The San Francisco call., 1896-08-04


tempt to master anything. This is not its
ambition. Its ambition is to cram enough
knowledge into the Uranium of the student
to admit him TO the university, and the
| university is adding one branch after an
other to its admittance requirements.
This year it is more Latin, next year it is
full year devoted to physics, the year
after that it is something else.
with such overcrowded courses of
study how shall there be found room to
add the Bible2"
After further dilation upon the study of
the Bible in the schools, he took up the
question of the competency of ministers
of the Baptist denomination to teach its
truths.
There are not twenty five Baptists in
the United States" he declared, ''who are
fitted to teach the Bible to college stu-
dents. Their knowledge of the book must
be the knowledge secured by long course
of intense and exhaustive study under the
guidance of master.
I'VE have no such men. am told that
Stanford University Is ready to establish a
chair of Bible study and has been ready
for several years. but 1t cannot find a man
fitted for the position.
Startling as may be the statements 1t is
nevertheless true that there are no men in
the Baptist denomination who are fitted
to Teach the Bible in a Baptist school of
any grade below the theological semi
nary"
Hardly had President Brownson taken
his seat when the discussion of the paper
was started by Rev. DR.. Sunderland, who
took issue with the statement in regard to
the twenty-five men competent to make
plain Scriptural truths. He thought there
were plenty of men endowed by nature
with sufficient intellectually, supple-
mented with the scholarship necessary to
render them proficient in teaching th g
Scriptures anywhere in theworld.
Next Rev. G. H. Hobart spoke to the
paper. He said that if the twenty-five
men mentioned were multiplied by twen-
ty-6ve and that product by twenty-five
again, it would express more nearly the
true number. He believed there are as
many men in the ministry competent to
teach the Bible as there are i'll any other
profession. Moreover, while he did not
care to contradict President Brownson, he
thought there must be some mistake about
the inability to secure proper man to
teach the Bible at Stanford University.
Rev. NJ. P. Boynton also objected to the
paper. He wanted the author to tell him
why it was that if the great mass OF the
people were so ignorant on the subject of
Sacred Writ men were required to know
so much to teach them.
Rev. Mr.. Hill thought there were hun
dreds of men scholarly enough to teach
the book.
Rev. D. Abbott added fresh fuel to the
blaze by rising and stating with much
emphasis that he not only believed the
ministers of every denomination in the
United States incompetent as teachers,
but that the estimate of twenty-five COM
petent men was much too high.
Rev. Mr. Teech at once replied that both
President Brownson ard the Rev. Mr.. ABB
bott were surely mistaken. He said it
would give him sorrow 10 be obliged to
accept their statements as founded on
fact.
Rev. Mr.. Whitaker was disposed to look
at President Brownson's statements in a
softer light. He was inclined to think
that the assertions must have been mad e
IN regard to instructors along technical
lines. Otherwise he could not accept them
either.
In defense of his paper, President
Brownson rose and said that, while min
lister could make any statement he pleased
from the pulpit without fear OF questions
or contradiction, when il came to teaching
students, that was vastly different mat
ter. Then all sorts OF questions would be
fired at him, some of them skeptical, some
for broader information, and some which
would require a thorough knowledge of
disputed points and of biblical history.
AT this meeting it was also made known
that the California Baptist College will
have its opening service. next Wednesday
at A. n, with the following programme:
Speech, "The Interest of Old Students in
the College" Rev. NJ. z. Boynton; speech