The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1925, Page 146

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146 THE LUTHERAN PIONEER.

The Light that Leads to Heaven.

The light that leads to heaven
Is Jesus’ Word of Grace,

A salutary leaven

At every time or place;

It kindles faith, bestowing

On us the Holy Ghost,

From whom rich power is flowing
To make of life the most.

May we, this Word proclaiming,
Lord, rescue souls forlorn,
After Thy likeness framing
New converts yet unborn,

Until of all the mortals

Thy fold has entered life!

Then heav'n will ope its portals

And end the nations’ strife.
IH. OSTERUS.

Reclaiming Christ’s Heritage.

X.
THE ASIATIC NEAR EAST.

Under the above term we would have included
Asia Minor with Armenia and Kurdistan, Syria,
Palestine, Arabia, Mesopotamia, and Persia. The
total area of the Asiatic Near East is over 2,000,000
square miles and equals the total area of the United.
States, excluding the extreme Western States of
California, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, , Nevada,
Montana, Utah, and Arizona. The population of
this vast area of Southwestern Asia is about
40,000,000.

The Asiatic Near East shares with Egypt the
distinction of being the cradle of civilization. It

A Mission-Hospital in Syria.

is rich in history; for here were once found the
mighty empires of antiquity, and here are to be
found more monuments and landmarks of ancient
culture than anywhere else in the world. A high

———

stage of civilization had its home on the banks of
the Tigris and Euphrates when Europe was yet
largely overrun by barbarians and the forebears of
the most advanced races of to-day had scarcely

A Village Chapel in Syria.

emerged from the savagery into which they had
fallen after their migration from Babel. Iere. too,
is the land of the Bible, and here are the scenes
upon which our Savior’s eyes: rested in the days
of His flesh. In this area the patriarchs lived and
died, here the prophets of Jehovah lifted their
voices, instructing, warning, admonishing, and
comforting, and here Jesus lived out His earthly
stainless life; here He performed His marvelous
works; here He suffered and died; here He rose
again; and here He triumphantly ascended on high.
The Asiatic Near East is the home of Judaism,
Christianity, and Mohammedanism; but. sad: to
say, to-day Mohammedanism practically dominates
this whole area. From the mountain fastnesses of
Afghanistan in the east to the Mediterranean in
the west, and from the Indian Ocean in the south
to the waters of the Caspian in the north, Islam
prevails, and the followers of the false prophet
Mohammed are in tlte vast majority. Almost
35,000,000 of the 40,000,000 inhabitants are Mos-
lems.
Sad Conditions.

The entire Moslem population is intellectually
and socially upon a very low level. It is very
probable that not one out of ten of the people of
the Asiatic Near East is able to read and write.
The social conditions are most pitiable and present
an almost hopeless aspect. Polygamy is, as every-
where in the Moslem world, practised generally,
unless poverty makes it impossible. “The divorce
evil is shamefully prevalent; yes, so common, that
it may be said that scarcely a man above thirty ;

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