The American Bible and Prophetic Conferences

. The American Bible and Prophetic Conferences: 1878-1914 A.The year 1878 a.found Americans confident that through democracy, self-rule, and sheer self-determination b.Strengthened by a heavy barrage of post-millennial ideas from the nation’s pulpits (that improving world conditions will bring about the millennium," which would be consummated with Christ’s return), a powerful spirit of optimism prevailed in the land: c.twelve years of reconstruction were ending: d.the last Federal troops had withdrawn from the South; e.President Rutherford B. Hayes was now doing some housecleaning in Washington to eliminate the corruption his adminis­tration had inherited from Grant; f.western settlers were beginning to cultivate their farms again after a devas­tating grasshopper pestilence; g.industry was emerging from the depression that followed the panic of 1876 h.Newly formed labor unions were promising a bright future for workers. i.Mechanical inventions were making news in 1878: i.George B. Selden was rapidly developing his "horse-less carriage," which would run by a gasoline-fueled, internal-combustion engine. ii.Thomas A. Edison that same year received a patent for his new invention-the phono­graph; and iii.Alexander Graham Bell had recently received a patent for a device that would transmit the human voice over a wire. j.In the religious and philosophical realm, i.Darwinism and rationalism were confronting America’s preachers and theologians. ii.The Roman Catholic prelates at the Vatican Council of 1870, under Pope Pius IX, had declared papal infallibility. iii.Mrs. Mary Baker Glover Patterson Eddy (1821-1910) was just launching her Science and Health magazine (1875), and iv.Charles T. Russell (1852-1916) and his followers 1.(they adopted the name "Jehovah’s Witnesses" in 1931) 2.were declaring to the world that the sec­ond advent had occurred in 1874, 3.that the Millennial Dawn had begun, and 4.that the end of all things was slated for 1914.

B.Holy Trinity Church, New York City (1878) a.It was in such an atmosphere, 122 Bible preachers and teachers issued a call for a three-day Bible conference, October 30-November 1, 1878, at New York City’s Holy Trinity Protestant Episcopal Church, where i.Stephen Higginson Tyng, Jr. (1839-1898) served as rector. ii.This became the first of five Ameri­can Bible and Prophetic Conferences held between 1878 and 1914.

1.    At 10 A.M. on October 30, 1878, Stephen H. Tyng, Jr., called to order what the New York Tribune described as "a novel religious conference."

2.    In spite of driving rain on the opening morning, men and women (ticket holders first) crowded into the large church at Madison Avenue and Forty-second Street to find available seats near the speaker’s stand.

3.    Many brought their lunches and re­mained in the church during the noon intermission. By the afternoon session, an "eager and intelligent audience" had filled the building "to listen to a series of carefully prepared papers" on Christ’s Premillennial return "and connected truths" and to participate in discussions.

4.The speakers read their papers, and, although some readings exceeded ninety minutes in length, the Tribune reporter observed that the audience remained attentive. "Low-voiced responses of ’Amen’ were heard from many listeners." iii.The committee that organized the conference included 1.James H. Brookes, 2.A. J. Gordon, 3.William G. Moorehead, 4.William R. Nicholson, 5.Henry M. Parsons, 6.Rufus W. Clark, 7.Maurice Baldwin, and

8.Stephen H. Tyng, Jeremiah 9:1-26.Most of the brethren who conducted the pre-Niagara Bible Confer­ences participated in this one as well. iv.The 122 who signed the call 1.included 47 Presbyterians, 2.Baptists, 3.16 Episcopalians (including a couple of Canadian Anglicans), 4.9 Congregationalists, 5.6 Methodists, 6.5 evan­gelical Adventists, a.were not Millerites -7^th Day Adventists - but rather represented b.a handful of mavericks within that movement c.George C. Needham, who took an active role in these Bible and Prophetic Conferences, had already explained in his introduction to James H. Brooke’s Present Truth (the 1876 Bible Readings at Swampscott) that the few "Evangelical Adventists" of that day were a "humble, pious body of Christians." Needham said that these good men did not deny the existence of a personal devil and a personal Holy Spirit, and that they did not advocate such Millerite theories as soul sleep and anni­hilation.

7.4 Dutch Reformed, 8.1 Lutheran, 9.1Catholic Apostolic (Irvingite), 10.1 Independent, and 11.7 Unidentified.

C. American Bible and Prophetic Conference (1878) a.These Fundamentalists stood in firm agreement on the doctrine of Christ’s imminent, premillennial advent to establish a literal kingdom of one thousand years; b.They did not agree on the details of that view, not even on the pretribulational rapture. c.In fact, A. J. Gordon, in his message on the first resurrection, argued simply that there would be two resurrections, separated by one thousand years. d.Fundamentalists like Gordon could still hold to the imminency of Christ’s return, because they spiritualized the tribulation period into a long era of time with a nebulous beginning. e.Over the years, pretribulationalists became the majority. f.the conference passed six specific resolutions expressing the convictions of "brethren from so many different branches of the one Redeemed Church of our Lord."

D.    RESOLUTIONS AT THE FIRST AMERICAN BIBLE AND PROPHETIC CONFERENCE

I. We affirm our belief in the supreme and absolute authority of the written Word of God on all questions of doctrine and duty.

II. The prophetic words of the Old Testament Scrip­tures, concerning the first coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, were literally fulfilled in His birth, life, death, resurrec­tion and ascension; and so the prophetic words of both the Old and the New Testaments concerning His second coming will be literally fulfilled in His visible bodily return to this earth in like manner as He went up into Heaven; and this glorious Epiphany of the great God, our Saviour Jesus Christ, is the blessed hope of the believer and of the Church during this entire dispensation.

II. This second coming of the Lord Jesus is everywhere in the Scriptures represented as imminent, and may occur at any moment; yet the precise day and hour thereof is unknown to man, and known only to God.

IV. The Scriptures nowhere teach that the whole world will be converted to God, and that there will be a reign of universal righteousness and peace before the return of our blessed Lord, but that only at and by His coming in power and glory will the prophecies concerning the progress of evil and the development of Antichrist, the times of the Gentiles, and the ingathering of Israel, the resurrection of the dead in Christ, and the transfiguration of His living saints, receive their fulfillment, and the period of millennial blessedness in its inauguration.

V. The duty of the Church during the absence of the Bridegroom is to watch and pray, to work and wait, to go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature, and thus hasten the coming of the day of God; and to His last promise, "Surely I come quickly," to respond, in joyous hope, "Even so; come Lord Jesus."

VI. Resolved, That the doctrine of our Lord’s pre­millennial advent, instead of paralyzing evangelistic and missionary effort, is one of the mightiest incentives to earnestness in preaching the Gospel to every creature, until He comes.

E.Farwell Hall, Chicago (1886) a.Two and a half weeks after Americans had welcomed a new lady to their shores, the Statue of Liberty, the second American Bible and Prophetic Conference convened in Chicago’s Farwell Hall, November 16 to 21, 1886, with twenty-seven speakers. b.Seven others had signed the call. Of the thirty-four, nineteen were active in the pre-Niagara Bible Conferences and twenty had participated in the 1878 New York Conference. c.Under Dwight L. Moody’s influ­ence, the noonday prayer meetings were still being conducted regularly in Farwell Hall; d.Within days, Fleming H. Revell also published these Prophetic Studies. e.Of the thirty-four speakers i.Eleven were Presbyterians, ii.six were Baptists, iii.six were Methodists, iv.three Congregationalists, v.two Dutch Reformed, vi.one evangelical Lutheran, vii.one Swedish Covenanter, viii.one Reformed Episcopal, ix.one Canadian An­glican, x.one evangelical Adventist, and xi.one unidentified F.Before adjourning, that second American Bible and Prophetic Conference a.Reaffirmed the six resolutions of 1878 (p.165). b.A most significant characteristic of these conferences is that, while these Fundamentalists agreed on a basic Premillennial view, they left much room for various interpretations of details within that system; c.they did not hurl attacks at the many Fundamentalists and conservatives who had not moved away from amillennialism or even postmillennialism-men like Charles Hodge of Princeton Theological Seminary d.The real targets of Premillennialism attacks were liberal, not con­servative, postmillennialists.

G. Bible Conference Movement Spreads and Deepens a.The third American Bible and Prophetic Conference convened December 3-6, 1895, in Allegheny, Pennsyl­vania. b.The first two days’ sessions met in the Fourth Presbyterian Church, where Joseph Kyle was pastor, and c.the remaining sessions met in the First Presbyterian Church, where D. S. Kennedy was the minister. d.Most of the ten speakers were by now well known in Fundamentalist circles:

William G. Moorehead        (1836-1914)    Presbyterian

E. P. Goodwin(1831-1901)Congregational Henry M. Parsons(1828-1913)Presbyterian

J. A. Owens

Arthur T. Pierson(1837-1911)Baptist (spoke twice) William J. Erdman(1834-1923)Presbyterian Ernst F. Stroeter(1846-1922)Wesleyan

James M. Stifler            (1839-1902)    Baptist (spoke twice)

William R. Nicholson        (1822-1901)    Reformed Episcopalian

James M. Gray(1851-1935)Protestant Episcopalian H. The Northfield Conference, which began in 1880 in Massachusetts; a.the Seaside Bible Conference held each year in Ocean Grove, New Jersey, from 1888 through 1892 and in Asbury Park, New Jersey, in 1893; b.the Bible Inspiration Conference held in Philadelphia in 1887; c.the Bible Conference on the Holy Spirit held in Baltimore in 1890; and d.the Winona Lake Bible Conference, founded in 1895.14 e.death was now claiming some of the first generation- i.A. J. Gordon in 1895, ii.James H. Brookes in 1897, iii.Samuel H. Kellogg in 1899, iv.William R. Nicholson in 1901, and v.George C. Needham in 1902.

I.The fourth American Bible and Prophetic Conference assembled December 10-15, 1901, in Boston’s Clarendon Street Baptist Church, where A. J. Gordon had served for many years until his death. a.The published addresses¹⁵ reflect more of an "international" flavor: i.Robert Anderson and others from England, ii.some from Canada and Scot­land, iii.some Southern Baptists (E. Y. Mullins and Len Broughton), and iv.James M. Gray, William G. Moorehead, William J. Erdman, Robert Cameron, L. W. Munhall, v.A. C. Dixon and A. T. Pierson vi.Pierson was the natural head of the gathering, since he resided in Boston and was Gordon’s intimate friend in the ministry 1.Pierson (1837-1911), 16 author of some twenty-four books¹⁷ and 2.editor of Missionary Review of the World, a Fundamentalist paper of good quality in its day,

3.    had served as pastor of several great churches, including Spurgeon’s Tabernacle in London.

4.    He became the second president of the school that A. J. Gordon had founded in 1889, the Boston Missionary Training School (now Gordon College).

5.Adoniram Judson Gordon (1836~1895) a.began his ministry at Clarendon Street Baptist in 1869, b.Gordon’s ministry provides a splendid example of how patience, loyalty to Christ, a high sense of calling, and a Spirit-filled life can be used to transform a dead, worldly church into one close to the New Testament ideal.

6.A. T. Pierson often gave the following as the guiding principles of the life and ministry of A. J. Gordon: a.(1) loyalty to his Saviour; b.(2) the imminent, personal return of Christ; c.(3) the high call of the preacher; d.(4) the purity of true worship as the exaltation of God alone in the sanctuary; e.(5) the supreme authority of an infallible Bible; f.(6) the total conformity of the church to a biblical pattern; and g.(7) the invisible presence and power of the Holy Spirit.

7.    It is no surprise that in 1901 the fourth American Bible and Prophetic Conference gathered in tribute at old Clarendon Street Baptist.

J.The fifth and final American Bible and Prophetic Conference met at the Moody Church in Chicago, Feb­ruary 24-27, 1914, in response to a call issued by a dozen Fundamentalist leaders of various denominations. a.The call stated clearly the purposes in view: i.The Conference will not offer an opportunity for modern prophets to ventilate their speculations, ii.to fix dates, or iii.to mark out a detailed program of the future;

1.but. . . to give prom­inence to neglected truths; . . . a.to warn against present-day apostasy; b.to awaken slumbering Christians; c.to present the most majestic of all motives for world-wide evange­lism; d.to call attention to the doctrine of ’last things’ as a bulwark against the skepticism of modern theology; and e.to bring into closer fellowship all those who ’love His appearing.’

2." Interest in the conference soared. a.Sessions were held from nine in the morning until ten at night, b.and the crowd often overflowed Moody Church, c.the seating capacity of which was around two thousand. d.Institute lecture rooms accommodated the overflow. e.Dur­ing the four-day conference, the audience heard eighteen messages and three symposiums. i.Speakers included 1.James M. Gray, 2.Robert McWatty Russell, 3.C. I. Scofield, 4.W. B. Riley, 5.L. W. Munhall, 6.A. C. Gaebelein, 7.Ford C. Ottman, 8.Grant Stroh, 9.George E. Guille, 10.F. A. Steven, and 11.F. E. Howitt. ii.The symposium participants included such familiar names as 1.W. L. Pettingill, 2.Charles G. Trumbull, 3.Oliver W. Van Osdel, and 4.Charles A. Blanchard.

3.The next year (1915) a.would witness the sinking of the British liner Lusitania on May 7 by a German submarine b.America was becoming increasingly embroiled in the Great War, and c.a month later Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan resigned his post in disagreement with President Woodrow Wilson’s diminishing dedication to neutrality. d.Funda­mentalism as a movement soon supported the war effort patriotically. e.Most significant of all is the fact that the signs of the times were leading increasing numbers of people to the Bible-and to Bible conferences-in search of answers.