Jesus Bhakti in Hindu Communities
Try: "R.C. Das", Banaras, Bhakt

The Seeker

Volume Date Issue
3 The Rains 1949 2 
    Ye shall know the Truth and the Truth shall make you Free

— Jesus Christ (John 8:32)

Khristpanthi Ashram Benares

Sevak Pramukh - Rajendra Chandra Das

  1. Position: a co-operative non-partisan Fellowship of all who confess Jesus Christ as personal Saviour and God.

  2. Objects:

    1. Study of the Bible, of Hinduism, of early Church
    2. Purposeful creative thinking
    3. Adventures in faith under the Holy Spirit
    4. Indigenous expression of Christianity

  3. Methods:

    1. Worship
    2. Fellowship
    3. Service
    4. Literature

  4. Membership: Open to all Christians without distinct

  5. Activities:

    1. Direct and frank evangelism especially among orthodox groups such as Pilgrims and Sanyasis as well as students and educated men.
    2. Retreats and Conferences
    3. Meetings and addresses of special character
    4. Manual labour and service to of the needy.

Gifts will be gratefully acknowledged.

Office — Working centre - Library and Reading room at:

129, Dashashwamedh,
R.C. Das
Benares
India

Printed by B.N. Dutt, at Eureka Printing Works, Benares.

Published by Rev. R.C. Das, 129, Dashashwamedh, Banaras

This little occasional pamphlet will stand for:

  1. Review and criticism of important events and opinions.

  2. Advocacy of radical and independent thinking.

  3. Encouragement of new experiments, progressive movements, ventures of faith and indigenous efforts.

  4. Promotion of peace and concord among all men on the basis of truth.

  5. Freedom and toleration.

  6. Justice for the oppressed, neglected, deprived, weak and helpless.

Brief articles and concise opinions along the above lines will be welcome and published.

129, Dashashwamedh,
R.C. Das
Benares
India

Contributions will be gratefully acknowledged.

Price-Annual 3/-, Single copy -/12/-

For Moral Courage

    Lord and King
    We pray thee this day for courage to face unpopularity for the sake of truth;
    For courage to declare boldly our convictions, though they make us despised;
    For courage to break with evil custom and evil opinion,
    Even though for so doing we are shunned and outcast.
    Give us strong hearts that will not fear what any man may do unto us,
    Confident in the power of truth, -
    Truth unsupported by numbers or resources, —
    To establish itself supreme by its own inherent force,
    Sovereign over all benighted and reactionary opposition.
    Give us the courage of soul which can scorn the possession of a good name among men,
    Content to be alone with thee in the right,
    Victorious over weak and craven sensitiveness to popular opinion;
    Give us, O Lord, thy spirit of boldness, that we may trample on our fear of our fellows,
    Being strong in thee and very courageous.

— (From A Book of Progress)

The Witness of the Church

BY Rev. P.K. Adhicary B. A Pastor Duff Church, Calcutta.

The Internal Witness

(Continued from Easter issue)

We have so far discussed the external witness of the Church. Let us now consider the internal affairs. With the political change in India the foreign missions are reducing their grants to the Indian Churches. In near future very little contributions will be made to the Churches in India by the Foreign Mission. It is indeed a blessing in disguise. We have until now only received, but now the time has come when we should give. We should start with giving to our churches first, I mean material support. It must be admitted that the Indian churches are not contributing to the work of the Lord in a generous way. The various Pastoral or Evangelical Funds are being subsidised by the associated foreign Missions, but their contributions will gradually diminish, and at last be discontinued. Indian Christians will have to manage their own affairs and get the necessary financial help from their own congregations. They should be even generous in their giving towards the Sustentation Funds and the Evangelistic Funds. We often hear from the leaders of the Churches particularly from the Missionaries that there is a great need for adequate Ministry, and the means to this end is their joint efforts to establish Union Theological Schools. All these efforts will produce no results unless some means is adopted for solvent ministry also. In our country the religious preceptors never felt the pinch of poverty or led to such a plight as to borrow to make loth ends meet at the time of emergency. They did not receive salaries on stamped receipts from Treasurers. This is an introduction of the Foreign Missionaries. Some feel that in Free India the system of paid Ministers should be abolished. Some other honourable arrangements should be made for the maintenance of the Ministers, who are the preceptors, the spiritual leaders, of the Community. Lord Bishops, Canons, etc. etc, should be abolished in labia. There should be one name to indicate the clergy, and all the clergy should be of equal rank. The system of scales of salaries, Provident Fund, Children’s allowance, dearness allowance for a man of God who serves the congregation in the Lord needs to be revised. We very strongly feel from experience that for an adequate ministry the system of inadequate support on the basis of scales of salaries should be overhauled. The present system is a disgrace to the Ministers of God. I have failed to understand the logic why a vernacular trained Minister should get one fourth of the salary of an English trained Padre - are the needs of the latter greater than the former, when both are doing the same job at the same place? Why should there be two grades of Ministers? The degree of a Theological Institution do not always make an ideal Padre. This demarcation in Holy orders is misleading and has its origin in the brain of man. We feel that the padres, who are the chosen spiritual leaders of the country should be adequately provided to meet all their demands. The Padre’s qualifications are not his academic degrees or intellectual achievements or his mastery in higher criticism only, but he must a man of God, a born again Christian, a man who has the baptism of the Holy Spirit, who has received a definite call from God — a man chosen of God. He loves the Lord not on the conscious plane, but from his subconscious region — a man of prayer, a real devotee. Clever and cunning Padres good at Committee Meetings or experts in formulating schemes or making constitution have finished their days. Now we want real devotees of God, deeply spiritual men and trained under the spirit of God. These Theological institutions claim to produce or to have produced godly men for Pastoral work, but in actual fields we find that most of the students coming out of these institutions are business experts, and carry on their trade under the Cassock or the clerical colour. I know of many Padres who preach sermons on Sundays, and during the week days indulge in business speculation. In Free India they are not needed. As far as practicable the present order of the Ministry should be changed and there should be no allurements for the Padres. Padres must be of equal rank. If there be any distinction, it should be due to the depth of the spiritual life. Padres should no longer be looked down upon as paid servants of the congregations. They must be treated with honour and reverence. The reverence or Bhakti to the Padre in our community is altogether absent. Why? It is due to the rotten and secular system of payment to the Padre. We must abolish the name “Padre” and use “Purohit” priest in its place. The profits should receive “Dakshinas”, free gifts, from the congregation in appreciation of their noble work. Of course, the Purohits must be so chosen that they can get the regard of the congregation. As soon as the system of paying graded salaries etc. to the Purohits are abolished, I am sure the laymen will begin to give “Guru Dakshina” to the Purohits to meet all their demands. Each Church should have a personage or Manse for the Purohit to live rent-free. All the funds of the Church should be at the disposal of the Purohits, who will manage the funds with the assistance of the devotees or members of the Church committee. All the money received for the poor and the widows in the Church should be spent on them by Purohits without any hindrance from anybody. No such money should be reserved in the Bank. Lord’s money is not meant to be kept in the bank to rot there when the need is so great. The Purohits should be always above want and should never be allowed to run into debts. Poor Indian Padres, they serve the Lord of Hosts, but they are most ill fed, ill clad and without any resources! Each member of his congregation is more or less his boss. He is sometimes the poorest man in the congregation, and greatly handicapped in his great spiritual work. I know of many Purohits who are forced by circumstances to get into difficulties due to inadequate finance, yet the people expect efficient discharge of duties from them. This is disgraceful, and this should never be the condition of the Purohits. In free India, we should keep our Purohits above want by introducing the system of Guru Dakshina (free gifts to the Purohits) on the Biblical lines-the system of tithes. Of course not in letters, but in spirit. When this system is introduced and practised, the Purohits will be above want.

The Secret of Giving and Service

But how can the attitude of the mind of the congregation be changed that they may be more generous in giving? It is only possible when the inner life of the Church is deepened, I mean when we take to worship more than to external things. A Christian community is a worshipping community and the more real our worship is, the more generous we become in giving. Our external witness is nothing but the result of our community with God. Let me in passing mention in brief why we fail in our social service or are confused in our activities. The reason is that we put the cart before the horse. Our desire to render social service rises from selfish motive, from a spirit of ambition. In order to come in the limelight the clever among us become overnight great lovers of the different communities to which he or she belongs and pretend to be the champions of their cause. Aided with money, the sinews of War, some of these self-imposed leaders and social workers, get seats in the legislative assemblies or in the Municipal Corporations. The late Mahatma Gandhi very strongly condemned this communal spirit in the Christian Community which be remarked is born of inferiority complex. Are the above social workers, who have political interests at heart, our leaders? Certainly not. To accept them as our leaders is to do us great injustice. We consider only those to be the servants of men who are servants of God - God centric persons, should be our leaders. Unless we put God at the centre of affairs our leadership is in vain. I would tell our young social workers that the secret of social service is a life in tune with God. God is at work and we are His Co-workers. Our social service is not our choice, but the inevitable result of our life in communion with God in the sub-conscious region. We find in the life of the apostles the truth of this statement. They served the country, because they loved truth. This is really Christian Service, and we must practise it in our own life.

The Effective Preaching of the Gospel

Let us now discuss why our preaching of the Gospel of Christ among the Indians are not always a success. Of course, the answer can be given in a few words that it is not done with the power of the Holy Spirit. True. But the Holy Spirit will certainly advise us to use our intelligence aided by Him to find out the reason of the indifference of the non-Christians to the glorious and life-saving gospel of Jesus Christ. It seems to me that the Common man in the street has the impression in his mind that Christianity is a foreign religion, and has come from the west. The impression has come in the minds of the Indian men because of the wrong methods of preaching the Gospel of Christ by foreign Evangelists. What are the wrong methods? Some of our zealous Evangelists begin to speak on the gospel of Christ by directly or indirectly condemning the religions of the country. We should so guard our language and sentiments that they do not wound the feelings of the innocent for nothing. Satan is evil. Still a Christian Sadhu, who decided not to speak ill of others, when asked by Critics what he felt about Satan, said after some thinking, “Satan is always at work”. This is indeed a correct certificate of Satan, for he is really always at work of evil. The Sadhu spoke truth of Satan, but no ill of him. Again it is often discovered by the non-Christians, that the converts lose their nationality altogether and imitate the customs of the foreigners in everything. The inevitable result is that the non-Christians look upon the converts and Christianity with suspicion. We have found that the foreign Evangelists who come to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ have very little knowledge of the religions of the country, and they often make a confusion of the significance of the names of the gods and goddesses of the non-Christians. Their preaching instead of taking the audience to the Calvary to have a dip in the precious blood of Jesus by heart-searching, causes only heart burning. I must give a friendly warning to the over-zealous Evangelists that a wholesale condemnation of the scriptures of the Indian or an imperfect knowledge of the religions of the country, will, instead of furthering the kingdom of God, retard its progress in India. Let them read up-to-date books on comparative religion and Indian interpretation of Christ. The spirit of Christ is love and toleration. The Evangelists should approach the non-Christians with the mind of Jesus having a sympathetic understanding of their problems. The problem of men and women all over the world are fundamentally the same. The wise Evangelists will only show the solutions of the problems from the Gospel of Christ. He is not concerned with other things. But unless he or she is a saved soul how can others be saved by them?

He alone can preach who has found the truth in the Gospel of Christ. The truth of the Gospel is life-giving. He who has got this truth, goes out to tell others of the Saviour like the Samaritan woman. These are real Evangelists - servants of God, and not the paid agents of State or Mission bodies. The burden of their souls is to bring the lost ones to God, but not to condemn the lost souls and pass judgment on them. The Evangelists should have no fanatical ideas of divine inspiration and wonderful gifts of the spirit and make a display of their power in season and out of season. This is the “T” in a subtle form in the Evangelist or the divine healer, which causes so much confusion and indiscipline in the Church. We must preach the Gospel in the spirit of God and with understanding. A real Evangelist, a born again Christian, a saved soul is a great blessing to India. When Indians find the good results of Christianity in the lives of their own countrymen, who have accepted Jesus; and Christ is interpreted in their religious thoughts and sentiments, they will no longer look upon Christianity as foreign religion. We would therefore request every preacher of the Gospel of Christ in India to acquaint himself or herself with the religions of the country with sympathy and understand their problems, and try to appreciate the yearning of their souls for deliverance. Now the best way of spreading Christianity in India as well as in other parts of the world is to distribute the Bible among the masses in their own vernacular. We need no second hand Theological learning attained through foreign language only, but we must learn the language of the country, I mean Sanskrit, Tamil, Arabic and other original languages. In order to understand Christianity fully we should know the contents of the Scriptures of the country. There seems to be much truth in the remark of the Rev. R.C. Das, the founder of the Institution at Benares in India to study Hindu Faith and Culture. The remarks are as follows: “We need an Upanishad of the Gospel, of New Testament, a Ramayana and a Mahabharata of the Old Testament, Bhaktigatha of the Psalms and St. John, a nationalism of the Prophets, an Internationalism of St. Paul, a Philosophy of the Word, and a Krista Purana” (A quotation from the Seeker).

(Concluded)

Christianity and Science

By Prof. Mohinimohan Bose M.A., S.C. College, Calcutta.

(From the Youngmen of India)

Since earliest times Man has tried to transcend his environment. This trait of not being able to live wholly in his surroundings was due to the mental activity of imagination which differentiates Man from the beasts. For the first time in the history of created beings on this earth the possibility of infinite advance became a fact when Man emerged. Ethnology gives us an account of the family tree of created things. We find various branches springing from its trunk, but each of them stops growing after a certain stage; only the branches representing the various human race-types have reached the greatest height and are still growing. It is possible that of these race types not all will go on shooting up. One or more may shoot out fresh branches which would be departures from the present branches in essentials.

Primitive man was not conscious of any division between Religion and Science. In fact his mind reacted simultaneously, and as a whole to the manifestations of power he saw in natural phenomena and to the Author of these. Crude as this feeling was it was the germ of the moral sense in man which it has taken all these centuries to refine. When primitive man had become sufficiently organised to live in communities he slowly realised that the element of right action based on volition was an important ingredient of the good life. At this stage religion emerges out of the merely poetic stage and the deity identified with natural phenomena becomes a tribal god.

The specific character of Christianity lies in the transforming of the tribal Jehovah into a pervasive God — immanent in Creation and transcendent above and beyond it in His absoluteness; and yet in a sense human to the red ripe core of His heart. This makes Christianity the greatest humanistic movement in the world’s history, for in it God walked this earth and transfigured the common life of man. Christ revealed to us the pattern of the godlike within the limitation of human dimensions; conversely, he also revealed the infinite perfectible man - his unplumbed potential.

Christianity, like almost all religions, passed through a stage of hostility to and distrust of, the material science, specially Physics, Chemistry and Astronomy. Christianity, however, grew out of this, not without a struggle, and the change of attitude was expressed by the inclusion of Science in the curricula of Universities which had a monastic foundation. Science, however, has not succeeded in destroying the religious basis of such institutions. The spirit of the Middle Ages lives on in many ancient Universities of Europe.

The central fact of Christianity is the love of God. The Christian God is a God of imponderable power but, above all, He is God of Love; love deep and unfathomable. A cursory survey of scientific facts has made some scientists of this century, such as Sir James Jeans, think that animate life and Man, at present its crown, are not an important purpose of Creation. They are accidental by products of the Universe, for life as we see it can only exist in a very few places in the Universe. Such thinkers forget that the infinite resources of the creator of the Cosmos are not limited to the creation of beings we see and know. The vast strides in Organic Chemistry have revealed to our eyes fresh vistas of stable compounds.

The study of the breaking up of the atom, which was at one time supposed to be the ultimate indivisible chemical state of matter (the molecule being the corresponding physical state) by successive stages reached a point where the atom ceased to be picturable not only by the most powerful microscope but even by the strongest imagination, and became just a mathematical symbol. Each stage of this unfolding drama, in a sense the most stupendous in the realm of physical science, showed the utmost precision in the basic fact of matter. Unless one assigns such precision to accident, one must suppose that infinite care alone could achieve such a result. The very heart, the very pulse of the mechanical universe has now been exposed, and we find that it is far from mechanical-neither is it sensory matter, solid and impenetrable. It is pulsation, not mass. It is a minute solar system of electrical charges revolving round a nucleus which again is not a unity. God so loved the world that He took infinite pains to create its minutest particle and, therefore, it is easy to believe that not a sparrow falleth to the ground without His knowledge. Christianity affirms its faith in the dormant power of Man.

The fact of the stupendous latent power of the human spirit is borne out by the recent science of Psychoanalysis, which has illuminated the nooks and crannies of the mind where light had never penetrated before as far as Western thought is concerned. A certain system of Indian discipline, however, had made striking contribution to the psychology of the Sub-conscious and Unconscious, as is acknowledged even by Western scholars such as Sir John Woodroffe. This system is embodied in The Yoga Tantra Sanhita, which constitutes the most scientific system of spiritual discipline, very similar to that of the Catholic mystics.

Christ’s choice of disciples proves his profound faith in the human potential only waiting to be liberated and equal to the highest demands, for he left his great work to them without misgiving, though one of them had betrayed and another denied him.

The Tantric Yoga is sceptical about sublimation. It does not believe it to be a sure method of advance. It substitutes realisation through intensification of the dominant instincts. Psycho - analytical treatment confirms the success of this method in cases of deep-seated neuroses. The parable of the Prodigal Son may also be considered an illustration of the same method. To cure himself of the malady of sin man must first realise it, not merely try to deflect attention and energy from it. Realisation is freedom from the bondage of sin. The constant emphasis on Faith in Christ’s teaching is in a sense that demand for realisation, without which even Christ was unable to transform men’s minds and bodies. Only when man realises the strength of the bonds of sin does he throw himself on God and, doing so, finds the grace of God sufficient for his need. Deliverance is achieved through God’s grace. This central fact is what differentiates Christianity from other religions. We conquer not through might or power but buy the spirit of the Lord of Hosts.

The advance towards a common formula to cover the whole range of physical facts indicates that Science is essentially simple inspire of its apparently abstruse character. The great guesses of Science have been simple guesses. We find that Science demands a certain simplicity of outlook. Christ’s conversation with Nicodemus is significant in this connexion. What is true of the knowledge of God is also true of the knowledge of the world He has created. We must divest ourselves of complexity before the basic truths of God and His Universe can flash upon us.

Astronomy now holds, after Einstein, that Space is not infinite. It is boundless but limited. If God and the Universe were both infinite and, therefore, coextensive, it would be an argument in favour of Absolute Pantheism which identifies God with the sum total of creation. It also suggests the primacy of Spirit over Matter, even though Science may refine our conception of Matter.

Science leaves us on the threshold of the mystic. It is likely that the final reconciliation between Religion and Science will be achieved in our own day by abolishing the dualism of Matter and Spirit; the dividing line is being worn thinner and thinner.

The Gestalt theory of Koffka and Kobler in Psychology, by rejecting the old ‘atomic’ Psychology which interpreted the world of consciousness in terms of sensations and feelings, seems to suggest an epiphenomenal unifying principle which gives final shape to our ideas. Here, again, is a pointer to the activity of a sovereign spirit. Here, again, as often in the physical science, mental science, too leaves us on the threshold of the mystic.

When the theory of evolution was applied to Geology by Sir Charles Lyell it was found that the earth’s crust exhibited a series of changes during its duration in time, but the study of the heavenly bodies which Astronomy has laboriously undertaken shows that no progression as a whole can be discerned in the changes which stars undergo. The changes are not progressive but eyelid. It would seem, therefore, that unless the content of Spirit is infused into the cosmos of the material Universe, all the profundity and exactitude of scientific law that it reveals would be meaningless, which is a position difficult to accept. If there is Reason in the working of the universe surely it is unreasonable to suppose that this Reason is utterly reasonless, i.e., purposeless. The Christian outlook which considers this life as a preparation for the life to come would thus seem to be supported by the cycle nature of planetary evolution. As Sir Oliver Lodge puts it: “The cycle machinery of the physical Universe is employed to develop value in the mental and spiritual Universe, just as the revolution of a fly-wheel may be the means of turning out a fabric of beauty and design. All fundamental things last forever, but while physical things last, by a kind of evolution of cyclic change the evolution of spiritual things has no necessary regress.”

In their search for ultimate it would seem that all branches of science, both physical and mental, reach a point on the boundary of cosmic reality, the world which has for its alphabet logical method in terms of Reason. It may be that the next advance in science will be through a completely new technique, which will yet be consistent — a logic not of Reason but of the Spirit. This technique might break down the final barriers between Science and Mysticism, and effect the final reconciliation between God and His universe.

Far from being antagonistic to the spirit and emphasis of Christianity dignity Science in the trends which have been briefly traced, substantiates the Christian attitude towards God and the Universe, towards human and metaphysical problems, for it endorses the primacy of Love and Grace and the pervasive sovereignty of Spirit over Matter. It shows the infinite possibility of Man through the release of his latent powers which normally lie dormant or locked in futile struggles with himself. The study of modern science should fill us with greater hope for the future with reverence and zeal for the principles of the religion we profess. To those who discern aright the spiritual implications of Science God through the progressive revelation of the laws of the physical Universe and the laws of the mental Universe of man is reconciling the world unto Himself, by lifting us to a clearer knowledge of His activity (which is love) in creating and sustaining the Universe around, and within us. The Science - God of Power emerges as the Christian - God of Love.

(Prof. Bose’s article is learned, suggestive and even prophetic. For sheer lack of space considerable curtailment has had to be made. But we hope we have preserved his main points and conclusions. We would like to see him treat of the Tantra and the Yoga in relation to Christianity, for the benefit of the thoughtful layman. - Editor)

A Unique Gathering

The Tenth Conference-Retreat under the auspices of the North India Fellowship of Christian (1) Ashrams (2) Sadhus, Sanyasi and independent evangelists was held on the premises of the Duff Church 127 Maniktala Street, Calcutta, for a full week from the 23rd to the April 1949. The conference was called jointly by the Rev. R.C. Das M.A., Khristpanthi Ashram, Banaras (Convenor) and the Rev. P.K. Adhicary B.A. Minister-in-charge of Duff Church (Local Organiser) Prof. M.I. Sircar M.A., Vice-Principal of the Scottish Church College was the Chairman.

The following among others joined the Retreat-Conference: Amar Kumar Biswas (Secretary, Bengal Christian Conference), Rer. Father M.C. Chakravarty (Vicar of St. Mary’s), Mr. W.C. Smith M.A. (attached to a business Firm, old student, School of Hinduism interested in the Ashram life), Mr. Hugh Seeds (Friends’ Service Council), Principal John Kellas M.A., of the S.C. College, A.K. Shah Esquire, M.A., (Ex-Principal, Blind-School), Rev. J.J. Banerjee (Christ Church), Rev. M.C. Sircar (City Baptist Church), Rev. D.V. Das (Carey B. Church), Rev. P.N. Das M.A., (Central Methodist Church), Rev. J.L. Sircar B.A. (Sadhu Mathuranath Church - Gopalganj, East Pakistan), Shri A.K. Mukherjee (Representative, Student Christian Movement), Miss Ghosa (U.P.C.S. Zanana Mission), Sadhu Jitendra Nath Huldar (Shishyashram, Barisal District, East Pakistan), Rev. P.K. Adhicary (Duff Chureb), Rev. Dr. M.E. Patra, B.D., M.D. (Suri, Birbhum), Rev. R.C. Das (Banaras), Rev. N.C. Chakravarty M.A., B.D., (Hatibagan Methodist Church), Rev. Jogesh Chandra Sircar B.A., (Pastor, Khristya Samaj Author and businessman), Pandit Tara Charan Chakravarty, Tarkadarshan-Tirtha, (Hindu author of Harmony Gospel in Sanskrit), Major George Singh (Officer in-charge, Cadet Corps, Banaras Hindu University), Mr. George Mahbert (Siliguri), Prof. M. Bose M.A., (S.C. College), Hema Kanta Bebara (Cuttack), Sadhu Narendra N. Biswas (Khristo Prem and Seva Ashram, Bharasapur, Khulna E. Pakistan).

Among those present eight were unattached workers, three Ashram Leaders, and several Sadhus and Sanyasis. Places represented were - Banaras, Orissa, East Pakistan, Siliguri (Darjeeling), Birbhum, Kharagpur and many centres in and around Calcutta.

Aims and Objects

The purpose of the conference was:

  1. To deepen fellowship in prayer and in study of Gods’ Word.

  2. To encourage by word and example new experiments and ventures of faith in Christian living and witness.

  3. To think out the lines on which the Church of Christ in free India should be built and developed.

  4. To guide and unify independent movements of activity and thought in the Church.

Special Features

  1. Singing Parties consisting of adults and children came from many congregations. They daily gave us a real feast of Bengal Music in entirely Indian style and tune. Some friends entertained us with beautiful solos. The Birth of our Lord and the massacre of the Innocents were sung out in Kathakata style by Sadhu Huldar with the help of small children and in accompaniment of musical instruments of Bengal such as the Mridanga. The Church used to be full. It was so impressive and attractive-so full of sweetness and pathos that it drew tears from many eyes.

  2. Ample opportunity was given and utilised for the cultivation of the habit of silence and meditation both individually land corporately The Church was available for this through the day and the night.

  3. The Symbols of the Cross (one of them made of wood a quits tall) and the Gairik (coloured robes) of the Sadhus and Sanyasis and the simple dress of others among the more intimate numbers of the Conference who sat by the Altar-formed a background at once dignified and unorthodox — in sharp contrast to the dull and drab foreign setting of an average Church. In many minds it had a prophetic significance.

  4. The Reception meeting on the first evening was a pleasant and interesting novelty. Sadhus, singers, speakers and leaders squatted with the Chairman on an improvised dais decorated with flower and foliage in which the background was adorned with the pictures of the founders and leaders of the Bengal Church — (Kali Charan Banerjee, Mathuranath Bose, Alexander Duff, Jnam Ranjan Banerjee, Krishna Mohan Bandyopadhyaya). Refreshments consisted of Tea (in earthen cup), Muri or Lai (puffed rice), coconut pieces, and Bataso (puffed Gur) served in as Indian style (Kerchief or corner of Dhoti or of Shirt did for a Plate). This was hilariously enjoyed and appreciated by everybody. We wish those who were prevented by the idea of Muri and Batasa also came and crowded out the meeting.

  5. A side show and interesting feature was the display of some original books and journals (written by Sadhu Huldar, Jogesh and R.C. Das) and 24 paintings (8 on the life and teaching of Christ) by Kumari Aruna Das. This added to the enjoyment and edification the visitors.

  6. Many children and young people bowed and touched the feet of Sadhus and other leaders and the latter gave their blessings by touching their beads—an age-long practice in the country so long deprecated by western minded Christians.

Subjects of Address and Discussion

  1. “Dhyana” (meditation, contemplation) by Sriman Pandit Tara Charan Chakravarty — (The talk was couched in such words saturated with reverence and faith that none without knowing him beforehand could suspect that he was a professing, or shall we say, a nominal Hindu).

  2. “Sanyas” (renunciation) - by Sadhu J.N. Huldar.

  3. “The Christian Sadhu” - by Sadhu J.N. Huldar.

  4. “Christian Literature” - by Rev. M.K. Patra, B.D., and Rev. J.C. Sircar, B.A.

  5. “Service” — by Prof. M. Bose M.A.

  6. “Prayer and Worship” - by Rev. P.K. Adhicary B.A.

  7. “How to study scriptures” - by Rev. N.C. Chakravarty, M.A., B.D.

  8. “The aim and object of the Conference” - by R.C. Das, M.A.

  9. “Evangelism” - by R.C. Das, M.A.

  10. “The Ashram (its ideal and practice)” - by R.C. Das, M.A.

  11. “The building up of the Church in free India” - by R.C. Das, M.A.

  12. “The Church Universal — its message” - by Mr. W.C. Smith, M.A. (Cambridge).

  13. “Christianity and Indian Culture” — by Rev. Anthony Ellenjimittam.

Findings - Conclusions and Reflections

  1. Resolved that

    1. A Sahitya Sangh (Literature association) be inaugurated,
    2. A committee consisting of Prof. M.L. Sircar (Chairman), Rev. M.K. Patra, Rev. P.K. Adhicary, Rev. R.C. Das and Rev. J.C. Sircar (Secretary) be appointed to call together a group of authors and artists and a few leaders at Calcutta in the next winter season in cooperation, if possible, with the B. Christian Council and Tract Society.

  2. The Christian Sadhu — He should be welcomed by Church-Mission organisations with discriminating sympathy and interest. It was felt that there is a strict limit to a Sadhu’s sacrifices as to food, clothing and shelter — too much of which is often demanded by the generality Christians. Suffering for its own sake, in our view, Christian virtue.

  3. The Ecumenical Church and the Indian Heritage The Church of Christ in India, while open to wide and free fellowship on the spiritual plane with the Church universal, must quickly relate itself to the spiritual and cultural heritage of India and shed its dependence on financial and administrative assistance from foreign countries.

  4. The building up of the Indian Church

    1. This function, natural and from within and therefore necessarily slow, must be the work of the Indian leaders from the Indian side without inspiration or hurry from the West. While learning from the tradition of the ecumenical Church, the Church of the Christ in India must have the privilege of creating out of its own experience new tradition.

    2. The Church of Christ in India claims its essential independence - freedom in expression of its entire life in indigenous terms and forms. If this becomes incompatible (as it has so far) with the receipt of foreign finance and personal service - the latter must go.

    3. A foreign Church system in exclusive organisation is a menace to the country and to Christianity itself.

    4. The principle of unity in diversity and diversity in unity must rule in all work of Church Union and development.

  5. Ashrams and Sadhus — These have an increasingly important part to play in the enriching of Christian life and experience in the coming days. They are bound to increase in number. In view of this, certain considerations should be borne in mind by leaders of thought and life.

    1. These Indian ideals and institutions should be carefully studies in their Indian context and then applied and used for Christian purposes with judgment. To many friends ‘Ashram’ and ‘Sadhu’ are only appearances - superficial — without any content — just catchphrases. But inside in spirit, outlook and even method they are western. Missions, small and diverse, in full western sense are just christened Ashram and preachers or evangelists of the same type are just termed “Sadhus” or “Acharyas.” But neither name nor dress makes an Ashram or a Sadhu - their deep and ancient Indian meaning must be understood and appropriated with discrimination.

    2. Hence, arises the necessity of deep and accurate study of Hindu faith and culture as a whole. The Ashram and the Sadhu provide the natural centre and atmosphere for such studies.

    3. The Sadhu and the Ashram will also play a great role in the making and training of the prophet and the thinker for the propagation of the Gospel. The various theological institutions are foreign in organisation, deal with western systems of thought and produce an intellectual atmosphere. They lack the spiritual enthusiasm and aroma in natural Indian surroundings and conditions so necessary for the realisation of truth. The present day seminaries assume truth, and discuss them from a rational standpoint in order to profess and preach them to others whereas in the Ashrams devotees and Seekers will be expected collectively to verify and experiment upon truths with a view to appropriation by mind, heart and will and expression through total life.

    4. In the Christian Ashrams and through Christian Sanyas a vital relationship (as distinct from a theoretical understanding) will have to be established between the life of the Church and the heritage of India through Sadhana (discipline) and Darshan or Anubhab (realisation) under the direction of the living Christ - the Holy Spirit.

— R.C. Das (Convenor)

Sale and Transfer of Church and Mission Properties

My attention has been drawn by a friend to the Editorial in the Indian Witness under the above Caption published in its issue dated the 21st July 1948. I read it with attention and care. The editorial is full of incorrect and misleading statements and imputation of bad motives to me.

At the outset the learned Editor says “Mr. J.N. Wilson, Congress representative in the U.P. Legislative Council to represent the Indian Christian community … This is absolutely wrong and grossly misleading. I am an accredited representative of the Indian Christian Community, in the U.P. Legislative Council nominated by the present peoples Government, run by the Congress party, in place of Raja Sir Maharaja Singh on his elevation as Governor of Bombay. My name was highly recommended by the Executive committee of the U.P. Indian Christian Association and by the members of the Indian Christian Community from about a dozen cities including Allahabad, Banaras, Cawnpur, Mathura, Meerut and Lucknow to the Honorable Premier of the U.P. Government. There were other candidates also.

Before I proceed further I wish to make one thing clear. Perhaps the learned editor is labouring under a wrong idea that my bringing up the resolution in the Legislative Council is the first occasion that I have shown interest in this matter. May I mention here that since 1936 I have been raising my feeble voice against the sale or otherwise disposing of property through the Press-Christian and general and Christian platform and through the U.P.I.C.A. A number of meetings of the committee were held in Lucknow which were attended by such prominent leaders of our community as Raja Sir Maharaja Singh, Prof. E. Ahmed Shah, Mr. G. G. Chatterjee, Mr. Thomas Choudhary, Mr. A. Dharam Das and many others practically from all over the provinces and took keen interest in the matter. Some of these meetings were attended by Rev. Stanley Jones and Rev. Smith in charge of the Lalbagh Ashram. In one of these meetings we invited all agents of the foreign missionary societies in our provinces for heart-to-heart discussion but none save Rev. Wiser came. We discussed, in these meetings all pros and cons of the problem with a cool and calm mind, passed resolutions requesting the Mission authorities to transfer these properties to the Indian Churches to which they legally and morally belong but to no effect. In my capacity as convenor of the said committee I had correspondence with the persons in-charge of the property but received most discouraging replies-some of them couched in imperialistic tone. The U.P.I.CA. and the U.P. Christian Laymen’s Association have been agitating this question since 1935 or before it. It will, therefore, be seen that we made all efforts and knocked on all doors but to no avail. So the imputation of motive that I brought the resolution in a place where there was nobody to oppose me is very unkind to say the least of it. This question has been before the public for the last 15 years and was discussed threadbare. My resolution was published in the press some days before it was taken up in the Council. During the regime of the peoples Government in 1936 to 1939 this question was taken up on the floor of the Legislative Assembly by a non-Christian member, but the representatives of the Christian Community never uttered a word against it.

The learned Editor in the third para of his note has put things in my mouth and calls them “sweeping remarks” which I never uttered. Such as ‘Joint Trust properties’. I never used this phase. I also did not say that all the properties that were sold were in the use of the Indian Church, nor I said that they were sold on exorbitant prices. Whether they were in use in the Indian Church or not at the time of sale, they belonged to the Indian Church. Of course, I said that they were sold on large profits.

As regards the last item of para 3 and para 4 of the note I have to say that it is a fact that the proceeds of the sale of almost of all the properties was sent out of India. This, the Editor himself admits in para five of his note when he says that ‘it has been either utilised in wiping out the debt …’. What is the nature of this debt? How, why, by whom and with whose consultation this debt was incurred? Are we, who are the legal beneficiaries and metal heirs to these properties not entitled to know about it? During the years of agitation mentioned above we were told the same thing over and over again that the money was sent out to repay the debt. We very humbly suggested that the debt should be examined by an impartial committee. We also suggested that the property should be transferred with all the assets and liabilities and the Indian Church should pay the debt if on examination it was found that the debt was correctly and rightly incurred in the interest of the Indian Church. But to all our requests, appeals, suggestions, schemes and resolutions the Foreign Missionaries and their satellites turned a deaf ear. In the same para (4) the learned Editor suggests that I should have given certain data and figures which be classifies under eight items. I would ask him if all these data and figures are open to public inspection? Have not all these things been kept close guarded secrets.

As regards the data and figures whatever we have been able to lay our hands on, the nature of the acquisition of the property, contributions received from the various sources, free gifts from the Indian gentries and our views and schemes on this matter will be dealt with by me in a separate article.

The learned Editor seems to be jubilant over the advice given to me on the floor of the house that I should take the matter to the Civil Courts. Perhaps he does not know that we tried this method also. In 1938, we sued the then Missionary in-charge of the Methodist Episcopal Mission at Cawnpur for selling a piece of land at Mall Road. In future also we will have to take, though very reluctantly, that step if we are driven to it.

Regarding the claim of the learned Editor that all such sales were approved and sanctioned by Church bodies in which the majority was that of Indians, this reminds me of the old bureaucratic days when at a time the Executive Committee of the Viceroy consisted of the majority of Indians. The Viceroy used to say, when any measure passed by the Executive committee which tightened the bonds of our slavery or went against the general interest of our country, that the measure had the approval and sanction of the Indians. But India never accepted those members of the Viceroy’s Executive committee as its accredited representatives.

The learned Editor is mistaken when he thinks that I even did not know that my resolution was out of the scope of the Provincial Legislature where I moved it. I knew it very well. But I wanted to bring in this way, this most important problem before the public. I am glad my object has open achieved.

In the end the learned Editor thinks that harm that could come to the Indian Church in the New India will come from inside the Church itself. It means that I am one of those who is trying to harm the Church from within. I LEAVE THIS AT THE BAR OF PUBLIC OPINION. My resolution is a simple one. It seeks that all the Church and Mission Property which is at present in possession of the Foreign Missionaries of various denominations be transferred to the Indian Churches of their respective denominations. I have no personal axe to grind, nor I am trying to create any separate party or trust for this purpose. Property worth lack and lack of rupees have already been sold and almost all the money has been sent out of India thus weakening the Indian, Church and depriving it of its valuable assets. There have been many acts of commission and commission committed by the Foreign Missionaries in India but this act of usurping a property created by the joint funds, labour and efforts of both Indians and Foreigners is most objectionable. I have learnt from reliable source that a property is being sold in Nainital for rupees five lack and the proceeds of the sale will be distributed to some educational institutions in India. This is killing the hen laying golden eggs. In a place like Nainital where there is acute scarcity of living accommodation this property can easily be developed and made very productive and more than ten times five lack can be earned for years to come and used for Christian work. It will be absolutely impossible for us to secure a property like this or any property in a place like Nainital.

In conclusion, I would very sincerely and earnestly appeal to the learned Editor to use his good office and help us in settling this vexed problem.

— J.N. WILSON, M.L.C., Member, All India Congress Committee.

(We welcome this unsolicited statement from Mr. Wilson and support the stand he has taken in regard to mission property. We are sorry that a big church paper cast reflections on his status as our accredited representative in the Legislative Council. We hope The Indian Witness Will have given Mr. Wilson an opportunity, to clear his position by publishing his statement.

Rev. H.L. Hurst, Foreign Secretary, London Missionary Society has published a statement on the subject in the Guardian of 7th April 1949. In this he clearly states that the Society reserves the right to buy, hold or sell property and utilise the proceeds of sales in the best interests of the Kingdom of God in India or outside. There is no doubt from what has happened so far that most societies hold this same view. Who are we, wretched Indians, to question the rightness of the judgments of the ‘Home Boards’?

This vexed and wearisome question of property must be settled one way or the other. The use by Christians of huge foreign properties without rent and without any control has resulted in the pauperising and enslavement of the church. Indian Christian’s desire to give for religious purposes and the power to administer property with any honesty or efficiency have been seriously weakened. We want to ask certain frank questions.

  1. Why has there been this tardiness, hesitation and delay, and, in many cases, frank refusal, to transfer mission property to church bodies? We are aware of a little having been done here and there. But one swallow does not make a summer! Church organisations are about the best in the world and can bold property.

  2. Why in some missions have they organised church-mission bodies only to hold and manage property but not to own?

  3. Why are committees administering property and controlling Mission policies dominated by missionaries and mission paid and mission dependent Indians who derive benefits from missions directly or indirectly?

Our long acquaintance with this question of mission property and conflicts with many individual church-mission leaders drives us to the following unfortunate impressions.

  1. Foreigners as a body (barring a few honourable exceptions) regard Indian Christians as so devoid of moral character, faithfulness and efficiency that they cannot be trusted with the huge properties. It is sad that some Indians hold the same view. Is this the result of centuries of Christianisation?

  2. Through property foreign mission bodies and missionary individuals want to keep control over the Indian church and through it get a foot-hold in free India. This political aspect of the whole question is the most damaging and deserves the attention of political workers and of Government. - Editor)

To: The Editor, “The Seeker”.

Sir,

Re: Shishyashram, Sadarpur Barisal and the Bengal Baptist Union.

May I be permitted to add a few lines to what you have kindly commented on re: the above subject in your Easter issue? It may be necessary now under the circumstances to go to the Court of law to settle the conflict between the Christian Ashram Sangha and the Bengal Baptist Union. No stone has been left unturned by us to restore peace and co-operation between those two parties. The extracts from letters and expressions as quoted below will show how wilfully, hatefully and in an anti-Christian insincere way the Baptist authorities have despised co-operation with the Ashram,

Rev. E.L. Wenger, President of the Bakarganj-Faridpur Baptist Union wrote to me on 7-12-1948 … “I shall always be glad to see you and to talk over anything that may help to heal the very sad divisions …” But nothing has happened so far.

Rev, H.K. Angus, Secretary to the Bengal Baptist Union wrote me from Calcutta on 14-7-1948 — “I cannot take up these things at this distance.”

Rev. B.C. Mukherjee B.M.B. Missionary and the secretary Bengal Christian Council is entirely silent over my letters.

Before proceeding further to get decisions from the people who are not Christians, I think it is worthwhile to let the Christian public know a few things for which the Baptist authorities are persecuting me and those who are keeping connections with me.

  1. They proposed to make me a Pastor and I declined to accept money for the Lord’s work and then an English brother opposing said - “If be does not take money we shall not be able to control him.”

  2. According to their decision I was allowed to establish an Ashram on the mission land, calling for a signed agreement on terms, which I refused to accept.

  3. The Ashram of Sadarpore (Shishyashram) is a branch of the Christian Ashram Sangha. It was first established on the Church land and subsequently removed to a gifted plot of land in the same locality. The missionaries wanted to lord over the said Ashram through their own men, but the string was cut when the Ashram was removed to the new site. And they did not leave any stone unturned to threaten and torture the old and God-fearing man who had awarded the land to the Ashram.

  4. Two hundred bighas of land was arranged for the maintenance of the Ashram and the local Church. It made an English missionary jealous who later wrote to the Government authorities with whom it was arranged - “The land when given should be leased out to the Baptist mission and not to the Ashram”. Both parties lost the land.

  5. Without taking any help from the Baptist mission I wanted to visit the Holy Land Palestine and my English friend wrote to me “Do not go to visit Palestine”, and after I started for my Pilgrimage, the same friend said — “I asked him (name was mentioned) not to go to Palestine still he has gone” - as if he were my master.

  6. Out of 16 houses, 12 families support the Ashram and the Sanyasis, and the Baptist Union alias Baptist mission is dealing with them as excommunicated. Their exact wordings are these - “The Ashram inmates and those who are supporting them with their kinsmen are excommunicated from the Baptist Church for their deliberate disobedience etc.” What is this disobedience - will they explain?

The Baptists of Bengal are encouraging untouchability by treating the aforesaid persons as excommunicated and compelling others not to allow intermarriage, dining and fellowship of Prayer and other meetings with them. As a consequence a group of people outcasted by them has become a separate caste.

They have taken the advantage of my absence in Palestine and have tried to degrade my social status by their revengeful propaganda.

There is neither falsehood nor exaggeration in what I have written.

The Secretary,
The Christian Ashram Sangha,
Bell’s Park, Barisal

(The above statement represents a painful situation in a large section of Christ’s church in India. It is so sad that such things can happen among Christians. As we commented in our Easter issue that this situation is not isolated. On a large or small scale in some form or other the conflict bet reality and tradition, freedom and authority, the spiritual and the political is widespread not only in India but throughout the worldwide Church. It is a permanent conflict. The soldiers of truth and righteousness must march on unafraid of consequences.

After reading our comments in the Easter issue an English missionary who has been an office-bearer in the Bengal Baptist Union pointed out to us certain inaccuracies; he says that the Indians are in the majority in the Union, that missionaries accept office at the request and by the vote, of Indians. These are, in our opinion, very puerile arguments. They half conceal the strong love of power missionaries have usually evinced Churches are run on the pattern of western political democracies. All the corrupt practices found in political elections are found in churches sections. They simply worsen matters instead of improving them. Our missionary friend also contends that the Shishyashram was excommunicated not by the B.B.U. but the Barisal—Faridpur Baptist Union. This makes no difference. The B.F.B.U. is constitutionally a component part of the B.B.U. which is a higher authoritative body. The part ought to have been called to account for a grave mistake. The truth is that it is not regarded as wrong by the B.B.U.

The way things are allowed to happen will lead to a serious split and racial hatred and conflict with consequences that will mar both the church and the mission. Our advice is that the called “excommunication” ought to be lifted at an early date and co-operation restored between the parties.

Incidentally, it may be said that if you go into details it would be found that excommunication in Christian Churches have become more frequent and much worse than obtain in modern Hindu Society. There is no standard and no common practice. Are those associated with the Ashram heretics or are they living in open sin? - Editor)

Institutes of Hinduism

Sat Tal - Oct. 15th to 28th. (inclusive) Calcutta — Sept. 26th to Oct. 8th. (inclusive) Details from R.C. Das, 129, Dashashwamedh, Banaras.

Notes

  1. Church Union. In the issue of July 14th, 1949 of the Indian Witness the Rev. E.A. Seamarus has succinctly pointed out the contradiction between he bases of union in South and the proposed union in North. In the one case it was the acceptance of “Laying on of hands” and in the other its rejection in favour of a thirty-year period of experiment on equality of ministry. Any shrewd man can guess the reasons behind this thinly veiled inconsistency. The Anglican communion which really believes that other orders are not valid do not want to say it openly for fear of frightening away those who differ. In the South they expect that in the thirty years the other denominations will be so taught and influenced that it will not be difficult for them to swallow the full implications of the Anglican position. The Anglicans joined the Union in that hope. If it does not happen that way there may be a break-up back to the old situation. In our opinion the other churches have been deluded.

    In the North both the Anglicans and others holding Anglican views want to forestall the tedious experiment on which the South has embarked. Hence, their insistence on “Laying on of hands” which is not pre-ordination but to some extent partakes of the nature of ordination” (Rev. W. Machin in the Witness of the same date). What the difference is between re-ordination” and something partaking of the nature of ordination” we leave to the intelligence of thoughtful men.

    It is sheer arrogance to think that only a particular form of church organisation can adequately express and safeguard the doctrines of the Christian faith. The fact is that where and when living faith and experience is lacking no type of institution can externally preserve the tenets of any religion. Where there is a dynamic faith it creates a diversity of organisation and institution to suit its genius as well as the local and temporal conditions. We have faith in this precious freedom of the Christian soul in readjusting and recreating creeds, systems and institutions from age to age to suit and to contain the eternal truth in Christ, and we are not afraid of the future.

  2. Wine in the Church. While Hindu-Muslim India is trying to go dry, it is a sad reflection that the leaders of some churches have secured from Government concessions for use of wine for religious purposes: probing into the matter one will find that it is not a religious motive that at work but a sordid one of gain—a commercial and selfish motive behind the apparently religious that is responsible for this strange action. There is a considerable trade in “Vino Sacro” and “watery” imported into India. Let Indian Christians think on this and resolve to give up wine for use at Holy Eucharist. We are told the Syrian Church use rice for bread. May the day come soon when in this country we shall use simple Ananda (rice) and Jalam (water) representing the body and blood of Christ. Both are words in Sanskrit means ‘life’ which our Lord sacrificed for us, poor sinners.

  3. Corruption and Nepotism. We get letters (some being anonymous) and often bear actually from friends here and there and everywhere about embezzlement of money, favouritism, to relatives friends and other wrong practices in the service of the Church and Mission. We deprecate anonymity. People should bring acts into the open and prepare for consequences. But there are many wrong practices undercover of religion and these cases are mostly hushed ap by authority for fear of a bad name or for a selfish purpose, is an open secret by now. It seems also that these cases are not only numerous but fairly widespread covering many missions and churches. In one case it is alleged that in a mission for widows and orphans the man charge on a small salary has for years drained its resources and now become rich with the result that the mission property is for sale, its beneficent work having come to an end.

    In some places the friends and relations or nominees of a particular worker are chosen in preference to honest and impartial men in order to gain support and vote at the time of election to a position or promotion. In other places such groups are rivals and fight each other for gain or position of power while God’s work or congregations go to the dogs. A sad feature is that often some missionaries or Indian leaders instead of helping and reconciling on a just basis will add fuel to jealousies and enmities with a view to retain their positions of power and comfort.

    This canker is one of the causes inhibiting the free flow of the life of the Holy Spirit in the Church. Will not righteous men and women, especially of the younger generation, rise up and burning with divine indignation and love set things right? If our own hands are unclean we cannot reform others. But the matter is serious, and this rot must be stopped for the sake of the fair name of Jesus and his church. How dare we preach the Gospel in this country if we do not do better than the Government servants or the profiteers, black-marketers and bribe-takers among the public?

  4. Meaning of international fellowship. Dr. R.B. Manikam, Secretary of the N.C.C. in the course of an Independence Day message to the Indian Witness of August 11, 1949, says “we have ever to be alert to safeguard our right to be a part of the Ecumenical Church of Jesus Christ which right implies fellowship with the followers of Jesus Christ from abroad through missions of personnel and finance.” With all deference to Dr. Manikam’s position we seriously question the rightness of his definition of ecumenical fellowship. The phrase “through missions of personnel and finance” is particularly open to criticism. His definition involves the following consequences:

    1. It will preclude the Indian Church of ever attaining economic and imaginative independence. Do other churches (such as European, English, American, Indian Syrian etc.) requires dependence on foreign money and men to make their fellowship real?

    2. I am organised and formal nature of foreign help in India, if long continued, will demoralise and further enslave Indian Christians and will remain busy inevitably mean splits between a self-respecting and servile sections of the Church - signs of which are not wanting today.

    3. The church will continue to be deprived of its able and brainy leadership, on a sacrificial basis of qualified Indians who will remain busy in running other people’s machinery built in other countries and imported here on terms of comfortable emoluments.

    4. Politically and nationally, insistence on this right (?) by the Indian Church may have undesirable results. Suppose Muslims of India begin in claim and implement the same kind of right? Suppose the people and Government of this country discern a diminution of Christian loyalty to the State? Is not international fellowship beyond a certain point and cultivated except through moral and spiritual instruments — a dangerous thing and a devitalising force harming the inner life of the Church in the country?

Have missions found their previous and recent slogans incorrect or inconvenient? Viz. that the mission and the missionary must decrease and the church and the Indian must increase? That the Indian church must be autonomous, self-supporting and self-propagating? Will the Indian Church forever remain a child - weak and begging and pampered and tied to the apron strings of foreign missions?

Let there be consistent and clear thinking and honest action in the matter of church mission relationship uninfluenced by any selfish desire on the part of any group.

What we have written above is far from suggesting that the Indian Church should under no circumstances accept missionary service or money. That would be undesirable and impracticable for sometime to come. Yet, everything depends on how that assistance is given or accepted. Under the present system even where it is not intended it practically means unhealthy servility on the other. As neither the Indian nor the missionary is an angel common sense dictates that as speedily as possible the church-mission set-up must be changed with a view to inspiring independence and self-respect and fostering initiative and creative activity on the part of the Indian Church.