fO . 2 ^^ PRINCETON. N. J. % % Purchased by the Hamill Missionary Fund. BV 2060 .J7 1910 Jones, John Peter, 1847 1916. The modern missionary h 3 1 1 onrri The Modern Missionary Challenge By JOHN P. JONES, D.D. Lectures delivered at Yale, Oct. 1910 The Modern Missionary Challenge 12mo, cloth, net $1. 60. A resurvey of the demand of missions In the light of progress made. In their relation to human thought. The new demands, the new difficulties, the now incen- tives, are all considered by one whose expeiience in the field, and whose experience as a writer, entitle him to consideration. India's Problem, Krishna or Christ Illustrated, 8vo, cloth, net $1.50. "So far as we are informed there is at present no one book or even any half-dozen volumes, that gath- ers up and present, in attractive and readable form so much that is interesting and valuable to the student of the religions of India and the relations of Chris- tianity to them, as does this work." — Congregationalist . The Modern Missionary Challenge A Study of the Present Day- World Missionary Enterprise Its Problems and Results JOHN P/jONES, D.D. Author of^'- India's Probletji^ Krishna or Christ^ " India,^ Its Life and Thought ^'^ etc. New York Chicago Toronto Fleming H. Re veil Company London and Edinburgh Copyright, 1910, by FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY New York: 158 P>fth Avenue Chicago: 80 Wabash Avenue Toronto: 25 Richmond Street, W. London: 21 Paternoster Square Edinburgh: 100 Princes Street Dedicated to all Christian Youth Who Desire to Study the Missionary Enterprise and Who Wish to Accept Intelligently God^s Challenge for World-wide Sermce The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light. The7t shall thy light rise in darkness and thine obscurity be as the noonday. Arise y shine ^ for thy light has come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. He shall see of the travail of His soul and be satisfied. Ask of Me and I will give thee the nations for thine inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. I a7n the Light of the World. Ye are the light of the world. All authority hath been given unto Me in heaven and on earth. Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all the 7iations . . . and lo, I am with you always even unto the end of the world. fehovah hath made bare His holy arm in the eyes of all the nations y and all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God. I am debtor both to Greeks and to Barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. I am not ashamed of the Gospel ; for it is the power of God tinto salvation to every one that believeth. The Spirit and the bride say. Come. And he that heareth, let him say. Come, Preface THE substance of this book was prepared as a course of lectures which were in part de- livered before the Divinity School of the Yale University and before Bangor and Oberlin Theological Seminaries in the autumn of 1910. The purpose of the book is to give a fresh and modern presentation of the missionary enterprise from the standpoint of the missionary. It thus fur- nishes a discussion of the problem more with an eye to the mission field than to the home base. This fact probably constitutes the strength and also the weakness of the book. The missionary may be too near and too much a part of the mis-* sionary work to possess a right perspective of the work as a whole. He is necessarily confined to one field which largely absorbs his sympathies and con- stitutes his deepest interest. For years at a time other parts of the world are practically beyond his horizon. So that his judgment upon the general work may be inadequate and warped and his gen- eral conclusions unsafe. His may be more the glowing vision and stirring call of the prophet rather than the sane conclusions of the statesman. But these are days when prophet and statesman 7 8 Preface alike need to be represented in our missionary liter- ature. I claim, however, to have enjoyed, the last two years, an unusual opportunity, during my many thousand miles of travel among the home churches, to come into closer touch with the missionary problem as a whole and to study it also in its home aspect. I have taken the whole non-Christian world as the illustrative background of the present discussion. It is, of course, inevitable that, here again, my own field of work, India, will figure more conspicuously than any other country. It is difficulty in these days of progressive thought and life, to maintain the right balance between old and new ideas in the missionary enterprise. This great work is rapidly changing its issues and its emphases. It is therefore important that one ex- plain and impress this adequately upon the reader. It may be that I have been too anxious, in the fol- lowing pages, to emphasize the new aspect of things and the up-to-date claims of our missionary work. If I have erred in dwelling too much upon this, I trust that I have not allowed it to overshadow the presentation of that unchanging element in the prob- lem — the supreme need of the world for the same old sovereign remedy of salvation in a crucified, a risen and a ruling Lord. I am glad to be able to present, as an appendix, a valuable series of statistical tables, and I here call at- tention to the preface which I have placed before these. Preface 9 I desire to express here my appreciation of the light and inspiration received by me in the recent World Missionary Conference at Edinburgh. It is not only that the masterly reports of the eight com- missions, with the discussion thereon, brought light and intelligence concerning all the field and every subject pertaining to the work; the whole atmos- phere of that wonderful gathering was so surcharged with inspiration and imparted such an uplift that I am sure the following pages will, in many ways, di- rectly and indirectly, reflect it. The author bespeaks the kindly sympathy and patience of the reader, in view of the fact that the book is the product of leisure moments stolen from the strenuous days of a busy " furlough." But he has put his best into it in the brief time at his command and prays that the blessing of God may follow it into every home and heart and bring light and blessing to many who need it concerning the missionary work, so that the great missionary cause may have free course and be glorified among all who love the Lord and His creatures in sincerity. J. P. JONES. Contents Its Subjective Source I. The Universal Fatherhood of God . II. The World Saviour III. The Omnipresent, Ever- Working Spirit IV. The Universal Religion . . . . V. The Unique Religion VI. The World Obligation to Service . (a) Outgoing Love (p) The Lord's Last Commission . (c) The Lord's Example (/) The Adequacy of the Resources 15 20 25 30 33 36 39 40 42 42 43 II. The New Conditions Which It Furnishes 46 I. The Modern Christian a Cosmopolite (a) Through Scientific Discoveries, etc. (d) Through the Habit of Travel (c) Growing Knowledge of the World . (d) The Commercial Interest (if) New Study of Non-Christian Faiths (/) Universal Brotherhood • II. The World Has Become Accessible . Governments Help The People Ready to Listen . III. The Present Attitude of Non-Christian Peoples Japan China . . . . . India The New Education The New Racial Consciousness IV. All These Races Need the Gospel of Salvation II 46% 47 49 SI 53 54 55 56 58 59 61 61 62 64 65 67 74 1 2 Contents III. The New Problems Which It Presents . 78 I. Thought Problems 7^ (a) Our Attitude Towards Non-Christian Thought. 79 (b) How Much of Western Christianity Shall be Taken to Non-Christians of the East 85 (<:) The Importation of Radical Christian Thought XL Life Problems III. Problems of Work ..... {a) What Does the Church Aim to Accom plish ? {b) Shall the Objective be the Individual or the Nation ? . ^ (\^"^^^y (^c) How Far Shall Education be Conducted L/ ^ (^) Diffusion or Concentration, Which ? {e) Federation and Cooperation . (/) Relation of Missionaries to Governments (g) The Value of Mass Movements IV. The New Methods Which It Invites I. Different People Require Different Methods II. Positive and Constructive Method . The Method of Jesus III. Method of Simplicity or Unity IV. A Moral Dynamic or Spiritual Power V. Love the Supreme Motive ■ VI. The Argument from Experience VII. Discrimination Needed . VIII. Adaptation of Life to the East V. The New Ideals Which It Exalts I. A Self-Supporting Church II. A Self-Directing Church . III. A Self- Propagating Church IV. Church Union .... Will Unity Ever be Achieved ? Urgency of Church Union What Has Been Achieved ? . 89 90 92 92 94 98 108 III 112 118 122 122 125 128 130 141 144 147 164 170 171 175 177 What Are the Benefits of Church Union ? 181 Contents »3 VI. Present Day Missionary Triumphs Witnesses to these Triumphs . I. Growth of the Christian Community II. Change of Character Education . Character Martyrdom . III. Distinguished Converts . IV. The Coming of the Kingdom of God VII. Present Forces and Agencies on the Mission Field 1. The Power of the Holy Spirit . . . Revivals . . . . .^ 2. The Native Church and the Christian Community 3. The Missionary Force ..... 4. The Force of Native Workers .... 5. " Institutions Established on Mission Fields . (a) Hospitals (d) Colleges and Universities (c) Training Institutions . . (^) Primary Schools (e) Presses and Publishing Houses (/) Literature . . . . . (g) The Translated Bible .... (^) Philanthropic Institutions 6. Work for the Jews . . . . . 7. Missionary Work of the Roman Catholic Church 8. Missionary Activity ofthe Russian Orthodox Church VIII. The Magnitude of the Task to be Ac COMPLISHED . . i The Unfinished Task . The Missionary Activity of Other Faiths Opposition in Non-Christian Lands Opposition of Governments (a) Non- Christian Governments (^) Christian Governments . Western Christians in the East Eastern Thought and Institutions Importance of Realizing the Greatness of the Work I. IL III. IV. V. VL VII. 185 186 189 196 197 199 201 203 210 221 221 222 226 227 231 232 234 235 238 239 240 243 245 247 248 249 251 252 256 261 266 266 268 272 275 278 14 Contents IX. The New Response of the Church to the Challenge .284 The World Missionary Conference . 287 I. New Missionary Movements .... 289 The Awakening of Christian Women . 290 Laymen Activity 290 Brotherhoods . . . . .292 Laymen's Missionary Movement . .292 Student Volunteer Movement . . 294 Other Young People's Organizations . 299 Y. M. C. A. and Y. W. C. A. .- . 301 IL Missionary Organizations .... 304 III. Defects of Home Organizations . • . . 308 (a) '' Business Methods " and De*bts . . 308 (J?) Inadequate Canvass . . . ' '6'^2f (c) Missionary Societies and their Auxiliaries 3 1 6 X. The Future Outlook . . . -319 1. Will ibe Fraught with Many Surprises . . .320 2. The Utilization of New Forces . . . .326 (a) The Old Churches of the East . .327 Ip) The Youthful Mission Church . .328 \c) The Moral Power of Our Faith . .330 (^) International Law and Universal Peace . 331 3. A Time of Reflex Influences .... 333 4. A Time of New Visions 336 (a) A Vision of the Kingdom . . . . 336 \b) The Brotherhood of Man . . . 340 5. A Vision of Bright Promise . . . .342 Statistical Preface 347 Statistical Tables 349 Table I. Summary of Missionary Societies. *< II. General and Evangelistic Sum- mary. '< III. General Educational Summary. '* IV. Summary of Medical Work. ** V. Philanthropic and Reformatory Summary. ** VI. Roman Catholic Missions Among Non-Christians. Index 357 The Modern Missionary Challenge Its Subjective Source — the Modern Christian Consciousness ; and the Missionary Bible CHRISTIANITY impresses itself upon the collective mind of its followers in every age. This creates a Christian consciousness which actually measures the influence of our faith upon each succeeding generation. This conscious- ness is constantly passing through a process of evo- lution. It is the subjective response to the objective faith, and is affected by all those complex forces which, together, we call civilization. The advance of this Christian consciousness has been most marked through all the centuries ; and there is hardly another thing which brings to the thoughtful Christian more encouragement in his religion than the progressing Christian mind, or consciousness, evolved by it. This consciousness, every generation, interprets anew the Bible. From the first, God's Word has spoken its message of living truth to God's people ; but the message has been a constantly progressive one. Objectively the Bible has remained the same'. 15 l6 The Modern Missionary Challenge But every age has brought to bear upon it new gifts of appreciation and new powers of interpretation. In other words, the ever-expanding Christian con- sciousness of the Church has found fresh messages of truth and life which it has hailed with new delight, and has substituted for old and decadent doctrines, which advancing thought and civilization rendered impossible, and which no longer had true signifi- cance or ethical force to men. Under the domination of certain moral preposses- sions and conceptions of spiritual power, the whole Christian Church for centuries believed that it found in the Bible the doctrine of a ransom paid by Christ to Satan. Seven centuries were required to emanci- pate Christendom from so crude and unworthy a doctrine — a doctrine which was read into the Bible by the inadequate philosophy and obscure ethics of the day. The doctrine of a limited atonement sim- ilarly found its rise, universal prevalence and decline. It is only within our own day that the advancing Christian consciousness and the growing ethical standards of the Kingdom rang the death knell of the belief in the damnation of infants, which our ancestors were led by certain processes of logic to maintain and to find inculcated nearly everywhere in the Bible. A half century ago slavery also found its chief defense from the Christian pulpit through a use and interpretation of Scriptures now repudiated and regarded as abhorrent by practically the whole Church. Thanks be to God that the Church has outgrown Its Subjective Source 17 these antiquated doctrines and unworthy interpreta- tions of God's Word. In like manner, many of our own cherished BibHcal renderings and readings will doubtless give way to ever-advancing thought and to a guidance of the Spirit to saner visions and inter- pretations of God and His message to man. John Robinson was a true prophet when he said that " there is more light to come out of God's Word." This will remain true throughout the ages. The prayer of all God's people should be, in the words of the Psalmist, — ** Open Thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of Thy Law." God's message to man in His Word will always carry a meaning to His people which will corre- spond, to a large extent, with that inward gift of in- terpretation which the Spirit will impart unto them in consonance with, and based upon their developing power to see. Out of the inexhaustible mine of God's Word new treasures of truth will ever be dis- covered and brought forth. Among these treasures which the Church has dis- covered, or, more appropriately, rediscovered and appropriated from the Bible, in our day, none is so vital and important as its message of a world-wide redemption and its emphasis upon a world-wide Christian service. And though I am not prepared to say that this is the ultimate of Christian thought and interpretation, I do believe that it represents to us, in many ways, the finality of God's teaching' concerning His Kingdom. There is a no more l8 The Modern Missionary Challenge wondrous vision which has dawned upon the world than that of the missionary message of the Bible. As Dr. Horton well says, — " It stands out as an es- sentially and absolutely missionary book ; it is from first to last the announcement of a truth which, from the nature of the case, must be announced to the world ; it is the record of missionaries, the sole ob- ject of which is to engage all who hear to iDecome missionaries themselves. To weaken its missionary meaning is to neutralize its whole work ; and to ig- nore its missionary command is to reduce the whole book to an absurdity." Modern Christian thought has been so developed and quickened under God's Spirit, that the missionary message of the Bible has become its dominant message ; so that he only is competent to understand this book who is inspired by its command to world-wide love and service. A man cannot be an intelligent, even if a true. Chris- tian to-day who does not see on every Bible page its missionary message and motive. It is a suggestive fact that it has been left to our age to discover the Bible as a missionary book and to interpret its deepest thought and highest senti- ments in the language of a missionary manifesto. It is also a striking fact that some of the most inspiring missionary texts and the most confident prophecies of the universal prevalence and dominion of the Kingdom of God are found in the Old Testa- ment, in connection with the life and history of the Jews — one of the narrowest and most exclusive people of our race. Yet it should be remembered Its Subjective Source 19 that the Jews were God's chosen people, under His special training, to be His messengers to the world ; and that their prophets were men of lofty spiritual ideals, looking to the far-ofi vision of human perfec- tion and glory. And it is these prophetic visions of splendour which we now appropriate and incorporate as messages and watchwords in our modern mis- sionary campaign. Thus, out of the narrow provin- cialism and mean prejudices of that people, there were given glimpses of the universal redemption and of the all-prevalence of the Kingdom of God upon earth. It is well to note just here, in passing, the vast difference between the Jewish faith and the ethnic faiths of the East in this particular. Compare it, for instance, with Hinduism. Judaism has a forward gaze towards future blessing and glory. It was a religion of hopefulness, with great ideals, stirring promise and possibilities. Hinduism, on the other hand, emphasized the backward look towards the golden age of the past. It has always had its ideals behind it and eagerly yearns to return to a supposed greatness of the prehistoric past. , But the missionary spirit of our faith finds its foundation, as it does also its culmination, in the New Testament and not in the Old. The seed of vision and of prophecy in the Old developed into the spreading tree of a world religion in the New. Here missionary spirit and teaching is not an aspira- tion but a principle of life — not a future hope, but a' present programme full of conviction and power. 20 The Modern Missionary Challenge Dr. Horton truly says, " The Gospel not only con- tains the missionary idea, but it is the missionary idea and nothing else. It scrupulously avoids being anything else, and gets rid of all encumbrances." It is a growing conviction of the Christian Church that God's Word is not only a book with a missionary message, but that it is essentially a missionary book with no other message worth recording than that of the infinite love of God reaching out unto the utter- most parts of the earth to save all, even the meanest, of our race. And we also notice that in His minis- try upon earth it was the first business and the su- preme care of Christ to gather together, to prepare in life and thought, and to send forth in power that wonderful band of missionaries to carry His message of life, and, above all, to carry Him unto perishing souls among all the nations. Let us consider briefly a few of those missionary characteristics which constitute the gospel message to present-day Christians everywhere. I. The Universal Fatherhood of God Jesus revealed and taught no truth more funda- mental than this of God's universal Fatherhood. It was a doctrine which had largely escaped human search after God and man's appreciation of the God- head. The Greeks of old, in the highest reaches of their religious speculation and in their dim visions of the divine, had only a glimpse of this doctrine. They and the Romans called Him, indeed, Zeus- pater, or Jupiter ; but they gave little of that tender Its Subjective Source 21 content and precious significance which enriches our Hfe in the thought of His Fatherhood. St. Paul, as he stood at Athens, quoted one of the Greek poets who had said, " For we are also His offspring " ; but how little of this precious relationship entered into their minds as they thought of the deities of their Pantheon ! In India, also, there are very occasional intima- tions of the fatherhood of certain members of the multitudinous Pantheon ; but the pantheism, the polytheism and the idolatry of the East have all but obliterated the fatherly lineaments of God to those people. The Jews came nearer to this conception ; they did glory in God as their Father ; but it was the Father of the Jews only that they saw in Him. He was in their view nothing more than a tribal, or national, God, a conception which was exalted and emphasized by their exclusive life and theology. Jesus preached and gave supreme emphasis to the truth of God's universal Fatherhood. He lifted the doctrine out of its narrow, racial significance and revealed God as the Father of all men. He not only emphasized the divine Fatherhood. He proclaimed with equal emphasis the universality of that Father- hood. The parable of the Prodigal Son is the transcendently beautiful and supreme expression of that truth. However degraded man may be ; how- ever brutal his character, and however besotted with sin, in him the lineaments of the Father may ulti- mately be found ; and the infinite Father above 22 The Modem Missionary Challenge yearns in compassion for the prodigal who has left Him and who knows Him not. And we may appro- priately add to this parable the incomparable prayer whereby He turns the human eye heavenward and enables men everywhere to approach Him as " Our Father who art in heaven." There is no more sublime, beautiful and inspiring truth which can be entertained by the human mind than this of God's parental relationship to man. I know of no message so worthy as this of being carried to the uttermost parts of the earth and of being preached and im- pressed with persistent tenderness upon men whose conceptions of the Godhead are involved in cruelty, meanness and immorality. On another occasion we hear Him say, ** One is your Father, even He who is in heaven " ; and of the Father He says, ** He maketh His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sendeth rain on the just and the unjust. ... Ye also shall be perfect as your heavenly Father is per- fect." Perfection of love is found only in Him ; and in His life and example shall we find our ideal of life. The Apostle Paul, also, in addressing the Athe- nians, said, " Being then the offspring of God we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and device of man." All forms of polytheism and idolatry are absolutely repugnant to the conception of God's Fatherhood. The heathen who drags his deity down into the meanness of idolatry and devil worship is incapable of retaining or even of attaining unto the Its Subjective Source 23 glorious vision of the divine Fatherhood. No more can the Jew who claims that God bears this loving relationship to the Hebrews alone. In later days, also, Christians, for centuries, per- sisted in limiting God's Fatherhood to Christians only. It was essentially the narrowness of the Jewish conception repeated once more under a new environment. ** Converted Christians only are the children of God. All others are the offspring of the devil, in nature and from choice," was their conten- tion. Not only to the Jews of old, but also to the Christians of later days, did He utter the parable of the Prodigal Son. And the missionary goes forth to-day to non-Christian lands under the inspiration of a no more precious truth than this, that he is carrying the message of a loving and all-patient Father to His wandering sons in the wilderness of heathenism and of sin, seeking to bring them back to His home, to a baptism of His blessing and to a full possession of His lineaments and character. This is the substance of the missionary's message to a lost world to-day, that the Father of infinite mercy and tenderness is still seeking them and is exercising all the resources of His condescending love to find them and to save them from the lowest degradation of life into which they have fallen. How eager Christ was in all His teaching, as He was indeed in His whole life, to bring back to man this vision of the infinite Father of all men, as one who is seeking and following after men in all their wanderings, determined to reveal Himself unto them 24 The Modern Missionary Challenge and to bring them back to the unspeakable joys of His life and love. Nor must we forget the corollary of this doctrine as expressed in the common brotherhood of men. No missionary can carry this Gospel of the universal Fatherhood without, at the same time, recognizing the brotherhood of all men. The progress of God's Kingdom upon earth has been impeded more by racial narrowness, national exclusiveness and sec- tional bitterness among men than by any other obstacle. This has not only made it impossible for men to go forth in missionary helpfulness and enthusiasm ; it has taken the missionary impulse and message away from them. It is only when the missionary can stand among the heathen peo- ple of the world, and, in infinite tenderness, teach them to say with him the Lord's Prayer, that he can enter into a proper and an adequate appreciation of his relationship to them and of that kinship which he must feel with them. We recognize, as no generation before us, that " God has made of one every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed seasons, and the bounds of their habitation ; that they should seek God if haply they might feel after Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us : for in Him we live, and move, and have our being." It is this growing consciousness of our close relationship with all men and the consequent obligation which it involves, to seek and to save all men which, per- haps, more than any other condition, gives new Its Subjective Source 25 impetus and power to the modern missionary move- ment. One cannot enter into this new-found rela- tionship of brotherhood to men without taking up the world obligation which it involves ; and all this comes from Christ's message of God's universal Fatherhood. Once let the narrow sympathies, be- gotten of national, tribal, sectarian and local ties, be swallowed up in the conviction of a universal human brotherhood, and the missionary dynamic becomes tenfold reenforced and a world-wide effort for the salvation of men becomes a blessed compulsion and a necessity. 11. This is also the Gospel of the World Saviour As we study the faiths of the world we discover only two which have exalted and raised to supreme importance the doctrine of incarnation. These are Christianity and Hinduism. It is a strange and in- teresting fact that these two religions are, in many respects, antipodal to each other. In their develop- ment of this doctrine, as in their general conception of divine incarnation, they- are absolutely apart from each other. The " descents," or incarnations, of India have neither universality nor permanence. They were thought to bring only temporary relief from physical and social ills to small tribes and sects in Hmited locahties. The thought of Brahmanism, expressed so beautifully by Krishna, is to the effect that whenever men suffer cruel tyranny and injustice, then God incarnates Himself to bring to them relief. 26 The Modern Missionary Challenge So, according to that faith, there is continually recurring these processes of divine " descents " for the relief of suffering humanity. But not one of these multitudinous incarnations has ever had any spiritual significance or objective. They aimed only to give temporary relief from worldly difficulties to a narrow section of the community. And the reason is obvious. Not one of them came to bring a spir- itual blessing ; in other words, no Hindu incarnation was ever known to come to remedy the universal disease of sin. It is in Christ alone that we see the Great Remedy for the world-wide moral plague and spiritual blindness of the human race. He is the only world Saviour because He is the only divine manifestation the world has ever known for saving man from sin itself and from its damning effects. The absolute inadequacy of the myriad incarna- tions of India is attested by their continued multipli- cation — many new ones appearing every year — and by the restless yearning of the people for still more. On the other hand, as Christianity extends its area of influence and absorbs new nations and peoples, the eternal adequacy of Christ as the Saviour of all men is increasingly felt throughout Christendom. In Jesus alone do we find the true CosmopoHtan — the Saviour of all mankind throughout all lands and in all times. It is true that He was born a Jew, reared in a Jewish home and surrounded by a purely Jewish environment. In a certain sense He could say, " I was sent but unto the lost sheep of Israel." But, in a far broader and higher meaning. He came Its Subjective Source 27 to save all men, all races upon the face of the earth. It is strange that out of the most narrow and ex- clusive of all peoples there should arise One whose love was unlimited and whose passion was directed to every member of our race. Read His own wonderful triple message in Luke xv. — in the parables of the Lost Sheep, the Lost Coin and the Prodigal Son. These are the parables of the ** Lost." Christ in them referred to all men in their lost estate as He did more especially to those who are the outcasts of society and are outbanned by the decencies of common religion — the submerged and the de- spised. All men were the objects of His loving search, and He desired that they should be the recipients of His saving grace. As Jesus was entering upon His great ministry of love John the Baptist recognized Him and pro- claimed Him as " the lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world." St. Paul said that " He is the Saviour of all men, specially of them that be- lieve" (i Tim. iv. 10). The Roman centurion and the Syrophcenician woman partook of His bless- ing. He bestowed upon the 'penitent thief, in the hour of His own dying agony, a Saviour's blessing of Paradise. And of Him did the great Apostle to the Gentiles think, when he wrote that " There cannot be Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bondman, freeman ; but Christ is all, and in all." And the same apostle declares that " the Father through Him reconciled all things 28 The Modern Missionary Challenge unto Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross : through Him, I say, whether things upon the earth or things in the heavens." In many other passages, of the same content, Jesus is extolled as the Saviour of all men. How strange that, with this clear gospel vision of His world-wide love and universal redemption, the Christian Church, for many centuries, limited the scope of His atonement and denied universal efficacy to His dying love I It taught that He died only for the elect, and even doomed to perdition a countless number of innocent babes of whom Jesus Himself had said, " Suffer little children to come unto Me and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of heaven." To-day, once more, the Saviour has emerged from the distorted Bible interpretation of the dark ages, and is rediscovered as '* The Lamb slain from the foundation of the world." He is known to-day as the One whose dying love has made possible the redemption of every man of our race, and who is seeking, in infinite tenderness and compassion, to bring all men into Himself. Even more than this, the Christian Church is opening wide its eyes and the universal conscious- ness of Christians is gazing into the infinite expanse of the universe and is beginning to realize, in some imperfect way, the supermundane influence of the Cross of Calvary. It is listening with a new in- telligence and a growing appreciation to the words of the great apostle who writes of the efhcacy of the Its Subjective Source 29 Cross which made peace among " things upon earth and things in the heaven." Who is there to-day who can either fathom the depth or reach out into the infinite reaches of the unsearchable limits of Christ's saving grace and redeeming love ? To the missionary of the Cross, in the Far East, at the present time, there is hardly anything more en- couraging than the growing appreciation which is manifested for the Christ as *' Our Oriental Brother." While race pride and prejudice are still intense and are creating a gulf between the East and the West, and are in many places increasing in bitterness ; and even while opposition on their part to our religion is unabated, if not intensified, it is refreshing to behold our Lord finding among these far-off people of the East a marvellously growing appreciation and at- tachment. Thousands are found among the men of culture in those lands who recognize in Him a new vision of beauty and a new hope and strength for life. One of these men, the distinguished leader of the Brahmo-Somaj, Keshab Chunder Sen, ex- pressed his adoring love of Jesus in the following words, — ** None but Jesus, none but Jesus, none, I say, but Jesus, ever deserved this bright, this pre- cious diadem, India, and Jesus shall have it. My Christ, my sweet Christ, the most lustrous Jewel of my heart, the bridal Adornment of my soul. For twenty long years have I loved Him in my miser- able heart. I have found, though oftentimes perse- cuted, though oftentimes soiled by the world, I have ever found sweetness and joy unspeakable in ray 3© The Modern Missionary Challenge Master Jesus. He the Bridegroom cometh among you. May India adorn herself as the bride, in her glittering apparel, that she may be ready to meet Him." III. The Omnipresent, Ever-working Spirit OF God Finds a New Emphasis in this Gospel The Holy Spirit, by the ancient Jew, was regarded as a vague, impersonal influence, abiding in Israel and bringing manifold blessings to the nation. Em- phasis is there everywhere given to God's chosen people as furnishing the sphere of activity for the divine Spirit. In the New Testament, on the other hand. He is presented as the personal, sanctifying, comforting Paraklete, who lives and works in the heart of every child of God. His personality and His work in the Church are there particularly emphasized. This is the dominant characterization of the Spirit's pres- ence and power given by our Lord. He abides in the Church and in the Christian disciple's heart, comforting, illumining, guiding and cleansing the soul, and thus glorifying the Christ. But our Lord also declared that the Holy Spirit would " convict the world in respect of sin, and of righteousness and of judgment." In other words. He maintained that while the Spirit found special activity within the sphere of His Kingdom and within the children of that Kingdom, He also wrought mightily upon those who had not entered this King- Its Subjective Source 31 dom in order that they might come within its radi- ant influences. St. Peter was, by special vision and revelation of God, shaken out of his narrow provincialism and en- abled later to declare " that God, who knoweth the hearts, bears witness to the Gentiles, giving them the Holy Spirit even as He did unto us" (Acts XV. 8). The Spirit who worked upon the heart of Cornelius is thus everywhere striving to bring to men the true vision of God and of truth. There is nothing so ** common " or *' unclean " that He does not touch in some way with His benign influ- ence, and endeavour to bring into the Kingdom and under the saving grace of God. We are told, on the day of Pentecost, that the inauguration of Christianity upon earth was the fulfillment of an ancient prophecy that God should pour His Spirit upon all flesh. At the present time the deepest conviction of Christen- dom recognizes that same divine Spirit as having wrought light and blessing even among non-Chris- tian peoples. The religious yearnings and the spir- itual gropings after God, among these dark nations and peoples of the earth, certainly cannot be the result of Satanic impulse and guidance, as it was the habit of Christians to think half a century ago. The mighty movements of the lands of the East, some of them far removed from Christians and Christian in- stitutions, are but the quickening, convicting influ- ence of the same Spirit upon those peoples. And it is this, above all else, which has created a deep, di- 32 The Modem Missionary Challenge vine unrest among them and has prepared them for the clearer message of God through His people who have now come to preach, to teach, and to live Him in their towns and hamlets. The missionary, as he goes to non-Christian people, has the comforting assurance — an assurance confirmed by many in- dubitable evidences — that God's Spirit is there al- ready preparing the people for His message and teaching them, through the light of nature's proc- esses and of marvellous providences, to be pre- pared for the higher light of God through His reve- lation of Himself in Christ Jesus. There is nothing more inspiring to the Christian worker in those lands of mighty ethnic faiths than the thought and the . assured conviction that God is already there preparing the soil for the seed of Christian truth. A very interesting illustration is that of the Karen people in Burma. While in their lowest condition of heathenism, a wild barbarian people of the moun- tains, they had treasured a precious tradition that their sacred Veda, in prehistoric times, had disap- peared and that, some day, a white brother of the West would bring and restore to them their lost Bible and would teach to them its truth. This strange tradition opened their hearts immediately, under God's Spirit, to the reception of the saving message of God's grace when brought to them, more than half a century ago by American missionaries. So that more than two hundred thousands of that one tribe alone have already responded to the Christian Its Subjective Source 33 invitation and have amazingly entered into the her- itage of God's own people. IV. The Universal Religion has Also been Restored to Us in the Gospel Message For how many centuries did the Jews reveal their mean selfishness and narrow exclusiveness in the enjoyment of their faith ! They were God's own chosen and favoured people ; but they accepted their faith in a small way, as a national faith, destined for their own consumption only ; and it became to them a nourisher of pride and of contempt of other people. What a provincial, petty thing any other religion is as compared with Christianity in its boundless reach of infinite blessing to men 1 Hinduism is an ethnic faith ; it has only one door of entrance, and that is through birth. One must be born into that religion, otherwise it offers no hope to him. Zoroastrianism is of kindred spirit with Hinduism. A few years ago a Parsee gentleman, who had travelled abroad, married a French lady and brought his bride to his home in Bombay. It was her hope and desire that, upon confession of her faith, she plight be received into his ancestral religion ; and she so expressed her desire to the leaders of that faith. At once the ques- tion was raised whether Parseeism is capable of tak- ing into itself a foreigner by birth. A great conven- tion of the leading religious lights of that august faith was called. For months they deliberated upon the subject, and the question so agitated them that, ' for a while, they were divided into two bitter camps. 34 The Modern Missionary Challenge The majority ultimately decided that their faith could not receive the applicant, that no one that was not born in their religion could enter into its inner sanc- tuary. So the good lady is still waiting at the door, or, rather, has found that Parseeism has no door of entrance to such as she ! But Jesus, standing under the shadow of a dwarfed, stunted Judaism, proclaimed a world-religion — a re- ligion whose universal character, whose vital mes- sage and whose world-wide appeal and invitation are even to-day only beginning to be understood by the Christian Church. How slow were the Twelve to realize the full com- prehensiveness of our faith. St. Peter had to be driven from his Jewish exclusiveness by a special vision (Acts x. 9-17); and even this and the de- scent of the Holy Spirit upon Cornelius and his friends did not permanently cure Simon of his relig- ious pettiness and Jewish bigotry. This was the infirmity of all the Twelve, so that the Christian Church was for years, after the Pente- costal baptism, in imminent danger of becoming merely a passing phase of Jewish reform. It was then that the great Apostle to the Gentiles entered upon the scene, and, under God's Spirit, broadened our faith into true universality. He gave to it that which Jesus intended it should have — a human in- terest and appeal and a challenge which is world- wide and inter-racial. For many centuries of our era Christians persisted in following Peter rather than Paul. They were unwilling to understand and Its Subjective Source 35 interpret our faith in its broad, human, rather than in its narrow, racial emphasis. Yet how anxious was our Lord to save His religion from the dangers of a local and ethnic rut, and to proclaim its universal nature and message. He tells us that, of His Kingdom, it cannot be said, ** Lo here or lo there." Its home is in the heart of man. It is a spiritual Kingdom, devoid of any local colouring or national characteristics, — human from centre to circumference. " Many," He said, *' shall coipe from the East and the West, and shall sit down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the Kingdom of Heaven" (Matt. viii. 11). He declared that *'the field is the world " (Matt. xiii. 37), and that *' this Gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached in the whole world for a testimony unto all nations " (Matt, xxiv. 14). Listen also to His words in appreciation of the loving act of Mary, — " Verily I say unto you, wheresoever this Gospel shall be preached in the whole worldy that also which this woman hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her." How frequently He dwells upon this aspect of His Kingdom ! It has the power of ever-expanding life as He beautifully expressed it in the parable of the Mustard Seed. It has also the complementary power to assimilate unto itself all that which is with- out (the parable of the Leaven). Thus it goes forth in its twofold missionary capacity as a seed which grows and expands into a mighty outstretching tree, under whose shade the nations of the earth shall find - rest and refreshment, and as a leaven which trans- 36 The Modern Missionary Challenge forms and purifies and beautifies that which is with- out. It is marvellous with what variety of teaching and of parable He emphasized, by frequent reitera- tion, the world-wide reach and the universal adapta- bility and saving power of His religion. In the prophetic vision of the coming of His King- dom we are permitted to listen (Rev. xi. 15) to the heavenly song which proclaims that '* the Kingdom of the world is become the Kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ : and He shall reign for ever and ever." He also gave unto all His own that incomparably beautiful and inspiring prayer to offer, the prayer whose key petition is, " Thy Kingdom come." It is not only ours to believe in the ultimate universaHty of His Kingdom ; it is also an obligation to pray with eagerness that it may come until it shall achieve that which God intended that it should among men. And as the horizon of the Christian's prayer broadens, as his human sympathies widen, and his consciousness of human brotherhood extends, this message of a Kingdom which has no bounds, and of a reUgion whose invitation is extended to all men, will find its ultimate reahzation among all the nations of the earth. V. The Unique Religion Also is One of the Modern Discoveries in God's Word We begin to understand, in a careful study of the Bible, that the religion of Jesus is not merely a uni- versal religion, but is also the only true faith the world has ever known. It cannot be classified as one Its Subjective Source 37 among the many faiths of men. It is the absolute religion. It is the only true way of redemption. The Old Testament prophets claim that Jehovah is supreme among the Gods, that He is the only self- existing, absolute Being — *M am that I am" — (Ex. iii. 14), and that polytheism and idolatry are sin and folly and an abomination unto God. The New Testament carries us much beyond this. Our Lord tells us that He is the '' Light of the world " and that no one can be saved without be- lieving on Him. *'He that believeth on the Son hath eternal life ; but he that obeyeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him " (John iii. 36). ** I am the resurrection and the life." Apart from Him there is neither life nor hope of salvation. In the great parable of the future — (Matt. XXV. 31-46) — He teaches us that all men shall receive final judgment at His hands, and that the basis of that judgment will be their attitude towards Him in this world. The disciples also proclaimed, in the presence of their enemies, that ** There is no salvation in any other ; for neither is there any, other name under heaven given among men wherein we must be saved" (Acts iv. 12). St. Paul also writes that " The times of ignorance God therefore overlooked ; but now He commandeth men that they should all everywhere repent ; inasmuch as He hath appointed a day in which He will judge the world in righteous- ness by the man whom He hath ordained." In non-Christian lands men often meet the mis- 38 The Modem Missionary Challenge sionary appeal with the old excuse that " All roads lead to Rome," that all faiths are equally good and will lead souls to God and redemption. " All that a man needs is sincerity of belief in his ancestral re- ligion, whatever that may be." In Christian lands also there are many who have no sympathy with missionary endeavour. Some of them, believing in an extreme doctrine of evolution, claim that we should let every people evolve their own religion and not impose upon them a foreign cult. " Will sin- cerity save a man who trusts his life to a rope of sand ? Where would we be to-day had our ances- tors been left in their paganism, to the untender mercies of the process of evolution ? The study of Comparative Religion has enabled us to deny the satanic origin of ethnic and other non-Christian religions. But it also shows us that they are but broken and often distorted lights of the full-orbed sun of righteousness in the religion of Christ. So one need not deny or minimize the real value of non-Christian faiths. Any religion, or religious superstition even, is better than godlessness or un- abashed infidelity. An earnest soul, groping after God in the darkness, is preferable to the self-satis- fied, defiant spirit of an atheist — a man who denies both God and the future life. Even the lowest reaches of animistic faiths is a restraint, a correction and a prophecy of the highest revelation of God. And in such well-developed faiths as Mohammedan- ism, Buddhism, and Hinduism there are some won- Its Subjective Source 39 derful, even if isolated, flashes of God's own light. St. Paul and St. Peter declare that it is possible for men to please God if they but faithfully and fully live up to the dim light of nature and the best teach- ing of ethnic faiths. Yet they also proclaimed that Christ is the full revelation of God's saving thought to men and the fulfillment of all religious aspiration and prophecy — the one perfect Way of salvation to all men. The doctrine of the uniqueness of Christ and of His religion, as the only perfect Way of redemption from sin, is one which not only must be maintained, but must also find increasing emphasis at home and on the mission field. We cannot abate one jot of His own and of His apostles' claim that He is the only world Saviour, and therefore the only One who can save unto the uttermost every soul that comes to Him, groaning under the burden of sin. ** Come unto Me all ye that labour, and I will give you rest." '* When I shall be lifted up I shall draw all men unto Me." VI. The World Obligation to Service Also IS THE Message of Our Gospel The modern Christian consciousness is accentuat- ing more and more the conviction of the great Apostle to the Gentiles, expressed in those beautiful words, — " I am debtor both to Greeks and to bar- barians, both to the wise and to the foolish " (Rom. i. 14). The Christian obligation to serve and to save all men, regardless of race, language, 4© The Modem Missionary Challenge or colour, is the new conviction and the fresh in- heritance of our time. It was our Lord's first business to qualify, to train and to send forth the first missionaries of the Cross ; and they went forth inspired with that new sense of responsibility to carry the life and the blessings which they had received unto the uttermost parts of the earth. Freely had they received, freely did they give their life in order to carry the Gospel of life to perishing souls in many lands. This conviction and obligation of universal service has come to the modern Christian Church because it has now, for the first time since apostolic days, recognized with fullness a few significant and fundamental facts. {a) It realizes that an outgoing, limitless love is the fundamental principle of our faith. Our Lord summed up the duties and obligations of His dis- ciples in the word, loz^e. " Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind ; and thy neighbour as thyself." The parable of the Good Samaritan is His interpretation of that com- mand and His reply to the question as to how far Christian love should extend. This parable now, for the first time, finds its true interpretation and its right place of honour in the Bible message. Note that it is the love of a stranger and a despised for- eigner to his enemy which is expressed in this par- able. The circumference of the Christian obligation to love is the whole world. One has well said that other faiths need only two Its Subjective Source 4I persons for their realization — man and God — but Christianity requires three — man and God and the other man. Hinduism is an absolutely selfish re- ligion. For its highest cultivation, one is com- manded to go into the wilderness. There, in loneli- ness and in unsocial abstraction and selfishness, he is to commune with his God. The Christian, on the other hand, must not flee from men, but carry his message and his life to them, and impart unto them the richest blessings which have come to his own life. Thus only shall he realize the best that is within him, and shall exemplify true love, which is the very heart of his religion. The Crescent and the Trident may be the emblems of other religions ; the Cross (the true expression of self-denying altruism) is the only emblem which can adequately express the nature of our religion, and the duty of every Christian. In order to elicit this love and human sympathy the Christian must realize the deepest need of the non-Christian world. Never before did the Chrisr tian Church know so well the abject spiritual poverty and gross degradation and sin of the world outside of Christ as it knows itto-day. Christ Him- self emphasized this need. How He wept over Jerusalem as He realized well the bitterness of its spirit and the terrible judgment which was awaiting it ! Think of the significance of His parable of the Coming Judgment, where, by indirection. He de- scribes men as being **sick and imprisoned and naked." Or think of His other parable enforcing 42 The Modern Missionary Challenge the need of prayer, where the friend comes at mid- night and is hungry and in desperate need of help and of refreshment. In a thousand ways He re- vealed a deep appreciation of the abject condi- tion and the deep need of the world for Himself and His salvation. Every true disciple and mes- senger of our Lord will be imbued with His Spirit of compassion, and with His vision of suffering. No one can live to-day, in non-Christian lands, without witnessing, with profound sadness; the cry- ing need of our gospel message upon the part of that sin-sodden and degraded people. {b) The command of our Lord to His disciples. His Last Commission to go and disciple all na- tions has acquired a greater prominence among His commands and a more authoritative place among the convictions of the Church than ever be- fore. The solemnity of that declaration and com- mand and promise (Matt, xxviii. 16-20) has acquired a new power over, and brought a new message of blessing to, the Church of God in our day. It was not only His last command ; it was also a clear declaration of the nature of His Kingdom and of His purpose to make it world-wide. When the Christian hesitates, to-day, he finds recourse once more to this last Commission of his Lord and real- izes, with more vividness than ever, that his faith involves and brings to him an obligation to rest not and keep not quiet until men in the uttermost parts of the earth shall learn of Christ and His salvation. {c) In like manner the Lord's example is to the Its Subjective Source 43 modern disciple an inspiration to this same service. To every servant of His He says, " Follow Me." He is in the forefront of the battle -in the great world conflict of spiritual forces. Even while He says " Go " He also adds the blessed assurance, " Lo I am with you always, even unto the end of the world." Wheresoever the missionary carries his message he finds the Lord already there. And in no particular does he follow his Lord more surely than in his descent to the lowest valley of Christian service among the most benighted heathen of the world. The vision of the condescending, self-effac- ing and self-emptying Christ is the highest incentive to missionary Hfe and activity. (d) The adequacy of His resources are inspir- ing. The Christian of to-day knows, as the Chris- tian of no past time knew, the fullness of the divine resources which are his as he carries this Gospel to all men who know it not. He knows the all-satisfying power of Christ Him- self. Christ's promise to His disciples, ** Lo, I am with you always " — how it renews his courage ! The assurance that He is with him in all his efforts to bring souls unto Him, and in all his passion for their redemption and elevation — what a comfort and inspiration this thought brings! No discourage- ment and not a moment's hesitation can overtake one in the hardest tasks and when confronted by greatest opposition, since he remembers that Christ Himself, with His infinite power, authority and love, is ever at his side, yea, in his heart ! 44 The Modern Missionary Challenge The Holy Spirit Himself is promised unto such as carry His message to, and are in deep sympathy with, the Christless world. Jesus taught that it is the descent of the Holy Spirit upon one which brings that power that enables him to go forth, as Christ's own witness, unto the uttermost parts of the earth (Acts i. 8). It is of infinite importance that the Church of God feel that success and triumph in this great work of spreading His Kingdom depends upon God Him- self, " Not by army nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord." All the resources of civilization, of education, of philanthropy and of other agenciies for human betterment would be absolutely futile without the accompanying and all-controlling influence of God's own presence and power, working within the Church and within every Christian servant labouring for His Kingdom. It must always be what it was in apostolic days, of which St. Mark wrote that, " They went forth and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the work by the signs that followed." It is hardly necessary to call attention, also, to this Gospel of blessing and of power — to the rich beauty of its truth, the sweet winsomeness of its message, the marvellous inspiration of its prom- ises, its comforting words of grace to men in all conditions, and its divine revelation of human need and of divine compassion. How can a Church fail in the dissemination of such a Gospel as this! Its Subjective Source 4^ Thus there has come to us a new light upon God's Word, and such a light as leads the Church forward in its missionary enterprise and will increasingly give strength and inspiration to all who are in- terested in this cause, until the whole world shall come to the feet of Jesus and crown Him Lord of all. II The New Conditions Which it Furnishes \. IT is less than a brief century since nearly every nation was fenced in by a thousand idiosyncra- sies and gazed with jealousy, suspicion and surly defiance, if not with hatred, upon every other people. At that time, to be a foreigner was to be an enemy. Nations were then largely ignorant of each other, or knew only what was worst, and inter- preted what they knew of all outsiders in the most uncomplimentary way. Selfishness was supreme in the inter-racial attitude. Even among Christian na- tions this was largely true; but, for non- Christian people the terms used were '' infidels," " pagans,'' " heathen," ** barbarians," and such like. And the sentiments expressed by these words were heartily reciprocated, with compound interest, by the non- Christian world in such epithets as "mletchas," " foreign devils," etc. To-day a marvellous change has overtaken Chris- tendom in this respect. I Consider the modern cosmopolitism of the Chris- tian. He has become, generally speaking, a new man with a world vision and a world sympathy. For him, outsiders are no longer to be religiously 46 The New Conditions 47 shunned, or to be consigned, en masse^ to eternal perdition. Though not exactly on equal terms, yet in a remarkably new way and in a modern spirit, he is prepared to consider men of other faiths and na- tions of other cults with a consideration and an ap- preciation that he never knew before. This is owing to several significant facts and mod- ern conditions which have overtaken him. [a) Through scientific discoveries and inventions which have brought the whole world together. Forces, which a century ago, were entirely unknown, have been discovered, and others, which were only partially understood and dreaded, have been com- pelled to give up their secrets, and have been har- nessed to the car of human progress. Steam, light, electricity and even the impalpable ether have each and all been reduced to servitude in the interests of human progress, and have become the messengers of man to transport him in comfort and with ever accelerating speed to the uttermost parts of the earth. They are also utilized in novel and surprising ways to communicate his thoughts and purposes in brief- est moments to his antipodes. When the American Board, less than a century ago, began its work in the Hawaiian Islands, it took months to send its missionaries to that field, as it did to send all com- munications to them. To-day, instructions can be sent to those islands by cable, not only in inappre- ciable time ; but a message sent from the Boston headquarters arrives at its destination five hours be- fore the recorded time of its departure 1 The elec- 48 The Modern Missionary Challenge tion of the President of the United States was known to the writer some years ago in a hamlet in South India, when it was yet but midnight of the election day in California, and before the result was known to most of the inhabitants of the United States I The evening offerings of a New York gathering for the famine sufferers of India were distributed the next morning in food and raiment to famishing thousands of that land. This afternoon's riot in China comes to us upon electric wings and is com- municated to us in this morning's paper I How few are the portions of the world which are not now thus bound to us by the mighty, timeless, ceaseless forces of , nature. They draw near to us, by their multiplying agencies, all the far-off lands of our small planet ; they annihilate distance and make a mock of time. Or, consider that which has become so prosaic and universal, the railroads of the world. What changes they have wrought! Merchant and mis- sionary alike travel, to-day, in comfort on well-built railroads and, perchance, in Pullman cars, in coun- tries and through regions which, a generation or a decade ago, were either inaccessible or reached only with great difficulty. Think of the modern con- veniences of Africa where railroads carried in com- fort ex-President Roosevelt and his party nearly a thousand miles into the interior, taking only two days to convey them to regions which required months of unspeakable toil, danger and deprivation to reach, by the missionary, twenty years ago. There The New Conditions 49 is now hardly a section of India which does not Hsten to the whistle and rumble of the modern iron god of travel, and which is not reached by the mes- senger of the Cross with none of the vexatious trials and discomforts of his predecessor, a half cen- tury ago. {b) The growing habit of travel among the peo- ple of Christian lands is remarkable. A decade ago a resident of New England, and a man of promi- nence in the community, died and was laid to rest, who never had slept a night outside the walls of his own home. How impossible to find such a man at the present time I He who had crossed an ocean was a rarity a generation ago ; now it is hard to meet one who has not crossed the boundaries of his own land and sojourned among strangers. Multi- tudes in our days pass from one continent to an- other and even encircle the globe ; and they com- pare notes and write books of their experiences with such frequency as to make every reader familiar with the sights and scenes, the life and habits of these far-ofi lands. Thomas Cook and Son is not only a name to be conjured with in every port on the habitable globe ; it is a firm which has wrought wonders in stirring up within men a passion to see foreign lands and in enabling hosts of people to visit, with ease and comfort and to understand with fair intelligence, regions which were yesterday un- known except to explorers, missionaries and distin- guished travellers. This is but one among many firms which have come into existence, during the 50 The Modern Missionary Challenge last few years, to satisfy the modern ambition to see the world and to know regions and peoples which were absolute strangers to civilization a few decades ago. The result of this modern spirit of unrest is wit- nessed in an amazing way at the present time in America. This land is the modern Mecca of millions from the many nations of Europe and the East, men who were pressed and driven, in their own countries, to the verge of poverty and destitution. They seek release from their bondage, and are ambitious for a broader life, with a larger horizon and greater pos- sibilities of blessing and power. The spell of the great land of the West is upon them. Every month brings thousands of these people of many civiliza- tions and of no civilization, of many languages and divers habits and inherited antipathies — they all come to America, the new land of promise and of strange potentialities. They meet together, mingle with each other, and, through the influence of the public school system, our intoxicating civilization, religious freedom and human equality, they form a new race amalgam and are creating, as they are solving, problems before unknown, or at least never solved, in the development of the human race. What an astonishing gathering of the races, what a wonderful working out of the problem of human destiny, what a strange evolution of a new racial product, and what a mighty, modern, national en- tity we are permitted to witness in America to-day 1 All this has been made possible by modern conveni- The New Conditions 51 ences of travel ; and who knows whether it is to re- sult in unspeakable blessing or in an unexampled disaster to our country ? (c) With this, and partly because of this, we are now witnessing a marvellous growth of knowledge concerning the non-Christian people of the world. Stanley went forth, as a man of affairs, to find Livingstone, and he discovered Africa. How won- derfully the discovery transformed that intrepid ex- plorer himself; and how much more did bis narra- tive of the life of the Dark Continent bring a new impulse, a new sense of duty and a glorious con- sciousness of opportunity to the whole Christian world. How profoundly it stirred men everywhere and led them to understand and seek to remedy " the running sore of the world." A very few years ago Korea was a hermit nation, whose chief ambition was to be let alone. But the time came, partly through the sordid and base am- bitions of other nations, when that sleepy, innocent and helpless people had to be shaken out of their isolation, and their country be made the arena of the ambitions of foreigners. But, out of the turmoil and the grasping avarice of the three nations which ex- ploited her, God has brought, or is rapidly bringing, Korea unto her own. He has opened her eyes to her backward condition, and has given her a new and living touch with modern civilization, and also with the most advanced type of Christian life and activity. Thus she is being prepared for national self-direction, independence and power. 52 The Modem Missionary Challenge It was only yesterday that that other hermit land, Tibet, rested peaceably in its own seclusion. What country seemed more surely destined by nature to remain the home of a hermit people? There, perched on ''the roof of the world" and protected by mountain ranges and forbidding cold, it seemed an ideal abode of the mysterious Dalai Lama and his Buddhistic host Yet, even Tibet could not be exempted from the penalties of modern curiosity and racial ambition. The great nations of the earth had their eyes upon it, because it was supposed to be in the way of their progress. Thus, in a few short years, the stubborn Lama was compelled to flee from his own land — a flight which has termi- nated just now in his ignominious pursuit by the Chinese government into British territory 1 All this is cruel injustice to an innocent people. But hereby God is opening the doors of that strange land, and exposing, to the camera of the world, that erstwhile unknown and misunderstood country. Through this new knowledge of the people a new door of ac- cess and of power has been opened to make known the message of Christ and His salvation to them. One part of this method of contributing to the knowledge of non- Christian people is the activity of the many publishing houses which are pouring forth a mighty, and an ever-increasing, stream of litera- ture concerning the far-oflE lands which are beyond the pale of civilization. There is hardly a land con- cerning which modern, up-to-date books have not been written by expert missionaries, statesmen, ex- The New Conditions 53 plorers and travellers. They reveal a careful analy- sis of the life and thought, and a full description of the habits and customs, of nearly all the tribes and peoples of the distant and inaccessible portions of the world. {d) A new commercial interest in foreign and non-Christian peoples has become a prominent feature of modern enterprise, as it is becoming an important element in the attitude of the civilized world towards those lands. Our Western kings of commerce are seeking new lands to conquer for trade, new populations to exploit for their valuable resources, and fresh markets to receive the marvel- lously multiplied products of the West. The great commercial nations of the world are eagerly sending forth their consular and other agencies, even to the remotest regions, with a view to urge those awaking peoples to open doors of trade for their growing, greedy commerce. There is no other interest in the world which is more active and aggressive and more wide awake to its opportunity than that of trade and commerce. With excess of zeal, with cruel persist- ence and with haughty, threatening mien, manu- facturers demand an open door among all these people to sell the many articles of their factories. And with these products of their mechanical inge- nuity, they export also much of the base, immoral elements of their civilization. But, thanks be unto God, the man of commerce is rarely unaccompanied by the missionary. It has been said, to our shame, that the same ships have 54 The Modern Missionary Challenge carried the missionary and rum into Africa. Com- merce has not been an unmixed evil to any of those lands. Even when not preceded by the missionary, the man of commerce is a forerunner of the mes- senger of the Cross, and often prepares the way for him to exercise his influence and power for the re- demption of the people. (e) Besides this there has grown an increasing familiarity with, and a thorough study of, the re- ligions of the non-Christian races. It is only the brief stretch of one generation since all the non- Christian faiths were classified together. There were tribes and races in Africa and in Asia, which, a generation ago, were supposed to be without any faith, and devoid of any religious ideas and purposes. They were supposed to be the godless brutes of a day, the denizens of this world only. It is astonish- ing to think what dense ignorance prevailed, the middle of the nineteenth century, concerning the re- ligions of the people who were not a part of Chris- tendom. But the new science of Comparative Religion has brought to us the dawn of a new era of religious knowledge. We no longer believe, as our fathers did, that all faiths which did not find their origin in our sacred Scriptures are the offspring of the evil one and are his mighty agencies in debasing untold millions, and in consigning a moiety of our race to eternal perdition. We live under the growing light and effulgence of this modern science which compares intelligently, and classifies wisely, the faiths of the The New Conditions ^^ world. It not only analyzes and classifies the many ethnic and other non-Christian religions ; it also dignifies them by ascribing to them a message and a mission in the religious progress of our race ; and by showing them to be not of satanic origin, but the pathetic and blind groping of sin-sick souls, seeking after God and craving right relationship to Him. It shows every one of these religions to be in possession of teachings worthy to be conserved and utilized, as well as of others which should be discarded and overthrown. The science of Comparative Re- ligion reveals in these faiths some genuine worth — elements which should be properly correlated to Christian truth and brought into subjection to the Christ life and ideal and to the Christian scheme of redemption. What a wonderful light is thus thrown, even upon our own unique and divine re- ligion, by comparing it with the inadequate and un- satisfying teachings of the other great faiths of the world ; and by revealing its supremacy and power as a system of truth and of life ! (/) Through all this there has come into the spirit of man that sense of universal brotherhood which is so characteristic of our day. A growing knowledge of the people of all lands not only creates an interest in them and in their affairs ; it also gene- rates a neighbourly interest and a sense of kinship, which is not only novel and striking, but which is revolutionary in its influence upon man everywhere. It raises the question whether these erstwhile stran- gers and foes are not, after all, our kith and kin — 56 The Modem Missionary Challenge whether there is not, deeper than the discords of colour, language and custom, an undertone of con- sanguinity and of close human relationship whose vibrations, subtle as the ether, play, and must in- creasingly play, upon human hearts the world over. Joseph Cook said that '* the nineteenth century made the world one neighbourhood ; the twentieth century should make it one brotherhood." There is nothing so marked in the trend of Christendom as thFs grow- ing Christian consciousness of the essential unity of all the races of men ; not only in their origin as the sons of one Father, but also in their destiny, as the members of one great family who are to work to- gether in loving sympathy and in genuine harmony for their mutual uplift and ultimate salvation. II The world has been marvellously opened, during the last fifty years, to the gospel messenger and to his message. A few brief years ago the most com- mon missionary prayer offered was that God might open the closed doors of heathen lands in order that His messengers of truth and grace might enter therein. That prayer is now rarely offered, because God has answered it and has thrown wide open the doors of opportunity for Christian service and for the propagation of our faith in most lands even unto the uttermost parts of the earth. It is not true that all nations and tribes are eagerly, or even consciously, seeking the gospel message. As in apostolic days, so at the present time, the The New Conditions 57 Macedonian cry is heard in all parts of the world. It is the call of God for service and the cry of human need for help which comes to the Christian Church from every land. And yet it comes now, as it came to the apostles of old, " with stripes and imprison- ment." The Macedonians persecuted, beat and im- prisoned the very men who responded to the call of their need. The same experience comes to the mis- sionary messenger, as he enters the needy fields of the world to-day. He must expect to be reviled. Shall the missionary carry to a people his mes- sage and urge upon them his new faith without re- ceiving any invitation from them ? Has he a right to thrust upon them his message and to compel them to listen, against their will, to his Gospel ? It is the same old question that has recurred through- out the centuries. We read of One who, twenty centuries ago, " came unto His own and His own received Him not." The all-sufficient reason why Christ came into the world was the desperate need of the people of that day. He was despised and His message was spurned ; and He was finally killed for His service. Yet who would ask the question whether it was right for Christ to come, under those circumstances, with His new faith and message of life unto the Jewish people ? At the present time it is enough that the servant follow his Lord. To the true missionary, the real question is not whether a people want him, but, rather, whether they need him. It is not their invitation that must be the door- way of his service to them, but rather their spiritual 58 The Modern Missionary Challenge condition. The patient whose condition is such that he seeks not a physician and asks for no remedy, reveals thereby that his condition is a desperate one and that his need is supreme and most urgent. There is martyrdom awaiting many a messenger of Christ at the present time in Turkey, in China and in other lands. There is scorn, contempt and oppo- sition in India. There is persecution from the hoary institutions which are attacked, and from the vested rights which are antagonized by the Christian faith. There is Roman Catholic opposition awaiting him in Europe and in South America. Everywhere prej- udice and hostility lurk for the man whose business is '* to turp the world upside down." The sinful hearts of men, the jealousies of hierarchies, priestly rage and the bitterness of the organized forces and religious institutions which are being overthrown — all of these are as common to-day as they ever were, as the reward of faithful Christian service. In Mohammedan countries the aggressive mien of Islam is perhaps more noticeable than ever before, es- pecially at some of its great centres of activity and power. Yet there are a few significant facts which are very, encouraging to all those engaged in the Chris- tian propaganda in non-Christian countries. The governments of the world, generally speak- ing, guarantee to the missionary of the Cross wel- come and protection. More than a hundred years ago the first English missionaries to India, and, a little later on, the first American missionaries to that The New Conditions 59 land, were not permitted to enter, to live or to work in the territories of the Honourable East India Company. They had no place for the missionary ; and they re- garded his message as an impertinence. They drove him out of their borders mercilessly, and gave him no quarter. To-day, the government of India not only welcomes the missionary, but cordially pro- tects him and has nothing but hearty words of ap- preciation for the noble services which he is render- ing to the land and the people. Even in Japan, in China, in Turkey, and in other non-Christiain lands, the missionary is a persona grata with the powers that be, because they know that he is a messenger of peace, of light and of life. And, above all, they know that they have no right as a people to deny him a hearing and to refuse audience to his message. The non-Christian peoples of the world are in- creasingly ready to listen to the gospel message. In China, the missionaries tell us that the people re- veal, in ordinary times, great friendliness and fur- nish abundant liberty for the preaching of the Gos- pel. Where opposition was encountered in the past, attentive audience and growing appreciation are now revealed. The stolid indifTerence of the past is gradually giving way, and new thoughtfulness con- cerning religious things, and a new breadth of vision are taking its place. Missionaries in Manchuria and in Mongolia are encouraged with the same popular attitude of appreciation. In Korea there has been a wonderful change during the last few years. Nearly the whole population of that land have their ears 6o The Modem Missionary Challenge open to the Christian message. Never in all the history of that country have they revealed such a lack of confidence in their old faiths and interest in Christianity as at the present time. Not only the common people, but those high in position and power, are attentive to the Christian message. ** Turkey is another striking example of change. In some respects the recent Turkish revolution has been the most remarkable which has ever taken place in any nation. Autocracy has .been done away with, and a modern constitution has been granted. The key-notes of the revolution have been * Liberty, Equality, Fraternity and Justice.' Great social and educational changes have resulted. The whole population is awake and thinking as never be- fore. The bondage of custom has been shaken. New literature is pouring into the country. The mails have more than doubled in volume. Meetings for the discussion of topics pertaining to the develop- ment of the country are being held " (Commission I). Even in darkest Africa, where so much of gross superstition, barbarism and even cannibalism are rife, wonderful changes have taken place since the days of Livingstone, who gave his life for that sorely depressed and oppressed people. To-day there are remarkable movements all over that continent, re- vealing the fact that the day of Christian opportunity has already dawned. Even kings and chieftains are seeking light and blessing for their people. How striking the message of King Ndombe to King Leo- pold and President McKinley, a few years ago! The New Conditions 6l ** Ndombe requests the great white kings to send out to his country men who have good hearts to help the black people, to teach them, to keep the peace with them, and to be their friends. To such men our hearts are open, and behold I the land is theirs. When these things shall be done all shall be well in the country of Ndombe, from the waters of all the great rivers even unto the mountains of the setting sun." Ill The present attitude of non-Christian peoples is deeply interesting. The Asiatic peoples, who, for a few centuries suf- fered almost total eclipse, both on account of their own decadence and because of the modern arising and military assertion of the Occident, are now again revealing a new consciousness of power. We, of the West, have long regarded them as our helpless wards ; but they are no longer willing to be domi- nated or driven to the wall by the arrogant young races of the West. There is nothing more striking in modern times than the new attitude of these peo- ple of the East. Japan, under compulsion of American guns, a half century ago, opened her doors to Western life and in- fluence. How strangely has she, out of her past im- mobility, suddenly leaped into progress and world- wide prominence ! She has achieved this largely because she has copied from the West, and has even improved upon its method, and has added, to all 62 The Modern Missionary Challenge these, her own unique patriotism, which has always distinguished her, and which, upon the recent batde- field of Manchuria, gave her a new prestige and power among the leading military races of the world. Japan is to-day an apt pupil in the modern world- school, and is trying to realize in character that which she has achieved through arms, and to capi- talize her valour and military prowess in terms of educational advance and moral worth. And, what is both significant and pathetic, Japan is. trying to build a new faith without a God, and a system of ethics without divine sanction. In the thrill of her modern excitement she has wrought out for herself a new religion of the name '* Tenrikkyo." It is a strange compound, different from Buddhism and non-idolatrous. Already nearly four millions of the inhabitants of that land have accepted the new faith which has been definitely recognized by the State as one of the religious forces of the country. China, also, is coming to her own in a remarkable way. For millenniums she was content to go on in her good old way. During all these centuries she surpassed many peoples by her culture, her faiths, and her ethical standard. But her equipment suf- ficed only for a benighted and stagnant past. In the throbbing new life and unrest of the modern world China had no message, no inspiration, and no up- lift, for her own teeming millions. She is conscious of her helplessness, and realizes that she has fallen back most pitifully in her race and conflict with the West. In all things she had become stereotyped and The New Conditions 63 lifeless. Under these circumstances China is begin- ning to do the only thing possible for her. She has entered upon the great quest of the Eastern world, after more light and a new source of Hfe and power. For thousands of years she was self-centred and self- satisfied. To-day she has embarked upon the sea of change and unrest. And who knows the harbour into which she will finally enter and find peace and plenty to her soul ? Perhaps no people in the Far East have been so crushed by external forces, and have been im- pelled by their own helplessness to seek for new guidance and blessing, as have the Koreans during the last decade or two. A quiet, harmless people, without great ambition and wanting in aggressive energy, they have lost their political independence and liberty. But, in their political weakness, and hampered by their newly forged fetters, they have become conscious of their defects and their needs, and are now, in a marked degree, turning their faces heavenward and westward, and crying for a new life and for heavenly guidance to a blessing and power which will save them from the thralldom of ignorance, superstition, sin, and foreign dominion. What is that life-and-death struggle for constitu- tional liberty which recently thrilled the ancient land of Persia ? It is nothing else than the outward mani- festation of that new life and ambition which is cours- ing through the veins of all Asia at the present time. And we are now listening to the songs of praise and the exultant joys of the millions of Turkey, as 64 The Modern Missionary Challenge they have just found their long-lost liberty, and have come to the joys of social, poHtical and religious freedom. In that land, also, the people are coming to their own, through the instrumentality of this newly discovered life and ambition. India, likewise, though the most conservative of all countries, is now throbbing with the spirit of un- rest. No people on earth have so deified custom and worshipped the past as have the people of India. It has always been regarded a crime in that land to ignore the precepts of the fathers and to make light of the ancient institutions of the land. To-day India is seeking, for herself, a new place in the world programme. Politically she is demanding for herself the right of self-government and self-di- rection. Under the influence of a century and a half of British guidance and control she has been trained to some of the highest things of life, and the noblest thoughts and possessions of modern civiliza- tion. A modern system of Western education has brought to her new conceptions of human rights, privileges and responsibilities, and has given her a new vision of Western ideals of life. She has en- tered, for the first time, into the era of self-govern- ment and of the enjoyment of representative institu- tions. In her eight hundred municipalities, and in her nine provincial legislative bodies, she enjoys, to a large degree, legislative power and self-direc- tion. As the consequence of all this, there has come to her a passionate desire for self-government on colonial lines within the British Empire. The New Conditions 65 India, also, recently gazed upon that wonderful triumph of the Japanese over the Russians, and had a vision, for the first time, of the possibilities of in- dependence, which invited her to new activities and worthy achievements. As a result of all this, the classes of India are now exercised as never before with a purpose to take their place among the na- tions of the world, and especially to have the su- preme control in shaping their own destiny, and in furthering the highest interests of the country. Thus, wherever we go among these non-Christian countries, we are everywhere confronted with a new awakening of the people. Hardly anywhere do we find a people robed in the indifference of half a cen- tury ago. The dawn of a new day has come to them ; and some of them are trying, in a thousand ways, to satisfy the new-felt craving of their souls for a change and an advance. In most of these countries, great reliance is based upon education. In Japan and in China, in India and in Turkey, and in other countries also, the cry has begun to ascend from all classes for more edu- cation ; and the educational systems of the West are being rapidly transplanted into Eastern soil. Within a few short years Japan has not only copied from the West, but, in her usually eclectic fashion, she has selected the best elements from many of the Western systems, and has perfected and is enjoying one of the best educational systems in the world. China, also, is developing a scheme of education strictly on Western lines and imbued with the West- ■^^ 66 The Modern Missionary Challenge ern spirit ; and, already, millions of her youth are entering into her new schools, which are built upon the ruins of her past educational system, and are be- ing trained on lines of thought and of sentiment which are more or less antagonistic to her past. Korea, likewise, is fleeing for refuge to modern education, hoping thereby to qualify herself for a new future of independence and of self-assertion. Strange things are taking place in India through the British educational system and the Anglo- Saxon ideas which are imparted thereby. Intel- lectual, social, political and religious fermentation is leavening all their life and changing all their ideals. Turkey,, also, is not to be left behind in this mat- ter. She is devising wonderful schemes of educa- tional advance ; and the greatest revolution in all her history is soon to come to her through her newly-established schools modelled on the most ap- proved Western lines. The difficulty with these countries is that they are making a fetish of education. They believe that it is the panacea for all their ills. The education which they are beginning to impart is largely of a godless kind, and ignores the deepest principles of ethical life and moral efficiency. India has, for years, through government and native institutions, developed almost exclusively this type of education. Many of the best friends of India, including a host of leading Indians, think that India is now, in its spirit of sedition, disloyalty and anarchy, reaping The New Conditions 67 the legitimate results of her educational system. The friendly attitude of the East towards the Western educational spirit and methods must be joined to thorough sympathy with, and dependence upon, re- ligious training and moral culture, as an essential part of that which is to exalt and save a people. Out of this new awakening of the East there has emerged a new racial consciousness, which has in- tensified and is increasingly embittering the antago- nism of East and West. This is one of the most marked results of the awakening of the East. And our Western racial arrogance has largely been the fuel by which this modern racial passion and conflict have been kindled and kept burning. In America, our contact and conflict with the negroes has led us into racial bitterness and conceit. We have been prone to assume that humanity is divided into two great racial sections — the Whites and those who are not white. And we have stoutly believed in the in- comparable superiority of the Whites over all other people. In the strength of this arrogance we have contemptuously treated all others, and have placed them equally and alike in the same category of the unworthy, the ineligible and the undesirable. We have lost our racial perspective and have not dis- criminated between nations and races that are totally distinct. We have dealt with the black and the brown and the yellow races, not only as if they were all one, but also with the contempt born of igno- rance of their divers and worthy qualities. In their new-found dignity and intense racial as- 68 The Modem Missionary Challenge sertion, the people of Asia bitterly resent this Western conceit and blind classification. The Japanese, the Brahmans of India, the Turks and the Chinese, each race for itself, presents to us its own peculiar claims, and demands of us a treat- ment consonant with its own individual excellence and racial worth. The day has passed when we, in this land, should, or can, discriminate against the yellow man of the Far East, and indeed against all men who are not white, simply on the ground of colour. The ** sand-lot politicians " of America have too long held our country in the bondage of a gross racial ignorance, blind assumption of superiority and indiscriminfeLte contempt of the people of the East. Japan will no longer suffer herself to be despised or unjustly and unequally treated, simply because of her racial connection. During the last few years she has proved, what the Chinese and other races also will soon prove, the solid merits, and some of the superior and excellent qualities, of her racial type ; and she demands recognition of them, and claims from America and from all the Western world con- sideration for all her people, and respect and equal treatment for herself as a nation. The Russo- Japanese war gave point and emphasis, beyond any- thing else in modern history, to the race conflict be- tween the East and West — the Yellow and the White. And as the yellow man shows his mettle and his superiority to the white man upon the battle- field, where the latter has for centuries had do- minion, then will the West, as indeed she must, con- The New Conditions 69 cede other points of excellence and of value to Eastern people. Nothing, in all history, has more thoroughly punctured our Western conceit and has more thoroughly rehabilitated the self-consciousness and assertion of the East than that same war. What Japan has demanded and enforced, at the point of the bayonet ; what she has won through the price of the blood of legions of her noble heroic dead, that also is all the East demanding from us to-day. China is preparing for the great conflict of the near future — the conflict which can by no pos- sibility be evaded and which is perhaps more immi- nent than we are apt to think, and which will not end until her numberless hosts shall have shown to the West that the Yellow man must be respected and treated with consideration and equality by the White man. Perhaps the conflict is nowhere more marked and acute than in India at the present time. As we study carefully the Indian situation we see that it is peculiar in this particular. In that land, to-day, there stand face to face, not two diverse and foreign races, but two brother Aryans — the Aryan White of the West and the Aryan Brown of the East. More than four millenniums ago these two brothers, of the same race, parted company; one turned his face westward, and the other migrated southward. By centuries of life and training and of northern en- vironment the Western brother became the vig- orous, assertive, pushing, Anglo-Saxon of the West. In a similar manner, the other brother — the yo The Modern Missionary Challenge Brahman of the East— developed his own type of character, almost antipodal to that of the Anglo- Saxon. To-day, in God's strange providence, these two have come together once more ; and through much friction and bitterness of spirit they are, I be- lieve, working out the great problem of their com- mon destiny and are furnishing to the world a racial conflict which is to result in the creation of a new and a better type of manhood and of racial dignity and power than any that the world has ever known in the past. The White Aryan has triumphed in arms over his milder brown brother of the Eastern tropics. He has the arrogance of his race joined to the conscious- ness of his- military power and to a sense of his gen- eral superiority over the subject race. He has rid- den roughshod over the Brahman's sensibihties ; he has never regarded his view-point in the study of any situation ; he has entirely forgotten, even if he ever knew, the Hindu temperament, and has always interpreted the slight shade of colour which dis- tinguishes his brother of the East as the sign of his inferiority and a badge of his bondage. Doubtless, he intends to do the best he can, and to bring the best that he possesses, to this man of the East. But most of his work is vitiated by this prepossession and thought of his own superiority. Yet that Brahman is not without self-appreciation ; indeed he is possessed of a colossal self-conceit — a conceit which is by no means inferior to that of the Aryan White, and is perhaps more warranted than The New Conditions 71 his. For, during the last thirty centuries in the his- tory of India, that Aryan Brown has enjoyed undis- puted supremacy in all that makes for the existence and prosperity of any people. He has revealed him- self to be a man wonderful in his resources and prowess. Intellectually he has dominated the des- tiny of India. He has largely shaped the thought and created and elaborated the remarkable philosophies of that land. India has been preeminently the land of religious thought and speculation, of profound systems of philosophy and of ontology ; and this has largely been the product of the mind and the stirring result of the thought of the Brahman. Socially, his position is supreme among the three hundred millions of that land. He has dominated society in India from time immemorial. It is he who erected that colossal caste system which, for twenty- five centuries, has shaped the life and controlled the destiny of the teeming millions of that land. In that great social and religious pyramid he has placed himself at the apex, and has so stereotyped and stratified society as to make it impossible for a member of one stratum to rise, by any possibility, into another. At the base of Hhat pyramid he has placed the fifty million outcastes who are helpless, ambitionless and hopelessly crushed by the weight of that mighty social system. Religiously, the Brahman is the cynosure of all eyes. The son of Brahma, the Creator, he has for many centuries received the worship which was orig- inally given to his father, and was later transferred 72 The Modem Missionary Challenge to him. The millions of Hinduism believe him to be divine ; and many still prostrate themselves be- fore him and worship him. The proximity of an outcaste man, yea, even his shadow, pollutes this man of God. He regards himself as divine and is possessed of all the intolerance and arrogance in- separable from such a conceit. Now, the Brahman of India is intellectually superior to his brother of the West. He can surpass him any day in intellec- tual pursuits. Socially, he regards himself- as unap- proached by the white man. To him contact with an Englishman is religiously as defiling as contact with the Pariah. Even if the meanest Brahman in India were to come into personal contact with the King of England, the Emperor of India, it would necessitate, afterwards, the performance of many re- ligious ablutions in order to cleanse himself from the polluting touch of that white man 1 This, then, is the racial tension which now exists between the man of the East and the man of the West ; and it is the business of the West to study well the situation and to enter into the spirit of our Master, of our religion, and of the highest and best sentiments of our civilization, so as to help to solve the problem in a way that will be Christian and per- manent. In this connection one should not forget the antip- odal character of the East and the West. And in India this is intensified by the fact that we not only have East and West confronting each other, we have also the inhabitants of the North and the denizens of The New Conditions 73 the tropical South, face to face. It is eminently true, as Kipling has said, that "The East is East and the West is West And never the twain shall meet, Till earth and sky stand presently At God's great judgment seat." This antipodal — or, more properly, complementary — relationship of these two hemispheres must never be forgotten in our approach to those people of the Orient. Our first duty in the East is that of study- ing them that we may understand them and enter into sympathy, so far as may be, with their tempera- ment and view-point. King George V, after his re- cent visit, as Prince of Wales, to India, declared his conviction that what India especially needed to-day was more sympathy from the British people. This is doubtless true. It is not enough that we take to the East the best that we have in life and in thought, in faith and in morals ; but we must take it in a way which will appeal strongly to them, and which will attract them and lead them to accept our message and our blessing. It is too true that the man of the West has regarded his mission m the East as a mis- sion to " hustle the East." We need to do more than this, we need preeminently to "hustle" our- selves away from this arrogance and into humble, loving sympathy with the people — the only way by which they can be understood, appreciated, and won over to any blessing and spiritual power that we may possess. 74 The Modem Missionary Challenge IV It is of considerable importance that, under the kaleidoscopic changes which are now going on among the non-Christian people of the world, and under the many revelations of their strength and wisdom, we should remember that there is one par- ticular of fundamental importance in which these peoples are one among themselves as they are one with us. They are in the same condition of aliena- tion from God, in deep need of the Gospel of Christ and of salvation from sin. Among all the faiths of the non-Christian world there is not one that gives an adequate conception of the true God. With all the profound philosophies of India, there is found in that land a deadening pantheism, a gross polythe- ism, and a debasing and all-embracing idolatry. Japan is pathetically building up for herself to-day a godless system of ethics, because she has no true and certain grip upon any theory of divine existence, guidance and control. There is no people in all the non-Christian world which has fathomed the depth of the content of the simple word " sin." They know not its real nature. They either ignore it entirely, or fail to emphasize its ethical content ; and they know of no way of achieving victory over sin in life, and of reaching a condition of moral perfection. However much one nation after another may emerge out of the gross darkness of ignorance, and many of the common superstitions of life, the deeper one studies their moral and spiritual condition, the more impressed does he become that there is no The New Conditions 75 remedy outside of Christ and His Gospel which can bring to them true elevation and ennoblement of life, individual and national. Their modern awakening and their putting on of respectability in many of the outer aspects of life and civilization does not change, in the least, their pathetic helplessness in spiritual matters. The missionary has not yet found, among the Christless peoples of the world, any whose con- dition is not pitiable, and does not clearly reveal the need of the Gospel of reconciliation which God has brought to the world in Christ Jesus. I have seen the people of many lands and have foun.d most encouraging progress in many ways among non-Christian people ; but I have not yet found an instance where the Gospel of Jesus Christ is rendered any the less necessary because of their awakening and progress. The gospel message is directly or indirectly the source of every new impulse of life and progress in the East to-day. But it is also true and more significantly and vitally true, that no people have found life and permanent blessing by accepting the by-products of our faith and rejecting its supreme message and soul blessing. There is no adequacy in any other system of life or of thought to produce that which man everywhere supremely needs — individual, social and national regeneration, and perfection of moral life and spiritual power. It is well, therefore, that we listen to those splen- didly true and ringing words of Sir Monier Williams, that man of great wisdom and of wide knowledge of the East : 76 The Modern Missionary Challenge ** Go forth, then, ye missionaries, in your Master's name ; go forth into all the world, and, after study- ing all its false religions and philosophies, go forth and fearlessly proclaim to suffering humanity the plain, the unchangeable, the eternal facts of the Gospel^ — nay, I might almost say, the stubborn, the unyielding, the inexorable facts of the Gospel. Dare to be downright with all the uncompromising cour- age of your own Bible, while with it your watch- words are love, joy, peace, reconciliation. Be fair, be charitable, be Christlike, but let there be no mis- take. Let it be made absolutely clear that Chris- tianity cannot, must not, be watered down to suit the palate of either Hindu, Parsee, Confucianist, or Mo- hammedan) and that whosoever wishes to pass from the false religion to the true can never hope to do so by the rickety planks of compromise, or by the help of faltering hands held out by half-hearted Christians. He must leap the gulf in faith, and the living Christ will spread His everlasting arms beneath, and land him safely on the Eternal Rocks. " I have said enough to put you on your guard when you hear people speak too highly of the sacred books of the East, other than our own Bible. Let us not shut our eyes to what is excellent and true and of good report in these books ; but let us teach Hindus, Zoroastrians, Confucianists, Buddhists, and Mohammedans that there is only one sacred Book that can be their mainstay, their support, in that awful hour when they pass alone into the unseen world. There is only one Book to be clasped to the The New Conditions 77 heart — only one Gospel that can give peace to the fainting soul then. It is the sacred Volume which contains that faithful saying worthy to be accepted of all men, women and children, in the East and in the West, in the North and in the South, * that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.' " Ill The New Problems Which it Presents NEW conditions always create new problems. In the home lands the missionary enter- prise furnishes ever-changing questions which the Church is prone to ignore,' or too slow to study and solve. One of the most discouraging characteristics of the Church is its unwillingness to seriously consider new problems as they arise and to solve them in a way which will add to its effi- ciency and make for progress and power. On the mission field, also, every year presents fresh problems and furnishes new emphases to old prob- lems in a way which demands alertness and discern- ment upon the part of missionary leaders. I We have Thought Problems which are, perhaps, the most urgent and perplexing of all. During the last half century the deepest thought of the world, especially of the oriental world, has been profoundly disturbed, if not revolutionized. And the attitude of the Western mind towards Eastern philosophies and religious speculation has undergone even a more marked overturning. Thus, our question assumes a twofold form. 78 The New Problems 79 (a) In the first place what shall be our attitude towards non-Christian religious thought ? A few brief years ago this hardly- presented a sub- ject for discussion. It was almost universally main- tained that all non-Christian thought was not only a contemptible thing, but also a depraved and un- godly thing which should be utterly avoided and eradicated. To-day, also, it is known that much of this thought is erratic, childish and must be discarded. But there is also a growing sentiment that not a little of it is to be conserved and utilized in the coming religious adjustment. It is to be chastened and used as fit material in the permanent temple of Christian thought. In other words, we have learned to dis- criminate between that which is false and unworthy and that which is true and eternal in ethnic and other non-Christian faiths. Even the lowest types of heathen religious thought, though they may not appeal to our intel- ligence, demand our sympathetic interpretation. They awaken some appreciation and will demand that men reckon with them in the constructive work of Christian thought among those peoples. The testimony of Dr. Johan Warneck is to the point here, — ''The more thoroughly we study animistic heathenism the more astonished we become at the wonderful system which we had never dreamed of finding among uncivilized peoples, among cannibals and head-hunters. We discover that even vilified heathenism shows a work of thought. Superstition 8o The Modem Missionary Challenge has a system. Its ungainly features are not marked by a planless caprice, but all converge to one centre, the view of the soul as the highest good. The strange world of ideas confronts us as a compact philosophy of nature. We are fairly amazed at the uncivilized man's inherent love of knowledge, the need he feels for a rational approach to the enigmas and forces of the world, and for coming to an under- standing with the supernatural. Animistic iieathen- ism must be taken as seriously as the higher religions of Greece and India. It has not found the truth, has even wandered far from it, but what a felt need for knowledge ! " ^ How much more is this true when we rise to a consideration of the highest ethnic and other non- Christian faiths of Asia. No people can have woven for millenniums out of the deepest and richest fabric of their religious thought and sentiments a philos- ophy or a system of ontology which has not some- thing in it which partakes of their deepest intellec- tual need and spiritual yearning, and which should not be conserved and built into their Christian phi- losophy to help them in their interpretation of the Christ life and thought. We must not only agree with the two greatest of Christian apostles, that God did not leave these peo- ple without witness of Himself in their most earnest intellectual searchings after Him ; we must also believe that some of these ancient teachings of these philos- ophies are a reflection of their own mind and the J "The Living Christ and Dying Heathenism," p. 8i. The New Problems 81 offspring of their deepest being and must be brought into subjection to the Christ thought as the people themselves are brought into the Christ life. So the thought problem is more complex at pres- ent than in the past when all non-Christian thought was discarded and denounced. As we approach Mohammedanism, for instance, we must not forget that a no inconsiderable portion of the groundwork of that faith is kindred to, if not the same as, our own. It is just as important that the missionary, who labours among its followers, recognize and appreciate the harmonies as the dis- sonances of the two religions. They worship the same God as ourselves, only with a more exclusive emphasis upon the divine Unity. They accept and reverence our Scriptures and are even more bitterly opposed than we to all forms of polytheism, panthe- ism, idolatry and heathenish superstition. This is certainly a broad, a common and an eternal plat- form upon which we may approach them. If again we consider Buddhism, it is well to re- member that the great Gautama established his faith five centuries before Christ under very similar conditions and circumstances to' those in which our Lord established His religion. The Buddha was a mighty protestant against the vain formalism, the ceremonial excesses, the racial narrowness, the de- basing polytheism and the myriad bloody sacrifices and priestly tyranny of the Brahmanism of his day, as our Lord antagonized at all points practically the same evils of the Rabbinical Phariseeism of His day. 82 The Modern Missionary Challenge Fresent-day Buddhism in the Far East is a degener- ate thing. But its primitive ethical grandeur, the stern nobility of its founder, and his persistent em- phasis upon the brotherhood of all men and the uni- versal benevolence of his heart and the tolerance of his creed — all these are certainly worthy of com- mendation and reveal to us teachings of fundamental importance and eternal verity. i Confucianism in China, also, is possessed of quali- ties that are commendable. It is not necessary that A/ we raise the question whether Confucianism is, or is not, a religion. The very fact that the question is raised by men of thought in all lands is a significant confession of its defect and inadequacy as arehgion. However, all admit its ethical value and bear testi- mony to its wholesome influence, in many respects, upon the Chinese people. The same is true of the Brahmanism of India. Referring, generally, to the indigenous thought of all these lands of the East, I claim that they should be dealt with intelligently. It is a lamentable fact that few missionaries and fewer oriental Christians are thoroughly familiar with the thought of their an- cestral faiths. There lingers still the old conviction that indigenous thought and life in the East are un- worthy of consideration and are of the devil. No people on earth have engaged more and for a longer time in religious speculation, or have thought out more patiently and devoutly the relations between God and man, than have the people of India, for in- stance ; and no one is worthy to be a teacher of those The New Problems 83 people in divine things who is not tolerably familiar with the thoughts of God as they were revealed, in past ages, to the sages of that land. ' They should also be dealt with in a thoroughly sympathetic way. Men must not trifle with the teaching of many centuries, which is not only hoary with age, but is also most pathetically sincere and patient. It is necessary to know that India has pro- duced some of the highest religious speculations, profoundest philosophies and most remarkable sys- tems of ontology that the world has ever known. These have been the thought pabulum and the spir- itual nourishment of this great people for millen- niums. One should not deal harshly or unsympa- thetically with these spiritual aspirations and yearn- ings of that people. He must be able to see what it is in all Eastern faiths that has rendered them, in a limited sense, soothing, if not satisfying, to the heart, and expressive of the deepest mind, of those races for so many centuries. Criticism of it must also be dominantly construct- ive in its character. Even to-day, many mission- aries believe that they have been sent to the East to tear down and trample under foot every element of these systems of thought and spiritual aspirations which, they say, are of the evil one. Rather is it necessary to regard them as containing many vital and eternal truths which must be conserved — stones out of the old temples of Eastern religions to be re- cut and placed in the abiding temple of our Chrisr tian faith. Respect and consideration for life in all 84 The Modern Missionary Challenge its forms, and reverence for ancestors, as overem- phasized by Buddhism and Confucianism, must be disengaged from the errors with which they are in- volved there, chastened and made an emphatic part of Christianity in the East. Some of the most fun- damental teachings of ancient and modern India are among the eternal verities of rehgion to be valued and preserved for their own sake and also for the reason that they have been cherished in that land from time immemorial and have revealed the mould of the mind and heart of the East during all this time. Moreover, many of these truths only require to be exalted and taken out of their base setting and chas- tened and reexpressed in modern Christian terms in order to be properly related to Christian truth. Pantheism itself, which has done more evil in India than any other teaching of the land, is India's profoundest and most powerful doctrine. It has wrought more for India than all other teachings combined, in the type of character which it has pro- duced and in the influence of the faith of which it is the foundation stone. Yet pantheism is only a per- verted truth. It is an overemphasis upon the all- important doctrine of divine immanence. These people have drawn God so near to them that they are unable to see Him and know Him. It reveals marvellously the type of oriental mind which has well been called *'the mind of a God-intoxicated people." There are elements in this doctrine which must be conserved and through which our faith can The New Problems 85 be made the more vital and helpful to the Orient. In like manner, the doctrine of Karma^ which is so all-pervasive and convincing in the thought and life of Hindus and Buddhists alike, is but a twisted and distorted expression of the fundamental Christian truth of the universality and remorselessness of the moral law in God's universe. It needs to be re- formed and properly related to the basal Christian doctrine of grace in order to acquire permanent value in our religion. Some of these thoughts, which are indigenous in the East, are definitely preparatory to the higher Christian truth. This is essentially true of the Vaishnavite doctrine of faith (bhakti), which indeed may have been originally adopted from Christianity in the third century of our era, and which is the nearest approach among the teachings of that faith to that of our own divine religion. When that doc- trine, which is now so popular in India, shall have been cleansed from its impurities, released from its association with unworthy gods, and brought into intimate relationship with our Christ, it will accom- plish more perhaps than any other doctrine that has ever , been taught there, in making our faith indig- enous in the East. {b) Then there arises the complementary and equally important inquiry as to how much of West- ern Christianity shall be taken to non-Christian peoples. Certainly it is necessary to take every esseiitial truth and grace which it possesses. There is no vital teaching of our faith which we can afiord 86 The Modern Missionary Challenge to dispense with. The East needs no emasculated Christianity. Every element of its Ufe and power, and its every web of thought should adorn and com- mend it to those people. But it is important to remember, in this connec- tion, that our Western type of Christianity is a com- pound of two very different elements — the Christ life and His saving message, on the one side, and the many centuries of our interpretation and elabo- ration of the same on the other. The Christianity which is to be related to Eastern thought and life is not the same as that interpreta- tion of Christian truth which the West has elaborated through many centuries in consonance with its own mental bia.s and intellectual prepossessions, and ex- pressing fully the Western emphasis upon life. The Western, especially the Anglo-Saxon, type of mind is more nearly antipodal than any other to that of the East ; and the hemispheres of life which they have cultivated are mutually complementary. It should not, therefore, be supposed that our duty is to carry bodily our Western thought and life to those lands where it could not possibly be intelligible, congenial or useful. One has well said that " before India can be Christianized, Christianity must be naturalized." The distinguished Indian Christian, Kali Charran Banner jee, significantly em- phasized, in an address to missionaries, the supreme fact that what India requires to-day is " not adjec- tival Christianity but the substantive thing." Oriental Christians are coming to feel this more and The New Problems 87 more ; and the non-Christian, educated people of India and the Far East are most pronounced in this conviction. It is Essential Christianity that must be related to Eastern thought and life ; and there is much less of our Western Christianity, in religious speculation, in dogmatic assertion and in ecclesias- tical assumption, which is of the very essence of our faith than we are wont to think. In achieving this we have a decided advantage over those who have gone before. The science of Comparative Religions helps us not only to see what is good in other faiths, but also enables us to realize the partial, local and inadequate interpretation which any one nation or people has given to our own faith. And our broader sympathies and wider knowledge of men prevent us from a wholesale thrusting of our prejudices and dogmatic assertions upon non-Chris- tian peoples as in the past. The modern unrest of the East is in no small de- gree the dissatisfaction of those lands with our Western intellectual and religious arrogance which strives to lead all men to think in our channels and to emphasize our Western ideals and virtues. It is necessary that Christian truth be separated, as far as may be, from its Western setting. This will be a very difficult thing for a man of the West to do. He can never fully disengage himself from his inheritance and bias of thought and life ; but he must always aim to lay aside his prepossessions and bring to the Eastern people, so far as possible, that aspect of our religion which will best appeal to tKem 88 The Modern Missionary Challenge and which will most quickly develop within them the noblest traits of life and character. He must also make Christ the centre and the supreme test of his teaching. Jesus is the world Christ. He is at least as oriental as He is occidental. He appeals to the East to-day as no other incarna- tion of life ever did in that continent. He has already captivated the mind and the imagination of the leaders and the cultivated men of the Orient. He, in His words and life, is the Essential Christian- ity, and is what Asia supremely needs. He should be the centre and the circumference of the mission- ary's message. Whatever of indigenous thought and life is wprth conserving in Eastern faiths finds fulfillment and realization in Him. Asia's and Africa's redemption must be found definitely in Him. The ideals of life, the fulfillment of all truth, and the realization of immortality — He incarnates all these because He is "the Way, the Truth and the Life." Therefore, in the impartation of Christian truth, it should not be the aim to emphasize our occidental mental bias, experience and elaboration of our faith. That type will never strongly appeal to, or prevail, in the East. Yet we should not eliminate entirely our Western aspect and emphasis of thought and life ; for it will have a value as a corrective of the oriental and is complementary to the same. The East and the West must find their place in the inter- pretation of Christian truth. It is only in the full blending of these two that our faith is to find its The New Problems 89 perfect expression. In a deeper sense than Tennyson meant, " The East and West without a breath Mixed their dim hght like life and death To broaden into boundless day." In this discussion, as in that of the following section, it is well to recognize the difference, often ignored, which separates India from other lands of the East ; for India is not only oriental, it is also tropical. And this has had perhaps the largest in- fluence in the formation of the distinct Indian type of thought and life — a type which she has also im- pressed, far more than we realize, upon all those lands of the Far East which have borrowed much of her faith and thought. (c) Then, we must raise the further question as to how far advanced, radical Christian thought should be imported by the missionary to the East. There is a reservation of truth which the Lord Himself had to exercise towards the Twelve, because He knew that they were not prepared to receive it. The mis- sionary, as a man of the twentieth century culture, will find it necessary to be eclectic in his deliverance of Christian truth to a people who are, in a sense, centuries in the rear. The writer himself has appreciated for many years this difficulty of his position as teacher and trainer of men for the Chris- tian ministry in India. A subject much discussed at the present time in America is that of the* evi- dential value of miracles in the Christian scheme of go The Modern Missionary Challenge truth. It is generally conceded that this element, in Christian evidences, has, for us of the twentieth century in the West, lost preeminence, if not its con- vincing power as an apologetic of our faith. But, in the East the miraculous basis of Christianity con- tinues to hold first place among its evidential assets ; and will continue to do so doubtless for a long time to come. The poetic temperament of the East, especially of India, will always demand a different range of apologetics and of peculiar Christian de- fense from that demanded by the prosaic and scien- tific West. II Then we. have Life Problems to solve in those lands. We do not adequately realize the gulf which separates East and West in fundamental concep- tions and in the deepest sentiments of life. In the East and in Africa there is much that is exceedingly low and debasing in the life of the people. The ethnic and other non-Christian faiths have cultivated such, or at least are responsible for them. Yet those people have definitely exalted types and ideals of life and aspiration which have flourished in connection with those religions and are in some way identified with them. We recognize the type in China and in Japan. We see it more clearly still in India. That type is singularly complementary to the Western ideals of life which have been so identified, in our mind and theirs, with Christian demands and ideals. The West has so exalted and given supreme emphasis The New Problems 91 to the aggressive and positive type of character that these have become highly enthroned among our car- dinal virtues ; so that we look with suspicion and con- tempt upon that other hemisphere of life which does not reveal these. We speak of the " mild Hindu " and regard him as hardly worthy of our respect. We forget that the passive virtues which have shone with such exclusive lustre in India are as truly a part of Christian life, as taught and exemplified by Christ, as are the assertive, aggressive virtues which have been so emphasized by us. They, for instance, ac- cept, with us, the whole of the second table of the decalogue ; but their emphasis upon the separate members of the decalogue is entirely different from ours. For instance, patience, with them, is the su- preme virtue of God and man ; impatience is the grossest sin. We, on the other hand, look at impa- tience as a mere foible, and ordinarily think of pa- tience itself as hardly more than a weakness of char- acter. Recently an Indian teacher, connected in service with myself in South India, submitted his monthly report in which he played fast and loose with the truth. Upon discovering thisT at once expressed, with occidental vigour and rigour, my abhorrence of such falsehood, if not my contempt for the man who uttered it. That man understood my view-point as little as I did his. He regarded my impatience as a much more radical and reprehensible evil than his own lying. Who was the more correct in his view- point and emphasis ? We must remember that the 92 The Modern Missionary Challenge other hemisphere of life, of virtues, of ideals, is com- plementary to that which we have so assiduously and excessively cultivated in the West. And we must understand the real value of the non-resisting, pa- tient, enduring life of the East, in order that we may exalt it adequately and relate it properly to our own type. The Christian worker, realizing this relation- ship, should aim to present to the converts a full- orbed type of Christian life, combining the Eastern and Western emphasis. Ill New problems of work also are absorbing the thought of the missionary host and demanding so- lution, even as some of the older problems are clam- ouring for modern treatment and new answers. (a) We are confronted, upon the threshold of our enterprise, with the initial interrogation as to the nature of the work which we aim to accomplish. What task does the Church of God propose for itself, as it sends its messengers to non-Christian lands ? It is a far greater work than Christians have realized. They are apt to give all but exclusive emphasis to one aspect of the work to be performed, and thus to narrow and to render ineffective their missionary labours. We should keep in mind the fourfold mes- sage which our Lord brings to us through the four evangelists. Through Matthew (xxviii. 18-20) He proclaims His universal authority and presence as a basis for enforcing the most difficult command — that of discipling and teaching the nations. The Church The New Problems 93 is yet to realize the full significance and supreme difficulty of this task. It demands infinite patience and faithfulness. Through Mark (xvi. 15, 16) comes His command in words of even more overwhelming significance and arduous content ; — " Go ye into all the kosmos and preach the Gospel to the whole crea- tion." If the character of the work seems less dififi- cult, in these words, the field seems wider, apparently embracing the irrational as well as the rational crea- tion. It is the restoration of the whole creation and the work of bringing it to a more than pristine glory. Luke finds in the words '* witness " and " power " his emphasis upon the final Commission (Luke xxiv. 48, 49. See also Acts i. 8). Here again the sphere extends to " the uttermost parts of the earth," but the function is that of witness-bearing ; and as that has to be more through life and conduct than voice and public declaration, they were told to tarry until they ** be clothed with power from on high." When the full significance of being Christ's witnesses, as a testimony for Him through an ardent, faithful, holy life is understood, then will also be appreciated the supreme need of the heavenly enduement that that witness may be as unhesitating as it should be un- equivocal. The element of the Commission which impressed St. John, and which he conserves for us (xx. 21-23), is the distinct one of the missionary character of the service (** even so I send you ") of the Church, coupled with the transfer and bestowal of definite authority and blessing upon it for this service — "• whosesoever's sins ye forgive, they are 94 The Modern Missionary Challenge forgiven unto them," etc. It should not be forgotten that with a world-wide mission the Church possesses also a heaven-deposited gift, even a power to confer upon the world a peace and a spiritual blessing such as comes only through its union with Jesus Christ. Thus, our Lord has committed to His people, through the fourfold gospel message, a work which is all-embracing in its sweep. It carries in itself our duty, not only to all the race, but to every member of it. It is not superficial in its character. It in- volves the work of preaching the full message every- where, of discipling the nations, of nursing them into living vigour and outgoing activity, and of revealing, through life and character, the living Christ so that men everywhere may know Him and be transformed into His image. The Gospel does not furnish us warrant for any narrow vision, or inadequate theory about the missionary duty and glorious opportunity of the Church. It is as broad as the world, as com- prehensive as life and as far-reaching as sin in all its ramifications. {b) Kindred to this question is that concerning the missionary objective on the field — shall it be the conversion of the individual or the transformation of society ? The Protestant aim has been too exclu- sively individualistic, because it has been, as a move- ment, mainly confined to Anglo-Saxon and kindred peoples with whom individualism has found supreme emphasis. To-day it is gradually transferring the emphasis from the individual to society. The salva- tion of a people is, perhaps, a higher aim and a The New Problems 95 worthier ambition than the redemption of individ- uals. The distinction between these two objectives is aptly illustrated by Rev. Bernard' Lucas in the fol- lowing words : ** To the older theology, India was a ship on the rocks, and the missionary was the life-boatman en- gaged in the task of picking up the few survivors who were swept within his reach, and who, if he failed to reach them, were carried away to eternal destruction. To the modern mind, on the other hand, India is a ship which is salvable, not on the rocks, but aground ; and the real missionary enter- prise is not that of picking up a few survivors from a hopeless wreck, but of bringing the ship into port with all on board. There is sufficient truth in the illustration to justify its use for the purpose of mak- ing the contrast between the newer and older con- ception of the Church's task. If the people are to be saved, the ship itself must be brought into port. Above all, he has realized that the people will not leave the ship. This last fact must be grasped by the Christian Church, with all that it signifies, if its cry of India for Christ is to have any real meaning. The great work amongst the outcaste population has been the pressing work of picking up those who have been swept overboard, and of whose welfare those who remained on board were callously indif- ferent. We have landed them on sand-banks and on desert islands, and supplied them with as much of our stores as we could give, but the question of their future is one of grave anxiety. It has been a 96 The Modem Missionary Challenge noble work, and worthy of all the consecrated and heroic effort which has been spent upon it, but it is not the salvation of India, We must not shut our eyes to the fact that the India we have come to save is a ship which is aground ; and that the true task which confronts us is that of getting her floated, her damages repaired, her disorganized crew and dis- tracted passengers organized and encouraged, so that she may proceed on her way to the port to which she is bound." ^ Mr. Lucas realizes that his illustration is open to criticism. Still it is admirably suited to reveal the importance of this new vision and this modern em- phasis as^ the idtimate purpose of the missionary. But it should not be allowed to divert the attention of the Church, or its messengers, from the urgent and immediate duty of saving and rehabilitating every member of a race or tribe as the only sure way to touch and elevate the whole life of the cor- porate or national body. A nation is, indeed, in some respects more than the sum of the individual members which compose it ; and its spiritual re- demption must be an ever-present prayer and as- piration of the missionary and the Church of God. Still there is a real temptation for one to make this aim antithetical to that for the salvation of individ- uals, and to substitute it for the immediate purpose to touch and to glorify individual life. Dr. R. E. Speer well remarks that **the primary aim of foreign missions is to reach individuals and to make I "The Empire of Christ," p. 106. The New Problems 97 Churches out of them, and through these Churches to redeem the life of humanity. All that can be done, meanwhile, for society, which will make Christ known to it and in it, will be done. When individ- uals will not be reached, the enterprise will not let go." ^ At any rate this is the most tangible work, the most available, urgent and easily achieved by every Christian worker on the mission field. And there is serious danger lurking in the missionary life of any one when the glamour of a great racial pur- pose is allowed to interfere with his loving and patient every-day work to win the man next to him to the Christian life. And the danger is tenfold increased, if, in the place of the conversion of men to a true Christian life, he has substituted the vague ambition to intro- duce into the new community a ** broad Christian civilization." There is an important truth in Dr. Speer's contention that "to spread what we know as Christian civilization over the world is not the aim of foreign missions, nor is it an adequate aim for the Christian Church to cherish for her mission to the world. Christian civilization owes what is good in it to Christianity; but that civilization is distinctly occidental, not universal, and it is seamed with evil. It is an open question whether, apart from its dis- tincdy Christian elements, it has not done more harm than good to the non-Christian people." The Church will not err by holding itself severely to the sublime task of bringing individual souls to Chrfst 1 " Christianity and the Nations," p. 109. gS The Modern Missionary Challenge in order that it and they may thereby Christianize and elevate the whole people. (c) To what extent shall missions undertake and conduct educational work? The reply to this question will largely depend upon the people among whom missions are established. In Japan, the educational system of the government is so all- inclusive and so thoroughgoing that common schools and even higher institutions are outside the sphere of missionary activity. It is .only as mis- sions, in that land, discover unique forms and methods of educational work that they regard them as a missionary opportunity. In Africathe people are so low and the educational problem rs in such an elementary stage of solution, that hardly any of the questions that seriously con- front missionaries in civilized lands have arisen, or are likely to arise, in that land. In many respects the situation in India is unique. It is under the segis of a Christian government whose ambition is to educate as many of the people as it can. Its poverty is such that it has been unable to inaugurate a free and compulsory system of educa- tion. It has therefore invited the cooperation of missionary and other private organizations in this important work, and has granted them financial aid towards the maintenance of their schools. The pe- culiar condition of India has created this mutual re- lationship of the state and missionary societies in this common work of education. There are many definite signs that this relation- The New Problems 99 ship between government and missionary bodies is on the eve of great changes which will, doubtless, very much modify, if not completely transform, the missionary educational problem in India. In the first place the era of a free education is, doubtless, at hand. This matter has recently been raised by the imperial government ; and it is only a matter of time when a free primary education will be furnished to the youth of India. As a complement to free education there will naturally follow a more thorough control of such non-government schools as will avail themselves of the new system. And, what is more discouraging to the missionary educationist, the government, which was formerly his strength and encouragement, now lends itself to the idea of the complete subjuga- tion of missionary aided institutions. So that mis- sionary bodies must question more and more the wisdom of an alliance with the government in a work whose duties and financial responsibilities rest upon one party, while the direction and the control are the sole prerogative of the other. Within a few years the most pressing missionary problem of the day will be the consideration whether missions shall not entirely withdraw from any connection with the State in the conduct of their schools, and shall not be content to do their own educational work in a pri- vate and a more humble way, but with absolute free- dom to do it in harmony with their higher spiritual purposes and as a direct propaganda of the cause which they are established to advance. loo The Modern Missionary Challenge The growing eagerness of many of the people and the increasing readiness of the educational depart- ment to introduce the conscience clause into the gov- ernment educational rules will furnish to most mis- sions the ground for readjustment in this matter and a reconsideration of the whole problem of missionary education. In China, marvellous changes are taking place and none greater than those in the educational situation. The ancient system of learning, with its old style ex- aminations, which for nearly two thousand years gave character to the culture of the land, has just been abolished and Western learning and ideals sub- stituted for it. Provincial colleges have been opened on definitely Western lines. In the Province of Chihli is found the greatest educational advance. It has its university, its colleges and its schools of all grades, numbering nearly five thousand institutions, and all breathing the Western spirit. In other parts of the land, also, the craze for the new education of the West possesses government and people alike. How long it will last no one knows. At the present time this certainly is a loud call to the missions, in- dividually and collectively, to push and multiply their educational activities so as to increase their op- portunities to present Christ to the young, and to build up, among the educated, a new philosophy of life on a Christian foundation. How large a place shall education occupy in mis- sion economy ? It is not easy to give a general reply to this question ; for there are certain mission- The New Problems lol ary bodies whose genius seems to be in the Hne of education, while others are definitely evangelistic in their gifts. These special gifts miist be consulted. I have seen a Christian body, which was well known for its evangelistic powers and gifts of preaching, throw itself with great excess of emphasis into higher educational work. It required some years for it to discover its error, to retrace its steps, to find itself and to win the success which has subsequently come to it. The danger which besets our missions, at the pres- ent time, is that of overemphasizing education. During the last few years, the spirit of evangelism has found in India, relatively, an ever-diminishing place, while at the same time educational work finds an ever-increasing dominance in mission economy. There are definite, if not adequate, reasons for this. Education is becoming more and more specialized. One department after another of educational activity has sprung up, each one demanding the time of one or more missionaries. In my own mission only two missionaries gave their whole time to the training of the young a quarter of a century ago. At the pres- ent time eight may be said to give themselves, with more or less exclusiveness, to this department. And we are crying for a still larger proportion of our force to take up this form of activity. It is not only that we are specializing ; we are using so much of our financial resources in the development of this work that evangelistic effort has now only an hum- ble and insignificant place in our activity as missions. l02 The Modern Missionary Challenge This may be right. In older missions the Indian Church is taking up more and more of the evangel- istic work formerly done by the missionaries. It is not only becoming increasingly self-supporting but also self-propagating. It is one of the most en- couraging aspects of the work. But should it not be expected also to assume the responsibility of edu- cating its members more than it does ? How far shall the older missions continue to spend larg'e sums in the education of their youth ? In mission economy more care should also be ex- ercised to keep the various departments in healthy relationship one to the other. And, in this matter of educational and evangelistic work, no mission is in a healthy condition which allows its evangelistic fer- vour to be dampened by its manifold and all-absorb- ing educational activity. The church must not be overshadowed by the schoolhouse. The teacher must not crowd out the preacher and the pastor. A sense of proportion must dominate a mission ; and that which has always been the foundation of mis- sionary life and success — its evangelistic spirit — must not be relegated to a second or third place in the missionary programme. Another question of vital and growing importance concerns the scope of missionary education. How broad and inclusive shall it be ? In the new educa- tion of the West it is strenuously, and with increas- ing success, maintained that no education is com- plete which does not meet all the needs of man — that manual, technical and industrial training are as The New Problems 103 essential as the training of the mental faculties. In- deed it is claimed that an educational system is vicious, if it does not include the training of the hand and of the eye. Many affirm, like the Jews of old, that it is the duty of the family and of the state to train and qualify every boy and girl for a handi- craft. There is some truth in this contention ; and one is not inclined to dispute it in its reference to such a country as America. But the problem is very different when applied to missionary education in the East. We may divide missionary educational work into the . spiritual, the intellectual, the manual and the in- dustrial. By spiritual, I mean that kind of training which qualifies a man or a woman to undertake spir- itual work in the mission. By intellectual, I refer to that general training of the mind w^hich qualifies one to think well and clearly and to engage in higher intellectual service. By manual, I mean that tech- nical training of the hand and eye which gives phys- ical dexterity and adds to one's general aptness and ability in matters physical. By industrial education we understand that training which prepares one for a trade, such as carpentry or^ farming, and enables him to go forth as a capable workman to earn his living. Missionary education has a place for all these departments of activity ; and I have mentioned them in what I regard the order of their importance. The training of the spiritual agency which shall be able to shepherd, guide and instruct the Christian 104 '^^^ Modem Missionary Challenge Church and shall win souls to Christ is the first duty of every mission of any size and importance. There is little objection raised to-day to the manifold forms of intellectual training given to the young, as it furnishes the best opportunity for developing the thought and life of the youth. Ours is an intel- lectual faith ; it admirably commends itself to the educated mind and to the well-trained reasoning faculties. Manual or technical training also has its definite value, especially in India where rnantial and physical dexterity is deemed only an equipment for the menial, and where the adjective "manual" brands its noun with dishonour. No one can ques- tion the important educational value of this training in caste-ridden India. And it, moreover, helps greatly to add robustness and alertness to body and mind. Industrial training, also, has its definite value. Under certain conditions, such as those of famine, when many orphans are added to the cares of a mis- sion, it is wise, if possible, for the mission to give to the bulk of its orphans a sound industrial training and thus qualify them for some trade and introduce them into a wholesome self-supporting life. Under normal circumstances, also, a mission may find wis- dom in industrial training and peasant settlements for developing the manhood and the general ca- pacity of the Christian community. Nevertheless, it is evident that no mission can fully utilize all these departments of educational ac- tivity. Every mission must decide for itself, there- fore, the relative importance it will attach to every The New Problems 105 one of these and how far, if at all, it will carry them on. The day has doubtless come when missions need much deliberation and self-restraint in this matter. Not a few of the younger and less experienced mis- sionaries (especially those from America where in- dustrial training has become a hobby) have con- ceived a passion for industrialism and regard it as a panacea for all the ills of missionary organizations. At the basis of this new enthusiasm for industrial activity there are certain thoughts and considera- tions which need more careful examination and analysis. The missionary should understand the serious limitations which circumscribe, and must continue to circumscribe, missionary effort for the people of his field. He should not fail to realize that every dollar expended on industrial lines is thereby prac- tically withdrawn from the older departments of mis- sionary work ; and that every missionary worker who spends his time in these industrial efforts must, to that extent, relinquish or relax his efforts and inter- est in departments of unquestioned and supreme im- portance. The industrial emphasis is largely owing to a con- viction prevailing, among some, that the native Church will never become self-supporting until it is industrially trained to earn more money. How many times have we listened to the plea that ** the native Church is too poor to support itself.'* ** Eirst teach its members how to work well at some trade io6 The Modern Missionary Challenge and to earn more money ; then shall we see a self- supporting native Church." This is largely the sen- timent of inexperience. The Basel Mission, on the west coast of India, has done more than any other Indian mission, industrially, for its people. But they acknowledge that the result has been not a manly, self-supporting, independent Christian community ; but a community sadly afflicted with dependence upon the mission. Every new convert insists that it is the first business of the mission to furnish him with a lucrative employment ! Instead of independ- ence they have fallen into an aggravated form of unmanly helplessness. A self-supporting Christian Church has not been achieved by making the people earn more. It is rather by inculcating the blessedness of giving ac- cording to their means, however small. There is also a feeling, among some, that any form of philanthropy has a legitimate claim upon mission funds ; and that any humanitarian enterprise can command the time and consecrated energies of a Christian missionary. The multiplication of these agencies has been very manifest during the last few years ; and the eagerness with which they are pur- sued is a thing only of to-day. The wisdom, if not the legitimacy, of this whole drift of missionary ac- tivity is a matter of so great importance that mis- sionary societies should discuss it more thoroughly. The question ought to be raised whether missions can afford thus to dissipate their energies and to reach down from the higher plain of useful Chris- The New Problems 107 tian activity to the lower ranges of philanthropic ef- fort, an effort which concerns itself mainly with the temporal affairs of the people. It is well that we heed Dr. Speer's words on this subject. ** Universal charity is not the aim of the foreign missionary movement. It cannot heal or feed the world any more than it can educate it, and it is not its business to try to do so. All that the Church is giving or would need to give to discharge its distinctive foreign work would not suffice to meet the physical sufferings of the Yangtse valley or to educate Bengal. The philanthropic work of mis- sions is to be subjected to its aim, just as all other methods. The business of each missionary in his life, and of each mission in its policy, is to make Christ known. . . . Our Lord did not go about as a mere healer, nor even predominantly as a phi- lanthropist. In nothing is His divine wisdom and self-restraint more clearly seen than in His refusal to become simply the Philanthropist, feeding all hun- ger, abolishing all need. Paul seems purposely to have avoided all miracle-working and personal charity. The Saviour's purpose and St. Paul's was not to meet the passing physical need of one cen- tury, but to plant in the world the eternal life of Christianity, those living principles which would lead each century to meet its own needs. The en- ergies by which St. Paul naturalized Christianity throughout the Roman Empire might have been ex- hausted in the effort to cope with the physical evils of the one citv of Antioch. He had a greater work lo8 The Modem Missionary Challenge to do and was strong enough not to sacrifice the best on the altar of a good. The aim of foreign missions is not to care for all the industrial, social, economic, and physical ills of the non-Christian world, but to plant there the living seeds of the Gos- pel of the incarnate God. That Gospel is to be the healing of the world in God's own day. Foreign missions will have passed away long before the dawning of that day." ^ (d) The question of diffusion or of concentration in mission work is one which often has perplexed missionary workers. Many missions have seriously crippled their usefulness by trying to occupy too large territories. When missionaries are too far apart to be of mutual support and inspiration ; when they occupy bilingual regions, where the language problem always presents difficulties and makes it impossible to unify the work ; when the Christian congregations are so distant from one another as not to be acquainted with each other or to be able to encourage and inspire each other ; then, — the mission is wanting in power and fails to exercise ad- equate influence in the district occupied by it ; and it becomes so conscious of its weakness and inad- equacy that discouragement overtakes it. Not a few missions have long lingered upon the border-land of failure because they have tried to cover too much territory. In older missionary lands there is the added evil of such a mission preempting an area of country 1" Christianity and the Nations," pp. 99, loi. The New Problems 109 which it does not in any sense truly " occupy," and preventing its occupancy by other societies which are seeking fields of work. The writer has seen this folly work manifest evil and create dissension in In- dia. Societies which are first in the field have thus been in danger of taking undue advantage of this right of preemption and of scattering their feeble re- sources and limited staff of workers over fields which are far too extensive and difficult for them to well occupy and quickly to Christianize. Of course, they are hoping some time to prosecute their work more vigorously with a larger force of workers. In the meantime other workers are warned ofl, the message is preached and proclaimed but feebly and fitfully to the people and the mission itself suffers from spirit- ual anaemia and loses the blessing of self-confidence and hope. On the other hand we must not forget the present totally unoccupied portions of even the oldest mis- sion fields. India is perhaps the best occupied mis- sionary territory of all Asiatic countries. Yet there are regions of teeming millions there where there is not a church organization to bear testimony to the Lord, and where there is neither a foreign missionary nor Indian Christian worker to carry the message of life. If it be thus in India where there is one missionary to every 60,000, how much greater the darkness in newer missionary fields like China where there is only one missionary to every 100,000 souls of the population. While we thus see the utter.in- adequacy of the missionary force to discharge well no The Modern Missionary Challenge the obligation to take full and effective possession of the world-field the question returns with added significance — what shall we do with our present force of workers and financial resources ? Shall they be concentrated upon small sections of each country, and work intensively, with a view to create speedily a missionary fire at each of these centres which will spread in contagious life throughout the whole re- gion ? Or shall they be sent forth, few though they be, to every part of the world to diffuse the benefits of the Gospel to all and to scatter everywhere the seed of Christian truth ? The reply to this question will vary somewhat according to the character of each land and people. It will also differ according to the complexion of the theology of the answerer. Personally I think that a fair amount of concentration possesses superior merits as a policy. The more one realizes the difficulty and the complex nature of the missionary task ; and the more one is convinced that the Christianizing of the world must depend vastly more upon the natives of each land than upon foreign missionaries ; and the more one learns to place confidence in the native Church, established in each field, as the mightiest, and indeed the only permanent and all effective propagator of Christian life and institutions among the people ; the more will he also admire and follow the example of the Lord who gave Himself to the teaching and the preparing of the Twelve more than to preaching to the multitude. His whole brief ministry was a marvellous condensation and a concentration, whether The New Problems 1 1 1 we regard its time, its place, the immediate recipients of its blessing or the direct objects of its teaching. Blessed is that mission whose field" is not too large and whose resources of saving truth and hfe can be brought fully and adequately to bear upon a responsive community which can speedily be trained in the service and nurtured in the life of our Lord. (e) Closely allied with the above is the problem of federation and cooperation among missions of contiguous territory. The era of isolation, of mu- tual suspicion and of jealousy has largely passed away. A thousand reasons call upon societies and missions to forget their differences and to unite in the common work to which the Lord has called them. To-day, in all the great mission countries, a society or mission which persists in its isolation is doomed. At the present time missionary conferences are established in all great portions of mission lands : and in these, missionaries of all communions are found ventilating their ideas and studying the view- points of their brethren over the way. They de- liberate about their common work and devise ways and means of mutual helpfulness. Thus they prac- tice modern economy and seek to defend themselves against the common enemy. In Japan, there has existed, for some years, a central body representing most of the missions, called The Standing Committee of the Cooperating Christian Missions, which serves as a means of intercommunication and coordination. China also has its " National Counsel of Federation " 112 The Modern Missionary Challenge for the same purpose. In South India there has flourished, during the last few years, perhaps the largest and most useful " Missionary Association " in the world. All the thirty-five missions of that area are represented in its membership of nearly five hundred missionaries. It has done much in the way of adding power and self-consciousness to these missions, of revealing and enforcing points of con- tact and in furthering common interests and fostering the spirit of fellowship and federation in important lines of work. It has found redress at the hands of government from several evils and disabilities suf- fered by the Indian Christian community ; and it has given to the missionary body and to the Indian Church in South India a position of respect and of influence such as they never before possessed. Through such agencies as this, which are rapidly multiplying in all important mission lands, remark- able progress is manifest in the business of adding sanity and uniformity to mission methods and poli- cies, in developing economy in the conduct of mis- sion work and in the avoidance of waste and over- lapping in various departments of activity. In China and in India and Korea efforts have recently been made which have been very successful in uniting various activities of work and many institutions of learning. {/) The relation of missionaries and mission- ary bodies to the governments under which they live and labour constitutes one of the important and per- plexing problems. Commission VII, of the Edin- The New Problems 113 burgh World Missionary Conference, has considered this matter very fully and wisely, furnishing the Church not only with a full discussion, but also with definite " findings " or conclusions which will long give guidance to societies and missions under trying circumstances. Missionaries, under Christian governments, gener- ally rejoice in that they have the prestige and guid- ance of a Christian power behind them — a govern- ment whose conscience may generally be depended upon to rectify evil and to remove injustice and re- ligious intolerance and persecution. They should therefore avoid, so far as possible, causing any em- barrassment to the State through their presence and missionary activity. Under non-Christian governments troubles and complications arise which frequently embarrass mis- sionary workers and render their task a most deli- cate, if not an impossible, one. Moslem states deny to the members of their faith the rights of an un- hampered conscience and the boon of religious liberty. This has always been the case under Mos- lem dominion. Japan, on the other hand, has under- gone a marvellous change of principles and of prac- tice in this particular. It was hardly more than a half century ago that to be a Christian in that land was a capital crime, punishable with death ; and the State was relentless in its purpose to wipe out every vestige of the Christian faith. To-day, on the other hand, she has laws upon her statute books which are truly liberal and which grant religious freedom 114 The Modem Missionary Challenge and rights of conscience to all her citizens. She is almost abreast of Western nations, not only in her religious laws but also in her purpose and endeavour to execute them. It is a notable fact that Japan fur- nishes to Christian missions, at the present time, pro- tection against religious bigotry and attack and largeness of opportunity unsurpassed by those in most favoured Christian lands of the West. ~ China also is rapidly progressing on these sanie lines of protection to, if not of full appreciation of, the Chris- tian missionary and his work. And this, notwith- standing the bitter hostility of many of its people and the periodical ** Boxer " uprisings which make the defense of Christians a very expensive thing in money and life. The present political subjection of Korea to a foreign power has led the Koreans to flee to the missionary for refuge and to find in the spirit- ual balm of Christianity a healing for their political wounds. Under these favouring circumstances it behooves the missionary to assist these Eastern States, so far as possible, in their endeavour to furnish to him op- portunity for Christian propagandism — an opportu- nity practically unknown to the East in all past time, as indeed it is only very partially known and en- joyed in some Christian States of Europe to-day. The missionary must recognize the difificulty with which these non-Christian governments protect him from frequent fanaticism and the impatience of religious bigotry. He must not hasten to seek re- dress for all grievances nor compensation for all The New Problems 115 losses incurred in this hazardous work. He must cultivate and practice patience under what will often seem unrighteous treatment. The resolutions of the Shanghai Conference of 1907 have the right ring and counsel highest wisdom and breathe the Spirit of our Master. They are a model for the Christian missions of all Eastern lands. They read as fol- lows : " I. Resolved : — That the Protestant missionary body desire to express their deep sense of obligation to the Chinese government for the large measure of protection afforded to Christian missionaries and converts, and do hereby publicly record their grate- ful acknowledgment of the same. " II. Resolved : — That while the time has not come when all the protection to Christian converts provided in the treaties can safely be withdrawn, yet we trust that equal protection to Christian and non- Christian Chinese alike may be so given by the lo- cal Chinese authorities that any intervention of mis- sionaries in such matters may speedily become wholly unnecessary. We therefore exhort all mis- sionaries to urge upon Chinese ,Christians the duty of patience and forbearance under persecution for Christ's sake, and also to make every possible effort to settle matters privately, an appeal to the authori- ties being the last resort, and then, only after full and careful inquiry into the real facts of the case, so that the privilege secured by treaty to Chinese Chris- tians may not be abused, or the purity of the Christian Church corrupted and its good name prejudiced. ii6 The Modern Missionary Challenge ** III. Resolved : — That we recomniend all mis- sionaries to be vigilant, lest, in the present national awakening, the Christian Church should in any way be made use of for revolutionary ends, and lest Chinese Christians should, through ignorance, con- fusion of thought, or misdirected zeal, be led into acts of disloyalty against the government. " IV. Resolved : — {a) That we congratulate the Chinese government on the efforts they are now making in the direction of reform, and assure them of our hearty sympathy and prayer to God for their success. ** {b) That we affirm that we, as Protestant mis- sionaries, have no political aims of any kind either for ourselves or for our converts, that our mission is wholly moral and spiritual, and that we have no de- sire to interfere in any way with the functions of the government ; that we teach and enjoin on all con- verts the duty of loyalty to the powers that be ; and that in fact there are no more loyal subjects of the Empire than the Chinese Christians." ^ In this connection it is worthy of note that the very presence and counsel of Protestant missionaries in the East, with the positive aid they have rendered to rulers and legislators alike, have been a potent influence in producing the present favourable condi- tions for missionary activity in those lands. There are, indeed, times when missionaries must stand up for their rights in the interests of the com- mon cause, and in the defense of the sacred claim * Report of Commission VII, World Missionary Conference. The New Problems 117 of humanity. But appeal to treaty rights and claim for protection from their home governments, whereby international complications are produced, should be resorted to only in the direst necessity. The civil and social rights of the native Christians must find protection at the hands of the missionary. Men who abandon their ancestral faith usually do so at great inconvenience and loss to themselves and their families. The customs and the laws of their country often conspire against them. The possibility of changing one's reHgion never occurred to the framers of the written and unwritten laws of those lands. The consequence is that ancestral property is often alienated from the converts, their right to bring up their own children is denied them, inter- marriage with their own people is proscribed to them, and all sorts of social ostracism is practiced upon them. All these are the usual methods of an ethnic faith in protecting itself against outside influ- ences ; and no one has before questioned their legit- imacy or wholesomeness. How shall the Christian convert be protected from all these ? It is some- times impossible. He must be taught that the highest spiritual blessing lies' in the pathway of Christian fortitude and endurance. Many native Christians have been permanently injured in the Christian life by the exceeding readiness of their missionaries to smooth out all roughness from their pathway. Still, a certain amount of help and en- couragement is necessary. In China the dangerojus step has been taken of including the converts, with Il8 The Modern Missionary Challenge the missionaries, under the treaties. A toleration clause has been added for them as well as for the missionaries ; and thus they are separated in a legal way from the mass of their countrymen. One must doubt the wisdom of resorting to such drastic meth- ods, save only as a temporary and special expedient. There are other real and heavy grievances and disa- bilities, under which converts suffer. When laws despoil them because they accept our faith ; when courts of justice are utilized as means to drive them back to the ancestral faith ; when marriage laws and customs are framed to foster the heathen home and to make the Christian home an impossibility ; and when a host of other disabilities frown upon the convert ; it is the solemn business of the missionary body to seek relief for him in legislative halls and in court-houses, and to plead with the government for new legislation and new measures which will bring justice to the convert and which alone can make Christianity a possibility in that land. {£■) The value of Mass Movements on mission fields is a matter much discussed by missionaries. Such movements have taken place in India, China and Korea. Probably two-thirds of all the Protes- tant Christian community in India have been harvested through such movements. The accept- ance of our faith by individuals and families is, doubtless, its normal way of advance in non-Chris- tian lands. The expression ** mass movements " re- fers to the seeking of admission to our faith by large bodies, such as tribes, castes, guilds or communities. The New Problems 119 These movements may be caused by a general awakening and unrest of the people ; it may be the stress of an industrial or a social injustice ; it often is connected with famines, when the cruelty or indiffer- ence of the non-Christian community is contrasted with the generous sympathy and substantial help of Christians, and when the people are thus led to see the superior value of our faith in a matter which ap- peals strongly to the common man. In such movements, profoundly encouraging though they be, there lurk evils and dangers not a few. Very few such people are impelled to the change by any deep, well-defined convictions of the spiritual power and beauty of Christianity. Their motives are of the ordinary, worldly, it may even be, the semi-sordid, type. Still, we are not seriously dis- turbed by the character of the objects or aims of this turning of the people to our faith. What lofty pur- poses can one expect from such a crowd ? The prob- ability is that more than nine-tenths of them are simply following their leaders, unwilling to see a di- vision in their community and trusting to the ear- nestness and sagacity of the ambitious and discon- tented few. In the East, life is largely a submissive following by the crowd in the blazed pathway of the rare and daring ones. What is demanded of such converts is that their purpose be not a vicious, or an entirely sordid one, unmixed with any worthy am- bition for betterment. Commission II, of the Edin- burgh Conference, wisely discusses this subject and says : 120 The Modern Missionary Challenge " Often the motives are neither spiritual nor moral in the earlier stages ; but when it is admitted that the impulse which constitutes such a movement is one towards material and social betterment, rather than towards ethical and religious advance, it is still not to be assumed that such motives are sinister or in themselves bad. It must be recognized that mo- tives may be elementary and may operate on a comparatively low plane of human impulse, without being unworthy or evil. Even when the present level of life is a low one, those who act upon the best that is known to them, thereby reach levels which formerly were out of their reach. A highly moral or religious impulse is, to begin with, naturally im- possible." As a consequence of such a movement there is often a serious reckoning in the backsliding of many disappointed ones. Moreover, it is difficult to rapidly and adequately assimilate a large number of people. They cling to old superstitions most tena- ciously and encourage each other in their preserva- tion and practice. It is difficult to find trained preachers and teachers who will wisely and well in- struct them and will bring them into the life and into the truth as it is in Jesus. Nevertheless there is supreme joy to the mission- ary in the ingathering of such masses. It brings with it a vast enthusiasm and a new access of power and courage in the assurance that the cause is be- coming popular. And defections after such move- ments are fewer than is often supposed. It is doubt- The New Problems 121 ful whether one-tenth of those thus received in India have gone back to heathenism. The American Baptist Telegu Mission, in South India, is the largest in India and is, in good part, the product of mass movements. The same is true of the American Methodist Mission in North India. There is the further advantage, from such movements, that they are conducive, in a large degree, to self-support from the beginning. So many are gathered in, that it is not a difficult thing for them, under right guidance, to maintain their own religious services and schools. Many other problems are constantly arising in the mission field and demand much thought and prayer in their wise solution. These mostly arise in con- nection with the wise direction of the infant Church and the mutual relation of the many missions and forces now engaged in this great enterprise. It is only as God's own Spirit is constantly sought for wisdom, and His guidance is daily felt on every mis- sion field, that the solution of all problems will re-r dound to the speediest advancement of His King- dom in all those lands. IV The New Methods Which it Invites I ^HIS is the age of specialization, of scientific methods of approach and attack. " The simple, crude methods of the past are inad- equate at the present time. The old picture of the missionary sitting under a tree, in the tropics, preaching to a crowd of half-naked savages, gath- ered around him, is an untrue picture of the present missionary and his work. Not that he has ceased to preach, but that kind of preaching is only a small part of the missionary life and experience of to-day. Missions are developing constantly in complexity ; departments of work are multiplying and new prob- lems are appearing. This demands modern and im- proved methods. With increasing insistence and constancy, up-to-date methods are applied to the missionary propaganda, and all its departments are subjected to the test of science. I It is now recognized that the same methods of ap- proach cannot be applied to all peoples. Every peo- ple must be won by methods of appeal which best suit them. The modern sciences of psychology and pedagogy carefully discriminate between different 122 The New Methods 123 students who are to be taught. They seek the best way of imparting its truth to, and of developing, the mind of the child, the boy, the young man, or the mature person, whom it approaches ; it aims to reach each mind in ways adapted to its specific need and condition. This should be observed, likewise, in the mission- ary propaganda, by its methods of appeal to the many races of mankind. Rev. Bernard Lucas tells us that "The older conception grouped all the non-Christian races of the world together, and labelled them all in- discriminately as heathen, retaining more or less of the original feeling associated with the word, as a description of ignorant and uncivilized barbarians. The result has been that the Church's Eastern ques- tion has been entirely misconceived by the home churches, and more or less inadequately handled by the missionaries she has sent abroad. The home churches have expected results amongst a civilized and cultured people similar to those obtained amongst rude barbarians. Methods have been advo- cated and adopted, which, however excellent as far as they went, are totally inadecjuate to the accom- plishment of the Church's task in the East as we now know it." ^ Few things are more fundamental than the wise adaptation of the missionary message and the judi- cious method of presenting it to the different peo- ples of the world. The animists of Africa must re- ceive from the wise missionary the Gospel in a way ^ 1 " The Empire of Christ," p. lo. 124 The Modern Missionary Challenge suited to their minds, and with a definite purpose of bringing them out of their debasing fetichism to a nobler conception of God and of themselves. The message must be plain and simple. The Brahman of India must be dealt with very differently, and by means of a higher appeal, and a loftier message than that presented to the African. The Gospel must be presented to him in its profounder specula- tive aspect. And he will need to be carried from his pride of intellect to place a new emphasis upon the supremacy of the ethical, in religious thought and life. The Chinaman, also, must be regarded from the standpoint of his antecedents, prepossessions and temperament. His literature must be studied by the missionary, that he may understand his view- point. How different from the appeal to him must be that which will carry conviction to the Turk whose training, type of mind and inherited bias and prejudices, coupled with his higher conceptions of God, and partial appreciation of Christ, are so very different from his fellow Asiatic in the Far East. Even among the same people, in varied stages of their growth, different methods of appeal need to be applied. A third of a century ago I found Hindus given to an all but universal belief in polytheism, and the appeal to them was based on their accept- ance of this doctrine. At the present time, I hardly find a Hindu, even in the lowest society, who does not agree with us in the unity of the divine Being ; but theirs is a pantheistic conception of unity. A The New Methods 125 new method of approach must now be resorted to by the successful missionary in order to impress the Christian message upon them. Likewise, the Japanese of to-day are to be reached not by the processes of fifty years ago when they were far removed, in many respects, from that which they have become. Missionaries in the Japan of to- day know that modern thought, with its cankering doubts, has ushered in a condition very dissimilar from that which formerly prevailed ; and this must be met with rare discretion in order to bring them into the Kingdom. In other words, the missionary must keep in mind the supreme importance of adaptation and effective- ness in the modern missionary appeal. Methods must vary in order that they may be consonant with the peculiar needs of all classes and communities. Thus the missionary message will carry added power and efficiency in bringing the world to Christ. This also reveals the importance and the necessity that all who enter upon the missionary service, study with considerable thoroughness, both psychology ) and religious pedagogy. These are as essential to the missionary worker as are the sciences which are more intimately connected with his profession. II The positive and constructive method of present- ing Christian truth is imperatively demanded on the mission field. With the old spirit of contempt which Western 126 The Modem Missionary Challenge Christians have entertained for non-Christian peoples it was natural that missionaries from the West should adopt the old prophetic method of ridicule (Isaiah xliv. 15). It was a very human, as it was an easy, method of prefacing the Gospel to those humble people. But, as they have become better known, they are regarded with higher esteem and with more respect. The method of ridicule- never achieves much in the reformation and in the re- demption of any people. It neither edifies nor does it bring even the lowest among the animists to an attitude of mind which makes edification possible. Dr. Johan Warneck, who spent years among the animists ofi the Indian Archipelago, uses plain speech in reprobating such a method. ''Viewed from the Christian standpoint, hea thenism seems, for the most part, a caricature of re- ligion, yet to the heathen himself it is a sacred and serious thing. He has a right to demand that his religion be so treated. Mockery of his religion means to him mockery of religion generally. That path may lead to irreligion ; it does not lead to a new faith. Any one who wishes to re- store the heathen to health by an operation must, proceed antiseptically ; he must see that no poisonous germs of decomposing mockery adhere to his knife. ** The missionary inclined to disputation and rail- lery will at first know far too little of the heathen re- ligion to be able to direct against it any efTective shafts. Instead of hurting idolatry he will make The New Methods 127 himself ridiculous. His ironical assertion, * You worship wood and stone which are devoid of life/ will call forth laughter, for no animist worships wood and stone ; the carved figures conceal soul- stuff in a special degree or are animated media of spirit worship, such as the ancestor images of the Niassers, Papuans, etc. If he tries to make a sacri- fice ridiculous by saying, ' The food offered is not consumed by the spirits, for it remains where it was placed,' he only betrays his ignorance of the ani- mistic idea of sacrifice ; for no heathen believes that the spirits appropriate the matter of the food : it is the soul contained in it, the vital power, which they take from the sacrifice. The important thing even for living men is not the matter of the food they eat but the soul which it contains. The missionary has, therefore, every reason for keep- ing in check his mockery. The dreadful power of heathenism over men's minds would have weak foundations if it could be overcome by such cheap polemics." ** Heathen religiousness is determined by fear. But fear is never removed by derision or mere vio- lence, as we see in the case of frightened children. Heathenism is groaning under a burden of misery ^ and need. Who would care to add to the grief of miserable men by pouring the contempt of mockery on their unhappiness? The great Apostle to the Gentiles, pattern for all missionaries, in spite of 128 The Modern Missionary Challenge occasional irony, neither destroyed nor ridiculed any sanctuary." "Uncivilized men are deeply impressed by the superior wisdom of white men, but the impression is not deep enough to make a mocking word or a brutal act of violence shake their allegiance to the religious traditions in which their lives are rooted." ^ I can bear hearty testimony in corroboration of these words. I have never seen, during my long service in India, any good wrought, either in con- viction or in conversion among the people, by the effort to make them or their religion ridiculous. This is erninently true of the Aryan people. Nor has any good been achieved by the process of lacerating the feelings of the people through con- stant attack upon the weak points of that which every man must cherish more than his life — his own faith and that of his ancestors. One must study the methods of Jesus. Though ever surrounded by debasing ethnic faiths He ab- stained from attacking them and had but deepest compassion upon the people as they pathetically groped after God through the dark by-paths of their religions. Equally suggestive is the attitude of the great Apostle to the Gentiles, as he stumbled over the myriad altars of Athens, or came into touch with the Roman faith at the metropolis in the time of its greatest degeneracy, or lived for years in close 1 " The Living Christ and Dying Heathenism," pp. 202-206. The New Methods 129 touch with the demoralizing Eastern cult at Ephe- sus. Everywhere his spirit is kindly, his language conciliatory, and his message to the people one of deep sympathy and appreciation of their past. Jesus and Paul had a message to proclaim which was vital and saving to the people. They gave themselves entirely, not to denouncing the ancient faiths, but to building up the new faith and to reveal- ing "The New Way" in as engaging and attractive a manner as possible. This, to them, was enough. When this was achieved, the abandonment of the old faith would follow as a matter of course. In the East there are a thousand agencies and in- fluences working for the destruction of the ancestral faiths of the people. All the forces of education, science and general enlightenment are a protest against the old superstitions and idolatries. There is only one force, and that is the Christian preacher and teacher, which makes positively and construct- ively for Christian truth and spiritual life in Christ. Let him adhere to and glorify that mission. The destructive method demoralizes also the Christian worker. It keeps his njind more upon the errors and evils of the religion than upon the sad and deplorable condition of the people. Of the re- ligion itself, he knows and appreciates only its weakest points and worst elements. It has been my business, for many years, to prepare and send forth preachers into the great harvest field in India. I have always endeavoured to impress upon their mind the solemn duty that they should avoid, as far 130 The Modern Missionary Challenge as possible, deriding the people or their faith and should never attempt to preach before either a Christian or a non-Christian audience without carry- ing to them a positive gospel message of life — a message which, in the literal meaning of the word, will edify and ennoble. Ill The method of simplicity or unity should be fol- lowed by all who desire success in missionary work. Concentration in this matter is of vital importance. We take our faith too much as a philosophy or as a system of truth, which we not only believe, but around which we build up fortifications for its de- fense, as well as an elaborate ceremonial for its adornment. The old missionary habit of burdening the message with a multitude of Western dogmas and interpretations should be abandoned, or very much limited. Into the fabric of our faith we have, as we have seen, woven much of our mental heritage and philosophical prepossessions which are not only un- essential to our faith, but which tend to mystify and to compromise it. One has said that " we need a pre-Raphaelite Gospel (by which he meant a pre- Athanasian Gospel) in order that it may captivate the mind and win over the population of Moham- medan lands." The same thing is true of the pres- entation of our faith to all peoples. That missionary is wise who will eschew, as far as possible in his work, the elaborate formulae and creeds of antiquity. Not that I would advocate the abandonment of all The New Methods 131 theological belief. Every man must formulate his own faith to himself in philosophical terms and in theological form. No Christian worker, in any land, can simplify the Gospel in any satisfactory way who has not already adequately learned its truth and is able to express it in scientific terms. But it is neither necessary nor expedient for him to make known that elaboration in the Far East, or to express his faith in such terms to the peoples of those countries. The simplicity which I claim for, in this message, is the simplicity of Christ Himself. The missionary message of to-day must, with definiteness and dis- tinctness, be centred in Christ Jesus. He is not only the Author of our faith, He is also its substance. To know Him adequately and to understand the work which He has wrought for humanity, and to interpret, in simple terms. His divine words of wis- dom — this is not only the fullness of our message, it is also the richest message the world has known, and all-sufBcient as a gospel for man under all condi- tions. Thus, centring his whole message around our Lord, the missionary finds it more easy to ex- press the Gospel as a life appeal. Christianity first of all, and last of all, is neither a ritual to be ob- served nor a system of truth to be believed, but a life to be lived. It is essentially and preeminently a practical thing which applies to the whole life and conduct. It appeals to the common man in all countries and grips him with living, eternal power. The East needs the example of a perfect life placed before it for inspiration. This it has never had in 132 The Modem Missionary Challenge full ethical strength and spiritual beauty. Not one of the lands of the Far East has yet found, among its religious leaders, its saints and sages, one whom it has exalted before the people as a perfect ideal for them to follow. In all its many centuries of history India has never known among its myriad gods and numberless sages and heroes one whom it has ele- vated before the eyes of the people, and has said to them : ** This is one whom men everywhere, and you particularly, can follow with safety, and can imitate with the assurance of attaining a perfect character." The most popular gods of India are the triple incar- nations of sensuality, of deviltry, and of cruelty — Krishna, Ganesh, and Kali. And when the Hindu has risen in thought above these embodied deities, it has only reached out into wild mystic methods of union with the ineflable One through the crazy processes of Yoga. How strangely has the Hindu mind yearned after union with the unknowable, through processes that are neither intelligible nor commendable to the Western mind. To such a people the sublimely beautiful, simple and practical life of Jesus must appeal and will ever appeal with marvellous power. It is a life that has been applied with ethical power and trans- forming spiritual efficacy to the common man the world over. The life of Jesus is not only uplifting, it also brings man into the intimacy and secrecy of the divine Presence and gives him a vision of the heavenly One such as no other Personality repre- sented in any other faith has ever been able to give The New Methods 133 to man. Jesus Christ, in Eastern lands, has already brought to millions a unique vision of the perfect life and a divine inspiration and opportunity to enter that life. Recently one of the most distinguished Hindu Brahman gentlemen in South India remarked that "Jesus Christ upon the cross represents the highest type and noblest ideal of life that India has ever known.'* Yet no one in India is more familiar with the Pantheon and the myriad legends of Hin- duism than is this man. A few years ago I went to visit Protab Mozoomdar, in Calcutta. He was one of the most distinguished leaders in the Brahmo- Somaj movement. He wrote a beautiful book on " The Oriental Christ," — a book which Christians of the West might read with great profit. He had a passion for our blessed Lord beyond that of most Christians that I have known. On one occasion he said : " Christ is a tremendous reality. The destiny of India hangs upon the solution of His nature and our relation to Him." That man, with all his mis- conceptions concerning Christ, was worth knowing as one possessed of a view of the Christ which was rich in its beauty of oriental colouring and warm with the fervent passion of the tropics. Jesus meant much to him in all the latter years of his life, both as an ideal of life, an inspiration to the highest reaches of character and a power of God unto the elevation of man everywhere. It is true that he did not regard Him from the exact view-point of an orthodox Chris- tian of the West. But this, I believe, was because he approached Him as an Oriental, and inter- 1^4 The Modern Missionary Challenge prated Him as an undisciplined brother of the East would. Jesus meant much to him, notwith- standing his inadequate conception of His nature ; and He means more perhaps to not a few Hindus of culture in India than He does to many of our unim- aginative and sordid Christians of the West at the present time. One of these men, a Brahman friend of mine in South India, was so enamoured _of that beautiful book of Christian devotion, Thomas a Kempis' '' Imitation of Christ " that he translated it, a few years ago, into the Tamil language, and handed his manuscript to another Brahman gentle- man, who is a publisher, and who published it serially in his monthly magazine for Hindu readers ; for he knew that Hindu men of thought and of high aspiration everywhere desire to know how to imitate Christ, and to live in the constant atmosphere of His presence. The dawn of a new day of Christian propagandism will rise upon the missionary enterprise through the non-Christian world when Jesus Christ, in His life and death and teaching, shall become more exclu- sively the missionary message. IV Christianity must be presented to the non-Chris- tian communities, not as an elaborate ceremonial, a colossal hierarchy, or a dogmatic system of truth. It is to be inculcated rather as a moral dynamic and a spiritual power. It is not well to bury Christ again in a cold, Eastern grave of ritual ; even though He The New Methods 135 may be adorned and glorified by those forms and ceremonies and prelatic pretensions and theological formulae which have been so conspicuous in the past history of our faith. We must have a risen Christ, entering with ethical power and transforming spirit- ual beauty into the life of every new convert. It is true that the people of the East require a cer- tain amount of ritual. The oriental mind is so framed that it depends more upon the ceremonial and other outward forms of religion than does the Occident. It is in the East that all forms of ritual have reached their highest expression and have suf- fered largest abuse, because they have been allowed to dominate faith and to take exclusive control of the religious mind. But no one can live in the East for a long time without appreciating how much those ancient peoples, with their poetic nature, depend upon the outward symbols and forms of religion. I would regret, therefore, to see our faith impoverished in this particular, and reduced to puritanical simplic- ity in those Eastern countries. The danger, however, is, and has been in the his- tory of our faith in the East, lest Christianity be brought to those people with altogether too elaborate a ceremonial and with hierarchical assumptions, which altogether eclipse, if they do not entirely ig- nore, its moral qualities and spiritual influences. The Armenian Church in Turkey, the Syrian Church in India, and the Romish Church in all the lands of the Far East are overwhelmingly ritualistic, oppressed with a thousand meaningless forms and ceremonies, 136 The Modern Missionary Challenge and crushed under a weight of prelatic conceits which so absorb the thought and religious attention of the poor people that they have no time to con- sider, nor has any one else any time to help them to understand, the true spiritual significance and the ethical content of the faith which they have em- braced. Thus Christian life in those lands has be- come stereotyped, unprogressive, and is given-to the mumbling of unknown phrases and meaningless mantharas. This has always been the danger of re- ligious life in the East ; and if Christianity is to lift those people out of the depths of these elaborated forms and ceremonial, it must give to them a new type of our faith. It must bring all these outward forms and silly ecclesiastical claims into subjection to its underlying life. Men must be taught every- where that Christianity, in order to be a success, must mean character and a true edification of the soul in spiritual life. In India, where Christianity has had a home for sixteen centuries, it was largely the aim of its mis- sionary promoters, until a century ago, to impress the people with its splendid outward forms and its grand ecclesiastical pomp and pretension. Hence, our faith has achieved comparatively little real suc- cess there. When it comes to religious forms and ecclesiastical powers the ancestral faith of India can impress its followers more mightily, and bring to them more of awe and reverence than can Christian- ity in its wildest assumptions. From the time of the Protestant invasion in the The New Methods 137 East, and especially from the Anglo-Saxon Protes- tant missionary advance, a century ago, India has learned, in a way such as to impress it adequately, that the religion of Jesus is a much simpler thing, because it is a much profounder thing, than the early exponents of our faith presented it. It is a thing of deepest life. It aims to cleanse the heart from all sin and to build up character to its utmost strength in Christ Jesus. It means an indwelling of the Holy Spirit which brings spiritual transformation and beauty of life hid with Christ in God. It is only in this way that Christianity has already achieved its best work and contributed its permanent blessings to all the peoples of the Far East ; and it is through this newly developed power of our faith in those lands that it is to have in Asia its ultimate and speedy triumph. In like manner, no political ambition or power should be sought in connection with the propagation of our faith in non-Christian lands. The old idea of Church and State permeated the thoughts of the early missionaries, as it now does those of some con- tinental missionaries, and has vitiated largely their conception of Christianity, as a thing of moral and of spiritual power. The early history of Christianity in China and Ja- pan is significant in the opposition which it created and in the persecution which it induced ; the major part of which was the result of political intrigue and ambition on the part of foreign priests and prelates. Even a little more than half a century ago the Chris- 138 The Modern Missionary Challenge tian invasion was identified by the government and people of Japan with sinister ambitions on the part of missionaries to overthrow the powers that be and to organize a foreign State upon its ruins. Even at the present time non-Protestant missionaries in China are charged with causing much trouble to the government by demanding a political status and by seeking rights and privileges for their Christians be- yond any possessed by the common people. One cannot too severely deplore such a method of seek- ing to propagate our faith in Eastern lands. The advance and permanent strength of the Christian cause in non-Christian countries will depend largely upon the degi;ee of its separation from all assump- tions and influences that are extraneous to its true nature and upon the growing emphasis given to its moral excellence and spiritual supremacy in the world. V Love must be exalted as a supreme missionary motive of our faith. The key word of our Bible is that " God so loved the world, etc." (John iii. 16). Divine love is the foundation of Christianity. This love of God in Christ Jesus brought salvation to men. And it is love in the souls of men which must bring them to realize and to enjoy this salvation. Fear has, indeed, its place, as an inferior motive, even in Christianity. Our Lord Himself appealed to men more than once, through the motive of fear. Many Christians in all ages have lived upon the The New Methods 139 lower ranges of spiritual life, and have been slaves to the terrors of the Law and to the fear of future torment. But love is the supreme test of our faith, as it is its highest impulse. In this, Christianity is unique ; hereby it is differentiated from all other religions. Ethnic faiths are begotten of fear and are sustained and perpetuated by its tyranny. This is their almost exclusive motive. In Christianity alone '* love cast- eth out fear" ; and thus drives out all abjectness of spirit and adds dignity and sweetness to the human life. it is not only in religion, but in domestic, social, and industrial life that Orientals are driven to ac- tion by the mean compulsion of this lower motive. Love, therefore, is for them a very difficult thing to appreciate. And the missionary will find that it appeals little, at first, to the life of men in the Far East. They are reached more easily by the lower motive. They prefer the ethics and the life basis of the Old Testament, with its thundering and terrors of the Law, to the New Testament with its whisperings of love. They associate love, too generally, with maudlin weakness. God becomes a grandfatherly type who easily forgives and excuses all the faults of men. It takes time for them to ad- just their minds to the new vision of the Christian God, and His regime of love, as the mighty moving impulse of His people in all their relationship to Him. They must be slowly nurtured in the truth that the love of God represents strength as well as 140 The Modern Missionary Challenge tenderness, and that he who would worship Him in spirit and in truth must worship Him in the beauty of holiness and of tender loving appreciation. But these people can respond to, and ultimately enter into the largest appreciation of, this characteristic of our religion. *' When the heathen hear an earnest preacher speaking about love they are astonished ; they are also astonished when they hear of the love of God to men, that He even sent His Son to death that they might live. But, for the most part, they are only astonished ; their narrow minds cannot, at once, take in the great message. Only at a later period, when Christianity has taken a deeper hold upon their h^art, do they more and more under- stand the love of God which was made manifest in Jesus. If you tell a Papuan, * Jesus died for you on the cross.' he will make a face as if he would say, * Then Jesus was a very stupid man.' The heathen Battak finds it very natural to say, ' God is good.' It is constantly said, 'God is gracious.' God is represented as an old and weak grandfather, who always excuses the faults of his grandchildren. When they are told of God's love they think, — ' We knew that long ago.' They have no idea of the tremendous difference between the love of God and that weak laisser faire laisser aller of their own god." ' But, I repeat, these people can be brought to feel the mighty impulse of that love moving their hearts. Christ Himself said, "And I, if I be lifted up, will 1 Warneck's " The Living Christ and Dying Heathenism," p. 252. The New Methods 141 draw all men unto Me." The attractive, impelling influence of that love is to be encouraged every- where and to be inculcated as the dominant motive of Christian life in all lands. An old priest of heathenism, as he was being prepared for baptism, heard of Jesus the Redeemer and exclaimed with tears, — ** That is a religion that is sweet and comforts the heart. I know many gods and have sacrificed to many, but I never heard any- thing like that, that God sent His Son to be the re- deemer of sinful men. We are afraid of our gods, but the true God loves us." In India, the common people, in describing their affection for a certain individual, usually express it by saying, ** O I how much he loved me." This is universal. The human love of the Christian to Christ as a motive in his life is best expressed in the terms of Christ's love to him. " The father of a well-known African hunter said to the missionary Ebner, — * Our hearts are by nature as hard, inflexible and black as iron, and must be hammered like iron before they can be soft, clear and flexible. The Lord Jesus is the smith, His love the fire, and you are the bellows I " VI It is necessary also that the missionary emphasize, in his commendation of our faith, the argument from experience. In the West, in up-to-date books on Christian Evidences, the argument from experience is largely ignored. In preparing a book on that subject in India, I found it difficult to find aid from 142 The Modern Missionary Challenge Western writers upon this subject. It is possible that, in modern life in the West, this argument has lost some of its validity and power. I beg to ques- tion this, however. But I am persuaded that in mission lands this argument needs prominence and growing emphasis. The non-Christian is generally fortified in his faith by not a few experiences which he verily believes are conclusive proofs -of the divinity of his ancestral religion. A man sold to me his household god (a small idol) because it had not prospered him in the past. Another whipped his god for inattention to their domestic needs. Hundreds of men annually roll in the dust a mile and a half around a rock near my Indian home. They thus pay their vows after receiving some great and tangible blessing from the temple god. I have seen man and wife immovably attached to their faith because, after years of barrenness, the wife had been delivered of a son, in answer (so they thought) to their prayer to the family god. Since then they have worshipped the family idol with a new ardour. It was impossible to convince them that the tribal deity could not really hear and answer their prayer. I have known men to have been cured of long con- tinued disease, and they were convinced that it was in response to a new compact made by them with the tribal god. They considered it a part of their religious experience, clearly confirming their faith in their family god and furnishing an anchorage to that faith which hardly anything can remove. It is of little use to argue with a man who has received The New Methods 143 such definite blessings in response, as he beheves, to his prayers and to the new vow which he has made to worship his god. All oriental ■ faiths are largely the product of experiences which are supposed to connect the people with their deities in some way or other. A faith which is to triumph over these re- ligions must be rich in religious experiences of its own— experiences which carry their evidential value with them and clearly reveal the divinity of the re- ligion and the union of the soul with God of infinite power. In trying to bring souls out of these re- "" ligions into Christianity the Christian must be pre- pared to meet experience with experience, and to reveal clearly the reality and the excellence of his own as contrasted with the spuriousness and the lower character of those of ethnic religions. And this will be by no means an easy task. I have rarely been able to convince any man of the false- ness of his religion when he has been fortified by some such experience in his life. The great argument from experience, which these^' lands need to-day, is the argument of a noble Chris- ) tian life which is in close communion with God, is j transformed by His presence, Und is beautified by / the indwelling Spirit. All these non-Christian lands could be speedily brought to Christ if all the Christian people that now lived there, comparatively few though they be, revealed daily the living power of the Gospel in their own lives through a character that was unmistakably Christian, and through graces of life, which could find their origin only in Christ Jesus. 144 The Modem Missionary Challenge Our cause has suffered in those lands because of the unchristian life of many who had confessed Christ. An open confession, without a living testimony in grace and character corresponding to it, will blight our cause and deter the non-Christian world from accepting Christ. We need more of this ** Fifth Gospel " in heathen lands, a clear testimony to the living Christ in the convert's life, and to the power of the Gospel, as a gift of God, to save, unto the uttermost, the benighted heathen of Africa and Asia. This we are permitted to witness increasingly, thank God, in those lands. VII In non-Christian countries it is necessary to dis- criminate between sins, heathenish errors and debas- ing customs, on the one hand, and long established customs which are harmless and non-religious on the other. The one must be antagonized and destroyed, the other must be spared and defended. Much confusion has been revealed in the past in the attitude of mind shown by missionaries in the pres- ence of these two different things. There are many things connected with these oriental countries which are entirely harmless in themselves, but which a young missionary, specially, is apt to consider baneful be- cause they are strange to him. He thinks that they all belong to heathenism which must be rooted out from among the people. I have seen the vegetarian diet of South India — a diet so well adapted to that climate — regarded as, in itself, a piece of downright The New Methods H5 heathenism, because it was religiously maintained by a sect of Hindus. This is just as unreasonable as the conviction of millions of Hindus who have believed, and still believe, that Christianity enjoins upon its followers beef-eating and wine-drinking as an essential part of its discipline. Hosts in that country have been kept away from Christianity because they were taught to believe that every Christian must eat beef, which is the worst abomina- tion to every Hindu. In like manner, there are missionaries who believe that the pigtail of the Chinaman and the top-knot of the Hindu are abso- lutely inconsistent with a confession of our faith. Some missionaries in India, believing that the top- knot is a remnant of heathenism, carry scissors with them through the villages, in order to clip off the hirsute appendage, before they baptize its owner I Even though these things may have had a religious significance, in the past, to these people in the East, most of them have ceased to be anything more than social customs, which are perfectly innocuous in themselves. It would be interesting to find out how many of our modern customs have had their origin in heathenish practices in the far off past. Of course, when it comes to the definite transfer of dis- tinct and unmistakable heathenism and superstition into the Christian Church it must be withstood ; and the Church must be purified, so far as possible, from these evils. But I insist upon it that discrimination should always be exercised in this matter ; and the highest interests of the Church should be conserved 146 The Modern Missionary Challenge with as little disturbance to the life of the people as possible. One of the most frequent complaints heard in the East, to-day, is, that native converts are being denationalized ; that they are leaving their old, an- cestral and national customs, and are aping the West, separating themselves from their own people and becoming strangers to their own community. They thus not only appear ridiculous, but they largely cease to influence their own people and lose the opportunity to lead them into the new found faith. There are instances about which it is difficult to decide. In Jb.pan, at the present time, it is a univer- sal custom to observe, annually, a day for the worship of the emperor. Institutions of learning perform annually this ceremony which is certainly akin to, if it does not really partake of, the character of idolatry. A large majority of the missionaries in Japan ap- prove of Japanese Christians joining others in doing this homage to the emperor. It is not by them regarded as a definite act of worship. Yet it is practically the same thing as was found in the Roman empire in the apostolic days ; and because many Christians then declined to yield to it they suffered cruel death. It is a serious question whether the Christian community would not achieve more for their cause in Japan by taking a definite stand against this custom and requesting the government to grant them freedom from its re- straints. The New Methods 147 VIII Missionary leaders should also study how best to adapt their outer life so that, as far as possible, they may harmonize with the conditions of the country in which they work, and thus commend themselves and their message to the people. The distance between the man of the West and the man of the East is, under the most favourable circumstances, a serious hindrance to his work. The missionary of the West rarely feels at home among the people of non-Christian countries ; the customs and habits of life in those lands are so far removed from his own. In China and in Manchuria many missionaries adopt the clothing, and follow not a few of the customs, of the people, with advantage to themselves and their work. In Japan this is generally unnecessary, as European customs, especially clothing, in themselves often create a prestige there. The Japanese have themselves taken favourably to European costume. In India, which is a tropical country, it is far less easy for the man of the West to adapt himself to the outer conditions of native life. Habits of life there are not only very different from those of his own coun- try, climatic conditions also make it almost impos- sible for him to wear the clothing of that people. Moreover the White man has a prestige in India which he would largely lose among the people, if he would not make himself ridiculous in their eyes, were he to adopt their costume and ape their life. This is partly because the government is that of the White man. 148 The Modern Missionary Challenge Nevertheless, the question has often been raised, whether, through sympathy with and imitation of, the common concerns of life much could not be done by the Westerner to commend his faith to that peo- ple. Some have thrown themselves, with an abandon, into oriental customs and outward life, and have not been successful enough to encourage others to follow them. Abbe DuBois completely Hinduized his life ; and at the end of his arduous career, declared that it had been practically a failure. Robert de Nobili did the same in Madura for many years. He even posed as a " Western Brahman " and lived with apparent duplicity the life of the Jesuit that he was. But that Brahmanical pose and process availed him little in the ultimate success of his work. Not a few Protestant missionaries, in their eager desire to come into close touch with the people that they might save them, have adopted the outward habits of Hindu life, even to the common Hindu diet, only to find later their mistake, and to return largely to their own customs. In the presentation of our faith in the East, it has been found that it is not the adoption of the ordinary life customs of the people, but rather the spirit of the Christ, revealed in loving sympathy and kindly appreciation, that wins souls for the cause of Christ. The ascetic religious ideal dominates the mind of India. No religious leader there can commend him- self with perfection to that people without living the austere life of self-mortification. Never has that The New Methods 149 form of life been lived with more austerity and physical restraint than in India. Any one who desires highly to commend hiniself, through that type of life, which is distinctly Hindu, must enter into it with a great deal more of self-denial and self- restraint and self-infliction than anything ever known in the West. At the present time an American mis- sionary (Mr. Stokes) in North India is thus attempt- ing to live the life of the holy ascetic or religious mendicant with the purpose of commending his faith and of bringing souls to Christ. He believes that it is a method which will not only commend it- self to the people, but will also reveal that aspect of our religion which must ultimately become the type of our faith in that land, when Christianity shall have become indigenous there. He has taken up this life seriously, and our sympathy goes out to him in this attempt to commend our faith to the people on distinctly oriental lines and with an oriental bias and emphasis. Though one doubts the wisdom of this noble effort, I confess that I would be de- lighted to see it succeed, and that Mr. Stokes could thus prove that it is possible for some Western Christian men, especially those of an iron constitu- tion, to undertake and make successful this form of Christian life and activity in that land. I believe that among Westerners a few only can possibly take up such a work and bring it to a successful issue. May Mr. Stokes be enabled to reveal its possibilities. I believe, however, that what India needs pre- eminently is to see more of its Indian Christian 150 The Modem Missionary Challenge workers adopt this method of Hfe for service, and show, by example, that Christianity can thus become not only indigenous but effective in attaining the ancient and persistent ideal of that country. For this reason I am very glad to know that some Indian brethren have already joined Mr. Stokes in this new type of Indian Christian life and work. Thus the great object of the missionary must be to study how in every way to cultivate methods of approach to the people whom he is serving, so that the Gospel may find speedy acceptance and so that the Church of God may flourish and send its roots deep down into the life of the people. It is ours not only to carry* the living message of a saving Gospel to every people, but also to carry that message in the way best calculated to commend it unto all nations of the earth. V The New Ideals Which it Exalts THE ultimate aim of missions should be to make themselves unnecessary. That mis- sion is most successful which most speedily achieves its purpose and is able to disband. This end is to be attained not merely by scattering the seed of truth in every town and hamlet of a country, or by leavening society with the spiritual assimilat- ing forces of the Kingdom of God ; the missionary enterprise must eventuate in an organized form of Christian life and activity — in a healthy, prosperous Church into whose hand the interests of men's souls and the permanent prosperity of Christianity can be entrusted. One of the pet dangers of every mission in heathen lands is that of keeping the people whom they have brought into the Kingdom as their per- petual wards. They postpone too long the duty of graduating them into independence. It is pleasant to hold on to influence and authority. It is sweet to administer the affairs of others. It is delightful to continue in the capacity of almoners of the benevo- lence of the home Church. It is difficult to relin- quish leadership and control. Yet all of this must be exalted as a part of the programme of the Church for its missions. With increasing clearness of vision, and resoluteness of 151 152 The Modern Missionary Challenge purpose, it must hold aloft certain definite ideals for the infant mission Church which it is nourishing into life and power. In order that the mission Church may abide and develop, it must possess four characteristics. In all non-Christian countries these are sought in many ways, but with one deep conviction of their absolute necessity for the prosperity and permanence of all the Churches established in those lands. I. A Self-Supporting Church The Pauline method made this the chief corner- stone of the missionary enterprise. St. Paul, wher- ever he estat^lished a church, not only left it to stand upon its own financial basis, but also induced it to send its charitable contributions to the mother Church in Jerusalem. The new-found Christian life can best be fostered by the practice of self-support. The question has often been raised whether native churches should be, from the first, self-supporting ; or shall they be aided by Western financial re- sources. The methods illustrated in many of our foreign missions — especially the older ones — is that of rendering aid to weak mission churches and con- gregations. Missionaries are not insensible to the fact that this method has not apostolic sanction and antecedent, and is in many ways liable to danger and abuse. One may doubt seriously whether the great Apostle to the Gentiles would approve of the modern way — a way which signally runs counter to his own method. All applaud his method and The New Ideals 153 admire his wisdom and courage in placing the churches, which he established, definitely upon their own financial responsibility. Yet, there are reasons why this method has not been generally pursued in modern times. The extreme poverty and the abject condition of the converts reached and Christianized by modern missions in most lands, have strongly appealed to the charitable insdncts of the missionary and the home Church alike. It has been a gospel of com- passion upon them in their pecuniary, as in their spiritual, helplessness. In this respect it has furnished to the missionary not only a gracious opportunity, but also a subtle temptation, to which he has doubtless yielded many times — that of leaning upon the strong, if not abun- dant, resources of the home Church rather than performing the more wholesome but more difficult task of encouraging and cultivating the independ- ence, self-reliance and self-denial of the infant native Church. There is another strong excuse, if not adequate reason, for rendering financial aid to mission churches. ** The King's business requires haste ; " we are impatient of results. The West, perhaps, attributes more efficacy than it should to money. At any rate, missionary societies have a conviction that by a careful use of the financial resources of the Western Church they may so expedite the scheme of spiritual conquest in Eastern lands as to warrant them in postponing, for a while, the problem of self- 154 ^^^ Modern Missionary Challenge support. The urgency of the great enterprise in Asia and in Africa demands a large and growing expenditure of money, with a view to improving the present remarkable opportunities whose wide open doors may soon be closed to the Christian Church. For example, those who best know the situation in China, at the present time, declare that unprece- dented opportunities urgently invite the missiona- ries — doors of access to, and influence upon the people — which will probably be closed a few years hence, but which, if entered to-day, will lead, in a marvellous way, to the speedy coming of the King- dom of Christ in China. It would be folly in the Church not to improve this situation and give heed to this Providence in its work in that empire. Nevertheless, great wisdom and self-restraint are demanded of the missionary in this matter, lest he pauperize the people by foreign aid, and rob them of that very manhood and Christian independence which he cherishes above all treasures and which he longs to impart to them among his chiefest bless- ings. It is well to remember that the more recently organized missions give full emphasis to this matter of self-support. The record of the Uganda Mission, in Africa, is specially inspiring in this particular. As a part of the record of its marvellous develop- ment we are informed that all of the native work in that country is supported by native Christians. From the first they assumed the whole financial burden of the developing church. The New Ideals 155 In like manner the infant Church in Korea is bravely bearing its own burden. Of it Dr. George Heber Jones writes : " From the earliest years of the mission, the Koreans have been taught that the final and complete evangelization of their people rests with them, and that the purpose of the foreign missionary is to inaugurate the work and then cooperate with Korean Christians in extending it. This position has been accepted by the Korean Christians, and the Korean type is that of a man who places all his possessions in the hands of the Lord for His work. A happy illustration of this occurred in our work in the north district. Dr. W. Arthur Noble led to Christ a sturdy specimen of the northern Korean. He was the first convert in his village, and his house was the first meeting- place. After a while the village church grew too large for its quarters and put up a chapel of its own. Then there was a debt which had to be paid. There was no money with which to pay it, as the little group had exhausted their resources. This leader, however, had one thing he could sell — his ox with which he did his plowing. One day he led it off to the . market-place, sold it, and ' paid the debt on the church. The next spring, when the missionary visited this village he inquired for the leader and was told he was out in the field plowing. He walked down the road to the field, and this is what he saw : holding the handles of the plow was the old, gray-haired father of the family, and hitched in the traces, where the ox should have been, were this If 156 The Modem Missionary Challenge Korean Christian and his brother, dragging his plow through the fields that year themselves." ^ Perhaps no people have revealed such a passion for self-support as the Karens of Burma who, only a little more than half a century ago, were wild barbarians living on the mountains of that country, but who, to-day, take special pride in their financial independence and are, practically, supporting their whole church work. All are familiar with the independence which in- creasingly dominates the Japanese. Of this. Dr. DeForest writes, — ** A most significant fact and one that serves to illustrate the healthy and vigorous growth of the Christians is that there are two wholly independent mission boards of the Congregational and Presbyterian Churches, which raise about 12,000 yen a year and support their own missionaries, some fifteen, at present. Self-support is a burning ques- tion in all mission fields, and one cannot understand the work without knowing something of its practical workings. " I know of two evangelists who deliberately cut themselves off from foreign money, well knowing that their little bands could not possibly give them sufficient support. They preferred to suffer extreme poverty in order to plant the spirit of self-support and self-respect deep in the hearts of their followers ; and their heroic determination cost them their lives." 2 1 Gale's " Korea in Transition," p. 198. * " Sunrise in the Sunrise Kingdom," p. 116. The New Ideals 157 It should be remembered also that the older mis- sions, established in such lands as India, are grad- ually solving this problem by increasingly training the churches to assume their own support ; and it is most encouraging to see how readily they respond to this call. In the Madura Mission, to which I have the honour to belong, and in other missions of that land, the pastors of the churches are supported by their churches. The Madura Mission has also a home missionary society, which not only, helps the weak churches to support their pastors, but also conducts independent work of its own within the district. Even the weakest congregations are being led to realize and to assume increasingly responsi- bility for the maintenance of the cause. In order that one may understand how the churches of missions in foreign lands are realizing their opportunity and responsibility in this matter it is well to remember that in non-Christian lands alone the offerings of native Christians reached the grand total of $2,650,551 during the last year. This is about one-ninth, or eleven per cent., of the total amount contributed for foreign missions by all the Protestant Christian Churches of the world. And the larger portion of these home contribu- tions, it should be remembered, go to pay the salaries of the missionaries that are sent into these foreign fields. When the deep poverty of these people is con- sidered, a poverty far beyond anything that we know or can understand in this country, the sum is 158 The Modern Missionary Challenge remarkably large and brings great encouragement to all Christian workers. The native Church in all lands is developing rapidly, both in its ability to contribute, and in its determination to do the manly thing in supporting entirely its own institutions. And I believe that the time is not far hence when a self-supporting Chris- tian Church will be found in all mission fields, II. A Self-Directing Church When a church has attained to the distinction of being self-supporting, there is absolutely no reason why it should not also possess the right, and enjoy the distinction, of being self-directing. A church is not in a. healthy condition which is always follow- ing the leading strings of some foreign ecclesiastical body. The chief bane of the Syrian Church in India has been its willingness, during the last six- teen centuries, to be under the control and doctrinal direction of an ecclesiastical body in a far off land. It has failed to become indigenous, prosperous, and possessed of power and of an outgoing life because it has never been willing to assume control of its own affairs. It is still a " Syrian Church " rather than- an Indian Church. The self-directing power of the native Church must be achieved on two lines — both in the ways of administering its own affairs and of formulating its own beliefs. In the first place it must be trained to administer its own internal affairs. The New Ideals 159 Of course, self-administration must bear some pro- portion to self-support. A church which will not as- sume increasingly the duty of maintaining itself finan- cially can neither possess the sanity nor the self-re- straint required to wisely direct its own affairs. Those who contribute the money towards its maintenance will wisely demand more or less influence in the proper use of their money. The duty of missionary benev- olence involves the obligation of wisely dispensing the same and administering the work supported by it. Still, the native Church must be gradually taught to assume the power of administering its own affairs. The Japanese Christians have taken this up more rapidly and more eagerly than the Christians of any other land. This is natural, because the Christians of that land have, in the main, come from the Samu- rai class — the warriors of the country — who are self- asserting and quick to demand their rights. They have revealed great impatience, at certain times, in view of the leadership of the missionaries from the West and have made it somewhat unpleasant for them. This spirit was intensified by the attitude of the government also. For instance, when Neesima, with American money, established the Dosisha, the government would not consent to have any foreign control over the institution. The property must, in its entirety, be legally owned by Mr. Neesima, or some other Japanese. Even the missionary dwell- ings could not be owned by missionaries or by mis- sionary boards. The foreign teachers of the institu- l6o The Modern Missionary Challenge tion must be under the Japanese principal and have their salaries paid by him. At that time it was the only condition of missionary work in the land. This independent spirit of the Japanese, while pro- ducing some disagreeable friction for the time, is rec- ognized by all as an invaluable asset in the mission- ary enterprise. So long as they reveal qualities of leadership and, especially, as they are manifesting the spirit of self-support, it is much better that they should assume entirely the administrative responsi- bility and full guidance of the affairs of their cause. It were well if the native Christians of all lands were as capable and as prepared to assume this leader- ship as are the Japanese. In India, on the other hand, the situation is very different. Nine-tenths of the whole membership of the Indian Church have been taken from the outcaste Hindu community. They are men who, for many centuries, have been crushed by the bondage and the indignities of the caste system, and who have so- cially been the slaves of others, without right of ini- tiative and devoid of the first claims to self-respect. It is impossible to give to such a community, in a brief time, the adequate equipment of sanity and of ambition and of the spirit of leadership to direct their own ecclesiastical affairs. It has been, and is, the ambition of India, as it has been their genius, to be docile, good followers, rather than leaders. To India, the words of Dr. Speer apply admirably. ** The great need is for leadership, not primarily mis- sionary leadership, but the leadership of strong native The New Ideals 161 men who, knowing their own people, resting upon them, holding them fast, will accomplish among them that of which the missions have dreamed and for which they have toiled." ^ A century of training, however, and an extended opportunity for education have resulted in a marvel- lous advance of that people. And as their new- found manhood has expanded, new increments of op- portunity, of influence and of power in self-direction have been conferred upon the Indian Church. In South India this is more marked than elsewhere, be- cause there are now living the second, third, and fourth generations of Christians, possessed of more culture, dignity and power of initiative than the new converts. The Anglican Mission in Tinnevelly has developed an admirable scheme of responsibility and of self-government for the Indian Church in that dis- trict. In other missions also, movements have taken place on similar lines, and responsibility is being dis- tributed, and the Indian Church is rapidly coming to its own. Missionaries everywhere, in all lands, are eagerly studying the situation and are ^ambitious to bestow upon their native brethren as much opportunity and power as they are qualified to exercise. In India, at least, there is at the present time as much danger in hastening overmuch self-direction on the part of the native Church, as there is in withholding power from it. It is worse than useless to lift the responsibility from the missionary body and place it upon the * " Christianity and the Nations," p. 172. l62 The Modern Missionary Challenge native Church before it is qualified by character and a broad spirit of sympathy and of sanity to under- take it. Some missions have certainly suffered by precipitating this duty upon the people. Then comes the matter of self-directing thought in the native Church. The beliefs and the phi- losophy of the Church of the East must be the prod- uct of the mind of the East. They must think out their own problems in their own way. This is perhaps the most difficult thing of all, the thing which we can least expect at an early date, from a people brought, under foreign leadership, out of heathenism. Yet the Church of God, in any land, must interpi^et the Christ for itself and must think out its own problems of religious thought, and elabo- rate its own Christian philosophy, ere it can be called an indigenous Church. An Eastern or an African Church, using the shibboleths of the West and measuring its orthodoxy by Western standards, is not a Church breathing a healthy life, or possessed of any promise of potency, for the future. The Western type of thought dominates the Church of the East to-day. It is doubtless necessary, in the first stage of development ; but is it not time that some release be found, and a new oriental mental assertion be established in such lands as India, Japan, and China, where so much thought is to be found to-day ? Those lands need, in the Christian Church, more intellectual independence, more aggressive thought. Even a little wholesome heresy would be a great boon — anything but the stagnation of The New Ideals 163 thought, or the weak childish lisping of Western forms and dogmas. Personally I believe that the Church in India, for instance, is very backward in this particular. I have not yet met an Indian Christian gentleman who is not too willing to borrow his theology and to adopt, with complacency. Western dogmatic forms, which he does not understand, and which are in no sense consonant with his oriental nature. The missionary Church needs badly the foundation of a self- wrought system of thought suited to express and to increase its living faith in Christ Jesus. Dr. Data, a distin- guished Indian Christian, tells us that, *' The Indian Church has failed, on the whole, to produce a dis- tinctive theology capable of reaching the hearts and minds of the people. . . . The nearest approach to a distinctive interpretation of Christ has come from a non-Christian sect, the Brahmo-Somaj. The cause is not far to seek. Indian Christianity is as yet a Western product in the process of being grafted on to India. The children of converts know little of, and care less for, the whole heritage of Indian thought and religion. . . . Up to the present time the members of the Church have been drawn from castes which do not afford a soil in which theological ideas naturally spring up and come to harvest. There have been Christians, like K. M. Bannerjee, and Nehemiah Goreh, but the converts from the castes which show special philosophical apt- itude are insufficient to form an intellectual societyjn which there can be a free interchange of ideas. New 164 The Modern Missionary Challenge interpretations of Christian doctrine will scarcely be possible until the intellectual level of the Indian Church is raised either by greater accessions from the Brahman class, or by an extraordinary develop- ment of the mind of the outcaste people who form the bulk of the Christian community." ^ It were well if the best trained of the whole Indian Christian community could meet at some time with a view to discussing this problem. The same thing would be advantageous to other Eastern lands also. III. A Self-Propagating Church The Christian Church, in the missionary field, must be outreaching and missionary in its spirit. This is an idea which is not indigenous to the East, at least at the present time. It is not in the nature of ethnic faiths to seek to win outsiders. These re- ligions have many doors of exit for their followers ; but they have only one door of entrance, that of birth. The Zoroastrian faith is perhaps one of the highest of the religions of Asia. Its followers reveal a progressive spirit, a refinement and a general culture in civilization far beyond Hindus, and the great mass of Buddhists. But in this matter it is preeminently conservative and narrow, as I have already shown. Hinduism, also, has numerous methods of ex- communicating its sons and daughters, but none of admitting a stranger into its fold. Buddhism is a missionary faith ; but it is distinctly oriental in its 1 " The Desire of India," p. 255. The New Ideals 16 j type, and has thus far prospered in, and appealed to, the Orient only. Mohammedanism is the only real rival of Chris- tianity in that it seeks conquests and new triumphs among the peoples of other faiths. Christianity was compared, by its Founder, to a seed whose chief function was self-propagation, and to a leaven which assimilates to itself all that it ap- proaches. Christianity is preeminently a self-prop- agating cult. When it ceases to propagate itself, it dies a natural death. In the East it is a difificult thing to bring those who have entered our faith from the apathy of the ethnic religions of their ancestors, to realize now that theirs is a missionary religion, whose one supreme purpose is to bring its life and blessings to all men. The Syrian Church, in South India, represents one of the saddest spectacles of a Christian community that I have known anywhere. For many centuries its large and outwardly prosperous community was en- tirely devoid of any missionary impulse. It did nothing whatever to bring heathen souls into the Kingdom of Christ. It settled dpwn into absolute in- difference to the condition of its non-Christian neigh- bours, and became merely a distinct and exclusive caste among the many castes of Hinduism about it. At the present time, with a new Western mission- ary consciousness, and with the new awakening in the East, there has come to the native Church a new realization of its mission and opportunity to brifig the world to Christ. l66 The Modem Missionary Challenge This is wonderfully manifest in Korea. The Korean Christian is said to possess a passion, even beyond that found in the West, for bringing souls into the Christian fold. It is understood in the Korean churches that no one is worthy to be re- ceived into Christian fellowship who has not re- vealed the genuineness of his life and sincerity of his purpose by bringing one or more souls into the Church with him. Men in that land are accustomed to devote certain days, or weeks, or months, it may be, exclusively to evangelistic labouT, to bring men face to face with Christ, and the great problem of their acceptance of Him. As an expression of this eagerness to convert others they have organized training classes for Christian workers. Thirty-nine per cent, of the Christians of that land attended such training classes last year with the object of prepar- ing themselves to be soul-winners for Jesus. And they travelled many weary miles in order to attend these classes. Some are said to have come afoot more than a hundred miles for this purpose. " When they return home they speak of Christ to their unconverted neighbours. All expenses of these classes are borne by the Koreans. In one class of 250 an aggregate of 2,700 days of preach- ing were pledged ; and those who had no time of their own to give pledged each half a month's salary. An order sent to the Bible Society for 100,- 000 copies of a special edition of the Gospel of Mark had to be quadrupled on account of the increasing demand. These copies are bought by native Chris- The New Ideals 167 tians for distribution among their neighbours. The class leader here, who is a well-to-do farmer, so ar- ranged his farm work this year as to devote practi- cally his whole time, without pay, to church work. The result has been an increase of about fifty per cent. Persecution at one church brought with it the stoning of two helpers, and, through their fidelity, victory and an increase of over one hundred per cent. . . .1 dare say that there is no land in the world where there is so much personal and un- paid — in money — hand to hand and heart to heart evangelistic work done as in Korea." ^ So great is this enthusiasm of the Christians of that land in bringing souls to Christ, that they have recently inaugurated a movement under the inspir- ing watchword, — " A Million Souls for Christ." What a noble ambition for the 200,000 souls brought out of heathenism during the last quarter of a cen- tury, to achieve for Christ during the coming year I Would to God that the same degree of enthusiasm and ambition might take possession of the hearts of all of God's people in other lands of the East and West. We notice the same spirit also in some parts of Africa. We are familiar with the marvellous de- velopment of the Church in Uganda, during the last quarter of a century, since Stanley's visit to that land and his wonderful appeal for Africa in general and for Uganda in particular ; for now we see in that one region alone 50,000 baptized Christians, all of whom 1 Rev. J. Z. Moore. l68 The Modern Missionary Challenge are pledged to go forth to bring others into the fold of Christ. In Sumatra also they reveal this spirit. '* It was owing to the evangelistic spirit of the Battak Christians that the Gospel spread so quickly and in such a healthy way in Sumatra. The Battak Church has even formed a missionary society which carries on almost independently mission work among its heathen countrymen, and has now sent forth two native preachers and several teachers and evangel- ists whom it supports." ^ A like spirit reveals itself upon all sides in Japan. Many of the independent churches of that country are not only developing in life but are reaching out in spiritual in^uence and power to bring others into the same blessing. So great is this ambition that some missionaries declare that **Were the whole missionary force permanently withdrawn from Japan the good work would go on and Japan would be- come a Christian nation." This expression may re- veal an over-sanguine temperament. But the situa- tion certainly warrants every hope and encourage- ment to those who have given their lives for the re- demption of that great people. In India, likewise, there are many evidences to show the growing interest of the Christians in the progress of the Christian cause. I know myself of many who, a few years ago, had no wider vision of Christian sympathy, and of ambition for the Chris- tian Church than their own town or hamlet. But they have now entered upon the dawn of a new day, 1" The Living Christ," etc., p. 272. The New Ideals 169 with a broader horizon of interest, and with a larger outlook of sympathy, and a new purpose to bring India to Christ. Their watchword, to-day, is both worthy and inspiring, if not startling, as expressed in those thrilling words, — " India for Christ by Indians." There is not a well organized mission in South India, whose Indian Christians have not organized for themselves a missionary society, through which they are conducting evangelistic activity in some field of their own. The Anglican Mission of Tin- nevelly has a strong missionary organization con- ducted by the people, and sending forth men eight hundred miles into a region and among a people of another tongue. That work is being prosecuted vigorously at the present time and has brought many hundreds of benighted people to a confession of Christ and an acceptance of His faith. The Madura Mission has a Home Missionary Society which has taken over three hundred square miles in that district for its own cultivation and, at its own expense, and under its own guidance, has a force of men and women working there to-day for the redemption of that people. The ofTerings of the Christians for that work are surprisingly great, and reveal the deep evangelistic purpose of the Christian community. A few years ago the National Missionary Society was established, with great eclat, by all the Chris- tians of India. It has the worthy ambition of com- bining all India Christians into one great organiza- tion whose sole purpose is to carry the Gospel to all lyo The Modern Missionary Challenge the inhabitants of the land by their own Indian brothers. That society has grown wonderfully and is accomplishing great things by establishing mis- sions in different parts of the land, from the Punjab to the plains of Southern India. Christians, in all parts of the country, have been drawn together into this splendid enterprise, and their offerings reveal a definite purpose to make Christ known from the-Him- alayas on the north to Cape Comorin on the south. It is also an encouraging fact that missionaries have been sent by Christian Indians from India to Africa and to the Isles of the Seas, chiefly to reach after their own people, who have gone into those distant countries. Some of these are even now re- turning to their own land as Christian men, having been converted by this agency during their absence from home. No one who is familiar with all this work, and is in touch with these various movements, can fail to be encouraged with the great work which has been achieved towards making the Church in India a self- propagating Church. But this is only the beginning of an enterprise which must increase in depth of purpose and in breadth of activity until all these lands shall verily hear the Gospel from their own people and until all the people shall accept Christ as their Saviour. IV. Church Union During the last few years the problem of Church Union on mission fields has thrust itself upon mis- The New Ideals 171 sionaries and societies alike, and has suddenly risen to great prominence and importance. The great prayer of our Lord has, as its burden, the union of His people. That was a most solemn occa- sion when, standing, He lifted up His hands towards heaven and prayed for the apostolic company in the Upper Room. Their pride had brought dis- sension, and His heart yearned that they might be endued with the spirit of peace and of harmony. And, from that little scene. His eyes reached out in prophetic vision to a future divided Church, and His prayer ascended to the Father, " that they all may be one." Never, in these two thousand years, has that divine prayer found so full an answer as at the pres- ent time. Christian union is the strong conviction, the earnest prayer, the brightening hope and the growing achievement of Protestant Christendom at the present time. The spirit of fellowship is every- where rife ; while amity, comity, federation and organic union have become the watchwords of the Christian Church in all lands. Will our Lord's prayer for Christian union be ever answered through outward uniformity as well as through oneness of spirit among all Christians? Shall we have one organized, outward body of Christ as well as a perfect communion of soul and fellowship of spirit among all Christian people ? It is very difficult to answer this inquiry ; for I believe that temperament and climate and antecedents have much to do, and will continue to have some- 172 The Modern Missionary Challenge thing to do, with the differences of life and organiza- tion. Yet I am convinced that a perfect oneness of spirit among God's people — an uninterrupted inter- change of loving sentiments and a full tide of Christlike sympathy and fellowship — will not be long in creating for itself an outward manifestation perfectly corresponding to itself, which will -mean nothing less than organized union of life and of activity. Denominationalism, or sectarianism, is not only temperamental ; it is also and preeminently a heritage of the past, which enters much less into the heart of our Hfe than we are wont to think. And as such, it is and must be a transient, ephem- eral condition of things, for the cessation of which it is our daily duty to pray and to work. Whatever of permanence may possibly belong to denomina- tionalism will not be found inconsistent with organic unity of life and activity among God's people. And, in the solution of this problem, divergence in thought and doctrine will cease to be a hindrance. I believe that the day of creedal conformity as a basis for united action and fellowship is passing away : indeed has already passed away in most enlightened Christian communities. That two brethren cannot see eye to eye concerning second- ary, or even primary, gospel truths is no reason whatever why they should not enter into fellowship of the life of their common Lord and into united, loyal action for the furtherance of His work. Creeds, which have always divided Christian The New Ideals 173 people, are receding into the background as a con- dition of fellowship. It is not because men are coming to think more and more alike ; but because their thinking has a less dominant place in deter- mining whether they shall be united together in His Kingdom. The ethical test, and above all the test of kinship of spirit, are, thank God, superseding the test of creeds as conditions of union. The day will soon come when Christians will be astonished at the folly of this and past ages in exalting the intellectual test as the prime condition of fellowship and of united effort in the coming of the Kingdom of Christ. I believe that the day has come when, for the furtherance and highest development of all plans of union we shall place the emphasis which our Lord Himself placed upon the idea of the Kingdom of God as distinct from that of the Church of God. Christ came to establish a Kingdom ; and He de- voted Himself absolutely to the furtherance of the cause of that Kingdom. And when the Christian Church in the East shall make the Church concep- tion entirely subordinate to the conception of the Kingdom, then shall we cease to attach exclusive importance to any one form of church organization, knowing that God has used many forms, and wath equal success, in the coming of His great Kingdom of righteousness here upon earth. And, thank God, much of the activity of Christ and of His Spirit in the world, to-day, through such organizations as the Young Men's Christian Asso- 174 The Modern Missionary Challenge ciation, is outside the domain of any ecclesiastical or denominational organization. Chancellor Stephens well expressed this thought when he said, — " How shall this great work be achieved ? How shall the robust faith of individualism be harnessed with the concord of corporate solidarity ? There is but one solution of the problem. That solution is to be found in the subordination of the Visible Church to the Invisible Church which God's Spirit creates in the hearts of His children. The life of the Spirit must be exalted to the supreme place." And we should not forget the statement of Canon Hensley Henson that " Denominationalism as a pri7iciple is stricken for death." It may accomplish much in the future ; but its greatest usefulness has passed, and it must give way to the broader and the higher idea of the Kingdom of God. Connected with these statements should be placed the notable deliverance of Lord Balfour of Burleigh, in his opening address of the recent great World Missionary Conference. "We may," he said, "be divided, we may be independent, we may come from different lands, and we may pursue diverse methods, but we recognize the same duty and we acknowledge the same object. No divisions free us from the obligation, and the great lesson which we are learning is that none of us can discharge it alone. If we are to be successful a greater amount of unity must be attained than has ever been the case in the past. We believe that the meeting of this Conference will make us still less inclined to The New Ideals 175 deny that overlapping and its waste of energy, its waste of men and women, its waste of material resources, are nothing short of treason to Him whom we acknowledge as our common Master. Surely there is much more which should unite us than keep us apart." I question whether we realize fully the importance and urgency of this movement towards Church Union. We should not forget that every year deepens our sectarian ruts in mission lands. They are thor- oughly Western, and the people have had nothing to do, thus far, with their formation and perpetua- tion. The longer they continue on these Western lines, the more difficult it will be to abandon them for a scheme which will be more in consonance with the nature and needs of the people. If all recognize, as I believe we do, the need of adapting our systems to these countries we shall also agree, probably, that the sooner it is done the better. The continuance of even a better thing in lieu of the best may be a serious evil. I think that it is necessary also to have regard to the weak and isolated condition of the native Church. Our little missions, scattered here and there with their few poor Christians, overwhelmed with a sense of their weakness as they are surrounded by the proud and mighty forces of other faiths, find in the situation every element of discouragement. They need the inspiration of numbers ; they need a broader horizon of fellowship ; they need the cheer and courage 176 The Modem Missionary Challenge which come from a consciousness of their tangible union and communion with millions of their brethren all over the world. At present there is not one in ten native Christians who knows practically any- thing about other Christian communities than his own. And even mission agents have such peculiar ideas about other Christian communities than their own, and other missions than those in which they were nurtured, that it might be well if they did not know them at all. Our people eminently and urgently need the strength and inspiration that will come to their hearts through the establishment of a union — a close, persistent, demonstrative union — between them and other Christians in their country. The broadening sense of nationalism, which is now creating such a stir politically in the East, carries its own suggestion of a broadening Christian fellowship, shall I also say, of national Christian Churches. These movements furnish an invitation to link, as far as possible, all communities together into a mighty chain of redeeming power in Eastern lands. We should strive to make the Church national in spirit and organized union, as well as in the out- reach of its ambition and efforts for the salvation of all the peoples. And I would repeat that inter-denominational and extra-denominational and extra-ecclesiastical Christian movements are multiplying their forces and reaching out their hands in redeeming influence all over the world. While these splendid organiza- tions are locking their many hands of usefulness in The New Ideals 177 united organized work throughout the world, why should our petty divisions of the Church of God stand in helpless, impotent isolation and think that thereby they are representing the highest spirit of our age and responding to God's call of this twentieth century to His own people ? Verily, this is an age in which all forces are perfecting their organiza- tions for cooperation, mutual support and highest efficiency. And among all these agencies shall the Church of God be the last to abide in its divided and weak isolation? What has been accomplished in behalf of a united Church on mission fields ? I know of nothing which will better enlighten one on this subject than the report of '' Commission VIII " of the World Missionary Conference at Edinburgh, in June last. Here we are told that this spirit of union is working as a mighty leaven throughout the many lands of the East. In Japan, the work has made marked progress. ''The first instance of a union of Presby- terian Churches to form a single national Church in the mission field took place in Japan. In the year 1877 the mission Churches connected with the Presbyterian Church in the United States (North), the Reformed Church in America, and the United Presbyterian Church of Scotland, united to form the Church of Christ in Japan. The Council was joined later by the churches planted by the Presbyterian Church in the United States (South), the Reformed Church in the United States, and the Cumberland Presbyterian Church." lyS The Modern Missionary Challenge The first Christian Church in Japan, organized in 1872, was not only born in prayer, but was definitely a union Church. The first article of its creed says, " Our Church does not belong to any sect whatever ; it believes in the name of Christ in whom all are one ; it believes that all who take the Bible as their guide and diligently study it are the servants of Christ and our brethren. For this reason all believers on earth belong to the family of Christ in the bonds of brotherly love." Of the Christian forces in Japan, Dr. DeForest writes, ** There is no land in which differences among missionaries are so few and unimportant or in which unions have reduced the number of agencies to so great a degree as in Japan. The usual way of speak- ing of mission forces in Japan, therefore, is to refer to them as unions of allied societies under the familiar names of Baptist, Congregational, Episcopal, Methodist and Presbyterian." At the present time a Church union is being attempted in South Africa between the representa- tives of the Congregational, Presbyterian and Baptist denominations. They have formed and adopted a common and brief confession of faith and are con- vinced ** that organic unification is the only form of union that will permit the three religious bodies to mobilize and distribute their forces in such effective fashion that every atom of their energy and resources shall be fruitfully engaged in the campaign for the Master in this sub-continent." In China, also, wonderful progress has been made The New Ideals 179 in bringing the various branches of the Christian Church into federation of activity and into Christian fellowship. So far back as 1862 different Presby- terian bodies began uniting ; so that now representa- tives of nearly all the Presbyterian bodies working have entered into organic union and are really one Christian Church. Among the various denomina- tions of Christianity, efforts have thus far been con- ducted more on federation, than on organic union, lines. But there is increasing evidence that the Lord's prayer is being answered in China in the readiness of the representatives of various sects and denomina- tions to reveal mutual sympathy and to unite in common work, educationally and otherwise, for the furtherance of their common cause, in their common Lord. The greatest advance of all mission lands has been made in India. Not only has the spirit of federation and comity revealed itself there for many years ; organic union also has been achieved as perhaps in no other land. Christians of different denominations are now uniting in various forms of missionary activity. Not only is the same college being sup- ported by various bodies ; recently several denomina- tions opened a Union Theological College in South India, for the training of high class Christian workers. In Serampore, also, heroic efforts are being made to develop the old Carey College into a Chris- tian University for all India where a degree shall be offered to those trained for religious service. In various other ways mutual confidence and fellow- l8o The Modern Missionary Challenge ship in work are revealed among many bodies work- ing in that land. A few years ago all the Presbyterian church or- ganizations in India — and there were a large num- ber of them from several countries — organized into one General Assembly, and thus became one Church. This was a much more difficult thing than would seem on the face of it, because various nationalities had their many prejudices, creeds, and old historic feuds to give up in order to unite together into one Church. The various Baptist denominations and the Lu- theran divisions are now considering how they can come together and form a Pan-Baptist and a Pan- Lutheran union. The latest advance, however, was the organiza- tion in South India, two years ago, of ** The United Church of South India." Into this Church the churches of six missions entered, representing 140,- 000 Christians. They were connected with the United Free Church of Scotland, the Dutch Re- formed Church of America, the Congregationalists of America, and the Independents, or Congregation- alists, of England. This Church discarded all the creeds and confessions of the various denominations represented, and formed a brief confession of its own. Its polity is a happy blend of the ideas and ideals of the Christians who have entered into the compact. It is thoroughly elastic and can be utilized in the line of the choice of either party. I have no doubt but that, in a short time, other denominations will enter the new Church. Its doors are wide open and its The New Ideals l8l invitation is broad and cordial. It represents no compromise of any Christian truth and no abandon- ment of any essential doctrine of our faith. The spirit of union is in the air, and Jesus, who prayed for that union, is conducting and inspiring His own with a view to answering His own prayer in those lands of the East. Consider the benefits which must accrue to the cause of Christ from this movement towards church union. Note the inspiration which it will bring to Eastern Christians, and the breadth of sympathy which it will create and cultivate within them, as they think of themselves no longer as separate units, but as mem- bers of a great and a growing body with which they are connected, not only by spiritual affinity, but also by a definite organization and joint activity. It will also add to the efficiency of our native agency. We know of the discouraging narrowness of most of the men and women who form our mis- sion agency. Some of us have seen how a visit by one of these to another mission has instantly broad- ened his sympathies ; and how pastors from isolated corners of their country, after a visit as delegates to newly formed ecclesiastical union meetings in adjoin- ing missions, have returned to their home and churches with a new glow of enthusiasm and a new sense of the greatness of the cause which they repre- sent and of the coming of the mighty Kingdom of God of which they are but one small part, and yet a living part. l82 The Modem Missionary Challenge This movement also will bring conviction to the non-Christians of the power of the Kingdom of God upon earth. This union of Christendom, and, on a smaller scale, the union of our Christian Churches in the East, is to become in the near future the most potent testimony to the divinity of our Lord and of His faith in the presence of the millions of non-Chris- tian people. Remember again our Lord's prayer. He prayed to the Father, '' That they all may be one ; even as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they may also be in us ; that the world may be- lieve that Thou didst send Me." This, I think, will and must be the highest result of the union of God's Church in non-Christian lands, even the conviction and the conversion of the millions of those lands through the testimony of the Church, by its united life and common love. And there is nothing surer than that in this, as in all other matters, union means strength and economy — strength in working out our great purposes, and economy of men and money in the execution of this work. All are familiar with the lamentable waste in financial and missionary resources as, in small and isolated ways, men strive to carry on the work which is so dear to their hearts. In the training of the mission agency, and in the employment of the same, in the broader educational work and in many other ways, comity and cooperation would mean economy of strength and a reserve of power for the other de- partments of work. Conservation of energy and the wisest administration of God's pence in His The New Ideals 183 missionary cause is intimately connected with a grow- ing union of God's people and a coming together of His Churches in all lands. This movement will, moreover, quicken the pace of the Church in its progress towards a national and universal consciousness. This tendency is manifest to-day ; but it needs to be accelerated so that the native Church may speedily come to a consciousness of its world-wide destiny, when the prayers, the love and the sympathy of the united Church of God will enfold every hamlet and every soul in the land. And, finally, the benefits which accrue from it will reflect in power upon the home Churches of the West which have established and support the mis- sionS. Our home Churches and denominations are, in a very marked way, drawing together ; the old barriers are being burned away one by one, and the denominational ruts are being closed in gradually. But there are a thousand vested interests, outstand- ing prejudices and petty jealousies, which make for division and which render the powers of repulsion still greater than those of attraction in the home lands. On the mission field it is not so. Missionaries^ are free, to some extent, from the constraint of those dividing influences. They have a God-given free- dom and opportunity which arise from their remote- ness from those fields of denominational conflict and prejudice. Both the novelty of their situation and the grand incitement to launch out into the deep of spiritual union and communion furnish them with the great opportunity of their life. And it invites them 184 The Modern Missionary Challenge in a very marked way to push forward these move- ments for Christian union, not only for the sake of mission fields, but also for the sake of the Home Church. For, among the great blessings that the Mission Church of the East is to confer upon the Mother Church of the West, none will be greater, in my estimation, than that of leadership and example in the province of Christian Federation, Comity and Union. And it will be a very sad thing for Asia and Africa, if they do not present to the Church of the West the inspiration of their example in the promo- tion of this spirit and in furnishing this answer to Christ's great prayer, " That they all may be one." /« i VI Present Day Missionary Triumphs IT is impossible to enumerate, in a brief chapter, more than a few of the triumphs which Chris- tian missions have won during the last century. They are woven into the fabric of human progress and of advancing civilization in the far-off lands of the earth. There are men who fail to see them and who consequently depreciate, some of them even de- nounce, the work of the great missionary propa- ganda. Not having eyes to see or hearts to appre- ciate the mighty triumphs of the Gospel, they try to hide their own lack of knowledge by oft repeated and persistent statements that nothing has been ac- complished, and that the work is a failure. These critics and croakers are found in all lands, especially in our Christian lands of the West. They will be found to the end of time ; but they will not interrupt the chorus of the Christian host in praise of what Christ has accomplished through the missionary en- terprise for the salvation of the world. It is well, however, to remember that the best in- formed men and women, those who have travelled far and observed carefully, those to whose words the world cares to listen and in whose testimony it has absolute confidence, those also who have a deep in- 185 l86 The Modern Missionary Challenge terest in the human race — the testimony of all such is invariably and heartily appreciative of missionary work and its triumphs. Dr. J. L. Barton has written an interesting volume on " The Missionary and His Critics." Within its pages one can see abundant and hearty testimony to the nobility of the lives of the missionaries and to the wonderful results which they have achieved among the non-Christian peoples of the earth. The recent, hearty testimony of Pres- ident Taft, concerning missionary work in the Phil- ippines ; the cordial appreciation, by ex-President Roosevelt, of the efforts now made in so many parts of Africa ; the statement of Ambassador Bryce, be- fore the Student Volunteers in their great Convention at Rochester, testifying to the wondrous work of missions in all lands of the earth ; — these are only a few notes of the great symphony of appreciation and applause accorded in view of the character and achievements of this work. Some who had been out of sympathy with the enterprise were impressed and became its ardent friends the moment they came into touch with it. Robert Louis Stevenson was living in the South Sea Islands when he wrote the following words, — ** I had conceived a great prejudice against mis- sions in the South Seas, and I had no sooner come there than that prejudice was at first reduced, and then at last annihilated. Those who deblatter- ate against missions have only one thing to do, to come and see them on the spot. They will see a great deal of good done, and I believe, if they be Present Day Missionary Triumphs 187 honest persons, they will cease to complain of mis- sion work and its effects." The distinguished traveller and writer, Mrs. Isa- bella Bird Bishop, expressed her sympathy in the following words, — " I am a convert to missions through seeing missions and the need for them. Some years ago I took no interest whatever in the condition of the heathen ; I had heard much ridicule cast upon Christian missions, and perhaps had im- bibed some of the unhallowed spirit. But the mis- sionaries, by their life and character, and by the work they are doing, wherever I have seen them, have produced in my mind such a change and such an enthusiasm, as I might almost express it, in favour of Christian missions, that I cannot go any- where without speaking about them and trying to influence others in their favour who may be as in- different as I was." When the distinguished ex- plorer, Henry M. Stanley, was asked, — '* Do you consider the efforts of foreign missionaries really a success?" he replied, "Yes, most emphatically. It can be shown to-day as something marvellous. The story of the Uganda missionary enterprise is an epic poem. I know of few secular enterprises, military or otherwise, deserving of greater praise." Were it necessary, one could' multiply indefinitely the testimony of such witnesses in the West, and, what is perhaps more significant still, the testimony of non-Christian people in the East. These people are not prepared to commit their own lives to our faith ; nevertheless they are not blind to some of the l88 The Modern Missionary Challenge mighty results achieved by these missions in their own countries. A distinguished Brahman of India once wrote, — ** In justice to the missionary, I must say that he has done much to lift the Pariah, socially and mentally, by opening schools and educating those who become converts. The structure of Hindu society and religion — built on caste — is such that there is no such help for the Pariah as the Christian missionary has brought to him." To these testimonies I will only add one concern- ing the work of American societies throughout the world, by the Hon. William J. Bryan.- In his usually eloquent strain he says, — " I do not apolo- gize for mentioning, from time to time, the institu- tions which altruistic Americans have scattered over the Orient. If we cannot boast that the sun never sets on American territory, we can find satisfaction in the fact that the sun never sets upon American philanthropy ; if the boom of our cannon does not follow the orb of day in his daily round, the grateful thanks of those who have been the beneficiaries of American generosity form a chorus that encircles the globe." At the present time, the missionary cannot com- plain that his work is without appreciation among Christians and non-Christians alike. His great achievements are recognized by the world, and the marvellous triumphs of the Gospel are known among all men, in the Far East as well as in the West. Let us consider a few of these missionary victories. Present Day Missionary Triumphs 189 I The growth of the Christian community in non- Christian lands is encouraging to all who have an interest in the work. There are not only 5,281,871 souls brought out of heathen darkness and definitely recognized as converts under the different mission- ary organizations in non-Christian lands. There is also a much larger number which is the definite fruitage of the modern missionary enterprise. This includes all Christians of the negro race. Dr. Gustav Warneck, the most distinguished authority on missions, has recently stated that there are 12,658,300 souls, of non-Christian origin, that have been Christianized and are now represented in the Christian world. This is only the product of Prot- estant missionary effort. To this number he also adds 5,711,100 who are the result of Roman Catho- lic and Russian Orthodox missions among non- Christians. Thus he estimates the total fruitage of modern Christian missions from non-Christians as being 18,369,400. The committee of the recent World Missionary Conference, after further careful study of the situa- tion, has come to the conclusion that these figures are altogether too low, and estimates that the total results of Christian missions of the past century, represented by living converts. Christianized from non-Christian peoples, approach 21,000,000 souls. Thus, among the non-Christian peoples there is a mighty and a rapidly growing community, bearing testimony to the world, by life and by precept, that igo The Modern Missionary Challenge Jesus is the world Saviour, and that His Gospel is adequate to meet the needs and to save from sin men of all tongues and of all climes. In this outlook, it is interesting to notice how wonderfully gospel truth has triumphed over, and is transforming, the uncivilized peoples of the earth. The record of the past century is marvellous in its testimony to the uplifting and saving power of the Gospel over the lowest and most debased among men. Dr. Johan Warneck, in his excellent book, **The Living Christ and Dying Heathenism," writes, — ** We may take the course of mission work among the Battaks as typical of modern missions among the animistic peoples. When heathenism first meets Christianity it decisively rejects it. But gradually, by patient, persistent work, individuals are won, who, however, are thereby alienated from the national union. Ten or fifteen years elapse ; then secessions increase, the strong tension between heathen and Christian is lessened, the attractive power of the Gospel increased, till whole communi- ties, provinces and tribes pass over to the Christian camp. To-day, after forty-five years' labour, the land has been partly Christianized, and the time is not far distant when the majority of the people will break with heathenism and come over to Christian- ity." We are familiar with the marvels of gospel triumph in the Islands of the Sea. How brief is the time since those islanders were brutal cannibals, representing the lowest stratum of our race. The Present Day Missionary Triumphs 191 first missionaries sent to them were killed and eaten by them. They spent their time in fighting and in feasting upon their enemies. To-day, descendants of those who killed God's saints are themselves missionary messengers of the same Gospel that their ancestors defied and rejected. Many of these islands are completely Christianized ; and out from among these people there go forth many mis- sionaries to the unevangelized islands and are sup- ported there by their own people. More than this, these people are contributing generously to those missionary societies in the West which first carried to them the gospel light, and brought to them the Christ who has redeemed them, and given unto them, a new song, which shall be theirs throughout eternity. We are familiar with the triumphs of the Gospel among the dark people of Africa. How very recently those great men of God, Moffat and Living- stone, buried themselves, for many years, in the heart of Africa, seeking to bring spiritual life and blessing to the degraded millions of that continent. It was theirs to give their life in order to heal ** the running sore " of that people and to bring them out of the accursed double bondage of physical and spiritual slavery. Africa was then not known to the world. To-day gospel messengers are carrying the Word of life into a thousand dark regions of that continent; and 2,000,000 souls, in connection with Protestant missions alone, have testified to their ap- preciation of this work by abandoning their heathen- 192 The Modern Missionary Challenge ism and enrolling themselves among the converts of our faith. In some parts of Africa the missionary conquest has made astonishing advance ; nowhere perhaps more than in the country of the Bagandas. In 1875 Stanley issued his great " Challenge to Christendom." He made vocal the request of King Mtesa for Christian missionaries. In England the challenge was accepted at once, and the Church Missionary Society poured forth its messengers, who have wrought w^onders in Christ's name. Persecu- tion and martyrdom was at first the lot of more than one ; but the Gospel has triumphed, and Uganda is one of the most remarkable witnesses to the power of the Gospel to bring a low, benighted people into the joy and the power of Christ's own Kingdom of Love. Mr. Naylo!r, in " Daybreak in the Dark Continent" paints the progress of the work in that region : — ** The Uganda Church had its roll of native member- ship written in martyrs' blood. Its early history is a recital of the most sublime faith amid terrible persecu- tion and torture. "In 1904 the Church of England had in Uganda 43,868 baptized Christians (8,321 having been baptized during the year), 32 ordained native clergy- men, 2,468 native evangelists and teachers, a cathedral, built at native expense, seating 4,000 per- sons, and 1,070 other places of worship, with a seat- ing capacity of 127,000, and with an average Sab- bath attendance of 50,000. Nearly 100,000 people could read and write and 250,000 were under Present Day Missionary Triumphs 193 religious instruction. All of this native work is financed by native Christians, and is practically self- governing. The bishop is the only European mem- ber of the chief Council. Native evangelists and missionaries are being sent. throughout the kingdom of Uganda and to surrounding tribes. *' ' A nation in a day ! ' Into the sombre blood- stained tapestry of Pagan life the new thread of a mighty Love has been woven. This wonderful thread can be traced, now dividing and intertwining, now knotted and tangled and shredded, now, except to a keen eye, lost sight of, though only to reappear in clearer design, marred here by ruthless hands, stained there with martyr blood, but finally dominat- ing the whole, until the fabric grows firm and endur- ing, and the pattern distinct and chaste and beauti- ful." ' I have already referred to the remarkable work among the Karens of Burma, whereby nearly a quarter of that whole mountain tribe, in about half a century, have not only been brought out of their heathenism, but also from their grossest barbarism, into Christian life and into the marvellous possession of the graces of the Gospel. I know of no people who have undergone a more wonderful change, and who are revealing more of the riianly traits of Chris- tian life and independence, than these quarter of a million souls brought out of the bondage of lowest superstition. It is true that Christianity has not yet completely » " Daybreak in the Dark Continent," pp. 267, 268. / 1/ 194 The Modern Missionary Challenge taken possession of, and stamped with its own life and name any great non-Christian civilized people. But it is certainly, during these later years, achiev- ing wonders in those lands also. We know how markedly Japan has taken over much of the Christian civilization of the West. She has absorbed a great deal of the graces of our faith, even though she has not, in very large numbers, entered into the fellowship of Christian life or fully accepted Christ as her Saviour. But even in this respect there has been striking advance. Up to 1872 only ten Protestant Christians had been bap- tized. In 1903 there were 42,900 church-members. Japan, to-day, is possessed of a Christian community of 100,000 souls, among whom are some of the most progressive, valiant and aggressive followers of Christ in Asia. Many of them are men of culture, of distinction, and of great influence in their coun- try. They exhibit some of the best traits of our faith. With a spirit of independence, and with an evangelistic fervour they are revealing a determina- tion to bring, as speedily as possible, their whole country to the feet of Jesus. To those who are labouring in Japan, the situation is full of hope, even if there are also many discouragements and hin- drances to the cause. In China they stand face to face with perhaps the greatest problem of the cause in the Far East. A quarter of the human race are there found under the mighty influences of that congeries of ancient faiths. A century ago it needed infinite patience and a sub- Present Day Missionary Triumphs 195 lime faith, upon the part of its first Protestant mis- sionaries, as they confronted that stronghold of heathenism. All are familiar with the patient strug- gle and the resolute continuance of Dr. Morrison in his initial work for the redemption of that land. For fifty years there was very little there to encourage the missionary, in his arduous task against terrible odds, among that stoical and prosaic people. But the dawn of day has come, and China, with other lands of the Far East, is coming to her own, and is opening her eyes to a new vision of blessing and of power and is turning over a new page in her won- derful history, a page that is to make known her re- markable entrance into the Kingdom and the joy of our Lord. Already half a million souls are con- nected with the Protestant missionary community in that land. Hostility is found on all sides ; but the sturdy Chinese Christians face every opposition with heroic faith and are prepared equally for the altar of sacrifice and for the yoke of service. The mission- aries of no land are more enthusiastic about their converts than are those of China ; and all who well know that land and people bear united testimony to the fact that the Christian man and woman of China are to have a great place and a growing importance in the coming progress and future destiny of our race. Or, if we look at that still stronger fortress of heathenism in India, we find the same encourage- ment, the same definite signs of progress, and the same ingathering of souls into the Kingdom of God. 196 The Modern Missionary Challenge Nearly 3,500,000 bear the name of Christ in that peninsula at the present time ; and 1,472,448 of these are connected with Protestant mission work. This number is increasing rapidly. During the last dec- ade, we are informed by the census of India, more than sixty per cent, was added to our Protestant community. Mass movements are multiplying with increasing momentum. These will carry the mil- ^, lions of India, more rapidly that we realize, into the j Christian fold. Turn where we may, we are cheered by evidences of what the Lord has wrought among all the non- Christian peoples of the earth in modern times ; and we have a thousand assurances that the twentieth century is to witness an ingathering of souls which will far exceed even the most sanguine hopes of the Christian Church. According to the present increase, four hundred and fifty souls are added daily to the Christian community in those lands, and the ratio of increase is advancing beyond anything that the mis- sionaries of fifty years ago dreamed of. II It is important to remember not only the intrinsic value of the souls of these millions who have been saved from heathenism, but also the wonders which have been wrought in them through their change of faith. With the exception of Japan, the ingathering into the Christian community on mission fields has been, to a very large extent, from the lowest strata Present Day Missionary Triumphs 197 in society. In China, and especially in India, the vast majority of converts have been taken from "the submerged tenth." Comparing the members of the Christian community with those non-Christian peo- ple from whom they were gathered, it can be easily seen that Christianity has marvellously improved their condition. It has broadened their outlook ; it has taken away from them the great burden of their ancient social disabilities, loosened their fetters, be- stowed upon them a new liberty of soul, and breathed into them an ambition such as they never dreamed of in their former faith. Educationally, Christianity has conferred upon its converts a large blessing. As the religion of light it must impart intelligence and culture and cannot af- ford to hold its people in ignorance. On the other hand, it is of the very essence of the Hindu faith that it keep its people grovelling in darkness. It has dis- couraged the education of woman. A concensus of the opinion of its lawgivers and leaders has always been against the granting to her of the blessings of learning. Thus has it treated the common people also. Beyond the select few, the aristocrats of learn- ing, the people, deliberately and of design, have been held in the darkness of ignorance. When the Protestant faith laid its hand upon the people of all mission fields, one of its first duties was to build a schoolhouse and to train the Christian schoolmaster, that he might broaden the mind and impart the blessings of education to the Christian community. These people have wonderfully responded to these 198 The Modern Missionary Challenge new opportunities. The fruitage of this work is more manifest in older mission fields, where it has progressed for nearly a century. In India, for in- stance, it has left a marked impression upon the community. Out of their former condition, in which perhaps not more than three per cent, were literate, the Christians of India have been raised, education- ally, to a position perhaps higher than any others in the country. Even the Brahmans, who are the cul- tured elite, are hardly in advance of these same Christians, when we have reference to the combined education of man and woman. In the mission to which I belong, thirty- five per cent, of the 21,276 members of the community are literate ; whereas, the communities from which they have hailed hardly fur- nish more than three per cent, who are in any sense literate. In the district of Tinnevelly, in South India, a remarkable change has come over the community during the last centur)^ Its members were taken from the lowest depths of heathenism. Their condi- tion was educationally abject and hopeless. At the present time, however, that flourishing Christian community surpasses, in culture, any other commu- nity in the whole district, if not in the country. It has its colleges for men and women, its high schools, normal and theological institutions, its boarding- schools and a large number of primary institutions scattered all over the district. By means of these, the people have risen to a condition of remarkable intelligence. University graduates abound, and this furnishes Christian leaders and men for highest posi- Present Day Missionary Triumphs 199 tions of government and for other important posts of trust and of emolument. The Christian community in India is now gener- ally recognized as being inspired by loftier educa- tional ideals than any other community in the land. It has its newspapers, its various associations, and other organizations for its best conservation and highest advancement. We have seen what our missionary institutions have achieved in Turkey for the advancement of that people. Its colleges and many other institutions of learning, headed by Robert College, in Constanti- nople, and by the Beirut College, in Syria, are said to have done more towards creating the recent revo- lution in that land than any other agency or combi- nation of agencies. And the Christian men and women of Turkey, because of their higher training, are having, more and more, a commanding influence in the solution of national problems. Even the '* Ethiopian Movement" in Africa, with its cry of '* Africa for the Africans," though wanting in sanity and wise leadership, is nevertheless indica- tive of a growing restless manhood, struggling for independence and eager to control and direct its own affairs. The spirit of our faith is as a leaven working among the poor blacks of Africa. In character, also, these Christian converts are distinguished in their own community. There is marked advance among the people who have come into Christian life, and are inspired by the influence of the Christian community. They reveal the spirit 200 The Modem Missionary Challenge of progress in character beyond anything known in the community around them. A worker in China writes, — " It is a marked characteristic of the Chris- tians that they cease from foul speech. I have been told by the Chinese that one can often know a man to be a Christian simply by the purity of his conver- sation." From North Africa one writes, — "There has come to be a general respect for the life of the Christians on the part of the non-Christian popula- tion. The former are acknowledged to be, in the main, much more honest, pure, sincere, and morally correct than the latter. There have been reported instances where the word of a Christian witness in court has been accepted by Moslem judges with the statement that the word of a Christian was accept- able on its face." I can bear testimony to the same condition of things in India, especially among the older Christian communities. Their conscience is touched and the develop- ment of a distinctive Christian character is manifest. More especially, in deep religious sentiments and in the cultivation of a spiritual life, they reveal re- markable aptitude and present to the Christian com- munity in the West a beautiful example in the sim- plicity of their faith and in the earnest yearning of their souls after communion with God. As com- pared with the West, the East reveals more weak- ness in the stern elements of character, but greater beauty in the intensity of its religious passion and its pious aspirations. Present Day Missionary Triumphs 201 These Christian people are also possessed of deep convictions which they reveal in their adherence to their new faith. It is only in the West that the ex- pression " rice Christians " has found vogue. There are doubtless as many ** bread Christians " in the West as there are *' rice Christians " in the East. If the motives of our new converts in non-Christian lands are not always of the highest, if all have not entered our faith under the influence of the noblest purposes and spiritual aspirations ; they certainly have come to stay, and fewer of them return to their old faith than one would expect. The persecutions which they endure are often of the severest and most aggravating type ; yet there are few who have abandoned our faith under the stress of persecution. Many suffer all things for the sake of Christ ; they are deprived of their rights, are out-banned by so- ciety, pursued by a vindictive caste spirit and by the combined hostility of many in power. They stand all this with infinite patience and with a firmness and a sweetness of spirit that is a revelation and a joy to those who are their leaders. Yes, the people of the East, when they have discovered a religion with which they are satisfied, are usually true to it. They are not of the kind to fight for it; but they are marvellous in their patient endurance under the utmost strain of persecution in behalf of their convictions. And it must be remembered that the day of persecution has not yet disap- peared in non-Christian lands ; the combined re- sources of the ancestral faiths and of the evil 202 The Modern Missionary Challenge one are still brought to bear upon these poor con- verts. I know of nothing which stands more eminent among the triumphs of our religion in these far-ofi lands than the glorious record of martyrdom which the last few years have furnished in some of these countries. All are only too familiar with the Boxer difhculties in China, and the thousands of noble Christians who surrendered their lives rather than deny their faith and their Lord in that great time of testing. I question whether, if the same persecution happened in the West to-day, we could find so large a proportion of our Christian men and women as China found among its humble converts, ready to test the sincerity of their faith by their life-blood. More recently still those noble pastors and others, in Turkey, gave witness to their faith by their death in a way which brought a thrill of pride, as it did a shudder of horror, to all their brethren in the West. It was not long ago that the island of Madagascar, which had been a scene of such thrilling missionary progress and achievement, became a centre of ter- rible persecution, through which the roll of the martyred host received many additions. These events have happened from time to time ; and they will continue to happen until these non- Christian countries shall accept Christ. And they will be repeated in a way to show to the world that the Christian converts of to-day are men and women of conviction, who are worthy of our absolute confi- dence, as they have been worthy of our highest en- Present Day Missionary Triumphs 203 deavour for their salvation. The martyred host of mission fields represents the brightest and the best crown of the missionary enterprise of the Church of God. Ill It may be worth while to refer to a few of the dis- tinguished names of those who have revealed power and have brought rich blessings to their countrymen through these missions. Africa has had not a few such. In the earliest days of Moffat, nearly a century ago, Africaner, a Hottentot chief, was an outlaw and a desperado for whom (dead or alive) the government of Cape Town offered $500 reward. Later he was brought under the influence of that noble man of God. Through him the gospel message was preached to, and tri- umphed over, the chief. After his conversion he revealed a newness of life and a beauty of character which astounded all who came into contact with him. His dying words to his own people were, — *' We are not what we were — savages— ^but men, professing to be taught according to the Gospel. Let us then do accordingly. My former life is stained with blood, but Jesus Christ has pardoned me. Beware of falling into the. same evils into which I have frequently led you. Seek God, and He will be found of you to direct you." Bishop Crowther was a negro slave, captured in the early part of the nineteenth century, traded for a horse, consigned to a Portuguese slave ship, liber- 204 The Modern Missionary Challenge ated by an English man-of-war, then educated in a mission school, after which his education was com- pleted in England. He was then sent to his own people as a missionary. He was a man distin- guished for his piety and character and was subse- quently consecrated as a bishop of Niger, and had a most distinguished missionary career among his own people in building up the Kingdom of God. China has had her men of piety and power among her Christians. Dr. Li, Pastor Hsi, and many others like them, revealed the sterling worth of the China- man when thoroughly imbued with Christian princi- ples and possessed by the Spirit of God, in reveal- ing the glories of, and in propagating, our faith. Japan has been more fortunate than other lands in the relative number of men of distinction who have been and are members of the Christian community there. One at once naturally thinks of Joseph Neesima, the founder of the Dosisha. Neesima's conversion, his subsequent life of faith and his career of usefulness and power have been written by more than one person. His history, in itself, is one of the marvellous narratives of God's grace in the nine- teenth century. He was a remarkable man in many ways, but in none more than in his absolute devo- tion to his Lord, and in the supreme dedication of his life to the work of educating his young country- men in the deepest principles of our faith. He was a mighty man of prayer. His name and his influ- ence are an inspiration all over Japan. Another man, equally distinguished for his piety Present Day Missionary Triumphs 205 and noble Christian altruism, is Mr. J. Ishii, the founder of the Okayama Orphanage. He was inspired by the example of George MuUer and conceived the idea of duplicating, in Japan, the work of that wonderful man of faith and prayer. He is sustained by a deep and absolute confidence in God as the hearer of prayer. He not only prayed that orphanage into being ; but, for the last twenty-three years, has supported it and has inspired his co-la- bourers by his prayer of faith. At the present time hundreds of orphans are being cared for by his institu- tion, and many have been brought to Christ through it. There are many others of like spirit, in Japan, who are identified with Christianity. Of these Dr. Otis Cary writes, — " If we should learn that the Speaker of our national House of Representatives had ac- cepted some belief that is despised or hated by most of his countrymen, should we speak of him as one of the lowest classes who had been influenced by hope of personal gain? The presiding officer of the Lower House in the first Japanese Parliament, which met in 1890, was a Christian. The one who held the same position from 1898, until his death in 1903, was an elder in a Presbyterian church. He had been a member of every Parliament from the begin- ning. When he was first nominated some of his political friends came to him, saying, * You hold a prominent place among the Christians, and our op- ponents will use the fact against you. Of course, we cannot ask you to give up your religion ; but we do 2o6 The Modern Missionary Challenge wish you to resign your eldership. After being elected, you could resume the office, but it is neces- sary for you to lay it aside for a time.' *No,* answered Mr. Kataoka, ' I would rather lose my chance of going to Parliament than give up my office in the church.' If we heard that the Chiet Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States had become the follower of some despised religion, should we say that he is another of the lowest classes who has been led by the hope of personal gain ? One who for some time held the correspond- ing position in Japan is a Christian who did not hide his religion and who finally resigned his high office because certain things occurring in connection with judicial affairs were contrary to his ideas of right Mention might be made of many more — judges, legislators, ex-daimyos, officers in army or navy, lawyers, physicians, merchants, editors, and other well-known men — the list proving the gross igno- rance displayed by the remarks of those who hate missions or do not take the trouble to learn the truth about them." ^ One cannot close this list of worthies in Japan without mentioning Bishop Honda, of the Methodist Church, and Dr. Harada who recently received his doctorate from the Edinburgh University, and who is such a worthy successor to the sainted Neesima, as the President of the Dosisha. It is difficult to select a few from the many men and women who have added lustre to our cause in 1 «« Japan," p. 117. Present Day Missionary Triumphs 207 India. Thousands might be named who have re- flected glory upon our faith. Pundita Ramabai is one of the most remarkable, both in her character, her history and in the work which she is accomplish- ing. She was the daughter of a. Brahman gentle- man who ignored and antagonized the traditions of his country by giving his bright daughter a thorough education in the Sanscrit tongue and in the writings of his faith. She was married and early lost her husband and fell under the curse of widow- hood in India. She knew, by bitter experience, the cruel injustice of her ancestral faith to the poor widow who most needed its help and sympathy. She came into touch with missionaries and travelled to England and America. Under the influence of God's Spirit she was led into the truth as it is in Jesus, and entered into the joys and conviction of a Christian life. Her heart yearned for the unfortunate young widows of India and she is giving herself to the work of bringing succour and comfort and life to such. At Mukti, in the Presidency of Bombay, she has for years conducted a splendid work for thou- sands of these poor, benighted, downtrodden young sisters, and has done great things for their regenera- tion and uplift. Her task is one of pure philanthropy inspired by Christian impulse. .Hundreds have been brought to Christ through her influence, and thou- sands have been saved from the cruelty and degra- dation which is inseparable from widowhood in India. Another Indian woman of distinction and useful- 2o8 The Modern Missionary Challenge ness is Miss Cornelia Sorabji, the daughter of a Parsee Christian convert, and a member of a very distinguished family of seven brothers and sisters. She has given herself to the relief and elevation of her suffering sisters in India by means of the prac- tice of law. She is the first woman of India to enter that profession ; and there is a growing conviction that she is one of the accomplished legal representa- tives of that land. Among the men of India there are many who have adorned our faith. Kali Charran Banner] ee is per- haps one of the most distinguished. He was a celebrated lawyer and orator and a most devoted Christian worker. So enthusiastic was he in his Christian life and service that it became his custom, with his sons, to preach daily to Hindus in the public park or maidan, of Calcutta. He was a man of learning and of great eloquence. But all his talents were laid upon the altar of Christ and he was always and everywhere a man of deep spiritual life and a profound advocate of our faith. In South India all lament the recent untimely death of Prof. S. Sattianathan, LL. D., who was not only distinguished as a scholar and a philosopher, but whose charming Christian spirit and example were contagious. His second wife, the daughter of a distinguished Brahman convert, is no less favour- ably known than her lamented husband. Her suc- cess in founding and editing the hidiaii Ladies^ Journal has been marked. She gave to the magazine, from the first, a unique place for bright- Present Day Missionary Triumphs 209 ness and artistic finish, among all the English magazines prepared and published by Indians. What shall I say of that too rare type of Chris- tian in India, Sir Harnam Singh — a prince of the royal house of the Punjab, and a man who well represents our faith by his life ? Among church leaders we have such worthy names as Dr. Chatterjee of Punjab, himself a Brah- man convert and a noble Christian leader ; K. M. Bannerjee, the Christian philosopher ; Rev. Maulvie Imaduddin, D. D., formerly a distinguished Mo- hammedan and afterwards, until his death, a noble pastor and controversial writer; Father Goreh, the well-known Christian ascetic, who revealed, to a re- markable degree, the oriental type of piety trans- muted into a beautiful Christian life. Many others are worthy of mention in all these non-Christian countries — men and women of whom the world is not worthy and whose conversion to our faith is not only one of its grandest triumphs, but also reveals the splendid interest which accrues upon the investment of life or of money in the mis- sionary cause. Benjamin Harrison, ex- President of the United States, when presiding at the great Ecumenical Mis- sionary Conference in New York tity, a decade ago, remarked that if he had had a million dollars and had invested all of it in foreign missions, and that if the only result of the investment had been the conver- sion of the lady who sat near him on the platform at that time (Miss Lilivat Singh of Lucknow, India), 210 The Modern Missionary Challenge he would have regarded the investment as having been well made ! There is hardly one among the 20,000 missionaries now labouring in mission fields, who could not point to individuals in his or her own field whose salvation from sin and heathenism and whose transformed life and self-denying noble Chris- tian service infinitely exceeded, in actual value and in spiritual potentiality, the paltry annual investment of twenty million dollars on the part of Protestant Christians. How inadequate is the sordid,. or even the consecrated, wealth of the Church as a test and measure of the spiritual value of missions ! IV Consider also the broader aspects of the coming of the Kingdom of God in those far-off lands. The Church is growing like a banyan tree ; as it reaches out its branches it causes its pendant roots to descend into the soil of the life of many peoples and brings nourishment and strength to millions. More than this, the leaven of the Kingdom is busily transforming life and institutions even beyond the boundaries of the Church. The Christian ideal wonderfully reveals itself in movements and in insti- tutions everywhere. The Young Turk movement is opposed by ortho- dox. Mohammedans in that land, because it is, as they claim, rather Christian than Mohammedan in its spirit. They understand that its progressive, liberal sentiments are fundamentally opposed to the Islam faith. This is perfectly true. The progress Present Day Missionary Triumphs 211 of Turkey, during the last few years, is the natural result of missionary endeavour in that land, rather than the product of Mohammedan sentiments. Many Japanese endeavour earnestly to prove that modern Japan is a normal development of the Japan that used to be. Recently I listened to a lecture by one of the leading exponents of modern Japan, in which he vainly tried to prove that what we now see, in the stirring changes of that country, is the natural outcome of ancient Japanese principles. Such a patriotic attempt to defend the old Japan is amusing. Far more true is the statement of Dr. Harada, that modern Japan has been made possible only by her openness to receive much that is best in Western lands both in their civilization and thought. Dr. DeForest correctly reveals the situation when he says, — "That the government of Japan, the laws, the courts, education, and the family are being formed on Christian principles that recognize the worth and dignity of every man, woman and child ; that the worship of sun and moon has virtually ceased ; that the grosser forms of idolatry have been abandoned ; that the moral teachings of Christ have become a part of the ethical treasures of the people ; that the * friends of Christianity ' number far more than its open professors ; that Christian thought has affected the old religions to a remarkable extent ; we need not hesitate to say that, in spite of the traces of heathenism that remain, no other nation has ever been so rapidly permeated with Christian knowledge as has Japan. There never has been, in 212 I'he Modern Missionary Challenge all the history of missions, so great a victory for Christ in so short a time as we see to-day in that beautiful island empire. There never was a non- Christian nation so open-minded and receptive as Japan." ' The new adjustment which is taking place in China is very striking in many respects. The most remarkable thing about it, however, is that the eye of China is upon the West. She is adopting many things which are essentially Chris- tian in their spirit and outlook. Nothing reveals this so markedly as her sending to" the West hundreds of her brightest young men to receive an education on Western lines and to imbibe Western, that is Christian, ideas and ideals of life, which they are to bring back to their homes and to utilize in building up a new China. It is significant that many of the leading men of China have imbibed more or less of these Christian principles ; and the value of these ideas, in the task of building up a new China, is being increasingly appreciated by many of the best men of thought in that land. In India, we would expect a greater infusion of Christian thought and sentiment in the ruHng classes ; because India is under a Western govern- ment and is largely directed by Western forces. Even the new political aspirations of India are defi- nitely Christian. Neither Hindu thought nor relig- ious life have the remotest connection with the un- rest of India to-day. Rather do they make for 1 « Sunrise in the Sunrise Kingdom," p. 203. Present Day Missionary Triumphs 2 1 3 quiet and rest. They do not foster new ambitions or stir the people to larger aspirations. There is noth- ing in the teaching of Hinduism which encourages manly independence, which makes for human liberty, or which leads the people to demand political rights and social equality. All these are definitely Chris- tian in their origin and trend ; and the best people of India realize this fact. Modern India is awaking from its sleepy past because it is stirred, uncon- sciously, it may be, by the new visions of blessing and of power which Christianity has placed before it. There is a Social Reform Society in India. It has achieved much, during the last few years, in the dis- semination of a desire for social progress in that land. But the movement is constantly suspected, by all orthodox Hindus, of being hostile to the ancient faith and recreant to the old established and cherished customs of the land. The leaders of this movement are mostly men who have been trained in Christian institutions, are confessedly imbued with Christian ideals, and are seeking for their beloved land the realization of these ideals, even in the teeth of orthodox Hindu opposition. They know that it will overthrow many cherished Hindu institutions. There is no modern reform movement of any kind which has exercised the mind of India which has not also been regarded as a menace to the ancient faith of the country and as a hostile encroachment upon Christianity. In that land they are now patterning after Chris- tian societies and organizations. They have " Young 214 The Modem Missionary Challenge Men's Hindu Associations " and " Hindu Tract So- cieties," and various other organizations, all dupli- cates, in their way, of well-known and prosperous Christian institutions. Mrs. Annie Besant, that erratic woman of the West, is doing not a little to introduce some of her own in- herited Christian ideas into Indian life. And she has not the sense of humour adequate to enable her to realize the incongruity between such methods and institutions, on the one hand, and the Hindu faith upon the other. She recently organized, "within Hinduism, a society which she calls, — "The Sons and the Daughters of India." This is the first Hindu society of the kind ever established, because it is the first altruistic organization and call to service for humanity that the India of Hinduism has ever known. She is vigorously promoting the organiza- tion of many lodges of this Order, the pledge of which reads as follows : "I promise to treat as Brothers Indians of every religion and every province, to make Service the dominant Ideal of my life, and, therefore, to seek the public good before personal advantage ; to protect the helpless, defend the op- pressed, teach the ignorant, raise the downtrodden ; to choose some definite line of public usefulness, and to labour thereon ; to perform every day at least one act of service ; to pursue our ideals by law-abiding methods only ; to be a good citizen of my munici- pality or district, my province, the Motherland, and the Empire. To all this I pledge myself, in the pres- ence of the Supreme Lord, to our Chief, our Present Day Missionary Triumphs 215 Brotherhood, and our country, that I may be a true Son of India. " May the One Lord of the Universe, worshipped under many names, pour into the hearts of the Brothers and Sisters of this Order, and through them into India, the Spirit of Unity and of Service." ^ No one who understands Hinduism will, for a mo- ment, fail to appreciate how absolutely foreign to that religion is every statement in this pledge and prayer. It breathes of the spirit of Christ ; and no one knows this better than Mrs. Besant. Perhaps the Christian missionary should be the last one to blame her for this endeavour to carry these new principles and to inculcate this Christian spirit among those who are in the fold of Hinduism. The same thing is true of those Hindu gentlemen, the Yellow-robed Swamis of India, who find it so profitable and agreeable to come to Western lands to expound and dilate upon their oriental philosophy and religious sentiment. One has to be thoroughly conversant with India, its life and thought, in order to realize how foreign to the orthodox teaching of that land is much of what these men promulgate in- the West to-day. They are entirely permeated with Christian truth and are more conversant with the Bible than they are with their o\vn shastras. Theirs is a thoroughly Christianized type of Hindu thought. They use the terminology of the East, to a large ex- tent; but it is expressed in a Christian form and possesses a Christian meaning, which orthodox 1 See Speer's " Christianity and the Nations," p. 273. 21 6 The Modern Missionary Challenge Hindus of that land would repudiate at once. They may be Hindus, but they speak with a Christian ac- cent, and their teaching is in many instances a mongrel between Christian and Hindu ideas. There are not a few religious movements in the East, which are not an outgrowth of their own faiths, but the struggle of the new thought to express itself within the limits, and in the form, of their past thinking. I have already mentioned the new relig- ion which has recently come into vogue in Japan, which is neither Buddhistic nor idolatrous in its character. It is the modern attempt to adapt their faith to the new conditions of life, and to express it in a way which will, to some extent, be in conformity with Christian conceptions. We know how similar movements have taken place within the Mohammedan faith within the lands of the Nearer East, and in India. These are reform movements within that faith, but they bear the definite impress of Christian life. In India, the most striking manifestation of Chris- tian sentiment and ideals, expressed outside of the Christian faith, is the Brahmo-Somaj movement. The leaders of that eclectic faith were men thoroughly imbued with Christian spirit. They were absolutely enamoured of the Christ. In unmeasured terms they expressed their admiration of and love to Him. The most advanced branch of that movement. The New Dispensation, was largely Christian in spirit, r:im and method. It copied after Christian institu- tions, even to the most amusing details. The con- Present Day Missionary Triumphs 217 trolling spirit of the movement was devotion to Christ, even though they did not recognize Him as Supreme Deity. Other movements, in that country have, to a less degree, revealed the same tendency to adopt Chris- tian truth, even though they mixed it largely with the teachings of other faiths. If one should express all these in the terms of their source and tendency, he would say that they are the growing expression of the Christ ideal in the East. The personal influence of our Lord in those coun- tries at the present time is, without doubt, beyond what any one realizes. The influence of Jesus, es- pecially in India, less markedly in Japan, and other Eastern lands, is, beyond doubt, increasing as- tonishingly, and is mighty, if not dominant, as a liv- ing force and a spiritual power in shaping the life ideals and in forming the deep spiritual aspirations of the millions of those lands. Many who are moved deeply by Him may never have heard His name ; but the institutions and the teachings of their land bear some of the impress of His life and character, and increasingly breathe His spirit and reveal His principles. This influence is manifest as it bears upon the re- ligions of those countries. It is wonderful how ex- tensively the religions of India are ** in the melting pot " under the growing light and proximity of Christianity. They are increasingly putting on decency and respectability. Hinduism, for instance, is undergoing rapid trans- 2l8 The Modern Missionary Challenge formation at the present time. Not a few of its grossest characteristics of the past are being lopped off, and others are being gradually changed, so as to be more in harmony with modern ideas and de- mands. I have lived there long enough to see not a few such changes take place in that religion. It is an interesting fact that, during the last year, the Mysore government enacted a law prohibiting the use of *' dancing girls " in connection with all the Hindu temples of the kingdom. This is a serious blow, by an orthodox Hindu government, to a cher- ished institution of that faith. The dancing girl is a debased reminder of the old ** vestal virgin " of the past. In infancy these girls are dedicated in mar- riage to the gods and to temple service. Under the cloak of relig^ion and through its sacred rites these innocent children are thus dedicated to a life of shame. Their own mothers and the priests of the temples know this at the time of their dedication. There are many thousands such women who are the public prostitutes of the land, and are such in the name of that religion, with its sanction and bound by its decrees. It is not strange that the best men of India are revolting against such a scandalous, in- human and accursed system within their faith. And it is cheering that one of the native Hindu States of India has already taken this definite action and has prohibited it within its domain. A similar movement is now afoot among the mem- bers of that faith in reference to other disabilities and indignities heaped by their religion upon the Present Day Missionary Triumphs 219 womanhood of India. The day is not far hence when, under the Hght of Christian life and teachings, the woman of India shall have her fetters loosed, her rights maintained, and her privilege and honour rec- ognized by that religion. It is a striking fact that a few years ago the teach- ings of our faith were not regarded as true in India. At the present time the attitude is so changed that they claim that its teachings are not new. That is, what was thirty years ago regarded as false is now recognized as a part of eternal truth I Then they said it was false because it was opposed to their re- ligion. At the present time, however, they claim that there is no real conflict between Christianity and Hinduism ; that the teaching of the former was either incipiently, or esoterically, included in the lat- ter I It may not be worth while for the Christian in India, or in any part of the East, to worry because his faith lends itself thus to cleanse and to purify the ancestral faiths of those lands. It may have much to do in that line before it will so commend itself as to be acceptable to the populace as a substitute for their faiths. One need not be discouraged in the least that people, instead of accepting Christianity at first, should be trying to introduce its light and its blessing into their own religion. This latter is as truly a part of the work of God's Spirit as is the former. The leaven of Christ's life and truth must work outside as well as inside the Christian Church. The Kingdom of God is coming, through the con- 220 The Modern Missionary Challenge formity of non-Christian religions to our faith in some of their teachings and customs, just as truly as it is coming through the full acceptance of our faith by the millions of those lands of the East. VII Present Forces and Agencies on the Mission Field THE student of the missionary enterprise should reaHze where we are at the present time ; what has been achieved during the last century and what are the assets of the missionary cause at the beginning of this new century. When America began its missionary work, a century ago, it had to build up everything from the foundation. It was the beginning of missionary organizations in our country ; the first seed must be sown in every field ; the missionary must do all with his own hands, and the Gospel must be proclaimed by his own voice. Everything was accomplished in the most primitive way. Missionary appliances and agencies were almost non-existent. How diflferent the situation at the present time ! There are now a thousand forces, institutions and agencies without number, which are ready to our hand, and well equipped for the great service in the world's redemption. I. In enumerating these, merition should first be made of the presence and the power of God's own Spirit in the missionary enterprise. It seems super- fluous to call attention to the Spirit of God as the Supreme and essential Power in this work. He is 221 222 The Modern Missionary Challenge the spiritual Dynamic who must animate all who participate in it. He must touch, with a new life, all who are to come under its influence, and utilize every institution, and control every instrument which is used. In the multipUcity of our organizations and in the manifold activities of modern time, as well as in the added emphasis given to our obliga- tion to convert the world, there is danger of our forgetting that all these agencies and forces are but secondary and must be under the supreme guidance and inspiration of the Spirit. We accentuate the importance of pecuniary means, of intellectual resources, of the varied human forms of activity, and we minimize the necessity and the urgency of all these being consecrated to, and utilized by, the all-powerfvil Spirit of God. He is even now work- ing mightily on the mission field. Not one country has been wanting in a thousand manifestations of His presence. Revival movements have been in- spired and directed by Him in all these lands. To quote my own words, — ** Revival movements which have taken place during the last few years in many sections of India attest the presence and the power of God's Spirit among the Christians. The revival influence has been experienced in all parts of the country. In the mountains of Assam it has been felt, perhaps more strongly than in any other part. Thousands from those mountain tribes were brought, in a marvellous way, into the Kingdom ; and the Christians throughout that whole district received a remarkable baptism of blessing and of power. In Present Forces and Agencies 223 South India we had, at many centres, most convinc- ing evidence of His quickening work in our churches and congregations. At my own home, at Pasumalai, the church and congregation and the students in our institution were touched with the new Hfe in a re- markable way. Meetings were held for hours at a time, where the Christians wept under deep convic- tion of sin, and where blessings untold were enjoyed by those who entered into the fullness of the Chris- tian life. In the theological seminary there was hardly a student who was not roused, and several received a blessing which will multiply a hundred- fold in the lives of congregations to which they went forth and ministered. In North India it brought, in a spedal way, a powerful inflow of joy and enthu- siasm to the missionaries themselves, many of whom were transformed into men and women of greater efficiency than in the past. On the west coast of India, wonderful scenes were witnessed and extraordinary confessions of sin were heard among many of the congregations. " Formerly it was customary to say that the antece- dents of Indians were such that they never could be expected to experience deep conviction of sin. But this revival wave opened our eyes to our error in this matter ; for never before, perhaps, were wilder scenes of agony and of despair, under this deep con- viction, witnessed among any people than were seen during these revival seasons in India. The only difference was in the fact that this conviction so enveloped the soul and so appealed, in its various 224 The Modem Missionary Challenge forms, to the oriental mind and type of life that the doctrine of demoniacal possession received a new- impetus and a new form in the minds of our Indian Christians who witnessed those experiences among their friends " In Korea, also, this power has often been felt. Rev. J. Z. Moore writes that '* During the wonderful revival that shook part of Korea the past year, until not one tile remained on top of another of the three- thousand-year-old Devil House, the thing that caused more remarks among the missionaries than anything else was the wonderful way in which the Koreans prayed for each other and the remarkable answers to these prayers. Early one morning, as I was going out from Chinnampo, I met one of the Christians coming in. They were having a week of prayer, and as he had pledged himself not to go empty handed he had been out to a near-by village get- ting his man for the night. At the time of the women's class in Pingyang, women who had received new experiences of sin's pardon and fullness of peace, and joy in the new birth, came to me with tears plead- ing that I might go or send some one to their Church that all might have this new experience and live." ^ At many points in China and Manchuria, also, God's Spirit has moved mightily in the quickening of His people. The Rev. J. Soforth, of Honan, re- lates his experiences in the following w^ords : " I went to Manchuria and in several different centres God showed His wonderful power. At Mukden, for 1 Gale's " Korea in Transition," p. 190. Present Forces and Agencies 225 example, I was preaching to about seven hundred or eight hundred people — men, women and children. I was not talking in any excited way at all. God seemed to fill the temple. I saw men and women in an agony of conviction. I never expect, on this side of judgment itself, to see more awful conviction for sin. All around they were crying out and confess- ing, and the noise was so great it was impossible to hear a word of it. ** Then at Peking the university students had de- cided that this was all of man, not of God, and they said, * When he comes amongst us and tri^s to work on our emotions, we won't shed any tears, nor con- fess any sins.' ... A week after I arrived in London, a letter from Dr. Pyke reached me. He wrote : * The meetings went on until Thursday after you left, and God broke down all those students. We never witnessed such a scene of judgment' ** We have seen God's power in many places, and the glory of the whole movement is this, that when- ever men and women pass through these meetings, they are filled with the Spirit of God and carry the movement everywhere. I have been to points in but six different provinces, but this movement has gone to sixteen of the provinces. In the province of Fukien, last May, many thousands assembled at Hing Hus, and were mightily moved by the Holy Ghost." ^ One of the great needs of the Church is a lively sense of the presence and power of the divine Spirit in this world-wide enterprise of missions. 1 Rochester Convention Report, p. 231. 226 The Modern Missionary Challenge 2. Consider also the native Church and Christian community. On the mission fields in non-Christian lands there are 16,671 organized churches, connected with which there are 1,925,205 communicants. There are also 3,006,373 baptized Christians. This gives a grand total, including adherents, of 5,281,871. What an impressive ingathering ! It represents not only a blessed harvest of souls ; it represents also a wonderful evangelizing power on the mission field. Next to God's Spirit comes His incarnate body — the native Church — as a dynamic in the conver- sion of the non-Christian world. Who can realize what a resistless power and agency this is in the world conquest which we seek ? In older mission fields it isi already the mightiest agency in making converts to our cause. In the Battak Mission, we are told that " when the candidates are asked why they become Christians, they reply, — * Because others have become Christians.' We were told by chiefs of a heathen province that Mohammedans had come to persuade them to ac- cept Islam. But they answered, — *We are go- ing to be Christians.' That is similar to what took place in mediaeval religions. Religion and change of religion are held to be matters for the people wherein they must act as far as possible to- gether." ' The native Church Iwes the Gospel ; it is an ani- mated witness to the beneficent power of Christ and 1 J. Warneck's «* The Living Christ," p. 277. Present Forces and Agencies 227 His Gospel. **The missionary is a foreigner, brought up under a different faith and influences, but these native Christians are our own flesh and were brought up under the same religious influences as ourselves ; see how they live and prosper ! " This is an unanswerable argument for our faith among the people. "In many of the greater mission fields the Chris- tian people are now recognized as a definite com- munity whose social life and ideals, as well as their personal faith and character, are already becoming a powerful element in the reshaping of national life. They are everywhere subjected to a watchful scrutiny on the part of the non-Christian communities, and there seems to be a general acknowledgment that the life thus jealously watched affords a real vindica- tion of the spiritual power of the religion which they profess." In India, three-fourths of the converts enter the Christian fold through the influence, and under the guidance, of native Christians. And I have noticed that, as the Christian community grows, this per centage of ingathering, through their influence, cor- respondingly increases. In Korea, where " the entire Church is a mission- ary organization '* and where every Christian is an aggressive missionary, the greatness of this influence may be realized, so that one does not wonder that Korea is being rapidly Christianized. 3. The Missionary Force. Connected with the three hundred and thirty-eight 228 The Modern Missionary Challenge missionary societies, of which one hundred and seven are in the United States, there are, — Ordained missionaries Physicians (men) .... Physicians (women) . . . Lay missionaries (not doctors) Married women (not doctors) Unmarried women (not doctors) 5.522 641 341 2,503 5,406 4,988 Total 19,401 This is certainly a large army of men and women already on the field and engaged in this great enter- prise. Yet what are they among so many non-Chris- tian people ? They are only one to every 50,000 souls, and it must be remembered that this number is very unevenly distributed. There are ccantries and regions of many million souls where not a mis- sionary of the Cross is found. The missionary is a man and woman of thorough equipment and consecration. Mr. W. T. Ellis, after a world tour for the purpose of investigating mis- sions, during which he met and had personal inter- course with many hundreds of missionaries in all lands, gives his impressions of them in his bright and brilliant book, "Men and Missions" (p. 157). ** As a clasSy' he says, "the missionary body out- ranks any other class of professional persons known to me — preachers, doctors, teachers, lawyers, jour- nalists or business men. In point of native ability, preparedness and fitness for their work, devotion to their mission, diligence and resourcefulness and self- Present Forces and Agencies 229 denial in its prosecution, and of broad and success- ful human service (which is the test by which all professions must be judged), the missionaries sur- pass all other workers for the world!s weal." The London Times correspondent, writing from China, says of the missionaries, — ''They are the true pioneers of civilization. It is to them we have to look to carry the reputation of foreigners into the heart of the country; and it is on their wisdom, justice, and power of sympathy that the progress of China may largely depend." The following testimony from Dr. Denby, United States Minister to China, is valuable, — '* My ac- quaintance with the missionaries compels me to accord them high praise. In 1886 I personally visited nearly every missionary station on the sea- coast of China, and some in the interior. I think I can testify as an impartial witness in their behalf. I came to the conclusion that the lives of the mis- sionaries were pure ; that they were devoted to their work ; that they made many converts, and that these converts were morally, mentally, and spirit- ually benefited by their teachings." The modern missionary is an up-to-date man, not of the antique type of fifty years ago. He is pos- sessed of grace and piety ; but it is not of the intro- spective, mystical or ascetic complexion. He is a man of an earthly as well as a heavenly vision. As a product of the West he is thoroughly Western. He is better trained, with a broader culture and a wider outlook upon his work and a deeper and a 230 The Modern Missionary Challenge more accurate knowledge of non-Christian people and their faiths than his predecessors, of a genera- tion ago, were. He is as consecrated and devoted to his work as the missionaries of any other age ; but he is also, perhaps, more a man of the world than they were. He does not pose as a martyr ; nor does he lay claim to superior piety, or greater self- denial than many other Christian workers. Facili- ties for travel have increased and havie brought him into touch with the world. And the amenities of civilization have so multiplied as to remove from him most of the old disabilities and deprivations. Yet he is willing to expatriate himself and to be separated from his own family and friends. He is ready for the martyr's crown and is sometimes called upoii to wear it. The missionary martyr roll of the last generation is far larger than is often thought ; and their blood has verily become the seed of the Church in such lands as China, Turkey and India. As a body of men and women, they are preeminently worthy of the confidence of the churches and constitute one of the mightiest assets of the Christian Church in its work of conquest for Christ. Among the distinguished missionaries of the past half century are such names as Dufi and Scudder, Livingstone and Chalmers, Paton and Mackay, Kellogg and Hannington, Miller and Gulick, Hamlin and Washburn. These and their fellow labourers were the great " empire builders of the world " ; men of whom the Present Forces and Agencies 231 world was not worthy, and whose names will be known in future centuries among those of the great- est benefactors of our race. These twenty thousand men and women of to-day aspire to be worthy of those who have passed on, and of that great " cloud of witnesses " who bore testimony to their faith by their blood, and gave themselves absolutely and gladly to the yoke of Christian service for the benighted races of the world. 4. The Force of Native Workers. It is eminently true that the world is to be won to Christ, not by the foreign missionary, but, each country, by its own sons and daughters. I am glad to say that this force of indigenous workers in non- Christian countries is impressive in its numbers and increasingly splendid in its equipment. The follow- ing figures represent this agency : Ordained pastors 5)^45 Unordained preachers, teachers and Bible women, etc 92,918 Grand total of native workers 97*963 When we analyze these figures we note that there are nearly as many ordained native pastors as there are ordained foreign missionaries. And there are nearly five native workers for every foreign mis- sionary worker. These facts are both encouraging and significant. It is equally impressive to remem- ber that there is a native Christian worker to-day 232 The Modem Missionary Challenge for every twenty communicants connected with the mission Church. This body of men and women represents a dynamic of great importance in the progress of the missionary cause. They know the people far better than the mis- sionaries do. They are among their own people, whom they love with a passion and whom they seek with more eagerness than is possible for a foreigner. They are familiar wath their language, they know their weaknesses, and understand the best avenues of approach to them. This agency is being equipped with ever multiply- ing efficiency and power in education, character and piety. It is annually adding to its capacity for strong, successful work in bringing the people to Christ. Upon it preeminently will depend the spirit- ual progress of the Church in those lands. And under its guidance and leadership the multitudes will be gathered into the Kingdom of God. I know of no achievement, in all the history of missions, equal to that of winning to Christ so large an army of men and women and equipping them in thought and life for spiritual and intellectual leader- ship in the young progressive Church of non-Chris- tian lands. They are to lead the Church, as Joshua of old, out of the wilderness, out of bondage and feebleness into the liberty, the strength and the joy of the Lord, and into the fullness of its glorious pos- sessions in Him. 5. Institutions established on the Mission Field. Present Forces and Agencies 233 These are of many kinds. They represent the accumulated strength and the garnered and conse- crated resources of the missionary propaganda for future aggressive work. They have been built up with infinite care and earnest prayer, and also with a great expenditure of the pecuniary resources of the Church. They are the products of the highest wisdom and most strenuous efforts of the missionary bodies from the first. They are the sources from which will emanate and pass on to all those Chris- tian and non-Christian peoples, the richest blessings and the highest gifts of God in the missionary enter- prise. I will present only a few of these. (a) Hospitals and Dispensaries. Of these there are Hospitals 550 Dispensaries 1,024 During the last year, hospital in-patients received 164,245 Dispensary treatments 4j 23 1,635 Hospital out-patients 3>io5>i33 Total treatments during the year, 7,501,013 These figures are very suggestive when we realize what they actually mean as a testimony to the spirit of our work and of our faith. The work of these hospitals is far reaching. People from all parts of the country, around each hospital, come to it with their sufferings and their ailments for treatment and cure. Most seek these hospitals as refuges from the most ignorant, cruel 234 The Modern Missionary Challenge and dangerous treatment of the untrained ** doctors " of their lands. When they come, they not only receive kind treatment with health to their bodies : they learn also of the Saviour of souls and the sal- vation which He has prepared for our race. These centres of medical activity and Christian altruism are more than a philanthropy. They are the power houses from which the light and the life of Christ are daily carried to untold thousands of suffering, discouraged people. Everywhere they commend our faith. I know of one district where there are many thousands of Hindus who know and speak of the mission, which has laboured in that field for three-fourths of a century, only as the i.iission of its doctor — mentioning his name. There is a no more beautiful way of commending Christ and His faith to a people than by these institutions founded to relieve their suffering and to heal their bodily diseases. They are a blessed parable of the healing and the saving work of Christ in the world. {b) Colleges and Universities founded and con- ducted by Missionary Societies. There are, at the present time, eighty-one such institutions, with 7,991 students. Nearly one-half of these are in India, where the missionary enterprise has rightly emphasized its higher educational work. Christianity must appeal to the people with its highest intelligence and culture ; therefore these higher educational institutions have a very important place in the economy of missions. The value of these institutions is twofold. They Present Forces and Agencies 235 train the best and most promising Christian youth, so as to prepare them for large influence as expo- nents of our faith and for highest positions of leader- ship and power in the Christian Church. The hun- dreds of university trained men in the Christian communities of mission fields have found their equipment and special efficiency through these insti- tutions. And the independence and self-direction of the native Church will be largely in proportion to the number of men thus trained and qualified to enter into all the duties and responsibilities of a refined and cultured manhood. These institutions also render a valuable service as evangelistic agencies. They open an excellent way for carrying gospel truth in its highest reaches and deepest philosophical significance to the young men and women who are to be the future leaders of those lands. In civilized countries, such as India, China, Korea and Turkey, these higher institutions have a large importance in this evangelistic work, as they furnish opportunity to reach, under most favourable conditions, the youthful mind, and build there a Christian philosophy which will ultimately overthrow and replace the unworthy thought of heathenism. These young people furnish to the Christian teacher one of the best opportunities that a man may covet, as he meets them every day in the Bible class and leads them into the intimacies of Christian thought and life, specially as revealed in Christ Jesus. (c) Training Institutions. 236 The Modern Missionary Challenge Apart from the general educational work of mis- sions this is one which is specially directed to the preparation of men and women for Christian service. There are 489 such training institutions on the mission fields. In these schools of the prophets there are 8,280 male students and half as many females — in all 12,543 preparing to become preachers and teachers in the service of the missionary Church. The fundamental importance of this work needs to be emphasized. It is here that men and women are prepared to reinforce and swell the ranks of the native agents that I have already referred .to. The number may seem large, but it is far too small to meet even the present needs of our mis- sions. There is no work more inspiring, as I know after an experience of twenty years, than this of prepar- ing men to become preachers of the Gospel, and to send them forth into the needy field which is already white for the harvest. One feels, as he helps to equip, year after year, classes of young men to fill up the ranks of those who have fallen in the field in the Master's service, that he is multiplying himself indefinitely, and is rendering for the cause more, perhaps, than in any other position that he might occupy. In close connection with these training institutions there are also 1,594 boarding-schools and high schools in which there are 155,522 students, of whom nearly two-thirds are males. These, again, represent a department of our Present Forces and Agencies 237 educational work which is most useful and helpful to the cause. I have often felt that the missionary boarding-school furnishes to the missionary worker the best opportunity possible to take dear children in the most impressionable age and establish them firmly in the beauties of Christian living and in perfect familiarity with God's Word and with Christian thought. I have rarely seen a boy or a girl, who has been a year or more in one of these boarding- schools, who has not thereby been so grounded in Christian life and truth as to be a living force in his community ever afterwards. Through these institutions the youthful life, of Christian and non-Christian alike, is easily and ef- fectively brought into subjection to the Christ thought and life. Under this same category we may classify the industrial schools and classes which have now be- come quite a feature in many mission fields. There are 284 such institutions in which 15,535 students are undergoing technical or industrial train- ing. It is not long since mission economy incorporated this as a branch of training. It represents a fine op- portunity to reach and to influence the lowest classes and to bring them into a life of self-respect and to an ability to maintain themselves in life and service. In Africa, specially, this department has developed considerably in usefulness and efficiency. Among the more civilized people it has not so large a sphere, for it does not appeal to such people, save as 238 The Modem Missionary Challenge it may be introduced strictly as a form of technical training, where it may do much good to all classes. {d) Primary Schools. There are 28,901 of these elementary institutions, and in them there are 1,165,212 scholars under in- struction. Connected with these there are also one hundred and thirteen kindergartens with 4,703 pupils. This agency constitutes a wide-open door of op- portunity in all lands save Japan. The splendid educational equipment of Japan largely delDars mis- sionaries and missionary societies from ordinary educational work. In this, Tapan differs much from all other mission fields. Reference has already been made to the supreme value of ^hese primary institutions. Every primary school is an excellent centre of Christian activity, where children of tender age, of both sexes, are not only intellectually, but religiously trained and spirit- ually moulded. The deepest thoughts of religion appeal to these little ones and leave a lasting im- pression upon their tender mind. These schools are usually planted in villages where there are no other institutions of learning or opportunities for educa- tional advantages. The teacher is, perhaps, the only educated man in the community, and he is a Christian. His mission in that village is not simply an educational one. He has preeminently a relig- ious objective placed before him in his work. If he is a man of spiritual power and of deep Christian earnestness, he will speedily make his schoolhouse a Present Forces and Agencies 239 centre of influence, not only in the intellectual and moral discipline of the village, but also in the intro- duction of new religious ideals and in the exaltation of Christ, as the supreme Character and the only Saviour of the ages. These, nearly 30,000 centres of education, are sources from which emanate unspeakable blessings of light and of life to the non-Christian world. Even the kindergarten has been introduced to the East through our Western missions. The child of tenderest years is not below their notice as an op- portunity to implant the seed of divine truth and of spiritual blessing. (e) Presses and Publishing Houses. Few can realize how extensively the missionary enterprise utilizes the printing-press as an agency in the propagation of Christianity throughout the world. There are, at the present time, one hundred and thirty-three publishing houses in connection with our missionary work. It is a significant fact that forty- four of these are in India where more work is re- quired on this line than in any other field among non-Christian people. It is impossible to overestimate the value of this agency, in connection with which thousands of Christian men are being engaged in the output of millions of pages of literature of all kinds every year. I have seen many publishing houses connected with missionary activity in India and Burma ; and there are none more enterprising and businesslike 240 The Modem Missionary Challenge and commercially more successful in those lands than are these mission presses. They are not a burden to the missionary societies, but are so effi- ciently directed as to add very materially to the financial resources and to the spiritual and evangel- istic work of the missions. Of course, in order to achieve this they print and publish more than defi- nitely Christian literature, and thus support them- selves for the specific work of spreading the truth of Christ and His faith throughout those lands. Some missionary societies have entered into this depart- ment much more extensively than others. Wherever they have had men of business capacity and tech- nical skill and training at the head, they have at- tained abundant success. These publishing houses are, to a marked degree, important auxiliaries to the great work carried on by our missions. (/) Literature. Christianity is a religion of intelligence. It thrives upon knowledge, and is furthered and built up through the printed page. It appeals to the culti- vated mind and to the rational faculty. One of the most effective and convincing ways of carrying our message is through books and tracts and leaflets. In every land and language area there has come into existence a more or less developed Christian litera- ture which is constantly growing in volume and power, and is, specially in the older missions, one of the agencies which is most potent and pervasive in its character and influence in the missionary propa- ganda. Its influence is the more effective because it Present Forces and Agencies 241 works quietly and unobtrusively without creating distrust in the suspicious mind of the people. The literature produced and developed by these missions is manifold. First there is the apologetic literature. It is neces- sary to write books and tracts to defend our faith and to show its sweet reasonableness to those who know it not ; as also to expound and elaborate its truth to those who are to become its teachers. Special literature for non- Christian peoples has to be prepared, partly to show the errors and inade- quacy of the ethnic faiths ; and pardy to make known the supreme blessing and power, and the es- sential need of Christianity. Some of these are adapted to the educated classes to whom the best and profoundest thoughts of our religion must be presented in an attractive and in an oriental way. Then the common people must be reached. Every year millions of little hand- bills or leaflets are pre- pared, each with its own simple message of truth and of life, and are scattered broadcast among the com- mon people who take them and read them eagerly and carry them to their homes for further reading and thought. Many a soul has been touched, and many a life has been saved, by^ the simple, direct message of these little leaflets. The writer has, him- self, published, during the last few years, hundreds of thousands of these little messengers which he has sent forth, throughout the whole Tamil country, with their loving messages of gospel truth. For the Christian community, books of devotion 242 The Modern Missionary Challenge are needed ; and as the community grows, the need of this special class of Christian literature increases and becomes clamorous. Generally speaking I think that, in India, this is the most needed of all depart- ments of Christian literature. In this department, hymn-books and lyric books constitute quite a feature. They should be hymns composed on oriental lines, breathing the spirit of the Orient, in its own literary form and poetic meas- ure. Translated hymns of the West will -gradually cease to find a place in the East ; and the sooner the better an indigenous type of hymnology be created to express the warmth of the piety, and to direct with power the spiritual devotions and aspiration of those people. Much of this has already been done. Then there are hundreds of magazines and news- papers that are founded and published in mission fields in the interest of the great work, and with a view to disseminating the Ufe and blessings of our faith. In some lands, especially in India, the preparation and dissemination of school-books is a feature of considerable importance. The schools of India fur- nish an excellent opportunity to our literature societies to inculcate Christian truth through the school readers and through other forms of school litera- ture. All this literature needs adaptation and cultivation. Too few give themselves to literary work. Mission- ary societies, in the past, have very inadequately re- alized the importance of setting apart men for the Present Forces and Agencies 243 creation of worthy Christian literature. There are vast possibilities for the wise development of this agency, so that it may become, with growing rapid- ity, what it surely will become, the mightiest force in those far-off lands of the East and of Africa, for the enlightenment and salvation of the people. For the development of Christian literature in these remote fields, societies, such as the Christian Literature Society of India, and many branch Tract Societies have existed for some time and are increas- ing their efficiency. In India, recent advance movements have taken place with a view to a better organization of the lit- erary activities of the missions, by the appointment of literary missionaries and literary committees for certain language areas. Much more can be done and will be done on the line of developing this Chris- tian agency of great usefulness and marvellous potentiality for good. (£■) The Translated Bible. In the world, to-day, there are thirty Bible socie- ties which publish annually 12,000,000 copies of God's Word, in whole or in part. Of these societies, three, namely, the British Bible Society, the Ameri- can Bible Society and the Bible Society of Scotland, publish five-sixths of all these copies. In addition to these, there are six, or six and a half, million copies sold annually by commercial publishing houses. Besides these societies there are, on the mission field, auxiliary Bible societies which work entirely 244 The Modern Missionary Challenge under these home societies, but also collect funds for the development of their own work, which is run mainly by committees in those fields. The transla- tion and publication of the Bible, in the many tongues of those non-Christian peoples, has not only been a great achievement in itself ; it has also been a marvellous aid in the furtherance of the mis- sionary cause in those countries. We are a Bible- loving and a Bible-propagating people. We believe in the Welsh motto, " Y beibl i bawb o bobl y byd " (the Bible to every soul on earth) ; and we seek to carry that Bible with us wherever we go. In South India, Hindus call Protestant Christians ** Bible Peo- ple " ; and they glory in the name. Through Protestant Christianity the Word of God has beeii reduced into most of the languages of the world, and is presented to nine-tenths of the mem- bers of our race in their own tongue. ** The number of ancient and standard versions of the Bible is 22, and the number of modern and missionary ver- sions is 456, of which 446 were made during the nineteenth century. Since these tables were com- piled 1 1 new names have appeared in the list of Bible versions, bringing the number, at the end of 1903, up to 467. Of these 467 missionary versions, 121 are in African languages, 52 in American languages, 177 in Asiatic languages, 60 in languages of Aus- tralia and Oceanica, and 57 in European languages. Taking the ancient and standard versions of the Scriptures and the modern and missionary versions together, we have a total of 489 versions. Of these Present Forces and Agencies 245 46 have become obsolete, leaving 443 versions as the number now in circulation." It has been the chief glory of our missionary en- terprise that it has, at the earliest possible day, fur- nished an open Bible to the people whom it sought to Christianize. Through the Syrian Church and the Roman Catholic Church, Christianity was found in India for fourteen centuries without a translation of God's Word into any Indian vernacular. Protes- tant Christianity had not been in India twenty years before it presented to the infant Church the Tamil translation of the Bible — the first translation of the Scriptures in all the East. In India alone, God's Word, in whole or in part, has been translated into seventy- six languages and is sold at a nominal price to the people of that country. The value of this splendid auxiliary to the mission- ary work in those lands is beyond computation. It is fundamentally important for the development of intelligent Christian lives and for the creation of a strong Christian sentiment in those lands of the East. That missionary who goes to a people with the open Bible and, with simplicity, preaches, not so much his own words, as he repeats and teaches the Word of God as his message to all whom he meets, has a great advantage over the one who ignores it or takes it in an unknown tongue to the people. {h) Philanthropic Institutions. Christian missions have taken up, with more or less eagerness, various forms of philanthropy and have built up many charitable institutions for the un- 246 The Modem Missionary Challenge fortunates of their communities. There are, at the present time, connected wich the missionary work : Orphanages 265 Inmates . 20,206 Leper asylums and hospitals 88 Inmates , 7*769 Rescue homes 21 Inmates 856 Homes for widows 15 Inmates _ 410 Industrial homes 28 Inmates i>789 There is some question as to how far missionaries should go into this kind of activity ; but there is no question that all these philanthropies should be defi- nitely undertaken as Christian philanthropies. They must be carried on in the name of Christ, and for the sake of Christ. Such efiorts help the people to realize the true character of our faith. In non- Christian lands, a few years ago, it was only the Christian that took up these forms of activity. Imagine a Hindu philanthropy of this type ! A few years ago there could not be found in all India a purely philanthropic institution for all men estab- lished by a Hindu. There were caste institutions and others established for local helpfulness and sec- tional aid. To-day, under the influence of Christian example, even Hindus are beginning to broaden their charity and to endow institutions for the sake of others than their own caste. But even to-day it is Present Forces and Agencies 247 left largely to the Christian worker to enter exten- sively and heartily into these philanthropic efforts. The East sees that the truest and best philanthropy is that which is conducted in the name of our Lord, and inspired by His Spirit and example. Even though we look at these many kinds of charitable institutions as a side issue in our work, they never- theless reveal the true spirit of our religion and are a valuable asset in connection with our enterprise, at the beginning of this new century. 6. It may be of some value to mention here special effort which is made in behalf of the conver- sion of Jews. Work for the people of Israel, for many reasons, has" powerfully appealed to the imagination of the Christian Church. As a consequence of this, ninety- five missions are at present conducted in various parts of the world for the Christianization of the Jewish people. And in connection with these same, 952 missionaries are employed. The work has not been, on the whole, very successful in bringing large communities to Christ ; yet many souls have been brought into the Kingdom, and wonderful instances of transformed lives have been witnessed among the results of this enterprise. In America, more perhaps than in any other land, the leaven of Christianity has worked mightily upon the Jewish community. It has liberalized the Jewish faith and has trans- formed the spirit of the Jews in this country to a no inconsiderable extent. It has also given to the re- form element in that community a breadth of sym- 248 The Modern Missionary Challenge pathy and a new vision of truth such as it never before possessed. 7. The Missionary Work of the Roman Catholic Church. With a view to appreciate the extent of the mis- sionary work which has been accomplished in the name of Christ one must not ignore the remarkable efforts put forth by the Romish Church among the non-Christian nations. Centuries before the Protes- tant Church came into existence, the Ancient Church of Rome sent forth its messengers into those dark lands of the East and into Africa. These men and women revealed a devotion to the cause and an ab- solute self-effacement in the service, which they rendered to those heathen people, such as any Church might be proud of. Thousands of them gave their lives in self-denying service and gladly surrendered themselves to a martyr life that they might reveal to the people the Lord whom they served. They still decline to recognize us as worthy, or even as true, followers of the Lord ; and they would deny to us the right to be His representatives. We dare not, if we would, reciprocate such sentiments. I have seen much that is unworthy and debasing connected with Roman Catholic missions in the East ; but I have also felt that those devoted men and saintly women were as truly representatives of my Lord and His cause as my brethren and I are. We would that they did not becloud their message and hide their Lord as much as they do ; but, in our Present Forces and Agencies 249 estimate of the forces of Christianity, we must not fail to count them among the host of those who bring Christ and Him Crucified to the millions in those lands that know Him not. Connected with Roman Catholic missions to non- Christians, at the present time, there are European priests 7*933 European sisters 21,320 Stations and out-stations 42,963 Native church-members 7,441,215 Schools 24,033 Pupils 840,974 These figures are certainly interesting and very suggestive. They will doubtless be a revelation to many self-complacent Protestant Christians, who are inclined to think that they are the only Christians possessed of a missionary interest. It may be well to compare these figures with those of the Protestant missionary host and their work, whereby it will be seen that in all departments except that of education, and also that of a native agency, they are in advance of ourselves. 8. It will be equally interesting to remember that other great sister Church — the Russian Orthodox Church — in the missionary enterprise which it is now conducting. Statistics of this work are not so clear or so full as in the case of Roman Catholicism ; and it is, doubtless, not so missionary in its spirit as either of the other two branches of the Christian Church. Nevertheless it has four hundred missionaries working in one hundred and twenty-seven districts. 250 The Modern Missionary Challenge Seven hundred schools are also conducted by it. Its missions are chiefly in Siberia, in European Russia, in Japan, and among the Indians of North America. In Japan alone it has 30,712 native Christians, con- nected with 265 church parishes, under the care of the Archbishop and a Bishop, and thirty-three Japanese priests. It is a striking fact that this Church has one branch of its work in our own American continent among the Indian people — aiding us to Christianize our own wards ! There are other forces and agencies, which might be noted and which combine with those rhentioned, to furnish to the missionary cause a splendid foundation for the rapid up-building of the King- dom of Christ throughout the non-Christian world. What is specially needed is that all may be filled, animated and used by the Holy Spirit for the com- ing of the Kingdom of God in those lands. VIII The Magnitude of the Task to be Accomplished WISDOM and truth dictate at this point that a picture be drawn which shall be complementary to that of the two previ- ous chapters ; or it may be studied as a corrective of the same. It is certainly necessary to look at the other side of the shield, lest we think that this work of world conquest is either easy of accomplishment or has been, to a large extent, achieved. It is also very appropriate that the missionary cause be so presented as to appeal to the heroic element in men's nature. This enterprise is not only the greatest that the world has ever known ; it is also the most difficult of achievement. Let us not fall into the error of think- ing that Christianizing the nations and bringing the world to the feet of our Lord is the task of a day or of a generation. Its magnitude should be fully realized by the people of God in order that they may prosecute it with all seriousness and brace themselves up with a faith that is invincible, with a courage that will never yield, and with a purpose to lean hard upon God, that He may lead in the con- 252 The Modern Missionary Challenge flict and give patience in the work to the very end. ** With God all things are possible " ; but in this enterprise He works through the agency of man. He depends upon His own Church to a much larger extent then we are wont to believe. It is true that His divine Spirit is working mightily in and through the Church ; but it is a complementary and equally significant truth that the Church itself can render, and has for many years sadly rendered, ineffective the work of God's Spirit. It has blocked the way of the fulfillment of God's own purposes, and is still so indifferent to its responsibility in this work that the infinitely patient Spirit of God waits, and still waits for His people to move on and stop complaining in their onward march to victory. The old commg^nd to Moses comes anew to the Church, — "Wherefore criest thou unto Me? Speak unto the children of Israel that they go forward." I It is important to remember the great unfinished task of the Church. I have mentioned, in the early pages of this book, that God is opening the door of Christian opportunity in the dark lands of the earth. This statement is true, but needs cautious and not too sanguine interpretation. There are now many regions, and even countries, in the world, where the work of the Christian missionary is either an impos- sibility, or, at least, has not yet been undertaken. There are countries in Asia where there are no The Magnitude of the Task 253 missionaries of the Cross and none to carry the message of Christ to the people. There are millions in Arabia, a half-million in Syria, east of the Jordan, and many more in other sections of the land which is called "holy" who never hear the gospel message from a Protestant missionary. There are whole provinces in China which are closed doors up to the present day. Tibet has its 6,000,000 souls upon whose ears the Christian mes- sage never falls. South of Tibet are the native states of Bhutan and Nepal, with a population of more than 5,000,000, without a Christian mission- ary. Afghanistan, with its 4,000,000 souls, is not yet touched by missionary endeavour. Bokhara and Khiva have their 2,000,000 and more who know nothing of the Christian message. Then the French Hindu China with its 21,500,000 population knows no Protestant missionary work apart from that of three agents of the Bible Society. In these lands of Asia there are 42,000,000 untouched by the Gospel of Jesus Christ. There are also vast countries in Africa, with millions of people, which are areas of unrelieved heathen darkness and gloom. It is said that 70,000,000 souls, or more than one-third of the population of the continent, have never heard the gospel message. Taking together all these definitely unoccupied fields we find 113,000,000 souls who are perishing for the bread of life, — men who are Christless and 254 T^^ Modern Missionary Challenge without hope in the world. In view of the terrible condition of that great continent must it not be said that the Church of God is still " playing with mis- sions " ? Let it not be supposed that many of the lands which are now '* occupied " by our missionary force are, in any sense, adequately occupied. In no other country, among non-Christian lands, is there so large a force of Protestant missionaries as in India. Nearly five thousand of them are giving themselves to the salvation of that people. This may seem a large number. Yet there are immense regions in that land which are untouched by missionary effort. There are thousands of square miles without one missionary messenger to proclaim the Gospel. Those who have carefully investigated the situation claim that there are 100,000,000 people in India — one-third of the population of that immense penin- sula — for whom no missionary is working at the present time and who have not a chance to know Jesus Christ and Him crucified as the Saviour of man. It is pathetic to see how ready we are to label a country, or a district, as '' occupied," when not even a tithe of the people regularly come into touch with the Christian worker ; and only the smallest fraction of these have any intelligent comprehension of our faith and of our Lord. There are reasons for this great inadequacy of our work in the world. Many of these countries, either through hostility of the people, or through inhospi- table clime, or through lack of means of communica- The Magnitude of the Task 255 tion, are still inaccessible. Travelling there is all but impossible, and means of transportation are of the most primitive kind. There are also political hindrances. Even under the British government in India, there are Native States which are closed to the missionary because of the unwillingness of the governments to receive him. The fanaticism of such countries as Afghanistan and Arabia and Turkey make efforts for the spread of the Gospel in them a practical impossibility. Thus, in some lands that are well known to the traveller and to the geographer there is no entrance or welcome to the missionary. And, what is saddest of all ; even if all these lands were open ; should all the many kings of Africa im- itate Mtesa and send their appeal for missionary workers ; and if all Asia and the Islands of the Seas were to send their united cry to Christendom for gospel light and spiritual help, the Church of God would not be in a condition to respond. It would be necessary to double its force at once. Where are the men and means ? Where are the consecration and the sublime purpose of the Church which would en- able it to take possession of these lands, were they accessible, and were they to invite the missionary to-morrow ? It is time for the Church to realize that it still stands only on the threshold of its great missionary conquest. It is not true that its representatives cover the world with a network of their activity. It is far from true that they have possessed the land 256 The Modem Missionary Challenge which the Lord is so anxious to give unto them, in every section of the earth. II Consider also the missionary activity of other faiths which are preempting some lands of the earth, and which, in not a few regions, are outstripping our faith in the race for conquest. Islam is a conspicuous illustration of zeal and mis- sionary enterprise which is not without instruction to the leaders of our faith. It is remarkable how Mohammedanism has spread recently over many re- gions where it had few possessions even fifty years ago. In Africa, for instance, the propaganda of Islam has been far more active, and incomparably more suc(i:essful, in gaining converts than that of Christianity. One writer says that, — " We see Islam actively spreading over Africa, where Christianity is not progressive. It came with the Arab-slaver and was identified with the slave traffic. It comes now with a certain racial pride and appeals to the Af- rican, because it seems to link him with a great world empire." Islam has uttered a cry of defiance against the Christian world. It is a challenge to the representa- tives of our faith to enter quickly and to take pos- session rapidly of that great land of darkness, or to utterly abandon it, that the people may entirely be- come Mohammedans. In the animated missionary campaign which that faith has conducted, during re- cent years in Africa, its converts have increased un- The Magnitude of the I'ask 257 til they are fifty million strong — many times the number of those who have embraced our faith. The noble work of Mofiat and Livingstone, and of a host of other kingly souls who gave themselves unto death for Africa, is very inadequately sustained as compared with the missionary ardour of the repre- sentatives of the rival faith, which is spreading everywhere and bringing millions of pagans into its fold. As one has truly said, — ** The Church must awake to her duty towards Islam. Who will wake her and keep her awake, unless it be those who have heard the challenge of Islam, and who, going out against her, have found her armour decayed, her weapons antiquated and her children, though proud and reticent, still unhappy? " Never before was the real urgency of this work felt as at the present time. We have heard of the " Moslem Peril." The peril lies in the fact that if the Church does not wake up speedily to its oppor- tunity in Africa it will have before it the task of con- verting the millions of that land, not out of pagan- ism, but, which is a much more difficult thing, out of the bigotry and the fanaticism of Mohammedan- ism, into which they are being drawn so rapidly. And this is true not only of Africa. Islam is ag- gressive in all parts of the East. It has more fol- lowers in India (62,500,000) than in any other coun- try on earth ; and it is spreading and triumphing in many countries under the enthusiastic leadership of its ardent mullahs and vigorous missionaries. In the city of Cairo there is an immense Mohammedan 258 The Modem Missionary Challenge university. We smile at the limited vision of its an- tiquated curriculum of studies and the low range of its scientific and literary achievements. But we must not forget that every one of its ten thousand students goes forth from those halls of learning as an enthusiastic defender and propagator of his faith. He descends into the scorching plains and the track- less deserts of Africa and proclaims his simple creed of one god, Allah, and of one prophet, Mohammed. The same is true of the students of other, great Mo- hammedan schools at Fez, Tunis and Algiers. A missionary from Africa declares that, — " The heathen tribes are rapidly coming under the spiritual power of Islam. Among many tribes in central and equatorial Africa, where ten years ago there were no Mohammedans, to-day there are thousands. The delay of Christianity to occupy those regions is giv- ing the opportunity to Islam. Instead of being led to follow the true Prophet of God, these heathen tribes are becoming followers of the prophet of Arabia. To the Pagans of Africa the door is every- where open, and Islam is aggressive, with a prose- lyting sword and the Kalema of the Koran." It should furthermore be remembered that Mos- lems, whether they be Arabians or Africans, easily unite with the Africans. They become a part of its indigenous life and eagerly marry with the people. For thirteen centuries that faith has held portions of that continent. To its votary African life is the nor- mal thing ; he thrives there. Mohammedanism, at its stronghold in Sudan, is both vigorous and aggres- The Magnitude of the Task 259 sive. It has fanatics without number, who are bitterly intolerant towards men of other faiths, and who treat, with unspeakable cruelty, those African people who will not entertain their religion. It should also be remembered, as one has said, that, ** where Christ was born Mohammed's name is called from minarets five times daily ; but where Mohammed was born no Christian dares to enter." The very tolerance of Christianity is the opportunity and strength of Islam in many parts of the world ; while the intolerance of Moslems bars and bolts the door of opportunity against the Christian mission- ary, and even against the Christian merchant, in some parts of the world. During the last few years there also has come into existence what is called the " Pan-Islam " movement. This represents the new growing consciousness of power and the bond of union and fellowship which have risen among the representatives of Islam throughout the world. The leaders of that faith are now planning their campaign as one great, united body, whose schemes of conquest are world-wide in their scope. They are also bitterly hostile to Chris- tianity, which is the only real rival and mighty an- tagonist in the world. This Pan-Islam movement is propagated with much earnestness and enthusiasm in unexpected regions of the world. Pan-Islamic as- sociations exist in London, Paris, Geneva, the United States and other foreign countries. This propa- ganda is vigorously supported by at least a dozen magazines, of which six are in Cairo, which is now 26o The Modern Missionary Challenge really the centre and heart of Islam. Three or four years ago Christian missionaries, engaged in work among the Mohammedans, had a conference in Cairo, and were greatly impressed by the story of the aggressiveness of Islam in all parts of the world. It is, of course, a disputed question whether Mo- hammedanism can adapt itself, in any way, to mod- ern conditions of life and to advanced and progress- ive thought. It will certainly have to be born again ere it can breathe the wholesome air of civili- zation and so chasten its life and add progress to its thought, as to find civilized society congenial. But one thing is certain. Among the lower races of the world, where Christianity should be making its chief triumphs and the missionary propaganda should be achieving its largest success, Mohammed- anism is already in the field and is taking possession of the land and of the heart of the people with ever accelerating speed. This is certainly a loud call and a stirring challenge to the Church of God at this time. Other faiths also are waking to the spirit of the new era. Buddhism, which is thoroughly oriental in its character and history, is beginning to invade the West with its pervasive and genial activities. Even Hinduism, the most exclusive and most thoroughly ethnic of all religions, has now a corps of Swami missionaries in this and other lands of the West. Nor do they have to travel far in America to find willing audiences and apparent response to their milk-and-water philosophy. They return to India The Magnitude of the Task 261 and publicly proclaim that many thousands of our American citizens have adopted the Hindu faith ! Ill Note also the opposition which prevails against our cause in non-Christian lands. As before men- tioned, there are many things in those countries which are very cheering and inspiring to the Chris- tian missionary. They lend hope and courage to his soul as he carries on his missionary work. But there are some things which are adverse to our cause and which retard its progress. Some of them will, with increasing power, impede its prog- ress, and, probably, rob it of some of the success al- ready attained. The new patriotism, which is so notable a feature in Japan, reveals such an overweening appreciation of the past history of the land, and admiration of their ancient life and institutions as to be inimical to our faith. Recently I heard a lecture given by one of the most distinguished educators and leaders of that Empire. He maintained that the present pros- perity and progress of the Japanese was the result of the normal development of their ancient life. He denied that foreign influence had had anything to do with it ; and he ignored completely any influence that Christianity, or Western civilization, had exer- cised over them for their present good. He referred their ethical system to two things as its source — the worship of the emperor and the reverence for, or the worship of, their ancestors. He regarded these two 262 The Modern Missionary Challenge as entirely adequate to create and sustain the most vigorous ethical code and moral system ! For some time and with increasing persistence, the patriotism of Japan will criticize, and decline a cor- dial welcome to, the common faith of the people of the West. The same spirit is manifesting itself in China. Almost any day may reveal a new spirit of hostility and antipathy to our faith among that people, — a thing which would embarrass greatly all work in that land. The Chinese have had much, and still have considerable, injustice and contempt to endure from the people of the West. They have felt, and still feel, this keenly. They are revealing their senti- ments against the Americans to-day, in the way in which they believe our people will feel it most — in the form of a commercial boycott. The treatment of China by Great Britain in its opium commerce, and in other ways, has for some years added bitterness to bitterness against Anglo-Saxons. It is not impos- sible that the vial of their wrath may ere long be poured upon our religion, because of the cruel and selfish treatment which Westerners have meted out to them. The political aspect and complications of Roman Catholic Christianity for many years in that land may add fuel to this fire of hostility. As China comes more and more to feel her power, she will be- come increasingly prepared to reveal her sentiments in her attitude towards Christianity ; and this may not be such as we desire. In India, too, the new patriotism of the day is defi- The Magnitude of the Task 263 nitely anti-Christian. I know that this is only a passing phase of the present unrest ; still this unrest has for its special characteristic a reactionary senti- ment in favour of all that is oriental ; and inasmuch as Christianity represents to them the quintessence of Occidentalism ; and inasmuch as their own faith is being increasingly eclipsed by the new, their op- position and bitterness are naturally turned towards the conquering faith. Non-Christian religions will not die easily. They have not existed for centuries, nor have they wrought in the lives of these people for so many generations, without winding their tendrils around the human heart and creating within their votaries warm senti- ments of affection which will not allow them to pass away without an effort. These faiths are, to-day, on the defensive. It is a life and death struggle with some of them. They all realize that Christianity is their deadly enemy. All their resources will be ex- ercised, to the very last, that they may be maintained, if not prospered, in the lands of their birth. No one who has not seen these religions, or realized the at- tachment of many of the people to them, can under- stand what a mighty conflict there must be before they succumb to the mightier faith. Hinduism, for instance, is 'a most plastic and amorphous thing, which yields readily at every point, offering little resistance to any attack and al- ways ready to adapt itself to any new situation. It may seem to perish under a vigorous attack from without ; but will again reveal its strange life, devel- 264 The Modern Missionary Challenge oping on other sides and in other forms of activity. It is ready to adopt anything that belongs to any foreign faith. It will fraternize with any religion under heaven. But all this is only preparatory to its sinister and deadly purpose to finally absorb the new faith. It is trying to do this very thing with Christianity at the present time. One of the most serious dangers to our faith in that land is that which comes from the friendly approaches of this religion. It throws deadening influence over Christianity at all points ; and nothing but eternal vigilance and an attitude of defiance and hostility " will keep our faith pure in, and uncontaminated by, its presence. These religions easily adopt Christian methods of activity. There are found in India to-day Young Men's Hindu Associations (patterning after the Young Men's Christian Association) and Tract So- cieties to disseminate Hindu tracts, which are mostly a vile abuse of Christianity and the Bible. They have evangelistic societies through which they ap- point and send forth preachers of their religion. All these are strictly Christian methods which have been recently adopted by Hindus. Under the growing light of Christianity, in these countries, the ancestral faiths are increasingly put- ting on respectability. They slough off one evil after another that they may not seem so abhorrent to the new eye of civilization which gazes upon them. In every way they are adapting themselves to the new conditions ; and instead of dying out, as one The Magnitude of the Task 265 would expect under the circumstances, they put on new garments, change the emphasis, eHminate the most obnoxious features and try hard to commend themselves to the people in their new state of ad- vance, and with their modern anibitions. Years ago the decadence of Hinduism and its apparent failure was noticeable ; and one was thereby encouraged to hope that in a very short time it would vanish en- tirely. However, it only turned around, changed its attitude to suit the new situation and soon put on a new effort, which is now strenuously maintained, to regain the affection of the community. In many cases, the very education and intelligence which missionaries and missionary institutions are imparting to those people of the East are utilized by them to bolster up their old faith, to beautify it as best they can, and to express its musty doctrines and antiquated teachings in modern scientific terms, and, especially, in a Christian terminology which gives them the dignity of a Christian interpretation. In this and many other ways these, erstwhile, moribund faiths of the East are revealing a new vitality, and a fresh vigour. They are even putting on an atti- tude of defiance, and, in modern ways, are forti- fying themselves against the encroachments of our faith. This is what we would naturally expect. But we must take full account of it as one of the elements in the missionary problem, and in the delay of that ulti- mate triumph to which we are looking forward with so much eagerness. 266 The Modern Missionary Challenge IV The opposition of governments to the missionary enterprise is a thing which must not be forgotten and which may be expected to continue and, in some cases, to increase. As we have seen, much favour and help has been received, and may be expected from governments to our missionary cause ; yet there are ways in which the missionary enterprise, in its efforts to bring non- Christian peoples to Christ, is much hindered and often balked by the powers that be. (a) Consider the attitude of non-Christian gov- ernments. It is true that, in Japan, where half a century ago the law imposed capital punishment upon any one for being a Christian, the government has changed its spirit and grants to all its subjects religious liberty and freedom of conscience. Yet it should not be forgotten that the ancient faiths of Japan are woven into the very fabric of the government. The worship of the emperor is a part of their creed. Within these limitations it does the best it can for religious liberty. But it cannot look with the same favour upon the Christian, who de- clines to bow to the emperor, as upon the mem- bers of its other faiths. Its attitude towards Christian schools, at the present time, is by no means as cordial as towards its own institutions. Christian institutions are still labouring under dis- abilities. In China, one hardly knows whether, from day to The Magnitude of the Task 267 day, the old or the new regime prevails. By the old, Christianity is regarded as an enemy obtruding itself, disturbing the peace and destroying the faith of the country. Even the new regime is not as cor- dial towards our religion as some would think. They are willing to utilize it, indirectly, for their own benefit in matters educational, commercial and political. We are not so sure, however, that when it has accepted these by-products of our faith it will not turn its back upon our religion, prohibit its efforts and deny its opportunity to expand. In Turkey, also, the situation is not as hopeful as we are sometimes led to believe. That government is perfectly willing that the missionary propaganda may be applied to the Christian communities of the empire ; but they object seriously to the work of proselytizing any Moslems in the land. Dr. J. L. Barton, in his excellent book, " Daybreak in Turkey," tells us that even when that government promises liberty it does not mean to grant it. " In spite of these reiterated declarations, it is evident that the Turkish government does not, and never did, intend to acknowledge the right of a Moslem to become a Christian. A high official once told the writer that Turkey gives to all her subjects the widest religious liberty. He said, ' There is the fullest liberty for the Armenian to become a Catho- lic, for the Greek to become an Armenian, for the Catholic and Armenian to become Greeks, for any one of them to become Protestant, or for all to be- come Mohammedans. There is the fullest and 268 The Modern Missionary Challenge completest religious liberty for all the subjects of this empire.' " In response to the question, * How about liberty for the Mohammedan to become a Christian?' he replied, * That is an impossibility in the nature of the case. When one has once accepted Islam and become a follower of the Prophet he cannot change. There is no power on earth that can change him. Whatever he may say or claim cannot alter the fact that he is a Moslem still and must always be such. It is, therefore, an absurdity to say that a Moslem has the privilege of changing his religion,- for to do so is beyond his power.' For the last forty years the actions of the official and influential Turks have borne out this theory of religious liberty in the Ottoman enipire. Every Moslem showing interest in Christian things takes his life m his hands. No protection can be afforded him against the false charges that begin at once to multiply. His only safety lies in flight." ^ Whether the new Turks, who represent the ad- vanced party in Turkey, mean to fulfill their pledges to grant full religious liberty to every Mussulman to choose and adopt any faith he pleases, is questioned by some who are the most competent to judge. For the Moslem State and the Moslem faith are essentially one. To abandon one has always been regarded, in that land, as antagonizing the other. {b) Christian governments also are not so help- ful to the missionary cause as they might be. i « Daybreak in Turkey," pp. 256, 257. The Magnitude of the Task 269 Under Christian governments the situation is often a troublesome one. India is perhaps the best illustration of a mission field under the direction of a Christian government. No missionary can live and work in that land without realizing the unique protection and moral support which the State furnishes him in his missionary life and labours. It is an unspeakable comfort, as it is a power and prestige, to him. This situation is not without its drawbacks, how- ever. The fact that the foreign government shows favour to the Christian tends to carry the popular impression that the religion is a foreign one and that its followers denationalize themselves by joining it. (I may add, parenthetically, that the same is essen- tially true of the work in the Philippines under the American government.) There are difficulties which he experiences at the hands of civil officers who too often interpret the law of religious neutrality so unevenly as to deal more severely with native Christians than with followers of other faiths. I have seen this done time and again by Anglo-Indian of^cers. In Egypt, especially in the Sudan, the British government is so anxious to pacify and con- ciliate the Mussulmans even in the Gordon College in Khartoum — a college which was built and endowed with Christian money for Christian ends — that it has converted the institution essentially into a Moham- medan one in which the standard religious book taught and commended is the Koran, and in which prayers are offered in accordance with the ritual of 270 The Modern Missionary Challenge that faith. This would certainly seem to be a per- version of a trust and an affront to the sacred memory of that saintly Christian man whom it commemorates — General Gordon. It is not sur- prising that the Christian missionaries on the field protest against such an act and policy. The duty of a missionary to protect his Christian converts and to defend his people against the rapacity and the unspeakable atrocities of a so- called Christian ruler has recently been illustrated in the Valley of the Congo in Africa, through the charges presented by the missionaries against the King of Belgium and his minions in their cruel and inhuman rule of that people. This case also illus- trates the fact that the messengers of Christ, who undertake to protect the people against the in- humanities of the powers that be, must be prepared to sacrifice their reputation if not their lives in the cause. Western nations are exercising, to no small extent, power and influence over oriental peoples whom they regard as their wards. Great Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Russia, and the United States have more or less territory under their control in Asia at the present time. Their object, generally, in this, is political aggrandizement ; and there is constant danger lest the religious propaganda, by the mission- aries, be utilized by the government to further their political purpose. Dr. Speer protests that ** Western nations will not let missions escape from their political relationship. Even if they wished to escape they The Magnitude of the Task 271 would not be allowed to do so. Citizens are citizens, and each nation cannot do otherwise than keep watch over its own. The problems springing from such simple watchfulness and protection have been eclipsed by the consequences of the "acts of Western nations in using missions as pretexts for invasion and aggrandizement. A missionary pretext served Ger- many as the ground for action in Africa, which brought on the partitionment of the continent ; and it was Germany's action in Shantung, in the seizure of Kiao-Chou Bay, which partly caused and entirely precipitated the Boxer uprising. France has been guilty of more offenses, though no act of hers has yielded such tragic results as Germany's two." While some claim that missionaries were the cause of the Boxer trouble in China, William H. Taft, President of the United States, defends the mission- aries, and claims that '* Anybody who looks into the subject knows that the missionaries were the ones who had to bear the danger of it (the Boxer uprising), because they were where the danger was ; but the cause of the Boxer trouble came from a sense, on the part of the Chinaman, and he is not without sense, that there was a disposition on the part of a good many of the so-called Christian powers to divide up, and the division was going to be between parts of China. That was their fear of foreign intervention ; and they manifested it in a plain way, and the missionaries, who were among them for the purpose of spreading Christian civilization, had to bear the brunt of it." 272 The Modern Missionary Challenge The connection between the mission work and national ambitions and international complications must inevitably bring the missionary cause into difficulty. And though these Christian governments doubtless do not mean to injure missions by using them as a make-weight in their political ambitions, it inevitably leads to that, and creates a bitterness in the mind of the people whom we aim to influence and to convert such as will bring its nemesis to our missionary work later. The laws of extra-territori- ality in China and elsewhere are ostensibly in the interest of missions, whereas they are really political in their significance and influence, and will bring naught but trouble and hindrance to missions in the future. V The cause has also to meet and overcome many evils owing to the presence and life of Western Christians who reside in the East. These men flock into Asiatic and African ports, principally for their own aggrandizement and for the pur- pose of exploiting the people. They are all re- garded by the natives as Christians ; but their lives are utterly unworthy and their influence is de- basing and corrupting in those lands. Christianity is reproached by the people, everywhere, because of the unworthy lives of these men. In no sense are they Christians, though they bear the name. If ever they had any religious sentiments they cast them, as one said, into the Gulf of Aden on their way east- The Magnitude of the Task 273 ward, hoping to pick them up again on their return to Christendom ! Kipling's skit was intended to describe this class of men in their purpose and Hfe : Ship me somewhere East of Suez Where the best is like the worst ; Where there ain't no ten commandments And a man can raise a thirst." These are the men who bear false witness against the missionaries wherever they go. The missionary life and its opposition to their own lives has created bitter enmity in their mind. President Taft refers to this class and their hostility when he says : " I do not like to reflect upon anybody. It is wiser not to be too emphatic and too denunciatory, but I am bound to say that in those distant lands, a great many who visit there for gain and for so-called business, for so-called livelihood that they could not earn at home, are not representatives of our best ele- ments. And they visit there for other purposes than the spread of Christian civilization. They ' take in ' the native when they can, and they do not impress the native, who has only them ta judge by, that the civilization which they represent would be any great improvement on that which they have." The life of these men reveals all the vices of the East and the West ; and they do more, in those Eastern lands, to defile the people and to bring the missionary work into disrepute than any one can 274 The Modem Missionary Challenge realize ; and, unfortunately, their number is con- stantly increasing. Then there are others who are found in those lands who are officials under the British and other govern- ments, honourable men and men of culture and po- sition, but men who never lose an opportunity to denounce the propagators of our faith because they themselves have apparently lost their interest in Christianity. They are " respectable " Christians, many of them communicants in the Christian Church ; yet they reveal not only no desire for the progress of Christ's Kingdom in those lands, but are in many ways a positive hindrance to the cause, and some of the worst revilers of the missionary enterprise. They decline to study missions on the spot, though they have every opportunity to do so. They abuse roundly all native Christians, though they know practically nothing about them. Many missionaries know such men who are friendly to them, person- ally, and who remain in their district for years, but who decline to avail themselves of the least oppor- tunity to study the work which they are doing, or to come into touch with the Christian community which they are fostering. They return, by and by, to their native lands and, when questioned by Christian friends as to the progress of missions, they cover their ignorance of the situation by protesting that there are no native Christians in those lands, that the missionaries are doing practically nothing, and that ** missions are a failure." Missionaries meet these men in all lands of the The Magnitude of the Task 275 East and find them unfriendly to their efforts, and fail to inspire in them any interest whatever in the work which they are doing. The example of such men on the mission fields, men who bear the Christian name and yet who will not help, but antagonize, the mis- sionary endeavour, constitutes a serious obstacle to our faith in those lands.- One such man can do more to hinder the progress of Christ's Kingdom in those countries than an ordinary missionary to forward the same. May the day soon come when our Christian gov- ernments in the West shall send forth, as their official representatives, men who are genuinely Christian and who realize that Christ demands that every one of His followers give himself to the furtherance of His Kingdom among non-Christian people. VI The growing influence of Eastern thought and in- stitutions is a serious obstacle to our work in these days. The developing power of the East over the West, in this particular, is somewhat striking. In the United States, at the present time, three things are exerting a strange influence over our people and are spreading marvellously. In the first place we see Christian Science and the 'astonishing way in which it has spread, recently. What is Christian Science ? It is nothing else than the idealistic phi- losophy of India unequally yoked to a certain type of Christian life. In other words, it is the pro- foundest of all Hindu types of thought entering into 276 The Modern Missionary Challenge our faith and helping it to achieve a strange influence and rapid progress throughout this country. What is the monistic type of thought, which has penetrated our theology and is dominating so re- markably the Christian philosophy of this day ? It is a certain aspect and expression of the pantheism which has dominated the religious thought of India for more than thirty centuries. In Western monism the oriental article has been somewhat modified, but the essence is the same, and the issue may be the same. Theosophy also has found a most encouraging en- trance into American life during the last few years, and has, thereby, brought thousands of our people into a thoughtless acceptance of oriental occultism and to a (pandering after the mysteries of the East. Think af the many intelligent people, especially among the weaker sex, who seem to find nourish- ment these days in the sweet, honeyed words, but useless and unavailing thought, of the Hindu Swamis who are found at many centres in this land ! Now, all this has not only its influence upon our own country, it has also a marked influence upon the people of the East. It has brought to them a new consciousness of their own power and impor- tance, and a new aggressiveness in the propagation of their own faith, as well as in their attacks upon our religion. Many Eastern people who, a few years ago, were kindly disposed towards Christian- ity, have recently, under the guidance and inspira- tions of Westerners, come to have a new confidence The Magnitude of the Task 277 in their own religion, and to regard it with a greater esteem and affection than ever before. A few years ago many men were prepared to admit the superi- ority of the religion of Christ to their own and other religions. To-day they have returned in confidence and attachment to their own ancestral faith, and de- nounce all other religions with vehemence. The influence of Christianity, in carrying men away from their old religious moorings, has not brought them into its own fold so much as it has led them to establish reform movements which are in some cases far from being Christian. In India the Arya-Somaj is a genuine religious reform, re- vealing a marked advance beyond orthodox Hindu- ism and opposing it at many points. Still, it is more bitterly anti-Christian than it is opposed to the old Hindu faith. This movement, which brought much encouragement to missionaries a few years ago, has developed into an organization and a propaganda which is the most bitter in its hostility to Christian- ity that missionaries have ever known in North India. Even the education that we impart to many of the youths of India and Japan is often utilized by them to produce new arguments against our own religion rather than to tear down their o^n decadent faith. All of this only tends to show that the resources of those religions of the East against our cause are by no means exhausted. New thoughts and plans will arise every year to frustrate, so far as possible, the missionary cause. Every new instrument that 278 The Modern Missionary Challenge our Western education, Western enterprise and or- ganizing power can bring to bear upon the East will be, to some extent, turned as a weapon against mis- sions, and will delay the day when the people of those lands will heartily enter our faith and give themselves entirely unto the Lord. VII I mention all these elements in the magnitude of the missionary work, not with a view to discourage any one. In the missionary vocabulary there is no such word as " discouragement." They are re- hearsed here in the interest of truth, and with the purpose of giving both sides of the problem before us. It never pays a man or a woman to close the eyes to obstacles and difficulties. It is unwise to disparage an enemy or to minimize an antagonizing force. It is of supreme importance to remember that the work to which we are pledged is unspeak- ably great as it is inexpressibly arduous. It is not a surface work which can be rushed through in a day or completed in a year. There is serious danger lest the Church fail to re- alize the heroic and colossal proportions of its un- dertaking. Mr. W. T. Ellis expresses well the thought, though with unfortunate sarcasm, in the following words : "There is a fascination about the watchword, * The Evangelization of the World in This Genera- tion.' Underlying it is a subtle compliment to the persons who adopt it. Does it not imply that, al- The Magnitude of the Task 279 though the generations of Christian effort in the past have failed to transfer the world's allegiance to its Redeemer, now that we have come on the scene, things will be different? Our fathers were not of our calibre or of our class.- Good and pious they were ; but we are world-statesmen and empire- builders, and we are surely equal to this great en- deavour. So we find the modern students, and now, in increasing throngs, the laymen, cantering jauntily into the arena, confident that they will do the task before sunset. With all appreciation of the earnest- ness and sincerity of most of the newly-aroused lay- men who have suddenly caught a vision of the fields white unto the harvest, it may yet be permitted to renlind them that a degree of humility and self-dis- trust would not be unbecoming in this emergence into an enlarged sphere." I have not the slightest idea that the men criticized by Mr. Ellis are either thoughtless or egotistic ; I only think that they and all others need to have a proper perspective and to realize to the full, not only the certainty of our ultimate triumph in this great work, but also the greatness of the task which the Church has undertaken in its missionary enterprise. A distinguished leader of the Young People's Movement recently wrote to me the following sane, significant words: *' It seems to me very important that the Church should be made to realize that the conflict is to be a siege and not an assault. It is easier to talk about evangelizing the world in a generation than it is to 28o The Modern Missionary Challenge carry the effort out in the fields that are so little known to those who hear the popular appeals now being made. It seems to me that nothing is gained by superficial consideration of the conditions in non-Christian lands. If the Church cannot be brought to realize that the wide-spread adoption of Christianity involves thorough leavening of the social, philosophical, and religious conceptions of these lands, there will be a reaction following the present wave of enthusiasm on behalf of foreign missions. There are two classes of people in the evangelization of the world. One is composed of those who are Christians and are labouring on be- half of those who are not Christians. The other class is composed of the non-Christian people who have not ypt been led to the point where they are willing to accept Christianity. This latter class is not going to be moved by the mere wish that they should accept Christianity. There must be an adequate cause for the desired result, and as far as can now be seen, the cause will need to be applied for many decades to come in each of the non- Christian nations of the earth." Nor is this chapter written in the interest of pessimism. It is rather with the purpose of throw- ing the Church from an emphasis upon its own resources into the living consciousness and con- viction that this is not man's work, but rather a divine enterprise. Dr. W. N. Clarke insists that " the first of the immediate needs in missions is the requickening of The Magnitude of the Task 281 faith in the hving God and Saviour. The modern missionary endeavour was begun under the impulse of such a faith. It is a perpetual necessity, but the need is specialized just now. A simple, available, instructive, working confidence in God the Saviour is not as effective in the mass of Christians now as it was in those who started th^ work of modern missions. "The vigour of the missionary endeavour depends upon the continuance of such a sense of the reality of God and His saving grace. If it droops it must be revived." ^ We specially need this faith in the truth that God is in the forefront of this missionary battle for con- quest. He must carry this work through. He has had it in hand from the very first, and He will bring it to its ultimate consummation. It is a '• man's job " ; but it is infinitely more than that, and every man must be made to realize this and his inadequacy and the inadequacy of the whole Church to accom- plish this work. Patient waiting, also, is the great need of the Western Church. The missionary enterprise is not an onrush to victory, but a resolute continuance in service until " The Day of the Lord comes," when He will perfect that which is wanting in His Church and use it in this redemptive work until the Church triumphant shall sing that song of victory which proclaims " that the Kingdoms of this world have become the Kingdom of our Lord and His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever." 1 «* A Study of Christian Missions," pp. 197-200. 282 The Modern Missionary Challenge I also desire to emphasize, through this chapter, the need of prayer. Prayer as a regenerating and saving force in the world has been much overlooked and neglected. It needs to be rehabilitated as the mightiest spiritual dynamic known to man. " Be- lieve me, more things are wrought by prayer than the world dreams of." Yes, and more than the Church dreams of. It is by agonizing in prayer with God that the mightiest resources of heaven can be won and utilized ; and thus preeminently is this work to find ultimate accomplishment. Two years ago the writer stood, with a thousand other Christian endeavourers, on ''The Prayer Meeting Hill," in Ongole, South India. It was there that Dr. and Mrs. Jewett, with a few Indian Christians, 1 met, early one morning, nearly half a century ago, to pray. Their missionary labours had not been very fruitful ; few souls were responding to the gospel call. Their hearts were yearning for a success which seemed denied to them. With deep earnestness they poured their souls' burden before God that morning on the hill. They prayed that, in the villages spread over the plains before them, the inhabitants might be brought to Christ for salvation, and that a vacant plot of land at the foot of the hill might be given to the mission for a habitation. God answered those prayers of faith in a remarkable way. For, at the closing session of our Christian Endeavour Convention we could look upon those same villages and lo I twenty-five thou- sand Christians were among their inhabitants ! The Magnitude of the Task 283 Had we the power to behold all the villages and towns within a radius of seventy-five miles from where we stood we might have seen an army of nearly 200,000 Christian men and women brought out of heathenism during this same half century. Moreover, on that plot of land at the foot of the hill, we looked upon a Christian college with its hundreds of students, two large boarding-schools, a flourishing industrial establishment, a hospital, four missionary homes, a church which accommodated a thousand people, and a new church rising, near by, to accommodate an audience of fifteen hundred. What hath the Lord wrought in answer to the prayer of faith offered by these devoted servants half a century ago ! The prayer of the Church must find a larger place in the missionary programme. It must bring the Chris- tian worker into more intimate relations with the Source of all power and the Assurance of ultimate success. IX The New Response of the Church to the Challenge TO-DAY, beyond any other time since apos- tolic days, the Church of God is Ustening to this challenge, and is awaking to its oppor- tunity and responsibility. This, however, is not saying very much. For, in the past, the Church has been woefully self-centred in its spirit, narrow in its sympathies, and with no broad horizon to its activities. To-day, also, there is a lack of general interest and purpose in the missionary effort. Not more than sixty per cent, of the churches in America contribute anything to foreign missions. It is a lamentable fact that there are many thousand churches in our land of light and progress that have no interest what- ever in the great Cause beyond their own country. The non-Christian world does not appeal to them. They are absorbed in their own affairs and listen with languid interest to cries from without. Even in the contributing churches, only one- fourth of the membership give anything towards the prosecution of the missionary enterprise. In these churches, also, the members who are actively and deeply interested in missions are a small fraction. In twenty of the leading denominations of the 284 Response of the Church to the Challenge 285 United States the living church-n^embers, in 1909, gave an average per capita of Si 1.40 for their own work and work in their own land ; while, for foreign missionar}' work, they gave only seventy-two cents per capita.^ Xot a few churches give no place to missionarv' plea or advocacy. The pastors are told definitely by their people that neither missionar}' nor mission- arv' secretar}' '* need apply " for opportunity to speak in their pulpit. In more than one church I have been introduced by the pastors into their Sunday services under false pretenses, or through guile, simply because, were it known beforehand that a missionary address was to be given, many of the audience would stay away, including, specially, the men of wealth. Missionary' meetings are still unpopular and very meagrely attended. Even now it requires a " dinner " or a *' banquet " as a bait to gather men into public missionary meetings ! The missionary prayer-meeting, or ** Monthly Concert," has, in most churches, been abandoned and no substitute, to arouse missionar}- interest, has taken its place in the Church. Missionar}' addresses, in order to be popular, must be resolved largely into tearful appeals and exciting narrative. Missionar}^ literature is thrown into the waste basket, if not full of romance and glowing with illustration. The Church's appetite for mis- 1 See the Report of Commission VI (Home Base of Missions) which is a profound study of this whole subject 286 The Modern Missionary Challenge sionary information is morbid and will not be properly or normally excited. All crave too much the stimu- lus of thrilling, hairbreadth deliverances and amus- ing anecdotes. After recent extensive journey ings in half the States of the Union on missionary deputation work and in ** campaigns " many, I have been much im- pressed with the fact that the Church of God is still narrow in its sympathies and that, in its prayers and activities, its horizon is still a sadly limited one. But I believe that the dawn of a new missionary day is breaking. The missionary consciousness of the Church, as we saw in Chapter I, is now asserting itself. Leaders of the Church are rousing them- selves and stirring their people to rise to the glory of the newt world vision. They now begin to realize that the missionary business is the chief business of the Church (at least a growing number of them do) and not an optional thing which it may occasionally take up in order to amuse itself, to soothe its feelings or to accumulate a store of surplus complacency and merit. The Archbishop of Canterbury had the vision and well expressed it at the recent World Missionary Conference ; and in it he voiced the sentiment of that great gathering. *- The place of missions in the life of the Church must have the central place and none other. That is what matters. Let people get hold of that, and it will tell — it is the merest commonplace to say it — it will tell for us at home as it will tell for those afield. Response of the Church to the Challenge 287 Secure for that thought its true place, in our plans, our policy, our prayers, and then — why then, the issue is His, not ours. But it may well be that if that come true, ' there be some standing here who shall not taste of death till they see ' here on earth, in a way we know not now, * the Kingdom of God come with power.' " The pulsations of the heart of the Church of God have recently accelerated and its love has deepened and broadened. Nothing, in all the history of Chris- tianity, revealed this more markedly than the recent World Missionary Conference at Edinburgh. On that occasion were gathered a host of distin- guished men and women from all lands of the earth. They were accompanied by five hundred mission- aries from ** the far flung battle-line " in all non- Christian countries. They included also not a few notable converts from Asia and Africa — men and women who are the trophies of this great conquest and are worthy to represent the native Church in the distant lands. These were among the most acceptable speakers in all the Conference meetings. Messages of sympathy and appreciation were re- ceived from all countries and from many men of distinction and power. These^ were headed by the message of the King Emperor of Great Britain, in which it is said that : "His Majesty views with gratification the fraternal cooperation of so many churches and societies in the United States, on the continent of Europe, and in the British Empire, in the work of disseminating the 288 The Modern Missionary Challenge knowledge and principles of Christianity by Chris- tian methods throughout the world. The King ap- preciates the supreme importance of this work in its bearing upon the cementing of international friend- ship, the cause of peace, and the well-being of man- kind.'^ In several respects this Conference will be memo- rable and historic. It was remarkable in its enthu- siasm. Never before were there gathered together so many men and women who were burning with a great enthusiasm for this world conquest in the name of Christ. There was a spiritual contagion filling those halls during every meeting ; and the spirit of prayer and consecration was inexpressibly beautiful as it was quickening to all who attended. The prayers and the songs of praise of the Conference will pass on in a gracious influence upon the whole Church. It was notable also for its wisdom. Literally hun- dreds of ecclesiastical leaders, statesmen, authors and orators — men whose fame is world-wide — were in attendance at this Conference, consulting together concerning this great work of God. The reports of the eight Commissions and the discussion upon the same wnll constitute a series of missionary volumes which will doubtless eclipse all that have preceded them in their breadth of vision, abundance of historic material, and statesmanlike treatment. The spirit of hopefulness, which pervaded this Conference, was contagious and inspiring. The colossal task before the Church was realized as never before, and so were the resources of God and of His Response of the Church to the Challenge 289 Church to carry out that task. The new assurance of the divine promise and a new consciousness of fellowship in this service created a remarkable spirit of confidence and developed an atmosphere of hope- fulness perhaps never before equalled in any mission- ary gathering. But the most remarkable thing of all in that Con- ference was the spirit of Christian union revealed in all its sessions. Never, in all the past history of the Church, were there gathered together the delegated representatives of so many Christian bodies to con- fer concerning the coming of the Kingdom of God. Never before did they realize so fully and enjoy so richly the spirit of fellowship and of communion as they did during all the sessions of this Conference. In no other cause could so many men of such di- verse views and from hitherto irreconcilable sections of the Church, thus meet together and consult with each other in the spirit of amity and comity as they did upon this occasion and in the furtherance of this missionary enterprise. Though more Christian communions were met together at this time than- ever before, there was hardly a w^ord spoken to mar the peace or disturb the harmony of the Conference. It was felt through all the meetings that in this com- mon work the Church of God is to find increasingly its highest impulse and aid to fellowship and unity. I Let us consider some of the new missionary move- ments which are to be found within and around the 290 The Modem Missionary Challenge Church at the present time. These are many, sig- nificant, and full of hope for the future. The organized activity of the women for mission- ary work is that which will first impress one. It was only a few years ago that the Christian woman dis- covered herself and became a force in the Church of God. She then organized for systematic effort and consecrated activity for the salvation of her sister in heathen lands. The uprising of the women, in this missionary activity, has been astonishing. They have not only revealed a distinct power for organi- zation ; they have also surpassed the men in their consecrated devotion to the cause for which they have organized. Their auxiliary missionary so- cieties are finely equipped and are doing splendid work — not an inconsiderable part of the Church's work for the missionary cause. Their repre- sentatives, on the mission field, are almost as nu- merous as the men who have been sent out by the Church, and are giving themselves with remarkable ability and with a wonderful consecration of all their talents, to this great service. And they and their work are supported by their organized sisters in these lands of the West in a way which challenges the admiration of the world. Consider also the movement which has recently come into existence among the men of the Churches. The laymen of America were the last to respond to the missionary call, as they were to all other Church appeals. During the last generation the layman took a back seat in the activities of God's Response of the Church to the Challenge 291 Church and relegated his Christian duties largely to his wife and daughter that he might give himself the more absolutely to his business and commercial enterprises. His interest in the Church seemed to grow weaker and his efforts fewer and fewer in di- rect Christian service. One has facetiously repre- sented his position through the parody : **In the world's broad field of battle In the bivouac of life You will always find the Christian Represented by his wife." No Christian challenge found in him a response for many years. He was appealed to in vain. He heard not the call,^ " Move to the fore, Say not another is fitter than thou, Shame to thy shrinking, up to thy task now. Own thyself equal to all a soul may, Cease thy evading ; God needs thee to-day — Move to the fore. " Move to the fore, God Himself waits and must wait till thou come ; Men are God's prophets though ages lie dumb; Halts the Christ Kingdom with conquest so near. Thou art the cause, for thy soul's in the rear — Move to the fore.*\ But the challenge of these words has been recently accepted by many thousands of the laymen of our country who are ** moving to the fore ** and are tak- ing their place of responsibility and of activity in the world missionary service. Nothing has been more 292 The Modern Missionary Challenge cheering during the last few years than the way the men of our churches have hstened to this call and have accepted their share in the activities of the Church. In all parts of America, at least, they are begin- ning to organize and are determined to do their share of the work of God's Kingdom. In the first place we have the Christian Brother- hoods, which are already doing a noble work, in their way, for the development of the manhood of the Church and for the guidance and direction of its boyhood. More than a dozen great Brotherhoods, representing the men of as many denominations, have a membership of more than 1,000,000 men whose thoughts are directed and whose souls are in- spired to |io '' the man's job " in the Church. The interests of the Church and their opportunity in for- warding the same are specially brought home to the men through these Brotherhoods. Like one great army these men are marching, shoulder to shoulder, with one great purpose to develop and to put into full exercise all the masculine qualities of the mem- bership of the Church. Then comes the Laymen's Missionary Movement. Concerning this Movement one can speak in the su- perlative. It is distinctly a "movement" rather than an organization. It is a mighty, concerted, im- petuous effort to bring adult men of the Church to know, to feel, to acknowledge and to accept the mis- sionary responsibility. It is distinctly a missionary movement, thus far. It began only in 1906 in con- Response of the Church to the Challenge 293 nection with the commemoration of the centenary of the famous ** Haystack Prayer-meeting." The conception germinated in connection with the Stu- dent Volunteer Movement. When it was remem- bered that so many young men and women were pledging themselves to future missionary work, the question was raised, "Shall not the men of the Church dedicate their wealth to the support of these con- secrated youth ? " It was out of this thought, in- quiry and discussion that the Laymen's Movement came into existence. It was really a challenge of the men of the Church to the young Student Volun- teers, saying to them, *' If you are willing to give your life for the heathen we also will consecrate our money to your maintenance and to the support of your work." During the present year this Movement has spread all over America — Canada and the United States. More than one hundred of the principal centres of population and of Christian power were visited by this Movement. Hundreds of thousands of men were gathered into its Conferences, many thousands of whom received a baptism of great blessing and rededicated themselves, not simply to a Christian life, but to a missionary activity in support of the en- deavours of the Church for the redemption of our race. One striking thing concerning this Movement is its interdenominational character. It ignores sec- tarian lines and brings all the communions of a cer- tain area together, first into a fellowship and then into united action for the increase of the benevolences 294 1'^^ Modem Missionary Challenge of the Churches for the missionary cause. This in- terdenominational character of the Movement has wrought mightily, not only in uniting men of all races together, but also in demolishing those hedges which separate one sect from another and in bring- ing these men of various denominations into close, vital fellowship with each other in this great enter- prise of the Church. Thus it is accomplishing two supremely important things ; it is bringing the men of the Christian Church in America into active fel- lowship with each other, as it is also bringing them into closest touch with the world, and is thus achiev- ing wonders in the coming of the Kingdom of God. Financially, the Movement has already given an impetus to the missionary offerings of the Church. Many thousands of dollars have been added beyond the ordinary income of the Church for its missionary work. The Student Volunteer Movement is another of those inspiring organizations for the young which is still in its infancy. It originated at Northfield — that centre where so many Christian enthusiasms have found their source. This again is not so much of an organization as it is a movement which was started by Christian young men of vision and of missionary consecration. Two hundred and fifty college stu- dents met together, at Mr. Moody's invitation, for a new type of Missionary Conference. Before that Conference closed one hundred of these young peo- ple had dedicated themselves to missionary life and service. Response of the Church to the Challenge 295 This Movement there found its inception and di- rection. It is a recruiting agency for the missionary- host. Those who become Volunteers are expected to offer themselves as missionaries for their own de- nominational societies. The Movement is definitely and heartily loyal to the Church itself. Volunteers are drawn only from -institutions of higher learning in America. Each Volunteer signs the following declaration : *' It is my purpose, if God permit, to become a foreign missionary." Many thousands of young students have already signed this, and have inspired each other to a complete dedication to this work. Already more than 4,500 of these have reached the mission field as missionaries of more than fifty dif- ferent societies of the United States and Canada. One-third of the Volunteers are women. These stu- dents were connected with one thousand higher in- stitutions of learning on this continent in which more than 250,000 students are matriculated. They have entered all departments of missionary service and are located in all parts of the non-Christian world. It is claimed that seventy-five per cent, of them mention the Student Volunteer Movement as the definite cause of their entry into missionary service. The Movement has also spread into Great Britain where it began its activities in 1892. Since then, nearly 3,500 have entered missionary service as a definite result of the Movement in that land. The principal work of the Movement is found in our higher institutions of learning, in presenting to 296 The Modem Missionary Challenge as many students as possible the direct missionary appeal, and in inducing them, as we shall see later, to study carefully and sympathetically the mission- ary problem. It is said that the number of students who intend to become missionaries is over five times as great in the colleges, and fully twice as great in the theological seminaries, as was the case when the Volunteer Movement was inaugurated. This in itself is a remarkable result of which any organization might be proud. For the purpose of interesting these students in the cause. Mission Study Classes have been organ- ized by this Movement in 600 different institutions. There are now more than 2,100 classes which have an enrollment of nearly 26,000 students. Thus these promising young people are systematically trained in the missionary enterprise and are imbibing its spirit even before they become Volunteers. With a view to securing proper books for study, the Move- ment has prepared thirty different courses and has had them published and distributed among its stu- dents. It has also taken up work in the theological sem- inaries and has enlisted professors to enter sympa- thetically into the work and has thus done not a little in changing the outlook of these schools, and in leading them to add emphasis to missionary studies. The Quadrennial Conference, held by this Move- ment, is, perhaps, one of the most remarkable gath- erings of Christian youth in the world. From three to four thousand Volunteer young men and women, Response of the Church to the Challenge 297 with a thousand interested Christian leaders, are thus gathered together to consider the great missionary challenge and to stimulate each other to the mission- ary life of consecration. Marvellous are these meet- ings in their spiritual power, under the leadership of such notable men as Drs. John R. Mott and Robert E. Speer. I know of no two Movements which are so preg- nant in spiritual meaning and power, and in world- wide influence for the missionary cause, as the Student Volunteer Movement and the Laymen's Movement ; one the outcome of the other and organ- ized with the definite purpose of making the other efficient. Thus the pious enthusiasm of the Church is being linked to the financial and business power of the Church to carry the message of the Cross to the uttermost parts of the earth. Other Young People's Movements are worthy of our thought ; for their activity and enthusiasm are directed to the same advancement of the Kingdom of God in non-Christian lands. Consider first the Young People's Missionary Movement. This is closely connected with the Student Volunteer Movement and is partly auxiUary to its activities. The best method of imparting missionary intel- ligence is by the intensive method of Mission Study Classes. These classes have wonderfully multiplied ail over our country, not only in colleges, but in churches and in Young People's Societies. But the principal business of the Young People's Missionary 298 I'he Modern Missionary Challenge Movement has been to furnish the missionary so- cieties and other organizations with text-books suitable for such study, and with other missionary literature which may be auxiliary to these, so as to advance the missionary intelligence of all the mem- bers of the Christian Church. This organization, established in 1902, has published over 500,000 volumes upon missions and in the interest of mission study. It has also published and sold over 35,000 sets of mission reference libraries, which are being used all over the land, and also much accessory lit- erature which adds to the missionary fuel and makes known the missionary appeal. It is now extending its helpful activities to mission lands also. Besides this Movement we have also The United Study of fissions Committee, which is a body of ladies appointed by the Women's Foreign Boards of North America. It is the purpose of this com- mittee to furnish, for the women of our churches, suitable text-books on this subject, that they may form classes for the study of the same. Since the organization of the committee in 1901, they have published, annually, a text- book, and these have had a large circulation. Nearly half a million of these books were sold between 1901 and 1909. These text-books for women are used in connection with the. monthly meetings of the Women's Mission- ary Societies and as text-books for small circles which meet for thorough study. Thus, through these various organizations, a vast amount of wholesome, attractive, wide-awake and Response of the Church to the Challenge 299 inspiring missionary literature has been created. More, perhaps, has been produced and distributed during the last decade than through any century previous to this. The value of this work is great beyond expression. In the past the greatest need of our cause at home has been increased intelligence. Our constituency must be educated not only to the need of the non- Christian world, but also to the remarkable progress already made on the field and the magnificent equip- ment which is already in hand for the world-wide achievement of the future. So long as we can induce the young people of our institutions, and the mem- bers of our churches, to read missionary literature and to dwell upon the great facts and personages of mis- sionary life and history, so long will our cause develop in strength and will grip the Church and all its young people with an irresistible power. In like manner, we must not fail to recognize the growing power of other Young People's organiza- tions within the Churches themselves and what they are doing for the missionary cause. In the first place comes the Christian Endeavour Society, with its unprecedented army of 4,000,000 members from the young people of Protestant Christendom. It is an organization which has wrought wonders in the development of the spiritual life of the youth of the churches. It has spread all over the world and is particularly active in many of the largest mission fields in the Far East. Its last World Convention was held in 1909 at Agra, India, 300 The Modem Missionary Challenge and was a remarkable inspiration and help to the thousands of native Christians and missionaries who were gathered together on that occasion. This society is now thoroughly indoctrinating its members in missionary principles and is inspiring them in missionary activity. Systematically they are being trained, through missionary literature, to develop an interest in the work now carried on in non-Christian lands ; and burdens of responsibility have been thrown upon their shoulders ; so that thousands of dollars are sent annually by these youthful Endeavourers to support the work of the missionary societies of their own denominations. The same thing may be said of other Young People's Societies, such as the Epworth League, the Baptist Missionary Union, the Wesley Guild. All these organizations have now their faces turned towards non-Christian lands and are praying and contributing for the speedy coming of the Kingdom of God. Add again to these institutions the Sunday-schools of all Christian lands. These also are now systemat- ically disseminating missionary intelligence among the millions of their scholars through the missionary lessons which are regularly taught in the Interna- tional and other series. Nor should one by any means overlook, in this inventory of home forces, the modern Schools of Theological training. A generation ago their sympathy with the missionary cause in foreign lands was very meagre. They neither encouraged stu- Response of the Church to the Challenge 301 dents to enlist in the foreign work, nor did they furnish any specific training for it. To-day these institutions are alert to the new situation and are vying with each other in furnishing courses of study on missions and in other activities which tend to urge the missionary appeal and to dignify and glorify the Missionary Service. Students, now, sometimes find the first warmth of their missionary zeal and consecration in the Theological Seminary. And I anticipate the no distant day when the Divinity School will become one of the great home resources and dynamic influences of the missionary cause. Consider also those splendidly equipped organiza- tions which are outside of the Church itself, but which, nevertheless, are its most efficient auxiliaries. The Young Men's Christian Association and the Young Women's Christian Association have made amazing progress during the last twenty years. This progress is not simply in their multiplied strength and activity in the home lands, but also, and specially, in their consecrated activity and outgoing blessing to the people of non-Christian lands. In all the great mission fields of the world we find the secretaries and agents of these spendid organizations pushing forward, with marvellous energy, their work for Christian young men and women. And beyond this they have taken up evangelistic work for non-Christians and are for- warding it with their wonted energy and vigour. I know of no missionary agency in India, and in 302 The Modern Missionary Challenge other lands of the East, which is so alert, so buoyant and hopeful, so attractive to the young people, so captivating in all its methods of approach and so given to the exaltation of God's Word as these two Associations. In a thousand ways they are appeal- ing to the mind of the young men and women of non-Christian lands and are not only building up the Christian youth in knowledge and zeal, but are also approaching the non-Christian youth with an irre- sistible charm and attraction. Added to these is the World's Student Christian Federation — a federation of many thousands of young men in the higher institutions of learning in all parts of the world with a view to pressing upon them the double appeal of Christian life and of Chris- tian servicie. In 1907, the Conference of this Federation met in Tokio, Japan, where it moved mightily the young men of that stirring empire and carried Christian life and enthusiasm to many who formerly possessed them not. Through this Federation the host of stu- dents of the universities of the world are brought into touch and sympathy with each other ; and, what is more important still, the Federation presents to them the great Christian opportunity of the day, to bring Christ and Him Crucified to the unnumbered mil- lions who know Him not and who are grovelling in the darkness of heathenism. Let the reader try to imagine himself as a mem- ber of the Church of God fifty years ago, when hardly one of these organizations and movements, Response of the Church to the Challenge 303 which I have just mentioned, had come into existence. These many splendid auxiliaries of the Church of God were not possible in those days. The world outlook had not yet come to the Church. The in- spiration of modern times and the manifold forms and agencies of Christian activity and enthusiasm were unknown. How low the life of the Church must have been at that time ; how wanting in altru- istic ambition ; how blind to the marvellous possibil- ities of expansion, and to the duty of transmitting its life to the uttermost races of the earth. How strange would it seem to a saint of the early years of the nineteenth century to awake from his slumber and to look upon the dawn of this new day of a myriad wonderfully organized forms of activity as they are striving, every one, to contribute its share to the mighty impetus which is ushering the Kingdom of God into the darkest regions of our earth. Note also the striking fact that nearly all these new movements are i7iterdejio7m7iatio7ial, while some of them are international in their character and scope. The missionary propaganda broadens the vision, widens the sympathy and puts to shame all sectarian narrowness. It contains a virus which tends to des- troy the denominational germ. Sectarian bigotry hides its head in shame in the presence of this great world movement. It possesses an astounding cen- tripetal force which tends to bring together all the scattered energies of the Church into one grand ef- fort, purpose and affection. It makes not only for 304 The Modern Missionary Challenge interdenominationalism, but also for union of all the forces of Christendom in the stupenduous task given by God to His Church. This is neither strange nor unexpected. The Church which, under the growing inspiration and consciousness of the brotherhood of man, reaches out in helpfulness to non-Christians, inevitably en- ters thereby upon a greater realization and exercise of the deeper sentiment of Christian love and union with all its fellow Christians. II Consider also the missionary organizations in the home land. Two centuries ago (1706) the first Protestant mis- sionary organization of Europe sent forth its mes- sengers to India. They were, however, supported by the good King of Denmark. In 1793, Great Britain heard the first genuine foreign missionary battle-cry in the voice of that *' consecrated cobbler," William Carey. It was a century ago (18 10) that the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions was established in Massachusetts. It was organized un- der the inspiration which emanated from those pious young men of Haystack fame in Williams College, among the Berkshire Hills of Massachusetts. The prayer-meeting of those young men was epochal in its significance to the Church, as it was and will be an inspiration and a benediction to ambitious young men of all subsequent ages. The American Board Response of the Church to the Challenge 305 was the first missionary organization formed on this continent ; and it has only just now (1910) celebrated its centenary in Boston. What marvellous changes have taken place since the day of -its organization? Out of this small beginning what astounding re- sults has the century brought forth ? At the present time there are, on the American continent, 107 ** ap- pointing and sending societies." When we add to these the auxiliary and cooperating societies it swells the total to 233 well-organized and vigorous mis- sionary societies on this side of the Atlantic. Their offering, for work in non-Christian lands only, amounted last year to $9,768,273. There are altogether 338 Protestant missionary societies with 450 auxiliary and cooperating socie- ties. Through these many organizations $24,676,- 580 was collected and expended last year in their work for non-Christians, conducted in 32,009 centres in all parts of the world. It is difficult for one to re- alize the extraordinary growth of this movement dur- ing this one century in this and other lands, and to appreciate what a mighty transformation has taken place within the Church itself, so far as its ideals, ambitions and purposes are concerned. These missionary societies are effectively organ- ized to carry on the foreign work of the Church. They are not all alike in character. Some of them are independent and self-perpetuating organizations, though connected in a way with the Churches whose work they are organized to conduct. The American Board of Commissioners, in America, and the two 306 The Modem Missionary Challenge missionary societies of the AngHcan community in Great Britain are of this character. They are formed to do the foreign work of their own denomination. In other cases the ecclesiastical bodies themselves control and direct the missionary activities of their own community. The American Methodists and the English Wesleyans represent this type of organ- ization. There are advantages to both forms of organiza- tion. At this present time one would suppose that the normal and more successful method would be the latter, whereby a Church directly and immedi- ately administers this, one of its necessary and normal activities. In the IJnited States of America, missionary socie- ties generally have been organized on denomina- tional lines. Their scope and sphere is largely con- fined to the communion of which they are a part. The American Board was originally founded as an interdenominational body. So was the London Mis- sionary Society in Great Britain, at an earlier date ; and it still retains, in part, that interdenominational character. The China-Inland Mission is not only interdenominational, but also international in its character and reveals remarkable vitality as it has achieved great success. In Germany, missionary societies are territorial rather than denominational. Each society is di- rected and supported by Protestant Christians of a certain definite area, regardless of their sectarian af- filiations. This is a striking difference in the basis Response of the Church to the Challenge 307 of these organizations on the two continents ; and it were well if, in the future, this matter were consid- ered fully with a view to understanding the peculiar advantages of each system. These missionary societies administer the benevo- lences of their Churches in a wise and economical way. In America, the percentage of the income of the larger societies which is expended in the admin- istration of their home affairs is about ten per cent. As compared with commercial organizations this is a very low expenditure of the society's funds in the conduct of its business. This is preeminently true when it is remembered how far the distances are be- tween the societies and the centres of their activity ; and how scattered their patrons and supporters are over a great territory. The societies are directed by experts who know well their business and by men who are distin- guished for their piety and for their ability among the leaders of the Churches. The secretaries of these societies have recently organized a conference of their own in which they meet annually to discuss interests which are com- mon to the societies and matters which pertain to their common prosperity. In the city of New York, annually, a large force of these secretaries and others, engaged in the direction of these missionary societies, discuss many matters that are of funda- mental importance to a wise administration of the affairs of their organizations. They compare notes, take counsel, one with the other, and seek ways of 308 The Modern Missionary Challenge mutual helpfulness and of hearty fellowship in the conduct of their work in the far-ofi lands, as also in the best methods of approaching the churches and of stirring them up to greater self-denial in the con- duct of the work. These missionary societies differ from those that are more personal and ephemeral in their character. They have a permanence, a policy and a thorough organization which preclude the dominance of the will of any one person in their affairs. And they give time for quiet growth and a normal develop- ment, which means success and prosperity. These societies are studying carefully the whole field of missions and dividing it wisely among them- selves with a view to largest efficiency and thorough occupancy of all non-Christian lands which are open and accessible to Christian workers. Ill There are, in the organizations in the home lands, some defects, also, which need to be removed and which will doubtless be removed as the work de- velops. (a) In the controlling committees of these organ- izations there seems to be, at the present time, an apparent lack of strong faith to launch out into the deep, and, in harmony with the best missionary motto, to ** expect great things from God, and at- tempt great things for God." One cannot help feel- ing that, during the last few years, missionary com- mittees at the head of these societies have, to some Response of the Church to the Challenge 309 extent, lost the far-off vision of the noble men of the past and are willing to wait and listen to the beck and call of the Church rather than to be bold in the Lord to follow His command to move courageously in His footsteps and to inspire the Church to move on to ever- increasing endeavour and to ever-multi- plying activity for the conquest of the non-Christian world. These committees have been too easily intimi- dated by the business men of the Church who are not as deeply interested, as perhaps they might be, in the enterprise itself, and who are determined that it shall be run (in their pet phrase), " according to business principles." By this expression is meant that no debt must be contracted by the missionary societies under any circumstances — that the Boards must simply follow the Churches, however laggard they may be, and use scrupulously only what is given to them by the Churches in advance. One may question whether this is a policy which, in any sense, accords with true ** business principles." These men should not forget that the whole mission- ary work is more a matter of faith than it is of busi- ness ; and when they place these two methods antithetically, and exclusively emphasize business methods, it is desirable that the society itself should enlighten them and save the cause from such "friends." Commission VI of the World Missionary Con- ference says : "It must be borne in mind that when societies 310 The Modern Missionary Challenge promise a large sum for the support of their mission- aries and their work, they do so in faith, for none of the funds thus pledged are in hand at the time, but the officers of the society have faith that the sup- porting constituency will supply the money as it is needed ; and in most cases this is done. In this case the officers and executive committee of the mission- ary society exercise faith in that they pledge to the missionaries, in their difficult and even perilous po- sitions, the payment of an assured amount for their support and for the work. In the case of * faith missions,' so called, the officers and executive com- mittees seem to throw the burden of faith upon the missionaries themselves. In the former case, if the faith exercised has seemed to be larger than results warrant, the officers find themselves burdened with a deficit for which they become responsible ; while in the latter case, if the receipts are not equal to expec- tations, it is not the officers who suffer but the mis- sionaries. In both cases the entire work is one of faith." A deficit is not always an unbusinesslike thing ; every business firm has outstanding debts as it has also credits. It is only when its debts exceed its assets that, from a business standpoint, the situation becomes dangerous. Even financially, the societies can exceed their income for a year or more, as they have already large pecuniary assets on the field of activity as well as at home, not to speak of the mighty dependence which they possess on the Church Itself — a Church which is now apathetic and Response of the Church to the Challenge 3 1 1 indifferent, but capable of being roused by the trumpet call of enthusiasm and of faith, of need and of op- portunity. The societies must never fail to appre- ciate adequately this immense resource which they can always fall back upon ; and, if it be done with care, they can always depend upon it. A new con- fidence in the responsiveness of the Church to a defi- nite and a vigorous call- — and it must be vigorous if it is to be effective — is what our missionary so- cieties eminently need to-day. This reiterated cry of " business," and this stern call back to ** business methods " has already palsied the arm of the Church, and is more responsible than many think for the fre- quent debts of the societies — debts incurred even in the' prosecution of their ordinary work. Rather should the question be raised whether it is in any sense " business " for a Church to conduct a magnifi- cent work like this by the meagre offerings of only one-tenth of its members ; or to try to conduct and sustain a world enterprise with the paltry offering of seventy-five cents per member a year I I would not be understood here as encouraging large and overwhelming debts in our missionary so- cieties. God forbid that any society should be reck- less in its expenditure or should chronically and purposely cultivate a large deficit. But let it be re- membered that " a deficit is not a crime, that it does not necessarily indicate poor business management, and that in fact it may show the far-seeing and sober wisdom and Christian devotion and wise statesman- ship of those who bore the responsibility at the time. 312 The Modern Missionary Challenge A debt is no more a disgrace to a mission board than to a business house, to a hospital or to a nation. . . . Missionary society deficits are probably not as demoralizing or as disastrous to the enthu- siasm or spirit of advance in the Church as would be a repeated credit of considerable proportions. It would be fatal to have the Church believe that the work abroad is abundantly sustained, and so not in need of a more liberal and increasing support. . . . The missionary societies are the standard-bearers of the Churches as they advance with the Gospel of Christ for the conquest of the world. It is impera- tive, therefore, that the standard be kept to the front of the marching forces, while it is equally necessary that it be not so far in front that the Churches be- come disheartened or even lose sight of it altogether. . . . They must maintain a position of recognized leadership commanding the confidence of their con- stituency. They cannot afford to be unprogressive or to give the Church the impression that it is doing all it is able to do . . . and that there is no need of increased effort and sacrifice for the sake of multi- tudes abroad yet unreached." ^ I believe that occasional deficits have been a healthy stimulus to the Churches ; yea more, that a bold unwillingness, on the part of the societies, to allow the Churches to persistently ignore the call of God to advance, and to rest in their apathy and in 1 Commission VI (pp. 86 to 92) of the World Missionary Conference. The whole discussion of this report is eminently wise and should be read by all interested in the subject. Response of the Church to the Challenge 313 their old ruts has been an essential and important part of their duty. If a society, which has studied the whole situation on the field and knows the exi- gency of the work and the urgency of the call and need, is prohibited from moving forward and thereby committing and inspiring the Church to greater ef- fort and larger success, then who else is to make the needed advance, and where shall the Churches find their leaders and their monitors in the Lord ? An overemphasized prudence has often become, and is liable to become, cowardly regression and retrench- ment on the mission field. Missionaries have long grown sad and impatient under this tendency of the day to rob the societies of the power of initiative and leadership and to sub- stitute for the " policy of faith " a cold-blooded, spiritless and unprogressive "business proposi- tion." Again, the ancient call of God comes to such lead- ers, — " Speak unto the children of Israel that they go forward." {b) Another defect which I would notice is that found in the fact that the societies do not adequately reach and canvass the home field. They have so often been thoughtlessly and Jgnorantly attacked for extravagance and an excess of expenditure at the home base that they may not, and probably do not, expend money enough in home administration. They do not flood the churches with intelligence ; they do not adequately make known the success and the need of the foreign work to all the churches of 314 The Modern Missionary Challenge their constituency. The saving of money at this point is not only false economy ; it is also a failure to touch and to bring to life and to sympathy with the cause a large section of the Church which consti- tutes our hope. The fact that one-third of the churches are absolutely non-contributing, and that only one- tenth of the church-membership make any response whatever to the missionary call, is an appalling fact. It must be because they are not reached with the necessary information and appeal to bring them into the current of available missionary power. ** Knowl- edge is power." We need more, and more attract- ive, literature. Informing magazines, tracts, and books must be multiplied and must in some way or other be made to reach the spot of greatest need and ignorance. ' Nine-tenths of our literature, to-day, gets to the one-tenth of the constituency — the part which does not specially need it ; and the other nine- tenths are not brought face to face with the facts. The neglected areas must be reached. Publicity agencies must be multiplied. Probably more secre- taries and agents must be appointed. Missionaries on furloughs should be more thoroughly utilized. Home pastors who are absolutely indifferent should be set on fire and be made agencies for this cause. Churches that are already contributing and are awake should be organized in a way to reach the churches which do not ; and these are usually the small village churches. In all ways and by all means the ignorant and indifferent churches and members should be compelled to know the situation Response of the Church to the Challenge 315 and to face their duty and to enjoy their opportunity in the fellowship of this work. Another splendid field of opportunity for the pub- licity committee is now hardly touched at all, and that is the Public Schools of the country. From some experience of my own, during recent deputa- tion work in America, I am confident that there is a no more attractive opportunity to present our cause in the country, at the present time, than that of the public schools of the country. But this field has hardly been touched at all. Wisdom is needed, of course, in the presentation of missions to these schools lest there be ofTense and the door be closed ; but I have rarely experienced finer opportunity than on this very line. The youthful audiences are so quick to respond, so appreciative and so impression- able, that words spoken to them are precious seeds which will at some time or other bear fruit, either in missionar}^ life service or, surely, in missionary sym- pathy in later life. Mr. H. W. Hicks has recently compiled intensely interesting figures in connection with his study of missionary impressions made upon young people during the period of adolescence ; through which it is clearly shown that, not only in public schools, but in the various activities of the Church itself the chil- dren and the young people of its community have not been adequately impressed and influenced to these higher thoughts and aspirations for the coming of the Kingdom of God. Probably the greatest part of this blame is to be laid upon the Church itself and 31 6 The Modern Missionary Challenge the Sunday-school. It may also be the want of cer- tain wisely directed activity on the part of mission- ary societies themselves. (c) Missionary societies and their auxiliaries need to be properly related to each other. There is too much friction and contention, with a corresponding loss of power. Some auxiliaries are restless and de- sire to pass out of that relationship to the mother societies and to assume some of the functions of sep- arate, independent organizations. This leads to un- happy relations between Woman's Boards and gen- eral societies. Thus also the missionary interest of the churches is divided ; rival agencies claim attention. Women's work and men's work are placed in juxtaposition and unhealthy Competition ensues. Even the different women's societies tend to multiply ; separate agen- cies, committees, magazines and other rival publica- tions add not only to the feeling, but also to the ex- pense of administration. These various organiza- tions at home should be better coordinated. One is tempted to repeat the frequent interrogation, ** Why have women's auxiliaries and not also have men's auxiliaries ? " The question has been asked whether the apathy of the men in our churches in missionary work has not been coincident and synchronous with the rise of these women's organizations and separate activities. Since Women's Boards exist and seem to be a necessity, why not have men on their committees to keep them in touch with the main societies ; and Response of the Church to the Challenge 317 why not also have all the funds of the auxiliaries fully administered, as they now are not, by the main societies, of whose finance committees leaders of the women's auxiliaries should also be members? This is the method of the mission of which I am a member. There is no division between the men and women ; nor should there be, it seems to many, in the home administration of the Church's activity. At present the benevolences of these different home organizations are dispensed unevenly on the mission field. All the money raised by the women of America ( at least in some denominations ) is assigned to, and sent for, the lady agents of the Women's Boards regardless of the special need of that work as related to the whole work of the mission. This would be avoided if all the benevo- lences of the Church were administered by one finance committee, composed of men and women, for the maintenance of all departments of the work. It must be unfortunate and deplorable if the foreign work of our Churches is to be permanently conducted — both in the collecting agencies at home and in the conduct of the work abroad — on sex lines. On the whole, I consider that the response of the Church to the missionary challenge is decidedly en- couraging, if not inspiring. Instead of the once fitful spring of the past there is now a perennial stream with a thousand little rivulets flowing into it from as many new movements which are swelling 318 The Modern Missionary Challenge missionary interest and resources into an ever-grow- ing river of God. In the Church, a new seriousness and sense of responsibility is developing on all sides. In the pastorate, a growing purpose to properly coordinate the missionary work with home depart- ments of activity is found increasingly. Pastors are wonderfully stirred, in many places, where but recently they were absolutely indifferent. They are striving to enunciate and enforce the principle that the foreign missionary enterprise is a fundamental and important part of the work of the Church of God. In the missionary societies we notice a new ambi- tion and an increasing wisdom to conduct their work on up-to-date, modern lines and to utilize every opportunity to further the cause. In the fresh activity of the many Young People's organizations a new hope and power has come into the Church. Even outside the Church itself there are found, at the present time, a multitude of well- organized Christian activities most of which are thoroughly in sympathy with our missionary enter- prise and urge their members to support it. God is working as manifestly and as powerfully in the home Church as He is on the mission field. In all parts of its activities the Church of God is moving onward in its interest and effort for the world conquest in Jesus' name. X The Future Outlook « ^ ^ TATCHMAN what of the night?" What \/\/ are its signs of promise ? It is always ; ▼ ▼ dangerous to assume the prophetic ^ function. Still there may be some advantage in it. The government thinks it worth while, both for itself and for the people, to spend millions of dollars annually in order to study carefully meteorological conditions and promises that it may foretell the coming weather. This has become invaluable, in its prognostications, to our commerce and our agri- culture. In like manner it may be profitable to study care- fully present conditions in the missionary work, and to watch their intimations, suggestions and promise for the future, that we may gather from them some thoughts for our future work which may interest and help us in the arduous undertaking. In the study of previous chapters our outlook has been sufficiently comprehensive; as to conditions and problems, aims and achievements, opposing forces and present resources ; so that we may, with a litde confidence, reach out into the future and indulge ourselves in hope and assurance built thereupon. 319 320 The Modern Missionary Challenge The first thing that suggests itself to us in this connection is that — I. The development of our great work will be fraught with many surprises. All history can be explained as a sequence of causes and effects, and as a natural process of growth, or evolution. Yet man's limited vision is unequal to follow this process and to interpret events as they come. Thus the unexpected very often happens ; the common- place of to-day was the undreamed of yesterday. We dare not anticipate too extensively what may happen to-morrow. Who foresaw or could have predicted, a generation ago, that ships on the ocean, at the present time, would be shooting their mes- sages one to the other for hundreds of miles through the simple medium of ether? Who but Darius Green could have imagined, a quarter of a century ago, that men would to-day be flying through the air more swiftly than, if not so safely as, birds ? Think of the many sciences which were not dreamed of fifty years ago, but which are largely controlling the channels of our thought and express- ing in new terms our life and activities. The same thing is essentially true in the subder realm of spiritual and social life. *! Nowhere are we more liable to surprises than here, for nowhere are we more likely to compute probabilities from only a part of the facts. We are considering a work in which we have to reckon with invisible powers as well as visible, divine energies as The Future Outlook 32 1 well as human events and movements. Events may seem decisive, and yet invisible forces may proceed to do what events appear to have forbidden." ^ How dramatic was the opening of Japan by the compulsion of Western guns ! How averse that peo- ple were to their new and disagreeable awakening ; yet how marvellous a Providence it was, and it be- came the great turning point in their history ! The Japan of the past century and the Japan of to-day, — how very different ! They were a people who wanted to be let alone to work out their own destiny in their own heathenish isolation and unprogressive hermitage. But who more alert in the world, to- day, than these same Japanese? Who more anxious to commend themselves to the world and to take a prominent and a worthy place in the federation of the nations of the earth ? The forcing of an open door in Japan by Commodore Perry for political and commercial purposes has created a new history for that people and has given them an entrance into the fellowship of the world. See the startling call of an explorer to the Church of God to enter Uganda with the Gospel to a willing people. What remarkable changes have taken place in that kingdom within the last few years in response to Stanley's challenge and Mtesa's invita- tion? Or, witness the statescraft, the political ambition and international scheming of Western nations as they opened, recently, the unwilling, lumbering 1 " A Study of Christian Missions," pp. 238, 239. 322 The Modern Missionary Challenge doors of Buddhistic Tibet. And, lo, the gospel light is likely soon to flood that land of heathen darkness ! Who shall tell us what is to be the speedy result of that excessive ambition of scheming Russia to get a grip upon that land ? Or, look at the crushing weight of foreign pressure and the invasion of Korea by foreign enemies. How remarkably it has turned the thought of the Korean people, in their helplessness, to the Gospel of Christ as their refuge ! Even a famine may become the trumpet voice of God calling and rousing a people to life. Such a famine occurred a generation ago in South India. It became a wonderful turning point in the life of the outcaste community in the Telegu field, two hundred thousand of whom flocked into the Baptist and to other missions — missions which were then weak, discouraged and on the point of being aban- doned, but which are now the largest and among the most successful in the land. In these, and in numberless other ways, the his- tory of the world has been a succession of surprises where God has moved in a mysterious way His wonders to perform among the nations of the earth. And He will continue to do the same in the future. In the coming of His Kingdom upon earth events will happen so unexpectedly and with such sudden- ness to the eyes of man, that they will seem " mir- acles of grace " to God's people. Every year and every decade will bring to the great missionary en- terprise an increasing number of such surprises; and The Future Outlook 323 these will largely be such as to encourage and in- spire God's people in their world-wide labours. In India there is no greater barrier to the progress of Christianity than that colossal caste system which has so overshadowed all other social and religious forces of that land. It has been a greater obstacle to Christianity there than all other opposing agen- cies combined. To all, it presents serious discour- agements ; and some think that its influence is as strong as ever and its permanence almost assured. Yet I am inclined to believe that that institution is destined soon to collapse of its own weight, and under the growing impact of opposing forces. The normal and automatic process of the multiplication of castes whereby they have become numberless, and which will soon reduce the whole system to a veritable re- ductio ad absurdum, is manifest to all those who have studied carefully the subject and will conduce to the overthrow of the whole system. The caste demon is also so palpably rendering impossible the political aspirations of the people, as it does also their social, industrial and commercial enterprise, that they themselves are at present not only realiz- ing its inutility, but are also sensible of the fact that the whole system runs athwart their progress and is in absolute conflict with their best interests. I have heard Brahmans earnestly denouncing, in lectures, the whole system, and rightly declaring that India can never achieve its independence so long as it re- mains the slave of the caste system. In this and many other ways I believe that the 324 '^^^ Modem Missionary Challenge forces of India will soon converge to a point of defi- nite antagonism to the system and will overthrow it with a suddenness that will be a startling surprise alike to its foes and friends. And what a change India would present to the missionary if caste were abolished ! How accessible it would make all the people I How easily then could they enter into the Christian faith, which is now the desire of helpless millions of them ! How it would disarm opposition to our cause and rob Hinduism of nine-tenths of its powers to persecute those who are tired of it and who are anxious to leave it, but dare not because of caste tyranny and intimidation ! There will arise also, by and by, great men for mighty work on the mission fields of the East. It must be Confessed that Christianity has not yet produced, in those Eastern lands of missionary ac- tivity, or in Africa, great men who have absorbed our faith and have breathed into it the breath of natural life, wrought it into an indigenous faith, and burned with a passion to communicate it to all their country- men. But the day will come when, suddenly, these great lights will rise, shed their brilliant rays upon their people and lead the hosts to Christ. Men like the great Buddha will spring up and will burn with indignation at the mean religious customs of their day and, by the majesty of their personal qualities and by the passion and pathos of their message, will thrill and win the people to our cause. Or, perhaps, another Mohammed will rise, but a The Future Outlook 325 Christian one, who will listen to the voice of God and, with a mighty conviction and an enthusiasm for his cause, will convert many a defeat into success and carry his simple creed like a flaming torch to enlighten men and to burn into their hearts and *ives the saving truth of the Gospel. Or, perhaps, in the decadent Christian Churches of the East, there will arise another Luther who shall be consumed by the passion of a new Gospel to carry missionary life and power into those Churches Khat are now so dead. We are waiting, and we have waited long, for such men on mission fields. Who knows but there are those already born and studying in our schools or tending the sheep upon the mountains whose prophetic message and trumphet tones of eloquence will resound, even in our day, unto the uttermost parts of their native land, raise the spiritually dead and bring the people to Christ ? This is the greatest need of to-day ; and, when Christianity shall have touched life in those lands at its lowest depth and shall be adapted to the special nature and need of the peoples there, then shall we see the Gospel possessing souls ; and personalities of commanding influence and God-intoxicated power sweeping in majestic influence all over those countries. In India, Brahmanism, Buddhism and Mohammed- anism have developed such men. A thousand years ago Sankarachariar rose as a prophet and revival preacher of the New Hinduism which he caused to overcome Buddhism as a separate faith 326 The Modern Missionary Challenge in the land. He was a man of mighty intellectual power, a great debater, an impassioned advocate and a man absolutely consecrated to one idea. Such a man, yes, such men, will Christianity also produce in its day ; and through them our cause shall be made victorious, and the day q\ foreign missionary propaganda will be at an end. We pray for such men and expect them under God's own guidance — men who shall combine the spirit of a Neesima, the faith of an Isshi, the culture of a Sattianathan, the statesmanship of a Crowther, the mystic power of a Goreh, and the conviction and enthusiasm of a Ramabai. Through such a man, and through such a body of men, are Africa and Asia chiefly to be won to Christ. John Wesley claimed that if the Church should give him but a few men, consumed with a passion for the salvation of souls, he would speedily win the whole world to Christ. Even one John Wesley of the East, at the present time, would initiate a work which would be marvellous in its power and results. 2. A surprise of the future will be mainly in the utilization of new forces. Men, in these days, are apt to think that the Church of God has already discovered, and partly exhausted, all the forces which are to be used in this missionary conflict. As a matter of fact, God has new resources of power yet in store and mighty agencies that have not yet been utilized, but which will some day astonish the world and bring untold prosperity and power to our cause. New forces will be discovered against our cause. The Future Outlook 327 They will show a bitterness of opposition and a re- sourceful strategy beyond anything that we have yet seen. In Chapter VIII we have referred to a few such which have recently come into existence. These will multiply as the conflict waxes warmer ; and they will tax all the resources of the patience, wisdom, and aggressive energy of the Church. Sometimes they will seem to triumph over our cause, as in the apparent triumph of the Jewish forces at the death of our Lord. But missions will find vic- tory in such defeat and will only increase in power and in chastened strength through the influence of every new opposition. The forces which are to be used in behalf of the propagation of our faith are to multiply. (a) The moribund and decrepit Churches of the East are to be revived and to be transformed into a new power for the cause. The Armenian and Greek Churches of Turkey, the Syrian Church of India, and other sleeping Christian communities are to respond to the modern influences of the Gospel of Christ. They have slept the sleep of ages. Even in their apathy and lifeless condition God has pre- served them and will use later their once palsied limbs in a vigorous campaign for His cause. The day of the new birth of their power and empire is not far off. The Man who sat at the Pool of Be- thesda and brought healing and power to the helpless one who lay there, is still ready to bring power and blessing to these moribund Churches, and the day of their redemption is not far off. The members of 328 The Modem Missionary Challenge the American missions in Turkey have brought their own healthy life and vigour into touch with the Gregorian and Armenian Churches of that land, and there is already a response and a hopeful awaken- ing. The evangelicals of the Anglican Church in Malabar, South India, have begun to infuse new life into the dormant body of the Syrian Church of India, so that there is a promise of outgoing bless- ing and power in that community. When these Churches, established for centuries in many lands of the East and in Africa, shall have been roused from their slumbers and brought into possession of modern life and ideas and of spiritual power they will become a force in the redemption of those lands beyond, perhaps, anything that the Western Churches can render ; because they are, in a sense, indigenous and partake of the common life as they understand the common need of the people, and can adequately interpret their mind and adapt the Gospel to their special condition. We have considered these decadent Christian Churches exclusively as lifeless, helpless cumber- ers of the ground, which they have been, to no small extent. But we have not realized that these same Churches have already been considerably af- fected by the modern missionary campaign and are, ere long, to become a living part in this active prop- aganda for the spread of our religion. {b) The mission Church, also, will take up the song and preach the message of a world Gospel with ever-increasing vigour. The Future Outlook 329 The Church of every non-Christian land will have its own distinct message, and its own peculiar type and emphasis upon truth. These individual notes of the many Churches of the world will contribute their share in producing the perfect harmony of the Uni- versal Church in its great Hallelujah Chorus pro- claiming that the day -of Christ Jesus has come in power. There is need not only for the Western Church, with its message and mission, and the revived an- cient Christian Churches of the East, with their par- ticular method and emphasis ; the day will come when the Churches of Asia and Africa also will add their voices to the great harmony. The Church of the martyrs in China will have its own peculiar emphasis upon truth and render its own characteristic witness in sanity and in faithfulness to the Lord our God. The staid severity and firm en- durance of this Church of China will shine with a peculiar lustre. The consecrated, outgoing Church of Korea will add also its witness. It will be an evangelistic Church which will be contagious in its influence and remarkable in the extent of its piety and in its power to capture and captivate souls for Jesus. The Church of India with its God-intoxicated mind must also add its tribute and its testimony. It will reveal a deeper type of mystic piety and of other worldliness than perhaps any other Church on earth. It will not be very practical, or deeply ethical, or conspicuously aggressive ; but it will reveal the pa- 330 The Modern Missionary Challenge tient endurance and the sweet passive virtues which shone so beautifully in our Lord's life. Then there will come the practical, aggressive Church of those Anglo-Saxons of the East — the Japanese. It will be a thoughtful Church and will push its way vigorously in missionary endeavour throughout the land. The emotional and the devout Church of Africa will add its strain to this Christian song of praise. Its songs of Zion will appeal to the whole world and will reveal an intense devotion and a loving passion for the Lord. All these members of the native Church, so called, will add volume to the great testimony and will each bring its own colour to the Heavenly Bow which will bear testimony to the divine promise that this world shall be saved with a final and an everlasting salvation. {c) The future will also see the supremacy of the ethical and the spiritual in the message of the out- going missionary Church. During the past, as we have already seen, the ef- fort of the Church has been given too much to trans- mit to non-Christian peoples its ecclesiasticism, its ceremonialism, and its political power rather than its moral and spiritual dynamics. But the day will come, and it is much nearer than we anticipate, when Christianity will be largely divested of its elaborate forms, ceremonies and hierarchical assumptions and when it shall carry, in blessing and power, the eth- ical and the spiritual emphasis upon its life and truth to the non-Christian peoples. The Future Outlook 331 How often has Christianity been thwarted, its members persecuted and the Church practically wiped out in such lands as China and Japan, simply because of the sinister political ambitions and the hierarchical claims and arrogance of the Christianity which was planted there. In India, also, one branch of the Church has been paralyzed by its all but ex- clusive emphasis upon ritual ; while another branch of the Church was introduced by the sword, propa- gated by the inquisition and has since lived the in- adequate life which it possesses largely through excess of rites and ceremonies and prelatic as- sumptions. The world is perishing to-day for a simple Gospel that appeals first and last to human life as a thing of character and as a spiritual aspiration. And the day is not distant when this Gospel shall be preached unto the uttermost parts of the earth as a thing of moral and spiritual relationship between the soul and God. The dynamic of ethics and of deep mystic piety shall be united into one mighty appeal, and the Church of God shall give itself absolutely to the cultivation of these, rather than to any ecclesiastical methods of indirection and human mediation. {d) The day will also soon come when there shall be added another force wTiich means distinct power and wonderful blessing to our cause ; and that is the reign of international law and universal peace. Already men are beginning to realize that war is not only devilish in its origin and spirit but also insane and idiotic in its working. They look at war 332 The Modern Missionary Challenge as the supreme folly of nations because they feel increasingly not only the terrible financial burdens which it imposes but also the cruel toll upon life which it exacts. Many influences are at work at the present time which ultimately, and at a no distant day, will bring all the nations of the earth under one international law and make further war absolutely impossible among men. No one can adequately realize the mighty influence which this would exer- cise in the coming of the Kingdom of God upon earth. The peace which was caused and maintained by the Roman Empire, during apostolic days, was a wonderful means of propagating Christianity. It made it possible for God's messengers to travel unto the remotest parts of the empire and to preach the message without molestation. We see, at the present time, the striking influence of "Pax Britannica" which has, for over half a century, made war impossible among the many races of India. It has been one of the supreme blessings of Great Britain to that land. It has not only induced prosperity, prevented untold waste of money and loss of life ; it has also made it possible for the gospel messenger to go unto all parts of that country and to find protection in the quiet delivery of his message to every sect, caste or tribe. In the near future all people will be gathered under the influence of a common law, be protected from the ravages of war and will smile under the segis of universal peace. Then will the Gospel find The Future Outlook 333 its greatest opportunity through the unhindered delivery of its message and will find absolute support to that message in the regime of law and of peace which will everywhere prevail. 3. The future will also be a time when the reflex influence of missions will be increasingly felt in the home Church. Even now we begin to recognize a distinct blessing and a positive influence flowing back from missions into the home lands. All men recognize the commercial blessings which flow from the missionary enterprise. , ''Trade follows in the footsteps of the missionary." Our home markets feel the awakening of those people through Christian life and thought. To our civiliza- tion this is one of the most remarkable by-products of the missionary enterprise. The same will, with greater directness and emphasis, occur in religious sentiment and thought. We cannot take our faith, with its Western graces and stirring call to life, without having imparted to us, in turn, the comple- mentary graces which are beginning to adorn it in the East. There will be a growing commerce of religious thought between the Church of the Orient and that of the Occident. The metaphysics of the East and the philosophy of the West will act and react one upon the other for the broadening of thought and the development of life. In like manner, also, the different emphases of East and West will carry its educating power upon 334 The Modern Missionary Challenge both sections ; the Eastern vision of the too-near God and of the exclusive supremacy of His life and agency, will be touched by the transcendentalism of the West ; and the influence of the one upon the other will be wholesome and helpful to a true com- prehension of the divine. We have seen how the materialistic and practical conceptions of the West have already affected Eastern life and thought. We will also see increasingly how the deep mysticism and passion of the East for communion with the divine, will tone down our materialism and give a new vision to the too practical and materialistic tendency of the West. This process of action and reaction will go on with ever-increasing fullness in the development of a world-wide Christian thought and a universal type of Christian character. All this will be very materially promoted by the coming of Eastern men of leadership to the West to communicate their thoughts and to impress their type of personality and of piety. One of the most remarkable things in the Edinburgh Missionary Conference was the presence of representative Chris- tians from the East. No one had more cordial reception and more thoughtful attention in that great Conference than these distinguished leaders of the oriental Church. The devout Dr. Chatterjee and the vigorous Bishop Honda, the sane and practical Ch'en Ching Yi and the thoughtful and brilliant President Harada — these were men whose message was not only heard with deep interest, but whose words carried a powerful influence over the whole The Future Outlook 335 audience. Through them, men of the West found a higher admiration than ever before for the Orient. And the thought of these Eastern brethren will find a place in the upbuilding of the Kingdom of God in the world. The number of these distinguished visitors will in- crease as the years multiply. Their message to the West will command increasing respect and will help the West to understand the East and to broaden its thought correspondingly. The remarkable fellowship revealed in the World's Missionary Conference was made possible, yea, necessary by the growing union and communion of all the representatives of the home Churches on the foreign field. No Church can keep apart from others save by abstaining from foreign missionary activity. The contagion of union and the infection of fellow- ship will work increasingly upon the mission field and spread unto the remotest corners of the West. This is one reason why the tendency of our repre- sentatives on foreign fields to form close alliances and unions should be encouraged by all interested in that work. That spirit will not be confined to the mis- sion field. Even now it is not. The writer recently met a member of the committer which was appointed for perfecting a union of three denominations in Canada, and was told that the Statement and Con- fession of the United Church of South India, re- cently organized, had already been considered by them with a view to its use as a basis of union for Canada I 336 The Modern Missionary Challenge The missionary need of, and emphasis upon, Christian union will carry, with ever-accelerating power, its blessing into the West. How can denominations stand apart in the home lands when they find, and some of them even heart- ily encourage, united life and cordial fellowship on the mission field ? 4. The future will also be a time of new visions. New light is to come to the Church of God in re- gard to many things that are fundamental, but which are not at the present time receiving the right emphasis or appreciation. (a) The time will come when the Kingdom, and not the Church, shall absorb the thought and com- mand the supreme devotion of Christians everywhere. Christian m^n will return more and more to the Christ conception of things. Our Lord began His public ministry by proclaim- ing that the Kingdom of God is at hand. Just be- fore His ascension. He appeared to His disciples and spoke to them things concerning the Kingdom of God. To Him this Kingdom was a matter of su- preme importance ; it permeated all His thoughts. It was the substance of His message to man. Its realization in the world was the passion of His soul. He was also anxious that this Kingdom find suprem- acy in the mind of His disciples. He sought to exalt it as the ideal and the highest ambition of every true believer. Next to God's own name and glory He placed this as the chief object of the Christian's prayer and activity. "Seek ye first"— that is su- The Future Outlook 337 ■mely — "■ His Kingdon and His righteousness." He thus made it His chief concern, so should all lis followers ; and so they will increasingly. What is this Kingdom ? It is more than the Church. It is that spiritual ideal of which the Church is but a partial outward expression, or rather the chief organ of its activity. Of that heavenly rule upon earth the Church is but an imperfect, visible expression. The thousand divisions which to-day separate the Church of God, their conflicting theories, their diverse policies, their unreasoning rivalries, vain jealousies and overemphasized rituals — these certainly are not of the Kingdom of God for whose coming we are commanded to pray. We praise God daily for His Church upon earth, for its mani- fold forms and multitudinous energies. These are powerful, through the Holy Spirit, for the coming of the Kingdom of God. But the various divisions of the Church must not be confounded with the Kingdom which Christ, came to establish and to build upon earth. One has well defined the Kingdom as the ** World of invisible laws, by which God is ruling and bless- ing His creatures." It is the reign by divine love in the hearts of men. It is that rule of life which pre- vails in heaven and which Christ brought with Him from heaven and established as a principle of con- duct and as a source of well-being upon earth. This Kingdom is a spiritual Kingdom, not con- fined to any organization or outward form. It is also a universal Kingdom. We cannot say 338 The Modern Missionary Challenge of it that it belongs to any land, or people, or time : wherever man lives there does it find its sphere of ennoblement and spiritual uplifting. In like manner it is an eternal Kingdom. Its dominion will never end among the sons of men. It is also, and preeminently, the Kingdom of Christ. He is its King. It is He who breathes into every soul the true spirit of the Kingdom. He not only leads and inspires within the Church itself ; His Spirit transcends the Church. No earthly organiza- tion can be conterminous with the influences of His Spirit. It is the leaven which, placed in this world of sin, is ever transforming and assimilating all that is foreign to itself. The Kingdom of Christ gathers within itself all that is true and all that is ethically and spiritually beautiful among the sons of men. It draws no clear line of distinction between that which is good in Christianity and that which is good outside of it. It declines to classify the ethical and spiritual traits of life into Christian and non-Christian. Every worthy ambition, wherever found, is divine; every coin of sincere piety and of genuine righteousness, among whatever people, carries upon it the impress of the King of kings. The Apostle Peter well said, " Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons ; but in every nation he that feareth Him and worketh righteousness is acceptable to Him." As we look at the true Spirit of Christ moving among the sons of men outside the confines of the Christian Church we should be prepared to recog- The Future Outlook 339 nize Christ in it and to regard its spirit as a part of His Kingdom. The Red Cross organization and a thousand other kindred institutions, that, in the Spirit of Christ, are ministering to the wounded, the sick and the degraded, to wandering, fallen youth that strays from virtue and to decrepit old age which is helpless and homeless — all of these humane and charitable organizations are separate from the Church, though they are the true offspring of the spirit of our religion. In Christian lands their name is legion and they are multiplying with wonderful rapidity. They are binding with a thousand golden cords of love our whole human family. Many of them have no sympathy with ecclesiasticism. But all, with no uncertain sound, bespeak the presence and the animating spirit of our blessed Lord and Master. The prayer, or the appreciation, of the true Christian will not, in the near future, discrimi- nate in favour of the Red Cross Society of Christian America as against the same society of non-Christian Japan. The true Christian, as he offers the prayer of his Lord, ** Thy Kingdom come," stands on Cal- vary's mount and gazes from that vantage ground unto the uttermost parts of the earth and prays for every thought or effort which is Christlike in its spirit and heavenly in its fragrance. This universal conception of the Kingdom of our Lord and its application to the life of men every- where, is one which will grow increasingly. It is growing in the non-Christian world to-day. This is why millions of the East admire and extol 340 The Modern Missionary Challenge Christ and His ideal of life, while they stand aloof from Christianity. It is pardy the reason why Sabbath observance is now the rule in non-Christian Japan and India and among other peoples. The sentiments of the Kingdom are spreading every- where. And the day will come when the Kingdom thought shall dominate the Christian world and shall, in a subtle way, spread throughout all non- Christian lands ; a day also when the churchly idea and passion shall take a subordinate position and find a secondary consideration as a motive and am- bition of Christian life. {b) Another future vision which is to become clear and potential in the great missionary enter- prise is that of the Brotherhood of Man. We are. still torn with racial pride and prejudice. The best of us may spasmodically entertain these ideas of fraternity ; but w^e never live up to them. Caste assertion and national arrogance and racial bitterness are things which still exist and have a large influence, at the present time, in shaping the thought and action of the Christian Church. How deeply the question of colour enters into our thought and characterizes our sentiments at the present time ! The Brotherhood of Saints is still limited, or at least largely modified, by outer, physical characteristics. In America, this narrow spirit has in some ways been intensified by the racial difficulties of the last few years. Will this spirit ever cease and souls be drawn together and swayed by spiritual affinities alone ? Will men deal The Future Outlook 341 with other men, who are their brothers in Christ, in accordance with the deep spiritual character which they reveal ; or will it continue to be, at least partly, on the basis of their colour or racial and linguistic differences ? Perhaps race antipathies were never more aggres- sive than now ; and beyond these are others of class differences whereby, in the churches of to-day, the labourer and the employer, the men of learning and the proletariat, the classes and the masses, seem to be going, each its own way, and separating one from the other in our churches. Yet we are aware of deep forces which are uniting all classes as never before. The conflict is on at this one particular point. We talk glibly to-day of the ** Brotherhood of Man," and we have advanced far enough to demand that other Christians should be swayed by the sentiment ; but we hesitate to apply it to our own life and conduct. The day, however, will come, and many mighty forces are working towards its early realization, when this sentiment of the universal brotherhood of mankind will work with a new power and will take a leading place among the forces which direct and inspire all the members of the Christian faith. The modern divisive spirit will yield to the Christian dynamic of brotherhood. This sentiment will become a living and a vitalizing force in the Church and man will meet man and seek man everywhere for his better- ment and his salvation because he is his brother and because that fraternal sentiment has become the 342 The Modern Missionary Challenge passion of his soul. Then shall we find a mighty new impulse among all Christians, and a new sense of obligation to go forth unto men of all races, to seek them with a saving blessing because they are their own kith and kin, sons of a common Father. *' The crest and crowning of all good, Life's final star, is Brotherhood ; For it will bring again to earth Her long-lost Poesy and Mirth ; Will send new light on every face, A kingly power upon the race. And till it comes, we men are slaves, And travel downward to the dust of graves. • *' Come, clear the way, then, clear the way; BHnd creeds and kings have had their day. Break the dead branches from the path : Our hope is in the aftermath — Our hope is in heroic men. Star-led to build the world again. To this event the ages ran : Make way for Brotherhood — make way for man. »»i 5. The future also is a Vision of Bright Promise. Everything connected with the Kingdom of our Lord is glowing with a promise and a prophecy of blessing and power for the future. The conviction that we possess the eternal truth of God, that all men need it and that there is one Saviour who is at the heart of God's eternal truth, and that there is " No other name under heaven given among men wherein we must be saved " — this has a wonderful power for the future. The infinite fullness of this Christ as a Saviour of all men who come unto » Edwin Markham, in " The Man With the Hoe and Other Poems." The Future Outlook 343 God by Him ; and the absolute inadequacy of any other way or faith to this end, is a dynamic whose power will increase with the ages. The Church will grow in this faith and conviction and in a corre- sponding purpose to make it known to men. Kindred to this thought is the other, namely, that the beautified and glorified Christianity of the future will increasingly inspire its followers to transmit it to others. Is Christianity worth propagating in the world to-day ? Once, in his Hfe, a Christian doubted about this when he saw, in the city of Rome, his faith so incrusted in superstition and so debased with senseless ritual. But, as he is to-day gazing upon it increasingly beautified and ennobled by the charac- ter and intelHgence of its followers ; as he is seeing it purified gradually of its former dross, he realizes that it is more and more worthy of being transmitted and proclaimed to men in all the dark lands of the earth. Yes, the future brings to us the vision of a trans- formed and a glorified Christianity ; a vision also of the growing passion of its followers and devotees to carry it in its beauty and to reveal it in its transcend- ent and spiritual glory to those who are besotted by heathenism in all its forms. When our Gospel is disencumbered of its overlaid superstitions and its ecclesiastical glamour then will it commend itself increasingly to the world. Then also will Christian men rejoice in its attractiveness and power, and non-Christians will recognize it as a thing of beauty and a dynamic of saving grace. 344 The Modern Missionary Challenge Every Christian will then have a new confidence in his religion. He will exclaim with the poet % *' I know of a land that is sunk in shame Of hearts that faint and tire And 1 know of a Name, a Name, a Name That can set that land on fire. Its sound is a brand, its letters flame — I know of a Name, a Name, a Name IVi'// stt that land on fire." As a part of this vision of promise it is worth re- membering how far Christianity has come into pos- session of political power and influence in the world. Mark how Christian nations, especially Protestant nations, are multiplying their political influence and showing their qualities of leadership and control in the world. The Japanese are the only people repre- senting a non-Christian power of modern develop- ment and efficiency. Is it not because she has ab- sorbed the ideals and copied the methods of Chris- tian nations ? See the developing influence of Great Britain, the United States and Germany, among the races of the world at the present time. More than one-third of the world is under the definite political control and authority of these nations. And, with this, notice also the growing prevalence of the English language. In the first century of our era the spread of the Christian religion depended, to a no small extent, upon the prevalence and the dominance of the Greek tongue which was the ve- hicle of our faith. So, also, is the English language The Future Outlook 343 it the present time preeminently the language of Protestant Christendom ; and it is rapidly becoming the world language. Its use and the use of its liter- ature is becoming increasingly potential in the dis- semination of our faith and in the exaltation of a pure Christianity throughout the world. This influence is to extend until men everywhere shall, through it, learn of Jesus and Him crucified as the only Saviour of the world. And, finally, the future is a time of missionary promise because it has the potency of God clearly revealed within it. The Church of Christ will do well to keep in the forefront of its advancing army the banner of the promise and the prophecy of God. In God's Word we have the clear word of prophecy and the unmistakable voice of promise as we conduct the missionary enterprise. God Himself is committed to this universal con- quest of our faith, *' Ask of Me and I will give thee the nations for thy inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possessions." The divine Son exclaimed, in word of promise to His own, **And I when I be lifted up will draw all men unto Me." And again, ** Lo ! h am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." Christ in the Church as its leader and dynamic power is the hope of its glory and of its universal prevalence. This confidence of the Church in the universal reign of Christ in the world must be maintained and will be maintained with ever-growing promi- 346 The Modem Missionary Challenge nence by His people. He is pledged to its success. He has foretold its consummation. We are all fel- low workers with God in this great world enterprise. It will never fail, because He is with us. It will succeed, because it is His plan of the eternal ages. In the strength of this conviction, and leaning mightily upon His word of promise, shall we go on from strength to strength until He shall be made King and shall rule with power over all the nations of the earth. Filled with this hope and confidence the mission- ary enterprise is to go on from power to power and with ever-accelerating progress until all mankind shall accept Him and worship Him as Lord of all. May God hasten the day. **0h, bless our God, ye peoples, And make the voice of His praise to be heard." Statistical Preface FOLLOWING is a series of statistical tables which are a modified form of the Summary Tables presented to the World Missionary Conference, by its Commission No. L They reveal the impress of the painstaking thoroughness of Dr. James S. Dennis and his co- labourers who have thus earned the gratitude of the Christian Church. They reveal a vast amount of research and wisdom in the grouping of many data for the furnishing of stimulating results. These tables also reveal the serious, and I may add, the unfortunate, limitations under which the Commission was constrained to prepare them; whereby the work of Protestant Missionary Societies for Christians is eliminated and only their efforts for non-Christian people is presented. This was a part of the fundamental condition and sine qua non of the attendance of High Church Anglicans and some others at the Conference. So long as the Protestant Church regards efforts in certain Christian lands as a part of its foreign missionary duty — to carry a pure Gospel to the benighted and superstitious followers of a moribund type of Christianity ; so long, it seems to me, should it be reported faithfully and its triumphs recorded. Still, this may not be too great a price to pay for 347 348 The Modern Missionary Challenge the union of all Protestant communions in the mis- sionary enterprise. It may also be worth while, once at least, if not always, to place before the minds of Protestant Christians, a view of their work for non- Christians which is upon a higher level of value and urgency than the effort to bring non-Protestant Chris- tians to our own type of faith and to our own level of spiritual attainment. While I thus regret that these tables do not in- clude all the work of our foreign missionary so- cieties, they are doubtless by far the most advanced, thorough and up-to-date statistics of Protestant mis- sionary work for non-Christians ever prepared. I have also added the table on Roman Catholic missionary effort as furnishing a unique addition to our knowledge of the work conducted by that great Church, a work which runs parallel with our own. I desire thus to express my appreciation of what she also, as a part of all Christendom, is doing to bring the world to Christ. This may, in itself, have a liberalizing tendency upon the reader and may help, in a very humble way, to hasten the day when all Christians shall be one, at least in this great work of the redemption of our race. J. P. Jones. TABLE II General and Evangelistic Summary COUNTRIES AND SOCIETIES. u Native Workers. mi tin ' 1 I 3 Hi 1 (with Fori Chinese Empire Siam and French Indo-China British Malaysia Dutch East Indies Philippine Islands Australia (Aborigines and Chinese) . . New Zealand (Maoris) Melanesia (except Dutch New Guinea) . Micronesia (except Hawaiian Islands) . India .'.'.'.'..'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'. \ Ceylon Persia Turkish Empire (except Syria and Palestine) 4,475 9,064 347,759 II 524 1,413 23,965 7,192 61,632 522,743 16,298 82,221 89,609 214,546 Western Africa (Senegal to Nigeria) Southwest Africa (Kamerun to German Southwest Africa) . . , South Africa (Uritish Union with Basutoland and Swaziland) Southern Central Africa (Five British Protectorates) East Africa (Portuguese, German, British) Madagascar and Mauritius South America (Indians and Asiatic Immigrants) Central America (Indians) West Indies (Asiatic Immigrants) . . Unitcil .States, including Alaska (Indians and Eskimos) United States, including Hawaiian ' ' ■ ■ ■ ■ - Can.ida and the Labrador (Indians and Eskimos) 17,184 513i66U 248,702 103,201 1,144,926 92,583 118,107 286,702 33,173 8,746 87,433 110,865 65,482 4,468 31,354 8,989 20,968 68,254 68,803 40,426 673,464 26,651 193,499 26,730 688,434 1,925,205 3,006,373 5,281,871 • Physicians whi 1 Stations in wh e ordained are entered i sevein' , Christians recorded, but the explanation a II As church statistics in Turkey, Syri cady givei engaged especially in missions to Hebrews, ist of regularly established churches. The ire also for this apparent discrepancy. , Northeast Africa, and Persia are not Converts from the TABLE I Summary of Missionary Societies Societies. Contributions. 0»OM'^ IS t2a •sndn^i th" •S9SSB13 puB spoips n ^ ^ Elementary and Village Schools. •siidnd r-( lO CO O (M W rHOJ 00 •suopnjpsui CO lO CO C<1 -^ r-l CO 00 Boarding and Higlr Schools. •siidn^j t-05C0Q0O»O05Ot-C0'<1 f5 ■ C/5 W "5 c Australia (Aborigines and Chinese) . . New Zealand (Maoris) . . Melanesia (except Dutch New Guinea) . Micronesia (except Hawaiian Islands) . Polynesia India , Statistical Preface 35» '^f -M 1> 05 O CO CO tH lO iO l> vD CO O CO C< tH iH U5 W 05 t> t* CO C< 00 1> t- CO U5 lO 1> l> CD Tfl rH 4,869 117 27,130 i- |g S s § O rH OO 00 CO CO lO Oi CO OS 00 00 lO 00 can tH iH rH O OS t' (N 00 U5 C:5 CO 1> o -^ osxirooit^ i> rH T-i(Mo-H OSaOOr-T}< rH t- (MCOrHrH to i> iCi CO ot CO rH lO "* i> t- r-l O O rH J:- CO '^ CO OJ 00 rHOSOOvOCO CO CM 0SOu0>O rt^COiO l^OOSiO(M O U5 (Mr-ir-iCO lO O OOrHCJOJOJ OS CO OMl>aO Ol rH OS CO IC OS iO CO rH CO 00 CO CO CO r^ t^ •^ C^ 00 00 00 ri lO OJ o «0 rH (M CO lO 00 00 CO O "-l^ l^ Ol CO 00 lO rH O CO CO X -^ 00 00 CO CO O CO OS "^"riTT^cftrf c«f CO - OS iO d OS CO rH eo 00 (N rH eo 8 -a O ' — ^ '-' o ^ c ex, • 1-2 .5 rj fl CJ u5 rt '-H J_ OJ o=^< s •5 3 O *3 PJ CO s pq o J J ^ . ^.^^ ■ •CO-<« o «a« rH r^ t- 00 lO o o CO O t' r-l 00 © Oi OS rH lO U5 lO of oTt^ CO r-l CO CO 00 CO »-( 00 CO o •<*• lO 05 T»< lO O l^* CO -H r-( O 05 OS CO -^ l>- CO CO rt< CO 00 CO l^ Cf CO'^r-T CO CO OS l> CO 00 OS t^ CO 1-1 OS CO lO o OS OS oo" 00 "^ CO c« l-Hd i> r- t' C* OO IT' ■^ 00 CO o CO 00 I- CO c:s OJ CO CO t* o COOD lO S CO 1-1 l^ QO CO tH 00 o OS 00 d tH ri OS rH rH t^ c« »H « eo I* CO »-• =J CO o CO r^ OS iH 00 "^ CO o CO i-< rH O tH lO D. o E ti rs -" Sell X .2 "C ^ UC/3PQQ • Si ^ V :3 C c n QO 00 CSI 05 0» Oi lO CJ t^ Q ifl ec rl g CO 00 CO O OS lO^M lO 0> CO rH n S 2 rJ w »o 00 CO (M rf iH CO t^ uo r^ CO OS o ic OS lO O 05 O 35 CO (M •* O X CO u:) t^ ic ci a> a i2 riT 2 "* c^ o aoco^c<»-j_ OS OS -V O l> o_co "^o^co t^ Ifi rA' f-T CO" r-^ r-T ^ 00 OS CO - PuiHc/3 -o o S * << 7, !> 72 I a c ■2£ -^ • o "^ cs , -Si c tfj o 5 < ■f^ § -a DO !/! ^ Dp- - s « ^J-g 'C 'n rT 2 ^ ^ c< o .2 M -^ l-i X3 -T3 C 1^ "» 2 ■" C << r/^ !/) Vt O 3 ■»- ^ e rt t/5 gw?. y 354 The Modern Missionary Challenge •saiBiuuj • •^ : : : S^ •saSnja^ uinidQ r-i "CO : § •sajBUiuj • rH •g • • • i •sauiojj {Bijjsnpuj rH ' CM rH r-l OS • Tf • • • § •sajBuiuj . . • • • c ■ • • • 15 • •SMopi^ joj sauiofj • • • : ::2 • ^ b •sajBmui 1 00 lO Oi c • : ; :?^ § 6 3 •sauiojj anosa-^ 1 c< '^ • rl 00 ■ • (M CJ -fH • • S •sijdnj S = | ■ s ': . . ^ . . . ■^ S b •sa}nKiBaa-»ojP"« pui|a -JOj suopnjusuj M rH rH r-l • * 00 • rH • * ' ■ r-l ■ ' ■ E V fbrmato •sa^Buiuj UBi}suq3 : :^ : ■ i • • • • • • i . •sajBuiui • • • 10 TABL ; and Re •sjada^ JO uaapitqD p3}UlB)Un iOj S3UIOH CO • ' 00 . . . ■ • • • (?* •S3JBUIUI UBIJSliq^ . . . r-l t- • r-l rH CO of t •s M 'i •saiBuiuj 207 1,473 8 ' 163 4,815 § : : • • COO • co' •suiniXsv puB siBjidsoH Jadaq Tf CD ,-1 • CO 05 ■ • rH ■ T-i ■ rH r-l rH 00 00 •sajBUiuj THOt- -c^juso coLC'^coco— - -coco • uOt-CO TfCO COT'OlOiOOQO »-t-h MOD- rHrr r-iiOrl • CJ- cT . CO cf 1 •saSsuBiidjo ^^,^ ^ rf © r-t c5 T}* 1-t -<*• t- O »-( 00 - •* C< CO "^ iC T-< 00 ■^ C "* OS OS 00 OS .^ OS t/i ^'^^'^^^' ^^^"^^ ^'^^ " g"§ 1 •su3uinqo3}«3 r-T 1^ > o^r^coSS^^i^ o^^Sot^^Slc w ^ •SDiioqiBO OSOS O T-«C< i-t Cl'f^C* ^ 1j< i-T cf t'' cj o $ (/) "3 s a OS .2.^ -^n ift" '^'~ t-T f-T^" cT i3^ . r-t r-l ^ CT! O s ■S\Sl\p3}VJ CO i5Q0e«-. r-l'.» .. . • )— 1 4> /-s • • •i ^ . rs o • • ill " m s < 1 i : s • •^ a MA 6 III "J5 11 III ■1 "5, "^ u C It (A ■& f2 Index Adaptation of life to the East, '47 Afghanistan, 255 Africa, 51, 60, 199 African Church, 330 Africander, 203 American Board, 304 American unrest, 50 Animists of Africa, 123 Armenian Church, 135, 327 Arya-Somaj, 277 Aryan White and Aryan Brown, 69 Ascetic ideal, 148 Atonement, Umited, 16 Auxiliary missionary societies, 316 Balfour, Lord, 174 Bannerjee, Kali Charran, 86 Bannerjee, K. M., 163 Barton, J. L., 186, 267 Battak Mission, 226 Beef-eating, 145 Beirut College, 199 Belgian king, 270 Benefits of Church Union, 181 Besant, Mrs. Annie, 214 Bhutan, 253 Bible, supreme value of, 76 Bible, translation of, 243 Bishop, Mrs, Isabella Bird, 187 Boarding-schools, 236 Boxer uprising, 202, 271 Boycott commercial, 262 Brahman, 68, 124, 198 Brahmanism, 82 Brahmo-Somaj, 215 Brotherhood of man, 24, 55, 392, 340 Bryan, W. J., 188 Buddhism, 81 Cairo, 258 Canadian church union, 335 Canterbury, Archbishop of, a86 Cary, Dr. Otis, 205 Caste system, 323 Change in the Christian converti, Chatterjee, Dr., 334 China, 59, 62, 100 Chinaman, 124 Chinese Christians, 194 Christian Endeavour Society, 299 Christian literature, 240 Christian Literature Society, 243 Christian Science, 275 " Christianity and the Nations," 97, 161, 215 Christianity in China and Japan, 137 Church union, 170 Church union, in Africa, 178 Clarke, Dr. W. N., 280, 321 Colleges on mission fields, 234 Commercial interest of missions, 53 Commission, Last, 42 Commission reports of World Mis- sionary Conference, 112, 116 Comparative Religion, 54, 87 Concentration of work, 108 Condition which the challenge furnishes, 46 Cdngo, Valley of, 270 Consciousness, modern Christian, 15 Conservation of non-Christian doc- trines, 55 Constructive method, 129 Cosmopolitism of the Christian, 46 Creeds, 172 367 358 Inde. Criticism must be constructive, 83 Crowther, Bishop, 203 Dancing girl, 218 Datta, Dr., 161 " Daybreak in the Dark Continent," 192 " Daybreak in Turkey," 267 Debts, 308 Defects in home organizations, 308 DeForest, Dr., 146, 178, 211 Denationalized converts, 144 Denby, Dr., 229 Denominational societies, 306 " Desire of India, The," 163 Destructive method, 129 Diffusion, 108 Discrimination needed, 144 Dispensaries, 233 Distinguished native converts, 203 DuBois, Abbe, 148 East and West, 67, 87 East India Company, 59 Eastern Churdhes, 324 Edinburgh, World Missionary Con- ference, 174, 286 Education, passion for in the East, 65,98 Educational work — how far, 98 Ellis, W. T., 228, 279 Empire builders, 230 " Empire of Christ, The," 96, 123 Epworth League, 300 Ethiopian movement, 199 Ethnic religion, 80 Evangelistic zeal of Koreans, 166 Evangelization of the world in this generation, 278 Experience, argument from, 141 Faith, doctrine of, 85 Famine in South India, 322 Famine offering, 48 Federation and cooperation, 1 1 1 Fifth Gospel, 144 Fourfold message of Christ, 92 French Hindu China, 253 Fukien, China, 224 Future outlook, the, 319 Gale, J. S., 156, 224 Ganesh, 132 Germany, societies in, 306 Gordon, General, 269 Goreh, N,, 163 Governments, Christian, 268 Governments and missionaries, 112, 114 Governments helpful, 58 Governments, non-Christian, 266 Greek Church, 327 Greek teaching about Fatherhood, 20 Gregorian Church, 327 Growth of native Christian com- munity, 188 Harada, Dr., 206, 311 Harrison, ex- President Benjamin, 209 Hawaiian Islands, 47 Henson, Canon Hensley, 174 Hicks, Mr. H. W., 315 High schools on mission fields, 336 Hindu, 132 Hindu philanthropy, 246 Hinduism, 82, 164 Hindu Tract Societies, 264 Honda, Bishop, 206, 334 Horton, Dr. R. F., 18, 20 Hospitals, 233 Hsi, Pastor, 204 Hymn-books, 243 Ideals, new, 151 " Imitation of Christ, The," 134 India, 96 Indian Archipelago, 126 Indian Christians, 149, 158, 160 India's incarnations, 26 India's unrest, 64 Industrialism, 104 Institutions on mission fields, 233 Interdenominational movements, 293. 304 International law, 331 Inventions, 47 Index 359 Ishii, Mr. J., 205 Islam, activity of, 256 Islands of the Sea, 190, 255 Israel, people of, 247 •• Japan," 204 Japan's change, 6 1 Japanese, 125, 159, 177. 194, 211 Japanese Emperor, worship of, 146 Japanese orphanage, 204 Japanese race consciousness, 66, 211 Jesuit, 148 Jesus' teaching about Fatherhood of God, 21 Jesus, the world Christ, 88 Jewett, Dr., 282 Jews, work for, 247 Jones, Dr. G. H., 155 Judaism, 18 Kali, 132 Karens of Burma, 32, 193 Kat;ma, doctrine of, 85 Kempis, Thomas k, 134 Khartoum, 269 Kindergartens on mission field, 239 Kingdom of God, 35, 210, 336 Kipling, 73, 273 Koran, 258 Korea, 51, 322 •« Korea in Transition," 155, 224 Koreans, 63, 166 Krishna, 132 Lama, Dalai, 52 Laymen's Missionary Movement, 293 Leper asylums, 246 Life problems, 90 Literature, 240 «« Living (the) Christ and Dying Heathenism," 80, 128, 140, 168, 190, 226 Livingstone, David, 191 London Times correspondent, 229 Lord's prayer, 17 1 Lost, parables of the, 27 Love, the root principle of Chris- tianity, 40 Love as a motive power, 138 Lucas, Rev. Bernard, 95, 123 Madagascar, 202 Madura Mission, 157 Magnitude of the task, 25 1 Manchuria, 224 Markham, Edwin, 342 Mass movements on mission fields, 118 Mass movements, dangers of, 120 Mass movements, advantages of, 120 McKinley, President, 60 Men and missions, 228 Men of the East, 324 Methods, new, 122 Methods of Jesus, 128 Mild Hindu, 91 Mission Churches, the, 328 " Missionary and His Critics, The," 186 Missionary force, the, 227 Missionary organizations, 304 Mletchas, 46 Modern Christian consciousness, 15 Modern missionary, 228 Moffat, 191, 203 Mohammedanism, 81, 2IO Monistic thought, 276 Monthly Concert, 285 Moody, Mr. Dwight, 294 Moore, Rev. J. Z., 167, 224 Moral dynamic, Christianity a, 143 Morrison, Dr., 195 Moslem intolerance, 259 Movements, new in the Church, 292 Mozoomdar, Protab, 133 Mtesa, King, 255 Mukti, 207 Mttller, George, 205 Nation in a day, a, 193 National Missionary Society, In- dian, 169 Nationalism, 176 Native Church, 226 Native workers, force of, 230 Naylor, W. S., 192 360 Index Ndombe, King, 61 Nepal, 253 New forces, 326 Newspapers on mission field, 242 Nobili, Robert de, 148 Non-contributing Churches, 314 North Africa, 200 Northfield, Mass., 294 Ongole, 282 Opposition in non-Christian lands, 256 Orient and Occident, 67 "Oriental Christ, The," 133 Orphanages, 246 Pagans of Africa, 258 Pan-Islam, 259 Pantheism, 84 Parsee convert, 208 Parsee marriage, 33 Patient endurance of native Chris- tians, 201 Patriotism, new, 261 Paul, St., about Fatherhood of God, 22 Pax Britannica, 332 Pedagogy, 122 Persecution of converts, 201 Peter, St., 338 Philanthropic institutions, 245 Philanthropy, 106 Political ambitions, 321 Positive method, 125 Power of Protestant nations, 344 Prayer Meeting Hill, 282 Present forces and agencies, 221 Presses, 239 Primary schools, 238 Problems, new, 78 Protestant effort, 136 Psychology, 122 Public schools as an open field. Publishing houses, 240 Racial consciousness in the East, 67 Radical Christian thought, 89 Railroads of the world, 48 Ramabai, Pundita, 207 Ransom to Satan, 16 Red Cross Society, 339 Reflex influences, 333 Religion, the universal, 33 Religion, unique, 36 Religious thought, 340 Religious thought, non-Christian, 79 Rescue homes, 246 Response of the Church, 283 Revival movements, 222 " Rice Christians," 201 Ridicule, avoid, 126 Robert College, Constantinople, 199 Robinson, John, 17 Rochester Convention report, 225 Roman Catholic missions, 248 Romish Church, 135, 189 Roosevelt, Theodore, 186 Russian Orthodox Church missions, 189, 250 Russian War, 65 Satan, ransom to, 16 Sattianathan, Dr. S., 208 Sattianathan, Mrs. S., 209 Schools on mission fields, 236 Scientific discoveries, 47 Self-supporting Church, 152, 155 Self-directing Church, 158 Sen, Keshab Sunder, 29 Shanghai Conference, 115 Simplicity of Christ, 13 1 Singh, Miss Lilivat, 209 Slavery, 16 Social Reform Society, Indian, 213 Soforth, Rev, J., 224 " Sons and Daughters of India," the, 214 Sorabji Cornelia, 208 Speer, Dr. R. E., 97» I07» 160, 215, 257, 270 Spirit omnipresent, 30 Spirit of God as a power, 221 Stanley, H. M., 51, 167, 187 Statistical tables, 349 Stephens, Chancellor, 174 Stevenson, R. L., 186 Index 361 Stokes, Mr., 149 Student Volunteer Movement, 294 " Study of Christian Missions, A,'' 281, 321 Subjective source, 15 Sudan, 258 Sumatra, 168 Sunday-schools, 300 «« Sunrise in Sunrise Kingdom," 156, 211 Surprises to come, 320 Swamies, Hindu, 260, 276 Syrian Church, 135, 158, 165 Taft, W. H., President, 186, 271, 273 Tennyson, 89 Tenrikkyo, 62 Testimony for missions, 1 86, 228 Theological seminaries, 300 Theosophy, 276 Thought leadership, 162 Tibet, '52, 253 Tinnevelly Mission, 161, 198 Top-knot, 145 Tract Societies, 242 Training Institutions, 235 Travelling habit, 49 Triumphs, present missionary, 185 Turk, 124 Turkey, 58, 63, 267 Turkish intolerance, 267 Twelve, the, 34 Uganda Mission, 154, 167, 192 Unfinished task of missions, 252 Union, Church, 170, 179 Union Theological College, 179 Unique religion, 36 United study of mission committee, 298 Universal Fatherhood of God, 20 Universal peace, 331 Universities on mission fields, 234 Unoccupied fields, 109, 253 Unoccupied India, 254 Vegetarian diet, 144 "Vestal Virgins," 218 Warneck, Dr. Johan, 80, 128, 140, 168, 190, 226 Warneck, Dr. Gustav, 189 Welsh motto, 244 Wesley Guild, 300 Wesley, John, 326 Western Christians in the East, 272 Widows of India, 207 Widow homes, 246 Williams, Sir Monier, 75 Williams College, 304 Wine drinking, 145 Woman boards, 316 Work problems, 92 World obligation to service, 39 World, an open, 56 World Saviour, 25 World Missionary Conference, 177, 287 World Student Federation, 302 Young Turk, 210 Young Men's Christian Associa- tion, 173. 301 Young People's Missionary Move- ment, 297 Young Women's Christian Associa- tion, 301 MISSIONARY The World Missionary Conference The Report of the Ecumenical Conference held in Edinburgh in 1910. In nine volumes, each, net 75c.; the complete set of nine volumes, net $5.00. A whole missionary library by experts and. wrought up to the day and hour. The Conference. has been called a modern council of Nicea and the report the greatest missionary pub- lication ever made. Vol. 1. Carrying the Gospel. Vol. 6. The Home Base. Vol. 2. The Church in the^ Vol. 7. Missions and Govern- Mission Field. '~ ments. Vol. 3. Christian Education. Vol. 8. Co-operation and Vol. 4. The Missionary Mes- Unity. sage. Vol. 9. History, Records and Vol. 5. Preparation of Mis- Addresses, sionaries. Echoes from Edinburgh, 1910 By W. H. T. Gairdner, author of'D. M. Thornton:' i2mo, cloth, net $i.oo. The popular story of the Conference — its preparation — its management — its effect and forecast of its influence on the church at home and the v^ork abroad. An official publication in no way conflicting with the larger work — which it rather supplements. HENRY H. JESSUrs AUTOBIOGRAPHY Fifty-three Years in Syria Introduction by James S. Dennis. Two volumes, illustrated, 8vo, cloth, boxed, net $5.00. "A rich mine of information for the liistorian, the eth- nologist and the student of human nature ap.irt from the labors to which the author devoted his life. A thoroughly in- teresting book that will yield endless pickings." — A'^. Y. Sun, ROBERT E. SPEER Christianity and the Nations The Duff Lectures for 1910, 8vo, cloth, net $2.00. Among the many notable volumes that have resulted from the well-known Duff foundation Lectureship this new work embodying the series given by Mr. Robert E. Speer in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen, will rank among the most important. The general theme, "Tbe Reflex Influence of Missions Upon the Nations," suggests a large, important, and most interesting work. G. T. B. DAVIS Korea for Chri^ In press. An effective report of the recent revivals in Korea told by an eye witness, who himself participated in the work. MISSIONARY JULIUS RICHTER A History of Protestant Missions in the Near East svo, cioth, net $2.50. A companion volume to "A History of Missions in In- dia," by this great authority. The progress of the gospel is traced in Asia Minor, Persia, Arabia, Syria, and Egypt. Non-sectarian in spirit, thoroughly comprehensive in scope. JOHN P. JONES, P.P. The Modern Missionary Challenge Yale Lectures, igio. i2mo, cloth, net $i.5o._ These lectures, by the author of "India's Problem, Krisha or Christ?" are a re-survey of the demand of missions in the light of progress made, in their relation to human thought The new difficulties, the new incentives, are con- sidered by one whose experience in the field and as a writer, entitle him to consideration. ALONZO BUNKER, P.P. Sketches from the Karen Hills Illustrated, i2mo. Cloth, net $i.oo. Ihese descriptive chapters from a missionary's life in Burma are of exceptional vividness and rich in an appre- ciation for color. His pen pictures give not only a splendid insight into native life, missionary work, but have a distinc- tive literary charm which characterizes his "Soo Ihah." JAMES F. LOVE The Unique Message and Universal Mission of Christianity i2mo, cloth, net $1.25. A volume dealing with the philosophy of missions at once penetrating and unusual. It is perhaps one of the most original and valuable contributions to the subject yet made. WILLIAM EPWARP GARPNER Winners of the World During Twenty Centuries Adapted for Boys and Girls. A Story and a Study of Missionary Effort from the Time of Paul to the Present Day. Cloth, net 6oc; paper, net 30c. Children's Missionary Series Illustrated in Colors, Cloth, Pecorated, each, net 60c. Children of Africa. James B. Baird. Children of Arabia. John C. Young. Children of China. C. Campbell Brown. Children of India. Janet Harvey Kelman. TRAVEL, MISSIONARY H. G. UNDERWOOD The Call of Korea New Popular Edition. Paper, net 350. Regular Edition, i2mo, cloth, net 750. "As attractive as a novel — packed with information. Dr. Underwood knows Korea, its territory, its people, and its needs, and his book has special value which attaches to expert judgment. Particularly well suited to serve as a guide to young people in the study of missions." — Examiner. WILLIAM O. CARVER Missions in the Plan of the Ages Bible Studies and Missions. i2mo, cloth, net $1.25. As Professor of Comparative Religion and Missions in the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary at Louisville, Dr. Carver has prepared in these chapters the fruit of many years' study. Ilis aim is to show that the foundation prin- ciples of the Christian task of world conquest are found in the Bible not so much in the guise of a commanded duty as in the very life of the Christian faith. ANNIE L. A. BAIRD Daybreak in Korea Illustrated, i6mo, cloth, net 60c. There can never be too many missionary books like this. A story written with literary skill, the story of a girl's life in Korea, her unhappy marriage and how the old, old story transformed her home. It reads like a novel and most of all teaches one, on every page, just what the Gospel means to the far eastern homes. ISABELLA RIGGS WILLIAMS By the Great Wall Selected Correspondence of Isabella Riggs Williams, Mis- sionary of the American Board to China, 1866-1897. With an introduction by Arthur H. Smith. Illustrated, 121110, cloth, net $1.50. "This volume is a little window opened into the life and work of an exceptionally equipped missionary. It was at Kalgan, the northern gateway ''of China, that a misssion station was begun amid a people hard and unimpressible. It was here that Mrs. Williams won the hearts of Chinese women and girls; here that she showed what a Christian home may be, and how the children of such a home can be trained for wide and unselfish usefulness wherever their 1' t is cast. No object-lesson is more needed in the Celestial Empire than this. Many glimpses of that patient and tireless mis- sionary activity which makes itself all things to all men are given.^' — Arthur H. Smith, Author of Chinese Characteristics^ Etc. MISSIONS, HISTORICAL, SCIENTIFIC OTIS GARY A History of Christianity in Japan Vo. I. A History of Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox Missions in Japan. Vol. II. A History of Protestant Missions in Japan. Each 8vo, Cloth, $2.50 net; 2 vols, boxed $5.00 net. Prof. Harlan P. Beach, of Yale University, says "lliis work will be recognized as a standard. Dr. Cary is one of the most scholarly among the entire Japanese Missionary force and his thoroughness and intimate knowledge are de- rived from more than thirty years' residence in Japan." JULIUS RICHTER The History of Protestant Missions in India svo, cioth, net $2.50. "There is hardly a single matter connected with mis- sions in India upon which Dr. Richter's book may not be consulted with the certainty of finding reliable and accurate information and sound and wise judgment. — Chronicle of the London Missionary Society. I G. CAMPBELL MORGAN The Missionary Manifesto Being a Study of the Great Commission. i6mo, Cloth, net 75c. Dr. Morgan's forceful and illuminating studies find ready welcome among thoughtful readers and students. His work emphasizes the imperative character of our Lord's commands and its accompanying equipment for the service. ROBERT SLOAN" LATIMER Liberty of Conscience Under Three Tsars A Study of Evangelical Effort in Russia iSsd-igog. X2mo, Cloth, net $1.50. This struggle for liberty of conscience, marked by in- tense devotion and sacrifice, during which men, women and children have suffered the keenest persecution, counting not their lives dear unto themselves, is replete with incidents that awaken the largest sympathy and admiration of those who have sought to be true to conscience. Tbe record is often most tragic, and can but awaken sympathy for the new movement now in progress in that land so long barred against the light of the open Bible. Theological Semtnary-Speer Library 1 1012 01119 0404 Date Due JUN. 15 19S9 I SK\ :^'^ '^ 1^0 L y- \J^ y> ^ I h K'