David Bowman Schneder (March 23, 1857 – October 5, 1938) was an American missionary educator in Japan. Seminarians in Sendai, 1888

Early life and education

Schneder, was born in

Bowmansville, Pennsylvania Bowmansville is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Brecknock Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States. Bowmansville is home to a Pennsylvania Turnpike service plaza. The population was 2,077 as of t ...

, and graduated from

Franklin and Marshall College Franklin & Marshall College (F&M) is a private liberal arts college in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. It employs 175 full-time faculty members and has a student body of approximately 2,400 full-time students. It was founded upon the merger of Frankli ...

in 1880. He graduated the

Lancaster Theological Seminary Lancaster Theological Seminary is a seminary of the United Church of Christ in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1825 by members of the German Reformed Church in the United States to provide theological education for prospective clergy and ...

1883 and was ordained minister of the

Reformed Church in the United States The Reformed Church in the United States (RCUS) is a Protestant Christian denomination in the United States. The present RCUS is a conservative, Calvinist denomination. It affirms the principles of the Reformation: '' Sola scriptura'' (Scrip ...

. He was a pastor

Marietta, Pennsylvania Marietta is a borough in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. The population was 2,633 at the 2020 census. It is located on the east bank of the Susquehanna River northwest of Columbia. Geography Marietta is located in western Lancaster County at (4 ...

, 1883-1887.

Career

In 1887 he and his wife were appointed to serve as missionaries in Japan. He taught at the

Sendai is the capital city of Miyagi Prefecture, the largest city in the Tōhoku region. , the city had a population of 1,091,407 in 525,828 households, and is one of Japan's 20 designated cities. The city was founded in 1600 by the ''daimyō'' Date M ...

Theological Training School, founded in 1886; the school later became

Tohoku Gakuin University is a private university in Sendai, Japan. It was founded under a Christian background (specifically the German Reformed Church, which later was known as the Reformed Church in the United States. A large part of the Reformed Church in the United S ...

. He was the second president in 1901 and served until 1936. During his 35 years as president, the school expanded, adding college courses with Departments of Theology, Teacher Training, Commerce and Liberal Arts. At a time when many missionaries regarded non-Christian religions as enemies, Schneder saw traditional religions of Japan, particularly Amida Buddhism, as preparations for the gospel. He is considered in the vanguard of his missionary generation for these ideas. Nevertheless, he never entered into dialogue with non-Christian religious leaders. A student of Buddhism, Schneder wrote ''Japanese Buddhism'' in 1899. He felt that the Buddhism of his time had lost some its early virtues and had become a cult of glitter and pomp to impress the vulgar mind. Schneder and his wife made seven trips to the U.S., "never ceasing in their labors to build international goodwill and raise money for the school's expansion." He retired in 1936, becoming

President Emeritus ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

, and was awarded his second

Order of the Rising Sun The is a Japanese order, established in 1875 by Emperor Meiji. The Order was the first national decoration awarded by the Japanese government, created on 10 April 1875 by decree of the Council of State. The badge features rays of sunlight f ...

for distinguished service to education. His final speech was entitled "Why I'm Not Ashamed of the Gospels." He stayed in Sendai after retirement and died in 1938. In 1917, he was awarded Fourth Class Order of the Rising Sun by the

Emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife ( empress consort), mother ( ...

"in appreciation of ... his efforts in the maintenance of friendly relations between Japan and America." He later tried to bridge the growing U.S.-Japan antagonisms that led to World War 2 by sharing Christian viewpoints on reconciliation with his many contacts, including presidents and prime ministers.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schneder, David Bowman 1857 births 1938 deaths Franklin & Marshall College Protestant missionaries in Japan Missionary educators Tohoku Gakuin University faculty

Early life and education

Career

See also

References