1919 Cedrus Yearbook

19 1*....:.: .... :......r:•:::.:..::::*:•::•....•.I.... ....11:::•:.4.'•::*:.".: WHAT IS CEDARVII,LE COLLEGE 19 OT buildings, nor campus, nor books, nor equipment, nor even stu- dents nor professors make a college, but the spirit which per- meates its life and dominates its activities. Ideas and ideals rule the world. Force and matter are but instruments. Even individ- uals, though for the time the source of idealistic elements, are in the larger sense subservient to them, for ideas are carried on through ages and by great groups,and cease not with the life of a man. Cedarville College is the sum of the spiritual forces that by some process or series of processes have been brought to bear here, and now go on pro- ducing effects,for good or for ill, upon all brought within the radius of the institution's influence. The spirit of Cedarville College is difficult to anal- yze, but it may be characterized in three great words: as scientific, social, and religious. It is scientific. Open-mindedness to new ideas is coupled with the crit- ical attitude. "Prove all things; hold fast that which is good," is the motto. Truth, welcome or unwelcome, is the goal. It is reached by evi- dence and inference. The spirit of Cedarville College is social. Sympathy for all things human is cultivated. The desire for mutual helpfulness is developed. The mis- sionary incentive to carry the gospel of love to those most in need of it, counterbalances the natural tendency toward too much egoism. This spirit is also religious. There is the firm belief in high ideals, heaven-inspired; in a kingdom of heaven to be established on earth; in divine help in the attainment of all lofty purposes; and in man's responsi- bility for the manner in which he uses the good gifts of his Creator. Is the spirit of Cedarville Christian? In the highest sense of the word, it is, because the Christian spirit is made up of these same elements. The Berean attitude of inquiry and proof, the social interest of Jesus, and the Biblical doctrine of a Universal Father, are the accepted bases of our col- lege spirit. In the modern world there is coming to be more and more recognition of these as the highest ideals of the race. Let us hold them ever before us. 7