{
  "bookName": "History of Christianity in India: Source Materials",
  "authorName": "M. K. Kuriakose",
  "publisherName": "Indian Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge",
  "publicationYear": 2011,
  "chapterNumber": 108,
  "chapterName": "1858. Resolutions of the South India Missionary Conference, Ootacamund",
  "pageFrom": 170,
  "pageTo": 175,
  "pages": [
    {
      "pageNumber": 170,
      "ocrText": "170\nHISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA\nwhole of that City of Kings. It is some discouragement to lose,\nfrom the ill-health of his family, the devoted services of the Rev.\nJackson, but I hope venerable Society will not fail to supply\nhis place. The eyes of all India are directed to the mission of Delhi.\nI had the pleasure of preaching for it at three or four places, and of\nwitnessing the zeal and enthusiasm with which it was cherished.'...\n108. RESOLUTIONS OF THE SOUTH INDIA MISSIONARY\nCONFERENCE, OOTACAMUND (1858 A.D.)\nThe first South India regional missionary conference was held\nat Ootacamund from 19 April to 5 May, 1858. Among the resolu-\ntions adopted were those given here on vernacular preaching, native\nagency, female educaion, educational policy, and caste. Proceedings\nof the South India Missionary Conference, pp. 157-158, 169-170, 209-210,\n211-212, 294-295.\nResolutions on Vernacular Preaching\n1. That this Conference unanimously acknowledges the\nobligation resting upon the Churches and their messengers to\npreach the Gospel to the people of India in their own tongues, as\nnecessarily involved in their great commission; and that no apparent\nwant of success attending the efforts to fulfil this duty can ever\nremove or diminish this obligation.\n2. That in seeking to discharge this great duty every practicable\nmethod of bringing the truths of the Gospel to bear upon the\nNative mind may be legitimately employed, and that no one specific\nmethod can be justly set up as the Preaching of the Gospel to the\nexclusion of every other; and hence this Conference considers that\nthe making known of the Gospel to children and youth, whether\nheathens or Christians, in classes or schools, and the more public\nproclamation of the same Gospel to all who will listen to it, in the\nstreets of cities, towns and villages, or in any other place whatsoever,\nare only different departments of one and the same great work.\n3. That as there are peculiar advantages attending each of the\ndifferent methods employed by Missionaries in naries in making known the\ntruth, which cannot be obtained by any other method, it is highly\ndesirable that they should all be employed in combination and\nharmony, and that, by means of a wise division of labour, every\nMissionary should, as far as practicable, take up that department\nof the work for which he is best fitted, and which appears best\nadapted to the locality in which he is called to labour.\n4. That this Conference especially considers it of the highest\nimportance that Itinerant Labours among the Natives of India,\nshould be systematically pursued in connexion with every Mission,",
      "status": "completed"
    },
    {
      "pageNumber": 171,
      "ocrText": "SOURCE MATERIALS\n171\nand that a due proportion of the agency of each Mission should be\ndevoted to it; the agents so employed being relieved, for the time,\nas far as practicable, from other Missionary labours.\n5. That in order to further the wide diffusion of the Gospel\nin this heathen land by means of Vernacular Preaching and the\nsuccessful cultivation of its barren fields, a large increase of agency,\nboth foreign and native, is most urgently needed; and that the\nearnest prayers of the Church should be continually addressed to\n\"the Lord of the Harvest, to send forth labourers into harvest '.\n6. That the general result, believed to have been produced in\nfavour of Christianity by the preaching of the Gospel in the the Verna-\nculars, as well as the cases of actual conversion which have come\nto the knowledge of the Missionaries, demand our most grateful\nacknowledgement to preserve in this most important department\nof Missionary labour.\nResolutions on Native Agency\n1. That while fully acknowledging the vast importance of\nobtaining a large increase of Agents able to proclaim to the masses\nof the people the unsearchable riches of Christ in their own tongue,\nthe Conference deeply feels that the first and most anxious care\nshould be, that such Agents be men of decided and earnest piety,\ncharacterized by self-denial and devotion, and endowed with a fair\nmeasure of intellectual ability and power of communicating\niknowledge.\n2. That where men of this kind are found in the Native Churches\nthey should receive a special training for their work, and that the\nnature of that training must depend upon their previous attain-\nments, their age, and class of people among whom they are to\nlabour; but that in every case a sound Biblical and Theological\neducation is indispensable, and that in many cases a high degree\nof general culture is of the greatest importance, in order that the\ndifferent classes of the people requiring instruction may each be\nfurnished with teachers suited to their circumstances.\n3. That while, in reference to the class of teachers required in\nthe present state of many of the Missions in this country, a suffi-\ncient amount of human learning, in addition to Biblical training,\nmay be imparted through the medium of the Vernaculars, yet, for\nthe higher cultivation of those who are to labour among their more\nintelligent countrymen living in cities and large provincial towns,\nand especially those who may be ordained over churches in such\nplaces, the English language affords facilities and secures advan-\ntages of great importance not otherwise to be obtained; nor, as\nexperience proves, is such English training necessarily with any\ninjury to their character and labours.",
      "status": "completed"
    },
    {
      "pageNumber": 172,
      "ocrText": "172\nHISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA\n4. That in regard to the remuneration of Native Teachers and\nMinisters, the Conference considers that a scale of payment suitable\nto one locality may not be applicable to another. It believes that\nin determining the salaries of their Agent, viz. (1) The probable\nposition which such men would have occupied had they not entered\nupon Missionary service. (2) The general condition and social\nstanding of the people among whom they labour.\n5. That in view of all that has been done in this direction, the\nConference acknowledges the goodness of God in raising up so\nmany, godly and able Native Agents; but believes that much yet\nremains to be done in order to secure an agency worthy of the work,\nand for this our eyes must be directed to the great Head of the\nChurch, whose prerogative it is to raise up men after his own heart,\nendow them largely with self-denial and true devotion, and fill\nthem with the knowledge of divine things, and with burning compas-\nsion for perishing souls.\nResolutions on Native Female Education\n1. The Conference having fully considered the subject of Native\nFemale Education recognizes the paramount importance of edu-\ncating, on sound Christian principles, the females of this land.\n2. They consider that Boarding Institutions for females have\nserved, and do still serve, a most valuable purpose in saving souls,\ntraining agents for Mission work, and furnishing suitable wives\nfor educated Christian men.\n3. They believe also, that a widely extended system of Christian\nday-schools for females is a most important method of reaching\nthe masses of the people, and that these should be prosecuted to the\ngreatest practicable extent.\n4. That in view of the great difficulties encountered in this work\nthe Conference would strongly urge the necessity of vigorous efforts\nto form an enlightened national sentiment among the Natives of\nIndia, in favour of female education, through the press and by\nlectures, and to create a Vernacular literature for the schools and\nfor females generally.\n5. That this Conference deeply feels the importance of Verna-\ncular day-schools for girls of all classes being, as far as practicable,\nunder the personal superintendence of Missionaries' wives, or\nother Christian ladies interested in female education; and that\nChristian friends in Europe and America should be encouraged\nto send out and adequately sustain as many devoted and well\nqualified female agents as they can, to co-operate with the Missiona-\nries' wives and others in this great work.",
      "status": "completed"
    },
    {
      "pageNumber": 173,
      "ocrText": "SOURCE MATERIALS\n173\n6. That they also most cordially approve of the proposal,\ncirculated throughout the Madras Presidency, by several ladies in\nMadras, under the designation of 'A Thank Offering Memorial for\n1857, and earnestly pray that it may be practically followed up\nin the manner proposed, and signally crowned with the divine\nblessing. All the Missions, they fully believe, will do all in their\npower to aid in carrying out this truly Christian project.\nResolutions on the Government System of Education\n1. That this Conference believes that the secular knowledge\nwhich has been imparted to many Native youths by means of the\nGovernment system of education has been a real benefit, notwith-\nstanding the serious evil of the exclusion of the Bible; they believe\nthat it is better that the Native mind should be disabused of the\nabsurdities of the prevailing systems, and prepared by a true\nknowledge of history and science and by a healthy discipline, to\nreceive, intellectually at least, the Divine system of Christianity.\n2. That they desire to give expression to their most solemn\nand deliberate conviction, that it is the duty of the Christian Govern-\nment of this Heathen and Mohammedan country, not only to impart\nto all who will receive it true knowledge on all secular subjects;\nbut also to abstain from all teaching of Hindu and Mohammedan\nerrors in their schools, while, in order to afford the fullest oppor-\ntunity to all the pupils of learning the true nature of the Christian\nreligion from the Bible itself, they should introduce it into all their\nschools in order to be read each day during the first hour of teaching,\nand that the attendance of the pupils during that hour. should be\nvoluntary. Moreover they consider that it should be publicly\ndeclared by the Government that all teachers in Government Schools\nare at full liberty to teach the Word of God to those of their pupils\nwho may be desirous to study it, and that in the working of the\nschools suitable arrangements should be made for that purpose.\n3. That it is notorious that such has not been the course\npursued by the Government in the past, except in some isolated and\nrecent instances, it cannot but have been that its conduct has been\noffensive to Him who has said, 'He that is not with me is against\nme;' and while the Conference would not presume to interpret\nminutely the dispensations of Divine Providence, they cannot but\ncall to mind the authority which says, 'The nation and kingdom\nthat will not serve thee shall perish'; and feel that the terrible\ncalamities which have recently fallen on this land are at once a\nchastisement for the past and a warning for the future.\n4. The Conference is further of opinion, that the Government\nshould put forth the most determined efforts to cover the whole\nland with good elementary Vernacular Schools, as such are best",
      "status": "completed"
    },
    {
      "pageNumber": 174,
      "ocrText": "174\nHISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA\nadapted to meet the wants of the masses of the people, and raise\nthem from their present degradation and ignorance. They believe\nthat this is demanded not only as a matter of justice on behalf of\nthe toiling millions who are mainly the producers of the revenue,\nbut also that it would be the wisest policy on the the part of Goven-\nment, which would thus really strengthen its hold on the masses.\nof the people, by teaching them to appreciate more truly its benevo--\nlent designs, both in this department, and in that of the develop-\nment of the physical resources of the country, as well as in all other\nmeasures intended to promote their social and national advance-\nment.\n5. That in view of the vast importance of the subject of Gov-\nernment instruction in its bearing on the moral and social well-\nbeing of the people of India, it is in the highest degree desirable,.\nthat great care should be exercised in the selection and appointment\nof unexceptionable persons to have the charge and oversight of\nthese institutions.\n6. That it is much to be wished that the Government should\nfully enunciate, and in all cases consistently carry out, what is.\nbelieved to be now their wish and intention, that all books used\nin their institutions should be entirely freed from every thing\nfavouring heathen ideas; and that, therefore, all invocations of\nHeathen divinities, passages inculcating Caste, Fate, or the Metem-\npsychosis, and all impure and equivocal expressions should be\ncarefully expunged.\n7. That while undoubtedly much diversity of opinion exists.\namong various bodies of Christians as to the propriety of accepting:\npecuniary aid from any secular Government in the prosecution\nof their work, no correct estimate can be formed of the tendency\nand character of the effort of Government for the instruction of\nthe masses of its subjects in India, without a reference to the question\nof Grants-in-Aid; and that in the provision made for the grant of\npecuniary assistance to such conductors of Missionary Schools\nas feel at liberty to avail themselves of it, a convincing proof is\nafforded of the desire of the Government to assist in extending the\nbenefits or education, by all available means, to all classes of the\npeople.\nResolutions on Caste\n1. That this Conference regard Hindu caste, both in theory\nand practice, as not a mere civil distinction, but emphatically a\nreligious institution; and viewed in this, its true character, it is the\nmonster evil of India, so paramount and all-prevailing in its power\nand influence, so tyrannical and cruel in its laws and regulations,\nso stern and exacting in its demands, so terrific in its denunciations.",
      "status": "completed"
    },
    {
      "pageNumber": 175,
      "ocrText": "SOURCE MATERIALS.\n175\nof present and future punishment for the slightest offence, and yet\nso changeful and accommodating in its manifestations, that it is no\nmarvel that millions have for ages fallen prostrate before it, and that\nno arm of flesh can deliver them from its thraldom.\n2. That it is the duty of all Missionaries to spare no pains, on\nall proper occasions, to expose the absurdities and falsehood, as\ndenounce the wickedness of caste, to show its great injuriousness\nto all classes of its votaries, and its great obstructiveness to all\nefforts for the improvement of their temporal condition, as well as\nits soul-destroying influence.\n3. That it is also the duty of all Missionaries and Churches to\nrequire its unreserved and unequivocal renunciation, with all its\noutward manifestations, by all those who take up the profession of\nChristianity, and join the ranks of the Redeemer. No man should\nbe regarded as worthy the name of Christian who refuses to renounce\ncaste and to remove all its outward marks, or who objects to any\nkind of intercourse, with any other Christians, simply on the ground.\nof its distinctions.\n4. That the greatest vigilance is indispensably necessary to\nprevent the return of this evil spirit after it has once been cast out,\nand to guard against the power of habit which it has so deeply\ninwrought into the very souls and hearts of men. Let a holy\nsagacity and an unbending firmness be constantly employed in\ndetecting and opposing all its workings, in all the intercourse of the\nChristian life.\n5. That it is the duty of all Christians to unite in protesting\nagainst all recognition of caste in all the public acts of Government,\nwhether direct or indirect, and in the whole of the Military and Civil\nServices. Caste should be a thing entirely unknown in its\nconnection.",
      "status": "completed"
    }
  ]
}