XI

CONCLUSION

“Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.”

Ephesians iv. 13.

The spiritual heritage of the twentieth century is marked by extreme diversity and yet by a deep inward reality. The march of science and commerce, and the development of international relationships have given a new content and width to the world’s thought. Isolated life is powerless, and a larger synthesis links the human race together. All such relationship must inevitably have spiritual content. The social upheaval, the claim of the individual for recognition, have a determining influence on the interpretation of our faith. Pragmatism in modern philosophy tests religion by its results. The religious evolution necessitated by the play of international forces is all the more critical in that it is to a certain extent unconscious. There is a deep Christianity apart from the Church as it is, which has yet to make the Church its own. The demand is now for reality—an embodiment of religious principles in modern social conditions; for charity—a sympathy with the ethnic faiths which is the surer for belief in the finality of the Christian revelation; for unity, since the modern mind cannot accept a Christianity which does not transcend and interpret all political, social, and intellectual life. “It is not our duty to-day to fight for a new religion; we have but to awaken into freshness of life the fathomless depths of Christianity. In so far as we succeed in doing this, we can completely satisfy the requirements of the new situation; we can seek to realize a Christianity that shall be at once more universal and more active and intent on disengaging itself from its anthropomorphisms; at the same time we shall view as our very own the wealth of religious profundity and inward experience which the older Christianity has gathered through its centuries of service, and shall seek to realize them in our own life.”[166]

The growth of the desire to make Christianity universal is perhaps the most wonderful phase in the advance of thought; while in one sense it is very old and a return to the primitive times of the faith, its modern phase thrills with fresh content by the ever-present working of the Spirit of God. The fresh light which criticism has shed on the historical Jesus has thrown once more into relief His wonderful doctrine of the brotherhood of men in the Fatherhood of God. The desire is not so much to bring salvation to those whom a rigid theology long condemned as “heathen,” as to give freely of the fulness received in clear consciousness of the solidarity of the human race. The world’s best thought must be in terms of Christian philosophy; the Kingdom is conceived as present now in power; Christ is seen as the Fulfiller of all that is true and eternal in the ancient Faiths, and essentially the Saviour of the corporate life.

The appeal of this book is thus for the Christianizing of every factor in the education of women in India. None of the three contributing forces need be alien to the Spirit of Christ; their unity, their mutual relationship, and the necessity of their presence in a transitional period must be felt and realized. Can all this educational advance be made, if not directly in the Name of Christ, at least in the power of His Spirit? The Government influence must determine the tone and character of the whole frame-work. Can the Educational Service be supplied in all its branches with women who, while absolutely loyal to the great principle of neutrality, yet seek through it the spiritual in the material, and whose whole work in Empire-building is consciously related to the Kingdom of Christ? India has known men of this type in the Government Service, and has esteemed their strict neutrality the more because of the Christian conviction which lay behind it. The influence of Christian ethics in the Government schools behind such moral instruction as is possible is enormous, and it naturally enters into the teaching of secular subjects. The direct influence permitted out of school hours is a matter of great difficulty and calls for the utmost discretion. If the Government policy were ultimately modified so as to permit of parallel religious instruction, the direct opportunity would be present, but in the meantime indirect religious influence has a very definite place.

The spontaneous Indian element will have an important contribution to make in the determining of the curricula. Will the Indian committees, who need the help of English women, be able to secure those of the highest talent and educational qualifications, who for the sake of Christ will give them of their best and remain, if silent, yet strong in the Faith? This is hard and perplexing work, and calls for strong personalities, but it is fraught with endless possibility. India will never be won if she does not behold Christianity in her midst lived in the lives of those who pursue their ordinary vocation in the Spirit of the Master.

These suggestions are made with hesitation lest their attraction should weigh with those who could take the more definite line of associating themselves with the educational work in India which is done directly in the name of Christ. The development of this work on sound lines by women of experience and of the highest educational qualifications is, as has been indicated in the preceding chapter, the keynote to the whole problem. In no work is there such a magnificent sphere of influence as in this. A spiritual heritage involves responsibility and opportunity. Nearly a century of patient work for the women of India is written in the annals of the Church: the task of the present day is to enter into this work with the same earnest patience. The need for action is urgent. It is not only that there are endless opportunities for new work which are not being utilized, but that schools with an excellent tradition are not being raised to the modern standard of efficiency. They are inevitably handicapped by shortage in the English staff. A young girl of little experience may find herself almost at once at the head of some most complex institution, long before she would ever have had such a position of responsibility at home. The perpetual strain on those who work on at such tension prevents the due result. In other cases the needed and desired expansion is checked by lack of the trained educator who could supervise village schools and their teachers, or who could put her energy and talent into building up a first-class school for non-Christian girls in the centre of some district where the new spirit is manifest. Facts indicate the appointment in the future of women to act as Tutors or Directresses of Studies to the girl students in the mixed mission colleges. There is the possibility also of women’s Christian colleges. On every side the need is apparent, and the power to meet it lies with the women of the English-speaking countries. It is work which makes demands on intellect, on character, and on the religious nature. The hesitation to respond to it springs in part from the sense of reverence for things sacred. There are women in educational circles at home who hold the truth of Christianity and its sufficiency to meet the need of the whole world, but have not offered to share in educational missions lest their contribution be not of the required type. There is need in India for every type of worker. Christianity gains there, as at home, by interpretation through diverse personalities, and there is room for all who can reflect, it may be silently, its spirit and power in the daily routine of work. A sense of vocation is a sense of personal relationship to Him Who calls, and therein lies the motive power for all educational work done in the name of Christ.