attendance; in the afternoon at the hospital; in the evening in his
own room for the soldiers. In his household were two natives who
assisted in his studies and translations, the Moonshee and the Pundit,
with whom he held long disputes and with whom he labored daily, though
unsuccessfully, to bring them to faith in Christ. He says,
"translating the epistle of St. John with the Moonshee, I asked him
what he thought of those passages which so strongly express the
doctrines of the Trinity and of the divinity of Christ. He said he
never would believe it, because the Koran declared it sinful to say
that God had any Son. I told him that he ought to pray that God would
teach him what the truth really is. He said he had no occasion on this
subject, as the word of God was express. I asked him whether some
doubt ought not to arise in his mind whether the Koran is the word of
God. He grew angry, and I felt hurt and vexed. I should have done
better to have left the words of the chapter with him without saying
anything. I went also too far with the Pundit in arguing against his
superstition, for he also grew angry." If any qualification seems
necessary to a missionary in India it is wisdom--operating in the
regulation of the temper and the due improvement of opportunities. Mr.
Martyn needed the heavenly gift of wisdom also in the management of
his native schools, five or six of which were supported by himself in
Singapore. Little by little he succeeded in introducing as a text-book
a part of the Bible--his own translation of the sermon on the Mount
and the Parables. He was called to do more and more of this work of
translating the Scriptures, and was persuaded by the Rev. David Brown
not only to continue the Hindoostanee, but to superintend the
translation of the Scriptures into Persian. He engaged in it at once
with zeal. He writes: "The time fled imperceptibly while so
delightfully engaged in the translations; the days seemed to have
passed like a moment. What do I not owe to the Lord for permitting me
to take part in a translation of His word? Never did I see such wonder
and wisdom and love in the blessed Book as since I have been obliged
to study every expression. Employed a good while at night in
considering a difficult passage, and being much enlightened respecting
it, I went to bed full of astonishment at the wonder of God's Word.
Never before did I see anything of the beauty of the language and the
importance of the thoughts as I do now. What a source of perpetual
delight have I in the precious Word of God!"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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