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Committee, in substance as well as in spirit."
And again below: "Finances of the Move
ment :
"The committee (C. C. C.) acknowledges
with profound gratitude to God the help re
ceived from the Interchurch World Movement
of North America in connection with the China
i'or-Christ Movement. Without this timely
help the movement could hardly have been
launched and valuable time would have been
lost."
When the movement fell through, the Con
tinuation Committee met the situation by hav
ing the National Christian Conference for
China, which they were planning to attempt
to establish a permanent National Council over
all mission work.
This conference, which met in Shanghai
May 2 to 11, 1922, shows inherent weaknesses.
The promoters, to a large extent, alienated
the 'evangelical missionaries and Chinese by
repressing freedom of speech. It was felt that
such a conference must voice the objective of
Christianity, saving man from sin by implant
ing in him faith in the fundamental principles
of the Bible. But a committee of the C. C. C.,
which met in September, 1921, came to a dead
lock, one party being determined not to allow
any presentation of evangelical truth in the
conference. A Chinese Committee, appointed
to prepare a paper on the "Message of the
Church to China," did, indeed, give a ringing
call, but the paper not being presented for
adoption, it becomes merely private opinion.
Lest the evangelicals should get their voice in,
most rigid rules were adopted. Pressure of
public opinion forced this barricade, but an
unequivocal trilateral of faith in the deity of
the Son, the atonement, and the inspiration
of the whole Scriptures was rejected. Then
this compromise resolution was adopted which
hushed without satisfying the evangelical ele
ment.
Resolution adopted by the National Chris
tian Conference May 7, 1922:
"A proposal has been made to the confer
ence that a doctrinal statement expressing
fundamental Christian beliefs should be em
bodied in the resolution appointing a National
Christian Council.
"We, the members of the conference joyfully
confess our faith in, and renew our allegiance
to God the Father Almighty, Jesus Christ, His
Son, our Lord and Saviour, who loved us and
gave Himself for our sins, and the Iloly Spirit,
the Lord and Giver of Life, and acknowledge
our loyalty to the Holy Scriptures as the su
preme guide of faith and conduct, and to the
fundamental Christian beliefs held by the
churches to which we severally belong. Tho
??onference, however, is not constituted as a
? hureh council with authority to pass upon
questions of doctrine and of church polity cr
to draw up a creedal statement of any kind.
While the conference believes it to be a matter
of vital importance that the Church of Christ
in China should be established on a basis of
true faith and sound doctrine, it recognizes
that the authority to determine what are the
essential affirmations of the Christian faith lies
with the several churches of which those at
tending this conference are members. Any
National Christian Council which may be ap
pointed by this conference will not in any sense
he a church council, and therefore not compe
tent to exercise ecclesiastical functions. It
will be an advisory body which will seek to
earry forward the work of this conference and
?o bring the representatives of the different
churches and missions in China together, in
order that they may mutually enrich one an
other through common counsel, and will take
action in matters of common interest only
when it has reason to believe that the action
taken will bo in accordance with the wishes of
the co-operating bodies."
That it was void is seen by the fact that im
mediately afterward many councilman were
elected of known rationalistic views.
The Chinese Church, to a great extent, were
opposed to the movement. Most of them are
evangelical. And, furthermore, the mistake
was made by which many individual mission
aries have raised their work. A missionary
"falls in love" with a certain preacher or
teacher, regardless or usually ignorant of Chin
ese opinion, and boosts him up to a parlous pre
eminence. This conference did much boosting of
favorites and a group of "boosted" delegates
voted vociferously. Those behind the scenes
heard ominous rumblings. Large elements of
Chinese delegates talked of bolting the confer
ence, but did not like to make a scene. One
man did manage to get the platform and boldly
denounced the management for muzzling them.
On all sides there was objection to the rail
roading process. The plans of the leaders were
not put in the hands of delegates until they
were just going on the floor, giving no time
to digest them. A large percentage of the dele
gates were not elected, but coopted by the C.
C. C. The voting was manifestly en bloc and
on some most important motions the negative
was not even put to the house. In the elections
of the one hundred members of the new coun
cil seventy-five were nominated by denomina
tional and other groups. Some of the C. C. C.
leaders were not put up by the groups, but
they came in with the other twenty-five, who
were nominated by the seventy-five nominees
not yet elected!
The erection of this National Council is
based on unwarranted assumption. No mis
sion and no church in China or elsewhere had
approved or even discussed the advisability of
a National Council. The functions and auth
ority of the Council were not clearly defined.
The advance statement of Commission V on
this subject speaks thus: "... provided
such service does not violate the principles
agreed upon by the conference electing the
council. With tliis one limitation it would
seem that a council elected by and responsible
to the conference should be entrusted with
executive functions." With "principles"
passed 011 a Hash light exposure and a confer
ence not to meet for five or ten years, the exe
cutive powers of the council are rather elastic.
The Church needs to look sharply at the
financial side of the matter. In view of the
fatal mistake by the Interchurch Movement,
a resolution Was prepared to the effect that
the council should not assume legal or moral
responsibilities which might later fall on the
ehurch-'S. This was voted down, and the
boards are called on to finance the undertak
ing. Whether the boards will dare to assume
such responsibilities expressly or by implica
tion, without waiting for approval by the mis
sions on the field or authorization by their
church courts remains to be seen.
The fact that a tnajority of the new council
are Chinese makes some doubt the wisdom of
putting the monies in their hands. No one
would question their honesty, but there would
be danger of mistakes and unwise expendi
tures. Were the funds to be placed in the
lower church courts, with the responsibility
distributed over the whole Church, and guar
anteed by the good faith of an established sys
tem, it would be another matter, but large
sums in the hands of a few, with a new ami
untried system and no guarantees, seems
rather an adventure.
If this goes through, much of the money
lovingly given for the saving of souls will be
risked in the upkeep of needless and onerous
machinery, while preachers and teachers and
doctors will be cut down.
Yencheng, Kiangsu, China.
PEREGRINE PAPERS
XXIH.
By Rev. W. II. T. Squireo, D. D.
BETHLEHEM.
Precious memories travel with him who
> climbs the ascending road to Bethlehem! The
feet of men have worn this dusty road since
the age of Abraham. Jacob passed this way
and here his beloved Rachel yielded up her
life when Benjamin was born. lie laid her in
a tomb which has been respected and protected
through the ages by Jew, Christian and Mos
lem alike. Along this road came Ruth, the
beautiful young widow, seeking only a hand
ful of grain at the "gleaning; and, lo! she found
a husband ; and a most desirable husband at
that. Desolate widow, the light of her life
gone out, never struck a better match !
Along this road the bent and aged prophet
Samuel camc ostensibly to sacrifice a heifer at
Bethlehem, but really to anoint David the
grandson of Obed, Ruth's son, to be Israel's
greatest king.
Along this road came Joseph and Mary.
They were driven by the mandate of the great
Augustus, that first Christmas pve, while the
angels of heaven awaited the advent, of the
Ron of God, born of David's royal line, in
David's loyal town.
Along this road came the wise men, with
gifts in their hands and worship in their hearts.
There is a little spring, a poor little spring as
it seemed to me, halfway between Bethlehem
and Jerusalem. Here the Wise Men saw the
star and rejoiced with exceeding great joy,
because it led the way to the house in which
the young child lay.
Par to the east glorious glimpses are had of
the purple waters of the Dead Sea, deep in
the cloven recesses of the thirsty hills. These
parched desert lands are the wilderness of
Judaea.
To the west the hill country of Judaea
smiles with abounding fertility. There are
vineyards, orchards and gardens. The most
beautiful countryside in the Levant is the hill
.country about Bethlehem.
In the suburbs of the little town are fine
houses with terraced slopes, and well-kept
orchards. The guide shook his whip at them.
"American money," he exclaimed laconi
cally.
"IIow did they make it?" I asked.
"That one on fruit. That one on rugs and
earp.Ms. That one on tobacco/' he replied.
Bethlehem is a mountain town of about 11,
000 people, Christians, almost to a man. And
they look it. The streets are clean, the towns
folk neatly dressed, the shops well stocked, and
the children seem unusually- intelligent. These
are worthy folk, like the Syrians of Lebanon,
to whom I was ever partial.