Jewish circles here have raised an outcry over a statement made by Dr. John R. Mott, the President of the International Missionary Council, at the Convention of the Foreign Missions Conference of North America, that while its International Committee on Christian Approach to the Jews “will foster deeper understanding and mutually helpful fellowship between Christians and Jews”, “missionary work among Jews is a duty in spite of all protests”.
Dr. Herbert Goldstein, the President of the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, speaking with the J.T.A. here said that he hoped that this statement will open the eyes of those Jewish leaders who have been caught in the loving goodwill propaganda aiming to entice Jews from Judaism.
Mr. Roger W. Straus, co-Chairman of the National Conference on Jews and Christians, said: “All of us in bringing about better understanding between Jews and Christians have realised that Dr. Mott and his organisation have not given up the idea of proselytising. Many Christians, both lay and clerical, however, have agreed that such efforts are not only largely responsible for antisemitism but are insulting to Jews. It is particularly unfortunate that Dr. Mott should couch his statement in terms that seem to imply that he is striving for better understanding between Jew and Christian, because by so doing he causes many Jews to hold aloof from real efforts in this direction. Such efforts must be based on the cornerstone of mutual respect and understanding of the viewpoint of each. The Goodwill Committee of the Federal Council of Churches of Christ in America has definitely deprecated proselytising efforts among Jews. I have no fear that Dr. Mott and his associates will accomplish Jewish conversion. Such efforts have failed even when accompanied by Inquisition tactics, but I do feel that he and those who are associated with him fan the flame of religious prejudice and thereby do our country an evil service.
The question whether the Goodwill Movement between Jews and Christians carried on in America for the past six years, mainly under the auspices of the Committee on Goodwill between Jews and Christians of the Federal Council of Churches of Christ in America with the co-operation of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, is sincere or advisable came up in 1929 following the publication by the American Jewish Committee through the Jewish Telegraphic Agency of a lengthy correspondence on the subject between the late Louis Marshall and the Rev. Dr. Alfred William Anthony, who was the originator in 1923 of the Committee on Goodwill between Jews and Christians of the Federal Churches of Christ in America. Dr. Anthony was also at the time Executive Secretary of the Home Missions Council.
Dr. Anthony, in replying to a letter from Mr. Marshall, frankly asserted that missionary work cannot be given up by the Christian denominations, and suggested that protests against conversionist efforts are an interference with religious liberty, exposing the Jews to the charge of muzzling Christians. He further asserted that eliminating missionary work would to many Christians mean “abandoning the Jews to what they call a lost condition, with all the unfavourable indications attached to that in their theology”. It might also, he added, be considered as a discrimination against Jews, and it was doubtful whether the Jews would find this advisable. He further charged his Jewish friends with unwittingly undertaking to convert Christians to exactly their method of procedure and their way of thinking, while protesting against any efforts on the part of Christians, when they are asked to leave out of their programme the points about propagating their features, since the great majority of Christians believe that propagating their religion is an essential part of their religion.
The Secretary of the Committee on Goodwill Between Jews and Christians of the Federal Churches of Christ in America, Mr. Everett R. Clinchy, thereupon issued a statement declaring that the Committee on Goodwill Between Jews and Christians of the Federal Council of Churches of Christ in America is not interested in converting Jews, and that Dr. Anthony in his correspondence with Mr. Louis Marshall speaks for himself alone and not for the Committee.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
