Christianity And Other Religions

"Ali: 72They do blaspheme who say: "Allah is Christ the son of Mary." But said Christ: "O Children of Israel! worship Allah, my Lord and your Lord." Whoever joins other gods with Allah,- Allah will forbid him the garden, and the Fire will be his abode. There will for the wrong-doers be no one to help.73They do blaspheme who say: Allah is one of three in a Trinity: for there is no god except One Allah. If they desist not from their word (of blasphemy), verily a grievous penalty will befall the blasphemers among them."

"Pickthall: 72They surely disbelieve who say: Lo! Allah is the Messiah, son of Mary. The Messiah (himself) said: O Children of Israel, worship Allah, my Lord and your Lord. Lo! whoso ascribeth partners unto Allah, for him Allah hath forbidden paradise. His abode is the Fire. For evil-doers there will be no helpers.73They surely disbelieve who say: Lo! Allah is the third of three; when there is no Allah save the One Allah. If they desist not from so saying a painful doom will fall on those of them who disbelieve."

"Ali: 116And behold! Allah will say: "O Jesus the son of Mary! Didst thou say unto men, worship me and my mother as gods in derogation of Allah'?" He will say: "Glory to Thee! never could I say what I had no right (to say). Had I said such a thing, thou wouldst indeed have known it. Thou knowest what is in my heart, Thou I know not what is in Thine. For Thou knowest in full all that is hidden."

"Pickthall: 116And when Allah saith: O Jesus, son of Mary! Didst thou say unto mankind: Take me and my mother for two gods beside Allah? he saith: Be glorified! It was not mine to utter that to which I had no right. If I used to say it, then Thou knewest it. Thou knowest what is in my mind, and I know not what is in Thy Mind. Lo! Thou, only Thou, art the Knower of Things Hidden?"

"Ali: 16Relate in the Book (the story of) Mary, when she withdrew from her family to a place in the East.17She placed a screen (to screen herself) from them; then We sent her our angel, and he appeared before her as a man in all respects.18She said: "I seek refuge from thee to (Allah) Most Gracious: (come not near) if thou dost fear Allah."19He said: "Nay, I am only a messenger from thy Lord, (to announce) to thee the gift of a holy son.20She said: "How shall I have a son, seeing that no man has touched me, and I am not unchaste?"21He said: "So (it will be): Thy Lord saith, 'that is easy for Me: and (We wish) to appoint him as a Sign unto men and a Mercy from Us':It is a matter (so) decreed."22So she conceived him, and she retired with him to a remote place."

"Pickthall: 16And make mention of Mary in the Scripture, when she had withdrawn from her people to a chamber looking East,17And had chosen seclusion from them. Then We sent unto her Our Spirit and it assumed for her the likeness of a perfect man.18She said: Lo! I seek refuge in the Beneficent One from thee, if thou art Allah-fearing.19He said: I am only a messenger of thy Lord, that I may bestow on thee a faultless son.20She said: How can I have a son when no mortal hath touched me, neither have I been unchaste?21He said: So (it will be). Thy Lord saith: It is easy for Me. And (it will be) that We may make of him a revelation for mankind and a mercy from Us, and it is a thing ordained.22And she conceived him, and she withdrew with him to a far place."

"Ali: 27At length she brought the (babe) to her people, carrying him (in her arms). They said: "O Mary! truly an amazing thing hast thou brought!"28"O sister of Aaron! Thy father was not a man of evil, nor thy mother a woman unchaste!"29But she pointed to the babe. They said: "How can we talk to one who is a child in the cradle?"30He said: "I am indeed a servant of Allah: He hath given me revelation and made me a prophet;31"And He hath made me blessed wheresoever I be, and hath enjoined on me Prayer and Charity as long as I live;32"(He) hath made me kind to my mother, and not overbearing or miserable;33"So peace is on me the day I was born, the day that I die, and the day that I shall be raised up to life (again)"!34Such (was) Jesus the son of Mary: (it is) a statement of truth, about which they (vainly) dispute.35It is not befitting to (the majesty of) Allah that He should beget a son. Glory be to Him! when He determines a matter, He only says to it, "Be", and it is.36Verily Allah is my Lord and your Lord: Him therefore serve ye: this is a Way that is straight.37But the sects differ among themselves: and woe to the unbelievers because of the (coming) Judgment of a Momentous Day!38How plainly will they see and hear, the Day that they will appear before Us! but the unjust today are in error manifest!39But warn them of the Day of Distress, when the matter will be determined: for (behold,) they are negligent and they do not believe!"

"Pickthall: 27Then she brought him to her own folk, carrying him. They said: O Mary! Thou hast come with an amazing thing.28O sister of Aaron! Thy father was not a wicked man nor was thy mother a harlot.29Then she pointed to him. They said: How can we talk to one who is in the cradle, a young boy?30He spake: Lo! I am the slave of Allah. He hath given me the Scripture and hath appointed me a Prophet,31And hath made me blessed wheresoever I may be, and hath enjoined upon me prayer and almsgiving so long as I remain alive,32And (hath made me) dutiful toward her who bore me, and hath not made me arrogant, unblest.33Peace on me the day I was born, and the day I die, and the day I shall be raised alive!34Such was Jesus, son of Mary: (this is) a statement of the truth concerning which they doubt.35It befitteth not (the Majesty of) Allah that He should take unto Himself a son. Glory be to Him! When He decreeth a thing, He saith unto it only: Be! and it is.36And lo! Allah is my Lord and your Lord. So serve Him. That is the right path.37The sects among them differ: but woe unto the disbelievers from the meeting of an awful Day.38See and hear them on the Day they come unto Us! yet the evil-doers are to-day in error manifest.39And warn them of the Day of anguish when the case hath been decided. Now they are in a state of carelessness, and they believe not."

"Ali: 6And remember, Jesus, the son of Mary, said: "O Children of Israel! I am the messenger of Allah (sent) to you, confirming the Law (which came) before me, and giving Glad Tidings of a Messenger to come after me, whose name shall be Ahmad." But when he came to them with Clear Signs, they said, "this is evident sorcery!""

"Pickthall: 6And when Jesus son of Mary said: O Children of Israel! Lo! I am the messenger of Allah unto you, confirming that which was (revealed) before me in the Torah, and bringing good tidings of a messenger who cometh after me, whose name is the Praised One. Yet when he hath come unto them with clear proofs, they say: This is mere magic."

"Ali: 1Say: He is Allah, the One and Only;2Allah, the Eternal, Absolute;3He begetteth not, nor is He begotten;4And there is none like unto Him."

"Pickthall: 1Say: He is Allah, the One!2Allah, the eternally Besought of all!3He begetteth not nor was begotten.4And there is none comparable unto Him."

"Maulana Muhammad Ali: 1Say: He, Allah, is One. 2Allah is He on Whom all depend. 3He begets not, nor is He begotten. 4And none is like Him."

"Surah v. 85:- Of all men thou wilt certainly find the Jews, and those who join other gods with God, to be the most intense in hatred of those who believe; and thou shalt certainly find those to be nearest in affection to them who say, 'We are Christians.' This, because there are amongst them priests (qissisun) and monks, and because they are not proud.""

"Surah ii. 59:- "Verily, they who believe (Muslims), and they who follow the Jewish religion, and the Christians, and the Sabeites - whoever of these believeth in God and the last day, and doeth that which is right, shall have their reward with their Lord: fear shall not come upon them, neither shall they be grieved.""

"Surah ii. 105:- "And they say, 'None but Jews or Christians shall enter Paradise:' This is their wish. SAY: give your proofs if ye speak the truth. But they who set their face with resignation Godward, and do what is right, - their reward is with their Lord; no fear shall come on them, neither shall they be grieved. Moreover, the Jews say, 'The Christians lean on naught:' 'On naught lean the Jews,' say the Christians. Yet both are readers of the Book. So with like words say they who have no knowledge. But on the resurrection day, God shall judge between them as to that in which they differ. And who committeth a greater wrong than he who hindereth God's name from being remembered in His temples and who hasteth to ruin them? Such men cannot enter them but with fear. Theirs is shame in this world, and a severe torture in the next. The East and the West is God's: therefore, whichever way ye turn, there is the face of God. Truly God is immense and knoweth all. And they say, 'God hath a son:' No! Praise be to Him! But - His, whatever is in the Heavens and the Earth! All obeyeth Him, sole maker of the Heavens and of the Earth! And when He decreeth a thing, He only saith to it, 'Be,' and it is. And they who have no knowledge say, 'Unless God speak to us, or thou shew us a sign...!' So, with like words, said those who were before them: their hearts are alike. Clear signs have we already shown for these who have firm faith. Verily, with the Truth have we sent thee, a hearer of good tidings and a warner: and of the people of Hell thou shalt not be questioned. But until thou follow their religion, neither Jews nor Christians will be satisfied with thee. SAY: Verily, guidance of God, - that is the guidance! And if, after the Knowledge which hath reached thee, thou follow their desires, thou shalt find neither helper nor protector against God.""

"Surah v.75:- They surely are Infidels who say, 'God is the third of three:' for there is no God but one God: and if they refrain not from what they say, a grievous chastisement shall light on such of them as are Infidels. Will they not, therefore, be turned unto God, and ask pardon of Him? since God is forgiving, Merciful! The Messiah, son of Mary, is but an Apostle; other Apostles have flourished before him; and his mother was a just person: they both ate food. Behold! how we make clear to them the signs! then behold how they turn aside! SAY: Will ye worship, beside God, that which can neither hurt nor help? But God! He only Heareth, Knoweth. SAY: O people of the Book! outstep not bounds of truth in your religion; neither follow the desires of those who have already gone astray, and who have caused many to go astray, and have themselves gone astray from the evenness of the way. Those among the children of Israel who believed not were cursed by the tongue of David, and of Jesus, Son of Mary. This, because they were rebellious, and became transgressors: they forbade not one another the iniquity which they wrought! detestable are their actions!""

"Surah v.18: -"And of those who say, 'We are Christians,' have we accepted the covenant. But they too have forgotten a part of what they were taught; wherefore we have stirred up enmity and hatred among them that shall last till the day of the Resurrection; and in the end will God tell them of their doings. O people of the Scriptures! now is our Apostle come to you to clear up to you much that ye concealed of those Scriptures, and to pass over many things. Now hath a light and a clear Book come to you from God, by which God will guide him who shall follow after His good pleasure to paths of peace, and will bring them out of the darkness to the light, by His will: and to the straight path will He guide them. Infidels now are they who say 'Verily God is al-Masih Ibn Maryam (the Messiah, son of Mary)! SAY: And who could aught obtain from God, if He chose to destroy al-Masih, Ibn Maryam, and his mother, and all who are on the earth together?' For with God is the sovereignty of the Heavens and of the Earth, and of all that is between them! He createth what He will; and over all things is God potent. Say the Jews and Christians, 'Sons are we of God and His beloved.' SAY Why then doth He chastise you for your sins? Nay! ye are but a part of the men whom He hath created!"

"Surah v 58: -"O Believers! take not the Jews or Christians as friends. They are but one another's friends. If any one of you taketh them for his friends, he surely is one of them! God will not guide the evil-doers. So shalt thou see the diseased at heart speed away to them and say, 'We fear, lest a change of fortune befall us,' But haply God will of Himself bring about some victory or event of His own ordering: then soon will they repent them of their secret imaginings.""

"Surah xxii. 18:- "As to those who believe, and the Jews, and the Sabeites, and the Christians, and,the Magians and those who join other gods with God, of a truth, God shall decide between them on the day of resurrection: for God is witness of all things.""

"Surah v. 112:-Remember when the Apostles said - 'O Jesus, Son of Mary! is Thy Lord able to send down a furnished TABLE to us out of Heaven?' He said - 'Fear God if ye be believers.' They said - 'We desire to eat therefrom, and to have our hearts assured; and to know that thou hast indeed spoken truth to us, and to be witnesses thereof' 'Jesus, Son of Mary, said - 'O God, our Lord! send down a table to us out ,of heaven, that it may become a recurring festival to us, to the first of us and to the last of us, and a sign from Thee; and do Thou nourish us, for Thou art the best of nourishers.' And God said - Verily, I will cause it to descend unto you; but whoever, among you after that shall disbelieve, I will surely, chastise him with a chastisement wherewith I will not chastise any other creature. And when God shall say - 'O Jesus, Son of Mary, hast Thou said unto mankind-' "Take me and my mother as two Gods, beside God?"' He shall say - 'Glory be unto Thee! it is not for me to say that which I know to be not the truth; ha d I said thus, verily Thou wouldst have known it: Thou knowest what is in me, but I know not what is in Thee; for Thou well knoweet things unseen!""

"Materialism is our great enemy. It is the chief "ism" we have to combat and conquer. It is the mother of all the "isms". Without the conquest of materialism, our nations will decay from within while we prepare to defend ourselves against attacks from without."

"Suppose everybody cared enough, everybody shared enough, wouldn't everybody have enough? There is enough in the world for everyone's needs but not enough for everyone's greed."

"When men change, nations change."

"Everybody wants to see the other fellow changed. Every nation wants to see the other nation changed. But everybody is waiting for the other fellow to begin. The Oxford Group is convinced that if you want an answer for the world today, the best place is to start with yourself. This is the first and fundamental need."

"Upon a foundation of changed lives permanent reconstruction is assured."

"Peace in the world can only spring from peace in the hearts of men."

"I thank heaven for a man like Adolf Hitler, who built a front line of defence against the anti-­Christ of Communism."

"Anti-­semitism? Bad, naturally. I suppose Hitler sees a Karl Marx in every Jew."

"Either we sacrifice our national selfishness for the good of humanity, or we sacrifice the good of humanity to our national selfishness."

"Division is the work of human pride, hate, lust, fear, greed. Division is the trademark of materialism."

"Divisions are the mark of our time. (...) The truth is that our problem goes deeper than economics or politics. It is ideological. Divisive ideologies strive for the mastery of men's minds. Thousands follow their banners only because they see no convincing alternative. (...) There is a good road humankind must find and follow. It is a God-constructed road. It is the great high road of democracy's inspired ideology. It is valid for any nation. It is essential for world peace."

"I professed to be an Italian Brahmin who had renounced the world, had studied wisdom at Rome (for a Brahmin means a wise man) and rejected all the pleasures and comforts of this world."

""The name of Robert de Nobilibus will be lastingly associated with the first spread of Christianity in Southern India. It must be admitted, however, that he, his associates, and successors aimed at high game... With preaching and persuasion, these teachers adopted a questionable policy. They sought for converts among the heaven-born of India; they addressed themselves to the Priesthood-the Brahmins."

"Nobili appeared in Madura clad in the saffron robes of a Sadhu with sandal paste on his forehead and the sacred thread on his body from which hung a cross and took his abode in the Brahmin quarters. He thus attracted a large number of people. He gave out that he was a Brahmin from Rome. He showed documentary evidence to prove that he belonged to a clan of the parent stock that had migrated from ancient Aryavart and assured the members of the high castes that by becoming a Christian one did not renounce one’s caste, nobility or usage. (Pages 65-70 Christians and Christianity in India and Pakistan). He learnt Tamil, Telugu and Sanskrit, and took up the Brahman style of living. He wrote in Sanskrit a Christian Sandhyavandanam for Brahmin converts. He declared that he was bringing a message which had been taught in India by Indian ascetics of yore and that he was only restoring to Hindus one of their lost sacred books, namely the 5th Veda, called Yeshurveda. It passed for a genuine work until the Protestant Missionaries exposed the fraud about the year 1840. (History of Missions, Richter, Page 57). In five years, from 1607 to 1611, he baptised 87 Brahmins. These conversions, then so marvellous, drew upon De Nobili the eyes of friend and foe alike. A big controversy raged among the Roman Catholic missionaries the world over for a considerable length of time. Much of the opposition could be explained by wounded pride on the Portuguese side. In 1623 Pope Gregory XV gave a bull in favour of De Nobili, declaring thus: We allow the present and future converts to wear the (Brahmin) thread and the tuft of hair as distinctive marks of race, social rank and office, to use sandal wood as ornament and to take ablutions as a matter of hygiene. This Brahman Sanyasi of the ‘Roman Gotra’, Father De Nobili, worked for 40 years and died at the ripe age of 89 in 1656. It is said that he had converted about a lakh of persons but they all melted away after his death."

"But of all the missions that were established in these distant parts of the globe, none has been more constantly and universally applauded than that of Madura, and none is said to have produced more abundant and permanent fruit. It was undertaken and executed by Robert De Noble, an Italiac Jesuit, who took a very singular method of rendering his ministry successful. Considering, on the one hand, that the Indians beheld with an eye of prejudice and aversion all the Europeans, and on the other, that they held in the highest veneration the order of Brachmans as descended from the gods; and that, impatient of other rulers, they paid an implicit and unlimited obedience to them alone, he assumed the appearance and title of a Brachman, that had come from a far country, and by besmearing his countenance and imitating that most austere and painful method of living that the Sanyasis or penitents observe, he at length persuaded the credulous people that he was in reality a member of that venerable order. .... Nobili, who was looked upon by the Jesuits as the chief apostle of the Indians after Francois Xavier took incredible pains to acquire a knowledge of the religion, customs, and language of Madura, sufficient for the purposes of his ministry. But this was not all: for to stop the mouths of his opposers and particularly of those who treated his character of Brachman as an imposture, he produced an old, dirty parchment in which he had forged, in the ancient Indian characters, a deed, showing that the Brachmans of Rome were of much older date than those of India and that the Jesuits of Rome descended, in a direct line from the god Brama."

"A book entitled L' Ezour Vedam was published in Paris in 1778. A manuscript of this book had reached Voltaire, the famous French thinker, in 1761. He had thought it a genuine work on Hindus religion and philosophy and presented it to the library of the king of France. M. Anquetil Du Perron who had spent many years in India and who "professed a profound knowledge of its religion, antiquities and literature" helped in getting it published. But M. Sonnerat, who saw the publication, inferred that it was the handiwork of Christian missionaries and must have been written in an Indian language. The purpose of the work, pronounced Sonnerat, was "to refute the doctrines of the Puranas and to lead, indirectly, to Christianity". Mr. Ellis was able to "ascertain that the original of this work still exists among the manuscripts in the possession of the Catholic missionaries at Pondicherry, which are understood to have originally belonged to the Society of Jesus". He also found "among the manuscripts, imitations of the other three Vedas"- Rigveda, Samaveda. and Atharvaveda. There was also an Upaveda of the Rigveda composed in "16,128 lines or 8600 stanzas"-a work unknown to any Hindu tradition. Several other forgeries came to his notice. On enquiries made at Pondicherry, "the more respectable native Christians" informed him that "these books were written by Robert De Nobilibus" who had become "well known to both Hindus and Christians under the Sanscrit title of Tattwa-Bodh Swami"."

"The most notable pioneer and prime exemplar of Christian inculturation was the Tuscan Jesuit missionary Roberto de Nobili (1577–1656), who came to south India in 1608. He proudly documents that he presented himself first as a sadhu (a spiritual man who has renounced worldly dependencies), and when that was found to limit his access to householders, he adopted the guise of a Kshatriya (warrior) in order to win peoples' trust. After a series of false starts and further experimentation, he assumed his most effective role, that of a Brahmin, complete with dhoti and three-stringed thread, which he said represented the Christian Trinity! He assiduously studied Sanskrit and Tamil, publicly adopted the rigorous lifestyle and simplicity of a Brahmin ascetic, and taught the Christian gospel dressed in words and ideas that were Hindu equivalents or approximations to Christianity. He succeeded in converting a large number of Hindus, even from the highest and most learned castes. During his life, the Vatican frequently disapproved of what it considered to be compromises with pure Christianity and closely followed his movements, but today his work is lauded by the Church as a role model for inculturation – even though it involved deception."

"I do not believe that there is an easy answer to the question of how religions relate to one another. In my experience most Hindus believe and practise a facile syncretism which simply ignores essential differences. I don't think that anyone, Christian or Hindu, has the final answer. We are all in search. I would be inclined to say that Buddhists tend to be more objective and understanding than most people. But I think we all have to learn how to be true to our own religion while we are critical of its limitations and to be equally true to the values of other religions while we recognize their limitations."

"Of course, if I held the same view as Father Monchanin, you would be justified in suspecting me of deception. But you must remember that Father Monchanin was writing forty years ago and immense changes have taken place in the Church since then. The Vatican Council introduced a new understanding of the relation of the Church to other religions and all of us have been affected by this. Swami Abhishiktananda (Fr. le Saux) in particular early separated himself from Fr. Monchanin, especially after his profound experience with Raman Maharshi at Tiruvanamalai... you must realise also that the view which I hold is not peculiar to me. It is approved by the authorities of the Church both in India and in Rome. Many Catholics, of course, will not agree with it, but the understanding of the relation of the Church to other religions is only slowly growing and there are many different views in the Church today."

"De Nobili, in fact gives us the key to what was wrong in the Christian approach to the Hindu and shows how the gospel might have been presented to India in such a way as to attract its deepest minds and its most religious men."

"Here Hindus are asked to take lessons in Advaita from a man whose sole occupation in life was torturing Upanishadic texts into the dogmatic framework of a gross monolatry. It is difficult for a Christian missionary to renounce the role of a teacher even on subjects about which he knows next to nothing. In the case of Henri Le Saux there was an added difficulty: he was a poet. The flow of mellifluous phrases, particularly in his native French, was mistaken by him for mystic experience. One has to read his writings in order to see how he became a victim of his own word-imageries and figures of speech. Silencing of the mind, which is a sine qua non for spiritual experience according to all Hindu scriptures on the subject, remained a discipline which he never learnt. Small wonder that the man ended as a neurotic."

"I have come to India for no other purpose than to awaken in a few souls the desire (the passion) to raise up a Christian India... I think the problem is of the same magnitude as the Christianisation, in former times, of Greece... It will take centuries, sacrificed lives, and we shall perhaps die before seeing any realizations... A Christian India, completely Indian and completely Christian, may be and will be something so wonderful. To prepare it from afar, the sacrifice of our lives is not too much to ask... But once Christianised, Greece rejected her ancestral errors; so also, confident in the indefectible guidance of the Church, we hope that India, once baptized to the fullness of her body and soul, will reject her pantheistic tendencies... The Christianisation of Indian civilization is to all intents and purposes a historical undertaking comparable to the Christianisation of Greece."

"It is useless to tell the missionaries that Hindu sâdhanâ has nothing to do with buying a piece of land, building some stylised houses on it, exhibiting pretentious signboards, putting on a particular type of dress, and performing certain rituals in a particular way. Hindu sâdhanâ has been and remains a far deeper and difficult undertaking. It means being busy with one's own self rather than with saving others. It means clearing the dirt and dross within one's own self rather than calling on others to swear by a totem trotted out as the only saviour. It has no place for abominable superstitions like the atoning death of a so-called chirst. Above all, it is not consistent with double-talk-harbouring one motive in the heart and mouthing another. A counterfeit must remain a counterfeit, howsoever loudly and lavishly advertised. It is a sacrilege that those who are out to cheat and deceive should use the word "sâdhanâ" for their evil exercise."

"Christianity has again after a long period come in contact with a philosophy which, though it may contain errors-because the Hindu mind is synthetic and speculative-still unquestionably soars higher than her western sister. Shall we, Catholics of India, now have it made their weapon against Christianity or shall we look upon it in the same way as St. Thomas looked upon the Aristotelian system? We are of the opinion that attempts should be made to win over Hindu philosophy to the service of Christianity as Greek philosophy was won over in the Middle Ages." .... "But we have a conviction, and it is growing day by day that the Catholic Church will find it hard to conquer India unless she makes Hindu philosophy hew wood and draw water for her."

"While the Portuguese mission establishment was unanimous in branding the Brahmins as the chief obstacle to the salvation of India, there was some dissent concerning the tactics to be employed against them. Robert de Nobili believed in fraud rather than force. He dressed as a Brahmin, and taught the Yesurveda, a fifth Veda which had been lost in India, but which the emigrant community of Romaka Brahmins had preserved. He seems to have had a few followers, but after his death, nothing remained of his infiltration movement. Recently he has been declared the patron saint of the theology of inculturation,[2] and his method is being actualized and perfected in the Christian ashrams. De Nobili’s approach was one possible application of the Jesuits larger strategy, which aimed at converting the elite in the hope that they would carry the masses with them. This approach had been tried in vain in China, in Japan, and even at the Moghul court (today, it is finally meeting with a measure of success in South Korea). A practical implication of this strategy was that Christianity had to be presented as a noble and elitist religion. This came naturally to the Jesuits, who (unlike, for instance, the Franciscans) styled themselves as an elite order."

"All the efforts made to bring the heathens to Christ had all been in vain. I left no stone unturned to find a way to bring them from their superstition and the worship of idols to the faith of Christ. But my efforts were fruitless, because with a sort of barbarous stolidity they turned away from the manners and customs of the Portuguese and refused to put aside the badges of their ancient nobility." ... "On all sides spread before our eyes fields with ripening harvest, and there is not one to reap them, no one to bring help to these populations, sunk in profound ignorance. ... For so far it is along the Coasts of India that the courage of the Portuguese has brought the torch of faith; the rest of the country, the inland provinces, have not been touched, so that it may rightly be said that the Christian faith can be found only where Portuguese arms are respected." ... Nearly everybody is full of admiration for the Christian religion, very few if any condemn it, many embrace it; but there is one thing which delays conversions; it is the fear of being outcast by their own people, exiled from their country, deprived of their friends, relatives and temporal goods, as will happen if they give up the badges of their caste and the manners and customs of their ancestors.""

"In my condemnation of Christianity I surely hope I do no injustice to a related religion with an even larger number of believers: I allude to Buddhism. Both are to be reckoned among the nihilistic religions--they are both decadence religions--but they are separated from each other in a very remarkable way."

"Is it mere chance, or was Buddha's religion but the foreshadowing of that of Christ? The majority of your thinkers seem to be satisfied in the latter explanation, but there are some bold enough to say that Christianity is the direct offspring of Buddhism."

"Buddhism, which only a mere dabbler in religious research could compare with Christianity, is hardly reproducible in words of the Western languages."