God’s Battle Axe – Adoniram Judson

The 19^th Century was unique in the spiritual sense because it was the thrust of the dynamic propagation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It witnessed intense evangelisation as many missionaries from the West gave their all to God and His Kingdom. One of the prominent missionaries of that century was Adoniram Judson. In fact, he was the first American missionary to Burma (present day Myanmar). A brilliant scholar, Judson seemed destined for a prestigious career as an American statesman. Instead, for the love of Christ, he renounced worldly success and surrendered all that he had – his academic standing, fame, earthly possessions, and his precious family, to spend thirty-eight years sharing the good news of Jesus Christ with the people of Burma.

 Judson was born on August 9, 1788 in the small town of Walden, Massachusetts, United States of America. His father, Adoniram Sr., was a thirty-six-year-old Congregational pastor who had married young Abigail Brown just two years earlier. Judson was the eldest of four children; he had two sisters, Abigail and Mary (who died as an infant), and a brother, Elnathan. It was obvious from a very early age that he was a gifted child. When he was just three years old, his mother taught him to read while his father was away on a preaching tour. Imagine his father’s surprise when Judson read an entire chapter of the Bible aloud when he returned home!

It is important to recognize the power of parents in developing the gift of a child. Today people talk about a “village” raising a child; they want the church, the school, or even the television to do it. Yet the Bible speaks in more than one place of the parents’ role. Speaking of Abraham, God said in Genesis 18:19, “For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing what is right and just”. The role of the parent is to give a child the foundation he needs to build a Godly character and to help him develop his gifts. Judson’s parents recognized this truth.

           By the time Judson was ten years old, he had read most of the books in his father’s library. Consequently, he gained a growing reputation in academics, especially in mathematics. His father enrolled him in Captain Morton’s College of Navigation in Wenham. He advanced quickly there and became so accomplished in Greek studies that his classmates nicknamed him “Old Virgil” in honour of the ancient Greek scholar. His father was increasingly proud and often declared, “Son, you will be a great man someday!”

          At sixteen, living with his family, then in Plymouth, Massachusetts, Judson was admitted into Rhode Island College (later renamed Brown University) in Providence. Although most New England Congregationalists attended Harvard or Yale, by 1804, those schools had strayed from conservative Biblical teaching and were steeped in Deism (the belief that God created the universe and then abandoned it) and French Enlightenment. The Enlightenment introduced the philosophy that man did not need God or institutionalized religion. This was popularized by the “free thinkers” who claimed that they had the ability to reason about the deep things of life for themselves. They challenged the inerrancy of the Bible as the word of God and rejected all miracles, choosing reason in place of revelation.

Judson was swept along by this heresy, especially under the influence of his close friend, Jacob James, a confirmed Deist. After returning home to Plymouth, he opened a private school for young girls, Plymouth Independent Academy, where he taught for a year and published two textbooks; The Elements of English Grammar and The Young Lady’s Arithmetic. But he was restless; it was time to launch on a “personal discovery tour”.

Arguing with his parents over his plan to leave, Judson’s anger seethed until he finally shouted, “Stop! I don’t want to be a teacher or a pastor! I don’t believe in heaven or hell or your God! I am a Deist!” His father was stunned and became furious. How could his successful son, the apple of his eye turn his back on his Christian faith? Using Scriptures, he reasoned with his unyielding son for hours. His mother and sister wept bitterly. They prayed and pleaded with him, but to no avail.

         The turning point came when Judson stopped at a country inn while on his discovery tour. The landlord led him to a room that was next door to the one used by a young man who was deathly ill. Throughout the night Judson could not sleep as he listened to the sick man’s groans. He was tortured by thoughts of the dying young man. Am I prepared to die? He wondered. Immediately, he felt ashamed of himself. What would his clearheaded and witty friend, Eames say to his weakness? Still, Judson could not help himself. Was the dying man a Christian?

Did he have a praying mother at home? Finally, at four in the morning, the room next door to his became eerily quiet, and he drifted off to sleep. As soon as he had dressed, he went in search of the landlord to enquire about the sick man. It was then he found out that the man had died and that he was none other than his friend Eames.

Judson was stunned that the dying groans came from his friend. For hours, he sat in the inn, overwhelmed with grief and confusion. “Eames was lost in death”. The single thought occupied his mind, and the words Dead! Lost! Lost! Continually rang in his ears. In his heart, Judson knew that salvation in Christ was true. In despair, he turned his horse toward Plymouth and home. His family welcomed him with tender embrace and forgiveness.

 A year later, Judson began to seek God. He came across a sermon titled, “The Star in the East” by Dr. Claudius Buchanan, a chaplain of the British East India Company. The message was based on Mathew 2:2: “For we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him”. Buchanan shared his personal experiences of the power of the gospel to change lives in Asia. His sermon “fell like a spark into the tinder of Judson’s soul”. Within a short time, he had made his decision. He would bring the message of Christ to the lost in Asia!

         In 1810, he met and fell in love with a girl named, Ann Nancy Hasseltine. They were married on February 5, 1812, shortly after the American Missionary Board agreed to sponsor his trip to India. The couple sailed for India on February 19, 1812 along with another missionary, Samuel Eewell and his new bride, Harriet. After four months at sea, both couples arrived in Calcutta, India on June 18, 1812. Unfortunately, the East India Company was not happy to see them. They were then asked to check in at the local police station and were bluntly told that they could not stay in India.

Judson had felt a call to Burma ever since reading Michael Syme’s book, ‘Embassy to Ava’. However, when he spoke about his desire to go there, the missionaries in Calcutta responded with a unanimous cry, “Forget Burma!” Then, the nation of Burma was ruled by a despotic emperor who hated Western culture. Beheadings and crucifixions were common punishments for small crimes. Although the son of William Carey, one of the missionaries in Calcutta had founded a mission station in Burma, he had no success there. The cry, “Forget Burma!” continually echoed in Judson’s ears while he was in Calcutta.

          Through God’s intervention, Judson and his wife arrived in Burma on July 13, 1813, the country that would become their home for life. Ann was enchanted with the beauty of the country. They were surrounded by colourful landscape, lush vegetation and gentle rolling hills. The couple later established a station that became the first mission of American Baptists. Their work included evangelism and Bible translation. In 1842, following completion of Judson’s first dictionary, they relocated to Ava, to establish a greater influence with the government.

          However, Judson was arrested by the Burmese government and charged with being an English spy. He was eventually imprisoned in 1824. In a 21-month period of incarceration during the Anglo-Burmese War, he suffered from fever and malnutrition. As a result of the courage and resourcefulness of his wife, he was released in February 1826 to serve as a translator for the Burmese government during negotiations for the treaty of Yandabo. His wife died of complications of small-pox later that same year.

To enlarge his efforts, Judson moved his mission to Moulmein in 1826. There, with the assistance of another missionary, Jonathan Wade, he built a church and a school. He also continued work on the Burmese Bible, which he completed in 1834. Later that year, he married Sarah Hall Boardman, widow of a missionary, George Dana Boardman. In 1845, following the birth of their eight child, Sarah’s health deteriorated and the Judsons embarked on a journey to America. Though Sarah died en route, Judson completed the trip and remained in the States for nine months’ furlough. While his strength had been greatly reduced and he suffered chronic laryngitis, he was hailed as a hero throughout the Christian community.

 While at Madison University in upstate New York, he met and married Emily Chubbock, a writer and educator. They returned to Burma in 1846 to work on an enlarged Burmese dictionary, which was completed in 1849. Shortly afterward, Judson contracted a respiratory fever. Steadily, he grew worse, and his doctors insisted that his only hope was a sea voyage. With apprehension, Emily booked her husband on the French ship Aristide Marie, due to sail for France. On April 6, 1850, the ship put out to sea with Judson on board and a fellow missionary, Thomas as his companion. On April, 1850, Adoniram Judson departed the earthly shores to be with his Lord and Saviour.

           When we read stories like this, we are tempted to ask ourselves if we are serving the same God Judson gave his all to. He was totally yielded to the will of his Master and the fruits of his dedication to the agenda of God were unmistakable. Today, many of us are not pursuing the things that matter to God. We are very materialistic and that colours our faith. Some of us have even established a business relationship with Him. Our conduct shows that we are only interested in what we can get from Him. Jesus said we should seek the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and every other thing will be added to us. That sounds like a bad idea to many of us.

So, we embrace worldly ideas to enhance our self-esteem and open doors for us instead of trusting in God’s providence. We only remember to pray when we are in dire straits with no man to help us. God becomes the means to our ends. Of course, no man wants to be taken for granted. Because God knows our thoughts afar off, He knows when are prayers are motivated by selfish desires. We cannot deceive Him by using religion as a cope out for our godlessness. We need to repent of our religiosity and embrace true life in Christ Jesus alone. It is only then God can use us as a battle axe to destroy the works of satan and draw souls to His Kingdom.

*****  Culled from Roberts Liardon’s God’s Generals: The Missionaries, Whitaker House, New Kensington, PA 15068, Judson, Adoniram (1788-1850), School of Theology, https://www.bu.edu.