THE DUTY OF THE CHURCH ETC.                 487

  Our children must be trained. Who shall train them?
Who shall provide the colleges? Shall they go to the insti-
tution which is so broad that all religions are alike within
its walls? Religion, instead of being the heart and center
of life, becomes a negation. Our boys are allowed to go
astray in the most critical period of their lives for want of
guidance concerning the highest, the eternal issues of life.
Indeed it is often the case, even in our own Southern uni-
versities, that views are promulgated by the professors
which are subversive of the Christian teaching which the
boy has received at home, and things which are funda-
mental are dismissed with a sneer. It is not a narrow sec-
tarianism, unless Christianity be a narrow sectarianism,
which impels our Methodist people to establish and support
our institutions. It is a love for our children, and a sense
of responsibility for their welfare. Dr. Pritchett inquires
whether "the Church has any superior religious efficiency
upon which to base its claim and conduct colleges." Here
again we must call attention to the fact that "religious" and
"Christian" are not equivalent terms.      It is because the
Church is Christian, and believes that any education is nar-
row and woefully deficient which leaves out the boy's rela-
tion to Christ and eternity, that she claims superior Chris-
tian efficiency to give her children Christian education,
which will result in the development of Christlike charac-
ters.
  The Church has no hesitation in admitting, indeed in de-
claring, that she must have her colleges in order to provide
leaders for her work, because the non-denominational col-
leges fail to produce them. She admits, indeed declares,
that she must have her colleges in order that her children
may obtain Christian training, not simply religious train-
ing, as Dr. Pritchett would provide. She furthermore de-
clares that the only way she can insure such institutions for
her children is by owning and controlling and supporting
them. She is entirely willing to compare results obtained
3




			

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