RELIGIOUS ENCYCLOPEDIA
Theological Seminaries
assistant professor in the Old-Testament department became professor of Semitic languages and religions. The seminary stands for the largest and best scholarly, practical, and spiritual preparation and character of young men for the work of the ministry. It encourages liberty of investigation and expression, both in professors and students, and aims to equip its students in all respects for the skilful and efficient discharge of the duties of their high profession. It was in this institution that many of the ministers received their training who were exscinded from the Presbyterian Church in 1837-38 and formed the New School Presbyterian Church, and it was one of the chief sources of supply of ministers for that church until the reunion of the Old and New School churches in 1870. Since then it has been recognized as one of the foremost of the seminaries of the reunited denomination. It was here that the Auburn Convention was held, on Aug. 17, 1837, which framed the Auburn Declaration (q.v.), which played such an important part in the division of the church at that time, and which furnished a basis for the reunion in 1870. As this seminary has always emphasized the importance of preparing its students for the active work of the ministry, it has been generally recognized as the leader in all those modifications of seminary curricula which tended toward making more practical such training; and it was the first of the seminaries to introduce, among other subjects, the teaching of English Bible, missions, Sunday-school, and pedagogy. Prominent in its faculty, in addition to its original professors, are found the names of Samuel Hanson Cox (q.v.), Laurens P. Hickok (q.v.), Samuel Mills Hopkins, William G . T. Shedd (q.v.), Ezra A. Huntington, Edwin Hall, Willis J. Beecher (q.v.), Herrick Johnson (q.v.), Ransom B. Welch, Anson J. Upson, Henry M. Booth. In 1910 its faculty numbered ten, and it is governed by twenty-eight directors, eighteen of whom are elected by the eighteen presbyteries in the state of New York, one from each, the remaining ten being elected by the board itself, the president of the seminary being ex officio one of the ten. All of these directors, except the president, are elected for a term of three years. This board is an independent and self-governing body, and its acts are not reviewable. There were, in 1910, seventy-one students, twenty-eight from New York State, with representatives from sixteen other states, as well as from Asia Minor and Japan, these students being attached to the following denominations: Presbyterian (52), Baptist (1), Christ's Church in Japan (6), Union Church in Japan (1), Congregational (2), Armenian Presbyterian (1), Methodist (4), Italian Presbyterian (1), A. M. E. Zion (1), and Disciples (2). The endowment of the institution is $550,000, and its library contains 33,472 volumes. George B. Stewart.
S. Bloomfleld: This German Presbyterian theological seminary was established at Newark, N. J., m 1869, by the Presbytery of Newark, and is regularly affiliated with the Presbyterian Church of the United States of America. Its charter was granted in 1871 and amended in 1873; and by a general act of the legislature of New Jersey it received collegiate standing in 1909. Its foundation is largely due to
the efforts of the Rev. D. W. Poor, and the school was organized by the Presbytery of Newark, among whose members were two German pastors, the Rev. J. U. Guenther and the Rev. George C. Seibert, who clearly saw the necessity of establishing an institution for educating clergymen to labor in the American spirit among the German immigrants. The earliest instructors were the Rev. George C. Seibert and the Rev. J. U. Guenther in German, and the Rev. Joseph Fewsmith and the Rev. Charles A. Smith in English branches. At its inception the school had nine students living in a dormitory next to the parsonage of the First German Presbyterian Church of Newark and a faculty of four teachers had been provided, giving a total of twenty-two lectures per week, instruction in German preponderating. The first outline of studies comprised an academic and theological course, and the faculty were required to subscribe annually to the standards of the Presbyterian Church. In 1872 the institution, then having twenty students, was transferred to Bloomfield, N. J., where it has since been located, and where 149 ministers of the Gospel have been graduated and a number of lay workers have been educated. In the fall of 1873 the Rev. Chas. E. Knox, secretary of the board of directors since its organization, was elected president and professor of homiletics, church government, and pastoral theology, and remained in that position until his death in 1900, and the Rev. George C. Seibert was elected professor of Biblical exegesis and theology, and held that position until his death in 1902. In 1895 the Rev. Henry J. Weber, now chairman of the faculty, was elected professor of Hebrew exegesis and church history, and he and the Rev. Chas. T. Hock have remained members of the faculty to date, while in 1902 the Rev. Arnold W. Fismer was elected professor of New-Testament exegesis and ethics. In 1890 a special course for Bohemian and Italian students was added to the German course, but, for lack of support, was discontinued in 1895. In 1904, however, at the suggestion of the General Assembly, the institution undertook polyglot work, extended the course to nine years, and adopted a curriculum to impart instruction to students of other nationalities in addition to the German. The seminary has at present (1910) eleven instructors and twenty-three directors, who are elected by the Presbytery of Newark, the General Assembly having a veto power as regards the election of directors and professors. The number of students in 1910 was fifty-seven: 25 Germans, 12 Magyars, 11 Italians, 5 Hebrews, 3 Ruthenians, and 1 Syrian. Of these students, one is affiliated with the Lutheran Church, one with the Evangelical Synod, two with the Reformed, and fifty-three with the Presbyterian Church. The endowment of the school amounted in 1910 to $206,826.46, and the library consists of 7,350 books. Henry J. Weber.
Bibliography: C. E. Knox, The German Problem and the Solution Offered by the German Theological School of Newark, N. J., New York, 1874; G. C. Seibert, The Germans in America and their Need, ib. 1874 (these appeared aa Addresses at the Inauguration of the German Theological School of Newark) .
3. Lane: This institution, which is located at Cincinnati, O., was founded in 1829 through the ef-
Theological Seminaries