A Surfeit of Honors by Editor

Seventh-day Adventist Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Jul 20, 1882

A Surfeit of Honors.

By Editor

A MAN recently received the title of D. D. from two colleges. Should there not be a new title invented for such cases? We suggest DD. D.

It seems that our contemporary of the Pacific has been given the title of D. D., and now he modestly suggests that all colleges suspend conferring that degree for the next ten years—just as long as the Chinese are shut out of California!—that he may enjoy his honors without being buried out of sight by a new flood of D. D's. But just imagine what would have been his feelings if they had ceased to confer the degree a year ago.

The last number of the Herald of Truth contains the following item:—

“After being degreed with D. D., Rev. G. D. B. Pepper, President of Colby University, has been honored with LL. D., by Lewisburg University, and again with S. T. D., by Amherst College. It did not require these titles, however, to make Rev. G. D. B. Pepper D. D., LL. D., S. T. D., one of the most capital men in the United States.”

For the church of Christ, this looks like a serious farce. What about receiving honor one of another, and not seeking the honor that cometh from God only? John 5:44. In a church convocation, now-a-days, a plain unlettered Christian, however godly, is lost amid the “flattering titles.” Job 32:22.