Grinnell College - Cyclone Yearbook (Grinnell, IA)

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DOCTOR EDWARD A. STEINER

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'dEI1is Tiulume 55 hrhiraivh with aifvrtiun zmh lngalig in nur - lgrnfvzzur nf Applirh Glh1'i5tiz1ni1:y Bunztnr izhmwfh 3. Steiner

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'Rx REVEREND EDWARD A. STEINER, PH. D. C' OWA COLLEGE is fortunate in becoming the possessor of my friend, Dr. E. A. Steiner. His interesting personality would add value to any Institution, and must give a peculiar attractivenesss to a College Faculty. Let me describe briefly to the friends of Iowa College what manner of man they have in this occupant of the Chair of Applied Christianity. Mr. Steiner was born thirty-eight years ago in Vienna, the great and brilliant capital of Austria. The grammar schools of that city gave him his earlier training and led to the continuation of his studies at Goettingen and l-Ieidelburg in Germany. lt was from the latter famous University that our friend obtained his Doctor's degree. When he was barely of age, Mr. Steiner joined the great procession westwards, and sailed for America If all immigrants from central and southern Europe were of his type, happy would be the land which received them. Too few are they who come with his peculiar experience and his splendid training, to help in the building ofthe great Republic. After two short years in this country, the young foreigner resolved to give his life to the Christian ministry, and entered Oberlin Theological Seminary whence he graduated in 1891. One of Nlr. Steiner's gifts lies in the direction of linguistics, and this enabled him while yet a student to act as Associate Professor of German in Oberlin College. ln addition he preached twice every Sunday. Nlr. Steiner is nothing unless intense, and one can there- fore hardly estimate what work must have meant to him during his seminary years when he had to combine teaching with study, and both with regular preaching. After graduation from the Seminary, Mr. Steiner hlled the pulpit of four churches in rapid succession, namely St. Cloud, Minnesota, St. Paul, Minnesota, Springheld, Ohio, and Sandusky, Ohio. ln these pastorates he made himself known as a man of intense convictions and of pas- sionate eloquence. While in Springfield, Mr. Steiner entered upon his career of authorship, at first by contributing to journals of a local char- acter, and later by sending his productions to the denominational newspapers of the Congregational Churches. The ever alert staff of the Outlook discovered his powers, and made him what he con- tinues to be-a regular contributor to the pages of that brilliant and popular journal. The management of the Outlook made a contract with him under which he proceeded to Russia to gather materials for a life of Count Tolstoy. Nlr. Steiner came into close personal relations with that great teacher of our day, and from that fellow- ship not only drew fresh inspirations for his own life but a pro- found regard forthe character, the sincerity, and the' Christian principle of Tolstoy. Erom that visit has grown Nlr. Steiner's only book which is published by the Om'loo'k Company. Some of the prominent characteristics of Mr. Steiner's personality and of his career up to this date are due to the fact that it was as a fully educated man that he came to taste the two supreme values of life. These' are the grace of God in Jesus Christ and life in a free ...G-