Some Jewish Witnesses For Christ
the "Chizzuk Emunah" in his "Demonstration of the Messiah," in 1694.
Jacob Gusset likewise in his "Controversarium adversus Judaeos ternio,"
Dortrecht, 1688. The whole was edited by Arnold Borst, and published in
1712, at Amsterdam, under the title, "Jesu Christi Evangeliique Veritas,
salutifera, demonstrata in confutatione libri Chizzuk Emunah." The Rev.
A. Lukyn Williams is now answering the same in English, and the writer
is translating it into Yiddish.
GERMANUS, Johannes Isaac Levita, having been convinced that Isaiah liii.
was a Messianic prophecy and fulfilled in Jesus, was baptized with his
wife and his son Stephen by Joh. Draconites in 1546. Later he became
professor of Hebrew in London and in Cologne. He wrote a controversial
work entitled: "Defensio veritatis Hebraicae," Cologne, 1558, also a
Hebrew grammar, "Mebo Imre Shofar," which passed through several
editions; a treatise on the book of Ruth; and translated some of the
works of Maimonides and Juda Ibn Tibon into Latin. His son, Stephen, who
was a physician, translated the prophet Malachi into Latin.
GEROLD, Rev. G. L., was a rabbinical student in Breslau, baptized by Dr.
Stern in the year of his death, graduated at Cambridge, was ordained in
1898, and is now Rector of Easthope, Much Wenlock, Salop, in the diocese
of Hereford.
GERSON, Christian ben Meir Biberbach, born at Reeklichhausen, August 1,
1567, received the usual Talmudical education, and was a teacher in
several places. A neighbour, who was a Christian woman, borrowed from
him ten pence, giving him as security a Lutheran New Testament. Curious
to know the source of the Christian errors, he and his two
brothers-in-law read it with much amusement. Yet finding there
quotations from the Old Testament, he continued reading it more
earnestly, comparing Scripture with Scripture, until his conscience was
awakened and felt the need of salvation through Christ. He wrote
afterwards--"I found such light, for which I have to thank the Lord God
all my life." He was baptized by Pastor Silberschlag at Halberstadt,
October 19, 1600. Gerson's son Stephen was baptized years later, but his
wife got a divorce from him. He then taught Hebrew at Copenhagen, and
eventually, after being persuaded by friends, he became a preacher of
the Gospel. Testimony is given him that he heartily loved his people,
and defended them against blood accusations. His works are: "Des
Jüdischer Talmud fürnehmster Inhalt und Widerlegung," Gislav, 1707,
Gera, 1613. A German translation of the eleventh chapter of Tract
Sanhedrin. Gerson died on October 22, 1642, only 47 years old, as a
preacher of the Gospel, in poverty. He was pastor of two parishes,
receiving a stipend of six gulden, and had to work as a farm labourer
for his living. In the Jewish Encyclopædia it is stated that Gerson was
drowned at Roelheim, September 25, 1627. Here is a specimen of the
contradictory statements of historians.
GERSON, Rev. Marks, was born in Kovno, Poland, in 1879. His father died
when he was four, and his mother when he was thirteen. Up to that age he
received the usual Jewish education and his elder brother kept him at
school for another year, but then he had to make a start to earn his own
living. He worked with relatives for five years, and then came to
London, where the "Hebrew Christian Testimony" was instrumental in
leading him to Christ. In 1898 he was admitted into the Operative Jewish
Converts' Institution, and in December of the same year was baptized by
the Rev. G. H. Händler in Christ Church, Stepney. In June, 1899, he was
confirmed by the Bishop of Stepney, and in 1901 he was accepted by the
Church Missionary Society for training first at Clapham Common, then at
Blackheath, and subsequently at the College in Islington. On the 18th of
June, 1905, he was ordained in St. Paul's Cathedral, and since then he
has laboured with good success in India: being stationed at present in
Calcutta.
GERSTMAN, W. A., was a missionary of the L.J.S. at Jerusalem in 1837,
and then on account of illness was transferred to Constantinople in
1840.
GINSBURG, Rev. Dr. Christian David, born at Warsaw, December 25, 1821,
embraced Christianity there in 1846, was missionary of the British
Society in Liverpool till 1863, when he retired in order to devote
himself entirely to literary work. Dr. Ginsburg contributed a
considerable number of valuable articles on Jewish topics to Kitto's
Encyclopædia, published a book on the Karaites and Essenes, and a full
account in English of the Kabbalah, its doctrines, development, and
literature. But he will be especially remembered for his massoretic
studies, and translation of Elias Levita's "Massoreth-ha-Massorah" in
1867, and of Jacob ben Hayim's "Introduction to the Rabbinic Bible,"
published in the same year. He was on the Revision Committee of the Old
Testament. He edited the Massoretic Critical Text of the Hebrew Bible
for the Trinitarian Bible Society, 1894, and also Salkinson's
translation of the New Testament into Hebrew, 1886.
GINSBURG, Rev. J. B. Crighton, was instructed and baptized by the L.J.S.
missionary Hausmeister, at Strasburg. After doing good work in England,
and not without results, he laboured for many years in Algeria. Among
his converts there were Moses Ben Oliel and T. E. Zerbib. He then
laboured faithfully in Mogador, amidst many difficulties and trials, and
lastly he had the charge of the mission at Constantinople from 1886,
till the time of his death there, when he entered into the higher
service of Heaven.
GOLDBERG, Dr. John Benjamin, was one of a number of rabbis and learned
men, who were converted to Christianity in Jerusalem in the first half
of the nineteenth century. He was baptized in Christ Church, Jerusalem
by Nicolayson, in 1843. He had consequently to undergo much persecution
and loss of property. In 1847 we find him as a preacher of the Gospel to
his brethren in Cairo, and then, on account of illness; he was
transferred to Salonica. In 1851 he was appointed as missionary at
Constantinople, and from there he went, in 1860, to Smyrna. Goldberg was
a most spiritually-minded and lovable man. His latter years he spent in
England, and contributed to the "Hebrew Christian Witness," in 1874, two
learned and very valuable and extensive articles on "The Language of
Christ," and on "The Future Division of the Land of Israel."
GOLDBERG, Johann Peter, missionary to the Jews. We give the following
extracts from his life and work, edited by his son-in-law, the Rev. J.
A. Hausmeister:--
"It might appear strange that Goldberg should so soon give up his
acquired profession and become a teacher; but the fact is, that, from
his earliest years, he showed a disposition more for intellectual
employment than for business, for the latter he never displayed any
great talent. At the same time, he did not conceal his religious, or,
rather, anti-Jewish tendencies, as he was always open and
straightforward. These were in his case tolerated, because he was
respected on account of his learning, and in a few years he was duly
appointed as teacher of the whole Jewish community.
"Concerning his conversion, he, in his reminiscences, tells the story
thus: 'On New Year's eve, 1803, I and several Jews went, out of
curiosity, to the Hall, where the congregation of the Moravian brethren
worshipped. Here, I heard, for the first time, of the birth, the
destiny, the suffering, death, and the resurrection of our Saviour, and
seized by a kind of foreboding feeling, my heart was filled with joy and
happiness. Deeply touched, I left that sacred house with the resolve to
visit it often, and the impressions of the love of God to men were so
forcibly within me, that they also accompanied and refreshed me in my
sleep. Yet, alas! this beneficial impression vanished soon, by reason of
the implanted prejudices against Christianity, and of the unbelief which
had already taken root in me, even in the Scriptures of the Old
Testament. But since that night I felt, more and more, a disconsolate
emptiness in my heart, though I continued, at a distance, from the way
of life.' We hear here the knockings of God on the door of an erring
heart, which refused to open itself. How often must the gracious God
visit a man, now with love and then with affliction, before He can gain
admittance into his soul. But a Jew has still more difficulties to
contend against; for the prejudices against Christianity, which he
imbibes from his youth, arise from the natural heart as soon as it has
come under the influence of the truth. He has to contend not only
against the enemy of unbelief, but also against the enemy of
superstition, which bars his way in every direction. Though Goldberg was
surrounded by various Christians at Neuwied, and came, sometimes, in
contact with the Moravian brethren, yet many years passed before he
submitted to the Word of God, and found the peace which the world can
neither give nor take away. It is very telling for the character of
Goldberg that he chose Neuwied for his home. With his former principal
at Hamburg, he continued a friendly correspondence, and received from
him repeated invitations to return to the situation, where every
prospect for his advancement and happiness awaited him. But he was firm,
and felt no matrimonial inclinations for the rich merchant's daughter,
but rather chose for his partner the daughter of Solomon Rubens, the
Jewish butcher at Neuwied. They were married in 1806, and she brought
him something better than money--a true and loving heart; which helped
him to carry his burden, and was ready with him to cast that burden upon
the mighty shoulders of the Saviour, and to participate in his joy and
peace. Nevertheless, many a rivulet flows into the Rhine, and the couple
had to drink much of the bitter waters of Marah, before they tasted of
the cup of salvation. I will only mention a few instances:--
"When Goldberg established his own home, he resumed his connexion with
his family, not only by correspondence but by paying them a visit, which
he had long yearned to do. In the very fruitful year of 1811 he started
upon his journey, in spite of the dissuasion of the Austrian ambassador
at Frankfort, who had told him that he was liable to punishment in his
country, because he had failed to present himself for military service.
Safely arrived at Regensburg, the superintendent of the police refused
at first to give a _visé_ to his passport for Austria, as it had not the
signature of the ambassador, but he and his wife at last prevailed over
the officer. In Vienna, again, the police told him that he would have to
be transported home as a transgressor of the law, but through the
influence of a banker, a cousin of Goldberg, and by means of a bribe, he
was permitted to remain some time in Vienna unmolested. On his return
journey to the Rhine he experienced immediate Divine protection, even in
a more striking manner. He had made this journey on foot, and came one
day very tired to a village and rested a little in an hotel. Black
clouds covered the sky and announced the approach of a storm, when
Goldberg resumed his march, though against the warning of the hostess,
as he was very anxious to see his wife and children as soon as possible.
As soon as he entered a thick forest, the rain came down in torrents,
accompanied by thunder and lightning, and the wanderer had to stop.
There was an open space in the forest with only a few stumps of trees in
it, and he was meditating upon which of the stumps he should sit down.
He decided for the one which stood on the right. Scarcely had he sat
down, when the stump on the left was struck by lightning and shivered to
pieces. He was thus much impressed with the wonderful protecting care of
the providence of God.