THE PROGRESS OF CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA
I
For at least seventeen centuries Christianity has found a home in
India. The Syrian Church was the first to gather converts, and it
still exists as a separate sect of 300,000 souls in a small part of
Malabar. Roman Catholicism, also, has had here its six centuries of
struggles and varied fortunes, and now claims its 1,500,000 followers.
On July 9, 1906, the Protestants celebrated the bicentenary of the
landing of their first two missionaries at Tranquebar, on the
Coromandel coast. Ziegenbalg and Plutscho were truly men of God, and
inaugurated a work which to-day has its ramifications in every part of
this vast peninsula.
They introduced a new era of missionary effort for India. Former
endeavours were ecclesiastical. Great men, indeed, had wrought for
Christ in this land; but their chief aim had been to establish a
religion of forms and ceremonies. In the matter of ritual in
religion, Hinduism has little to learn from, and has much to suggest
to, western ecclesiastics. The early failure of our faith to secure
marked and permanent success in this land finds its chief cause here.
Ziegenbalg began in the right way. He identified himself with the
people; he studied well their language, and hastened to incarnate his
faith in vernacular literature; and, above all, he proceeded at once
to translate into the language of the people the Word of God. Never
before had the Bible been translated into an Indian tongue. After
thirteen years of service, this great missionary died; but he left to
his successors the heritage of a vernacular Bible, which has wrought
mightily in South India for the redemption of the people. He also set
the pace for subsequent missionaries of his persuasion, who, in these
two centuries, have practically translated God's Word into every
important Indian dialect. The Bible in his own vernacular lies open,
inviting every native of India to-day; and in many vernaculars the
translation has been revised more than once. This stands as a notable
triumph of Protestantism during these two centuries in India.
The writer has a copy of one of the earliest Tamil books prepared by
these pioneers of our faith. These books have already grown into a
large library--the best-developed Christian literature in any
vernacular of the East. All over the land mission presses are annually
pouring forth their many millions of pages both to nourish and cheer
the infant Christian community, and to win to Christ the multiplying
readers among non-Christians. The press has already become, perhaps,
the most important agency in the furtherance of Christian thought and
life in this land.
One is impressed with the manifoldness of the work which began in so
much simplicity two centuries ago. The missionary is no longer the
preacher under some shady tree, addressing a few ignorant, ill-clad
peasants. He is actively engaged in all departments of Christian
effort. A Protestant mission is an elaborately organized activity,
pursuing all lines of work for the elevation of the people. It has not
only churches which engage in varied forms of pastoral effort; it has
also its staff of evangelists and Bible women who carry the message of
life to all the villages. In these missions there are not only 10,000
day schools, with their 375,000 scholars, besides 30,000 youth who are
in the 307 higher institutions. There are also thousands of young men
and women, in many institutions, undergoing careful preparation as
teachers and preachers. There is also the medical host who treated
2,000,000 patients last year; there are industrial institutions under
well-trained men, peasant settlements for the poor oppressed ryots,
and schools for the blind and the deaf-mute. There is hardly an agency
which can bring light, comfort, life, and inspiration to men which is
not utilized by modern missions in India.
[Illustration: A CHRISTIAN VILLAGE SCHOOL IN SOUTH INDIA]
But the progress of these two centuries has been chiefly on lines
which defy the columns of the statistician and elude the ken of the
ordinary globe-trotter.
The number of people that have been brought to Christ, and who now
represent Protestantism in this land are, indeed, far fewer than might
have been expected. A round million of a community after two centuries
of effort among a population of 300,000,000 is not a thing of which to
boast. And this may seem the more discouraging when it is remembered
that there are now engaged in this work ninety-one different
missionary societies of many lands, and supporting a missionary force
of 4000 men and women. There is also a native Pastorate of 1100
ordained men, with a total Indian agency of 26,000 men and women.
So great a force of workers would, indeed, warrant us in expecting
larger results in conversions.
But it should be remembered that this agency is chiefly the product
of the last few decades only, and is now multiplying in numbers and
increasing in efficiency at a very rapid rate. At the present time,
fully 200 of the Indian agents of our missions are university
graduates, and a still larger number are of partial college training.
The Indian Christian community itself, though in the main of low
social origin, has made remarkable progress in education and manly
independence. It is, already, perhaps the best-educated community in
India. And it is feeling increasingly its opportunities and its
obligations. It was only recently that its growing sense of national
importance and its duties led it to organize a "National Missionary
Society," which is directed by Indian leadership, supported by Indian
funds, and its work is to be done by India's own sons. This society
enters upon its career very auspiciously, and is not only symptomatic
of present conditions, but is also pregnant with hope for the Indian
Church of the future.
It took many years to lay deeply the foundation of our mission
organization. Indeed, the foundation is not quite completed. And yet
the work of superstructure has already begun, and more rapid results
may now be expected.
But the more hidden and indirect results of Protestant Christian
efforts in this land encourage the Christian worker more than all the
direct results.
During the last century, at least twenty laws have been enacted with a
view to abolishing cruel religious rites and removing revolting
customs and disabilities, such as Hinduism, from time immemorial, has
established among the people. These laws were enacted in the teeth of
opposition from the religious rulers of the land, and, in more cases
than one, led to serious riot and religious fanaticism. But the
growing spirit of Christ in the land could not tolerate these
heathenish customs; so they had to go.
The new spirit which has taken possession of the classes in India is
in striking contrast with the spirit of the past. The new education,
imparted on modern lines, in thousands of institutions scattered over
the land, has brought its revenge of sentiment upon former thinking
and believing. Western philosophy has had a noble share in the
achievement; and the schoolmaster has been a pioneer in the work of
transforming the sentiments and ideals of the people. The holy men of
India,--the ecclesiastics,--by their conservatism, have lost all
influence over the many thousands who have passed through the
universities, and who represent the intelligence, culture, and
advancing power of India.
It is no empty boast to claim that our mission schools and colleges
have had a conspicuous share in this work of enlightenment, and in the
transformation of popular and fundamental thoughts and sentiments.
The religious unrest of the day is one of the most prominent features
of this advance. It is true that, during the last few years, there
passed over India a peculiar wave of religious reaction in favour of
old Hindu conceptions and ancient rites. But these are entirely the
result of a new and vigorous, though not sane, patriotism. A loud cry
of "_Swadesha_" (homeland) has swept over the country. It demands
affection and acceptance for everything that is of the East, and the
opposite sentiments for things western. All that is of Hindu origin,
and everything of eastern aspect, is, for that very reason, regarded
as sound and delectable. Of course, this reaction has found its widest
utterances in matters religious; and Hindu men of western culture
to-day will applaud, though they will _not_ practise, religious
customs and ideas which were laughed at by their class a quarter of a
century ago. As a matter of fact, however, this wild Orientalism is a
thing which should neither be discouraged nor condemned. It needs
balance and sanity; but it is a true expression of the awakened
self-assertion and the dawning sense of liberty among the people. In
time, the movement will become chastened, and will throw off much of
its present folly. It will then render for India and its redemption
more than anything else has in the past.
In the meanwhile, however, there is a quiet revolution, both religious
and social, doing its blessed work in all sections of the community.
New religious organizations have sprung into existence and are winning
followers among the best members of the community. The Brahmo Somaj
and various other Somajes furnish, as we have seen, asylum and rest
for many men of culture who have abandoned polytheism and all that
pertains to it. The Arya Somaj appeals to, and gathers in, men from
all ranges.
Social reform has its organizations and its gatherings all over the
land where the Hindu orator finds abundant opportunity to denounce the
social evils which are a curse to all the people; and, alas! then
returns to his home, where he meekly submits to these same social
tyrannies which dominate his own family. What India needs to-day, more
than anything else, is even a small band of men who are imbued with
convictions and who are willing to die for the same. India's
redemption will be nigh when it can furnish a few thousand such men
banded together to _do_ something or to _die_ in the cause of reform.
It is Protestantism which has laid growing emphasis upon the ethical,
rather than the ecclesiastical, aspect of our faith; and to this fact
can be attributed most of its influence in the development of this new
life and thought.
Of course, the British government has politically and socially
represented and promoted these ideas. It could not do otherwise and be
true to its own principles. Its influence has been the most pervasive
and marked in the development of what is best in thought and truest in
life.
Perhaps no change has overtaken Protestant missions during these two
centuries greater than that which has transformed the missionaries
themselves. There is a wide gulf between Ziegenbalg and Carey. There
is a still wider one between the Carey of a century ago and his
great-grandson who is a missionary in North India to-day. In devotion
and zeal for the Master, they are all one; but in their conception of
Christianity, of Hinduism, and of the missionary motive, they are
much wider apart than many imagine.
It should also be remembered that Protestant missionaries, as a body,
are no longer isolated from each other and animated by mutual
suspicions and impelled by petty jealousies, as in the past. Their
development in amity, comity, and organized fellowship, even during
the last decade, is marvellous. Federation and organic ecclesiastical
union are becoming the order of the day. Four denominations of America
and Scotland are now perfecting such a scheme in South India; and this
is only the beginning of an ever expanding movement for Christian
fellowship all over the land. No one knows what grand results it will
achieve. We all know, however, that the fraternal regard, sympathy,
and confidence is far removed from the sad divisiveness of the past,
that it is pregnant with blessing in the coming of the Kingdom of God,
and that it is far in advance of the spirit of union which prevails in
England or America. In this we believe that the East is to open the
way for the West.
These and many other facts encourage those who look to the speedy
Christianizing of this land. And yet we cannot, I repeat, ignore the
fact of the relative meagreness of the results. It is a sad truth
that the total Protestant Indian community, at the present time, is
only one three-hundredth part of the population!
I would not be pessimistic, however, even in this matter of numerical
growth. In the past, we have too much made a fetich of figures, and
our faith has been too much pinned to statistics.
But the lessons of history must be well learned and thoroughly
digested, if the future of Christianity is to improve upon her past in
India. For, be it remembered, Christianity never met with so doughty a
foe as that which confronts it in this land. The ancient faiths of
Greece and Rome, which Christianity overcame, were infantile and
imbecile as compared with the subtle wisdom and the mighty resistance
of Brahmanism. The conditions of the conflict in India are different
from those ever met before by our militant faith. The subtle and
deadening philosophy of the land, the haughty pride of its religious
leaders, the great inertia of the people, the mighty tyranny of caste,
the debasing ritual of Hinduism and its debauching idolatry,--all
these constitute a resisting fortress whose overthrow seems all but
impossible.
II
And yet I strongly believe in the ultimate triumph of our faith in
India. Under God this mighty fortress of Hinduism will capitulate. Nor
do I think that the day of Christian dominance is so far away as many
missionaries are inclined to think. There is an accumulation of forces
and a multiplication of spiritual powers which are now operating in
behalf of our faith and against the ancestral religion of India, such
as will work wonders in the future religious development of the land.
But this conquest of our faith will not be that which too many of us
are wont to anticipate and to pray for. The religious forms of life
and of thought, which we of the West have inherited and in whose
environment we have grown up, we have come to identify with the
_essence_ of our religion; and it seems all but impossible for us to
think of a Christianity apart from these outward forms. I believe that
there is to be a rude awakening for our children and grandchildren, if
not for ourselves, in this matter.
The western _type_ of Christianity will not survive the conflict in
India. Western modes of thought and forms of belief will be supplanted
by those better suited to the land. Occidental doctrines and aspects
of our faith will give way to those conceived from the Oriental
standpoint. I believe, for instance, that the most mischievous
doctrine of pantheism will surrender its elements of truth (for it has
an important admixture of truth) to the formation of a new conception
of God, which will appeal to and captivate the Indian mind and heart.
Indeed, we are witnessing, this very day, even in the far West, the
influence of India in her monistic overemphasis upon the divine
immanence, working toward a new Christian conception of God. Modern
interchange of thought is thus giving to India, even in America, her
influence in the shaping of modern belief. And if it be thus in
matters of fundamental belief, much more will it be so in matters of
outward expression and in the unessential forms of Christian truth.
Some of us of the West are seeing increasingly the serious incongruity
which exists between our way of thinking and of putting our thought
into living form, and the way of the people about us. And we are not
convinced, as we perhaps once were, that it is the obtuseness, or the
religious perversity, of the Indian mind which is the cause of this.
The sooner the better we realize that between the people of the East
and of the West there is a wide mental gulf which may, indeed, by our
associating together, be narrowed, but never eliminated. And the
outward type of Christianity, after western pressure has been taken
away from this land, will depend upon the mental make-up and peculiar
spiritual aspect of the Indian Christian. And until he is able to
furnish and to enforce this, which I call the Oriental type of
Christianity, he will never be able to make his faith appeal to his
brothers, and to make it an indigenous faith in India.
Nor do I think that the Christianity which is to prevail in India will
be encased in the present ecclesiasticism which assumes and claims
monopoly of our faith. I can conceive the possibility of there being a
vast amount of Christianity--a living and a self-propagating
Christianity--outside the pale of organized and institutional
Christianity in India. It is so in the West to-day. The organized
churches of the West have within themselves an ever diminishing
portion of the vital Christian life and aspirations of the country.
Christianity has overleapt ecclesiastic bounds. Its spirit is
overflowing, in living streams, into the life of a thousand
organizations which are altruistic and philanthropic, outside the
limits of ecclesiastical Christianity. It will be so in India, and
throughout the world. And the Christian Church must take this into
account and shape its policy accordingly.
However this may be, East Indians will increasingly claim, as the
Japanese are now claiming, the right to decide for themselves the
forms of polity and the types of ritual which they will choose and
cultivate as their own.
I do not say, of course, that the present forms will be entirely
discarded. But they will be so modified and supplemented that they
will present an ecclesiastical type of their own.
And why should they not, if our faith is to fit well the Oriental
mind, and is to become a gracious power in its life? The growing
opposition among the educated men of India, at the present time, is
not really antagonism to Christianity itself, but to its western garb
and spirit. And there is much reason for this attitude of mind.
Conciliation and adaptation has not been the characteristic of the
mind of the West in presenting its faith to the East. This did not
make so much difference, so long as the Indian was submissive and had
not waked up to the spirit of self-assertion. But to-day, when that
spirit is so rampant, and when a new nationalism and a half-spurious
patriotism glories in everything eastern and is annoyed by all that
is western, the matter of adaptation has become all-important.
The relative barrenness of our faith during past centuries in India
was largely, if not entirely, due to its foreign ecclesiastical forms
and its shibboleths pronounced in foreign tongues. The Christianity of
the future in India must breathe of the spirit, and speak forth in the
language and life, of the people.
I am inclined to believe that the battle cry of the Christian Church
will soon be lost in the ever swelling tide of enthusiasm for the
Kingdom of God. Christians will seek less to promote this or that
denomination, and more and more to cause to come in power the Kingdom
of Heaven. And India is a land which will lend itself very readily to
this transfer of emphasis. There is much in the mystical type of the
Hindu mind that leads us to anticipate preeminence for India in this
change of emphasis from outward organization to deep-working spiritual
forces and realities.
India, which has been the most prolific land in giving birth to
religions, and in being at present the asylum of all the great faiths
of the world, will not be slow to give to Christianity that form and
aspect which will most please her.
It is therefore important that all the Christian leaders of India
should not only take note of these facts, but should also do their
utmost to help in the desired consummation, and make Christianity in
India a faith that will appeal to every man and woman in the land.
III
The conquest of our faith in India will be not the less, but the more,
thorough, because it will be not only of the letter but also and
chiefly of the spirit.
There are a few things which are fundamental to our faith, and which
will become the universal and permanent possession of India.
1. The spirit and principles of Christianity will prevail and will
dominate the land. Christian, as distinct from Hindu, principles are
already making wonderful headway in the country. Many new institutions
have been organized in the land, whose principles are those of Christ,
and not of Manu. Even the oldest institutions of the country are
becoming affected by the desire to appear modern, which really means
an ambition to introduce Christian methods and principles. Educated
Hindus, especially, add to this the peculiar weakness of interpreting
things Hindu by a Christian terminology. The philosophy which they
have imbibed and the standpoint to which they have been accustomed are
western and, chiefly, Christian. So that when they study their own
faith they do so with these Christian prepossessions; and even when
they defend their ancestral religion, they really defend not the
indigenous product of India, such as is taught by the Hindu pandit and
believed by the mass of the people, but Hinduism Christianized and
clothed in the garb of the West and spoken in the accents of a
Christian.
Hindu Swamis, who have been educated in Christian mission schools, and
have spent a few years in the far West, surrounded by a Christian
atmosphere, imbibing Christian sentiments, and unconsciously adopting
the Christian viewpoint, return to India upon a wave of popular
excitement and give public addresses and receive the plaudits of their
grateful countrymen. But what is it that such men as Vivekananda and
Abhedananda, and all the rest of the _Ananda_ tribe, teach upon their
return to India? It is certainly not an orthodox Hinduism, nor is it
the pure philosophy of the East. It is rather a strange compound in
which Christianity figures as prominently as does Hinduism, and,
perhaps, more conspicuously. What was the caste system recently
enunciated by Abhedananda in Madras? It is certainly not a thing
known in India by that name. And I have no doubt that his whole
audience smiled when he presented his conception of a caste system so
foreign to all Hindu ideas and practice. It is just so with his
Vedantism, and with his interpretation of all the religious teachings
of this land. They are now construed in terms foreign to the rishi and
to the pandit. But (and this the point I wish to emphasize) these
interpretations meet increasingly with the applause and acceptance of
educated Hindu audiences. In other words, a Christian colouring and
glamour thrown over Hinduism is adding to its popularity in the land.
In the general way of looking at religious things, and especially of
apprehending religious thought, there is to-day almost as wide a gulf
between the educated and cultured Hindu, on the one hand, and the
authorized religious instructors of India, on the other, as there is
between the same learned man of the East and the thoughtful man of the
West.
Or, if we look at the multiplying institutions of the country, which
truly represent the thoughts and sentiments of the leading people of
India, we can easily see that they are imbued with non-Hindu, if not
anti-Hindu, ideas and motives. The various Somajes and other religious
movements, which mean so much in the life of India to-day, are more or
less an endeavour to interpret life from a non-Hindu standpoint, which
often means a Christian standpoint. In any case, the religious reform
movements of India at the present time breathe largely the spirit of
rebellion against old Hindu conceptions.
When we think of such important movements as that of Social Reform, we
can see the spirit of Christianity completely dominant, and in sharp
antithesis to Hindu teaching and ritual. The Social Reform movement in
India is the spirit of Christianity, trying to express itself with as
little offence as possible to orthodox Hinduism, and yet constantly
antagonizing its deepest principles and eating into its very vitals.
The two forces which, next to direct Christian effort, do most for the
promulgation of Christian principles in this land, are the public
schools and the government itself. The educational system which now
prevails, and which is growing in power, is distinctly a promoter of
Christian thought and principle. We often call these schools godless;
but we do them an injustice. Their work may be largely negative; but
their teaching turns the mind of the young away from the silly
superstitions and the absurd practices of popular Hinduism, and
establishes modern conceptions, which, indeed, are Christian
conceptions of life and of conduct.
The government is, in an important sense, established upon Christian
principles; and in all its administrative processes exemplifies the
Christian, as distinct from the Hindu and Brahmanic, view of justice
and of right conduct; so that, if one were able to perceive clearly
the spiritual forces at work in the institutional and social life of
India, he would see not only that the foundation, but also that
largely the superstructure, is becoming Christian in its character.
2. In the second place, the Christ Ideal of Life is acquiring ever
increasing attraction and power in the land. India has never possessed
an incarnated ideal of her own. No god in all her pantheon, and not
one among all her noble sages, has ever posed before the followers of
Hinduism, or has ever been thought of by Hindu devotees, as the
exemplar of men and the ideal of human life. To many thousands who are
outward members of the Hindu faith, and who would not dream of being
baptized into institutional Christianity, Jesus Christ has become the
Ideal of Life. He represents to them that moral type of perfection
and ethical nobility of manhood to which they daily aspire. Krishna
may be praised by the millions, notwithstanding his immoralities; and
Rama may be extolled and even loved for his limited virtue; Yudhistra
may be called "Dharman," notwithstanding his unrighteous passion for
the dice. But Christ only, in the eyes of modern educated India,
stands the perfect test of character. All over the land, Hindus of
culture, of serious thought, and of ambition to reach after high
ethical standards see in Jesus Christ the only inspiration and
immaculate example of life that all history, myth, and legend present.
And there is not a town in India to-day where there are not found
these men of power and influence who are studying eagerly the life of
Jesus, are pondering over the Gospel narratives; and are reading such
books of Christian devotion as Thomas a Kempis's "Imitation of
Christ." This last-named book is now being translated by a Brahman
gentleman, a friend of the writer, and published by a Hindu firm for
its Hindu readers! I have known such men for many years, and am
assured that their tribe is increasing; they are men who for the first
time have found the deepest yearnings of their soul answered in the
example of Jesus.
Ask any of them for their reason, and they will tell you that Christ
is of the East, like themselves, and that His example appeals to them
with unique power.
In India, the ideal of life has been one of restraint. Starting with
the conviction that human life is an unmixed evil, the restraint of
passion and the elimination of every human emotion (the best as well
as the worst) has been to the Hindu the goal and consummation of life.
Nothing can be more inadequate than this; and the Hindu is beginning
to feel it. Jesus represents Culture _and_ Restraint. With him the
restraint of the lower passions is with a view to the culture of the
higher. The man of sin must die, that the man of God may live and
prosper. This is the Christ ideal, as opposed to the Brahmanic. And
the leaven of this ideal of life is spreading all over India and is
transforming the aspirations of millions. There is nothing more
inspiring or comforting than the assurance which we have that the
Christ life is becoming the dominant ideal among the classes of India,
as it is to a less degree among the masses.
A Brahman gentleman had the presumption to say to me, recently, that
he and his fellow-Brahmans and other Hindus were able to understand
the Christ much better than we of the West. He also claimed that they
could understand the deep significance and the delicate shading of
His thought better than we who are not of the East, like them. As a
man who had taught and had tried to live the Christ in this land for
more than a quarter of a century, I smiled at the audacity of his
remark. And yet I knew that that man had visions of Christ that I had
not; and that he has a fondness for Thomas a Kempis's book, beyond,
perhaps, what I myself possess. There are aspects of the teaching and
of the life of Jesus which appeal more powerfully to his Oriental and
deeply mystical nature than they can possibly to the minds of all
western men. Of one thing, however, I am assured; namely, that there
is a growing host of Hindus in high position, and in low, who are
enamoured of that ideal of life which our Lord taught and exemplified;
and the fact that they interpret that life differently from myself
causes me less sorrow than it does a desire to understand better their
standpoint of appreciation.
3. I believe also that the Incarnation of our Lord, in its uniqueness
and supreme power as the true manifestation of God, is finding rapidly
increasing appreciation among the people of India.
India is the land of a myriad incarnations. The doctrine has run to
seed, as it were, among this people. They are burdened with the excess
of their eagerness to find God, and with their manifold imagination
in giving Him form and earthly existence. There is no doctrine in
Hinduism which has been carried to such a _reductio ad absurdum_.
Hindus to-day would gladly accept Christ as one of Vishnu's
incarnations, if Christians would permit. I am not sure but that the
tenth incarnation of Vishnu was meant to represent Christ. In any
case, their growing familiarity with Him is gradually creating in
their minds a disgust with the monstrosities of their own
incarnations. Many of them are learning that God's Incarnation in
Christ is the only one which has "descended" to the earth for the
spiritual uplifting and redemption of our race; and, therefore, that
it is the only incarnation which has within itself the seed of
permanence and of universality. The petty, grotesque, and local
"descents" of India will satisfy no one in these days of growing
breadth and union, when the people are aspiring after an all-India
nationality.
In Christ only is India finding the perfect revelation of God, because
He alone revealed Him as the Father of boundless love; God, the Father
of all men, loving them with an infinite passion and seeking them even
unto death,--that is the message of the Christian Incarnation. And
how strangely does it contrast with the moral obliquity and selfish
indifference to human interest which characterize Hindu incarnations!
In Christ do we find that God is the ever present, personal, loving
Father, seeking to bring home again His lost children. He is supremely
just and holy as Ruler and Provider; but His justice and holiness are
illumined and transfused by His love. And as the Eternal Spirit He is
striving in the hearts of men to bring them to Himself. This is the
incarnation which is gaining ever increasing power in this land and
whose worship is spreading from Cape Comorin to the Himalayas.
4. The cross of Christ will be accepted in India as the highest
expression of God's love to man.
It is true that, among many Hindus to-day, as among the Greeks and
Jews of old, the cross of Christ is an offence and a stumbling-block.
The idea of vicarious atonement runs counter to the long-cherished
doctrine of _Karma_. And it is possible that the universal prevalence
of the _Karma_ doctrine in the land will give to the doctrine of
atonement the same one-sided aspect which it has obtained among many
Christians of the West, in the present day, whereby the element of
vicariousness, or its God-ward efficiency, has been considerably
eliminated. They may remain content to consider the cross merely as a
supreme manifestation of love, as that part of the divine example
which has infinite power to attract men toward the highest life of
lowest service and self-effacement. However this may be, at present,
the cross in India has more significance than the trident to the
Hindu. And the language of the cross appeals with increasing force to
all men of thought. And I am encouraged to think that the modern
commendable habit, among educated Hindus, of harking back to the
oldest and the best of their religious writings, may carry India away
again from its emphasis upon _Karma_ to the original, pre-Buddhistic
idea of vicariousness, when, for instance, in the _Purusha Suktha_ of
the Rig Veda, the _Purusha_ is represented as being sacrificed by the
gods. In the _Brahmanas_, also, it is said that the _Prajabathi_
sacrificed himself in behalf of the gods.
Indeed, it has been well said that the doctrine of _Karma_ itself, as
connected with the doctrine of transmigration, carries within itself a
strong element of vicariousness; since the person suffering in this
birth knows nothing of the experiences of a supposed previous birth,
and is, therefore, suffering for a past of which he is ignorant and
for which his conscience cannot hold him responsible.
5. I believe, also, that the Christian conception of sin is gaining
ever widening acceptance in India and will ultimately prevail as
against the Hindu idea.
The doctrine of atonement and the doctrine of sin are intimately
related; where the atonement is ignored or slighted, the conception of
sin is apt to lose its ethical content and to become formal. India,
through Buddha, abandoned, largely, its long-cherished principle of
vicariousness and the multiplicity of its sacrifices. The consequence
has been the gradual emasculation of the principle of atonement, until
the word has become emptied of content and degraded so as to mean only
the eating of a filthy pill because of a certain ceremonial
uncleanness, which all the best people of the land know to be no
uncleanness whatever.
It is natural, under these circumstances, to see the idea of sin also
cease to have reference to moral obliquity and violation of ethical
principles, and to refer only to intellectual blindness and (more
commonly) to ceremonial laxness and ritualistic malfeasance. It is not
surprising, therefore, that under this double departure from the
truth, conscience should have lost its place of importance and of
authority to so large an extent in this land.
But the day of better things has dawned upon India. The ethical
concept and the moral significance of life are beginning to grip India
very thoroughly. And I believe that the day will soon come when sin
will cease to be connected with intellectual delusion and ignorance,
and also with ceremonial irregularity, and will be recognized in its
true moral hideousness as a thing of will, and not of intellect, a
thing of deepest life, and not of puerile ritual.
Thus, with the coming of Christ and the emphasis of western thought
and western civilization upon moral integrity and nobility of
character, there is growing also a vision of sin in its right colour
and perspective. The gradual training of the people in British law and
in the social ethics of the West, and in the true meaning of the
righteousness of the Kingdom of God as promulgated by the Christian
faith, will, erelong, drive out the old pantheistic idea proclaimed by
Vivekananda, when he said that the only sin that man was capable of
was the sin of regarding himself as a sinner! It will also make it
impossible for murderers to excuse themselves, as one did recently to
our knowledge, as he was led to be executed, by saying that it was not
he, but the god within him, that slew the man!
India is really passing through a quiet, but, nevertheless, a mighty
ethical revolution. Its fundamental principles of morality and of
religion, as the interpreters of life, are being rapidly transformed.
Christianity is sowing everywhere its seed of life and of character,
as they are exemplified in the perfect life of Jesus, and are
elaborated in the four Gospels, in comparison with which the message
of the four Vedas and of all subsequent Hindu literature is but as the
dark and feeble groping of the blind after light.
These, then, are the five fundamental aspects of our faith which are
among the eternal verities and which have come to India smiling with
the impress of universality, and which are finding gradual acceptance
in all portions of the land. These represent what one has aptly called
"Substantive Christianity," as distinct from "Adjectival
Christianity," which men are prone to overemphasize and to exalt unto
the heavens. This latter we may love and cherish and promote with all
our hearts; but it is sectional, partial, and transitory. The former,
on the other hand, is abiding, and will shine throughout the ages of
eternity. It will grow in influence and increase in its prevalence
throughout this land until we all can say, with the late Chunder Sen,
and with much more assurance than he, "None but Jesus is worthy to
wear this diadem, India; and He shall have it."
INDEX
Abhedhananda Swami, 431.
Abul Fazli, 311.
Agra, 42, 308.
Akbar the Great, 50, 311.
Aligharh College, 331.
Allah Upanishad, 319.
Almsgiving in Islam, 324.
Altruism in Hinduism, 183.
Amritsar, 61.
Amritsar District, 335.
Animism, 210.
Arjuna and his Vision, 154, 161.
Arnold, Sir Edwin, 49.
Aryans and Caste, 94.
Aryans of the East and the West, 23.
Arya Somaj, 400-404.
Asceticism, the Way of, 171, 215, 228.
Asia, the Mother of Faiths, 344.
Asoka's Pillar, 57.
Astrologer, 251.
Astrology, 217, 299.
Athi Somaj, 383.
Atma Doctrine, 167.
Atma Sabha, 380.
Aurangzeeb, 307, 312.
Auspicious Days, 218, 299.
Avidia, 170, 223.
Bande Mataram, 3.
Baptist, Americans, 84.
Barber's Wife, Midwife, 271.
Barrows, Dr. J. H., 126.
Beatitudes, the, 369.
Beef Eating, 126.
Benares, 66.
Bengal, Partition of, 2.
Bengalees and Caste, 145.
Besant, Mrs., 406, 409.
Bhagavad Gita, 152, 189.
Bhagavad Gita and Bhakti, 182.
Bhakti, 181.
Blavatsky, Madame, 405.
Boh Tree, the, 368.
Bombay, 39.
Boycott, 2.
Brahma, 279.
Brahma Gnana, 170, 223.
Brahmo Somaj, 380-400.
Buddha, 227.
Buddha and "Saint Josaphat," 341.
Buddhism, 69.
Buddhism isolated, 375.
Burma's Produce, 73.
Burmese Women, 80.
Calcutta University, 6.
Caste and Commerce, 134.
Caste and Contact, 109.
Caste and Inter-dining, 107.
Caste and Intermarriage, 105.
Caste and its Results, 129.
Caste and Totemism, 114.
Caste and Occupation, 98, 112.
Caste Decadence, 144.
Caste Penalties, 115.
Caste System, 17, 22, 91-151, 177, 199.
Caste unknown in Burma, 84.
Census, 313.
Census on Caste, 96.
Chaitanya, 377.
Chakkerbutty, Professor, 259.
Characterization of Caste, 102.
Child Marriage, 214, 260.
Chinese, 109, 284.
Christ and Buddha, 338-373.
Christ Ideal, 434-437.
Christ Incarnation, 225, 437.
Christ, the Cross of, 439.
_Christian College Magazine_, 202.
Christian Effort for Mohammedans, 333.
Christianity and Caste, 149.
Christianity--its Progress in India, 412-443.
Chunder Sen, Keshub, 382.
Civilization, Western, 7.
Cleanliness of Hindus, 267.
Clothing, Hindu, 268.
Congress, National, 8.
Contradictions in Bhagavad Gita, 187.
Cooch Behar, Maharajah, 384.
Crossing Theory of Caste, 100.
Culinary Arrangements in Hindu Home, 268.
Cycles of Hindu Time, 286.
Dalhousie, Lord, 210.
Dancing Girls, 106, 212.
Dante's Inferno, 206, 212, 357.
Debendra, Nath, 381.
Dedication of a House, 244.
Delhi, 53, 308.
Deportation, 20.
Detachment, 179.
Devil Worship, 206.
Dharma, 346.
Dowry and Marriage, 260.
Dravidians and Caste, 101.
Dravidians and Devil Worship, 34.
Durgai Pujei, 315.
Dutch Conquest, 38.
Dayanand Saraswati, 400.
Eclecticism, 156.
Education, 6.
Educational Works of Protestants, 414.
Eliot, George, 372.
Epicure, Hindu, 268.
Eschatology of Hindu Shastras, 185.
Evolutionist, 196.
Fate, Doctrine of, 329.
Fetichism, 209.
Financial Statement, 13.
Fish Incarnation, 226.
Frazer, J. G., 114.
Fuller, Sir Bampfylde, 18.
Funeral Ceremonies, 272.
Furniture of a Home, 245.
Ganesh, 201.
Golden Temple, 65.
Government and Caste, 148.
Greek Images, 200.
Greeks, 276.
Grierson, Dr., 319.
Guru Kula, 403.
Hindu Architecture, 33.
Hinduism amorphous, 194.
Hinduism, Higher, 106, 190.
Hinduism, Popular, 190-219.
"Hindus as they are," 243, 257.
Hindus not Historians, 282.
Home Life of Hindus, 242-275.
Horoscope, 261.
House Building, 243.
Ibbetson, Sir Denzil, on Caste, 97.
Ideal, Divine, in Hinduism, 223.
Ideals, Hindu Religious, 220.
Idolatry, 176.
Idol whipped, 176, 205.
Iliad, 153.
Imaduddin, Dr., 335.
Immorality in Hinduism, 210.
Incarnation, Hindu and Christian, 163, 200, 225.
India, the Mother of Faiths, 30.
Irrawaddy River, 72.
Islam and Caste, 325.
Islam in India, 302-337.
Islam, its History in India, 305.
Islam Purists, 327.
Islam Unitarian, 309.
Jainism, 41.
Japan, 2.
Japan's Victory, 5.
Japanese, 197.
Jesus an Asiatic, 394.
Jesus and the Pharisees, 348, 351.
Jewels, Love of, 285.
Jews of Cochin, 38.
Jogendra Nath Bhattacharya, 130.
Joint Family System, 246.
Kali, 195.
Kali Yuga, 276-301.
Karens, 85.
Karma, Doctrine of, 359.
Kauravas, 154.
Kipling, Rudyard, 21.
Knowledge, the Way of, 169.
Kohinoor Diamond, 50.
Ko San Ye, 87.
Krishna, 155, 165, 195, 291.
Kuruchetra, 154.
Lala Lajpat Rai, 20.
Laws abolishing Hindu Rites, 419.
Legislative Councils--Enlargement of, 28.
Length of Hindu Time System, 277.
Liberation, Doctrine of, 169.
Madura--its Temple and Palace, 32.
Madwachariar, 377.
Mahabharata, 153.
Maha Yuga, 279.
Mandalay, 78.
Manu, 281.
Marriage not a Sentiment, 260.
"Masters" of Theosophy, 409.
Metempsychosis, 236.
Moderates, the, 10.
Modern Religious Movements, 374-411.
Mohammedan Loyalty, 15.
Mohammedan Population, 302.
Mohammedanism, 42, 140, 302-337.
Moral Character of Time, 292.
Mother-in-Law, 264.
Mourning in a Hindu Home, 272.
Mozumdar, Protab, 386-391.
Mutiny, the, 1.
Nana Sahib, 107.
Nanak Shah, 319, 378.
Natesa Sastri, Pundit, 293.
Native Doctors, 270.
New Dispensation, 399.
New Dispensation's Creed, 396.
Obscenity, Law punishing, 210.
Occupational Theory of Caste, 98.
Odyssey, the, 153.
Olcott, Colonel, 405, 408.
Omens, 217.
"Oriental Christ," 391.
Origin of Caste, 93.
Outcastes of Panjamas, 208.
Pagoda, the Land of the, 73.
Pal, Bepin Chandra, 12.
Pandavas, 154.
Pan Islamic Movement, 332.
Panjaub--its Difficulty, 18.
Pantheism, 160.
Pariahs and Hindus, 209.
Parliament, Members of, 7.
Parsees, 40.
Pax Britannica, 312.
Pessimism, Hindu, 217.
Plutscho, Rev., 412.
Polygamy of Mohammedans, 320.
Polytheism, 199.
Prakriti, 159.
Prayaschitta, 120.
Press in India, the, 11, 21.
Prosperity in India, 14.
Protestantism and Caste, 143.
Protestantism, its Bicentenary, 412.
Protestant Missionary Force, 414.
Proverbs about Women, 253.
Puranas, 156, 277.
Quietism, 233.
Quran, the, 318.
Rahu Kala, 300.
Railroads and Caste, 147.
Rajputana Mohammedans, 316.
Ramachandra, 281.
Ramayana, 157, 281.
Ram Mohun Roy, 379.
Rangoon, 72.
Religious Theory of Caste, 95.
Renunciation, 233.
Revenue of Government, 13.
Rishis, 295.
Risley, Sir H., on Caste, 102.
Robson, Dr., 322.
Romish Missionaries, 284.
Sadharana Somaj, 385.
Sadhus, 215.
Saivites, 158.
Sakti Worship, 212.
Salvation in Hinduism, 184.
Sarnath, 69.
Sati, 255-257.
Sayuchya, 171, 229.
Schools and Caste, 148.
Schwey Dagon, 74.
Sedition, 12.
Shah Jehan, 45, 307.
Sham, a Huge, 232.
Shiahs, 327.
Shradda, 273.
Sidhartthan, 342.
Sikhs and their Faith, 62, 319.
Sin, Christian Conception of, 441.
Site of a House, 243.
Siva's Trident, 300.
Sleeping on the Floor, 246.
Social Reform, 26, 98, 419.
Social Theory of Caste, 97.
Soothsayers, 97, 251.
South India Islam, 317.
Statistics of Indian Faiths, 31.
Sunnis, 327.
Superstitions of Islam, 315.
Swadesha, 420.
Swami, Hindu, 198.
Sword of Islam, 306.
Syrian Church, 34, 140, 412.
Tantras, 156.
Taxation in India, 14.
Temple Cars, 211.
Theebaw, 79.
Theism, 378.
Theism unsatisfying, 398.
Theosophical Society, 404-411.
Thomasians, 35.
Totemism and Caste, 114.
Towers of Silence, 40.
Transmigration, 362.
Travancore, the Land of Charity, 34.
Travancore Maharajah, 111.
Travel in India, 31.
Tribal Theory of Caste, 96.
Triumph of Christianity, 425.
Triumph of Christian Principles, 430.
Ultimate Salvation in Hinduism, 235.
Universities and Politics, 20.
University Graduates, 6.
Usury, 323.
Vaishnava Cult, 158.
Vedantic Philosophy, 156.
Vishnu, 279.
Visishdadvaitha, 376.
Vivekananda, Swami, 126, 431.
Western Christianity inadequate, 240.
Western Medical Science, 271.
Wherry, Dr., 311.
Widows, Hindu, 213, 263.
Williams, Sir Monier, 321.
Women in Hinduism, 213, 252.
Works, Doctrine of, 174.
Yama, 257.
Yoga Philosophy, 156, 172.
Ziegenbalg, 412.
* * * * *
End of Project Gutenberg's India, Its Life and Thought, by John P. Jones