Niagara Bible Conference
Encyclopedia
The Niagara Bible Conference (officially called the "Believers' Meeting for Bible Study") was held annually from 1876 to 1897, with the exception of 1884. In the first few years it met in different resort locations around the United States. Starting in 1883, it was held in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario
at the Queen's Royal Hotel and its pavilion.
The driving force behind the meeting was James H. Brookes
, a Presbyterian
minister from St. Louis. Brookes publicized the meeting through his magazine Truth, and devoted substantial space to summaries of the speeches.
A typical example is his report from 1892, which describes the meeting as
"more largely attended than ever before. Often every seat in the pavilion was occupied, and the porches were filled with eager hearers of the Word. The place too becomes more beautiful as the years go by, and it would be difficult to find a spot better suited"
to the quiet and prayerful study of the Sacred Scriptures. The building in which the Conference meets, overlooking Lake Ontario
and the River Niagara, and surrounded by green trees, is secluded from the noise of the world; and so excellent were the arrangements for the accommodation of the guests, both in Queen's Royal Hotel and in the boarding houses of the village, that not a word of complaint was heard from any one."
Most of the speakers were dispensationalists
, and the Niagara Conference introduced many evangelical Protestants to dispensationalist teaching. The messages generally centered on the doctrines of Christ
, the Holy Spirit
, the Bible, missions
and prophecy
. Premillennialism
and dispensationalism
was defended and taught. Most of the leading dispensationalsts of the late 19th and early 20th century attended the conference regularly, including William Eugene Blackstone
, Charles Erdman, James H. Brookes
, William Moorehead, Adoniram Judson Gordon
, Amzi Dixon
, C.I. Scofield, and James Hudson Taylor (who founded the China Inland Mission
).
In 1878, the Believers' Meeting for Bible Study produced the document that came to be known as the "Niagara Creed." This 14-point statement of faith was one of the first to explicitly proclaim faith in the premillennial return
of Jesus Christ to earth. The Niagara Creed does not explicitly affirm dispensationalism, but it refers to several key dispensationalist beliefs, including the reality of the millennium, the restoration of Israel, and the distinction between the judgment of the saved and the damned.
Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario
Niagara-on-the-Lake is a Canadian town located in Southern Ontario where the Niagara River meets Lake Ontario in the Niagara Region of the southern part of the province of Ontario. It is located across the Niagara river from Youngstown, New York, USA...
at the Queen's Royal Hotel and its pavilion.
The driving force behind the meeting was James H. Brookes
James H. Brookes
James H. Brookes, D. D. , American religious writer, was pastor of Walnut Street Presbyterian Church in St. Louis, Missouri.The was named in his honor . Dr. Brookes was a prolific writer, having authored more than 200 booklets and tracts...
, a Presbyterian
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
The Presbyterian Church , or PC, is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination in the United States. Part of the Reformed tradition, it is the largest Presbyterian denomination in the U.S...
minister from St. Louis. Brookes publicized the meeting through his magazine Truth, and devoted substantial space to summaries of the speeches.
A typical example is his report from 1892, which describes the meeting as
"more largely attended than ever before. Often every seat in the pavilion was occupied, and the porches were filled with eager hearers of the Word. The place too becomes more beautiful as the years go by, and it would be difficult to find a spot better suited"
to the quiet and prayerful study of the Sacred Scriptures. The building in which the Conference meets, overlooking Lake Ontario
Lake Ontario
Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south by the American state of New York. Ontario, Canada's most populous province, was named for the lake. In the Wyandot language, ontarío means...
and the River Niagara, and surrounded by green trees, is secluded from the noise of the world; and so excellent were the arrangements for the accommodation of the guests, both in Queen's Royal Hotel and in the boarding houses of the village, that not a word of complaint was heard from any one."
Most of the speakers were dispensationalists
Dispensationalism
Dispensationalism is a nineteenth-century evangelical development based on a futurist biblical hermeneutic that sees a series of chronologically successive "dispensations" or periods in history in which God relates to human beings in different ways under different Biblical covenants.As a system,...
, and the Niagara Conference introduced many evangelical Protestants to dispensationalist teaching. The messages generally centered on the doctrines of Christ
Christ
Christ is the English term for the Greek meaning "the anointed one". It is a translation of the Hebrew , usually transliterated into English as Messiah or Mashiach...
, the Holy Spirit
Holy Spirit
Holy Spirit is a term introduced in English translations of the Hebrew Bible, but understood differently in the main Abrahamic religions.While the general concept of a "Spirit" that permeates the cosmos has been used in various religions Holy Spirit is a term introduced in English translations of...
, the Bible, missions
Mission (Christian)
Christian missionary activities often involve sending individuals and groups , to foreign countries and to places in their own homeland. This has frequently involved not only evangelization , but also humanitarian work, especially among the poor and disadvantaged...
and prophecy
Prophecy
Prophecy is a process in which one or more messages that have been communicated to a prophet are then communicated to others. Such messages typically involve divine inspiration, interpretation, or revelation of conditioned events to come as well as testimonies or repeated revelations that the...
. Premillennialism
Premillennialism
Premillennialism in Christian end-times theology is the belief that Jesus will literally and physically be on the earth for his millennial reign, at his second coming. The doctrine is called premillennialism because it holds that Jesus’ physical return to earth will occur prior to the inauguration...
and dispensationalism
Dispensationalism
Dispensationalism is a nineteenth-century evangelical development based on a futurist biblical hermeneutic that sees a series of chronologically successive "dispensations" or periods in history in which God relates to human beings in different ways under different Biblical covenants.As a system,...
was defended and taught. Most of the leading dispensationalsts of the late 19th and early 20th century attended the conference regularly, including William Eugene Blackstone
William Eugene Blackstone
William Eugene Blackstone was an American evangelist and Christian Zionist. he was the author of the proto- Zionist Blackstone Memorial of 1891. Blackstone was influenced by Dwight Lyman Moody, James H...
, Charles Erdman, James H. Brookes
James H. Brookes
James H. Brookes, D. D. , American religious writer, was pastor of Walnut Street Presbyterian Church in St. Louis, Missouri.The was named in his honor . Dr. Brookes was a prolific writer, having authored more than 200 booklets and tracts...
, William Moorehead, Adoniram Judson Gordon
Adoniram Judson Gordon
Adoniram Judson Gordon was an American Baptist preacher, writer, composer, and founder of Gordon College and Gordon–Conwell Theological Seminary.-Life:...
, Amzi Dixon
Amzi Dixon
Amzi Clarence Dixon was a well-known pastor, Bible expositor and evangelist, popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. With R.A. Torrey he helped edit the influential journal The Fundamentals which helped give fundamentalist Christianity its name...
, C.I. Scofield, and James Hudson Taylor (who founded the China Inland Mission
China Inland Mission
OMF International is an interdenominational Protestant Christian missionary society, founded in Britain by Hudson Taylor on 25 June 1865.-Overview:...
).
In 1878, the Believers' Meeting for Bible Study produced the document that came to be known as the "Niagara Creed." This 14-point statement of faith was one of the first to explicitly proclaim faith in the premillennial return
Second Coming
In Christian doctrine, the Second Coming of Christ, the Second Advent, or the Parousia, is the anticipated return of Jesus Christ from Heaven, where he sits at the Right Hand of God, to Earth. This prophecy is found in the canonical gospels and in most Christian and Islamic eschatologies...
of Jesus Christ to earth. The Niagara Creed does not explicitly affirm dispensationalism, but it refers to several key dispensationalist beliefs, including the reality of the millennium, the restoration of Israel, and the distinction between the judgment of the saved and the damned.