{
  "bookName": "History of Christianity in India: Source Materials",
  "authorName": "M. K. Kuriakose",
  "publisherName": "Indian Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge",
  "publicationYear": 2011,
  "chapterNumber": 134,
  "chapterName": "1893-1894. Swami Vivekananda on Christianity",
  "pageFrom": 260,
  "pageTo": 265,
  "pages": [
    {
      "pageNumber": 260,
      "ocrText": "260\nHISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA\n2. As far as possible, both missionaries and converts should\nco-operate in their common work, especially in meetings for the\npromotion of their spiritual life. Instead of having a committee\nof reference for the settlement of disputes, two or more societies\nmight have a joint committee for the promotion of their mutual\ninterests...\n3. For the correction of unfraternal conduct, and of all conduct\nwhich may be hurtful to our common cause, we must depend\nchiely on the power of public opinion, with now and then a refe-\nrence to the home authorities. We may as well assume, once for\nall, that offences of some kind will come...\n4. But, after all, the question of peace and concord must\ndepend very largely upon the character of individual missionaries...\nA Christian gentleman will not offend in any of the following\nparticulars. (a) He will not meddle in a neighbour's dispute... (b)\nHe will not receive an ex-communicated Christian, unless it be after\nvery satisfatory repentance and reformation. (c) He will not enter\na field where another missionary is successfully working and try\nto appropriate his harvest or seize his opportunities\nChristian workers in the home-lands have quietly settled down\nto their several tasks, with the accepted policy that they must mu live,\nand love, labour, side by side, and surely we in India can do the\nsame. It is the best policy, because it is the only possible policy.\nNo other has ever proved successful among men who enjoy the\nfull measure of civil and religious freedom which is rapidly becoming\nthe heritage of the whole wide world. Let us accept the comity\nwhich Christians in England and America accept, and therewith\nbe content.\n134. SWAMI VIVEKANANDA ON CHRISTIANITY\n(1893-1894 A.D.)\nSwami Vivekananda's severe criticism of Christianity in general\nand on Christian missions in India in particular had extensive influence\nin both the West and India. He internationalized the Hindu criticism\nof missionary activity, and received a more serious hearing than had\nany other Indian. The first extract is from his address before the\nParliament of Religions that was held in Chicago in 1893. It was\ntirst published in The Chicago Tribune and reproduced in the Indian\nnewspaper, The Indian Mirror, of 8th December 1893. It is cited in\nSankari Prasad Basu and Sunil Bihari Ghosh, eds., Vivekananda\nin Indian Newspapers, p. 7. The second extract is from a talk given\nby Vivekananda in Detroit on 11th March 1894, as reported in the\nDetroit Free Press. Cited in The Complete Works of Swami Viveka-\nnanda (1971 edition), vol. VIII, pp. 214-219. The third extract is.\nfron Vivekanand's book The East and the West (6th Edition, 1963), pp.\n92-93.",
      "status": "completed"
    },
    {
      "pageNumber": 261,
      "ocrText": "SOURCE MATERIALS\n261\n1. Address to the Parliament of Religions\nChristians must always be ready for good criticism, and I\nhardly think that you will care if I make a little criticism. You,\nChristians, who are so fond of sending out Missionaries to save\nthe souls of the heathen, why do you not try to save their bodies\nfrom starvation? In India during the terrible famines thousands\ndied from hunger, yet you, Christians, did nothing. You erect\nchurches all through India, but the crying evil in the East is not\nreligion-they have religion enough but it is bread that these\nsuitering millions of burning India cry out for with parched throats.\nThey ask us for bread, but we give them stones. It is an insult to\na starving people to offer them religion; it is an insult to a starving\nman to teach him metaphysics. In India a priest that preaches\nfor money would lose caste, and be spat upon by the people. I\ncame here to seek aid for my impoverished people, and 1 fully\nrealized how difficult it was to get help for heathens from\nChristians in a Christian land...\n2. On Missionaries in India\n...The first invaders of India, the Aryans, did not try to\nexterminate the population of India as the Christians did when\nthey went into a new land, but the endeavour was made to\nelevate persons of brutish habits. The Spaniards thought\nthat their God commanded them to kill and murder and\nto tear down heathen temples. The Buddhists had a tooth a\nfoot long, which belonged to their Prophet, and the Spaniards\nthrew it into the sea, killed a few thousand persons, and\nconverted a few scores. The Portuguese came to Western India.\nThe Hindus have a belief in the Trinity and had a temple dedicated\nto their sacred belief. The invaders looked at the temple and\nsaid it was a creation of the devil; and so they brought their cannon\nto bear upon the wonderful structure and destroyed a portion of it.\nBut the invaders were driven out of the country by the enraged\npopulation. The early missionaries tried to get hold of the land,\nand in their effort to secure a foot-hold by force, they killed many\npeople and converted a number. Some of them became Chris-\ntians to save their lives. Ninety-nine per cent of the Christians\nconverted by the Portuguese sword were compelled to be so, and\nthey said, 'We do not believe in Christianity, but we are forced\nto call ourselves Christians. But Catholic Christianity soon\nrelapsed.\nThe East India Company got possession of a part of India\nwith the idea of making hay while the sun shone. They kept the\nmissionaries away. The Hindus were the first to welcome the",
      "status": "completed"
    },
    {
      "pageNumber": 262,
      "ocrText": "262\nHISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA\nmissionaries, not the Englishmen who were engaged in trade. I\nhave great admiration for some of the first missionaries of the later\nperiod, who were true servants of Jesus and did not vilify the people\nor spread vile falsehoods about them. They were gentle, kindly\nmen. When Englishmen became masters of India, the missionary\nenterprise began to become stagnant, a condition which charac-\nterises the missionary efforts in India today. Dr. Long, an early\nmissionary, stood by the people. He translated a Hindu drama\ndescribing the evils perpetrated in India by indigo-planters, and\nwhat was the result? He was placed in jail by the English. Such\nmissionaries were of benefit to the country, but they have passed\naway. The Suez Canal opened up a number of evils.\nNow goes the missionary, a married man, who is hampered\nbecause he is married. The missionary knows nothing about\nthe people, he cannot speak the language, so he invariably settles\nin the little white colony. He is forced to do this because he is\nmarried. Were he not married, he could go among the people\nand sleep on the ground if necessary. So he goes to India to seek\ncompany for his wife and children. He stays among the English-\nspeaking people. The great heart of India is today absolutely\nuntouched by missionary effort. Most of the missionaries are\nincompetent. I have not met a single missionary who understands\nSanskrit. How can a man absolutely ignorant of the people and\ntheir traditions, get into sympathy with them? I do not mean\nany offence, but Christians send men as missionaries, who are not\npersons of ability. It is sad to see money spent to make converts\nwhen no real results of a satisfactory nature are reached.\nThose who are converted, are the few who make a sort of living\nby hanging round the missionaries. The converts who are not\nkept in service in India, cease to be converts. That is about the\nentire matter in a nutshell. As to the way of converting, it is abso-\nlutely absurd. The money the missionaries bring is accepted.\nThe colleges founded by the missionaries are all right, so far as\nthe education is concerned. But with religion it is different. The\nHindu is acute; he takes the bait but avoids the hook! It is\nwonderful how tolerant the people are. A missionary once said,\nThat is the worst of the whole business. People who are self-\ncomplacent can never be converted.'\nAs regards the lady missionaries, they go into certain houses,\nget four shillings a month, teach them something of the Bible, and\nshow them how to knit. The girls of India will never be con-\nverted. Atheism and scepticism at home is what is pushing the\nmissionary into other lands. When I came into this country I\nwas surprised to meet so many liberal men and women. But after\nthe Parliament of Religions a great Presbyterian paper came out",
      "status": "completed"
    },
    {
      "pageNumber": 263,
      "ocrText": "SOURCE MATERIALS\n263\nand gave me the benefit of a seething article. This the editor called\nenthusiasm. The missionaries do not and cannot throw off natio-\nnality-they are not broad enough-and so they accomplish nothing\nin the way of converting, although they may have a nice sociable\ntime among themselves. India requires help from Christ, but\nnot from the anti-christ; thes these men are not Christ like. They do\nnot act like Christ; they are married and come over and settle\ndown comfortably and make a fair livelihood. Christ and his\ndisciples would accomplish much good in India, just as many\nof the Hindu saints do; but these men are not of that sacred charac-\nter. The Hindus would welcome the Christ of the Christian\ngladly, because his life was holy and beautiful; but they cannot\nand will not receive the narrow utterances of the ignorant, hypo-\ncritical, or self-deceiving men.\nMen are different. If they were not, the mentality of the world\nwould be degrad degraded. If there were not different religions, no\nreligion would survive. The Christian requires his religion;\nthe Hindu needs his own creed. All religions have struggled against\none another for years. Those which were founded on a book,\nstill stand. Why could not the Christians convert the Jews?\nWhy could they not make the Persians Christians? Why could\nthey not convert Mohammedans? Why cannot any impression\nbe made upon China and Japan? Budhism, the first missionary\nreligion, numbers double the number of converts of any other\nreligion, and they did not use the sword. The Mohammedans\nused the greatest violence. They number the least of the three\ngreat missionary religions. The Mohammedans have had their\nday. Every day you read of Christian nations acquiring land\nby bloodshed. d. What missionaries preach against against this? Why\nshould the most blood-thirsty nations exalt an alleged religion which\nis not the religion of Christ? The Jews and the Arabs were the\nfathers of Christianity, and how they have been persecuted by the\nChristians! The Christians have been weighed in the balance in\nIndia and have been found wanting. I do not mean to be unkind,\nbut I want to show the Christians how they look in others' eyes.\nThe missionaries who preach the burning pit are regarded with\nhorror. The Mohammedans rolled wave after wave over India\nwaving the sword, and today where are they?\nThe furtherest that all religions can see is the existence of a\nspiritual entity. So no religion can teach beyond that point. In\nevery religion there is the essential truth and non-essential casket\nin which this jewel lies. Believing in the Jewish book or in the\nHindu book is non-essential. Circumstances change; the receptacle\nis different; but the central truth remains. The essentials being\nthe same, the educated people of every community retain the\nessentials. If you ask a Christian what his essentials are, he should",
      "status": "completed"
    },
    {
      "pageNumber": 264,
      "ocrText": "264\nHISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA\nreply, 'The teachings of Lord Jesus. Much of the rest is nonsense.\nBut the nonsensical part is right; it forms the receptacle. The\nshell of the oyster is not attractive, but the pearl is within it. The\nHindu will never attack the life of Jesus; he reverences the Sermon\non the Mount. But how many Christians know or have heard\nof the teachings of the Hindu holy men? They remain in a fool's\nparadise. Before a small fraction of the world was converted,\nChristianity has divided into many creeds. That is the law of\nnature. Why take a single instrument from the great religious\norchestra of the earth? Let the grand symphony go on. Be pure.\nGive up superstition and see the he wonderful harmony of nature.\nSuperstition gets the better of religion. All the religions are good,\nsince the essentials are the same. Each man should have the\nperfect exercise of his individuality, but these individualities form a\nperfect whole. This marvellous condition is already in existence.\nEach creed has something to add to the wonderful structure.\nI pity the Hindu who does not see the beauty in Jesus Christ's\ncharacter. I pity the Christian who does not reverence the Hindu\nChrist. The more a man sees of himself, the less he sees of his\nneighbours. Those that go about converting, who are very busy\nsaving the souls of others, in many instances forget their own souls.\nI was asked by a lady why the women of India were not more\nelevated. It is in a great degree owing to the barbarous invaders\nthrough different ages; it is partly due to the people of India\nthemselves. But our women are any day better than the ladies\nof this country who are devotees of novels and balls. Where is the\nspirituality one could expect in a country which is so boastful of\nits civilisation? I have not found it. Here' and 'hereafter'\nare words to frighten children. It is all 'here'. To live and\nmove in God-even here, even in this body! All self should go\nout; all superstition should be banished. Such men live in India.\nWhere are such in this country? Your preachers speak against\n'dreamers'. The people of this country would be better off if\nthere were more 'dreamers'. If a man here followed literally the\ninstruction of his Lord, he would be called a fanatic. There is a\ngood deal of difference between dreaming and the brag of the\nnineteenth century. The bees look for the flowers. Open the.\nlotus! The whole world is full of God and not sin. Let us help\neach other. Let us love each other. A beautiful prayer of the\nBudhist is: I bow down to all saints; I bow down to all the pro-\nphets; I bow down to all holy men and women all over the world!\n3. On Christianity\nNow compare the first three centuries of the quick spread of\nthe civilisation of Islam with the corresponding period of Chris-\ntianity. Chrisianity, during the first three centuries, was not",
      "status": "completed"
    },
    {
      "pageNumber": 265,
      "ocrText": "SOURCE MATERIALS\n265\neven successful in making itself known to the world; and since\nthe day when the sword of Constantine made a place for it in his\nkingdom, what support has Christianity ever lent to the spread\nof civilisation, either spiritual or secular? What reward did the\nChristian religion offer to that European Pandit who sought to\nprove for the first time that the Earth is a is a revolving planet? What\nscientist has ever been hailed with approval and enthusiasm by\nthe Christian Church? Can the literature of the Christian flock\nconsistently meet the requirements of legal jurisprudence, civil or\ncriminal, or of arts and trade policies? Even now the 'Church'\ndoes not sanction the diffusion of profane literature. Is it possible,\nstill, for a man who has penetrated deep into modern learning and\nscience to be an absolutely sincere Christian? In the New Testa-\nment there is no covert or overt praise of any arts and sciences.\nBut there is scarcely any science or branch of art that is not sanc-\ntioned and held up for encouragement directly, in the Koran, or\nin the many passages of the Hadis, the traditional sayings of\nMohammed. The greatest thinkers of Europe-Voltaire, Darwin,\nBuchner, Flammarion, Victor Hugo, and a host of others like them\n-are in the present times denounced by Christianity and are\nvictims of the vituperative tongues of its orthodox community.\nOn the other hand, Islam regards such people to be believers in\nthe existence of God, but only wanting in faith in the Prophet. Let\nthere be a searching investigation into the respective merits of the\ntwo religions as regards their helpfulness, or the throwing of\nobstacles in the path of progress, and it will be seen that wherever\nIslam has gone, there it has preserved the aboriginal inhabitants-\nthere those races still exist, their language and their nationality\nabide even to the present day.\nWhere can Christianity show such an achievement? Where\nare, today, the Arabs of Spain, and the aboriginal races of America ?\nWhat treatment are the Christians according to the European\nJews? With the single exception of charitable organisations, no\nother line of work in Europe is in harmony with the teachings of\nthe Gospel. Whatever heights of progress Europe has attained,\nevery one of them has been gained by its revolt against Christianity\nby its rising against the Gospel. If Christianity had its old para-\nmount sway in Europe today, it would have lighted the fire of\nthe Inquisition against such modern scientists as Pasteur and\nKoch, and burnt Darwin and others of his school at the stake.\nIn modern Europe, Christianity and civilisation are two different\nthings. Civilisation has now girded up her loins to destroy her\nold enemy, Christianity, to overthrow the clergy, and to wring\neducational and charitable institutions from their hands. But\nfor the ignorance-ridden rustic masses, Christianity would never\nhave been able for a moment to support its present despised exis-\ntence, and would have been pulled out by its roots for the urban",
      "status": "completed"
    }
  ]
}