Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 14.djvu/838

OBERLIN. 712 OBESITY. of refuge for many who tied to escape scenes of violence elsewhere. Outside his little canton he found admiring friends. Oberlin College (q.v.) in Ohio was named for him. iiis life has been written many times: by Striiber (iStrass- l)urg, IS.'U); Bodemann (.Stu'ttgart, 18.5.5; 3 ed. 1879); Hackenschmidt (Strassburg, 1902); and in English by .Josephine Butler (London, 1882). O'BERLIN COLLEGE. A c()e<hKatic)nal in- stitutimi iif l]i;;lK'r li'arning. established in 18.33 at Oberlin, Oliio, and chartered as the Oberlin Collegiate Institute. The present name was adopted in lSr)0. The academy or preparatory school was tirst opened, but in less than two years the college proper and the theological seminary were in o])cration. In addition, there are departuu'nts of music, drawing and painting, and physical training for women, and a summer .school. ()berlin College was among the first in- stitutions of higher learning to admit colored students and was in general a stronghold of the anti-slavery spirit. It was also a pioneer in co- education. In 1903 the faculty numlK'red 84, and the student enrollment was 1443, of whom 006 were women. The library contained 00.000 bound volumes and 110,000 paniphlets. The college has 16 buildings, valued with their eiiuipment at $765,900: an endowment of .'?l,o76,lo3, and an income of .$13"). 1 22. The total value of its prop- erty was .$2,342,102. OBERLIN THEOLOGY. The system of doc- trines tauglit at Oberlin College " in its first period by Charles (4. Finney (q.v.) and his colleagues. Finney had early come by his own thought to embrace the general system of theology taught by tile leading Congregationalists of his time, and known as New School Calvinism. .•ltlioigh it is dilTicult to establish any direct coimection of Finney with New Haven, it is true that the most striking similarity exists between his views and those of X. W. Taylor, even in details. The system is Calvinism modi- fied by the doctrines of the freedom of the will and of benevolence as the constitutive principle of A'irtue. Sin is conceived as strictly jjcrsonal to the sinner, and therefore all imputation, whether of Adam's sin or of Christ's righteous- ness, is denied. Original sin becomes native tendency to evil resulting in actial sin in the case of every man. I!e<;cneration is the act of the Holy Spirit persuading the soul to the choice of the good, which choice is conversion. Creat emphasis is laid upon the divine moral govern- ment, and the theory of the atonement taiglit is the governmental. After Finney arrived in Oberlin (I83r)) the theory of the simplicity of moral action (which had been taught by Em- mons) was revived and inade the basis of a somewhat new view of sanctitication. A volition, it was said, is indivisible in its nature, and must be either right or wrong. In any moment, as having but one act of choice at that moment, the soiil is, therefore, either entirely holy or entirely sinful. The ability of man tii obey the law of God is complete, for his obligation cannot exceed his ability. Therefore at any moment a m.in may jierfectly and wholly obey the law, and is therefore at that moment perfectly sanc- tified. If he will only continue thus to Choose the right uninterruptedly (which be is able to do in crin'<c(|nence of the freedom of his will), he will maintain a sinless life. Since he can do this, he ought to do it. Hence sinless perfection is both obligatory upon the Christian and pos- sible. To attain this, the aid of the Holy Spirit was to be sought in prayer. This theory, in connccti<m with the great practical earnestness of the Oberlin colony and their conviction of their call to elVcct large things in the extension of Christ's kingdom, led to etl'orts and professions in the attainment of holiness which were in time largely modified, but which were at first the occasion of great suspicion and opposition, A still greater occasion of antagonism was the stand taken by Oberlin in favor of the negro. and the introduction of the coeducation of women with men in the institution. The pecu- liarities of Olierlin were greatly exaggerated; but what peculiarities there were have largely passed away with the progress of time. Consult Finnev. f<i/stcm(ilic Throloqi/ (Oberlin, 1847; new ed. I87S); OBERMiJLLNER. r.lirr-mi.ilner, Adolf (1833-98). An Austrian |iainter. born at Wels. He studied in Munich, Italy, France, and Hol- land, and settled in 1860 in Vienna. His splendid views from the high Alps in Uavaria. Tyml. and Switzerland include the ""(Joldberg Glacier in Rauris 'alley" (1874. Vienna Museum) ; "Mont Blanc," and "The Xassfeld near (iastein" ( Linz (iallery). After sketches and drawings by .lulius Payer lie painted a series of twelve ".Scenes at the North Pole" (1875), and in the Museum of Nat- ural History, Vienna, he executed five mural liaintin;.;s of Alpine scenery. O BERON. In West European folklore, the king of the elves or fairies, and the husband of Titania. Oberon is first mentioned as Toi du royaume de la fecric' in the old French poem of Hiioii lie llorilraiix (thirteenth century), which was in 1454 made the basis of a popular prose romance. This romance was translated info Eng- lish by Lord Berners about 1530 (printed in 1534). From this beautiful version Shakespeare must have derived the Oberon and Titania of .4. Midxiimmcr Xifilit's Dream. Chaucer. Oreene, and Spenser adopted Oberon. Wieland got the idea of his Ohrroit (1780) from the liihluilhequc uiiinrsillc (/('.« roiiiiiiif!. published in 1775. C'^ing Wieland, Planclie worked up his text for Weber's opera Ohiron. The media'val French poem <lone into moilcrn French by (iaston Paris was edited by Ouessard and Orandmaison (Paris, 18601. and Lord I'erners' version bv Lee for the Earlv Engli-b Text Society (London. 1883-85). OBES'ITY, CoRini.EXCE, or Poi.v.s.RciA (Lat. ohrsitdK. from obrsiis, fat, p.p, of ohedcre, to eat up, from oh, before, near -j- edcrc, to eat ) . An abnormal deposit of fat imder the skin and around the viscera. The amount of fat pos- sessed by an individual may vary widely within the limits of health, but so long as it does not interfere with tli<> bcidily functions or move- ments, it is nut ]iathological : indeed, a certain quantity is useful and necessary to protect the va- rious organs an<l to maintain their tcm|W'rature. as well as to serve as a reserve supply of nutri- tion. (SeeFAT.s.) The normal proportion of fat to the whole body weight is given as about one- fifteenth to one-twentieth. Otiesify may occur at any period of life, but the tendency to corpulence is greatest after forty. In women the predisposi- tion is greatest after the first years of chiM bear- ing, and again after the menopause. In the pro-