Morning journal and courier., 1886-10-18
THK AMERICAN BOARD.
Account of the National Meeting
nj NJ nr ,EaddsS mr.

| An Account of the National Meeting at
Des Mofnes-Rev. DIR. Todd's Impres-
sion ofit-The New Theology.
| At the Church of the 1tedeemer yesterday
morning, after brief reference to his jour
| ney and impressions made upon him by it,
DR.. Todd gave description of Des Moines
| and an account of the meeting of the Ame1i-
| can Board of Foreign Missions recently held
| there. The latter was in substance as fol-
| lows: The board is a corporation consisting
| at the time of the meeting of 219 members.
| Of these seventy-seven Were present and
eighty more We're heard from by letters, SO
| that the meeting was very large represen-
| tation. The corporation is made up of pres-
dents of colleges, professors of theological
seminaries, eminent preachers, distinguished
| lawyers, prominent business men, and is
| largely represented by the best thought and
character of the denomination. Honorary
| members have the right to speak and even
| to make motions, but only the corporate
| members vote. The attendance upon the
| meeting was not SO large as usual,
owing to the great distances of
other cities; but the opera house
was well filed most of the time. 4,he meet
ing, apart from the debate which constituted
its chief feature, was one of great interest
and profit The reports of successful work
in the missions, the sermon, the hopes of the
secretaries, the addresses of the missionaries,
the reports of committees. the common ser
vices, the address of President Hopkins, the
woman's meeting, the devotional exercises,
were fully up to the usual mark. But of
course, the debate overshadowed all else
The advocates of the new theology and the
advocates of liberty to preach the new theol-
ogy were dissatisfied with the action of the
prudential committee and the home secre-
tary in not accepting as missionaries
certain young men and women
who manifested tendency towards
the new theology, and they came determined
to make vigorous protest. 1t was rumored
that they expected to carry the board with
them and had even selected their candidate
for secretary to take the place of DR..
Alden. After long debate which most of
the board wished to avoid. but which was
forced upon them, in which the complain
ants had the freest opportunity to present
their case and put forward their strongest
men with carefully prepared speeches, while
the able men on the other side were for the
most part silent, and which was conducted
with admirable courtesy and freedom from
bitterness, the conflict ended in crushing
defeat, perfect Waterloo for their party
BY vote of six to one the board pronounced
the best known doctrine of the new theology
'derisive, perversive and dangerous" to the
churches az home or abroad, commended the
prudential committee for tho caution, they
had exercised and advised continuance of
the same caution they had exercised in the |
future. Subsequently the board removed |
from the prudential committee the laading |
advocate of the new theology, giving him |
only thirteen out of seventy-two votes. |
Another prominent member who favored the |
same views, but had resigned, honored |
in consideration of his long services |
with complimentary electioni but the two |
places thus vacated were filed with tw o |
strongly conservative m n. Mr.. Hume was
shelved by reference of it to the prude.l- /
tial committee, with the vague recoramenda- |
t; IN that they take it up at their earliest |
convenience and seek to compose the differ |
ence. A resolution was passed recommend |
ing the committee to consider and report |
next year upon the expedienoy, in certain |
difficult cases, of referring gu estions of theo-
logical fitness to councils. The resolution |
was passed unanimously, because it commits |
the board to nothing and merely opens the |
subject for discussion. No one who knows |
the committee anticipates that they are like |
ly to report favorably upon measure which |
6 has already sd ss tried certain and That @O an
policy cannot and ought not to be
adopted without much discussion. At the
meeting Of the board and since shoals or /
supposed sympathizers with the new theol- [
ogy have hastened to disavow all faith in it.
It j. hard now to find believers in it. 1t /
seems as if young missionaries really burn
ing with desire to preach the gospel to tho
heather would, rather than to be aindered,
renoance a speculation Which has been
stamped "derisiVe, perversiye and danger
onJ" by body representing the best part of
the denomination, which is repudiated by
almost every one, and which is acknowledged
even by its warmest advocates to be mere
speculation of secondary Importance. Among
the impressions made by the meeting we're
these: that the beard is doing great
work, with wonderful success; that it
support sven if it makes soraa
mistakes and commits some wrongs: that
there is crying need Of more missionaries,
of more self-oonseeration on the part of |
young men and women in our churches, and
that there is vast need among the heather
of the gospel Of Christ. It is misrepre-
septation that we believe that all the heath
en- who die without any knowledge of
Christ are eternally lost. We do not under
take to limit the mercy of God or the sweep
of redemption. But neither dare we affirm
where he is silent. We do not object to any
man holding what speculation he pleases II
he will frankly say that it is q mere private
speculation of his own, hut we object to men
being lalled into security and Indifference by
the representation that the scriptures
and reason hold out hope which they do
not. We do not find Ipuah hope for the |
heather IN tias scriptures, or in their univer-
ssi wiokedness and failure to Iva up to
their light, or in their guilty consciousness,
or in the tendency of human character to be-
come fixed and Interchangeable through re-
peated acts. The outlook is dark. Don't |
stand idly speoulating about the dead heath
en-; try to save the living. The world is dy-
ing; send it the life. The world is lost: send |
it the glad tidings of Saviour The race |
with all its multitudes is drifting like boat |