UA-R-GC-1914-01-01-1948-11-19_Page-063

6I' President's Report Page 11 V. - C?IRISTIbId O3JECTIVES with the enactment of Law 38 controlling private education, it is imperativo that the Christian objectives of the University be reviewed both in relation to the underlying philosophy of the institution and as exPressed through its program of edu-cation. For this the statement of purpose as suggested recently by Council is basic. Our problem is to find in Arabic a phrase that will be honest and intangible to Egyptian Moslems and yet will embody the basic Christian aims of our institution. The most immediate question regarding a teaching program in this field arises from the provision of Law 38 forbidding instruction of any pupil "in a re-ligion other than his own even with consent of the parent." This prohibition has been discussed at length with the Minister of Education. The Minister's own state-ment was "teach but not preach" in the field of religion. This is a somewhat am-biguous difference but the Ministry appears to accept the present teaching program of the University and no difficulty is expected in continuing our present work in ethics, religion and philosophy. It may be necessary, however, to discontinue the Sunday morning service for students - or to replace it by a week-night forum in which religious matters would be discussed but without formal worship. L7íth the resignation of Dr. Smith, the University has lost the center of its religious program. Dr. Smith demonstrated that in the end the greatest re-ligious influences can be exercised through personal contact with students, many of which grow out of discussions that begin in the classroom. Two incidents in the past year show how profound such discussions can be. One Moslem student came to Dr. Smith stating that he remembered a discussion in his sophomore year relating to the Christian concept of forgiveness as a basic ethical attitude. He now faced a situation where he needed to forgive an enemy and wanted to know how a Christian gets this grace of forgiveness into his character. Such an inquiry opened the door for deep personal sharing of the meaning of the Christian experience. Another Moslem graduate wrote from Yemen, deploring the anti-Jewish riots then going on and saying "Wen will we learn that only Christ's law of love will solve the world's problems?" To further such influences, a spiritual leader with adequate training in the field of Philosophy and Religion must be found at once. Every year underscores the lesson that the ultimate religious effectiveness of the institution lies in the motivation of each member of the permanent staff. There can be no substitute for missionary commitment in each of our permanent men. VI. - CONCLUSION Many details of the year's work have not been reported here since the de-partmental records are readily available. what is significant is that once again persons, money, buildings and motives have been combined in another year of unique effort through which Christ's way of service and His vision of the Kingdom of God have been brought closer to the Nile Valley. JOHN S. B.DEAU President November 4, 1948. (See folder Permanent File for Departmental Reports of 1947-4$ - under "Reports - Departmental"