American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (Abcfm)
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AMERICAN BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS FOR FOREIGN MISSIONS (ABCFM) AND “NOMINAL CHRISTIANS”: ELIAS RIGGS (1810-1901) AND AMERICAN MISSIONARY ACTIVITIES IN THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE by Mehmet Ali Dogan A dissertation submitted to the faculty of The University of Utah in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Middle East Studies/History Department of Languages and Literature The University of Utah May 2013 Copyright © Mehmet Ali Dogan 2013 All Rights Reserved The University of Utah Graduate School STATEMENT OF DISSERTATION APPROVAL The dissertation of Mehmet Ali Dogan has been approved by the following supervisory committee members: Peter Sluglett Chair 4/9/2010 Date Approved Peter von Sivers Member 4/9/2010 Date Approved Roberta Micallef Member 4/9/2010 Date Approved M. Hakan Yavuz Member 4/9/2010 Date Approved Heather Sharkey Member 4/9/2010 Date Approved and by Johanna Watzinger-Tharp Chair of the Department of Middle East Center and by Donna M. White, Interim Dean of The Graduate School. ABSTRACT In this dissertation, I investigate the missionary activities of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) in the Ottoman Empire. I am particularly interested in exploring the impact of the activities of one of the most important missionaries, Elias Riggs, on the minorities in the Ottoman Empire throughout the nineteenth century. By analyzing the significance of his missionary work and the fruits of his intellectual and linguistic ability, we can better understand the efforts of the ABCFM missionaries to seek converts to the Protestant faith in the Ottoman Empire. I focus mainly on the period that began with Riggs’ sailing from Boston to Athens in 1832 as a missionary of the ABCFM until his death in Istanbul on January 17, 1901. Elias Riggs was one of the most influential missionaries in the Ottoman Empire throughout the nineteenth century, and his life was associated with a period of significant change in the Ottoman Empire and the modern history of missionaries in the Middle East. He was instrumental in the ABCFM’s decision to develop a Protestant publishing enterprise for the peoples in the region. In addition to his editorship of religious periodicals, he published a variety of books for the mission. He was a member of the translation committee for the Turkish Bible and he worked several years on translating the Bible into Armenian and Bulgarian. He had an exceptionally long career and worked in many parts of the region. To my parents TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT..........................................................................................................................iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS..................................................................................................vii INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................................1 Archives and Review of Literature..........................................................................6 Chapter Overview...................................................................................................11 Chapters 1 FROM NEW ENGLAND INTO NEW LANDS: THE BEGINNING OF A LONG STORY.......................................................................................................18 The Second Great Awakening...............................................................................19 The First Missionaries............................................................................................ 28 To the Holy Land: From New England to Jerusalem..........................................31 2 SETTLING IN THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE: MIS SIONARY TOURS AND EXPLORATIONS..................................................................................................40 The Construction Years of the American Missionary Establishment.................42 American Missionaries among the Armenians.................................................... 50 3 FROM NEW JERSEY TO GREECE: RIGGS’ ARRIVAL............................... 58 The Making of a Missionary..................................................................................59 Riggs’ Missionary Activities in Greece................................................................67 4 “RESTORATION” OF THE “NOMINAL” CHRISTIANS IN THE TANZIMAT ERA...................................................................................................79 The Tanzimat Era and the Missionaries................................................................80 Elias Riggs’ Activities in Izmir..............................................................................93 5 “ASIA MINOR” AS A MISSIONARY FIELD: MISSIONARY NETWORK AND ELIAS RIGGS............................................................................................ 112 Protestant Millet....................................................................................................113 Riggs’ First Years in Istanbul..............................................................................117 Some Remarks on the Activities of the ABCFM in the 1860s......................... 133 6 ELIAS RIGGS: “INVALUABLE IN ALL DEPARTMENTS”.......................137 Elias Riggs and the European Turkey Mission.................................................. 138 Riggs’ Literary Effects in the Region................................................................. 159 CONCLUSION..................................................................................................................169 The Ottoman Reaction......................................................................................... 173 Elias Riggs............................................................................................................ 179 APPENDICES A: THE RIGGS FAMILY...................................................................................184 B: EXAMPLES FROM THE OTTOMAN ARCHIVES...................................185 SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY....................................................................................... 191 vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to express my gratitude to all the members of my committee for all their help and guidance. I am grateful to my supervisor, Professor Peter Sluglett, for his patience and understanding in every stage of my dissertation. I feel it was a privilige to be a graduate student at the University of Utah and I thank all the professors and staff of the Middle East Center for the warm atmosphere. INTRODUCTION In this dissertation, I investigate the missionary activities of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) in the Ottoman Empire. I am particularly interested in exploring the impact of the activities of one of the most important missionaries, Elias Riggs, on the minorities in the Ottoman Empire throughout the nineteenth century. By analyzing the significance of his missionary work and the fruits of his intellectual and linguistic ability, we can better understand the efforts of the ABCFM missionaries to seek converts to the Protestant faith in the Ottoman Empire. I focus mainly on the period that began with Riggs’ sailing from Boston to Athens in 1832 as a missionary of the ABCFM until his death in Istanbul on January 17, 1901. I concentrate particularly on the effects of his publishing activities among the minorities in the Ottoman Empire. The place of Elias Riggs in the missionary activities during the nineteenth century makes a fascinating story. He had an exceptionally long career and worked in many parts of the region. The first ABCFM school in Greece was opened by Elias and Martha Riggs in Argos in 1834. Riggs was based in Athens, 1832-34; in Argos, 1834-38; in Izmir 1838 53; and in Istanbul, 1853-1901. Riggs was associated with William Goodell, Cyrus Hamlin, William Schauffler, and Henry Otis Dwight, missionaries who had arrived in Istanbul in the 1830s. During his only return visit to the United States, in 1856-1858, he 2 taught Hebrew at Union Theological Seminary, but he declined an offer of the chair of Hebrew at the same college, preferring to return to the mission field in the Middle East. He spent the winter of 1862-63 in Egypt, from where he returned to Istanbul by way of the mission stations in Anatolia. During his years in Istanbul, he taught in mission schools; edited magazines; published tracts, hymns, and books; visited the missionary stations in neighboring cities; and preached frequently in mission churches. After the publication of his Bulgarian Bible in 1871, he joined a committee working on a standard Turkish Bible, published in 1878. From 1885 to 1888, he lived in Antep (Gaziantep) in Southeastern Anatolia, returning to Istanbul after his wife’s death. For the next few years, he focused on the missionary activities of the European Turkey Mission. Riggs died in Istanbul on January 17, 1901, and is buried in Ferikoy Protestant Cemetery. Elias Riggs was one of the most influential missionaries in the Ottoman Empire throughout the nineteenth century, and his life was associated with a period of significant change in the Ottoman Empire and the modern history of missionaries in the Middle East. He was instrumental in the ABCFM’s decision to develop a Protestant publishing enterprise for the peoples in the region. In addition to his editorship of two religious periodicals (Avedaper, in Armenian, and Zornitza, in Bulgarian), he published a variety of books for the missions in the Ottoman Empire. He was a member of the translation committee for the Turkish Bible