Book Description

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1903 edition. Excerpt: ... CHAPTER XII Asceticism NOT long ago there was a warm discussion on the luxury of missionaries in India whose incomes were at or under 300 per annum. They were belittled as destitute of the true missionary spirit which was manifested by the man who lived in a garret, under a hot roof, who went out barefoot in the dusty street, and whose head was protected from the burning sun only by a handkerchief. Asceticism appeals with peculiar force as a virtue to those who are surrounded by a superabundance of the good things of this life, in which they find their chief enjoyment, and the voluntary renunciation of which seems to them the highest form of self-denial. This respect is manifested not to the work done, but to the voluntary privations undergone by the ascetic. It is of a piece with the value attached by some natures to ritualistic practices. Both forms of respect have the common origin of ignorance of the true nature of Christian principles, and of the consequent importance attached to externals, whether in eating, drinking, or ceremonial. As not a few Christian people are ever readyto applaud what appears to be self-denial in the way of voluntary privation; and especially as many believe that the ascetic makes the ideal missionary, the subject is worthy of examination. Affecting the missionary there are four forms of asceticism--I. Asceticism proper, or abstention from ordinary food; II. Celibacy; III. Self-Exile; IV. Self-Sacrifice. I. ASCETICISM This term is usually applied to a moderation in food and drink approaching to or merging in abstemiousness or even abstention. It originated with the Greek athletes, who knew, as their modern representatives know, the necessity of moderation in all things when in training for athletic...