"I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else."
— C.S. Lewis
Source: "Is Theology Poetry?" in The Weight of Glory
Faith, Sun, Seeing
Views: 430
"Solitary is my situation. There may be one, but I know not of him, who loves our Lord Jesus Christ in this place. Yet, lonely as my situation is, the Bible and the precious Saviour it reveals, dear Tom, make me happy."
— Robert Morrison
Source: Memoirs of the Life and Labours of Robert Morrison (1839), vol. 1, letter to his brother Tom, September 27, 1807
Loneliness, rooted, solitude
Views: 493
"Patience is requisite, in an eminent degree, in missionary exertions; the ground is fallow. I can cast in but here and there a handful of seed. It is not unlike the clearing of land now covered with immense forests. Old and deep-rooted prejudices are to be cut down, and dug up; many noxious weeds to be burned, to make room for casting in the seed. I know that this is not to be effected but by the arm of Jehovah."
— Robert Morrison
Source: Memoirs of the Life and Labours of Robert Morrison (1839), vol. 1, letter of April 3, 1808
china, mission, gospel
Views: 465
"Christ crucified is all my hope, all my desire. … O that the issue of my labours may be the bringing of some poor soul to Jesus. My young brother, let the glory of God, in the salvation of souls, be the point to which all our labours tend. May we constantly keep our eye on the mark."
— Robert Morrison
Source: Memoirs of the Life and Labours of Robert Morrison (1839), vol. 1, letter of July 31, 1804, from Gosport
Salvation, Mission
Views: 461
"Sometimes I think that theology, language (especially the Chinese), and mathematics are too much for me… I ask myself, will not God open a door for the introduction of the glorious gospel into the land of China, and ought I not to trust in him for support? Means must be used; and by diligent application a moderate capacity will be able to do much."
— Robert Morrison
Source: Memoirs of the Life and Labours of Robert Morrison (1839), vol. 1, journal at sea in the Atlantic, March 1807
Light, Darkness
Views: 461
"This lively hope of China's speedy deliverance from the thraldom of Satan by the hand of our great Lord, Jesus Christ … constantly prompts me to action, and makes me willing rather to perish in the attempt of carrying the gospel to China, than to wait quietly on the frontiers, deterred by the numerous obstacles which seem to forbid an entrance into the country. … Yet still I am not ignorant of my own nothingness, nor of the formidable obstacles which, on every side, shut up the way and impede our progress; and I can only say, "Lord, here I am, use me according to thy holy pleasure.""
— Karl Gützlaff
Source: Journal of Three Voyages along the Coast of China (1834), pp. 124–125