Periodical Martyrdom
On the Real Division in Play
One of the missionaries of the church I grew up in was a medical doctor practicing in an impoverished African country. Those who came to his clinic for treatment were also given the gospel. While he did not emphasize it in his reports to the anti-Catholic congregation, he made no bones about the fact that while in the field he would meet regularly with a group of nuns from a nearby convent to pray—thus acknowledging not only their Christianity, but also the possibility of an active, vital fellowship with them.
He was a canny man who knew his M.D. made him a member of the closest thing America has to nobility, which distinction carried exemptions from prosecutions that commoners would have to face for such departures, at least in our denomination. Because he was a missionary who could have been rich and influential in the United States—when on furlough Dr. Slater was in demand as a professor of surgery—his African work had a visible price tag on it in excess of $100,000 per annum that people could understand.
THIS ARTICLE ONLY AVAILABLE TO SUBSCRIBERS.
FOR QUICK ACCESS:
S. M. Hutchens is a senior editor and longtime writer for Touchstone.
A Journal of Mere Christianity—Delivered to Your Door with Full Online Access
- Essays on theology, culture, and the Church
- Contributors from across the Christian traditions
- Six print issues per year
- Full digital archive access
Subscribe (Print + Online)
Get six issues (one year) of Touchstone PLUS full online access including pdf downloads for only $39.95.
Subscribe (Online Only)
Get a one-year full-access subscription to the Touchstone online archives for only $19.95.
bulk subscriptions
Order Touchstone subscriptions in bulk and save $10 per sub! Each subscription includes 6 issues of Touchstone plus full online access to touchstonemag.com—including archives, videos, and pdf downloads of recent issues for only $29.95 each! Great for churches or study groups.
Transactions will be processed on a secure server.
more on ecumenism from the online archives
31.4—July/August 2018
Labels & the Ecumenism of Discipleship by James M. Kushiner
more from the online archives
8.4—Fall 1995
The Demise of Biblical Preaching
Distortions of the Gospel and its Recovery by Donald G. Bloesch
30.3—May/June 2017
Insider Attempts to Disorient the Orthodox by Alexander F. C. Webster
34.1—January/February 2021
What the World Needs Now It Hardly Knows by Anthony Esolen
calling all readers
Please Donate
"There are magazines worth reading but few worth saving . . . Touchstone is just such a magazine."
—Alice von Hildebrand
"Here we do not concede one square millimeter of territory to falsehood, folly, contemporary sentimentality, or fashion. We speak the truth, and let God be our judge. . . . Touchstone is the one committedly Christian conservative journal."
—Anthony Esolen, Touchstone senior editor
