The daily morning journal and courier., 1899-09-28
COLORADO COLLEGE PRESIDENT
Talks About Reconsideration as Applied
 10 Theology.

l 10 Theology.
 President William r. Slocum, of Col
 orado College, spoke about Recon
 etruction in Theological Education"
 at the Boston Congregational Confer
 ence Tuesday. He spoke in part as | follows:
 | Tt is so persistently alleged, in va
 rious quarters that theological educa-
 tion is, in some respects, defective and 1 inadequate for the demands which are
 made upon the clergymen of modern | times, that the matter requires candid and serious consideration. It is
 claimed that, while the schools of the
 other liberal professions have made de-
 cided progress in the plan and scope l of the work they undertake the theo- 1 logical seminary has made no compara-
 ble advance and it is vigorously assert
 ed that the ideals of research and in- l tellectual industry which have been | developed and are maintained in the i graduate courses of the best universi- | ties, have affected the divinity school | less than any other department of 1 study, and that something ought to be | done to put 1t abreast of the educa
 tional movement of the last quarter of
 a century.
 ! Intelligent laymen are saying that
 the highest type of intellectual life and ! habits-of thought-industry have not 1 been developed in the theological
 schools, and that if their minister has
 become a forceful and helpful creature
 it is largely in spite of his work at the ! divinity school rather than because of
 it. The absent and most spiritually am
 bilious of the divinity students, it is
 said, feel this lack while many men
 are turned aside to avenues of study and work in which the opportunities are superior. It is even whispered that, while many choice men are still enter | ing the ministry, the congregations are | steadily becoming intellectually supe- l rior to the average ministers, and that 1 this is the reason why the church Is in l danger of losing in some respects It's | hold on ethical leadership and it's 1n- | huence upon the larger movements of | modern times.
 Not only is this criticism made. but at times 1t is alleged, and with some I at times it Is alleged, and with some | what of bitterness, that these defects l are being more and more widely recog- nized except by those who control | theological education, and that the | theological seminary has so isolated it. self from the real work and problems of life that it knows altogether too lit tie of the stress, temptations and sor- rows of the world to-day.
 This is brought here, not IS dis cordant note but because this body, 1 assembled for deliberation is too much in earnest to ignore any problems which our churches throughout the world have been called The question which is raised is not whether these criticisms have been accurately thought out and precisely formulated, but whether there is ground enough for them to demand serious consideration, "The point at issue is not the correct ness Of theological dogmas taught in these schools but rather the method by which they are conducted, the scope of the work done and the actual re- suits secured.
 "The student of theology who expects to be a leader of men must become pre- eminently thinker rather than mere asserter of theological! dogmas. The study of philosophy as such has been largely incidental, whereas no student of divinity can master theology With out a>thorough and detailed knowledge nf those world professors of thought which have commanded the highest form of intellectual activity.
 .sThe study of the Bible is the second point at which some modification needs to be secured in the theological semi nary. Exegetical criticism has been the object sought rather than the broad acouaintance with the Old and New Testaments as literature me Bible as literature, as the literature of faith. needs to be set before the world to make people read and understand it. To do this is the function of the cler- gyman. Is he being fitted for ths work in the theological seminarles? Is it also out of pace to ask here: what are these schools doing to give their pupils a knowledge of general litera- ture. a knowledge necessary to the cler- gyman, above all, for the position which he is to occupy as man of cul- ture?
 Perhaps the most serious defect in the theological seminary, strange as it may seem. is the Subordinate place given to ethics It certainly is not out of place to ask whether the study of history, if it were undertaken on more comprehensive basis than merely the investigation of a comparatively small portion of the history of the church, would not have great ethical value as well as be a constant stimu- Jus to the best thinking.
 "In a few theological seminaries beginning has been made of teaching sociology which promises much If this department Of instruction can be given the dignity and the opportunities it so richly deserves Any door which opens entrance to the real problems of the world should be sought with eagerness.
 All that is sacred in the past must be conserved, but the world is pressing on into the work of a great future which will demand the highest intel lectual and spiritual development as well ae courage that is born of faith in the coming of the large Kingdom of Christ.
 eff the four theological seminaries of New England could be brought together into one center, their equipment and