A Hindu’s Solution

In a quotation appearing in Treasury of the Christian Faith, S. J. Corey says of the Hindu nationalist leader Mahatma Gandhi: “He was in Ceylon in the fall of 1927 and spoke at the Y.M.C.A. in Colombo in these words, ‘If I had to face only the Sermon on the Mount and my own interpretation of it, I should not hesitate to say, “O, yes, I am a Christian.’” He then added: ‘You of the West take Jesus apologetically at this point, while I take him seriously and literally.’” Again referring to Gandhi, the same volume says, in a statement by Frank E. Eden: “Gandhi and Lord Irwin, former Viceroy to India, were friends. On their return from the Round Table Conference at London, Lord Irwin paid a visit to the Mahatma in his ashram. During the conversation Lord Irwin put this question to his host: ‘Mahatma, as man to man, tell me what you consider to be the solution to the problems of your country and mine.’ Taking up a little book from the nearby lampstand, Gandhi opened it to the fifth chapter of Matthew and replied, ‘When your country and mine shall get together on the teachings laid down by Christ in this Sermon on the Mount, we shall have solved the problems not only of our countries but those of the whole world.’ That from a Hindu!”