TEMPTATIONS OF DR. HOFFMANN
407
know that he had somewhat altered
his
opinions on a few of the issues
that had separated us in college. He seemed to go out of his way to
talk loudly enough for me to hear him say he thought the Negroes were
treated shamefully in the South and once he even drew me aside and
stated that perhaps we weren't so far apart now because he con–
sidered himself a Christian Socialist. But he was still as dull .as ever
and I suspected he was no more popular in the theological school than
he had been at home.
Because of a friend who had studied under him in Germany and
who admired him extravagantly, I had read some of Dr. Hoffmann's
writings and was anxious to observe him. From the first I approached
him as a rather romantic figure and I suppose I somewhat exaggerated
the uniqueness of his personality. More than anything else I wonder–
ed how he could endure his students. Dr. Hoffmann had a youth
of intense political activity behind him; he had been thrown out of
his own country and in America had come to be considered a sort of
symbolic representation of the potential virtues in the German
character. His philosophy was a mixture of Christian despair-he
was famous for an interpretation of original sin-and political ideal–
ism, but I could not understand either position in his terms without
his belief in Christ as the ultimate reality. The students, on the
other hand, were ordinary boys who would later be in the Presbyterian
pulpits throughout America and they seemed as far away from the ,
kind of violence Dr. Hoffmann had known as they were from the
mysterious depths his theology sometimes reached. I thought, watch–
ing the boys, that I had never seen a healthier and more cheerful
group of people. They were bursting with energy and self-confidence,
a condition no doubt due to their lack of dissipation but which
seemed foolhardy to me since they all accepted that, regardless of
good works, each might be arbitrarily predestined for eternal damna–
tion.
Physically, Dr. Hoffmann looked rather different each time I
glanced at him. At first I had only noticed that he appeared some–
what corpulent, the typical family man, serious, settled, and a bit
colorless. Later-perhaps it was the changing expression on his face–
I was struck by his youthful charm that was not, at moments, without
a slight suggestion of well-mannered and patient boredom. His stu–
dents flattered him openly and it was apparent he enjoyed this at–
tention even though he may not have taken it seriously. I don't think
he looked upon himself as a man of importance; a few times, when
he was relaxed and on the outside of the conversation, he betrayed
