PCA Historical Center Collection: John M.L. Young Papers

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John M.L. Young Papers

Manuscript Collection # 42

John M.L. Young [1912 - 1994]

Box 340 and 341

Content Summary: Representative materials from the life-work of a career missionary to Japan

Span Dates: 1946 - 1974

Size: 1 cu. ft.

Access Restrictions: None

Collection Citation: Young, John M.L., Papers, Box 341, Folder __: item description, PCA Historical Center, St. Louis, MO.

Related Collections: see below

Biographical Sketch:
John Mair Lisgar Young was born on November 7, 1912 in Hamheung, Korea to Luther L. and Catherine F. (Mair) Young, Canadian Presbyterian missionaries. John began his education there in Korea and later moved to Kobe, Japan, where he graduated from the Canadian Academy. He received the degrees of B.A. (1934) and M.A. (1935 from Acadia University in Wolfville, Nova Scotia, doing thesis work in the field of the German Reformation. He then attended Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia from 1935 to 1937, before transferring to Faith Theological Seminary, where he graduated in 1938. He was both licensed and ordained to the ministry later that same year.

On May 28, 1938 he married Jean Elder in Toronto, Ontario, and together they served as missionaries in Harbin, Manchuria from 1938 to 1941. From 1942 to 1948 he served as the organizing pastor of the Bible Presbyterian church in Wilkes-Barre, PA. The Youngs next moved to Nanking, China to continue their missions work, but were forced to leave China when the communists took over in 1949. A subsequent move to Japan initiated one of his most important periods of ministry. There he served from 1949 until 1966. During this time he helped to plant three churches and was cofounder of the Japan Christian Theological Seminary. At that institution he taught systematic theology and also served as the president of the school from its founding in 1954 until 1966. In that year his wife died of cancer and he returned to the United States with his seven children, arriving to settle in Grand Rapids, MI and work on the Th.M. degree at Calvin Seminary, with thesis work focusing on the topic of Christology. Upon completion of that work, he moved in 1967 to Lookout Mountain, TN to take a position at Covenant College as Missions professor.

On February 8, 1968 he married Jane Brooks, a faculty member in the English department. They remained at Covenant until his retirement in 1981, at which time they returned with their daughter to Japan. Work there continued under the auspices of World Presbyterian Missions, the foreign missions arm of the Reformed Presbyterian Church, Evangelical Synod. Dr. Young served as president of WPM for three years. Two of his sons currently serve as foreign missionaries in Japan.

During his time in Japan, Dr. Young served for fourteen years as the editior of The Bible Times. His first book, The Two Empires in Japan, was first published in 1958. Subsequent editions were brought out in 1959, 1961 and 1987, and the work has been described as "a valuable contribution to an understanding of the situation with which the Japanese Church is confronted today." As a record of church-state conflict, it remains a very pertinent work today. In 1961 he was awarded the Doctor of Divinity degree by Covenant College and Seminary, St. Louis, MO. Other publications authored by Dr. Young include a series of ten booklets on The Motive and Aim of Missions and a booklet on Karl Barth's Doctrine of the Trinity, along with numerous articles on missions and covenant theology as the theological basis of missions. Research for his last work, By Foot to China, was begun during the time of his studies in Christology in 1966-1967 as he focused on the history and theology of the Nestorians.

Finding Aid is normally located in folder number 1 of each box.

Subject	Box	File
Bible Presbyterian Church Conflict, 1955, Correspondence	340	19
Bible Presbyterian Church Conflict, 1956, Correspondence	340	18
Bible Presbyterian Church Conflict, 1957, Correspondence, January - June	340	17
Bible Presbyterian Church Conflict, 1957, Correspondence, July - December	340	16
Bible Presbyterian Church Conflict, 1958, Correspondence	340	15
Bible Presbyterian Church Conflict, 1959 - 1960, Correspondence	340	14
Bible Presbyterian Church Conflict, Documents	340	9
Bible Presbyterian Church, Gainesville, TX, 1958, 12^th Anniversary materials	341	9
Bible Presbyterian Observer, 1956, Special edition, March, 1956	340	89
Bible Press, The, 1955, September 9	340	90
Blackmore, Glenwood, "Shall the NCC Control Religious Broadcasting"	340	2
Bratt, John H., "Modern Ecumenical Movements, Analysis and Appraisal," 1958, [publication]	341	15
Brochures, Miscellaneous, Folder 1	341	6
Brochures, Miscellaneous, Folder 2	341	7
Buswell, J. Oliver, Jr., Comments on Free Press articles of October 19, 1961	340	7
Christ Church, Grand Rapids, MI, 1966, By-Laws	341	8
Christian Beacon, 1937, 1956 and 1957 [4 issues]	340	91
Christian Education	340	8
Christian, George S., "Dispensationalism, Arminianism, Lutheranism and the Reformed Standards of the Bible Presbyterian Church"	341	16
Christian, George S., "Let's Not Talk About a Split in the Bible Presbyterian Church"	340	3
Colloquial Japanese Bible, Correspondence, Folder 1, includes news articles	340	20
Colloquial Japanese Bible, Correspondence, Folder 2, includes articles and publications	340	21
Colloquial Japanese Bible, Correspondence, Folder 3, includes articles and publications	340	22
Conflict of the Ages: A Symposium, The, 1954, [publication]	341	17
Correspondence, 1958 - 1960	340	13
Correspondence, 1961 - 1962	340	12
Correspondence, 1973 - 1974, Miscellaneous	340	37
Covenant College, 1963, Purchase of Lookout Mountain Campus, news articles	341	13
Cross, Thomas G., Historical Background and Development of the Reformed Presbyterian Church, General Synod, 1968	341	18
Far Eastern Council of Christian Churches, 1951, First General Assembly, Minutes	341	11
Far Eastern Council of Christian Churches, 1953, Second General Assembly, Minutes	341	12
Far Eastern Council of Christian Churches, 1956, Third General Assembly, Report	341	40
Financial Reports, 1958, 1961 - 1967 [sampling]	340	93
Free Press, 1956, 1961, [November 9, 1956 and October 19, 1961]	340	92
Garman, W.O.H., What is Wrong with the Federal Council?, 1950 edition	341	19
Hallmarks of the Reformed Presbyterian Church, Evangelical Synod; Proposed Plan of Union for the OPC/RPCES; and Proposed Basis of Union between the OPC and RPCES	341	28
Horner, Kenneth A., Jr., Biblical Government, 1963, 1970	341	20
Horner, Kenneth A., Jr., Christian Doctrine	341	21
Independent Board for Presbyterian Foreign Missions, 1948 - 1950, Correspondence	340	30
Independent Board for Presbyterian Foreign Missions, 1951 - 1952, Correspondence	340	29
Independent Board for Presbyterian Foreign Missions, 1953, Correspondence	340	28
Independent Board for Presbyterian Foreign Missions, 1955, Correspondence	340	27
Independent Board for Presbyterian Foreign Missions, 1956, Correspondence	340	26
Independent Board for Presbyterian Foreign Missions, 1957, Correspondence	340	25
Independent Board for Presbyterian Foreign Missions, 1957, Correspondence with Clark, Philip	340	33
Independent Board for Presbyterian Foreign Missions, 1958, Correspondence	340	24
Independent Board for Presbyterian Foreign Missions, 1958, Correspondence with Clark, Philip	340	32
Independent Board for Presbyterian Foreign Missions, 1959 - 1960, Correspondence	340	23
Independent Board for Presbyterian Foreign Missions, 1959 - 1960, Correspondence with Clark, Philip	340	31
Independent Board for Presbyterian Foreign Missions, Minority Protest on the Failure to Re-elect Dr. Shepperson and Dr. Robert G. Rayburn	340	94
Independent Fundamental Churches of America, 1952 - 1953, Action against the American Council of Christian Churches	340	47
Introducing and Comparing the PCA, OPC, RPCES and RPCNA	341	22
Japan Bible Christian Council, Constitution [booklet]	341	4
Japan Christian Presbyterian Church, Form of Government	340	10
Japan Christian Theological Seminary, 1949 - 1950, Correspondence, primarily with the Independent Board for Presbyterian Foreign Missions	340	54
Japan Christian Theological Seminary, 1951 - 1952, Correspondence, primarily with the Independent Board for Presbyterian Foreign Missions	340	53
Japan Christian Theological Seminary, 1955 - 1956, Catalog	340	48
Japan Christian Theological Seminary, 1957 - 1958, 1960 - 1963, Correspondence	340	52
Japan Christian Theological Seminary, 1958 - 1960, Faculty Minutes	340	58
Japan Christian Theological Seminary, 1961 - 1963, Faculty Minutes	340	57
Japan Christian Theological Seminary, 1964 - 1965, Faculty Minutes	340	56
Japan Christian Theological Seminary, 1965, 1967 - 1969, 1975, Correspondence	340	51
Japan Christian Theological Seminary, 1967 - 1968, Catalog	341	5
Japan Christian Theological Seminary, Constitution	340	49
Japan Christian Theological Seminary, Controversy with Independent Board for Presbyterian Foreign Missions	340	50
Japan Christian Theological Seminary, History	340	55
Japan Presbyterian Mission, 1949 - 1951, Minutes	340	76
Japan Presbyterian Mission, 1950, 1957, Independent Board	340	72
Japan Presbyterian Mission, 1952 - 1954, Minutes	340	75
Japan Presbyterian Mission, 1955 - 1957, Minutes	340	74
Japan Presbyterian Mission, 1957 - 1958, Correspondence	340	66
Japan Presbyterian Mission, 1958, Independent Board	340	71
Japan Presbyterian Mission, 1959 - 1960, Correspondence	340	65
Japan Presbyterian Mission, 1959, 1961, Independent Board, undated material	340	70
Japan Presbyterian Mission, 1960 - 1963, Minutes and Reports	340	79
Japan Presbyterian Mission, 1961, Correspondence	340	64
Japan Presbyterian Mission, 1961, History of the Relationship between the Japan Mission and the Japan Christian Theological Seminary	340	69
Japan Presbyterian Mission, 1962, Correspondence	340	61
Japan Presbyterian Mission, 1962, Correspondence	340	63
Japan Presbyterian Mission, 1963, Correspondence	340	60
Japan Presbyterian Mission, 1964 - 1966, Minutes and Reports	340	78
Japan Presbyterian Mission, 1969 - 1975, Financial Reports	340	67
Japan Presbyterian Mission, 1981 - 1984, 1986, Minutes	340	73
Japan Presbyterian Mission, 1983, 1985 - 1987, Minutes and Correspondence	340	77
Japan Presbyterian Mission, Constitution	340	59
Japan Presbyterian Mission, Correspondence	340	62
Japan Presbyterian Mission, History	340	68
Japan Presbyterian Mission, Miscellaneous	340	80
Japan Presbyterian Mission, Statement on Relationships	340	82
Japan Presbyterian Mission, Statement on the Property Problem caused by Factions in the Independent Board for Presbyterian Foreign Missions	340	81
MacRae, Allan A., The Millennial Kingdom of Christ	341	23
Mawhinney, Allen, "Baptism, Servanthood, and Sonship"	340	4
McIntire, Carl, 1955 - 1956, Correspondence	340	36
McIntire, Carl, 1957, Correspondence, January - May, 1957	340	35
McIntire, Carl, 1957, Correspondence, June - December, 1957	340	34
Merritt, Richard N., "Proposed Presbyterian Confession of 1967, The"	340	6
Mickelsen, Alvera, How to Write Missionary Letters	341	24
Miller, Ira, "Crime of the Auburn Affirmation, The"	340	6
Miscellaneous, undated	340	83
Mission to the World, 1981 - 1985, Minutes and Reports	340	95
Mission to the World, 1981 - 1987, Correspondence, Financial Statements [sampling]	340	43
Mission to the World, 1981, Correspondence	340	42
Mission to the World, 1982, Correspondence	340	41
Mission to the World, 1983 - 1984, Correspondence	340	40
Mission to the World, 1985, Correspondence	340	39
Mission to the World, 1986 - 1987, Correspondence	340	38
National Presbyterian Missions, 1954, 1955, Prayer Calendar	341	25
News Articles	340	84
Noe, Edward T., 1957, Correspondence	341	10
Payne, J. Barton, What is a Reformed Presbyterian?, 1974	341	26
Photographs	340	86
Photographs	341	14
Pierce Crusade, 1959 - 1961, Correspondence	340	88
Pierce Crusade, Articles	340	87
Rayburn, Robert G., Bunzel, Claude and Lyons, Walter, "Ideological Division within Our Church, The" [paper]	340	85
Reformed Presbyterian Church, Evangelical Synod - Presbyterian Church in America Transition, undated, Correspondence	340	44
Reformed Presbyterian Church, Evangelical Synod - Presbyterian Church in America Transition, 1982 - 1983, Correspondence	340	45
Reid, Allan S., A Divisive Course, 1947	341	27
Sanderson, John W., "The Menace of Barthianism, The" 1953	341	2
Shepherd, Jonas E.C., What is a Dedicated Presbyterian?, 1967	341	29
Smith, Ralph, "The Five Points of Christian Reconstructionist Theology"	340	4
Soltau, T. Stanley, Lo, I am with You, Always, 1949	341	31
Soltau, T. Stanley, The Everlasting Gospel, 1946	341	30
World Presbyterian Missions, 1953, 1962, 1963, 1966, Correspondence	340	46
World Presbyterian Missions, By-Laws for Foreign Missions Board, Financial Policies and Missionary Manual	340	11
Wright, J. Elwin, How Modern is the Federal Council?, 1947	341	32
Young, John M.L., By Foot to China, 1984	341	33
Young, John M.L., Common Grace Debate in Calvinistic Circles, The, 1957	341	3
Young, John M.L., Karl Barth's Doctrine of the Trinity, 1962	341	34
Young, John M.L., Motive and Aim of Missions, The, 1964, Chapters 1, 2 & 4	341	35
Young, John M.L., Motive and Aim of Missions, The, 1964, Chapters 5, 6 & 7	341	36
Young, John M.L., Motive and Aim of Missions, The, 1964, Chapters 8, 9 & 10	341	37
Young, John M.L., Motive and Aim of Missions, The, 1972, Japanese version	341	38
Young, John M.L., Reformed Debate on Common Grace, The	340	5
Young, John M.L., The Two Empires, 1961	341	39
Young, John M.L., Tokyo Christian Theological Seminary, The	340	5

Additional Resources-
World Presbyterian Missions Collection:

Young, John M.L., The Motive and Aim of Missions, Part 1 420 28

Young, John M.L., The Motive and Aim of Missions, Part 2 420 29

Young, John M.L., The Motive and Aim of Missions, Part 3 420 30

Young, John M.L., Applications, 1961 421 22

Young, John M.L., "Karl Barth's Doctrine of the Trinity" 421 23

W.A. McIlwaine Papers:

Young, John M.L., Correspondence, 1960

479

66

Young, John M.L., Theology of the Nestorian Missionaries in China, 600 - 1000 A.D.

485

22

Bibliography:
The Scriptural Basis for Communal Support of Christian Education, Covenant College Reflections, October 1973, pages 1-2.