22 REV. W. ST. CLAIR TISDALL^ D.D., ON THE INFUJENCE 



and learnt something of the Christian faith. It has indeed 

 heen thought that the whole story of Balder's death and the 

 description of his character, so diiferent from that of the other 

 Scandina\'ian deities, is due to some acquaintance with the 

 Gospel Message. 



Among the Slavonians it is not easy to trace influence to any 

 great extent. On the Finns, however, as we have pointed out 

 in the Introduction, the Gospel narrative of our Lord's birth was 

 not without effect, in that it left its trace on their ancient 

 religion, as we learn from the legend of Marjatta. 



Paet II. 



THE IXFLUEXCE OF CHEISTIAXITY OYEE 

 EELIGIOXS THAT STILL SUE VI YE. 



In dealing with this very extensive department of our subject, 

 perhaps it will be best to di^ide it into three sections. In the 

 first we shall treat of the influence of Christianity on the still 

 extant religions of the Farther East, comprising India, China, 

 and J apan ; in the second we shall have to consider how 

 Christianity has affected the faiths of the Xearer East — that is 

 to say, Arabia, Persia, and Africa ; and in the third to inquire 

 what its influence has been on two religions which fit into 

 neither of these di^^sions — to wit, Xeo-Judaism and Xeo- 

 Zoroastrianism. Tliis arrangement is not intended to be exact, 

 but it is convenient for several reasons. Among other things, 

 the chief religions of the Farther East may be said to have 

 arisen long before the Christian Era, while those of the Xearer 

 East are of much more recent origin. It is true that in a 

 certain sense no religion has ever died out completely, and that 

 no absolutely new religion has ever been born. Doubtless 

 certain Islamic tenets and practices may be traced back to a 

 time prior to the death of Abraham, and are quite as ancient as 

 anything to be found in the Rig-Yeda of India : yet on the whole 

 the fact remains that Islam with its oft-shoots originated as a 

 system centuries after oui' Lord's time, while Hinduism in its" 

 oldest known form, found in the Yedas, existed as a religion in 

 very early times. 



