Chapter 1: Introduction
1
Introduction
“It seems to be a divine law that those who bestow roses must feel thorns.”1 These were the words of Edward Judson (1844–1914), describing the thorny sufferings and fragrant legacy of his father, the first American Baptist missionary to Burma, Adoniram Judson Jr. (1788–1850).2 Judson’s life and labor were a paragon of relentless obedience to the missionary call and of humble submission to the sovereignty of God.3 The diamond of his piety glistens upon the dark cloth of God’s inscrutable providences.
In an era of great American folk heroes such as Daniel Boone (1734–1820) and Davy Crockett (1786–1836), and legendary ventures such as the Lewis and Clark Expedition (1804–1806), many hailed Judson as an exemplar even before his death.4 Not long after his death he was endowed with the honor of “the Christian hero of the nineteenth century.”5 Today, and unquestionably in his own day, Judson has been venerated as an icon of missionary fortitude—indeed “a sort of Christian Paladin.”6 According to one early biographer, Judson’s religious biography, made available to the evangelical multitudes through the printing press, “has done more efficient service in quickening spiritual life and promoting Christian usefulness. No man has fulfilled his course in latter times with whose life it could be more profitable for the churches of Christ to have a familiar knowledge,”7 than that of Judson. Admirers thrust him into “celebrity status.”8 Judson was “among the most courageous of the religious adventurers of the nineteenth century.”9 His contemporaries considered him to be among men who,
do not represent the spirit of their age, or the opinions of a people; they are prophets of the future; they represent ideas which, struggling for mastery, become the property of succeeding times. They identify their fortunes with the success of a principle; they enshrine in their hearts some great truth, unwelcome to their generation, and feel themselves impelled to go forth as its heralds, to conquer as its champions, or die as its martyrs. Among the men of this higher order, as far as the elements of character are concerned, Adoniram Judson holds a distinguished place.10
Judson’s “seraphic zeal”11 inspired those of his own generation and those to follow. One hundred years after his birth, many biographies, indeed hagiographies, had “made the name of ‘Judson’ a household word throughout the length and breadth of Christendom.”12
Though eminent in his home country, Judson was also renowned in and around Burma as “Jesus Christ’s man” who published writings, telling of the eternal God:
Others come from the frontiers of Kathay, a hundred miles north of Ava—“Sir, we have seen a writing that tells about an eternal God. Are you the man that gives away such writings? If so, pray give us one, for we want to know the truth before we die.” Others come from the interior of the country, where the name of Jesus Christ is a little known—“Are you Jesus Christ’s man? Give us a writing that tells about Jesus Christ.”13
Judson’s reputation in Burma as a disciple of Christ accordingly spread to the United States where his supporters likewise recognized him as such a man. He arrived back in the United States in the fall of 1845, and while he was attending a special meeting of the Triennial Convention in New York, “The mover of the resolutions . . . presented [Judson] to Dr. [Francis] Wayland with the expressive and well-understood words: ‘I present to you Jesus Christ’s man.’”14 This apropos title exemplifies the Christ-centered spirituality of Adoniram Judson.
Status Quaestionis
Although the story of Adoniram Judson has become legendary, there has never been a systematic synthesis and study of his spirituality. The attraction of Judson’s life is evident in the dramatic ways in which his biographers highlight the tragedy, romance, and triumph of his story; undoubtedly, the numerous times his biography has been rewritten using the same sources and sketching the same events reveals the allure of his life’s story.15 Yet, no work has comprehensively synthesized those aspects of his piety that grounded and sustained him amid his illustrious labors and sufferings. Judson’s story is peculiar in the history of evangelical missions and in the history of the life and thought of the American church. Yet, Judson’s influence upon missions and the American church has not been merely missiological; his influence, as his biographers have attested, has been evangelical and motivational. Because of the significant effect of his piety upon evangelical spirituality and missions, the contours of his piety deserve examination. The missionary spirituality that courses through the sundry accounts of Judson’s life has been effective “not only in drawing men into service, but rather more, perhaps, in sustaining men in service . . . By his heroic persistence in well-doing under almost unsuperable difficulties and unbearable hardships have they learned to endure and persevere.”16 More than the incredible tragedy and adventure of his account, truly his enduring piety has made his story seem so other-worldly, inimitable, and worthy of retelling.
The nineteenth century witnessed the publication of biographies, which had accessed volumes of primary source material. Of these, the biography that stands at the headwaters is the two-volume work by the president of Brown University and Baptist pastor, Francis Wayland (1796–1865).17 Wayland had access to all of Judson’s remaining letters and journals in the possession of the American Baptist Missionary Union and the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions.18 Also, Judson’s widow, Emily C. Judson (1817–1854), furnished Wayland with family letters and reminiscences that he considered of significant interest. Wayland’s biography is noteworthy because he personally knew Judson, he was an educator, he had access to all of Judson’s known correspondence and journals, and he had Emily’s enthusiastic assistance. Wayland wrote to promote the cause of missions to which Judson was peculiarly devoted.19
Published within a year of Wayland’s biography, Robert T. Middleditch’s (1825–1907) biographical account liberally quoted many of the same primary source extracts used by Wayland.20 And yet, Middleditch’s biography does not contain nearly as much biographical narrative as Wayland’s, which probably explains why it is only one volume. Middleditch sought to write a biography that would be a middle ground between short popular narratives and Wayland’s exhaustive two-volume work. The controlling aim of Middleditch’s biography was to promote Judson’s life in order to arouse spiritual vitality and encourage Christian activism.21 Middleditch certainly highlights those trials in Judson’s life where his piety shone brightest.
Asserting that Wayland’s biography had gone out of print and that there was a need for recollecting Judson’s unique personal traits for new readers, Judson’s son, Baptist pastor and professor, Edward Judson, compiled a consecutive story of Judson’s life, using original journals and letters that were available to Wayland.22 Edward’s biography uniquely includes some of Judson’s sermons and tracts to which Wayland only referred partially.
Though not a biography on Judson himself, James D. Knowles’s (1798–1838) biography of Judson’s first wife, Ann Hasseltine (1789–1826), provides much insight into Judson’s spirituality.23 In addition to Wayland’s biography and Edward Judson’s biography, Knowles’s biography of Ann has been expressly valuable for Judson’s biographers of the twentieth century.24 Significant in Ann’s biography are records of Judson’s early piety and consecration to the missionary call. Hannah Chaplin Conant (1809–1865), likewise, wrote a biography worthy of mention. Unique to her biography is her record of his season of darkness and depression. Judson and her mother, Mrs. Chaplin, wrote letters to one another during that melancholic period.25
Other early biographers and writers that deserve mention for their extensive, though not always unique, citations that illustrate Judson’s remarkable piety are: Ann H. Judson, J. Clément (1815–1883), A. D. Gillette (1807–1882), James L. Hill (1848–1931), John Dowling (1807–1878), Daniel C. Eddy (1823–1896), William Hague (1808–1887), J. Nelson Lewis (1836–1863), William Carey Richards (1818–1892), Asahel C. Kendrick (1809–1895), and Emily C. Judson.26 The magisterial biographies of the nineteenth century often used extracts of Judson’s journals and letters that illustrate the contours of his piety, which can be found also in The Baptist Missionary Magazine.27
In the twentieth century, Stacy R. Warburton (1875–1940), seeking to reintroduce the Judson narrative for a new generation, contributed a new biography for the new century.28 Because of the influx of uncritical hero novels and because Wayland’s biography and Edward Judson’s biography were out of print, Warburton sought to retell the same story with similar attention to Judson’s life and character.29 Though not delineating Judson’s piety in any unique way, Warburton did contribute to the study of Judson by compiling the most up-to-date research on Judson at that time.30 He also offered succinct remarks and analyses of significant aspects of the Judson drama.
Later in the twentieth century, Courtney Anderson (1906–2001) published a momentous biography on Judson, often viewed as the definitive one aside from Wayland’s biography.31 Anderson uniquely told the Judson story by bringing together short salient extracts from journals and letters and by couching them in a dynamic narrative that seems more like a novel than a historical record. In his foreword, Anderson quoted the Great Commission from Matthew 28:18–20 and then remarked that Judson obeyed it. In response, he essentially stated his driving research question: “Why?”32 Throughout his gripping narrative Anderson tied together many factors that contributed to Judson’s piety, including his father’s intense influence and Hopkinsian disinterested benevolence; but the predominant motive that Anderson seemed to highlight in order to answer his aforementioned question was that Judson wished to please God with all his might and to love Jesus above all.33
Anderson’s biography tends to blend uncited direct quotes from primary sources with creative narration that might leave the reader wondering which details are historically verifiable and which details are Anderson’s imaginative story-telling. If the reader had previously read Wayland’s biography or any of the early popular biographies with substantial extracts, discerning between actual events and extracts and Anderson’s interpretive narrations would not be too difficult. Though a masterful story-teller and biographer, he offered little commentary on Judson’s theology and spirituality. Regarding the sources, Anderson predominantly used biographies by Wayland, Edward Judson, and Warburton. From his vantage point, all the biographers have used essentially the same sources.34
A twentieth-century book about Ann, written by Sharon James, is also worthy of mention: My Heart in His Hands: Ann Judson of Burma.35 This book contains many of the letters and journals included in the authoritative biographies by Wayland, Knowles, and Edward Judson, and it also includes some excerpts from Ann’s book, An Account of the American Baptist Mission.36 Additionally, James cites six of Ann’s unpublished letters.37 And for a new generation, this book sheds light once again on the bright missionary ardor of Ann and Adoniram.
In the early twenty-first century, Rosalie Hall Hunt has retold the Judson narrative once again for the rising generation.38 Hunt’s biography contains the most updated biographical and archaeological information, along with pictures of recent archaeological findings. Seeking to retrace the steps of Judson and his legacy, Hunt, like Anderson, liberally weaves together extracts from letters and journals with riveting creative narrations. In Hunt’s biography, the controlling themes relevant to Judson’s piety are his love to God and courage.39
Furthermore, in the twenty-first century, surrounding the Judson bicentennial celebrations, a group of theologians and missiologists contributed to a volume, edited by Baptist theologian, Jason G. Duesing, seeking to interpret and retell Judson’s story from a critical and balanced approach.40 The aim of the volume’s contributors is not only to ignite a renewed enthusiasm for finishing the Great Commission, but also to encourage those in Great Commission work to endure in such a worthy venture.41 Though all the contributions are quite relevant for understanding his piety, the chapter by church historian, Robert Caldwell, is most explicit in its treatment of Judson’s piety.42 With evangelical historical scholarship, this volume presents Judson’s missionary call, historical background of the modern missions movement, theological and spiritual formation, significant biographical details, missiological principles, and overall exemplary character.
In light of the bicentennial celebrations, church historians, Allen Yeh and Chris Chun, edited a volume on the life and labor of Judson.43 This volume uniquely looked at the pioneering efforts of both Adoniram Judson and William Carey (1761–1834). The first part discusses Carey, while the second part discusses Judson, and the third highlights the links between the two pioneers. In the chapters devoted to Judson, the contributors outline these aspects: his similarities with Orlando Costas (1942–1987); the similarities between his historical background and contemporary issues; his lasting legacy in Burma; the evangelical relationship between Judson and the Serampore Trio in India; the enduring culture of Baptist missions as inspired by both Judson and Carey; and the foundational role that the wives of Carey and Judson played in supporting their husbands. This volume, unique in its approach, demonstrates the lasting legacy of Judson for Baptists and for missionaries alike. While many of the chapters contribute to the corpus of Judson studies, the chapter by church historian, Michael A. G. Haykin, most specifically relates to Judson’s spirituality: “We are Confirmed Baptists.”44
One final bicentennial book, by self-published Jack McElroy, deserves mention.45 McElroy has done Judson bibliophiles a great service: he has compiled together four of the most prominent tracts used by Judson, three of which Judson himself wrote. McElroy also supervised the English translation of one of Judson’s tracts that had never before been translated, The Epitome of the Old Testament.46 McElroy also included The Investigator by Judson’s missionary colleague, Jonathan Wade (1798–1872),47 which Judson revised and used often in tract evangelism, The Catechism by Ann Judson,48 The Golden Balance by Adoniram,49 A View of the Christian Religion by Adoniram,50 and The Star in the East by the Scottish theologian and ordained minister of the Church of England, Claudius Buchanan (1766–1815), which was instrumental in birthing Judson’s missionary vision.51 The author has also compiled sixteen selected journal entries over twenty-three years of Judson’s life that exhibit his missionary spirituality. This book does not exhaustively contain all of Judson’s works, which are scattered throughout numerous resources, but it does compile those of Judson’s published works that saliently demonstrate his piety.
Besides the plentiful biographical sketches celebrating Judson’s legacy, there have been some academic theses and dissertations written in view of his life and labor, chiefly in relation to his missiological philosophy and translation theory.52 Of all the dissertations written in reference to Judson, the only one that thoroughly discusses his thought and theology is by Max H. Brown.53 In this thesis, Brown suggests that Judson’s inimitable perseverance in his missionary call directly relates to the Hopkinsian influence of his formative years. Brown essentially outlines the New Divinity theology of Samuel Hopkins (1721–1803), the protégé of the evangelical theologian Jonathan Edwards (1703–1758), and posits that Hopkins’s theology of disinterested benevolence is explanatory for Judson’s severe asceticism and self-denial. Though there is certainly some direct influence of Hopkinsian theology upon Judson’s spiritual formation, Brown does not use the vast corpus of Judson materials. In fact, he makes assertions about Judson, but never directly quotes from any of the nineteenth-century biographies, magazines, or from any of Judson’s own published works; the only Judson source Brown references is Courtney Anderson’s biography, which he does fifteen times. Brown sketches the life and historical context of Judson in the first chapter, and then in the second chapter he outlines the life, historical context, and basic theology of Hopkins. In the third chapter he summarizes three sermons by Hopkins that he posits represent a theological framework that might have undergirded Judson’s thought, but he draws no direct correlation. Yet, Brown’s conclusions are insightful and helpful.
In light of all the aforementioned biographies, historical studies, and theses/dissertations, no work has synthesized and categorized the spirituality of Adoniram Judson.54 The wealth of biographies and celebrations of his life reveal the enduring inspiration of his faith and devotion to Christ. His missionary spirituality serves as the magnetic force between the iron of his Calvinistic theology and the steel of his evangelical missiology. In light of all that Judson wrote that is still available today and considering all that was written about him, especially by those who knew him personally, an overall synthesis of his spirituality would be most beneficial to the ongoing study of Judson’s life and thought for both contemporary missions and theology. As in his own day, Judson’s piety would be useful today for stirring aspiring ministers and missionaries to count the cost, to awaken a desire to please Christ, and to trust him in his mysterious providences.
Thesis
The purpose of this book is to answer the following question: in what ways and to what extent did Adoniram Judson’s spirituality affect the endurance and effect of his missionary labor? In answering the primary research question, this book will address the following related questions: first, in what ways did the Bible dominate Judson’s missionary spirituality? Second, how did Judson’s self-denying submission to God’s providence buttress his spiritual life? Third, to what extent did the promises of heaven pervade Judson’s piety? Fourth, what were the roles of Judson’s affection for Christ and consecration to Christ’s commission in his spirituality? In sum, this book will argue that the center of Adoniram Judson’s spirituality was a heavenly-minded, self-denying submission to the sovereign will of God, motivated by an affectionate desire to please Christ through obedience to his final command revealed in Scripture. Moreover, this book will demonstrate that Judson’s unique ascetic spirituality went beyond the classic categories of evangelical piety.
Methodology
The primary methodology for this book is an inductive synthesis and analysis of primary-source materials by Adoniram Judson and by those who knew him. During his lifetime, various circumstances led to the destruction of most of his early letters and journals.55 Yet many letters, journals, tracts, and sermons survived and were published.56 Not long after his death, numerous memoirs of his life and labor went to publication, most of which copiously highlighted relevant extracts from his letters, journals, and some writings of his wives.57 There are hundreds of journals, letters, tracts, and sermons in his memoirs and in The Baptist Missionary Magazine.58
Though Judson never wrote for the academy or for a popular American audience, he spent much of his ministry, along with Bible translation, in writing tracts in a language/culture that had never had Christian translations. Judson’s tracts and related published works include, (1) The Epitome of the Old Testament; (2) The Golden Balance: The Christian and Buddhist Systems Contrasted; (3) A View of the Christian Religion; (4) A Digest of Scripture; (5) Septenary, Seven Manuals; (6) The Threefold Cord; (7) Christian Baptism; and (8) An Account of Meh Shway-ee, a Burman Slave Girl.59 His tracts are rich resources of his spirituality. In addition to his tracts, he also wrote a few hymns as well.60 They are a mixture of his foundational theology and his ardent piety. He wrote them for the discipleship of his baptized converts and for the evangelization of Burmese Buddhists. Overall, his writings abundantly exhibit his evangelical devotion and missionary motivation. Moreover, his preserved letters, journals (and those of his friends and family), and sermons, paint a picture of Judson’s striking spirituality.
Judson’s correspondence mixes thoughts about practical matters related to the complexities of life in Burma, matters related to ministry plans and records of activities, occasional words of reflection, and brief expressions of piety. Those sections of his correspondence that are more spiritually reflective were extracted and published in The Baptist Missionary Magazine, and his early nineteenth-century biographies often cite those same extracts.61 His letters are excellent sources for accessing his spirituality because in them he shows how he interprets the providences of God in his life for supporters in the United States.
Judson’s journals, similar to his correspondence, demonstrate his spiritual reflection on his trials and translation efforts. Unlike his letters which were often addressed to specific individuals pertaining to particular situations, his journals are often not directed to any single individual, and they tend to be more contemplative of God’s providences in his life and ministry.
Like Judson, his coworkers corresponded and recorded in journals about their experiences. Though their correspondence and journals are significant for understanding the history surrounding the mission, only some describe Judson and his spirituality. Of those secondary sources that reflect upon Judson’s spirituality, his three wives biographically recorded most accounts, and others who knew him personally recorded some supplementary elements.62
Judson’s few known sermons are excellent sources of his spirituality. Though he desired to preach more often, he was compelled to expend himself for the translation of the Burmese Bible and for the development of the Burmese-English dictionary.63 According to Baptist missionaries, while in India, Judson preached an impressive sermon on baptism.64 And, Judson preached only one sermon in English, an ordination sermon, in Burma.65 His other sermons survived because he transcribed them for others to read on his behalf due to his failing voice, which he suffered during a brief visit to the United States in 1845.66 During his brief visit to the United States, his sermons were especially poignant, likely because he would have only one opportunity, through the preached word, to personally plead with the churches in America. Because his opportunities to preach in English were rare, his sermons earnestly display the dominance of his Christ-enamored piety. These sermons of his later years contain sage-like exhortations from his hearty piety and lifelong missionary devotion.
Various presuppositions have influenced this book. First, evangelical spirituality and evangelical theology ought not to be divorced from each other, for they are friends. Second, evangelical spirituality includes evangelical activism as a key subset. And the study of the history of Christian missionary activism should include the influence of evangelical spirituality. Third, Adoniram Judson’s missionary spirituality illustrates an example of a life wholly consecrated to Christ and the proclamation of his gospel in light of relentless hardships and hazards. The character of Judson’s self-denying submission to the will of God in his pursuit of Christ’s glory is a high standard from which evangelicals can learn.
Summary of Contents
This introductory chapter principally establishes the import of the book, states the research question, thesis, and methodology for the study, and describes the relevance of studying Judson’s spirituality for theology and missions today.
Chapter 2 situates Judson within the historical context of the eighteenth century, and especially within the theological movements and missionary zeal that established the context for his spiritual formation. This chapter also includes an overview of his life and ministry.
Chapter 3 demonstrates the all-consuming centrality of the Word of God in Judson’s life. His devotion to keeping the Word, translating the Word, preaching the Word, and using the Word in evangelism and discipleship all establish his bibliocentricism.
Chapter 4 illustrates Judson’s relentless submission to obeying his missionary call. It considers the role of duty, self-denial, and asceticism in Judson’s missionary spirituality. This chapter looks at Judson’s submissive piety in the face of severe suffering as he sought to trust in God’s mysterious will and to glorify God for his infinite wisdom.
Chapter 5 shows how Judson’s vision of heaven pervaded his spiritual senses. It displays how hoping in heavenly rest gave Judson the perseverance to stay the course, and it shows how the optimistic vision of eternal reward and millennial glory drove him to spend himself and be spent for the glory of Christ.
Chapter 6 establishes that the unifying feature of Judson’s spirituality was an affectionate desire to please the Lord Christ. It considers the role of Christ’s Great Commission in his spiritual formation. This chapter shows Judson’s love to commune with Christ and pray earnestly for Christ’s coming glory to spread through the success of the gospel in the salvation of sinners. Many themes of the previous chapters tie into the controlling theme of his love for Christ.
Chapter 7, the conclusion, summarizes answers given to the research question and related questions. It contains an evaluation of Judson’s spirituality and an application of its usefulness for modern evangelicals, and especially for ministers and missionaries.
1. Edward Judson, The Life of Adoniram Judson, 560.
2. Though Judson has popularly claimed the title of the first American missionary, some debate exists. George Liele (c. 1750–1828), born a slave in Virginia, sided with the British in the Revolutionary War and escaped to Jamaica as an indentured servant in 1783. While on the island, he preached the gospel to fellow slaves, baptizing them and overseeing the beginnings of many Baptist churches. By 1814, Jamaica had approximately eight thousand Baptists. Some credit Liele with being the first American missionary. See Neely, “Liele, George.” See also Brackney, “Judson, Adoniram,” 345–46; Livingstone, “Judson, Adoniram,” 282; Mobley, “Judson, Adoniram, Jr,” 337–40; Moyer, “Judson, Adoniram,” 219; and Schaff, “Judson, Adoniram,” 257–58.
3. The primary sources of letters, journals, sermons, and tracts from which all of Judson’s biographical sketches chiefly draw are Judson Letters, Manuscript Collection, American Baptist Historical Society, Atlanta, Georgia; The Baptist Missionary Magazine 1–89 (1817–1909); Southern Baptist Missionary Journal 1–5 (1851–1846); Papers 1815–1849, Archives and Manuscripts, Microfilm Collection, Southern Baptist Historical Library & Archive, Nashville, Tennessee; and Papers 1811–1888, Manuscripts, Trask Library Special Collections, Andover Newton Theological School, Newton Centre, Massachusetts. Also, there are two letters at Boston University School of Theology Archives, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts. Manuscripts from the following are on microfilm and are duplicates of what is contained in the American Baptist Historical Society: Papers of Adoniram Judson—Collection 333, Manuscripts, Microfilm, Billy Graham Center Archives, Wheaton College, Wheaton, Illinois; American Baptist Foreign Mission Society records, #4424, Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library, Ithaca, New York; and Papers, 1815–1849, Microfilm, New York State Historical Documents, Albany, New York. The following also have helpful manuscripts for Judson-related research: American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions Archives, 1810–1961 (ABC 1–91), Houghton Library, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts; Baptist Collection, University Archives, John Hay Library, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island; and Special Collections, University Archives, John Hay Library, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island. There are four prominent biographies by contemporaries of Judson, whose extractions from journals, letters, and sermons occasionally overlap; these biographies are Middleditch, Burmah’s Great Missionary; Knowles, Memoir of Mrs. Ann H. Judson; Wayland, Memoir, 1–2; and Edward Judson, The Life of Adoniram Judson. Furthermore, drawing content from the aforementioned nineteenth-century biographies, the landmark biography of the twentieth century was Anderson, To the Golden Shore. And five other significant historical treatments in the twentieth century of Judson’s life were Warburton, Eastward; Hull, Judson the Pioneer; Torbet, Venture of Faith; James, My Heart in His Hands; and Brumberg, Mission for Life. In the twenty-first century, the prominent biography that gathered quotes from the previous authoritative biographies in addition to original research on the Judson legacy is Hunt, Bless God and Take Courage. And a twenty-first-century study of his life and thought is Duesing, Adoniram Judson.
4. For instance, a contemporary described the adulatory welcome of Judson’s homecoming in Boston on October 16, 1845, one day after Judson’s arrival: “The arrival of this devoted missionary in his native land, has produces a thrill of emotion in a multitude of hearts, which may be imagined, but cannot be described. His appearance among us was like life from the dead . . . When it was known that he had arrived in the city, thousands were eager to look upon the face of a man whom God had so highly honored as the messenger of his grace to the heathen. To gratify this desire, intelligence was circulated on Friday, verbally, in order to avoid all publicity, that the friends of missions would meet in the Bowdoin Square church, in the evening, to see and welcome him. The house was densely filled. The pastors of the churches in the city and vicinity were present, and a more affecting meeting we never before attended. We never before saw so large a congregation all moved by so deep and mighty an impulse. Language could not give vent to emotions which struggled in every bosom.” Crowell, “Reception at Boston,” 236–37. Brackney’s observation is apt: “During his own lifetime, Adoniram Judson became a mythic figure, but even more so in his death. Tall and handsome, he had the profile of an American frontiersman. His struggles with Burmese officials and exploits during the Anglo-Burmese War marked him as a rugged religious individualist in the mold of Davy Crockett (1786–1836) or Andrew Jackson (1767–1845), his contemporaries back home in the United States.” Brackney, “The Legacy of Adoniram Judson,” 125.
5. One biographer said, “[Judson] more than any other man of his age, may justly claim the title of The Christian Hero of the Nineteenth Century! I know of no man in modern times, whose life has been a more eventful one, and which bears a stronger resemblance to the character and sufferings of the Apostle Paul, than that of Adoniram Judson.” Gray, The Christian Hero of the Nineteenth Century, 2; emphasis in original.
6. Conant, The Earnest Man, 470; see also Brumberg, Mission for Life, 1. One biographer who knew Judson described him as “Adoniram Judson, D.D., the apostle and champion of American Missionaries among the heathen. That man of men—that missionary of missionaries—that noble representative of American enterprise, intelligence, and virtue, as they were developed in his life and death.” Gillette, A Sketch of the Labors, 10. For further evidence of the great influence of Judson’s life on so many in his day and thereafter, see his son’s reflections on Judson’s legacy: “Posthumus Influence,” in Edward Judson, The Life of Adoniram Judson, 568–80. Also, for hagiographical descriptions of Judson’s inimitable labors by his contemporaries, see Dowling, The Judson Offering, iii.
7. Middleditch, Burmah’s Great Missionary, iii. Brumberg suggests that Judson’s raw sincerity is what made his biographies so interesting and inoffensive to the secularists of the mid-nineteenth century. Brumberg, Mission for Life, 11.
8. James, My Heart in His Hands, 14. William Owen Carver (1868–1954), the Southern Baptist missiologist, commented that many famous missionaries had purposefully kept diaries and recorded events for the sake of making “incidents that would be commonplace to other men” seem to be “dramatic and heroic.” In contrast, he said that Judson sought to destroy his letters and records when he heard they could “make him out a great hero” and be “used to lionize him.” Carver, “The Significance of Adoniram Judson,” 476.
9. Butler et al., Religion in American Life, 306.
10. Hague, The Life and Character of Adoniram Judson, 6; emphasis in original.
11. Richards, The Apostle of Burma, vii.
12. Ibid., vi.
13. Adoniram Judson, “Mr. Judson’s Letter to Rev. Mr. Grow,” 31–32; and Middleditch, Burmah’s Great Missionary, 273; emphasis in original.
14. Dowling, The Judson Offering, 249; emphasis in original.
15. Levens insightfully comments, “Context, genre, audience, and voice are the four key issues to consider when reading these resources.” Levens, “Reading the Judsons,” 41. For an excellent article discussing the editorial purposes and contexts of these periodical and biographical publications, and the primary sources and literary works of the Judsons, see ibid., 37–73.
16. Carver, “The Significance of Adoniram Judson,” 478.
17. Wayland, Memoir, 1–2. For an early example of a typical enthusiastic review of Wayland’s memoir of Judson, see “Adoniram Judson” (1853), 158. One biographer well observed that “Wayland paid little attention to the human side of Judson, his social qualities, his cultural interest, his informal friendliness, his attractive pleasantries.” Warburton, Eastward, 196. In spite of this critique, Wayland does indeed discuss, at the end of his second volume, Judson’s intensity, humor, and playfulness; Wayland also highlights Judson’s peculiar affection for each of his wives, friendly devotion to his children, excessive neatness, his nurse-like sympathy for the afflicted, and his reserved manner except in the presence of his family. For Wayland’s full description of Judson’s unique personality, see Wayland, Memoir, 2:373–404. One of Emily’s biographers also described Judson well in his home life and within the context of relationships and family. For very warm descriptions of Judson’s joyful temperament, smiling face, tenderness with people, and buoyancy of spirit, see Kendrick, The Life and Letters of Mrs. Emily C. Judson, 141–215. For Hague’s descriptions of Judson’s happy temperament and smiling countenance, see Wayland, Memoir, 2:359. Also, for an account from Emily about Judson’s regular romantic, spontaneous, and playful personality, see Edward Judson, The Life of Adoniram Judson, 322–23. John Marshman (1794–1877), son of Joshua Marshman (1768–1837) of the Serampore Trio, described Judson’s affection as a family man and cheerful disposition, in Wayland, Memoir, 2:359–60. Another of Judson’s colleagues described his tender disposition toward children, his remarkable memory of songs, verses, and stories, his ability to skim books and remember everything he read, his interesting and intellectual conversational topics, and his humble aversion to talking of himself and his past experiences. See Stevens, A Half-Century in Burma, 12–17.
18. Wayland said, “I have read every thing that could be collected of Dr. Judson’s writings, both in print and in manuscript . . . I have withheld nothing of any importance which I have found among his papers. The evidence is therefore before the world, and let the world judge of it.” Wayland, Memoir, 2:386.
19. Ibid., 1:6.
20. Middleditch, Burmah’s Great Missionary. Edward H. Fletcher (b. 1823), the publisher, originally took credit for Middleditch’s biography, since Middleditch initially published it anonymously. Fletcher sought to publish this biography before Wayland’s eminent biography. See Fletcher, Records of the Life. See Anderson’s discussion of this in To the Golden Shore, 512.
21. Middleditch, Burmah’s Great Missionary, iii.
22. Edward Judson, The Life of Adoniram Judson.
23. Knowles, Memoir of Mrs. Ann H. Judson.
24. See Warburton, Eastward, ix; Hulse, Adoniram Judson, 5.
25. Conant reported, “For the most part, the materials used in this sketch were already in print; but for one portion of his history—that depicted in Chapter XX.—the writer may claim some special advantages, not open to the public nor to Dr. Judson’s other biographers. His interior life, during the painfully interesting period there described, was fully revealed in his letters to my mother, who, in turn, combated his morbid ideas with all the earnestness of honest friendship, and sought to win him back to more cheerful and Christian views. This correspondence was, from motives of delicacy, destroyed; but my own recollection of Dr. Judson’s letters is quite fresh and clear, and has served as my clue in portraying this peculiar, and, to many minds, inscrutable phase in the spiritual experience of so great and good a man.” Conant, The Earnest Man, xxvii.
26. See Ann Hasseltine Judson, An Account; Conant, The Earnest Man; Clément, Memoir of Adoniram Judson; Gillette, A Sketch of the Labors; Hill, The Immortal Seven; Dowling, The Judson Offering; Eddy, A Sketch of Adoniram Judson; Hague, The Life and Character of Adoniram Judson; Lewis, Judson Centennial Services; Richards, The Apostle of Burma; Kendrick, The Life and Letters of Mrs. Emily C. Judson; Forester, Memoir of Sarah B. Judson; Emily Chubbuck Judson, The Kathayan Slave; Tooze, The Life and Letters of Emily Chubbuck Judson.
27. For instance, Wayland claimed that his sources “consisted chiefly of [Judson’s] official correspondence, much of which had been published in missionary periodicals.” Wayland, Memoir, 1:3–4. See also The Baptist Missionary Magazine 1–89 (1817–1909).
28. Warburton, Eastward, ix.
29. Warburton said, “No serious study of Judson’s life has appeared since Edward Judson published his Life of Adoniram Judson more than fifty years ago. That and Wayland’s original Memoir are out of print. A number of brief biographies have appeared, but have been incomplete, popular in form, and quite uncritical in treatment . . . A new biography is greatly needed.” Ibid., ix.
30. Ibid., ix–xi.
31. Anderson, To the Golden Shore.
32. Ibid., iii.
33. For examples, see ibid., 50, 85.
34. Anderson agreed with Wayland’s comments about the scope and limit of primary sources: “My materials, therefore, consisted chiefly of his official correspondence, much of which had been published in missionary periodicals . . . Enough, however, has been preserved to present his missionary character with remarkable distinctness. His opinions on many subjects can never be recovered, but the record of his deeds is beyond the reach of both fire and flood.” See Wayland, Memoir, 1:3–4; and see Anderson, To the Golden Shore, 509. Also in the twentieth century, Brumberg has helpfully contributed to Judson studies; see Brumberg, Mission for Life.
35. James, My Heart in His Hands.
36. Ann Hasseltine Judson, An Account of the American Baptist Mission.
37. In James’s book there are eight citations of letters unpublished in the previous biographies, but two of those have been published elsewhere; see Ann Hasseltine Judson, “Ann Hasseltine Judson’s Letters, 1818–1822,” 372–75. The six other unpublished letters reside in the Angus Library.
38. Hunt, Bless God and Take Courage.
39. Ibid., viii.
40. Duesing, Adoniram Judson.
41. Ibid., xxii.
42. Caldwell, “New England’s New Divinity,” 31–54.
43. Chun and Yeh, Expect Great Things.
44. See Haykin, “‘We Are Confirmed Baptists’: The Judsons and Their Meeting with the Serampore Trio,” 103–12. This chapter was also published in an edition of The Southern Baptist Journal of Missions and Evangelism, which celebrated the bicentennial anniversary of Judson’s departure to the East; see Haykin, “‘We Are Confirmed Baptists’: The Judsons and Their Meeting with the Serampore Trio in 1812,” 14–21. Also, in this issue, another contribution that discusses, albeit indirectly, the spiritual formation of Judson is: Duesing “Breaking the Strong Attachment to Home and Country,” 6–13.
45. McElroy, Adoniram Judson’s Soul Winning Secrets Revealed.
46. Adoniram Judson, The Epitome of the Old Testament.
47. Wade, “The Investigator,” 239–62.
48. Ann Hasseltine Judson, “The Catechism,” 23–30.
49. Adoniram Judson, “The Golden Balance,” 191–214. See also Adoniram Judson, The Golden Balance.
50. Adoniram Judson, “A View of the Christian Religion,” in Tracts, 1:31–53. See also Adoniram Judson, A View of the Christian Religion; also published in Adoniram Judson, The Septenary.
51. Buchanan, The Star in the East.
52. For a cultural and linguistic study on Judson’s translation theory and theological contextualization in translation, see Dingrin, “A Missiological and Theological Critique,” 104–235. For a discussion of Judson’s keen ability to translate the name of God in a contextually powerful way, see Laisum, “Naming God in Burma Today.” For a brief treatment of Judson’s evangelistic strategies and translation philosopy, see Vuta, “A Brief History,” 118–41, 267–71. For a survey of the many cultural and contextual challenges facing evangelism and conversion of Burmese Buddhists, with some reference to Judson’s work, see Khai, “Barriers in Conversion.” For a survey of the effect of Baptist missions on the Burmese people, see Mang, “A Chin History,” 110–36. For a very brief sketch of Judson’s missionary efforts from the perspective of a Christian-Buddhist ecumenicist, see Kam, “Christian Mission to Buddhists in Myanmar,” 56–64. For a work that suggests the need for renewal among Karen Baptists and mentions briefly the Judson legacy, see Taw, “A Renewal Strategy,” 72–76.
53. Brown, “The New Divinity.”
54. One biographer briefly highlights what he proposes to be categories of Judson’s foundational doctrines: the gospel of salvation, credobaptism, the means of grace (i.e., preaching, church-planting, disciple-making, and prayer), the doctrines of grace, the doctrine of sanctification, Postmillennialism, and the role of missionary societies. Hulse, Adoniram Judson, 45–53.
55. In his definitive biography, Wayland described the loss of many of Judson’s letters and journals: “When . . . I undertook to compile the following Memoir, I supposed that a large amount of his correspondence and other writings would be easily accessible. In this respect, however, I was entirely disappointed. From peculiar views of duty, Dr. Judson had caused to be destroyed all his early letters written to his family, together with all his papers of a personal character. Mrs. Ann H. Judson, from prudential reasons, during their captivity in Ava, destroyed all his letters in her possession. Manuscripts were also consumed by the burning of Mr. Steven’s house in Maulmain. Dr. Judson’s correspondence with Dr. Staughton perished by the shipwreck of a vessel on the passage from Philadelphia to Washington. Last of all, his letters to his missionary brethren in Burmah were lost by the foundering of the ship which was conveying them to this country.” Wayland, Memoir, 1:3–5.
56. Despite the original materials that perished due to fire, flood, or intention, Wayland identified how and where he accessed the original manuscripts for his two-volume biography; see ibid., 1:4–6.
57. As mentioned previously, there are four eminent biographies by contemporaries of Judson, whose extractions from journals, letters, and sermons occasionally overlap; these biographies are Middleditch, Burmah’s Great Missionary; Knowles, Memoir of Mrs. Ann H. Judson; Wayland, Memoir, 1–2; Edward Judson, The Life of Adoniram Judson.
58. See The Baptist Missionary Magazine 1–89 (1817–1909).
59. Adoniram Judson, The Epitome of the Old Testament; also published in McElroy, Adoniram Judson’s Soul Winning Secrets, 59–106. Adoniram Judson, The Golden Balance; also published in McElroy, Adoniram Judson’s Soul Winning Secrets, 43–57. Adoniram Judson, A View of the Christian Religion; also published in McElroy, Adoniram Judson’s Soul Winning Secrets, 23–31. Adoniram Judson, The Threefold Cord; also published in Edward Judson, The Life of Adoniram Judson, 571–77. Adoniram Judson, Christian Baptism. Adoniram Judson, An Account of Meh Shway-ee. Adoniram Judson, A Digest of Scripture. Adoniram Judson, The Septenary. In The Septenary, Judson included a short manual he had already written, called, Public Service Hand-Book for Pastors; see Adoniram Judson, Public Service Hand-Book. Also, his other published works are Adoniram Judson, The Elements of English Grammar; Adoniram Judson, The Young Lady’s Arithmetic; Adoniram Judson, Letter to the Female Members; Adoniram Judson, Grammatical Notices; Adoniram Judson, Burmese Bible. For this book’s research, in partnership with a Burmese translator, April T. T. Aye, the author supervised the project of translating both The Septenary and A Digest of Scripture into English for the first time. Also, for this book, April T. T. Aye translated into English a Burmese biography of Adoniram Judson: Jameson, Sketch of the Life of Dr. Judson.
60. See Adoniram Judson, “Come, Holy Spirit, Dove Divine,” 586. Judson is also credited with writing the following hymns: “Our Father God, Who Art in Heaven” and “Our Saviour Bowed Beneath the Wave” in Julian, A Dictionary of Hymnology, 609. For praise of Judson’s unmatched ability to write hymns and poetry in accord with the complexities of the Burmese language, see Stevens, A Half-Century in Burma, 12.
61. Wayland, Memoir, 1:4.
62. See Gouger, A Personal Narrative; Edward Judson, The Life of Adoniram Judson; Kendrick, The Life and Letters of Mrs. Emily C. Judson; Forester, Memoir of Sarah B. Judson; Emily Chubbuck Judson, The Kathayan Slave; Tooze, The Life and Letters of Emily Chubbuck Judson; Ann Hasseltine Judson, An Account; Conant, The Earnest Man; Clément, Memoir of Adoniram Judson; Gillette, A Sketch of the Labors; Hill, The Immortal Seven; Dowling, The Judson Offering; Eddy, A Sketch of Adoniram Judson; Hague, The Life and Character of Adoniram Judson.
63. Adoniram Judson, Burmese Bible; Adoniram Judson, A Dictionary. Because of the burdensome translation needs, his opportunities to preach were limited; see Wayland, Memoir, 2:355.
64. Carey, “Letter of Dr. Carey,” 149–50; see also Knowles, Memoir of Mrs. Ann H. Judson, 66.
65. Wayland: Memoir, 2:486–94.
66. To read his sermons, see Edward Judson, The Life of Adoniram Judson, 445–47, 460–61, 469–74, 577–79; Wayland, Memoir, 2:38–41, 199–200, 227–38, 254–58, 284–88, 486–99; and Middleditch, Burmah’s Great Missionary, 322–44, 362–98, 460–61.