Current Topics

New Zealand Tablet, 14 August 1913, Page 21

Current Topics

Catholic Missions in New Guinea We print elsewhere in this issue a first instalment of a remarkably fine publication recently issued by the Australian Catholic Truth Society. It is entitled Adventures in Papua With the Catholic Mission, and is an account of actual experiences and of facts gathered on the spot by Miss Beatrice Grimshaw. Miss Grimshaw is a special correspondent of the London Times, and a very distinguished novelist and writer of works of travel. But truth is stranger than fiction; and Miss Grimshaw's story of the unconquerable spirit of devotion and self-sacrifice that is being manifested in the Catholic Mission in Papua, and of the marvellous work that is being accomplished under circumstances of almost incredible difficulty, is more entrancingly interesting than any of her novels. Miss Grimshaw has a genius for word-painting, and her descriptive passages constitute in themselves a literary treat. She has, moreover, the gift of telling her tale in simple but at the same time dramatic and wondrously moving fashion. Most Catholic journalists become fairly seasoned against appeals for objects other than those which have a direct and immediate claim upon them but we confess that we had not got half-way through Miss Grimshaw's story before we found ourselves wondering whether there wasn't something we could scrape together to send to those brave, patient, struggling nuns. Many of our readers will, we are sure, feel the same. If they do, we hope they will not let the matter end with 'feeling.' In any case, let not a single one of them miss reading this absorbingly interesting story written by a master hand. * There is nothing in the shape of direct appeal in the narrative, and practically no attempt is made to ' improve the occasion' by preachment of any kind. The story is left—as well it may be —to be its own sermon. Once and once only does Miss Grimshaw turn aside to point a- moral; and she does so in a manner that certainly adorns her tale. Referring to the marvellous fidelity with which the missionaries ' persevere to the end ' in their hard and hazardous labors, she remarks: ' What explanation can the man without religion give? Enthusiasm is common enough. Charity, thank God, is not rare, devotion, self-sacrifice world outside knows them well. But over all these flowers of fallen human nature spreads—as we in the world see —the destroying blight of intemperance. Who can be always at the blossom time of good Who does not weary, turn slack and slow, get tired of eflort ? A year or so—a month or so —even a day or so--and the flower drops from its stem. The winter comes. But the fire flower at the heart of the Catholic Mission spreads its petals of immortal flame to-day, to-morrow, and for ever. It is the flower, the fire of the Sacred Heart. The missionaries do not tire. I did not ask them if they did. Their faces, their work, were proof enough. After twenty years a Father, a Brother, a Sister, lives on in the bright enthusiasm of the earliest days; just that kind of light-hearted, eager industry and interest that—anywhere elseone would mark as certain not to last. Again, where is the agnostic's answer? Auto-suggestion, delusion ? Dreams? As well look on at a giant dynamo making the. light of a thousand homes, harnessing the power of a myriad horses, and say that it gets its "force from its own bright, polished wheels. . . •, The dreams, the delusions that can drive this weak machine of the Mission to do the work it does, must be dreams and delusions of a firmer make than most hard realities. Dreams, surely, worth the study of even an intelligent man.' The point, undoubtedly, is well taken. An Agnostic's Queries We conclude our answers, as promised last week,' to the second and third questions on the list sent to us by a Christchurch correspondent, and submitted to him by an Agnostic or Rationalist acquaintance. Ques-

tion 2 : 'How is it that the story of a Christ's miraculous birth and of His death,' are found ' in all the older religions, notably those of Krishna and Budda? Does it hot look as if the Christian Bible is merely the Christian records of the .same myths, in that "these j : myths formed important parts of many so-called pagan religions long before Christ came; to this earth V > :'■ Answer: No it only looks as if the questioner had a very superficial and imperfect acquaintance with the facts. The ' myths ' referred to by him formed no part —'important' or otherwise— the original story either of Krishna or of Buddha, but were, admittedly and demonstrably, very much later accretions.- In 1 the older framework of the Mahabharata (or legendary poems) Krishna appears merely as a great chieftain and ally of the Pandava brothers; 'and it ; .is '•* only,' says a writer in the Encyclopaedia Britannica (Art 'Krishna'), 'in the interpolated episode of the Bhagavad-gita that he is identified with Vishnu and becomes the revealer of the doctrine of bhakti or religious devotion. Of still later date are the popular developments of the modern cult of Krishna associated with Radha, as found in the Vishnu Pur ana? The Bhagavad-gita here spoken of is a dramatic poem which was written by an unknown author who lived in India about the second or third century, and which, according to Prof. Monier Williams, Dr. Lorinser, - and the authorities generally, was interpolated in the Mahabharatacertainly not earlier than the third century. The Vishnu-purana above referred to—one of a class of sacred poetical furnishes the main foundation of the actual popular Krishmaworship, and of the legends alluded to by the questioner;, and of these Puranas Sir Richard Temple, G.C.5.1., D.C.L., says: ' A critical investigation of the contents of the existing works bearing that name must necessarily lead to the conclusion that in their present form they not only do not belong to a remote age, but can 'barely claim an antiquity of a thousand years.' The late Prof; H. H. Wilson, Boden Professor of Sanskrit in the University of Oxford, bears the same testimony: I believe the oldest of them (the Puranas) not to be anterior to the eighth or ninth century.' The Vishnu-purana—-the special Purana which, together with the B/mg'avdtapurana, treats of the life of Krishna, and of the doctrines and practices of Krishna worship— placed by Cham, bers's Encyclopaedia at an even later date. 'The Vishnuite doctrines,' says the writer of the article 'Vishnu,' were gathered into one body in the 11th century as the Vishnu-purana.' So it comes to: this: That our Agnostic friend, who expresses a wish ' to be convinced one way or the other,', actually professes himself contrained to give up Christianity because it borrowed from a religion which—as a religion—-non-existent when Christianity was- established, and which only became a going concern' centuries after Christianity had achieved some of its greatest triumphs! It is easy to see, in this discussion, on which side the credulity really lies; and we would advise the questioner to no longer be content to accept without examination the ill-founded and sweeping assertions of shallow and unscholarly writers but to make an honest effort to sift the facts fairly and fully for himself by careful study of competent and unbiassed authorities. It would seem fairly clear that if there has been any- borrowing as between the religion associated with the name of Krishna and that of Christianity, the borrowing has been done by the former and not by the latter. Dr. Lorinser, expanding the views of Professor Weber and others concerning the influence , of Christianity on the legends of Krishna, holds that many of the sentiments of the Bhagavad-gita have been directly borrowed from the New Testament, copies of which, he says, found their way into India about the third century. As we have already mentioned it was in the third century that the Bhagavad-gita was written. Prof. Monier Williams himself, after a lifetime devoted to the study of this subject, gives a measure of approval to this theory. * Precisely the same remarks apply to the alleged parallels to the Gospel stories of Christ which are sometimes claimed as attaching to the 'life of Buddha

and as belonging to a period several centuries fantenor to " that of Christ. ■ ; The relative antiquity of certain. of the Buddhist legends has been ;: misdated by -third-rate scholars ;i and accurate ■;scholarship now shows: that the quasi-Christian legends referred to are mere accretions to be found in no Buddhist classics earlier r than the fifth century* ' It is chiefly the legendary features of Buddha's life/ says Aiken, ' many of which are found for the first time; only in works of later date than the Gospels, that furnish the most striking resemblances to certain incidents related of Christ m the Gospels. If there has been any borrowing here, it is plainly on the side of Buddhism. That Christianity made : its way into Northern India in the first two centuries is not only a matter of respectable tradition, but is supported by weighty archaeological evidence. Scholars of recognised ability, beyond the suspicion of undue bias in favor of Christianity—Weber, Goblet d'Alviella, and othersthink it very likely that the Gospel stories of Christ circulated by these early Christian communities in India were utilised by the Buddhists to enrich the Buddha legend, just as the Vishnuites built up the legend of Krishna on many striking incidents in the life of Christ.' The fifth-century sculptures of Gospel scenes on the ruined Buddhist Monasteries of Jamalo-iri, in Is or: hern Pan jab, described in the scholarly work of Fergusson and Burgess, The Cave Temples of India, offer conclusive evidence that the Buddhists of that time did not scruple to embellish the Buddha legend with adaptations from Christian sources. On the other hand, there is not a particle of evidence that Buddhism was even known—much less that it exerted any influence —: in Palestine at the time of the birth of Christianity There is nothing in Buddhist records,' says Prof Aitken, 'that may be taken as reliable evidence for the spread of Buddhism westward to the Greek world £l?i y /A- th * foundation of the Christian religion, that Buddhist institutions were at that time unknown m the West may be safely inferred from the fact that Buddhism is absolutely ignored in the literary and archaeological remains of Palestine, Egypt, and Greece. There is not a single ruin of a Buddhist monastery or stupa in any of these countries; not a single Greek translation of a Buddhist book; not a single reference in all Greek literature "to the existence of a Buddhist community in the Greek world. The very name of Buddha; is mentioned for the first time only in the writings; of Clement of Alexandria (second century)' Prof. J. H. Moulton, M.A., D. Litt., shows conclusively that lb was a ' Sheer impossibility that the Gospel writers could have borrowed from Buddhism As we have shown, there were at that time no Greek translations of the Buddhist writings;- and not one of the Gosper writers knew a single word of the language m which Buddhism was enshrined. We Quote Pro* ^ 6ll " 16 th 6 SU P remac y of Christ's teachmg because there are some parallels to parts of it scattered over the ancient world is not . worthy of one who claims to speak m the name . of science. If Jesus had had a se of the Sacred Books of the East before Him, translated into His own language by scholars TottrJ* haVe to ' day ' ffc W ° Uld g dema y nded pr" found religious genius to select from the mass of com mon-place or worthless matter the gems whLh Com " 1,1 K, . , wuxuiiiess matter the gems which could take their place in one little corner of the crown of brilliants that sparkles on His Head" Since JesT or the committee of geniuses which we m imaSnTif Jesus never existed-knew no other langZf than otrr th?t eb nT o and -K babiy a Httie S > « 1 Sl^TrVT^. 18 nofc affecte d by any parallels to His teaching which may be found 7 ell * Regarding all these alleged parallels av m ; n f o t noZf „"£"* * he T rldng d ° Wn of JuSX nothing unless causal connection be traced P™f nrl S f h o a f S %Y thS mOTe Mtatio » <" S without proof of interconnexion" labor lost. Prof. Cumont

bids us discount his own use of modem Christian terminology in description of pagan rites as being at best %& mere trick of style intended to bring out a similarity - and vividly to establish an approximate parallel. But an epigram is not a proof, and we must not be in a mirry to conclude from an analogy to an influence.' Mr. Rhys Davids, 'Professor of Pali and Buddhist Literature at University College, London, emphatically asserts such comparisons to be 'no longer of any service ;. and they will be. of worse than no service if we imaging that likeness is any proof of direct relationship: that similarity, of ideas in different countries shows that either the one or the other was necessarily borrowed. It.is as illogical to argue that coincidence or beliefs implies a causal connexion between them as to suppose that chalk cliffs in China are produced by chalk cliffs in the Downs of Sussex.' (2) In com paring two religions in order to decide whether either borrowed from the other, we must take much more account of differences than of resemblances. The. latter W l 7 aSt ma i°, t y of mere coincidences, but m the former we find the true characteristics of the religion. Applying this test the transcendent superiority of Christianity is admitted even by the most enthusiastic devotees of comparative religion Max Muller himself has said, in 1 his introduction to Us edition of the Sacred Books of the East, that he who seriously puts forward any of these as a rival of the Chris lan Scriptures lacks scholarship, and has dec aed that it is, sheer futility to assume that the Bible is ever to be dazzled by any other sacred book. And on this point the late Prof. Monier Williams, in a speech delivered m London, bore this remarkable testimony When I began investigating Hinduism and Buddhism I found many beautiful gems; nay, I met with S coruscations of true light flashing here and there amid the surrounding darkness. As I prosecuted my re searches into these non-Christian systems, I began to foster a fancy that they had been unjustly Seated I began to observe and trace out curious coincidences and comparisons with our own Sacred Book of the East 1 began, m short, to be a believer in what is called the evolution and growth of religious though These imperfect systems,' I said to myself, ''are clearly steps m the development of man's religious instincts and aspirations. They are interesting efforts of the human mind struggling upwards towards Chris! w J'f i 7 J lb IS Prbable that they were all intended to lead up to the one true religion and that Christianity is, after all, merely the climax, the com plement, the fulfilment of them all." Now unquestionably a delightful fascination about such . a or truth in t But lam glad of this opportunity of sating publicly that I am persuaded 1 Z miled bl tt, attractiveness, and ■ that its main idea is quite erroneo> After showing m detail the defects of Buddhism as compared with Christianity, he SSS^ of renJior, 7 ! entWa f c StUdent of the science at religion, do you seriously mean to sweep away as so much worthless waste paper all the stately volumes of Sacred Books of the East just published by the Unikind y o XfoTd ' N °- not at -"-nothing of the kind. On the contrary, we welcome these books. We SrK ™ to study their contents and thank! fully lay hold of whatsoever things are true and of good report in them. But we warn him that there can be no greater mistake than to force these non! tW (J™? 5 mt ° confOTmi tj with some scientific HoTv y ß°ible e tC ent, th6n Pint to the Holy Bible as the crowning product of religious evolution So far from this, these non-Christian bibles are all develops en the wrong direction. They all beain us] TiLtt 1 true U t l and endi "> *«#*£ s4idv r»il w , you Wlll on tLe left side of your study table, but place your own Ff>i v p;w a «„ *u right side-all 3Se5Sd with de gap between. Sir Monier Williams, K C.I E DC L MA was also Hon. LL.D., Calcutta: Hon. Ph D ' Gottmgen; Hon. Member of the Asiatic Societies of Bengal, Bombay, and of the Oriental and PhiloSphical and Hon E ° den PrfeSSOr of and Hon. Fellow of University College, Oxford. From

the foregoing it is clear that in- a thorough ; study :• of comparative religion Christianity has nothing to fear; and that the Agnostic questioner, who ' wishes to be convinced one ; way or the other,' will find high authority on his side if he elects to stand by Christianity. " ,' :i; '":" '"'■'■■ -■ •''■■'■ ; '-: : • We have devoted so much space to the second question that the third question on the list will have to be more briefly disposed of. ~ Question 3: ' If the person Christ was such a great power in His day, and His religion spread (as the Bible says it did spread) throughout the then known world, how is it that such a historian as Josephus, the only historical writer contemporary with Christ how is it that he did not make any more to-do about this wonderful man, than to mention in a superficial way that there was a ' prophet' of the name of Jesus alive and .preaching in 'and around Jerusalem ? How is it that he did not record these wonderful doings of Christ, or His miraculous birth and tragic death, or His more miraculous resurrection, to say nothing of His teachings? Does it not point to the probability that Josephus just took Him rationally, as one would nowadays,' etc. Answer: In this question the Agnostic inquirer is makingto put it as mildly as possible—something of a laughing-stock of himself. (1) Josephus was not 'contemporary with Christ.' He was not born until two years after the death of Christ. (2) He did not mention—' in a superficial way ' or any other way —that there was ' a prophet of the. name - of Jesus alive and 'preaching in and around Jerusalem.' Josephus did not make this statement for the very sufficient reason that when Jesus was ' alive and preaching ' Josephus was as yet unborn. (3) Josephus did not 'take Jesus rationally as one would nowadays.' He did not take Him at all —for ' the simple reason that he never either saw or heard Him. These three statements alone are sufficient to show how little real knowledge the questioner has of , the subject on which he presumes to speak with such assurance. (4) It so happens that Josephus did refer to the ' wonderful doings of Christ,' to His 'tragic death,' and to 'His more miraculous resurrection.' We quote the passage: | Now, there was about this time Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to calll him a man; for he performed many wonderful works. He was a teacher of such men as received the truth with pleasure. He drew over to him many of the Jews, and many of the Gentiles. This man was the Christ. And when Pilate, at the instigation of the principal men among us, had condemned him to the cross, those who had loved him from the first did not cease to adhere to him. For he appeared to them alive again on the third day; the divine prophets having foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful _ things concerning him. And the tribe of the Christians, so named from him, subsists to this time ' (Antiquities of the Jews, Boole xviii., chap. 3). To meet any possible objection we may mention that this paragraph is found in all the copies of Josephus's works now extant, whether printed or manuscript; in a Hebrew translation preserved in the Vatican Library, and in an Arabic version preserved by the Maronites of Mount Libanus. It is cited by Eusebius, the most ancient of Church historians, by St. Jerome, Rufinus Isidore of Pelusium, Sozomen, Cassodorus, Nicephorus' and many others. So much for Josephus. The questioner ' wishes to be convinced one way or the other ' After his exhibition on this subject, if he is still convinced against Christianity, it is, we submit, not by force of fact or strength of argument that he has been convinced. * • 1.1. We have answered these questions merely to show that the Christian answer to the anti-Christian objections is ready, and can be given without difficulty This applies in precisely the same degree to the questioner's remaining queries. They deal chiefly with the alleged atrocities of the Old Testament, and with the omissions and alleged contradictions in the New The inquirer will find his queries on these heads fully and

effectively dealt with in such books as 'Lambert's .'Notes, on Ingersoll, and in Religious Doubts of Democracyf edited by George Haw. • ■:■ They are dealt .with still more fully j and learnedly in u hundreds :i.of -• other l t works on Christian Apologetics ;;■■ but we have; mentioned these; books because they are simple, popular, ; cheap, ; and easily accessible. We have dealt with this inquirer gently, notwithstanding his many and grave misstatements, because he has made a profession; of sincerity in his quest for truth. If his sincerity is real, we ask him to show it by making an honest study of both sides of the question. ;>lf he does this, with a mind free from prejudice and with a single eye to the truth, we can confidently promise him that his wish 'to be convinced one way or the other', will be in a fair way to be attained. ■* ■ : - "'. ...•■•- -,'--... -. , -.• ; ~...- -