News

HMS Is Facing a Deficit. Under Trump, Some Fear It May Get Worse.

News

Cambridge Police Respond to Three Armed Robberies Over Holiday Weekend

News

What’s Next for Harvard’s Legacy of Slavery Initiative?

News

MassDOT Adds Unpopular Train Layover to Allston I-90 Project in Sudden Reversal

News

Denied Winter Campus Housing, International Students Scramble to Find Alternative Options

"GETTING AND SPENDING . . . ."

NO WRITER ATTRIBUTED

When a group of undergraduates gathered last spring to discuss the practicality of an optional course in Christianity, considerable doubt was expressed as to the chances of interesting other students in the plan. It was carefully stressed that the course, if given, should not be made to depend on a large attendance, and that the lecturers should not feel neglected if they found themselves addresing a group of three of four conscientious listeners. Other promoters felt that the course should be highly informal, and should be held in one of the House Common Rooms, to lend an air of friendly brotherhood in anticipation of any embarrassment on the part of the discussion group. Thursday night's display of enthusiasm must have sent these apologists home with their tails hanging low, if indeed they recall one whit of hesitation on their own part as of five months ago. Professor Munn has started the ball rolling with a force that may even neutralize and overbalance future Thursday distractions such as hour exams and deb parties. By coming, out in sincere, forthright fashion behind the theme that the "world is too much with us", Professor Munn gave embryo philosophers something to test their newly digested theory upon, and whether he was able to settle anything in their minds or not, he definitely aided in making the issue a vigorous, living concern.

That religion is and always has been one of the burning questions of man's life is not open to debate, but the fact that our rapidly changing development, scientifically and materially, has produced distraction resulting in a considerable flight from God, whatever the word may signify, personally or externally, has been much asserted. Professor Munn's opinion that we trust too much to human intellect, and will not learn to pray until some overwhclming experience forces us to our knees, is applicable to many of us in this age which considers itself so self-sufficient. Even more significant is the common acceptance of the past as hopeless and the future as not worth worrying over. The faith and determination that move mountains are conspicuous in their absence, now that man has learned so many handy aids to comfortable living.

These consideration are among the most pressing in modern society, and have consequently been subjects of countless undergraduate discussions, held until now when the spirit moved three or four on the same occasion. With the presentation of Christian ideas as an introduction to a systematically governed debate on religious problems, personal and universal, undergraduates are now given an unpreccedented chance to let off steam to some effect. Insted of consistently avoiding these questions, Harvardmen may, if they will, take a vital interest in trying to understand and evaluate the faith of their fathers. As an instrument reminding students that there is a spiritual side of life, the new series of lectures has already made great strides.

Want to keep up with breaking news? Subscribe to our email newsletter.

Tags