Gandhi quotation attribution help

September 9, 2009 8:32 AM

Widely attributed, unreferenced Gandhi quotation: "I like your Christ..." Authentic?

According to many many people and several bumper stickers, Gandhi said: "I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. They are so unlike your Christ."

Having been burned before with a plausible but bogus Goethe quotation, I want to be sure that Gandhi said it before attributing it to him. Any idea how to go about verifying it? I already tried Google, Google Books, and Google Scholar.

posted by goethean to writing & language (5 comments total)

The only actual source I could find is this:
William Rees-Mogg in The Times [London] (4 April 2005)
posted by caveat at 8:42 AM on September 9

Meant to add, Rees-Mogg IS a columnist for Times London but I can't seem to find that article.
posted by caveat at 8:44 AM on September 9

It seems he said that in response to a question from his friend and Christian missionary, E. Stanley Jones. If that's correct, it's probably printed in the biography Jones wrote, called Gandhi: Portrayal of a Friend.
posted by Houstonian at 10:02 AM on September 9

Notice that the quote I found is slightly different (less pithy and bumper-sticker-ish), but basically the same message. "Oh, I don't reject Christ. I love Christ. It's just that so many of you Christians are so unlike Christ. If Christians would really live according to the teachings of Christ, as found in the Bible, all of India would be Christian today."
posted by Houstonian at 10:04 AM on September 9

Google Books says "No results found for "so many of you Christians are so unlike Christ." There are a few hits for "all of India would be Christian today," but they're all useless unsourced books like Business Wit & Wisdom. It may be apocryphal, or whatever he actually said may be even more removed from the pithy formula than Houstonian's version.
posted by languagehat at 11:17 AM on September 9