"Although for the present I am travelling not as a missionary but as a naturalist—and that without any scruple, since the study and knowledge of the works of God tend to the glory of the Creator of nature—my labours and my frequent excursions do not entitle me to dispense myself from all the duties of my ministry."
— Armand David
Source: Journal de mon troisième voyage d'exploration dans l'empire chinois (1875), vol. I, 24 December 1872 (translated from the French)
Nature, the Creator, the Book
Views: 502
"John Robert Morrison (1814–1843), son of Robert Morrison, the first Protestant missionary to China, was born in Macau, learned Chinese from his father and studied at the Anglo-Chinese College in Malacca (1827–1830). After his father's death in 1834 he succeeded him as Chinese Secretary and Interpreter to the British Superintendents of Trade. Apart from his official duties, he continued his father's work with the English Protestant church in Canton, supported Chinese converts persecuted by the authorities, revised his father's Bible translation, and in 1840 joined Medhurst, Gützlaff and Bridgman in translating the Bible into Chinese. He died of fever in Hong Kong in 1843, aged 29."
— Wikipedia
Source: Wikipedia, "John Robert Morrison" (citing the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography et al.)
China, contempt, pity, toil
Views: 484
"In the preceding imperfect sketch of Confucianism in relation to Christianity, I have tried to make it appear, that the former is in many important points defective rather than antagonistic, and one practical conclusion to which I come is, that missionaries should endeavour not to exhibit themselves as antagonistic to Confucius and Confucianism. … The judgment of Paul about the law contained in the Old Testament was, that "it was a schoolmaster to lead us to Christ," and I think that much in Confucianism may be made to serve a similar purpose with the Chinese. Let the missionary therefore show a willing appreciation of what is good in the system."
— James Legge
Source: Confucianism in Relation to Christianity (paper for the Shanghai Missionary Conference, 1877)
Wisdom, the East, Truth
Views: 422
"The greatest possible wisdom is needed for one in my situation, not only in giving advice in the present case but also in all my conduct; for, small as I am, my conduct will, no doubt, affect many, perhaps all China, nay, perhaps the whole world. Who is sufficient for these things?"
— Elijah Coleman Bridgman
Source: Journal, Dec. 12, 1829 (on the voyage to China), in Eliza J. G. Bridgman, The Pioneer of American Missions in China (1864), pp. 32–33
Work, influence, career, Christ
Views: 387
"This heavy stroke was felt by the fond parents; but they were enabled to bear it with submission to the will of him who cannot err, and who makes all things … to unite their influence for good to them that love God."
— William Milne
Source: William Milne, A Retrospect of the First Ten Years of the Protestant Mission to China (1820), on the death of the Medhursts' infant son
Strike, Submission, Pain
Views: 406
"Chinese historians have endeavored to explain the creation and origin of the world around them; but, ignorant of the sublime fact that there is one Creator who upholds his works by the word of his power, they have invented various modes to account for it, and wearied themselves in theorizing and disputing with each other."
— Samuel Wells Williams
Source: The Middle Kingdom, rev. ed. (1883), vol. 2, p. 137
Truth, Nature, Revelation
Views: 412