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which he believes to be all that is venerable and sacred . €€ If by the * ray of intelligence / for which the * Christian' says we are indebted to the English , he means the introduction of useful mechanical arts , I am ready to express nay assent and also my
gratitude ; but with respect to science , literature , or religion , I do not acknowledge that we are placed under any obligation . For by a reference to history it may be proved that the world was indebted to our ancestors for the first dawn of
knowledge , which sprung up in the East , and , thanks to the Goddess of Wisdom , we have still a philosophical and copious language of our own which distinguishes us from other nations , who cannot express scientific or abstract ideas without borrowing the language of foreigners .
" Rammohun Roy ' s abandonment of Hindoo doctrines ( as c A Christian * mentions ) cannot prove them to be erroneous ; no more than the rejection of the Christian religion by hundreds of
persons who were originally Christians and more learned than Rammohun Roy , prove the fallacy of Christianity . We Hindoos regard him in the same light as Christians do Hume , Voltaire , Gibbon and other sceptics .
" Before ' A Christian * indulged in a tirade about persons being ' degraded by Asiatic effeminacy , ' he should have recollected that almost all the ancient prophets and patriarchs venerated by Christians , nay even Jesus Christ himself , a divine incarnation and the founder of the
Christian faith , were ASIATICS . So that if a Christian thinks it degrading to be born or to reside in u 4 sia 9 he directly reflects upon them . " First . — The ' Christian demands , 4 Will Ram Doss or his associates he
pleased to inform me if the incarnation of his god was foretold by prophets through a period of four thousand years V I answer in the affirmative—The incarnation of Ram was foretold in the works of many holy and inspired men for more
than four thousand years previous to the event , in the most precise and intelligible language ; not in those ambiguous and equivocal terms found in the Old Testament , respecting the incarnation of Jesus Christ , an ambiguity which it is well known has afforded our common
enemies the Unitarians , a handle for raising a doubt of Jesus Christ being a real manifestation of God in the flesh . " Secondly . —The Christian demands of Ram Doss , Will he demonstrate the mission or divine incarnation of his deity by incontestable and stupendous miracles . such as Christ wrought ? ' I answer , Yes : The divine Hani performed
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miracles more stupendous , not before multitudes of ignorant people only , but in the presence of princes and of thousands of iearned men , and of those who were inimical to Hindooism . I admit that the Jeins and other unbelievers ascribed Ram ' s miraculous power to a
demoniacal spirit , in the same manner as the Jews attributed the miracles of Jesus to the power of Beelzebub ; but neither of these objections are worthy of notice from believers in divine incarnations ; since the performance of the miracles themselves is incoutestably proved by tradition .
" Thirdly . —The Christian * asks , ' Will he ( Ram Doss ) assert that the doctrine of Hindooism is as pure and undetiled as that of Christianity ?* Undoubtedly , such is my assertion : and an English translation of the Vedant as well as of
JVlunoo ( which contains the essences of the whole Veds ) being before the public , I call on all reflecting men to compare the two religions together , and point out in what respect the one excels the other in purity . Should the ' Christian * attempt
to ridicule some part of the ritual of the Veds , I shall of course feel myself justified in referring to ceremonies of a similar character in the Christian Scriptures ; and If he dwell on the corrupt notions introduced into Hindooism in
more modern times , I shall also remind him of the corruptions introduced by various sects into Christianity . But i A Christian * must know very well that such corruptions cannot detract from the excellence of genuine religions themselves .
" Fourthly . —The Christian' asks , < Will he ( Ram Doss ) prove that the human character has ever been exalted by any system of religion so much as by the sweet influence of Christianity ? ' In reply , I appeal to history , and call upon the c Christian to mention any religion on the face of the earth that has been
the cause of so much war and bloodshed , cruelty and oppression for so many hundred years as this whose ' sweet influence * he celebrates . iC That propriety of conduct found among the better sort of Christians is entirely owing to the superior education they have enjoyed ; a proof of which is ,
that others of the same rank in society , although not believers in Christianity , arc distinguished by equal propriety of conduct , which is not the case with the most firm believers , if destitute of education or without the means of improvement , by mixing in company with persons better instructed than themselves .
" It is unjust in the < Christian to quarrel with Hindoos because ( he says ) they cannot comprehend the subliniu
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300 Review . — East-India Unitarian Tracts *
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), May 2, 1824, page 300, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2524/page/44/
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