Edinburgh Forgotten: The Christian and Missionary Alliance and the Disappearance of an Epoch-Making Conference

Abstract

For more than 75 months the Christian and Missionary Alliance eagerly promoted and anticipated the World Missionary Conference. Although delegates enthusiastically reported that Edinburgh was an epochal event in the history of missions, the conference disappeared from the denomination's literature within weeks of its completion. This article contends that although Edinburgh was important to constituents of the Christian and Missionary Alliance, the conference was ultimately absorbed into an eschatological mosaic of signs signaling the fulfillment of the Great Commission and the imminent return of Christ.