The Prophetic Faith of Our Fathers, vol. 3

I. Wolff-Advent Herald on Four Continents

JOSEPH WOLFF (1795-1862), Jewish Christian “missionary to the world,” was born in Bavaria, but was immediately after taken to Prussia by his father, who was a rabbi. His strict Hebrew training began when he was only four, and he was early taught that the Jews generally were awaiting the soon-coming Messiah. He was also taught to regard Christians as idolatrous worshipers of crosses of wood. He was sent to a Christian school to learn German, but at home he listened to the rabbis discussing the coming of Messiah. Soon he began to wonder about Christ, and at eight received favorable impressions of Christianity from Spiess, the Lutheran village barber surgeon, from whom the Wolffs secured milk. PFF3 463.4

Directed to watch the milking so nothing forbidden would be added by the servant, Joseph would weary of the stable and converse with Spiess about the Messiah. Through reading the forbidden chapter, Isaiah 53, he was finally persuaded that Jesus was the prophesied Messiah, and told the Lutheran minister of his desire to become a Christian. But at home, fearing punishment, he remained silent, for his parents were concerned lest he turn from the faith of his fathers. ⁸ PFF3 464.1

Jewish Deists soon began to inject doubt into young Wolff’s mind concerning the inspiration of Moses and the validity of the Jewish ceremonies, and his rabbinical prejudices were shaken by these skeptical Jews. Joseph now began the study of Latin, Greek, and Hebrew. At eleven he was sent to the Protestant Lyceum at Stuttgart, then to an uncle at Bamberg, where a Roman Catholic Latin and history teacher instilled further principles of Christianity. Joseph determined to become a Christian, declaring his intention publicly. His father threatened to disown him if he did so. He fled to Frankfort to escape Jewish persecution, and was befriended by a Catholic shepherd ⁹ who not only gave him shelter and prayed for him but divided with Wolff his meager funds, and sent him on his way with a practical lesson in Christianity. PFF3 464.2

Young Wolff wished to become a preacher of the gospel, but a rationalist Protestant professor at Frankfort discounted Christian baptism and membership. His father having died, Wolff received Christian instruction from Professor Knapp, at Halle, and continued to be persecuted by the Jews. In 1810 he visited Prague, Bohemia, with testimonials from Halle. But the Catholics were suspicious of him because he was a Jew. Penniless in Vienna, Wolff was befriended by an Austrian of ficer. This was followed by a disappointing six weeks in a Benedictine monastery, where he was persecuted because of his race. ¹⁰ PFF3 464.3

1. BAPTIZED INTO CATHOLICISM AT SEVENTEEN

He went to Munich for six months, where he clashed with Jewish professors and found the Protestant professors all rationalists. Disgusted now with Protestantism, Wolff was provided by Catholic priests with early and later Catholic writings showing the distinctions between Catholicism and Protestantism. At Anspach other rationalist Protestant professors discouraged him from becoming a Christian, so he determined to be baptized a Catholic. In 1811, at Saxe Weimar, after studying the Latin classics and natural history under a pantheist, and meeting noted skeptical philosophers, he went to a monastery at Heidelberg, then studied at a Swiss monastery. Finally at Prague, after instruction in a Benedictine convent, he was baptized a Catholic at the age of seventeen. ¹¹ PFF3 465.1

In 1813 Wolff began the study of Arabic, Syriac, and Chaldean, and attended theological lectures at Vienna for a year and a half. Here he formed the friendship of such noted scholars as Von Hammer, Kopitar, Jahn, Von Schlegel, Körner, Von Penkler, Werner, and Hofbauer, the superior-general of the Re-demptorists-similar to the Jesuits- (this order being just then abolished for a time). Later he returned to Vienna and began to translate the Bible into German, the excellence of which was admitted by several scholars. ¹² PFF3 465.2

In 1815, after lecturing on Hebrew before the University of Landshut, Wolff accepted the invitation of Frederick Leopold, Count of Stolberg, a truly pious Catholic, to visit him at Westphalia. Stolberg was not a believer in the grosser things of Catholicism-the immaculate conception, the worship of saints, the infallibility of the pope, the bodily ascension of the Virgin, or the Inquisition and the crusades. He was, moreover, a constant reader of the Bible, believed in the power of Christ and His resurrection, considered Huss a martyr, and regarded Luther highly. ¹³ PFF3 465.3

Wolff attended Leopold’s school, partook of his sentiments, and continued translating the Scriptures. He entered the Protestant University at Tubingen, where he studied Oriental theology for nearly two years through the liberality of Prince Dalberg-chiefly Oriental languages, Arabic and Persian, ecclesiastical history, with Biblical exegesis under Professors Stuedal, Schnurrer, and Flatt. Here he disputed with the professors in favor of “Stolberg” Catholicism. And here he made the acquaintance of other noted philosophers and scholars. ¹⁴ PFF3 466.1

Wolff left Tubingen in 1816 and proceeded toward Rome. On the way he visited Fribourg, Switzerland. The head of the Redemptorists there took away his Hebrew Bible, because it was printed in heretical Amsterdam. Grieved at the loss, he secured another from a Protestant preacher. The Redemptorist head at Valais then took this second Hebrew Bible away from him, because it was printed at Leipzig. But Wolff regained it by stealth. ¹⁵ PFF3 466.2

When he reached Milan, the professors and librarians of the Ambrosian library provided him with introductions to Cardinal Vendoni. At Turin he met a number of scholars and diplomats, and finally, after passing through Genoa and Pisa, he arrived at Rome, seeking out Abbot Ostini, professor of ecclesiastical history at the Collegio Romano, who informed Pius VII of Wolff’s arrival. He was introduced to the pope by Monsignor Testa, and conversed about Stolberg, Schlegel, and Hoffbauer. He showed the pope his Hebrew Bible, telling of its adventures, and the pope desired him to read from it. ¹⁶ PFF3 466.3

2. CONFLICT IN THE PROPAGANDA AT ROME

Wolff was now placed by the pope in the Collegio Romano, in 116, pending the re-establishment of the Propaganda. ¹⁷ Conflict over the Reformation was evaded in the church history class, but trouble began as Wolff challenged the infallibility of the general councils, transubstantiation, the infallibility of the pope above the councils, the immaculate conception, and the right of the church to burn heretics. The situation became critical because of Wolff’s boldness in expressing his opinions on these delicate subjects. He discovered the Christianity of Rome sharply at variance with that of the Stolberg family. The litanies to the Virgin, the pretended miracles, the suppression of Scriptures, and the inconsistency with the simplicity of Christ, all distressed him. His conscience revolted, and he protested openly, contemplating precipitous flight. ¹⁸ PFF3 467.1

Picture 2: <EL>
Important Roman Catholic College of the Propaganda, in Rome, Attended by the Dynamic Joseph Wolff Before His Withdrawal to Train for Heralding the Advent to Many Nations

In January, 1818, Wolff was transferred to the new College of Missionary Propaganda, pursuing his studies there. The appointment of a new scholastic rector eased the situation, and Wolff received minor orders. Here he met Henry Drummond, his future patron, who came to Rome to see Wolff. ¹⁹ Wolff was in the midst of a sharp dispute with the rector of the Propaganda over the right of the church to burn heretics-which Wolff denied on the basis of the command “Thou shalt not kill.” The rector defended it, because seventeen popes had declared it proper. “Then,” replied Wolff, “seventeen Popes have done wrong.” During the entire conversation Drummond stood out side the door and listened. Because of such a stand, Drummond declared he would “remain Wolff’s friend to his dying hour, though all England should trample upon him!” Speaking to Wolff, he said, “Wolff, go with me to England”; but Wolff was not ready. ²⁰ Later he wrote, “Wolff, come out of Babylon.” ²¹ PFF3 468.1

Wolff’s contact with the Protestant Drummond brought him under the scrutiny of the Inquisition. Cardinal Litta, how ever, opened a way of escape for Wolff through an appointment from Rome to Vienna. ²² But he was sent away by the pope’s express decree, banished as recusant, lest he taint the students with his sentiments. The cardinal carried out the order with tears, and Wolff was escorted out of Rome at three o’clock one morning by twenty-five gendarmes. ²³ PFF3 468.2

For months afterward, he was cruelly treated at Vienna. ²⁴ Then he was sent to the convent of Val sainte, where he was kept in durance for seven months among the Liguorians, an order much like the Jesuits. At Salzburg he met the Oriental scholar Sandbichler, who first directed his attention to the study of unfulfilled prophecy and the Apocalypse. ²⁵ PFF3 468.3

3. ACCEPTS DRUMMOND’S INVITATION TO LONDON

Convinced of his fundamental differences with the Catholic Church, Wolff obtained a dismissal in 1819, thus being “cast off” by the “mother of his adoption.” At Lausanne he met a messenger from Drummond with another urge to come to London, which offer he now accepted. ²⁶ After reaching Paris he made the rest of the journey with Robert Haldane, a friend of Drummond, recently come from Switzerland, who laid before him the doc trine of justification by faith. ²⁷ PFF3 469.1

Arriving in London in 1819, at the age of twenty-three, Wolff was introduced to London friends by Drummond, particularly to Lewis Way, ²⁸ secretary of the London Society for the Promotion of Christianity Amongst the Jews. He was immediately taken over by the society for training as one of its missionary representatives. He was given two years of further training at King’s College, Cambridge, with separate instruction in theology by Charles Simeon, and in Persian, Chaldean, and Arabic by Samuel Lee. ²⁹ Wolff threw himself into the program with ardor, often rising at 2 A.M. After visiting various Protestant churches he became a member of the Church of England by joining the Episcopal Chapel, of which Hawtrey was pastor. ³⁰ PFF3 469.2

In 1821 Wolff became a charter student of the newly formed Stansted Seminary, ³¹ in Sussex. Further Biblical instruction on the points at issue between Jews and Christians followed. The study of Hebrew, Greek, Latin, and modern languages was like wise continued, with foreign scholars to aid in the finishing touches in these languages. Thus the students were to be pre pared for their task as traveling missionaries for the Society to Promote Christianity Amongst the Jews. ³² After eight months of this, eagerness to enter upon his missionary career led Wolff to proceed to Palestine in 1821, under the financial patronage of Henry Drummond and John Bayford. ³³ PFF3 469.3

4. ENTERS UPON EVENTFUL MISSIONARY CAREER

Wolff; missionary labors from 1821 to 1826 included Palestine, Egypt, the Sinaitic Peninsula, Mesopotamia, Persia, the Crimea. Georgia, and the Ottoman Empire. He stressed the second advent and made constant reports through The Jewish Expositor. In his ardor he sometimes sat up all night reading and ex pounding the Scriptures to the Jews in Jerusalem. ³⁴ In 1823 he promoted schools for Armenian, Persian, and Jewish children, and in 1824 published his Missionary Journal and Memoir. Part of the time he carried a printing press with him, provided by Drummond. ³⁵ PFF3 470.1

Between the years 1826 and 1830 Wolff was traveling continuously throughout England, Scotland, Ireland, Holland, Ger many, the Mediterranean, Malta, the Greek Islands, Egypt, Jerusalem, and Cyprus, with reports continuing in The Jewish Expositor. He was constantly on the lookout for the lost tribes as the “kings of the East.” ³⁶ In 1827 he married Georgiana Mary, daughter of Horatio Walpole, Earl of Oxford, their acquaintance having been fostered by Irving. In the same year Wolff was naturalized as an Englishman before both the House of Lords and the House of Commons. ³⁷ PFF3 470.2

Between 1831 and 1834 his travels covered Turkey, Persiaf Turkestan, Bokhara, Balkh, Afghanistan, Cashmere, Hindustan, and the Red Sea. In 1831 he was seeking the lost tribes in the 126 Afghan villages visited. ³⁸ In 1833, in the kingdom of Oude, he preached the imminent advent of Christ. And in 1835 his Researches and Missionary Labours, dedicated to J. H. Frere, was issued as a report of his travels during the preceding four years. PFF3 470.3

Between 1835 and 1838 Wolff was traveling again-in Gibraltar, Malta, Egypt, Mt. Sinai, Jiddah, Masowah (Africa), Kamazien, Tigre, Abyssinia, Bombay, St. Helena, and finally in the United States and England. In 1837 he was ordained a deacon of the Church of England by Bishop G. W. Doane, in Newark, New Jersey, and he preached in Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington. ³⁹ In December he preached before a joint session of the Congress of the United States, as well as the legislatures of New Jersey and Pennsylvania. ⁴⁰ Also he received the degree of D.D. from St. John’s College, Annapolis, Mary land. PFF3 470.4

In 1838 Wolff was ordained a Church of England priest by the bishop of Dromore, Ireland, and made rector of Linthwaite, Yorkshire. He received an LL.D. from the University of Dublin in the same year. ⁴¹ In 1839 he issued his Journal of the Rev. Joseph Wolff, and in 1843 made a second dangerous journey to Bokhara to ascertain the fate of two British officers. At Constantinople, on the final journey, he was still preaching on Christ’s personal coming and reign, ⁴² and in 1845 published the Narrative of a Mission to Bokhara, and was made vicar of Ile Brewers. Finally, in 1860, he published his large Travels and Adventures of the Rev. Joseph Wolff, and died while contemplating a new and still harder missionary journey. ⁴³ PFF3 471.1