The Christian Observer asks the question: "At the laying of the corner-stone of the new University of Chicago, a week ago, Rabbi Hirsch made the convocation address. But as a Jew, of course he denies the divinity of Christ. How can it be right to call on an enemy or an opponent of Christ to take public part in such a service as the dedication of an edifice to His honor?"

      This is a very pertinent question, provided it is true that it was a "dedication of an edifice to His honor." But in that case it would be equally pertinent to ask, How could it be right for a Jew to accept the invitation to take part in such a service? Both the invitation, however, and the acceptance of it, are easily accounted for; for when a Jew who had lost faith in his own Bible, [111] meets Christians who have also lost faith in it, he knows that the latter are coming toward him in the rejection of Christ, and this inspires him with a brotherly feeling toward them. As men of a common faith are drawn toward one another, so are men of a common unbelief.

[SEBC 111-112]