Oriental Religions and Christianity by Frank F. Ellinwood

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ORIENTAL RELIGIONS AND CHRISTIANITY

A COURSE OF LECTURES DELIVERED ON THE ELY FOUNDATION
BEFORE THE STUDENTS OF UNION THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY,
NEW YORK, 1891

BY FRANK F. ELLINWOOD, D.D.
SECRETARY OF THE BOARD OF FOREIGN MISSIONS
OF THE
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH U.S.A.;
LECTURER ON COMPARATIVE RELIGION
IN THE UNIVERSITY OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK

NEW YORK CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 1892

PREFACE

The following lectures, prepared amid many cares and duties, have aimed
to deal only with practical questions which are demanding attention in
our time. They do not claim to constitute a treatise with close
connections and a logical order. Each presents a distinct topic, or a
particular phase of the present conflict of Christian truth with the
errors of the non-Christian religions. This independent treatment must
constitute my apology for an occasional repetition of important facts or
opinions which have a common bearing on different discussions. No claim
is made to scholarship in the Oriental languages. The ability to compare
original sources and determine dates and intricate meanings of terms, or
settle points in dispute by a wide research in Sanscrit or Pali
literatures, can only be obtained by those who spend years in study
along these special lines. But so many specialists have now made known
the results of their prolonged linguistic studies in the form of
approved English translations, that, as Professor Max Mueller has well
said in his introduction to "The Sacred Books of the East," "there is
no longer any excuse for ignorance of the rich treasures of Oriental
Literature."

Two considerations lend special importance to the topics here discussed.
First, that the false systems in question belong not merely to the past,
but to our own time. And second, that the increased intercommunication
of this age brings us into closer contact with them. They are no longer
afar off and unheard of, nor are they any longer lying in passive
slumber. Having received quickening influences from our Western
civilization, and various degrees of sympathy from certain types of
Western thought, they have become aggressive and are at our doors.

On controverted points I have made frequent quotations, for the reason
that the testimonies or opinions of writers of acknowledged competency
are best given in their own words.

I have labored under a profound conviction that, whatever may be the
merit and success of these modest efforts, the general class of subjects
treated is destined to receive increased attention in the near future;
that the Christian Church will not long be content to miscalculate the
great conquest which she is attempting against the heathen systems of
the East and their many alliances with the infidelity of the West. And I
am cheered with a belief that, in proportion to the intelligent
discrimination which shall be exercised in judging of the non-Christian
religions, and the skill which shall be shown in presenting the
immensely superior truths of the Christian faith, will the success of
the great work of Missions be increased.

It scarcely needs to be said that I have not even attempted to give
anything like a complete view of the various systems of which I have
spoken. Only a few salient points have been touched upon, as some
practical end has required. But if the mere outline here given shall
lead any to a fuller investigation of the subjects discussed, I shall be
content. I am satisfied that the more thoroughly the Gospel of
Redemption is compared with the futile systems of self-righteousness
which man has devised, the more wonderful it will appear.

F.F. ELLINWOOD.

NEW YORK, January 20, 1892.

_THE ELY LECTURES_--1891.

The lectures contained in this volume were delivered to the students of
Union Theological Seminary in the year 1891, as one of the courses
established in the Seminary by Mr. Zebulon Stiles Ely, in the following
terms:

"The undersigned gives the sum of ten thousand dollars to the Union
Theological Seminary of the city of New York, to found a
lectureship in the same, the title of which shall be 'The Elias P.
Ely Lectures on the Evidences of Christianity.'

"The course of lectures given on this foundation is to comprise any
topics that serve to establish the proposition that Christianity is
a religion from God, or that it is the perfect and final form of
religion for man.

"Among the subjects discussed may be:

"The Nature and Need of a Revelation;

"The Character and Influence of Christ and his Apostles;

"The Authenticity and Credibility of the Scriptures, Miracles, and
Prophecy;

"The Diffusion and Benefits of Christianity; and

"The Philosophy of Religion in its Relation to the Christian
System.

"Upon one or more of such subjects a course of ten public lectures
shall be given, at least once in two or three years. The
appointment of the lecturer is to be by the concurrent action of
the directors and faculty of said Seminary and the undersigned; and
it shall ordinarily be made two years in advance."

CONTENTS

LECTURE I.

THE NEED OF UNDERSTANDING THE FALSE RELIGIONS 1

The New "Science of Religion" to be Viewed with Discrimination--The
Study of the Oriental Systems too Long a Monopoly of Anti-Christian
Scholars--The Changed Aspects of the Missionary Work--The
Significant Experience of Ziegenbalz--Fears Entertained in
Reference to this Subject by Timid Believers--The Different View
taken of the Old Heathen Systems of Greece and Rome--The Subject
Considered from the Standpoint of Missionary Candidates--The
Testimony of Intelligent and Experienced Missionaries--Reasons for
Studying Oriental Systems Found in the Increased Intercourse of the
Nations; in the Intellectual Quickening of Oriental Minds by
Education; in the Resistance and even Aggressiveness of Heathen
Systems; in the Diversities of the Buddhist Faith in Different
Lands--False Systems to be Studied with a Candid Spirit--The
Distinction to be Drawn between Religion and Ethics--Reasons why a
Missionary should Pursue these Studies before Arriving on his
Field--Reasons why the Ministry at Home Should Acquaint Themselves
with Heathen Systems--Their Active Alliance with Various Forms of
Western Infidelity--Intellectual Advantages to be Derived from such
Studies--A Broader and Warmer Sympathy with Universal Humanity to
be Gained--A Better Understanding of the Unique Supremacy of the
Gospel as the Only Hope of the World--Pastors at Home are also
Missionaries to the Heathen--They are Sharers in the Conflict
through the Press.

LECTURE II.

THE METHODS OF THE EARLY CHRISTIAN CHURCH IN DEALING
WITH HEATHENISM 39

The Coincidences of the Present Struggle with that of the First
Christian Centuries--The Mediaeval Missionary Work of a Simple
Character--That of India, Japan, China, and the Turkish Empire a
Severe Intellectual Struggle as well as a Spiritual
Conquest--Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, and Islam, present
Obstacles and Resistances Similar to those of Ancient Greece and
Rome--How far Contrasts Appear between the Early and the Present
Conquests--The Methods of Paul--His Tact in Recognizing Truth
wherever Found, and Using it for his Purpose--The Attitude of the
Early Christian Fathers toward the Heathen--Augustine's
Acknowledgment of the Good which he Received from Cicero and
Plato--The Important Elements which Platonism Lacked, and which
were Found Only in the Gospel of Christ--The Great Secret of Power
in the Early Church Found in its Moral Earnestness, as Shown by
Simplicity of Life, and especially by Constancy even Unto a
Martyr's Death--The Contrast between the Frugality of the Early
Church and the Luxury and Vice of Roman Society--The Great Need of
this Element of Success at the Present Time--The Observance of a
Wise Discrimination in the Estimate of Heathen Philosophy by the
Great Leaders of the Early Church--The Generality with which
Classical Studies were Pursued by the Sons of the more Enlightened
Christian Fathers--Method Among the Leaders--The Necessity for a
thorough Knowledge of the Systems to be Met, as it was then
Recognized--The thorough Preparation of Augustine, Ambrose,
Iraeneus, and Others for their Work--Origen's Masterly and
Successful Reply to Celsus--The Use Made by the Early Fathers and
by the Churches of a Later Day, of the Philosophy of Plato and
Aristotle--Heathenism thus Conquered with its Own Weapons.

LECTURE III.

THE SUCCESSIVE DEVELOPMENTS OF HINDUISM 73

The Great Variety in India's Religious Systems--The Early
Monotheistic Nature Worship and its Gradual Lapse Into
Polytheism--The Influence of Environment on the Development of
Systems--The Distinction between Aryanism and Brahmanism, and the
Abuses of the Latter in its Doctrines of Sacrifice and Caste--The
Causes which Led to the Overthrow of this System of
Sacerdotalism--The Upanishads and the Beginnings of Philosophy--The
Rise of Buddhism and the Six Schools of Philosophy--Points in
Common between them--The Code of Manu and its Countercheck to
Rationalism--Its Development and its Scope, its Merits and
Demerits--The Meaning of the Word Hinduism as here Used and the
Means by which it Gained Ascendency--The Place and Influence of the
Two Great Hindu Epics, their Origin, the Compromise which they
Wrought, and the New and Important Doctrines which They
Developed--The Trimurti and the Incarnations of Vishnu--The
Deterioration of the Literature and the Faith of India--The Puranas
and the Tantras--The Parallels between Hinduism and Christianity.

LECTURE IV.

THE BHAGAVAD GITA AND THE NEW TESTAMENT 111

The Great Interest Felt in this Poem by a Certain Class of
Readers--Its Alleged Parallels to the Scriptures--The Plausibility
of the Recent Translation by Mr. Mohini M. Chatterji--Its
Patronizing Catholicity--The Same Claim to Broad Charity by Chunder
Sen and Others--Pantheism Sacrifices nothing to Charity, because
God is in All Things--All Moral Responsibility Ceases since God
Acts in Us--Mr. Chatterji's Broad Knowledge of Our Scriptures, and
his Skill in Selecting Passages for His Purpose--His Pleasing
Style--The Story of Krishna and Arjuna Told in the Interest of
Caste and Pantheism--The Growth of the Krishna Cult from Popular
Legends--The Origin of the Bhagavad Gita and its Place in the
Mahabharata--Its Use of the Six Philosophies--Krishna's
Exhortation--The Issue of the Battle in which Arjuna is Urged to
Engage--The "Resemblances" Explained by their Pantheistic
Interpretation--Fancied Resemblances which are only in the Sound of
Words--Coincidences Springing from Similar Causes--The Totally
Different Meaning which Pantheism gives them--Difference between
Union with Christ and the Pantheistic Pervasion of the
Infinite--The Differentials of Christianity.

LECTURE V.

BUDDHISM AND CHRISTIANITY 140

New Interest in Old Controversies Concerning Buddhism--Max Mueller's
Reply to the Alleged Influence of the System on Christianity--The
Distinction to be made between the Credible History of Gautama and
Later Legends--The Legends of the Pre-existent States and the
Wonders Attending the Earthly Life--The Northern and the Southern
Buddhism--The Sources of the Principal Legends--The Four Principal
Doctrines of Buddhism, Skandas, Trishna, Kharma, and
Nirvana--Difficulties in the Doctrines of Kharma and
Nirvana--Various Opinions of Scholars in Regard to the Nature of
Nirvana--Buddha's Final Reticence on the Subject--The Real Goal at
which the Average Buddhist Aims--The Need of a Careful Estimate of
the Merits and Demerits of Buddhism, and of the Hold which it is
likely to have on Western Minds--Its Points of Contact with Western
Errors--The Fact that Modern Buddhism, like many other False
Systems, Claims Christ as a Believer in its Principles--The Theory
that the Life of Christ is Modelled after that of the Buddha--The
Superior Authenticity of the Life of Christ--The Unreliable
Character of Buddhist Legends--The Intrinsic Improbability that a
Religion claiming a Distinct Derivation from Jewish Sources would
Borrow from a far-off Heathen System--The Contrast of Christ's
Loving Recognition of the Father in Heaven with the Avowed Atheism
of Buddhism--The General Spirit of the System Forbids all Thought
of Borrowing from it--Points of Contrast.

LECTURE VI.

MOHAMMEDANISM PAST AND PRESENT 178

Posthumous Legends of Mohammed; how they were Produced--Ancient
Arabia and its Religious Systems--The Vale of Mecca and its Former
Uses--The Birth of Mohammed, and his Religious Associations--His
Temperament and Character--The Beginnings of his Prophetic
Mission--Jews and Christians in Arabia and their Influence on
Mohammedanism--Their Errors and Shortcomings a Help to the
Reformer--Strange Doctrines of the Christian Church in Arabia--The
Lost Opportunity of the Early Christian Sects and the Fatal Neglect
of the Surrounding Nations--The Nomads of Arabia specially Prepared
for Conquest by their Manner of Life and their Enlistment as
Mercenary Soldiers--The Question of Mohammed's Real Character--The
Growth of his Ambition and his Increasing Sensuality and
Cruelty--Blasphemous Revelations in Behalf of the Prophet's Own
Lust--Discriminating Judgment Required on his Career as a
Whole--Mohammedan Schools--Noble Characters the Exception--General
Corrupting Influence of the System--Its Conquests in Northern
Africa and in the Soudan--The Early Races of Northern Africa, and
the General Deterioration of the Country--The Piracies of the
Barbary States--Civilization in Modern Egypt Due to Foreigners--The
Bloody Ravages of El Mahdi in the East and the Fanatic Samadu in
the West--The Testimony of a Secular Newspaper
Correspondent--Professor Drummond and Henry M. Stanley on the Slave
Traffic and Mohammedan Civilization--The Alleged Missionary
Operations of Mohammedans in West Soudan--The Account Given of Them
by Bishop Crowther, Schweinfurth, and Others--Canon Taylor and the
Egyptian Pashas--The Effects of European Education--Palgrave on
Mohammedan Intolerance of To-day--Mohammedanism and Temperance;
Exaggerated Accounts of it; Proofs to the Contrary--R. Bosworth
Smith's Protest against Canon Taylor's Extravagant Glorification of
Islam--His Plea for Missions.

LECTURE VII.

THE TRACES OF A PRIMITIVE MONOTHEISM 222

Two Conflicting Theories on the History of Religion--That of the
Old and New Testaments--That of Modern Evolution--The Importance of
this Question--Professor Henry B. Smith's Estimate of Ebrard's
Discussion of it--Ebrard's Summing-up of the Argument--Professor
Naville's View of the Subject--Conclusions of Rev. W.A.P. Martin,
D.D., and Max Mueller--How far May we Attempt to Establish the Fact
of an Early Monotheism from Heathen Traditions?--Conceptions
Differing in Different Nations--Evidences of Monotheism in the
Vedas--Professor Banergea's Testimony--The Views Held by the Modern
Somajes--Monotheism in China--Monotheistic Worship in the Days of
Yao and Shun, 2300 B.C.--The Prayer of an Emperor of the Ming
Dynasty Quoted by Professor Legge--Remarkable Monument of
Monotheism in the Temple of Heaven--A Taouist Prayer--Zoroaster a
Monotheistic Reformer--The Inscription at Behistun--Testimony of
the Modern Parsee Catechism--No Nation without some Notion of a God
Supreme over All--Buddhists in Thibet--Egyptian Monotheism--The
Greek Poets--Old Monotheism in Mexico and Peru--Evidences of
Ramification and Decline in Polytheism--Egypt and India Give
Abundant Proofs--Hinduism, Buddhism, and Taouism all Show
Degeneration--Mohammedan Corruption since the Days of the Early
Caliphs--The Religions of Greece and Rome Became Effete--Even
Israel, in Spite of Instruction and Reproof, Lapsed into Idolatry
again and again--Even the Christian Church has Shown Similar
Tendencies.

LECTURE VIII.

INDIRECT TRIBUTES OF HEATHEN SYSTEMS TO THE DOCTRINES
OF THE BIBLE 266

The Universality and Similarity of Race Traditions--Their General
Support of the Old Testament History--Traditions of the Creation
Found in India, China, among the Northern Turanians and some
African Tribes--The Fall of Man as Traced in Assyria and among the
Hindus--The Buddhists of Ceylon, Mongolians, Africans and Tahitans
had Similar Traditions--The Flood--Traditions of the Chinese, the
Iranians, Greeks, Assyrians, Chaldeans, and Peruvians--The
Prevalence of Piacular Sacrifice and Tokens of a Sense of
Guilt--Traditions or Traces of Substitution Found in the
Vedas--Faint Traces in the Religion of the Egyptians--Traditions of
the Iroquois--Prophecies Looking to Divine Deliverers--The Tenth
Avatar of Vishnu yet to Come as a Restorer of Righteousness--The
Influence of the Tradition as Utilized by a Missionary--A Norse
Deliverer and Millennium--The Prediction of the Cumaean Sibyl Forty
Years before the Birth of Christ--Prevailing Conceptions of some
Mediator between God and Man--The Hindu Krishna as an
Example--Changes in Buddhism from the Old Atheism to Theism, and
even to a Doctrine of Salvation by Faith--A Trinity and at last a
Saviour--All the False Systems Claiming the Teachings and the
Character of Christ.

LECTURE IX.

ETHICAL TENDENCIES OF THE EASTERN AND THE WESTERN
PHILOSOPHIES 294

The Prevalence of Speculation in all Ages in Regard to the Great
Questions of Man's Origin and Destiny, and His Relations to
God--The Various Schemes which have Seemingly Dispensed with the
Necessity for a Creator in Accounting for the Existence of the
Visible World--The Ancient Atomic Theories and Modern
Evolution--Kanada, Lucretius, Herbert Spencer--Darwin's Theory of
the Development of Species--Similar Theories Ascribed to the
Chinese--The Ethical Difficulties Attending Many Philosophic
Speculations, Ancient and Modern--Hindu Pantheism and Moral
Responsibility--In the Advance from Instinct to Conscience and
Religion, where does Moral Sentiment Begin?--If It was Right for
Primeval Man to Maraud, why Might not Robbery again Become His Duty
in Case of Extreme Deterioration?--Mr. Spencer's Theory of the
Origin of Moral Intuition--The Nobler Origin which the Scriptures
Assign to Man's Moral Nature--The Demonstrated Possibility of the
Most Radical and Sudden Moral Changes Produced by the Christian
Faith--Tendency of Ancient and Modern Theories to Lower the General
Estimate of Man--The Dignity with which the New Testament Invests
Him--The Ethical Tendency of the Doctrine of Evolution--The Opinion
Expressed on the Subject by Goldwin Smith--Peschel's Frank
Admission--The Pessimistic Tendency of all Anti-Biblical Theories
of Man's Origin, Life, and Destiny--Buddha, Schopenhauer, and the
Agnostics--The more Hopeful Influence of the Bible--The Tendency of
all Heathen Religions and all Anti-Christian Philosophies toward
Fatalism--Pantheism and the Philosophy of Spinoza Agreeing in this
Respect with the Hindu Vedantism--The Late Samuel Johnson's "Piety
of Pantheism," and His Definition of Fatalism--What Saves the
Scriptural Doctrine of Fore-ordination from Fatalism--The Province
of Faith and of Trust.

LECTURE X.

THE DIVINE SUPREMACY OF THE CHRISTIAN FAITH 338

The Claim that Christianity is the only True Religion--The Peculiar
Tendencies of Modern Times to Deny this Supremacy and Monopoly--It
is not Enough in Such Times to Simply Ignore the Challenge--The
Unique Claim must be Defended--First: Christianity is
Differentiated from all Other Religions by the Fact of a Divine
Sacrifice for Sin--Mohammedanism, though Founded on a Belief in the
True God and Partly on the Old Testament Teachings, Offers no
Saviour--No Idea of Fatherhood is Found in any Non-Christian
Faith--The Gloom of Buddhism and the Terror of Savage
Tribes--Hinduism a System of Self-Help Merely--The Recognized
Grandeur of the Principle of Self-Sacrifice as Reflected from
Christ--Augustine Found a Way of Life only in His Divine
Sacrifice--Second: No Other Faith than Christianity is Made
Effectual by the Power of a Divine and Omnipotent Spirit--The
Well-Attested Fact of Radical Transformations of Character--Other
Systems have Made Converts only by Warlike Conquest or by Such
Motives as might Appeal to the Natural Heart--Christianity Rises
above all Other Systems in the Divine Personality of Christ--The
Contrast in this Respect between Him and the Authors of the
Non-Christian Systems--His Attractions and His Power Acknowledged
by all Classes of Men--The Inferiority of Socrates as Compared with
Christ--Bushnell's Tribute to the Perfection of this Divine
Personality--Its Power Attested in the Life of Paul--The Adaptation
of Christianity to all the Circumstances and Conditions of
Life--Abraham and the Vedic Patriarchs, Moses and Manu, David's Joy
and Gratitude, and the Gloom of Hindu or Buddhist Philosophy--Only
Christianity Brings Man to True Penitence and Humility--The
Recognized Beauty and the Convincing Lesson of the Prodigal
Son--The Contrast between Mohammed's Blasphemous Suras, which
Justify his Lust, and the Deep Contrition of David in the
Fifty-first Psalm--The Moral Purity of the Old and New Testaments
as Contrasted with all Other Sacred Books--The Scriptures Pure
though Written in Ages of Corruption and Surrounded by Immoral
Influences--Christ Belongs to no Land or Age--The Gospel Alone is
Adapted to all Races and all Time as the Universal Religion of
Mankind--Only Christianity Recognizes the True Relation between
Divine Help and Human Effort--It Encourages by Omnipotent
Co-operation--The All-Comprehensive Presentation of the Gospel.

APPENDIX 381

ORIENTAL RELIGIONS AND CHRISTIANITY

LECTURE I.

THE NEED OF UNDERSTANDING THE FALSE RELIGIONS

It is said that the very latest among the sciences is the Science of
Religion. Without pausing to inquire how far it admits of scientific
treatment, certain reasons which may be urged for the study of the
existing religions of the world will be considered in this lecture. It
must be admitted in the outset that those who have been the pioneers in
this field of research have not, as a rule, been advocates of the
Christian faith. The anti-Christian theory that all religions may be
traced to common causes, that common wants and aspirations of mankind
have led to the development of various systems according to environment,
has until recently been the chief spur to this class of studies.
Accordingly, the religions of the world have been submitted to some
preconceived philosophy of language, or ethnology, or evolution, with
the emphasis placed upon such facts as seemed to comport with this
theory. Meanwhile there has been an air of broad-minded charity in the
manner in which the apologists of Oriental systems have treated the
subject. They have included Christ in the same category with Plato and
Confucius, and have generally placed Him at the head; and this supposed
breadth of sentiment has given them a degree of influence with dubious
and wavering Christians, as well as with multitudes who are without
faith of any kind.

In this country the study of comparative religion has been almost
entirely in the hands of non-evangelical writers. We have had "The Ten
Great Religions," from the pen of Rev. James Freeman Clarke; "The
Oriental Religions," written with great labor by the late Samuel
Johnson; and Mr. Moncure D. Conway's "Anthology," with its flowers,
gathered from the sacred books of all systems, and so chosen as to carry
the implication that they all are equally inspired. Many other works
designed to show that Christianity was developed from ancient sun myths,
or was only a plagiarism upon the old mythologies of India, have been
current among us. But strangely enough, the Christian Church has seemed
to regard this subject as scarcely worthy of serious consideration. With
the exception of a very able work on Buddhism,[1] and several review
articles on Hinduism, written by Professor S.H. Kellogg, very little has
been published from the Christian standpoint.[2] The term "heathenism"
has been used as an expression of contempt, and has been applied with
too little discrimination.

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