White Proposes 'Utopian' Divinity School for All Religious Groups

Morton G. White, professor of Philosophy, proposed last night as a "Untopian view," a secular Divinity School with no single religious commitment but with a "voice for all religious."

Speaking before an enthusiastic gathering at the Sunday night Hillel lecture series on the problem of "Religious Commitment and the Higher Education," White said that he would be disappointed if a Divinity School at a secular university such as Harvard couldn't ideally teach other religious than Protestantism.

Comparing the teaching of theology to that of philosophy, White proposed that the professor's standards of commitment could be similar in both: "Pursuit of truth and understanding of the topics with which he deals."

He said that several implications would follow from this Utopian set-up: A great variety of professors would be able to lecture in such an institution, including agnostics and atheists. They would be able to "emulate the spirit of freedom" present in the rest of the University, he maintained.

John Dillenberger, professor of Theology at the Divinity School, replied to White's remarks. Although he "agreed 85%," a point of difference appeared in their respective attitudes toward the function of a Divinity School, as Dillenberger viewed this institution as primarily a place for teaching the professional minister.