Principles and Problems of Foreign Missions by H.H. Montgomery

These three lectures were given at Church House Westminster by Henry Hutchinson Montgomery, formerly Bishop of Tasmania, He considered the first of three to be the most necessary for his day, as it is always “…most necessary to affirm and reaffirm the foundation principles of our Faith, upon which the Mission work of the church wholly rests” [p.iv].

My thanks to the Cambridge Centre for Christianity Worldwide for providing a copy of this book for digitisation. This title is in the public domain.

Henry Hutchinson Montgomery [1847-1932], Principles and Problems of Foreign Missions. Three Lectures Delivered in the Church House, Westminster. Westminster: The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, 1904. Hbk. pp.103. [Click to download the complete book in PDF]

Contents

• Preface
• Lecture I: God’s Purpose For the Whole World
• Lecture II: Non-Christian Religions
• Lecture III: The Future of Missions
• Appendix: United Boards of Missions of the Provinces of Canterbury and York

Lecture I: God’s Purpose for the Whole World

In a course of Lectures on the Missionary problem, the first must needs be devoted to the fundamental questions-to our principles, our position, and our attitude to all other faiths.

Some of you may be inclined to think this unnecessary; I fear my experience tends the other way. Nor do I think it will ever cease to be needful. Among the Babel of voices which com-mend the systems of morals, among the religions and semi-religions of the world, and the philosophies becoming more and more eclectic, though all of course (that are worth anything) are shot through and through with the Christian influence (however unconscious of the fact those who hold them may be), it is not easy to stand firm upon the simple Christian basis. Time after time in society you will hear per-sons discussing religious questions, unaware that they have deserted the real Christian position. [Continue reading]