Evening journal. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1888-1932, 1901-10-23
NEWSPAPER OPINION
Recruits for the Ministry falling OF

i From the New York Sun.
/ President Moore. of the Andoyel
! Theological Seminary of the Congrega-
tionalists. complained at their National
Council on Monday, that fewer young
men than ever before in proportion I,
the number who seek other fields oil
Christian usefulness. are entering into
the ministry" He said that even OF
those applying for admission to the
! theological seminaries, many are turn
/ ed, away because they have not the
mental training or capacity to warrant
their entering the ministry"
The time was when the very best
men graduated from Harvard went
thence to the theological seminary and
from it into the Christian ministry; but
now We hear from theological semi
naries generally. not of one denomi-
nation only. but of all Protestant de-
nominations. that the moral and inte,-
lectual quality of their students has
fallen off. The Church OF England
also is suffering from a similar cause
applicants for the ministry are dimin-
lshing.
OF course. such a result may be called
inevitable in time Of religious scepti-
cism as this is. IL Is obvious that
without earnest religious faith young
men do not go into the ministry, and.
unfortunately for the Church, 1t is the
brighter and more intellectual who are
most likely to be affected by the doubts
and denals which draw men away
from the strong devotion to religion
which alone can fill up the ranks OF
ministers with recruits of a high stand
ard of ability.
| One of the cd tests OF the reality of
a religious revival, and it was a good
test. was the awakening in young men
Of a passion for souls" a consuming
desire to preach the Gospel to sinners
This enthusiasm was manifested, more
particularly, in a craving for service
( In the field OF missionary effort to the
heather. as savoring most of the spirit
OF the martyr; but it also expressed
itself in eagerness to obtain theologi-
cal training for ministerial work at
home. OF our older ministers now in
the churches, very great part were
first touched by the evangelic spark
ab such religious awakenings.
These revivals have passed away al
most wholly. The great awakening of
1857 has no counterpart now, and that
10 should come again i'm these days
seems impossible. At the beginning
OF this twentieth century a combined
and methOdical effort was made to
arouse a great religious revival to at
test the Vitality of religious faith even
in a period of apparent scepticism and
indifference. but it was unsuccessful.
Inevitably, therefore, the theological
seminaries show at least a relative
diminution in the number of their stu
dents. and the quality of the young
men is inferior. They fall below the
average Of the college and university
What, then. is to be the future of
ministry recruited from such sources?
It is the theological seminaries them
selves. however, which have been and
still are among the most effective OF the
agencies in spreading the religious
/ sceptlcism from which they are suffer
ing. Il have been told" said n West
ern minister at the Congregational
Council. that in some theological
J seminaries. If a student is dead in
earnest in talking about Bible truths,
| he Is called down by the professors; %
and II Is reasonable TO assume that he
has been told the truth. Talk with one
/ of the brighter students of the Union
Theological Seminary, for instance,and
YOU will find that he is far more coolly
critical Of the Bible than Is the usual
church-going young man who has not
been trained in the Higher Criticism. -