Religion: Unpredictable

"I am a missionary of the American Baptist Foreign Mission Society at this [West China Union] University since 1921, with the exception of furloughs. Now we are having the thrilling experience of reorganizing every phase of our University life, and of Chinese society. It is the most profoundly religious Christian experience I have ever been through. I absolutely believe this to be the most comprehensive renaissance the human spirit has ever experienced; and the most dynamic change in human history. God is working alongside of these Communists . . .

"Ninety-five percent of the U.S. press on the Far East is absolutely false. Believe the opposite and you will be close to the facts. The South Korean government first attacked North Korea . . ."

This letter, over the signature of Baptist Missionary Dryden L. Phelps, appeared in the November issue of the pro-Communist U.S. monthly Soviet Russia Today. Last week the American Baptist Foreign Mission Society's board announced that it had voted unanimously to recall Dr. Phelps and his wife "for conference."

Said the board's statement: "This letter, if it is from Dr. Phelps, reveals that he has taken a position that is not in accord with the policies laid down by the Board of Managers of the American Baptist Foreign Mission Society . . ." The statement added that Missionary Phelps (Yale '17), a nephew of Yale's late, beloved English Professor William Lyon (Billy) Phelps, was "a grand person," but at times "unpredictable."