Page 21 - Protestant Missionary Activity in the Arabian Gulf

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had some difficulty in understanding this apparent religious

tolerance (or hypocrisy), whijfch he described with some irri­

tation in one of his letters:

"The Word has been faithfully preached each morning,
generally by Mr. Zwemer, with increasing attention and ap­
parent interest if not conviction. The patients often as­
sent to the truth of the words they hear but I am afraid
that much of the ground that is not stony is very shallow."^0

Although the opportunities for evangelism seemed so

promising, there was little evidence of real success in this

area and the missionaries were forced to ask themselves if a

medical and educational mission without evangelism was a jus-

tifiableendeavor. Once the question was put in these terms,

most missionaries were forced to give a reluctant negative

reply. The debate on this subject raged back and forth in

missionary councils. John Van Ess, a noted Arab scholar and

one of those most influential of the early missionaries put
the problem clearly to the Arabian Mission in a letter he wrote
S «Sr
in 1913:

"What are we here for? Because here most of all
Christ’s kingship is denied and usurped. What are we here
for? To restore the King to his throne. All else is sub­
sidiary and incidental - only a means to an end. A hospi­
tal and a doctor* if they aim only to relieve bodily suf­

fering, &re?in a field like ours, only a hindrance, not a
help, for good works are the core and the curse of Islam,
and we cannot afford to bolster up that idea. A school,
however finely equipped, is in a land like this worse than
useless, if it educates only the mind, for it makes edu­
cated rascals who take over our vices and distort our vir­
tues. We have excellent hospitals and are proud of our
doctors; we are on the way to having efficient schools;
wepush both these activities, but only as a means to an
end - to make Christ king." 29

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