DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.636#0493
Mddern Hindu T/ieism. Rammohun Roy. 483
and alarmed at the crushing demolition of their arguments
by the reforming party, proved too strong for its continued
existence. One by one its members dropped off, till by
degrees the society ceased to exist. The great leader of the
movement, however, was not to be so easily suppressed. On
the contrary, he braced himself up with greater energy than
ever, to continue the conflict single-handed. His zeal and
industry in writing books, pamphlets, and addresses, only
increased in vehemence.
It is clear that even at that time his study of the sayings
of Christ in the New Testament had brought him to a quali-
fied acceptance of Christianity, for in 1820 he published in
Bengali and English a book called ' The Precepts of Jesus,
the Guide to Peace and Happiness.' In the preface he
wrote: —
' This simple code of religion and morality is so admirably calculated
to elevate men's ideas to high and liberal notions of one God, .... and is
so well fitted to regulate the conduct of the human race in the discharge
of their various duties to God, to themselves and to society, that I cannot
but hope the best effects from its promulgation in its present form.'
In a letter prefixed to one of his later works (an edition of
the Kena Upanishad) he makes the following admission:—
' The consequence of my long and uninterrupted researches into reli-
gious truth has been that I have found the doctrines of Christ more con-
ducive to moral principles, and better adapted for the use of rational
beings, than any other which have come to my knowledge.'
It is said that on being one day shown a picture of Christ,
he remarked that the painter had represented Him falsely,
for he had given Him a European countenance, forgetting
that Jesus Christ was an Oriental, and that, in keeping with
the Eastern origin of Christianity, the Christian scriptures
glow throughout with rich Oriental colouring.
Some, indeed, have not hesitated to affirm that Rammohun
Roy, though he never abjured caste, was in reality a true
Christian. But that he ever had the slightest leaning towards
Trinitarian Christianity is altogether unlikely.
Ii a
and alarmed at the crushing demolition of their arguments
by the reforming party, proved too strong for its continued
existence. One by one its members dropped off, till by
degrees the society ceased to exist. The great leader of the
movement, however, was not to be so easily suppressed. On
the contrary, he braced himself up with greater energy than
ever, to continue the conflict single-handed. His zeal and
industry in writing books, pamphlets, and addresses, only
increased in vehemence.
It is clear that even at that time his study of the sayings
of Christ in the New Testament had brought him to a quali-
fied acceptance of Christianity, for in 1820 he published in
Bengali and English a book called ' The Precepts of Jesus,
the Guide to Peace and Happiness.' In the preface he
wrote: —
' This simple code of religion and morality is so admirably calculated
to elevate men's ideas to high and liberal notions of one God, .... and is
so well fitted to regulate the conduct of the human race in the discharge
of their various duties to God, to themselves and to society, that I cannot
but hope the best effects from its promulgation in its present form.'
In a letter prefixed to one of his later works (an edition of
the Kena Upanishad) he makes the following admission:—
' The consequence of my long and uninterrupted researches into reli-
gious truth has been that I have found the doctrines of Christ more con-
ducive to moral principles, and better adapted for the use of rational
beings, than any other which have come to my knowledge.'
It is said that on being one day shown a picture of Christ,
he remarked that the painter had represented Him falsely,
for he had given Him a European countenance, forgetting
that Jesus Christ was an Oriental, and that, in keeping with
the Eastern origin of Christianity, the Christian scriptures
glow throughout with rich Oriental colouring.
Some, indeed, have not hesitated to affirm that Rammohun
Roy, though he never abjured caste, was in reality a true
Christian. But that he ever had the slightest leaning towards
Trinitarian Christianity is altogether unlikely.
Ii a