The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-06-16
YEARS OF SEVERE TRAINING.
Much Hard Work Before Theological
Student Graduates.
From the Neuv VorIz c,,p


"You read the other day, " said promi-
nent clergyman to a reporter, 'of the
| commencement exercises at Princeton
Theological Seminary and of the gradua-
ton of fifty-four students. There was
i nothing about that to attract public at
tention, and very likely you did not get
further into the article than the head
lines. 1t meant fifty-four more young
clergymen in the world, that was all, to
most people. But to man who has been
through the training that has Just ended
for those boys it means a great deal
more. 1 never read of a seminary
commencement without feeling thank
ful that so many more stu
dents have pulled through safely. There
is not much general knowledge of the la
Dor required in the making of a clergy
man. People could easily find out if they
chose to inquire, but it is something they
do not stop to think of. A clergyman is
supposed to be able to answer any biblical
question that may be asked him, but
where he gets all his technical knowledge
nobody thinks of asking. He does not
get it from reading the scriptures, GER
tainly. If you were to keep on reading
Revelation till you understood them
thoroughly how old would you be when
you finishedl No, don't ask me whether
| think | understand them now, or we may
drift away into a. theological discussion
which will be very Improbable What I
started to sayi something about the severe
training that man must go through be-
fore he can be graduated from a theo-
logical seminary and so become a clergy
man. "The training of a clergyman really
begins when he is 6-year-old child at his
mothers knee, for in nine cases out of
ten, the parents decide for him, and de-
eide early. But start with the boy when
he has been graduated from a grammar
school, because he will probably receive
that much education in any case, what
ever his business or profession is to be.
He should then be in the neighborhOod of
II years old He must now begin a
special preparation for college-a prepara-
ration that differs from the ordinary
preparatory course of students not
studying for the ministry He must give
at least four years to a special study Of
Greek and Latin, and at the same time
lay good foundation in ancient history,
English composition and literature and
higher arithmetic and algebra.
"The boy then at Is is ready to enter
college and take the usual four years
classical course. In the first year he
struggles with algebra, geometry, trigO-
nOmetry, Latin, Greek, English history
and English literature. In the second
year the same, with the addition of COM
parative physiology, mechanics, analyt-
ical geometry, physics and rhetoric In
the third year he adds also chemistry,
logic, German, political science and phi
losophy The fourth collegiate year
includes all of these studies and geology,
consular and international law, French,
ethics, astronomy and botany besides.
He is now, on leaving college, ready to en-
ter theological seminary, unless, indeed,
he proposes to go into the general theo-
legical seminary of the Protestant Episco-
pal church, in which case he is required
to be able to read the Old Testament in
Hebrew and New Testament in Greek
before he can enter. After his eight
years of Greek he should be able to read
the New Testament in the original, but
this does not always follow. 1t often hap
pens that a student that goes through his
Greek lessons well enough in college
finds, on going into the seminary, where
he must actually use the language, that
he knows very little about it.
''The course in the theological seminary
occupies three years making eleven
years study in all sitter leaving the gram
mar school. The studies in the theolog-
ical seminary are theology, church his
tory, Old and New Testament languages,
geography of Palestine, moral philosophy
and sociology, with lectures on sermoniz-
ing and the duties of a minister, and prac-
teal examples in preaching Hebrew is
one of the sticking points, for it is posi-
lively necessary for a student to read He
brew almost as readily as he can English.
1t is o grind, terrible grind, this long
struggle with Greek and Hebrew. II is