{
  "bookName": "History of Christianity in India: Source Materials",
  "authorName": "M. K. Kuriakose",
  "publisherName": "Indian Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge",
  "publicationYear": 2011,
  "chapterNumber": 123,
  "chapterName": "1879. The Missionary Conference: South India and Ceylon, Bangalore",
  "pageFrom": 221,
  "pageTo": 228,
  "pages": [
    {
      "pageNumber": 221,
      "ocrText": "SOURCE MATERIALS\n221\n123. THE MISSIONARY CONFERENCE: SOUTH INDIA\nAND CEYLON, BANGALORE (1879 A.D.)\nThe following papers and resolutions of the South India Mission-\nary Conference held at Bangalore in 1879, are found in the Report\nof the Missionary Conference; South India and Ceylon, Bangalore, 1879,\nvol. I, (1) pp. 293-301; (2) pp. 320-327; (3) pp. 331-335; (4) pp. 346-451\n(selection); (5) pp. 372-378; (6) p. 402; (7) p. 421.\n1. W. Burgess on the dangers of a Christian Community Emerging\nfrom Heathenism\nMy subject is divided into two parts:-1st, the dangers incident\nto a Christian community emerging from heathenism; and 2nd,\nwhat are regarded as indications of an attachment to Caste, and\nhow should they be dealt with.\n1. With respect to the first, it is scarcely needful for me to\nremark that the dangers incident to any Christian community\nnecessarily take their colour from the surroundings out of which the\ncommunity takes its rise. One of the marked peculiarities of\nHinduism is its elaborate ritual. Its spirit is essentially ceremonial.\nIn fact, beyond that, it speaks of little little else. According to its\nteaching, salvation might have no connection whatever with any\ninternal moral change. Now, one of the chief dangers, incident\nto a Christian community emerging from such a faith, naturally\nwill be that of supposing that the essence of Christianity consists\nin forms and ceremonies duly observed without any recognition of\nthe fact that a change of heart is the chief object to be aimed at.\nAnd this is just as we find it. The danger of trusting in form, and\nresting satisfied with the mere nominal profession of Christianity,\nis by no means confined to India...\nAnother danger threatening the very existence of the Church of\nChrist in India arises from the retention of heathen customs. Many\nwho enter the Christian Church are not in the first instance moved\nby the purest of motives. Certainly we oftentimes have to mourn\nover motives, which, if not out and out unworthy, are yet very\ndoubtful and defective; and there is a probability of such persons\nbringing with them into the Christian fold, much which, if allowed\nto remain, will undoubtedly prove very detrimental to the purity of\nthe Church of God. It is quite possible, too, that even though\nthe motive may be pure and the intention is good, still, owing, to\npeculiarities of early training, the power to perceive what is perni-\ncious may yet be wanting, and thoughtlessly they may retain\ncustoms and practices, which in their tendency are evil. We cannot\nforget the hold which Hinduism has on its subjects. It lays hand",
      "status": "completed"
    },
    {
      "pageNumber": 222,
      "ocrText": "222\nHISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA\nupon them in infancy, enters into the commonest acts of daily life,.\ngrows as they grow, and becomes interwoven with the very fibres of\ntheir nature. And the danger is, that, when a Hindu becomes a.\nChristian, he may find it almost impossible, all at once, to break\nclean away from many things, which, through constantly repeated.\nhabit, have become second nature to him. Every day a thousand\nthings occur which bring back to his mind old customs, and no\nwonder if now and then we find him slipping into old practices.\nand tripping somewhat. He has not had the advantages of a\nChristian home with all its power of example and the restraining\ninfluence of its love. Born in heathenism, cradled in it, bred in\nit, the hands that hold him are not gossamer, but iron cables.\nwhich have been years in the forging. But while we remember\nthis and exercise the utmost possible patience and forbearance,\nthere should yet be great firmness in resisting whatever is heath-\nenish. The retention of heathen customs in connection with\ndaily life, such as, the observance of lucky days; placing lights\nduring the day in the sick room and about the dead; falling\ninto old ceremonies in times of epidemics; hiring temple girls to\ndance at weddings, and the performance of other degrading rites\nin connection with marriages and funerals, should never be\npandered to in any measure...\nWith regard to the second part of my subject, I must content:\nmyself with brevity. I doubt not but that it will be more fully and\nmuch more ably dealt with by my colleagues in this paper.\nThere are in the Christian Church those who assert that caste is.\nsimply a civil institution recognizing differences analogous to the\nsocial distinctions of rank and birth observed in other lands, and,\nas such, they insist on its retention as a privilege and a right. What-\never it may be in the estimation of those who hanker after it in the\nChristian Church, I think there cannot be two opinions as to the\nway in which Hindus themselves regard it. Certainly, by the\northodox, its claims are considered religious and sacred as well as\nsocial. It is the very last thing a Hindu can bring himself to\nsurrender. His gods may go-nay, all things else may go, if only\nthis may be retained. The nature of caste is too well known to\nrequire any new delineation at my hands. Its presumptuous claims\non the soul; its civil enactments respecting those who are under\nits displeasure; its virulent spirit; and the ridiculous and sinful\nbasis on which it builds its authority, are matters with which every\nstudent of Hinduism is conversant, and which have occupied the\nattention of conferences similar to this, in days gone by. Sentence\nhas been pronounced against it: the ban of the Christian Church is\nalready upon it and you might as well expect to gather grapes of\nthorns, or figs of thistles, as look for anything generous, or noble,\nor good, from such a source. Taking it for granted then, that the",
      "status": "completed"
    },
    {
      "pageNumber": 223,
      "ocrText": "کر\nSOURCE MATERIALS\n223\ninstitution which prevents a man being esteemed according to his\ngoodness, and places birth-heritage above the pure life, is bad;\nthe question remaining is, what are to be regarded as indications\nof an attachment to it...\n2. Jacob Chamberlain on the Relation of the Foreign Societies to\nNative Churches\nWhat then should be the relationship existing between the infant\nchurches which we of different lands and different branches of the\nChurch of Christ are planting in India? This is a matter on which\nI have thought much and studied long and widely, and I cannot\nbut come to this conclusion :-\nWe should so constitute and instruct our Churches that there\nmay be a cordial working harmony between them all. We should\norganize them as different regiments and brigades and army corps\nof the one grand army of the Living God, and so order and control\nthem that we may never be guilty of the awful mistake of turning\nour suicidal guns on one another instead of on our common enemy.\nIt may be best for us to keep up our regimental organizations, our\ndistinctive denominational peculiarities for the present, but we\nshould all be careful to exalt the Royal Banner of our Jesus above\nall our regimental colours:-to make much of the essentials in\nwhich we all here agree and less of the non-essentials in which we\nchance to differ...\nI may not live to see the day, but my sons now in the university,\npreparing to come to India as missionaries, may, when there shall be\norganized a 'Church of Christ in India', not American, not English,\nnot German, not Danish but of India and suited to India, in which\nwe shall see not Scotch Presbyterianism nor English Anglicanism,\nnor German Lutheranism, but the best features chosen out of all\ndenominations and incorporated into one visible Church of Him\nof Nazareth. To this end, it seems to me, should all of us work.\nIt may not be feasible now, but I do believe that greater organic\nunity than we now possess is feasible and should be earnestly sought\nfor in the near future...\nI would not at this stage advocate the amalgamation of all the\nChurches either in China or India into one. As in the great conflict\nin America, when there were a million men under arms, it may be\nnecessary to have five or six army corps' in the Church militant's\n'army of India'. We could not at present all be Episcopalians, or\nPresbyterians, or Lutherans, or Baptists, or Methodists, or Inde-\npendents Now I feel quite convinced that an unprejudiced\nreading of the apostolic records point to the Consistory and Classis\nand Synods of my own 'Reformed Church' as the nearest to the\napostolic model of any existing Church organization...",
      "status": "completed"
    },
    {
      "pageNumber": 224,
      "ocrText": "224\nHISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA\nBe it so. Grant that we cannot amalgamate into one church\norganization at present, we can at least lessen the number of inde-\npendent and isolated organizations. Is it too much to believe that\nwe could have, if we each were willing to yield as much as we wish\nothers to yield to us, one Presbyterian army corps instead of nine\ndetached regiments and so one Episcopalian one Methodist :\none Baptist... And in God's good time, working thus together,\nit might be possible in the premillenial future to have one self-\nsupporting, self-governing 'Church of Christ in India'.\nThis I believe then to be the relationship which should subsist\nbetween the rising native Churches connected with the different\nmissions in India.\nThis granted, the second part of the question almost answers\nitself and my remarks on it shall be exceedingly brief.\nThe relation which Foreign Missionary Societies should hold\ntoward the rising native Churches should then be such as to allow\nof such progress towards this so desirable a goal. There should\nthen, in ecclesiastical matters, be the greatest maximum of liberty\nto the native Churches with smallest minimum of authority over\nthem exercised from home lands...\n3. W. T. Satthianadhan on the Relation of the Foreign Societies to\nNative Churches\nAt the same time every encouragement should be given to make\nthe native Church self-supporting. There is a feeling on the part\nof some, that the system which existed formerly, of native congre-\ngations under the pastoral charge of foreign missionaries, should\nstill continue. With this view I candidly confess I do not sympa-\nthize. That system was necessary for an incipient state of the native\nChurch, but as it has grown and the native pastorate has increased,\nit is very inexpedient to continue that system, except where there\nare as yet no native clergy. The Home Societies are therefore\nnaturally desirous of introducing a different policy which shall\nadvance the self-reliance and self-support of the native Church.\nThe system pursued to help on the independence of the native\nChurch is mainly the voluntary system, supplemented by a grant-\nin-aid from foreign Missionary Societies. They seem to think that\nthe native Churches are so strong and so flourishing that they could\nsafely reduce this grant-in-aid every year till in a few years the\nwhole grant shall be withdrawn, so that the native Church may\nstand on its own basis. It is here I think that the foreign Missionary\nCommittees seem to be labouring under a misapprehension. The\ndepressed state of the country for several years past has had a serious",
      "status": "completed"
    },
    {
      "pageNumber": 225,
      "ocrText": "SOURCE MATERIALS\n225\neffect on the contribution of the native Churches. Instead of\nrising steadily, in many places they have fallen off, and there is\nlittle prospect of any rapid rise in the native contributions. Our\ngood friends across the blue waters do not seem to realize this state\nof things. Their watch-word is retrenchment. This being the\nposition of matters, it has always been my humble view that in\norder to make the native Church entirely independent, a modifi-\ncation of the present system was absolutely necessary, I mean the\ncombination of the voluntary with the endowment system. This\nwill secure to the native Church the two-fold advantage of corporate\nlife and permanency of organization. Foreign Missionary Socie-\nties, who have founded the native Churches at so much cost of\nlabour, money and prayer, while using all legitimate means to\nadvance their self-support, should at the same time continue their\ninterest and support till they attain their manhood by natural\nprocess of growth. The relation therefore of the foreign Missionary\nSocieties to rising native Churches must be paternal. These\nrising\nSocieties may well say with the great Apostle of of the Gentiles in\nrespect of native Churches: 'I have begotten you through the\nGospel.' The relation of a parent to his child cannot be stronger\nand closer than that which exists or ought to exist between the\nMissionary Societies and native Churches. The latter are anxious\nto maintain this relation. The question is only about the former,\nviz., the Missionary Societies. And yet I may state that my late\nvisit to England and my intercourse with a great many Christian\nand Missionary committees convinced me that the Home Societies\nare equally anxious to maintain this relation. They will never for\none moment think of forsaking their children when they know\nthat these children still need their sympathy and fostering care.\nThis interest of Home Churches and Committees in the growth\nand self-support of the Indian Church is, as far as my observation\nwent, very marked...\nAll this shows the relation which does exist between foreign\nMissionary Societies and the rising native Churches. As has\nalready been observed, though there is a strong and growing desire\non the part of the former to see the speedy independence of the\nlatter, yet I feel certain that no action will be taken which could\nbe construed into a desire to forsake the native Church. Un-\nfortunately there is a feeling on the part of many of our native\nChristian brethren that foreign Missionary Societies are determined\nto denounce all connection with them in their efforts to make them\nindependent. From the state of matters I have observed in\nEngland, I may confidently state that this is far from being the case,\nfor such an act on the part of Home Societies would be analogous\nto the act of a father who, in the effort to teach his son the art of\nswimming, has left him in the deep water before he has learnt how\nto keep afloat...\nat foreign\nH.C.I.-15",
      "status": "completed"
    },
    {
      "pageNumber": 226,
      "ocrText": "226\nHISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA\n4. B. Rice on the Training of Native Agents\nThat the evangelization of India is to be accomplished to a\nlarge extent by the aid of its own sons, is becoming every year more\nand more apparent. The Churches of Christendom cannot send\nout, and maintain in the field, a sufficient number of men from\nEurope and America to spread the Gospel throughout this vast\ncountry. And even if they could, the men so sent out labour under\nmany disadvantages. They are foreigners, and have to toil long to\nobtain fluency in the vernaculars. They cannot mingle so closely\nand freely with the people as natives of the country can. They are\nliable, also, from failure of health, and other causes, to be removed,\nit may be, just at the time when they have become most efficient.\nIt is, moreover, a fact proved by the history of Missions in India,\nthat the progress of the work has been, hitherto, materially promoted\nby the labours of native agents. Without such aid it would be\nimpossible to carry on missionary operations to anything like their\npresent extent.\nIt is therefore, not surprising to hear missionaries, in various\nplaces, expressing an earnest desire for an increased staff of efficient\nnative assistants. Earnest evangelists are needed to sow the good\nseed of the Kingdom of God broad-cast among the people, and able\nnative ministers, to instruct and superintend the rising Christian\nChurches. A writer in the north of India says truly: Economy\nwill soon force missionary bodies to put more Mission work into\nthe hands of experienced natives than they have hitherto done.\nThe work, both among Christians and non-Christians, is increasing.\nSo great is the call, even now, for workers, that inferior men,\nrejected in one mission for almost any cause, except immorality,\nreadily finds employment in another. This is true of the south,\nas well as of the north.\n5. A. H. Arden on the Relations of Native Ministers to Missionaries\nand to Local Governing Bodies\nIn the present state of mission work and of the Native Church\n(which is evidently in a transitional state), the most important\npoint seems to be, that the mutual feeling subsisting between the\ntwo parties under consideration should be of the right kind. If\nthis be secured, circumstances guided by the providence of God\nwill gradually point out the right course of action.\nTaking it for granted that the ultimate object both of the\nmissionary and of the native minister is this the completed edifice\nof a self-supporting and self-governing Church, then it must be\nallowed on all hands, that the steps to be taken for the attainment",
      "status": "completed"
    },
    {
      "pageNumber": 227,
      "ocrText": "SOURCE MATERIALS\n227\nof this object must be gradual, and that its accomplishment cannot be\neffected by the application of rigid rules and regulations, still less\nby premature efforts on the part of Missionary Societies, but must\nbe the spontaneous fruit of effects produced by the Holy Spirit\nupon the organic life of the Native Church-the result of a develop-\nment worked out by the good providence of God, in His own wise\nway, and in his own wise time.\nRemembering this, the European missionary on his part will be\nfar from desiring to keep in a subordinate position a native minister,\nwhom God has evidently fitted by several years of Christian experi-\nence to be an independent pillar of the Native Church. And\nremembering this, the wise and experienced native minister for his\npart will be far from desiring to encourage in his younger brethren\nin the native ministry anything like a spirit of pride or presumption,\nwhich would show restiveness and dissatisfaction under the most\nsalutary and needful superintendence of a European missionary...\nWith regard to the native minister, it seems only natural and\nright that a judicious man, discerning in all the political events of\nthe world the overruling hand of God, should recognise that peculiar\nrelationship which subsists between England and India, and the\nposition in which Englishmen are necessarily placed in this country.\nBut yet he will be very careful not to allow this feeling to interfere\nwith his responsibility before God...\nTo look for a short time at the other side of the question, namely,\nthe relationship of the European missionary to the native minister,\nnothing perhaps ought to influence the former more strongly, than\nthe feeling that his native brother has been placed in the same\nsolemn office of the ministry as himself, that he has been judged\nfaithful by the Church, and has by her authorised representatives\nbeen placed in a most responsible position. He will remember\nthat considerable respect and love love are due to the office, as well as\nto the individual who has by recognised authority been placed in\nthat office. He will regard his native brother as one entrusted\nequally with himself with the solemn yet honourable position of\nbeing an Ambassador for Christ'. In proportion then as the\nEuropean missionary realizes the sacred character of the Christian\nministry, the solemn importance of the office, and its close connec-\ntion with the great head of the Church, Jesus Christ, in that same\nproportion he will show respect and consideration for his native\nbrother, and extend to him not only the right hand of fellowship,\nbut real confidence and affection...\nAlthough Mission work in India is as yet hardly advanced\nbeyond a state of pupilage, yet a wise missionary will (as I have\nalready observed) ever keep the future of the Native Church before",
      "status": "completed"
    },
    {
      "pageNumber": 228,
      "ocrText": "228\nHISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA\nhis mind, and steadily aim at, and labour for the time, when it\nshall stand entirely on its own basis, and be both self-governing\nand self-supporting. Hence while on the one hand he will not\nallow this idea to overrule his judgement, and induce him to try\nto make the tender infant walk by itself, when as yet there is not\nthe strength or the guiding power to do so; he will on the other\nhand encourage in every possible way free spontaneous effort, and\nby relaxing by degrees the supporting hand, will leave the carefully\ntrained offspring, under God, to guide its own labour...\nThis latter point is one in which local governing bodies ought\nspecially to use their influence. They should endeavour to keep\nbefore the minds of the native clergy the great duty of teaching a\nChristian Church to support its own ministry. They should\nendeavour to eradicate the somewhat false view of Missionary\nSocieties, which has to some extent gained possession of the native\nmind. They should clearly explain that the object of a Missionary\nSociety is not to undertake the permanent support of native Christian\nChurches, and thus to be responsible for those plain duties, for\nwhich in due time Native Churches ought themselves to be respon-\nsible; but having brought the light of the Gospel, and left it as a\nprecious deposit, then to pass on to the unchristianised regions\nbeyond.\n6. Resolution on the Native Church\nThe Conference, while convinced of the great importance of\npromoting by every judicious means the self-support and self-\ngovernment of the Native Church, desires to place on record its\nconviction that the Native Church is no part of it as yet in a\nposition to dispense with European Guidance and support; and\nthat any premature step in this direction would be highly injurious\nto its healthy development and ultimate stability.\n7. Resolution on Caste\n1. That this Conference regards Hindu caste, both in theory\nand practice, as not merely civil distinction, but emphatically a\nreligious institution.\n2. That viewed in this light it is diametrically opposed to the\nChristian doctrine of the oneness of human nature, and the brother-\nhood of all true Christians.\n3. That it is the duty of all missionaries and churches to require\nits entire renunciation, with all its outward manifestation, by all\nthose who desire to enter the Church of Christ.",
      "status": "completed"
    }
  ]
}