The Faith Of Madame Chiang Kai-shek

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIV, Issue 294, 11 December 1943, Page 4

The Faith Of Madame Chiang Kai-shek

By Rev. C. W. Chandler

""THE emancipation of women is one of the major achievements of our generation, although it is by no means complete. In no country is this change in the status of women more noticeable than in China. For centuries women in China have been very much behind the scenes. Their

natural grace and charm seemed to unfit them for the hurly-burly of life. They have not been admitted to the councils of the nation, and at social functions, in their own homes, they have occupied positions of graceful retirement. Now the position has changed, and they are assuming their rightful place as the co-helpers, rather than as the subordinates of men. Madame Chiang Kai-shek is the living embodiment of this emancipation, and nowhere is this more clearly seen than in her latest book, "China >:i Peace and "War." It is those chapters which deal with her religious faith, that I particularly wish to deal with here. "One thing that society asks of the Church," she says, "is that it shall show men how to meet the pressing problems of their day. In the midst of a poisoned social atmosphere, a strong religious faith should act, not merely. as a gas mask to protect its wearer, but it should also. be as a cleansing breeze that gradually changes and purifies the dwelling places of men. China is on the march, and the Church must march with her." she continues. "The bugle of the New Life Movement is sounding clearly in the dawn of China's new day."

/L Modern Deborah God never leaves Himself without witness, and how thankful China should be that He has raised up this "Deborah" to stand alongside her illustrious husband, and lead that mighty nation into the clearer light of this dawning day. "At the very heart of our faith is hardship, endurance, and suffering—a cross. Without them there can be no Christian faith." It is because both of these leaders look upon Christianity as a revolutionary religion, and firmly believe that only such a religion is sufficient for the world's need, that they have embraced the Christian faith. They have little use. it' appears, for the musty accretions, but what they have found at the heart of the Christian evangel, provides for them the only hope of a China reborn. "Like the sleeping beauty in the castle, surrounded by high hedges," savs Madame Chiang Kai-shek,

"China has at last been awakened to life in a new and wonderful world of progress. In this new world," she continues, "the Church has a large place to fill, providing that it is willing to move forward and endure." To all of which progressive thinkers the world over will shout a loud "Amen."'

Even to-day a large section of the Church is reactionary. It lives in the past: boasts of its traditions, and seeks power for itself, rather than freedom and the larger life for all. "God is revealing Himself to us anew to-day," said the wife of China's President, and all over that vast country she- says there are prayer leagues, which, by the exercise of this, the highest instinct of mankind, are welding the nation into a strong spiritual' unity..." ■

Speaking of Dr. Sun Yat Sen, the founder of the Chinese Republic, she .says: "He was a man of faith and action, and beyond the slightest trace of doubt he walked in the steps of the Master." Continuing, she says: "The beginning .of the Christian life is really a radical and permanent change wrought in the spiritual nature, which change is commenly referred to as the New Birth."

Heaven be praised for such a message from such a woman. God certainly moves in a mysterious way "His wonders to perform." From the East comes light, as the history of all religion amply confirms, and the triumph of this modern Deborah is really a tribute to the missionary zeal of the Church, which, under God, has carried the Good News to the vast continent of China. The victory of nations and the victory of God is to be achieved far more in this way than through the might of arms.

"With. me," concludes Madame Chiang Kai-shek, "religion is a very simple thing. It means to try \viih all my heart and soul and strength and mind to do the will of God." When the leaders.of all nations can talk like that, the millennium will begin to dawn.

"China in Peace sind War." by Madame Chiang Kai-shek (Hurst and Blackctt).