Christian Missionaries

of religious devotion and fidelity. Establishing a basis for reli shortly after the parliament began, were the nontheists-Bud gious accord and agreeing on common goals would serve as a dhists, humanists, and nee-pagans.'? No less intolerable for four prelude to a final resume of the extraordinary religious progress Jewish cosponsoring organizations who announced their with of the nineteenth century. The whole affair wasbathedin a heady drawal the fifth day of the parliament was the appearance of mist of optimism. Louis Farrakhan of the Nation of Islam." The stated purposeof the second parliament, though neither The 1893 parliament experienced its own rough spots, in utopian nor ethnocentric, was formidable. The mission of the cluding refusals of endorsement and dire predictions that recog 1993 parliament would, its planners said, "inspire action and nition of "heathen" religions would undermine the Christian change around the world," serve as "a catalyst for dialogue," missionary effort and vitiate the claim of Christ's uniqueness. "promote understanding, introspection, and reflection," and During the sessions some speakers were interruptedbyshouts of "ignite changes in the ways we live and relate to each other.":' "Shame, shame," and vigorous objections were voiced when The planning committee for the first parliament was com Christianity's faults were denounced by certain Asian speak posed of fourteen of Chicago's well-known Protestant Christian ers." Also, when some Baptist leaders and officials of the inter leaders, one Jewish rabbi, and a Roman Catholic bishop, while denominational Christian Endeavor movementlearned that nei the planners for last year's meeting included a number of Chris ther the exposition nor the parliament would close for Sabbath tians, Protestant and Catholic, and also representatives of the observance, they promptly canceled the conferences they had Baha'i, Hindu, Buddhist, Islamic, and Zoroastrian communities. scheduled to be held in conjunction with the parliament." Whereas the 1893 meeting, a seventeen-day affair, was held Delegates to the 1893 Parliament in what was called a humble and modest building "temporarily attached to the Chicago Art Institute"-onedescribed it as a kind The planners of the first parliament sent invitations to more than of "woodenwigwam"I4-theprincipalvenueof lastyear'seight ten thousand of the world's religious leaders, but other than dayconclavewastheelegantPalmerHouseHiltonhotel. Though Christians, the number who came was relatively small. The the hotel was certainly comfortable and the staff remarkably sultan of Turkey, the archbishop of Canterbury, and the Euro prepared to accommodate the multiple and often conflicting peanRoman Catholic hierarchy all opposed the gathering, as did dietary requirements of the delegates, less than half of those manyNorthAmericanevangelicalProtestants,includingDwight L.Moody. AndthoughJohnHenryBarrowswasthe parliament's president, the General Assembly of his own church, the Presby At the 1993 parliament no terian Church in the U.S.A., declined to be involved officially. In spite of this widespread and imposing opposition, some Christian missionaries four hundredregistered delegates,menandwomen,werepresent, offered papers or joined representing forty-one different religious groups, including Christian (Protestant, Roman Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox), any panel discussions. Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist, Shinto, Confucian, Zoroastrian, Mus lim, and Jain. This is not to imply that the representation was in any sense balanced. Most of the official delegates were Chris registered could crowd into the Grand Ballroom for the plenary tians, two-thirds of the papers presented wereby Christians, and sessions. Those who could not get in were obliged to find a parlor the vast majority of the three to four thousand from the general or room where the sessions were shown by video or try to arrive public who attended the daily sessions were professing Chris earlier the next time. tians. The number of Buddhists, Hindus, Zoroastrians, and Con The number of official delegates in 1893 was said to be four fucians was quite small. Only one Jain and one Muslim were hundred. The second parliament attracted nearly seven thou there. The Muslim, not a lifelong follower of the Prophet but sand registrants who anted up a fee of $200 before June 1, 1993, rather an American convert to Islam, Mohammed Alexander or $350 thereafter. The number was more than double what the Russell Webb, was a former Presbyterianand U.S.ambassa.dor to planners had anticipated, and consequently they were forced to the Philippines who had taken the name Mohammed at the time suspend registration several days before the parliament began. of his conversion."The Jain was also something of a novelty-not In 1893 the most prominent participants were James Cardi clergy, but rather a young Indian lawyer, Virchand Gandhi, who nal Gibbons, George Dana Boardman, PhilipSchaff, Washington agreed to represent his faith in the parliament and was given Gladden, Lyman Abbott, Charles A. Briggs, Isaac M. Wise, Rabbi intensive preparation by Jain monks who, because of their own Joseph Silverman, Henry Drummond, Edward Everett Hale, religious prohibitions, could not travel outside of India." Julia Ward Howe, Frances E. Willard, Josephine Lazarus, Prince Conspicuously absent from the 1893 meeting, however, Chandradat Chudhadharn, and Bishop Dionysios Latas. Three were official envoys from the Anglican Church of Great Britain young Asians-one Hindu and two Buddhists-becameequally and the Episcopal Church of America," as well as all but a few well known as a result of the parliament. At least a dozen conservative Protestant evangelicals. Missing as well, but not Christian missionaries were featured on the program." conspicuously so, were representatives of American, African, During the second parliament, no one received the press and Asian indigenous religions," Sikhs, Baha'is, and scores of the coverage or drew crowds equal to those of the final speaker, other religious groups that had begun to multiply in the United Tenzin Gyatso, the exiled fourteenth Dalai Lama of Tibet. But States during the nineteenth century. Hans Kung, Joseph Cardinal Bernardin, Gerald Barney, Except for conservative U.S. evangelicals, nearly all of these Raimundo Panikkar, Diana L. Eck, Louis Farrakhan, David groups were well represented in the 1993 parliament," plus a few Steindl Rast, Ma [ayha Bhagvati, and Metropolitan Paulos Mar whose presence caused palpable consternation for some and Gregorios were quite visible. No Christian missionaries, as far as withdrawal by others. Particularly objectionable to the Greek I could determine, presented papers or were members of any Orthodox Diocese of Chicago, who canceled their sponsorship panel discussion. April 1994 61 It is generally agreed that one of the most significant results Christian claims of uniqueness or superiority. When they spoke, of the 1893 parliament stemmed from the presence and presen they addressed primarily the more commonly recognized issues tations of three youngand extraordinarilyengagingAsians-the and problems such as religious intolerance and violence, the Hindu reformer Narendranath Datta (1863-1902), better known need for nurturing the planet, interfaith understanding and by his religious name, Vivekananda; the Sri Lankan Buddhist dialogue, and ways to promote justice and peace. Christians did Anagarika Dharmapala (1864-1933); and the Japanese ZenPriest not disguise their allegiance and usually spoke to these crucial Shaku Soyen (1859-1919)-who spoke with great passion of questions as Christians, their words often reflecting their faith their respective faiths. In fact, not only did the parliament pro position. But they were uniformly devoid of the 1893 optimism, vide them a unique public forum and gain for them instant and in some cases their comments were indistinguishable from notoriety, it also opened the door to what would become a what was said by those of other religious persuasions. growing influence and flourishing presence of Eastern religions One need only review the titles of many of the 1893 ad in the West. dresses to appreciate the straightforward, occasionally arrogant, Barrows offered nearly twenty positive results of the 1893 and frequently aggressive presentations of the Christian faith Parliament, including providing for Christians an unequaled titles such as "The Truthfulness of HolyScripture," "Christianity opportunity to share their faith, inciting a desire for Christian a Religion of Facts," "The Incarnation of God in Christ," "Christ unity, encouraging and giving new impetus to Christian mis- the Savior of the World," "Christ the Unifier of Mankind," "Man from a Christian Point of View," and "The Message of Christian ity to Other Religions." It is fair to say, I believe, that there were 1893 no comparable presentations in the 1993 parliament-except by The parliament opened non-Christians. the door to a flourishing The forthrightness and evangelistic ardor that characterized presence of Eastern the Christians attending the 1893 parliament could be seen most vividly in 1993 in Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Zoroastrian, and religions in the West. Muslim presentations. Consider, for example the following: "The Genuine, Authentic Religion We Need Today" (Hindu), "Bhakti Marga and the Unity of Religion," "Hinduism as a Way sions, and stimulatingthe studyof comparative religions, which, of Life," "Guru Nanak's Message for

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