{
  "bookName": "History of Christianity in India: Source Materials",
  "authorName": "M. K. Kuriakose",
  "publisherName": "Indian Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge",
  "publicationYear": 2011,
  "chapterNumber": 120,
  "chapterName": "1869. Keshub Chunder Sen on an Indian National Church",
  "pageFrom": 210,
  "pageTo": 212,
  "pages": [
    {
      "pageNumber": 210,
      "ocrText": "210\nHISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA\n120. KESHUB CHUNDER SEN ON AN INDIAN NATIONAL\nCHURCH (1869 A.D.)\nKeshub Chunder Sen here proposes the fusion of the best elements.\nof Hinduism and Islam, under Christian influence, into an Indian.\nNational Church which would be the indigenous form of a universal\nreligion. From Lectures in India, pp. 155-160. Cited in William\nTheodore de Bary, ed., Sources of Indian Tradition, pp. 621-624.\nThere are some among us who denounce Mahomedanism\nas wholly false, while others contend that Hinduism is altogether\nfalse. Such opinions are far from being correct; they only indicate\nthe spirit of sectarian antipathy. Do you think that millions of\nmen would to this day attach themselves so devoutly to these\nsystems of faith unless there was something really valuable and\ntrue in them? This cannot be. There is, no doubt, in each of\nthese creeds, much to excite ridicule, and perhaps indication-a\nlarge amount of superstition, prejudice, and even corruption. But\nI must emphatically say it is wrong to set down Hinduism or Maho-\nmedanism as nothing but a mass of lies and abominations, and\nworthy of being trampled under foot. Prescribe and eliminate all\nthat is false therein; there remains a residue of truth and purity\nwhich you are bound to honour. You will find certain central\ntruths in these systems, though surrounded by errors, which consti-\ntute their vitality, and which have preserved them for centuries.\nin spite of opposition, and in which hundreds of good men always\nfound the bread of life. It is these which form even now the pillars\nof Hinduism and Mahomedanism, and challenge universal admira-\ntion and respect. It is idle to suppose that such gigantic systems\nof faith will be swept away by the fervor of youthful excitement, or\nthe violent fulminations of sectarian bigotry, so long as there is\nreal power in them. All the onslaughts which are being bei levelled\nagainst them in this age of free inquiry and bold criticism will tend,\nnot to destroy them, but to purify them and develop their true\nprinciples. The signs of the times already indicate this process of\npurification and development; and I believe this process will\ngradually bring Hinduism and Mahomedanism, hitherto so\nhostile to each other, into closer union, till the two ultimately\nharmonise to form the future church of India.\nThe Hindu's notion of God is sublime. In the earliest Hindu\nscriptures God is represented as the Infinite Spirit dwelling in His\nown glory, and pervading all space, full of peace and joy. Or. the\nother hand, the Mahomedans describe their God as infinite in\npower, governing the universe with supreme authority as the Lord\nof all. Hence the principal feature of the religion of the Hindu is\nquiet contemplation, while that of the religion of the Mahom-",
      "status": "completed"
    },
    {
      "pageNumber": 211,
      "ocrText": "SOURCE MATERIALS\n211\nmedan is constant excitement and active service. One lives in a\nstate of quiet communion with his God of peace; the other lives\nas a soldier, ever serving the Almighty Ruler, and crusading against\nevil. These are the primary elements of the two creeds, and if\nbelonged together, would form a beautiful picture of true theology,\nwhich will be realized in the future church of this country. As the\ntwo creeds undergo development, their errors and differences will\ndisappear, and they will harmoniously coalesce in their funda-\nmental and vital principles. The The future creed of India will be a\ncomposite faith, resulting from the union of the true and divine\nelements of Hinduism and Mahomedanism, and showing the\nprofound devotion of the one and the heroic enthusiasm of the\nother. The future sons and daughters of this vast country will\nthus inherit precious legacies from Hinduism and Mahomeda-\nnism, and, while enjoying the blessings of the highest and sweetest\ncommunion with the God of love, will serve Him in the battle-\nfield of life with fidelity to truth and unyielding opposition to\nuntruth and sin. As regards Christianity and its relation to the\nfuture church of India, I have no doubt in my mind that it will\nexercise great influence on the growth and formation of that\nchurch. The spirit of Christianity has already pervaded the whole\natmosphere of the Indian society, and we breathe, think, feel, and\nmove in a Christian atmosphere. Native society is being roused,\nenlightened, and reformed under the influence of Christian\neducation. If it is true that the future of a nation is determined\nby all the circumstances and agencies which today influence its\nnascent growth, surely the future church of this country will be the\nresult of the purer elements of the leading creeds of the day, harmo-\nnized, developed, and shaped under the inf influence of Christianity.\nBut the future church of India must be thoroughly national;\nit must be an essentially Indian church. The future religion of the\nworld I have described will be the common religion of all nations,\nbut in each nation it will have an indigenous growth, and assume a\ndistinctive and peculiar character. All mankind will unit in a\nuniversal church; at the same time, it will be adapted to the peculiar\ncircumstances of each nation, and assume a national form. No\ncountry will borrow or mechanically imitate the religion of another\ncountry; but from the depths of the life of each nation its future\nchurch will naturally grow up. And shall not India have its own\nnational church? Dr. Norman McLeod, in expounding last year,\nin this very hall, his ideas of the future church of this country, said\nemphatically that it would be a purely Indian church, and not a\nreproduction of any of the established churches of the west. Though\nI differ from that learned and liberal-minded gentleman in regard to\nthe doctrine and tenets of that church as set forth by him, I fully\nagree with him that that church must have a strictly national growth\nand a national organization. Neither will Germany adopt the",
      "status": "completed"
    },
    {
      "pageNumber": 212,
      "ocrText": "212\nHISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA\nreligious life of China, nor will India which has religious traditions\nand associations, tastes and customs, peculiarly sacred and dear to\nher, just as every other country has, and it is idle to expect that she\nwill forego these; nay, she cannot do so, as they are interwoven with\nher very life. In common with all other nations and communities,\nwe shall embrace the theistic worship, creed, and gospel of the\nfuture church-we shall acknowledge and adore the Holy One,\naccept the love and service of God and man as our creed, and put\nour firm faith in God's almighty grace as the only means of our\nredemption. But we shall do all this in a strictly national and Indian\nstyle. We shall see that the future church is not thrust upon us, but\nthat we independently and naturally grow into it; that it does not\ncome to us as a foreign plant, but that it strikes its roots deep in\nthe national heart of India, draws its sap from our national re-\nsources, and develops itself with all the freshness and vigour of\nindigenous growth. One religion shall be acknowledged by all\nmen, One God shall be worshipped throughout the length and\nbreadth of the world; the same spirit of faith and love shall pervade\nall hearts; all nations shall dwell together in the Father's house-\nyet each shall have its own peculiar and free mode of action. There\nshall, in short, be unity of spirit, but diversity of forms; one body,\nbut different limbs; one vast community, with members labouring,\nin different ways and according to their respective resources and\npeculiar tastes, to advance their common cause. Thus India shall\nsing the glory of the Supreme Lord with Indian voice and with\nIndian accompaniments, and so shall England and America, and\nthe various races and tribes and nations of the world, with their\nown peculiar voice and music, sing His glory; but all their different\nvoices and peculiar modes of chanting shall comingle in one sweet\nand swelling chorus-one universal anthem proclaiming in solemn\nand stirring notes, in the world below and the heavens above, the\nFatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man'. May the\nMerciful Lord hasten the advent of the true church, and establish\npeace and harmony among His children! And as His name has\nbeen solemnly chanted tonight in this splendid hall by an immense\nconcourse of worshippers of various races and tribes, so may all His\nchildren assemble in His holy mansions, and blending their million\nvoices in one grand chorus, glorify Him time without end.",
      "status": "completed"
    }
  ]
}