with European culture and
Christian thought towards a solution of its religious doubts and problems;
the Arya Somaj represents a strong Theistic movement springing forth out
of Hinduism itself. This latter movement is possessed of unwonted vigour
and has a future before it. The founder of this Somaj was Dyanand
Sarasvati, a Brahman who was born about the year 1825. He was a man of
much thought and of deep religious interest. He was entirely ignorant of
the English language. He broke with orthodox Hinduism after reading the
Christian Scriptures. And yet he also attacked the character of Jesus. He
accepted the Hindu Vedas as Scriptures, but interpreted them so freely
that he was able to find in them all that he desired of religious reform.
He vigorously opposed caste.

The following are some of the principles of the Arya Somaj:

1. God is the primary source of all true knowledge.

2. God is perfect in all His attributes and should be worshipped.

3. The Vedas are the books of true knowledge.

4. The caste system is a human invention and is evil.

5. Early marriage is prohibited.

The movement has assumed the aspect of a sect of Hinduism. But some of its
fundamental contentions are so directly antagonistic to most cherished
institutions of Hinduism that it is a mighty disintegrator of that
religion in the land.

It must be confessed that the Arya Somaj is, in its present spirit,
anti-Christian. It champions the cause of home religion in the East as
against the aggression of the great rival, Christianity. But the teachers
of our faith in India find encouragement equally in the hostility of this
movement and in its cooeperation in a common attack upon modern Hinduism.
Any movement, that effectively calls the attention of the people to the
weakness and defects of its ancestral religion, cannot fail, in that very
process, to invite their attention to the claims of its rival,
Christianity.

The chief function of all these movements is to reveal the general
religious interest of the people. Indeed, they forward greatly the spirit
of discontent towards the ancestral faith. And while they do this, they
themselves furnish a no more satisfying or soul-inspiring substitute. And
in this way they emphasize the need of a new faith and draw the thought of
many to the new supplanting religion of the Christ. Chunder Sen, even
twenty years ago, declared that, "None but Jesus, none but Jesus, none but
Jesus is worthy to wear this