Columbia Theological Seminary Bulletin, 1, October 1908

BULLETIN

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Published Quarterly by the Seminary

Volume I OCTOBER 1908

[Second class mail rates applied for]

FOREWORD

The publication of a Bulletin has been inaugurated as a
means of keeping the constituency of Columbia Seminary
in the four Synods of South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama,
and Florida in sympathetic touch with the institution. An
intelligent interest upon the part of its constituency must, of
course, root itself in an intelligent acquaintance with the
work, the needs, and the outlook of the Seminary. The
whole case cannot be presented at once: otherwise there
would be need of but a single Bulletin. This issue con-
siders principally the work of the Seminary in the Synod of
Georgia. The information that it gives, however, will be
of interest and benefit to the ministers and people of the
other controlling Synods.

This picture shows the type and style of Chapel with which we wish to replace our present

unsightly building

THE PICTURES

The pictures in this Bulletin should be, and it is con-
fidently hoped will be, of interest to the friends of the Semi-
nary in all the Synods. Our ministers and people ought to
see the kind of fence that at present incloses the grounds of
their Seminary. They ought also to see the unsightly build-
ing that now serves as its chapel. They can then judge for
themselves whether such a fence and chapel are creditable to
an institution for which the Presbyterians of four great
Synods stand sponsor before their sister Synods and the
Christian public generally.

The other pictures will show them the fence and chapel
that are to be. We hope that the city of Columbia itself
is going to arouse itself and give the Seminary this new
inclosure and new chapel. Presbyterians and others in
Columbia have already contributed a handsome sum towards
the $15,000 or $20,000 that will be needed to erect them.
We believe that they will provide the whole or practically
the whole amount.

COLUMBIA SEMINARY AND SYNOD OF GEORGIA-ORIGIN
ON GEORGIA SOIL

A generation has grown up since Columbia Seminary has
been before the Church asking for a hearing. Hence a word
of introduction is necessary. It is a case of introducing a
child to its mother, for Columbia Seminary is the child of
Georgia. It was born in that State, in the bounds of Hope-
well Presbytery, in 1828.

The first professor was Rev. Thomas Goulding. He was
born in Liberty county, Georgia, and reared in old Midway
church. To him belonged the distinction of being the first
Presbyterian preacher, native to the soil of Georgia, or to
use his own humorous form of statement, he was the "first
Presbyterian preacher born in the State of Georgia since the

foundation of the world." Not the least of his claims to
lasting remembrance is the fact that he was the father of
Rev. Francis Robert Goulding, author of "The Young
Marooners," one of the best, and one of the most popular
boys' books that was ever written.

When Dr. Goulding was elected professor, he was pastor
of the church in Lexington county, Georgia. He taught
the first year without giving up his pastorate. Then he
resigned and moved with his class to Columbia, S. C, which
from that date became the permanent location of the Semi-
nary. The first class, which graduated in 1833, numbered
six members. Exactly half of them dedicated themselves
to the work of foreign missions. One of the three was John
Leighton Wilson, whose name shines to this day with the
brightest lustre of any on the list of our devoted workers in
the foreign field.

COLUMBIA SEMINARY AND ORIGIN OF THE SOUTHERN
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

Our Southern Church, like Columbia Seminary, was born
on the soil of Georgia. The first General Assembly was
organized in the city of Augusta in December, 1861. The
civil war was then on in earnest. Our great nation was
breaking to pieces, and already the great American Presby-
terian Church had parted asunder. In such an exigency,
when the fragments of that Church in the South were
gathering together to integrate, into another unit in the
sisterhood of churches, there was a demand for strong
leaders. It fell to the lot of Columbia Seminary to furnish
by far the most illustrious of those leaders. The moderator
of the Assembly was Rev. B. M. Palmer, D. D., the splendor
of whose intellect, and the eloquence of whose tongue held
vast audiences enthralled through the long period of two
full generations. The leader of the Assembly was the peer-
less Dr. James Henley Thornwell, a soul so richly endowed
that we hardly know which of his transcendent gifts most

to admire. His power as an orator was compared by Dr.
Joseph Addison Alexander to that of Demosthenes ; his
reasoning powers were likened to those of Calhoun; in
philosophic insight he ranked with Sir William Hamilton;
as metaphysician, theologian and devout thinker, he stood
easily with the first men of his day. These two stars of the
first magnitude were for a time colleagues in the faculty of
Columbia Seminary.

Another prominent leader was Dr. John Leighton Wilson,
who projected the work of foreign missions on the lines
on which it is still conducted. Dr. Colcock Jones, an illus-
trious Georgian, lead in inaugurating the work for the
colored people. He was for years a professor in Columbia
Seminary.

This fragment of history is recalled merely to illustrate
the fact that the Seminary, founded in faith by our fathers,
was blessed of God to do a great and permanent work for
His glory in the most critical period in the history of the
Southern Church. It may be added that the Book of
Church Order, under which our Church is living today, is
largely the work of Thornwell, Peck and Adger, men closely
identified with Columbia Seminary.

CONTRIBUTION OF COLUMBIA SEMINARY TO THE SYNOD
OF GEORGIA

Through a greater part of the history of the Seminary,
the Synod of Georgia sent nearly all of its candidates to its
own Seminary for their education. As a matter of course,
when that was the case the Synod received nearly all its
ministerial supply from that source. In recent years the
Synod has sent fewer than one-half of its candidates to Co-
lumbia. But notwithstanding this fact,CoLUMBiA Seminary

FURNISHES TO THE SYNOD MORE MINISTERS THAN ANY

other institution. Last year there were one hundred and
nine active ministers in the Synod. Of these 37 were from
Columbia, 27 from Union, 11 from Clarksville, 2 from

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Louisville, 16 who could not be traced, and 16 from no
seminary. It will thus be seen that Columbia Seminary,
though laboring under serious disadvantages, is furnishing
one-fourth more ministers to the Synod than is furnished by
any other school.

WHAT BECOMES OF SYNODS' CANDIDATES ?

We shall not attempt to trace all the candidates, but a few
statistics will serve to point a moral. Glancing back over the
last nineteen years, we note that 18 of your candidates have
graduated at Columbia Seminary and 13 have graduated
from Union, a few have gone to Princeton, a few to Clarks-
ville and a few to Louisville. We find that all of the 18 who
were trained at Columbia came back to Georgia, and gave to
the Synod more or less ministerial labor, and that in the
aggregate they have given two-thirds of their labor to their
home Synod. Further, we find that while some of them have
left Georgia, they have with one exception continued to
labor within the bounds of the four Synods which own and
control Columbia Seminary. Of the 13 who were trained
at Union, we find that 5 that is more than one-third did
not return to Georgia, and that in the aggregate they have
given only a little more than one-third of their labor to their
home Synod. Further, we find that not only have the ma-
jority of them left Georgia, but those who have left are
laboring entirely beyond the bounds of the four Synods that
control Columbia. In other words, it is demonstrable that
when the Synod of Georgia educates its candidates at its
own Seminary, it retains them all to labor in the territory
covered by the four controlling Synods. When it sends its
candidates elsewhere, it loses two-thirds of them. This is
true when it sends them to the next nearest Seminary. The
state of the case is still worse when the students go further
away for their training. Out of five students, who in recent
years have gone to Princeton, only one has returned to
labor in the State.

1828 AND 1908-A CONTRAST

Then there was only one Synod covering the two States of
South Carolina and Georgia, viz., the Synod of South Caro-
lina and Georgia. The total number of communicants in the
Synod was about 10,000. Then there were two Presbyteries
in Georgia, Hopewell and the Presbytery of Georgia. The
number of ministers within the State scarcely exceeded
twenty, and the membership of the thirty or forty churches
was but little more than twelve hundred. Then there was
no Synod of Alabama, and no Synod of Florida. Both
those States were almost exclusively missionary territory.
Now there are four Synods, covering these four States, and
containing over 64,000 members.

Then there was no Seminary building, and not a foot of
ground on which to erect one. Then there was not one cent
of endowment, and Dr. Goulding began his work as pro-
fessor, depending for support on his pastorate. Then there
was not a book in the library, and no shelf to put one on.
Now the Synods own the most beautiful square in the city
of Columbia, on which are five buildings. The Synods also
own three comfortable dwelling houses on Richland street,
and their Seminary has $225,000 of productive endowment.
Furthermore, the Synods own the best theological library in
the South, consisting of more than 24,000 volumes.

Then the few earnest Presbyterians of the one Synod
faced the problem of founding and equipping and endowing
a Seminary to meet present and prospective wants. They
addressed themselves to the task in faith and prayer. They
labored through years, often amid great discouragements,
but God smiled on their patient and heroic efforts, and Co-
lumbia Seminary came to be recognized throughout the
whole Church as a mighty factor in building up the king-
dom. Now we are heirs to their labors, and enjoy free of
cost the fruits of their toil.

DOES OUR INHERITANCE IMPOSE AN OBLIGATION ?

To stand still is to retrograde ; to retrograde is to die.
All honor to the fathers who wrought so well for their gen-
eration, and bequeathed to us such a valuable heritage. But
each age brings new demands. Progress is the order of the
day, in theological education as well as in other spheres of
activity. That which served admirably for the past, is anti-
quated for the present. Other seminaries have gone for-
ward, and if the Synods that own Columbia Seminary would
have it in line with these, they must add to the fruits of
past labors. They should improve their material plant and
enlarge their equipment.

Wisely their Board of Directors, at their last meeting,
decided on a forward movement. They recognized the fact
that if their Seminary is to compete successfully with other
institutions the Synods must arouse themselves, and put
their Seminary on an equal footing in all respects with those
other institutions. Something has already been done. A
brief canvass, during the summer, among a few of the
churches, yielded encouraging results. Several thousand
dollars were subscribed, and improvements on the material
property will be begun at an early date. But this is only a
beginning of what should enlarge to proportions worthy of
these great Synods, and of the great future that is opening
before them. Our Church doubles its membership every
twenty-five years. This means that our constituents will in
twenty-five years from now be 130,000, a number nearly
equal to the membership of the whole American Presby-
terian Church at the time Columbia Seminary was founded.

OUR OUTLOOK

Efforts to remove the Seminary, continued through a
number of years, resulted in reducing the attendance to a
very low point. Since the cessation of those efforts, and the
recognition of the fact that the Seminary is to remain per-

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manently in Columbia, there has been a steady growth in
attendance, until now it is better than it has been in the last
ten years. There is every reason to expect a continuance
of this growth. The material for it is in sight, and the in-
terest in the institution is steadily rising. The present
student body is heartily loyal and enthusiastic in their
efforts for the good of the institution. The city of Colum-
bia is showing an aroused zeal, and is responding liberally
to calls for aid. This local interest is bound to tell on those
living at a distance. All that is needed to push the Semi-
nary to the front is the cordial cooperation of those who own
and control it, and who are reaping the benefits of its ser-
vice. Surely it is reasonable to expect this cooperation,
especially on the part of Georgia, that was so prompt and
active in founding the institution, and has ever received
from this source its chief supply of ministerial labor.
Moreover, Georgia has no responsible connection with any
other institution, and is never called on to render financial
aid elsewhere. The Synod 1 can hardly wish to remain for-
ever a pensioner on the bounty of past generations.

CONSIDERATIONS THAT HAVE LED TO THE FOUNDING
OF OUR SEMINARIES

Princeton Seminary, in New Jersey, was formally opened
in the year 1812, and has been in operation ever since. In
that year the Presbyterian Church consisted of seven
Synods, with a total membership of 37,699 communicants
less, it will be observed, by 4,000 than the membership of
our present Synod of North Carolina. These seven Synods
lay along the Atlantic seaboard from the Synod of New
York and New Jersey on the north to that of the Carolinas
on the south. The single exception was the Synod of Ken-
tucky. By the year 1825 the number of communicants had
increased to 122,382 only about 30,000 more than are now
found in our two Synods of Virginia and North Carolina.
The same year the total number of candidates in the entire

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Church was 176 or just 33 more than the present number
of candidates of the two Synods just mentioned. In the
meantime, in the year 1821, Auburn Seminary, in Western
New York, had opened its doors. And yet in the year 1823
Union Seminary, in Virginia, was reorganized and entered
upon its long, honorable and useful career. The question
arises :

WHY THIS NEW SEMINARY AT THIS TIME

and under these circumstances? Was it because neither
Princeton nor Auburn could find room to accommodate the
three students that constituted the first year's attendance at
Union ? Hardly. Was it because Princeton was remote and
highly inaccessible? Not at all; for Princeton was nearer
to those living in the middle portion of Virginia than Union
was to those living in the southern and southwestern por-
tion of North Carolina. Was it, then, because money was
abundant, and no other or better use could be found for the
superfluous dollars ? On the contrary, destitute home mis-
sion 1 fields were clamorous on every hand. Why, then ?

WHY WAS AUSTIN SEMINARY ESTABLISHED ?

There are in the Synod of Texas 26,508 communicants
that is about 40,000 less than there are in the four Synods
of South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama and Florida. Within
the past few years the Presbyterians of Texas have founded
a new Seminary at Austin. To do it they have put their
hands into their pockets and raised the handsome initial
sum of $205,246. The question emerges, WHY? Is it
because neither Union nor Columbia Seminaries can find
room for ten more students the number in attendance at
Austin last session? Certainly not. Is it because of the
great distance from Texas to the Seminaries named, or some
other? Clearly the interest on $205,246 would cover the
traveling expenses of those ten students and leave a snug
sum for the home mission work of Texas. Was it because

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our Texas brethren are destitute of what Dr. Dabney of
blessed memory used to call "horse sense" ? Do not imagine
it for one short moment. Why, then?

WHY WAS COLUMBIA SEMINARY ESTABLISHED ?

Was it because in the year 1830 Union Seminary, in Vir-
ginia, which had that year thirty-seven students, which, by
the way, was the largest number, with one single exception,
that Union Seminary had from the year of its founding up
to the year 1871 was it, we ask, because the six students
at Columbia in that year could not be accommodated at
Union ? Surely not. Was it, then, because they would not
have been welcome at Union? On the contrary, even at
that early date those in control of Union Seminary were
making the friendliest overtures to the brethren of the
Synods to the south of them to make common cause with
them in the ownership and control of a single well equipped
institution. Why, then?

THE CONTROLLING CONSIDERATIONS THE SAME IN
EACH CASE

Such, then, are the facts: With Princeton and Auburn
already in existence, Union Seminary, in Virginia, was put
into operation in 1823. With the three Seminaries just
mentioned already in existence, Columbia Seminary opened
its doors in 1830; and with not only these four Seminaries
but a number of others already in existence, Austin Semi-
nary has been founded within the past few years. For
so persistently recurring a phenomenon there must be some
uniform cause. Farther, the very persistence of the phenom-
enon creates a presumption that this cause is a valid cause.
This presumption is variously strengthened. It is strength-
ened, for one thing, by the very character of the men who
fathered the movements for the founding of each of these
institutions. Dr. John Holt Rice was reputed to be a man
of exceptionally sober and judicious mind. The same is
true of those who led the movement for the founding of

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Columbia and Austin Seminaries, respectively. The pre-
sumption that the reasons leading to the founding of these
institutions are sound is farther strengthened by the fact that
both Union and Columbia Seminaries have been urged to
surrender their separate existence, and those responsible for
each of these institutions have deliberately refused to yield
to the pressure brought to bear upon them.

The reasons that have brought about the founding in
turn of Union, Columbia, and Austin Seminaries, have, so
far as we know, nowhere been formally stated. But to one
who will read between the lines of the record they become
sufficiently obvious. They are the same for each. We shall
state them for Columbia. They should be noted. If we
mistake not, they are these :

1st. Just as there are natural groups of individ-
uals, SO THERE ARE NATURAL GROUPS OF CHURCHES.

By a natural group, whether of individuals or churches, is
meant a group bound together by common ties and com-
mon interests of various kinds. No one, we presume, will
for a moment question that there are natural groups of indi-
viduals. It is equally certain that there are natural groups
in the religious sphere. Indeed, the latter arise out of the
former. It is not a matter of chance that Synods are ordi-
narily bounded by State lines. It is not wholly a matter of
convenience even. It is ultimately a wise recognition of the
fact that State lines, while invisible and intangible, have
in them an element of reality; that, somehow, explain it as
we may, they do divide.

2d. The churches in the South Atlantic and Gulf
States constitute such a natural group.

Columbia Seminary was originally founded to foster and
further the interests of the Presbyterian Church in the
States extending from South Carolina and Florida in the
east to Mississippi and Lousiana in the west. These States
are known as the "Cotton States." Their name and their

la

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history alike prove them to be what has just been called a
natural group. Besides a common soil and climate, common
industries and productions, common commercial interests
and social usages and traditions, the people of these States
are bound together by ties of blood. The bulk of the earlier
settlers in Alabama and Mississippi were from South Caro-
lina and Georgia. And because these States are a natural
group, the churches in them also constitute a natural group.

3d. Because the law of self-help does not hold

ANY MORE RIGOROUSLY FOR NATURAL GROUPS OF INDIVID-
UALS THAN FOR NATURAL GROUPS OF CHURCHES.

Every natural group of individuals rises or falls in the
social scale, survives or perishes according as it recognizes
and obeys the law of self-help as the fundamental law of its
being and of its well-being. God helps those and, by
and large, only those who help themselves. No natural
group of individuals can afford to look outside of itself
for the supply of its essential needs. Thi's law operates
rigorously in every such group, from the family up to the
nation. Woe betide the family, community, commonwealth,
nation that does not look to itself for the supply of its pri-
mary and essential needs. The commonwealth that will not
provide for itself a suitable body of laws and system of
courts, that will not provide for itself schools, colleges, high-
ways and all the other machinery essential to a sustained and
healthily developing civilization, must go without the bene-
fits they bring.

Now, those who founded our Seminaries, and Columbia
among them, felt by instinct that this law of self-help oper-
ates as rigorously in the case of natural groups of churches
as it does in that of natural groups of individuals. They saw
clearly that an adequate supply of ministers is indispensable
to the well-being of any group of churches. They founded
Columbia Seminary because they felt that they could not do
otherwise and be faithful to themselves and to their children.
By a sound and true instinct they felt that for the group of

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churches in the States named to look either to Princeton or
to Union to supply them with ministers would surely dwarf
their ecclesiastical life, if indeed it did not practically de-
stroy it. They founded it in the conviction that if the
churches in the States named above were ever to have an
adequate supply of ministers they must be raised up from
the sons of the soil, trained upon the soil and tied to soil by
innumerable subtle but strong ties. They were right. His-
tory has proved them right.* If today there are 64,000 Pres-
byterians in the four Synods of South Carolina, Georgia,
Alabama and Florida, where in 1828 there were but 10,000,
under God, the result is due to the establishment of Colum-
bia Seminary.

^Witness what is said above as to "The Contribution of Columbia Semi-
nary to the Synod of Georgia," and "What Becomes of the Synod's Candi-
dates." Farther indisputable evidence of the statement in the text will be
given in subsequent Bulletins.