Johnston, James, ed.; Jackson, Samuel Macauley, 1851-1912. Report of the Centenary Conference on the Protestant Missions of the World, held in Exeter Hall (June 9th-19th), London, 1888. Third edition. New York; Chicago: Fleming H. Revell, 1889. Portions pertaining to Jewish evangelism only are reproduced here.
THIRD EDITION. TWELFTH THOUSAND.
REPORT OF THE CENTENARY CONFERENCE ON THE PROTESTANT MISSIONS OF THE WORLD, HELD IN EXETER HALL (JUNE 9TH-19TH), LONDON, 1888.
EDITED BY THE REV. JAMES JOHNSTON, F.S.S., Secretary of the Conference; AUTHOR OF “A CENTURY OF CHRISTIAN PROGRESS;” “OUR EDUCATIONAL POLICY IN INDIA;” “ABSTRACT AND ANALYSIS OF VICE-REGAL COMMISSION ON EDUCATION.” ETC., ETC., ETC.
::FLEMING H. REVELL::
Publisher of Evangelical Literature
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PART III.
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SPECIAL MISSIONARY SUBJECTS AND VALEDICTORY MEETING.
I. MISSIONS TO THE JEWS.
II. MEDICAL MISSIONS.
III. WOMEN'S MISSION TO WOMEN.
IV. THE CHURCH'S DUTY AND A NEW DEPARTURE IN MISSIONARY ENTERPRISE.
VALEDICTORY MEETING AND ADDRESSES ON THE BIBLE AND CHRISTIAN LITERATURE IN THE WORK OF MISSIONS.
ADDITION MEETING FOR THE PASSING OF RESOLUTIONS ON THE OPIUM TRADE WITH CHINA—THE LIQUOR TRAFFIC IN AFRICA — GOVERNMENT LICENCE OF VICE IN INDIA.
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SPECIAL MISSIONARY SUBJECTS. ___________________
FIRST MEETING.
MISSIONS TO THE JEWS.
(Monday evening, June 11th, in the Lower Hall.)
James E. Mathieson, Esq., in the chair. Acting Secretary, Mr. B. Broomhall.
Dr. Elder Cumming (of Glasgow) offered prayer.
The Jews neglected in 1878. Christians take the promises and leave the Jews the curses. The Chairman: I remember, beloved friends, that at the great Missionary Conference held ten years ago at Mildmay—a gathering similar in character, though not in extent, to the present one—the only reference to the work of God amongst His ancient people was, I think, confined to a portion of the closing meeting. The whole Conference had been passed over without any reference whatever to Jewish Mission work. I recollect that on that occasion my heart burned within me with a good deal of indignation that this matter had been put into such a distant corner of the Conference programme, and I uttered a word or two from Psalm lxvii., which distinctly intimates to us that the blessing of the world is to come through the greater blessing descending upon God's ancient and beloved people. My dear friend Dr. Schwartz, who has been taken home long ago and gone in to see the King, used to say, “You Gentile Christians take all the sweet promises of God to Israel for yourselves, but you leave all the curses to the poor Jews.”
In the great ecclesiastical gatherings which have just taken place in the north of this kingdom, in which I used to take part in former years, and of which there are some distinguished representatives here this evening on the platform, they close the meetings by standing—a very unusual posture in Scotland, for there, when people praise, they usually sit—but to mark the solemnity of the occasion they stand and sing the last verses of Psalm cxxii.: “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem; they shall prosper that love thee. Peace be within thy walls, and prosperity within thy palaces,” etc. But they do not
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mean Jerusalem, and they do not mean the Jews; they mean the Established Church and the Free Church of Scotland. Is not this something like “robbery for burnt offering”?
Better days for Israel. Since 1878 there has been a great advance along the line in regard to Mission work, and notably—praise be to the God of Israel—there has been a great advance in the interest of the true believing people of God in many Churches, concerning His ancient and beloved people; and it may console the hearts of the true-hearted in Israel, and those who love Israel, to know that not one promise shall fail of all the good things He has promised concerning His ancient people. We may be sure of that; and now in these days we are seeing the beginning of the accomplishment of blessed and glorious things for His ancient people. I shall not stay to refer to the Mission work that is going on. We have an abundant supply this evening of able and devoted workers amongst the Jews, who will tell us of the present, past, and future of Jewish Missions, though it may not be exactly in these terms that the successive speakers will address you. I have now the pleasure and privilege of calling upon a representative of the great Church Society, the London Society for Promoting Christianity among the Jews, which has had an existence now of nearly eighty years, having been formed in 1809.
MISSIONS TO THE JEWS IN THE PAST.
Rev. W. Fleming, LL.B. (Secretary, London Society for Promoting Christianity among the Jews): Mr. Chairman and Christian friends,—Before such a meeting as this it is unnecessary to urge the duty or speak of the privilege of preaching Christ to the Jews. The Christian who accepts the teaching of Holy Scripture on this subject exclaims, “Necessity is laid upon me, and woe is me if I preach not the Gospel” to the Jew first. Without either preface or apology I pass at once to the subject assigned to me.
Moravian Missions to Jews. In proclaiming the Gospel to the Jews the Moravian takes a foremost, if not the foremost place. The celebrated Count Zinzendorf co-operated with Rabbi Samuel Lieberk¨¹hn, who had laboured amongst the Jews in Pomerania and Prussia. In 1735 the Rabbi joined the Church of the United Brethren, and four years later he was appointed Jewish Missionary to Amsterdam. Everywhere he won the esteem of the Jews, and not long since a gift was sent to the Moravian Church at Herrnhut by a Jewish family who cherished the traditions of blessing through Rabbi Lieberk¨¹hn last century. On October 12th, 1739, being the day of atonement, Zinzendorf himself exhorted the congregation of Moravians to be instant in prayer for Jews. The Count's interest continued to the close of his life in 1760, and the text-book of the following year, which contained his “farewell blessing,” had this text marked for the Day of Atonement, “The children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice. Afterwards shall the children of Israel return and seek
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the Lord their God.” In an appendix to this Report will be found, taken from “Rundschun,” the names, with date of formation, of the various Missionary Societies which have laboured amongst the Jews. The summary, subject to correction, maybe thus given: In England 8, Scotland 5, Ireland 1, together employing 312 agents; on the continent of Europe 27, employing 31 agents; America 7, employing 34 agents. Thus, apparently, 48 Jewish Missionary Societies send 377 agents to God's ancient people Israel.
Inherited traditions Turning more directly to the London Society, I speak only as the mouthpiece of others. During the eighty years of its existence this venerable association has well, thought out and studied the best way of working among the Jews. We inherit the traditions of such men as Lewis Way, McCaul, Ayerst, Ewald, Becker, Barclay, Burtchaell, and Stern. We possess the experience of Eppstein, Wolkenburg, Cassell, Ellis, Bachert, Ginsburg, and many others devoted to the cause. I should have much preferred one of these veterans addressing you had I not been informed that I was to fulfil the duty. As the result of consultation with my beloved brother delegate, Dr. T. Chaplin, twenty-five years our honoured Missionary physician at Jerusalem, I now desire to enumerate the means by which the London Society has striven in the past and still endeavours to promote Christianity amongst the Jews.
I. By striving to win their confidence by removing prejudice. The deep-rooted prejudice of the Jewish mind against Christianity has been the universal experience of Missionaries; and it needs but a slight acquaintance with the history of the Jews to account for its existence. How is this to be replaced by confidence? By proving that the Spirit of Christ is the spirit of love, and that the teaching of Christ denounced persecution in every shape and form; in a word, by presenting to the Jew Christianity in its true character. In aiming at this the following means have been steadily advocated in the past :(a) By never speaking against Jews in word, or injuring them by deed; but, on the contrary, by always showing gentleness and kindness in dealing with them. (b) By always manifesting deep sympathy with them, both as a nation and as individuals. The most successful Missionaries have been the men whose own hearts have been moved, nay rather bled, when they have read of the past persecutions, or witnessed the present sufferings of a down-trodden people. (c) By Medical Missions, a branch of the work to which our Society's hospital at Jerusalem bears witness in Palestine, as well as the personal efforts of Eppstein at Smyrna. These Missions commend the practical love of Christianity, and the Society's Mission at Safed is a most encouraging illustration.
II. To preach the Gospel as the Apostles preached it,—proving from their own Scriptures that Jesus is the Christ and Saviour of sinners. This has been done, where permitted, in the synagogues, as in Persia and other parts of the East; or in assemblies, where such can be collected, as in Holland, Germany, France, and recently
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in a remarkable degree in connection with our Warsaw Mission. (See this year's Annual Report.) Also, preaching from house to house, in shops, or visits to the Missionary's home. Our book dep ?ts, the hospital at Jerusalem, the waiting rooms for patients have proved useful places. The able and eloquent Apollos learnt the way of God more perfectly by visiting the home of a tent-maker and his wife.
III. To encourage an intelligent and prayerful investigation of Holy Scripture. Here the Jewish Mission stands in remarkable contrast with the Gentile Mission. To the heathen, God's Word must be imported as something new; with the Jew, we appeal to that which is essentially his own by right and by inheritance, pressing as we preach our sense of gratitude, since it is from him and through him, as God's appointed agent, we have received the oracles of God. A world-wide dissemination of Holy Scripture, by sale usually, by gift in exceptional cases, has been a leading feature in Jewish Missions. The foremost place, therefore, has been given to the preparation and circulation of God's Word, written in the Hebrew tongue. “It works silently and without offence; it penetrates where the Missionary can find no access; it is concealed in the bosom, and read in the closet; and he who has the fears and scruples of Nicodemus may enjoy his privilege and converse in secret with Him of whom Moses in the law and the prophets did write.” To these eloquent words of the committee of sixty-three years ago, the committee of to-day give their unqualified endorsement.
IV. To educate Jewish children in Christianity. In the institution of the passover, the feast of tabernacles, the stones set up by Jordan, God provided for future generations. When children asked, “What mean ye by these things?” then were they to be instructed in what the Lord God of Israel had done for their fathers. Where this principle has been applied in the Mission-field, God's promise has proved true, “When he is old he shall not depart from it.” Of the five hundred and ninety-five Jewish boys who have passed through the Society's school at Palestine Place, 5 per cent. at least have taken holy orders; whilst a large number have become Christian teachers and professional men. The present master, in twenty-eight years' experience, does not know a single instance of a scholar who, having completed his course, relapsed into Judaism.
V. To provide young Jews with some practical mode of earning an honest livelihood. This has been found to be a work both of delicacy and difficulty. To confess Jesus of Nazareth is, as in Apostolic days, to be cast out of the synagogue, repudiated by the family, and dismissed from occupation.
Work provided. If the proselyte is provided for, he is taunted with sinister motives, whilst the Missionary is exposed to the charge of bribery. If no helping hand is held out, it is difficult to reconcile indifference with the spirit of Christianity and the teaching of Him who said, “Give ye them to eat.” The London Society has felt compelled to reserve its fund for purely
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spiritual purposes. With the two exceptions of the Hospital and House of industry at Jerusalem, no temporal aid is permissible to an adult Jew. In London however, this important branch is undertaken by a distinct Society, the Operative Jewish Converts' Institution in Palestine Place. Those who peruse the London Society's publications, The Jewish Intelligencer, The Jewish Advocate, and the numerous tracts, will be ready to admit the accuracy and excellency of printing executed by Jewish hands.
VI. The training of promising young men as Missionaries. “Faithfully and wisely to make choice of fit persons” for this purpose is the most sacred and responsible study of Missionary Societies. Constant prayer for the right judgment to select those, and only those, who are moved by and filled with the Holy Ghost, lies at the root of all spiritual success.
The difficulties in Jewish Missions are special and considerable. The London Society have tried to grapple with these difficulties by special training. The Hebrew Missionary College in Palestine Place was founded in 1840. During its first twenty years, fifty-two students entered, of whom forty-eight passed into the service of the Society, a large proportion devoting their life to the work. In 1860 the College was suspended, and training in colleges or with private individuals substituted. This was tried for sixteen years, but out of thirteen students thus prepared four remained at the work, and two of these only for five years. In 1876 the college was resuscitated, and during six years seventeen students entered, of whom fifteen remained with the Society in 1882, when these statistics were taken.
Object in meeting. Such are a few facts rapidly compressed together to fit the time allowed. We do not pretend to do justice to the subject, but if I catch aright the object of this great Missionary Conference it is to elicit information, to invite brotherly counsel and so, as iron sharpeneth iron, to deepen each other's interest, and strengthen each other's hands in preaching Christ throughout the nations of the earth. My last word, therefore, must be on behalf, and in the name of that dear Society, whose servant I am, to solicit your loving criticism, to listen to your friendly advice, to plead for your earnest prayers, and to assure you of the cordial Christian co-operation of our committee in every effort to exalt the name of Jesus before that ancient nation, now scattered in God's purpose and as God's witness amongst the many nations of the world.
MODERN CHRISTIAN MOVEMENTS AMONG THE JEWS.
Co-operation. Rev. John. Dunlop (Secretary, British Society for the Propagation of the Gospel among the Jews): Mr. Chairman, ladies, and gentlemen,—The various Jewish Societies at home and abroad are specific and Divinely approved instances of the general law of a multiplicity of operations in harmonious combination. Their chief Mission may be most surely accomplished by the combination of
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several sets of living agencies, including Managers, Collectors, Mission deputies, and Missionaries, all working together, even as part works together with part in the many-membered human body. These various agencies must work into each other's hands. As zinc and copper must be brought into direct communication through an efficient connecting bath in order to the production of a powerful galvanic current, so our Missionaries at a distance and our friends here must be brought into direct contact, that there may be successful working, praying, and giving on the part of all.
Number of Missions to Jews. Number of converts. The Jewish Societies founded in England are eight, with 294 agents, 55 stations, and an income of ?59,394. In Scotland there are five Missions, with 71 Missionaries, 17 stations, and an income of ?12,631. There is the Irish Presbyterian Mission, with 27 Missionaries, 9 stations, and an income of ?3,634. There are twelve German Associations, with 13 Missionaries, 6 stations, and an income of ?3,188. There is the Basle Friends of Israel Mission, Switzerland, with 1 Missionary, 1 station, and an income of ?518. There are three Dutch Societies, with 3 Missionaries, 2 stations, and an income of ?888. There is Pastor Kruger's Mission in France with an income of ?60. In Sweden and Norway there are five institutions, with 6 Missionaries, 4 stations, and an income of ?1,440. There are seven North American Missions, with 34 Missionaries, 33 stations, and an income of ?5,680. The Jewish Societies of Great Britain and Ireland are fourteen, the agents 392, the stations 81, and the annual income, ?75,659. The total number of Societies is 47, the certified workers 457, the fields of labour 132, and the total annual income upwards of ?90,000. De le Roy, who has considered the subject of results very carefully, is convinced that a hundred thousand Jews and Jewesses have been baptised during the last seventy-five years; and that these proselytes and their descendants, if taken together, would number two hundred and fifty thousand.
Inspection of the Missions. We are here to-night to bear our testimony to Jewish Missions as the result of our personal inspection of the chief fields in foreign lands. It is only a little while since it was our great privilege to pass through nearly every European country, and to have our hearts cheered by what we saw of the able and faithful Missionaries connected with our own and kindred Societies. We discovered that their work is more thorough than we judged it from their reports, and that they work under a constant sense of the presence with them of the Highest.
Gratifying results. Sometimes soldiers amid the smoke of battle can see but little until the battle is over. Sometimes the passengers in a ship can see no progress as they toil through the dark and the storm, but the spectators from a height on the shore see that real progress has been made, and that soon the passengers will reach their desired haven. This was our vantage ground in viewing the work of the Missionaries
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abroad; and now we are able to bear our testimony, not only to the reality, but to the progress of Jewish Missions. We have learned that never before have they occupied such an influential position as now, and that they ought to be carried on on a hundredfold wider scale. There is a picture in the frontispiece of Wycliffe's Bible in which there is a fire spreading rapidly, representing Christianity. Around the spreading flames there are seen congregated the chief of the evil powers of earth and perdition. Satan is there—the president and convener of the assembly. The pope and a few of his cardinals are there, standing close by. Mohammedanism and scepticism are represented there, etc. The purpose of the assembly is to devise means for the extinction of the flame. It is unanimously resolved that a combined effort should be made to put it out by blowing. And now around the spreading fire all stand with swollen cheeks blowing with all their might. But instead of putting it out they increase it, and blow themselves breathless. So was it in the days of Wycliffe, and so is it still. The fire of Gospel truth is spreading among Jews as well as among Gentiles. It is burning up the stubble within and around us and others. The sacred flame is enlightening, purifying, and cheering the minds and hearts of thousands of Jews in Great Britain, France, Austria, Germany, Italy, Turkey, and Russia.
A Jewish Conference. New Church. Movement has reached Siberia. During our first visit to Russia we were divinely led to Kischinew, where we had the great joy of taking part in a very remarkable Conference. Pastor Faltin, who presided; Mr. Faber, Secretary of the Lutheran Mission to Israel, Leipzig; Dr. Benzion, the British Society's Missionary, from Odessa; Mr. Edwards and myself, from London, were present as representatives of the various branches of the Protestant Christian Church. Joseph Rabinowitz, the Jewish patriot and reformer, Mr. Friedman, now the British Society's able Missionary in Wilna, and other Jews, attended in order to confess their faith in Christ, and express their desire to be constituted and recognised as a Hebrew branch of the Christian Church. It was the most remarkable Conference we had ever attended. There seemed to gather round the movement inaugurated that night the momentous issues of a commencing eternity. The formation of the Hebrew branch of the Christian Church would not have taken place at the time it did had not the treasurer, the secretary, and one of the Missionaries of the British Society been led to visit Kischinew. It was because of their visit that the Conference was held at which the new Church was proposed, and the new movement inaugurated. Thus by Christian prayer and parable the new movement was begun, which has been noticed by the Times and the chief journals of many lands, which has been placed before the world in a pamphlet entitled, “The First Ripe Fig,” by that venerable and noble lover of Israel, Professor Delitzsch, of Leipzig, which has been specially referred to in an admirable address entitled, “The Everlasting Nation,” delivered and published by our esteemed honorary secretary, the Rev. Dr. Saphir; a movement which has spread, not only to other parts of Bessarabia, but even to Siberia. A Polish Jew, Jacob Zebi Scheinmann, who was unjustly condemned and banished to Siberia in 1874, got hold of Rabinowitz's “Confession of Faith,” began to correspond with him, to receive and read his writings, and to expound Messianic truth to his brethren at Tomsk, and the result is that some thirty of them have with him acknowledged the Christ to be their Messiah
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and Saviour. In one of Scheinmann's published letters he most earnestly counsels his brethren thus: “Take up the New Testament, the true Thorah, which Jesus the Son of God and our Master has taught us, and give yourselves to the study of it day and night.”
Movement at Buda-Pesth. About fifty years ago, Dr. McCaul published “The Old Paths,” in which he exposed the errors of the Talmud, and unfolded the truth in Christ. This book has been useful to many a Jewish inquirer, and lately to a cultured and venerable Rabbi, named Lichtenstein, who lives in a quiet place called Tapio-Szele, about two hours' ride by rail from Buda-Pesth, in Hungary. Rabbi Lichtenstein read the book, and then resolved to answer it. He sat down to write a paper in order to defend the Talmud, and if possible to degrade the teaching of the Christ; but he rose from the task a changed man. Since then he has been led to call the Gospel of Christ, “that sweet evangel.” He has published three remarkable pamphlets, addressed to his brethren throughout all lands, in which he calls them to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as the Messiah of Israel, and the Saviour of the world. The pamphlets, through the efforts of Mr. Sch ?nberger and others, have already been widely circulated, and their contents well known all over the Continent; so that a movement has begun which bids fair to be far reaching in its influence and momentous in its issues.
Jewish Missions at this Conference. One of the signs of the times is the position which the Jewish cause has received in connection with this Conference. Jewish Missions had no place at all in the Conference at Nuremberg, until Dr. Delitzsch, at the very last moment, in the spirit of astonishment, sorrow, and reproof, rose, and in burning language, reminded the assembly of the great omission, and Israel's transcendent claims. This meeting to-night demonstrates that we have made some progress since then. Jewish Missions have not only a place here, but a first place; and yet we must express our regret that an entire week should be devoted to Gentile Missions and only three hours given to the subject of Jewish Missions, which the Holy Ghost, through Paul, teaches us are of supreme importance. Listen: “For if the casting away of them is the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be but life from the dead?”
Israel's future. “There are times,” said Benjamin Franklin, “when an artist can scarcely distinguish between a rising and a setting sun.” Happily this is not our position in regard to Christianity. Those who are best acquainted with its progress among Israel's sons and daughters are firmly persuaded that Christianity is not a setting but a rising sun, and that solely on account of this there is a golden future for them, and through them for the world. Nothing can be more certain than that which is past. Just as sure, then, as the events which happened yesterday, the supreme Mission of the Jewish nation, namely, the evangelisation of humanity, will be realised by-and-by, through faith in a crucified, living, loving, coming Christ. If it be absolutely certain that the children of Israel have experienced sufferings inexpressibly severe, it is no less certain that they will sing for joy the “song of Moses and the Lamb” on Mount Zion, and all the nations round about will
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sing with them. Let us then listen to these voices from Holy Scripture and from the various Mission-fields, such as England, Germany, Austria, Russia, Turkey, and Palestine, summoning us to greater sympathy, prayerfulness, liberality, and exertion; telling us, as with trumpet tongue, that the reasons for maintaining and extending the Jewish Missionary enterprise were never before so strong as they are at the present moment; that it is our solemn duty and our unspeakable privilege to increase the number of the Missionary staff by hundreds, inasmuch as thereby we shall be helping all the more to bring nearer the time “when Israel shall blossom and bud and fill the face of the world with fruit,” and the coronation anthem shall be heard, “The kingdom of the world is become the kingdom of our Lord, and of His Christ; and He shall reign for ever and ever. Hallelujah! salvation, and glory, and power belong to our God.”
WHAT CAN AND OUGHT TO BE DONE IN EVANGELISING THE JEWS.
There is a Divine plan. The promise to Abraham. Rev. John Wilkinson (Mildmay Mission to the Jews): Mr. Chairman, and Christian friends,—My purpose is not so much to plead for any Society or Mission as to seek by Divine guidance to know the mind of God as revealed in the Holy Scriptures on this subject, and to direct the thought, prayer, and effort of the Church of Christ to the line of the Divine plan; since the power placed at the disposal of the Church—and that is amazing power—is available only on the line of plan, as the fullest blessing lies along the line of obedience to him we call Lord. Is it true, or is it not, that God's power lies along the line of plan, and that God's blessing is the result of obedience? If true, let us ascertain the plan, work along it, and wield the power; and let us search out the commands of our Lord, yield obedience, and get the blessing. God's promise to Abraham was, “I will bless thee,” “I will bless them that bless thee,” “and thou shalt be a blessing,” and “in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.” And our Lord said, “Salvation is of the Jews.” God says by Isaiah, “This people have I formed for Myself; they shall show forth My praise.” But since the nation of Israel, as such, is not to be converted until after the restoration and the return of the Lord, it may be asked, “What is the relation of the Jew to the present dispensation, and what the duty of the Christian Church towards him now? What can and ought to be done? That can be done that God has said is to be done; and that ought to be done that Christ has commanded. “Preach the Gospel to every creature,” surely includes the Jew! Obedience to this command only in the interest of the Mohammedan and the heathen is not obedience at all.
Jew and Gentile alike. To the Jew first. “Yes,” say some; “but the Jews are so blind and stubborn, and there is so little to encourage in the Jewish field; we have more hope of success among the Gentiles.” What does God say? He says distinctly, without qualification, “There is no difference between the Jew and the Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that
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call upon Him; for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” God says, “No difference.” Let the ban of the Church be removed from the Jew, and when she makes no difference she will soon see that with God there is none. If we make a difference in favour of the Gentile to the neglect of the Jew, we must accept the responsibility of the results of the difference we ourselves make. God says there is no difference with Him. At the peril of incurring our Lord's displeasure we must make none. We now go a step further, and urge “To the Jew first,” as still in force as a matter of order, though not of pre-eminence. Let us see if we cannot get into clear light by starting at the beginning. Our blessed Lord, during His ministry, called twelve Jews to be near Him and to receive instructions from Him. He said to them, Listen to your Master; don't go to the Gentiles; don't go to the Samaritans; but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Do you hear? Yes, Lord. After the death and resurrection of our Lord other instructions are given, just before the Ascension. He not only said, “Go,...and make disciples of all the nations;” “Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to the whole creation;” “That repentance and remissions of sins should be preached in His name unto all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem;” but He promised them the needed power, told them to wait till they got it, and then gave further details as to the manner in which they were to carry out His instructions. “Behold, I send forth the promise of My Father upon you; but tarry ye in the city, until ye be clothed with power from on high.” “Ye shall receive power, when the Holy Ghost is come upon you; and ye shall be My witnesses, both in Jerusalem, and in all Jud ?a, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth.” These were the last instructions of our risen Lord, and should be carefully noted, for, “when He had said these things, as they were looking, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight.” They waited for the promised power in simple obedience, and they got it, and then began at Pentecost to carry out the Lord's instructions by beginning at Jerusalem. The disciples were on the line of plan, and thus on the line of power. They were on the line of obedience, and thus on the line of blessing. One sermon, preached in Jerusalem by a Jew, whose lips a few days before had been stained with oaths and curses in the denial of his Lord, now brings three thousand Jews and Jewesses to Jesus for salvation. A little further on the number of the men is stated as about five thousand, and as in all genuine revivals there are as many women impressed as men, we may fairly infer ten thousand Jews and Jewesses. A little further on we have the statement, “multitudes, both of men and women,” plainly showing that the five thousand men meant only males.
Saul's conversion a new departure. Paul's order first to Jews. Although, by a bitter persecution, all the believers were scattered abroad except the Apostles, and they that were so scattered went everywhere preaching the Word, still they preached the Gospel to none but the Jews only, and still lingered within the boundaries of Palestine. Now we get a new departure. God converts the ringleader of the persecutors, Saul of Tarsus, of whom He says, “He is a chosen vessel unto Me, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings, and the children of Israel,” for those believers who were scattered beyond the boundaries of Palestine preached “the Word to none, save only to the Jews”; thinking, probably, that as Jesus was the Messiah of the Jews,
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the blessings of the Gospel were intended only for Jews. Now we have Saul and Barnabas, separated by the Holy Ghost, and sent forth by the Holy Ghost to the work to which He had called them. They go down to Seleucia, sail for Cyprus, and at Salamis “they proclaimed the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews.” Indeed Paul never entered town or city during his laborious life but he sought out the synagogue, and preached the Gospel “first to the Jew.” Was this course pursued simply as a patriot, or was he guided by the Holy Ghost? We affirm the latter, because he was separated and sent by the Holy Ghost. Many have said, “Yes, this was the order in the beginning of Paul's ministry, but it was afterwards changed because the Jews refused the Gospel, contradicting and blaspheming.” They refer to what took place at Antioch in Pisidia, as recorded in Acts xiii., when the Apostles said, “Lo, we turn to the Gentiles.” But the Apostles turned only from those blaspheming Jews to the waiting Gentiles. They did not turn from all the Jews then living, much less from millions unborn, for on leaving Antioch for Iconium we find them observing the same order. Acts xiv. 1 says, “And it came to pass in Iconium, that they entered together into the synagogue of the Jews, and so spake, that a great multitude both of the Jews and of the Greeks believed.” This Divine order was always observed by the Apostle of the Gentiles, simply because it was obedience to a Divine command. He who wrote, by Divine inspiration, “to the Jew first” three times over in the two first chapters to the Romans, observed strict obedience to the Divine command during his whole life. His obedience would not have been complete if he had neglected the Gentile. The command was, “And also to the Gentile.”
Paul's order reversed, and results. The Church of Christ has changed this order. And why? We suggest that when Jerusalem was destroyed by Titus in the year A.D. 70, when the temple, sacrifices, and priesthood were all swept away, and the Jews scattered, the Christians began to regard the Jews as done with, rejected of God spiritually as well as nationally, and that they might first neglect them and then persecute them.
Obedience to the Divine order was followed by marvellous blessing to Jews and Gentiles; a reversal of the order in disobedience to God has been followed by the dark ages and very limited blessing.
Is it too late to induce our Missionary Societies to examine this question, and so to modify their plans, as that in all lands where Jews are located they will obey this Divine precept and follow the Apostolic precedent, “to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile?”
Reasons for the Divine plan. Suppose for a moment they are willing to do this, the following facts are most encouraging. The Jews are in all lands; they have access to all people; they are familiar with the manners, customs, and languages of all nations; and have physical constitutions acclimatised to all countries. They believe three-fourths of our Bible, on which rests the remaining one-fourth. They believe in the one true God. They are waiting for a Messiah, and we can show them that the Messiah of prophecy is the Jesus of history. Surely in the interests of millions of unevangelised Gentiles, the Church of Christ in her Foreign Missionary enterprise might give the Jew that place in her prayers and effort which God has given him in His revealed purpose. We are left in no doubt as to the power of the Gospel to overcome Jewish prejudice and to save Jewish souls. Some of the finest samples of grace
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have been won from the Jewish race both under the Old Covenant and the New.
Free distribution of New Testament. May I be permitted to say a word on the importance of distributing widely and freely the New Testament Scriptures amongst the Jews all over the world? Some say, “Yes; distribute by sales, but not by gifts, for people value what they pay for, but do not value that which costs nothing.” Never was there a greater fallacy. People do not value what they pay for because they pay for it, but they pay for what they value. Suppose a person gives twenty shillings for an article worth no more than half-a-crown. Does he value it at twenty shillings because he paid that amount for it?
100,000 Testaments. Voluntary helpers. God has in a marvellous way enabled me to purchase one hundred thousand Hebrew New Testaments, to be given to the Jewish people throughout the world. We have already sent our Missionaries to distribute them in Pomerania, Austria, Hungary, Bohemia, Galicia, Roumania, North Africa, and Russia. The Jews have been wonderfully impressed by the generosity of English Christians. We have also given some thousands to the Missionaries of various Societies and to individual Christians interested in the Jews, who have distributed them discriminately in all parts of the world. Two thousand two hundred and thirty-seven were sent by post to as many Jewish Rabbis. Voluntary help is being given by about three hundred Lutheran pastors in Russia, who have been led by the influence of a stirring circular from Pastor Gurland of Mitau, voluntarily to aid in the distribution of the Hebrew New Testament amongst the Jews in their own neighbourhoods. There are nearly four million Jews in the Russian Empire. Wilna is a sort of Russian Jerusalem. There, Jewish cabmen, porters, and common tradesmen read Hebrew well, and there, by the permission of the Russian authorities and under the signature and seal of the local governor we have permission for three years to carry on the work of distributing the Holy Scriptures.
How carry out the Divine plan? London as a Mission-field. How is it proposed practically to carry out this Scriptural plan, “To the Jew first, and also to the Gentile”? We answer, Let the earnest Christian, willing to be guided by the Word of God, and obedient to Him we call Lord, settle the question at once,—Is this order in force still, or is it not? If not, let the candid mind be satisfied by the Word of God alone. If it is (and we believe it is), let us act accordingly. As the Jews are put first in chastisement for disobedience in Romans ii., and no one disputes their title or desert, why should they not be first in blessing, according to the same chapter? Let the Jew then be first in our prayers, first in our contributions, and first in our efforts to evangelise. In our evangelistic efforts, let us go first to the Jews, wherever the Jews are found. We can gain access to the Jews with the Gospel in some parts where it is most difficult, if not almost impossible, to get at the Gentiles, as amongst Mohammedans and amongst Greeks and Roman Catholics. London is a wonderful field for Jewish Missions. Jews flock here from all parts of the world; numbers pass through to other countries, and many stay with us. Including my three years' course of study—1851 to 1854—preparatory to Mission work among
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the Jews, I have had thirty-seven years of blessed toil for Christ on Israel's behalf. The work is increasingly interesting. The Church of Christ seems to have no idea of the loss she sustains from lack of interest in Israel. It is not at all improbable that the secondary cause for closing this dispensation in corruption and judgment, on the completion of the Church, and the return of the Lord, will be the culpable neglect of the Jew by the Church of Christ. “To the Jew first,” as an individual, all through this dispensation, seems to us the mind of God; “and also to the Gentile” to complete the Church; then the Jewish nation blessed when the Redeemer comes to Zion to turn away ungodliness from Jacob; then it will be also to the Gentiles as nations, for in Abraham and in his seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed. Let us, then, be obedient to our Lord, and go “first to the Jew,” and we shall find the line of plan, the line of power, and the line of obedience, the line of blessing. “Whatsoever He saith unto you, do it.”
All Churches have Missions to Jews. The way prepared for blessing. Rev. Theodore Meyer (English Presbyterian Mission to the Jews): Mr. Chairman, and Christian friends,—We have heard what has been done and what is doing in Jewish Missions. There is at present scarcely an Evangelical Church that does not, directly or indirectly, interest herself in Jewish Missions, and exert herself on behalf of Israel's conversion. The zeal may not be all that we desire, the exertions may in many cases be very insignificant, the great bulk of people connected with these Churches may be very indifferent in this cause, and only a few of the more spiritual members may be moving in this direction; nevertheless the fact remains that after the extinction of the Collenberg Institution in 1791 up to the establishment of the London Society for Promoting Christianity amongst the Jews in 1809, the claims of the Jews were not realised, but altogether disregarded by the Churches, and no agency existed for bringing the Gospel to the Jews. Now the claims of the Jews are universally admitted, and exertions more or less vigorous are put forth in their behalf. May and must we not recognise in this fact the hand of the Lord, who, when the fulness of time has come for bestowing new blessings and mercies on the Church, first excites an eager desire after them, that drives to earnest, believing prayer; that again stirs up to zeal and energetic action, and then the blessing comes down. So it was at the time when the Son of God came down on this our earth; so it was at the time before the Reformation, when the cry for a reform in head and members was heard from one end of Christendom to the other. Are we wrong in thus interpreting this phenomenon in reference to Jewish Missions, and in drawing from it the inference that the day of Israel's redemption is drawing nigh?
Far be it for me to assert or insinuate that what hitherto has been done on behalf of Israel has remained without results. That assertion is often heard, but none could be more groundless and unsupported. De le
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Roy, formerly a Jewish Missionary, now pastor at Elberfelde, lately calculated from official statements that since the beginning of this century more than 100,000 Jews were by baptism received into the Church of Christ. These, with their descendants, would now be more than 250,000—a greater number in proportion than have been added to the Church from among the heathen during that period. If we are in any degree heavenly-minded we cannot but rejoice over so many souls from among God's ancient people that have responded, and to whom the once despised Nazarene has become precious. We are thankful for the blessing granted to our feeble efforts to lead Israel back to its rejected Messiah, but our desires are larger, our aims higher, our expectations bolder.
Objections to absorption. What we desire and wish, what we aim at, pray, work, and labour for is and must be that all Israel be saved. All Israel: but the one hundred thousand of Jews converted during this century, where are they? They have been absorbed by the existing Christian Churches. Against such an absorption the Jewish mind instinctively protests and rebels,—and I must add, rightly protests and rebels. Taking our stand upon the Word of God,—and is there any other foundation for Missionary work at all ?—we say it is the national conversion of Israel which we must aim at, labour for, and may surely expect; and as a natural sequel to it also the nation restored. I know the arguments brought forward against this expectation, but they are rather specious than weighty. They rest either on prejudiced and false interpretation of Scripture, or on unbelief, which, in the sight of the great difficulties which oppose themselves, considers the whole matter as impossible. These difficulties I see as clearly as any one. But what about that? Is anything too hard for the Lord? Is the Lord's hand shortened that it cannot save? Hath He said, and shall He not do it? Or hath He spoken, and shall He not make it good? That the prophets announce the apostacy, fall, and scattering of literal Israel is generally admitted. I suppose because it is impossible to explain it away. That they predict also a conversion and restoration of Israel, and the blessings which Israel shall enjoy, and the great part which it is to perform in the establishment of the kingdom of God on earth,—that likewise is admitted; but in this case Israel is not God's ancient people, but the Church. Now is it compatible with the principles of sound—that is, rational—exegesis to claim for the same word in the same context two distinct significations.
“The time” of restoration unknown. When is this national conversion to take place? and how is it to be brought about? you ask. I have no answer but that given by the Lord Himself to a similar question put to Him by His Apostles: “It is not for you to know the times or the seasons which the Father has put in His own power; but ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you; and ye shall be witnesses unto Me, both in Jerusalem and in all Jud ?a, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”
An unsettled state in Europe. In Central, Northern, Western, and Southern Europe, and in America, it is indeed difficult to say what Judaism really is; the Jews are rapidly lapsing into infidelity more or less thinly veiled. An unwillingness to give up the Jewish name, a feeling that they are and must remain a distinct race, and that as such they still have a high Mission in the world, is the only thing which unites them; but along with this there are aching hearts and the feeling of a
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void which nothing human can satisfy; and more and more distinctly we hear the cry, “What is truth? Who will show us any good?” Hence there is more readiness to listen, more of a spirit of inquiry, and more frequent conversions from among the better classes; and hence in reference to this class of Jews the time seems to have come when we ought to be bolder in our efforts to bring them to Christ.
And in the East. In the East, too (and it is in the East that the greater number of Jews are to be found; Russia and Galicia alone contain more than three millions), Rabbinism is losing its power and vitality. Wherever there is a contact with the outer world, with Western civilisation, old orthodox Rabbinism will begin to wither and decay, and its death is merely a question of time; and it is thus that the Alliance Universelle Israelite of Paris, and the Anglo-Jewish Association of London—Societies expressly got up for counteracting Missionary operations—are virtually, by their schools, preparing the way for the preaching of the Gospel. In the meanwhile we know that in Russia, Galicia, and other countries, there are everywhere circles of people who, although outwardly still conforming to Rabbinical Judaism, still inwardly are dissatisfied. Rabbinism does not satisfy the craving of their hearts, and they, for themselves, search the Scripture of the Old and New Testaments to get an answer to the question, What must I do to be saved? Even in Palestine and Syria the colporteur meets with a ready sale of Scriptural and Christian literature; the agents which Brother Wilkinson sent to Russia, etc., bear witness to the spiritual hunger and thirst existing, and to the eagerness and joy with which the New Testament is received. Rabbi Lichtenstein of Tapio-Szele, in Hungary, is a fair example or type of such serious inquirers; Joseph Rabinowitz of the converts which we may expect from among the latter,—converts who, whilst fully acknowledging Christ Jesus the God-man as their Messiah, as the Prophet, Priest, and King, lay emphasis on His title, “King of the Jews,” and wish to maintain their Jewish nationality.
Call to labour in hope. I have purposely avoided quoting any passages of Scripture which give us some intimation of the times and seasons, because that would bring in controverted matter. The Lord has spoken to us in His Word; He is speaking to us no less in His providence; and all signs of the times show that there is a shaking of the dead and dry bones. Let us go on prophesying upon them, and pray that the Spirit may come and breathe upon these slain. And He will come, and will breathe upon them, and they shall live, for the Lord has promised it. Let that which has been done, and is doing, and which the Lord has promised to do to and for Israel stir up, renew, and increase our zeal for Jewish Missions; let us reorganise, better distribute, and greatly increase our agencies; let us improve our methods, and seek more than hitherto to influence the nation as distinguished from individuals; and truly miraculous results will be witnessed, even the conversion and restoration of Israel as a nation. To bring them about Divine agency is required, and that is promised. Our duty is simply more incessantly and fervently to pray, and more vigorously and earnestly to prophesy, upon the dead bones of the house of Israel. May He give us grace to do so!
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DISCUSSION.
Work among the Jews in Rome. Dr. David Young (Rome): Although I had not the least intention of speaking, I must have the joy of expressing in this meeting what the Lord has done for us in the little work in the Ghetto. One of the most touching things in Rome is this, that while so many of all nationalities, and especially Englishmen, have been seduced by the Jezebel of the Book of Revelation, I do not know a single Jewish brother or sister who has entered the Church of Rome. They are a separate people, the finger of God is upon them, and they have been kept from that seduction which at this moment is doing so much to hinder the work of the Church of Christ. In the Ghetto we have made known to them that we seek two things—to win them to Christ, and to help them in every possible way in times of distress. Having made known those two facts in the past four years, on no occasion have we been asked for anything. Frequently when my two lady workers have been going around the Ghetto, and have been in some of the more lonely parts of it, where many would be afraid to go, I have known several of the Jewish people form themselves into a kind of body-guard, to see that no harm came to them whilst they were prosecuting their work. I do not know any other people that would have shown a chivalry more tender and genuine than this.
Jews and the Early Church. Rev. N. Summerbell, D.D. (American Christian Convention): I shall not presume to speak more than a few words. God knows I love the children of Abraham. I have now preached for fifty years, and all through my ministry I have had friendship shown me by Jews, and I believe that some have died in the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ just because they were brought to think seriously about Christianity by my loving them and they loving me. All our Scriptures were Jewish Scriptures; our Lord's Prayer was said to the Jews first; our dear Saviour was born of the Jews, as far as the flesh is concerned; our religion comes from the Jews; the first Churches were composed of Jews; the first fourteen Bishops of Jerusalem were all Jews. We trace our religion, not back to Rome, but above Rome, up to Jerusalem. The first history of the Church is the Acts of the Apostles, and it is a history of Jewish preachers, Jewish churches and Jewish councils.
Oh, let us pray for the Jews! If Jesus could weep over them, if He could speak so lovingly to the daughters of Jerusalem as He was going to His Cross, why should we not work in that spirit? The Jews have suffered more persecution from the Christians than the Christians have suffered from all the pagan nations together. The reason why the Christians turned so violently against the Jews after the destruction of Jerusalem was that the Jews were disgraced and destroyed, a great portion of them murdered, five hundred of them hanging on crosses at once before Jerusalem, and many thousands made galley slaves. It was a disgrace to be called a Jew. The Gentile Christians ignored them. They made a fatal mistake. God bless you! Pray for the children of Abraham!
New Jewish Mission Mr. William E. Blackstone (Hon. Secretary, Hebrew Christian Mission, Chicago): Mr. Chairman, brothers, and sisters,—Representing perhaps the youngest Hebrew Christian Mission there is in the fraternity now, I
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bring you greeting. We have rented a room in Chicago, and begun in a small way, going out among the people and beginning to work, yet in such a way as to be pronounced against by the Rabbis. Since I came away our first convert has been baptised, and God has thus graciously answered our prayers in giving us one of the sons of Israel as a star for the Saviour's diadem. One of the last things I had to do was to help to get seven hundred Hebrew Testaments, which we are going to scatter among the people in the city of Chicago. We are loading up with books and pamphlets and periodicals for distribution. We want to give a Testament to every Israelite in Chicago, in order that we may do it before the Lord shall come, and we hope and trust there will be much precious and glorious fruit. Our work is being sustained, and God is making it a blessing to the Gentiles and also to Israel. Pray for our little Mission, for God is going to use us yet.
A dispensation of election. Ubiquity of Jews. Rev. Abraham Herschell: The only reason why I wish to say a word is this,—I am not a Missionary, nor connected with any Missionary Society, and my word may be of some weight. You must remember that this is a dispensation of an election from among all nations. I read in that pamphlet of Mr. Johnston's that whilst there are so many millions converted during this century—numbering only three millions—that there are two millions of heathen and Mohammedans added each year to the population that need conversion,—as if it were a very new revelation. It was not new to me for this had always been my opinion. I hear people talking of Mission work as if it would be converting all the nations, as if the nations were standing still, and did not propagate and progress in population. I should have been very much discouraged if I did not believe that God does not intend in this dispensation to convert nations as nations, but that He intends that the Gospel should be preached as a witness, and a people gathered out for His praise and glory from all the corners of the earth. I have never been discouraged because I take the scriptural view of the state of things. This is the dispensation also for the gathering out of God's people for God's praise from the people of Israel. Nothing more. National conversion will take place by-and-by when the Lord Himself shall appear. Now you cannot realise the fact that in reality the gathering out of the remnant according to the election of grace is quite as great among the Jews as it is among Gentiles. I have never been disappointed, therefore, because I have not looked for anything else. And in reality when one considers what small efforts have been made, one is perfectly astonished how in every part of the world God has His elect among Israel. I remember asking Dr. Moffat when he came back from Africa and was a member of my congregation, “Did you come across any Jews in Africa?” “Well,” he said, “I came across three Jewish converts from St. Helena.” Just think, from St. Helena! One, Saul Solomon, he said, became a very eminent man, in the legislative assemblies of the Cape; two others became ministers, and had large congregations. And Mrs. Moffat said, “I want you to give me some books suitable for Jews. I want them to send out to Africa. At the station in Bechuana where we were there were two Jewish families, the only intelligent people with whom we had intercourse”—though they had to travel nine weeks by waggon
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to reach their station, yet these two Jewish families from the Rhine were living there. If God should touch this nation by the Spirit you will have Missionaries without number among the nations among whom they live.
Treat the Jews as Jews. Mr. Hayward: I only wish to say that I think we do wrong in asking Jews to join a Gentile Church. I will tell you why. Many years ago when I heard Adolph Saphir preach, he made a great impression on my mind, saying, “Don't you imagine that when we accept the Messiah to be our Saviour we join you; we simply come back to the faith of our fathers, and we rejoin the religion of Abraham, and Moses, and David.” And the word “Gentile” is to the Jew the most offensive term that you can employ. I was studying Hebrew for a short time under a Jew, and my professor said, “We are not so impolite as to call you `Gentiles,' although you call yourselves so.” “Gentile” simply means heathen; in the New Testament the word Gentile always means heathen. The German has no such word. I once said to a German friend, “Tell me in your language that I am a Gentile;” and he said, “I cannot, unless I say you are a heathen.” The Jews have utterly rejected the Old Testament, and what we have to get them to do is to go back to it, and believe in it. They have rejected the Atonement, and they have rejected the idea of a Divine person. We must get the Jews to believe their own Scriptures, for there is as much Christianity in the Old Testament as there can possibly be in the New. Once you get them to believe that Christ is their Messiah, you get them converted to the New Testament. I hope the grand work advocated here will go on more and more.
The Jew first. Rev. Principal Brown, D.D. (Aberdeen): I will not say what I intended to, because it is so very late, but I may remark that from the time when I first began to study my Bible experimentally—shall I tell you how long since that is? It is seventy years ago—I felt that as salvation is of the Jews, and my own Saviour was Himself a Jew, and He is God over all blessed for evermore, I felt drawn to the Jews by ties which have become stronger from that hour to this. Every word that has been uttered to-night about beginning with the Jews, beginning at Jerusalem, to the Jew first, I not only echo, but I practise it. One word more. How many of you every Saturday morning, and perhaps on Friday evening, pray for Israel when they come to keep the Sabbath day on a day when we do not keep it, because they know not that the Lord has risen indeed? How many of you make a business of it to cry aloud for the Jews? I suppose in England that not one in a thousand makes any special prayer for the Jews at any special time, and I think that is a great pity.
Dr. Brown then offered prayer, which concluded the proceedings.
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A CONTRIBUTION
TOWARDS A
MISSIONARY BIBLIOGRAPHY
PREPARED BY
THE REV. SAMUEL MACAULEY JACKSON, M.A.,
Of the Presbytery of New York City, U.S.A.
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PREFATORY NOTE.
THIS finding list has been as carefully prepared as circumstances allowed. It comprises, for the most part, the more accessible English books. Its principal sources have been the “English Catalogue,” 1835 to September 1888, the British Museum “Catalogue of Printed Books,” 1882, sqq., and the “American Catalogue,” 1876 to 1888. The compiler has made a much fuller collection of titles, taking in books in Latin, French, German, and other languages, many of which are now rare, but deems those now presented ample for the purpose immediately aimed at, which was to give English readers help in their study of the great and most interesting subject of Foreign Missions.
The prices, sizes, dates, and number of volumes of works have been given as far as known to the compiler. These would have been given in all cases but for the want of time in completing the list for the issue of the Report of the Conference. The titles throughout have been condensed as much as was consistent with clearness. The contractions, L. for London, N.Y. for New York, Bost. for Boston, Mass., etc., being those commonly used, will be readily understood; the same remark applies to the use of sq. for square, ob. for oblong, etc.
All Books mentioned in the following List may be had from the Publishers of this “Report.”
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MISSIONS TO THE JEWS.
Barber, Mary A. S. Redemption in Israel; or, Narratives of Conversions among the Jews. L., 1844.
Bonar and McCheyne. Narrative of a Mission of Inquiry to the Jews in 1839. Edin., 1842. n. e., 1854. Phila., 1845.
Edwards, Mrs. Missionary Life among the Jews in Moldavia. L., 1867.
Kalkar, C. A. H. Israel und die Kirche. Hamburg, 1869.
Roi, J. F. A. de la. Die Evangelische Christenheit und die Juden. Karlsruhe, 1884. “ Das Institution Judaicum in seiner. Bl¨¹thezeit, 1728-60. Karlsruhe, 1884. Schriften des Institutum Judaicum in. Berlin, 1886, sqq. 4th publication, 1888. Schriften des Institutum Judaicum in. Leipzig, 1884, sqq. 19th publication, 1888.
Stern, H. A. Journal of a Missionary Journey to the Jews in Arabia Felix. L., 1856. Verein des Freunde Israels zu Basel. (50th Anniversary.) Basel, 1881.
Wolff, Joseph. Missionary Journal. L., 1824-29. 3 vols. “ Journal, 1827-38. L., 1839. “ Missionary Labours, 1831-34. L., 1836. Phila., 1837. “ Travels and Adventures. L., 1861.
Ziethe, W. F¨¹nfzig Jahre der [Berlin] Judenmission. Berlin, 1872.
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[BIOGRAPHY OF MISSIONARIES—(a) General.]
Gobat, Bp. Samuel (Jerusalem). By M. Thiersch. Eng. trans. L. and N.Y., 1884
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Wolff, Joseph. By J. Bayfair. L. and N.Y., 1824.
[311 placed out of page sequence because this session took place on June 12th, chronologically after the session above]
THE MISSION-FIELDS OF THE WORLD.
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NINTH MEETING.
THE TURKISH EMPIRE AND CENTRAL ASIA.
(Tuesday evening, June 12th, in the Lower Hall.)
Bishop W. P. Mallalieu (U.S.A.) being absent, the chair was taken by the Rev. David Cole, D.D. (of New York.) Acting Secretary, Mr. Henry Morris.
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Spanish Jews in Turkey. Work done in Mission schools. Rev. Alexander Thomson, D.D. (B.F.B.S., from Constantinople): Mr. Chairman,—I have been for the last forty-two years of my life in Constantinople—the first fifteen as a Missionary to the Spanish Jews, and the remainder in the honoured service of the British and Foreign Bible Society. As in the Jewish Mission meeting last night there was nothing said about the Spanish Jews particularly—but they have been referred to just now as a portion of the population of Turkey—I may speak a very few words about them. First Dr. Schauffler revised and published the old Spanish translation of the Old Testament, and next Dr. Christie published an idiomatic Spanish version of the whole Bible for these Jews in the East. These Jewish refugees are the descendants of those who were expelled from Spain by Ferdinand and Isabella in the very year that America was discovered—1492, just about four hundred years ago. On their expulsion, France refused to receive them, Italy would not have them, even the North of Africa refused them, and in despair they went eastward, and the Sultan, who had some years before taken Constantinople, received them with open arms, and they are to this day spread through all the principal towns of Turkey. We have a difficulty in knowing how many there are in Constantinople, but their number is computed at above fifty thousand. Salonica is almost a
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Jewish town. In Smyrna there may be fifteen thousand Jews. In almost all the towns—especially of European Turkey, and partly also of Asiatic Turkey—there are Jewish colonies. I am happy to say that through the operations of the British and Foreign Bible Society, and of the Religious Tract Society, good work has been done among these people. The Spanish language, instead of being viewed as a mere stepping-stone to the Hebrew, has been made of late the vehicle for diffusing useful Christian information, and the schools that have been established by the different Missions—the London Jews Society of the Church of England and the Scottish Missions, both of the Established Church and of the Free Church—have been and are doing a very noble work there. I shall not say more about them, but shall turn to the dominant race—the Turkish race.
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