Essay on the Prevailing Methods of the Evangelization of the Non-Christian World

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1894. Excerpt: ... III. DIFFICULTIES ATTENDING CONVERSION. CAP. III. 10 11 13 14 IS Difficulties Attending Conversion. Degradation, or Imperfect Teaching, of the Gospel. Pagan Notions of Nominal Converts. Imposing new conditions precedent to Baptism. Relapse of Converts into their Old, or adoption of a New, Religion. Low Culture, and extreme Intellectual Denseness, of Converts. Questions connected with the Matrimony of Converts. Credulousness of any new story. Injurious Influence of Western Education on certain Classes; is Education a necessary part of Evan-gelization or Civilization? Evils arising from raising the material status of Converts. Objections to little Barracks for Converts. Dwelling too strongly on the Sins of the non-Christian World. Assertion that Missionaries have material help from God. Treating with Contempt the Parental rights of non-Christians. Necessity of Union of Denominations into one National Church. Certainty of Opposition from Old, and New, Forms of Religion. 1. Degradation, Or Imperfect Teaching, Of The Gospel. The forms of this evil are manifold: 1. The Gospel-Message, as conveyed in the New Testament, may be degraded, and diluted, by the accretions of European Churches. 2. The Central Truth may be inadequately presented to the poor ignorant catechumen. 3. There may be too large a flavour of European and American denominationalism. 4. There may be a mixture of European and American National weaknesses. 5. There may be too much ritual, or too much dogma, or too much civilization, or too much intellectual Education. 6. There may be rank antinomianism. 7. There may be profitless asceticism. It is obvious, that the Christianity of the Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms was in its early Centuries mere Ritualism: their whole Theology was the Creed and Lord's Prayer...