Religion: Where Is He?

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And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed. . . . And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem . . . to be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child. And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them at the inn. And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and . . . said . . . Unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. . . . The shepherds said one to another, let us go now even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass. . . .

When Jesus was born . . . behold, there came wise men from the East to Jerusalem, saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the East, and are come to worship him. . . . They departed, and, lo, the star, which they saw in the East, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was. . . . They presented unto him gifts; gold, frankincense, and myrrh. . . .

Thus St. Luke and St. Matthew reported the most important event of their time—to Christians, the most important event in the world since its creation. This week Christendom marks the anniversary of Christ's Nativity. Sober Christians, celebrating the feast in a world of fears, troubles and confusions, could well wonder whether, in the 1,943 years* since their Saviour's birth, Christendom had ever been so sorely beset.

On Christmas Day of 1938, the world which Christ's coming had been meant to save, the age which had vainly taken his name for nearly 2,000 years, were a world and an age in which Christ's Gospel was met, nearly everywhere and nearly always, with lip service, pagan indifference, subtle hostility or outright persecution. Symptomatic was a Nazi decree that in Germany Christmas was to be celebrated in "Germanic" rather than Christian fashion, that religion was to be kept out of public Yule exercises.

In the nominally Christianized western world, Christianity might sometimes seem an old, unhappy, far-off thing; but in the East, the bright star still went before, was still followed by eager seekers asking "Where is He?" Christ's mission on earth was a missionary enterprise: Go ye therefore, and teach all nations. . . . Conscious of this command, and its full implications in an increasingly un-Christian world, on Christmas Day many a Western—Christian looked toward India, where, at Madras Christian College, 450 Christian men and women from 65 nations were gathered last week.