Religion: World Baptists

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More than 20,000 men & women from every one of the United States and 48 other nations swarmed through Cleveland last week. They were all Baptists—Chinese Baptists, Irish Baptists, Italian Baptists, African Baptists and U.S. Baptists —representing the largest (16 million) group of Protestants in the U.S. To the annoyance of taxi drivers, they seemed to enjoy walking; to the regret of storekeepers, they mostly window-shopped. But Clevelanders were impressed to find their downtown streets crowded at 7 a.m., and delighted by the easygoing Baptist friendliness.

It was the Eighth Congress of the Baptist World Alliance, and probably the biggest ever held. Each day the "messengers" (they are not called delegates, have no power to speak for their churches) packed the big (10,000 seats) Cleveland Public Auditorium for a busy program of speeches, resolutions, pageants and hymns. So popular were the talks that once, when the convention newspaper carried a notice that extra copies would be available, a queue lined up for them at 6:30 the next morning.

As president of the Alliance the messengers elected scholarly Dr. F Townley Lord, pastor of Bloomsbury Central Church in London, England, where the Alliance will meet for its Golden Anniversary in 1955.

Religious intolerance throughout the world seemed to be bothering the Baptists most. With a unanimous rising vote they passed a "midcentury manifesto." "At no time in the history of Christianity has there been greater danger of losing sight of the principles and ideals for which it exists. The danger is increased by the fact that liberty is being denied by those who profess to cherish it. Violation of conscience arises not merely in communistic territories, but sometimes even within the churches themselves. Not only do Communists imprison Roman Catholics and Protestants; Roman Catholics are ready to persecute Protestants, and certain Protestants, to a lesser degree, deny Roman Catholics and others full liberty."

What Baptists and other Christians need most is an up-to-date language, said Dr. Edwin T. Dahlberg of Syracuse, N.Y., former president of the Northern (now American) Baptist Convention. The modern mind, he said, no longer gets any meaning out of such phrases as "the precious name of Jesus," "coming under the blood," and "saved by grace." What is needed now is a Martin Luther of the new Reformation, to take historic doctrines of the Christian faith and reinterpret and restate them ... for the whole soth Century, to read, believe and obey.

"God speed the coming of a generation of preachers and evangelists who will proclaim the faith of our fathers in the language of our children."