would seem that unless special circumstances call for unique enterprises, missionary policy ought to be directed towards the establishment of educational work in connection with existing church organisations, and evangelistic enterprise should be placed from the very beginning in the forefront of institutional service. Education does not of itself tend to the upbuilding of a Christian church, but it cannot be too strenuously asserted that where educational work is begun and carried on in direct connection with church work and under the impulse of evangelism, the result is always an enormous strengthening of the Church of Christ with which it is connected. It is half the accomplishment of a problem to lay hold of it from the beginning at the right end. The Chinese Church and Toleration. It THE question of religious toleration in China is one which presses very heavily upon the Chinese church. Dependence upon the treaties for freedom to exercise religious liberty and to do Christian work is a hindrance enough to the foreign missionary and too often productive of misunderstanding and ill-will. When, however, the Chinese convert in his turn has to make appeal to the terms of the treaties, and that through a foreign Consul, in order to secure for himself freedom to worship God, then the result is oftimes disastrous. is not to be wondered at that the intrusion of foreign influence into the realm of Chinese state policy on behalf of Chinese citizens should be resented. The influence of the foreign ecclesiastic has always been a source of provocation in political history and it is proving no less so in China to-day. But the remedy is not yet clear to the mind of Chinese statesmen, however plainly it may be written for students of history in the West. A belief in liberty as the remedy for certain specific national difficulties demands a measure of trust on the part of both governors and governed which is lacking among the Chinese and which is not any more evident to-day than it was a generation ago. Nothing short of religious toleration, however, can finally solve the political problem which the fact of the Christian church raises in China. Will the proposed constitution bring this any nearer? If the constitution is fixed and the religious question is left in the indeterminate state which marks it to-day, serious difficulties are inevitable. Yet the constitution is a matter of Chinese politics with which foreigners, however interested they may be, have no direct concern. Should not the Chinese Christian leaders get together and attack this problem by approaching, in their own names and on their own behalf, the government of the empire with a plea for toleration and for a recognition of the religious rights of man? Interference on the part of foreigners, howsoever good the motive may be, is more likely to hinder than to help the cause. Upon the Chinese rests the right, as well as the need, for some action; the problem as well as the hardship is chiefly theirs. In Peril of THERE is a call to-day greater than there has been at any time in the last generation for men of wide vision in the mission field of this Empire. Understanding of the times and a big outlook were never more needed than to-day, for the opportunity is great and the difficulties unique. The magnitude of the problem which China presents leads some to pessimism and drives others into exaggeration. We need the calm mind of assured strength and the far sight of simple faith. 'With God all things are possible' should be a note of sustaining grace to us, and we should find refuge and hope from the history of God's Church in the world. Missionaries to China should not be amongst those who stumble at great things, since it is to great things that they are called. The policy which the day calls for is that which is kindled in devotion to the person and message of Jesus Christ and which embraces in its sweep the entire regeneration of the race. Changing conditions do not affect such a policy as this, for it stands upon sure ground and knows its ultimate aim. Its methods are adaptable as the demands of the situation may require, its source and object are unchanging. It can always lead the doubting and win the erring because its standard is sure, and it is neither distressed nor disturbed by the details of the hour. The passing phases of world politics, the rise and fall of national sentiment, the educational change and the ever widening range of discovery all fall into place and serve a purpose when the outlook is eternal and the scope universal. Then it is true that 'all things are ours.' The conditions in China to-day demand no less an ideal than this. "We would see Jesus." EVEN though the remarkable interest in Christianity on the part of Chinese students in Tokyo, reported elsewhere in this issue (see page 373), be due in part to their consciousness of China's weaknesses, it is no less an occasion for gratitude to God that the interest is there. Like the Israelites of old some of them are hearing the divine call to individual repentance through the medium of the nation's need. It is surely encouraging to learn that their attitude is more than one of a mere willingness to hear what the man who knows has to say. In their eager search after the deeper significance of the truth, they reveal an earnest enthusiasm which betokens sincerity. Let us pray that the One who is the embodiment of the truth they would know, may become to many of them also the way and the life! Let us remember, too, their brother-students in China. What the Chinese students in Tokyo are thinking to-day, the Chinese students in government institutions in China will be thinking to-morrow. The attitude of the former will soon be the attitude of the latter. Where are the Andrews and Philips to acquaint them with the Jesus they need to see and know? Sympatby witb THE Editor-in-chief of the RECORDER will, we are assured, have the sympathy of all our readers in the accident which has befallen him. Dr. Fitch was knocked from his bicycle in the streets of Shanghai and sustained a fracture of the thigh bone of his leg. He is now in hospital and making satisfactory progress. Our work can ill spare the wise counsel of our senior colleague, to whose judgment and perseverance this Journal owes much. Dr. Fitch has endeared himself both by the large heartedness of his life and by the constancy of his work to all who have been in any way associated with him, and we trust that ere long his familiar figure will again be seen in the accustomed places of his many-sided labours. Dr. Martin. * WE have received a letter from the venerable Dr. Martin thanking the RECORDER for its appreciative notice of his diamond jubilee and offering his grateful thanks to the numerous friends who sent him notes and cards on that occasion. The Sanctuary. "The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much."-St. James v, 16. For where two or three are gathered together in my Name, there am I in the midst of them."-St. Matthew xviii, 20. PRAY I. For the Chinese People: That their religious sense may be aroused. (P. 330.) That they may as a nation soon come to feel the existence of the Christian religion as a system of thought. (P. 329 ) That for the gods now worshipped by them there may be substituted that one God who alone can teach a higher moral life than Confucianism or their philosophy can give. (P. 326.) That the good and evil now inextricably mixed up in their minds may become clearly separated. (P. 322.) That the same intense sense of sin that Christian people have, may develop and grow in their lives. (P. 322.) That they may as a nation no longer rest content with being no worse than the highest they know. (P. 326.) That they may be converted to the religion that can give them a higher moral teaching against avarice. (P. 324.) 2. For Chinese Christian Scholars : That Chinese members of the church may come to a consciousness of the need for able men to prepare literature. (P. 328.) For the preparation of such an apologia as will enable the church to justify itself in the midst of a hostile and unbelieving nation. (P. 329.) 3. For the Missionary Body : That they may individually grow so in holiness as never to be able to find, and never to seek, an excuse for a sin committed. (P. 327.) That more may be added of the kind who shall never know defeat and who are able to do the impossible things. (P. 353.) That they may more fully, ever, appreciate the true nature of the problem that confronts them. (P. 333.) That they may have the ability to see and the strength and grace to use such evangelistic methods as will most nearly meet the needs of the work they are actually doing. (P. 333.) That they may carefully discriminate in the doctrines they preach, and by a more sympathetic use of Chinese literature be enabled to preach the Gospel in the form that will be the most readily understood by the people. (P. 334.) That there may be, on their part, less "unnecessary trembling over the ark of God." (P. 334.) That they may be helped in solving the problem of combining a higher evangelization with a higher education. (P. 337-) That they may be led to a more definite and a more determined endeavor to win the literati. (P. 335.) A PRAYER. O Thou Good Shepherd of the sheep, look mercifully upon those who have none to watch over them in Thy name. Prepare them to receive Thy truth and send them pastors after Thine own heart. Replenish with Thine abundant grace those whom Thou dost send and awaken the pity of Thy people for all these strangers to Thy covenant, so that, by their cheerful contribution and the coöperation of Thy Holy Spirit, multitudes may daily be added to the church and become partakers of the salvation which Thou hast promised, O Lord and lover of souls. Amen. GIVE THANKS That "holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Hosts and the whole earth is full of His glory." (P. 325.) For the revelation of a holy God that was given to the Jews and through them has been handed down to us. (P. 324.) For the "millions" of names in Christendom that are holy and for the example and help these have given to us of to day. (P. 326.) That the foreign missionaries in China, in spite of their handicaps, have yet been able to do work of a high order in preparing for the Christianization of the empire. (P. 343.) For the many men of first rank in business and professional circles who have been produced by the Christian church in China. (P. 339.) For the encouragement given in places where self-government has been tried by the closer drawing together of the Chinese and foreign workers. (P. 337-) Contributed Articles The Chinese and Christian Idea of Sin Notes of a sermon preached by the Rev. C. E. Darwent in Union Leviticus xi. 44, "For I the Lord your God am holy; sanctify yourselves; therefore be ye holy, for I am holy." ON NE day I was discussing the subject which is of perennial interest, and which inevitably crops up when foreigners foregather, the subject of the idiosyncrasies of the Chinese, especially the cases of untrustworthiness one so often meets with; the disappearing shroff, the peculating Mandarin, that peculiarity which Dr. Arthur Smith calls the power of "absorption," that national feature of character, in which being caught is as bad, if not more to be dreaded than committing the sin. Someone present there said: Are there any really honest Chinese ? That was sure to be said; it always is said. Then at this moment there came to me light on this question as I had never seen it before, and because you may not have that light I want to pass it on to you this morning. I said you have no right to expect the Chinese to possess as high a moral standard as we have. For one thing, if the Chinese can by any possibility be as good as we are on the average, if they can be expected to have as high a standard as we have, then it is obvious that Christianity has nothing to teach them and missions are an impertinence and a mistake. That is clear. And those friends of the Chinese who always try to make out that they are as good as we and cap every story of Chinese obliquity with one of foreign obliquity prove too much. They destroy the basis of missionary effort. I said further, not only are the Chinese not in as high moral condition as Christian nations, but they cannot be. Try as he may, be as faithful as he may to the light God has given him, let him keep his conscience as clear as is possible from the veil of polytheism, the Chinaman, and every heathen man, cannot by any possibility reach the level NOTE-Readers of the RECORDER are reminded that the Editorial Board assumes no responsibility for the views expressed by the writers of articles published in these pages. |
