CONGRESS OF RELIGIONS or WORLD'S PARLIAMENT OF RE LIGIONS. A congress held at the Columbian Exposition, Chicago, in 1893, in an attempt to bring together in one great world convention representatives of the great and historic re ligious creeds of the world. The congress was very successful, and all its meetings passed off in perfect harmony, notwithstanding the doubt previously expressed in many quarters as to the expediency of calling such a congress at the World's Fair which was to be essentially a bid for the amity and co-operation of the nations. The Congress of Religions, which was what its name implies, was made up of representa tives of the creeds of all the great countries of the world; and it treated of almost every as pect of religion. It was the outcome of many attempts to bring together the great religions of the world. The idea of a union of this kind had often appeared in Chinese fiction and poetry; and both China and Japan had led the way in religous toleration by allowing various creeds to flourish side by side in their respective territories hundreds of years before religious toleration was thought of in Europe. More than three centuries ago John Comenius, the great religious thinker and reformer, had sug gested such an idea. Almost half a century ago the Free Religious Association of Boston advocated the idea of a congress of the va rious religions of the world with a view to mak ing a scientific study of religious thought, origin and growth. In 1873, the great Buddhist Emperor of India, Asoka, called a congress of all the religions of the East, and more espe cially those of India, at Palateputra, now Patna; and he actually gathered the brightest minds of the East in religious circles in the congress, which was a pronounced success. So the religious centres of India, owing to their comparative liberalism, were ready to respond to the call issued in June 1891 for a Congress of Religions to be held in Chicago in connec tion with the World's Fair in 1892. The expo
sition was unavoidably postponed until the fol lowing year and with it the meeting of the Congress of Religions. This was fortunate for the latter as it gave the organizers much more time in which to reach the leaders of religious thought throughout the world. The World's Parliament of Religions, as the congress was ultimately named, set for its aim a wide and varied program which included the bringing together into a congress of leading representa tives of the great historic religions of the world; the showing of the important truths held by various religions; the promoting of the spirit of human brotherhood among re ligious men of diverse faiths; the setting forth of the important distinctive truths held and taught by each religion and by the various branches of Christianity. It aimed to indicate the impregnable foundations of theism and the reasons for man's faith in immortality; the spiritual and other effects of the various re hgions upon literature, art, commerce, govern ment and domestic and social life. The Con gress was asked to consider what light each religion has afforded or iday afford to other religions; the present condition and outlook of religions among the leading nations of the world and the light religion has thrown upon the great problems of the present age, such as temperance, labor, education, poverty, wealth. The promoters expressed their hope of eventu ally bringing. about permanent international peace by bringing the nations of the earth into a more friendly fellowship. Consult (World's Parliament of Religions,) a collection of the addresses made at the congress and an account of the proceedings of the same.