SOURCE: "The Impact of Christianity on Gandhi," in Gandhi's Religious Thought, University of Notre Dame Press, 1983, pp. 41-57.

In the following excerpt, Chatterjee examines the influence of Christianity on Gandhi's religious thought as well as the differences between Christianity and Hinduism .

Gandhi's first impressions of Christianity were shaped by the aggressive evangelical style of missionaries of a bygone era in his home town. Several decades were to pass before this style was replaced by something more kindly, less arrogantly self-righteous. During his student days in London, Gandhi studied the New Testament and met a number of fine people among Quakers and others and began to make a distinction in his mind between Christianity, Christians and Christ. The impact of the Sermon on the Mount on his mind was to remain with him all his life. The extent to which Hindus and Muslims of Gandhi's generation associated Christianity with...