{
  "bookName": "History of Christianity in India: Source Materials",
  "authorName": "M. K. Kuriakose",
  "publisherName": "Indian Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge",
  "publicationYear": 2011,
  "chapterNumber": 176,
  "chapterName": "1936. Bishop Azariah on the Indian Church",
  "pageFrom": 363,
  "pageTo": 364,
  "pages": [
    {
      "pageNumber": 363,
      "ocrText": "SOURCE MATERIALS\n363\nthe Bhagavat and so wanted to declare himself a Hindu, I should\nsay to him: No. What the Bhagavat offers, the Bible also offers.\nYou have not yet made the attempt to find it out. Make the\nattempt and be a\ngood Christian.'\nC. F. Andrews: I don't know. If someone earnestly says that\nhe will become a good Christian, I should say: You may\nbecome one', though you know that I have in my own life strongly\ndissuaded ardent enthusiasts who came to me. I said to them:\nCertainly, not on my account will you do anything of the kind.\nBut human nature does require a concrete faith.'\nGandhiji If a person wants to believe in the Bible, let him say\nso, but why should he disregard his own religion? This proselyti-\nzation will mean no peace in the world. Religion is a very personal\nmatter. We should, by living the life according to our lights,\nshare the best with one another, thus adding to the sum total of\nhuman effort to reach God.\nConsider, whether you are going to accept the position of mutual\ntoleration or of equality of all religions. My position is that all\nthe great religions are fundamentally equal. We must have the\ninnate respect for other religions as we have for our own. Mind\nyou, not mutual toleration, but equal respect.\n176. BISHOP AZARIAH ON THE INDIAN\nCHURCH (1936 A.D.)\nWriting in 1936, Bishop V. S. Azariah, reflects upon the develop-\nment and current condition of the Indian Church. In the passages\nchosen here he reflects upon the divided character of that Church,\nand of the need for the missions to turn over more responsibility to\nIndian Christians. The matter is seen as especially urgent in light of\nthe national movement. V. S. Azariah, India and the Christian\nMovement, pp. 81-82, 87-89.\nBut, alas, what we call the Indian Church is not one organic\nentity. The divisions of Christendom make it impossible for the\nindigenous Christians to belong to a visible 'One, Holy, Catholic\nand Apostolic Church', and in consequence they belong to as\nmany Churches and sects as there are Churches and sects that\nsend out missionaries from the West. What we term the Indian\nChurch is the theoretical aggregate of the indigenous Christians\nin all the Churches having different ecclesiastical loyalties,\nfollowing various forms of Church government and worshipping in\nmany differing ways in numerous churches and chapels throughout\nthe length and breadth of this vast continent. There are few things",
      "status": "completed"
    },
    {
      "pageNumber": 364,
      "ocrText": "364\nHISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA\nthat may be said to be common to them all: they are all nominally\nIndian Christians, and enumerated as such for all civil purposes\nthey are connected with one or other of these numerous Christian\nChurches in the land; and at least in theory are all responsible\nfor bringing India to the feet of Christ.\nStrictly speaking, therefore there is no Indian Church in the\nsingular; there are, in the plural. Churches, denominations or\nsects are numerous and their their number cannot be accurately esti-\nmated. If therefore sometimes we use the term Indian Church\nwe only speak thus of the groups of Christians gathered into the\nChurch of Christ and grouped under these many separate units\nThe Indigenous Leadership\nThe National Missionary Council, at its very first session in\n1912, emphasised the necessity for the development of Indian\nLeadership. One of its Resolutions recorded the conviction 'that\nwhenever capable and spiritually minded men and women are\ndiscovered, Churches and Missions should make a real and un-\nmistakable advance by placing Indians on a footing of complete\nequality, in status and responsibility, with Europeans and thus open\nfor them the highest and most responsible positions in every depart-\nment of missionary activity.'\nIn this connection the Conference also emphasised the principle\nthat the work carried on by Foreign Missionary Societies should\nbe gradually transferred, as opportunities offered, to the Indian\nChurch, and that suitable plans and modifications of existing\norganizations should be adopted, wherever necessary, so that this.\nprinciple might be carried out by missionary bodies.\nThe last twenty years have seen an enormous development in\nsuch indigenization as is contemplated in the above Resolution.\nIn many areas, charges of mission districts once held by missionaries\nhave now been handed over to suitable Indians. Educational\nInstitutions, once under the managership of Europeans are now\nunder the managership of Indian Christians. Indian Christian\ndoctors have now been placed in charge of hospitals formerly\nunder European doctors. In some areas, the Superintending\nMissionary no longer exists, his huge districts have been sub-\ndivided and placed under Indian ministers. Where Indians have\nbeen entrusted with such responsibilities, they are to a great\nextent proving themselves able, efficient and trustworthy. In\nhandling mission funds and accounts, in keeping the work at an\nefficient standard and in the exercise of discipline over subordinates,\nmany Indian Christians have proved themselves worthy of the\ntrust placed in their hands.",
      "status": "completed"
    }
  ]
}