Chuck Colson (Breakpoint)
June 24, 2009
There was a lot going in the news last week—riots over the election in Iran, North Korea’s nuclear saber-rattling. But the biggest story of the week, it turns out, was—drum roll, please—the story of President Obama swatting a fly.
“I got the sucker!” Obama told CNBC correspondent John Harwood after killing a fly that had been buzzing around his head.
Harwood laughed and the camera crew applauded. But the sight of the fly’s corpse lying on the White House rug was too much for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals—and insects, apparently. They sent a letter to the Fly Swatter in Chief, expressing their disapproval.
In the future, PETA said, they hoped Obama would treat flies in a more “humane” manner. To underscore their point, PETA sent the President a Humane Bug Catcher, which allows flies to be trapped and then released outside.
The story of the squashed fly afforded us a moment of comic relief. But there’s a serious point at stake here. We are seeing more and more examples of people treating animals—and even insects—as if they had as much value as humans.
The other day, I saw what I first thought was a school bus. It wasn’t. It was a doggie daycare bus, taking the neighborhood pooches to a dog-sitting facility. As Dave Barry would say, I am not making this up.
Go online, and you’ll see many ads for expensive clothes for dogs and cats. And a few years ago, during the making of the film Men in Black, the American Humane Society was on hand to make sure none of the hundreds of cockroaches used in the film were injured. Cockroaches!
Groups like PETA illustrate a philosophy of reductionism, which treats all life as morally equivalent. Of course, if reductionists really want to be consistent, they would not even boil water, because every time they do, they kill millions of innocent microbes. If all life has equal value, then the logical conclusion is to treat all life the same, no matter how lowly—or how deadly, like mosquitoes carrying the West Nile virus.
Obviously, nobody can live in the real world on the basis of this philosophy.
A realistic and livable philosophy of life comes from Scripture, which teaches that God created us in His image and set us up as stewards over the rest of creation, from amoebas to apes to houseflies.
That doesn’t give us license to treat animals cruelly. But it’s one thing to treat animals kindly, and quite another to accord them equal status with humans.
Christians need to learn to press people to face the logical conclusion of their own beliefs. The idea that animals—even flies—ought to be treated with the same respect as humans may sound humane at first. But press the idea to its rational conclusion, and people will soon begin to see how irrational and illogical it really is.
The good news is that this many Americans did begin to think about these ideas last week. The result: Many people told PETA to buzz off. So I think we ought to congratulate the President for squashing that sucker, as he put it. It ignited a great national discussion about the absurdity of putting flies on the same moral plane as humans made in God’s image.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Monday, June 1, 2009
An Unhappy Trend: Decoupling Children and Marriage
Taken from BreakPoint by Chuck Colson
According to a recent report by the Centers for Disease Control, 40 percent of American babies born in 2007 were born to unmarried mothers. That’s up from 34 percent only five years ago.
When most Americans hear the expression “unmarried mother,” what nearly always comes to mind is a teenage girl. But that’s not what’s driving the recent increase. In 2007, only 23 percent of the out-of-wedlock births were to unmarried teenagers. The rest were to women in their 20s, and now increasingly, in their 30s.
The increase among older women accounts for the six percentage point increase of the past five years. In 2007, 60 percent of all births to unmarried women were to women in their 20s and 17 percent to women in their 30s.
Or, as Emily Yoffe of Slate magazine put it, “the vast majority of unwed mothers are old enough to know what they're doing.” Yoffe sees these numbers as evidence of “an extraordinary decoupling of marriage and procreation.”
But what’s behind this “decoupling”?
A significant part of the answer lies in changing ideas and attitudes towards marriage. Marriage is no longer seen as an institution whose ends have a communal, as well as personal, purpose. Instead, it is an expression of private affection whose ends are almost entirely about personal fulfillment.
Thus, getting married is increasingly something you do after the rest of your life is arranged to your satisfaction. You go to school, find a job, get established in your career and then you think about getting married. As a result, the average age when people first get married has risen by five years since 1970.
But while our ideas about marriage have changed, our natures haven’t. One thing that Christians and dyed-in-the-wool Darwinists can agree on is that we are driven to reproduce ourselves. With a few exceptions, no matter how successful we might be, many feel that if we leave no descendants behind, all the striving is beside the point.
What’s more, our biology doesn’t care about our sense of personal fulfillment. A woman’s most fertile period is her late teens to early 30s—precisely the time when young people are going to school and getting established in their careers.
Thus, the longer we put off marriage, the more difficult it will be to fulfill one of our most fundamental instincts—have a child.
Throw in the complications of meeting “Mr. Right,” getting to know him, and deciding that he’s the person you want to marry, and the “ticking clock” begins to sound like Big Ben.
So it seems that more and more women have decided to have children while they still can, regardless of their marital status. The result is, in Yoffe’s words, a “culture [that] is out of touch with the needs of children.” And I would add that what a child needs most is a stable, loving family with a mom and a dad at the helm.
Re-coupling marriage and procreation will not be easy in this “me-first” culture. That’s because marriage and having babies—as fulfilling as they are—are not about self-fulfillment. They are about love, fidelity, and self-sacrifice for the good of the other—for the spouse, for the children.
That message is a tough sell these days. But it’s a message our culture ignores at its great peril
According to a recent report by the Centers for Disease Control, 40 percent of American babies born in 2007 were born to unmarried mothers. That’s up from 34 percent only five years ago.
When most Americans hear the expression “unmarried mother,” what nearly always comes to mind is a teenage girl. But that’s not what’s driving the recent increase. In 2007, only 23 percent of the out-of-wedlock births were to unmarried teenagers. The rest were to women in their 20s, and now increasingly, in their 30s.
The increase among older women accounts for the six percentage point increase of the past five years. In 2007, 60 percent of all births to unmarried women were to women in their 20s and 17 percent to women in their 30s.
Or, as Emily Yoffe of Slate magazine put it, “the vast majority of unwed mothers are old enough to know what they're doing.” Yoffe sees these numbers as evidence of “an extraordinary decoupling of marriage and procreation.”
But what’s behind this “decoupling”?
A significant part of the answer lies in changing ideas and attitudes towards marriage. Marriage is no longer seen as an institution whose ends have a communal, as well as personal, purpose. Instead, it is an expression of private affection whose ends are almost entirely about personal fulfillment.
Thus, getting married is increasingly something you do after the rest of your life is arranged to your satisfaction. You go to school, find a job, get established in your career and then you think about getting married. As a result, the average age when people first get married has risen by five years since 1970.
But while our ideas about marriage have changed, our natures haven’t. One thing that Christians and dyed-in-the-wool Darwinists can agree on is that we are driven to reproduce ourselves. With a few exceptions, no matter how successful we might be, many feel that if we leave no descendants behind, all the striving is beside the point.
What’s more, our biology doesn’t care about our sense of personal fulfillment. A woman’s most fertile period is her late teens to early 30s—precisely the time when young people are going to school and getting established in their careers.
Thus, the longer we put off marriage, the more difficult it will be to fulfill one of our most fundamental instincts—have a child.
Throw in the complications of meeting “Mr. Right,” getting to know him, and deciding that he’s the person you want to marry, and the “ticking clock” begins to sound like Big Ben.
So it seems that more and more women have decided to have children while they still can, regardless of their marital status. The result is, in Yoffe’s words, a “culture [that] is out of touch with the needs of children.” And I would add that what a child needs most is a stable, loving family with a mom and a dad at the helm.
Re-coupling marriage and procreation will not be easy in this “me-first” culture. That’s because marriage and having babies—as fulfilling as they are—are not about self-fulfillment. They are about love, fidelity, and self-sacrifice for the good of the other—for the spouse, for the children.
That message is a tough sell these days. But it’s a message our culture ignores at its great peril
Saturday, May 23, 2009
The Good Life by Margaret Manning
Margaret Manning is a member of the speaking and writing team at Ravi Zacharias International Ministries in Seattle, Washington. Below is an article from Slice of Infinity, which I found very engaging, true and helpful.
“What is the good life?” is a question as old as philosophy itself. In fact, it is the question that birthed philosophy as we know it.(1) Posed by ancient Greek thinkers and incorporated into the thought of Socrates through Plato, and then Aristotle, this question gets at the heart of human meaning and purpose. Why are we here, and since we are here, what are we to be doing? What is our meaning and purpose?
Out of the early Greek quest for the answer emerged two schools of thought. From Plato emerged rationalism: the good life consists of ascertaining unchanging ideals-- justice, truth, goodness, beauty--those “forms” found in the ideal world. From Aristotle emerged empiricism: the good life consists of ascertaining knowledge through experience--what we can perceive of this world through our senses.(2)
For both Aristotle and Plato, rational thought used in contemplation of ideas is the substance of the good life. Despite the obvious emphasis by both ongoodness emerging from the contemplative life of the mind (even though they disagreed on the source of rationality) both philosophers saw the good life as impacting and benefiting society. For Plato, society must emulate justice, truth, goodness, and beauty; so he constructs an ideal society. For Aristotle, virtue lived out in society is the substance of the good life, and well-being arises from well-doing.
Not long ago, I conducted an internet search on the tag “What is the good life?” and I was amazed at what came up as the top results of my search. Most of the entries involved shopping or consumption of one variety or another. Some entries were on locations to live, and still others involved books or other media aimed at helping one construct a good life. Others were the names of stores selling goods to promote “the good life.” There were no immediate entries on Plato, Aristotle, or the philosophical quest that they helped inaugurate. There were no results on wisdom or thequest for knowledge lived out in a virtuous life. Instead, most of the entries involved material pursuits and gains. Sadly, this reflects our modern definition of what is good.
What images come to mind when you ponder the good life? Perhaps during these trying economic times, it is difficult not to equate material items with the good life, more money, more security, or more opportunity. While it has always been said of every generation that these are times of great crisis and upheaval, we feel this search for meaning anew and afresh today, and perhaps wonder at the practicality or wisdom of looking to the past for insight or understanding into the good life.
And yet, the ancients remind us that “not even when one has an abundance does one’s life consist of possessions” (Luke 12:15). In this view, the good life involves what we do with our things, abundant or meager as they may be, and necessarily involves right living in community. Perhaps the ancient wisdom is particularlyinstructive in a time in which we would equate goodness with what we possess. “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8) Do justice, love kindness, and live out both of those virtues in light of humility before God; this is the good life. And this is a vision of the good life, cast not when times were good, but during a time when judgment and exile awaited the nation of Israel.
The wisdom of the ancients, from the Greeks to the Hebrews, suggests that the good life can be attained regardless of circumstance or possession. It is found when we live out wisdom in justice and kindness. It is found in the application of knowledge rightly applied in relationship to the world around us. That wisdom comes from God alone, and is part and parcel of a relationship with God who is the source of what is good. The good life is not bought or sold; it is not a prime real estatelocation, or a formula for success. The good life is our life offered to others in justice, kindness, and humility.
(1) A.L. Herman, The Ways of Philosophy: Searching for a Worthwhile Life (Scholars Press: Atlanta, 1990), 1.(2) Ibid, 82.
“What is the good life?” is a question as old as philosophy itself. In fact, it is the question that birthed philosophy as we know it.(1) Posed by ancient Greek thinkers and incorporated into the thought of Socrates through Plato, and then Aristotle, this question gets at the heart of human meaning and purpose. Why are we here, and since we are here, what are we to be doing? What is our meaning and purpose?
Out of the early Greek quest for the answer emerged two schools of thought. From Plato emerged rationalism: the good life consists of ascertaining unchanging ideals-- justice, truth, goodness, beauty--those “forms” found in the ideal world. From Aristotle emerged empiricism: the good life consists of ascertaining knowledge through experience--what we can perceive of this world through our senses.(2)
For both Aristotle and Plato, rational thought used in contemplation of ideas is the substance of the good life. Despite the obvious emphasis by both ongoodness emerging from the contemplative life of the mind (even though they disagreed on the source of rationality) both philosophers saw the good life as impacting and benefiting society. For Plato, society must emulate justice, truth, goodness, and beauty; so he constructs an ideal society. For Aristotle, virtue lived out in society is the substance of the good life, and well-being arises from well-doing.
Not long ago, I conducted an internet search on the tag “What is the good life?” and I was amazed at what came up as the top results of my search. Most of the entries involved shopping or consumption of one variety or another. Some entries were on locations to live, and still others involved books or other media aimed at helping one construct a good life. Others were the names of stores selling goods to promote “the good life.” There were no immediate entries on Plato, Aristotle, or the philosophical quest that they helped inaugurate. There were no results on wisdom or thequest for knowledge lived out in a virtuous life. Instead, most of the entries involved material pursuits and gains. Sadly, this reflects our modern definition of what is good.
What images come to mind when you ponder the good life? Perhaps during these trying economic times, it is difficult not to equate material items with the good life, more money, more security, or more opportunity. While it has always been said of every generation that these are times of great crisis and upheaval, we feel this search for meaning anew and afresh today, and perhaps wonder at the practicality or wisdom of looking to the past for insight or understanding into the good life.
And yet, the ancients remind us that “not even when one has an abundance does one’s life consist of possessions” (Luke 12:15). In this view, the good life involves what we do with our things, abundant or meager as they may be, and necessarily involves right living in community. Perhaps the ancient wisdom is particularlyinstructive in a time in which we would equate goodness with what we possess. “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8) Do justice, love kindness, and live out both of those virtues in light of humility before God; this is the good life. And this is a vision of the good life, cast not when times were good, but during a time when judgment and exile awaited the nation of Israel.
The wisdom of the ancients, from the Greeks to the Hebrews, suggests that the good life can be attained regardless of circumstance or possession. It is found when we live out wisdom in justice and kindness. It is found in the application of knowledge rightly applied in relationship to the world around us. That wisdom comes from God alone, and is part and parcel of a relationship with God who is the source of what is good. The good life is not bought or sold; it is not a prime real estatelocation, or a formula for success. The good life is our life offered to others in justice, kindness, and humility.
(1) A.L. Herman, The Ways of Philosophy: Searching for a Worthwhile Life (Scholars Press: Atlanta, 1990), 1.(2) Ibid, 82.
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Fit Bodies, Fat Minds by Os Guinness
Fit Bodies, FAT MINDS_Why Evangelicals don’t think and What to do about it
From reading memoirs that touched my heart, to a refreshingly enlightening material that touched my mind, it has been a excellent month so far. The next book on the agenda was Fit Bodies and Fat Minds by Os Guinness. Os is fast becoming my 'must listen/read' author and speaker. I was first introduced to Os when he spoke at the L'abri Jubilee conference. He spoke on "The Third Mission to the West: Winning back our civilization." The message was crisp, clear and very challenging. I doubt there is anyone who listened to him that was not stirred in their hearts and challenged in their minds.
Dr. Os Guinness is a writer and speaker living in Northern Virginia. He is the co-founder of The Trinity Forum and served as Senior Fellow and Vice Chairman of the Board from its inception in 1991 until 2004. Os directed the first seven Trinity Forum seminar curricula and many other projects during that period and was a regular Moderator at Forums in the United States, Europe, and Asia.
He has written or edited more than twenty books, including The American Hour (Free Press, 1993), The Call (Word 1998), Time for Truth (Baker 2000), Long Journey Home (Doubleday 2001), Unspeakable: Facing Up to Evil in an Age of Genocide and Terror (HarperCollins, 2005), and The Case for Civility: And Why Our Future Depends on It (Harper One, 2008).
His deep concern is to bridge the chasm between academic knowledge and popular knowledge, taking things that are academically important and making them intelligible and practicable to a wider audience, especially as they concern matters of public policy. (Trinity Forum Website http://www.ttf.org/)
Before I took up the book to read, I found a excellent review on the book by Allan Harvey on the following link (http://jmm.aaa.net.au/articles/13530.htm)
The book as Allan points out is divided into 3 sections
Part One - A Ghost Mind
The title is apt to what Os clarifies in this section. What does he mean by Ghost mind? Well, in the early 19th century a consequence of the rapid frontier expansion was the creation of the ghost towns and ghost colleges-towns and colleges left behind in the great rush west. In a similar way the story of the retreat from a Christian mind is the story of a number of influences raging like a fire through the evangelical movement. They have left in their wake a devastation of the earlier Puritan mind and the creation of a virtual ghost mind with a few distinctively Christian strengths left. And then he lays the damaging trends in eight P's as below
1. Polarization - Is the Polarization of truth. In the sense of a false antagonism between heart and mind. To be sure, no one in the fallen world-believer or unbeliever-has the capacity to hold God's truth in its entirety. Os agrees that some tension between mind and heart, intellect and emotions, is a recurring theme in Christian history. And yet despite this condition a hallmark of the Puritan mind was its commitment to unity of truth and thus to the integration of faith and life, worship and discipleship, faith and learning. All of these things were under the lordship of Christ. Each was part of its own sphere and calling. None was to be isolated ot treated as a favored part of truth.
2. Pietism - Pietism is a 'heart religion' an understanding and way of believing that places piety, or total life devotion, at the centre of Christian faith. Pietism in itself is neither wrong nor destructive. It helps us see the potential for distortion. Os's conclusion is that evangelical pietism has not yet degenerated that far. But the outline of the same weaknesses has emerge, especially in the form of a stoop gap, privatized faith, that in one observer's words, is socially irrelevant, even if privately engaging.
3. Primitivism - Sometimes called restorationism or restitutionism, is the impulse to restore the primitive or original order of life as revealed in the Scriptures. Os is very pointed in his observation when he says that Primitivism, is an ingredient of American hypocrisy. Primitivism has contributed to the evangelical bias towards the simplistic, and secondly it has contributed to the evangelical bias against history.
4. Populism - Understood as a movement committed to the rights, wisdom, and virtues of common people, populism is one of the greatest strengths and weaknesses. A passion for revival and a passion for popular sovereignty lies at the heart of populism. Populism has 'democratized Christians' and 'Christianized America'. Populism rejected educated leadership and put a boundless trust in the common person. The result was a populist style of interpretation in which the right to personal judgment became 'the magna carta of the common man'
5. Pluralism - It is a social condition in which numerous different religious, ethnic, and cultural groups live together in one nation under one government. Pluralism, in this sense, is a social fact, and not, like relativism, a philosophical conclusion. Pluralism made to important contributions to evangelical anti-intellectualism. 1. It helped create a religion of civility. Civility is good; however religion of civility is different. It is a corrupt form of civility - an oppressive form of tolerance-that in seeking to give no offense to others ends with no convictions of its own. 'Tolerance' as G K Chesterton said, ' is the virtue of those who don’t believe anything'. The second negative effect was that it reinforced Protestant indifference to truth by shifting the accent from belief to behavior or Deeds, not Creeds.
6. Pragmatism - Pragmatism is the philosophy of considering practical consequences or real effects to be vital components of meaning and truth. One flamboyant outgrowth of pragmatism was the rise of the prosperity doctrines or the 'health and wealth gospel.’ The early Puritans in contrast had a striking combination of diligence in worldly business yet 'deadness' to the world. A second outgrowth is the long stream of 'self help' and 'positive thinking' - the general belief that optimistic thinking carries beneficial results.
7. Philistinism - A philistine is some on who is either crucially uninformed in a special area of knowledge or openly disdainful of intellectual or artistic values. The connection here is to the great Philistine giant Goliath whom David killed. Popular evangelicals like Billy Sunday and Jonathan Blanchard (Wheaton’s first President) were of the belief that 'Real men don’t need a theology/scholarship'. Philistinism reinforces the prejudice that hides behind populist disdain for those such as 'the media elite'. On the other hand, it blocks evangelicals from truly appreciating culture and the arts. It also isolates evangelical artists - as the least understood and most alienated single group of people in the evangelical churches.
8. Premillenialism - It is the belief that the present age of human history will end in Christ’s thousand year reign on earth (Revelation 20:1-10). Os stresses that Premillenialism it not itself the problem. Dispensational premilleniasm however has had unfortunate consequences on the Christian mind. The dispensationalist movement reinforced the anti intellectualism of the seven earlier trends. A recurring feature of dispensational populism is its careless crossover between Bible and historical events of the day. Secondly it reinforces anti-intellectualism by its general indifference to serious engagement with culture. 'Distracting preoccupation with the end times. Thirdly it has often had overlooked unintended consequences. It called evangelicals to 'flee the world' but did so in a way that laid them open to new form of worldliness.
Part two - An Idiot Culture
This section was named "A Junkie Spirit" in 1986; its new title is taken from a 1992 New Republic essay by journalist Carl Bernstein. Guinness discusses eight trends in modern culture that contribute to a "dumbing-down" not only of society but of the Christians who live in it.
1. Amusing Ourselves to Death - Entertainment. Americans no longer talk to each other, they entertain each other, they do not exchange ideas, they exchange images. They do not argue with propositions, they argue with good looks. celebrities and commercials.
2. People of plenty - World of Ads. What is it and how are we as Christians effected by it.
3. All Consuming images - Style is all that matters...
4. The Humiliation of the Word - Literally word. Word has lost its power. Save the word to save the World. A word deficient culture is heavily biased toward a image dominated expression and perception. It is also biased against understanding.
5. Cannibals of the PoMo (Post Modern)- Cross as a fashion statement. Doing things simply to conform to the culture.
6. Tabloid Truth - Tabloid Christianity
7. Generation Hex - Tribalism. Generational identification.
8. Real, Reel or Virtual Real? - Person to Person and not face to face. Christian needs to be concerned with Truth and Reality.
Part three - Let my people think
From reading memoirs that touched my heart, to a refreshingly enlightening material that touched my mind, it has been a excellent month so far. The next book on the agenda was Fit Bodies and Fat Minds by Os Guinness. Os is fast becoming my 'must listen/read' author and speaker. I was first introduced to Os when he spoke at the L'abri Jubilee conference. He spoke on "The Third Mission to the West: Winning back our civilization." The message was crisp, clear and very challenging. I doubt there is anyone who listened to him that was not stirred in their hearts and challenged in their minds.
Dr. Os Guinness is a writer and speaker living in Northern Virginia. He is the co-founder of The Trinity Forum and served as Senior Fellow and Vice Chairman of the Board from its inception in 1991 until 2004. Os directed the first seven Trinity Forum seminar curricula and many other projects during that period and was a regular Moderator at Forums in the United States, Europe, and Asia.
He has written or edited more than twenty books, including The American Hour (Free Press, 1993), The Call (Word 1998), Time for Truth (Baker 2000), Long Journey Home (Doubleday 2001), Unspeakable: Facing Up to Evil in an Age of Genocide and Terror (HarperCollins, 2005), and The Case for Civility: And Why Our Future Depends on It (Harper One, 2008).
His deep concern is to bridge the chasm between academic knowledge and popular knowledge, taking things that are academically important and making them intelligible and practicable to a wider audience, especially as they concern matters of public policy. (Trinity Forum Website http://www.ttf.org/)
Before I took up the book to read, I found a excellent review on the book by Allan Harvey on the following link (http://jmm.aaa.net.au/articles/13530.htm)
The book as Allan points out is divided into 3 sections
Part One - A Ghost Mind
The title is apt to what Os clarifies in this section. What does he mean by Ghost mind? Well, in the early 19th century a consequence of the rapid frontier expansion was the creation of the ghost towns and ghost colleges-towns and colleges left behind in the great rush west. In a similar way the story of the retreat from a Christian mind is the story of a number of influences raging like a fire through the evangelical movement. They have left in their wake a devastation of the earlier Puritan mind and the creation of a virtual ghost mind with a few distinctively Christian strengths left. And then he lays the damaging trends in eight P's as below
1. Polarization - Is the Polarization of truth. In the sense of a false antagonism between heart and mind. To be sure, no one in the fallen world-believer or unbeliever-has the capacity to hold God's truth in its entirety. Os agrees that some tension between mind and heart, intellect and emotions, is a recurring theme in Christian history. And yet despite this condition a hallmark of the Puritan mind was its commitment to unity of truth and thus to the integration of faith and life, worship and discipleship, faith and learning. All of these things were under the lordship of Christ. Each was part of its own sphere and calling. None was to be isolated ot treated as a favored part of truth.
2. Pietism - Pietism is a 'heart religion' an understanding and way of believing that places piety, or total life devotion, at the centre of Christian faith. Pietism in itself is neither wrong nor destructive. It helps us see the potential for distortion. Os's conclusion is that evangelical pietism has not yet degenerated that far. But the outline of the same weaknesses has emerge, especially in the form of a stoop gap, privatized faith, that in one observer's words, is socially irrelevant, even if privately engaging.
3. Primitivism - Sometimes called restorationism or restitutionism, is the impulse to restore the primitive or original order of life as revealed in the Scriptures. Os is very pointed in his observation when he says that Primitivism, is an ingredient of American hypocrisy. Primitivism has contributed to the evangelical bias towards the simplistic, and secondly it has contributed to the evangelical bias against history.
4. Populism - Understood as a movement committed to the rights, wisdom, and virtues of common people, populism is one of the greatest strengths and weaknesses. A passion for revival and a passion for popular sovereignty lies at the heart of populism. Populism has 'democratized Christians' and 'Christianized America'. Populism rejected educated leadership and put a boundless trust in the common person. The result was a populist style of interpretation in which the right to personal judgment became 'the magna carta of the common man'
5. Pluralism - It is a social condition in which numerous different religious, ethnic, and cultural groups live together in one nation under one government. Pluralism, in this sense, is a social fact, and not, like relativism, a philosophical conclusion. Pluralism made to important contributions to evangelical anti-intellectualism. 1. It helped create a religion of civility. Civility is good; however religion of civility is different. It is a corrupt form of civility - an oppressive form of tolerance-that in seeking to give no offense to others ends with no convictions of its own. 'Tolerance' as G K Chesterton said, ' is the virtue of those who don’t believe anything'. The second negative effect was that it reinforced Protestant indifference to truth by shifting the accent from belief to behavior or Deeds, not Creeds.
6. Pragmatism - Pragmatism is the philosophy of considering practical consequences or real effects to be vital components of meaning and truth. One flamboyant outgrowth of pragmatism was the rise of the prosperity doctrines or the 'health and wealth gospel.’ The early Puritans in contrast had a striking combination of diligence in worldly business yet 'deadness' to the world. A second outgrowth is the long stream of 'self help' and 'positive thinking' - the general belief that optimistic thinking carries beneficial results.
7. Philistinism - A philistine is some on who is either crucially uninformed in a special area of knowledge or openly disdainful of intellectual or artistic values. The connection here is to the great Philistine giant Goliath whom David killed. Popular evangelicals like Billy Sunday and Jonathan Blanchard (Wheaton’s first President) were of the belief that 'Real men don’t need a theology/scholarship'. Philistinism reinforces the prejudice that hides behind populist disdain for those such as 'the media elite'. On the other hand, it blocks evangelicals from truly appreciating culture and the arts. It also isolates evangelical artists - as the least understood and most alienated single group of people in the evangelical churches.
8. Premillenialism - It is the belief that the present age of human history will end in Christ’s thousand year reign on earth (Revelation 20:1-10). Os stresses that Premillenialism it not itself the problem. Dispensational premilleniasm however has had unfortunate consequences on the Christian mind. The dispensationalist movement reinforced the anti intellectualism of the seven earlier trends. A recurring feature of dispensational populism is its careless crossover between Bible and historical events of the day. Secondly it reinforces anti-intellectualism by its general indifference to serious engagement with culture. 'Distracting preoccupation with the end times. Thirdly it has often had overlooked unintended consequences. It called evangelicals to 'flee the world' but did so in a way that laid them open to new form of worldliness.
Part two - An Idiot Culture
This section was named "A Junkie Spirit" in 1986; its new title is taken from a 1992 New Republic essay by journalist Carl Bernstein. Guinness discusses eight trends in modern culture that contribute to a "dumbing-down" not only of society but of the Christians who live in it.
1. Amusing Ourselves to Death - Entertainment. Americans no longer talk to each other, they entertain each other, they do not exchange ideas, they exchange images. They do not argue with propositions, they argue with good looks. celebrities and commercials.
2. People of plenty - World of Ads. What is it and how are we as Christians effected by it.
3. All Consuming images - Style is all that matters...
4. The Humiliation of the Word - Literally word. Word has lost its power. Save the word to save the World. A word deficient culture is heavily biased toward a image dominated expression and perception. It is also biased against understanding.
5. Cannibals of the PoMo (Post Modern)- Cross as a fashion statement. Doing things simply to conform to the culture.
6. Tabloid Truth - Tabloid Christianity
7. Generation Hex - Tribalism. Generational identification.
8. Real, Reel or Virtual Real? - Person to Person and not face to face. Christian needs to be concerned with Truth and Reality.
Part three - Let my people think
In part one and two we have the issues and in part three we turn to what evangelicals can do to 'Turn the tide'...
1. Back to our Right Minds - Repentance.
2. Minds in Love - Thinking Christianly
3. God Sense in a Good Sense - Overcoming the deepest of all obstacles to thinking christianly.
4. Going Mad for God - Counting the cost of discipleship entailed in thinking Christianly
5. No Automatic Pilot - A commitment to thinking Christianly as a form of active obedience
6. No, Not that way - Marking clearly the pitfalls and by-paths of Christian thinking
7. Knowing means doing - Focusing attention on a long neglected part of Christian thinking - developing a Christian thought style
8. The Defense Never Rests - Recovering the practice of Christian apologetics, or of making a persuasive case for the Christian faith for today's generation.
This book as been very effective, in changing the course of my thinking. It is a relatively short book to read and is therefore a reservoir of anecdotes. A great book to read and reread every few years to keep your mind and heart challenged to think Christianly.
1. Back to our Right Minds - Repentance.
2. Minds in Love - Thinking Christianly
3. God Sense in a Good Sense - Overcoming the deepest of all obstacles to thinking christianly.
4. Going Mad for God - Counting the cost of discipleship entailed in thinking Christianly
5. No Automatic Pilot - A commitment to thinking Christianly as a form of active obedience
6. No, Not that way - Marking clearly the pitfalls and by-paths of Christian thinking
7. Knowing means doing - Focusing attention on a long neglected part of Christian thinking - developing a Christian thought style
8. The Defense Never Rests - Recovering the practice of Christian apologetics, or of making a persuasive case for the Christian faith for today's generation.
This book as been very effective, in changing the course of my thinking. It is a relatively short book to read and is therefore a reservoir of anecdotes. A great book to read and reread every few years to keep your mind and heart challenged to think Christianly.
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Queen of the Dark Chamber
Queen of the Dark Chamber
Another autobiography added to the list of autobiographies read this year. This one was a lil different because the story is based in China. If you sit down with it, you should be able to finish reading it over a weekend (that of course assumes you are still not married ;))
The memoir is penned down as told to Ellen L Drummond, recommended by Billy Graham and opens up with a short poetry written by Oswald J Smith, the Canadian pastor, author, and missions advocate. OJS lived during the same time as Christiana.
It is with that poetry that I begin this short synopsis
I want you to Know
I want you to know you are never forgotten,
The Saviour is with you, He see all your grief;
Remember, He cares, He will never forsake you,
As soon He is coming to bring you relief.
I think of you daily and pray for you always,
How often I see you in darkness and pain;
But tho' you must suffer, His grace is sufficient,
And some day with Jesus forever you'll reign.
The Lord will be with you, dear Queen of the darkness,
And all of earth's shadows will soon pass away;
For you have been faithful and many in Heaven
Will praise you for turning their darkness to day.
Your book has brought blessing, it makes me unworthy,
For you have accomplished so much by His grace;
Some day you will step from your chamber of darkness,
For Jesus remembers; you will see His dear face.
With Christian affection, my sister from China,
I send you this message - your pray'rs He will hear;
I want you to know that God's mercy is o'er you, -
Forgotten? no, never! your Saviour is near.
And then this…
To Christiana Tsai,
Queen of the Dark Chamber.
I have seen the vision
And for self I cannot live;
Life is less than worthless
Till my all I give.
- O.J.S
Cai Sujuan, known in the West as Christiana Tsai, was born in Nanjing in the year 1890, the 18th of 24 children of the vice-governor of Jiangsu Province. Despite her luxurious surroundings, Sujuan was a sad, serious girl, and she considered becoming a Buddhist nun. Instead, her fascination with the English language led her to two missionary schools, the first in Nanjing, where Mary Leaman was the principal, and the second in Suzhou. Sujuan entered these schools determined to shut her ears to all discussion of the Gospel, but when a visiting American pastor preached at the Suzhou school, Sujuan attended to listen to his English. His message, Christ, the Light of the World, struck her to the heart, and she believed. (From Pray for China)
Her infuriated family forbade her to return to school, and mocked her mercilessly to pressure her into changing her mind. Enjoying inner peace for the first time in her life, Sujuan read the Bible and prayed with one mind, and was filled with peace and joy. Finally, her mother allowed her to return to school just to get her out of the house. Sujuan grew in love and faith, and after graduation she turned down job offers to return home and bring her family to Christ. God rewarded her faithfulness, as 55 members of her family eventually followed the Lord. Sujuans mother came to Christ when He healed her from opium addiction, and for several years Sujuan, her mother, and Mary Leaman had a fruitful ministry in the Nanjing area, especially among women.
With these blessings came trials. When Sujuans fiance, whom she had met at church, turned away from Christ, Sujuan broke their engagement. In 1930, Sujuan contracted a devastating case of malaria. She was left bedridden, and was so sensitive to light and noise that she was obliged to remain continually in a darkened room. Sujuan thought her painful confinement would bring an end to effective ministry, but her loving Savior was refining her like gold. From her bedside, Sujuan was able to comfort lost and broken souls more effectively than she had from her pinnacle of wealth and accomplishment. Her physical circumstances deteriorated further when Mary was imprisoned with other missionaries in a Japanese concentration camp during World War II. Sujuan was left alone during the day, surviving on bread and salt vegetables and crawling about on the floor to take care of her needs. Even in this, she saw the hand of her Savior, as several of their friends were converted by the peace and strength with which Mary and Sujuan faced their trials.
Later on in life she would say 'I have found peace out of pain, joy in suffering, light in darkness; after over 20 years in bed, I can say it is worth while to pass through the valley of the shadow of death for the joy of knowing the Lord Jesus Christ.
After the war, Mary’s poor health forced her to return to the United States, and she took Sujuan to live in the Leaman family home in Paradise, Pennsylvania. Sujuan continued to minister to those who visited her there. Her autobiography, Queen of the Dark Chamber, was translated into 30 languages.
She concludes the autobiography by quoting from a poem, that sums up her past, present and future and best expresses her own thankfulness and trust.
O fathomless mercy! O infinite grace!
With humble thanksgiving the road I retrace.
Thou never hast failed me, my Strength and my Stay!
To whom should I turn for the rest of the way?
Through dangers, through darkness, by day and by night,
Thou ever hast guided and guided aright:
In thee have I trusted and peacefully lay
My hand in Thy hand for the rest of the way
Thy cross all my refuge, Thy blood all my plea,
None other I need blessed Jesus but Thee!
I fear not the shadows at close of life's day,
For thou wilt go with me the rest of the way.
God’s offer of salvation is for everyone, Indian, American, Chinese, Spanish; Sri Lankan… for the Bible says that each one of us is in rebellion with the God who created this world. Our sins have kept us from having a relationship with God. It is we who have sinned and yet the solution comes from God himself. He sends his own son, Jesus Christ to die for us on the Cross. By the death of Jesus Christ, reconciliation is brought about. ‘Who do you say that I am? Jesus would ask his disciples. Your answer would determine where you would spend eternity.
Sujuan was ready to give up all, in this life for the importance she gave to the life that was beyond this life.
Sujuan entered the presence of her Lord on August 25, 1984.
Sujuan was from China.
Where ever you are today, it does not matter. God is the same everywhere; his love for you is a love that is same where ever you are. Will you consider where your life is going today; will you consider Him who gave you that life?
Another autobiography added to the list of autobiographies read this year. This one was a lil different because the story is based in China. If you sit down with it, you should be able to finish reading it over a weekend (that of course assumes you are still not married ;))
The memoir is penned down as told to Ellen L Drummond, recommended by Billy Graham and opens up with a short poetry written by Oswald J Smith, the Canadian pastor, author, and missions advocate. OJS lived during the same time as Christiana.
It is with that poetry that I begin this short synopsis
I want you to Know
I want you to know you are never forgotten,
The Saviour is with you, He see all your grief;
Remember, He cares, He will never forsake you,
As soon He is coming to bring you relief.
I think of you daily and pray for you always,
How often I see you in darkness and pain;
But tho' you must suffer, His grace is sufficient,
And some day with Jesus forever you'll reign.
The Lord will be with you, dear Queen of the darkness,
And all of earth's shadows will soon pass away;
For you have been faithful and many in Heaven
Will praise you for turning their darkness to day.
Your book has brought blessing, it makes me unworthy,
For you have accomplished so much by His grace;
Some day you will step from your chamber of darkness,
For Jesus remembers; you will see His dear face.
With Christian affection, my sister from China,
I send you this message - your pray'rs He will hear;
I want you to know that God's mercy is o'er you, -
Forgotten? no, never! your Saviour is near.
And then this…
To Christiana Tsai,
Queen of the Dark Chamber.
I have seen the vision
And for self I cannot live;
Life is less than worthless
Till my all I give.
- O.J.S
Cai Sujuan, known in the West as Christiana Tsai, was born in Nanjing in the year 1890, the 18th of 24 children of the vice-governor of Jiangsu Province. Despite her luxurious surroundings, Sujuan was a sad, serious girl, and she considered becoming a Buddhist nun. Instead, her fascination with the English language led her to two missionary schools, the first in Nanjing, where Mary Leaman was the principal, and the second in Suzhou. Sujuan entered these schools determined to shut her ears to all discussion of the Gospel, but when a visiting American pastor preached at the Suzhou school, Sujuan attended to listen to his English. His message, Christ, the Light of the World, struck her to the heart, and she believed. (From Pray for China)
Her infuriated family forbade her to return to school, and mocked her mercilessly to pressure her into changing her mind. Enjoying inner peace for the first time in her life, Sujuan read the Bible and prayed with one mind, and was filled with peace and joy. Finally, her mother allowed her to return to school just to get her out of the house. Sujuan grew in love and faith, and after graduation she turned down job offers to return home and bring her family to Christ. God rewarded her faithfulness, as 55 members of her family eventually followed the Lord. Sujuans mother came to Christ when He healed her from opium addiction, and for several years Sujuan, her mother, and Mary Leaman had a fruitful ministry in the Nanjing area, especially among women.
With these blessings came trials. When Sujuans fiance, whom she had met at church, turned away from Christ, Sujuan broke their engagement. In 1930, Sujuan contracted a devastating case of malaria. She was left bedridden, and was so sensitive to light and noise that she was obliged to remain continually in a darkened room. Sujuan thought her painful confinement would bring an end to effective ministry, but her loving Savior was refining her like gold. From her bedside, Sujuan was able to comfort lost and broken souls more effectively than she had from her pinnacle of wealth and accomplishment. Her physical circumstances deteriorated further when Mary was imprisoned with other missionaries in a Japanese concentration camp during World War II. Sujuan was left alone during the day, surviving on bread and salt vegetables and crawling about on the floor to take care of her needs. Even in this, she saw the hand of her Savior, as several of their friends were converted by the peace and strength with which Mary and Sujuan faced their trials.
Later on in life she would say 'I have found peace out of pain, joy in suffering, light in darkness; after over 20 years in bed, I can say it is worth while to pass through the valley of the shadow of death for the joy of knowing the Lord Jesus Christ.
After the war, Mary’s poor health forced her to return to the United States, and she took Sujuan to live in the Leaman family home in Paradise, Pennsylvania. Sujuan continued to minister to those who visited her there. Her autobiography, Queen of the Dark Chamber, was translated into 30 languages.
She concludes the autobiography by quoting from a poem, that sums up her past, present and future and best expresses her own thankfulness and trust.
O fathomless mercy! O infinite grace!
With humble thanksgiving the road I retrace.
Thou never hast failed me, my Strength and my Stay!
To whom should I turn for the rest of the way?
Through dangers, through darkness, by day and by night,
Thou ever hast guided and guided aright:
In thee have I trusted and peacefully lay
My hand in Thy hand for the rest of the way
Thy cross all my refuge, Thy blood all my plea,
None other I need blessed Jesus but Thee!
I fear not the shadows at close of life's day,
For thou wilt go with me the rest of the way.
God’s offer of salvation is for everyone, Indian, American, Chinese, Spanish; Sri Lankan… for the Bible says that each one of us is in rebellion with the God who created this world. Our sins have kept us from having a relationship with God. It is we who have sinned and yet the solution comes from God himself. He sends his own son, Jesus Christ to die for us on the Cross. By the death of Jesus Christ, reconciliation is brought about. ‘Who do you say that I am? Jesus would ask his disciples. Your answer would determine where you would spend eternity.
Sujuan was ready to give up all, in this life for the importance she gave to the life that was beyond this life.
Sujuan entered the presence of her Lord on August 25, 1984.
Sujuan was from China.
Where ever you are today, it does not matter. God is the same everywhere; his love for you is a love that is same where ever you are. Will you consider where your life is going today; will you consider Him who gave you that life?
Saturday, February 14, 2009
To the Golden Shore by Courtney Anderson
To the Golden Shore is the biography of Adoniram Judson the first American Missionary
This has to be one of the finest biographies I have ever read. The book takes you from the parsonage in Malden, MA to the deep waters of Irrawwady in Burma. From New York to Rangoon as it presents one of the first ever missionaries from America.
For a biography that covers years from 1788 to 1850, it is remarkably detailed. I wouldn’t call it verbose, because every detail covered and every story told fits well into the overall life of Adoniram.
The book is divided into 3 major sections
1. The Embarkation (1788 – 1812) 121 Pages
- Covers a brief history of Adoniram Judson Sr. a 36 year old minister and then quickly moves on to his Marriage to Abigail Brown to his ordination to the birth of his first Son Adoniram Judson Jr. From his childhood, Adoniram (from here on the Jr) shows signs of one who will one day become a famous man. By the time he is a teen, he is already exposed to heavy literature and languages. Enrolled into what is called became the Brown University, his friends influence him He was already well grounded in such subjects as Latin. Greek, mathematics, geography and astronomy. He was allowed to enter the sophomore class without taking studies of the freshman year. He became an Unbeliever here under the influence of his group of friends. He became the most influence by his friend Jacob Eames of Belfast Maine and soon was dabbling in Deism. It was Jacob Eames death which would finally bring him back to the Christian Faith. The fascinating account of how he became a believer again is covered under Revolt, especially the part where he is on his way back home (from New York where he has left his home to pursue a career in writing for plays) and as night drew on, he found himself passing through a small village. Finding the local inn, he stabled his horse, and asked the innkeeper for a room. The inn was full, but there is one room next to a young man who was critically ill, perhaps dying. Adoniram takes the room as he is still wrapped up in his own thoughts. Though the night was still, he could not sleep. In the next room beyond the partition he could hear sounds, not very loud; footsteps coming and going; a board creaking; low voices; a groan or gasp. This did not disturb him, what did disturb him was the thought that the man in the next room might not be prepared for death. But was he, himself?...
As the morning appeared, he dressed quickly and ran downstairs to pay his reckoning, saddle his horse and be on his way. Finding his host, he inquired about the man next to his room. 'He is dead' was the answer. 'Dead?' Adoniram was taken aback. There was heavy finality to the word. Adoniram stammered out the few conventional phrases common of humanity when death takes someone nearby, and ask the inevitable question: "Do you know who he was?"."Oh yes. Young man from the college in providence. Name was Eames, Jacob Eames." I present here the story in full because this really was the final turning point in his life, kind of the final nail in the coffin of his old life. He goes back home and then after a few days enrolls in a Seminary at Andover.
Here too he is allowed to get directly in the sophomore class. It is here that he comes across a book entitled An Account of an Embassy to the Kingdom of Ava. Written by Michael Symes, a British army officer who had been sent in 1795 by the Governor General of India to the mysterious empire of Burma. Much of the book was given over to long accounts; however through this dull matter one could glimpse bright reflections of a strange, colorful, feudal empire, populous and rich. Everything about this sovereign was 'Golden.' This was the most unreached area for the gospel. What a prospect to be a missionary here?...America had not yet sent out a missionary, there where attempts earlier however none that were successful. From here the story moves on to how he befriends those with similar burden and together they push for establishing a American Board for missionaries. The British have had some experience in this and therefore Judson is sent to London to gather information and support for this newly formed Board. The journey is yet another interesting interval between the inn experience and the passage to Burma. There is excitement and joy as Adoniram and his group of friends get ready to move on. Obviously am not going to shell out the complete story in detail. Long story short, they board the Caravan on February 19th 1812 and after a short break in India where the Judson’s meet William Carey the father of the Modern Missionary movement, the finally land in Rangoon on July 13th 1813.
2. The Dangerous Voyage (1812-1826) 246 Pages
What’s so gripping about this section is the tragedy after tragedy and pain and loss of children one after the other, that the Judson’s go through and yet, they remain focused on the one goal that they set out to accomplish and that is the translation of the Bible into the Burmese language. Of the 3 couples and a bachelor that set out for Burma, one of the couple succumbs to the hardship and die even before they see Burma. The first child born to Ann and Adoniram is born dead. Ann learned the Burmese and Siamese languages, did translation work, taught Burmese girls, and managed her household and cared for her husband during his 18 month imprisonment in 1824-25. When home in the United States briefly in 1822 because of ill health, she wrote a history of the Burmese work titled American Baptist Mission to the Burman Empire, which was published in 1823. She died October 24, 1826, at the age of thirty-seven. Both a son, Roger Williams (born 1815) and a daughter, Maria (born 1825) died in infancy (8 months and 27 months respectively). The 18 month imprisonment is a tragic story in itself. Be prepared to cry as you read this heart rending and heart wrenching story. Taking care of her husband during his imprisonment is I found one of the most touching of all the chapters. As I sit down to write this summary on this Valentines day February 14th 2009, I think of the love that Ann had for Adoniram that was displayed in the act of caring and pleading to the higher authorities on his behalf. I wil just briefly mention one that brought tears to my eyes. After going through the death prison which was horrible in itself, the prisoners (all foreigners suspected to be spies of the British, during the Anglo Burmese War) were finally moved to Oung-Pen-La a lil better than the prison. Here Ann follows them; however her health is deteriorating as she finds herself going weak day by day. Little Maria is also growing weak as she is not fed. She had to have her mother’s milk to live. Her cries of hunger at night become unbearable. Nancy or Ann is not able to move, but she is able to talk. She offers Koh-Bai (the jailor responsible for Oung-Pen-La) gifts to allow Adoniram to take the baby around in the village to nursing mothers. If one of another would supply a little superfluous milk, perhaps Maria could live. Koh-Bai agrees. Adoniram is allowed to carry the baby around the village begging a little milk here and there from generous Burmese mothers. The expedient works and somehow the Baby lives.
During this period he would repeat, to gouger, Cowper’s translation of her verses
No Bliss I seek, but to fulfill
In life, in death, thy lovely will;
No succour in my woes I want,
Except what Thou art pleased to grant.
Our days are number’d – Let us spare
Our anxious hearts a needless care;
‘Tis Thine to number out our days,
And ours to give them to Thy praise.
The second section actually ends with Nancy’s death, with Adoniram not being present as he receives the news of her death in black sealed envelope. The carrier of the letter is afraid to tell Adoniram that Nancy has died so he tells Adoniram that it is his child that has died. Adoniram receives the letter almost a month after the incident as he is out in Amherst on a job that the British Embassy has entrusted him with. The section would be incomplete without at least mentioning the name of the first known Burmese convert, by the name Maung Nau. Maung Nau professed faith in Jesus Christ in 1819, almost 6 years after the Judson’s arrived in Burma. After a period of 13 years in Burma the Judsons had 18 converts.
3. To the Golden Shore (1826 – 1850) 131 Pages
The last section moves very quickly and covers a period of 25 years. After Ann and Maria’s death, Adoniram has no responsibilities / commitments except to complete the translation of the Bible. This is done by 1934. Appreciation for his work comes from everywhere; however something that was special was to receive it from Sarah Boardman the widow of George Dana Boardman. Sarah and George Dana Boardman were married in 1825, and went to Burma to work with the Judson’s. Later they settled at Tavoy to work with a mountain tribe (Karens), where she founded a school for girls. Her husband died in 1831, and she continued the work with her small son, George. Sarah married Adoniram in 1834, nearly eight years after the death of Ann Judson. During eleven years of marriage, they had eight(?) children: Abby Ann (born 1835), Adoniram Brown (born 1837), Elnathan (born 1838), Henry (born 1838; died age 1 yr., 7 months), Luther (stillborn, 1841?), Henry Hall (born 1842), Charles (born 1843), Edward (born 1844). She translated hymns and other materials into the Burmese language. She died September 1, 1845, exhausted and ill, on a ship sailing back to the United States. On this trip Adoniram is left alone again with his children as he plans for their stay / schooling in America. This was Adoniram’s first trip back to America after almost 33 years. He has lost his younger brother Elnathan and his father the Judson Sr. as well as his mother, Abigail Brown. His younger sister is still alive. By the time Adoniram returns to America he is a Hero and a celebrated figure. People are eager to hear his stories and how he did what he did. Adoniram is tired and exhausted with one meeting after another. It is reported that he even got mean and rude just to take the focus off himself and place it on Christ. He was a simple man like them all. It is in this exhausting schedule that he meets his third wife, Emily Chubbuck. She was a professional writer under the pen name of Fanny Forester. Judson had read some of her writings and contacted her to write the biography of his second wife, Sarah. After working together on the biography, their acquaintance lead to their being married in 1846, about a year after his return to the United States following the death of Sarah. They returned to Burma, where Emily finished the biography of Sarah, which was published in 1848. They had two children, a daughter Emily, born in 1847, and a son Charles, born (and died) the same day in 1850, three weeks after the death of Judson. She returned to the United States in 1851 and died of tuberculosis in New York in 1854. After the Bible was translated in Burmese, the next project was to have a Burmese – English, English Burmese dictionary. He exercised general oversight over the work of the mission and preached regularly in the native chapel Sundays, the sermons would usually close with a hymn, perhaps one of his own, such as “I long to reach the golden shore”. Golden !! The concept was characteristically Burman, with its Golden Pagoda, the Shwe Dagon; Its ruler, the Golden Presence. If these, why not the Golden Shore?
The Golden Land of Heaven.
I long to reach the golden shore,
And the face of Jesus see ;
My soul, with joy filled evermore,
Will sing His grace and glory.
From suffring, age, disease, and death,
He'll set me wholly free ;
My joyful soul, till my last breath,
Will sing His grace and glory.
Regaled by draughts of perfect joy,
Before my Lord I'd be;
My soul in bliss without alloy,
Will sing His grace and glory.
In late 1849 he completed the Burmese to English part of the dictionary and had hoped to complete the rest of it in a year or so. That time was not to come. In late September 1849 he contracted a severe cold and the result was that the physician Dr. Morton recommended him to take a sea voyage to get some fresh year. On April 3rd 1850, Adoniram was carried in a palanquin (Palki in Hindi) on the Aristide Marie due to sail to the Isle of France. Knowing in his heart that he would not live, yet with a hope to recover he agreed for the sea voyage. By Friday the 12th April 1850, it was obvious that the end was not far off. Adoniram spoke to Panapah, both in English and Burmese, telling him to “take care of poor mistress”. These were his last words.
At fifteen minutes after 4 on Friday afternnon, Adoniram Judson reached his Golden shore. He had requested before he died, that if death should come then he should be buried at sea. The location was latitude 13 degrees north and longitude 93 degrees east, almost in the eastward shadow of the Andaman Islands and only a few hundred miles wes of the mountains of Burma.
Conclusion….
In His Sovereignty, God allowed Judson to be close to Eames when he died, to show the emptiness of atheism, especially in the jaws of death. Judson’s life was back on course and he prepared himself diligently for service overseas. In 1812 he sailed for Burma with his first wife. They brought the gospel to Burma. When he died in 1850 Judson had seen at least 7,000 people converted and 63 churches planted. The sting of death for Judson was removed by the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. For Adoniram, death was the entrance to the Golden Shore, saved by God’s grace. The verses he treasured are in Ephesians 3: 16-19.
This has to be one of the finest biographies I have ever read. The book takes you from the parsonage in Malden, MA to the deep waters of Irrawwady in Burma. From New York to Rangoon as it presents one of the first ever missionaries from America.
For a biography that covers years from 1788 to 1850, it is remarkably detailed. I wouldn’t call it verbose, because every detail covered and every story told fits well into the overall life of Adoniram.
The book is divided into 3 major sections
1. The Embarkation (1788 – 1812) 121 Pages
- Covers a brief history of Adoniram Judson Sr. a 36 year old minister and then quickly moves on to his Marriage to Abigail Brown to his ordination to the birth of his first Son Adoniram Judson Jr. From his childhood, Adoniram (from here on the Jr) shows signs of one who will one day become a famous man. By the time he is a teen, he is already exposed to heavy literature and languages. Enrolled into what is called became the Brown University, his friends influence him He was already well grounded in such subjects as Latin. Greek, mathematics, geography and astronomy. He was allowed to enter the sophomore class without taking studies of the freshman year. He became an Unbeliever here under the influence of his group of friends. He became the most influence by his friend Jacob Eames of Belfast Maine and soon was dabbling in Deism. It was Jacob Eames death which would finally bring him back to the Christian Faith. The fascinating account of how he became a believer again is covered under Revolt, especially the part where he is on his way back home (from New York where he has left his home to pursue a career in writing for plays) and as night drew on, he found himself passing through a small village. Finding the local inn, he stabled his horse, and asked the innkeeper for a room. The inn was full, but there is one room next to a young man who was critically ill, perhaps dying. Adoniram takes the room as he is still wrapped up in his own thoughts. Though the night was still, he could not sleep. In the next room beyond the partition he could hear sounds, not very loud; footsteps coming and going; a board creaking; low voices; a groan or gasp. This did not disturb him, what did disturb him was the thought that the man in the next room might not be prepared for death. But was he, himself?...
As the morning appeared, he dressed quickly and ran downstairs to pay his reckoning, saddle his horse and be on his way. Finding his host, he inquired about the man next to his room. 'He is dead' was the answer. 'Dead?' Adoniram was taken aback. There was heavy finality to the word. Adoniram stammered out the few conventional phrases common of humanity when death takes someone nearby, and ask the inevitable question: "Do you know who he was?"."Oh yes. Young man from the college in providence. Name was Eames, Jacob Eames." I present here the story in full because this really was the final turning point in his life, kind of the final nail in the coffin of his old life. He goes back home and then after a few days enrolls in a Seminary at Andover.
Here too he is allowed to get directly in the sophomore class. It is here that he comes across a book entitled An Account of an Embassy to the Kingdom of Ava. Written by Michael Symes, a British army officer who had been sent in 1795 by the Governor General of India to the mysterious empire of Burma. Much of the book was given over to long accounts; however through this dull matter one could glimpse bright reflections of a strange, colorful, feudal empire, populous and rich. Everything about this sovereign was 'Golden.' This was the most unreached area for the gospel. What a prospect to be a missionary here?...America had not yet sent out a missionary, there where attempts earlier however none that were successful. From here the story moves on to how he befriends those with similar burden and together they push for establishing a American Board for missionaries. The British have had some experience in this and therefore Judson is sent to London to gather information and support for this newly formed Board. The journey is yet another interesting interval between the inn experience and the passage to Burma. There is excitement and joy as Adoniram and his group of friends get ready to move on. Obviously am not going to shell out the complete story in detail. Long story short, they board the Caravan on February 19th 1812 and after a short break in India where the Judson’s meet William Carey the father of the Modern Missionary movement, the finally land in Rangoon on July 13th 1813.
2. The Dangerous Voyage (1812-1826) 246 Pages
What’s so gripping about this section is the tragedy after tragedy and pain and loss of children one after the other, that the Judson’s go through and yet, they remain focused on the one goal that they set out to accomplish and that is the translation of the Bible into the Burmese language. Of the 3 couples and a bachelor that set out for Burma, one of the couple succumbs to the hardship and die even before they see Burma. The first child born to Ann and Adoniram is born dead. Ann learned the Burmese and Siamese languages, did translation work, taught Burmese girls, and managed her household and cared for her husband during his 18 month imprisonment in 1824-25. When home in the United States briefly in 1822 because of ill health, she wrote a history of the Burmese work titled American Baptist Mission to the Burman Empire, which was published in 1823. She died October 24, 1826, at the age of thirty-seven. Both a son, Roger Williams (born 1815) and a daughter, Maria (born 1825) died in infancy (8 months and 27 months respectively). The 18 month imprisonment is a tragic story in itself. Be prepared to cry as you read this heart rending and heart wrenching story. Taking care of her husband during his imprisonment is I found one of the most touching of all the chapters. As I sit down to write this summary on this Valentines day February 14th 2009, I think of the love that Ann had for Adoniram that was displayed in the act of caring and pleading to the higher authorities on his behalf. I wil just briefly mention one that brought tears to my eyes. After going through the death prison which was horrible in itself, the prisoners (all foreigners suspected to be spies of the British, during the Anglo Burmese War) were finally moved to Oung-Pen-La a lil better than the prison. Here Ann follows them; however her health is deteriorating as she finds herself going weak day by day. Little Maria is also growing weak as she is not fed. She had to have her mother’s milk to live. Her cries of hunger at night become unbearable. Nancy or Ann is not able to move, but she is able to talk. She offers Koh-Bai (the jailor responsible for Oung-Pen-La) gifts to allow Adoniram to take the baby around in the village to nursing mothers. If one of another would supply a little superfluous milk, perhaps Maria could live. Koh-Bai agrees. Adoniram is allowed to carry the baby around the village begging a little milk here and there from generous Burmese mothers. The expedient works and somehow the Baby lives.
During this period he would repeat, to gouger, Cowper’s translation of her verses
No Bliss I seek, but to fulfill
In life, in death, thy lovely will;
No succour in my woes I want,
Except what Thou art pleased to grant.
Our days are number’d – Let us spare
Our anxious hearts a needless care;
‘Tis Thine to number out our days,
And ours to give them to Thy praise.
The second section actually ends with Nancy’s death, with Adoniram not being present as he receives the news of her death in black sealed envelope. The carrier of the letter is afraid to tell Adoniram that Nancy has died so he tells Adoniram that it is his child that has died. Adoniram receives the letter almost a month after the incident as he is out in Amherst on a job that the British Embassy has entrusted him with. The section would be incomplete without at least mentioning the name of the first known Burmese convert, by the name Maung Nau. Maung Nau professed faith in Jesus Christ in 1819, almost 6 years after the Judson’s arrived in Burma. After a period of 13 years in Burma the Judsons had 18 converts.
3. To the Golden Shore (1826 – 1850) 131 Pages
The last section moves very quickly and covers a period of 25 years. After Ann and Maria’s death, Adoniram has no responsibilities / commitments except to complete the translation of the Bible. This is done by 1934. Appreciation for his work comes from everywhere; however something that was special was to receive it from Sarah Boardman the widow of George Dana Boardman. Sarah and George Dana Boardman were married in 1825, and went to Burma to work with the Judson’s. Later they settled at Tavoy to work with a mountain tribe (Karens), where she founded a school for girls. Her husband died in 1831, and she continued the work with her small son, George. Sarah married Adoniram in 1834, nearly eight years after the death of Ann Judson. During eleven years of marriage, they had eight(?) children: Abby Ann (born 1835), Adoniram Brown (born 1837), Elnathan (born 1838), Henry (born 1838; died age 1 yr., 7 months), Luther (stillborn, 1841?), Henry Hall (born 1842), Charles (born 1843), Edward (born 1844). She translated hymns and other materials into the Burmese language. She died September 1, 1845, exhausted and ill, on a ship sailing back to the United States. On this trip Adoniram is left alone again with his children as he plans for their stay / schooling in America. This was Adoniram’s first trip back to America after almost 33 years. He has lost his younger brother Elnathan and his father the Judson Sr. as well as his mother, Abigail Brown. His younger sister is still alive. By the time Adoniram returns to America he is a Hero and a celebrated figure. People are eager to hear his stories and how he did what he did. Adoniram is tired and exhausted with one meeting after another. It is reported that he even got mean and rude just to take the focus off himself and place it on Christ. He was a simple man like them all. It is in this exhausting schedule that he meets his third wife, Emily Chubbuck. She was a professional writer under the pen name of Fanny Forester. Judson had read some of her writings and contacted her to write the biography of his second wife, Sarah. After working together on the biography, their acquaintance lead to their being married in 1846, about a year after his return to the United States following the death of Sarah. They returned to Burma, where Emily finished the biography of Sarah, which was published in 1848. They had two children, a daughter Emily, born in 1847, and a son Charles, born (and died) the same day in 1850, three weeks after the death of Judson. She returned to the United States in 1851 and died of tuberculosis in New York in 1854. After the Bible was translated in Burmese, the next project was to have a Burmese – English, English Burmese dictionary. He exercised general oversight over the work of the mission and preached regularly in the native chapel Sundays, the sermons would usually close with a hymn, perhaps one of his own, such as “I long to reach the golden shore”. Golden !! The concept was characteristically Burman, with its Golden Pagoda, the Shwe Dagon; Its ruler, the Golden Presence. If these, why not the Golden Shore?
The Golden Land of Heaven.
I long to reach the golden shore,
And the face of Jesus see ;
My soul, with joy filled evermore,
Will sing His grace and glory.
From suffring, age, disease, and death,
He'll set me wholly free ;
My joyful soul, till my last breath,
Will sing His grace and glory.
Regaled by draughts of perfect joy,
Before my Lord I'd be;
My soul in bliss without alloy,
Will sing His grace and glory.
In late 1849 he completed the Burmese to English part of the dictionary and had hoped to complete the rest of it in a year or so. That time was not to come. In late September 1849 he contracted a severe cold and the result was that the physician Dr. Morton recommended him to take a sea voyage to get some fresh year. On April 3rd 1850, Adoniram was carried in a palanquin (Palki in Hindi) on the Aristide Marie due to sail to the Isle of France. Knowing in his heart that he would not live, yet with a hope to recover he agreed for the sea voyage. By Friday the 12th April 1850, it was obvious that the end was not far off. Adoniram spoke to Panapah, both in English and Burmese, telling him to “take care of poor mistress”. These were his last words.
At fifteen minutes after 4 on Friday afternnon, Adoniram Judson reached his Golden shore. He had requested before he died, that if death should come then he should be buried at sea. The location was latitude 13 degrees north and longitude 93 degrees east, almost in the eastward shadow of the Andaman Islands and only a few hundred miles wes of the mountains of Burma.
Conclusion….
In His Sovereignty, God allowed Judson to be close to Eames when he died, to show the emptiness of atheism, especially in the jaws of death. Judson’s life was back on course and he prepared himself diligently for service overseas. In 1812 he sailed for Burma with his first wife. They brought the gospel to Burma. When he died in 1850 Judson had seen at least 7,000 people converted and 63 churches planted. The sting of death for Judson was removed by the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. For Adoniram, death was the entrance to the Golden Shore, saved by God’s grace. The verses he treasured are in Ephesians 3: 16-19.
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