New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1888-11-11
number Of wealthy devotees in this country In
comparson with the number abroad.


ARE CHRISTIAN MISSIONS A FAILUREf
Canon Isaac Taylor, Of the English Church, is
"a courageous man. little moro tlnn year ago
he read telling paper before the English Church
Congress- in which he took the ground that the
religion Of Islam is not only equal 10 Christianity
in some respects, but is far better suited TO tho
needs and capacities OF many peoples IN Asia
and Africa Now his article. entitled /" The Great
Missionary Failure" in The Fortnightly Re
VIEW is likely TO attract even more attention
than his paper of last year
The most important point which he males Is
that ut It's present rate OF progress Christianity
can never hope TO overtake heathcnism. Estimat-
ing the excess of births over deaths in Asia and
Africa as II 100000 year, and the annual
increase Of Christians as 10000, it would take
the missionary societies 80 years to overtake one
years increase in the heather population. ms
seems hopeless enough if statistics only are 10
be the test Of success or failure in religious pro-
pagandsm But Canon Taylor must be aware
that the great majority of Christians would not
concede this Even il the statistics were more
hopeless than he makes them out TO be. Christians
generally would still believe in missions-if for no
other reason than that they react beneiicaly upon
those who promote them
The Canon then adduccs some figures that Will
doubtless startle the practical British reader VINO
happens to be supporter Of the Church MISSION
airy Society. 1t seems that according to Official
reports the 424 agents of this society in Ceylon
spent little than $685. 900 last year In max
| ing 90 converts out Of population oil nearly
three millions And Us there were $50 reapses
from Christianity the same year. this great ex-
penditure counted for less than nothing. The
same thing true, In a measure OF emma,
Egypt, A'abla and Palestine. Moreover, the con-
verts which are made in these countries at a cost
of from $500 TO $500 are, in many cases, no
credit to the religion whose claims they acknowl-
edge As on illustration of this we are told
of robber who promised to abstain from robbng
for ten days and of quarrel which broke out
among the natives OF the nOminally Christian VII
lage, In which the victors cooked and ate the van
quishcd In order to make good reports to
| the home societies missionaries are altogether
| too eager to enrol such unworthy men and women
among their converts--a fact which minimizes Still
more the small showing made by modern missions
| 1t must not be supposed, however, that Canon
| Taylor is disbeliever in missions. On the con
trary, he believes that they may be made a
| great success If the missionaries would only show
| a larger degree of sympathy with the natives
| whom they are trying 20 evangelize, and make an
| honest effort to understand thelr pOlnD OF view
lie also believes that missionaries should as far
as possible, live like the natives. " The preach
ers hut" he says, his goods, his dress, his food
should be the same as those of the natives Euro
pean missionaries fail because they attempt to maxi
Asiatics or Africans into mddle-class English Phi
| listines Islam succeeds better than Christianity
largely because it leaves the people undisturbet
| in all the outward circumstances of their lives
| 1t has been well said that the teachers who woul'
appeal successfully to Asiatics or Africans SHOULD
be as unlike as possible to English rcctOrs or dis
senting ministers.'
| The Canon here seems to touch the root OF tn
difficulty If Christian missions are failure as, II
the light of these facts must confess them to be
| ii is due almost entirely to our faulty method
of prosecuting them. Certain it is that the might
religion which conquered tho paganism OF Rom
and of the North has in it to-day enough o
| vitality to displace the moribund religions OF Tn
| East. But we must remember that the Oricnta
can neither understand nor appreciate the Religion
ideals Of the Anglican or American Christian
And to impose such ideals upon him seems to b'
not only foolish but unjust, in view of the fac
| that Christianity was originally an Oriental re
ligon and should therefore revert to its primitive
| form when brought back to the East.