Muhlenberg College - Ciarla Yearbook (Allentown, PA)

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Twenty

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The Lutheran Church has always laid great stress upon education. We must not forget that Martin Luther and his co-worker Melanchthon were university trained men and university professors. Henry Melchior Muhlenberg was a graduate of the University of Halle. This famous university was at that time a young institution, for it was founded only in 1694, as a refuge for professors and students from the University of Leipzig. It was a protest against a narrower type of education ; its founding was a turning-point in the history of educational progress in Germany; and from the first the new institution was to be representative of modern tendencies. It soon became one of the principal seats of Protestant theology. Muhlenberg, who came to this country in 1742, made great efforts to establish an institution of high grade ; but the plans were spoiled by the troublous times before and during the Revolu- tion, and the condition of the country and the church was such after the war that it was not possible. The Lutherans of the Eastern part of the state co-operated in the establishment of Pennsylvania College at Gettysburg in 1832. But in time this proved to be too far away from the center of the territory of the Ministerium. It was then a happy day and a fortunate move when an institution was established in the heart of this Lutheran community, here at Allentown. This is the educational tradition of our institution. Muhlenberg College must keep abreast of the times, must search for the truth which gives freedom, must give the best education possible to its students, and must diffuse culture. The Lutheran Church believes in educated laymen as well as an educated ministry. ROBERT C. HORN. Nineteen

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HENRY MELCHIOR MUHLENBERG ’ PATRIARCH OF THE . LUTHERAN CHURCH IN AMERICA PASTOR IN PHILADELPHIA 1742-1787