GEORGE FOOT MOORE

The position of the theologian in every day life has undergone a tremendous change in the last half-century. Even fifty years ago he was not the figure he has been. The small town preacher was no longer the one well educated man; the city pastor was not necessarily one to respect academically. But, even if his scholarly vestments had been stripped to a certain degree, he still remained a moral force. Today this aspect of his influence has also declined. The real theologian today is more a historian than a preacher, he is concerned with the sympathetic study of all religions rather than with the propounding of one. As such he is naturally not the public figure that he was at one time. He is becoming better known to the higher academic world but more obscure to the general public.

The death of George Foot Moore passed by almost unnoticed. He was no longer in active service but he had been connected with the Harvard faculty for a quarter of a century. After being preacher to the University for two years he became allied with its teaching staff and later became the first holder of the Frothingham Professorship of the History of Religions, which he held until his retirement a few years ago. An authority in his field, the author of several books on the history of religions and the literature of the Bible, he was also a dominant force in the Theological School. He helped transform it from a narrow college for the training of divinity professors into its seemingly contrary form--a school for preachers consistent with university ideals.

Goerge Foot Moore personally was an imposing figure. Massiveness and humor were admirably combined in him. Had he died a quarter or a half-century ago it is certain that his death would not have received such little notice. He was one of the first of the higher theologians to lead the way to a more scholarly and appreciative study of religion, heralding the contemporary attitude. He was also one of the first to suffer the resulting public indifference.