The World Missionary Conference held in Edinburgh, Scotland, June 14 to 21, was a remarkable and important occasion.
First, it was notable for its magnitude. Some twelve hundred delegates were gathered from all parts of Europe and America, and, in smaller proportion, from all the great mission fields of Asia and Africa. Besides these official delegates meeting in the Assembly Hall, there also gathered daily some two thousand missionaries, ministers, and Christian workers in the capacious Synod Hall, for the purpose of studying the great problems that confront the missionary cause to-day. Every night during the conference a further large audience gathered in a third hall to listen to addresses from the more prominent delegates. For ten days some three thousand five hundred people gathered together from the ends of the earth to engage morning, afternoon, and evening in considering the demands of missions at the present time.
Secondly, the Missionary Conference was noteworthy for the attention it received from people of prominence. The archbishops of Canterbury and York were present, and took an active part in the proceedings; and other leading men of many nations were present in large numbers. The king of England and Ex-President Roosevelt both sent lengthy expressions of their deep interest in the conference. Mr. W. J. Bryan was a frequent speaker, and a message was also received by the gathering from the prime minister of Japan.
Thirdly, the conference was entitled to respect because of the very thorough preparations that had been made for the purpose of laying exact and well-digested information before the delegates. The subject of missionary effort among non-Christian peoples had been divided into eight departments, each of which was placed in the hands of a large commission of influential and expert men and women. These commissions have been at work for nearly two years, and each commission has compiled a report dealing with its branch of the subject which represents a vast amount of investigation and analysis and carefully worked out conclusions. So complete and exhaustive were these reports that the twelve hundred delegates assembled were able to find but little room for criticism in their discussions.
A Sign of the Times
Fourthly, the conference was one of supreme interest in view of the fact that it represented the world-wide church of Christ, meeting together after nineteen centuries of its existence, to consider how far it had obeyed its Lord's commission to preach His Gospel to every creature; and to consider further what could be done to hasten and finish the evangelization of the world. Viewed in this aspect, the conference assumes a tenfold interest for those who realize that the end of all things is at hand, and that the time has fully come for the fulfilment of the words uttered by our Saviour when He said that His Gospel should be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations, and that then the end would come. Even the multitudes of those who share the greatly increased interest in foreign missions, do not realize that they are helping to fulfil this Word, the divine plan is being carried out, and the World Missionary Conference at Edinburgh takes its place as a great and striking sign of the times.
It would be impossible, in the limits of a brief article, to convey an adequate impression of the conference—of the many good words spoken, of the attractive personalities revealed, of the reverent and enthusiastic spirit that marked the occasion. Much emphasis was laid upon the importance of prayer, and every day there was a special period of intercession. One of the principal devotional features of the conference was the frequent resort to silent prayer. The conference, indeed, may be said to have been marked in a large degree by the spirit of prayer.
Throughout the meetings one could not help realizing that the speakers grouped themselves into two divisions. There were those who saw the work of foreign missions in its simplicity, who held up Christ as the unique and unapproachable Redeemer of sinful men, His Gospel as the one outstanding remedy for the ills of the human race, and the power of the Holy Spirit as the one equipment which could prepare the church for the task of carrying the Gospel to every land.
On the other hand, there were some who dwelt rather on the necessity for what they called "wise statesmanship" in the conduct of foreign missions; who, while they acknowledged the Lord Jesus Christ, thought also that there was much to be learned by the church of Christ from other faiths, and that it would derive from other religions almost as much as it imparted. This latter class seemed rather to discredit the idea of seeking to save individuals, and laid special emphasis upon the need for making the heathen NATIONS Christian. They seemed to suggest that no great success could be looked for in the work until the nations in the home lands became more truly Christian and ceased to send out to heathen countries unworthy representatives of their commerce and the degrading products of their manufacture.
The Crisis of Our Time
The thorough investigation carried on before the conference met made it clear that the work of evangelizing the world was still very largely unaccomplished; hundreds of millions had still been untouched by the Gospel, and vast multitudes had never yet heard the name of Christ. Seen in something like its exact proportions, and contrasted with the work already accomplished, the task before the missionary forces appeared stupendous. Present conditions in the world, too, were not entirely promising. True, there were at the present time wide-open doors everywhere, but conditions were arising in Asia and Africa which indicated that the doors now wide open would erelong begin to close to missionary effort so far as white missionaries are concerned. It was vividly impressed upon the conference that the present time is one of wonderful opportunity, but also of grave crisis, and that vast issues would depend upon the course taken now by the church of Christ. Mr. John Mott, who presided at the meetings of the conference, declared his fervent conviction that the church was now entering upon the grandest opportunity that had ever been given her. Appealing to the young men to arise and throw themselves into the opportunity, he said that if he could have his choice, he would rather live during the next ten or fifteen years than at any similar period in all the past history of the world, not even excepting the years in which our Saviour exercised His ministry upon this earth.
Interdenominational Union
One of the causes that at present hinder the work of missions is the division existing between the workers. This leads to duplication of effort, to waste, and to unchristian rivalry. It was said by more than one speaker that if only the churches could be united in their missionary work it would have the effect of immediately doubling the efficiency of the existing forces. One of the eight commissions had been entrusted with the subject of cooperation and unity. From the beginning of the World Conference every reference to unity was received with applause. On the11day appointed for the consideration of that subject the Assembly Hall was crowded to its utmost capacity. Officials and delegates had felt from the beginning that here was the central point of the whole conference, and that unless something definite was accomplished in the direction of securing a greater unity, the conference would have proved a failure. As a part of its report, the commission on cooperation presented a resolution to the conference calling for the appointment of a central advisory board which should be in effect a continuation of the Missionary Conference. The resolution ran as follows:
"That a continuation committee of the World Missionary Conference be appointed, international and representative in character, to carry out, on the lines of the conference itself [which are interdenominational and do not involve the idea of organic and ecclesiastical union], the following duties:
"1. To maintain in prominence the idea of the World Missionary Conference as a means of coordinating missionary work, of laying sound lines for future development, and of generating and claiming by corporate action fresh stores of spiritual force for the evangelization of the world.
"2. To finish any further investigations, or any formulation of the results of investigations, which may remain after the World Missionary Conference is over, and may be referred to it.
"3. To consider when a further World Missionary Conference is desirable, and to make the initial preparations.
"4. To devise plans for maintaining the intercourse which the World Missionary Conference has stimulated between different bodies of workers; for example, by literature or by a system of correspondence and mutual report, or the like.
"5. To place its services at the disposal of the home boards in any steps which they may be led to take (in accordance with the recommendation of more than one commission) toward closer mutual counsel and practical cooperation.
"6. To confer with the societies and boards as to the best method of working toward the formation of such a permanent international missionary committee as is suggested by the commissions of the conference and by various missionary bodies apart from the conference.
"7. And to take such steps as may seem desirable to carry out, by the formation of special committees or otherwise, any practical suggestions made in the reports of the commissions."
The continuation committee was to consist of thirty-five members distributed as follows: ten from North America; ten from the continent of Europe; ten from the United Kingdom; and one each from Australasia, China, Japan, and Africa.
Some of the most interesting speeches delivered at the conference were devoted to elucidating the idea of cooperation and unity. Some saw in it the necessity of approaching the Church of Rome with a view to union of effort, and expressed the hope that the next World Conference would see her taking her proper place in the proceedings. One bishop of the Anglican Church thought that the position of the body to which he belonged, midway between the Church of Rome and the Nonconformist sections, rendered it peculiarly suited to the task of bringing the two extremes together. Other suggestions were to the effect that the churches in a district should come together with a view to cooperation, providing for the proper pastoral care of all in the community, and then setting free such of their pastors as were not needed under the new arrangement, for work in the mission field, supporting them there.
The resolution regarding cooperation was adopted without a dissentient vote, and the conference joined in singing the Doxology.
A Possibility of More Bible Study
The division already noted seemed to be apparent also in the different views taken by the speakers as to the probable effects of an attempt at cooperation. Some saw in it a chance to bring greater pressure upon governments for the purpose of advancing the work of missions. Others saw in it a call to more thoro Bible study in order to determine how many of their present convictions were actually founded upon the requirements of the divine Word, and how many were merely the creation of human traditions; in order that all that was not absolutely essential to the Gospel should be sacrificed in behalf of closer and deeper unity.
The decision of the conference in behalf of cooperation will accomplish good or evil according to the spirit in which it is carried out. Some, if the speeches made at the conference furnish any indication, will earnestly seek to compare their own beliefs with those of sundered brethren, in order to arrive at a common understanding of what is essential truth; while others will see in the combining of forces a possible increase of political power and a chance to exercise compulsion where they think it will be in the interests of Christian civilization. One speaker suggested that in the future those who were asked to contribute to foreign missions should ascertain first whether the mission appealing for help was acting with the others on lines of cooperation, and if the answer was in the affirmative the subscription should be increased by fifty per cent. This was, of course, the least offensive form in which to make the suggestion, but in effect it means to refuse all assistance to missionary efforts that decline to enter into the cooperative scheme. Cooperation will put a powerful weapon in the hands of those who secure control of it, to drive out all missionary effort that for any reason finds itself unable to agree with more powerful bodies.
Doubtless both these influences will develop in the mission field and in the church. Those who desire the unity for which Christ prayed, will seek it more earnestly than before on the basis where He placed it, namely, in the sanctifying and unifying power of divine truth (John 17: 8, 14, 17); while those who desire power for its own sake will increasingly seek to use it in an unchristian spirit and for unscriptural ends. W. T. BARTLETT.
