Dr. L. Keith Harper was Professor of Baptist Studies. Dr. Harper offers a word of thanks, recognizes several people in the congregation, and reveals that he will be speaking about the missionary Issachar Jacox Roberts who greatly shaped the Southern Baptist Foreign Mission Board (0:00-2:29). He begins with Roberts’ conversion to Christianity and his eventual desire to conduct missions in China; however, Roberts did not establish a secure connection with the Foreign Mission Board (2:30-10:03). Roberts’ quasi-independent missionary status caused problems for his fellow missionaries and he was prone to complain about financial matters (10:04-11:58). Dr. Harper explains that Roberts also reached out to the Foreign Mission Board to send a woman to China to become his assistant and wife (11:59-15:56). The financial dispute continued until the Board gave in to Roberts (15:57-17:30). The Board sent Harriet Baker to China as a missionary not as a wife for Roberts; this led to Virginia Young wanting to go to China, but she was declined (17:31-19:06). Virginia Young and Roberts somehow met, married, and traveled to China (19:07-19:52). This visit and Roberts’ prior conflicts with the Foreign Mission Board would change the lives of all those associated with mission work in China (19:53-23:39). Dr. Harper discusses the criticism that arose when the Foreign Mission Board severed connections with Roberts, which led to Roberts’ complaint of the decision affecting his wife’s health and his monetary position (20:40-30:15). Roberts desired to form an only male missionary committee, with the hope of achieving individual freedom and harmony (30:16-33:13). After the negative information about Roberts leaked from the annual meeting of the Richmond Foreign Mission Board, he lost support (33:14-36:21). His wife left him in China, but he did eventually return to America where he died of leprosy (36:22-37:11). Roberts left his estate in China to another missionary, leaving mothing for his wife (37:12-37:57). Dr. Harper clarifies that Roberts’ missionary life raised questions regarding how missionaries were to answer their calling and how they were to relate to others (37:58-38:28). He conveys that Roberts forced the Foreign Mission Board into forming its own identity and establishing its authority over its missionaries, shaped Southern Baptist journalism, helped in promoting single women in the field of missions, and raised questions concerning how missionaries were to live and interact with each other during missions (38:29-45:56). Dr. Harper expresses that more questions than answers has resulted from this research (45:57-46:31; he is cut off mid-sentence).
