10 The Fundamentals merits began to form and take up the line of march, until, be- fore the eighteenth century was a quarter through its course, the whole Church was joining the missionary army. Sydney Smith sneered at the “consecrated cobblers” and tried to rout them from their nest; but the motto of a despised few became the rallying cry of the whole Church of God. DIVINE CO-OPERATION IN MISSIONS We turn now to look at the history of the century as a missionary movement. Nothing is more remarkable than the rapid opening of doors in every quarter. At the beginning of the century the enterprise of missions seemed, to worldly wise and prudent men, hopeless and visionary. Cannibalism in the Islands of the Sea, fetishism in the Dark Continent, ex- clusivism in China and Japan, the rigid caste system in India, intolerance in papal lands, and ignorance, idolatry, superstition, depravity, everywhere, in most cases conspiring together, reared before the Church impassable walls, with gates of steel. Most countries shut out Christian missions by organized op- position, so that to attempt to bear the good tidings was to dare, death for Christ’s sake. The only welcome awaiting God’s messengers was that of cannibal ovens, merciless prisons, or martyr graves. OBSTACLES REMOVED As the little band advanced, on every hand the walls of op- position fell, and the iron gates opened of their own accord. India, Siam, Burma, China, Japan, Turkey, Africa, Mexico, South America, the Papal States and Korea were successively and successfully entered. Within five years, from 1853 to 1858, hew facilities were given to the entrance and occupa- tion of seven different countries, together embracing half the world’s population! There was also a remarkable subsidence of obstacles, like to the sinking of the land below the sea level to let in its flood, as when the idols of Oahu were abolished just before the first band of missionaries landed at the
Made with FlippingBook flipbook maker