CHRISTIAN IDOL-MAKERS.

Timaru Herald, Volume LVIII, Issue 1775, 8 June 1895, Page 3

CHRISTIAN IDOL-MAKERS.

The missionary world at Madras has been m terrible commotion over the nefarious conduct of a firm of European silversmiths m accepting an order for a silver bull to be worshipped at a certain Hindu temple. The purchasers covenanted that it must be a work of real art horns, tail, and all, and be of full life size. The firm m question agreed to the. stipulations, and had begun the work before the contract came to public knowledge. Then, swiftly, a dire storm arose, on the question as to whether Christians can lawfully engage m the manufacture of idols, never mind how artistic, for heathen worship. Birmingham solved that problem many years ago : it is affirmed that many of the metallic imageß which are brought home from Asia and Africa by enterprising globe-trotters as valuable curios were manufactured m the Midlands. But there is a marked differenoe between the two cases. "When idols are made by Christians within sight of Hindus, and for their ÜBe, those highly intelligent people are given occasion to scoff. It seems to them and they give speech to the thought, that Christianity can be hut a skin deep faith when its professors are willing, for the sake of filthy lucre to afford help to religions Avhich they atiect to despise. But a British-made idol , creates no scandal of that sort, because

• it does not come into actual use until after exportation to some remote country. Moreover, it is not known to be of i Christian workmanship ; a story tells how a distinguished Hindu artist m such wares had them " invested with genius," and with everything elso, at a Biimingham workshop, he himself being no more than an intermediary.— (Globe?)