Letter Written By Gandhi On Jesus, Universal Faith Up For Sale 

A letter written by Mahatma Gandhi to a religious leader in the United States in 1926, which discusses Jesus, is up for sale for $50,000 by the Raab Collection. The letter had been a part of a private collection since the 1960s. This is the first time it has come out in public.

In the letter, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi writes to Christian leader Milton Newberry Frantz in response to Franz, who asked Gandhi to read a recent publication he had written with verses about Christianity.

The letter originated at Sabarmati Ashram, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, and was written on April 6, 1926, to Milton Newberry Frantz.

“Dear Friend, I have your letter. I am afraid it is not possible for me to subscribe to the creed you have sent me. The subscriber is made to believe that the highest manifestation of the unseen reality was Jesus Christ. In spite of all my efforts, I have not been able to feel the truth of that statement. I have not been able to move beyond the belief that Jesus was one of the great teachers of mankind. Do you not think that religious unity is to be had not by a mechanical subscription to a common creed but by all respecting the creed of each? In my opinion, difference in creed there must be so long as there are different brains. But who does it matter if all these are hung upon the common thread of love and mutual esteem?,” Gandhi wrote.

“I return the stamp kindly sent by you. It cannot be used in India,” he added.

In this letter, Gandhi is espousing universality of all religions and accepts differences in faiths. He was a Hindu himself for all his life.

This is the only letter by Gandhi that mentions Jesus, according to Raab Collection. In the 1960s, the letter was acquired from a New York City-based historical document dealer by the family that is now putting it up for sale. This is one of the finest letters on religion that Gandhi ever wrote, Raab Collection said in a statement.

“This letter is the embodiment of Gandhi’s vision for a world of religions at peace. His belief in Jesus as a teacher of mankind shows his efforts to find commonality with his fellow man,” said Nathan Raab, principal at The Raab Collection.

The organization searches the world for important historical documents to buy and sell to their historically passionate clientele.