By Norman Cliff
OM Publishing. 130 pages
ISBN 1 85078 328 4
Readers who enjoy the history of missions will appreciate this account of the life of Benjamin Broomhall (1829-1911), one of the best-known Christian laymen in the latter part of the 19th century.
He was married to Hudson Taylor's sister Amelia and together they promoted CIM's image and affairs in Britain. Although neither of them set foot in China, as CIM's General Secretary, Broomhall was chief administrator and editor of the magazine China's Millions. This book will be important to students of missionary enterprise when Britain was at the zenith of its power. In spite of Broomhall's merits, Hudson Taylor features prominently.
There are some surprises. Were Taylor and Broomhall right to 'sell success' and omit references to setbacks? Is the adulation of Moody and his influence justified?
Those who adhere to an orthodox theology will be surprised occasionally. Was Broomhall correct to allow Amelia to administer communion to their ten children in the privacy of their home? What are we to make of 'prayers of faith' which indicate to God exactly how many missionaries he is to send? Perhaps the clue to the prayer question comes in Taylor's motive for wanting to recruit Wesleyan candidates: the English Presbyterians already there were held to be 'too Calvinistic'.
All readers will be excited by the zeal of the founders of CIM, but some will be unhappy about their aggressive rejection of Reformation theology and some of the unusual practices which ensued.
