Some Admissions of a Leading Educator
By L. A. S.
The question whether religious infidelity is increasing in the colleges of this country is propounded and discussed by President Harper, of Chicago University, in Christendom, a new religious weekly which he has started. President Harper is obliged to admit that infidelity is increasing in these higher educational institutions, though he professes to find that more attention is given to religion in them now than formerly, and that there is a stronger belief in the “fundamentals of the Christian religion.” In one paragraph he says:— What is the situation to-day? Is it true that there has been a remarkable decrease in the actual teaching of Christian truth, while a large and growing emphasis has been placed upon the teaching of branches altogether devoid of religious character?—Yes. Is it true that of the students who enter college very few indeed look forward to Christian service of any kind, the larger number having, as a matter of fact, only the slightest possible interest in religious matters?—Yes. Is it also true that many college men who might otherwise enter the ministry turn aside to teaching, or to business, or perhaps to some other line of work because of the influence of the purely technical instruction given in the colleges?—Yes. Is it certainly a fact that many men and women who enter college as Christian workers in their home churches take little or no active part in church life after they have completed their college work?—Yes. President Harper admits further that “if now, all this is true, or even half of it, one need not be surprised to find the feeling frequently expressed throughout the religious world that college education is tending to decrease Christian faith, and that institutions founded and conducted for distinctly Christian ends are, in fact, educating their students away from the church.” And by his own admission the half of this, and much more than the half, is certainly true. It may be true, as he says, that there is greater religious activity in the colleges to-day than formerly. He believes that “there is to be found to-day religious interest in our colleges which is absolutely unparalleled. It is not only that Young Men’s Christian Associations and Young Women’s Associations are more prosperous and influential than ever before, but the colleges themselves are awakening to their responsibilities to care for the religious life of their students. Everywhere we see the establishment of chairs for Biblical instruction, the formation of Bible departments, the institution of preacherships especially adapted to the needs of the college mind, the outgoing of the earnest life of the students of college settlements, great conventions of college men and women under the direction of religious teachers.” It may be true that there is all this religious activity in the colleges to-day, while at the same time the religious vitality is lacking. It is quite possible to maintain religious societies in a flourishing condition, conduct successful religious conventions, establish chairs of Bible instruction, etc., and at the same time neglect the vital, saving truths of Christianity. Mere activity in things of a religious nature is not sufficient evidence of the working of the Spirit of God. If God were at work in the colleges in a more marked manner than was formerly seen, the admission that their influence is such as leads away from God would not have to be made. Institutions for instruction in human knowledge and wisdom can not of themselves exert an influence for Christianity. Their natural tendency must be rather toward skepticism than toward faith, because the teaching given promotes a questioning spirit in the mind of the student, and an attitude of skepticism toward that which science does not reveal. Man by wisdom can not find out God. The revelation of God to man is through faith, and faith is man’s “amen” to God’s word, however contrary that word may be to the deductions of the human intellect. Since men have begun to criticise the Word of God, and subject its teachings to the test of their own wisdom, rejecting portions as erroneous, and making other parts of no effect by their traditions, a waning belief in that Word has been conspicuous on the part of the rising generation; and under present conditions this skepticism can only continue to grow worse. And when men like President Harper are forced to admit that it is growing worse, the most skeptical individual should be convinced that this is indeed the truth. And all this emphasizes the need of the re-establishment of the schools of the prophets, in which the pupils shall be taught of God, and the knowledge of things made shall not be separated from the knowledge of their Maker. Thus is the move which Seventh-day Adventists have been led to make in educational work abundantly justified by facts and conditions to which leading educators in the world are calling attention to-day.