Again, Jerusalem.

The story of the enlargement of Christianity is the story of men moving, thinking things, telling things; always essentially the story of the men who went out from Jerusalem after they had seen Christ die and disappear. This Easter, almost as if the twist of centuries had reversed the lines of force around Jerusalem, the men who are carrying Christianity into the corners of the world were drawn back to Palestine. Two hundred delegates, spokesmen for powerful Christian forces in 51 countries, gathered in Jerusalem for the International Missionary Council (TIME, April 2).

Francis John McConnell, Methodist Episcopal Bishop of Pittsburgh, stated a postulate that would surprise and shock all sturdy U. S. Fundamentalists: "I come from a Nation which is in some respects pagan. We subscribe to the doctrine of militarism and to the god of materialism, and we have given ourselves over to the pursuit of wealth. We should not be complacent regarding paganism. . . . Let this meeting become a challenge to it."

Richard Henry Tawney, famed Professor of Economics at the University of London, replied to Bishop McConnell by voicing an even more damaging criticism of contemporary Christianity: "I cannot share the complacency of those who talk about all the good things we have to offer backward peoples, when we cannot point out a single country in Europe where there is a real Christian civilization operating throughout its society. . . . We are trying the impossible in offering to save the individual, yet leaving the social structure pagan. ... It is not possible for men and women to accept one standard of social ethics in private life and another in economic life. . . ."

Bishop McConnell became specific: "It's not the business of the Church to say how technical changes shall be made, but when we see mills in China where American-made investments are earning 100% we may as well raise the question. ..."

When the Committee on Christian Unity and Industrial Problems, headed by Bishop McConnell, presented their 5,000-word report, it was adopted without important revisions. The report declared that it was the obligation of the governments of economically advanced countries to make certain that less advanced peoples were protected from social injustice, and that they share the fruits of economic progress. Further, the report suggested that public loans, to be used in undeveloped areas, be made only with the knowledge and approval of the League of Nations, and subject to the provisions which it prescribes. . . .

The effect of Christianity upon temporal and economic matters was by no means the only matter upon which notable opinions were advanced:

Solemn and deep-voiced Professor Jabavu, of the South African Native College, pointed out that in his country, while there are five blacks to one white, 88% of educational funds are spent on whites. The Rev. Dr. Charles Pugh, who had come from the Congo Free State, said that in the rural districts there were thousands of people who could read, but that they had no books.

Surendria Datta, of the National Christian Council of India, asserted that Christianity and the entire Anglo-Saxon system is now an integral part of his country, and would remain there even if British rule were removed.

The customary discussion of younger generation v. older generation and of adolescent sex-difficulties was attended to by U. S. Representatives from Yale University. Said Dr. Luther Allan Weigle, dean-elect of the Yale School of Divinity: "If the older generation is motor-mad, radio-ragged, jumping with jazz and hungry with lust, we may expect the younger generation to go further and faster on the same road." Fay Campbell, secretary of the Yale Y. M. C. A., told about sex: "If a student comes for help on the sex-question I must not be satisfied with just giving him advice, but I must show, for instance, how he may be helping prostitution by buying a scarf made under conditions of sweated labor in some Far East factory. . . ."

The most important concerted action which the Council accomplished was the report which it accepted in a unanimous rising vote of findings on the Christian message in relation to non-Christian systems. This report, which had been awaited with some anxiety before the conference opened, in part reiterates the findings of the Lausanne Conference on Faith and Order, held last summer. It declares that the messages of Christianity should be proclaimed against the background of a world-situation which includes:

1) The modification and, in some cases, the dissolution of ancient religions, effected by new scientific and commercial influences on men's thought;

2) Troubled and chaotic conditions due to rising nationalism and increasing consciousness of race and class-oppression;

3) Youthful reaction against materialistic concepts and in favor of reality in religion, social justice, human brotherhood and international peace.

It had been feared, before the document was presented, that such a subject discussed outside of the great ecclesiastical bodies would offend conservative opinion; or that to avoid this offense, the document would be framed in terms cautious, trite, and without value. That neither was the case was due to the prestige and adroitness of its two sponsors, Dr. Robert Elliott Speer, secretary of the U. S. Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions, and the Rt. Rev. William Temple, Anglican Bishop of Manchester. Dr. Speer, since his graduation from Princeton in 1889, has attended many a missionary conference. He could doubtless remember those in which it would have been regarded as presumptuous to take any serious consideration of the creeds which Christianity aims to supplant, and even more presumptuous to talk about "social justice."

At the end of the two weeks' meeting, Dr. John R. Mott, chairman, expressed his satisfaction. "It was one of the most courageous meetings I have attended in 40 years of national and international gatherings."

It must not be supposed that the International Missionary Council was attended only by male persons. Women came too, and, as is usually the case when women find themselves in surroundings conducive to discussion, they talked about themselves, about woman's place in the scheme of things.

Miss Helen Kem, dean of Ehwa Women's College in Korea, lamented the fact that, in her country, women were regarded only as the "instruments" of men.

Mrs. Ochimi Kurbushirm, Tokyo, Bachelor of Divinity, pointed out that Buddhism, Shintoism and Confucianism never gave women a place as persons, as Christianity did.

Miss Pao Tselg, a descendant of famed Philosopher Tsing and the founder of a school for well-bred Chinese girls, observed that Confucius in all his teachings mentioned women only twice. She quoted his maxim: "It is very difficult to keep company with women or with small-minded men." And she recalled his reply to King Wu, when this worthy had mentioned the aid, which he received in ruling, from a council of 10 persons: ". . . There are only 9, for 1 is a woman."