A History of Protestant missions in the near East

Introduction
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tumuli yield every year to the archaeologist. The gigantic
old palaces of Nineveh and Babylon have been dug out and
have revealed to our astonished eyes an admirable culture of
almost prehistoric times. The graves and ruins of Egypt have
begun to speak again of the ancient glory of the realm of the
Pharaohs and its indigenous, Mle-born civilization. Even the
old capitals of almost forgotten kingdoms, like the Hittites
of the Bible, have been discovered and unearthed again. A
man who showed no interest in these wonderful monuments
of a remote antiquity would be regarded as deplorably shortsighted.
But in these regions there are living ruins too, living
ruins that have a special claim on our sympathy and help.
Our studies lead us to the lands of the Bible, lands consecrated
by the most sacred associations with the mighty works
of God. These are the lands in which the all-wise Disposer
of the destinies of mankind worked out on the stage of history
the redemption of the human race the lands where the
;
Chosen People heard the call of God, where they wandered,
suffered and perished ;
where the Only Begotten Son of God
sojourned in the days of His flesh and accomplished on the
cross the redemption of the world where the
;
great Apostle
of the Gentiles laid the foundations of the Christian Church.
There the primary developments in the history of the Christian
Church took place. There the martyrs sealed their testimony
with blood. There the most celebrated church fathers
clothed the facts of the Christian plan of salvation in the
modes of thought of Greek philosophy and culture, thereby
exercising a decisive influence upon the development of Christian
doctrine. There the growth of early Christianity was
marked by the rise of church buildings and the introduction
of liturgical forms, the development of church organization
and church practice. There for the first time Christian
national Churches took their rise and became prosperous.
The most severe blow sustained by the Church of Christ
throughout the whole course of her history was that which
was struck in the year 632, when the Arab invasion swept like
a devastating flood over the Eastern provinces of the Church.