The sun., 1904-06-14
A Japanese and Young Minister.

extreme poverty.
A Japanese and Young Minister.
Not long ago young clergyman, in
explaining why he had abandoned the
sacred profession, gave as one Of his
reasons the relatively low moral and in
tellectual standard Of the students and
graduates of theological seminaries.
He asserted that he found in the school
OF divinity a much poorer lot of men than
the average Of college students. The
feeblest men of the college, he said, 60
into theology.
This judgment is now confirmed by a
Japanese who has studied at Yale, and
whose opinion cannot be attributed to
hostility to Christianity, for he Is a
Christian convert. He writes to paper
OF Japan that the students in other de-
partments of the American university
than the theological are young men Of
fine appearance, ""but when it comes to
the theologues, beggarlike faces are in
the majority, and the feeblest Of the lot
"go as foreign missionaries, "the ones
who are unable to get suitable place
here"
Now, these two Judgments, the one
from inside the theological seminary
and the other from without, cannot be
set aside as malicious and unfairly preju-
diced. They would be confirmed by
evidence which could be given by
the great body Of college students and
even by the professors in theological
seminaries, if they spoke their minds
candidly.
In the old days the brightest intellects
and the strongest characters in our col
leges were graduated into the divinity
school. During the first century of Har-
yard, for example, half the graduates
went into the Puritan ministry; and
originally our colleges were training
schools for the sacred profession first of
all. The parson was both the intel
lectual and spiritual head Of the village;
and after the foreign missionary move
ment began in the early part Of the last
century many of the ablest and most de-
voted of the graduates from the theologi-
cal seminaries went into the service Of
propagating Christianity, in Asia more
particularly.
} Now this Christian Japanese speaks
contemptuously of the foreign mission
aries-"if you examine their erudition,
their ideals, their purposes, the most OF
them are worthy of only smile; tho
missionaries and their satellites are moth
ing but vulgar fellows, ignorant and
without brains.
The different standard Of social pro-
priety OF an educated and cultivated
Japanese might be cited as an explana-
ton of this adverse judgment; but what
shall We say Of the equally depressed
opinion Of the young American theolog-
ian to whom we have referred?
The Moeely Education Commission
found that the old prejudice against q
collegiate education among men Of af-
fairs had been replaced In this country
by an eager preference for college grad
yates In all places requiring trained and
expert ability. The population Of tho
colleges and universities has increased
at much greater ratio than the popula-
tion as a whole; yet there has been an
actual diminution in the number Of young
men in the theological seminaries, and
coincidentally an even more ominous
decline in their moral and intellectual
quality. Generally these schools are
only recruited with young men who
cannot be obtained unless they are sup
ported by the religious denominations,
often not merely in the theological semi
nary, but also throughout their prelim-
mary collegiate course. That is, very
many of them have TO be paid to enter
the ministry.
What is the meaning Of all this? 10
the reply that the secular professions and
business offer better opportunities for
clever young men? 1t is an answer
which begs the question. II there are
any temporal advantages which can dis
suade man from the propagation of
religion it is obvious that his religious
zeal is frigid. The preacher Of the bac-
calaureate sermon at the Northdeld Sem
mary on Sunday said that the evangelist
MOODY, it's founder, might have been
a captain OF industry and he spoke
truly. MOODY was man of an organic
ing power which might have made him
notable In the highest realm of business
enterprise.