|
ON CONVERSION
Talking of the New Testament, he wrote, “The New Testament gave me comfort and boundless
joy ... Today supposing I was deprived of the Gita and forgot all its contents but had a copy of the Sermon (on the Mount),
I should derive the same joy from it as I do from the Gita”.(21) But at the same time he said, in a conversation with
C.F. Andrews, (22) “If a person wants to believe in the Bible let him say so, but why should he discard his own
religion? This proselytization will mean no peace in the world ... My position is that all the great religions are fundamentally
equal. We must have innate respect for other religions as we have for our own. Mind you, not mutual tolerance, but equal respect”.
When C.F. Andrews asked him what would he say to a man who after considerable thought and prayer felt that he
could attain peace and salvation only by becoming a Christian he said, “I would say that if a non-Christian (say a Hindu)
came to a Christian and made that statement, he should ask him to become a good Hindu rather than find goodness in change
of faith”.(23) Further, to a statement that one should not stand in a person’s way if he really needed a change
of faith he said, “Supposing a Christian came to me and said he was captivated by a reading of the Bhagwat and so wanted
to declare himself a Hindu, I should say to him, ‘No. What the Bhagwat offers the Bible also offers. You have not yet
made the attempt to find it out. Make the attemptand be a good Christian’ ”. (24)
|
 |
Mens Sana Monographs [MSM]: A Mens Sana Research Foundation Publication
|
