THE DUTY OF THE CHURCH ETC.                     485

the Church civil power on the ground that this power ought
to be in the hands of religious men. The outcome of this
experiment was demoralization for both State and Church."
But why go back so far and institute this comparison. There
was a far better one at hand--namely, the results of the very
method of administration in question.           He has admitted
that in the pioneer days the Church raised up the colleges,
and the colleges were controlled by the Church organizations.
It is not therefore a new experiment to be tried with fear
and trembling, but it is a method which has existed among
us from the pioneer days, and the question before us to-day
is, Shall this method be continued in view of the splendid
record already made, or shall it be abandoned, because Dr.
Pritchett says it is "not wise for an organization like a col-
lege to be controlled by another organization like the
Church?"
  It is certainly fair to quote his own words in this same
article to show the consequences which have followed in
American education from denominational control of colleges.
He says:
 In American colleges to-day there are no denominational tests im-
posed upon students who seek an education. A student may enter a
college, whether he be a Catholic, Protestant, of any religious faith,
or no faith. The attitude of the Church which controls the college
varies, however, in different institutions and in different denomina-
tions. In many colleges the legal control which the denomination
possesses is practically outgrown. In a very large number, however,
there runs through the college teaching and the college life the effort
to present to the student 'as religious truth the doctrinal view for
which the denomination itself stands, and, although with many de-
nominations this motive has become less prominent than it was a
generation ago, I think it is still fair to say that in a large proportion
of colleges and universities which are actually under denominational
control the purpose of the denomination in maintaining its relation
with the college is the advancement of the denomination, the increase
of its influence, and the spread of its belief.
  Here it is stated by Dr. Pritchett himself that no such
evil results have followed denominational control in the past




			

OHS/National Afro-American Museum & Cultural Center Serial Collection

African Methodist Episcopal Church Review, Vol. 28, Num. 1

Volume:  28
Issue Number:  01
Date:  07/1911