to meet it and drew it into town with songs and rejoicings, as did the Is- raelites the Ark. Every copy was eagerly bought. Late in the summer twilight young heads bent above the Book, by the glimmer of rushlight aged faces in many a little cottage pored over the precious pages, and laborers carried the Book to the fields with them in the early morning. Mary Jones's Bible, her name written on the fly leaf in her own handwriting, is one of the treasures of the British and Foreign Bible Society. Bibles were circulated by the thousand in the industrial towns like Bristol and Manchester and among the prisoners in the festering jails and prisons. From the first the policy of selling rather than giving Bibles was adopted. Bible Schools in In the wild highlands of Scotland, a the Scotch land then almost as little known as highlands. Tasmania, there lived 300,000 High- landers who spoke no language but Gaelic. An edi- tion of Gaelic Bibles was immediately put on the press for them, and in 1807 Gaelic Testaments were to be had for lod. and whole Bibles for 3s. 6d. Many Highlanders walked great distances to obtain these books. Little Bible Schools sprung up in the moun- tains, where old men learned to read in their own tongue the wonderful Word of God. Bibles in five During the first twelve years of its tongues in Great history the British and Foreign Bible Britain. Society printed and distributed Bibles The Travels of the Book 147 and Testaments to the number of 1,605,222 in the five languages of the British Isles; English, Gaelic, Erse, Manx, and Welsh. Auxiliaries sprang up in town and country; among them the Edinburgh Bible Society, the Dublin or Hibernian Bible Society, the Glasgow Bible Society, and societies many, big and little, in English cities and towns. The country was wretchedly poor, the National debt was crush- ing, the potato crop had failed, but the people pressed forward to buy Bibles. **We'll buy a little less meal and take home the Word of God with us," they said. A poor blind beggar with five children bought a Testament. "1 would grieve less to know that my ^ child was hungry," she said, ''than to have it live without the Word of God." Expansion on the From Great Britain the Society Continent. promptly extended its work to the continent of Europe in a very Pentecost of interest in the Bible. An Icelandic Bible was brought out and an auxiliary founded in Iceland. A Bible Society was organized in Stockholm, which later became the National Bible Society of Sweden. Societies were established in Denmark, Germany, France, the Netherlands,Austria, and Switzerland. In 18 13 the St. Petersburg Bible Society was founded in the pres- ence of members of State and nobles and the highest dignitaries of the church. In every case these societies were helped to organize by grants from the treasury of the British and Foreign Bible Society. The Russian Bible Later some of these societies incurred Society. the hostility of the hierarchy and were suppressed. The Russian Bible Society was under the protection of the Czar, who had ordered the New 148 The Bible and Missions Testament introduced into schools and colleges. The people in many villages gathered to listen to the words of the Saviour. Bibles were reaching the pris- oners and the sailors. Then the Holy Synod took fright. They feared the effect of the Bible on the common people and in 1826 were strong enough to bring about the edict suppressing the Russian Bible Society, which at that time had 289 auxiliaries. Fortunes of The Pope, too, took action against Continental Bible the circulation of the Scriptures in Societies. Poland and Austria, and reactionary governments often made its circulation difficult. Some of these Continental societies organized in the early decades of the nineteenth century have per- sisted. Fifty were listed at the time of the Edin- burgh Conference in 1910. For the most part, how- ever, these societies have confined their work to the publication of Bibles in their own language, leaving the greater part of the publication of Bibles for the non-Christian lands to the three great societies of the English-speaking world. The Scotch Bible The National Bible Society of Scot- Society, land grew directly out of the Edin- burgh Auxiliary of the British and Foreign Bible Society. The separation came when a difference of view arose in regard to the including of the Apochry- phal Books in the Bible. To this the Scotch objected, and, although a concession was made to their views, it did not come in time to avoid the foundation of a separate society. Beginnings of The first Bible Society in America Bible Society in was Organized in Philadelphia in 1 808. America. 'pj^jg ^^g aided by the British and The Travels of the Book 149 Foreign Bible Society, by a grant of one thousand dollars and a supply of the Scriptures in Welsh, Gaelic, French, and German for use among the immi- grant peoples of those days. The following year six more Bible Societies were formed, among them the New York and Massachusetts Societies. As soon as these societies were formed and a systematic inquiry made in regard to the supply of Bibles, it was found that many communities had hardly a Bible. In 18 12, when Louisiana was admitted to the Union, a long search was made for a Bible on which to administer the oath of office. At last a priest was discovered who had a copy of the Latin Vulgate. It was esti- mated that there were at least 78,000 families desti- tute of the Word of God. Organization of In 1816 a Convention of delegates American Bible representing thirty-one institutions Society. ^^3 called in New York City, and the American Bible Society was org^inized. Some of the most distinguished men of the nation were present at the meeting. Among them was Hon. Elias Boudi- not, then president of the New Jersey Bible Society, and distinguished for his services during the Revolu- tion; Samuel J. Mills, a moving spirit in the first organized Foreign Mission work in America; Rev. Lyman Beecher, John Griscom, Valentine Mott, the great surgeon; Joseph C. Hornblower, later Chief Justice of New Jersey; James Fenimore Cooper, Eliphalet Nott, William Jay, Col. Richard Varick, and others hardly less distinguished. The following week. May 13, 1 8 16, a great ratification meeting was held in the Sessions Court Room of New York's beauti- i^o The Bible and Missions ful new City Hall, now the Board of Estimates' room in New York's beautiful old City Hall. Distinguished The first President of the Society was names in the Boudinot; and Hon. John Jay, the Society. f^rst Chief Justice of the United States, became first Vice-President and later the second President of the Society. From that day to the present a long line of distinguished Americans have backed the Society with their influence and their active support. President John Quincy Adams for thirty years continued his active connection with the Society. Other Presidents, Andrew Jackson, Zachary Taylor, Ulysses S. Grant, Rutherford B. Hayes, Benjamin Harrison, Grover Cleveland, Theo- dore Roosevelt, and Woodrow Wilson have, by their outspoken advocacy, furthered the great ends of the Society. So have Chief Justices Marshall, Chase, and Fuller, and Justices McLean, Harlan, Brewer, Hughes, and other members of the Supreme Court. Many Governors have given their hearty support, among them DeWitt Clinton, who while Governor of New York came down from Albany regularly to attend the monthly meetings of the Board of Mana- gers. If one were to run over the names of the men who have made the America of the last one hundred years, it is safe to say that the great majority of them have been men who honestly and cordially recognized the supreme value of the Bible in our national civil- ization, and were true friends of the American Bible Society. Bible recognized The founders of the Republic realized by founders of the the importance of the Bible, before Repubhc. ^j^y ^[^\q Society had been organized The Travels of the Book 151 in the whole world. Once in 1777 and again in 1782 the Congress of the United States took official ac- tion toward the obtaining and supplying of Bibles. England had retained the publication of the Bible in her own hands. None were published in the Colo- nies, and so with the opening of the Revolution the supply of Bibles was cut off. In 1777 Congress au- thorized its committee to import 20,000 copies of the Bible. **This order was accordingly made." In 1782 the first English Bible ever printed in the United States, that printed by Robert Aitken of Philadel- phia, was put out under the auspices of Congress by the passage of the following resolution: Sept. 2, 1782. Resolved, that the United States in Congress assembled recommend this edition of the Bible to the inhabitants of the United States. (Signed) Charles Thomson, Secretary. Common charac- Such in brief is the story of the teristicsofthe great founding of the three great Bible Bible Societies. Societies of the English-speaking na- tions. Certain principles and policies characterize all three. I. The printing of the Scripture without note or comment. This wise restriction has made it possible to serve churches of the most divergent views. 1. Publishing of translations into the languages of the non- Christian world. 3. Selling the books at so low a price as to put them within the reach of the poorest. In pursuance of this policy Bibles are often sold at a mere fraction of their cost. 4. The printing of separate portions as well as entire Testa- ments and Bibles. 152 The Bible and Missions 5. Defraying the cost of translations in the various mission fields of the world. In pursuance of their policy of translating the Scriptures these and the European Bible Societies have pushed out to the rim of the world, until today the Bible is the Universal Book. The prime reason for requiring the immigrants at Ellis Island to dem- onstrate their ability to read by reading from the Testament is bec,ause it is the only book published in all the languages spoken by the immigrants. Value of Bible Without the co-operation of these Societies in mis- great Bible Societies it is difficult to sionary enterprise, ggg ]^q^ ^j^g preparation of the trans- lations could have been financed. Year after year grants have been made to some missionary or com- mittee in aid of the translation of the Bible. The first book ever published by the British and Foreign Bible Society, in 1804, was St. John's Gospel in the language of the Mohawk Indians, a great expense for few people. The same society voted Morrison $50,- 000 for expenses incurred in preparing and printing his first Chinese Bible. With no niggardly hand the societies co-operate with the missionaries, preparing the versions, printing the editions, and sending them out, carriage free, to stations often most remote. From one agency in one year missions of seventeen differ- ent denominations have been supplied with Bibles. Enormous and The cnormous and continuous sale continuous sale of of the Bible Staggers belief. Year the Bible. after year, decade after decade, the sale goes on, gathering volume as it goes. It is diffi- cult to bring together the total sales. There are the Bible Societies, the commercial publishing houses -^•'\^ ^.^f -'^S»m. «^''f> . -■ ^ "^^- THE OLD, OLD STORY IN THE PHILIPPINES The Travels of the Book 153 such as The Oxford Press, or The Nelsons; there are denominational publishing houses; missions such as the Scripture Gift Mission, the Pocket Testament League, the Los Angeles Bible House, and scores of others. It is estimated that 35,000,000 Bibles, Testa- ments, and Gospels were issued in 19 19, three-fourths of which were published by the Bible Societies throughout the world. In 1913 Japan bought 586,667 Bibles, Testaments, and Gospels. For several years the Bible has been the best seller in Japan, as it has in China, which in 1916 bought 2,271,771 copies of either Bible, Testament, or Gospel; in 1913 Korea purchased 389,401. The Filipino people in 1917 bought 119,409 volumes in fifteen languages. Salesof Bible com- The significance of the sale .of the pared with those Bible is sccn Only when its sales are of other books. compared with those of other books. In Christian countries there is no novelty to com- mend it, yet it sells steadily without any press agents or book notices. The most popular modern English author is Charles Dickens. It has been computed that since Pickwick Papers appeared 25,000,000 copies of Dickens's works have been published. The Bible sold 35,000,000 in one year. Said a New York book-seller, **You may talk as you will of your multitudinous editions of popular novels, but the Bible leads them all, year in and year out." It is difficult to realize how many thirty-five million books are. Suppose, beginning at New York City and traveling to San Francisco, eight Bibles or Testaments were deposited at the foot of each telegraph pole beside the railroad track, there would be forty thousand left, out of the first million, when the Golden Gate of San Francisco I (;4 Till" l>nu I .\n!> Missions was ic\ulu'il. .At (lu'cMul o\ (he (lurtv-stxth crc^ssiiig (>r tlu' ^.iMUituMit , .itiiM ionsinniii^ at least thicc months of turn-, (heir \vi>viKl l>o 44».\«.\.\'' Hihlcs rc- maitun!', utuU"|>osi(iil. CMjiisCn llu" HlhU" Soe'uMK'S ilo lUOlC [\\M\ \t\^t\bo\\d». i\\\A\\(C l>ihlr translation an^l piiiu all knuls (>t i\htioi\s o[ the Hihlc, Iml; an^l little, and si'll iiitnnnerahle eopies. V\\c\ promote its sales thiAnii'.h pevllets <">[ (he Kook, Hihle \ aL',ahoiuls, (.'imst's W anvletets. No ehapter ot christian l\eri>- isn\ is more splendul than that whieh reeoiints the stoiv ol (he C'ol|>or(er, luimhle like his Master, anvl like his Master L',omj\ about to ilo t^^>^l. The C\>l|H>rter is uhu|uitinis. ^ i>ii eai\ iu>t lose hiin. II Noii aseeiul to (he tro.-ei\ \or(h, \\c is (here; it Vi>vi IniiN- Nourselt m (he s(eam\ dejMhs ot a Siuith Ametiean rner forest, \\c is ahead o\ nou; it vou climh (he 1 limala\ as aiul pened.ue some hiL^h pass in lihel, \ ou will find his tv>otprints. i^n his hiey- ile he luims alvM);; the hi>d\\\ avs ot the l*\ir West; iMi his snow slu>es he finds the lumheriaeks ii\ the Im|', (imher; his trust n l'\Md is seen skimming vner tlic plains. IK- j>addles vlow n still ri\-ers m aw Atrieaii dvii^out, or paeks his Hihles oi\ a Russian sled ii\ the tri>.-en tastnv'sses vM Siberia. i\>ijs>uvns n\ These eolpvMters are ot all raecs as rvriy tauvi. u,-|l .is \\\ c\cv\ nation. Thev arc the Jv^hn (he Haptists wiio prepare it\ the desert a hi^^hwav tvM (he missivMiaries. /; u\:s .; [}\:p,iHi'S(' co/pon'r' who was visiting the sehvH>ls \n Kai;v>shn)\a it\ January, 1014, ai\d trvinLj to sell Hibles to the stvulents in a laii^e medieal sehovtj: 'I'm. Travi-.i.s or rwi. Hf)()K i<;^ "I don't want to rcid any aruirnt cotu cplKin . of two flioir.arid years ago," said a studirit s( oindilly. "'\\\v sun was created niillions of years ago," said ilir (olpor- tcr, "l)u( its liglit still wanir. w,." And lie sold liis Ixiok. // ivas a (Chinese (:()l[)()}tfr who rcporlcd, "When I come to vilhiges where I have oflen been before, the children run to Duel u\(\ ( rynig, "I'he man with the lieiivenly hooks is here.' // was (Uiothcr (Chinese colp()rlcr\ Khoo C'hiimjj; Hee of Singa|K)re, who took lon^^ journeys to Sumatra and Johore, which necessitated his leavin^^ wile and fami- ly for months, while he carried the Hi hie to hostile Moslem villages and actually succeeded in selling i2,Hoo copies of the Scriptures. // was a linly^aria)i ro/poifcr who came upon a gipsy camp and read the d'ospel to them until midnight, with the result that they hought all his store of 'J'cstaments and Psalters. // was a llr/yia)i col poller^ Canlrie/, who got \\\) every riiorning at 4.J0 lor nine days in succession that he might sell his Hihles during the popular j)ilgrimagcs near Nannn-. // was a MajichnriaN colportcr who preached daily and sold IVd)les at the Mongolian Temple hair where 2,300 Buddhist Llamas were assend)led. It was a "-J' ami I col porter in South India who gave Gospels to some palm-cTunhers in exchange for cocoanuts, because they had no money. // was Old Kitn^ the tii^cr binitcr^ whom Hishop Lamhuth nut in Korea, "a gri/./led old man with weather-heaten lace and i.unhurned nee I; and shoul- ders furrowed hy the claws of more than one tiger. 'What have you in that hag, I5rcjther Kim?* 156 The Bible and Missions 'Ammunition/ was his laconic reply with a smile, as he showed his New Testament and hymn book. *Do you no longer hunt tigers?' *Noj Moksa, I am hunting for men.*'* Colporters of true // was a Chinese colporter who sold heroic stuff. himself as a slave so that in the hold of a coolie ship on the voyage to South America and in the mines he might tell his countrymen of Jesus. They were Tahitian sellers of the Book whose canoe was overturned one day in the boiling surf two miles off shore. When William Ellis went to their rescue he found the men supporting themselves on their paddles. They said that when the canoe sunk they forgot to be afraid of the sharks because they were thinking about their Bibles carefully wrapped in cloth and tied to the mast. // was English George Borrow^ most noted of col- porters, who edited the Manchu New Testament in St. Petersburg, took journeys that carried him to the remotest parts of Spain, and out of them wrote his famous and altogether delightful Bible in Spain, It was a Greek colporter who visited every hoiise in Athens in 1913. New Testament in In Japan, through the co-operation Japanese prisons, of the missionaries and the churches, a copy of the New Testament has been given recently to each of the twenty-six thousand prisoners in the part of Japan served by the American Bible Society. The great undertaking was conceived in the heart of a humble Japanese colporter who went out to walk one Sunday morning and passed by the big prison in Kofu. As he thought of the wretched prisoners with- in the gloomy pile, he remembered his own salvation The Travels of the Boofc 157 from a life of sin by Christ; his heart melted in com- passion, and a voice seemed to say, "Tomorrow go there with your Bibles.'* He secured permission of the prison officials to present each of the eight hundred prisoners with a New Testament, if the books could be given free of charge. Confident that the Lord would supply him the funds, he stepped into the store of a prosperous merchant — not a Christian — and told him his story. **That is just what I would be glad to do! I will give you the money," said the merchant. A prison officer Within a Week several carloads of impressed. New Testaments were at the prison gate and the surprised official, who had never ex- pected that his conditions could be fulfilled, was saying, **Why is it that you have worked with such energy, baffled by no obstacles, to do this thing for these miserable men.^ I can not understand it.'* For over an hour the colporter opened the Scriptures and preached unto him Jesus. With tears in his eyes the official said, ''Thank you for what you have done and said. I have known little about Christianity, but now for the first time I have some understanding of the true spirit of your Christ." Gifts from Jap- The changed attitude of the Japanese anese Christians. Government is seen in the fact that permission was given later to carry out the larger project of giving a Testament to the twenty-six thousand prisoners. When the project was known money began to come in from the missionaries, the churches, and the Sunday Schools. Baron Morimura heard of it and sent 300 yen. He was himself con- 158 The Bible and Missions verted by reading Kochi Sari's book, My Twenty- three Years in Prison^ and ever since his conversion has been deeply interested in work among prisoners. Since this distribution of Bibles the Christian Governor of Kosuge prison reports that the Govern- ment has made it a rule to furnish each new pris- oner's cell with a copy of both the Christian and the Buddhist Scriptures. Christ in a It is only necessary to allude to the Korean prison. story of Syngman Rhee, the highly educated young Korean revolutionist, who was converted by reading the New Testament while suffering the agonies of one of the fetid prisons of the old days in Korea. In the prison with his feet in the stocks he cried, **0 God, save my country, save my soul!" When he found Christ, he began to wit- ness to the prisoners and to the jailer who, like that jailer long ago, believed with all his house and was baptized. Dr. Rhee conducted classes for the prisoners and before his release had won more than forty to Christ, men perfected in suffering, who went forth for the regeneration of Korea. Dr. Rhee him- self left Korea when Japan took control, and went to the Hawaiian Islands, where he was appointed direc- tor of schools for the very large Korean population by the Hawaiian Conference of the Methodist Epis- copal Church. Sherwood Eddy tells his story fully in his book, T^he New Era in Asia. A Chinese Phil- It was the Bible that found Mr. anthropist gives Yung Tao, a rich and successful busi- New Testament, j^^gg j^^j^ q£ Peking, who since 1 900 has devoted himself to philanthropy and social welfare. So interested was he in the development of his na- The Travels of the Book 159 tion that he undertook the education of four hundred young men in the Y. M. C. A. schools in North China. After long search through the various religions of the world he applied himself to the study of the Bible and became convinced of its supreme value. In 1914 he bought five thousand New Testaments, some of them in expensive bindings, to present to his friends. In 1 91 5 he gave an order for ten thousand Chinese Bibles in special binding, saying that it was his intention ultimately to distribute fifty thousand. Each of these Bibles contained a slip saying, **Re- spectfully presented by Yung Tao, who is not a church member." Not contented with giving Bibles, recommending them, and joining the Centenary Committee of the American Bible Society, Yung Tao gave an hour every day to the further study of the Bible with Mr. Edwards of the Peking Y. M. C. A. The result was that he who had so steadfastly com- mended the Book while declaring that he was not himself a Christian became a humble, ardent dis- ciple of Jesus, and was baptized by Rev. Chauncey Goodrich at the time of the Bible Society Centenary, May 17, 1 91 6. Twenty-seven others were baptized with him. That afternoon in Central Park, a beau- tiful place filled with huge old cypress trees, Yung Tao spoke before four thousand people of the power of the Bible to change men's hearts. The Bible finds A Hindu fakir with matted hair and a Hindu /a/c/r. ash-besmeared body was sitting lost in meditation, when he chanced to see some torn leaves of a book, a part of John's Gospel, which some one had tossed away. He read words that were like water to a man dying of thirst. He showed his torn i6o The Bible and Missions leaves to an Englishman and asked him if he obeyed it. The Englishman confessed his faith in it, and as he handed it back th.Q fakir noticed that he wore a black band on his sleeve. Concluding that this was the caste mark of one who obeyed the wonderful shastra he had found, t\\Q fakir put a black band on his own arm, as the badge of his new faith. Months later he wandered into a Christian church and pointed to his arm-band as proof of his discipleship. When he learned that it was an English sign of the death of some loved one, he said, "But I read in the Book that my Loved One has died, so I shall wear it in memory of him." When later he received an entire New Testament and learned the gospel of the resur- rection, a new light shone in his face; and this be- came the badge of his discipleship instead of the black band which he took from his arm. Ministry to the In addition to the regular work of the soldiers. Bible Societies there is their wonder- ful ministry to the soldiers in time of war. In the Crimean and Franco-Prussian Wars, the War of Italian Liberation, the Boer War, the Russo-Japa- nese War, and, most of all, in the great World W^ar the presses have been kept running night and day to supply the demands of the army. The American Bible Society has issued for the use of soldiers and sailors, since the World War began, 4,541,455 volumes. For the fighting forces in Europe the Society has supplied 1,846,488 Scriptures in whole or in part since the War began. The British and Foreign Bible Socie- ty has distributed 7,000,000 Bibles, Testaments, and portions during the same period, not only among the troops of the British Empire, and the Allies and MISS ANNA JOHNSON— MR. WM. McPHERSON Teaching a Blind and Crippled Man to Read Braille with his Tongue. The Travels of the Book i6t assistants, but also among all their foes, in the very ranks of their bitterest enemies. The National Bible Society of Scotland has distributed during four and one-half years 5,020,000 Bibles, Testaments, or portions. In all more than sixteen and one-half million copies have been distributed in eighty-one languages; thirty-four languages originating in Eu- rope, five in Asia Minor, twelve in Asia, eighteen in Africa, three in North America, and nine in the Is- lands of the Seas. Such a distribution, with the accompanying first- hand acquaintance of the Scriptures gained by sol- diers not alone in the camps and hospitals of Europe, but in Egypt, in war-torn Equatorial Africa, in Arabia, Mesopotamia, Syria, Asia Minor, Persia, and China, is one of the profoundest efforts for the furtherance of the gospel proceeding from the great World War. A Sower has indeed gone forth to sow on the blood-stained fields of war. Some of the harvests will wave with golden grain a century hence. Widespread con- The great distribution enlisted wide- tributions to the spread interest. The New York Globe ^^^- conducted a campaign yielding $5,- 000, The Atlanta Journal $4,490, and from thirty- two other daily newspapers from every part of the country came equally energetic and enthusiastic support. ''Governors, Members of Congress, Judges, philanthropists, editors, merchants, mechanics, clerks, sisters, mothers, housemaids, children, G.A.R. veterans, officers and soldiers in the ranks, churches, banks, department stores, theatres*' all helped. The money came in large gifts, small gifts, gifts of jewelry, of Liberty Bonds, of precious mementoes. Gifts i62 The Bible and Missions came, too, from the ends of the earth. General Hsiung Keh-Wu, Commander-in-Chief of the South- ern forces in Szechuan, sent two hundred Bank of China notes ($80.00) saying, "I know that what the Bible teaches makes men and nations great." Approval of The distribution of Bibles among military leaders, the troops had the warm approval of the great military leaders. The Commander-in- Chief of the Allied armies. General Foch, wrote to the New York Bible Society: "La Bible est certainement le meilleur viatique que vous puissiez donner au Soldat Americain partant a la Bataille pour entretenir son magnifique Ideal et sa foi." Pershing cabled, *'I am glad to see that every man in the army is to have a Testament. Its teachings will fortify us for our great task." Leonard Wood wrote, *'If we can put the spirit of the Bible into our army, we need have no fear of the result." Field Marshal Haig sent a message to the American soldier through the New York Bible Society, ''Knock impossibilities on the head; do it now. God is with you." Field Marshal Lord Roberts said to the British troops when crossing the Channel, "You will find in this little volume guidance when you are in health, com- fort when you are in sickness, and strength when you are in adversity." Vice-President Thomas R. Marshall wrote, "The pocket New Testament is the most valuable thing which the soldier carries into the fight with him." President Wilson wrote, "They (the men of the army and navy) will need the support of the only Book from which they can get it." Theodore Roosevelt wrote to the American Bible Society, "Every soldier and sailor of the United The Travels of the Book 163 States should have a Testament." Abraham Lincoln said it all long ago, during the years of the Civil War, when he said of the Bible, '*It is the best Book that God has given to men." The boys welcome That the Testaments were joyfully the Testament. received no one could doubt who ever saw the boys standing in line to get them, or read their letters which poured into the Bible House in a steady stream. 'Tve been reading this and it has changed my life," Fighting Pat O'Brien of the Royal Flying Corps wrote. "A lot of men who have never thought much about religion are thinking about it now. I believe they will read those little khaki Testaments and I am sure they will get help from them." "It is strange how some people are affected by things," remarked the Camp Secretary. ''Now there was that private at Camp Custer. He wanted a Testament, although he could neither read nor write. T can't read,' he said, 'but I like to feel one in my pocket.' " The Pocket Testa- More than seventy thousand men ment League. signed the cards, "I accept Christ," in the handsome little Pocket-League Testament. These Testaments were presented personally to the men in the camps by members of the Business Men's War Council of the Pocket Testament League, who toured the camps giving out great numbers of them to those who would join the Pocket Testament League by promising to carry a Testament with them always, and to make a practice of reading it daily. Story of its The story of the Pocket Testament beginning. League itself is a wonderful example 164 The Bible and Missions of the living power of the gospel. Some years ago Miss Cadbury, a young girl living in Birmingham, England, decided always to carry a Testament in her pocket. Other girls did the same. Later the League was extended to all sorts and conditions of men and women. In 1908, when Miss Cadbury be- came Mrs. Charles M. Alexander, her husband and Dr. J. Wilbur Chapman launched the League to endeavor to get people to read at least a chapter a day. More than 365,000 British soldiers joined the League during the four years of the war. In the Valley of In this war, as in every other since the Shadow. the British and Foreign Bible Society began its ministry, one hundred years ago, out of the depths men have cried unto God. After the bloody battle of Stone River during the Civil War, a lad of nineteen was found dead, leaning against the stump of a tree. His dead eyes were open, his face smiling, his hand laid on his open Bible at the words, ''Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for thou art with me." Seed sown by the Thousands have taken the books and wayside. got no good; thousands have carried them in their pockets as a talisman and felt little benefit; some have thrown them away or sold them; but thousands upon thousands have discovered the Word of God, and in that discovery have found their Father. Such a sowing in the blood-drenched fields of war has never been known. Some practical Pointing morals is not fashionable, pointers for Bible but there are some morals that point lovers. ijj^g ^ gyroscopic compass. The facts The Travels of the Book 165 of this chapter certahily have practical bearings on every Christian Hfe: 1 . The duty and privilege of joining the army of Bible readers. 2. The financial support of the Bible Societies. 3. The custom of carrying about Testaments or Bible por- tions in the language of some immigrant peoples and giving them out as opportunity offers. 4. The launching of a National Campaign of Bible selling and Bible distribution. 5. Increased honor of the Bible in our churches and homes. 6. Furthering the enrollment in the Pocket Testament League. 7. A campaign of newspaper publicity. Financial support It is to be feared that thousands of of the Societies. individuals and churches do not realize that the great Bible Societies need con- tinuous financial support if they are to maintain their blessed ministry. In the early years Bible Day was regularly observed each year in hundreds of churches. Now in thousands it is never mentioned. If every Sunday School member were asked to give five cents annually on a Bible Day, in which the glorious minis- try of the American Bible Society was clearly pre- sented, a fund of a million dollars a year would be placed in the hands of the Society. What this would mean in extending the influence of the Word of God, no words are vigorous enough to express. Some de- nominations have a noble record of faithful support of the Bible Society. Others are not so well repre- sented. Doubtless this is through failure to recognize that funds are actually needed. A perusal of the Annual Report of the American Bible Society will reveal whether our own church is honoring its devo- tion to the Bible in this tangible evidence of interest. OUTLINE OF CHAPTER V. Aim: To show that the Bible has a message for nations; that nations are held accountable for national sins; that the Bible conceptions lie at the bottom of all that is best in the laws and ideals of modern Christian nations, and that in the non- Christian nations the influence of the Bible is plainly seen. I. The Bible message for nations. 1. Their accountability to the laws of God. 2. Their punishment for national sins. II. Biblical foundations in modern Christian nations. 1. Influence on the arts. 2. Influence on Law. a. European codes. b. Roman law. c. English law. (Illustrations.) d. American laws. (Testimony of great men.) 3. Influence through continuous education of church festi- vals and ordinances. a. The Sabbath, Sunday Schools, Christmas, Easter. b. Baptism, The Lord's'Supper. III. The Bible's Influence on non-Christian lands. 1. India, seen in growing appreciation of thoughtful men, changing status of women, loosening of caste bonds, rise of the Christian Community. 2. Africa, Uganda, among the Scchuana, the Hottentots. 3. New Zealand among the Maori. 4. Pacific Islands, testimony of Darwin; service and testimony of Chalmers and Paton. 5. Korea, a nation of Men of the Book. 6. Japan, influence of early Christians, testimony of Count Okuma, changing status of women, prison reform, func- tioning of Christian conscience. 7. China, influence of Christian missionaries, diplomats, education. Testimony of great officials. IV. The Bible goes back to its homeland. CHAPTER V. THE BIBLE^S INFLUENCE ON CIVILIZATION "Hold fast to the Bible as the sheet-anchor to your liberties, write its precepts in your hearts, and practice them in your lives. To the influence of this Book we are indebted for all progress made in our true civilization, and to this we must look as our guide in the future." t/. ^. Graw/, 1 8th President of the U. S. Topic of In preceding chapters we have out- Chapter, lined the Bible's own missionary character and message, have shown the enormous enterprise accomplished by Bible translators in fur- thering the worldwide propagation of the Christian message, and have discussed the rise and activities of the great Bible Societies which have made possible the worldwide distribution of the Scripture, through the co-operation of the various missionary agencies. In the present chapter we are to study the influence which the Bible exerts not alone upon individuals, but upon nations. The Bible has a The Bible has a message to the na- message to nations, tions. It Contains the story of one na- tion chosen by God for a great mission to the whole world. It addresses the nations almost as super- personalities, and plainly recognizes them as having an organic life and a national responsibility to the God of nations. Human society according to the Bible rests on no 'social contract,' but inheres in the plan of the Creator, who made men and nations to be members of one another in one great human family. National sins pay So Strong is the scnse of responsi- nationai penalties, bility to God on the part of nations and of smaller social groups that the Bible is full i68 The Bible and Missions of reproofs and dooms pronounced against those nations which forsook God. Jesus' woe pronounced upon Capernaum and Bethsaida (Matt, xi, 20-25) is in line with the dooms which the prophets pro- nounced against nations and cities at the very hour when their arrogant wickedness strutted defiant before the face of God. These prophecies make great reading to the traveler in Mesopotamia and Syria. Cyrus Hamlin A colonel in the Turkish army once and the Turkish asked Dr. Cyrus Hamlin, in Con- coionei. stantinople, for a proof that the Bible is the word of God. Dr. Hamlin did not immediately answer, but, learning that the colonel was a traveled man, he said to him: "Have you ever been in Babylon?" "Yes," replied the colonel, "and I will tell you a curious incident. The ruins of Babylon abound in game; and once, engaging a sheikh with his followers, I arrived among the ruins for a week's shooting. At sundown the Arabs, to my amazement, began to strike their tents. I went to the sheikh and protested most strongly. I was paying him handsomely, but I now offered to double the amount; but nothing I could say had any effect. 'It is not safe,* said the sheikh, 'no mortal flesh dare stay here after sunset. Ghosts and ghouls come out of the holes and caverns after dark, and whom- soever they capture becomes one of themselves. No Arab has ever seen the sun go down on Babylon.' " Dr. Hamlin took out his Bible and read from the thirteenth of Isaiah: "And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldeans* pride, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. The Influence of the Book 169 It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation; neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there, but wild beasts of the desert shall lie there, and wolves shall cry- in their castles, and jackals in the pleasant palaces." (Isaiah xiii, 19). "That is history you have been reading,'* said the Turk. **No," said Dr. Hamlin, "it is prophecy. Those words were written when Babylon was in all her glory; and you know what Babylon is today.'* Biblical founda- No teaching is more needed today tions of modem than the plain Bible doctrine that civilization. Q^^ h^s a will for the nations; that they are subject to his law, that those who break it will be punished as nations; that the Kingdom of God is no iridescent dream, but a great reality to be accomplished in this world through our co-opera- tion with the God of Nations in the upbuilding of human society. Were there opportunity in this brief sketch, it would be of wonderful interest to study the way in which the Bible has been wrought into the very substance of our civilization, modifying, or creating many of its features. Imperfectly obeyed and only partially known as the Bible teachings have been, they have laid the foundations of all that is glorious in modern civilization. There is room barely to allude to this phase of the question, since our main business is with the influence of the Bible in the nations among which the modern missionary enterprise is at work. The Bible influ- The change from the roll to the parch- cnces the Arte. ment volume was made by the 170 The Bible and Missions Church in the copying of the Bible, so that we are indebted to the Bible that we read from 'biblia and not from rolls. In the illuminating of the old vellum manuscripts of the Bible, in the decorating of the churches with paintings of scriptural scenes, in the manufacture of jeweled cups and chalices, in the weaving of altar cloths, the artisans of the middle ages found the inspiration of their crafts. Lamps, cups of glass or gold or silver, ivory tablets and carv- ings, vestments and curtains, cathedrals and town halls, all show the ever-present influence of the Bible. The architects, the painters, the sculptors, the gold and silver smiths, the leather workers, the carpenters, the weavers, the lace-workers, all found the Bible molding and developing their crafts. Says Von Dobschiitz: "It was the Christian church which served to keep the old civilization alive through all troubles and dangers. When classi- cal training had nearly vanished everywhere else, it was found in some remote monasteries. Esteem of good style, love of ancient poetry, some chance bits of philosophy had safely weathered the storm. But it was only in combination with the Bible that those remains of classical reading were allowed to persist. The mediaeval civilization was Biblical at its base." The Bible influ- A young man who thought himself ences Law. an unbeliever started to read law. As he read Blackstone's Commentaries he continual- ly came upon references to the Laws of Moses as to a source undoubted and indisputable. Turning to study the Bible, which he had always neglected and despised, he was surprised to find how its principles underlay law, and, as he read, he became himself a believer. When King Alfred the Great collected to- gether the old Saxon laws for his people, he put the The Influence of the Book 171 Ten Commandments at the beginning as the basal law of the land. The old German collections likewise, Schwabenspiegel^ Sachsenspiegel^ etc., present the law as based on the law of God contained in the Bible. The Canon Law quite naturally incorporated much from the Bible, though it often departed widely from Its spirit in favor of more autocratic sources. The wonderful body of Roman Law was also deeply affected by principles derived from the Bible. The principles underlying Hebrew laws and the teachings of the New Testament were so wrought into the structure of Roman Law in the codes of Theodosius and Justinian as permanently to shape it. (See chap- ter V, vol. I, Millman's Latin Christianity)) The Bible in English law was least influenced by English Law. Roman law. **Down through the ages," says Tenney in his Contrasts in Social Pro- gress^ "they (the English) pushed phrase upon phrase of Christian edict He will never understand how justice has come into the English world and fair dealing and kindness between neighbors, purity and self-control, who does not detect the hoary heads of sermons upon the pages of its black-letter law books. In the reign of Henry VIII. one hundred and sixty chancellors, and all the masters of the rolls during the first twenty-six years, were clergymen. The moral principles of Christianity as elaborated during many centuries were thus transmuted daily into law." Take for example the statement of Edward the Conqueror: "We know that through God*s grace a thrall has become a thane, and a churl has become an earl, a singer a priest, and a scribe a bishop; and formerly, as God decreed, a fisher became a bishop. i'/^ The Bible and Missions We have all one Heavenly Father, one spiritual mother which is called the Church, and we are there- fore brothers." "Christian law, the guardian angel of a hundred generations, the absolute justice of the state, en- lightened by the perfect reason of the state, is little else than the attempt to reduce the Golden Rule to practice,'* says Choate. '*In two minutes I can tell you how to be a good lawyer — as good a lawyer as anybody," said Gover- nor Briggs of Massachusetts. **Just look over your case carefully, understand it, and then do what you think is right, and in nine cases out of ten you will have the law on your side." Slow conquest of Great evils, to be sure, have been en- Bibiicai ideals. trenched in the law of Christian lands for centuries. The principles of the Bible have pene- trated slowly and with infinite difficulty into the violent and cruel lives of men; but, when once it has been clearly seen by any great number of the people that a cause, an institution, or a form of government is contrary to the Gospel, that day the cause, or institution, or government is doomed. The Bible influ- When we turn to our own country ences Constitution for an illustration of the influence of of United States, the Bible on national life and customs and character, the evidence is overwhelming. The Pilgrim Fathers came to America that they might freely carry out the principles they found in their Bibles. A small band of them protested against cur- rent ideas of political and religious freedom and were driven into the wilderness of Rhode Island. There they planted a State based squarely upon the prin- The Influence of the Book 173 ciples of soul liberty, individual accountability, and God's government of nations. Ultimately they have given their ideals to the whole nation, as Oscar Strauss points out in his Life of Roger Williams. Illustrations of (i) When Jefferson drew up the Dec- Bible's influence, laration of Independence he stated that he had drawn many of the principles from his observations of the practices of self-government in a local Baptist Church. The earlier Mecklenburg Declaration was drawn up by delegates of Presbyte- rian churches. (2) It was Abraham Lincoln, a man steeped in the knowledge and love of the Bible, who blackened out from our laws the statutes permitting slavery. (3) It was the Supreme Court of the United States which handed down a decision affirming that this is a Christian country. Testimony of There is an embarrassment of riches great men. when one turns to the great men of all nations for their testimony regarding the influ- ence of the Bible on civil law and the institutions of free government. Said John Quincy Adams, "In whatsoever light we regard the Bible, whether with reference to revelation, to history, or to morality, it is an invaluable and inexhaustible mine of knowl- edge and virtue." Wrote Horace Greeley, "It is impossible mentally or socially to enslave a Bible- reading people. The principles of the Bible are the groundwork of human freedom." Queen Victoria gave a Bible to a pagan ambassador who had in- quired the secret of England's greatness, saying, "This is the secret of England's greatness." Froude, in his essay on Calvinism, says, "All that we call 174 The Bible and Missions modern civilization, in a sense which deserves the name, is the visible expression of the transforming power of the gospel." The new Commissioner from the Philippines, Teodora Yanco, said recently that his predecessor, Mr. Quezon, told him, ''Study the Bible because the Bible is the underlying secret of American philanthropy. The business men of Amer- ica have been launched into all kinds of philanthropic effort in behalf of their fellow men, because America is a land where the Bible is honored and read." Of the Bible said Garibaldi, 'This is the cannon that will make Italy free." Six years ago the Governor of Michigan declared in a message to the State Legisla- ture, "The Bible is our Constitution of Christian Civilization." Said Gladstone, "My only hope for the world is in bringing the human mind into contact with Divine revelation." Said G. Stanley Hall in an address on The Teaching of Morals, "To cultivate morality one must appeal, as the Bible does, to the moral sense rather than to reason. Hence life must be leavened with religion and children infected with Christianity." Of Justice Harlan of the Supreme Court it was said that he went to his rest each night with one hand on the Bible and the other on the Constitution of the United States. The Bible influ- Modern music was born in the service ences music. of the Church. The greatest music that has ever been written is Christian in its occasion, theme, or inspiration. Outside of nations under the fructifying and radiant impulses of the gospel, no great music has ever arisen. The great masters have been the servants of the Bible. The Influence of the Book 175 The Bible infiu- President Schurman of Cornell has ences through Commented on the educative power church ordinances of the Christian Sabbath on our na- and festivals. ^ional life. Week after week, month after month, year after year, century after century, the hearts of the people are summoned to the thought of God through the recurring Christian fes- tival of the Sabbath. At least four hundred thousand sermons based on the Bible are preached every week in gatherings held for religious purposes. We com- plain sometimes that people do not go to church. The miracle is that there is one topic which for fifty-two weeks in a year, for one hundred years in a century, can draw people out to hear it discussed by men of usually no more than ordinary ability. A great speak- er might fill the largest hall on a political topic for two or three or possibly ten weeks running. There is no topic but religion which could get him an audi- ence for a year, much less for two or ten. "Every period of English-speaking history assures us that our moral power increases or weakens with the rise or fall of Sabbath reverence," says McAfee in ne Greatest English Classic. It is worthy of remark that no religion except the Christian has developed any- thing comparable to the local congregational groups meeting weekly for social worship, fellowship, and instruction. This is a characteristic functioning of Christianity of enormous social power. Join to the Sabbath, the Sunday School, the Christmas and Easter festivals, the ordinances of baptism and the Lord's Supper, and you have a group of institutions whose steady pressure upon the national life is as immeasurable as it is unnoted. 176 The Bible and Missions The Bible influ- Turning from Christian nations, or ence on non-Chris- more properly nations on the road to tian nations. bccome Christian, let us consider the marvelous transforming influence of the Bible as seen today at work in the so-called non-Christian nations of the world. In considering this we shall not em- phasize the direct religious influence which is pri- marily exerted upon individuals, the cell-life of nations, but consider rather those lower and more ob- vious effects to be seen in customs and institutions. In reality when we know the revolutionary power of the Christian gospel upon individuals, we need not stop to consider anything else, since what changes the cell changes the organism. But in deference to our slowness-of-heart-to-believe in that which is spiritual and unseen the lesser inquiry has its place, innuence of Bible India, one of the great heathen na- on India. tions (non-Christian seems too weak a term to describe India's spiritual wire entangle- ments) has been longest under the impact of civiliza- tion colored by Biblical conceptions and principles. India is one of the most difficult, if not the most difficult field in the world. Yet the traces of the Bible's influence in Indian life are written large for him who runs to read. An address was delivered to the students in St. Paul's College, Calcutta, recently, by a leading Hindu, Sir Narayan Chandavarkar, which shows the estimate placed on the Bible by leaders of Indian thought, even though they do not avow themselves Christian. He showed the students his well-worn pocket New Testament, told them that it had been his daily companion for thirty years, and recommended to them his daily habit of reading the The Influence of the Book: 177 Epistle of James before dawn, to lift their thoughts to God. Said one of the Indian Rajahs, ''If I were a mis- sionary I would not argue, I would distribute the New Testament." If the royal gentleman had con- sidered that even after a century of promotion of education by a Christian Government and by Chris- tian missions only one man in ten and one woman in a hundred can read, he might have recognized some other forms of Christian service as also needful. It was the Maha-Rajah of Travancore who gave this testimony to the power of the Bible, "Where do the English get their knowledge, intelligence, clever- ness, and power? It is their Bible which gives it to them; and now they have translated it into our language, bring it to us and say, 'Take it, read it, examine it, and see if it is not good.' Of one thing I am convinced, do what we will, oppose it as we may, it is the Christian Bible that will sooner or later work out the regeneration of our land." The elevation The evidences of the loosening of the of the outcastes. strangle-hold of caste have multiplied during the war. Many of these 53,000,000 dispossess- ed working people of India went into the war. They came back with a vision of a new world. The upper classes were obliged to break caste regulations in the very act of crossing the seas and in the multitudinous contacts on the journey and in the field. They re- turned with a new vision. In no respect is the influ- ence of the Bible to uplift whole communities more clearly seen than among these very outcaste Chris- tians, who are 'stepping down into Christianity,' as the Hindus say, at the rate of ten thousand a month. 178 The Bible and Missions When they become Christians, — poor and ignorant though they be — they begin to clean up. When plague comes these simple Christians, freed from the base superstition of other outcastes,obey the sanitary rules given them by the missionaries, and excite the superstitious envy of their neighbors by their immunity from plague. In education, too, the change is marked. While the census of 1901 showed that among the whole fifty-three millions of out- castes only one-half of one per cent were able to read, among the Christians the census of 191 1 showed a higher percentage of literacy than even that of the Brahmins; the Christian percentage of literacy being 22 per cent as compared with an average of 6 per cent for all India. Yet 80 per cent of the Chris- tian population is made up of 'untouchables.' An- other curious revelation of the fact that the Bible teaching does actually uplift socially and intellect- ually is that after becoming Christians the 'untouch- ables' are no longer considered 'untouchables' in many parts of India. Some of their children even become teachers in caste schools; not a few gain University degrees. The changing According to the most revered and status of woman, ancient Hindu laws, women are shut out from participation in social life, in religious privileges, in the kingdom of the mind. They are married in childhood, become mothers at the dawn of adolescence, and upon the death of their husbands are doomed to perpetual widowhood. During the hundred years in which India has been under the impact of Bible ideals these changeless customs and inhibitions affecting women have been silently under- The Influence of the Book 179 mined until today India is almost ready publicly to break with many customs long-buttressed by reli- gion. Indian women are demanding education, are entering professional life, are coming out of their seclusion. There is not a department in their life unaffected by contact with Christian women of the West, and by the diffusion of the Christian Scriptures. Uganda's marvel- Uganda is not only the scene of the ous transformation, rnost wonderful transformation of a whole people in all Africa, but one of the most won- derful in the whole world. Those who remember Stanley's description of the violence and evil which marked the life of the Baganda people, and his ap- peal for missionaries to their dark land can realize the miraculous change which has been effected in less than fifty years. From the days when King Mtesa wavered between belief and persecution, when the first Christian martyrs laid down their lives in flame and torture, when Bishop Hannington 'opened the way to Uganda with his life,' when Mackay toiled and Pilkington translated the Scripture is a time well within the memory of living men. Today the country is dotted with churches and school houses built and maintained by the people. There is a vast cathedral, the product of African workmanship and African gifts. In it a vested choir discourses sweet music and great multitudes kneel in prayer. Mis- sionaries drawn from the native church are freely supported among the heathen tribes. A constitu- tional monarchy with well-regulated laws has been established, and the Prime Minister, iVpolo Kagwa, a black statesman, attended the coronation of Edward VII. Not only did he attend the coronation. i8o The Bible and Missions but he wrote a delectable book about his experiences, on his return home, and multitudes of his country- men bought it and read it. Uganda today is no savage wilderness. It has its railways, its harnessed water- power, its post office and roads, its cultivated farms and neat homes. The Bible is the sole and sufficient cause of this transformation. There are other African tribes where trade has gone without the Bible and degraded the people even as it has purchased their goods. There are other peoples where European governments have taken control, only to ruin them. The missionary with his Bible got to Uganda, and got there first. Jean Mackenzie in her African Trail recounts how the coming of the Bible begot confidence and mutual trust between suspicious tribes: "Before the people of God began to spring up in the forest there was no intertribal talk of 'brother' unless between allied tribes. I once heard long talk of this matter on a forest journey. I had four hammock carriers, each of a different tribe. 'This walking that we walk today,' they told each other on that journey, 'is a strange walking for black people to walk; four men of four tribes walking in one company and doing one work. God alone could unite us after this fashion.' And to the white woman they said, 'Before the time of the things of God, not one of us but would have feared to meet the other. Ah, brothers, is it not a true word?' 'He tells the truth!' *And now, we eat together and we sleep together like people of one village.' " A story by David David Livingstone told how the Livingstone. teachers found the Sechuana Testa- ment a powerful weapon. They said, **We thought it was a charm of the white people to ward off sick- ness, or that it was a trap to catch us. We had never The Influence of the Book i8i heard of such a thing. Our fathers who have all died in the darkness could not tell us about it. We thought it was a thing to be spoken to; but now we know it has a tongue. It speaks and will speak to the whole world." Hottentot In 1 836 the wild men spoke for them- testimony. selves in a great meeting in London, convened by the London Missionary Society. Said the Hottentot delegate; ''When the Bible came to us we were naked; we lived in caves and on the tops of mountains; we painted our bodies with red paint. The Bible charmed us out of the caves and from the tops of the mountains. Now we know there is a God." The Bible infiu- The influence of the Bible in trans- ences the Maoris, forming the island tribes of the Pacif- ic has been marvelous. Maori soldiers have been among the best troops which New Zealand sent to the front in France. It is not three generations since their ancestors were naked savages. In 1839, with- out teacher or missionary, a solitary page of the catechism containing the Ten Commandments led one tribe to turn to the true God, to burn their idols, and to keep the Sabbath. One of the beautiful stories of those early days is of Tarore, the little daughter of Ngakuku, a converted chief. She always carried her father's copy of the Gospel of Luke, and, since she knew how to read, conducted the simple worship in her father's hut. At one time when he was traveling with an English party they halted for the night at Wairere, "flying water," and while they slept were attacked by a war party of the heathen. Ngakuku fled, carrying his little son, but in the con- fusion Tarore, sunk in sleep, was left behind. Her i82 The Bible and Missions murderers carried off her Gospel with the rest of the plunder. The robber chieftain read it, repented of his evil life, and longed to join the Christians. He wrote a letter to Ngakuku, asking permission to enter the chapel, and soon this Maori Christian and the murderer of his child ''were worshipping God together in the same place," as the Maori story has it. Charles Darwin Charles Darwin, the great naturalist, testifies. witnessed to the transformation which the Bible had wrought in Tahiti, one of the Society- Islands, when he visited the island in the Beagle in 1835. When the missionaries landed at Tahiti in 1796, the islanders were sunk in incredible degrada- tion. Constant war, shameless and bestial immorali- ty, cruelty and superstition that descended to human sacrifice darkened the land and made life hideous. At first there seemed to be no higher self to appeal to; the soul of the people seemed seared as if with a branding iron of evil. But after heroic suffering and faithful witnessing to the truth on the part of the missionaries, they saw Ezekiel's miracle of the valley of the dry bones wrought once more. Mr. Darwin made an inland trip through the island where he had every opportunity to observe the natives in their daily life. He wrote: "Before we laid ourselves down to sleep, the elder Tahitian fell on his knees, and with closed eyes repeated a long prayer in his native tongue. He prayed as a Christian should do, with fitting reverence, and without the fear of ridicule or any ostenta- tion of piety. At our meals neither of the men would taste food without saying beforehand a short grace. Those travelers who think that a Tahitian prays only when the eyes of the missionary are fixed on him should have slept with us that night on the mountain." He goes onto discuss the rumor "that theTahitians The Influence of the Book 183 had become a gloomy race, and lived in fear of the missionaries"; he says: "Of the latter feeling I saw no trace, unless, indeed, fear and respect be confounded under one name. Instead of discon- tent being a common feeling, it would be difficult in Europe to pick out of a crowd half so many merry and happy faces." He then replies to those who were ever ready to point out still-ex- isting defects in the South Sea Islanders, and blame the mission- aries for these. He continues: "They forget, or will not remem- ber, that human sacrifices and the power of an idolatrous priest- hood, a system of profligacy unparalleled in any other part of the world, infanticide, a consequence of that system, bloody wars where the conquerors spared neither women nor children, — that all these have been abolished, and that dishonesty, intemper- ance, and licentiousness have been greatly reduced by the intro- duction of Christianity. In a voyager, to forget these things would be base ingratitude; for, should he chance to be on the point of shipwreck on some unknown coast, he will devoutly pray that the lesson of the missionary may have extended thus far." Services of mis- The influence of the missionaries, sionaries to Pacific which is Only that of the Bible in- Islanders. carnated in a human life, has been one of the strongest agencies acting in behalf of the child races of the Pacific Islands in opposition to cruel greed and oppression. They were American mis- sionaries who exposed the infamies of the sandal- wood trade and the kidnapping of islanders for forced work in South America. It was the mission- ary hero, Rev. John G. Paton, whose revelations of the iniquities of the liquor traffic in the South Seas induced the Congress of the United States and the governments of Europe to prohibit by interna- tional agreement the sale of liquor to these islanders. It was James Chalmers, the Captain Greatheart of New Guinea, whose services made it possible for Great Britain to extend her sovereignty over a large part of New Guinea without bloodshed and with a 184 The Bible and Missions scrupulous safeguarding of native rights never be- fore known in such an agreement between white men and savages. Mr. Chalmers was cordially hated by land-grabbers and kidnappers of Kanaka labor. His influence with the government, because of his first- hand acquaintance with conditions gained by years of living among these men of the Stone Age was sufficient to get incorporated into the government's plan of administration and treaty with the natives the prohibition of the importation of firearms, in- toxicants, and explosives, the safeguarding of Kana- ka labor, and the prohibition of the sale of land by a native to a white man. The commander of the British man-of-war who saw these chieftains trust- ingly affix their mark to papers whose contents they could not read, in sturdy confidence that "Tamate" would not betray them, had a new vision of the power of Christian leadership. When in 1886 this militant missionary spoke of his years among savages he uttered this ringing testimony regarding the Bible's power to change native races: "I have had twcnty-onc years* experience among natives. I have seen the semiciviHzed and the uncivilized; I have lived with the Christian native and I have lived, dined, and slept with the cannibals For at least nine years of my life I have lived with the savages of New Guinea; but I have never yet met with a single man or woman, or a single people, that your civiliza- tion without Christianity has civilized Wherever there has been the slightest spark of civilization in the Southern Seas it has been because the gospel has been preached there, and wherever you find in the island of New Guinea a friendly people, there the missionaaries of the Cross have been preaching Christ. Civilizatiom! The rampart can only be stormed by those who car- ry the Cross." The Influence of the Book 185 Koreans, Men of Korea IS one of the outstanding in- the Book. Stances of the transforming effect of the Bible. When Christianity entered in 1884, the whole people were sodden in superstition and spirit- less from centuries of grinding between the upper and the nether millstones of China and Japan. The Kore- an Government was a mixture of corruption and weakness. Of public spirit there was none visible. But the Koreans in multitudes have become Men of the Book. They have supported their own churches and built them; they have sent their children to school and paid for their schooling. Of their language it can be said as was said of the Greek language, that it has *risen from the dead with the New Testament in its hand.' Upon such a people, newly awakened from the sleep of centuries, Japan imposed a policy of forcible assimilation. There are new blood and iron in the soul of Korea to meet Japan's policy of *blood and iron.' In a resistance devoid of violence, but full of quiet dignity and dauntless courage, Korea has appealed to that public opinion of the world which is itself the slow creation of the Bible's pressure upon the soul of humanity. The suffering of those who have died is not in vain. Korea in the might of meekness has saved her soul. All the gener- ous elements in Japan have been stirred to shame as they have read the story of militarism's doings in Korea. Sooner or later Korea will win either her absolute freedom or such an honorable part in the Empire of Japan as Canada has in the British Em- pire. It will be the Bible's influence, the Bible that put a new soul into Korea, the Bible which is build- ing up a new ideal in Japan. i86 The Bible and Missions Japan's debt to The outstanding influence of Bible the Bible. Christianity in Japan has been freely- acknowledged by leading Japanese statesmen and thinkers. The words of Count Okuma, the Prime Minister, sum up testimonies that might be quoted from many others to like effect: "Although Christianity has enrolled less than two hundred thousand believers yet the direct influence of Christianity has poured into every realm of Japanese life Christianity has afl^ected us not only in such superficial ways as the observance of Sunday, but also in our ideals concerning political institutions, the family, and woman's station Japan received Buddhism and Confucianism from India, China, and Korea, and under their influence she declined. But under the impact of Western Chris- tianized thought Japan has revived." The disproportionate influence of Christian Japanese on their government was clearly seen in the first Parliament of 1880, when out of three hundred members thirteen were Christian, including the Speaker of the House. It is due to these outstanding Christians that the Bible's principles have gained recognition in the public life of Japan. Christian music The music of Christianity has pro- in Japan. foundly modified the music of Japan. When the missionaries first began to teach the children to sing it was thought that a special scale would have to be invented to fit the Japanese voice. Today Japanese choruses render the great chorals of the Christian faith, and the Union Christian hymnal is one of the best selling books in Japan. Improved status The Bible teachings have already of woman. profoundly modified the position of the Japanese women. A new sacredness is accorded to marriage. From the Empress to the humblest of The Influence of the Book 187 her subjects all Japanese women are indebted to Christianity for their improved status. Christians have been the leaders in the determined war against government-recognized prostitution, as they have in the organized struggle against intempera jce. Christian influence Prison reform in Japan received im- in prison reform, petus in 1 875 when Dr. J. C. Berry se- cured permission to make a tour of inspection of the prisons. His report led directly to prison reform throughout the Empire. For this service he was years later presented with an Imperial Decoration. One of the immediate effects was the appointment of a Christian as chaplain in the prison in Kobe. As a re- sult of his teachings eight prisoners formed themselves into "The Company of the Covenant." Later the chaplain became superintendent and continued his blessed work. It was at about this time that a group of eighty convicts were reading Martin's Evidences of Christianity^ which an educated fellow-prisoner was translating for them into Japanese. When fire broke out in the prison they put out the flames and created no disorder. Their leader was pardoned and later started a private school in Otsu. Japanese Chris- When the history of Japan during the tians influential, last thirty years is studied it will be found that behind her wonderful achievement there has usually been some man, Japanese or foreigner, whose torch has been kindled by the Light of the World. Although numbering only one-half of one per cent of the population, the Christians of Japan are influential in all that shapes her higher life. In her public schools, her new philanthropy, her growing recognition of the human rights of her citizens, in i88 The Bible and Missions the currents of democracy now running silently but none the less strongly, Japan is influenced by the nations most deeply influenced by the Bible. During the present trouble in Korea, Japanese Christians have been fearless critics of the militaris- tic elements in their own government. Professor Nitobe, president of the newly established Christian College for Women in Tokyo, has boldly condemned his country's policy in Korea. Rev. Takashi Suzuki published in the Fukuin Shimpo, May 15, 191 9, an article amazing in its frank recognition of evils and injustices in the Japanese policy in Korea. The arti- cle has been translated into English and reprinted in the September number of The Missionary Review of the World. It should be read by any one who desires to measure the force exerted in Japanese life by the Christian conceptions of right and duty. It is to be doubted whether America or England could show a finer example of the functioning of the Christian conscience on public questions. Bible influence in The clearest illustration of the influ- the opening of ence of the Bible upon a great non- China. Christian nation is China. That in- fluence is to be traced to the very beginnings of modern intercourse with China. The first treaty negotiated with America, in 1844, was accomplished through the services of Rev. E. C. Bridgman and Dr. Peter Parker, two men who in obedience to the Bible had left home and country and become Chinese to the Chinese, that they might win them to Christ. Their knowledge of the people and the language, and the confidence which the Chinese felt toward them were ^simply invaluable,' said the Hon. Caleb Cush- The Influence of the Book 189 ing, that noble Christian statesman. It was this great American minister who secured in the treaty a clause prohibiting all traffic in opium between the two countries. The Chinese have long memories for this truly Christian service. It was through the medium of Morrison and GiitzlafF that England negotiated her first treaty. Services of Amer- In the historic treaty of 1858 two ican missionaries. American missionaries rendered not- able services to China, and the world. Dr. S. Wells Williams and Dr. W. A. P. Martin were the men who secured the first toleration clause which China had ever granted in any treaty. The far-reaching influ- ence of this clause makes it a Magna Charta in the story of Chinese freedom of thought and action. Dr. Williams, to whose persistency, tact, and states- manship the greatest cred't is due for this achieve- ment, became interpreter to the United States Legation in Peking, and so remained until 1876. The Hon. W. B. Reed, who was the American Minister to China when the treaty was negotiated, said: ''Without them (Williams and Martin) public business could not be transacted. I could not but for their aid have advanced one step in the discharge of my duties here." It was S. Wells Williams who later, at the request of Commodore Perry, helped to negotiate the first treaty with Japan. Christian diplo- Not Only have American mission- macy in China. aries deeply influenced the progress of the Chinese nation, but American diplomats, as well. Anson Burlingame, American Minister to China, was no less missionary because he represented the American nation. The Golden Rule diplomacy 190 The Bible and Missions of John Hay was the very genius of the New Testa- ment in action. The Chinese can never forget that it was American Christianity and not American gun- boats that saved her integrity when Hay challenged the moral sense of the world in behalf of the integrity of China and in opposition to schemes of selfish ag- grandizement. The Bible in the An interesting story of the way in Imperial Palace, which the Bible was brought to bear on persons of the highest influence in the Chinese Government comes from the days of the Empress Dowager in 1896. The Christian women of China decided to present a Bible to Her Majesty on the occasion of her sixtieth birthday. They contributed $600 in gold, ten thousand of them uniting in the gift. For the first time a Chinese Bible penetrated into the Im- perial Palace, when the Empress received the sump- tuously bound and printed volume. Two days later the Chief Eunuch from the palace was sent out to buy a Bible and all the Christian books he could get for the Emperor. The full account of this visit of the eunuch is found in Dr. Hykes's pamphlet ^he American Bible Society in China. (Centennial pamp- let No. 12, Pages 25-26.) Following this first order for books, in 1897 the Emperor sent for a list of one hundred and forty books, some scientific, but many religious. Among these books were Com- mentaries on the books of the Bible, The Life of Christ, Benefits of Christianity, Communion with God, and four sermons by Mr. Moody. The effect of this sending for Christian books by the Emperor was plainly seen in the greatly increased The Influence of the Book 191 sales of the Scriptures. There is little doubt that the young Emperor in his inexperience and his new hope for his country was influenced by his reading to put forth his ill-fated edicts for reform the following year. The reactionary Empress Dowager could not de- stroy his proposed reforms, though she did delay them and destroy the Emperor. Many of his reforms are already established, others are on the way. Testimony of a In making one of his presentations of Chinese phiian- Bibles to the gentry to which allusion thropist. j^^g already been made, Mr. Yung Tao, the Chinese philanthropist, said: "Without the aid of Christian ethics it is impossible to reform society or to expel evil from men's hearts so as to produce a strong and virtuous nation. Many people believe that God has so miraculously preserved China for thousands of years because he has some great future for her. It may be. I do not know. But I believe my country has reached the supreme crisis in her history. The next few years will determine whether she is to have a great and useful future or is doomed to extinction. If she is to endure she must accept the teachings of the Bible. It is only by accept- ing the true God and fulfilling duty to him that a nation can endure." When later Mr. Yung Tao became a Christian, he spoke of the missionaries as follows: "Who loves China.'' The Chinese people.? No! The merchants .f" No! The diplomats? No! Only the missionaries, who come here not asking to be paid, but asking to be allowed merely to work for China." Christian educa- In every part of Chinese life you can tion back of infiu- trace the influence of the Book. When ential Chinese. ^^ decree establishing Western edu- cation was made, missionaries were asked to become 192 The Bible and Missions the heads of government schools and colleges. Mis- sion-trained men leaped into positions of influence. If you were to name the twenty men most promi- nent in Chinese affairs today, it would be safe to hazard the guess that two-thirds of them received their first education in mission schools. The three men who represented China at the Peace Confer- ence were the products of Christian education, — two of them, certainly, outstanding Christians. Influence of one St. John's College, Shanghai, is a Christian college, notable example of the influence which Christian education has exerted on the na- tional awakening of the Chinese. Although the school was established in 1879, ^^ ^^^ ^^^ develop into a col- lege until late in the nineties. From that time until June, 1917, it had graduated but 218 men. From this small group have come twelve men of national or international significance. They include Dr. W. W. Yen, late Minister to Germany; Dr. V. K. Welling- ton Koo, Minister to the United States and one of China's three representatives to the Peace Confer- ence; Dr. Y. T. Tsur, President of Tsing Hwa, the Indemnity college; Dr. Z. T. K. Woo, Superintendent of the Hanyang Iron and Steel Works, one of the greatest steel plants in the East; Mr. S. C. Chu, Gen- eral Secretary of the Shanghai-Nanking Railroad; the late Mr. T. T. Wang, Director General of the Chinese Students' Educational Commission at Wash- ington, D. C; Dr. Hawkling L. Yen, Secretary of the Board of Foreign Affairs; Mr. David Z. T. Yui, General Secretary of the Chinese Y.M.C.A.; Rev. P. N. Tsu, Rector of the Church of Our Savior; Dr. Yen Fu Ching, Dean of the Medical Faculty of AMELIA JOSEPHINE BURR Chairman of Commission to the Far East on Christian Literature, appointed by Federation of Women's Boards of Foreign Missions The Influence of the Book 193 Yale College in China, and Judge W. Y. Hu, Justice of the Supreme Court of Appeals, Peking. High officials cable During the Celebration of the Ameri- Am. Bible Society, can Bible Society, held in connection with the Methodist Centenary at Columbus, Ohio, last June, cable messages were received from some of China's most powerful leaders, among them the President of the Republic. Wen Shih Tsin, Commis- sioner of Foreign Affairs, cabled: ''Darkness and gloom reign in China. The Bible is the only remedy by which we will save China, cure the corrupt officials and heal the ambitious politicians, inspire the educa- tors and uplift the poor; and the best of all is to tell our people how to do righteousness and sacrifice for our own nation." Message of a great A distinguished educator, Yu-Yue educator. Tsu, sent his message in English, as follows: "The translation of the Christian Bible into our national language has placed in the hands of our people a book than which there is none with greater power for moral uplift and spiritual enlighten- ment. The great ideas of divine love, human brother- hood, holiness, unselfish service, all culminating in the wonderful ideal of the kingdom of God on earth, are emphasized and exemplified in its pages as no- where else. They are powerful dynamics in undoing social wrongs and erasing class distinctions, in human- izing social relationships and democratizing govern- ments. They have condemned the opium traffic, raised the st?tus of women and children, purified the home, emancipated the slaves, energized the moral nature of man, taught the value of human life, pro- duced happiness in life and labor, and created a new 194 The Bible and Missions conscience both for the individual and for the com- munity. The open Bible, the greatest heritage of Christendom, is now made accessible to China's millions, and it will not fail as their guide and in- spirer in the nation's upward struggle for moral perfection and spiritual freedom." Message of China's The President of the Republic of President. China cabled as follows: ''The in- struction concerning all virtue, as contained in the Holy Scriptures of the religion of Jesus, has truly exerted an unlimited influence for good among all Christians in China, and has also raised the standard of all my people along lines of true progress. I ear- nestly hope that the future benefits derived from the Holy Scriptures will extend to the ends of the earth and transcend the success of the past." The Chinese Gov- One of the most dramatic indications emment asks of the influence exerted by the gospel Christians to pray. ^^^^ ^he national life of China was given on April 19, 1913. The Cabinet of the Chinese Government adopted on that day the following message, which was ordered to be sent to the pro- vincial authorities and to the leaders of the Christian Church in China: "Prayer is requested for the National Assembly now in ses- sion; for the new Government; for the President who is to be elected; for the Constitution of the Republic; that the Govern- ment may be recognized by the powers; that peace may reign within our country; that strong and virtuous men may be elected to office; and that the Government may be established upon a strong foundation. Upon receipt of this telegram you are re- quested to notify all churches in your province that April twenty-seventh has been set aside as a day of prayer for the nation. Let all take part." The Influence of the Book 195 Not only was this day of prayer ordered, it was wide- ly observed not only by Christian believers but by leading officials, provincial and national. The Bible going It is an astounding fact that the back home again, great non-Christian nations of the world have been in league with Christian nations in defense of a cause whose taproot is the Bible. Outside of nations under the tutelage of the Bible there is not one which has ever grasped the first meanings of Democracy. The nations are looking to one standard. They are seeing that there is but one help out of their present distresses. Fresh light is waiting to break out of the holy pages — the only source whence light can come. **Our Bible, our Christ, our alphabet" came from the Orient. Today the Orient, by train and steamer, is coming to us to get back her own. A great sense of commonalty is in the air. Converging from every nation men are walking on paths that lead to the Holy City coming down from God out of Heaven, and to that united humanity which has washed its robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. "A glory gilds the sacred page. Majestic like the sun; 4: :{: 4: :(: :f: Its truths upon the nations rise. They rise and set no more." OUTLINE OF CHAPTER VI. The Bible, a book-making Book. I. IN CHRISTIAN LANDS LITERARY INFLUENCE OF BIBLE SEEN. I. In Stimulating of books and libraries. {style, substance. 3. In impression made by English literature on non- Christians. 4. In impossibility of effacing its mark. II. INTRODUCTION OF BIBLE INTO NON-CHRISTIAN LANDS PRO- DUCES: 1. A literate Christian community. 2. Preparation of school text-books. 3. Introduction and development of printing press (notable presses). 4. Agencies for preparation and distribution of Christian literature. III. STUDY OF CHRISTIAN LITERATURE AGENCIES. 1. The Tract Societies. 2. Christian Literature Societies. Illustration: Work of Christian Literature Society of China. IV. STIMULATION OF LITERARY ACTIVITIES IN NON-CHRISTIAN LANDS. 1. Writings of Japanese Christians. a. Translation. b. Original works. c. Illustration, Japan. 2. Christward currents in writings of non-Christians. 3. Gospel influence in the daily press. 4. Advertising Christianity in the newspapers. The Leaves of the Tree 197 V. INFLUENCE OF THE BIBLE ON MUSIC IN NON-CHRiSTlAN LANDS. I. Christianity's gift of song. 1. The missionary and his hymnal. 3. Popuhirity of Christian hymn books. 4. Oriental hymn writers: Indian. VI. UNMET NEEDS FOR CHRISTIAN LITERATURE. I. Literature for the home. Needs of women. Needs of children. Illustration, Child's Life of Jesus. Child's Magazine, Happy Childhood. 1. Periodical literature. Needs of cooperative publishing. 3. An Adequate Program. Expense of program. VII. OUTSTANDING OPPORTUNITIES FOR ADVANCE. 1. United campaign of newspaper publicity. 2. Utilization of phonetic script in China. Its importance and advantages, overcoming Chinese conservatism. America's possible contribution in printing of text-books. Opportunity for the Christian Church. VIII. CONCLUSION. CHAPTER VI, THE LEAVES OF THE TREE "The mere ethical teachings of the Bible would alone stamp it as the greatest literary treasure of mankind." Goethe. A Book-making **The Bible IS a book-making Book. ^°°^- It is literature which provokes litera- ture/* says McAfee in ^be Greatest English Classic, The statement is so overwhelmingly true that it is difficult to illustrate it within the sharp limits of the present chapter. No race, for example, has ever read the Bible without an irresistible desire to write about it. A flood of sermons, treatises, histories, biographies, geographies, books of travel, theologies, philosophies, criticisms, defenses, dictionaries, en- cyclopedias, novels, poems, has flowed from under its portals like the river in Ezekiel's vision which from a rivulet became a torrent, waters to swim in, a river that could not be passed over. Nor is there any sign of an abatement in interest. Apparently the perennial interest of the Scripture demands that each generation wrestle afresh with its problems and afresh record its poignant reactions to the stimulus of the Book. Output of books This book-germinating influence of greatest in the Bible is marked when we compare Christendom. ^j^^ output of books on the part of nations longest under the Christian discipline with those longest under that of other great world re- The Leaves of the Tree 199 ligions. In no one of the Oriental nations is the out- put of books comparable to that in Christian nations. During the last half century or more in which the ferment of the gospel has been actively at work in nations like India, China, and Japan, the effect upon the writing of books, as well as upon political and social institutions, has been clearly seen. In Oriental nations, like Tibet and Turkestan, and in Morocco, as yet virtually closed to the Bible, conditions re- main such as they were in the entire Orient when the era of modern missions began. Furthermore, the accessibility of the Bible and its wide diffusion among the people of Christian nations seem to be in direct relation to the amount and quality of the literary output. Christianity Take for example the matter of pub- develops a lie libraries as it is so strikingly book-reading brought out in President Tenny's public. Contrasts i72 Social Progress, He says "There is no point of difference between Christian and non- Christian literature more notable than that relating to the pop- ularization of books. The Turkish Empire would have today ten millions of books in local libraries, scattered here and there in different cities and towns, if Islam favored popular education by literature as much as Christianity did in Great Britain in 1880. Take Persia, where the people are nearly all Mohamme- dans; that kingdom would have today eight hundred libraries with six and a quarter millions of books in them, if their religion favored popular reading as much as Christianity in the United States. Two hundred millions of books would be upon the shelves of native libraries in India open to the reading of all castes, if Brahmanism were the match of Christianity in America for diffusing education by books. Here is Buddhism; there ought to be more than thirty-five hundred libraries here and there in Japan, with almost thirty millions of volumes in them. 20D The Bible and Missions and there ought to be more than ten milHons of books in the native Hbraries of Ceylon, Siam, and Burma today, if their faith were as good a popular educator by books as Christianity is today in the United States. China, the most literary ot the non-Christian nations, has no books to speak of, aside from one library of one hundred and sixty-eight thousand volumes, and small libraries in the eighteen provinces, and little gatherings of books in the Buddhist monasteries; but if Confucianism were as good a patron of books as Christianity in America, there would be in the Celestial Kingdom today more than twenty-nine thou- sand libraries, each averaging eighty-five hundred volumes. Christianity is a reading religion. When Saul, in the old story, saw any strong man, or any valiant man, he took him unto him- self. Strong and valiant books are in demand throughout Christen- dom. 'The mighty men of valor are the men of ideas.'' The Book Not only is it true that the Bible permeates breeds books about itself, and devel- hterature. ^^^ ^ book-reading people; the Book also enters into and permeates the literature of Christian peoples. This is true in English literature to an extent little dreamed of. We are so accus- tomed to the fact that we fail to realize its signifi- cance. The very titles of the books we read are redolent of the Bible. A few examples may be given, taken quite at random from the multitude that might be cited. Mrs. Wharton's House of Mirthy Basil King's Abraham s Bosom^ Rupert Hughes's ne Unpardonable Sin, Ibanez's The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, are a few current titles. Dipping into the past we recall Ruskin's Crown of Wild Olives, Unto this Last, Seven Lamps of Archi- tecture, Milton's Paradise Lost, Samson Agonistes, Byron's Jephthas Daughter, Cain, Browning's Bells and Pomegranates, Saul, Easter Morning, Christmas Eve, Dryden's Absalom and Achitophel, Whittier's The Leaves of the Tree 201 Ichabod. If we turn from titles to substance we go from the shallows to the deep sea. Dr. Furnivall says that ''Shakespeare is saturated with the Bible story." Milton is scriptural in the very fabric of his diction. The Pilgrim 's Progress is compounded of Biblical phraseology and ideas. From it Thackeray drew the title of his Vanity Fair, though he took the motto of the book directly from the Bible. The Biblical phrases, quotations, and allusions in Brown- ing are so numerous as to obscure his thought to one not familiar with the Bible. Some one has counted five hundred such in ne Ring and the Book alone, McAfee tells us. Longfellow's most exquisite meta- phors and similes are taken bodily from the Bible. VanDyke has found four hundred direct references to the Bible in Tennyson, and that leaves out those subtler echoes and nuances with which his pages are so full that no one whose mind is not steeped in the Bible can really appreciate him. Ruskin is a classic illustration of a literary style formed on the Bible. Familiarity with the Bible is stamped on the pages of Scott, Dickens, Macaulay, Lowell, Whittier, and a score of other names familiar wherever English and American books are read. Even writers avowedly out of sympathy with the Bible can not avoid in- debtedness to it, as for example, Shelley, when he writes, ''Their errors have been weighed and found to have been dust in the balance; if their sins are scarlet, they are now white as snow, they have been washed in the blood of the mediator and redeemer, Time." On one editorial page of a recent number of Collier's Weekly the following Bible phrases or allusions were found: "Hiram, King of Tyre"; "Go 202 The Bible and Missions down to the sea in ships'*; "Six days shalt thou labor"; ''And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor." English literature The realization of this saturation of interprets Chris- English literature with the Bible came tianity to Japan, ^i^}^ poignancy to an American col- lege woman who, while spending a winter in Tokyo, was asked to fill temporarily a vacancy which had been caused by death in the faculty of the Peeresses School. She said to a friend later, ''Until those eager girls asked me, day after day, to explain the meaning of this figure of speech or that phrase or that allusion or proper name, I had no idea of the way that the Bible entered into the very structure of our literature." Professor Nitobe of the Imperial University in Tokyo has testified that it was the in- direct presentation of Christian truth through works of English literature during a period in which he had denied to the missionaries any access to his soul, that led him to accept the Christian faith. Impossibility of The all-penetrating influence of the blotting out Bible on modern literature may be Bible realized by an attempt to root it out, influence. yj^ should need to burn all Bibles. Testaments, and hymn books; then to mutilate every law book and commentary; to black out page after page in the works of the poets and to destroy entire books whose titles were Biblical. Hardly a novel of any standing would remain intact. The essays, histories, and biographies would be sadly mutilated. The works of Huxley, Tyndall, Spencer, and other scientists would not escape the tearing out of no inconsiderable portions. The greatest works of The Leaves of the Tree 203 music would perish. The masterpieces of painting and sculpture would be defaced or destroyed. The most sublime buildings of Europe and America would need to be dynamited. Into every cemetery the iconoclast would go to chisel from the tombs the words of hope. The motto would need to be chipped from the walls of the Harvard Law School and from the great seal of this and other universities. Not a library could escape unscathed; not a church building be left standing. When all this were done the Bible would remain indestructible in the memo- ry of living men. To say nothing of Western na- tions, there are school children in China and Japan who can repeat the entire New Testament from memory. There are not a few Scotch Christians who have committed the Psalms and Isaiah to memory. It is perfectly within the bounds of fact to assert that in some heart each portion of Scripture is cherished, so that it could be reproduced were the printed record lost. To destroy the influence of the Bible it would be necessary to massacre every Christian, and even this would not be enough, for in their death they would surely repeat some precious word that could be erased from the memory of their murderers no more readily than could Paul forget Stephen's face and Stephen's dying prayer. The Bible Dealing with such a book we may transplanted naturally expect that the result of its creates demand planting in non-Christian lands has for books. fruited in a new love and a new de- mand for Christian books. The tree of the gospel planted in the garden of human life canopies itself with leaves that are the healing of the nations. 204 The Bible and Missions (1) By creating The Bible creates a hunger for books a literate by producing a generation of readers, constituency. The idea of putting the tool of literacy in the hands of common men is itself an offshoot of democracy which is the creation of Christianity. All the so-called democracies of ancient times were in truth democracies within the crassest class oli- garchies. The conception of one body politic, social, religious, for all mankind, is born of the teaching and lite of Jesus, and is yet to be fully recognized even in nations calling themselves Christian. It is then to be expected that only in nations where the common people are recognized as having some share and stake in government has the experiment of universal edu- cation been attempted. Japan, the one seeming ex- ception, is none in reality, since Japan transplanted the idea bodily from Christian countries. When Christian missionaries go to a new land, they carry the Bible as the vehicle for their message. They are forced to begin to teach people to read in order that the Bible may convey the message. This leads to the turning out from the Christian schools in every land multitudes of potential readers every year. (2) By preparation In Setting Up this institution for of text -books. teaching the revolutionary art of reading, the missionaries have carried on other edu- cational enterprises. Reading, writing, and arith- metic, not to mention other subjects, have all had to be taught. This has meant in many cases the form- ing of the tools of education in process of setting up the schools. One effect of taking the Bible to non-Christian lands has been to plunge the mission- aries into the task of writing school text-books. It The Leaves of the Tree 205 is safe to say that the bulk of the spellers, readers, arithmetics, geographies, and histories introduced into Asia during the nineteenth century were the work of missionaries or their pupils. To take but two illustrations out of a multitude: In Burma, in 1913, one of the numerous editions of Stillman*s Arithmetic was going through the press at Rangoon. So closely did this pioneer missionary of two genera- tions past fit his presentations and examples of arithmetical truth to Burmese life that no later arithmetic has been able to replace it in the schools of Burma. The School History of Egypt in use in Government schools was written by a Christian Egyptian woman, the first of the nation to receive a college degree in the Woman's Christian College of Cairo. (3) By creation The preparation or translation of text- ofnew books by the missionaries for their industnes. Christian schools led to the creation of new industries. Sometimes rude printing presses and fonts of type were laboriously improvised by the missionaries, as in the case of John Williams in the South Seas or William Duncan among the Cree Indians. More often printing presses were imported and the natives taught to run them. The super- human efforts necessary to procure or manufacture proper type and get a press actually in operation are one of the romances of missions. Notable Notable missionary presses are the Mission Presses. Baptist Press at Rangoon, where the Bibles, Christian literature, and many of the educa- tional books for polyglot Burma have been printed for the last seventy-five years; the Methodist Episco- 2o6 The Bible and Missions pal Press at Lucknow, with about two hundred em- ployees and an annual output of 74,600,000 pages; the Presbyterian Mission Press at Beirut, where the Bible for 200,000,000 Moslems and a large propor- tion of all the Arabic text-books of the world are printed. There are more than 160 mission presses in the different fields, scattered among the societies of all denominations. Some of them are busy little presses like that at Goom on the borders of Tibet, where the Scandinavian Alliance Mission is printing Bibles to smuggle into that closed land. Others are great business enterprises like the Presbyterian Press at Shanghai. It was a group of young Chinese Christians trained in this press who organized the Commercial Press, Limited, of Shanghai. Begin- ning in a small way, this publishing house is today the largest in all Asia. It is equipped with the most modern presses, imports paper stock from Austria, Sweden, England, and Japan, and prints two-thirds of the text-books of China. Best of all, this firm is thoroughly Christian, with standards in regard to sanitary conditions, wages, and welfare work that would put to shame all but the most advanced busi- ness concerns of the West. Work of To meet the growing demand for Tract Societies. books Created by the missionary schools, special societies have been organized, such as the American Tract Society and the Christian Literature Societies of India, China, and Japan. The work of the tract societies is a romance by itself. A tract is the outward and visible budding of a growing cause. Whether political, scientific, or re- ligious, all causes are alike in this, that they inevit- The Leaves of the Tree 207 ably break into tracts — a sort of hand-clapping to attract attention. Neither should the tract be despised because of its ephemeral nature and humble form. Tracts are the true stuff out of which revolu- tions are built. The big books move too slowly to catch the crowd. Elaborate explanations prove exhausting to the attention of the unthinking. A tract catches the eye of the man as he runs, finds him as he rests by the way, speaks to him in the homely colloquial of his daily speech. The Re- ligious Tract Society of London and the American Tract Society stand in the same relation to the pro- duction and distribution of tracts as do the British and Foreign Bible Society and the American Bible Society to the circulation of the Bible. Christian The Christian Literature Societies' Literature Society aim is Other than that of the Tract of China. Society. Their field is education rather than propaganda. Recognizing the keen hunger for books on the part of the awakening na- tions of the East, they seek to meet it by making available the riches of the Christian literature of the West through translation and by stimulating the development of native literature. One of the most remarkable of these societies is the Christian Litera- ture Society of China. After the death of its founder. Dr. Alexander Williamson, in 1891, Rev. Timo- thy Richard, a Welsh Baptist missionary, became the Secretary of the Society. Under his dynamic leadership the organization became one of the might- iest powers in the transformation of China. Begin- ning with assets of only j^iooo, he drew about him a splendid body of Chinese and European editors and 2o8 The Bible and Missions translators, accumulated property for the Society to the value of $225,000, and poured forth an ever in- creasing flood of life-giving books into the muddy stretches of the national life. He was known throughout China by the Chinese version ot his given name, Teem-o-ti. The emperor, in recogni- tion of his great services, ennobled his an cestorsfor three generations (an attention peculiarly treasured by the Chinese), and made Dr. Richard himself a Mandarin with the button of the highest grade. Timothy Richard's ^^- Richard was one of the first to see great the Strategic importance of books in achievement. awakening the mighty Chinese nation from its sleep. He translated the word Christian in no narrow way, but in addition to books of devo- tion and Biblical exposition published works of the widest range of interest. A little of the scope of the Society's work may be understood by listing a few titles: International Law ^ 'The German Empire^ Sixty Years of ^ueen Victoria, Life of Luther, Biographical Sketches of the Presidents of the United States, Guizot's History of European Civilization, Tea Cultivation, Science and Alcohol, The Romance of Medicine, His- tory of Western Ethics, Outlines of Astronomy, Polit- ical Economy, History of Socialism, Primer of Sani- tation, Physical Education, Training of Children. In all his provision for adults, the children were not forgotten, as witness the translation of Little Lord Fauntleroy. Christian books When the young emperor sent out for Kuang his eunuchs for books, he had to de- ^^^* pend chiefly upon the Christian Lit- erature Society for those dealing with the history The Leaves of the Tree 209 and civilization of Western nations. Among others he received Mackenzie's History of the Nineteenth Century. The Russian Ambassador was quite natu- rally shocked when he learned that the young em- peror was deeply impressed by the book. He warned the emperor of its dangerous quality, and thus suc- ceeded in bringing the book to the attention of one of the viceroys, who in turn was so impressed that he presented a copy to the viceroys of the seventeen other Chinese provinces. In presenting the book he urged them to read it, saying that a civilization that could make such an advance in one century was one of which China could not afford to be ignor- ant. Wide branching Through literally hundreds of similar topics of Chris- illustrations which might be given, tian literature. j^. j^ dearly evident that forces liber- ated in the bringing of the Bible to China have been at the very heart of the momentous changes taking place in that country during the last quarter century. The number of distinctively religious books and pamphlets published by the Society is very great, and ranges from a translation of Hastings's Bible Dictionary to a series of large and attractive posters printed in red with the flag of the Republic repro- duced in colors. The posters deal with religion in relation to the State, Education, the Home. A Life of Christ, notes on the Sermon on the Mount, Church History, Object Lessons for Children, Studies in the New Testament, Christianity and Civil Government are a few of the wide-branching topics on which Chinese Christians desire to be informed. 2IO The Bible and Missions Christian Not least important among the ac- periodicai tivities of the Society is the publica- literature. ^.Jqj^ of periodical literature. The one magazine for women discusses topics so familiar to American women in their own similar magazines — home making, child training, child psychology, school sanitation, kindergarten games, etc., etc. The department of poetry contains translations from well- known English poems as well as original matter. Bible lessons, devotional pages, travel talks, sketches of famous women make up a magazine that is a boon to Chinese women, as it is the only publication of the sort in China. First Chinese The growing power and self-con- Christian sciousness of the Chinese Church were newspaper. shown in 1912 in the establishment of the first Christian Daily Newspaper in China, Great Light Daily ^ edited by Mr. Leang Chi Sheng. First magazine The Christian Literature Society has for children. the further distinction of publishing Happy Childhood, the only children's magazine in the Chinese language. That the magazine is appreciated is shown by the fact that its subscribers are found in all classes, in every province in China, and also in Hawaii, Malaysia, the Philippines, America, and in England, where there are Chinese children. Literary output of There is no non-Christian land where Japanese Chris- the Output of Christian books is tians: translations, larger or more influential than in Japan. Japanese Christians are busily translating a multitude of useful books. Simpson's Fact of Christ, Anderson's Man of Nazareth, J. R. Miller's Story of Joseph, biographies of Moody and Judson, The Leaves of the Tree 211 FosdicW sThe Meaning of Prayer, TohtoVs My Re/igion, Gordon's ^uie( 'Talks on Prayer, Bowne's Theism, Smiles's Self Help, Miss Porter's Pollyanna, and Wallace's Ben Hur are a few of those mentioned in the report of 1917. Literary output of Japanese Christians are writing books Japanese Chris- of their own, too. Mr. Horiguchi tians: original wrote a volume of Studies in the works. Minor Prophets, Mr. Kuranaga, Fifty Studies in the Gospel of John, Mr. Kamizawa, ^. Life of Christ, Col. Yamamuro of the Salvation Army, a Life of Christ in Common Speech. Sixty-one thou- sand copies of this author's The Gospel for the Com- mon People have been sold. There are books on the Holy Land, the Life of St. Paul, sermons, lectures, essays, stories for young people, books on Sunday School organization, and teaching, and devotional books. A notable one among the latter class was Under the Shadow of Thy Wings (to translate its Japanese title) by Miss Zako Aiko. The author is an invalid, suffering much in body but triumphant in soul. Her brief essays are described as 'prose poems' likely to become classics in their ministry of cheer to the suffering. Professor TsunajimaofWaseda University, after losing his faith, recovered it when he gained a new vision of God during a time of illness. His book The Experience of Seeing God has explained the meaning of faith to multitudes. Christian There are deep, Christward currents literature outside in Japan as in other countries which the Church. ^^^ outside the Church. One evi- dence of this is found in the books written by those who are not avowed Christians. Tolstoi's writings 212 The Bible and Missions have exerted a great influence in Japan through the translation of his complete works. There are Tol- stoi clubs among students and a magazine devoted to the discussion and interpretation of his writings. ''Resurrection has appeared everywhere in moving pictures, "says The Christian Movement in J apan^\()\()y "and has exerted an unquestioned influence for good among wide classes of society. The Prayer to God of the heroine, Katuscha, sung by thousands in Japan, is part of the story of Nebdorf's repentance and experience of Christ's resurrection." Another book mentioned is Go Go no Haru (The Spring of Five Times Five), a book by a young writer named Kawa- no, which has had a profound effect upon the student world. Although Kawano never entered a Christian church he bought a penny Testament which he read while a student at Waseda University. In his book which has sold by the tens of thousands he tells of the blessing he received from his little Testament, eu- logizes its power, and speaks of Christ and the Sermon on the Mount. Buddhist The influence of the Bible can be approaches. traced in books even further removed from organic Christianity than the above. Some of the leaders of new Buddhism frankly appropriate some of the leading ideas of Christianity. Idolatry is abolished and the movement leans towards Chris- tianity with no sense of antagonism. One group of Buddhist ascetics has taken the Lord's Prayer as its motto. Two recent books of essays are listed by The Christian Movement in Japan, 191 9? ^s **es- sentially Christian," i.e., books that could not have been written apart from the impact of Bible ideals The Leaves of the Tree 213 and teachings upon the soul of Japan. Cain and His Descent by Arishima and New Spring by Toku- tomi are the two books mentioned. The latter, which is a record of profoundly Christian experiences, passed through 104 editions in less than one year. The gospel in A touch of interest is added to the the daily press. story of the slow but sure penetra- tions of Christian ideals into Japan through the printed pages to read that one newspaper ran as a serial a translation of Mrs. Stowe's A Minister s Wooing for the purpose of giving a picture of the religious life in New England of the long ago. A Tokyo newspaper ran the Life of Christ in serial form a few years ago; and an Osaka newspaper ran two prize novels as serials. Both were by Christian writers, one of them dealing with the power of prayer. Advertising ^^^ o^ ^^ most hopeful developments Christianity has been the utilizing of the daily press in the for the spread of Christian truth by newspapers. means of paid advertising. The pro- ject was conceived by Rev. Albertus Pieters of Oita who began some years ago to explain the funda- mental teachings of Christianity in the daily press. Readers of his masterly advertisements were told that they could secure further literature by writing to him. They were also invited to ask questions. His experiment disclosed how far these newspa- pers circulated, as letters began to reach him from widely separated localities. A careful card index of inquirers was made and a systematic follow-up work of correspondence began. 214 The Bible and Missions Result The results of this campaign of gospel of gospel advertising have been surprisingly advertising. g^^^^ j^e prefecture of Oita, in which Dr. Pieters has been demonstrating his method of gospel seed-sowing through the medium of the daily papers, has a population of 900,000. After several years of such cultivation the statement is boldly made that there is not a hamlet containing twenty houses in the entire prefecture, in which some- one does not know the outstanding facts of the gospel. "One Episcopal worker whose duties take him over large parts of Oita prefecture declares that he has no words to describe what this work has done, both in arousing interest among non- Christians and in nourishing the faith of scattered Christians. A pastor of the Reformed Church of over ten years' experience in the prefecture declares the change beyond imagining." Expansion Convinced that there are great possi- of newspaper bilities of Usefulness in the enlarged advertising. ^gg ^f ^.j^^ newspapers as a medium of spreading the gospel, Dr. Pieters has organized an Association for the Promotion of Newspaper Evangelism. He is showing that at far smaller ex- pense a larger nuijiber of people can be reached through the newspapers than through the distribu- tion of tracts. He proposes that the Christian bod- ies engaged in missionary work in Japan shall raise a fund of $250,000 to carry newspaper evangelism into every corner of the Empire. He suggests that Japanese Christians such as Mr. Kanamori, Col. Yamamuro, and Mr. Mitami be engaged to write, in the simple, stirring style which they command, the vital truths of the gospel. A fund like this, available each year, would carry the gospel within The Leaves of the Tree 215 twenty years into the remotest corners of the empire. The good idea is spreading into other lands, is to be tried, it is said, by the China Continuation Com- mittee, by Mr. MacLeod in Formosa, and Dr. Zwem- er in Egypt. Publish Possibilities of tremendous good are glad tidings. opened up. It was the Bible that bade us lift up our voices and cry aloud and tell out among the people the glorious news of the gospel. Too often the news has been whispered or droned or repeated lifelessly in a corner. The wonderful publicity program of the Government during the great war has proved that it is as easy to sell ideas to the people as to sell goods, if it is attempted in the right way, on a proper scale. Why is it not possible, in America, as well as in the Orient, to utilize the newspapers in merchandising Wisdom.^ Why could not the National Chamber of Commerce through a worthy campaign of advertising in Japanese news- papers sell America to the Japanese, — to use an ad- vertising term.^ The papers of Japan are flooded with malicious rumors about America's sinister de- signs on Japan: why not give them an advertising campaign of truth .f* The singing One of the loveliest legacies of the leaves. Book is the gift of song. Music there is in every land, but the soul of music has never found itself except under the culture of Christianity. The music of Greece, of India, of China remained primitive, plaintive, undeveloped. No religion ex- cept Christianity has ever been able so to develop personality as to bring out the hidden sublimities and marvelous possibilities that dwell in the soul of 2i6 The Bible and Missions music. Wherever the Bible has gone the people have learned a new song. The missionary The missionary has always taken his and his hymn book with his Bible. The hymnal. gospel has literally sung its way around the world. Simple hymns like Safe in the Arms of Jesus^ Jesus Loves me^ this I know are im- perishably fixed in all earth's hundreds of languages. Some of our notable writers will be forgotten in a hundred years, but Fanny Crosby will go singing down the century. Hers was but a slender gift of song, but she placed it in the hands of Jesus and he blessed and broke and gave it to the nations. Mis- sionary after missionary has translated and written hymns by the score to make the first crude hymnal of the new-born churches of the Orient. Time would fail to speak of the Choice Arabic Hymns first pub- lished by Rev. E. R. Lewis, M.D., a professor in the Syrian Protestant College of Beirut; of the work of Pilkington and Mackay in writing hymns for dark Uganda, of Pastor Coillard's hymns beloved in Sesuto, of Mrs. Marling's hymns among the savage Fan folk of the West Coast. From the multitudinous islands of the Pacific we should hear the songs which are the gifts of missionaries long since singing the songs of the redeemed in Heaven. In the early days on blood-soaked Fiji the little children were taught by Rev. John Watsford to sing the gospel stories of the life of Christ before they ever learned to read. The martyr, James Chalmers, insured the spread of the gospel for which he died, by translating into the language of the savage men of New Guinea nearly two hundred hymns. The Leaves of the Tree 217 Sales of The sales of hymn books have been hymn books. only second to those of the Bible. The Union //jyw;^^/ published in Japan in 1903 con- tained hundreds of choice hymns, both original and translated, and became at once one of the best selling books in Japan. These Christian hymns find their way into many non-Christian homes. They are adapted, words and all, for use in Buddhist Sunday- schools. "Buddha loves me, this I know. For the Shastras tell me so." Modern Buddhism creates no hymns; it patches up Christian hymns to suit its purposes. Hymn writers; No sooner do Christian converts Indian. learn to sing the songs of Zion than they begin to express their new found faith in hymns of their own. An increasing number of these hymns is to be found in the hymnals of the rising churches of the Orient. In India, for example, rhyming paraphrases of Bible stories and teachings are set to Indian tunes and chanted to enraptured audiences. An audience of Telugu farmers will listen half the night to the life of Joseph or of Paul expressed in primitive verse-form and set to one of the well- known chants in which they have been wont to hear the traditions of their race. An increasing use is being made of this form for securing the entrance and lodgment of Christian truth. Many Indian pastors and evangelists are proving to have a great gift in thus singing the gospel into the hearts of the people. Several hymns written by Indian Christians have found their way into our American hymnal. Nota- ble among these is In the Secret of His Presence by 2i8 The Bible and Missions Ellen Lakshmi Goveh, a high-caste Hindu girl, and Thou my Soul^ Forget no More by Krishna Pal, the first Indian convert baptized by William Carey. A notable There died recently Mr. N. V. Tilak hymn writer and of Ahmednagar, India, a notable evangelist. Christian, a man of rare poetic gifts whose hymns have entered into the imperishable treasury of the Marathi tongue. In his last will and testiment he made confession of his Christian faith, ''None knows when he will have the call of God,'* he writes, "and none ought to be thinking of it un- necessarily. That experience I am never willing to call Death. It is the call of God. It is awakening into a new life. The thought of it never disheartened me. No trouble while dying, no trouble while living, is the privilege of a Christian, and through Christ 1 enjoy it." Quality of his Mr. Tilak's hymns are full of the noble hymns. rhythm and sonorous cadences of the Marathi language. They are mystical, full of poetry, and breathe a passionate devotion to Jesus. Through his hymns Mr. Tilak has become a beloved leader among Marathi Christians everywhere. Much remaining While it is encouraging to study what to be done. j^^g \yQ^^ ^.j^g effect of the introduction of the Bible in stimulating other forms of Christian literature it must not be forgotten that only a tiny beginning has been made. The call for the supply and the distribution of Christian literature is just beginning to be heard as one of the outstanding needs of the lands now awaking to new life under the im- pact of the gospel. Neither in quantity, in quality, The Leaves of the Tree 219 nor in subject matter is the literature now available satisfactory or sufficient. Literature Take for example the needs of the for the home. home. The two-thirds of the women of the world long denied education or books are beginning to go to school. Thousands of them are becoming literate each year. In most mission fields there is little except the Bible for them to read. In all but two or three fields there is a dearth of books regarding the care of children, the work of home building, Christian biography, fiction, books of de- votion. The eloquent fact that in all China there is but one picture book for children makes a louder appeal for wholesome, homely, helpful books for the mother and the children than would pages of argu- ment. AChiid's The strength of the appeal was shown ^''^® recently when Mrs. MacGillivray of of Jesus. Shanghai was speaking about the need of children's books to an audience in Boston. She had described her visit to a book store in Toron- to during holiday season with its bewildering array of children's books, stories, nature books, fairy tales, poems, travel, Bible stories, books about science, books showing how to weave baskets, do carpentry, raise bees, make gardens, take care of pets, make candy and all sorts of delightful things. Then she thought how a Chinese mother would have no trou- ble at all in deciding which picture book to take, because there would be only one. When she had finished speaking she was asked what book she would choose above all others to make for Chinese children. Without hesitation she said a Child's Life of Jesus ^ 220 The Bible and Missions illustrated. As soon as the meeting was over a lady hastened forward with her check book in hand, "It isn't necessary to pay for it now," said Mrs. MacGillivray, *'it will take several months to secure the Chinese writer and an artist who will draw the pictures." **I might die on the way home," insisted the lady, **and I want the privilege of publishing that Life of Jesus for little children." The three hundred and fifty dollars which she paid compen- sated writer and artist and paid for a first edition of one thousand copies. The sale of the first edition will provide funds to issue the second edition. Jubilee books. This idea of providing books for children has been taken up by the Woman's Ameri- can Baptist Foreign Mission Society as part of its Jubilee Celebration. A fund has been set aside with which to publish one book or more in each of its ten fields. Wherever there is no Child's Life of Jesus the question of providing one will be taken up. Popularity Encouragement is to be found in the o^ Happy response already made to this attempt 1 a ooa. ^Q create a reading public among the young people. Mrs. MacGillivray reports that the little magazine Happy Childhood is eagerly looked for in every part of the world where there are Chinese people. The magazine was taken, for example, in a girl's school in Shansi. One number contained an account of a school for the deaf in Chefoo. This so interested the girls that they gave $3.00 (no small sum from their meagre funds) and sent it to the school for the deaf. In far away Vancouver a little Chinese girl read the story that Happy Childhood brought her of the Door of Hope in Shanghai. She promptly The Leaves of the Tree 221 began to tell other children about the Door of Hope and to interest them. They organized a little sew- ing society and made several warm quilts which they sent at Christmas to the Door of Hope and to a Chinese hospital. Happy Mrs. MacGillivray told another Childhood in charming story about the little maga- the palace. - t^ ^l x. • • i_ ^ zme. It seems that a missionary who was teaching the children of Yuan Shi Kai, the Presi- dent of China, took a copy of Happy Childhood with her one day on her visit to the palace. Several times it happened that she left a copy. One day one of the secondary wives in the palace called her aside and said, **Tell me about this Jesus of whom this paper speaks so often." As she told her of Jesus, the old scene was repeated when "they of Caesar's household" listened to the apostle who brought them the Good News. Importance of Considerations like the above reveal periodicals. the necessity of fostering periodical literature, not too bookish and intellectual, for women and children. The Women's Boards have made a tiny beginning to supply this need through the publication of several women's magazines. Few, if any, of them have made library grants to assure that the magazines for women and children shall be taken in the schools and provided freely in reading rooms. No better reward of diligence could be given than to make a pupil a subscriber for a good Chris- tian magazine. Need of co- The business of publishing a maga- operation. zine is expensive. A poor, shabby, dull paper defeats its ends. A wide-awake, spiritu- 222 The Bible and Missions ally stimulating child's paper has almost super- human powers for good. The beginning of co-opera- tion in which several Boards unite in the support of one magazine has already been seen in China in the publication of Happy Childhood. Call for The dearth of reading matter, the adequate program, eager response with which our first limited attempts to supply the need are met, the absolute necessity of cultivating the reading habit if a vigorous, broad-minded Christian community is to be developed, all point to the need of an ade- quate program of advance. All the great missionary societies are planning for advance. Old programs and standards are being discarded as outgrown and insufficient. It is necessary that the lack of books be taken into account. There are few signs that this problem is being faced in any but the most desultory way. Here and there a Board makes a grant. Now and then a missionary is set aside for literary work; but up to the present day no well-considered plan has been formulated and adopted for the whole field. The program Such a program means a large, a very expensive. large investment of money. If the people are too poor to buy books we must supply them; if they are too ignorant to desire books we must create the appetite. No self-supporting, self-propa- gating Protestant church can be created and main- tained without books. The strong Protestant na- tions are all reading nations. The strong Prot- estant denominations are all reading denominations. We are people of the Book, of many books. Having begun our missionary campaign, we must carry it through. More books, and better, are a prime The Leaves of the Tree 223 necessity. Until the awakening peoples can create a sufficient literature for themselves they must re- ceive translations and adaptations of the most valiant and beautiful books that men have made. The torch which Greece and Rome and Israel passed on to Europe, and Europe in turn to America, must be passed to the Orient. Outstanding In formulating the enlarged program opportunities. for the new day there are to be con- 1. Publicity. sidered at least two tremendous op- portunities. The one has already been briefly al- luded to — the opportunity to make non-Christian people acquainted with the main facts of the gospel through publicity in the daily press. The circula- tion of daily newspapers in the Orient is itself of com- paratively recent development. To take advantage of it for promoting the Kingdom on the lines so prac- tically demonstrated by Mr. Pieters in Oita prefec- ture requires a very large outlay of money. A com- mittee, after an exhaustive survey, estimated that adequate plans for newspaper publicity throughout the Japanese empire would necessitate an outlay of ^500,000 annually for five years. If only Tokyo were taken as the organizing center a worthy, though incomplete, campaign could be undertaken for $100,000 annually. The report of this committee is fascinating reading. It may be obtained from the Interchurch World Movement under the title Seven Years of Newspaper Evangelism in Japan, Value of Such an undertaking, co-operatively Christian financed by the great Protestant publicity. Boards of Foreign Missions, not only in Japan, but in China, India, and the Near East, 224 The Bible and Missions would have enormous capacity for good. It is not fanciful to dream such dreams in these days of wide open opportunity. 2. Use of The second line of advance provi- phonetic Chinese dentially opened is through the use script. Qf ^\yQ recently invented phonetic characters for the printing of Chinese. Through this invention China advances by one leap from the position of the nation having a most archaic, cumbersome, and difficult system of writing thespoken word to that of the nation having a most advanced and scientific syllabary. Instead of a separate character to be memorized for each word in the language we have thirty-nine phonetic symbols based on the old character. By means of certain diacritical marks placed above or beneath the char- acters it is possible to indicate the different tones. Such are the simplicity and beauty of the system that an illiterate adult can learn to read in a month or six weeks. Advantage of It IS difficult to overstate the impor- phonetic tance of the new system of writing to system. ^}^g future progress of the Chinese people. The old character system of recording the language was acquired with difficulty by the common people and was but sketchily retained by many of them. The difficulty of reading books containing unfamiliar terms was enormous even to the educated. The problems of setting type or adapting the type- writer and other modern tools of business to Chinese were all but insuperable. The Leaves of the Tree 225 Overcoming The conservatism of the Chinese and Chinese their deep pride in the literary beau- conservatism. ^jgg q^" their language have made all previous attempts to romanize or to reform their an- cient system of character writing abortive. The new system, because of its simplicity, its conformity to the traditional Chinese form, and the ease with which it is mastered, is rapidly growing in popu- larity. In Shansi, Governor Yen is enthusiastically pushing the new system in the hope of having the first literate province in China. Schools and colleges are falling in line, making the study of the new script a required topic. Students have been using their vacations for the purpose of teaching illiterates. Printing of One of the first necessities in getting text -books. the new script studied is the prepara- tion of text-books. Fortunately the right person was already fitted for the task. Miss S. J. Garland of the China Inland Mission had for years been engaged in working out an improved system of braille for the use of the blind. Her sys- tem was generally recognized as the best, and her studies for the blind proved of service in working out the phonetic system of writing for the seeing. Her experience and reputation as a linguist led to her being asked to come to Shanghai and superintend the preparation of the first readers in the new script. Her Board consented to release her. The first primer was already prepared when along came a truly stag- gering order from the governor of Shansi for 2,500,000 primers. The order was divided among several printing firms in order to get it out in time. Other books are in process of preparation. 226 The Bible and Missions The Bible The Gospels of Luke and Mark have »n the already been translated from the new script. Mandarin to the new phonetic char- acters. The American Bible Society has made a grant to cover the cost of printing. The use of the phonetic script makes it possible to put the Bible in the hands of the common people and quickly to teach them to read it for themselves. The diffusion of Christian truth thus made practicable may quick- en the pace of China's evangelization by generations. Importance of The importance of this invention is new script. yet but dimly realized. Not forty millions out of China's four hundred millions can read. The task of teaching them to read has been reduced from a matter of years to a matter of weeks. Such an emancipation as occurred with the rise of vernacular literature in Europe is booind to occur in China. The old classic writing and literature will never be displaced but will assume the place in a liberal education that the Latin and Greek classics have held in the Western world. Opportunity The Church holds the key to this of the Church. most wonderful door of opportunity. The Protestant Church already has 125,000 literates to i88jOOO illiterates. These reading Christians are for the first time able to teach their fellow villagers to read and to place in their hands Christian teach- ings in this new everyday transcript of their everyday speech. This little army of literates is, for the most part, drawn from the common people, China's vast iUiterate population. They are scattered through the villages. They are anxious to communicate the faith. What happened in Korea through the medi- The Leaves of the Tree 227 um of Korea's easy phonetic script may happen in China; Christians may become people of the Book. America's DuHng these days of the corruption contribution. and Weakness of the Chinese govern- ment Christian America may work a mighty work for China and for the Kingdom of God. It is in the power of American Christians to see that the first school books in the new script are Christian in back- ground and viewpoint. We can rapidly put into phonetic characters the best Christian literature already available in Mandarin. We can provide and train a small army of teachers so that every Christian church shall become a recruiting station for the new learning. All this means money, but could money ever count for more? The Federation of Women's Boards has already responded, through its standing Committee on Christian Literature for Oriental Women and Children, by a small grant of $1000. This must be followed up by grants from individual Boards, by the setting apart of mission- aries for this work, and by individual contributions in large amounts. What $100,000, wisely expended, could do in assuring that the first contact with books should be Christian, it is difficult to overstate. The expenditure is not recurring. The art once taught will lift China from illiteracy to literacy. The people once reading will pay for their own books. China's age-long veneration for the printed page makes it particularly easy to use books in the inter- pretation of the Christian message, once the common people have access to books. The forces of evil will not be slow to seize such an opening. It is safe to predict that within ten years the worst and most 228 The Bible and Missions destructive books of America and Europe will be purchasable in the new script. It is for Christians to show equal enterprise in making available the life- giving books of our Christian civilization. In conclusion. We have traveled as in an airplane over a wide stretching country. We have beheld the lofty Himalayas of the Bible lifting their stainless summits across the path of the centuries. From their heights we have seen what rivers of the water of life take their rise to run softly far below through blossoming orchards and green meadows! We have traced their course through arid deserts which they have made to yield harvests for the hunger of the world. Showers of blessing condensed upon the mountains have revived distant plains. We have seen men climbing the sides of the illimitable Ranges of Scripture and as they climbed their faces have lightened and from the summits they have beheld the land that is very far off and the glory of God. From our brief study we have risen strengthened and calm. It is man's book, this Book of God. In its hand there are treasures for all mankind; in its heart a living message from the living God. To follow its teachings, to extend its influence, to preach its gospel, to make known its Saviour, crucified and risen again, is the deepest joy and the supremest privilege of the Christian. In the humble hope that this study, simple and inadequate as it is, may strengthen and deepen the faith of those who follow it, this little book is written. If it shall lead one person to devote himself whole-heartedly to make the Bible known to those who know it not, the writer will be glad and grateful. A BRIEF READING LIST CR^PTER I. Missions in the Plan of the Ages, Carver (Re veil). A Tour of the Missions, Strong (Griffith & Rowland Press). Chapters XV, XVI, XVII. 'The Hebrew Bible and the Israelitish Nation. (Centennial Pamphlet, see book list, Chapter IV.) Winning the World for Christ, Lambuth (Revell, 191 5). Lec- tures I and II. Christian Epoch Makers, Vedder (Griffith & Rowland Press, Philadelphia). Chapter I, The Philosophy of Christian Missions. The Bible a Missionary Book, Horton (1908) (The Pilgrim Press). Chapters IlI-VI. CHAPTER 11. How Europe Was Won for Christianity, Stubbs (Revell). Chapters I, II. Bible Reading in the Early Church, Harnack (Putnam, 191 2). Outlines of Missionary History, Mason (Doran, 191 2). Chap- ter II. Two Thousand Years of Missions before Carey, Barnes (Chris- tian Culture Press, Chicago, i960). Chapters I-III. New Testament Studies in Missions, Beach (Student Volunteer Movement, 1900). Winning the World for Christ, Lambuth (Revell). Lecture VI. Christian Epoch Makers, Vedder (Griffith & Rowland Press). Chapter II. The Bible a Missionary Book, Horton (Pilgrim Press). Chap- ters I, II. Christianity and Civilization, Church (Macmillan, 1914). CHAPTER III. The Bible in Many Lands, Harris (Carey Press, London). The Book and Its Travels, Harris (Carey Press, London), for boys and girls. The Conversion of India, Smith (Revell). Missionary Programs and Incidents, Trull (Second Series); pp. 117, 118, 124, 125, 130. Missionary Education Movement. Romance of Missionary Heroism, Lambert (London, 1909). Chapter XIV. 230 The Bible and Missions The Soul of India, Ho wells (London, 19 13). Pp. 562-567. How Europe Was Won for Christianity , Stubbs (Revell). Islam, A Challenge to Faith,ZyjQmQV\ pp. 164,210,215 (Student Volunteer Movement). The Steep Ascent, Entwistle (Revell). Chapter VIII. The Influence of the Bible on Civilization, von Dobschiitz (Scribner, 1914). Chapters III, VI, and illustrations of early translations of the Bible. The Story of the L. M. S., Home (London; Simpkin, Marshall, & Co., 1904). Chapters V, VII. Two Thousand Years of Missions before Carey, Barnes. Illus- trations of Nestorian Tablet, p. 108. Christian Epoch Makers, Vedder. China Mission Year Book (1913) (Missionary Education Move- ment, New York). Bible in the British Museum, article in London Quarterly Review^ 1894, vol. 178, pp. 157-184. Latin Translation of the Bible, article in The Churchman, 1891, vol. 16, pp. 90-98. Theology of Civilization, Dale (Crowell, 1899). Scotland's Influence on Civilization, L. J. Halsey (Pres. Bd. of Pub.). History of European Morals, Lecky (London). CHAPTER IV. The Christian Crusade for World Democracy, Taylor and Luc- cock (Methodist Book Concern). The Story of the Bible Society, Canton (London, 1904). All about Japan, Belle Brain, pp. 1 59-1 81. (Revell.) Bible Society Centenary Pamphlets. Ten pamphlets issued by the British and Foreign Bible Society, 1904, 146 Queen Victoria St., London, E.C. These pamphlets are valuable in Chapters III-V. A Children's History of the Bible Society, Canton (Murray, London). Centennial Pamphlets (American Bible Society, 1916). Single pamphlets, postpaid, 5 cents; in quantities of ten or more, 3 cents each. Order, American Bible Society, Astor Place, New York, N. Y. A Brief Reading List 231 In the Vulgar 'Tongue^ Bible House, Queen Victoria St. (Lon- don, 1914). 'The Modern Call of Missions^ Dennis (Revell, 1913). Chap- ters I-IV. The Cross in Japan, Hagin (Revell, 1914). Pp. 163-173. Missionary Review of the World , August, 191 9. The Bible and the World's Future, Ritson. The World Outlook, March, 191 8, The World's Best Seller. CHAPTER V. The New Horoscope of Missions, Dennis (Revell). Lectures II, III. Ministers of Mercy, Franklin (Missionary Education Move- ment). Epoch Makers of Modern Missions, McLean (Revell). Missionary Programs and Incidents (Second Series), Trull (Missionary Education Movement). African Missionary Heroes and Heroines, Kimm (Macmillan, 1917). Fine Maps. The Story of the American Board, Strong (The Pilgrim Press). Pp. 272, 381. /Cor^fl/orC^m/, Davis (London,22 Paternoster Row,E.C.).P.39. Daybreak in the Dark Continent, Naylor (Missionary Education Movement). Pp. 223-233. Human Progress through Missions, Barton (Revell, 191 2). Centennial Pamphlets, see book list. Chapter IV. Evolution of the Use of the Bible in Europe, Kuyper. The Bible, the Book of Mankind, Warfield. Lincoln's Use of the Bible, Jackson (Abingdon Press). The Bible and Civilization, von Dobschiitz (Scribner). Chap- ters IV, V. World Facts and America's Responsibility, Patton (Association Press, 1919). Chapters I-III. Gesta Christi, Brace (Armstrong, 1903). The Christian Movement in Japan (18 14), pp. 164-171. (Mis- sionary Education Movement, New York.) India's Silent Revolution, Fisher (Macmillan, 191 9). Chap- ters IV, VI. The Greatest English Classic, McAfee (Harper, 1912). Chap- ters V, VI. 232 The Bible and Missions Is the World Growing Better? Snowdon (Macmillan, 191 9). Chapter IX, The Bible and Progress. Civilization of Christendom^ Bosanquet (Macmillan). Influence of Christianity upon Social and Political Ideas (Mil- waukee, Young Churchman^ 1912). Christianity and Civilization^ Church (Macmillan, 1914). Christ or Chaos ^ Watson (Pilgrim Press). CHAPTER VI. Korea Jor Christy Davis (London, 22 Paternoster Row, E.C.). See Chapter IX, Whang, the Blind Sorcerer. The Bible and Civilization y von Dobschiitz (Scribners). Chap- ter VII. Christian Movement in "Japan (Missionary Education Move- ment, New York). See Volumes from 1914-1919 for Annual Review of Christian Literature. See 1917, part IX, for Women's Movement, Industrial Con- ditions, Social Evil, Labor Movement. See 1913, Chapter XXX on Newspaper Evangelism. The Modern Call of Missions ^ Dennis (Revell, 1913). Chap- ter X, The Hymnody of Modern Missions. Contrasts in Social Progress^ Tenney (Rumford Press, Concord, N. H., 1914). China Mission Year Book {igij) (Missionary PMucation Move- ment, New York). Pp. 308-313, 352-361. The Literary Primacy of the Bible^ Eckman (Methodist Book Concern, 191 5). Chapters I and IV. The Greatest English Classic ^ McAfee (Harper, 191 2). Chap- ter IV. Christian Literature in the Mission Fields Ritson (Edinborough, I Charlotte Square, 1910). Worldwide Sunday-school Work. Report of Zurich Conven- tion, 1 91 3 (Pub. World Sunday-school Association, Metropolitan Tower, New York). Seven Years of Newspaper Evangelism in Japan^ by Albertus Pieters, Oita, Japan. INDEX Abyssinian version, 99 Acts, 76, 83, 84, 88-9 Adams, John Quincy, quoted, 173 Advertising Christianity, 213-5 Africa, Bible in, 131-2 African opinion of Bible, 180-1 Alphabet, 121-2, 134-5, 224-6 America, opportunity of, 227-8 American Bible Society, organiza- tion, 1 49- 1 50; 160, 193-4 Amos, the gospel in, ^2 Aneityum converted, 125 Angel of the presence, 24 Anglo-Saxons, Christianity not property of, 65 Aniwa, 126-7 Apocalypse, missionary message, 89-93; social implications, 91-3 Arabic, sacred language, 136 Armenian version, 97 Arts, the Bible and the, 169-70 Babylon, fate of, foretold, 168-9 Base line of gospel, 74-5 Bible, missionary's book, 7; mis- sionary in essence and sub- stance, 8-13; topics, 8; style, 8-9; long life, 9-10; cosmogony simple, 9-10; psychology age- less, lo-i; social passion, 11-2; as literature, 12; character of God, 12-3; Septuagint, 14, 96; missionary in teachings, 14; plan of the ages, 14-6; God's search for man, 16-7; transla- tion, 96-138; earliest versions, 96-7; among early Christians, 97-100; Vulgate, 101-2; of Ul- filas, the Goth, 101-3; English, 103-4; Burmese version, 112; Chinese versions, 113-6; Japa- nese versions, I16-7; floating on the water, 118; in Korea, 121-4; among islanders, 124-6; in Rara- tonga, 126; in Aniwa, 126-7; in Savage Island and New Guinea, 127-8; in Madagas- car, 128-31; in Africa, 131-2; Eliot's, for the Indians, 132; search for by Nez-Perces In- dians, 132-3; Dakota, 134; Na- vaho, 134; Cherokee, 134-5; versions for Moslems, 136-7; the travels of the, 141-165; scarce and expensive in 1800, I41-2; democratized by educa- tion and invention, 142; Welsh get their, 146; in Great Britain, 146-7; recognized by founders of our Republic, 150-1; sale of, 152-4; distribution by colpor- ters, 154-8; finds Hindu /akir, 159-60; practical pointers, 164- 5; influence on civilization, 167- 195; has message to nations, 167-9; modern civilization founded on, 169; and the arts, 169-70; and law, 170-2; ideals of, 172; and Constitution of U. S., 172-3; testimony of great men, 173-4; and music, 174; and church ordinances and festivals, 175; influence on non- Christian nations, 176; and India, 176-9; Uganda's trans- formation, 179-80; an African opinion, 180-1; Hottentot opin- ion, 181; and the Maoris, 18 1-2; Darwin on, in Tahiti, 182-3; in Pacific Islands, 183-4; in Korea, 185; Japan's debt, 186- 8; in China, 188-95; going back home, 195; a book-making, 198- 228; permeates literature, 200- 2; influence of, can not be blot- ted out, 202-3; transplanted creates demand for books, 203- 6; see New Testament, Old Testament Bible reading, 97-9, 103, 176-7 234 The Bible and Missions Bible schools, 146 Bible societies, rise of, 141; and Mary Jones, 142-7; on the con- tinent, 1 47; in Russia, 147-8; in Scotland, 148; in America, 1 48-51; characteristics of, 151- 2; value, in missionary enter- prise, 152; ministry to the sol- diers, 160-4; contributions to fund, 1 61-2; approval of mili- tary leaders, 162-3; financial support, 165 Bible translation, 96; best adapted to, 104; in the last century, 105; compared with other books, 105; essential to missionary progress, 105-6; difficulties of, 106-8; en- larging a people's soul, 108; difficulties in the translator's heart, 108; benefits of, 108-10; searching for a name for God, 127-8; a superb achievement, 137-8; strategy of, 138; aided by Bible societies, 152 Blessing, 19, 20 Book, the travels of the, 14I-165; Bible a book-making, 198-228 Books, 198-9, 203-6, 220, 222-3 Briggs, Governor, quoted, 172 British and Foreign Bible Society, 142-7, 148-9, 152, 160 Brotherhood of Man, 57-58 Buddhist approaches, 212-3 Burma, Judson's sufferings, 11 1-2 Burmese version, 112 Carey, William, 109, iio-ii Carlyle quoted, 104 Carver quoted, 20-1 Caste, loosening of, 177-8 Chalmers, James, quoted, 183-4 Charter, missionary's great, 80 Children, 98-9, 210 Chinese alphabet, 224-6, 226 Chinese Christian newspaper, 210 Chinese conservatism, 225 Chinese government asks Chris- tians to pray, 194-5 Chinese magazine for children, 210 Chinese philanthropist, 158-9,191 Chinese text-books, printing, 225 Chinese versions, 113-116 China, Japanese Bible made in, 116-7; Bible influence in open- ing, 188-9; services of American missionaries, 189; Christian di- plomacy in, 189-90; Bible in imperial palace, 190-1; reforms in, 190-1; Christian education in, 191-3; officials cable Am. Bible Soc, 193-4; Christians asked to pray for, 194-5; Chris- tian Literature Society of, 207- 10; opportunity of Christian America in, 227-8 Choate, Hon. Joseph H., quoted, 141,172 Christ a failure, if missions fail, 37-8; message of the Father, 56-9; new way to Father, 59-60; absoluteness of claims, 59-60; riches of God in, 60; message of Kingdom, 61; message of, to John, 6G\ longing for triumph of, 70; triumphant kingdom, 91; in a Korean prison, 158 Christendom, output of books, 198-9 Christian diplomacy, 189-90 Christian education in China, 191-3 Christian literature, topics of, 209; outside the church, 21 1-2; Buddhist approaches, 212-3; more needed, 218-9; for the home, 219; Child's life of Jesus ^ 219-20; jubilee books, 220; pro- gram for publication of, needed, 222-3; see Literature, Publicity Christian Literature Society of China, 207-10 Christian periodical literature, 210; see Publicity Christian publicity, 213-5; ^^3-4; see Publicity Christian sonship, privileges of, 60 Christians, early, use of Bible, 97-100; gifts from Japanese, 157-8; duty of, towards Bible, Index 235 165; opportunity of American, in China, 227-8 Christianity not property of Anglo- Saxons, 65; whole population of an island converted, 125; in Madagascar, 128-31; expan- sion of, depends upon Bible translation, 137-8; and prison reform in Japan, 187; and reform in China, 190-1; develops a book-reading public, 199-200; English literature interprets, to Japan, 202; Buddhist approach- es to, 212-3; advertising, in newspapers, 213-5; expansion of, through music, 215-8 Civilization, 91-2, 167-195, 169 Church, will the, fail? 22-3; may fail, 23; replaces Kingdom, 61; preaching, teaching, 80; com- promising, and smooth sailing, 84-5; Christian literature out- side of the, 21 1-2; opportunity of, 226-8 Church Fathers on Bible reading, 97-9 Colporters, 1 54, 154-6, 156,156-8 Commission, great, 78, 81-2; first worldwide, 80 Conservatism and Bible societies, 144; overcoming Chinese, 225 Constitution of U. S. and the Bible, 172-3 Continent, Bible societies on, ^ ^47-8 Coptic version, 97, 99 Cosmogonies, impossible, 9-10 Covenant, messages of, 43-44; new, rooted in the old, 54-5 Daniel, 46, 46-7, 47-8 Darwin, Charles, quoted, 182-3 Day of God, hastening, 70 Dictionaries compiled by mission- aries, 109-10, I 12-3, 119-20, 125,131 Early Church, lay ministry, 85-6; women workers, 86; spirit of. 86-7; missionary power, 88-9 Earth, new, men co-operating for, 92-3. Education and the Bible, 142 Edward the Conqueror quoted, 171-2 English law, Bible in, 171 Ethiopic version, 97, 99 Ethnic religions, 9-13 Evangelization of world, 71 Exploration: Oregon trail, 133-4 Ezekiel, gospel of, for individual, 39-40; hireling shepherd, 40-1; healing waters, 41 "Faith of the Lord Jesus," 77 Father, Christ's message of, 56-9; new way to, 59-60 Fatherhood of God, 57-9 Festivals, church, and Bible, 175 Fields white for harvest, 72-3 Finance, missionary, 85 Foch, General, quoted, 162 Force can not usher in Kingdom, 63 Foreigner in Solomon's prayer, 25 Forgiveness proclaimed to all nations, 81 Fraternal spirit of Early Church, 86-7; today, 87-8 Free, Bible sets men, 130-1 Froude quoted, 173-4 Furnivall, Dr., quoted, 201 Gaelic version, 146 Galilee, Jesus appears in, 77-8 Garibaldi quoted, 174 Geddie, John, 125 Germany and Kingdom, 64 Gibbon quoted, 102 Gilbert Islands, Bible in, 124-5 Gladstone quoted, 174 God, character of, revealed in Bible, 12-3; In ethnic religions, 13; the_ great Person, 18; re- vealed in Psalms, 29; Isaiah claims world for, 36; name revered among nations, 44-6; Jonah runs away from, 49; pur- pose of, in Nineveh, 49-50; 236 The Bible and Missions irony of, 50; over all and in all, 57; Fatherhood for all mankind, 57-9; riches of, in Christ, 60; hastening Day of, 70; men co- operating with, 92-3; searching for a name for, 127-8; has a will for the nations, 169 Goethe quoted, 7, 198 Good, life chief, 69 Gospel will not fail, 23; in Amos, 22; Hosea's, of the love of God, 33-4; glorious promise of, 40-1; in the arms of the Law, 55; base line for, 74-5; universal, 85; giving money part of preach- ing, 85; in daily press, 213; ad- vertising, 213-5 Gospels, missionary message, 82 Gothic version, 102-3 Grant, President U. S., quoted, 167 Greek Church, translations, 99 Greeley, Horace, quoted, 173 Great Britain, Bible in 146-7 Great commission, 78, 81-2 Giitzlaff, Dr. K. F. A., 115, 116-7 Habakkuk, message of, 42-3 Haggai, message of, 41 Haig, Field Marshal, quoted, 162 Hall, Dr. G. Stanley, quoted, 174 Hamlin, Cyrus, 168-9 Happy Childhoody 210; popularity, 220; in a palace, 221; 222 Harnack on use of Bible, 97-9 Harrington, Dr. C. K., quoted, 120 Harvest, fields white for, 72-3 Healing waters, 41 Heathen, speaking peace to, 41 Hebrew hopes, noblest, 62 Heroism, summons to Christian, 84 Hindu/^^/V, Bible finds, 156-60 Hireling shepherd, 40-1 Historical books, 24-6 Hogg quoted, 57 Home, literature for the, 219 Horton quoted, 27, 28, 30 Hosea, gospel of, 33-4 Hottentot opinion of Bible, 181 Hsii, Kuang, Christian books for, 208-9 Humanity pictured in Bible, lo-i Hymn books, 216-7 Hymn writers, 216-8 India, influence of Bible, 176-9; see South India Indian invents an alphabet, 134-5 Indians, Eliot's Bible, 132; Nez- Perces, search for Bible, 132-3; Bibles for, 134; twenty-third Psalm for, 135-6 Individual, Ezekiel's gospel for, 39-40 Industries, new, and demand for text-books, 205 Invention and the Bible, 142 Isaiah, circumstances of ministry, 35-6; convictions underlying gospel, 2^\ claims world for God, 36-7; challenge for today, 37; vision of suffering servant, 38 Islanders, Bible among, 124-6 Israel, 20-2 Japan, first Protestant missiona- ries in, 1 17-8; debt to Bible, 186-8; music in, 186; status of woman, 186-7; prison reform, 187; English literature inter- prets Christianity to, 202 Japanese, Tolstoi's works in, 21 1-2 Japanese Christians influential, 187-8; literary output, 210-1 Japanese converts, early, 11 8-9 Japanese prisons, N. T. in, 156-8 Japanese versions, 116-7, 119-20 Jaschke, Rev. H. A., no Jeremiah, 38-9 Jerusalem, vision of new, 92 Jesus nourished soul on Psalms, 30; experience of, prefigured in Psalms, 31; universality of mis- sion, 55-6; all nations cluster about, 55-6; two centers of thought, 56-9; proclaims King- dom, Gy^ defines Kingdom and reveals how to attain it, 63-5; enraged Jews, 6^\ explains parables, 68-9; a missionary, 71; talk with Samaritan woman. Index '■31 72; chooses missionaries, 73-4; mission strategy, 75; missionary commands, 75-6; faith of, 77; command after resurrection, 77-9; Child's life of, 219-20 Jewish exiles, 45 Jews, orthodox, 26, 65 Job, missionary purpose in, 27 Joel, message of, 48 John sees plan, 15; Christ's mes- sage to, 66 Jonah, the missionary, 48-9; text for prophecy, 49; runs away from God, 49; God's purpose in Nineveh, 49-50; irony of God, 50 . Jones, Rev. lH^id, 128 Jones, Mary, i^^3 Jubilee books, 220 Judson, Adoniram, 110-2 Kingdom, the prophets upon, 1 1-2; Micah foretells coming, 34-5; Christ's message of, 61; replaced by church, 61; not a new idea, 61-2; how under- stood, 62-3; Jesus proclaims, 63; nature of, 63; how attained, 63-5; Germany and the, 64; meekness and the, 64; not a national religion, 64-5; need not tarry, 66-7; triumph of, delayed, 67; parables of the, 67-70; Christ's triumphant, 91; new Jerusalem, 92-3 Korea, 121, 123-4, 185, 188 Korean Bible, 122-3, i,-4 Korean prison, Christ in, 158 Korean script, 121-2 Laity, use of Bible, 97 Language in Africa, 131; see Tongue Latin version, 97 Law, missionary message, 17-22; in prophetic note, 23-4; God's calling outside, 25-6; Gospel in the arms of, 55; Bible and, 170- 2; evils entrenched in, 172 'League of Pity,' first, 74 Leaves of the Tree, 198-228 Lessing quoted, 93 Lexicography, debt of, to mission- aries, 109-10; see Dictionaries Life, chief good of, 69 Lights that failed, 22 Lincoln, Abraham, quoted, 163 Literary output of Japanese Chris- tians, 210-1 Literate constituency, Christian- ity develops, 199-200; Bible creates, 204 Literature, Bible as, 12; permeated by Bible, 200-2; see Christian literature Livingstone, David, 79, 180-1 Luke, first worldwide commission, 80-1 McAfee, quoted, 175, 198 MacGillivray, Mrs., 219-20 Mackenzie, Jean, quoted, 180 Madagascar, Christianity in, 128- 3^ . . Magazine, Chinese, for children, 210; Happy Childhood J 220-1 ; see Publicity Malachi, 43-4, 44-6 Man, God's search for, 16-7; Israel trustee for, 20-2; every, in his own tongue, 93-138; set free by Bible, 130-1 Mankind of one blood, 19; Psalms hymnal of, 27-8; Isaiah per- ceived unity of, 36 Maoris and the Bible, 181-2 Marshall, Vice-President Thos. R., quoted, 162 Materialism, 18 Materialistic civilization, 91-2 Meekness, might of, 64 . Messianic kingdom, vision of, in Psalms, 29-30; Daniel upon hope of, 47-8 Micah foretells coming kingdom, 34-5; true religion, 2S Milton quoted, 93 Ministry, enlarging circles of, 74; lay, in Early Church, 85 238 The Bible and Missions Missionaries, Jesus chooses, 73-4; contributions to knowledge, 108-10; first Protestant, in Japan, 117-8; services of, to Pacific Islanders, 183-4; and hymns, 216-8 Missionary, Bible, in teachings, 14; Jesus a, 71; great charter of, 80-1 Missionary commands of Jesus, 75-6; in Acts, 76; backed by power, 78-9 Missionary conceptions common to the prophets, 32 Missionary enterprise, value of Bible in, 152 Missionary finance, emergence of. Missionary message of Old Testa- ment, 5-51; in the Law, 17-22; prophetic note in, 23-4; of his- torical books, 24-6; of poetical books, 26-31; of prophets, 31- 51; of the New Testament, 52- 93; of Gospels, 82; of N. T. out- side the Gospels, 83; of Apoca- lypse, 88-93 Missionary program, 79-80 Missionary progress, 105-6 Missionary spirit of Early Church, 86-7; today, 87-8 Missionary study of Acts, 88-9 Mission, first Protestant west of Rocky Mts., 133-4 Missions, text-book of, 7-13; fail- ure of Church, 22-3; if, fail, Christ a failure, 37-8; four zones of, 77; Acts: text book of, 83; Syrian, loi; stormy times no bar to, 144 Mission presses, notable, 205-6 Mission strategy, 75; of Acts, 84 Mcflfatt quoted, 1 21-2 Money, giving, 85 Morrison, Robert, no, 112-5 Moslems, versions for, 136-7 Music and the Bible, 174; in Ja- pan, 186; an aid to Christianity, 215-8 National sins, 167-9 Nations, all, cluster about Jesus, 55-6; Bible has message to, 167-9; non-Christian, influence of Bible, 176; Oriental, receiving the Bible, 195 Nestorian Tablet, loo-i New, from old to, 54 New day, program for, 224-8 New Guinea, Bible in, 127-8 New Jerusalem, vision of, 92 New Testament, missionary mes- sage of, 52-93; rooted in the Old, 54-5; missionary message of, outside the Gospels, 83; in Japanese prisons, 156-8; in Korean prison, 158; given by Chinese philanthropist, 158-9; see Old Testament, Bible Newspaper evangelism, see Pub- licity Newspaper, first Chinese Chris- tian, 210; see Publicity Nineveh, God's purpose in, 49-50; we have our, 50 Nott, Henry, 1 25-6 Novels, sale of, 153 Obedience and Kingdom, 69 O'Brien, Fighting Pat, quoted, 163 Okuma, Count, quoted, 186 Old, from, to new, 54 Old Testament, missionary mes- sage of, 5-51; the plan in, 17; New Testament rooted in, 54-5; see New Testament, Bible Opportunities, outstanding, 224-8 Ordinances, church, and Bible, 175 Oregon trail, 133-4 Outcastes, elevation of, 177-8 Pacific Islands, missionaries in, 183-4 Palace, imperial, Bible in, 190-1; Happy Childhood in a, 221 Parables of the Kingdom, 67-70 Paton, John G., 126-7 Paul sees plan, 15-6; uses Psalms, 31; universal gospel, 85 Index 239 Pentecost, the prophet of, 48 Periodicals, importance of, 221; need of cooperation in publish- ing, 221-2; see Publicity Persecution in Madagascar, 129- 130 Pershing, General, quoted, 162 Personalism translated into Jap- anese, 18-19 Peshito, 99 Peter, use of Psalms by, 31 Philology, debt of, to missionaries 108-9 Pieters, Rev. Albertus, 213, 21 4, 223 Pi/grim's Progress , The, 105, 129 Pilkington, Geo. L., 132 Plan of the ages, 14-6; in the Law, 17-22 Pocket Testament League, 163-4 Poet the real seer, 26-7 Poetical books, missionary mes- sage of, 26-31 Prayer of dedication,Solomon's, 25 Prayers of Christians asked for by Chinese, 194-5 Press, daily, 210; gospel in, 213; advertising in, 213-5; see Pub- licity Printing and the Bible, 142 Prison reform in Japan, 187 Privilege, channel of blessing, not pool of, 20 Prophets social reformers, 11-2; missionary message of, 31-51; four, of the eighth century, B.C., 3^-3 Psalms mankind's hymnal, 27-8; messages of, 28-30; Jesus and, 30-1; Peter's and Paul's use of, ^^ Public, Christianity develops a book-reading, 199-200 Public libraries and Christianity, 199-200 Publicity, see Christian publicity. Christian literature. Christian periodical literature. Magazine, Newspaper, Periodicals, Press Quezon quoted, 174 Ranavalona begins great persecu- tion, 129-130 Raratonga, 126 Rauschenbusch, quoted, 12, 54 Reaper, sower and, 73 Redemption of individual, 40-I Reed, Hon. \V, B., quoted, 189 Reform in China and the Bible, 1 90-1 Reformers, the prophets are, 11-2 Religion, Micah's interpretation of true, 35 Repentance proclaimed to all na- tions, 81 Richard, Dr. Timothy, great achievement of, 208 Roberts, Field Marshal Lord, 162 Roosevelt, Theodore, quoted, 162- 3 Ruskin, John, quoted, 104 Russian Bible Society, 147-8 Ruth, missionary purpose in, 27 St. Jerome, Vulgate of, 101-2 St. John's college, 192-3 Sale of Bible, 152-4; of Dickens's novels, 153; of hymn books, 217 Samaritan woman, Jesus' talk with, 72 Savage Island, Bible in, 127-8 Schereschewsky, Bishop, 11 5-6 Scotch Bible Society, 148; Bibles for soldiers, 161 Scotch highlands, Bible schools in, 146 Script, see Alphabet Sectarianism and Bible societies, 145 Seer, poet the real, 26-7 Septuagint, 14, 96 Sins, see National sins Slavic version, 109 Social implications of the Apoc- alypse, 91-3 Soldiers, distribution of Bible to, 160-4; welcome Testament, 163 Sons, God's true, 58-9 240 The Bible and Missions Soothill quoted, 9 Soul, enlarging a people's, 108 South India, Syrian Christians of, 99-100 Sower and reaper, 73 Stone that became a mountain, 46-7 Strategy of Bible translation, 138 Subordination of all else to King- dom, 69 Suffering servant, vision of, 38; Jeremiah type of, 39 Syriac version, 97, 99-100 Syrian Christians, 99-100 Syrian maid, captive, 26 Syrian missions, monuments of, lOI Tahiti, labors of Henry Nott, 125- 6; Bible in, 182-3 Tao, Yung, Chinese philanthro- pist, 158-9; quoted, 191 Teaching church, 80 Tenney quoted, 171, 199-200 Text-books, preparation of, and demand for books, 204-5; ^"d new industries, 205; printing Chinese, 225 "Thanksgiving," hunting for, 107 Tilak, N. v., quoted, 218 Today, Isaiah's challenge for, 37; Habakkuk's message for, 42-3; Jonah's message needed, 50-1 Tolstoi's works in Japanese, 21 1-2 Tongue, every man in his own, 96-138; see Language Travels of the Book, the, 141-165 Tract societies, work of, 206-7 Translation, Bible, see Bible trans- lation Travancore, Maha-Rajahof, quot- ed, 177 Tree, Leaves of, 198-228 Triumph of the Kingdom, 70 Tsin, Wen Shih, quoted, 193 Tsu, Yu-Yue quoted, 193-4 Turkish version, 137 Uganda, Pilkington of, 132; trans- formation of, 179-80 Ulfilas, version of, 102-3 United States, Bible recognized by founders, 150-1; Bible and Con- stitution of, 172-3 Universal gospel, 85 Universality of mission of Jesus 55-6 Vedder, Henry C, quoted, 1 1 1 Verbeck, Dr. G. T., 118, 119 Versions of Bible, see under vari- ous languages Victoria, Queen, quoted, 173 Von Dobschiitz quoted, 170 Vulgate of St. Jerome, 101-2 Waiting, watchful, 68-9; how pass the night, 69-70 Wasaka, MurataandAyabe, 118-9 Welsh get their Bible, 146 Williams, John, 126 Williams, S. Wells, no, 117 Wilson, President Woodrow, quot- ed, 162 Witnesses to the ends of the earth. Woman, changing status of, 178-9; status in Japan, 186-7 Women workers in Early Church, 86 Wood, General Leonard, quoted, 162 ^ World, time of evangelization, 71 Wyclif, 103-4 Zechariah, message of, 41 Date Due r A ; 'fT^ - %L^ wa^ 'W -'■ ^ «r^ ;- ^Ir nw* ~V^^ u^. »^ ' ^**'^''!3r^ ■ # . - 1 'Mi^BB' t>^ O*^ <|) Princeton Theological Seminary-Speer Library 1 1012 01077 1659