l88 UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO STUDIES 



to life. These things it is the historian's province to ascertain. It is 

 to the historian, therefore, that we must look for the recovery of the 

 most precious heritage that antiquity has left us, the faith once 

 delivered to the saints. 



This high task, of course, must be the work of specialists, of pro- 

 fessed church historians. But the general historian, more particularly 

 those whose work it is to write upon and teach the history of the 

 Roman Empire, the Middle Ages, or the Reformation, may fairly be 

 required to have an adequate understanding of Christianity and the 

 history of its thought. They ought, indeed, to have had some train- 

 ing in historical theology. It is true that they may never have had an 

 opportunity directly to impart their knowledge in formal courses. 

 The heavy hand of ecclesiastical jealousy and ecclesiastical obscurant- 

 ism still rests upon our colleges, even upon our state-supported uni- 

 versities. But the teacher of history can hardly avoid the subject 

 altogether. References to it should be intelligent. An understand- 

 ing of historical theology is of value to the college teacher, if only 

 that it may enable him to avoid running counter to ecclesiastical 

 prejudices. 



Some day, let us hope, the history of the greatest spiritual move- 

 ment in history, the chief factor in long reaches of the development of 

 our civilization, will be as freely taught in our universities as any 

 other portion of history. It will be a valuable discipline. The 

 history of ideas is universally recognized to be an indispensable part 

 of a Hberal education. But the student of the history of philosophy 

 or of science is met at the outset by a serious difl&culty. He must 

 be something of a philosopher or a scientist if he is to understand 

 the history of philosophy or science. The student of the history 

 of rehgion requires for the understanding of his subject only a human 

 heart. The problems with which rehgious thinking deals are the uni- 

 versal human problems which every man must face. The historic 

 solutions of these problems can be made to appeal to anyone. More- 

 over, a study of these solutions resolves itself into a study of human 

 character, which is a deeper and a more valuable study than the study 

 of the human intellect. It is a study which brings the student into 



