The Washington herald., 1913-05-18


The news behind the news'' Of the In
ternational convention Of the Young
Mems Christian Association, now In ses-
sion in Cincinnati. IL the struggle De-
tween the liberal and conservative
elements respecting the associations creed
and the tendency toward decentralization
of control
Crises in religious belief may not figure
largely In the dispatches. but they are OF
profound and far-reaching Importance
The Y. NJ. c. A is facing such crisis In
this. but shares the experience Of most
of the denominations, where the battle
for and against Orthodoxy" Ia almost as
great as that which rent the churches Of
America nearly a century ago, and event.
uated in the formation Of the Unitarian
denomination
Broadly stated, the issue Is the same
now as then; namely, what conception
shall be held of the deity of Jesus Christ
and Of the inspiration Of the Bible.
At Cincinnati the subject has taken the
form Of the reafirmation of the Paris
Basis" and the Portland Test" two pre-
vious deliverances OF the association set
ting forth its completely evangelical char
acter. The committee which reports to
the present convention favors an indorse-
ment a these historic documents They
ton again squarely on record as standing
for the most orthodox type Of Christianity.
One Defeats Fourteen.
The report Of the commission Of fifteen
appointed at the convention here six years
ago to consider the evangelical test Of
membership in the association led to a
long and earnest debate, In which more
than a score of the delegates took an act
49, Of he
bers concurred in the report. which was
ready and published two months ago at
meeting in Buffalo. N Y. The one dis
senter, William Hodge Marques of New
York City. impressed the delegates to
such an extent on the floor of the con-
vention that when put TO a vote Thursday
52l were with him and 80 against.
The one point on which the commission
split was on the definition of the word
evangelical" Fourteen OF the commits
sion of fifteen defined II as follows:
We hold those churches to be evangel-
ical in the United States which are af-
fliated In the Federal Council of
Churches Of Christ in America or have
been invited TO affiliate, and those in
Canada which correspond to them in
name or history, or both"
DIR. Marques alone Of the fifteen OBJ
jected TO this paragraph on the ground
that II would mean an opening wedge
in which all manner of men could join
the organization He believed the con-
vention should hold steadfast TO the def
milton agreed upon at the convention in
Portland. Me, in 1853. This was that
evangelical meant one who believed in
the divinity OF Christ, the Atonement,
and the Holy Scriptures as infallible rule
OF faith.
W. Douglas Mackenzie, of Hartford.
Conn, chairman of the commission of
fifteen. delivered an eloquent address, in
which he pleaded for the adoption Of
the new test. He said IL would permit of
members and officers belonging to any
church which called itself Christian. He
argued that fifteen different denomina-
tons belonged to the Federal Council OF
Churches and that 50 per cent of the
of the association was drawn
from these.
The Minority Report.
In his minority report which was.
finally carried. DR.. Marques said of the
report:
''First-It is not a comprehensive def
tons which are thoroughly evangelical
and are at present supporting our work.
''Second-It is an arbitrary definition,
expressing no principle, and therefore
not adapted to the exigencies of any and
every period. 1t is merely a mechanical
list of churches which are now evangeli-
cal but may not remain so.
''Third-The lapse of any of these
churches from the evangelical faith
would create situation which the as
ISOLATION is neither prepared nor disposed
to confront. 1t would raise the question
Of striking the apostate church from the
. nfhnrfzad fzf Of lf..a1 Oh, 1Iau
and. this would force upon the association
the responsibility of deciding the theolo-
gical standing of a given denomination.
''Fourth-The Federal Council has not
been itself recognized and approved by
all the evangelical churches. Many de-
which cordially indorse the
Young Mems Christian Association, and
participate in its work. have not seen At
10 indorse the Federal Council and take
part in its work"
A debate, limited to FIVE minutes for
Zach speaker. was then ordered. and
finally DR.. Mackenzie spoke the last
word in favor Of adopting the new reso-
ution, and the question was put to the
delegates.
Bishop William F. Mcdowell, Of Chi
ago, one of the commission. arrived at
he convention hall just as President
lhC VI Tic
vote, but he was allowed to speak on
he subject. He upheld the work of the
majority of the commission and regret |
ed the report as submitted by DR.. Mac
tenzie was not adopted.
The commission of fifteen was COM |
,osed Of w. Douglas Mackenzie, chair |
nan; Abner Kingman, Montreal. p. O.; |
Bishop William E. Mcdowell, W. H. |
Providence. r. l.; Edward II. |
3onsall, Philadelphia, Pa: William NJ. |
8irks, Montreal, p. O.; o. E. Brown, |
Nashville, Tenn; Arthur s. Johnson. |
Boston. Mass; z. Y. Mullins, Louisville, |
KY; William c. Stoever, Philadelphia, !
Pa; s. J. Moore, Toronto. Ont: DR.. B. !
3. Tyler, Denver. Colo: ]. Campbell |
White and DR.. Lucien c. Warner, of |
lew York City, and DR.. William H.
Marques.
Officers Elected.
The convention elected the following
,ficers: Ira Landrith, of Tennessee,
president; D. Meacham, OF Ohio; Gui-
aid Birks, of Canada: F. W. Aver. of
Sew Jersey; Burke Baker. Of Texas:
lanes z. Bowron, of Allah. ma: A. B.
)riscoll. of Minnesota: F. l.. Foster. of
owa; Frederick Muller. of Rhode Is
and, and z. NJ. Hass, OF Indiana, vice
W. ]. Parker OF Illinois,
C. X. Brown. OF Ohio: r. E.
;quires, of Missouri, and H r. Hadcock.
( Canada, assistant secretaries.
Ira Landrith. the new president, was
hartman of the Tennessee State COM
ears. He Is president Of the Ward
belmont College of Nashville.
why the Struggle RACES.