The declaration of faith of Christendom's most famed living convert was made public last week by the Methodist Church. Chiang Kai-shek had written it in 1937, shortly after his capture and release by his Sian kidnappers.
The hardboiled, stern Generalissimo, whose mother was a devout Buddhist, came under the influence of three powerful Christian influences in youth and early manhood—Dr. Sun Yatsen, "Mother" K. T. Soong and her daughter, Meiling. In 1930, three years after he had married the brilliant, Wellesley-educated Meiling, Chiang was baptized a Methodist, the faith of his wife and her family. But not until his captivity in Sian, by his testimony, did his religion become a part of himself, and thus a part of China.
Christian Husband. Chiang had resisted threats of violence, torture and public trial from his captors.
"From my captors I asked but one thing—the Bible. . . . The greatness and love of Christ burst upon me with a new inspiration, increasing my strength to struggle against evil, to overcome temptation and to uphold righteousness. . . . When Christ entered Jerusalem the last time He knew the danger ahead, but triumphantly He rode into the city. . . .
"In comparison, how unimportant my life must be! ... I remembered the prayers offered by Dr. Sun Yat-sen during his imprisonment in London. . . .* My strength was redoubled and ... I was prepared to make the final sacrifice. ... I was comforted and at rest. . . .
"The greatest thing [about Dr. Sun] was the love he received from Christ —love which sought the emancipation of the weaker races and the welfare of op pressed peoples. This spirit remains with us now and reaches to the skies.
"Today I find that I have taken a further step and have become a follower of Jesus Christ. This makes me realize more fully than ever that the success of our revolution depends upon men of faith, men of character, who because of their faith will not sacrifice principle for personal safety. . . .
"The life of Christ is a long record of affliction and persecution. His spirit of forbearance, His love and His benevolence shine through it all. No more valuable lesson has yet come to me out of my Christian experience.
"Without religion there can be no real understanding of life. Without faith our human problems, great and small, are difficult of solution." Christian Wife. The Methodist Church also published the vivid and more emotional testimony of the Madame: "By nature I am not a religious person ... a mystic. I am practical minded.
Mundane things have meant much to me . . . mundane, not material things. I care more for a beautiful celadon vase than for costly jewels. . . . Also I am more or less skeptical. ... I do not yet believe in predigested religion in palatable, sugar-coated doses. . . .
"I know my mother ['Mother' Soong] lived very close to God. I recognized something great in her. And I believe that my childhood training influenced me greatly even though I was more or less rebellious at the time. ... I found family prayers tiresome. ... I hated the long sermons. But today I feel that this church-going habit established something, a kind of stability. . . .