The Church of Christ

(Based on the Word of God; dedicated to the promotion of independence, Indianisation, unity, co-operation, and to the removal of corruption and evil in all forms and in all places.)

Christ-Nagar Mission

Non=Sectarian Charitable Society of Catholic Christian Clergy and Laity.

Badagayedapadavu Post, Mangalore Taluk, S. India.

January 6, 1966

Dear Beloved Friend in Christ,

While wishing you and your loved ones A Happy and Prosperous New Year 1966, we have the pleasure and opportunity to inform you the good news that Dr. Henry Rodrigus, got acquitted in the Court Case filed against him by the State Government under Sections 153A and 295A for wounding the religious feelings of the Roman Catholics by publishing Pamphlets and Tracts.

After the proceedings in the Additional First Class Magistrate, Mangalore, the final trial against him took place before the District Judge at the Sessions Court, Mangalore, on the 28th and 29th of December 1965. Shri Ananda Shetty and Shri B.V. Acharya, Advocates appeared on his behalf with two other assistants for Defence, and the Public Prosecutor on behalf of the Prosecution for offences. The Vicar Capitular - Vicar General of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Mangalore, and the Priest - Editor of “Rakno,” the Diocesan Weekly of the Roman Catholic Church, were the witnesses for the Prosecution. The first Prosecution witness - the Bishop of Mangalore was not in station, hence his witness was dispensed with. No witnesses were examined for the defence. The Case was dismissed on the of January 1966 with an acquittal to Dr. Rodrigus.

This is the Eleventh Victory he had in Court Trials. His Victory is the Victory for our Lord Jesus Christ especially to His Gospel and Preaching. All funds were diverted towards this Case to have Victory for the Gospel.

Trust you would extend and offer your co-operation to our Mission as usual, and support our Ministry wholeheartedly by your prayers and free will offerings in future as well. We have been sending our Magazine to you regularly. We shall continue to send same in future also.

With lots of love, prayers and good wishes, we remain,

Yours in HIS service,

H. Rodrigus, (D.D.), Director.

N.B.: This Paper is not priced. Whatever gifts are sent by friends are applied to the work as a whole in connection with the Ashram and the Bharat Khrist Sangh.

Comrades of the Way of Truth in Love

Greetings!

May the Spirit of the Eternal be with you.
May all, even unto the least, work together:
My old friend, Lloyd, writes, "togetherness grows on me."
We are coming together.

Hence, many strive for creative, co-operative community!
These 40 years for India have been full of such struggle.
So may it continue unto the last!

_Peace is a pilgrimage together with Truth in Love_
There is but One Truth, One Body of that Truth.
Ours is a seeking of such expression.
We refused to live in the "bungalow" which separates.
We refused to call a brother a "heathen."
We chose to live in slum and village.

Tagore has been our poet!
Gandhijii took us to the Frontiers of Freedom.
    "Harijans" (Children-of-God) are we!
    "Gramdan Sarvodaya" (land held in-common) is our way!
    "Ahimsa" (selfless love) is our method!
Vinobaji is the revered comrade.

"But what of Jesus Christ?" you rightly ask.
Jesus of Nazareth was Truth Incarnate.
He called us to the way of the cross.
He called, He calls us to follow _Him_.
His mission must also be truth _incarnate_ -
And nothing less!

That is why we wore the home-spun of the poor.
That is why we stood humbly with Gandhijii.
That is why we take no vacations - our Master did not!
Jesus retired on the Cross!
That is our way!

[Jesus did not in fact retire even on the Cross. After Resurrection, He was very active. After Ascension He has been interceding for us. The God in Christ is perpetually struggling for reconciliation, justice and Love. - Editor Church of Christ.]

The Local Christian Community in the New Testament

By John G. Gager Tubingen

It is increasingly felt that the most serious problem of evangelism in our day is the local congregation. On the one hand, evangelists and ministers have noted that the life and structure of the congregation is such that those who are converted or stimulated through evangelistic efforts are often unable to find a place within well-established congregations. On the other hand, many Christians feel that the congregation itself is often unable to share effectively in the work of evangelism. The difficulty at this point is that the life of most congregations is based on a “come structure” whose primary function is to attract its members to “come” that is to share in worship, instruction and group activities. Fundamentally there is no provision, and hence no real opportunity or encouragement, for them also to “go” as Christians into the world of business, labour, politics and society where the real battles of faith must be fought.

The variety of church forms itself is of significance in that no contemporary congregational or church structure may claim exclusive justification on the basis of the New Testament and that every such church structure can, to a greater or lesser degree, claim justification on the basis of the various traditions within the New Testament. The forms of congregational life (or of church order) are a part of the church’s response to the Gospel. This response varies considerably according to different historical, sociological and theological orientations. Thus, we do not (any more) insist that forms of congregational life developed in the West are necessarily appropriate for churches in Africa or Asia.

In these terms we must affirm that the Bible offers no normative pattern of congregational life which can be transplanted into our own time. As regards the historical question as such, the principle of variety and diversity is the only conclusion which can be applied in our situation. The attempt to claim exclusive justification for other elements of church life ignores the fundamental theological and historical basis of the diversity of congregational life as it is reflected in the New Testament.

What, then, is the underlying theological basis which can be seen through this surprising variety of church offices, liturgical forms and sacramental interpretations? Is it possible to reconcile Luke’s and the Pastoral’s emphasis on tradition and continuity with Israel on the one hand with John’s emphasis on the radical freedom of the new - communal as well as individual - life under the Risen Lord on the other hand? This much at least must be affirmed. If there exists a common basis between these two extreme - but scriptural - forms of congregational life, it will not be found in specific organisational, sacramental or ministerial principles as such. To focus attention on the tradition of presbyters and bishops, for example, is to overlook the unique historical circumstances which provoked, and in a sense necessitated the emergence of these special forms of church order.

The implication of these statements, coupled with the great variety of congregational life in the New Testament, is that the variety exists not merely at the level of congregational structures but also at the deeper level of the ecclesiological basis itself. In his book Images of the Church in the New Testament, P.S. Minear indicates 96 different images of the Church in the New Testament. Among them are: “the salt of the earth”, “a letter from Christ”, “unleavened bread”, “exiles”, “ambassadors”, “the people of God”, “twelve tribes”. “Abraham’s sons”, “the Holy City”, “priesthood.” To the extent that we cannot simply separate the notions of form and content, we must recognise the diversity of (ecclesiological) content behind the variety of (congregational) forms.

As examples of this fundamental diversity, we may accept the following summaries of Schweitzer as representing a broad range of agreement among biblical scholars. “It is not accidental that the churches we met in Acts and in the Pastorals, and to a certain extent in Matthew and Synoptics, see the decisive turn in the times in terms of the future, in the Parousia of the Son of Man” (Unity, 478). “John stressed more strongly than Paul that everything has now taken place, the Aeon has broken in … John saw the newness of the Church even more sharply than Paul. Church ‘offices’ existed only on the side of the enemies of God …” (Unity, 481). “The Pauline Churches stood in the middle. They knew that the event marking the beginning of a new epoch had already come to pass … At the same time, however, they knew that they were living inside a community that was not identical with the Kingdom of God” (Unity, 483).

The problem of locating a principle of unity within this great diversity of church life is nothing other than the problem of the unity of the New Testament itself. This unity cannot be grounded in specific theological or organisational principles as such. With respect to church order and congregational life, the cherished principle of apostolic succession, in whatever form, is no longer valid as the unique, or even primary guarantee of authentic communal existence in Christ.

Rather, the principle of unity and authenticity is to be found in Schweitzer’s affirmation in connection with the Pauline congregations. “For that reason the man from outside, the fringe member or Gentile, is for Paul the proper yardstick by which the whole proclamation must be measured (1 Corinthians 14:16 f, 23-25) … For the same reason Paul will in the last resort allow no distinction between prophetic preaching to church members and to those from outside” (Church Order, 28c). It is in terms of the “outsider”, the bearer of the Gospel, that the life and proclamation of the local Christian community is to be judged and conceived. Every attempt to codify and institutionalise this response denies both historical change and social and institutional variety. By separating itself from the social and historical processes of the world, the Christian community unfailingly demonstrates its profoundest worldliness. On the other hand, when the Christian community recognises that its authenticity depends not on given forms of order, worship or service, but on God’s own action of calling, sustaining and forgiving, then it will be free to reshape its life and worship in terms of the particular historical and social reality in which it must bear its witness.

We must recognise that theological reflection does not exhaust the life of early Christianity. This reflection was but one element among others in the life of the community. The shape of the community, as well as the shape of its theology, was created by a concern for authentic existence in a given - undoubtedly unique - historical situation. Once we have recognised this fundamental principle, we will be set free from slavery to the specific forms of the church in early Christianity and set free to discover their more fundamental theological and historical significance for our own Christian communities.

— From The World Council of Churches, Geneva.

Ecumenical Bees in India’s Bonnet

The Churches in India have “come of age.” Increasingly, since the World Council of Churches was established in 1948, representatives of the Indian Churches have taken part in its activities. Today, as a sign of their maturity, the Indians figuring at the top levels of W.C.C. appear to be making a good showing. On the Council presidium sits Dr. David G. Moses of Nagpur, again from Nagpur is Bishop John W. Sadiq as chairman of the Division of World Missions; the second Vice-Chairman of the Central Committee is the theologian Dr. J. Russell Chandran; Fr. Paul Verghese is Associate General Secretary of the W.C.C. And when the World Conference on Church and Society assembles in Geneva in July this year it will welcome Mr. M.M. Thomas as its General Chairman.

Thanks to the genius of the about-to retire General Secretary Dr. Visser’t Hooft other Indians may be seen to figure prominently in the several commissions and committees with the W.C.C. By this means a tremendous impetus is provided for the Indian Churches to benefit from the collective thinking of the W.C.C, and enrich their own thought by the currents generated in Geneva, New York and London. Aiding powerfully this cross-fertilising process are the streamlined and assembly-line methods of the W.C.C. publicity department; in particular, its mimeographs department whose unremitting and interminable output can sometimes stagger its consumers. As a result there is today not only a World Council of Churches, but also world community. This, to recall a remark of the late Archbishop William Temple, is certainly a great fact of our time.

This great fact has other reactions in a few Indian Christians: There is a feeling, almost a misgiving, whether this process of collective thinking may not lead to a measure of regimentation and conformity. They ask whether it is desirable that there should be uniformity of thought in order to be an effective world community. May it not be that the present situation should be re-examined? The whole thing leads up to the question. Supposing the top echelons of the W.C.C. decide to promote a certain line of thought, is it taken for granted that those who are associated with the W.C.C. the world over should also popularise it in their areas, regardless of the fact that the milieu of their service is different from the one that gave rise to that particular theological formulation?

Writing recently in the Ecumenical Review Dr. Visser’t Hooft suggested that the theological contribution of the late Dietrich Bonhoeffer deserves worldwide attention and study. There would be few in India who would disagree with Dr. Visser’t Hooft; on the contrary, many would welcome the suggestion, if only because that is one way of keeping our minds open to the winds from abroad. But those who are holding a sort of inner dialogue in India look upon this suggestion from a different angle from that of Dr. Visser’t Hooft.

The Indian “re-thinkers” are aware of the history of the churches in this country, where, for the past about two hundred years, the theological thought was closely guided and guarded by the Western missionaries, forestalling ‘free-thinking’ and may be, heresies! Conducive to safety though this may have been, it has also resulted in Indian Christian thought becoming the pale copy of their Western mentors and also causing a certain amount of sterility. The exaggerated prestige of Western theologies continues to be a strong feature of Indian Church life, speaking generally.

In recent years the ‘younger churches’, more or less released from the tutelage of missionaries, appear to be coming under another form of intellectual tutelage - this time, of the World Council of Churches and the Western theological coteries in general. It appears as though Indian Christian thinkers are subjected to periodical assaults from Continental theological bastions. It has the look of, to be crude, the epidemics familiar to this tropical country. After the close of the World War I no theologian could talk theology without mentioning Barth, Brunner and Buber, Since the World War II the same may be said of Bultmann and Bonhoeffer. The five “Bees” have been humming in the bonnets of Indian Christian thinkers, apparently with no hope of relief.

A section of Indian Christian community, standing tangentially to the official set-up of the Churches, has, in recent years, become vocal; they call in question the whole process of gearing Indian Christian thought to the prevailing theological fashions in the West. They ask, should we, in India, confront the Fact and Person of Jesus Christ only through the Western thought-forms and formularies? Should we not, rather, take our theological cues from the rich religions of the soil itself? Should Indian theology be governed by the thought dominated by the Jewish, Greek and Latin elements of thought forever? Should we not try to have an Indian Christian theology? A small, rather loosely organised group called the Rethinking Christianity Group, has spearheaded this “revolt” against alien theological hegemony in India. It is in this context that the periodical release of Ecumenical Bees into the bonnets of Indians has to be appreciated and discussed.

To return to the last of the Ecumenical Bees - Bonhoeffer - every up-and-coming theologian in the Indian Church (those in the top echelons of the W.C.C. not excluded) appears to think that the only way of theological communication in India today is that which employs Bonhoefferian terminology. Thus, today, we listen to the “enthroned” leaders of the Churches speaking about “post-Christendom” situation, “religionless Christianity”, of “having to do without God” and even of “the death of God”. If one has reached the last stage, one wonders how one can call such intellectual engagement a theology. They also speak of “Secularity” and “secularisation” as though these terms represent an altogether new and revelatory insight, though to Bonhoeffer it may have been just that. But does it follow that it is so for every Indian?

Secularity and secularism are not new to India. In fact from before the Christian era the philosophers of India have continued their own inner dialogue with the secularists of many varieties. For instance, no philosopher of repute in India has ignored the challenge of the Lokayata (materialist - secularist) philosophy of ancient India and which has continued in its variant forms. What is more important is the fact that Indian philosophers hold that man is born a secularist, and it is only his nurture and culture that render him religious. So, the much-talked-of secularism in the W.C.C. circles does not appear to disturb those rooted in the Indian tradition. Therefore, to offer the ephemeral, transient secularist theologies of the West as the universal and permanent solvents of the world’s ills and ailments appears to be an irrelevance, indeed, an impertinence, to say the least.

It is hoped that with the beginning of the Carson Blake regime there will be a sea-change in the ideas and procedures of the World Council of Churches. Instead of periodically releasing the Continental Bees into the Indian Christian Church-hives, the W.C.C. would be doing signal service by encouraging the “younger Churches” now “come of age” to do their own thinking, as befits the situation in their own country and as demanded by the forms of communication that suit their communities. This, let us hope, will not be a forlorn hope.

— M.S.R., The Guardian, April 14, 1966.

Famine in India

India is no stranger to the spectre of famine which in past years has ravaged certain sections of the country, and taken its toll of millions of lives. Once again the nation is being warned by the Food Minister that a crop disaster is near. “Famine clouds are on the horizon” another official warns. “Let 1966 not become a repetition of 1866 the year of the great Indian famine of the last century.”

Anyone who has visited India in recent years, and seen the unspeakable misery of some of its large cities particularly Calcutta gets a little inkling of the tremendous aspects of the problem that faces the country, one of the facets of which of course is the feeding of immense population. Thousands die every day in India of starvation cholera and other diseases resulting from the terrifying accommodation or lack of them in which vast multitudes exist. Living in the western world one cannot have the slightest conception of the appalling misery that is the lot of millions. In filthy slums children run naked along muddy lanes, their homes no better than pigsties but still are better than the lot of the tens of thousands whose only home is the hard sidewalk from the day of their birth to that of their death which mercifully for many is not very long. What would constitute a state of emergency and a crisis of the first order in the Western World is the normal life of many Indian cities. Lack of housing, sewers, drinking water, sanitary facilities and the ordinary amenities of civilised life are unknown to multitudes, and accepted as part of their every day life and religion and cannot shock.

Looking at the problems of India as a whole one cannot help but feel a sense of vast frustration. The United States is shipping 500,000 tons of wheat a month, but that is not nearly enough to meet the need even if it were doubled. That cannot go on forever. Beyond the mere physical needs are political and economic problem, and beyond that vaster problem of the people themselves, an almost innumerable multitude with their religious beliefs and philosophies, their superstitions and taboos and millions of gods that it seems to us will forever thwart the best laid schemes man can lay down to better their lot.

One looks upon such problems of this vast nation with a sense of impotence and futility. Who is sufficient for these things? Who can cope with issues of such vast dimensions? It seems to us that only God can provide the answer. The ultimate remedy must lie in a new way of life for the people, a new outlook and orientation that the Gospel alone can provide. This is not a mere over-simplification of a vast problem. Every human effort must be made to meet the immediate needs of the people, but it is obvious that this can never be the final solution. India’s gods do not have the answer. The God who made the heavens and the earth in whom we live, and move and have our being has. There is no other.

— The Evangelical Christian, February 1966.

Baccalaureate Address Delivered at the Annual Convocation of the Baptist Theological College

Ramapatnam, Nellore District, A.P.

ON SUNDAY THE 19th APRIL 1964.

The Rev. H.S. Gladstone, B.A. (Hon.) M.A., (U.S.A.) Calcutta University.

The Kingdom and the New Frontiers

5. Can there be a frontier in the church to practise faith healing? Once I witnessed the practice of faith healing in an evangelical church, whereas part of the service the sick were brought to the altar, the elders laid their hands, prayed and anointed them with oil. This is Scriptural. James 5:4-5. Some churches do not believe in faith healing, because they lack faith. Christian science would never have developed had the churches been faithful in believing the truth told by James in his Epistle.

6. The Church in India needs a new frontier in the Ascetic type of Christianity. When the church was indulging in worldliness, it was St. Francis of Assisi who brought life devotion and new meaning into the Church. The ascetic type of Christianity will greatly appeal to the Christians and non-Christians in India. Too often we find evangelists who go from one Christian home to another with their out stretched hands for collections.

7. New frontiers of presenting the Gospel to the high caste Hindu have to be explored. Throughout India, so far the church has worked amidst the low caste, the down-trodden depressed classes. And we have gained considerably. But we must think of presenting the good news to the high caste Hindus. Often ministers either feel shy or reluctant to talk of religion with the educated high caste Hindus. We must venture in faith and courage to tell the caste Hindus in thought forms understandable to them about Jesus Christ.

8. Some thoughtful Christians have said that since independence the Indian Church has been on the defensive. The sign of a great age is its risk. In the 15th Century, Columbus and Vasco de Gama risked their lives on the high seas. In the 16th Century Martin Luther risked his life. The Indian Church seems to be complacent, slothful, compromising, and even silent on many social and national issues. It has not experimented boldly in self-support evangelism witness and its outreach. The Book of Acts is a primer in the Christian expansion from Jerusalem to Judea to Samaria and to Africa, Asia Minor, to Greece and finally to Rome - all in the lifetime of one man. We are just taking care of our little flock. The Indian Church must capture something of the spirit of the early Church. Once again it must capture the frontier spirit implied in the word “GO.”

Revolution in Morals

That this world has been rapidly changing in its conception of Religion, Morals and Politics is apparent to everyone. So great, indeed, has the transition been that it amounts to more than a change - it is a revolution. Old standards of conduct and beliefs are being cast to the moles and the bats, and new religions and new morals are rapidly supplanting the old. It needs hardly be said that we deplore these changes not as something to be desired in a supposedly advancing twentieth century civilisation, but as terrifying evidences of a decadent age and significant signs of an approaching catastrophe comparable only to the destruction of the world in the days of Noah and the overthrow of the cities of the plain in the days of Lot.

It is in the realm of morals that the world gives most evidence of its rushing to destruction. For the present generation of young people and many of our leaders, history has no meaning, and to the lessons it might teach they are deaf and blind. If one doubts what is said here he has only got to read what appears in the daily press or consider the spate of volumes on sex and related subjects being issued every day. One of these new volumes we saw reviewed the other day has some shocking illustrations of the state to which morality has sunk in this country. The writer, who is a woman, interviewed 600 students from more than 100 colleges in all regions. She says that the entire concept of college life has changed so radically in less than a decade that she could barely believe she had graduated from university only a short time ago. She goes on to say.

One possible reason for this general lowering of standards could be that the total annihilation of the earth has become a dimension of everyday living, somewhere between a possibility and a probability in the minds of the young.

“I woke up one night and thought: ‘I am going to die a virgin’,” one co-ed told Gael Greene, speaking of the days of the Cuban crisis. “I decided it was time to do something about it.” The reaction of youth to the hydrogen bomb is to eat-drink-and-be-merry-for-tomorrow-we-die cliche translated into terms of finding emotional security in a sexual attachment, so they will not die alone when the end comes.

The one encouraging factor that emerges from an otherwise deplorable situation is that among many college girls there is agreement that religion is a strong deterrent to pre-marital sex.

“I think,” said one girl, “a lot of college girls have been raised so that they have no set of moral standards when they enter college … and if you have no moral or religious reasons for not playing the game, it’s difficult.”

This seems to be especially true now that contemporary writers look upon sin as old-fashioned.

If one might add a word to this it is just that not religion, as such, is the greatest safeguard of morality but the Lord Jesus Christ in the heart. Religion, per se, can do nothing to safeguard the soul. Christ can do everything. There is no greater emancipating power in the world like the Gospel of God’s saving grace, and no Guardian of the human soul like our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

— The Evangelical Christian, Canada.

The Problem of Wastage in God’s Work

By Bakht Singh

John 6:12,13

“When they were filled, he said unto his disciples, Gather the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost. Therefore, they gathered them together, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves which remained over and above unto them that had eaten.”

I want you to notice something about the “fragments” which are mentioned here. Why did the Lord give that command to the disciples to gather the fragments?

My point is, that our Lord does not like wastage. And that is why He commanded that nothing be lost. If He was so particular about those fragments left behind, how much more is He particular about our time, money and energy! When we look at our lives, we have to admit that much of our time is being wasted, much of our money is being misspent, and much of our energy is dissipated. Let us examine ourselves.

When I began my ministry in India in 1933, I thought I would please God by spending all the time I possibly could in giving the Gospel everywhere I went. I would begin early in the morning by filling my pockets with Gospels and tracts, - and with books in my arms, I would go out from shop to shop, street to street, person to person, and give them out freely. I would hold open-air meetings twice a day, and cottage meetings every evening. I worked very hard. This went on for six months. But I saw no results. I consoled myself in thinking I had done my duty; I had often missed my lunch and tea, but I was at a standstill. I was not growing spiritually. So when I prayed, “Lord what is wrong with me”, the Lord showed me that I was serving Him in my own strength and wisdom; and that I was wasting time. He showed me how I had cut short my quiet time both morning and evening in order to be out serving. I repented of my negligence, and determined that I would wait for the Lord’s plan first before going out. I wanted to see fruit.

I had been praying three hours, when the Lord told me that I was to go to “Soldiers’ Bazaar.” I called my friends and told them that God has given us the plan for the day, and that we are to go to Soldiers Bazaar today. They argued, “Do you know how far it is? It is four miles away … Now it is ten o’clock … It is the midday sun … Let us go tomorrow.” I said, “No, God said I must go now to Soldiers’ Bazaar there is somebody waiting for the Lord.”

There were no buses, so we walked. After an hour and half we reached the place, and in an open space we began to sing and to preach. A man came out of his shop and said, “Look here, I am a Mohammaden - this is my shop - and I will not allow you Christians to preach here.” I told him that there was no compulsion and that he was accountable to God on the Judgement day, if he rejected Him. We moved to another place, and began to sing and preach. Then came a policeman. He, too, refused us permission to stand there and preach.

Then I prayed, “Lord, you sent us to Soldiers’ Bazaar, but nobody wants us.” And again the Lord said; “You go further.” We went further and finished the message when a young Hindu came to me, who was a college graduate from the Punjab. I discovered that he had been going about searching for peace for the past four years. He had gone on many pilgrimages to various parts of India, but was disappointed. He said, “I was only saying yesterday, I wish I could meet some good Christian, who could help me. I know God has sent you here today.”

The Lord gave us souls every day - not only one, but many, among the Sikhs and Hindus, as well as the Muhammadans. That is how God began to give me fruit. He expects us to see fruit. The same principle applies in our use of money also. Do we misuse our money?

In the olden days, I would carry many coins in my pockets, because I was in the habit of giving to anyone who would ask me for money. But one day, when I gave, God spoke to me, and said, “It is not your money, - it is mine - who are you to spend My money.” From that day, I decided never to spend one paisa without asking God’s permission.

Your time and your money both belong to God. I never regard money as my own! I never buy anything until I am sure God has a purpose in my spending the money.

I remember in America I needed a haircut. I had the money, but the Lord never gave me any freedom to get it cut. I kept praying for three weeks, while my hair was getting very long.

I came to Minneapolis, and the Lord told me to go downstairs to the barbershop where I would get a good haircut. And while the barber was cutting my hair, I asked him, “Mr. Bruce, can you tell me whether you are born again?” He said “No, but I want to be.” So after he finished, I took my Bible and explained the way to him. He knelt down and accepted the Lord. He refused to give me the bill; so the Lord gave me a haircut and also the privilege to lead the barber to Himself.

I believe from God’s Word that we will have to give account for our time and money.

The year 1936 was the beginning of a mighty move of the Spirit which took place in seven places in the Punjab. The first of these began in Pathankot. Even in the wake of such an ingathering of souls, God had more to teach me about waste.

In Pathankot, it was arranged that I should take five meetings. I agreed to do so, though I did not feel well. In fact, I had fever, headache and cough. When I came to my room that night, I was feeling very tired, and still quite sick; and so without much prayer I went to sleep. At midnight there was a very clear knock at the door. This knock I heard three different times, but no one answered my call. Then it occurred to me to pray, “Lord, tell me what it is.” And the Lord answered me clearly, “Get up and pray … Get up and pray.” I was so tired, but I got up and prayed. This went on for five nights. After the Sunday evening meeting, and the people were going home, I called them back and said, “I believe there is someone here who wants to give a testimony, and please feel free also to give a word if God has spoken to you.” A small girl of about 10 years stood and said very clearly and simply that the Lord Jesus Christ had met her and changed her, and forgiven her sins. Then the second and third, until about ten girls of the same age testified of how God had uncovered their sins, and how they were assured of His forgiveness. You see, there was a Girls’ School nearby.

A teacher of this Girls’ School said to me, “Brother, this is too good to be true. Will you kindly pray that the blessing may continue!” As we began to pray, it seemed as though people were being beaten with a leather whip - they were crying out with tears for mercy. Others were hiding under chairs, and benches - trembling! People were under great conviction for sin.

This went on for some time. Then I asked, “How many here have never been born again?” About thirty to forty hands went up. “We are not going to go home until you are all born again,” I said. We went on praying and singing till 3 o’clock in the morning - the meeting had begun at 4 o’clock that afternoon. By that time others began to testify with shining faces what God had done for them.

This was the beginning of revival; and God continued to work in power in Patamalu, Sialkot, Montgomery and Sargodha. Then I had six days of meetings in Yangstabad, in the Punjab.

While there, a man from Martinpur, a place nearby, came and prevailed upon me to spend at least a day with them. It was a Christian village, and he wanted me to have some meetings there. I excused myself, and told him I was not free to go.

You see, I had heard of the bad reputation of this place, and the sinful state of the local church. There were about 110 families standing in opposition to the pastor; and about 95 families who were with him, and the remaining 55 were neutral - so there were 3 parties. One party would be having their service inside, while the other would be having a service outside the church building. And there would be someone appointed to have a long stick to direct into the right meeting! I understand that when certain members of the presbytery were sent to decide the dispute, they fell violently ill, and were suspected to have eaten poison. So they cleared out! I was terrified to go, and told him that it was not my job, and that he better call someone who had some experience in those things. But in the end I went.

We had meetings in the open field for seven days, and people came, but mostly to ridicule. I saw their sin, making liquor and selling liquor, kidnapping and selling girls - it was the worst kind of sin. I had seven sleepless nights, crying out to God, “O God, is there any hope for people like these!” I admit I was discouraged, and I told them that night standing in the field, “This is my last meeting - I am going away tomorrow.”

We were having the last prayer, and as I was praying, somebody suddenly fell on his face before me, as though he had been bitten by a scorpion. Then one after another, people were seen falling to the ground crying out for mercy. I saw with my own eyes, people throwing dust into their faces, beating their chests, and pulling on their hair. After 3 hours of this, the elders came beseeching me to stop it. I said, “I did not start it … ask God to stop it.”

This was the nature of the revival which spread from Punjab to Poona, Redgaon, Indore, Mhow, Jhansi and in Agra. We saw hundreds come under conviction by the Spirit, confess their sins and be saved. We would stay for three to five weeks in each place, having cottage meetings, Bible studies, and going out in processions selling gospels. But when I would return to those places after a few months, I would find to my great disappointment went that a very small number were really going on with the Lord - the majority of them had gone back.

In seeing this, my first thought was, Whose fault is this? After all I am only an evangelist. I have given them the Gospel. I have done my duty. I have instructed them how to follow the Word. If the local people fail in their responsibility, they will have to give account to God! For some time I left others to carry on the work, even though people were sadly backsliding.

But God began to show me that as evangelists we are not only responsible for their conversion, but also for their growth. Are they not our children, and if so, must we not be prepared to shepherd them? For all the teaching we had given, working hard in prayer and Bible study, we did not see much growth. There was wastage.

I had to acknowledge that I had failed them and that I was to blame. These people were truly born again, and naturally they would look to us for guidance. We were responsible to lead them on and bring them into maturity and into the plan of God. I saw this truth very clearly from Ephesians 4:11-14,

“… for the perfecting of the saints … for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ. That we hence forth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive.”

I saw that many of the new converts were either deceived by wrong doctrine or by worldly attractions; or they were deceived by their relatives into marriages which led them away from God. But according to this passage of Scripture, it is the duty of apostle prophets and evangelists and teachers to see that new converts are properly cared for and brought into maturity.

— Reprinted from “Balance of Truth.” With acknowledgments to the “Biblical Witness” January 1965.

Editorial Note

Religious Enthusiasm

A convention of some orthodox Hindus was recently held in Delhi. It was blessed by the presence of three Shankaracharyas, disciples of the great Hindu saint and philosopher, Shankaracharya. The meeting was also graced by the presence of our President, Dr. Radhakrishnan. The Shankaracharyas who are called Jagat-gurus, the preceptors of the world, are owners of vast landed properties and palatial buildings, the gift of their devotees. They have now decided to preach Hinduism outside India to be really worthy of the appellation affixed to their names. This is a great resolve and everybody who has any religion, particularly Hindu religion, will certainly welcome it. But a question, perhaps a little impertinent, may be asked at this moment. What are they going to preach in the name of Hinduism? The speculations of Hindu thinkers, noble and great, which the Hindus have not accepted, or if they have accepted them, they have done so with mental reservations? Or applied Hinduism which has produced caste, untouchability, idolatry and priest craft? If they preach the noble messages of the Upanishads and the Gita or of the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, will they not be asked to cleanse their own Augean stables first before proceeding abroad? Moreover, it may be asked what the spiritual descendants of the great Shankaracharya have done, are doing or will be doing with their enormous wealth derived from their real property and votive offerings which they already own or daily receive? What programme of human welfare have they been pursuing or have in view? Have they started any university or do they maintain any institution which may bring great benefit to mankind as the Oxford and Cambridge Universities, born in monasteries, have done? Are they the sort of people who are inwardly so illuminated as to be able to kindle the hearts of other people whom they consider benighted? Moreover, have they any knowledge of the cravings of the souls of modern men and women who are thirsty and hungry, whose lives are void, and who are praying for some undying fire, a breath of which will kindle their smouldering spirits? It is a great pity they have bestirred themselves rather late in the day. Since the days of their great Guru, more than a millennium has passed and fifteen crores of the people of this subcontinent have either embraced Islam or been born in the folds of that religion, and several lakhs have gone over to other religions. One wonders if their predecessors were asleep all these years or engaged in a more pleasant exercise.

— The Indian Messenger, 26.18.1965, representative Fortnightly of the Brahmo Samaj.

Am I Right or Wrong?

A Consideration of the Ecumenical Movement

By The Rev, Francis W. Dixon (Lansdowne Baptist Church, Bournemouth)

The ecumenical programme is hotting up, and time, and again I have been asked to declare my attitude towards the World Council of Churches. Let me state simply and clearly some of the reasons why I do not feel that I could join, or lead my church to join, the World Council of Churches. This is my personal testimony. These are my own sincere convictions which have been arrived at prayerfully and carefully, and I am not presuming to dictate to anyone else in this important matter. I do ask, however; Are my reasons valid? What is your answer to that question?

1. The first thing that strikes me very forcibly is that many men and churches belonging to the World Council are liberal; some are very liberal, and some are very, very liberal indeed. These “liberals” do not accept the divine inspiration and the final authority of the Bible; they reject God’s revelation, and they substitute human philosophy and mere speculation. In many cases, they do despite to the Person of Christ. Some even deny His essential deity, and many reject the atoning and substitutionary nature of His death. Many of them do not believe that Jesus Christ is the only Saviour of men, for they teach that ultimately, whether a man is a Hindu, a Muslim, a Christian or even an atheist, he will be saved.

2. Many of the most prominent advocates of the World Council of Churches, including denominational leaders, are very tolerant towards the church of Rome, and they speak publicly and enthusiastically about a complete union of the Roman and Protestant communions in the not-too-far distant future. Those who speak in this way include some of our ecclesiastical “heads”, many Anglicans and some Free Church leaders.

3. The majority of men I know, who are thoroughly and emphatically evangelical and who exercise a Bible-based ministry have very serious doubts about the World Council of Churches and most of them would definitely have nothing to do with it. I greatly respect them. They are men of scholarship and of spiritual maturity, and they are men whom God is using, and the fact that such men feel they cannot support the World Council of Churches, influence me very much indeed.

4. As a leader in Christian work who has regular contact with very many Christians around the world through the spoken word or the printed page, I cannot accept the responsibility of taking any step that might well influence any of them in a wrong direction. I have prayerfully thought through this matter and have for a long while faced up to it, and I must declare what I believe God wants me to say with regard to the present situation. Many people are looking for a lead. They want to know how to act in regard to the World Council of Churches. It would be a terrible thing to give them a wrong lead. Do you agree? And here I must say that though our denomination is in a general sense affiliated to the World Council of Churches, I openly and wholly dissociate myself from such an affiliation, and I also dissociate my church from such affiliation. (Other leaders and pastors please take note!).

5. Here is a serious question: Is this great effort for amalgamation God-inspired or Devil inspired? This is a very serious question indeed, and we ask it carefully. Does the present “vision” of “one church”, and do the efforts to bring about this “one church”, really fit in with our Lord’s prayer in John 17? We must remember that Satan appears as “an angel of light” - not darkness, and that he has “ministers” - note the word, “of righteousness” - not unrighteousness (2 Corinthians 11:13-15). What did the Apostle Paul say about preachers of “another gospel” (Galatians 1:8-9)? What would he do in this present situation? His clear statements referring to false teachers and to the great apostasy leave questions.

6. And what about the apostasy? Are we not living in the apostasy now? The days foretold so clearly in God’s Word? And what about the scriptures that tell us that a great world church is to be expected? For example, what about Revelation 17, where we read of “the great whore” (or harlot) - a prophecy of the great ecumenical church of the last days, combining apostate Protestantism, Romanism and atheism? Does not the present religious trend warn us that the stage is already being set for the fulfilment of this and other relevant prophecies?

7. What will most honour the Holy Spirit whose gracious prerogative it is to honour God’s beloved Son? This, perhaps, is the most important question of all, for if we do despite to the Holy Spirit we may as well close shop. We need also to remember the stuff of which the martyr and reformers were made. We need to remember Gideon and the lesson of subtraction, rather than addition or multiplication, which he had to learn. God does not use a majority who are separated and “mixed”; He uses a minority who are clean and who can thus present to Him a pure channel through which He wills to work out His eternal purposes.

Do you agree with me, or do you disagree? Before answering this question read 2 Corinthians 6:14-18.

— Bible League Quarterly, January to March 1966.

Comment

Cathedrals in India

Some of the dioceses in the Church of South India are said to be planning to spend large sums of money to build Cathedrals. At present only 7 out of the 15 dioceses have Cathedrals; apparently the idea is to get even with the ‘Joneses’ who do have them! The Synod Theological Commission of the C.S.I., seized of this problem, has suggested that before such expenses are incurred the dioceses should consider whether it is necessary and justifiable. On the whole the Cathedral idea is a Western Phenomenon in a community where the monarchical tradition was once strong, the bishops were ‘princes’ and their seat was the Cathedral. But in the Eastern Orthodox and the Mar Thoma Churches they do not have Cathedrals and the communities do not appear to have lost anything spiritually significant on the score of not having Cathedrals. Even in the Western episcopalian traditions the Cathedral concept is fast undergoing a change. The Anglican diocese of Southern Ohio, U.S.A., has no Cathedral as such. That diocese former Bishop Hobson used a mobile caravan for a Cathedral during his visits to outlying mission areas. The present Bishop Roger Blanchard does not have even that. He is of the opinion that any Church in the diocese where the Bishop happens to be present becomes, by that very fact, the Cathedral pro tem. Such experiments even in west should help us revise our views about Cathedrals. There is no point in copying the Western tradition in India; the Eastern Orthodox Church do not do so. In this connection we might mention a recent appeal for funds to rebuild St. Paul’s Cathedral at Amritsar destroyed by Pakistani bombs. Without question the place for worship for the Amritsar congregation should be rebuilt; but whether it should a replica of the structure that was destroyed is open to question. And should not the diocese Amritsar as well as the C.S.I. dioceses which do not have Cathedrals rethink the whole question of the meaning and practical usefulness of the “Cathedral” tradition for the organising of the diocesan life, its worship and other activities? Rather than follow the older Western concept of the episcopal seat, should not the Churches seek to express diocesan solidarity for renewal, worship, witness and service in ways more relevant for our times?

— J.R.C. The Guardian.

At the Lord’s Table

Mr. Peter McKenzie, a student pastor in Germany in an article in a recent issue of Federation News has raised the question of non-Christians taking part in the sacrament of Holy Communion. “Another occasion when the labels (‘Christian’, ‘Hindu’ etc.) become deceptive is at the time of the communion service: should non-Christians be in the group? Our sense of reverence and the force of tradition give the impression that here is something for ‘Christians only.’ Are we thereby making a liturgical parody of what in its origin was precisely this new-community creation between Jesus and his friends, which has now taken place anew between ‘Christians’ and ‘non-Christians.’ For we are excluding the latter from liturgical expression of that which they have already become part. These excluded ones are exactly the group which Jesus took as his friends. The Pharisees, on the other hand, were concerned to be exclusive. What can we do? If we are not prepared to take some risks here, then at the very least we have to be conscious of our dilemma and put it up for discussion.” This is a suggestion with far-reaching implications both for the S.C.M. and the liturgiologists in the churches.

In the early thirties the Mysore regional S.C.M. came to face a situation which raised a similar question. At a conference in Nandidoorg when things were being got ready for the sacrament it was whispered that Mr. C. Kandaswamy Chetty, a chela of Principal Miller of Madras Christian College and long known as an unbaptised Christian, had expressed a desire to participate in the sacrament! The senior members went into a hurried conference. Largely due to the imaginative and tactful handling of the situation by the Rev. W.H. Thorpe, then principal of the United College, it was decided to invite Mr. Chetty to the Table. This, surely is a rare instance of its kind. Looking back, one wonders that, as a consequence, there did not arise a major theological controversy!

— M.S.R. The Guardian.

In the Fellowship of Faith and Work

1. In the name of the Holy Trinity, greetings to all the faithful! Love, joy and peace be multiplied!

Acharya Das left Varanasi Ashram on the 10th December 1965 and lived with his address at Howrah (c/o St. Thomas Brotherhood, 3 Church Road, Howrah, W.B.) till the last week of March. During this time he (i) corrected and revised the Bengali book (pp. 655 priced at Rs. 6/50) on the life and teaching of Jesus Christ (Sri Sri Jisu Khrista by Professor Benode Behari Bandyopadhyaya M.A. - Brahmin Bhakta of Christ). It has been abridged to a little over half the original size. It is hoped that this time it may be published under Christian auspices. If and when published, it will teach Christians important things in spiritual life on the one hand and convey the message of Christ - in particular His personality - to Hindus in suitable terms on the other hand. Please pray for this venture of faith so that necessary funds and other facilities may be available. (ii) He visited Nabadwip (twice), Baranagar, Dum Dum, Thakurpur etc., and Calcutta. He preached in certain churches held group meetings in several centres, joined meetings organised by a forward party of younger Christians. (iii) He compiled his observations of the church situation in West Bengal made in 8 months in 2 years into a small Bengali pamphlet which is expected to be distributed widely with a view to rousing the conscience of the church and the sense of duty among its leaders.

Between March 25 and April 11 Acharya Das visited Rourkela and Jamshedpur taking special meetings in the churches there and services during Holy Week. Soon after this he came away to Puri for a month conducted a leisurely Retreat for a fortnight. At this writing he is spending a quiet fortnight till 1st June in the Immanuel Ashram of Brother Ishananda Paul. He is taking a few meetings in the local church at Tankibelari.

2. For some years Ishananda Sudhir Kumar Paul has been preaching the Gospel mostly among Christians throughout Orissa State with his centre in Jambu area 60 miles east of Cuttack town in the same district and about 7 miles from the sea. There are around here merely 500 Christians mostly uncared-for and living indifferent lives though at Tankibelari there are some modern-educated men and women and a large family of well-to-do Christian landlords. Ishananda preaches cheerfully and effectively with the power of the Spirit in simple Oriya, Hindi and Bengali with the help of his own music, both vocal and instrumental. Besides, he is a Homeopathic doctor and also prays for the sick who would believe. In recent years there have been some tangible results of his ministry. There are a number of families and individuals who have become inquirers, one Hindu family have applied for baptism. On Sunday 22nd May three persons including an educated Muslim youth were baptised in the local church.

3. Last year Sevak Haripani Jennah and Keonjhar Gospel House left his Church (Christ Church) in charge of friendly Christian worker and went away for 6 months, on return he found the friend would not leave the Church and there was some tussle. We hope that the matter has been peacefully settled. Let us remember him.

4. Two foreign lady evangelists visited Calcutta recently and were guests in the home of Mrs. B. Dutt and her son Pastor D. Dutt. The visit was an encouragement to them in their recent trouble with the House of Prayer and Good News. Subsequent to this pastor Dutt took an evangelistic tour with one of the sisters visiting Rourkela and Cuttack. I was present at the first meeting they had at Cuttack with a few hundred local Christians of different denominations. The preaching was very helpful and effective.

5. B.K.S. Annual Day. Sometime in June a day’s Retreat with a Committee meeting included is to be held in which some offices in the Sangha have to be filled up such as the treasurer and assistant secretary, and possibly the president. Come to this without fail when you get the final notice as to the date and venue.

6. Let us hope and pray that independent congregations and institutions may unite together with a larger regular body remembering that unity in Christ is a power and an opportunity. Many individuals have no church affiliations, they may also do likewise. For disinterested counsel and action contact Acharya R.C. Das c/o St. Thomas Brotherhood, 3 Church Road, Howrah, W.B. until the first week of July and thereafter Khristpanthi Ashram, 129 Dashashwamedh, Varanasi (U.P.).

Notes

1. Desecration of the House of God

Church buildings have always been given sanctity and respect by Christians throughout the ages as houses of prayer in accordance with the injunctions of our Lord and in the spirit of the Hebraic culture. It is also part of Hindu Muslim culture to regard Temples and Mosques as sacred. They never allow these to be used for any secular purpose. But in modern times in some countries especially in the West educated men with a scientific bent of mind and possessed with secular ideas and materialistic trends have looked upon churches with scant respect. Inside the churches they have brought in secular activities and cultural functions and even dances.

Out here in India certain leaders of the church have been so thoughtless as to allow their cathedrals and churches to be used for memorial meetings of important personages such as governors, ministers and other influential men. The obvious motives have been to be in the limelight of public life and to gain recognition, reputation, patronage and favour. These objects need not be improper. Christians may participate fully in the national life of their country. But it is important to respect and maintain the sanctity of houses where worship services are held. Non-Christians, however high their position should not be allowed to participate in such function inside churches. Such meetings had better be held outside in public halls, school buildings and in the open air. The departed person may be remembered in the course of ordinary prayers. To make any discrimination in favour of big and high persons by holding meeting inside churches is thoroughly unchristian and is an insult to the ordinary citizen. We must reserve churches only for the praises God and not insult God by eulogising men however worthy. Do we not thereby break the first and second commandments and nullify our Lord’s claim for the temple as the house of prayer for God. Believers must uphold the right to cleanse the temple of God.

2. The Publication of Sarani

Under the wealthy auspices of the Literature Board of the Bengal Christian Council. We want to make our comments on two points:

1. The Literature Board with a Missionary Director at the head. After a century and half of William Carry’s times it is a piece of simple anachronism to have a non-Indian and a non-Bengali lead in the production of Bengali literature. Missionaries and their Indian henchmen always say there is dearth of national workers of leaders in particular. This is also a piece of simple untruth which our foreign friends are not ashamed to use and propagate to keep Mission Raj on the gaddi. We make bold to claim that we know the history of the Indian Church, especially of Bengal, and its worthy stalwarts in the past and the present. They have a mind of their own and so are ignored and even suppressed in many cases by the mighty mission agencies.

We have come to know Brother Hastings personally. He is a dear man of energy, zeal, industry and go. And these are the very qualities that go against him in his position in the field of literature. Good and effective literature can never be made to order. This is always an outcome of natural genius. In fact, organisation (committees, conferences, classes etc.), direction and the allure of money as the price of literature work are the very weapons that will kill the literary buds that might otherwise bloom and flourish. All the rich wealth in the spiritual and cultural heritage of India has been produced in the Ashrams of India - deep spirituality, high philosophy, chaste and powerful literature in all languages, music, science, medicine, dance, paintings etc. and what not? Above all, men - heroes in diverse fields - have been nurtured in Ashram atmosphere of free thinking, simplicity, devotion, renunciation. Do missionary agencies - Literature Boards, Tract Societies, Literature Societies, Bible Societies provide a fraction of the atmosphere and qualification so essential for any original and powerful literature?

Have no mission agencies exploited to their advantage and purpose the Indian Christian literary genius by employing and engaging it on a monetary basis? Even at the present time there are natural poets, novelists, essayists, critics, story writers, apologists and dramatists, groups of literary men and women. Why do you not encourage, without domination and without strings, these original free men and their natural produce? Instead of challenging them with your rich organisation and your slave personnel? You are doing the greatest injury to the cause of Bengali Christian literature by employing on a payment basis some rising writers of promise and by directing them according to an artificial pattern and purpose. Many of these writers are quite immature. Let them grow naturally. You will never do any good either to literature or the church or the cause of evangelism. Missionary products or products under missionary inspiration have always been artificial insipid and ineffective. Do not obstruct the current of evolution of the national and original talents and powers. Leadership is born and not made, automatically accepted and not imposed. Nobody - no Hindu and few Christians read the artificial stuff found in Christian Show Rooms. But whenever a natural poet or an able editor has arisen in the Church there has been a popular demand for their writings. But it is a pity, and we know it as history, that every time a counter move on the part of Mission Church system has offered resistance and destroyed the natural growth of genius and talent. What is the object of the literature? Is it not being fulfilled, even partially, outside mission influence and official direction? Board?

2. Sarani has had a long costly publicity. But the propaganda has been laboured and forced - not natural, not enthusiastic though the instruments of publicity have been modern and the methods up-to-date. The aims have been rather bombastic Rs. 50,000/- and a monthly magazine of 60 pp. “Sarani” is a purely literary term without any spiritual significance or religious association. The publication may in the beginning triumph as a magazine. Will the related object of presenting Christ to Bengal through this vehicle be fulfilled?

The beginning of Sarani seems to be very ambitious. It is starting with a fanfare and a dazzle. We shall not be surprised if it dies a natural death with the possible disappearance of its sarathi or due to non-welcome, non-acceptance or non-appreciation by the public. Efforts may be made to increase its length of life by artificial pumping. It is very unfortunate that men - who are otherwise intelligent - fail to see what is the need of the church and of the country. This is because these friends do not know their motherland - its secular history and that of its faith and culture. It is also a pity that some younger Christians who have an amount of idealism in them have been enchanted by this propaganda stunt and have not considered deeply seriously the implications of the project before they gave their support. Let us hope that sense may yet dawn on the leaders so that the project may be fulfilled in a humble way to suit Hindu India to understand the Son of man who had not where to lay His head.

3. Bangiya Khristiya Agrani Sangha

From its memorial publication (1965) it appears to be an organisation to do practical good to the community. But it is rather a contradiction for them to seek limelight and to do publicity and to engage in cultural activities. The souvenir is an expensive publication obviously intended to aggrandise themselves. Where do they get the funds much of which seem to be sadly wasted? Let Christians learn direct from the Word of God - Jesus Christ and the apostles - the rudimentary principles of service to the needy.

4. Christians and the All India Radio

In recent years Christians have been vying with Hindus and with one another to have a voice through the Radio. Missionaries together with their paid assistants have been very zealous over the Audio-Visual. The former an independent group of laymen - singers and speakers, the latter a foreign agency - both parties are exhibiting an undue craze for speed and space in the spiritual field with the help of mechanical devices. It is a perversion of evangelism - unhealthy and injurious in effects. The prophetic ministry is being professionalised, mechanised and scandalised by men, women and children who have no living faith, and therefore, no right to it. The vehicles of the living truth of Christ must remain the same for all ages. The ways of God are the same. The methods of evangelism are of Jesus Christ Himself and of His immediate disciples who learnt from Him. During the two thousand years many have deviated from the path of Jesus and His apostles and have used money, political power, organisations, mass force etc., and paid a heavy price for conversions. We see in these days of mechanical progress - in this age of machine, space, and Science-men called Christians are using easy but costly conveyances for the spread of Christ’s message.

Let these people know that there is only one way of spiritual communication and that is actual contact of successful evangelism. The modern technical methods - the Radio, the A.V., the correspondence courses, the loudspeaker, the gramophone, the motor van, the aeroplane etc. - inevitably reduce the personal living contact. The only God appointed vehicle of conveyance for spiritual life and truth is the natural human voice, the personal witness through character in deep fellowship of spirits. Let us imitate Christ - our common Guru and Acharya. Let us live on faith, renounce walk about identify, and love in this land of seekers and pilgrims. Too many thoughtless preachers by their equally unintelligible methods have made Christianity and the church an object of derision and ridicule.

5. India and the N.M.S

(National Missionary Society - Bharat Khrista Sevak Samaj). In its “Diamond Jubilee Souvenir” 1955-1965 there appear two articles - one by its office secretary and associate general secretary for South India - Mr. S. Devaprasad - “A look at the N.M.S. from Inside.” Another is from the pen of Mr. T.K. Thomas, M.A., and given the last page - “A note on Indigenisation.” The two writings are in contrast, and at cross purposes. Mr. Devaprasad advocates and justifies propaganda, money, organisation and all the western methods of evangelism, and he has apparently the support of the policymaking authority. Mr. Thomas is a lone voice, a far cry for indigenous ideals and methods. This shows a serious confusion of thought and action in the present N.M.S. The founders were patriots and nationalists such as K.T. Paul, N.C. Mukerjee, Karmarkor, Azariah, Serajuddin, Chitambor, and B.C. Sircar. Their ideals, objects and policies were indigenous. The present day rulers of the N.M.S. have reversed the process and taken to western spirit, policies and methods. In the first 3 or 4 decades the workers were men of faith and sacrifice. They were not salaried missionaries and evangelists - an invidious distinction - a legacy from foreign missions. The present rulers of the Society are high church dignitaries, Government servants, businessmen and other highly placed men and women. What sympathy can they have for the poor and the ignorant and the depressed and underprivileged of India? Their interest in Evangelism is academic. None knows the cost of it. The budget is quite big. Yet the actual workers do not get the allowances in time or regularly. The simple reason is that the overhead expenses of the Society are heavy and leave not enough for the real work on the field. Their committees and councils, their several grades of secretaries all over country cost an undue amount. The Society is an organisation ridden society - top-heavy. They rule, and the actual workers are not represented in their strength in Society’s organs of counsel. It ought to be a council of workers mainly. It is like a factory or mill in which workers and labourers are overridden and dominated by the management. Can such a Society exert any spiritual influence?

6. Christ and Cathedrals

Does the latter follow from the former? Or are they merely co-incidental? Is there a vital and necessary relationship between the two? Are the Cathedrals and other expensive types of churches, many of which are air-conditioned the beneficial fruits of true Christianity? While within the church and outside millions live in squalor, ignorance, ill-health, debt, under fear and oppression and slavery and terrible poverty - would Christ approve of these costly encumbrances of life of a comparatively small number of Christians? Is Cathedral Christianity with its highbrow and snobbery compatible with the pattern of life laid down by Jesus of Nazareth? It is painfully surprising that the universal church through the ages has adorned. Christ with gold and diamonds though on canvass and in sculpture. He is still represented as hanging on the cursed tree. Man’s Cathedral and God’s Lamb do not go together. Yet we have juxtaposed them. We have made Him King of the earth though He claimed to have ushered the kingdom of heaven. This disparity in Christian life - between huge wealth and abysmal poverty, between luxury and mass misery, between might and weakness, between Imperialism of different kinds and slavery of various forms - is a standing nuisance repelling the weak and earnest seekers of truth and salvation. Such a contradiction between the ideal and the actual, between precept and example, between preaching and deed is a deterrent against the progress of all true religion and morality especially in a country like India.

The Anglican Cathedral in Ambala which cost the British Government in India, it is said, 50 lakhs of Rupees (and mind you it was mainly Hindu Muslim money) was bombed to ashes and debris the other day by Pakistan - is now proposed to be rebuilt with greater glory and pomp, so goes the rumour. If true, every honest Christian and every one with some humanity in him cannot but ask the questions (1) Is it necessary? (2) Is it right in the present economic and social circumstances? (3) Will it be healthy for Christians themselves and a good example to others if large sums of money are introduced from overseas countries for the purpose? At least Hindu India understands Christ as a Mahayogi and a true specimen of a sanyasi in Whose worship and in the propagation of Whose Gospel some sobriety and abstinence must be observed if we are to honour and glorify Him truly, and interpret Him acceptably.

7. Our Country and State

The condition of our people and the performance of our Government are shamefully unenviable. In spite of our big claims to high ideals and culture, to our greatness and righteousness we are beginning to be looked down upon by ourselves and by the world who know our inner weaknesses and hypocrisies. In spite of modern education and civilising forces India remains bound and paralysed by caste, creed, language, provincialism, race, and cultural differences and divisions. Unity is not a normal national phenomenon. It is only worked up when a national emergency occurs. Poverty, squalor, ignorance, debt, superstition, ill-health, suppression and oppression of one class by another, selfishness, greed, lust, crime, corruption in a hundred and one forms corroding the body politic and social life apathy and callousness among all, inefficiency and inexperience in Government, and active wilful and selfish negligence in parts of the administration, indiscipline among the young, immorality in higher circles, the acute problem of food, accommodation and clothing (fundamental rights of men and primary obligations of Government) - these and many other problems and questions and needs are vexing, irritating and agitating the mass-mind in India today.

18 years since independence our Government, which gave so many high-sounding pledges to the people at large for their progress, prosperity and happiness, have miserably failed to keep their word though they have been ruthlessly exploiting them during elections and by raising the prices and taxes throughout the country. The plain truth is that common man is less free today than he was before. The people are duly responsible for the awful situation in the country. They have become greedy and selfish, so they are black marketing, accepting and demanding bribes almost everywhere. They are hoarding essential food grains for bigger profits, they are duping the poor and simple cultivators in the matter of land reforms, the criminal elements are more numerous and more openly violent today. Men do not cultivate unity and co-operation to put wrong things right. They neglect their duties as citizens and as neighbours. But why? Has the Government been strong enough, decisive and just enough in governing? Have they not been vacillating when face to face with urgent and serious questions like food, agriculture and foreign loans? It is hardly realised in Government Quarters that our country is being slowly and inevitably mortgaged to rich countries like the U.S.A., U.K., U.S.S.R. etc. There has not been any purposeful and consistent policy to improve agriculture. They have sunk billions of money on heavy industries at the expense our main agricultural economy. Similarly, our village and cottage industries have been starved. In the matter of land reforms the real owners of land - the cultivators - have not been well settled yet. Only foreign manufactured fertilisers will not increase production. More irrigation is essential. Water must be available without let and at cheap rates to every cultivator. In every department of Government there is so much of corruption that the benefits dry up halfway before reaching the needy levels.

Government seems to be sitting with folded hands before the criminal elements in civilised circles. They have enough authority and power as well as means and instruments to eradicate corruption and evil in any form in the administration. It is the conviction of the public as we see and hear that the Government will not act in favour of or on behalf of the suffering public for selfish reasons. The people of India of all communities and creeds expected much from the Congress but by now they have been thoroughly disillusioned and despairing. In this psychological state of frustration chaos may appear from inside or outside or from both sides. There is yet time to retrieve the situation. Why do our rulers hesitate to accept co-operation from opposition and dissident groups in solving a problem, say in the matter of procurement and distribution of food materials and other daily necessaries of life? Our rulers cannot plead inexperience after 18 years of actual administration. Is the will lacking or is it weak? Then a breakdown is certain. They may still get a majority to be in power again. But without good will and happy co-operation from the people how long, and how well can they rule? Their policies have been injuring the dumb ignorant and poor masses as well as the lower middle class. There may be just one more chance to keep India on the high road to socialism and democracy. Let the Congress beware!

A Note From the Editor of “The Crusader”

Dear Reader,

We were busy in the month of March in translating and printing a good number of Salvation Tracts in Konkani language. Our friends from India and abroad have requested us to publish their Tract urgently. Our Evangelical Press is working, now for 16 hours each day to complete the pending work of the year 1965. We are not in a position to increase our staff as the funds coming in are not so satisfactory. Besides, six times our enemies set fire to Christ-Nagar Farm and burnt about 5000 cashew plants and about 1000 casurina and other plants, which is a great loss to the Mission.

Therefore, we could not publish our Magazine The Crusader in the month of March. We have published it in this month by the grace of God and through your co-operation.

Whether we publish a Tract, a Magazine or a Booklet, we are happy to inform you that our Printed Ministry is well expanded, and the results are very good. Souls are brought out from the apostate teaching to the saving knowledge back to the Word of God - to the feet of our Master and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Praise the Lord!

Please excuse us for the inconvenience and pray for our Ministry continuously. We welcome your free-will offerings always to strengthen our weak hands. With regrets, we remain,

Yours in HIS Service,

CHRIST NAGAR MISSION

P.S.: Thanks for your letters congratulating us for the Victory in the recent Court Case.

Edited and Published by:

Rev. R.C. Das, M.A.,
Khristpanthi Ashram,
129, Dashashwamedh, Varanasi, India

Printed at:

Evangelical Press,
“CHRIST NAGAR MISSION”,
Badagayedapadavu Post, Mangalore Taluk, S. India