Young Islam on Trek

Book excerpt: Written by a Protestant missionary soon after Ataturk's takeover of Turkey. Mathews discusses recent political developments in Turkey, Egypt, India, and so forth, with respect to the enduring religious hold of Islam. He sees little to redeem the religion even though he sees potential in the people themselves. However, Mathews is also unimpressed with the cultural offerings of the West; while he sees Christianity as vital, he also perceives contemporary European culture as dissipated and sinful, and thus he argues that Christian missionaries should not attempt to actually replace local cultural practices with European ones.