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.)

Please Help the Pitiful Refugees This Christmas

Remember that the Family whose story you sing in Hymns and Carols this Holy Season of Christmas was a Refugee family too.

The Apostolic Church

The apostles did not understand this immediately. In the first years of the apostolic Church in Jerusalem they admitted only Jews, and it was taken for granted by the apostles that non-Jews who wished to be followers of Jesus should undergo circumcision and follow the Mosaic Law, in other words that they should become Jews.

Gradually, however, when the news of Christ began to cross the borders of Palestine, the question came up both in Antioch and Jerusalem. Is it necessary for the Gentiles to become Jews in order to belong to Christ? The obvious answer seemed to be ‘Yes.’ Had Jesus Christ not been circumcised? Had He not observed the Mosaic Law and participated in the temple services? How could His followers change that? And yet, there was something in the teaching and life of Jesus which pointed towards another view. He had never tried to convert the non-Jews, He met to Judaism. On the contrary, He had attacked the proselytising work of the Pharisees (Matthew 23:15). He had never absolutised the Jewish religion, but had constantly opposed the idea that God should be the monopoly of the Jews. It was probably the memory of this which gradually led the apostles to the conviction that Gentiles were not to become Jews in order to belong to Christ; and in acknowledging this view the Church had taken the most decisive step in its history. Had the Judiastic view prevailed, the Church would have remained merely a Jewish sect.

In leaving Palestine the Church to a great extent left behind it the Jewish religious customs and the peculiar religious and cultural framework of Jewish Christianity. This, naturally, lived on in the Palestinian Church where it had its place, and it’s right; but in the Roman world the Church now tried to relate itself to another culture, philosophy and religion. The names and titles of Jesus Christ changed from ‘Messiah’ to “God’s Son” and from ‘Son of Man’ to ‘Saviour.’ The former Jewish titles did not have meaning in the new world, whereas the latter were taken from the religious vocabulary of the Hellenistic world. Surely the breach was not absolute; a certain influence from Jewish Christianity was felt, particularly through the preservation of the Old Testament, although this did not mean (as the Heilsgeschichte theology today seems to presuppose) that the Early Church considered itself the continuation of the history of the Jews. By adopting the Greek concept of Logos, the Early Christian theologians further related the fact of Jesus directly to their own pagan, cultural background. Logos, the Word, the law which governs and maintains the world, the principle of divine self-manifestation, who had been present in the history always and who had spoken particularly through the great philosophers, this Logos was none other than Jesus Christ.

It is probably true that Justin and Clement and other apologists tended to emphasise the work of the Logos in individuals, such as Heracleides and Socrates, rather than in religions, overlooking the fact (we begin to realise now) that one cannot separate in that way a man from his religion. Raymond Panikkar has said ‘Man is constitutively a historical and a social being, and does not overlook this human dimension - as He Himself in His time walked and spoke as a Jew.’¹ However, this may be, the Early Church never presented Christianity as a religion over against other religions (as Christian mission has done in Asia and Africa), much less as a radically exclusive religion. It considered itself the all-inclusive religion. ‘All that is true anywhere in the world belongs to us,’ Justin said, and Augustine was convinced that the true religion had existed always and was called Christian only after Christ. It is significant in this connection to point out, as Tillich does, that the famous words of Jesus, ‘You, therefore, must be perfect,’ would, according to recent research, be better translated, ‘You, therefore, must be all-inclusive, as your heavenly Father is all-inclusive.’

But by this positive approach to Greek philosophy the Early church did not simply adopt that ‘religion.’ It accepted and rejected it at the same time. It took it into its service and gave it a new and concrete content. The term logos was no longer the unknown, impersonal world-reason; it had revealed itself in a historic person. Similarly, the Church did not take over the pagan concepts of God when it proclaimed Christ as the ‘Son of God.’ On the contrary, by doing so it criticised the common ideas about God. In this way the Early Church followed to some extent the dialectical principle of its Master, trying to relate the Gospel to the prevailing religion in the Roman Empire as Christ had related Himself to the Jewish religion. In our missionary activity we have never followed that path. We have met other religions with the Christian religion, and where this happens there will never be a meeting between Christ and those religions, but only a clash of cultures.

— International Review of Missions.

The Place and Function of Foreign Missionary Activity Today

By Rev. R.C. Das

(Continued From The Previous Issue No. 3, 1968)

Part 2

In the light of the foregoing principles and with the background of the above-mentioned fundamentals, let us now try to locate the role of the foreign Missionaries and the functions of the foreign Missionary societies. Before we do so let us mention some of the assumptions that underlie our suggestions and indications in this direction.

Assumptions

1. The following suggestions and conclusions not results of mere study of books nor culled from writings of others but based mostly on personal experience and direct observation would have been as correct and appropriate in the past as now in independent India that is not so new in conditions today as different in status. Of course in politically independent India these ideas have acquired greater importance and poignancy.

2. Present day missionaries unlike those in pioneering days and medieval times are tied up by common and complex policies both here on the field and at the home bases. They are not free enough to launch out and initiate new ventures. There is so much regimentation of life and uniformity of outlook as to have dulled the edge of evangelistic zeal and drive.

3. There is too much of security and comfort provided by missions so that the average missionary is spiritually and otherwise indolent and often blind.

4. The missions are so well-organised financially and mechanically that they run smoothly like business concerns and government schemes. So men see very little evidence of faith (or even room for faith) in the Christian enterprise. Behind the vast amount of social good done they only see power of money and human ingenuity and not the love of Christ, because it lacks the personal touch of a loving devotee and loyal disciple.

5. The missionary societies as organisations including missionaries are huge and top-heavy and often unwieldy; more often than not they are ends in themselves. Overhead expenses and missionary allowances and residential expenses inclusive of the expense of Indian employees eat up the bulk of the budget. Very little of the goods and substance given by the faithful for service of the poor and needy and for bringing the gospel to the people - percolates to the right places. Missions thus provide in a large measure an outlet for religions emotions and an opportunity for the exercise of the spiritual longings of the giving churches. They hardly supply adequate material and spiritual aid to the growing and needy indigenous church. Any way, the aid almost dries up in transit and very little reaches to the basic needs of the church. And yet missions and missionaries have almost absolute control directly or indirectly, over Indian congregations through administrative and ecclesiastical systems, theories, service and money.

6. Whatever help missions give to churches in India rather hinders than helps their proper development because of the manner in which it is given and because of the conditions attached to it. The lasting good of the convert church has been in the background while missions have been a great success.

7. The policy of devolution of responsibility has been followed by some mission in some areas for some time, with disastrous results both to church and mission. It was the policy of gradually transferring, onerous obligation into the hands of weak and inexperienced churches, Institutions, constitutions and administrative machinery, devised by trained minds and transplanted from old established churches of the west, and in some cases heavy responsibilities met by the almost inexhaustible financial resources and intellectual genius of the missionaries - were thrown upon the shoulders of poor uneducated churches. Result has been collapse - material and moral. How many Indians can understand and use western machinery and methods? The mission system is not their own. If they have failed to keep up the show got up by missionaries it is not their fault. They have tried to faithfully imitate. But imitation is always weakening.

   The newer policy of church centric mission (missions merged and integrated into the churches) represent an awakened sense of failure of the devolution scheme in which the church was expected to carry on the established mission work on mission lines with gradually reducible grants but without the personal service of missionaries. The sincere side of the motive of the new policy of integration is seen in the readiness of the missionaries to work along with the church side by side and help them with their personal service and finances. But on deeper thinking it will be found to be fraught with greater dangers both to the churches and missions.

8. The policy and practice of partnership between Indian and Western churches or of merging and integration of missions into churches have done great harm to both. It has made the Indian self-complacent and uncreative and has obstructed and frustrated the missionary. It has given sufficient scope and initiative neither to the missionary nor to the Indian In between them dynamic activity, for which freedom is essential, has suffered. Though the church appears strong and its programme comprehensive there is little reality inside. It looks imposing because of its organisation - its committees, councils, synod and conferences. All the energy is spent in running the organisation. Little is left for actual work of evangelisation, worship or service. It is declared that the church is everything and the mission nothing but in reality the mission personnel, both Indian and foreign, come to lead in the work of the church because of their availability, training and security. So the whole church is led indirectly from outside and directly from within by the mission. Such a policy cannot make the church self-respecting and independent and so self-propagating and self-reliant. From the beginning the weakness of the church has been mainly due to undue conditional mission help both in personal service and money and interference by missionaries and their Indian agents in purely ecclesiastical matters which are properly the sphere and responsibility of the indigenous church itself. Indeed, many Indians have come to the conclusion that the purpose of foreign missions is not preaching the gospel to the country but to rule the church - now from inside.

   I believe in the ideal of partnership but do not accept it, in the present circumstances, as a policy applied to the numerically growing but spiritually and otherwise weak church, partnership, to be real and beneficial to both parties, must be practised between equals; When the Indian church will be mature and unafraid and on its own feet it can welcome mission partnership both as regards personnel and resources in order to contact more effectively its non-Christian environment. But, after all, even on terms of equality, partnership will always remain an ideal to press toward in this imperfect world because we all lack, more or less equally the Christian graces in efficient measure for partnership to be healthy and real. Among imperfect conditions what happens is that actually one party dominates over the other with all the evil consequences occurring therefrom. Hence, as soon as converts are made by a mission, rudiments of organisation should be supplied to them and the mission should migrate to a fresh field after placing its hands of blessing on them. This migration to a new field need not be understood only in a local sense. At a recent Retreat Conference at Varanasi of some independent minded Indians they reached the following decision “We are persuaded that the time has fully come when the entire church in India should be released from the bondage of western forms and methods in its worship-system and religious institutions and in their stead, forms and methods, natural and suitable for the country, should be adopted and used” … “We are fully convinced that the task of forming (as distinct from founding), developing and advancing the constitution of the church belongs to Indians under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. For missions to claim to build up the church and to train Indian leadership is unnatural and unjust. It hurts our self-respect and injures our initiative. It has already created a vicious circle of inefficiency and barrenness … The present policy of missions only perpetuates, through co-called Indians trained in the west (or by westerners or by Indians imitating western standards and methods), the entire western domination over the church and postpones the day of its triumph.”

   The policy of integration and partnership not only perpetuates, but increases the dependence of the eastern Church upon the West. When money is available from outside in abundance and with ease, self-help vanishes, and pauperisation sets in. The process is still going on. There is enough income available here for the Church to develop its own life in its own humble way though not according to the standards of the west.

   The Church is weak in finance, numbers and experience as compared to other communities in India and from the standpoint of an ideally witnessing Church - but not entirely lacking in brain or moral dynamic or power of leadership or in spirituality. On this weak Church is imposed or into it is integrated the heavy complex and expensive weight of the highly organised mission system run by specially trained and picked men - the spearhead of the evangelistic force of the old and strong western Churches. For many years the practice of giving responsible positions to chosen Indians, thoroughly trained in overseas countries, has been going on. They represent the older churches rather than the younger ones in which they become misfits.

   Though the country has attained political freedom the Church still suffers from slavery. She is tied to the apron strings of mission organisations. She is economically, intellectually, and spiritually dependent on mission supplies. Her own life cannot be creative under the circumstances. We see today in the life of the Church all the evils of foreign domination and bondage - satiety and self-complacency, superficiality, mere imitation, helplessness, and lack of self-confidence and creativity in her leadership. Her leaders - trained agents of foreign missions and installed in high positions through their authority - feel today that without help from the older Churches in men and money and moral leadership, they are helpless to face free India. This after more than a century of intensive mission activity in North India. To my mind, quite logically and inevitably.

9. For years together it has been proclaimed from housetops and harped upon our ears that evangelism is the concern and responsibility of the Church and not of the missions. As a consequence evangelism has seriously slackened. On the one hand it has made the missionary irresponsible, idle and confused and on the other the Church has been frightened and evasive. I have never held this view as sound and helpful. I have always clearly felt that in the context of present day India the Church has its own problems and responsibilities and the missions their own specific sphere and activity in pioneering evangelism in the ever open and fresh field of India.

   Even though the Church has been founded in India it is so tiny and weak compared to Hindu-Muslim Communities that it needs reinforcement, not by resources from abroad but through transfusion of fresh blood by new conversions. Thus, Indian leadership will rise not so much from within a completely denationalised and subject church as from this direction. Missions have not spent up their usefulness yet in this old sphere. But what actually their work should be and how it should be done and where, constitutes the problem; one may legitimately ask why should missions lose their separate entities by merging into the Churches? If they do so, can they truly fulfil the object for which they were started and sent out to India? In integration is the missionary assured of right direction and adequate inspiration from the mixed organisation of the Church and mission? Have not dozens of missionaries been frustrated and gone home? Do the larger number who remain under integration find opportunities and sphere for full and free play of their vocation and talent? On the other hand, in the integrated system does the qualified and talented Indian find his real sphere for full exercise of his initiative and creative power? Do we not constantly hear of direct and indirect missionary pressure and domination? Though the mission is supposed to have lost its identity in the Church, missionaries and their money are too alive and kicking. Formerly, missionaries were more or less outside the private life of the Church now they have entered its holy precincts. Is this the worthy and adequate role of missionaries - to interfere in ecclesiastical affairs of the Indian Church? Or have they any nobler, more interesting or more heroic and exacting and more effective and fruitful part to play? My answer is, an emphatic ‘yes.’ They indeed deserve a better role than feigned obedience to an undeveloped Church.

10. Church Union has been another headache of missionaries and missions. Though many Indian Christians would like to see Churches with similar doctrines and practices united, they would not achieve it at the expense of other activities such as evangelism, service and indigenisation of worship - which are in the present situation more important and urgent. The writer holds strongly that too much unification or uniformity producing a monolithic Church, is not according to the purposes of God who has created us and the rest of nature with a wonderful variety. Nor is it consistent with Indian thought and tradition. A huge integrated hierarchical Church such as the Roman Church necessarily becomes autocratic, suppresses the freedom of conscience, obliterates different emphases and facets of Truth; and deadens genius and initiative. In a highly organised Church on a reunion basis, the best leaders of the Church including missionaries will be busy manipulating the complex machinery of the Church. At any rate it is not a proper field in which missionaries could spend their time and energy. The Hindu, the enquirer, the would-be convert does not bother about theological and organisational differences that shall always remain. His concern is God.

11. It is assumed in this article that the missionary will be a man possessing the highest qualifications of head and heart a man full of zeal for winning men for Christ, having the “love for souls” in his heart. Many of the modern missionaries are learned and clever and well versed in many arts and crafts but lack spiritual convictions; Christian integrity and evangelistic fervour. These are right-hand modernists. These will be wanted by the people and even by the Government because of the secular service they can render but will have very little respect from the country as representatives of the Church or the ambassadors of Christ. Not a few missionaries have been, and are still, suspected of being connected with the espionage service of their countries. Others are believed to be advocates of their own national culture and political prestige rather than of the truth and the gospel of Jesus Christ. These missionaries life and activity are resented by the public.

3. The Role of Missionaries

1. They should not accept, even on request or vote, any executive or administrative posts in the Church in which one has to use money, power or prestige. They should not even serve on committees. Those who are already in, should give up their positions. They are respected and loved guests of the Indian Church and not its formal members or servants except, of course, those who acquire Indian domicile and citizenship and settle down in this country. Within the Church the entire duty of missionaries is spiritual and moral. They can do a lot of personal work in the congregations which may bring about a spontaneous revival. They can visit homes, pray for and help the sick and the starving, foster family prayer and group prayer, bring about reconciliation and promote contact between groups and communities. Such activity will be evangelistic and such conduct truly Christian. This will apply only to those missionaries who will have of necessity to reside within the area of an established Church. Normally it will be unhealthy and unhelpful both for the Church and the missionaries if the latter come to live among the Indian Christians. When a missionary occupies an official position he naturally becomes the centre of local politics, and motivated by self-interest many in the Church look up to him. This disturbs and injures the natural growth of the Church in self-respect, self-reliance, self-sacrifice, service and witness. The presence of a missionary in the Church in any official capacity subordinates the Indian initiative and perpetuates factions and quarrels in the Church. They will often be dragged, even reluctantly, into Church politics. Missionaries had better live, as a rule, apart and away from the hub of Church activities in the centre of their own distinctive functions. This will be clearer as we proceed.

2. I submit that the whole of India is a vast open field. Doors are open everywhere if only we had eyes to see. This, in spite of Comity-Rules. So missionaries should come out with an open seeking mind filled with the spirit of adventure and in great faith. It is strange to me to hear that in recent years any new missionaries having been frustrated turned back to their own countries. Either these friends did not possess the spirit and qualities of the pioneering missionaries, or they were not shown a true picture of the real situation. I am aware of an iron curtain in the mission system maintained by older missionaries for their self-defence and self-interest. There are interested Indian Christians also who frighten away new missionaries by holding up before them a dreary picture of the prospects of the Indian field. Some missionaries, the sentimental type, come here with inflated ideas of their capacity and the possibility of the field. So they are disillusioned. They are not prepared to study, search and find, so they must return. I hold that this subcontinent with its vast population of a thousand variety and its religious, moral and psychological condition offers to the right type of missionary a field for pioneering more even in this age.

The following are the types of work and the kind of thing that missionaries should be able to do profitably.

1. The missionary is eminently fitted, trained and badly needed for special jobs such as medical, agricultural, technical and industrial, humanitarian, etc. Though the assistance and co-operation of qualified Indians should by all means be sought the inspiration and direction for this type of work must continue to come from the missions for some time yet. The evangelistic motive in this field must not express itself as an additional adjunct but must be breathed in and through all activity. For financial honesty and technical efficiency and to foster and maintain the evangelical spirit missionary leadership in this field is essential.

2. In the field of humanitarian service such as asylums and homes for the helpless (widows and orphans), the destitute and diseased, the deprived and invalid - missionary spirit and initiative is important though a good deal of Indian help would be necessary. But the Church has not fully awakened to its sense of full responsibility in the matter and her resources are meagre.

3. In the matter of study and research (the language, literature, history, culture, religion, faith, practice and philosophy of the people) the resources of missions and personal services of qualified missionaries are important. Indian Christian converts and scholars can supply the inspiration and initiative. But the technique, method and organisation may preferably be supplied by missionaries. In the case of Islam something has been done through the founding of the School of Islamics. But in the case of Hinduism and allied cultures very little has been done for lack of resources and co-operation. This is a field of service in which missions and missionaries can effectively and fruitfully employ their money and talent.

4. In theological training and general education though the leadership and inspiration should be that of the Church, missionaries - as individuals or as representatives - can and should make their specific contribution by teaching certain subjects but more through exhibiting a disciplined Christian character and keeping up the spiritual tone and evangelistic spirit in the institutions. Indian teachers, who generally lack these qualities will appreciate missionary co-operation. Education, entirely or essentially controlled by … missionaries has not produced the desired type of Indian leadership in the Church.

5. In the work for women, children, depressed and backward classes and the original tribes, missionary initiative and leadership are unquestioned. The Indian Church lacks experience and the courage needed for such work. Of course, co-operation and advice of Indians especially in work among women and children are essential.

6. In towns and cities and in university centres (as also in pilgrim centres) among the modern educated as among the orthodox believing groups, opportunities for missionary service are great and glorious though such work will demand broad sympathies and love of the people as also adequate knowledge of their culture and religion.

The above list is by no means exhaustive. It might look as if I am suggesting that missionary role in the new India should be as it has been in the old. That is true in a sense. His work and field will not change much. But his relationship, outlooks, policies, objectives must change tremendously. The need is the same and the evangelism must be the same. We only change our direction and spirit. From the moral and spiritual standpoints the circumstances have not changed, but political and social change there is but the disease and the remedy are essentially the same and the missionary must be the good physician in every age.

4. Concluding Remarks

1. The spontaneous Expansion of the Church after the manner of the Early Church must be the only aim of all mission work. Briefly speaking, this will mean the natural steady migration of mission forces from field to field from one type of work to another. Hence, building and landed properties must be light and easily transferable to the Church founded. Other mission apparatus and paraphernalia should be mobile. This should happen as soon as there is evidence of simple responsibility and intelligence in the Church and rudiments of an organisation can be accepted by it. The young Church should be left to its own wits in great faith. Century old occupation of Churches by foreign missions through funds, heavy organisation, personnel have throttled them almost to death. There is hardly any independent or original thought or feeling or action anywhere because of this domination. This western control is in effect being tightened and perpetuated by the schemes of Church Union. A few thoughtful Christians - both national and foreign are slowly awakening to this danger.

2. For a long time there has grown in the mission Church system much corruption, nepotism, spirit of faction and the dominance of selfish worldly minded men. This has affected and concerns both Indians and westerners, though many missionaries have tried to paint the Indian black. The writer has detailed knowledge of many sensational cases of financial dishonesty in high circles, but these have usually been hushed up by mission authorities and the offenders have run away with their piles. A convert coming from Hindu Society I have been very much pained and disillusioned by the discovery of these conditions in the avowedly religious section of the Church. I will frankly state here my diagnosis of the main cause of this corrosive disease in the body of Christ. The missionaries and their committees have usually appointed in posts men of a submissive, cringing and flattering type and spurned men of moral integrity and dynamic spirit who have a mind of their own and guts and grit in serious matters of policy. Many have done it deliberately to rule over the Church through westernised Indian men who choose to be mere puppets and stooges for selfish gain and have no scruples and principles. The entire system is filled with such persons as have weakened the Church all round. Men of modesty, patriotism and true spirituality cannot be exploited and ruled in a slavish manner. So they are ignored and suppressed in all manner of ways. I have observed this spectacle from the day I was baptised in 1908. Have the Home Boards - the donors and directors - the requisite insight and moral courage to purge the system? This deadly virus has penetrated organisation from top to bottom and must be extracted or dissolved, otherwise the Church will slowly die.

3. The utter foolishness of the mission policy - It has ignored, held in contempt, fought, frustrated, turned out, excommunicated, or just tolerated creative men, lovers of the country and the universal church, leaders, administrators, authors, journalists, poets, prophets, educationalists men who came into the church at great sacrifice and wanted to lead it aright knowing the conditions of their country men of learning, piety and of unimpeachable character. These, in my view, are lions compared to many others who have literally filled the churches and missions from top to bottom. Hundreds of men, many of them converts, men of dynamic spirit and creative genius, have shown their talents in state and national service and in private work. They have made a name for their honesty, integrity, efficiency, faithfulness and Christian character. But such have not been given, and are not given even now, any key positions or responsibilities nor freedom to utilise their creative powers in the Church service. A few of these men were given positions in the system but under tutelage without the power of initiative. They just filled and honoured the posts. Third and fourth rate men in power and authority have mismanaged the whole Christian enterprise. Will mission church authorities have the vision, appreciation and courageous leadership to get things right?

4. While missionaries will be doing their own job according to their call and lights they should co-operate with the Church. They will obviously have Indians as their colleagues who will work with them either as independent individuals or as church-representatives. Missions should also have, especially in contiguous areas, advisory committees from Church bodies to consult on matters of policy. But initiative, control and high policy should be vested in the mission body. This will foster co-operation and ensure freedom and mobility to the missionaries. For practical reasons, such as racial and cultural differences in standards of living, comparative lack of Christian graces on both sides mixing up of mission and Church affairs and of personnel on a supposed foot of equality have not produced and cannot produce happy results. But ordinary co-operation on some basis is feasible and desirable. I strongly hold, in the interest both of the missionary and the Indian, that integration of church and mission is most harmful. Cooperation will save both Church and mission from obstruction and frustration.

5. Foreign missions, by their very nature and objective, are temporary. The church is the continuing entity. Missions should so shape their policies that congregations and assemblies of convert may soon come to their own by forming themselves into the church with a self-controlled ministry and a vivid vision of evangelistic responsibility. Both in their own mission system and in the Church life men of character, vision, faith, sacrifice, industrious habit and of a mind of their own would be invited for positions of leadership. These and other necessary qualities are lacking in Indians trained abroad or locally by missions. The western democratic method of vote should not be the only or final device of getting a man to a post. It has been doing a lot of harm. As in the political field so in the religious sphere, all the malpractices of canvassing and voting have appeared. It is usually the aspiring selfish men who love power and money that get to the top. Can there be no method of selection and appointment more in accord with apostolic spirit and practice? It would be possible if organisations were simpler. Vide Acts 1:15-26, 6:1-7, John 21:15-17.

6. Foreign Missionary Societies - The time has come when these societies as such should be abolished at the home base they have served their good purpose fairly well over a century and a half. But in the process they have acquired vested interests, gone over the heads of their own Churches. They, as intermediaries, have obstructed direct fellowship between younger Churches and the mother Churches.

7. It follows from the above that for the mutual fellowship, helpfulness and service, Church bodies in the west should establish direct relations with the Churches of India. The exact nature and form and manner of this relationship should be ascertained by experts among Churchmen and missionaries on both sides. The selection of personnel and the size of financial help must be guided by spiritual motives alone.

8. There are invidious distinctions - economic, social and racial between the employees of the Church mission system from top to bottom - grades and classes - based on the principle of the market value and not on natural differences and functional distinctions and moral equality based on need and the recognition of the Charismatic nature of the Church. These unchristian classes and divisions have created throughout the rank and file of the Church jealousies, sullen resentments, competitions, ambitions and quarrels. These evils are not always articulate or vociferous, but they have been working silent havoc on Christian fellowship and spiritual life. To remedy this a surgical operation is necessary. This remedy is simple withdrawal of all mission connection from the Church, which will then fight its own battle on the Indian soil and level but with the Holy Spirit within to guide and strengthen. In the absence of a remedy the masses and middle classes in the Church’s membership (as is the general population of India) are being slowly but surely prepared to accept either voluntarily or under duress the communistic way of life propagated by Russia. Have Christians, the missions and the Church - besides the task of declaring the Gospel, a way of life to offer to India more or less approximating the life and teaching of Jesus Christ and of the Apostolic Church? If not, missions are irrelevant to the New India and a wasteful pastime for the western world. Personally, I hope for a reorientation of objective, spirit and policy so that India’s deepest needs and aspirations, both spiritual and mundane, may be truly satisfied.

Thyregodvej 47, Brande, Denmark,

My Dear Friend,

When returning from a journey I found two letters on my desk from you, 28th April and 29th April for which I thank you. Just before I had received “The Crusader” and “The Church of Christ” with the most interesting letter from Baago. I fully agree with Baago in his views, but some form of Baptism must be used even in India. I used to say during my years in India, Baptism means simple oneness with the Christ in whom you have come to believe and at the same time unity with all those that of heart and mind belong to Him. It does not mean belief in such and such creeds or dogmas that have grown up in the various Western Churches, but solely loyalty and fellowship with Jesus Christ and all those that confess faith in Him.

Thanks for your remarks about Manilal and Chenchiah. I know them both well, and Chakkarai and Bishop Appasamy, whose book “Christianity as Bhakti Marga”, I in 1929 translated into Danish. In 1961, I supplied a deal of information to a German scholar’s doctoral dissertation on the theology of Chakkarai, Chenchiah and Appasamy. The dissertation was very voluminous and written in German.

Dr. Patton and Jesudasen of Triupattar Ashram I met in India and Jesudasen also at Copenhagen in 1927.

Sadhu Sunder Singh lectured in Denmark in 1922. I attended one of his big public meetings then. It is indeed a significant sign of the times that your Constitution recognised the Christian Sadhus as a true ministry for the Church of Christ.

Thanks most heartily for the names and addresses of lists of indigenous Indian Christian Churches. I shall now try to get connected with them all. I do hope to get their response and valuable information about their churches, their ideas and principles. Thanks also for the circular of Rev. S.K. Mundle which I received today. I am informing him that I will be glad to receive his occasional printed letters.

You are, of course, quite right, that it is difficult for theologians to agree to R. Panikkar’s view of the subtle difference between religion and faith, that it is quite legitimate to continue to be “of Hindu religion and of Christian faith.” Your indigenous, self-governing and self-supporting Christian Churches combined with the development of Indian Christ Theology with the use of Hindu terminology is of the greatest value instead of the use of the Greek philosophical terminology used when the Christian Church entered the Roman Empire and had to make the Gospel and the name of Christ understandable for educated of the Greek-Roman culture. Chakkarai made use of no less than 234 Hindu terms in his two books “Jesus the Avatar” and “The Cross in Indian Thought” in his attempt to explain the Gospel of Christ to Hindus mentioning also a number of Hindu Scriptures. With regard to Old Testament he was of your opinion, putting the Jewish Old Testament and texts from Hindu Scriptures in two as a sort of Old Testament for Christ believing Hindus.

In Appasamy’s “What is Moksa” he only used 23 Hindu terms but quoted also words by 31 Hindu saints mentioning eleven Hindu scriptures. And in his “Temple Bells” readings he cited more profusely from Hindu religion.

Yours in Him,

Aksel Knudsen.

Pertinent Quotes

“LET’S stop being smug in the assumption that the poor like it that way and are merely living at their natural level. And let’s stop going silent, because the energy and knowledge and money to fight poverty cannot come from the poor, it has to come from us, unless we prefer a political revolution of the dispossessed.” - Author Ben Bagdikian, addressing a national Methodist conference on Christian social concerns.

“It is those people who do not hate and who do not intend to harm and yet who still insist upon keeping the Negro in a state of inferiority really because of his colour who are the ones who specially need and should receive help and understanding.” - Leroy Collins, director of the federal community relations service, at the same conference.

“The root of the racial problem is the failure of the majority of the white American people to begin to comprehend the magnitude of the tragedy of the Negro in America.” - Rabbi Marc H. Tanerbaum, director of the American Jewish Committee’s interreligious affairs, speaking at a workshop for Roman Catholic teaching nuns.

“Worship which does not change the worshipper in the course of his life is a hollow experience. And if worship does not work through a man to change the man’s world, it lacks something of its essential meaning. The worship service must convey to members of the congregation that they are called to carry the sparks of God’s eternal purpose out into the world.” - Douglas Horton, dean emeritus of Harvard University, divinity school, to participants in ministers convocation at Lancaster Theological Seminary.

I do not mean that others should be eased, and you burdened, but that as a matter of equality your abundance at the present time should supply their want, so that their abundance may supply your want, that there may be equality. - 2 Corinthians 8:13-14.

AMERICANS live in a society that has the technical capability to abolish poverty, but it is open to debate whether it is a society morally capable of doing so. In this respect America differs from certain other nations beset by poverty. Haiti, for example, has neither the technical potential nor the moral commitment to free its people from the poverty that burdens them. India, on the other hand, evidently has a profound conscience about the multitudes of its poor, but does not yet have the economic and political competence to overcome poverty. But in the United States, poverty is not a matter of the absence or underdevelopment of resources or of skills to harness those resources in order to feed, clothe, house and educate everyone; here the issue is whether the institutions and citizens which are prosperous are morally mature enough to banish poverty.

— Christian Century, 2 June 1965.

Theological Education

By R.C. Das

(continued from No. 3, 1968).

Section 2

The Pattern of Theological Training India

1. Aims and Objects: What is the purpose and end for which young people should be trained and prepared? In general terms it should be the extension of the Kingdom of God on earth. In specific terms it is the building up of the Church of Christ in India through

   1. Worship and pastoral care suitable and effective in developing the spiritual genius of Indian Christian deepening, strengthening and making their life practical and dynamic,
   2. Service - humanitarian activity,
   3. Prophetic ministry - the preaching of the Gospel - Witnessing to the Truth by words of the mouth and exposition of the Word, in writing as also by healing of the body through faith and intervention of divine Grace, Recovery of the spiritual and moral values of the primary apostolic Church is urgent for India.

2. Nature, Spirit and Meaning of the Training. It should be so conducted as to create and sustain a life of faith - exploration venture, and experiment in spiritual life - continuous search into the height, breadth and depth of the stature of Christ and the unfathomable riches of God. Mere instruction devoid of spiritual light and moral fervour or impartation of mere intellectual knowledge of truth will fail in achieving the objectives in the context of historical and social realism.

3. Patterns appropriate in India: - Policies, method, forms, means, organisations, courses, atmosphere, emphases and authority:

   1. Stress on a devotional and spiritual study of the Bible (selected portions).

   2. Stress on a thorough study of Indology-Indian History and geography, philosophy, literature, music and art, mythology, architecture, religious faith and practices (especially of Hinduism).

   3. Less of Western theology, less of Greek and Hebrew more of Hindu Muslim theologies of Sanskrit, Arabic, Tamil. Room for specialisation.

   4. Eligibility for admission; candidates who have had a prior course in logic, psychology, general philosophy, its history. This applies to First Grade Colleges.

   5. Proficiency in mother tongue in both First Grade Colleges and Second Grade Seminaries or schools. This qualification to apply to both teachers and taught.

   6. Names of positions, places and things to be Indian - Hindu, Muslim, Northern or Southern as is necessary. In teaching and conversations Indian categories and terms to be used as far as is practicable.

   7. Medium of instruction: English in First Grade Colleges and regional language in Second Grade Seminaries or schools.

   8. .

      1. Governing Body or managing committee to be advisory in capacity. Members should have interest in learning, knowledge, Church development, evangelism, philanthropy and humanism. Basis of choice for membership - not amount of financial support given, nor size of church or mission bodies, nor social position, nor educational qualifications, nor administrative experience merely.
      2. Staff - members of the Staff should possess the above-mentioned qualifications as well as social and cultural excellence to merit respect of the public.

   9. Theological Institutions should be run on the broad lines of Hindu Ashrams, both ancient and modern, and also of muths (monasteries) to encourage emergence of celibate communities on basis of poverty and obedience. The following features and characteristics should be steadily evolved in Christian Ashram life: -

      1. The Belief that Christ is the invisible Head of the Institution and the Holy Spirit, the constant companion in the Fellowship. As a consequence a spiritual atmosphere will prevail.

      2. The Acharya, Kulapati, or Guru as the case may be according to the importance and nature of the Institution, is the visible head of it and in matters of an institution and discipline his decision in consultation with all the members will be final and authoritative.

      3. Freedom of spirit and thought to pervade the life and work in the Ashram. The Vedas have inculcated a wonderfully healthy form of free thinking in India. In higher realms of thought there is no slavery of tradition and authoritarianism.

      4. Guru-Shishia relation between staff and students. The missionary idea, the monetary motive, the spirit of the market, trade, and moral formalism, etc. must be banished. Guru, Guruma, Guru Bhai, Guru Bhagni, Guruputra, Guru Kanya - these and other terms should indicate the warm loving relationships. Wholesome fear and respect and obedience on the one hand and loving concern and filial affection on the other should subsist between the disciples and the preceptors.

      5. No invidious distinctions, social or economic, as regards living standards in respect of accommodation or meals between staff and students, amongst students or teachers themselves. Real difference, cultural, physical or intellectual will be economically indicated and determined by the basic principle of need. Both students and teachers will make their maximum spiritual, intellectual, cultural and financial contribution according to their ability, talent and genius for the service of the institution. This will be true equality - Samya - which will dissolve jealousy and enrich fellowship.

      6. Simple living and high thinking: standards of living should be co-operatively determined on the basis of the necessity for health, growth, happiness and social decorum. In a country like India with heights and depth in economic and social life the middle Path should be followed. All luxuries should be avoided.

      7. Reverence and Faith-Path to knowledge and realisation. “Shraddhaban labhate jnanme.” It is the reverent who get to know, acquire knowledge.

      8. Co-operative search for truth: Informal free discussion, “Pariprashnena” - by questions and counter questions light is generated. In imparting instruction one way traffic should be avoided. The mind of man is not a mere receptacle to hold knowledge assiduously cultivated by another. The brain of man is not a mere store house. The mind is a creative agent and the brain is a dynamic machine. Both must act, so far in India education in general has been just reception of information. In Christian institutions for acquiring divine knowledge, the minds of students have generally been filled with some western theological hash without raising enquiries and originality. All education, especially theological, to be sound and effective must awaken the latent power of the mind and spirit and help them become creative agents.

      9. Brahmacharya (self-control, continence, discipline of the bodily passions): an absolute necessity for those engaged in the search of God - his knowledge, truth and love. “Shariramadyam Khalu Dharma Sadhanam.” The body is primary - basic in all religious and spiritual cultivation. Bodily purity, mental sincerity, intellectual honesty and spiritual holiness are absolutely necessary for any success in life. It is a matter of great regret that in all Christian Institutions in India both secular and sacred, this matter has been woefully neglected. There has not been much physically based moral discipline which has something to do with how and what we eat, how we live and move, how and what we think, what we aspire after in practical life, what we put on and in what kind of house we live and society we mingle with. Without building up of a character acquisition of knowledge and securing a degree is in vain. In Hinduism ethical principles and moral practices in relation to the body are an essential preparation for Brahma Jnanam.

      10. Love of nature and of all living beings: Trees and flowers and foliage and fruit ought to adorn the Ashram area. We should love the sunshine, the moonlight, the breeze and the storm, the open sky, the sun and the moon and the start, the hills, the seas, the rivers, the fields and the crops. “The heavens declare the glory of God and all things and beings praise and bless him.” Why should not tigers and deer visit Christian Ashrams, and live there too, as they have done and still do in Hindu Ashrams? Why should snakes not be innocent and harmless? And birds come and perch on your head and shoulders? One condition is love. That kills fear and hate.

      11. Co-education: In an atmosphere of natural, spiritual and intellectual fellowship boys and girls would be taught and trained together and grow into a healthy society of the servants of God to implement the purposes of their training within the Church and outside.

      12. The location of a Theology-Ashram: Ideally in a fairly quiet place of natural beauty accessible to both urban and rural population. Some of the existing institutions have an appropriate physical environment. They need transformation in structural and organisational arrangement. Buildings must not be too solid and substantial as they give the false and injurious impression of permanence of material strength and produce the spirit of dependence upon worldly support through money and organisation rather than trust in God and moral and spiritual resources. Accommodation must be not palatial and too comfortable but simple and sanitary. Luxury and ease destroy and diminish spiritual and moral effectiveness. The set-up of some foreign institutions like the Oxford Mission at Behala in greater Calcutta and the Retreat and Study Centre at Rajpur (Dehra Dun) will give useful suggestions in this regard. As also some of the already existing and established Ashrams might provide sites for further and future theological development and expansion. Such as Tirupattur, Manganam, Bishop Walsh’s Shishyashram in Coimbatore, “Christa Mitra” at Ankola, etc., in South India; Sat Tal Ashram (Dr. Jones), Christapathi Ashram in Sihora (M.P.) Medical Christian Fellowship at Rajnandgam near Raipur (M.P.), Haluaghat in Mymensingh District, in E. Pakistan, etc., in North India. There are smaller Ashram set-ups for conversion into smaller theological schools. Theological colleges, old and established, that ought to be and can be modified are, as it appears to me, the Bishop’s College (Calcutta), Leonard’s at Jabalpur, Bareilly in U.P.U.T.C. at Bangalore etc.

Think of why Hindus - both Sanatani and modern reformed - have chosen, for their Ashrams, muths, and other teaching centres - hill sides, hill tops, forests near cities and towns, river banks, sea sides, open sky, as well as deep forests, mountain caves, secret nooks in cities and towns in pilgrim centres, in temple areas - in places like Haridwar, Almora, near Badrinath-Kadarnath, Vrindaban, the banks of Nerbuda in M.P., Arunachal, Adyar (Madras), Sringeri, Puri, Dwarka, Varanasi, Prayag etc? Gurukul Kangei of Haridwar, (Arya Samaj) and Vrindaban (Vaishnava) are two theological universities. Kashi Hindu Bishwabidyalaya (B.H.U., Varanasi), the Sanskrit University, Bharat Dharma Mabamandol and Sarnath (Buddhist) in Varanasi have theological departments. Shantiniketan (Bolpur) of Tagore and Sevagram (Gandhi) are centres of spiritual, educational, economic and social culture under moral discipline. These and many other modern enterprises should provide food for thought to leaders of Christian theological culture. Theological schools and colleges must not train candidates who only seek jobs as pastors, evangelists or teachers but those who would be servants of Society and of God in the Church and in the country. Such training can be given only in a quiet spiritual and disciplined atmosphere.

Section 3

Finally-

1. Relation of Theological Institutions to the Church:

   Theology is the hand-maid of the Church, her right arm to help her fulfil her mission to the world. Yet she must give the institutions an amount of independence without which their training will neither be creative nor powerful enough to influence larger areas outside the Church situation.

   Institutions to be of any real help in building up the Church in the political, social and religious situation of India must be interdenominational, unsectarian, even interreligious. While members individually will be loyal to their own communions the seminary or Ashram as an entity will be free to explore and experiment upon extra-ecclesiastical objectives and activities in consonance to the principles of Christ not always and necessarily in absolute loyalty to Church tradition and therefore will have room for constructive rebels and revolutionaries - even heretics. The institutions will be the voluntary handmaid and willing arm of the Church but not her abject slave.

2. The spiritual, intellectual and social life to have any Christian meaning must be expressed in witness to full Christian truth and love through both prophetic ministry and redeeming work for suffering sinful humanity. Evangelical concern and evangelistic activity and not simply pastoral ability should be the natural fruit of sound theological education.

The two important and main biases of theology ought to be Indigeniety (as distinct from Indianisation) and evangelism (as distinct from propaganda and proselytism).

Review

Convictions of an Indian Disciple by R.C. Das. Indian Christian Thought Series, No. 6. C.I.S.R.S., Bangalore. 1966, Price Rs. 2.

The theme of the book is similar to that of Dr. Jesudasen, but while Dr. Jesudasen’s approach is mystical and aesthetic, Acharyya Das’s is more theological, polemical and analytical. Also, he wields a more vigorous pen. He first deals with the uniqueness of Christ, and distinguishes two uses of the word ‘unique’. First, we may use it as an intellectual notion, a logical conclusion, even as an evangelistic slogan; in which case we will be comparing Jesus with the founders of other religions. This, he thinks, will lead to war between religions, wrangling among intellectuals and bitterness among the common folk. But we may on the other hand lift the idea to the plane of realisation, and make it not merely proclaimable but liveable; we will then be showing the grace and power and reasonableness of the Christian faith in an unambiguous and incontrovertible way. Acharyya Das prefers to use the word in this second sense. On this point he criticises the views of Barth and Kraemer: the uniqueness of Christ is not to be conceived as mere ‘otherness’, or, so far as other faiths are concerned, as sheer contradiction. The uniqueness is inclusive, comprehensive, sympathetic (P. 6).

In the second chapter, he takes up some teachings and practices of Hinduism, e.g., polytheism, idolatry, karma, and attempts to show how in the face of these doctrines and practices ‘Christian thinking and living may be so moulded and developed that it may help the orthodox Hindu to find his Master in Christ’ (P. 13). He has tested this method in the evangelistic work that he has carried on among orthodox Hindu scholars in Varanasi, and he has found that it works. In my opinion, this chapter contains some of the best and most constructive thought that R.C. Das was to give to Indian Christian theology.

In contrast to this, the third chapter is the least satisfactory. It describes the experience of a ‘sanatani Christian,’ by which term he means ‘a Christian who has Vedic background and whom Vedic truths have led to Christ’ (P. 34). I do not think that the Vedic truths have led R.C. Das to Christ; the fact is rather that, having come to Christ, having his conscience enlightened, he is looking at his old faith with new eyes. The quickened religious consciousness makes him perceive in the Veda what he did not perceive there before. I humbly suggest that Acharyya Das should evaluate the subject of this chapter with the help of some corporate Christian thinking.

Serampore College, West Bengal - Y.D. TIWARI.

Comment: While I am very grateful to Professor Tiwari for his appreciative notice of my little book I must say that he is not fair in saying in the last paragraph above that after becoming a Christian I read Christian truths back into the Vedas. It is far from the truth.

If he will kindly refer to my testimony how I became a Christian and why (“My Spiritual Pilgrimage” published in N.C.C. Review, March 1918) he would see how the influence of the Arya Samaj crushed my faith in popular Hinduism (idolatrous polytheism, Caste, Varnashram, Sacrifice etc.) and how I was temporarily satisfied with Brahmoism but soon found it to be dry rationalism having, no moral roots or spiritual dynamism. I recoiled back to Sanatana Dharm and the truths of the Vedas became again real and satisfying for a little time. These truths, though rudimentary but suggestive enough, lightened up and showed me the reasonableness and reality of the Christian truths and experiences.

A Christian State

By H. Kaveri Bai

“Maybe we are using the wrong kind of weapons to change the world” (An unnamed American).

Recently I was shocked to learn that the Naga and Mizo and other rebels of our NEFA region were “Christians,” who were demanding a “Christian State,” that back of all this trouble were some foreign “missionaries,” instigating and encouraging the people in their armed uprisings against the Government, and also that a number of these “missionaries” had been expelled, and some others were under orders of expulsion. Had the first missionaries to India departed from the Gospel, and come meddling in politics, and leading or taking part in anti-government movements, I do not believe a single Indian would have become a Christian.

Just what is a “Christian State?” Is it where the policies are governed by the Bible and the administration is based on Bible precepts? If not, then, why agitate for a “Christian State?”

— The Crusader, July-August 1968.

Notes

1. Sad, Tragic, Dangerous

Ugly rumours and reports not altogether unbelievable have been current regarding the internal situation of Serampore College for a number of years. Some incidents have happened in the course of the last few years. We are not simply thinking of students troubles indiscipline in the form of strikes, gheraos etc., on the basis of real or imaginary or misconceived grievances. We are thinking rather of troubles, misunderstandings, incidents relating to the inner life of the institution, of both staff and students, and of the authorities. The pseudo-political or academic troubles are all over the country and one naturally expects that in a Christian College the spirit of integrity and faithfulness, of love and wisdom would not only prevail over ordinary troubles but also preserve the inner spiritual life from decay. Our impression is that both the Council and Senate of the College have been suffering from lack of imaginative understanding and adequate spiritual dynamism and vision. The administration has been mechanical and weak without a clear picture of the destiny of the Institution.

But who are we to think about Serampore? Have we any reason or right to be concerned about it? Yes, we have a moral right, no, an obligation to discuss its welfare and usefulness. Because Serampore does not belong to the Baptist Missionary Society or to all the Missions unitedly, nor even to the Governing Bodies and Managing Committees, but it belongs truthfully to Christ, to the Indian Church and even to India. Ever since the Triumvirate lived and worked there its ground became holy, and it has become a sacred centre of pilgrimage for all Christians especially to the Indian Church. That is why we feel sad and grieved when certain things happen there. Acharya Das was one of a group of dozen old students for theology in the College in the early teens of this century immediately after its reorganisation under the Principalship of Dr. Howells. The whole group was dissatisfied with things in the life and teaching of the institution particularly the few Hindu converts felt seriously disturbed. “Higher” critical studies were so strongly stressed and instruments for building faith being absent one (who later became a world figure) lost faith. Two converts left the College in despair and disgust and did wisely and well. The causes of the dissatisfaction and unpleasant happenings appear to be still there after over half a century.

A few years ago, a missionary got involved in a situation correct or concocted. But the very fact such a thing, true or false, can become a scandal in an institution hoary with noble tradition, in a premier Indian University, calls for an honest explanation. Leaders of the College both in administration and instruction have been chosen not with any sense of responsibility for a standard of character and life from a wider field and with an eye to the personality, calibre and cultural qualifications of the men appointed. In the beginnings of the College there were stalwarts and towering figures both on the teaching staff and in administration. But the standard though high was mainly intellectual and not spiritual and evangelical nor national or patriotic? And it seems even that much has deteriorated these days.

One hears a prominent member of the staff has lost faith in Christianity and gone. A Principal who at least had some scholarship and possibly some ideal also resigned. Again, one understands there is no love lost between the Christian teachers or students, that there are selfish intrigues among those who aspire for position and self. Probably for the first time in the history of the College a non-theological Principal is acting, one hopes, as a stopgap. The ever-increasing weight of the secular department hinges on the life of the Theological Department the latter’s fate hangs in the balance. The two ought to have been separated long ago.

Are there no men to see through the mist? No men of courage, convictions, and spiritual vision who can help the situation? The cases of other schools and Colleges and hospitals under so-called Christian management (except those run under the auspices of the Roman Catholic Church) are more or less shaky. Why can’t the Protestants learn some lessons from the Catholics and change their ideals and policies? The members of the teaching staff are intellectually qualified, draw good salaries and live in comfortable even luxurious houses, but are they equally concerned about the future of the Church and the College’s contribution towards its upbuilding? Are the members of the College Council and ultimately of the overseas Church mission bodies who are after all the arbiters of the fate of the institution men of adequate spiritual, moral and cultural qualifications in the context of an independent India and ever returning Hinduism to be able to so manipulate its ideals, time and objects and its administrative policies so that the College will ring out strong and Christian, evangelical and patriotic?

2. What a Waste and Confusion, and What a Shame

1. A few years ago the Literature Board of the Bengal Christian Council under the leadership of a Missionary gathered together a few younger literatures to produce what they called Bengali Christian literature for the public. A good deal of propaganda was made with some show of self-confidence and even pride based on the availability of good money though of foreign origin. They gave publicity with a fan fare to the publication of a Bengali periodical with a beautiful attractive name. And for a time it seemed as if heaven would crash upon the earth. This was followed by another and a more modest publication for the benefit of the Christian community - and possibly also in order to silence Christian critics of their costly venture for really non-Christian public. The literary qualifications of the Editor and the contributors are good and praiseworthy. But what about the purpose of this venture? Has it been fulfilled even in a limited way? Is there a promise of its fulfilment? None, it seems.

The public, particularly the Christian, are at a loss to understand the path the magazine is supposed to enlighten. It is hotch potch of everything except morals and religion - rather confusing. None can find a clear trend in their thinking though editorials and writings on economics and politics tend to be leftist. The socialistic ideal and goal is unexceptionable. But is a clear enough picture of socialism presented for Christians and others to accept and support? No dynamic Christian principles, implicit or explicit, are discernible in the writings which are based on ordinary hazy and generalised humanistic thinking. The last page (Sheshpata) is a shameful farce for the management if they profess Christianity.

Huge funds are being used (or misused?) under the very nose of the B.C. Council a body which today is mostly Indianised. How do they look before the public as a Christian organisation? Is it right for them to allow the show to go on? Is it not cheap foreign funds that are being exploited by a self-seeking group in the name of noble objects? Are they spiritually and culturally qualified to be in charge of such big money and essential work of the Church? About the Christian magazine also with a fine name, the less said the better. It is what has been there for over half a century - a poor Chronicle of unimportant ideas and of parochial news of no value.

After all, can dynamic literature supposed to lead people along a certain path and to a higher ideal of life, and literature that will have its own urge and inspiration - can it be produced to order, by an organisation and a committee, and by money? All worthwhile literature in the world - creative, strong, irrepressible - has been individualistic, product of genius. The best thing the Christian organisations with money at their disposal can do is to recognise, appreciate and encourage - through reasonable subsidy when necessary genius to grow naturally and independently in strength, and give up artificially organising or disorganising literary amateurs - men and women.

2. It has been found through authoritative audit and public probe that our Government both at central and state level have been squandering money through mismanagement, neglect, luxury and corruption practically in all their departments including planning - precious money fleeced from poor taxpayers. When any natural calamity befalls our unfortunate people there is no money, or it comes too late for the relief of their suffering. They look about, look on, hesitate, cogitate and argue while men, women and children are in agony.

All will admit that our government is over-organised and the administration is top-heavy. There is a superfluity of unnecessary service systems. Some of them can go without any hurt to the common man. There are too many highly paid officers and administrators who only waste public money and encumber the system.

They plead lack of money to pay need based wages to their workers - lakhs of them. Let them stop top-level planning, stop privy purses paid to princes, recover crores of black money that has gone under by drastic means, cut down the emoluments of ministers and incomes of high officials, improve agricultural produce and boost up small trades, small industries and village crafts, stop corruption in all forms. Then you will have plenty of money. You have the power to do all this given to you by the people. You have the police, the judiciary, the army. If our country is marching to a socialistic goal where is the proof? What kind of image of mother India are we showing to the outside world? Are we keeping the pledges we gave to the people twenty years ago? Are we - governors, ministers and Parliamentarians - being faithful to ourselves? Let there be a stop to the deadly erosion of our money and of mental and moral energy.

3. Reverend Premananda Anath Nath Sen

We note with deep sorrow and grief the passing away at Ranchi at the age of 93 of our beloved Elder Brother the Reverend Premananda Anath Nath Sen. His name was true of his life. He was always full of joy that love gives. He bestowed that joyto others also. He was a Missionary of the C.M.S. in Calcutta after his Y.M.C.A. work there, retired in Ranchi and selling out his houses and with his savings he erected an Ashram near the Bishop’e house - the Anugrihita Sen Home for women - after the name of his blind wife who had predeceased him. Both were converts to Christ from Hinduism. Sen belonged to the family of the famous leader of the New Dispensation Church - in the Brahmo Samaj - the great Keshub Chandra Sen. Premananda’s life was full of activities but at the same time he was a man of earnest prayer, deep meditation, devoted to the study of the Word of God. At Maniktala “Premanand Kushihashram” stands to his credit. He loved the poor, the despised and the helpless. But above everything else his concern for the spiritual welfare of men was notable. Both when he was a Secretary in the College Branch Y.M.C.A. and a C.M.S. missionary for Hindi-speaking people of Calcutta, many young men found their peace and joy in Jesus the Saviour and Lord through his ministry of teaching and prayer. He also found time to search for work for the unemployed and to beg subscriptions for the building up of the leper work. He was a man of simple habits, of courage of conviction, confirmed believing and practicing Christian and a lover of men. We have enjoyed his affection and love since our youth up. Let us thank God for his life and witness,

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