Monsalvat School
Monsalvat School of Comparative Religion (sometimes spelled, Montsalvat) was established in 1896 in Eliot, Maine, U.S. as a constituent school of Sarah Jane Farmer's Greenacre Conferences.[1] It was sustained by voluntary contributions.[2]
Early history[edit]
The Free Religious Association of America was founded as a non-sectarian organization devoted to the scientific study of religions. Its work, however, was limited, and the first great popular movement in the direction aimed at by its founders was seen in the World Parliament of Religions in Chicago, in connection with the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893. None of the leaders in this work ever lost their interest in it, or their conviction of its far-reaching importance.[1]
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As a result of her observation of the inspiring effects of the Parliament of Religions at Chicago, and of her own experience with the Oriental teachers, the same thought came to Sarah J. Farmer, the founder of the Greenacre lectures. In 1895, she offered to Lewis G. Janes the opportunity to establish a school for the comparative study of religions at Greenacre.[1] He was for many years president of the Brooklyn Ethical Association.[3]
Establishment[edit]
The first session of the Monsalvat ("Mount of Peace")[4] School of Comparative Religion was held in the summer of 1896, and a month was devoted to this work in each successive season, with steadily increasing interest and attendance. In 1898, the number of students registered was 122. Able representatives of the Hindu, Buddhist, Jain, Parsee, Jewish, and Mohammedan faiths participated from year to year in the work of the Monsalvat School, and scholarly lectures were delivered on various phases of Christian doctrine.[1]
The aim of the work was constructive, rather than merely critical; but opportunity for conference and friendly criticism was offered after each lecture. No propaganda of any particular doctrine was permitted, but each student was expected to exercise his judgment freely on all the topics treated, and to form their own unbiased conclusions. Among the students each year were a number of clergymen of different denominations, and it was especially desired to extend the work in this direction, and to offer its opportunities to divinity students and others who were preparing for ethical or religious teaching. The courses were invaluable to those who aimed to become missionaries, whatever their religious convictions, for no missionary worker could be fully qualified for their duties without a sympathetic knowledge of other faiths.[1]
The Monsalvat School stood for the conviction of its founder and promoters that the search for ideal truth was more vital and helpful to life than the propaganda of any special doctrine. The motto of this sentiment, from Herbert Spencer's "First Principles," was printed in the prospectus of the Monsalvat School:—[1]
"In proportion as we love truth more and victory less, we shall become anxious to know what it is that leads our opponents to think as they do. We shall begin to suspect that the pertinacity of belief exhibited by them must result from a perception of something which we have not perceived. And we shall aim to supplement the portion of truth we have found zwith the portion found by them.”
Notable people[edit]
Among the speakers who constituted the faculty of the School from year to year, besides the director, were:[1]
- Professor Nathaniel Schmidt, chair of Semitic Languages and Literature in Cornell University
- Professor Ismar J. Peritz, of Syracuse University
- the Swami Saradananda and the Swami Abhedananda, of India, representing the Vedanta philosophy and Hindu religion
- the Anagarika Dharmapala, of Ceylon (Parsis)
- Jehanghier Dossabhoy Cola, of Bombay, India, representing the Zoroastrian (or Parsee) faith
- Rev. F. Huberty James, of England, for 16 years a missionary in China and scholar in the Chinese literature
- Virchand Gandhi, B.A., M.R.A.S., of Bombay, India, the representative of the Jain communities in the Parliament of Religions
- Jean du Buy, Ph.D., of Berlin, Germany, whose course on the ethical and spiritual teachings of the New Testament was subsequently published
- Ruth Gibson, of Medford, Massachusetts, who expounded the philosophy of Emanuel Swedenborg
- Rabbi Joseph Silverman, of Temple Emanu-El, New York City, who lectured on the Talmud
- Emin Leo Nabokoff, a representative of Mohammedan faith
- T. B. Pandian, of Madras, India, who spoke on social conditions and missionary work in that country
- Shehadi Abd-Allah Shehadi, of Syria, whose topic was the religious and social customs of the Syrians and Bedouin Arabs
- Charles Malloy, President of the Emerson Society of Boston, who spoke on Emerson's indebtedness to Oriental thought
References[edit]
- ^ a b c d e f g Janes, Lewis G. (October 1899). "Monsalvat School of Comparative Religion". Mind. 5 (1). Alliance Publishing Company: 10–14. Retrieved 28 April 2024.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ^ "Monsalvat comparative religion school at Green Acre, later by Baha'is". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. 18 June 1899. p. 4. Retrieved 28 April 2024 – via Newspapers.com. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ^ "Monsalvat Comparative Religions at Green Acre, later by Baha'is". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. 1 November 1896. p. 7. Retrieved 28 April 2024 – via Newspapers.com. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ^ Batignani, Karen (1 January 2005). Exploring the Spirit of Maine. Down East Books. p. 138. ISBN 978-1-4617-4468-9. Retrieved 28 April 2024.
