The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-11-09
SUNDAYS PULPIT TOPICS.
An Interesting Address by DR.. Green
ON Missionary Work in Turkey.
The Discourse of DR.. Jeffery on Atheism and
Immortality-The Growth Of Taber-
nacle Church Sunday-SchOol.
MISSIONARY WORK IN TURKEY.
Interesting Information Given at Mayhower
Church by an Eminent Missionary.

Church by an Eminent Missionary.
Rev. E. H. Green, D. D., spoke yesterday
morning at MayAower Congregational Church,
and last night at Plymouth Church. Twenty
seven years ago DR.. Green arrived in CONSTANT
nople. His first residence was in Nicodemia,
sixty miles east of Constantinople, then at
Brooxa, seventy miles to the south of CONSTANT
nople. For the last thirteen years he has lived
at Constantnople, where he has edited, con-
temporaneously, three weekly religious papers,
one printed in Gr9co-Turkish, one in Armeno-
Turkish and one in the Armenian language, and
superintended the publication of a number of
Sunday school papers. He was missionary Of
the American Board of Foreign Missions, an on
terprlse sustained by the Congregational
churches of the United States, and which, since
its formation, has expended twenty one millions
of dollars.
DR.. Green's subject was the Results Of Mis-
sionary Labor in Turkey" He made use of a
large map of the Turkish empire to illustrate
the field of missionary work, and after descrip-
ton Of the map remarked that the ultimate OBJ
ject of the American board in sending mission
aries to Turkey was to preach the gospel to the
Turks. There are two difficulties in carrying on
that work; first, the fear of death, as under the
law any Mohammedan who renounces his relig
ion and embraces Christianity may be put to
death. ''That penalty" DR.. Green said, twas
inflicted upon three persons when we reached
that country. The second obstacle was that the
Mohammedans were scandalized by the Oriental
Christians For 600 years the Mohammedans
numbering 5000, 600 in Asia Minor, had lived
side by side with from 1900, 900 to 100000 of
Oriental Christians. and in all that period they
had seen nothing either in the lives. the doc
trnes or the forms of worship of these Chris
tians which they might deem superior to that
they themselves possessed. Hence, for period
of GOO years, so far as we know, not single
Mohammedan was converted to Oriental Chris
tianity. The Mohammedans were offended with
the idolatrous forms of worship that prevailed,
the divine homage which they paid to the sacra-
mental wafer and giving of the title Mother of
God" to the Virgin Mary
On the arrival of the early missionaries in
Constantinople, in 1881, the Mohammedan Turks
knew absolutely nothing of the Christianity of
the Bible, and the only knowledge of Chris
tianity which they possessed was what they had
got from the talk, and the forms Of worship, and
the practices OF these Oriental Christians Hence
it seemed to these missionaries that the shortest
way to convert the Turks was, first Of all, to
seek the reformation of these Oriental Christians
with the view of presenting in that reformation
living example of pure Christianity. This
policy has proved to be the most successful, for
throughout the Turkish empire the attention of
the Turks has been drawn to this new form of
Christianity, which dscards the use of pictures
and images in worship. and demands, as cond-
ton of church membership, morality, temper
ance and honesty. Many Turks have learned to
read the Bible in our Turkish translation, of
which $50, 900 copies have been put in circula
ton, mostly by sale among the Turks them
selves. Since 1856 quite number of Turks
have given evidence of conversion and been bap-
tiZed. Very many Turks have come to enter
tain favorable view of the religion of the Cos
pei.
In laboring to reform the Oriental Christians.
the chef-perhaps the only-vantage ground of
the missionary consists In this: that, to the ORR
entail Christians, as to the ancient Jews had
been committed the Scriptures. From the outset
the missionaries wasted no time in decrying eX
listing errors abuses, but simply held up the
truth as it IS in the gospel of Christ, and con-
stantly made appeal to the word of God. Dur
ing the first fifteen years. by means of schools
books and personal teaching, much evangelical
truth was communicated to the minds of many
members of the Oriental churches of Constan-
tinople and Of other cities of the empire. The
patrarchs and the leading clergy of the Oriental
churches clearly understood that the object of
the missionaries was not to proselyte nor to
form separate Protestant churches, but to help
the Oriental churches to reform themselves
the basis of their own Scriptures. In 1916 how
ever the evangelical elements, which had grad
ually gathered in the Oriental churches,
cast out with anathema, and cruel persecution,
and had to seek protection for itself under the
form of Protestant organization. In securing
the Protestant civil organization. the native
Protestants of Turkey were very greatly ndebt-
ed to the efforts of Lord Stratford de Radcliffe,
who, for twenty years was the ambassador of
Great Britain at Constantinople and who was
more influential than any ambassador that ever
represented foreign country there.
The speaker then went on to illustrate the
suits of missionary labor in Turkey. We some
times hear it SAID in America that too little is
accomplished on missionary soil for the amount
Of money expended. The best reply to this
assertion is facts The results Of missionary
labor in Turkey clearly suffice to show that the
money of the American Congregational churches
has been rich investment The success of mis-
sionary labor in Turkey appears in the number
of converts ard organized churches. While
only four small churches were organized in the
first fifeeen years of the mission during the en-
suing thirty eight years-that is, from 1916 to
1SS5-the number of evangelical churches in
Turkey increased from four to 115, With total
membership of over eight thousand and with
Protestant communities aggregating in all some
forty thousand souls. Several of these Protest
and Sabbath school congregations of several
thousands.
The great majority of the church members are
Armenians, who belong to the ancient Christian
race and who formed an independent kingdom
in northwestern Asia Minor several centuries be-
fore Christ, and continued an independent king
DOM with various Interruptions. down to the
time of the Turkish conquest Another consid-
cradle number of the evangelical Christians are
Greeks the descendants of the early Greek col
onists in Asia Minor, of whom there are now
nearly 600 missions in Turkey. The Armenans
number between three and four millions Six of
the evangelical churches in Turkey have been
formed among Bulgarians and the American
missionaries. aboringfor the spiritual good of
the Bulgarians, though hindered not little dur
ing the past seven years by the intermeddling of
the new Bulgarian government, still have good
hope of a steady and satisfactory progress.
Nearly or quite all the evangelical churches in