Frohling, Carline, a Swedish converted Jewess, laboured as assistant missionary at Stockholm, in 1880-82, by conducting an industrial school in which poor Jewish children were taught useful work, and by visits among the resident families, and spreading the Gospel.
Fromman, Dr. Heinrich Christian Immanuel, physician and author, was one of the most distinguished converts in the first half of the eighteenth century in Germany. He had been studying in Dessau, under rabbi David Fränkel, when one day he visited a tailor who, on seeing him, began to weep. Asking for the cause, the tailor said that he was grieved by the thought that such a nice young man should be lost. Fromman thereupon rebuked him sharply—but the tailor did not mind it—and offered him a New Testament, urging him to read it. He went away, but came again another time and asked for the same Book, but when he saw it was written in German, which he could not read, he threw it on the table and left the house. He then went to a bookseller, wishing to buy a Bible, who demanded a thaler for it, which he could not afford to pay. However, the tears of the tailor gave him no rest, and at last he bought the German Old Testament, and spent whole nights in learning to read. Having acquired this knowledge, he was glad to receive the New Testament and to study it diligently. He then went to Gotha and confessed his faith in Christ, and was baptized about 1722 or 1723. During his study of medicine, he translated the Gospel of St. Luke into Judæo-German, in 1730. Later he translated other parts of the New Testament. Having written the tract, "Das Licht am Abend" ("Light at Eventide"), which is still circulated and appreciated among the Jews, he managed to acquire the art of setting up type and of printing when he was an inmate of the Callenberg Institute, and produced the work with his own hands as well as mind. He also wrote and translated other Christian books, and composed the fundamental part of the rabbinic commentary on St. Luke, which Dr. Biesenthal perfected and brought to light.
Fuerst, Dr. A., a native of Pommern, Germany, when only fourteen years old, heard the L.J.S. missionary Moritz discussing Christianity with the Jews in his native town, and received from him a Bible. Another time he received a tract from the L.J.S. missionary Hartmann, which made a strong impression upon him. After studying in a seminary for teachers, in Schneidemuhl (Posen), he went to England, and was instructed and baptized by the Rev. Ridley Herschell in 1856. Subsequently he was appointed by the British Society as a missionary in England. From 1867 to 1871 Dr. Fürst laboured among the Jews in Stettin. He then entered the service of the Free Church of Scotland, and was stationed at Prague, Amsterdam, and Strasburg, and latterly he retired to Stuttgart, where he still bore testimony to the Jews of the assured hope of salvation, through his Master whom he so long and faithfully served. Dr. Fürst was a fine scholar, and he wrote a book entitled, "Christen und Juden Licht und Schattenbilder aus Kirche und Synagoge," Strasburg, 1892.
Gans, Eduard, born in Berlin, 1798, studied, and through the influence of the philosopher Hegel, embraced Christianity in 1825, and in 1828 became professor in the Berlin University. He wrote, among other works, "Das Erbrecht in Weltgeschichtlicher Entwickelung" (4 vols.), Stuttgart, 1834, which was translated into French by Leoménie, Paris, 1845; "Ein System des römischen Civil Rechts," Berlin, 1827. He edited Hegel's "Geschichte der Philosophie," and "Jahrbücher für wissenschaftliche Kritik." He died as professor in 1839.
Gelbflaum, Rev. Isidor, was born in the city of Warsaw, in Russian Poland, in the year 1865, of orthodox Jewish parents. We cull the following from his autobiography:—"My father was a corn merchant in very comfortable circumstances. His desire from the day of my birth was to bring me up in strict adherence with Rabbinical traditions, and I, on my part, followed dutifully and cheerfully the guidance of my dear father. But very early in my career, God graciously intervened, and in 1877 I came into contact with a colporteur of the British and Foreign Bible Society, who sold me a copy of the Hebrew New Testament. Though I was only then in my thirteenth year, I nevertheless read the newly-acquired treasure with intense longing to find out whether Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah. I used diligently to read the New Testament whenever the opportunity presented itself. One day my father suddenly came into the room where I was reading the Acts of the Apostles. He immediately demanded the production of the book, and I instantly gave it to him. A few weeks later on I had occasion to be in the market-place, and I purchased another copy of the same colporteur, which I read with greater caution. Although I thus read the Book again and again, I could not understand it, much less could I apply its contents. I was like the Ethiopian eunuch, and needed some one to explain to me the meaning of the revelation of God's purpose to mankind. Soon after an event occurred which contributed greatly to determining my spiritual future. My parents, noticing the abatement of my zeal for rabbinical Judaism, decided to send me to a Yeshiba, and they determined on Pressburg, in Hungary. I had not been in Pressburg more than a week, when I was brought into contact with a Hebrew Christian missionary from Vienna, who was visiting the place at the time for missionary work. He spent over an hour with me explaining the things of God, and directing my attention to the Messiahship of the Lord Jesus. I remained in Pressburg till the spring of 1881, after which I returned to Warsaw. In 1885 a Protestant Christian lady in Warsaw became interested in me, and by her advice, and with a letter of introduction to the late Rev. Dr. Stern, I came to England in June of that year, only to find that my would-be instructor had been called home to his rest. I waited till the arrival of the Rev. J. M. Eppstein, who instructed me and subsequently baptized me in 1886. I then entered the Operative Jewish Converts' Institution, and passed the following two years there in happy association with other converts to Christ. In 1888 I offered my services to and was accepted by the London City Mission, and worked among my brethren in the East End of London till March, 1893, when I was appointed by the British Society, and ultimately sent to Leeds. Since coming to that city, I have been the humble instrument, in God's hand, of leading many of my brethren to Christ, two of whom have become Christian ministers, one in the west of England and the other in the United States of America. A third convert given to me is an earnest Sunday school teacher, and a fourth a local preacher."
Gellert, Alexander, was a missionary of the L.J.S., first in England and then, in 1861, in Roumania, where he had some fruits of his labours, and died in 1870.
Gelling, Michael, was born 1597, and baptized 1616. He translated in Hamburg R. Isaac Troki's "Chizzuk Emunah," 1633, into German. Dr. John Müller made use of this MS. in his "Judaismus detectus," 1694, and it came into possession of M. Chr. Ziegra. Wolff in his "Bibliotheca Hebraica," iv. p. 639, gives detailed information about this MS. and a specimen of Gelling's translation. Bishop Kidder wrote a refutation of the "Chizzuk Emunah" in his "Demonstration of the Messiah," in 1694. Jacob Gusset likewise in his "Controversarium adversus Judaeos ternio," Dortrecht, 1688. The whole was edited by Arnold Borst, and published in 1712, at Amsterdam, under the title, "Jesu Christi Evangeliique Veritas, salutifera, demonstrata in confutatione libri Chizzuk Emunah." The Rev. A. Lukyn Williams is now answering the same in English, and the writer is translating it into Yiddish.
Germanus, Johannes Isaac Levita, having been convinced that Isaiah liii. was a Messianic prophecy and fulfilled in Jesus, was baptized with his wife and his son Stephen by Joh. Draconites in 1546. Later he became professor of Hebrew in London and in Cologne. He wrote a controversial work entitled: "Defensio veritatis Hebraicae," Cologne, 1558, also a Hebrew grammar, "Mebo Imre Shofar," which passed through several editions; a treatise on the book of Ruth; and translated some of the works of Maimonides and Juda Ibn Tibon into Latin. His son, Stephen, who was a physician, translated the prophet Malachi into Latin.
Gerold, Rev. G. L., was a rabbinical student in Breslau, baptized by Dr. Stern in the year of his death, graduated at Cambridge, was ordained in 1898, and is now Rector of Easthope, Much Wenlock, Salop, in the diocese of Hereford.
Gerson, Christian ben Meir Biberbach, born at Reeklichhausen, August 1, 1567, received the usual Talmudical education, and was a teacher in several places. A neighbour, who was a Christian woman, borrowed from him ten pence, giving him as security a Lutheran New Testament. Curious to know the source of the Christian errors, he and his two brothers-in-law read it with much amusement. Yet finding there quotations from the Old Testament, he continued reading it more earnestly, comparing Scripture with Scripture, until his conscience was awakened and felt the need of salvation through Christ. He wrote afterwards—"I found such light, for which I have to thank the Lord God all my life." He was baptized by Pastor Silberschlag at Halberstadt, October 19, 1600. Gerson's son Stephen was baptized years later, but his wife got a divorce from him. He then taught Hebrew at Copenhagen, and eventually, after being persuaded by friends, he became a preacher of the Gospel. Testimony is given him that he heartily loved his people, and defended them against blood accusations. His works are: "Des Jüdischer Talmud fürnehmster Inhalt und Widerlegung," Gislav, 1707, Gera, 1613. A German translation of the eleventh chapter of Tract Sanhedrin. Gerson died on October 22, 1642, only 47 years old, as a preacher of the Gospel, in poverty. He was pastor of two parishes, receiving a stipend of six gulden, and had to work as a farm labourer for his living. In the Jewish Encyclopædia it is stated that Gerson was drowned at Roelheim, September 25, 1627. Here is a specimen of the contradictory statements of historians.