Wild animals, germs, and tribal war threats are only a few of the problems faced by two women missionaries who have chosen to live with the Auca Indians. Yet, after more than a month in the jungles of eastern Ecuador, Mrs. Elisabeth Elliot and Miss Rachel Saint have learned much to facilitate Christian witness. They have also discovered more about the Aucas’ massacre of five young missionaries nearly three years ago.
Living in a clearing on the banks of the Tiwaenu River with Mrs. Elliot and Miss Saint are Valerie, Mrs. Elliot’s four-year-old daughter, and Dayuma, an Auca woman who fled the tribe 12 years ago and subsequently professed salvation in Christ.
‘Will you pray for Dayuma,” asks Miss Saint, “as she gathers the whole group together every Sunday under one of the thatched roofs, instructs them not to laugh, and then teaches them little by little about God, the Creator, and his Son, Jesus?”
Mrs. Elliot has with her a camera, tape recorder, and tranceiver. Supplies are dropped from planes, which also lower buckets by rope for pickups.
Below are excerpts from a letter written by Mrs. Elliot to Mrs. Marjorie Saint and Mrs. Marilou McCully. All three are wives of the Auca martyrs. Miss Saint is a sister-in-law of Mrs. Saint.
Dearest Marj and Marilou:
It’s a rainy day and there’s no one here except Dayuma, Rachel, Val, and one couple (Kimu and Dawa).
… I have now met four of the seven men who killed our husbands. It is a very strange thing thus to find oneself between two very remote sides of a story. To us, it meant everything in life and continues to mean that. To these simple, laughing, carefree forest people, lulling five men was little more than routine and they had probably forgotten about it.
The story as I have managed to get it thus far is that the men were all on the beach. The Aucas leaped suddenly out of the forest from behind the tree house and killed them immediately. I suppose they jumped back in to the water (the fellows) hoping to evade the sudden shower of spears.
[Presently] there are certainly real problems which I had hoped to avoid in the initial stages of introducing what it means to be a follower of Christ. But for this too, I can trust and believe that the prayers of thousands are yet to be answered in the way God wants it.
I wish you could hear the singing at night! When the Quechua men were still here, we all sat on the logs under the stars and took turns—first Aucas, then Quechuas singing! The Auca men sit with solemn gaze, hands clasped in front of chest, and chant in three parts—a single minor chord, unvaried through literally hundreds of repetitions of a seven-beat phrase. The words may change every 40 times or so, but not the rhythm or the music. It is fantastically hypnotic.…
Yesterday the plane came over bringing the meat, fish, cheese, candy, toasted was, canned meats, etc. that I guess you two sent. Thanks so very much for all your thoughtfulness and for your letters and prayers and understanding. You see things rightly when you realize that the problems are not all solved with an apparently successful entrance into the tribe. The problems are new ones now, and the testings of a different nature, but the tempter has the same object as has the Deliverer. That is, the former’s is to make disciples for himself, as the latter’s is to make us like Himself. New situations are only new arenas for faith to be proved. Pray that my faith rest firmly in the Pioneer and Perfecter.
I wish you could see this gang eat.… The sound effects (smacking, sucking, tearing, munching) are fantastic. It’s all over in about three minutes. The men rise from their haunches, the women lick up whatever remains, and they scatter into the twilight. No one has said a word—“help yourself” or “thank you” or anything. Then the fires are fanned, showing up the ragged silhouettes of leaf huts, hammocks are strung and quiet settles in. The toads and frogs, crickets, and cicadas start in with the occasional horn-like call of a munditi (the black bird like they gave Ed and Marilou) or owl, and once according to Dayuma, the panting of a nearby puma.
October 18
Breakfast this morning besides certain civilized blessings sent by you two (1 presume) was the forearm and a clenched fist (with drawn white skin and black nails) of a monkey. Not bad, except for the very penetrating flavor of burnt hair. Last night Gikita and two sons brought in five monkeys and two birds—caught with blowguns and poison darts. We all sat around while Mankamu thrust the hopeless animals one after another into the fire, till the thick fur burned itself into sizzling, popping balls, the limbs curled up in paroxysms (it seemed) of pain and the dead, human faces gaped in agony. Then into the pot they went along with yuca and plantains and we all sucked and tore away. (It is quite impossible to bite monkey flesh—you simply clamp your incisors on it and tear.) It is a comfort to know that the meat is easily digested even if not chewed!
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Yesterday afternoon, Watu gave me two of my favorite fish—a descendant, I understand, of an armored prehistoric species. For the first time I discovered why Indians regard the head as choice. I found it delectable—especially the brain and eyes. The latter I had somehow mistakenly assumed were very bitter.
There is a horde of kids around which keeps Val happy. She is, of course, in her element in an Indian environment—would rather drink their stringy, lumpy banana drink than milk; seems to sleep every bit as soundly on bamboo as on a mattress. She plays in the river whenever anyone goes down to fish, bathe, or wash pots. She hacks away at trees with a machete, fans fires, strings beads, twists fibers, and generally makes an Auca of herself except for the language.
There are now 10 houses—all of them tiny (about 6’ x 8’) leaf shacks except for those which Gikita and Kimu are in process of building. Rachel sleeps under the roof Gikita put up. Val and I have our own “private” house. So far there hasn’t been a real rain. We shall see how this roof takes it. There are of course no walls or floors—plenty of fresh air. Weather is ideal, not hot as I had expected and no mosquitoes. Plenty of gnats between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m.
October 25
Day before yesterday, Dabu arrived. He is the only one of the present group of men (except Munga, who is from down-river) who had no part in killing the five. He, you remember, cried when he heard about it.…
Exploit Reaction
Comments below indicate how the Auca exploit looks to Christian leaders.
Dr. Philip E. Howard Jr., president and editor of The Sunday School Times and father of Mrs. Elisabeth Elliot:
“I believe the recent developments have come about through the sovereignty of God and because of His love for the Auca Indians, and because of a great volume of prayer which has gone up on their behalf from believers all over the world.
“I think, too, that God is honoring the faith and perseverance of Rachel Saint, Dayuma, Betty Elliot, Dr. and Mrs. Wilfred Tid-marsh, the pilots of the Missionary Aviation Fellowship, and other missionaries in Ecuador who are behind the scenes, so to speak.
“Mrs. Howard and I are profoundly thankful that God has made it possible for Rachel, Dayuma, Betty, and her little girl, Valerie, to carry the Gospel into the Auca Territory.”
Dr. V. Raymond Edman, president of Wheaton College who baptized Dayuma, first Auca convert to Christianity.
“The Aucas of the Ecuadorian jungles are among the most savage and brutal people in the world. The martyrdom of five young missionaries seeking to reach them is the most stirring missionary account of this century. The courageous return of Dayuma, the Christian Auca, to her people, which made possible the going of Rachel Saint, Betty Howard Elliot and her little Valerie to the Aucas is the greatest adventure in this missionary epic.”
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On Thursday night, we were all sitting or swinging in hammocks by the fire in Gikita and Mankamu’s house when the dogs began to bark. Of course, this could mean only two things: a tiger, or the downriver killers. So, supposing it to be the latter, Mankamu (who I now observe to be the matriarch of the tribe) went out and perched up on a log and sermonized for about half an hour. She told them we are all living well now, we don’t kill, we’ll be glad to receive them if they will come out without spears, etc. I guess they didn’t like the terms—at least, no one appeared!…
October 26
Another mail and food drop yesterday. Word that they’ll make a bucket drop on Tuesday or Wednesday, so I’ll wind up these pages soon and get them ready to send out.
I don’t think I told you that the first day we arrived, Val just sat down on the log which Kimu was squatting on and stared and stared. Then she said “Mama, who is that? Is that my daddy? He looks like a daddy.” Somehow, in her child mind, she had associated Aucas and daddy—though I’d never told her till a few days ago that the Aucas had killed her daddy. I waited till she had met five of the men and then I told her that those men had killed daddy. She said, “Oh.” She prays for them and for the others she knows by name.
Please pray especially now for the down-river group. I feel about them now as I once did about this group—“impossible to reach.” But “it is God who will tread down our enemies” and bring them into subjection to himself. These people, including Dayuma fear them exceedingly and expect a retaliation any day. (It is their turn now to kill someone up here). But there are several down-river people here in this group now—perhaps God will use them to bridge the gap.
Very much love, Betty
October 28—P.S. On Sunday night the last of the men, Nimunga, arrived with his wife and baby. Now they have all been here (all 7 of them) at one time or another.
Last night Dayuma was telling me more of the thrillers that are routine small-talk in this outfit. It seems that when Nimunga went to finish off George, he didn’t do a very thorough job. George, knowing he wouldn’t pull through, went to his own grave under his own locomotion, got in, demanded that his kids be strangled and thrown in with him (only one child was) and then asked to go ahead and cover him up. His two wives (Delilah and Ipa) stood and watched while they fixed the split palm boards over the body (this makes quite an ample space, so the victim probably breathes and writhes for a good long time) and then they watched them tamp the earth “tight so he won’t come out” and listened to the faint groans from underground. These are the men and women with whom we live and eat.
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[Background information on this latest Auca missionary endeavor appears in CHRISTIANITY TODAY for October 27 and November 10.]
Church And State
The Tempter’S Snares
Now you can expect to be tempted by shapely models daintily fingering cocktail glasses. The Distilled Spirits Institute says women may appear in hard liquor ads if they do so in a dignified manner.
Only a few weeks ago, a noted temperance leader won time for a weekly network radio broadcast. “This is a break for temperance,” said Dr. Sam Morris. He attributed the “breakthrough” to recent hearings in Washington on a bill to outlaw liquor advertising.
Then the “breaks” started to go the other way. In quick succession two radio stations defied an industry code which has always forbid the selling of whiskey via the air waves. In line with the trend, the Distilled Spirits Institute decided it would be acceptable to serve up hard liquor ads with cheesecake.
The developments probably will encourage temperance leaders and some churchmen to plead even more strongly before the next Congress for a law against liquor advertising.
Congress may also hear new demands for stricter laws governing obscenity. But the Post Office Department, in the meantime, initiated legal action against Playboy on grounds that the magazine’s November number is obscene. The Churchmen’s Commission for Decent Publications has protested Playboy’s accounts many times. The Commission denounced the magazine for a “scurrilous attack” on Dr. Albert Schweitzer in its November issue, adding that the attack “is couched in the most vulgar profanity imaginable in as sordid a piece of fiction as has ever appeared in print in any publication.”
Pornography and alcohol are not the only areas which find government standing between Christian principles and decaying public morality. These were among other developments this fall which at least hint of church-state tensions:
—Oregon has no juvenile code. As a result legal problems of juvenile delinquency are not handled uniformly. The State legislature and the National Probation and Parole Association are appraising conditions and expect to come up with proposals for dealing with an ominous situation.
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—Protestants and Other Americans United charged that U. S. cardinals voting in a papal election violate American law. Not a “political election,” replied the State Department.
—Anxieties were expressed over official U. S. delegations on hand in Rome for the funeral of Pope Pius XII and the coronation of Pope John XXIII. Presidential Press Secretary James C. Hagerty said the coronation delegation was according the pope recognition “as head of the Roman Catholic church” and not as chief of state of Vatican City.
—The U. S. Court of Appeals ruled that award of a commercial channel to Loyola University in New Orleans does not fall within the federal ban on alien control of television stations. The argument against the award had cited the fact that Loyola is a school of the Jesuit order, which has headquarters in Rome.
—The National Association of Evangelicals asked the Navy to correct a series of posters omitting what most Protestants have traditionally considered the second commandment, which prohibits the making and worshipping of graven images.
—Justice and Post Office Department officials discussed legal means of combating the flow of “hate sheets” in the mails, but indicated that constitutional restrictions made this action difficult. (The American Council of Christian Churches objected to any move against the mailing of hate literature with the statement that it would be a “distinct step toward suppression of Americans’ traditional rights to freedom of speech and expression.”)
—The Ohio attorney general ruled that Roman Catholic nuns may teach in the state’s public schools while wearing religious garb.
—Principals of five public schools in Syosset, New York, were warned by their district superintendent against the “expression of faith or worship” in Christmas observances.
—The Canadian Protestant League condemned a government order which required flags to be flown at half-mast on public-owned buildings after the death of Pope Pius XII.
—In the remote village of Killaloe, County Clare, in Ireland, three Protestant evangelists were attacked while trying to hold a street meeting. Three men who pleaded guilty to the attack were given the benefit of the Probation of Offenders Act (technically a conviction, but no penalty) by the local court. Said Justice Gordon Hurley: “Religion is above courts, the main business of which is to preserve peace. When men come into an Irish village and provoke the people by foisting their views on them they are abusing whatever rights they have under the Constitution which guarantees freedom of religious worship.”
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Bringing The Bacon
The 1958 national elections may well go down in history as important milestones in the rise of Roman Catholic power in America.
California and Pennsylvania, second and third largest states in the Union, elected their first Catholic governors. Maine and Minnesota elected their first Catholic senators.
Catholic Democratic candidates, moreover, ran ahead on their tickets in a big majority of cases.
“You can even argue,” said columnist Joseph Alsop, “that the pattern foreshadows what can be called a strong ‘Demo-Christian’ trend. Of course the word, in its European context, has a meaning that it could never have here. But in many states, after this election, the Democrats will certainly tend to prefer Catholic candidates, simply because Catholic candidates are plainly more likely to bring home the bacon.”
The editorially-influential Washington Post and Times Herald saw it this way: “Viewed in retrospect, the most heartening aspect of last week’s election may be the unmistakable way that the voters laid to rest some old nostrums about Catholicism in American politics.”
In speaking of Catholic Eugene McCarthy’s victory in the race for the U. S. Senate in Minnesota, columnist Drew Pearson said, “Religion was raised by some voters privately, but when the votes were counted, the majority had put religion on the sidelines.”
Thus did the nation’s press largely dismiss the view that perhaps a man’s faith has something to do with his ability to hold office after all, that perhaps his religious convictions do influence to some extent at least his loyalties and character as a lawmaker.
Among other election results:
—The city of New York and the state of Colorado voted to legalize bingo games sponsored by religious and fraternal organizations. In New York, the margin was two to one. In Colorado, out of some 156,000 votes cast, the measure won by about 20,000.
—California voters by a two-to-one margin defeated “Proposition No. 16,” which would have denied property tax exemption to nonprofit, nonpublic schools below college level, except those for the handicapped.
—Two men who have admitted to holding Quaker-type, pacifist views that make them conscientiously opposed to participation in war were elected to Congress. They are Representative William H. Meyer, a Quaker who will become the first Democrat to represent Vermont in Congress since 1852, and Representative Bryon Johnson of Colorado, a Congregationalist who won a seat that has been Republican for 20 years.
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THE CATEGORICAL IMPERATIVE
So philosophy calls it, but the Word of God uses simpler and clearer language. “It was necessary,” Paul told the Jews at Antioch, “that the Word of God should first have been spoken to you.” That is, as if he were to say, “I can’t help myself; it is a categorical imperative!”
The imperative lies inherently in the very nature of the case. The natural procedure is to start any Gospel program with the Jew. Sentiment calls for it; gratitude requires it; and, above all, God commands it! So powerfully was this conviction born in upon the conscience of Paul, and so important did he consider Jewish conversion, that he cried out, “I could wish that myself were accursed from Chirst for my brethren … who are Israelites!”
Dear child of God! Will you not ask Him to let you see Israel as He sees her? And when you do, a new joy ana a new blessing will come to you. Try it. We feel that some day you will thank us that you did.
Our work merits your every confidence. It is a program of word-wide testimony to the Jews. Your fellowship is always welcomed and appreciated. THE CHOSEN PEOPLE magazine is sent to all contributors.
Protestant Panorama
• A resolution deploring “centralized authority and the depersonalizing of the individual” was adopted by the National Association of Congregational Christian Churches at its fourth annual meeting in Detroit. The association, which estimates its constituency at 70,000, aims to provide “a continuing fellowship for those churches which intend to remain Congregational.” Its churches have bolted the union of the Congregational Christian General Council with the Evangelical and Reformed Church.
• Evangelist Tom Rees is touring the United Kingdom. He expects by spring he will have visited every county. The inaugural rally was held in Central Hall, Westminster … The Egypt General Mission, celebrating its sixtieth anniversary, is advancing into the Red Sea province of Eritrea.
• Religious News Service quotes a U. S. Department of Agriculture report predicting for 1958 a record consumption of 425 billion cigarettes (16 billion over last year, a rate of 3,528 cigarettes per capita for the U. S. population 15 years of age or over).
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• To the great surprise of authorities, the Soviet ambassador to Great Britain, M. Malik, attended a special mass in London’s Westminster Cathedral … The fall meeting of the British Council of Churches resulted in adoption of a resolution urging the English government to support any NATO measures for an amicable solution of the Cyprus problem.
• The Board of National Missions of the United Presbyterian Church in the U. S. A. secured a $5,000,000 loan from the New York Life Insurance Company this month to aid synods, presbyteries, and congregations lacking adequate facilities.
• Korean Methodists extended a warm welcome to the Rev. Kim Chong Peel as their new bishop after watching with mounting excitement a closely contested election which extended through 32 ballotings and three days before the necessary majority vote was achieved … Korean President Syngman Rhee awarded a special medal to Bishop Richard C. Raines of the American Methodist Church and Dr. Edward Adams, newly-elected president of Keimyong Christian College, missionary of the United Presbyterian Church. The award cited “cultural” achievement.
• A controversy among Soviet Zone pastors and laymen over biblical and scientific explanations of man’s origin was climaxed in Berlin last month when the management of the Evangelical Church of Berlin and Brandenburg issued a statement saying that no “certain standpoint” on the issue was binding.
• Reformation Day services drew many thousands of Protestants. Some 12,000 gathered at Madison Square Garden for a “Protestant Reformation Festival” sponsored by the Protestant Council of the City of New York. In Louisville, Kentucky, an estimated 17,000 turned out. Even in Allentown, Pa., a council of churches mass meeting attracted 3100.
• The Free Methodist Church of North America last month approved a merger with the Holiness Movement Church in Canada, which has already endorsed the union.
• Three thousand delegates to the third National Methodist Conference on Family Life went on record in favor of regional profession counseling programs on marital problems, total abstinence from all intoxicants and narcotics, and support of world law and strengthening the United Nations.
• The Church Assembly, legislative organ of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, postponed action on the question of women in the ministry until 1963 … A debate on ecumenism proved the most spirited item on the agenda of the second Conference of Presbyterian Churches in Latin America. Present were 65 official and fraternal delegates representing approximately 350,000 Presbyterians from eight Latin American countries. Also represented were three mission boards and five organized missions. A number of top Presbyterian church officials from the United States were on hand as well.
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Theological Education
Protestant seminary enrollments may have hit a new high this fall, a survey made by CHRISTIANITY TODAY indicates.
Member institutions of two religious school accrediting agencies were asked for student enrollment totals of the fall term, 1958, as compared with those of the last academic year. The tabulation below represents member schools which responded to this publication’s request for data (United States and Canada).
When totalled, the seminary figures for this fall come slightly short of the aggregate for last year. However, some schools have compared this fall’s enrollment with a cumulative total for 1957–58 which takes in two or more semesters. When these figures are accurately adjusted and remaining schools report, the total may exceed the record of 20,910 set in 1956–57 by member schools of the American Association of Theological Schools.
The American Association of Theological Schools is composed of 127 “theological seminaries engaged in educating and training for the Christian ministry.” The Accrediting Association of Bible Colleges recognizes schools on an undergraduate level (its membership criteria, however, exclude many Christian liberal arts colleges).
Order of listing: Name of school; denominational affiliation (if any); enrollment last year; enrollment this year.
Abbreviations: B., Bible or Biblical; C., College; D., Divinity; I., Institute; R., Religion; S., School; Sem., Seminary; T., Theology or Theological; U., University.
American Association Of Theological Schools
Anderson C. S. of T.; Church of God; 83; 82
Andover Newton T.S.; A. Bao.-Cong. Ch.; 204; 238
Asbury T. Sem.; 205; 205
Augustana T. Sem.; Augustana Luth.; 218; 204
Austin Presb. T. Sem.; Presb. U.S.; 116–147
Bangor T. Sem.; 104; 96
Berkeley Baptist D. S.; Am. Bap.; 276; 199
Berkeley D. S.; Prot. Epis.; 114; 99
Bethel T. Sem; Bap. Genl. Conf.; 111; 108
Bexley Hall; Prot. Epis.; 45; 46
Biblical Seminary in N. Y.; 144; 141
Bloomfield T. Sem.; U. Presb. U.S.A.; 23; 23
Calvin T. Sem.; Christian Reformed; 125; 104
Candler S. of T.; Methodist; 399; 419
Central Bap. T. Sem.; Am. Bap.; 159; 117
Central Luth. T. Sem.; ULCA; 42; 48
Chicago Luth. T. Sem.; ULCA; 165; 167
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Chicago T. Sem.; Cong.; 131; 128
Chicago, U. of D. S.; 212; 197
Christian T. Sem.; Disciples of Ch.; 442; 462
Colgate Rochester D. S.; Bap.; 130; 134
College of the B.; Dis. of Ch.; 196; 151
Columbia T. Sem.; Pres. U. S.; 247; 258
Concordia T. Sem.; Mo. Luth.; 375; 427
Crane T. S., Tufts U.; 23; 21
Crozer T. Sem.; Baptist; 65; 63
Cumberland Presb. T. Sem.; Presb.; 53; 49
Disciples D. House; Disciples of Ch.; 19; 24
Drew U. S. of T.; Methodist; 300; 319
Dubuque, U. of, T. Sem.; Presb.; 118; 139
Duke U., D.S.; 275; 270
Eastern Bap, T. Sem.; Am. Bap.; 180; 202
Eden T. Sem.; Evang. & Reformed; 158; 155
Episcopal T. S.; Prot. Epis.; 102; 109
Episcopal T. Sem. of Southwest; Epis.; 90; 84
Erskine T. Sem.; Ass. Reformed Presby.; 24; 32
Evang. & Reformed Ch., T. Sem.; 87; 96
Evangelical Luth. T. Sem.; Am. Luth.; 232; 245
Fuller T. Sem.; 236; 237
Garrett B. I.; Meth.; 716; 728
General T. Sem.; Episcopal; 215; 210
Golden Gate Bap. T. Sem.; Bap.; 333; 314
Goshen C. B. Sem.; Mennonite; 35; 40
Harvard D. S.; 230; 242
Howard U., S. of R.; 50; 56
Iliff S. of T.; Methodist; 125; 147
Knox C.; Presb. Church in Canada; 49; 49
Louisville Presb. T. Sem.; Presb.; 173; 149
I.uther T. Sem.; Ev. Luth.; 513; 569
Luth. T. Sem., Gettysburg; Luth.; 144; 156
Luth. T. Sem., Phila.; ULCA; 156; 156
McCormick T. Sem.; Presb.; 290; 308
McMaster D. C.; Bap.; 34; 32
Meadville T. S.; Unit.-Univ.; 19; 24
Mission House T. Sem.; Evang. & Reformed; 30; 28
Moravian T. Sem.; Moravian; 29; 34
Nazarene T. Sem.; Ch. of Nazarene; 189; 170
New Brunswick T. Sem.; Ref. Ch. in Am.; 60; 57
New Orleans Bap. T. Sem.; S. Bap.; 797; 798
North Park T. Sem.; Evang. Cov. Ch. of Am.; 89; 86
Reformed B.I.; Chr. Ref. & Ref. Ch. of Am.; 96; 101
Simpson B. C.; C&MA; 181; 208
South-Eastern B. C.; Assy. of God; 256; 258
Southwestern B. I.; Assys. of God; 498; 508
So. Calif. B. C.; Assembly of God; 169; 204
Washington B. C.; 89; 98
Telivised Bible Study
More than 1400 persons in metropolitan Washington are enrolled in the first college course in Bible study ever offered via television. Of these, 100 will write term papers and take final examinations for credit from American University.
The National Capital Area Council of Churches is cooperating with station WMAL-TV and American University in offering the course.
The weekly television class is being taught on Saturdays by Dr. Edward W. Bauman, chaplain at American.
Continental Europe
The Trumpet Sound
“As one close observer commented, the Protestant exhibit was lovely, but it didn’t really challenge anybody. If a trumpet gives forth an uncertain sound, who will prepare himself for battle—or to meet his God.”
So writes John C. Winston, former Roman Catholic who now helps direct the Belgian Gospel Mission. Winston was referring to the Protestant Pavilion at the Brussels World Fair. Here he tells of evangelical witness at the fair:
“Since the chorus of humanistic and materialistic voices at the fair would drown out any but the clearest sounds, many evangelical Christians in Belgium felt the necessity of proclaiming as forcefully as possible the essentials of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Their opportunity came in helping the Belgian Bible Society set up a huge open Bible pavilion on a nearby hill. Far into the night Scripture verses in German, English, French, Russian, Flemish, and Spanish were spelled out by luminous letters moving across its pages. Backed mainly by the Belgian Gospel Mission, the Open Brethren, the Darby Brethren, and the Mennonite Mission, the Scripture Gift Mission of London, the Belgian Bible Society was able to finance and fully staff this pavilion.
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“Small, yet dignified, it sheltered many thoughtful visitors as they came to realize the importance of the Bible in the life of people around the world, from being the book first printed to the most widely read book today. Along the whole back wall of the stand, a half dozen huge photos forcefully depicted the essential message of the Scriptures, the bliss of life in Eden, the heartbreak of sin and its bondage, glorious deliverance at the cross (here a large wooden cross and a broken chain stood out from the photo), and finally a fork in the road reminding each spectator quietly but unmistakably that there is a choice to be made. Clear answers were given to visitors’ questions by a carefully selected staff of guides at the pavilion.
“Besides Scriptures distributed at the American Pavilion and to Russians throughout the fair grounds, the Belgian Bible Society sold 7280 Bibles, New Testaments, and Gospels in 170 languages at the luminous Bible, and at its little booth under the exhibition hall of the Protestant Churches Pavilion.
“From these two centers and the stand of Protestant Missions in the Congo Palace, some 567,300 Scripture portions and tracts were given out. This means that of the 40 million people who passed through the gates, one out of eighty received a piece of free literature.
“Some people we know of who live just a few miles from the Atomium are reading the Bible they bought at the fair and are finding the One who gave Himself that men everywhere—in 1958—might be saved.”
Pope John Xxiii
“The election of Cardinal Roncalli to the supreme office of the Roman church stirs new hopes in those who look for a renewal inside the Catholic body,” writes CHRISTIANITY TODAY correspondent Renato Tulli in a news report from Italy.
“It appears that John XXIII is a man of large and modern views, free from any tie with those traditionalist courses which in some instances have imposed limits to papal initiatives. We know also that the new pope is deeply acquainted with the spiritual and material needs of the people and that he has above all fostered in the clergy depending on him the care for souls and charity as the main duties and paramount tasks of a minister of God.
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“Seemingly, Roncalli is the type of pontiff that most people wished for in Italy—a religious more than a political pope. It is good to take account, by the way, that it is believed he was a candidate of the French Episcopate, which is progressive and supported the ‘priest workers’ opposed by Pius XII. It is interesting to note also that Roncalli refused a post in the Roman See in order to devote himself to religious and social work in the Venice Patriarchate.
“On the other hand, in his motto ‘Oboedientia et Pax’ (Obedience and Peace) some quarters see revealed, the firm purpose of John XXIII not to detach himself from some definite theological traditions. In fact, in his first message broadcast to the Catholic world the day
after his election, he invited all ‘separated’ Christians to turn back to the Roman church—which he defined the ‘House of the Common Father’—so that there may be only ‘one flock and one shepherd.’
“However, two circumstances give to Protestants here cause for expecting favorable developments. Firstly, the fact that the new pope has chosen the name of John, which was the name of the Apostle of love. The selection of this name—which was the first act of his pontificate—indicates a some such intention to break with the tradition of Pius and Leos and certainly was not casual. Moreover, the last Pope named John XXII, having reigned from 1316 to 1334, that is before the Counter-Reformation when the Western Christian Church still formed one body, may point toward an ecumenical objective. Secondly, it is thought in many circles that the new pope will proceed to structural changes inside the Roman See, with the aim of restoring a democratic system in Church administration, which was upset by the centralizing methods of the late Pius XII.
“Of course, one thing is a program and another thing is the realization of it. All depends on the grace of God and on following the leading of the Spirit.
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While we pray for peace, we need moral clarity about this war.
We’ve got little information on Jesus’ appearance and personality. But that’s the way God designed it.españolFrançais
The Grammy-winning artist was found dead at her home in Nashville at age 47.
