Page 117 - Neglected Arabia Vol 1 (3)_Neat

III .V/:(,/./:( 11:1) .IK. I HI A
of the West upon the East since the war. To the .shame oi ilie Wcbi U
must he confessed.that that inlluence has not been fur good in its total
effect. It has been perfectly evident that material gain, even tu the point
of exploitation, has been the primary object of those who ha\e conic to
the East from the West. On the other hand, there has been little to
suggest any consciousness of (iod to the Arab tor whom pravers and
fastings and pious phrases are of the essence of religion. More ilia,,
that, certain positively evil elements from the West have been introduced
which the undiscriminating East has accepted to its own hurt. QUc
shudders to think of the day when the sins of the West will come home
to their fathers, when the West will reap a reward not reckoned in trade
balance sheets. All of this has made the task of the missionary more
difficult. Vie always forms an apparently unimportant miiiMrity in i|,c
foreign community, less wealthy, less prominent and harder to under*
stand because his objectives are intangible.

TIIK MISSION fllAPhl. AT HAsUAll
Another factor which makes it difficult to present Christianity to the
Arab is the measure of truth lie enjoys in Islam. Islam has more ia
common with Christianity than any other non-Christian faith, hia
instead of being a means of approach, a connecting link, this similaritj
has proven to he a harrier. The missionary agrees with his Aral) friend
in his staunch monotheism; only the missionary would tel! his trien4
more of that one Cod in whom the Arab professes such faith and u,
whom he surrenders. But instead of a larger Cod the Aral* thinks tU
missionary would rob him of his God entirely. I hat mental attitude 5
is not hard to understand. Is it not a fact that in the realm of reiigioo
wc all cling more tenaciously to our ideas than in any other: One who
has witnessed the strength of religious controversy at home can undo.