Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1906-09-01
& sss'S-5
eFor Sunday Reading.
An Sorts Of Opinions.
Falling Off in Protestant Ministry

more powerful factor in depicting the
termine from current comment in the
religious press. While this matter is
being discussed in its bearing upon
American conditions, similar state of
affairs is observable in Germany. OBJ
servers, it may be noted. are confined
to writer's in American journals, and it
is curious to see that while skepticism
is alleged as the cause N Germany of
the falling off of candidates for the
ministry, the reasons operative in AM
erica are thought to be more mater
ialistic. The question might be clari-
fled IL the Germans would turn their
attention to us and give us the benefit
of their view of ourselves. Meantime
we learn from The Catholic Union and
Times (Buffalo) that while twenty
years ago there We're a little more than
nine students in attene ance at the
Protestant theological faculties for ev-
cry 100000 Protestant inhabitants in
the German Empire" at the end of the
last year there were only little more
than five such students to the same
huHipGl VI liG iiC SahhS
paper, in the following statistics, shows
how some American churches outnum-
Der their minister's: '"rhe Baptists
have 52s19 churches and only 37.o01
ministers; Disciples of Christ, 1903
churches and 6,475 ministers: Luther
ans, 1888 churches, ano 1855 minis
tiers; Presbyterians, 15,T02 churches
and 1850 minister's; Episcopalians,
7,l46 churches and 500 clergymen." 1t
may be added that this paper leaves it
to The Outlook august 1S) to state
that, on the other hand, 1.-The number
of students of Roman Catholic theo-
logy is not only not declining. but in
creasing proportionately with the
population The Episcopal Recorder
(PhiladelphiD in attempting to explain
the situation in Germany, says:
Many may say that the falling off
is due to the openings for brilliant ca
reers constantly occurring in other d.
rections For ourselves, we believe 1t
is entirely due to the decay of faith in
the German universities. The teachers
rostrum may be occupied by man Of
brilliant gifts and profound learning,
but If he have no faith, his class room
is robbed Of both light and heat. When
skepticism masquerades as advanced
Christian thought, we are not sur
prised If the class-roms are empty"
The Outlook august 18) thinks the
cause lies in another quarter. Thus:
Some see in such condition clear
proof of the blighting effect of modern
criticism, but the condition may more
reasonably be attributed to the stiff
professionalism of the State church:
in part, at least, it is probably an IN
evitable consequence of the irrepressi-
bic conflict between confessional or
thodoxy and scientific criticism, in
which the vital difference between
faith and knowledge, between perman-
ent spiritual truths and their transient
historical form of expression, is often
forgotten. A cultivated British, writer.
we'll acquainted with Germany. sug-
gests what Is probably another factor
of the present decline:
81 am afraid that there is no hope
for German Professionalism till after the
social revolution has accomplished it
self-that is, until social democracy
has gained It's political end and discs
tablished the church. / say this be-
cause the social democrats, who are
several millions strong, and the one
growing political. party in the empire,
while Officially they ignore Christians
ty, are in reality in deadly opposition
to it, The reason is not far to seek;
they do not understand Christianity as
such but see in it only an established
system which has for it's aim the
maintenance of the social and political
af,1J nnljnp QElre
for keeping the poor contented with
their lot. Today it has to be frankly
recognized that the Lutheran church,
as by law established, constitutes
moral barrier between the Teutonlc
people and Christianity
The problem as 1t presents itself to
American Professionalism seems to hnu
it's solution, as was limited above, IN
materialistic considerations. The onus
may lie either with the congregation
or with the minister. That it lies with
the former is the view of the Rev.
Charles r. Trowbridge, who writes
concerning his denomination in The
Lutheran Observer philadelphia, Au-
gust 10Y:
$40 the mind of very many of US in
the General Synod the real reason for
the assumed scarcity of ministerial
candidates lies very, very largely with
misconceptions of the church, which,
in a vast majority of cases-as sta
itistics show-do not give their pastors
even a living support, and who ex-
press surprise at what they are pleased
to call the 'grasping spirit OF the
pastor if he presumes to suggest that
b, ;, f,,orea ca in the salary-SO often Civ
en- grudgingly--would be much appre-
ciated, and is very much desired. The
inadequate support given our pastors,
who are deserving of the very best sort
of support, financial and otherwise, is
well-known matter, and young men
may we'll hesitate to enter a calling
that, tho a religious one-one with
compensations to be had in no other
calling, one than which none other is
higher and more noble in its influence
still does not assure them of a bare
living in many cases and more often
than not permits of no possible hope
of laying aside little for the gener-
ally inevitable rainy day"
The responsibility is cast back upon
the clergy by a writer in The South
western Presbyterian (New Orleans,
August 81 who scorns a clerical ex-
PLANTATION that young men value their
intellectual integrity and fear that
this integrity will be impaired by
creed subscription, with all the be-
numbing shifts of casuistry and by the
obligation to move about fettered in a
dead world Of thought" Such am ex-
PLANTATION the writer call pronounced