The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1905-07-28
Che Old and The
new Ideal Of Scholars
BY PRESIDENT JAMES B. ANGEL,
of University Of Michigan,
It may cod IN a tragedy

some department OF thought. Formerly the student was inclined to =.
cept with more dociiy the opinions which had been taught him. Now
Sors have passed on to him may have an intellectual plethora that will
l. by the too doclc acceptance Of the traditions, tastes and doc
trneS OF the past there is danger of the perpctuation of error. Of ac1uics-
ccnce IN false views of history. character and life.
g. The scholar who contents himself with absorbing with voracions
appetite and unqucstonng readiness all the lcarniug\ that his predeces
it is originality, Among the periods of the old type are the following:
cripple him with the fccbcuess and sourness of mental dyspepsia rather
than furnish him with mental vigor.
8 There are men who, by temperament, are inclined to Worship
the old, merely because it is old.
On the other hand, the student who UNDERWRITERS the intellectual
contributions OF the past and who trusts uduly to his power of invcst-
cation. often loses the valuable fruits Of the toll of his predecessors bv hs
ignorance OF their discoveries or by his lack Of appreciation of them
Another dangerto which a seeker after truth is exposed is vanity owe
his supposed discoveries, teis apt to be among the mostdoematc and
bgotcd Of men. Again, we find men disposed to worship the new merely
because /. is new.
Formerly they accepted for the most part without questioning the
views which had been held concerning the Bible. concerning insoiratio,
and with some difference in different groups, concerning thcoloeical
doctrines. The only question was whether they would or would NOT
comply with what they conceded, if pressed for a statement. But those
who we're OF scholarly temperament toasted their souls and their minds
on the medrohons1 the experiences, the warnings of the great men in
the church, through all the centuries of the Christian era.
OF course there are some men who have not Quilted the ground &C.
cupcd by the fathers in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. But
the great body of scholars have now accepted the doctrine of evolution
with all that it implies concerning the origin and deyeopnent Of the
physical world and of man.
Exactly what it does imply in some particulars is indeed still a matter
Of discussion But that its Implications greatly modify some of our old
beliefs, founded on traditional Interpretation OF the Rb1r is cor+o;,
Furthermore, careful and critical study of The history. the texts and ,hn
Interpretation Of the books OF the scripture and also of comparative rcio.
ions, has thrown a food Of light On the meaning of the scriptures r.
the fair and rational mind it has not impaired but has increased the real
value Of the ancient books. The church OF to-day has a LARGER and instcr
view than the church even of the last century of the ~Eatherhood nj Cod
OF the brotherhood Of man. Of the long and patient processes by which
God n his wisdom has bulded the worlds, and of the duty of man tol
regard all Others under whatever sky as their brethren. whom they are
nc. to piunder and kill, but to aid by all means in their power.
It must be confessed, that with all the zeal of our age Tor lterary
and scientific atanments, the average college graduate is far tco unfa-
rtdiar with that greatest literary treasure Of the raee-the sacred ,crjn
tures