Journal: Bibliotheca Sacra
Volume: BSAC 88:349 (Jan 1931)
Article: The Missionary Enterprise In Modern Mesopotamia
Author: Albert G. Edwards

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The Missionary Enterprise In Modern Mesopotamia

Albert G. Edwards

The Kingdom of Iraq, the modern Mesopotamia, located in the lower valley of the Tigris and Euphrates, is one of the newest of the nations. But the land it occupies is the site of the world’s oldest civilizations, and shows traces of almost every subsequent period of history. Within the past two years the excavators at Ur of the Chaldees have reached a layer of silt eight feet thick, for which they think the Biblical Deluge offers the only probable explanation. These excavators have shown that the city from which Abraham “went out, not knowing whither he went,” was one of great wealth and a high degree of civilization. In Mesopotamia are the ruins of Nineveh and Babylon. Many of the Jews now living in the land claim that their ancestors were the Jews of the Babylonian exile. The land was subdued by Alexander the Great, who died at Babylon. The Romans and Persians fought for possession of the land. Later it was the seat of the government of the Khalifs, under whose rule was developed almost the only Moslem civilization worthy of the name. And in this case, most of the rulers were heretics and foreigners, who borrowed much of their culture from Europe. Now again, after some centuries of stagnation, an Arab Kingdom has risen up, organized since the Great War, and developed under British mandate; and it is applying for admission to the League of Nations.

The purpose of this article is to consider the Evangelical Missionary enterprise in Iraq in the light of our Lord’s commission to His Church. It is hoped that this consideration will show something of the extent and the seriousness of the task, the work of making known the Gospel of Life and showing it in its setting. An attempt will be made to indicate the obstacles to the work, and to evaluate the methods in use. The writer believes that this survey shows clearly that the missionary enterprise is, to use Dr. Arthur T. Pierson’s expression, ‘the Divine Enterprise of Foreign Missions,” and that only as we base it on the divine

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principles revealed in the New Testament, and work under the guidance and in the power of our Almighty Saviour, can this work be carried through to a successful conclusion in Iraq, or in any other land. To indicate practical steps in the application of these principles is the chief purpose of this article.

The location and natural resources of Iraq give it an importance out of all proportion to its size and population. But these very resources and this location threaten to endanger the country. The oil fields of Iraq may tempt some of the European nations to interfere in the internal affairs of Iraq. Turkey, to the North, appears to desir...