India's Problem, Krishna or Christ

by John P. Jones

The question as to the length of the missionary's service is an important one. Shall he enter upon it for a definite term or shall he consider it his life work? In most missions and societies the missionary service is considered a life service. It is a service so peculiar in its training and in its direction; it tends in many ways so to lead a man away from the atmosphere of work and direction of activity found at home, that it is better for him, who undertakes it at all, to consecrate himself to it as the great mission of his life. It is also a fact that the longer he continues in it, the more ability and aptness he acquires for that special work.

There are, of course, some who will find that they have mistaken their vocation and that missionary work does not suit them; or, rather, that they are not adapted to it. Such people should make no delay in returning home and in seeking a more congenial life work.

3. The Intellectual Ability and Educational Training of the Missionary.

Whatever may have been the case in the past, the day certainly has come when India demands only men and women of wide intelligence and thorough training as missionaries. Whether we regard it as a land of profound philosophy, and of a marvellously organized religion; or whether we consider the intellectual power of many of the natives of that land, the missionary must be amply prepared, through educational and intellectual equipment, to meet them. One of the saddest sights seen in India is a missionary who has absolutely no interest in the religious philosophy of the land, and who is not able to appreciate the mutual relations of that faith and his own and who is unequal to the task of discussing intelligently with, and of convincing in, matters of faith, the educated natives of the country. Such a man apparently did not know that he would meet in that land many university graduates who are still believers in, and defenders of, their ancestral faith. So he finds himself unable to stand before such men and to give reason for the faith that is in him so as to satisfy their earnest, intelligent inquiries, or to quiet their keen opposition.

It should also be remembered that, in addition to this growing host of natives of university training and culture, there is a considerable number of Europeans in government service and in other departments. They come into constant touch with the missionary, and gauge his culture and capacity, and are sure to judge of the missionary work according to their estimate of his training and qualification.

In such a land, and facing such conditions, and in the presence of such people, the missionary should be a man of thorough training and culture, and should have a mind which has ample command of the treasures of knowledge which it has acquired. He should also be able to find interest in various branches of learning. As I said above, he should, in some respects, be a man of special training with definite and high qualifications for the special department upon which he has entered; but he should also be not narrow, but of broad sympathies and of a growing interest in the general realm of culture. He should continue to cultivate his student tastes, and should grow constantly in ability and aptitude to grapple with the mighty problems of the land. He should be able not only to understand the many aspects of Hinduism and of Buddhism, which has entered so largely into the Hindu faith, but he must also know considerable about Mohammedanism, since it is held by one-fifth of the population of that land.

It is well that he be thoroughly grounded in Christian doctrine before he enters upon his missionary duties. I have known men to enter the mission field who had not clear views and definite convictions concerning some of the most essential Christian doctrines; with the consequence that they drifted away from their moorings and had to recast their faith, under adverse circumstances, on the field.

The mission field is no place for a man to readjust his faith and to discover that his religious affiliations are not what they ought to be.

It is not a question whether a man's theology is of the conservative, or of the progressive, type. Both [pg 206] types may be needed. It is largely a question whether he has grasped clearly and with conviction any doctrine—whether he has thought for himself and appropriated any system of truth. Or, I should say, whether any sort of theology has gripped him in its power. Bishop Thoburn has well said that “the young missionary should have a clear and well-grounded theology before going abroad. His views of vital theological truth should be clear and settled. The Christian Church of America cannot afford to export doubts or even religious speculation to foreign fields. The people of India, and I may add of other lands, are abundantly able to provide all the doubts and all the unprofitable speculation that any church will care to contend with; and one important qualification of the missionary should be a positive faith as opposed to doubt, and a clear system of living truth as opposed to profitless speculation.” Above all, the missionary should have a working faith in the gospel—not a half-grounded conviction. There may be a place at home for the unsettled mind; the mission field is not for such. In India, especially, while there is ample room and abundant opportunity and inducement for progress in thought and development in doctrinal construction, there is no place for destructive doubts and mental unsettlement. Positive teaching and not interrogations and destructive doubts should characterize the missionary. Give us a man who knows something and is inspired with convictions. For, it should be remembered, the missionary is preëminently an instructor. He must give himself to the work of establishing others in living, satisfying, saving truth. He is to instruct the people, as a [pg 207] preacher, in the way of salvation. He is also called upon to furnish a working equipment of truth to pastors, preachers and teachers. He should be conversant with the Bible and with the various theories of interpretation. He should be possessed of a clear system of theology and should understand the best methods and principles of Christian work.