{
  "bookName": "History of Christianity in India: Source Materials",
  "authorName": "M. K. Kuriakose",
  "publisherName": "Indian Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge",
  "publicationYear": 2011,
  "chapterNumber": 122,
  "chapterName": "1872-1873. The First Decennial Conference, Allahabad",
  "pageFrom": 214,
  "pageTo": 220,
  "pages": [
    {
      "pageNumber": 214,
      "ocrText": "214\nHISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA\n'But why were not the tidings of Christ brought hither in the\ndays of our fathers? Surely they would have received them.'\nCan there not be a missionary found to preach the gospel to\nsuch a people?\n122. THE FIRST DECENNIAL CONFERENCE, ALLAHABAD\n(1872-1873 A.D.)\nThe first all-India missionary conference (at which it was decided\nto hold such conferences every ten years) was held at Allahabad from\n26 December, 1872, to 1 January, 1873. 136 persons attended,\namong whom were 28 'native members'. Several papers were read\nby Indian members. The papers reproduced here are from the Report\nof the General Missionary Conference held at Allahabad, 1872-73.\n1. pp. 250-258; 2. pp. 141-144; 3. pp. 300-309; 4. pp. 337-349; 5. p.485.\n1. W. T. Satthianadhan on the Native Church in South India\nThough the native Churches need to have an indigenous ministry,\nyet, under existing circumstances, I submit that they should not\nbe left quite alone until they are in a position to govern themselves,\nfor that would be like leaving a man to swim unaided before he has\nlearnt how to support himself in the water. At the same time the\nnative Churches should be gradually taught the great lessons of\nself-help, self-action and self-government. If this system be not\nalready inaugurated, it should be commenced at once, otherwise\nMissionary Societies will learn, by sad experience, that this policy\nis not only unhealthy but very expensive also. The native Churches\nwill entwine themselves, like parasites, about Missionary Societies\nand their increasing number will entail such an amount of expen-\nditure as the Home Churches and Societies, with ever-increasing\ncalls upon their liberality, will not be able to meet. It is, therefore,\nof the utmost importance to train native Churches in habits of\nself-reliance, self-government and self-propagation.\nThe necessity of this principle was first recognized and fully\nenunciated by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign\nMissions in a document entitled, 'Outlines of Missionary Policy',\nwhich was embodied in a report of the Deputation to India,\npublished in 1856. To quote one or two pages from this document,\nSeparate action,' it says, 'will be for the advantage of all parties.'\n1. The independence of the native element will be sure.\nMissionaries are members of the ecclesiastical body, they will exert,\nalmost of necessity, a predominating influence.'\nIf\n2. The power of self-government will be best developed in this\nway. The native churches and ministers must have responsibilities",
      "status": "completed"
    },
    {
      "pageNumber": 215,
      "ocrText": "SOURCE MATERIALS\n215\nto bear before they can learn how to bear them. By this plan there\nwill be less danger of embarrassment and disorder when the\nMissionaries pass on to \"regions beyond \".\"\nThe Rev. H. Venn, for about half a century the highly esteemed\nHonorary Secretary of the Church Missionary Society, in a letter\nto the Bishop of Jamaica, dated January 1867, advocates the same\nprinciple in the following terms: 'It may be said to have been\nonly lately discovered in the Science of Missions that when the\nMissionary is of another and superior race than his converts, he\nmust not attempt to be their pastor; though they will be bound to\nhim by personal attachment, and by a sense of the benefits received\nfrom him; yet if he continues to act as their pastor, they will not\nform a vigorous native church, but, as a general rule, they will\nremain in a dependent condition, and make but little progressive\nattainments. The same congregation under competent native\npastors, may become more self-reliant and their religion would wo be\nof a more manly, home character.'\nThe conclusion, then, is obvious, that the native churches, to\nbecome independent, must be brought as soon as possible to begin\nto think and act for themselves. A child will never stand and walk\nfirmly, if always in leading strings. True, native churches, when\nleft alone will make mistakes and even stumble, but from these\nerrors and falls, they will learn to walk steadily, just as a man\nbecomes expert in horsemanship after many accidents to life and\nlimb. And the grace of God is able to support them and carry\nthem finally through it all.\n2. R. Jardine on the Brahmo Somaj\nI wish now to make some remarks with reference to the position\nwhich the Christian Church should assume in looking at and\njudging of this movement (Brahmo Somaj). There is undoubtedly\nmuch in it which we can approve and for which we ought to be\nthankful. It appears to be to a very great extent the result of the\ninfluence of Christianity upon Hinduism. It may not be such a\nresult as we could wish to see. But if it be such a result as God in\nhis wisdom has seen fit to permit, are we not bound to recognize\nit as being in its time and place good? It has taken a firm stand\nagainst idolatry, and in this we heartily wish it success. It has\nproclaimed the abolition of caste distinctions as one of its leading\naims, and in this we may sincerely concur. It has recently directed\nits energies to the amelioration of certain social evils involved in\nHindu marriage customs, and we have all rejoiced at the measure\nof success which has crowned its efforts. It has exerted all its\ninfluence against the tendency to materialism and positivism which\nin some places has prevailed, and every Christian may. surely be",
      "status": "completed"
    },
    {
      "pageNumber": 216,
      "ocrText": "216\nHISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA\nthankful there is in India a body of men exerting such an influence.\nIt has proclaimed as its great principles the universal Fatherhood\nof God and Brotherhood of Man, and we may heartily recognise\nthe value of these principles since they occupy such a prominent\nposition in the teachings of our own great Master. As far as\nconcerns all these features in the character of this movement, I\nthink that we are bound, as followers of our Master, to stretch out\nthe right hand of fellowship and encouragement and wish it God\nspeed.\nBut there is also unfortunately a dark and unfavourable view\nof it which we cannot but take, and to this let me now call\nyour attention. The essential point of this lies in the relation\nbetween Brahmoism and-not Christianity-but Christ. We have.\nseen already that even the Progressive Brahmos have manifested a\nmost decided shrinking from Christ, at the same time accepting\nmany of the truths which originated with Christ, or which have:\nbeen established in the world by Christ. While making this state-\nment we must acknowledge the many, eloquent, and grateful\nadmissions which have been made by some leading Brahmos of\nthe immense obligations under which the world lies to Christ.\nThey have admitted that he is well entitled to be called our elder\nbrother, the most glorious Son of God. But while acknowledging\nthat some leading Brahmos have made such admissions regarding\nChrist, we cannot be blind to the fact that they have never accorded\nto Christ that position with reference to human salvation which we\nbelieve he occupies. Christ said, 'Come unto me all ye that are\nweary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.' I have never seen\nthe plain meaning of this passage acknowledged as a truth by any\nBrahmo. Christ said, 'I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life!\"\nbut no Brahmo has ever accepted that statement as true in any\nsense in which it is accepted as true by a Christian. But this and\nother similar statements regarding the connection between the\nperson of Christ and human salvation, contain the essential point\nof Christian faith. And as long as we accept the gospels of the\nevangelists and the epistles of the Apostles, as containing a faithful\naccount of the principles of Christianity, we must look upon Brah-\nmoism, in its present form, as being wanting in that central, essential\nelement which has been the life of the Christian Church from the\nbeginning...\nWith reference to the future of this religious movement we\nshould not perhaps speak very decidedly. But yet, judging from the\nanalogy of history, there are some general statements which I\nthink we may safely venture upon regarding the future prospects\nof Brahmoism. If we inquire what it is that has preserved Christia-\nnity in its unity and life during its long and chequered history, we\nshall find I think, that it is its connection with an historical person....",
      "status": "completed"
    },
    {
      "pageNumber": 217,
      "ocrText": "SOURCE MATERIALS\n217\n3. J. Barton on Mutual Relations of Indian Churches\nI am not one of those sanguine persons who think that the time\nis near at hand when it will be possible for us to meet upon the\nsame ecclesiastical platform, nor am I by any means sure that were\nsuch a consummation possible it would prove so conducive as\nmight at first appear to the interests of our Lord's Kingdom. I\ncannot myself sympathize with those who regard the present state\nof things as an unmixed evil, and the various sections into which\nthe professing church of Christ is divided as so many practical\ndismemberments of the body of Christ. My ideal of Christian\nunity is not uniformity of ecclesiastical organization, but oneness.\nof spirit and of doctrine. To speak of the Church as if it were co-\nextensive with this or that ecclesiastical body, seems to me to\nconfound the visible Church of Christ with the invisible, and to\ntreat church-membership as if it were the same thing as Christ--\nmembership. Most important indeed and most precious as a\nmeans of grace is that bond which unites Christians together in\nthat visible corporate union which constitutes a Church, but let us.\nnot so misread the New Testament as to see in it nothing but our\nown ecclesiastical system to the exclusion of all others. In looking:\nback upon the past, however much one may deplore in many cases.\nthe circumstances under which our various ecclesiastical systems.\nhad their origin, it seems to me impossible for any candid and\nunbiased mind not to see and admit that God, who governs all\nthings according to the counsels of His own will, has overruled\nthese very divisions to His own glory and the advancement of His\nkingdom.\nWhen however we come to consider the relations which should\nsubsist between the various Native Convert Churches planted\nthrough the agency of various Missionary Societies, the question\nof Church Organization assumes a very different aspect. We are\ndealing here with new material, capable of being as easily moulded\ninto one shape as another, and the question for us to consider is\nwhether we are to reproduce in our Native Churches all the diffe-\nrences which separate ourselves? We profess to carry to this and\nother heathen lands the Gospel of the Lord Jesus; to give them\nthat which first regenerate, then sanctify them, and build them up\nday by day in all the fullness and beauty of the Christian life. To\nthis end we form them into congregations, and seek to the best of\nour ability to give them pastors after God's own heart who will\n'feed them with knowledge and understanding'. All this we have\ndone, and God has blessed our labours, and our hearts are cheered\nby seeing on every side Churches rising up like oases in the barren\ndesert; the wilderness beginning to rejoice and blossom as the\nBut have we done nothing more than this? Have we not\nrose.",
      "status": "completed"
    },
    {
      "pageNumber": 218,
      "ocrText": "218\nHISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA\ntrained them also too rigidly according to our own particular model,\nas if it were not merely Christianity that we desired to impart to\nthem, but Episcopalian or Presbyterian or Lutheran Christianity?...\nThe whole argument seems to me to turn upon the answer\nwhich we give to the following questions :-\n1. Are the Native Churches of India to have an independent\norganic existence of their own; or are they to be regarded, like our\nEnglish-speaking congregations in this land, as mere branches of\nthe Mother Churches from which they first sprang?\n2. Admitting that they ought to have a separate organization\nof their own, have they not, as a necessary consequence, the right\nto elect their own form of Church Government so soon as they are\nable to maintain themselves?\nWith regard to the first of these questions I suppose we are now\nall of one mind, whatever we may have thought a few years back,\nthat we cannot expect to see a Native Church rising to the full\nmeasure of its duties and responsibilities until it possesses an organic\nindependent existence of its own. Perhaps it is not too much to\nsay that of all the discoveries that have been made of late years\nin the science of modern missions, this is by far the most important...\nAssuming it then as a principle, regarding which we are all\nagreed, that a Native Church ought to possess an independent\norganic life of its own, it seems to follow as a necessary corollary\nthat so soon as it can exist without foreign support it has a right to\nelect its own form of Church government.\nThere are various other ways, however, in which this desired\nconsummation may be gradually prepared for and brought about.\nMy honoured friend, Newton of Lahore, who read a paper on this\nvery subject at the Conference held 10 years ago in that city, men-\ntioned the following as some of the different modes in which the\nway might be prepared for future union, and I have little to add to\nhis admirable suggestions.\n1. Joint Inerancies by the members of the different Missions,\nboth Missionaries and Catechists.\n2. Mutual interchange of pulpits.\n3. Union Prayer meetings.\n4. Inter-communion at the Lord's Table.\n5. Common religious Periodicals.\n6. Advisory Conferences or Councils, to meet at intervals\nof five years, or so...",
      "status": "completed"
    },
    {
      "pageNumber": 219,
      "ocrText": "SOURCE MATERIALS\n219\n4. K. C. Chatterjee on the Relations of the Missionaries to Converts\nin Secular Matters\nThe Protestant Missionary in India stands in a two-fold relation\nto native converts. He is the spiritual father of his people whom\nhe has collected out of heathenism. He instructs them in the\nknowledge of Christ, and builds them up in the faith and hope of\nthe Gospel. But this is not all. He is also related to them in\nsecular matters. He is the temporal head of the native Christian\nCommunity, and, as such, has to discharge towards it the various\nduties of an earthly friend, patron and benefactor. When a Hindu\nor a Mohammaden embraces the Christian religion, the missionary\nhas in most cases to provide him with a house to live in, and get\nhim some means of subsistence. He has to educate the converts\nand their children. He has to teach them good manners, self-\nreliance, energy and industry. When they are in difficulty or\ndistress, the missionary has to come forward and help them out\nof it. In fact he has to seek and promote their temporal welfare\nas much as their spiritual good, and to be to them as a father to his\nchildren...\n1. My first proposition is, it is legitimate for the missionaries\nto attend to the temporal wants and prosperity of their converts.\nSome have doubted the truth of this proposition, and felt troubled\nin mind to be obliged to attend to the bodily necessities of their\nflock. They feel the sacredness of their position, and consider it\ntheir duty to devote themselves wholly to the word of God, and\nprayer. Every portion of time and talent devoted to the direction\nand supervision of the secular affairs of converts is, in their esti-\nmation, unjustly withdrawn from their proper sphere of labour.\nI sympathize very much with the spirit that suggests this remark...\n2. My next proposition is, in the present circumstances of the\nNative Church, secular connection of missionaries with native\nconverts is essentially necessary for the successful propagation of\nthe Gospel. Our converts are from schools or from preaching.\nIf from the former, they are generally dependent members of the\nfamily, and are turned out of it on their conversion. But if from\nthe latter, they are generally poor, earning their livelihood by some\nhumble calling which they are often obliged to give up on account\nof the persecution of their neighbours on their conversion to Chri-\ntianity. In either case, by adopting the new faith they are banished\nfrom their homes, and excluded from the society, sympathy, and\nsupport of their friends. They become like exiles in their native\nland. Placed in such a situation, the convert naturally looks to\nhis spiritual father in Christ, who is possessed of means and influence\nto help him, for earthly support, and expects him to take the place\nof a father, friend and patron. Under such circumstances, it is",
      "status": "completed"
    },
    {
      "pageNumber": 220,
      "ocrText": "220\nHISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA\nimpossible for the missionaries to continue passive spectators\nrefusing every assistance. Few can look with indifference on on the\nsufferings of the weak and the helpless, especially if they be their\nchildren in the faith...\n3. My third statement in this subject is, secular relations of\nmissionaries to native converts have been hitherto most unfortunate\nand unsatisfactory in their results. In the first place they have\nabsorbed a large portion of the missionary's time, care and attention\nwhich would otherwise be devoted to the important work of\npreaching and teaching. They have also had a most undesirable\ninfluence upon the native Christian community...\n4. My fourth and last proposition is, we ought to do\nsomething at once to put our secular relations with converts on a\nmore satisfactory basis, so as to remove their present evil conse-\nquences, especially the misunderstanding and ill-feeling in connec--\ntion with them. It is a case of pressing importance, and not one\nin regard to which we can be still, and say, let things go on as they\nhave done in years past. We have an important work before us.\nThe interests of that work require that missionaries and native\nChristians should be united in their counsels and operations to\nbring it to a successful issue. And how can that take place as\nlong as discontent and dissatisfaction are reigning amongst\nthem?...\n5. The Resolution on Mutual Non-interference of Missionary\nSocieties\nThe Conference desire to put on record their sense of the grave\nimportance of the principle of mutual non-interference of Mis-\nsionary Societies. They are of opinion that, with certain recognized\nexceptions, such as the large centres of population, it is expedient\nthat agents of different Missionary Societies should occupy different\nfields of labour. Without calling in question the right of every\nmissionary to exercise his ministry wherever God may give him\nopportunity, it is their solemn conviction that the progress of the\nGospel in a heathen land can only be retarded by the missionaries\nof one communion receiving the converts of another church, who\nare as yet imperfectly acquainted with divine truth and unable to\nenter intelligently into questions which separate the various sections\nof Christendom, especially those who are under discipline.",
      "status": "completed"
    }
  ]
}