Chapter 3: “Yield to the Word of God”: Bibliocentric Spirituality

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“Yield to the Word of God”: Bibliocentric Spirituality

The foundational source of Adoniram Judson’s forty-year-long perseverance was the supreme and sufficient Word. The sacred Scriptures so arrested Judson’s mind and heart that he yearned to do nothing but go proclaim the Word. This chapter will seek to demonstrate that Judson’s bibliocentric spirituality was evident in his allegiance to keeping the Word, making disciples with the Word, and evangelizing with the Word. The work of sowing gospel seed was slow and not as socially acceptable as other humanitarian efforts, but Judson was certain that the written Word required proclamation through publication and preaching. He was not depressed when there were no signs of life or when growth was slow, for the overriding purpose of his Bible-proclamation was for the glory of God. He was ever hesitant to grant assurance to new “professing believers” until they had showed a degree of submission to Scripture. Judson’s strong bibliocentrism was the ground of his Reformed theology and missionary labor. The Bible established his vision of God and stimulated his desire to please Christ by keeping and proclaiming it.

Keeping the Word

Since the beginning of Judson’s missionary impulse, the Word of God gripped his conscience and affection. Judson evidenced a high loyalty to the commands of Christ from the moment that God had called him to be a missionary and from when he discovered Scripture’s teaching on baptism.

It was the Scripture that impressed upon his mind the urgency of the missionary task and finally compelled him to devote himself to foreign missions. During a walk in the woods behind Andover Theological Seminary, while Judson was meditating and praying, he later recalled, “that the command of Christ, ‘Go into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature,’ was presented to my mind with such clearness and power, that I came to a full decision, and though great difficulties appeared in my way, resolved to obey the command at all events.”315 In a sermon later in his ministry, Judson would recall this momentous walk in the woods. Someone had asked him if faith or love influenced him to reach the heathen in foreign lands. After thinking about the question, he concluded that neither influenced him very much. Then he rehearsed the experience in the woods behind Andover Seminary. Feeling discouraged that no one had gone before and no way was open to him to engage in foreign missions, he felt quite alone in his ambition. “The field was far distant, and in an unhealthy climate. I knew not what to do. All at once that ‘last command’ seemed to come to my heart directly from heaven. I could doubt no longer, but determined on the spot to obey it at all hazards, for the sake of pleasing the Lord Jesus Christ.”316

While on voyage to Asia and upon his arrival in Serampore, Adoniram Judson embraced the doctrine of credobaptism. He knew that the Serampore Trio were Baptists, and he had wanted to be able to defend infant-baptism from the Scriptures. Accordingly, he set himself to study the Bible in order to defend his position.317 Judson’s wife, Ann, recorded her thoughts on the transition from paedobaptist convictions to credobaptist convictions.318 She highlighted Judson’s dogged commitment to biblical exegesis over denominational tradition. She said in a letter to her parents in February 1813 that Judson was “determined to read candidly and prayerfully, and to hold fast, or embrace the truth, however mortifying, however great the sacrifice.”319 She was anxious that he would become a Baptist, and in an earlier letter to her parents in September 1812, the day after their baptism,320 she recalled that she “frequently urged the unhappy consequences if he should.” But, in spite of his new bride’s fretfulness, Judson retorted “that his duty compelled him to examine the subject, and he hoped he should have a disposition to embrace the truth, though he paid dear for it.” Ann would try to persuade him to stay in agreement with paedobaptism, but he assiduously studied both sides of the debate, reading the authoritative theologians of both perspectives. She said that “after having examined and re-examined the subject, in every way possible, and comparing the sentiments of both Baptists321 and pedobaptists322 with the Scriptures, he was compelled from a conviction of the truth, to embrace the former.” Then, after devoting herself as well to the Scriptures, trying to vindicate her long-held paedobaptist beliefs, Ann also came to agree with the Baptist position. She told her parents that they became Baptists “not because we wished to be, but because truth compelled us to be.” Furthermore, they were both well aware of the dilemma they faced by changing their sentiments on baptism; she told her parents that “a renunciation of our former sentiments has caused us more pain than any thing which ever happened to us through our lives.”323

If Judson were to follow his newfound credobaptist convictions, his connection with the Congregationalist missionary society in America would inevitably be broken. Knowing the certain adversity they would face in breaking ties with the Congregationalists, Judson wrote a letter to the Third Church in Plymouth where he had been a member and shared his newfound biblical convictions. Judson reflected on how painful it would be to “forsake” his parents, his church, the missionary society, and his companions. He was grieved that he would “forfeit the good opinion” of his friends, causing some grief, and “provoking others to anger.” He feared that his close friends would chastise him “as a weak, despicable Baptist.”324 Such demoralizing prospects were daunting, but he concluded, “it is better to be guided by the opinion of Christ, who is the Truth, than by the opinion of men.” Regardless of their good intentions, Judson could not agree with those whom he believed to be in error under the scrutiny of the Scriptures. He resolved, “The praise of Christ is better than the praise of men. Let me cleave to Christ at all events, and prefer his favor above my chief joy.”325 Both he and Ann, “after much laborious research and painful trial,”326 decided to become Baptists, forsaking their Congregational association. It was a great step of faith to leave the missionary society that initially sent them out, since they were unsure as to whether a Baptist society would adopt them and support them as missionaries. This risk, which Judson singularly initiated, demonstrated his unswerving allegiance to the Scriptures and his commitment to obey every command.327

In September 1812, at Lal Bazaar Church in Calcutta, William Ward, a teammate of William Carey and one of the Serampore Trio, baptized Adoniram and Ann “in obedience to [Christ’s] sacred commands.”328 In a subsequent sermon at Lal Bazaar Baptist church, Judson contended for believer’s baptism. His argument was so theologically articulate and textually faithful that Carey, the great missionary-theologian and linguist, said in a letter that it was the best sermon on believer’s baptism that he had ever heard. He wrote that Judson’s convictions changed because, according to Judson, paedobaptism “has no foundation in the word of God.”329

Biblical Truth and Baptism

In his Christian Baptism, Judson’s Word-centered devotion is manifestly on display. He started by unfolding Matthew 28:19 and asked the questions: “what is baptism? and, To whom is baptism to be administered?”330 Judson scrutinized the Greek text of Matthew 28:19, and masterfully demonstrated why “baptism” should translate as “immersion.” He proceeded to discuss the etymology and semantic range of the Greek words, baptō and baptizō, in both the New Testament and the Septuagint. His research consisted of looking at every instance in which these words occurred and then considered them in light of the surrounding literary context and in light of the cultural and historical contexts. With copious footnotes, theological acumen, and abundant citations of sundry theologians throughout church history, Judson magisterially handled the Old and New Testaments.

At the conclusion of his sermon on baptism, Judson cited the command to be baptized, “He that believeth and is baptized, shall be saved; but he that believeth not, shall be damned” (Mark 16:16). Then he asserted that “to believe in Christ is necessary to salvation; and to be baptized is the instituted method of professing our belief.” He argued that whether one believes in Christ is not the only question worth considering as he said, “but it is also a very important question to all Christians, whether they have been baptized.” He then went on to plead with his brethren to “diligently use the means of discovering truth. Put yourselves in the way of evidence. Indulge free examination.” He said that just as a person who hides in a cave cannot enjoy the rays of sunlight, so is a person who refuses to explore Scriptural truth. He charged that the degree of one’s love for truth would determine the degree of labor spent in search of it. God will thus leave in error those who are indifferent to truth. Lastly, Judson appealed to his hearers:

In order, therefore, to stimulate your minds to candid and energetic research, prize truth above all other things. Be impressed with the conviction, that nothing can compensate you, for the loss of truth. “She is more precious than rubies, and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her [Prov 3:15].” She will keep you in the right way, the way of duty, of usefulness, of happiness. She will lead you to heaven. Seek her, therefore, as silver, and search for her, as for hid treasures. Finally, If any man desire to do the will of God, “he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God.”331

For Judson, baptism was a matter of fidelity to the Scriptures, and it was worth the risk of becoming a Baptist. In a letter to his home church, the Third Church in Plymouth, Judson charitably and courageously defended his conviction in this regard. He was aware that his change of sentiments “would give much pain” to many whom he respected and cherished, including his father, the pastor. He hoped to demonstrate how persuasive were “the potency of those arguments which constrained” him to become a Baptist. He wanted them to know that he was not merely making a hasty, unfounded decision. He did not want them to perceive his change of conviction as spiteful. Judson insisted that his change of sentiments was “from a single regard to truth and duty.”332

So arresting were Judson’s exegetical articulation and persuasion for truth that his father actually became convinced of credobaptism years later and resigned his pastorate in Plymouth. At the Second Baptist Church of Boston, Thomas Baldwin (1753–1825) baptized the elder Judson and his wife, Abigail Brown, and daughter, Abigail, on the last day of August 1817.333

Baptistic Conversionism

Judson’s newly-developed theology of baptism greatly influenced his view of Christian conversion. His passion for the conversion of the heathen was not satisfied with mere tract distribution or immediate professions of faith. Judson recorded that when a Buddhist would begin considering Christianity, all his relatives and acquaintances would rise up to prevent him. So, because of the shameful stigma of forsaking one’s cultural and familial identity, Judson said that “to get a new convert is like pulling out the eye tooth of a tiger.”334 It would have been tempting to soften the exclusivity of the gospel and thus promote religious multi-perspectivalism and ecumenical dialogue, but Judson’s adherence to biblical convictions prevented him from settling for inoffensive and socially acceptable theological minimalism. In a journal entry in February 1820, Judson recorded a conversation he had with the Buddhist teacher, Moung Shwa-gnong, which illustrates his convictions. Moung Shwa-gnong insisted that he held to the fundamentals of the Christian religion, but Judson was not convinced that he was a genuine convert. Moung Shwa-gnong said, “I believe in the eternal God, in his Son Jesus Christ, in the atonement which Christ has made, and in the writings of the apostles, as the true and only word of God.” Yet, he claimed he tried avoiding persecution by going along with people to the pagoda for worship so that he did not look out of place, but he was sincerely not in agreement with his former ways of worship. Judson observed that Moung Shwa-gnong was progressing in the direction of discipleship, but he contended that Moung Shwa-gnong still lacked full devotion to Christ’s commands. Judson said, “Teacher, you may be a disciple of Christ in heart, but you are not a full disciple. You have not faith and resolution enough to keep all the commands of Christ, particularly that which requires you to be baptized, though in the face of persecution and death.”335 Moung Shwa-gnong consequently left without pursuing baptism any further. But in July 1820, Moung Shwa-gnong found Judson and confessed his desire to be baptized. Not wanting to grant false assurance to Moung Shwa-gnong, Judson interviewed him one more time. Judson asked him,

Do you believe. . .that none but the disciples of Christ will be saved from sin and hell? . . . How then can you remain without taking the oath of allegiance to Jesus Christ [in public baptism], and becoming his full disciple in body and soul?336

Moung Shwa-gnong then convinced Judson of his submission to Christ’s command to be baptized and corresponding marks of spiritual life.

The evidence of transference from the kingdom of darkness to light was the public profession of faith and allegiance to Christ at baptism. Judson’s desire for a pure, set-apart Burmese church drove his effort to discern the authenticity of their conversion, since baptism would mark their entry into the heavenly citizenship with the people of God. Judson looked for certain signs of life in each professing Christian before administering the ordinance. He contended that the soul of a genuine disciple of Christ must be morally transformed. Vital signs of this change are

a deep and universal sorrow for the sins of his past life, an entire renunciation of all hope of salvation by any merits of his own, an unreserved surrender of himself to Christ, relying on him alone for pardon and acceptance with God, and an earnest desire to live henceforth in obedience to all the requirements of the gospel; and that these spiritual exercises terminate in a radical change of moral character, leading to a pure and holy life.337

Therefore, Judson held that a professing believer’s candidacy for baptism and essentially for church membership must be evidenced through such signs of moral and spiritual change, and native Christians must likewise affirm the authenticity of these signs in the person. “This new creation must comprehend not only a change in practice, but a change in motives, and in all the moral affections.”338

In his “Burman Liturgy,” Judson wrote out the provisions for native pastors in baptizing new members. He maintained that new converts could only be baptized with the consent of other members who knew the candidates. If they were unwilling, based on external knowledge of a candidate’s lack of spiritual fitness for membership, then baptism was not permissible.339 In the same liturgy, Judson suggested that each church partake of the Lord’s Table at the beginning of each season or at the beginning of each month. If a person persisted in unrepentant violation of the commands of Christ, Judson said that such a person should be disallowed from taking the elements. And, if that person were to remain unrepentant after a year, they were to be excommunicated from the church.340

In one of his practical tracts for church order and discipleship, The Septenary, Judson suggested this prayer as part of the closing liturgy for the baptism service:

Prayer to be said before baptism . . . O almighty and everlasting God, who has great compassion; previously I/we had worshiped and followed the wrong god and have transgressed against our Saviour and have sinned. By your grace I/we repent and confess my/our sins. Referring to the fact that those who believe in Jesus Christ and took baptism will be saved, with faith I/we ask to be baptized. As body filth is washed off by water may my/our conscience be washed off by the blood of the lord Jesus Christ. Like the dead body of flesh is buried in the ground through baptism, die as son of the world and in coming out of the water help me/us to resurrect as new person of heaven. The person who takes baptism must discard wrong religion and worship the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit till the end of days. Rejecting own preference, bear the cross and follow Jesus Christ. I/we promise to try and put into effect all the principles a believer should follow. Grant upon me/us the Holy Spirit so that I/we do not break my/our promise and abide with the principles all the days of my/our life/lives. I/we reverently pray that when I/we pass away from this world let me/us be at thy foot together with the saints enjoying the never-ending heavenly riches, through Jesus Christ our lord. Amen.341

Evident in this prayer is that baptism was a public divorce from the futile ways of this world. Judson’s baptism prayer was the final step to the giving of assurance of salvation.

Slow Assurance

In keeping with Judson’s theology of baptistic conversionism, he was slow to grant early assurance of salvation. Regarding the first Burmese Christian, Moung Nau, Judson recorded in his journal (April and May of 1819) the process of Moung Nau’s conversion. In brief prayerful journal entries over this period, he revealed his theology of man’s depravity, God’s sovereignty, regeneration, and post-conversion spiritual affections for Christ. Judson’s journals reveal that he was slow to declare assurance of salvation, indicating his high view of the necessity of signs of the Spirit’s indwelling presence for assurance.342

On April 25, he sat down to teach the Bible in the zayat and the young Burman man, Moung Nau, inquired deeply about Judson’s teachings.343 Moung Nau continued to show significant interest in Judson’s teaching so that by May 5 Judson was hopeful that Moung Nau was near regeneration. Facing the temptation to hastily announce that he had introduced the first Burman to Christ in order to impress his supporters, Judson was nonetheless hesitant to claim that Moung Nau had been truly converted, even though

[Moung Nau] expresses sentiments of repentance for his sins, and faith in the Saviour. The substance of his profession is, that from the darknesses, and uncleannesses, and sins of his whole life, he has found no other Saviour but Jesus Christ—nowhere else can he look for salvation; and therefore he proposes to adhere to Christ, and worship him all his life long.344

Even after evidencing more signs of regeneration the following day, Judson still prayed that Moung Nau’s blinded mind would be enlightened by the truth and that he would “cleave inviolably to the blessed Saviour.”345 It was not until May 15, after ten more days of intensely conversing with Judson and after all the other members of the mission were convinced of Moung Nau’s newborn faith, that Judson finally admitted that Moung Nau had been born again. One of the final conversations with Moung Nau that convinced Judson of his conversion was that after being warned from the Scripture of certain persecution and possible death for professing Christ, Maung Nau claimed that he would rather die for Christ and enter paradise than live comfortably here and be in hell forever. This final conversation in addition to all the other discussions persuaded Judson of the genuineness of the first Burman conversion.346 On June 27, 1819, Moung Nau was duly baptized as the first Burman Christian, and on July 4, Judson “had the pleasure of sitting down, for the first time, to the Lord’s table with a converted Burman.”347 In many letters, he referred to his converts as his baptized converts.348 Judson’s joy over these converts was not only that they were converted to the Redeemer’s kingdom but that they could also partake with him and other baptized believers at the Lord’s Table. Baptism was the door that opened the banquet hall of the King and his covenant people.

Disciple-Making with the Word

Judson sought to train up the church through the regular teaching of the Word. If he was not translating, then he was teaching and training.349 Just as he saw the dictionary as indispensable for the ongoing propagation of the Scriptures, he also viewed Bible-based discipleship as the vehicle for the ongoing sustenance and maturity of the indigenous church. Two main works he wrote illustrate his ability to synthesize doctrine for the sake of discipleship: “A Burman Liturgy”350 and A Digest of Scripture.351

Judson’s “A Burman Liturgy” provided doctrines useful for discipleship. Judson prepared this liturgy in 1829 for new missionaries who had not yet learned the language and for his Burmese assistants whom he trained for ministry. Judson commenced the liturgy with worship given to the Trinity, and in response to God’s self-revelation, he then outlined the fundamental biblical commands: the commands of righteousness, which require loving God and loving others, and the commands of grace, which require repentance of sin and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. He then proposed six short “formulas of worship,” which set the congregants’ gaze upon the sovereign God who governs all things for his pleasure and the eternal happiness of his people. After this summary of theology proper, Judson outlined a basic Christology in twelve articles. His Calvinistic doctrine of particular redemption is obvious here. His atonement-centered theology is explicit, and it does not indicate any adherence to the governmental theory of atonement common among the New Divinity tradition. Thus, Judson said in the fifth article that “the Son of God, according to his engagement to save the elect . . . laid down his life for man, in the severest agonies of crucifixion, by which he made an atonement for all who are willing to believe.”352

Judson’s doctrines of regeneration, union, justification, and perseverance informed his views of discipleship and spiritual formation. In articles seven through nine, it was stated:

Art. VII. In order to obtain salvation, we must believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and become his disciples, receiving a change of nature, through regeneration, by the power of the Spirit. Art. VIII. Those who become disciples obtain the pardon of their sins through the cross of Christ; and being united to him by faith, his righteousness is imputed to them, and they become entitled to the eternal happiness of heaven. Art. IX. Disciples, therefore, though they may not in this world be perfectly free from the old nature, do not completely fall away; but through the sustaining grace of the Spirit, they persevere until death in spiritual advancement, and in endeavors to keep the divine commands.353

After the articles on these basic doctrines, he listed formulae for administering baptism, the Lord’s Supper, and for appointing evangelists, missionaries, elders and pastors, deacons, and itinerant preachers. He concluded this section of formulae with more detailed instructions on administering baptism, the Lord’s Supper, and on practicing church discipline.354

The final section of the liturgy contained “Thirty Precepts, being a Digest of Christian Law,” which illustrated those primary spiritual qualities that Judson saw in Scripture as essential for the true disciple. Judson’s copious devotion to detail influenced his commitment to systematize the biblical commands for the sake of obeying Scripture rightly. His thirty biblical laws for Christians include:

(1) Love God with all the soul . . . (2) Love others as thyself . . . (3) Repent of thy sins . . . (4) Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ . . . (5) Set not thy heart on worldly good, but keep in view the happiness of heaven . . . (6) Avoid idleness, and be diligent in thy calling . . . (7) Covet not the property of others . . . (8) Do no violence . . . (9) Steal not . . . (10) Defraud not . . . (11) Lie not . . . (12) Bear not false witness . . . (13) Murder not; and let the murderer die . . . (14) Be not drunk . . . (15) Commit not adultery . . . (16) Besides thine own wife or husband, lust after none . . . (17) Subdue pride, and cultivate a meek and humble spirit . . . (18) Bear with the faults of others; return not evil for evil; love thine enemies, and do them good . . . (19) Be charitable to the poor . . . (20) Honor and support thy parents . . . (21) Honor ministers of religion, and cheerfully contribute to their support . . . (22) In regard to rulers, whether disciples or not, honor them; pray for them; obey their orders, not involving sin against God . . . (23) As thou hast opportunity, do good unto all men . . . (24) In performing worship, avoid idolatry . . . (25) Pray to God always . . . (26) In all things deny thyself, and seek the will of God . . . (27) On the first day of the week, assemble with others to worship God and hear the word . . . (28) Profess the religion of the Lord Jesus Christ by receiving baptism . . . (29) Afterwards receive the Lord’s supper, in remembrance of the divine love . . . (30) Go into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.355

More extensive than his liturgy, Judson’s A Digest of Scripture is a compendium of doctrinal assertions using the language of Scripture in order to teach the basic doctrines of the Bible. Judson did not write a thorough systematic theology textbook, but he compiled the Scriptural evidence necessary for producing such a larger work. Grounded in the infallibility and sufficiency of the Bible, Judson sought to use the Bible’s own language to explain its doctrine. A Digest of Scripture exemplifies his conviction of the perspicuity of Scripture and its power to convert and revive the soul. In nearly two hundred pages of biblical text upon text, Judson outlined what he saw as the whole of Scriptural doctrine for the sake of training the church to think and live biblically. The table of contents, not including each chapter’s subsections, includes chapters on topics such as bibliology, the being and attributes of God, the Trinity, the state of man, the Lord Jesus Christ, salvation bestowed, salvation accepted, the evidences of faith, the benefits of faith, duty to God, duty to men, duty to oneself, prayer, the church, the extension of the gospel, and the affliction of believers.356

Proclaiming the Word

Judson contended that gospel proclamation is not comprised only of oral communication, though proclamation is certainly not less than oral communication. Proclamation, moreover, essentially involves distribution of the Scriptures. Judson scolded those who were indifferent to the universal dissemination of the Bible. At the ninth annual meeting of the American and Foreign Bible Society, held May 15, 1846, in New York, Judson gave an address357 that portrays his theology of gospel proclamation and his Word-centered piety. He said that the modern usage of the English word preach is “too specific for the original.” He went on to say that the Greek word certainly suggests “oral communication,” yet that is “not the exclusive meaning of the original word.” Judson believed that the word proclaim is a more suitable translation of the meaning of the original Greek. He argued that proclaim has the idea of oral preaching and literature distribution, just as a king’s ambassador could proclaim a pardon to the inhabitants of a city through both oral declaration and printed publication, and just as Paul could equally proclaim the gospel through both preaching in the synagogues and publishing gospel truth through his Epistles. Judson’s intention was not to demote the power of preaching, but to promote the efficacy of the text of the Scriptures. His explanation demonstrates his bibliocentric piety and his conviction that the Word of God is alive and active.

Judson further explained that when a missionary first goes to a heathen people, the missionary’s communication is largely oral; however, “he will have very imperfectly fulfilled his commission if he leaves them without the written Word.” Judson maintained that such neglect results in the kind of “mischievous consequences” that are evident in mission stations “conducted by the Man of Sin,” that is, Roman Catholic missions.358 He went on to caution that among some Protestant mission stations, there had recently been “a tendency to promote the oral communication of the Gospel, not, indeed, to an undue pre-eminence, but in such a manner as to throw a shade over the written communication by means of tracts and Scriptures.” He went on to explain that though the initial indiscriminate, evangelistic preaching of the gospel and tract distribution might initially seem more successful, “all missionary operations, to be permanently successful, must be based on the written Word. Where that Word is most regarded and honored, there will be the most pure and permanent success.” He said that the written “Word of God is the golden lamp hung out of heaven to enlighten the nations that sit in darkness, and to show them the path that leads from the confines of hell to the gates of paradise.” Judson upheld the Bible, in its original languages, as comprehensively containing all existing revelation from God to the world. The written Word is “just the book, the one book, which Infinite Wisdom saw best adapted to answer the end of a written revelation.” It is not another grandiose achievement of human reason; it surpasses all other works of philosophy and logic. It is paradoxically complex and clear, profound and transcendent, “perfect and unique.” He charged the church to remember the holy responsibility that God had given to her. He said that God entrusted his perfect Word as “the sacred deposit in the hands of the church.” Judson issued woes to those who deny others to partake in such a treasure and to those who seek to snuff out the light of the gospel of heaven. He praised God for those who were working hard at distributing the Bible around the world. He wished to see the Bible translated and broadcast in every language and to be “deposited in every palace, and house, and hut inhabited by man.”359

Eight years earlier, he had uttered similar sentiments in a letter to the American Baptist Board. He said that he had hoped to complete the Bible and deposit it in every village and township across Burma. Though it would require great endurance and much expenditure, once Bibles were positioned in the places of influence and prominence in each town, the seed sown “would spring up in abundant fruit to his [God’s] glory.” Judson observed that the townspeople would often gather at the houses of the educated leader, whether it be a priest or principal, in each village for the purpose of listening to the leader read from a religious book. Consequently, he said that he sought to introduce and leave the Bible at the chief location in every town in order that the light of the gospel would efficaciously pervade the dark corners of the Burman empire where no missionary could reside.360

In the letter, he went on to say that Protestant missions of his era differed from Roman Catholic missions by “honoring and sounding out the Word of God.” He asserted that those missionaries who esteem the proclamation of Scripture higher than any other charitable venture would “be most owned of God, and blessed with the influence of the Holy Spirit.” He then referred to an analogy he used for contextualization in evangelism.361 He likened the Bible to “only one golden lamp which God has suspended from heaven” to guide sinners to heaven. He warned that missionaries dare not obscure its light by preventing its indiscriminate and universal circulation. He cautioned against perceiving this goal as somehow demoting the role of gospel preaching, because preaching is “the grand means instituted by Christ for the conversion of the world.”362 However, he explained that all evangelism and discipleship “must be based on the written Word.” Even if the preacher were to depart from a village, the gospel witness would not go with him, since “the inspired Word may still remain to convert and to edify.” From his bibliocentric perspective, preaching the gospel and the written Word were inseparable. Together they are, he said, “the two arms which are to pull down the kingdom of darkness, and build up the Redeemer’s. Let us not cut off one of these arms, for the other will by itself be comparatively powerless.” He was convinced that the history of the church testified to the fact that one of these arms alone is impotent without the other.363

Judson’s argument that gospel proclamation comprises both Bible distribution and oral preaching explains why he exclusively focused on translation and preaching. In articles of agreement adopted by Judson and his missionary companion, George H. Hough, Judson thus briefly described the means of evangelization that he promoted. He said that the chief means by which “to introduce the religion of Jesus Christ” to the Burmese would be “translating, printing, and distributing the Holy Scriptures, preaching the gospel, circulating religious tracts, and promoting the instruction of native children.”364

Publishing the Word

Two very important events marked the year 1816: the arrival of a printing press, which was a gift from the Serampore missionaries, and the appointment of a professional printer from Philadelphia, George H. Hough, to operate the press. Judson was overjoyed at the prospects of printing the Bible in the Burmese language. Judson subsequently wrote a letter to the Board of Managers to solicit funds for the management of the printing press. In this letter he discussed taking the press from Rangoon to Ava, about which he said, “such a measure would doubtless tend to the furtherance of the cause, and to the introduction of religion into the very heart of the empire, where Satan’s seat is.” Being the engine of the Reformation, Judson hoped the printing press would ubiquitously broadcast the Word of God in Burma. Judson believed that, through a long labor of love, the supernal light revealed from the Word would finally dawn, and other nations would “participate in the same glorious light.” Many disappointments would surely assail the faith of the missionaries and the missionary societies, but, he urged, “let patience have her perfect work; let us not be weary of well-doing; for in due time we shall reap, if we faint not.”365

For Judson, the work of translation, Bible distribution, and proclamation were the work of missions, and if a door were shut in one region, he did not agree with employing some other politically and socially acceptable platform for the purpose of staying in the region. Rather, he contended that the missionary ought to continue trying to enter other locations in order to broadcast the Bible to as many people in as many nations as the Lord wills.

Regarding the possibility of expanding translation and literature distribution into China after he had finished his Bible translation, for example, Judson wrote to the president of the Triennial Convention, Spencer H. Cone (1785–1855). Judson spoke of his passion to see the Bible dispensed in other languages for the conversion of the nations, and he described his concocted strategies for introducing the Bible to China and beyond. From his activistic evangelical perspective, there was no other alternative to such missionary work. Because of the indomitability of the proclaimed Word, he said his duty was to scatter gospel seed, letting the Scripture do all the work. He charged,

But we must all go forward, preaching the Gospel, and distributing bibles and tracts in every possible way, and in every language under heaven. If one door is shut up, we must push in at another. Victory, we are sure, will be ours at last.366

In 1832, after reading the manuscript of a presentation at the Triennial Convention about the need for a mission in France, by a Board member, Howard Malcom,367 Judson responded to Malcom because of one sentence that caught Judson’s activist temper: “The sentence, ‘Evangelized France, teeming with religious books, would furnish reading to all the intelligent classes in Europe,’ contains a volume. O that the people of the United States would read it well, and rise at the call!” Judson even said that though he felt called to reach Burma, he would gladly give a very large portion of his missionary supplies to “rescue perishing France.” Judson then asked Malcom what could be so significant in the United States that would hold him from giving himself to France. Then he listed other gospel-less areas of the world that burdened his soul. Judson prayed for Malcom and his colleagues to awaken and to devote themselves more to the opportunities God had offered to the American church.368

Translating the Word

Judson admitted that he had a different translation philosophy than many missionaries.369 The labor of many missionaries, he said, had been “dreadfully misdirected.” He said that it was the duty of a man to spend his whole life to produce “a really good translation,”370 and this required working “slow and sure, and to see to it that whatever we do, in regard to the inspired word, is well done.”371 Emily described him as “very strenuous about his Burmese version, and would no doubt have persevered in his translation if the whole world had been against him.”372

Regarding his work ethic and duty of translation, Judson read volumes of theological and critical resources from both Germany and America.373 He also read copiously from Burmese literature and various other genres in order to familiarize himself with the unique nuances of the language.374 He wanted to express the biblical meaning in a way so accurate and understandable that his translation would need little revision in the future.375 Wayland claimed that he mastered the Burmese language “to a degree never before attained by a foreigner.”376 Though he availed himself to the best of exegetical commentaries and scholarship, he would not let the publications of scholars do the work for him. He ever insisted on going to the original biblical texts themselves and only using the critical commentaries as references. Thus, he would not canonize an interpreted verse until he was certain of its meaning in the original language and in the Burmese language.377 Wayland recorded that an eminent linguist in India who was an expert in Burmese said of Judson’s translation, “We honor Wickliffe and Luther for their labors in their respective mother tongues; but what meed [sic] of praise is due to Judson for a translation of the Bible, perfect as a literary work, in a language so foreign to him as the Burmese?”378

Preaching the Word

Judson and his first wife, Ann, were at times tempted to despair for lack of noticeable “success” in their proclamation and translation efforts. In his biography of Adoniram Judson, Francis Wayland established how Adoniram and Ann valued the preaching of the gospel in missions as opposed to doing other “fruitful” ministries, albeit good ones, which seemed to bring in more immediate “fruit.” Wayland said that the letters of the Judsons never suggested regrets or doubts about the seeming fruitlessness of their labor. They did, however, indicate their concern that their friends in the States would grow weary of their lack of success. Wayland said that their letters expressed “entire certainty” about the ultimate success of their work, though they might only see it in glory. As he commented:

Their confidence rested solely and exclusively on the word of God. They believed that he had promised; they, doing, as they believed, his will, accepted the promise as addressed to themselves personally . . . By faith, through many long years of discouragement, they endured, as seeing Him who is invisible; relying not at all on what they could do, but wholly on what God had promised to do for them.379

Though famous for his labor of love in translation, Judson was a preacher at heart. His desire to see the gospel preached drove him to translate the Bible from which the missionary must preach. For Judson, preaching the gospel was ultimately “the great business of his life.”380 He gave himself to translation because he believed God’s providence ordained such a responsibility to him and because the American Baptist Board requested it.381 Wayland recorded that whenever Judson’s translation work intermitted, he would go to the zayat and preach heartily.382 Justus Vinton (1806–1858),383 who labored with Judson, said of Judson’s earnest preaching:

True, he preached in Burman; but though I did not know the meaning of a single sentence he uttered, still my attention was never more closely riveted on any sermon I ever heard. Were I to fix upon any one characteristic of the preacher which, perhaps, more than any other, rendered his discourse interesting and impressive, I should say it was earnestness of manner. It was impossible for any one [sic] to escape the conviction that his whole soul was in the work. Every tone, every look, every sentence, spoke out in the most emphatic language, to tell us that the man was seriously in earnest, and himself believed the truths he uttered.384

At the close of 1827, Judson’s journal entries describe the mission’s proclamation efforts under his leadership. He recorded a few means “for the spread of truth.” First, they met for public worship every Sunday at 10:30 in the morning, and the assembly numbered between twenty and seventy. Attendees included the missionaries, Buddhist scholars, native converts, truth-seekers, and occasional travelers. During the public meeting, they would sing songs of adoration and praise, followed by a casual extemporaneous homily, which depended upon the nature of those gathered each time. Then the assembly would finally close in prayer. Though some would leave right afterwards, many would remain and engage in religious discussions for a significant amount of time.

Second, they would practice regular evening worship. This was more of a gathering for the mission families, the scholars, and the local Christians. Approximately twenty people gathered for the daily evening worship. They would begin by reading Scripture, and an explanation and exhortation would follow. After concluding in prayer, Judson would spend the remainder of the evening with the new converts and host “instructive and profitable” conversations based on the Scripture. The next day he would reason from the Scriptures in the zayat with any truth-seekers who had attended the night before.385

The Infallible Word

For Judson, the Word of God was the supreme and the sufficient source of truth for salvation in Christ. He was also convinced that the Bible, whether printed or preached, was an infallible evangelist. As such, he believed that the most faithful missionary spirituality had to pattern itself after the model of the apostles in Acts who went about scattering the seed of the Word. In order to see the power of God in missionary activity, the missionary must heed this pattern. Consequently, Judson sought to seize every opportunity in conversations with individuals to implore them to be reconciled to God in light of the love of Christ.386 Since God blessed the apostles’ obedience to Christ’s final command, Judson devoted himself to keep the proclamation of the Word central to his missionary activity.387

Many missionaries considered the Burmese men too difficult to reach with the gospel, so they opened schools for the native children in order to educate them from a civilized Western worldview.388 They started with proclaiming the gospel, but after many setbacks, they opted for more humanitarian ministries and social work.389 Judson, however, spent himself to evangelize instead of using other reputable social and educational platforms because he believed in the transforming power of the Word. Moreover, Judson was adamantly “opposed to large missionary stations”390 because he believed they became self-absorbed and unfruitful. Mission stations would distract missionaries from their devotion to God’s work. If missionaries would not keep their activistic piety centered on evangelizing with the Word, they would inevitably spend themselves on “indirect, subsidiary, and questionable modes of effort, such as indoor labor, school teaching, English preaching, bookmaking—things in themselves good, but not distinctively missionary.”391 Even in his last year of life, Judson’s commitment remained to preaching the gospel instead of educating natives in English schools and teaching English civility. In a letter to the Corresponding Secretary of the American Baptist Board, Solomon Peck, Judson said that he was increasingly convinced of the truth that “English preaching, English teaching, and English periodicals are the bane of missions at the East.” He argued that English schools could never convert all the unreached peoples. Such schools, he said, “are very pretty things to amuse English visitors with, and make interesting reports for people at a distance, who cannot enter into the merits of the case.”392

Judson was not so naïve to think that the New Testament contained a static formula for missionary success. However, he did trust in the Scripture’s prescribed means of gospel proclamation. Ultimately, the joy of his missionary piety was not in immediate fruit, but rather, in his expectancy that it all depends upon the will of Christ to make his Word run and triumph. After building the first zayat in Rangoon for the purpose of proclaiming the Bible, Judson enthusiastically described this new approach in a letter to Lucius Bolles.393 He signed off with a hope-filled prayer to Christ that he alone would breathe the miracle of new life into the dry bones of Burma. “On thee, Jesus, all our hopes depend. In thee all power is vested, even power to make sinful creatures instrumental in enlightening the heathen.”394 With seeming undiminished evangelistic eagerness three years later, Judson wrote a letter to his friend and missions mobilizer, Luther Rice,395 in September 1822. Judson expressed his enduring dependence for the work of Christ’s Spirit alone to fill the missionaries in their proclamation efforts and make them “a burning and shining light” in that land of overwhelming darkness. He called on Rice to pray earnestly that the day of God’s favor for Burma would come quickly.396 And two months later in November 1822, in a letter to Daniel Sharp,397 Judson expressed hope to establish a legal residence in the Burmese capital in order to publish and preach the Scriptures. He imagined that if he could live in such a center of influence and concurrently “enjoy an ordinary measure of the Holy Spirit, the Christian religion will be gradually introduced—at least, that some precious souls will be rescued and saved.”398

Slow Gospel Growth

While Judson knew that Scripture dissemination was slow work, he was equally certain that the disseminated Word would bear fruit in time, though it be “after trying the faith and sincerity of his servants, some fifteen or twenty years.”399 Sensing dissatisfaction among people back home because of how prolonged the mission work seemed, he wrote to Luther Rice in August of 1816. Judson recounted his hard work and sense of duty for the conversion of the Burmans. He defended the slow growth of Word-sowing, that it was not his work to manipulate, but it was God’s work to operate. He said there were many instances in other fields where the seemingly fruitlessness of proclaiming the Word “began to be a shame to the cause of missions.” He said to Rice, “if they ask again, what prospect of ultimate success is there?—tell them, as much as there is an Almighty and faithful God who will perform his promises, and no more.” He went on to criticize those whose confidence rested in anything but God’s supreme and sufficient Word. Judson admitted the hard ground in Burma was a “filthy, wretched place” with no comfort. But, he was so hopeful of God’s promises that even if he could live in the world’s choicest place instead, he would prefer to die. Expressing his evangelical piety, he concluded, “If we desert it, the blood of the Burmans will be required of us.”400

With equal conviction, a few weeks later Judson wrote to Thomas Baldwin. With no exciting news to share, he persevered in his duty to study and to translate, knowing that a Burmese Bible would be the best missionary. He exclaimed,

I have no doubt that God is preparing the way for the conversion of Burmah to his Son. Nor have I any doubt that we who are now here are, in some little degree, contributing to this glorious event. This thought fills me with joy. I know not that I shall live to see a single convert: but, notwithstanding, I feel that I would not leave my present situation to be made a king.401

Apologetics and Evangelism

Judson resolutely upheld the Bible as the supreme fountain of truth in evangelism and discipleship. A Buddhist teacher, Moung Shwa-gnong, was debating with Judson about the validity of the Christian gospel, and he told Judson that he could not adhere to a religion whose king would allow his son to undergo such humiliation. Judson’s account of the controversy exemplifies his unswerving allegiance to the Bible, and it illustrates his own evangelistic method of Bible-based apologetics.402 After much debate over some tracts and the Gospel of Matthew, Judson said in direct terms that he was not a true disciple of Christ. He reasoned, “A true disciple inquires not whether a fact is agreeable to his own reason, but, whether it is in the book. His pride has yielded to divine testimony. Teacher, your pride is still unbroken. Break down your pride, and yield to the word of God.” Subsequently, the teacher later replied that he saw the error of trusting in his reason alone. He admitted his belief in Christ’s crucifixion “because it is contained in the Scripture.”403 To Judson, this was a sign of life because it demonstrated spiritual awakening to the revelation of the Scriptures.

Judson valued the written Word so much that he refused to “waste” tracts by just handing them out without the recipients demonstrating interest.404 In 1831, after the Shway Dagon festival, in a letter of thanks to James Grow (1769–1859), a pastor in Thompson, Connecticut, who donated fifty dollars to Judson’s work,405 Judson expressed his confidence in the sufficiency of the written Word to convert souls into Christ’s kingdom. He said he had given away ten thousand tracts, but only to those who requested them. People traveled for three months from Siam and China and from a hundred miles north of the capitol because they had heard that Judson was the man who gave away writings about how to escape the eternal hell. They asked him, “Are you Jesus Christ’s man? Give us a writing that tells about Jesus Christ.” He lamented in the letter that he felt so worn out because of how many thousands of individuals from hundreds of miles away were traveling to Ava just to receive literature about the good news of Jesus Christ. Judson believed that the coming glory of Christ’s millennial kingdom would increasingly materialize to the extent that he could spread abroad tracts and Bibles.406

After being harassed by the Burmese government because of a false rumor that he was a British spy, Judson left for Prome in June of 1830. He reflected upon his arrival at Prome and noted that the inhabitants of Prome, being founded hundreds of years before Christ, had perished without one gospel witness up until the day Judson set foot there. Every day for over three months in the heart of the city, he would preach the gospel in their native tongue. Even though he did not see a great revival of religion, he deeply believed that God “ordered that a missionary of the Cross . . . [would] pour forth Divine truth” for a people languishing in darkness. Thousands had heard the gospel truth, but there were no immediate revivals of religion. Now, the residents of Prome were accountable for the gospel light which Judson had distributed through preaching and tract distribution, which would increase their misery on Judgment Day if they continued in their rebellion. Judson interpreted his seemingly fruitless evangelistic efforts in Prome “with less dissatisfaction” than any period of his ministry until then. Even in his “unsuccessful” evangelism, he was satisfied because he had evangelized for God’s glory. Upon reflection, he rejoiced,

What a wonderful phenomenon must this have been to celestial beings, who gaze upon the works and dispensations of God in this lower world! It was necessary to the accomplishment of the Divine purpose that, after so many centuries of darkness, there should be such an exhibition of light as has been made, and no more. Thousands have heard of God who never, nor their ancestors, heard before.407

In time, the local authorities became suspicious of Judson, so they threatened any serious Burmese inquirers and forced Judson to leave Prome. Upon his departure, he left knowing that he had done all he could. His soul was satisfied because his evangelism was ultimately for God and he trusted the power of God’s Word to convert. He bid Prome farewell and implored the inhabitants to consult the written Word in the absence of his preaching. He departed, saying, “Read the five hundred tracts that I have left with thee. Pray to the God and Saviour that I have told thee of.”408

Conclusion

This chapter has shown that the written Word of God was the ground in which Adoniram Judson’s missionary spirituality grew. The commands he read in the Bible to go proclaim the gospel to all creatures fueled his piety and devotion to pleasing Christ. The supreme and sufficient Word was the burning and shining golden lamp from heaven that guided his evangelical piety. In Judson’s spirituality and theology, the Bible was a summons from the King that demanded earnest proclamation through oral preaching, translation, publication, and dissemination. Judson was a preacher at heart, and the evangelical fire that burned in his bones found its release through preaching the translated written Word of God. Allegiance to Christ’s command to be baptized was the first step of assurance of genuine conversion. The Scriptures were sufficient for the aim of converting souls to the reign of King Jesus, which was the bibliocentric heart-cry of Adoniram Judson. Seeking to submissively do his duty to God and please Christ, Judson went “forward, preaching the Gospel, and distributing bibles and tracts in every possible way, and in every language under heaven.”409

315. Middleditch, Burmah’s Great Missionary, 22. See also Wayland, Memoir, 1:51–52; and Conant, The Earnest Man, 42–44.

316. Edward Judson, The Life of Adoniram Judson, 473–74. See also Wayland, Memoir, 2:234–35.

317. For an apt analysis of Judson’s shift from Congregationalist to Baptist, see Wills, “From Congregationalist to Baptist,” 149–63.

318. A few more extracts from her journals during that time portray how Judson’s devotion to searching the Scriptures influenced Ann’s own pursuit of the biblical teaching on baptism. Knowles includes Ann’s journal entries from August 10 and 23, and September 1and 5, 1812. These journals show how the Judsons wrestled with the issue of baptism, sought to obey Scripture, and took the risk of losing the security found in their mission society. See Knowles, Memoir of Mrs. Ann H. Judson, 63–64.

319. Edward Judson, The Life of Adoniram Judson, 40. In a letter to her parents, the day after her baptism, Ann made a very similar statement: “Mr. Judson resolved to examine it candidly and prayerfully, let the result be what it would.” Wayland, Memoir, 1:108.

320. On the same day (September 7, 1812) as this letter to her parents, Ann wrote a letter to a friend that sounds very similar; the contents of the two letters easily blur together. See Edward Judson, The Life of Adoniram Judson, 38–40; and also Wayland, Memoir, 1:105–6.

321. See Adoniram Judson, Christian Baptism. In the preface, Judson indicated that he predominantly consulted Paedobaptism Examined by Abraham Booth (1734–1806). See Booth, Paedobaptism Examined. Judson also cited the Baptist theologians Henry Danvers (c. 1622–1687), John Gill (1697–1771), and Joseph Stennett I (1663–1713); see Adoniram Judson, Christian Baptism, 74–75, 84–85. See also Danvers, A Treatise of Baptism; Rippon, A Brief Memoir of the Life; Stennett, An Answer to Mr. David Russen’s Book. See also, Stennett, The Works.

322. Judson primarily utilized paedobaptist theologians Samuel Worcester (1770–1821), Samuel Austin (1760–1830), and Peter Edwards, which Ann identified in a letter to her parents on February 14, 1813. See Wayland, Memoir, 1:107. For Judson’s citations of these writers, see Adoniram Judson, Christian Baptism, 6, 15, 36, 41, 45, 47, 60, 66, 91. See Worcester, Two Discourses; Austin, A View of the Economy of the Church of God; and Edwards, Candid Reasons.

323. Wayland, Memoir, 1:108. See also Middleditch, Burmah’s Great Missionary, 52–53.

324. At this time in history, Baptists were second-class citizens and despised. For Judson to forsake his status in the Congregational church to become a confessional Baptist demonstrated his allegiance to the Word in the face of hostility and cultural ridicule. William Owen Carver (1868–1954), the Southern Baptist missiologist, commented that “by no means were Baptists universally respected by Christians of other communions, however deserving of respect they may have been.” Carver, “The Significance of Adoniram Judson,” 482.

325. Middleditch, Burmah’s Great Missionary, 54. See also Wayland, Memoir, 1:102.

326. In a letter written to the Serampore Trio in India, on August 27, 1812, these were the words Judson used to describe the process of coming to the conviction of believer’s baptism. See Middleditch, Burmah’s Great Missionary, 54. Judson also wrote a very similar sounding letter to Lucius Bolles (1779–1844) of Salem, Massachusets on September 1, 1812. See Wayland, Memoir, 1:111.

327. Leonard, Baptist scholar and church historian, insightfully explains: “For the Judsons, the resolute Biblicism of their duty to embark on an international mission was not limited to Calvinism. It led them to revisit the biblical basis for Christian baptism, and with that a decision to move toward the Baptists, deserting the Congregational support system they had worked so diligently to build and secure.” Leonard, “‘Wild and Romantic in the Extreme,’” 88.

328. See the letter written to the Serampore Trio in India, on August 27, 1812, in Middleditch, Burmah’s Great Missionary, 54.

329. From a letter written by Carey to William Staughton (1770–1829) on October 20, 1812. Knowles, Memoir of Mrs. Ann H. Judson, 66. This letter was also reprinted thirty years later in Carey, “Miscellany:—Messrs. Judson and Rice,” 149.

330. Adoniram Judson, Christian Baptism, 1.

331. See ibid., 93–94; Scripture quotation from John 7:17; emphasis in original.

332. Adoniram Judson, A Letter to the Rev. Adoniram Judson, Sen., 23–24. Despite Judson’s attempt to clearly articulate his conviction from Scripture in a humble, winsome manner, the Congregationalist, Enoch Pond (1791–1882), claimed that Judson’s change of sentiments was “one of the most mysterious and unaccountable events which has ever occurred in the Christian world.” Pond could not comprehend why Judson would have renounced paedobaptism other than because of “resentment” toward the board that commissioned Judson. See Pond, A Treatise on the Mode and Subjects of Christian Baptism, 5–8. See also, Nott, A Letter Addressed to Rev. Enoch Pond.

333. See Anderson, To the Golden Shore, 202–3; Hunt, Bless God and Take Courage, 268–69. See also Chessman, Memoir of Rev. Thomas Baldwin.

334. Wayland, Memoir, 2:13.

335. Ibid., 1:263.

336. Ibid., 1:281.

337. Ibid., 2:9.

338. Ibid. For an example of Judson employing church discipline and excommunication, see Adoniram Judson, The Christian Index, 4. Also, for another description of the excommunication process, which Judson called a “solemn and dreaded infliction,” see Wayland, Memoir, 2:127–28; emphasis in original.

339. Wayland, Memoir, 2:471.

340. Ibid., 2:472.

341. Adoniram Judson, The Septenary, 66–67.

342. Though this was Judson’s normal conviction, there were times when Burmans were on their deathbed, and Judson was glad to assure them of their salvation upon hearing of their confession of sins and of their love for and trust in Jesus. For example, see Adoniram Judson, An Account of Meh Shway-ee. Also, another example of this is his journal entry on March 11, 1832 when he wrote about baptizing an old man without hearing a testimony of the old man’s Christian conduct, which was not Judson’s normal practice; see Adoniram Judson, journal, February 29, 1832 to June 25, 1832, Box No. AJ 4, Folder 8 and Microfilm Roll 1, Judson Letters, ABHS; Adoniram Judson, “Mr. Judson’s Journal, Feb. 29th, 1832 [to May 16, 1832],” 41–45. See also Middleditch, Burmah’s Great Missionary, 294; and Wayland, Memoir, 2:44–45.

343. Middleditch, Burmah’s Great Missionary, 125.

344. Conant, The Earnest Man, 194–95, quoted also in Wayland, Memoir, 1:216–17; emphasis in original.

345. Wayland, Memoir, 1:217.

346. Ibid., 1:219.

347. Adoniram Judson, journal, July 3, 1827 to October 20, 1827, Box No. AJ 4, Folder 4 and Microfilm Roll 1, Judson Letters, ABHS. See also Middleditch, Burmah’s Great Missionary, 125–27.

348. For example, see Wayland, Memoir, 1:283, 415, 444–60, 520.

349. Judson developed biblical/theological education for the Burmese ministers-in-training. The Bible courses covered both the Old and New Testaments, but the teachers prioritized the New Testament, teaching “verse by verse, with comparison of parallel passages made in the recitation room. It was the constant aim of the teacher not only to unfold the sense of the Scriptures, but also to show the pupils practically how to make the bible [sic] its own interpreter.” See “Intelligence from the Missions,” 8. See also Adoniram Judson, Burman Theological Seminary Report, July 10, 1840, Box No. AJ 3, Folder 2 and Microfilm Roll 1, Judson Letters, ABHS. For a brief discussion on Judson’s unique approach to discipleship that blended his conversionistic impulse and his desire to train and educate for the work of the ministry, see Carver, “The Significance of Adoniram Judson,” 481–82.

350. See Wayland, Memoir, 2:467–75.

351. Adoniram Judson, A Digest of Scripture. In the Baptist Missionary Magazine, Judson briefly described his purpose and method of writing A Digest of Scripture: “My principal work in the study, beside correcting a part of the Old Testament, has been ‘A Digest of Scripture, consisting of extracts from the Old and New Testaments, partly taken from Brown’s selection.’ . . . Upon this I have spent nearly four months, intending, according to the best of my ability, to make it an elaborate work, containing the most important passages of scripture, arranged under successive heads, beginning with ‘The Scripture of Truth,’ and ending with ‘The Retributions of Eternity.’ I trust this book will be . . . useful as a book of reference.” Adoniram Judson, “Letter of Mr. Judson, Dated Maulmein, Dec. 21, 1837,” 300.

352. Wayland, Memoir, 2:469.

353. Ibid.

354. Ibid., 2:470–72.

355. Ibid., 2:473–75. Judson cited multiple Scripture references for each of the thirty precepts. For the sake of brevity, the above citation does not include the corresponding Scriptures.

356. See Adoniram Judson, A Digest of Scripture, i–iv.

357. In November 1845, when Judson arrived in America, his voice was faltering, so he requested that someone else read aloud his addresses in his presence. Later in the spring of 1846, his voice was stronger, and he gave more addresses without assistance. See Edward Judson, The Life of Adoniram Judson, 468–76. On the back of the last page of Judson’s original manuscript for the above address are the hand-written words of S. S. Cutting (1835–1882): “Dr. Judson’s remarks before the American and Foreign Bible Society, New York, in his own hand writing.” Adoniram Judson to the American and Foreign Bible Society, address, May 15, 1846, Papers, 1811–1888, Trask Library Special Collections, Newton Centre, Massacusetts.

358. The Protestant Reformers commonly identified the Roman Catholic Church as the Antichrist. See Froom, The Prophetic Faith of Our Fathers, 148–58.

359. Adoniram Judson to the American and Foreign Bible Society, address, May 15, 1846, Papers, 1811–1888, Trask Library Special Collections, Newton Centre, Massachusetts. See also Wayland, Memoir, 2:235–38, and Middleditch, Burmah’s Great Missionary, 388–91; emphasis in original. For similar sentiments in another letter, see Wayland, Memoir, 2:126–27; and Middleditch, Burmah’s Great Missionary, 318–19; emphasis in original.

360. See Edward Judson, The Life of Adoniram Judson, 410–11.

361. Though some missionaries thought he was merely “eccentric” in his cultural adaptation, Judson sought to contextualize and dress in priestly garments as a “religion-propagating teacher.” For descriptions of his contextualization, see Wayland, Memoir, 2:383–85.

362. Two years earlier on February 8, 1836, in a letter to Amariah Joy (1809–1899) in Waterville, Maine, Judson similarly said, “The grand means of converting the heathen world is to preach the glorious gospel of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ, in the vernacular language of the people . . . resolving, in a word, with the great apostle of the Gentiles, to know nothing but Jesus Christ and him crucified.” Ibid., 2:108. In a letter on January 16, 1840, to his fellow missionary, Francis Mason (1799–1874), Judson asserted, “I rather think it is a sound principle in missions, that the degree of success is proportionate to the quantity of gospel preached.” Ibid., 2:154.

363. Edward Judson, The Life of Adoniram Judson, 410–11. See also Middleditch, Burmah’s Great Missionary, 318–20; and Wayland, Memoir, 2:126–27.

364. Adoniram Judson and Hough, “Articles of Agreement,” 183–84. See also Wayland, Memoir, 1:184; and Middleditch, Burmah’s Great Missionary, 121.

365. Adoniram Judson and Hough, “Communication from Rev. Messrs. Judson and Hough,” 182–83. See also Wayland, Memoir, 1:183–84; and Conant, The Earnest Man, 173–75. For similar convictions, see Adoniram Judson, “Address of Dr. Judson,” 268.

366. Letter to Spencer H. Cone, February 4, 1836 in Middleditch, Burmah’s Great Missionary, 312.

367. Howard Malcom was the pastor of Federal Street Church in Boston. To read of Malcom’s admiration of Judson, see Mild, Howard Malcom, 44.

368. Middleditch, Burmah’s Great Missionary, 308. With similar concern for the nations at large, Judson issued a famous appeal for the many villages, cities, and nations surrounding Burma who had yet to receive one gospel witness; see Dowling, The Judson Offering, 175–81. Also, by 1838, the church in Burma had begun to slow in numerical growth. Judson was not content with fewer conversions. His heart yearned for more faith to see more converted. He directly challenged the complacency of the Christians even in Burma to not settle for evangelism fatigue; he said that God allowed such a small number as twelve converts in that one year due to their “scanty faith.” Wayland, Memoir, 2:122–23. See also Middleditch, Burmah’s Great Missionary, 327.

369. In a letter to Daniel Sharp (1783–1853) in June 1833, Judson explained his translation philosophy and why he made “such a tedious work of translating, when some persons dispatch the whole New Testament, and perhaps part of the Old, within a year or two after entering their field of labor. There are two ways of translating—the one original, the other second hand.” Wayland, Memoir, 2:55. In a letter to Solomon Peck (1800–1874) in July 1839, Judson also addressed the issue of translation philosophy, and said he agreed with the American Baptist Board’s resolution that all Bible translators ought to “endeavor, by earnest prayer and diligent study, to ascertain the exact meaning of the original text, and to express that meaning as exactly as the nature of the language into which they shall translate.” Adoniram Judson to Rev. Solomon Peck, letter, July 12, 1839, Box No. AJ 3, Folder 2 and Microfilm Roll 1, Judson Letters, ABHS. See also Wayland, Memoir, 2:146; emphasis in original. What is more, a colonial administrator in Calcutta, Charles Edward Trevelyan (1807–1886), promoted Romanizing the languages of the East so that they had the same script as Europe; Judson opposed the plan and wrote to Lucius Bolles of the American Baptist Board and argued for translating the Bible into the “native character.” Judson strongly disagreed with Trevelyan who promoted translating into the “Roman letter,” which Judson called “Trevelyanism.” He said the plan to Romanize the Burmese language was “yet in embryo” and “an untried enterprise,” which he called “highly chimerical.” To read all of his reasoning, see Adoniram Judson to Lucius Bolles, letter, October 3, 1834, Box No. AJ 2, Folder 2 and Microfilm Roll 1, Judson Letters, ABHS; see also Wayland, Memoir, 1:84–87; Trevelyan, The Application of the Roman Alphabet.

370. For a cultural and linguistic study on Judson’s translation theory and theological contextualization in translation from the perspective of an ecumenical scholar, see Dingrin, “A Missiological and Theological Critique.” For a more focused treatment of Judson’s theological contextualization, see Laisum, “Naming God in Burma Today.”

371. Edward Judson, The Life of Adoniram Judson, 405–6; emphasis in original. As early as 1816, in a letter to William Staughton, Judson reported that he felt “dispirited” because of the slow and arduous nature of language study. Yet he wanted to finish what he had set out to do. He said that he did not believe the gift of tongues was available in this age and that the missionary must learn the language in order to translate and preach the Scriptures. Because of the monotony of language study, the early romance of missionary life that he had originally felt at Andover had subsided; but, though his views of missionary work were different from six years prior, he said “it does not always happen that a closer acquaintance with an object diminishes our attachment and preference. We sometimes discover beauties, as well as deformities, which were overlooked on a superficial view; when some attractions lose their force, others more permanent are exerted . . . So it has been with me, I hope, in regard to the work of missions.” Wayland, Memoir, 1:178. Twenty-three years later, in a letter to Solomon Peck on January 5, 1839, Judson alluded to his early change of view of missionary work. He said he “warded off the translation of the Bible, thinking it would fall to Boardman, or Jones, or some other: but the providence of God, at length, laid it upon me.” And so, he said, “I now feel that it is one main duty of the remnant of my life to study and labor to perfect the Burmese translation of the Bible.” Wayland, Memoir, 2:128–29; emphasis in original. Also, for Judson’s comments to Cephas Bennett in 1831 about the usefulness of dying to self in learning the language for the sake of becoming more holy and for becoming more actively useful in the language, see Wayland, Memoir, 1:522.

372. Edward Judson, The Life of Adoniram Judson, 408.

373. For Judson’s letters requesting specific books to assist his translation work, see Adoniram Judson to Lucius Bolles, letter, December 20, 1830, Box No. AJ 2, Folder 2 and Microfilm Roll 1, ABHS; Adoniram Judson to Lucius Bolles, correspondence, February 5, 1831, Box No. AJ 2, Folder 2 and Microfilm Roll 1, ABHS; Adoniram Judson, “Mission Books,” correspondence, January 31, 1835, Box No. AJ 2, Folder 1 and Microfilm Roll 1, ABHS; Adoniram Judson to Lucius Bolles, letter, August 29, 1836, Box No. AJ 2, Folder 1 and Microfilm Roll 1, ABHS; Adoniram Judson to Solomon Peck, letter, January 21, 1839, Box No. AJ 3, Folder 1 and Microfilm Roll 1, ABHS; and Adoniram Judson to Solomon Peck, correspondence, December 22, 1839, Box No. AJ 3, Folder 2 and Microfilm Roll 1, ABHS.

374. Wayland, Memoir, 2:166.

375. Ibid., 2:165. Wayland said that he remembered “stripping” his library of the best books and sending them to Judson. Ibid.

376. Ibid.

377. Adoniram Judson to Solomon Peck, correspondence, December 28, 1840, Box No. AJ 3, Folder 3 and Microfilm Roll 1, ABHS. See also Wayland, Memoir, 2:161–63.

378. Wayland, Memoir, 2:167; emphasis in original. Approximately one hundred years after Judson’s death, the Burma Christian Council invited the Prime Minister of Burma, U Nu (1907–1965), to attend a tea. The Christian leaders were discussing whether to publish a new Burmese Bible translation. U Nu, though a devout Buddhist, was quite familiar with the Christian Scriptures (i.e., Judson’s translation), and he retorted, “Oh, no, a new translation of the Bible is not necessary. Judson’s translation captures the language and idiom of Burmese perfectly and is very clear and understandable.” Brown, “The Life and Work of Adoniram Judson,” 24. For another discussion of Judson’s timeless translation, see Hunt, Bless God and Take Courage, 254–55. John Marshman, son of Joshua Marshman, described Judson’s dedication to mastering the Burmese language. He said of Judson, “His views were always elevated and comprehensive; his powers of observation very acute; and his knowledge and appreciation of character, more especially of the Burmese language and literature was more complete than that of any other foreigner.” Wayland, Memoir, 2:359. After studying and synthesizing all of Judson’s letters and other works, Wayland concluded, “The powers of Dr. Judson seem rather to have belonged to the logical than the imaginative . . . I do not remember an ambiguous sentence, or one that does not express precisely what he evidently intended, in all that he has written. The almost entire absence of figurative language is remarkable, especially in a man of so strong and various impulses.” Wayland, Memoir, 2:374.

379. Wayland, Memoir, 1:205–6. See also Wayland’s comments about Judson’s unwavering trust in God to redeem Burma through the proclaimed gospel, in ibid., 2:380–81.

380. Ibid., 2:97. For an example of Judson’s notable preaching gift, see Mary Hasseltine’s (b. 1784) reminiscences of Judson’s command in preaching in ibid., 1:30–31. See also ibid., 1:39.

381. For an example of how Judson viewed God’s providence guiding through the requests of the Board, see his letter on March 12, 1838, to the American Baptist Board. He said that he would know that God gave him the task of “poring [sic] over manuscripts and proof sheets” if the American Baptist Board “expressly ordered it” because he believed that “vox senatus vox Dei.” Ibid., 2:122.

382. See ibid., 2:97. For a fellow missionary’s description of Judson’s “constant desire to be preaching,” see ibid., 2:355. For another firsthand missionary account of Judson’s desire to preach and his indefatigable preaching efforts, see Stevens, “Extracts from Letters of Mrs. Stevens,” 83–85.

383. Vinton became a very powerful preacher and revivalist among the Karen people. He labored for twenty-five years. He arrived in Burma on December 7, 1834 on the same ship with Sewall M. Osgood and his wife, Elhira B. Osgood. See Luther, The Vintons and the Karens.

384. Wayland, Memoir, 2:388–89.

385. Middleditch, Burmah’s Great Missionary, 240–41.

386. See Wayland, Memoir, 1:206–7.

387. See ibid., 2:167.

388. For a thorough discussion of the missionary methods of civilization through education versus cultural contextualization and proclamation, see Case, An Unpredictable Gospel, 19–47.

389. See Wayland’s account of Judson’s gospel-preaching philosophy contrasted with the teaching and civilizing methods of English missionaries and of other mission stations in Wayland, Memoir, 1:205–8.

390. Ibid., 2:96.

391. Ibid., 2:96–97. Often, missionaries would engage in social work because their theology drove their methodology. In one of her early letters in August 1817, to a friend named Mary, Ann Judson described the depravity of the Burman hearts and illustrated how the Judsons viewed human depravity, which led them to the conviction that gospel proclamation is fundamental for conversion. See Ann Hasseltine Judson, An Account of the American Baptist Mission, 97–102. For a short extract, see Middleditch, Burmah’s Great Missionary, 89.

392. Adoniram Judson to Solomon Peck, correspondence, March 16, 1849, Box No. AJ 4, Folder 2 and Microfilm Roll 1, Judson Letters, ABHS; emphasis in original. For a short extract of this letter, see Wayland, Memoir, 2:317–19. Solomon Peck had been the professor of Latin at Amherst College (1825–1832) prior to assuming the position of Secretary of the Baptist Board of Foreign Missions; see Hitchcock, Reminiscences of Amherst College, 30.

393. At the time, Lucius Bolles was the Corresponding Secretary of the Board and the pastor of First Baptist Church of Salem. During his change of sentiments on the way to India, Judson wrote to Bolles for financial support, and Bolles commenced a fund-raising effort. Bolles was a graduate of Brown University (1801) and a theology student under the pastor of the First Baptist Church of Boston, Samuel Stillman (1737–1807). Bolles was a founding member of the Newton Theological Institution and the pastor of First Baptist Church of Salem, Massachusetts. See Stillman, A Sermon, Preached January 9, 1805; Sharp, Christian Mourning.

394. Adoniram Judson, “Extract of a Letter from Mr. Judson, to One of the Editors, Rangoon, Feb. 20, 1819,” 215.

395. For a description of Rice’s mobilization success, see Lincoln and Wayland, A Memoir of the Life, 53–55; and see Torbet, A History of the Baptists, 331.

396. Middleditch, Burmah’s Great Missionary, 171.

397. Sharp was the pastor of Charles Street Baptist Church in Boston (1812–1853) and one of the founders of the Newton Theological Institution (1825). He published Recognition of Friends in Heaven. See also Sharp, Services at the Fortieth Anniversary.

398. Middleditch, Burmah’s Great Missionary, 172. In a letter to the missionary printer, Cephas Bennett, in November 1830, Judson expressed similar conviction that the Scriptures are essential for the salvation of souls, see Adoniram Judson, “Baptist Foreign Mission,” 279. Then Judson wrote another letter to Bennett in March of 1831 to update him about the progress of Judson’s tract distribution. See Wayland, Memoir, 1:520–21.

399. Adoniram Judson, “Extract of a Letter from Rev. Mr. Judson, to Dr. Baldwin, Dated Rangoon, August 5, 1816,” 99. From his own experience, Judson understood that the influence of Scripture did not always produce immediate results. Though he grew up under a passionate father (Adoniram Judson Sr.), who was a pastor trained under the New Divinity Men, Judson did not become a Christian until 1808, after he had graduated as a Deist from Brown University. However, from a very young age the Bible had influenced him: “At three years of age, Judson, taught to read by his mother, read a chapter in the Bible to his father. At four years of age he gathered the neighboring children and preached to them.” Gifford, Adoniram Judson, 5.

400. Adoniram Judson, “Extract of a Letter from Mr. Judson to Mr. Rice, Rangoon, August 3d, 1816,” 184; emphasis in original.

401. Wayland, Memoir, 1:192.

402. Judson’s Bible-based evangelistic methods held that the Bible is God’s self-revelation, and from that biblical worldview alone can the evangelist authoritatively reason for God. This is not to say that Judson was a strict Presuppositionalist according to the terms of contemporary apologetics (an apologetic theory propounded by Reformed theologian, Cornelius Van Til [1895–1987], in the twentieth century; see Van Til, A Survey of Christian Epistemology, 200–210); Judson was, rather, an Edwardsean evangelist. He did indeed employ reason in his apologetic methods. In fact, he often reasoned his case for Christianity in comparison and contrast with Buddhist theology. For a classic example of this, see Adoniram Judson, The Golden Balance. The church historian Holifield aptly describes the Edwardsean view on reason and revelation: “The Edwardseans espoused the familiar conviction that the ‘best and more sure guide’ for the theologian was scriptural revelation. They assumed that reason could demonstrate some religious truths—such as the existence of an omnipotent God—but they continued to believe that revelation stood above reason, offering truths that reason alone could not attain. And they used the common ‘evidences’ to prove that ‘the Scriptures are a revelation inspired of God.’” Holifield, Theology in America, 135–36.

403. Clemént, Memoir of Adoniram Judson, 83–84, quoted also in Edward Judson, The Life of Adoniram Judson, 142; Conant, The Earnest Man, 223–24; and Wayland, Memoir, 1:241–42. In the Burma Baptist Chroncile, Maung Shwe Wa said this about Judson’s method and message: “These tracts had served two purposes; they stirred up interest in the new religious teacher [Judson] and brought many people to the zayat to hear more. Then the Gospel of Matthew and tracts presenting the basis of the Christian faith served as follow-up for those who had visited the zayat and were interested in carrying the subject further. The whole basis of Judson’s approach was person-to-person teaching in an informal atmosphere . . . The Gospel he preached was that there is an Eternal God who is not subject to change or decay, whose children we are; that in not recognizing and obeying him, man is guilty of sin; that all men are sinners and as such will suffer in hell in the future life; but that God, being love, sent his son, Jesus Christ, into the world to save sinners, with the result that those who believe on him and follow his commands may lead changed lives and share in his great merit and look forward to a happy life in heaven.” Shwe Wa, Burma Baptist Chronicle, 39–40.

404. In a letter to Francis Wayland after Judson’s death, Emily C. Judson said that he modified his view of Bible distribution later in life because he saw the Old Testament as requiring a teacher so that people could understand clearly the Old Testament’s complexities; nevertheless, Judson viewed the gospel accounts as perspicuous and efficacious for evangelistic distribution. She said that he had observed some Burmans who were lazy and did not wish to preach the gospel, so they just gave Bibles to people who would never read them. This grieved him because they wasted valuable literature. He said this was because they were simply lethargic and lacking urgency to expound the gospel. Of all his distributions, Judson saw the most conversions among those who read his translation of Matthew and his tracts, A View of the Christian Religion and The Golden Balance. For Emily’s letter, see Edward Judson, The Life of Adoniram Judson, 411–13.

405. See an account of the donation in Bayles, History of Windham County, 677.

406. Adoniram Judson, “Mr. Judson’s Letter to Rev. Mr. Grow,” 31–32; and Middleditch, Burmah’s Great Missionary, 273–74. For his journal entry on March 4, 1831 that corresponded to his exhaustion expressed in this letter, see Adoniram Judson, journal, February 28, 1831 to March 4, 1831, Box No. AJ 4, Folder 2 and Microfilm Roll 1, Judson Letters, ABHS; see also Adoniram Judson, “Extracts from Mr. Judson’s Journal, to Rev. Dr. Bolles, Rangoon, Feb. 28, 1831 [to March 4, 1831],” 374. Judson also wrote a letter on that same day to Sarah Boardman, regarding the recent death of her husband, George Boardman. See Edward Judson, The Life of Adoniram Judson, 374–75; and King, Memoir of George Dana Boardman, 293–309. See also Robbins, Boardman of Burma, 144–59.

407. Wayland, Memoir, 1:502–3.

408. Smith, Missionary Sketches, 66–67.

409. Middleditch, Burmah’s Great Missionary, 312.

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