But Will It Be Christianity?
By Editor
There is an article in the Sunday School Times of April 2, entitled, “A Statesman Missionary in the Celestial Empire.” The writer speaks of the waking up of China, and holds that the hero of his sketch, Rev. Timothy Richard, a Baptist missionary, has contributed greatly in removing the prejudice and contempt of the learned Chinese classes. In fact, he has assisted in “the creation of a ‘forward’ Chinese party.” He believes that China is to be saved through its educated and ruling classes. “China,” says Mr. Richard, “is ripe for Christianity, and, if it can be proved China will benefit materially by adopting it, the statesmen are ready to do so, as they adopted Buddhism for the same reason.” He thinks that some of these statesmen see this already. Now we would not deny an iota of the great good that Mr. Richard has done in the circulation of literature of China, but what a conception of Christianity and its acceptance and motive thereto is expressed in the above sentence which Mr. Johnston, the writer of the article, quotes from! This is just the same kind of an acceptance as that of Buddhism, as that of Catholicism by nations of the Middle Ages. It is worse than nothing. It deceives men into believing that a nation is Christian and its people are Christians when they do not know the first principles of Christianity. It is regarding Christianity as a mere theory, system, or cult, the same as the various religions of the eastern world, whereas Christianity is a life, an indwelling power, or it is nothing. It can not be accepted by nations only as it is received by living faith as individuals.