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4 THE PRESBYTERI/
THE CLASSICS AND THE MINISTRY.
There is hopefulness in the fact that last-year, in
the proceedings of the Classical Conference, held at
Ann Arbor, Michigan, a symposium was held on the
value of humanistic, especially classical, studies as a
preparation for the study of theology. The papers
read in this symposium are brought together, as a reprint
from the "School Review," in a pamphlet of fortyseven
pages, published as a University Bulletin.
Among the reasons for the study of the classics is
put first the fact that "the Christian religion can not
possibly retain moral and social leadership if its ministers
lack an intellectual equipment which is equal to
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mat required l>y any calling' in the most highly civilized
regions of the world." To this is to he added the fact
that a thorough investigation of the New Testament in
both its history and meaning rests always on a knowledge
of the Greek language, while the Latin also came
in speedily., soon after the canon was closed, as the
official language of the early Church and as the medium
of the leathers. With the Renaissance there came as it
were a rediscovery of the literature of Greece, calling
for familiarity on the part of all cultured people with
the language in which it was written. Then came the
theological struggles of the Reformation period, in
which almost all the discussions were in Latin, again
demanding knowledge of that language on the part
of any intelligent student of that period and its history.
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ui me classics to the general culture
roi civilization, to the promotion of the "humanities,"
to the mental discipline of the student, the thinker, and
the preacher, is duly emphasized. One important point
is perhaps not enough adverted to, however, namely,
the fact that the Greek, which was chosen of God as
the lingual vehicle of his revelation and the declaration
of his grace, was a language cystallized in its greatest
perfection and not left to the mutations and deterioration
which marked the descent of the Latin from the
Augustan or Golden Age. It furnished the most accurate
means of conveying thought that culture has
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cw.v. w iiuu, as is evidenced by the fact that
modern science has drawn upon it in the most liberal
fashion for its nomenclature. Its flexibility, capacity
for giving delicate shades of meaning, and beauty have
never been surpassed. What pure mathematics has
been, in the way of mental discipline and habit, in re-,
lation to accuracy of thought, clearness, and precision
of reasoning, the Greek language has ever been to
accuracy of expression.
Much attention is paid, in the symposium, and most
justly so, to the fact that there is "no royal road to
learning," and to the fact that "short cuts" with quick
results ought not to be allowed to become either necessary
or desirable in the rhnreh In
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"short cut" denies the very ideal of the churches of
Protestantism. In this connection the writer of this
part of the discussion rightly characterizes the "false
democracy in learning" which makes the elective system
"run riot" in some quarters. Doubtless, as the writer
thinks, many of the short pastorates so common nowadays
may be due to the lack of that profounder train
lN OF THE SOUTH. 'March 31, 1909.
ing which enables a man to wear longer. Especially
does he emphasize the fact that "we would not have
so many fads in religion if men knew more of the history
of thought."
PRESIDENT PATTON'S ESTIMATE OF MR.
M'CORMICK.
Whenever President Patton, of Princeton, speaks, it
is worth while for those within the reach of his voice
to listen, and when he writes we may well spare time
ana attention to get his message. In a recent sketch
of Cyrus H. McCormick, founder of McCormick Theological
Seminary, published in The Interior, Dr. Patton
says some significant things that are of concern not
only to his own branch of the Church, but to all who
love truth and are zealcs^s for the faith.
The one characteristic of Mr. McCormick's Christian
life, to which he repeatedly reCurs, is steadfast loyalty
to the conservative theology of the Westminster Confession.
For example we read: "He was not only a
Presbyterian, but he was also a believer in the theology
of the Westminster Confession of Faith; and it was
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...a wish a mi nis nope tnat the seminary should he a
center of power for the defense of this theology, and
through its graduates, for its dissemination throughout
the wide area open to the seminary's influence."
After the great Chicago fire, Mr. McCormick became
owner of The Interior and appointed as its editor Dr.
Patton, who was also professor in the seminary. Of
the policy of both owner and editor the writer says:
"My special interest in The Interior, of colirse, consisted
in its being the organ of the theological seminary,
and I make no concealment of the fact that I used its
editorial columns as well as I could for the purpose of
teaching Calvinistic doctrine and of opposing what I
regari.nl as error. My method may not have been
good journalism, from a commercial noint of view ami
some thought that it was not good journalism even
from a theological point of view; but it was journalism
with a purpose. Everybody knew what to expect from
it, and it had its warm friends as well as its outspoken
opponents. Mr. McCormick gave me his hearty support,
and used to enjoy my polemic editorials, though
I dare say every one of them was followed by notices
of 'discontinuance.'"
In speaking of the heresy trial of Prof. Swing he
says: ''The question involved was simply the degree of
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i.win t.uiiicaMuiiai orinoaoxy which. could
be tolerated in the Presbyterian Church. ... In
this controversy Mr. McCormick supported the conservative
side, and did so without wavering until the
controversy was o.ver."
Of most interest and significance is Dr. Patton's
comment on present-day conditions as contrasted with
what he conceives to be the historic faith of his own
church. He says:
"Times have -changed since then. The Church has
moved?whether backwards or forwards, I do not say.
But it is safe to affirm that the broadest kind of broad
churchism nestles safelv nnw nnH<?r tho
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of the Presbyterian Church. What broad churchism.
comes to in the end can be easily seen by any one who