{
  "bookName": "History of Christianity in India: Source Materials",
  "authorName": "M. K. Kuriakose",
  "publisherName": "Indian Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge",
  "publicationYear": 2011,
  "chapterNumber": 80,
  "chapterName": "1823. Raja Rammohun Roy’s Criticism of Missionaries",
  "pageFrom": 105,
  "pageTo": 106,
  "pages": [
    {
      "pageNumber": 105,
      "ocrText": "SOURCE MATERIALS\n105\nbaptized. The rumour of my baptism having been previously\ncirculated abroad, many from Chandernagore, Calcutta, and other\nplaces, together with my relatives, attended to witness it.\n80. RAJA RAMMOHUN ROY'S CRITICISM OF\nMISSIONARIES (1823 A.D.)\nFollowing publication of his Precepts of Jesus (c. 1920), Raja\nRammohun Roy entered into controversy with missionaries like Joshua\nMarshman of Serampore. He started a magazine as a vehicle for\nexpressing his side of this controversy. The following passage is\ntaken from this magazine and is found in his English Works, pp.145-147.\nCited in William Theodore de Bary, Sources of Indian Tradition,\npp. 578-580.\nFor a period of upwards of fifty years, this country (Bengal, has\nbeen in exclusive possession of the English nation, during the first\nthirty years of which from their word and deed it was universally\nbelieved that they would not interfere with the religion of their\nsubjects, and that they truly wished every man to act in such matters\naccording to the dictates of his own conscience. Their possessions\nin Hindoostan and their political strength have, through the grace\nof God, gradually increased. But during the last twenty years,\na body of English Gentlemen who are called missionaries have been\npublicly endeavouring, in several ways, to convert Hindoos and\nMussulmans of this country into Christianity. The first way is\nthat of publishing and distributing among the natives various books,\nlarge and small, reviling both religions, and abusing and ridiculing\nthe gods and saints of the former; the second way is that of standing\nin front of the doors of the natives or in the public roads to preach\nthe excellency of that of others; the third way is that if any natives\nof low origin become Christians from the desire of gain or from\nany other motives, these gentlemen employ and maintain them as a\nnecessary encouragement to others to follow their example.\nIt is true that the apostles of Jesus Christ used to preach the\nsuperiority of the Christian religion to the natives of different\ncountries. But we must recollect that they were not the rulers of\nthose countries where they preached. Were the missionaries like\nwise to preach the Gospel and distribute books in countries not\nconquered by the English, such as Turkey, Persia, &c. which are\nmuch nearer England, they would be esteemed a body of men\ntruly zealous in propagating religion and in following the example\nof the founders of Christianity. In Bengal, where the English\nare the sole rulers, and where the mere name of Englishman is\nsufficient to frighten people, an encroachment upon the rights of\nher poor timid and humble inhabitants and upon their religion\ncannot be viewed in the eyes of God or the public as a justifiable",
      "status": "completed"
    },
    {
      "pageNumber": 106,
      "ocrText": "106\nHISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA\nact. For wise and good men always feel disinclined to hurt those\nthat are of much less strength than themselves, and if such weak\ncreatures be dependent on them and subject to their authority, they\ncan never attempt, even in thought, to mortify their feelings.\nWe have been subjected to such insults for about nine centuries,\nand the cause of such degradation has been our excess in civilization\nand abstinence from the slaughter even of animals, as well as our\ndivision into castes which has been the source of want of unity\namong us.\nIt seems almost natural that when one nation succeeds in conquer-\ning another, the former, though their religion may be quite ridi-\nculous, laugh at and despise the religion and manners of those that\nare fallen into their power. For example, Mussulmans, upon their\nconquest of India, proved highly inimical to the religious exercises\nof Hindoos. When the generals of Chungezkhan (Ghingis Khan),\nwho denied God and were like wild beasts in their manners, invaded\nthe western part of Hindoostan, they universally mocked at the\nprofession of God and of futurity expressed to them by the natives\nof India. The savages of Arracan on their invasion of the eastern\npart of Bengal always attempted to degrade the religion of Hindoos.\nIn ancient days the Greeks and the Romans, who were gross ido-\nlators and immoral in their lives, used to laugh at the religion and\nconduct of their Jewish subjects-a sect who were devoted to the\nbelief of one God. It is therefore not uncommon if the English\nmissionaries, who are of the conquerors of this country, revile\nand mock at the religion of its natives. But as the English are\ncelebrated for the manifestation of humanity and for administering\njustice, and as a great many gentlemen among them are noticed to\nhave had an aversion to violate equity, it would tend to destroy\ntheir acknowledged character if they follow the example of the former\nsavage conquerors in disturbing the established religion of the\ncountry; because to introduce religion by means of abuse and insult,\nor by affording the hope of worldly gain, is inconsistent with reason\nand justice. If by the force of argument they can prove the truth\nof their own religion and the falsity of that of Hindoos, many\nwould of course embrace their doctrines, and in case they fail to\nprove this, they should not undergo such useless trouble, nor tease\nHindoos any longer by their attempts at conversion. In consi-\nderation of the small huts in which Brahmuns generally reside,\nand the simple food, such as vegetables &c. which they are accus-\ntomed to eat, and the poverty which obliges them to live upon\ncharity, the missionary gentlemen may not, I hope, abstain from\ncontroversy from contempt of them; for truth and true religion\ndo not always belong to wealth and power, high names, or lofty\npalaces.",
      "status": "completed"
    }
  ]
}