Thread by @HindooHistory

The New Haven Morning Journal and Courier, 1897

"GREATNESS OF CONFLICT BETWEEN HEATHENISM AND CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA"

"Striking and Notable Paper Read at the New Haven Ministers' Meeting by Rev. H.M. Lawson, a Missionary of the American Board"

#HindooHistory

"The Conflict Between Christianity and Hinduism in India"

"The greatness of the conflict which is going on between heathenism and Christianity in India is little realized here in America. It is as it was at the beginning of our civil war..."

"when the people of the north had only the faintest idea of the terrible struggle which lay before them. Think of President Lincoln calling for only seventy-five thousand men for three months, just as though the great rebellion were to be put down by that insignificant force..."

"During those dark days, as I have heard the older ones say, there was a kind of atmosphere of gloom hanging over the land, as the people waited with intense interest to hear the latest news from the scene of conflict"

"A similar struggle for the kingdom of God is being carried on in India: but it is a sad fact that but very few of the members of that kingdom in America have waked up to realize the greatness and the difficulty of the task which they have undertaken"

"In our late war the defeat at Bull Run was an eye-opener to the northerners; its first effect was stunning, but afterwards it made the loyal people of the borth bend with new energy to their great task"

"So I believe that a statement of the difficulties and defects in the missionary enterprise in INdia will tend to make true Christians take up the work with greater vigor than ever. A few may be discouraged and say 'We'd better give up,' ..."

"But just as in the war time the feeling in the hearts of true citizens was, 'The Union must and shall be preserved,' so among Christ's followers it will be, 'India must and shall be won to Christ.'"

"Just as Christ when he came was born in a manger and found no place in the hearts of men, so now the missioanry finds the heathen world pre-occupied with no room and no desire for the gospel of Christ"

"The attempt to introduce a foreign religion is considered an insult to the existing religions. A Hindu paper recently remarked, 'We have long though that the Christian missionaries have no business in India..."

"'and that they would be better employed in their own countries to strengthen their own church, which is appreciably falling into decay..."

"'It is our firm conviction that all missionary activities to further the progress of Christianity are what may be called so many frauds upon the people of this country.'"

"Another native paper proposes to drive all missionaries out of the country, not by force, for that would be out of the question, but by boycotting them and having nothing to do with them except to treat them with contempt"

"Intellectually it is difficult for a pantheistic mind to reason monotheistically. When Hinduism is left behind many paths are open. Theosophy, agnosticism and all forms of scepticism are open before him. All these cults come from the west."

"Before the educated Hindu accepts Chrsitianity he faces Renan and Rosseau and Voltaire, and it may be INgersoll, and worse than these he is confronted with the new Hinduism."

"What a temptation to turn back from inquiry to one's ancestral faith which receives praise from Max Muller and was lauded at the World's Parliament of Religions."

If he fights his way through all these obstacles and approaches the goal of Christianity, there are two guides who offer their services to him. One of the Brahmo Samaj, a place of rest and deliverance from all dilemmas, a resultant from Hinduism and Christianity..."

"the other guide points to the Salvation army where no baptism is necessary."

"The present revival of Hinduism in India is due to several causes, but chief among them is the alarm that is felt at the growing influence of Christianity. A minor cause is rivalry with the Mohammedans."

"It is also a reaction against the scepticism which in former years usually followed the acquisition of a western education. The Hindus are a very religious people and cannot get along without any religion. So now we see students plunging madly into all the excesses of Hinduism."

"Idolatry is being apologized for as necessary to direct one's mind towards God, especially for the ignorant people. Hindu papers advocate the hearty observance of the heathen festivals, such as that of the elephant headed god, Ganpati, and of the dirty and degrading Shimga"

"The Parliament of Religions had the effect of reviving waning Hinduism for a time. The Hindus felt very proud that their representatives were allowed to sit on the same platform with Christians. These men sent back glowing accounts of their cordial reception by Americans..."

"and the eagerness with which they were listened to. When I went out to talk with educated young men on religion I generally met the remark, 'Have you heard that Swami Vivekananda has converted four thousand Americans to Hinduism?'"

"Some of the Hindu papers were greatly agitated as to what to do with these American Hindus, as they could be received into any existing caste. It was finally decided that a new caste should be formed for them"

"A conceited young Brahmin told me that he understood that the Americans preferred Hinduism to Christianity. I could only laugh at this and told him that I did not think the American would ever give up a religion that had done so much for them for Hinduism"

"'Well', he said, 'of Course Rome was not built in a day.' The Swami, when he returned to India, was received very enthusiastically as a champion of Hinduism."

"This was rather dampened, however, when they learned through Dr. Barrows and others that had freely eaten the flesh of the sacred cow and of the unclean pig while in America. In Bengal he was expelled from a temple by the orthodox priest."

"This shows the power of caste and also that the Swami is not regarded as an orthodox Hindu. He is really the most plausible falsifier in all Asia."

"But the Parliament of Religions is leading throughful Hindus to compare their religion with Christianity, which is just what we want; so the ultimate effect will be good. I believe that one of the best results of Dr. Barrows' magnificent course of lecture sin India has been..."

"to correct the false impressions which ahd been prevalent there concerning the Parliament, and to set intelligent men to thinking on 'Christianity, the universal religion.'"

"The present is a time of increasing religious unrest in India. This shows itself in private conversation and the poublic press. It takes the form of opposition to Christianity, or of a praise of its moral teachings while renouncing its dogmas"

"But I must not dwell entirely on the discouraging features of the work, for there is a bright side. Opposition itself is a sign of progress. Christianity is revolutionizing the thought in India, and therefore it arouses the bitterest opposition"

"The change of thought is manifesting itself in many ways. Hindus try to cover up the more superstitious and repulsive side of their religion, and the effort to make Hinduism appear as much as like Christianity as possible."

"This itself is a tacit recognition of the superiority of the latter. The polytheistic gods are seldom spoken of but the name of the supreme God is used. One attribute ascribed to him is holiness, which is wholly foreign to Hinduism."

"Thousands of educated men accept the truths of Christianity intellectually, with the exception of the doctrine of Christ as the atoning Savior"

"In many respects the condition of things in India today closely resembles that in the Roman empire during the struggle between Christianity and heathenism. We have the great advantage in India of being under a Christian government."

"But in other ways the difficulties are greater than those which confronted the apostles and Fathers. We have a much larger population in India than in the whole Roman empire. Then the terrible caste system which has to be contended with and broken down."

"I am convinced that the whole structure of society must be broken up before Christianity will have full sway in India. As in the Roman empire, so in India, this will probably be the task of centuries. Hinduism is by no means dying or dead."

"Dr. Clark spoke at the American Board meeting of the enthusiasm which which he saw the car of Juggernaut drawn through the streets of Serampore where a century ago Cary was translating the Bible. Caste prejudice is giving way very slowly"