THE GOSPEL MISSION MOVEMENT WITHIN THE SOUTHERN BAPTIST CONVENTION

The purpose of the dissertation was to describe the development of the Gospel Mission controversy within the Southern Baptist Convention. Begun in North China, the Gospel Mission movement challenged the mission methodology and denominational stability of the Southern Baptist Convention at the end of the nineteenth century. The thesis of the study was that the Gospel Mission movement developed from the personal views, experiences, and reactions of Tarleton P. Crawford, a veteran Southern Baptist missionary in China from 1852. The thesis challenged a view in Baptist historiography that the Gospel Mission movement developed from Southern Baptist Landmarkism.; The first chapter, "The Early Career of Tarleton Perry Crawford," examined the evolution of his views through 1863. Soon after his arrival in China, Crawford opposed a "hireling ministry" and mission-supported medical work. Crawford determined that the only legitimate mission concern was the evangelization of the people. During this period, he was confronted by the Landmark movement in America. Crawford did not align himself with this movement because he had personal differences with the Landmark leader, J. R. Graves, and because this movement slowed his own missionary support.; Chapter two, entitled "Development of Crawford's Mission Views (1863-1890), " presented Crawford's challenge to the Southern Baptist Foreign Mission Board. His encounter with faith missions and self-support mission principles, his unsatisfactory commercial entanglements with the local Chinese, and his personal problems led him to oppose the use of mission funds for any mission activity other than direct evangelism. After 1885, when the Foreign Mission Board refused to adopt his self-support principles as mandatory for all missionaries, Crawford opposed the control of a "board" over the missionary's activities, declaring that the proper scriptural mission relationship should be between a missionary and the local church.; The third chapter described the establishment of the Gospel Mission between 1890 and 1893. Crawford and several of his colleagues withdrew from service with the Board and established a new field of work. Strict adherence to self-support principles, reliance on individual church support, and personal differences with the Foreign Mission Board had led this group to sever relations with the Board. Crawford believed that within a few years, the "board mission system" of the Southern Baptist Convention would be dead.; Chapter four, entitled "Life Within the Gospel Mission (1893-1910)," dealt with the life of the Gospel Mission after its formation and until it no longer acted as a threat to the existence of the Foreign Mission Board. After a promising start, the Gospel Mission movement never captured the imagination and devotion of Southern Baptists. Internal problems in China, lack of forthcoming financial support, and the death of the Crawfords contributed to the weakening of the movement. By 1910, many of the Gospel missionaries had retired from the field or joined the growing ranks of the "board" missionaries.; The concluding chapter investigated the effects of the Gospel Mission movement within the Southern Baptist Convention. While the ranks of the Board's missionaries in North China were depleted, the Foreign Mission Board did not alter its methods. Any acceptance of the Gospel Mission principles would have forced the death of the Foreign Mission Board. By 1910, the strict supporters of the Gospel Mission movement in America had withdrawn from affiliation with the Southern Baptist Convention, thus strengthening the "board" system of the Convention and the denominational consciousness of the Convention.