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of whose teachings, work, and kingdom he at once claims to be the views once adopted he clings to with unparalleled consistency, and promulgates under all circumstances, in the face of all enemies and all possible dangers-for these views he endures the sorest persecutions, greatest hardships, and finally lays down his life-though at first possibly sincere, he soon commits acts, prompted by his desire to succeed, that are inconsistent with the most ordinary honesty; whenever he needs the support of a miracle, in order to succeed with the ignorant and superstitious, he plays a trick and palms it off as a miracle; whenever he needs a revelation, he manufactures one, yea, he decrees to himself the title of Apostle; he believed in the speedy return of the Master; which belief, coupled with his natural pertinacity and stubbornness, furnishes the incentives to his uncommon activity. In the course of time he learns that the return of the Master is not as near at hand as he had supposed; many believers die, and at last, Paul himself dies in confirmation of his professions, after he had faced death time and again, and had repeatedly declared that he was at all times ready to seal his devotion to his Master's cause with his blood; he was almost a stranger to the Master's divine λóyia and parables, although his ethical system is exactly that of the Master, and his unswerving stand taken with regard to the rights of believing heathens is but the practical carrying out of the principles laid down in so many parables, although Luke, who wrote the third gospel shortly after Paul's death, was for many years his faithful companion, and the world was full of memoirs of Jesus' teachings and doings at the time. Such a tissue of incongruities and contradictions and falsehoods, M. Rénan requires us to believe! Verily, truth is stranger than fiction. Credat Judæus Apella! With these remarks we bring our article to a close. What a writer in the London Quarterly for January, 1870, says of Lecky's "History of European Morals," we should apply to Rénan, were not such momentous interests at stake, viz., "It will be seen from what has been said, that we cannot rate Mr. Lecky's book high as a contribution to human knowledge. As a piece of light reading, always agreeable, and often suggestive, it may take a respectable place among the books of the year;

to the qualities which mark either a great history or a great philosophy it has no claims whatever. Its criticism is not sufficiently sound and careful to make it valuable as a repertory of facts; its thought is not sufficiently penetrating and mature to throw light upon the problems of human nature which it professes to deal with. An author who lacks the first condition of excellence, a sense of his own weakness, and of the difficulties of his subject, seldom produces any thing of substantial worth; and if Mr. Lecky aspires to be something more than the hero of circulating libraries, he must set to work in a far more thorough and patient spirit than that to which these pages bear witness." Strike out from his "St. Paul" the proper names and substitute fictitious ones, and you have a readable novel, with a rather smart hero. But as it is, as a history of one of the greatest and best men, of the Saviour's chosen instrument to preach his gospel and establish his church, who is entitled to the gratitude and veneration of all mankind, we cannot accept it, and we deem it our duty to warn the young and unwary against it; we must also enter our solemn protest against the deliberate judgment of the American publishers, that "the works of Renan are of great power and learning, honestly and earnestly written, beautiful in style, admirable in treatment, and filled with reverence, tenderness, and warmth of heart," since we can admit the beauty of style only, and no other respectable feature in the book under review. If infidel works must be read, let them be those of Strauss, or works like them, which must be studied in order to be understood-yea, let them be rather the "Age of Reason," of Thomas Paine, who gives himself for what he is, than the "St. Paul" of Rénan,” who instils the poison drop by drop into your system, and kills you before you have any apprehension of danger.

ART. II.-Training and Support of a Native Ministry in the Turkish Empire.*

In the following essay on the training and support of a native ministry in Turkey, several things are taken for granted, as the importance of this branch of missionary work, the scriptural authority for it, and the fact that there is not perfect agreement among missionaries in regard to the general principles involved, and in regard to the details according to which those principles should be carried out. Our design has been to offer such hints as will bring the whole question fairly before us, and aid us somewhat perhaps in arriving at practical conclusions for future guidance, not only in the Turkish empire, but in other countries where native evangelical churches are springing into life. Let us look in the first place at

1. Some of the difficulties to be overcome.

The one that first attracts our attention is the small number of proper candidates for the theological schools. In many places the number of candidates who are ready to enter such schools is large, but many of them are men who are not called of God; influenced by worldly motives, they profess to wish to study for the ministry; they can easily display great zeal for Christ and his cause, but the sequel too often shows that their zeal was not inspired by the Holy Spirit. It is not easy for missionaries to decide who are in earnest and who are not. Experience, however, shows that the number of those really called of God to the ministry is small, while the number of those who run of themselves is often large.

Another great obstacle is ignorance. Men sometimes present themselves as students of theology who can barely read; nor can it be always said that such men are not hopeful candidates. If called of God they may soon become able ministers of the Word; but they are ignorant. Many children in America, at the age of nine years, have more and better general information than some of these men when they present

* By T. C. Trowbridge, Missionary of A. B. C. F. M., Marash, Central Turkey.

themselves at the door of the theological seminary. The causes of this ignorance are manifest. These men were born, it may be, in mountain villages where there are no schools, no newspapers, no books; where, perhaps, not a man can be found who knows how to read, where the people have almost no connection with the outer world. The mind of a young man born and reared in such circumstances may be naturally good; so is the uncut marble over which he plays in childhood; buried in darkness its beauties are unknown. The nature and extent of this ignorance is almost inconceivable to one who has never visited such mountain villages, or conversed with such candidates for the ministry.

The want of good common schools is another great obstacle to the training of native pastors. Throughout the Turkish empire this difficulty is deeply felt. What can a young man do who feels called to the ministry? How can he prepare himself to study theology? In his native village, if there is any Protestant school at all, the teacher can only take him through the simplest rudiments of an education—reading, writing, the first elements of geography, grammar, and arithmetic; rather a scant preparation for a theological seminary: yet the common schools are very few where more than these are taught.

Another great want is that of good school-books. Even where there are comparatively good schools, there is generally such a scarcity of school-books as makes it almost impossible for men to prepare for the theological schools. And even after they have entered such schools, what mission in Turkey can show a good set of text-books in any one department of theological study? Not one. If it be asked why are there not good common schools and good school-books, we mention in reply another great obstacle to the training of a native ministry, which is, the small number of missionaries as compared with the work to be done. This number is so small, that two men are generally all that can be allowed for the theological school. These two missionaries are expected to give instruction, at least in Moral Philosophy, Biblical Exegesis, the Evidences of Christianity, Pastoral and Doctrinal Theology, Church History, and Homiletics. They are also ex

pected to be missionaries at large, to visit out-stations, superintend churches, attend meetings of native preachers and pastors, in a word, to look after the thousand and one things that constantly arise at a large mission station. If two or three men are spared for literary work, their time must be given mainly to translating and editing the Scriptures, and religious tracts, newspapers, and books. However able men may be, and however willing to work, simple want of time makes it impossible for them to do well all that is required of them. Where there are but two men at the station where the theological school is located, how can they make proper preparation for their lessons?-with both teachers and scholars will there not be weakness where there ought to be strength? There ought to be at least three men connected with every theological seminary in Turkey, who should give their full strength, certainly during term time, to the care and instruction of the students.

2. The kind of men needed.

In the great scarcity of pastors and preachers, men are often put into the theological schools who ought not to enter them. Perhaps more serious mistakes are made just here than in any other branch of missionary work. The reason is plain; a good native pastor is above all price, while one who enters the ministry from improper motives, who is not qualified for his work, and who takes little or no interest in it, is far more of a hinderance than a similar man in America or England. We say, in general, that no man should be advised or allowed to study theology who does not give clear evidence of piety. This caution may be thought unnecessary; experience has proved that it is not. Theoretically, probably, all missionaries are right on this point; practically, there are few who have not made serious mistakes. We believe the history of nearly every Christian mission of modern times will show that many young men have been encouraged to study for the ministry who have not been renewed by the Holy Spirit. What have been the results? Just what we might expect them to be. Such men become in time great obstacles to the Lord's work, often bitter opposers of that work. Churches die under their influence. Even where they do not oppose the

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