This ancient church of the a.s.syrians which began with the apostles, has been praised in all the eastern and western churches for its zeal in spreading the gospel, but at no time in its history has it been free from persecution. Like the burning bush of old, this church has been burning with persecution, but has not been consumed. The ten plagues of Egypt have been here repeated several times. It has pa.s.sed through the agony of blood, but with a spirit of submission to the will of G.o.d who rules over all the changes of a nation for the good of His own kingdom.
Severe persecutions began in A.D. 325. When Constantine convened the Nicean council of the 100 delegates from the eastern church, mostly from a.s.syria, only eleven of them were free from mutilation in some form. At the time the Sa.s.sanites dynasty ruled over a.s.syria. Their patriarch was St. Shumon, son of a painter. No other a.s.syrian patriarch was equal to him in piety, integrity, and his heroic spirit of martyrdom. He was patriarch from 330 to 362 A.D. In that period the king of Persia was second shafoor of the fire-worshipers. The fire-worshipers believed in two creative powers, Hurmizd and Ahramon.
Every good thing as virtue, success, long years, praise, truth, purity, were created by Hurmizd; while wickedness, hate, war, disaster, etc., issued from Ahramon, their creator. Shafoor worshiped clean creatures of Hurmizd, such as sun, moon, and fire. Christianity was strong then, some of the royal family being Christians. The Christians were antagonized by the fire-worshipers because they rejected the sun and moon and de-defiled fire. Other objections were that the Christians taught that G.o.d had become incarnate and come to earth; and also that they preferred poverty to wealth and did not marry, thus diminishing the strength of the nation. The emperor issued an edict that those who would not worship the sun and the moon should pay a large sum of money.
The patriarch answered that "while G.o.d is the creator of the sun we can not subst.i.tute the created for the creator. Concerning a fine we have no money to pay your lord the sum required, as our Lord commanded us not to lay up our treasures on earth." Then the king commanded that all Christians be put to death by terrible torture, except the patriarch.
Him he would spare to the last, that he might be moved by the torture of others and worship the sun. But St. Shumon meantime was urging the Christians to stand firm in the faith. The king requested that the patriarch and two chief bishops be brought before him. It had been a custom to prostrate himself before the king as a token of honor, but on this occasion he wished to avoid any show of worshiping a creature and did not prostrate himself before the ruler. The king asked him to worship the sun. St. Shumon replied: "If I refuse to worship the king how can you expect me to worship the sun, a creature without life."
Being unable to make him worship the sun the king put him in jail for the night. Next morning the patriarch was taken before the king again.
On his way he met a steward of the king who was a Christian but had been worshiping the sun to please the king. St. Shumon rebuked the steward for being faithless. The steward was touched by this rebuke and, going before the king, confessed that he was a Christian and must therefore be beheaded. But he requested that a herald be sent through the streets to proclaim that he had been a faithful subject to his ruler, and that he must die because he was a Christian. This was granted.
In company with one hundred bishops and priests St. Shumon was brought before the king. Again he was told that he could save the life of himself and his people by worshiping the sun. St. Shumon replied, "We have one G.o.d and Jesus Christ our Savior as the object of our worship.
Our Lord teaches us to be faithful to kings and to pray for them, but we are forbidden to worship any creature." Then the king commanded that all of them be beheaded next day. The night in a dungeon was spent in prayer and song and words of advice from St. Shumon in love and tears of sorrow. The patriarch consoled his followers by referring to the fact that St. Paul and apostles spent many nights in prison. He said, "The prison is heaven because the presence of our Lord is with us. This is our last night on earth; to-morrow we will be crowned." Taking the New Testament in his hand he preached to his condemned disciples of the suffering and death of Christ and then administered the Lord"s supper.
At the close of his prayer he thanked Christ that they were worthy to be His martyrs, and further prayed, "Watch with me, O Lord, help our infirmity, The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. Thanks be to G.o.d that we are to become martyrs on the same day of the week as did Christ." In the morning he, with his 100 followers stood before the king. The bishops were first beheaded, and St. Shumon spoke to each one as follows: "My son, close your eyes, and after one minute you will be with Christ." St. Shumon had asked to be beheaded first that he might not see the death of his beloved followers, but he was not heard. At last came his turn with two chief bishops. When he alone was left he sang a song of thanks to G.o.d that out of 100 martyrs, not one had denied the faith. His song was as follows: "Praised be Thy power our G.o.d; let the kingdom of our Savior be victorious. Thou quickener of life, thou hast prepared a crown for Thy martyrs." Then he was beheaded with an axe.
Another severe persecution was in the 14th century by Tamerlane. In 1848 two Kurdish dukes Baddirkhunback and Nurullaback and their armies came whirling down from the Kurdish mountains and in one month ma.s.sacred 25,000 a.s.syrians. The spirit of martyrdom still lives in this people, as was shown in 1893, when two men and a girl were killed as martyrs. No doubt there are to-day singing praises before the throne of G.o.d, hundreds of martyrs from this nation.
CHAPTER VIII.
THEIR CONDITION AT THE TIME AMERICAN MISSIONS WERE STARTED.
The colleges of the a.s.syrians were destroyed four hundred years before the American missionaries came. Not a single school was left, and the only effort at education was by monks teaching dead languages to aspirants for the priesthood. Learned bishops and monks who were full of the spirit of Christ in spreading the gospel at home and abroad had all vanished. Some of the clergy could not understand what they read.
Priests and their parish became blind to the Word of G.o.d, as their books had been burned in times of persecution by the Mohammedans in order to keep them ignorant. Sometimes there was only one priest in a dozen villages. The clouds of ignorance spread over all the nation.
Their sun went down. Regeneration and conversion were unknown to them.
Traditions prevailed among priests and laymen. They trusted in saints and in ancient and holy church buildings. In their ignorance they offered sacrifice to martyrs and built tombs to prophets; put more hope in the merit of fasting than in Christ. A small number of New Testament ma.n.u.scripts, which were written in dead languages were used only in taking oaths. Sometimes laymen kneeled before them and kissed them instead of obeying the truth that was written in them. The candlestick of the church was turned down and the light quenched. Moreover the Mohammedans had threatened to ma.s.sacre them if they did not accept that faith. The a.s.syrians had lost about all of their Christianity except the name. Among 100,000 Christians in Kurdiston and 60,000 in Persia there was only one lady who could read, and she was a nun, sister of the patriarch. The words of the daughter-in-law of Eli when she said, "The glory is departed from Israel." could have been applied to this nation.
PART VI.
CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTION OF MISSION WORK.
While the sky of Persia was covered with heavy clouds of ignorance and even the dim ray of light in a.s.syria was almost quenched, suddenly G.o.d, in His great wisdom and wise providence, awakened the consciences of G.o.dly men in America to think about mission work in Persia. In the year of 1832 Messrs. Smith and Dwight were sent by the A.B.C.F.M. to examine the degenerate and antique churches of the East. They traveled through Syria, Asia Minor, Armenia and Persia. In the latter country they remained in the city of Oroomiah for several weeks, and met the bishops and leaders of the a.s.syrian church with whom they visited the villages of a.s.syria. Men, women and children everywhere greeted them with great joy. In this way they became acquainted with the needs of the nations.
Mr. Smith said at that time: "I see that this field is white and ready for the harvest. In all my journey I have seen no people as willing to accept the gospel as are the a.s.syrians of Persia. It is a good field for the work."
On their return to America Messrs. Smith and Dwight reported the needs of the a.s.syrians and their readiness to accept the gospel. But the question arose, Where is the man qualified for the work, who can overcome the difficulties? In the beginning of every great work there must always be a unique man to lead it. G.o.d found only Moses among all the Israelites as being competent to bring His people out of Egypt. He elected George Washington to make free America. Even so, in His providence, he found the Rev. Justin Perkins to be the man equipped for this great mission work. In 1835, Justin Perkins and Dr. Grant as his medical a.s.sistant were appointed to the work in Persia. These two blessed messengers of Emanuel shone in the dark skies of Persia, and I believe will everlastingly shine in the sky of heaven.
They were received by the natives as if G.o.d had sent them from heaven.
Many a.s.syrians went out to meet them with tears of joy in their eyes.
Perhaps some one will ask why the a.s.syrians were so eager to receive the missionaries. Were they awakened to their spiritual condition? The answer is, they were not fully awakened to their great need of spirituality, but they were eager to be saved from the wicked plan of the Mohammedans to convert them to that faith by force, if need be.
CHAPTER II.
METHOD OF WORK.
Mr. Perkins gained the confidence and won the love of the people by making himself one of their number, by adopting their customs and speaking of a.s.syria as "our nation." In this way he got very close to the people, they believed him their friend, and were not afraid to come near to him. In adopting the native dress it must be remembered of him that he wore the hat commonly worn by aged religious men. It was made of sheep-skin and was not less than two feet high.
The a.s.syrians churches were open to the new missionaries and they preached two or three times every Sunday. There was marked interest in the new teachers from the beginning, and every service was attended by 200 or 300 natives. In addition to the observance of Sunday the a.s.syrians have numerous sacred or saint"s days; at such times the churches are better attended than on Sundays. Services were also lead by the missionaries on these days. Through every day of the week the missionaries were busy scattering the blessed seed. When there were no services held in the churches they would meet in some private home.
Several neighboring families would come in, and all would listen to the gospel. The writer remembers when he was a boy of Dr. Coan lodging at his father"s home several nights and holding meetings. Our homes were very humble among the a.s.syrians. The houses were low and dark, blackened with smoke from the ovens. The floor was covered with cheap mats, but some people had a carpet which was spread when guests came.
Most of the families are very large, numbering from ten to thirty-five.
In many instances, five or six sons having married are found raising their families under their father"s roof. The food for all is cooked in the one oven, but more than one table is used when the family is very large. The meals set before the missionaries were very different from what they had been accustomed to. There were no knives and forks, no tables and chairs. But the missionaries humbled themselves, sat on the floor, and ate of the poorly cooked food with their fingers.
In summer most of the people were working in the field and vineyards.
The missionaries would visit them at their work and ask permission to talk for an hour. The workers would gather in the shade of a tree and for an hour listen to the message. Many times these meetings proved very beneficial. In 1843 the well known Fidelia Fisk and several other n.o.ble women came to work for women. They would visit them in their homes or where they were at work in the field or vineyard, and while helping them in their work would strive to enn.o.ble their lives by talking of Christian principles.
A story is told of a missionary who one day pa.s.sed a shepherd among his flocks. He asked the shepherd if he ever prayed. The reply was that he did not know how. When the good man offered to teach him the shepherd said it was useless to try as he could not learn. But the faithful missionary was eager to teach truth, even to the dullest minds, and so began teaching him the Lord"s prayer. But the shepherd could not memorize it. Remembering how this shepherd knew every sheep in his flock by name a happy thought struck the missionary. He would name a small number of the sheep with words or phrases of the Lord"s prayer.
Calling the sheep and giving them these new names the shepherd soon learned the prayer, and could repeat it readily.
When pa.s.sing that way a few weeks later the missionary asked the shepherd if he still remembered the prayer. Calling his sheep the herdsman went through the prayer with but one mistake. The missionary complimented him but told him that he had omitted "forgive our sins."
"Did I?" replied the shepherd. "Oh, I know how it happened. "Forgive our sins" took sick and died a few days ago." This made it necessary to point out another sheep and name it "Forgive our sins." Missionaries have to resort to various methods to teach truth. Many times the hearts of parents are won by the missionaries kissing one of their beloved children. They proved to the people that they were not ashamed to be as brothers to them. This kind of treatment will touch the human heart in any clime.
CHAPTER III.
DEVELOPMENT OF MISSION AND ORGANIZATION OF THE CHURCH.
After several years work by Justin Perkins and Dr. Grant, his medical a.s.sistant, the mission had grown until more workers were needed. From time to time other workers came, such as Messrs. Stoddard, Stakings, Dr. Coan and Mr. Ray. The latter was known among the natives as the prince of preachers. He died in that country and his widow, Mrs. Ray, now resides in Lake Forest, Ill. Other workers who should be mentioned are Dr. Larabee and Mr. Cochran.
During these years of preaching, seed was sown for more thorough work.
Revival meetings were begun in the churches, and, in answer to prayer, the Lord poured out His spirit upon both preachers and listeners. At some of these meetings there would be from thirty to 100 men and women crying aloud and trying to learn what they must do to be saved. In those times some of the penitents in their ignorance prayed prayers that they would to-day be ashamed of. One old man, who is now an elder, became terribly in earnest when he was under conviction and was seeking conversion. In his anguish he prayed thus: "O Lord G.o.d, Father of Christ, send Thy Spirit and regenerate all of this church. If you won"t do this, then destroy this church over our heads and kill us." This prayer, and others like it, was prayed with such intense earnestness, that another seeker near by thought the Lord would answer it at once; and so, reaching for his hat, he prayed: "O Lord don"t do this until I get out; then destroy all of them if you want to." Hastily uttering this prayer he sought safety outside the walls of the building. When the old elder was recently reminded of the prayer he made years ago, he was not ashamed, for he said that was all they knew in those days as they had not yet learned how to pray.
Until the time of these revivals there had been no separation of the missionaries from the old a.s.syrian church. It had been their custom to take of the Lord"s Supper from the hands of a.s.syrian priests. Mr.
Cochran, president of the Oroomiah college thought it was now time to form a separate organization. Accordingly the new converts were organized into a separate church on evangelical principles.
This separation aroused the bitter opposition of the bishops and priests of the old church for a time, but it finally resulted beneficially to both sects. The ancient church tried to attract and hold the people by adopting the same kind of preaching and Sunday-schools as were being carried on by the evangelical branch.
Preaching sermons was a new work for priests of the old church, and many amusing mistakes were made at first. One priest in an enthusiastic discourse when intending to call the Mohammedans, dogs, made the sad mistake of addressing his audience as, "Ye dogs and sons of dogs." At another time a bishop having announced that he would preach a sermon, carefully wrote his discourse. A large and expectant audience greeted him. When it was time to deliver the address the bishop felt in every pocket for his written sermon but failed to find it. Turning to the audience he said: "Satan, the accursed, has stolen my sermon out of my pocket and disappeared with it." Being unable to make the address from memory he dismissed the audience.
The church has developed along this line, however, and to-day in Oroomiah their services differ very little from that of the evangelical churches. Once a tiny rivulet the evangelical church has become a brook which flows in beauty and waters much of a thirsty land. It is the hope of Persia.
The statistics of mission work in Persia in 1895 were as follows: Five presbyteries, fifty-five churches, 2,600 members, 4,000 Sunday-school scholars, 4,500 attendants at preaching services. These five presbyteries make one synod. Besides this there are two other presbyteries with about 500 church members. There are seven missionary stations, viz., Oroomiah, Tabriz, Tehron, Salmas, Hamadon, Myandab and Moesul. These are in charge of American missionaries; besides them there are many native preachers in the different towns and cities.
Oroomiah is the mother station. Most of these missions are dependent on missionaries, but some of them are self-supporting. The total number of Protestants in Persia will number fully 15,000.