“Jews Change Their Faith.” New York Times, December 14, 1896.

JEWS CHANGE THEIR FAITH

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A NUMBER OF CONVERTS BAPTIZED BY THE REV. DR. HALL.

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The Interesting Ceremony in Pastor Warszawiak's Mission Is Followed by an Address on Christ's Divinity.

Fifteen Jews and Jewesses, after confession of the Christian faith, were baptized last evening by the Rev. Dr. John Hall of the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church. The converts were made up of eight men, three women, two boys, a little girl, and an infant, whose mother held her in her arms while the words of baptism were pronounced and the water poured on the head of the child.

The ceremony took place in the hall of the American Mission to the Jews, Attorney and Grand Streets, of which Hermann Warszawiak is the pastor, and the new Christian recruits are steady attendants at the services he conducts there. This is the third occasion within two months in which Dr. Hall has administered baptism to this little congregation of Jews, over forty persons having now enrolled themselves under the banner of Christ. The pastor is a Presbyterian himself, and the newly admitted Christians, with one exception, will attach themselves to that denomination. The Methodists will get the gentleman who stands alone among his brother converts.

Among the eight men who presented themselves for baptism were Mr. Adolph Adler and his son Julius. The latter is a graduate of a Vienna medical college, and will, when properly admitted, enter upon the work of his profession in Philadelphia.

The place was crowded. In front of the hall were several American flags, and around the walls such mottoes as “Christ Died for Our Sins,” “Mighty to Save,” and “To the Jew First,” were displayed. Texts from Scripture printed in Hebrew caught the eye in every direction.

The Pastor's Change of Views.

After a prayer in German by the pastor, he made a short address in English. Then he spoke in Hebrew. He said: “I have lived long enough as an Israelite to know that it is a physical impossibility to be a Jew through and through and keep the law from beginning to end. Neither you nor I nor your forefathers kept it.” Mr. Adolph Adler then prayed in German. Singing followed under the direction of the Rev. A. Lichtenstein, the hymn “Jesus Is Calling” being selected. Edward Moritz presided at the pianoforte. Mr. Warszawiak Introduced the Rev. Dr. Hall.

Dr. Hall delivered the following address: “I feel it to be not only a pleasure, but a privilege, to speak a few words to you this evening, and I am only sorry that there are so many of you who, not having learned English, cannot be expected to understand all that I say.

“I don't want you so much to hear my words as to hear the words that are given in the teaching of the Holy Spirit. The Book of Isaiah is known to you. We Christians are indebted to your race for the prophets of the Old Testament, and they have been a great blessing to us.

“Take, for example, the fifty-third chapter of Isaiah. If I wanted proof that Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah, I would find proof sufficient in a part of that one prophecy. Listen to this language: `He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid as it were our faces from Him. He was despised and we esteemed Him not.'

Isaiah's Vision.

“One might say that the prophet there speaks of something that is past already. I want you to understand that. Isaiah was 700 years before the coming of the Messiah. The reason that he puts this as if it had taken place already is found not only in his writings but in other prophecies. The prophecies in many cases were given to the prophets as vision, and they described what they saw as a thing that was past to them. but they were really predicting what was to come.

“You know how true this statement is regarding the Messiah—the carpenter's son, very poor and without a home, sometimes hungry and thirsty, despised not only by His own people to whom He came, but despised already by Roman rulers who were persuaded to join in crucifying Him. He was despised and rejected among men and a man of sorrows. But He never sinned, never broke a law, never was unjust; yet they called Him by the worst of names—a demoniac, a deceiver, a friend of publicans and sinners.

“Why was all that? Listen to the next verse: `Surely He hath borne our grief and carried our sorrows, yet we did esteem Him smitten by God and afflicted; but He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement of our peace was on Him, and with His stripes we are healed.'

“How did Isaiah know that? The spirit of God taught him. Can you point to any man in the history of the human race concerning whom these words would be true—anyone except Jesus of Nazareth? They were written in Hebrew 700 years before He came, and yet there are many who do not believe that He bore our cross and carried our sorrows; that He is the Saviour of man.

Burdens Borne by Christ.

“Listen to the next verse: `All we like sheep have gone astray.' When sheep go astray, what do they want? A shepherd. And Jesus says: `I am the good shepherd.' And the good shepherd giveth His life for the sheep. All we like sheep have gone astray and turned everyone to his own way, and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

“What a burthen on the soul of the Messiah! But He agreed to carry that load, and as the wages of sin is death, He agreed to die on the cross in order that we might be saved and have eternal life.

“`He was bruised and afflicted. He was brought as a lamb to the slaughter.' You here read the Book of Leviticus, which describes the various offerings which were enjoined upon the people. The lamb was the burnt offering. It was an innocent and pure animal; it was an abounding animal. You know how many thousands of lambs your forefathers brought to the slaughter. You understand the words of the New Testament: Behold the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sins of the world. The Lamb that God promised, that God gave, that God accepted, and whose blood cleanses us from sin.

“We have prophecies in the New Testament, and the Lamb appears there also. Here is how the New Testament prophet John sees it: `The Lamb standing in the midst of the throne.' That is to say that Jesus the Messiah, who died and was buried, and rose the third day and ascended into heaven, is now on the throne on the right hand of God. He is not sitting on the throne. One sits on the throne when there is nothing in particular to do. But He is using all power in heaven and on earth to bring men unto Himself and to glorify the Father.

Many of the Race Turning.

“Many of your race have already, thank God, come to that Lamb of God. More are now coming. I am glad of it, and I am thankful for it. I hope the day will come when there will be a Church for Hebrews whose hearts have been opened to receive Christ, who have taken Him as their Messiah, and who worship God in spirit and in truth in His holy name.

“When the Hebrews acknowledge Jesus Christ there will be a power in existence for the conversion of the world which we have not had. We Gentiles, on going to distant lands, have to learn the language of those lands. Your race knows almost every language in the civilized world. How easy it would be to find missionaries of the Hebrew race when that race has accepted the Messiah to go to the various countries and peoples and bring the glad tidings of salvation to them regarding the Redeemer, and they could tell them that in Christ there is neither Jew nor Greek, barbarian nor Scythian, bond nor free.

“When we believe in Jesus we become part of His great mystical body, and the spirit of God is the heart of that body, and that body moves and labors and toils for the carrying out of the Father's will and the glorifying of His great and holy name.

“Dear friends, the truth that you have learned do. And the truth you have learned tell others. Tell it in a kindly and loving and gentle spirit, in the spirit of affection. As the New Testament puts it, `speaking the truth in love.' And may there be many who will praise you for being the instruments of bringing them to Him who died that we might live.”

Ceremony of Baptism.

Dr. Hall's address having been concluded, the hymn, “I Need Thee Every Hour,” was sung. Those who were to receive baptism then lined up at the platform, and an attendant, standing to the left of Dr. Hall, carried a fount of water. The Rev. Mr. Warszawiak gave in the names which the converts desired to take in baptism. Dr. Hall put to them collectively one question regarding their confession of faith and a second one as to whether they would live as Christ would have them live.

With bowed heads, the adults and boys answered in the affirmative, saying, “Yes, we do.” The reverend doctor then sprinkled water on them individually, using the following words: “I baptize thee in the name of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.”

After a prayer by Dr. Hall and a few remarks by the pastor, the services ended. The converts warmly shook hands with one another. Dr. Hall had to grasp eager hands of the Hebrew Christians as he passed toward the door on his way out.