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He pretended to be the Messiah, the Jewish tribunal sentenced Him to
death.” “Why,” rejoined the questioner, “is Jerusalem destroyed, and
why are we in captivity?” “Alas, alas!” answered his father, “because
the Jews murdered the prophets.” The thought was at once suggested
to the child: “Perhaps Jesus was also a prophet, and the Jews killed
Him when He was innocent.”—Travels and Adventures of the Rev.
Joseph Wolff, vol. 1, p. 6. So strong was this feeling that, though
forbidden to enter a Christian church, he would often linger outside to
listen to the preaching.
When only seven years old he was boasting to an aged Christian
neighbor of the future triumph of Israel at the advent of the Messiah,
when the old man said kindly: “Dear boy, I will tell you who the real
Messiah was: He was Jesus of Nazareth, ... whom your ancestors
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have crucified, as they did the prophets of old. Go home and read
the fifty-third chapter of Isaiah, and you will be convinced that Jesus
Christ is the Son of God.”—Ibid., vol. 1, p. 7. Conviction at once
fastened upon him. He went home and read the scripture, wondering to
see how perfectly it had been fulfilled in Jesus of Nazareth. Were the
words of the Christian true? The boy asked of his father an explanation
of the prophecy, but was met with a silence so stern that he never again
dared to refer to the subject. This, however, only increased his desire
to know more of the Christian religion.
The knowledge he sought was studiously kept from him in his
Jewish home; but, when only eleven years old, he left his father’s
house and went out into the world to gain for himself an education, to
choose his religion and his lifework. He found a home for a time with
kinsmen, but was soon driven from them as an apostate, and alone and
penniless he had to make his own way among strangers. He went from
place to place, studying diligently and maintaining himself by teaching
Hebrew. Through the influence of a Catholic instructor he was led
to accept the Romish faith and formed the purpose of becoming a
missionary to his own people. With this object he went, a few years
later, to pursue his studies in the College of the Propaganda at Rome.
Here his habit of independent thought and candid speech brought upon
him the imputation of heresy. He openly attacked the abuses of the
church and urged the necessity of reform. Though at first treated with
special favor by the papal dignitaries, he was after a time removed from
Rome. Under the surveillance of the church he went from place to