5. The Character of Adoniram Judson
5. The Character of Adoniram Judson
Of medium height, Adoniram was slenderly built. He possessed unusual physical stamina. His hair was chestnut with a little grey as he advanced in age. He loved neatness and order, always dressed immaculately, and delighted in cleanliness. It was especially repugnant to him to endure the filth of prison conditions. He took great pleasure in fellowship with others, and was able to contribute well on a wide range of subjects. He was intensely spiritual and humbled himself to men of low estate, being able to communicate with the poorest people. When late in his life he returned to America, it was truly beyond his understanding to find that he was a famous person, everywhere welcome. He shrank absolutely from fame and craved solitude and quiet.
From his earliest days Adoniram revealed an exceptional intellect. He was meticulous by nature, and admirably suited for the work of Bible translation. As we would expect, he worked from the Hebrew and Greek. It was his nature to strive for excellence. Once he had decided on a course of action, he stuck to it with astonishing tenacity. We have seen this in his determination to penetrate the steel curtain of the BEIC,[47] his courage in missions to the King of Burma, his endurance in prison, and his recovery from the desolation of bereavement.
Adoniram developed a physical discipline rarely exceeded. He fasted regularly. He could concentrate his mind for long periods of time. Wayland suggests that he was endowed with “a will of the very highest order. It was capable of controlling his physical nature, so that his body would do or suffer whatever it was commanded. It subjected the material to the spiritual in a degree rarely attained.” This, suggests Wayland, “is one of the rarest endowments.”[48]
Concerning his character in the domestic scene, a senior lady missionary well-qualified to make the observation, said, “I have seen something of married life, and I never saw a husband so entirely [note her italics] devoted to a wife as dear Judson.”[49]
Judson was compassionate and tender as a pastor. When the wife of Mr. Bennett (a fellow missionary specializing in printing) was weeping in her room after Mr. Bennett had gone on board ship with their children, Elsina and Mary, to sail for America, Adoniram sent the following note:
Sovereign love appoints the measure
And the number of our pains,
And is pleased when we take pleasure
In the trials he ordains.
Infinite love, my dear sister, in the person of the Lord Jesus, is even now looking down upon you, and will smile if you offer Him your bleeding, breaking heart. All created excellence and all ardour of affection proceed from Him. He loves you far more than you love your children: and He loves them also when presented in the arms of faith.[50]