International Christian Citizenship Conference
By Editor
REPORTS direct from this Conference held in Portland, Oregon, June 29 to July 6, this current year, will appear next week. In this issue we wish to lay before our readers the genesis of the movement, when it originated, its principles, and what it proposes. 1. This is the second conference of the kind that has been held. The first was held November 16-20, 1910. It is a product of the National Reform Association, originating with them, and planned and fostered by them throughout. According to its president, Dr. Henry Collin Minton, the National Reform Association “was born in 1862, in the midst of the agonizing throes of the great Civil War.” Its first national meeting was held in 1864. Not very much was done during the war period, but since that it has been very active in its propaganda, spreading its principles over the United States by tracts, books, and various publications, and to quite an extent by its regular organ, the “Christian Statesman,” which bears this inscription: “Published by the National Reform Association, Publication Building, Pittsburg, Pennsylvania.” The National Reform Association is a product of the Reformed Presbyterian Church, and most of its officers and leaders have been Reformed Presbyterians. The well-known names of Jonathan Edwards, A. N. Milligan, J. C. K. Milligan, S. F. Scovel, M. A. Gault, Dr. McAllister, T. P. Stevenson, stand out very prominently in the records of the National Reform work as active and leading men, and these are all, if we mistake not, members of the Reformed Presbyterian Church. The origin of this will carry us back to Scotland. We need not enter into that. Suffice to say that the doctrines of the Reformed Presbyterian Church are the doctrines that are advocated by the National Reform Association, and the object of the National Reform Association is primarily the object of the National Christian Citizenship Conference, or, as it is called, the World’s Christian Citizenship Conference. That we are not leading our readers astray in these general remarks, is clearly indicated by almost every “Christian Statesman.” For instance, in December, 1912, Rev. R. C. Wylie, D.D. LL.D., one of the editorial staff of the “Christian Statesman,” says in an article: “While the National Reform Association is the prime mover in the organization and management of this conference [that is, at Portland], it will not be merely a meeting of the Association.” But he tells us in the same article: “No obscure place will be assigned in this conference to the National Reform Association, or to its principles and methods.” The principles of the Association are also stated in the same article by Dr. Wylie. He says: “This Association, as the readers of this journal well know, holds to a well-defined set of political doctrines. These are the following: God is the Source of all political authority. Jesus Christ is the Ruler of nations. The Divine Will is supreme in political affairs.” These principles are also stated in almost every issue, if not every issue, of the “Christian Statesman” itself, in its prospectus. For instance, in April, 1913, we have this statement: “The ‘Christian Statesman’ is a monthly magazine of 48 pages designed to promote needed reforms in the action of the government touching the Sabbath, the institution of the family, the religious element in education, the oath and public morality as affected by the liquor traffic and other kindred evils, and to secure such an amendment to the Constitution of the United States as will declare the nation’s allegiance to Jesus Christ and its acceptance of the moral laws of the Christian religion and to indicate that this is a Christian nation, and place all the Christian laws, institutions, and usages of our government on an undeniable legal basis in the fundamental law of the land.” That is the object of the “Christian Statesman,” and the “Christian Statesman” is the organ, or mouthpiece, of the National Reform Association, and the National Reform Association is the parent of the World’s Christian Citizenship Conference. The object, therefore, of the Christian Citizenship Conference is the object of the National Reform Association. When the movement first started, it was ridiculed by some of the great and strong journals of the United States, like the New York “Independent,” but the Association has been doing very valiant and faithful seed sowing, and some of its principles, specifically those regarding Sunday laws, have been adopted by various political conventions of the Prohibition Party, the W. C. T. U., the Y. P. S. C. E., Sabbath associations, and various other bodies. In the “Christian Statesman” of January, 1913, the principles of the National Reform Association are editorially set forth as follows: “(1) Almighty God is the Source of all power and authority in national life; (2) Jesus Christ is the Ruler of nations; (3) The Divine Will is the supreme standard of moral conduct for both citizens and nations. “There are three other principles which are corollaries of these: “(1) Nations are moral beings, since they exist in the realm of moral law and are subjects of God’s moral government. (2) Nations can do right and wrong, have a moral character, are either righteous or unrighteous. (3) Nations receive rewards or penalties, according to their character and conduct.”11 Needless to say, there is great difference of opinion among eminent modern Bible students and great thinkers regarding these principles and the conclusions which the National Reformers draw from them. They question very seriously as to whether government has any duty whatever apart from enforcing civility, teaching common civic morality. They question seriously as to what an amendment to the Constitution of the United States will mean. It will be either a dead letter or operative; but if it is operative, who will interpret what the nation’s allegiance to Jesus Christ means? What tribunal will declare what are the moral laws of the Christian religion? By what terms can a Christian nation be defined? What are “the Christian laws, institutions, and usages of our government”? and if there are such things as that, why are they made more sacred by placing them in the fundamental law of the land? We will enlarge upon simply one of these items. Take, for instance, acceptance of the moral laws of the Christian religion, as manifesting the nation’s allegiance to Jesus Christ. What are these moral laws? There is an abundance of articles in the “Christian Statesman” in the aggregate which advocate that the Decalogue shall be declared to be the law of the land. But there are various ways of looking at the Decalogue. There are large Christian bodies, like the Disciples, who hold that the Decalogue is as a code of laws abolished. The fourth commandment of the Decalogue declares that “the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God.” Roman Catholics have one interpretation of the Decalogue, Protestant Christians another. What tribunal will tell us what the true interpretation of the Decalogue is? If it is to be left to every man’s conscience, we have that already, but it can not become a part of the fundamental law of the land and embodied in the statutory laws of the nation without clearly defining something. Of course the National Reformers tell us that it is not proposed to deliver the country over to an atheistic power, or to a perverted religious power; but in a nation like the United States the majority rules, and it is not an inconceivable thing to believe that the majority may become infidel or atheistic. According to the drift of higher criticism and the hold that it is getting upon the masses, such a condition as that would not be surprising at all, and may be expected. What would we expect from a nation who held to the skeptical views regarding the Bible and Jesus Christ that the ultra-higher critics do at the present time? Roman Catholics hold the balance of power in a great many states of the Union. In some states they are in the majority. Supposing that in a test case, under the Initiative or Referendum, the matter shall come to a decision as to what church represents Christianity. What is there to hinder the Roman Catholics in such states from demanding and compelling a recognition of the Roman religion? In other states Protestants would be in the majority, and they would declare that Protestantism was the religion of that state. They might select one of the many Protestant sects as the exponent of such religion. We need not follow the logical conclusion of these things that might be expected. The reader can easily see that confusion would certainly result, if not something which is far worse. What would be the result to him who transgressed, or proved rebellious regarding these fundamental laws? Naturally they would be considered the most sacred laws in the government. Naturally the penalty for their transgression would be the severest penalty. Yet we are willing to concede that our National Reform friends believe that they are working for the best good of the country. They think the outworking of their plans would result in good, but sincerity and honesty are not all that is necessary in such a case as that. The principles lying back of all these efforts are of immense importance. These will be brought out in later articles. Surely an association that is working for such things demands the attention of the people of the country. A convention which will call together, as it is said that this one will, two thousand delegates from various parts of the world, ought not to be given mere passing consideration; the citizens of the United States themselves ought to understand what is meant by Christian citizenship. We wish to do all in our power to enlighten those who are seeking to know what these things mean, and the articles which will appear in our next and succeeding issues will help, we believe, greatly along these lines.