Morning Star

MORNING STAR.
For the Morning Star.
Study of the Dead Languages.
The study of the languages has been and now is a subject of deep interest to persons of taste—to lovers of antiquity, to those who have wished to fathom the depths of ancient science and bring up its rich and varied treasures to the view of the world—but especially to him who wishes to acquire a knowledge of the will of God in the languages in which it was expressed, that he can thereby better serve the cause of Christ.
Each has his interests and inducements to become acquainted with the different languages of antiquity; but the student of sacred literature has motives which sink those of others into comparative nothingness. God, by his Holy Spirit, has spoken through his chosen servants in certain of these languages; and the well-versed student in them can sit and hear God for himself, without an interpreter. Besides, these languages, ceasing to be spoken immediately after the treasures of Divine truth were committed to them for safe keeping, have become the depositories of that boon above all price, and the ever vigilant guardians which are destined to hand down uncontaminated those sacred oracles to millions yet unborn, and will be the great regulators in Theology and the confuters of the wild speculations of fanatics and ill-designing men.
Spoken languages are ever changing in the use and meaning of their words and phrases; not so with those which have ceased to be spoken;—they have stood unchanged and unchanging for centuries past, and so they will stand for centuries to come, bearing the same unbroken feature.
But while it is so important for a minister of the gospel to be a good linguist, it is not an indispensable attainment, nor is the want of a knowledge of different tongues a preventive to extensive usefulness. It is possible that some ardently tempered spirits, while looking upon the great benefits to be derived to themselves and the probable advantage which would accrue to the church of Christ, if they were able to dive into the depths of other tongues and fetch their stores to light, have made resolves, and put forth efforts, which might have been better directed.
For instance, there may be some in the ministry whose early opportunities to acquire knowledge were very poor, and consequently their stock of scientific information is somewhat limited, who may attempt to acquire a knowledge of the dead languages, while they do not properly understand the grammatical construction of our own tongue, and the particular branches of English literature, which are essential to enable them to speak and write correctly and express their ideas with force and clearness. As much as I love the study of the languages, and as anxious as I am for the Freewill Baptist ministry to become so learned that we shall not be a whit behind any class of men in a knowledge of all sciences, yet I seriously doubt the propriety of entering the gospel ministry while he is unacquainted with dead languages after man use, and there is no getting along without it.—Our own language must with Our own language.
We ought to be able to speak correctly, and to understand where the power of our own copious tongue lies, so that we can apply it, with all the force of Archimedes' lever to the moral world.
The man who has as good a knowledge as he can have of other languages without knowing his own, is like Archimedes with his lever, with which he could turn over the world if he could find a place on which to stand, but as he had no place to plant his foot so as to lay out his strength, consequently it was of no use. So the man who is not a good English scholar, has no means by which he can put on his steam, let him have ever so much acquaintance with the dead languages, for it is unavailable capital, which yields no interest, nor will it, till there is an avenue opened so that it can be put to use. Not so with our own tongue. Every day's experience teaches us that we need a thorough acquaintance with our vernacular language to enable us to do the duties which devolve upon us as ministers of Jesus Christ. The duties of Clerks and Committees, &c., of our Quarterly, Yearly and other meetings, together with our duties as pastors, demand that we be able to speak and write correctly; but it does not make it indispensably essential for us to understand Hebrew and Greek. Besides, if we get a stock of Hebrew and Greek lore, and in attempting to show it, we murder and mangle the king's English, we shall appear contemptible to every good English scholar, and every linguist; but we may be as ignorant as the Esquimaux are of these languages, if possible, but if we are thorough English scholars and good Theologians, with Christ in us the hope of glory, there is no man of a sound mind, let him be ever so learned, who will despise us, or of whom we need be afraid, or to whom we may not be extensively useful.—
Let us first have our hearts filled with the love of God—be familiarly acquainted with the Scriptures—be able to apply our own language with all its power, both with the tongue and pen, so correctly that we need not be ashamed—and then if we have time to become as extensively acquainted with other languages as Elihu Burritt, let us do it.
It will be remembered, this is designed to apply, not to young men who have not entered the ministry, but to those who have for years been engaged in preaching, whose experience and circumstances come within the scope of this article. To young men I would say, prepare yourselves for the great work to which God has called you. To the churches let me say, be careful that you do not keep back from duty some who would be among the most efficient of Christ's ministers, by neglecting to encourage them and to help them to acquire the fund of knowledge necessary to make them extensively useful; and thus, by robbing God of their services, bring the curse of Heaven upon us as a denomination.
D. S. FROST.
Newmarket, June, 1845.
"Deal justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with thy God."