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Untitled Article
But he ingenuously confessed , that he argued without success \ and there is no wonder , when we know the topics on which he delighted to dwell . These were no other than the Trinity , total depravity , imputed righteousness , and the like . Was it to be expected that a Hindoo or Persian would receive
such doctrines a 3 these , which were shrouded in mystery , and which they found in no degree preferable to the superstitions of their own religion ? Had Henry Martyn preached more from the Sermon on the Mount , and
less from the five points , he would not have been forced to the melancholy acknowledgment of having wasted his strength in vain . A paragraph in Ramraohun Roy ' s First Appeal is so appropriate in this place , that we insert it , although it has appeared in our work on a former
occasion . He states that , * ' He has seen with regret , that the Missionaries have completely counteracted their own benevolent efforts , by
introducing all the dog-mas and mysteries taught in Christian churches , to people by no means prepared to receive them ; and that they have been so incautious and inconsiderate in
their attempts to enlighten the natives of India , as to address their 4 nstructions to them in the same way as if they were reasoning with persons brought up in a Christian country , with those dogmatical notions imbibed from their infancy . The consequence
has been , that the natives in general , instead of benefiting by the perusal of the Bible , copies of which they always receive gratuitously , exchange them very often for blank paper ; and use several of the dogmatical terms in their native language as a mark of slight in an irreverent manner , the
mention of which is repugnant to my feelings . " But it is time to speak of the Brarnuntcal Magazine , printed at Calcutta , and mentioned in Rammohun Roy ' s letter . We consider this work , in many respects , one of the most
curious of the present day . It contains a set controversy between the Bramuns and Missionaries on the principles of their respective religions . We believe this is the first regular written controversy which has ever been commenced for a similar purpose . Three numbers of the work only have
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come to hand . It is printed in Bengalee and English on corresponding pages . It seems that , in a periodical work established by the Missionaries at Serampore , called the Sumachar Durpun , an article appeared attacking :
different parts of the Hindoo religion . Several distinct charges were made , and the editor stated , that if a reply were sent , it should be published in the same paper . The Bramuns accordingly furnished a reply , defending their religion , but when it was forwarded for publication it was rejected .
Thus disappointed , the Bramuns resolved to publish what they had written in a separate form , and in this resolution originated the Bramunical Magazine . The two first numbers are occupied in replying to the article in the Sumachar Durpun , and the third is devoted to the discussion of another
subject . To exhibit the mode which the Missionaries adopt in discharging their duties , and the views and feelings of the natives respecting it , we select the following passages from the introduction to the first number .
" During the last twenty years , a body $ f English gentleman , who are called Missionaries , have been publicly endeavouring in several ways to convert the Hindoos and Mussulmans
of this country to Christianity . The first way is that of publishing and distributing among the natives various books , large and small , reviling both religions , and abusing and ridiculing the gods and saints of the former . The second way is that of standing in front of the doors of the natives , or in the
public roads , to preach the excellence of their own religion , and the debasedness of that of others . The third way is , that if any natives of low origin become Christians from the desire of
gain , or from any other motives , these gentlemen employ and maintain them as a necessary encouragement to others to follow their example /'
* ' It is not uncommon if the English Missionaries , who are of the conquerors of this country , revile and mock at the religion of the natives . " " If , by the force of argument , they can prove the truth of their own religion and the falsity of that of the Hindoos , many would of course embrace their doctrines ; and in c
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436 Rammohun Roy : Controversy between the Bramuns ana Missionaries
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Aug. 2, 1823, page 436, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1787/page/4/
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