Frederick Augustus Klein (1827–1903), or F. A. Klein as he is called in much of the literature, was a
Church Missionary Society
The Church Mission Society (CMS), formerly known as the Church Missionary Society, is a British Anglican mission society working with Christians around the world. Founded in 1799, CMS has attracted over nine thousand men and women to serve as ...
(CMS) missionary in the
Middle East
The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq.
The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...
. He is remembered for his 1868 discovery of the
Moabite Stone, which dates from about 840 B.C. It gives qualified confirmation of some events mentioned in the biblical
Book of Kings.
Early life
Klein was born in
Strasbourg
Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...
,
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
, in 1827. He later studied at the Basel Mission Institute and then attended the
Church Missionary Society College,Islington. He later received Anglican holy orders.
Missionary career
He left for
Ottoman Palestine
The region of Palestine (region), Palestine is part of the wider region of the Levant, which represents the land bridge between Africa and Eurasia.Steiner & Killebrew, p9: "The general limits ..., as defined here, begin at the Plain of ' ...
under the CMS in 1851. His wife died in Nazareth on October 10, 1851. He ministered in
Nazareth
Nazareth is the largest Cities in Israel, city in the Northern District (Israel), Northern District of Israel. In its population was . Known as "the Arab capital of Israel", Nazareth serves as a cultural, political, religious, economic and ...
until 1855 and then in
Jerusalem
Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...
for some 22 years; and also travelled into
Jordan
Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...
.
During his time in Palestine he worked with
John Zeller and
Samuel Gobat, among others. While in the Galilee he served at
Christ Church, Nazareth. He left for
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
around 1877 and engaged in
Arabic
Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...
translation.
He labored in
Cairo
Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...
from 1882 to 1893, where the CMS had reopened work, wishing to evangelize among
Muslims
Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...
. He established public worship in Arabic. Upon returning to Europe for good his translation work continued, and he revised the Arabic version of the
Book of Common Prayer
The ''Book of Common Prayer'' (BCP) is the title given to a number of related prayer books used in the Anglican Communion and by other Christianity, Christian churches historically related to Anglicanism. The Book of Common Prayer (1549), fi ...
.
Klein also write a book titled ''The Religion of Islam'' which was republished in 2012.
Lasting contributions
He is most remembered for discovering the
Moabite Stone. However, he was also one of numerous long-lived German missionaries who acquired great proficiency in Arabic. Anticipating later developments in evangelical missions, he was also intent on sharing the Christian faith with Muslims.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Klein, Frederick Augustus
1827 births
1903 deaths
French Anglican missionaries
Clergy from Strasbourg
Alumni of the Church Missionary Society College, Islington
Anglican missionaries in Palestine (region)
Anglican missionaries in Egypt
Anglican missionaries in Jordan
Anglican missionaries in the Ottoman Empire
British expatriates in the Ottoman Empire