The Henson Journals

[214]

Monday, November 18th, 1912. New York.

A very cold morning. I prepared notes for my address to the students of the Union Theological Seminary. Then mine host walked me across the Central Park. At noon I addressed a room–full of students on "the rôle of the Christian Minister in the Modern World". I spoke for more than ¾ of an hour. Then I went to the Savoy Hotel & was entertained at luncheon by a large body of ministers, representing, as I was assured, no less than 15 denominations. Here I made a speech of 30 minutes. Then I returned to the Union Seminary, and at 5 p.m. delivered the first of my two lectures on "Nonconformity under Charles II". There was a very large attendance, which exceeded the capacity of the lecture room: it was announced that the next lecture wd be given in the Chapel. There was an interesting dinner–party, to which several of the College Professors came. I was particularly glad to meet Dr Briggs (who is an appalling old bore), and McGiffert, who is an interesting but rather wild looking person. He spoke contemptuously of Ramsay, & respectfully of Moffatt & Burkitt, though he expressed disagreement with the eschatological views which Burkitt has adopted so eagerly, & now propagates with such ardour.

[215]

At the Union Theological Seminary are some Jews described as 'liberal'. They attend all the lectures, & are examined on the Christian Scriptures as the other students. They find the atmosphere of the place more congenial then that of the Rabbinical teaching centres. Unitarianism & this liberal or Reformed Judaism tended – so I was assured – to run together. At the luncheon yesterday several Jewish Rabbis were present. I emphasized the distinctiveness of the Christian Teaching & point of view: & they made no sign. There is much in all this which is hard to combine in any coherent theory. McGiffert dwelt on the absolute freedom of the Seminary. I enquired as to the Chapel whether it was conducted on specifically Christian lines, & I was assured that such was the case. Jews and Unitarians were free to attend if they wished, and, if I understood rightly, made no difficulty about attending. It is evident that the very notion of the Church has no place in the system.

Dr Hall – who was dining tonight – is just returned from a journey round the world. He was painfully impressed in Japan by the ruthless way in which women & children are being put to work in the factories. The horrors of the prae–factory epoch in Great Britain are beginning to reproduce themselves in the Far East. Already the physical deterioration of the people is attracting the notice of the Japanese Government.

[216]

I enquired as to Korea, & its Christianity. He had evidently not been well–impressed. He said that the moral standard of the missionaries (largely Presbyterian) seemed to have been lowered. He was rather sceptical as to the value of the Pentecostal conversions which have been so much emphasized by missionary enthusiasts in England. The Korean Court had espoused Christianity, & consequently there had been the strongest motive for the people's conversion. But since the removal of that motive by the Japanese, there had been a marked check in the progress of Xity. I inquired into the alleged torturing of Christian Koreans by the Japanese authorities in connection with the conspiracy against the Mikado's representatives. He said that there had been much exaggeration in the reports which have been circulated in Europe: that, though the missionaries themselves were innocent, there had undoubtedly been a plot formed among their converts: that the alleged tortures had not amounted to more than the familiar American method known as 'the third degree': that the best–informed Americans admitted that the real culprits had been thereby discerned, & sentenced. Dr Hall was very full of admiration for the Chinese, & expressed his confidence in the stability of the new regime in China.

---