The Waco evening news. [volume] (Waco, Tex.) 1891-1894, 1894-02-09
The Parliament Of Religions.

y
While large number of religious
journals have commended the great
assembly at Chi ago as conducive
to the spread of religion, Or. Pear
SOD, the edltor.in chief of The Mis-
s;onary Review of the Word, Is
very strong in his condemnation OF
it, from Christian point of view,
as will be seen in the following sum
mary:
Here, for seventeen days, those
who glory in the "universal father.
hood of God and the universal
brotherhood of man." and the uni
verssl affinity of all religious faiths
and cults, sat down together at their
banquet of love. According to the
conditions of the parliament, the
principles of each faith were to be
set forth by special advocates, with
out reply, rejoinder, controversy,
comparison, or any form of counter
attsck, so that, as every mouth was
mt zzled, there was no room on that
l.ttorm even for the exposure OF
error, sophistry, fallacy, or even
falsehood. Such refutation must
find its opportunity and facility out
side the parliament, if at all. No
wonder if that competent and cul-
tured Arabic scholar, DR.. G sorge
K Post, of Syria, when he heard
false statements made as to the
teaching of the Koran, could not
keep silence, but broke through
restraint.
There is room for grave sus-
picion as to the final outcome OF
this parliament. Many of the best
men still question whether "char-
ity" was not made to cover extremes
of concession and unwarrantable
fellowship; whether such levelliI g
Of all land marks between cree de
and cults was not dishonor TO the
Christian faith and the Christians
God; whether the ban put upon all
controversy and even rebutting
testimony, did not leave error to
run its race unhindered, and ham
per truth in overtaking it, by M
polling resort to tardy and uncsr-
tain methods of exposure; whether
the ultimate result will not be to
countenance an unwholesome toler-
ance of false teaching, and open
the door-as in fact is already the
case-to new era of propagandism
of Buddhist, Mohammedan, and
other "mysteries' even in Chris
tian lands; whether we are in no
daN ger of misleading the motto,
"Liberty, equality, fraternity" into
"Laxity, apathy, and compromise
Bishop Campbell (of the Methc-
dist churcb), who attended the con.
ference, expressed publicly his re-
greet that he had been identified
with sach a gathering, and says that
"the aaswe of the Archbishop Of
Canterbury TO the invitation, was
the one which all Christian minis
ters should have made:
'."The diff ,ulties which | myself
feel are not questions of distance
and convenience, but rest on the
lact that the Christian religion is
the one religion. | do not under
stand how that religion can be re-.
garded as a member of parliament
of religions without assuming the
equality of the other intended mem
bers aud the parity of their posi-.
ton and claims y"
Bishop Campbell adds.
"W hatever profit may have been
derived from the meeting, we have
to face the fact that by participating
in 1t Christians have stood upon o
platform from which the Lord Jesus
Christ, as 'the truth 'the true light
of the world, and the only revela
ton of the Father, has been ex.
Guided. For the purposes of this
gathering, folio wers of Jesus Christ
as the only true God have practically
admitted that Christianity is only
one OF many religious systems, and
that Jesus was one of several
religious teachers. The object of
the congress seems to have been to
lind common ground upon which
the RELIGIONS nf tho uorlJ oo., 5000.