كتاب منهج دراسة الأديان بين الشيخ رحمت الله الهندي والقس فندر

ملحق الرسالة - ص: 309

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Stuttgart. Already his childhood reading of literature from the Basel Mission had influenced him to think of becoming a missionary. The mission saw itself as a spiritual society, a fellowship within the universal church dedicated to uniting pietist Christians, whether Lutheran, Moravian, or Reformed, in commitment to mission and evangelism. The dominant theological theme of Pietism was the need for individual repentance and renewal, beginning with consciousness of one's own sin. Only such a process of spiritual discovery could result in salvation. For the pietists, the Bible was the sole source of authority, and its study formed the central plank in the curriculum at their mission training college in Basel (established ١٨١٥). The historical-critical method of F. C. Baur (١٧٩٢ - ١٨٦٠), D. F. Strauss (١٨٠٨ - ٧٤), and others made no impact at all on the pietists' understanding of biblical truth. W. M. L. de Wette's lectures at Basel University, where he was professor of theology from ١٨٢٢ to ١٨٤٩, were out of bounds for students of the missionary college.]٤[This period predates the "verbal inerrancy" language of nineteenth-century fundamentalism, but this was how the pietists viewed the Bible--as an inspired, infallible, inerrant guide to Christian teaching, life, and work. Nor did the arguments of the philosophers and theologians for and against deism appeal to them; revelation was more important than reason and logic. Only faith mattered.

Pfander offered himself to the society at seventeen, entering the Basel College in ١٨٢٠. Alongside Bible study, with emphasis on original languages, went instruction in Arabic and on the Qur'an. The society, whose first missionaries worked in Muslim areas, had early identified mission to Muslims as a priority. Christian Gottlieb Blumhardt (١٧٧٩ - ١٨٣٨) lectured on the Qur'an for five hours each week, while a professor from Basel University taught Arabic. Basel students also received instruction in a skilled manual trade; financial independence became a hallmark of many of the Christian communities nurtured by Basel missionaries. Pfander clearly left Basel with some knowledge of Islam, which, based primarily on the Qur'an, was