ONE RESULT OF DAVID LIVINGSTONE'S PIONEER WORK Part of an Audience at a Preaching Service of the Scotch Presbyterian Mission in Livingstonia, Central Africa of the World VOL. XXXVI, No. 3 MARCH, 1913 VOL. XXVI, No. 3 Signs of the Times A CHANGE OF FRONT IN ISLAM T has been thought that Islam, like Rome, never changes, and it is true that with change must come a loss of identity. Islam is changing, as we see clearly and forcibly in the Moslem press of Egypt. From time to time in the daily papers and the religious magazines, we see signs that Moslems are becoming less fanatical and are not only willing, but anxious to examine the evidence of Christianity as it is found in the New Testament. Formerly the New Testament was rejected on the charge of having been corrupted, or abrogated by the Koran. In these days Moslems often seem eager to prove their position by quoting Scripture. A series of articles which have been appearing in the paper called El Manar seeks to prove that the original Gospel on which our present four Gospels are based, did not teach the deity of Christ nor His Atonement. In other words, Mohammedans are following the lead of those who by critical methods profess to be able to eliminate the supernatural from the New Testament. Another more hopeful sign of progress is noticeable in the recent gathering of some 65 missionaries for an eight-day conference in Egypt. Their report of the state of affairs in that country declares that to-day as never before there is manifest among the Moslems an interest in Christianity and its teachings. Copies of the Scriptures and religious tracts are being bought and read by Moslems to an extent unparalleled in the past history of Islam. A spirit of religious inquiry is manifest among many Moslems, even of those who are recognized as sheikhs or religious teachers. The attendance of Moslems is increasing in both the regular and special meetings held under Christian auspices. Requests for baptism on the part of Moslems are not infrequent. Formerly few Moslems were willing to listen to Christian teaching, now few there are who refuse to listen when approached. There is also, we are told, "a spirit of unrest in Moslem circles, and an increasing effort to discover ways by which Islamic standards and practises, Islamic laws and institutions may undergo such revis The editors seek to preserve accuracy and to manifest the spirit of Christ in the pages of this REVIEW, but do not acknowledge responsibility for opinions exprest, nor for positions taken by contributors of signed articles in these pages.-EDITORS. ion and reconstruction as will enable them to retain the respect and command the allegiance of a Moslem public which is advancing in knowledge and enlightenment." For all of which Christians Christians everywhere give thanks. HOPE FOR PERSIAN GIRLS WHEN the girls who will be the future mothers, become Christians, we may have greater hope for the coming generation. So it is encouraging to know that Miss Annie Stockwell, missionary of the Presbyterian Board at Teheran, Persia, estimates that there are now at least 1,000 Moslem boys and girls attending the 13 Christian mission schools in Persia. Miss Stockwell estimates that this number is twice what it was five years ago. The education of Moslems in Christian schools is, in fact, a very recent development, but the ambition of Mohammedan parents to secure good education for their children is rapidly overcoming all religious prejudices. Of this thousand nearly 700 are paying tuition, so that the movement is no pauper scheme to get something for nothing. There is no concession on religion to these Moslem scholars. They are required. to attend school on Friday, which is the holy day of Islam, and all of the schools require the Bible as a regular study in the curriculum. So far, however, from there being any prejudice aroused by this method of teaching the Bible lesson is distinctly popular among the Mohammedan children in most of the schools. MOSLEM UNREST IN INDIA THE Balkan war has greatly ex cited the Mohammedans of the Indian Empire. In Calcutta, a very largely attended meeting has been held, which, strange to say, was attended by a number of Hindus also. The speakers declared that the Christian nations have joined hands to rob the Moslems of all their possessions; that the believers in the Bible are always the enemies of the believers in the Koran, but that they are unable to extinguish the fire which Mohammed has started, and that some day the cry "Allah Akbar," once heard before the gates of Vienna, would be heard again in the uttermost parts of the earth. Mohammedan newspapers are beginning to show more plainly their opposition to Christianity, as the following sentences, taken from an editorial, show: "In none of the Gujarat districts have any Mohammedan orphans been handed over to Christian missionaries during the present famine, and instructions have been issued that collectors of famine-stricken dis tricts, who have Mohammedan orphans to dispose of, should inform the honorary secretary of the Bombay Presidency Moslem League, at Poona, before handing them over to any non Moslem missionaries or institutions." The importance of this Moslem unrest and anti-Christian activity in India is made clear by the fact that the unrest has spread to Hindu colonies in other lands. For instance, the Mos lem Hindus who have settled in the Transvaal Colony have addrest a telegram to the British Government in which they ask humbly, but very earnestly, that England aid the Turks against the Balkan Powers. The colony of Mohammedan Hindus in London, also, is showing signs of increased activity and of great interest. in the Balkan war. It is a peculiar symptom of this Moslem unrest that there is shown a certain anger with the British Government for not coming to the aid of the Moslem cause, and a certain sympathy for Germany, which is often called the unselfish friend of Turkey and Islam. But the activity and unrest are sure proofs of the fact that Moslems throughout the earth are beginning to feel their oneness in religion and in politics. THE WORK IN MOROCCO THE 'HE missionaries of the Southern Morocco Mission, who had been forced to abandon their work in the city of Marakesh during the rebellion and the war, have now returned to and the mission buildings were de- The work of the dispensary was kept partly going by the servant during the absence of the missionaries, so that the people never really lost touch with it. Thus the work now moves on again as if there had been no war. The attendances are large and the evening classes are crowded, so that opportunities for the preaching of the Gospel are great, tho the ladies fancy that the women are a little more opposed to the Christian religion. than they were before the loss of in that city and have again entered upon dependence by their country. their work. They were warmly welcomed by the natives, who have become very humble, it seems. Formerly the fanatical Mohammedans used to say that the blessing of the Prophet is more than a match for the forces of the unbelievers. Now they see that they have lost their independence and that the news from Turkey means practically the overthrow of Moslem power. Some, however, declare that Hiba will yet return and turn out all the obnoxious and, more or less secretly, hated Frenchmen, and they seem more firmly than ever determined to cling to their religion. The Mission itself has suffered comparatively little from the war. Before the Pretender entered the city, much looting was done, and many buildings were burned, but the efforts of the servant, who had been left in charge, saved the houses of the missionaries. After the Pretender entered the city, he at once began to seize European houses for his friends, REFORM IN THE GREEK CHURCH A Greek "We do indeed hold and keep the Evangelical Truth, . . . but our faith is a dead and empty faith, because it is faith without works (Jas. 2: 17, 20); our Religion is empty and vain, because 'Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world' (Jas.1:27). While sticking to the letter, we have fallen from the spirit, we have stript ourselves of Christian grace and comeliness, we have lost the true and living faith that renews and cleanses the heart, that uplifts and ennobles |