11. CHRISTIAN CONTACTS :

AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY:
THE STORY OF MY EXPERIMENTS WITH TRUTH
by Mohandas K. Gandhi


PART :2.




The next day at one o'clock I went to Mr. Baker's prayer-meeting. There I was introduced to
Miss Harris, Miss Gabb, Mr. Coates, and others. Everyone kneeled down to pray, and I followed
suit. The prayers were supplications to God for various things, according to each person's desire.
Thus the usual forms were for the day to be passed peacefully, or for God to open the doors of
the heart.



A prayer was now added for my welfare: 'Lord, show the path to the new brother who has
come amongst us. Give him, Lord, the peace that Thou has given us. May the Lord Jesus who
has saved us save him too. We ask all this in the name of Jesus.' There was no singing of hymns
or other music at these meetings. After the supplication for something special every day, we
dispersed, each going to his lunch, that being the hour for it. The prayer did not take more than
five minutes.



The Misses Harris and Gabb were both elderly maiden ladies. Mr. Coates was a Quaker. The
two ladies lived together, and they gave me a standing invitation to four o'clock tea at their house
every Sunday.



When we met on Sundays, I used to give Mr. Coates my religious diary for the week, and
discuss with him the books I had read and the impression they had left on me. The ladies used to
narrate their sweet experiences and talk about the peace they had found.
Mr. Coates was a frank-hearted staunch young man. We went out for walks together, and he
also took me to other Christian friends.



As we came closer to each other, he began to give me books of his own choice, until my shelf
was filled with them. He loaded me with books, as it were. In pure faith I consented to read all
those books, and as I went on reading them we discussed them.



I read a number of such books in 1893. I do not remember the names of them all, but they
included the Commentary of Dr. Parker of the City Temple, Pearson's Many Infallible Proofs, and
Butler's Analogy. Parts of these were unintelligible to me. I liked some things in them, while I did
not like others. Many Infallible Proofs were proofs in support of the religion of the Bible, as the
author understood it. The book had no effect on me. Parker's Commentary was morally
stimulating, but it could not be of any help to one who had no faith in the prevalent Christian
beliefs. Butler's Analogy struck me to be a very profound and difficult book, which should be read
four or five times to be understood properly. It seemed to me to be written with a view to
converting atheists to theism. The arguments advanced in it regarding the existence of God were
unnecessary for me, as I had then passed the stage of unbelief; but the arguments in proof of
Jesus being the only incarnation of God and the Mediator between God and man left me
unmoved.



But Mr. Coates was not the man easily to accept defeat. He had great affection for me. He
saw, round my neck, the Vaishnava necklace of Tulasi-beads. He thought it to be superstition,
and was pained by it. 'This superstition does not become you. Come, let me break the necklace.'


'No, you will not. It is a sacred gift from my mother.'


'But do you believe in it?'


'I do not know its mysterious significance. I do not think I should come to harm if I did not wear
it. But I cannot, without sufficient reason, give up a necklace that she put round my neck out of
love and in the conviction that it would be conducive to my welfare. When, with the passage of
time, it wears away and breaks of its own accord, I shall have no desire to get a new one. But this
necklace cannot be broken.'



Mr. Coates could not appreciate my argument, as he had no regard for my religion. He was
looking forward to delivering me from the abyss of ignorance. He wanted to convince me that, no
matter whether there was some truth in other religions, salvation was impossible for me unless I
accepted Christianity, which represented the truth; and that my sins would not be washed away
except by the intercession of Jesus, and that all good works were useless.



Just as he introduced me to several books, he introduced me to several friends whom he
regarded as staunch Christians. One of these introductions was to a family which belonged to the
Plymouth Brethren, a Christian sect.



Many of the contacts for which Mr. Coates was responsible were good. Most struck me as
being God-fearing. But during my contact with this family, one of the Plymouth Brethren
confronted me with an argument for which I was not prepared:



'You cannot understand the beauty of our religion. From what you say it appears that you must
be brooding over your transgressions every moment of your life, always mending them and
atoning for them. How can this ceaseless cycle of action bring you redemption? You can never
have peace. You admit that we are all sinners. Now look at the perfection of our belief. Our
attempts at improvement and atonement are futile. And yet redemption we must have. How can
we bear the burden of sin? We can but throw it on Jesus. He is the only sinless Son of God. It is
His word that those who believe in Him shall have everlasting life. Therein lies God's infinite
mercy. And as we believe in the atonement of Jesus, our own sins do not bind us. Sin we must. It
is impossible to live in this world sinless. And therefore Jesus suffered and atoned for all the sins
of mankind. Only he who accepts His great redemption can have eternal peace. Think what a life
of restlessness is yours, and what a promise of peace we have.'



The argument utterly failed to convince me. I humbly replied:



'If this be the Christianity acknowledged by all Christians, I cannot accept it. I do not seek
redemption from the consequences of my sin. I seek to be redeemed from sin itself, or rather
from the very thought of sin. Until I have attained that end, I shall be content to be restless.'
To which the Plymouth Brother rejoined: 'I assure you, your attempt is fruitless. Think again
over what I have said.'



And the Brother proved as good as his word. He knowingly committed transgressions, and
showed me that he was undisturbed by the thought of them.



But I already knew before meeting with these friends that all Christians did not believe in such
a theory of atonement. Mr. Coates himself walked in the fear of God. His heart was pure, and he
believed in the possibility of self-purification. The two ladies also shared this belief. Some of the
books that came into my hands were full of devotion. So, although Mr. Coates was very much
disturbed by this latest experience of mine, I was able to reassure him and tell him that the
distorted belief of a Plymouth Brother could not prejudice me against Christianity.


My difficulties lay elsewhere. They were with regard to the Bible and its accepted
interpretation.


NEXT : 12. SEEKING TOUCH WITH INDIANS


Continues....