RELIGIOUS 
 EDUCATION 
 
 and the 
 
 PUBLIC SCHOOL 
 
 An American Problem 
 
 BY GEORGE U. WENNER 
 ii 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 BONNELL, SILVER AND CO. 
 
 48 West Twenty-second Street 
 NEW YORK .... MCMVII 
 
LC 
 
 Copyright, 1907 
 By GEORGE U. WENNER 
 
To 
 
 MY FIRST TEACHER IN RELIGION 
 MY REVERED MOTHER 
 
 248518 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 FOREWORD vii 
 
 I. THE PROBLEM 1 
 
 II. HISTORICAL REVIEW .... 4 
 
 III. IN OTHER LANDS ....... 22 
 
 VI. THE CHURCH'S RESPONSIBILITY . 26 
 
 V. "A WEEK-DAY SUNDAY-SCHOOL" 39 
 
 VI. " LIONS IN THE WAY" ... 46 
 
 VII. THE CHILD CATECHUMENATE . . 56 
 
 VIII. A COURSE OF STUDY .... 79 
 
 IX. THE BIBLE STORY 82 
 
 X. THE CATECHISM 95 
 
 XL THE GOAL 106 
 
 XII. A SOLUTION Ill 
 
 VIEWS AND COMMENTS ... 119 
 
FOREWORD 
 
 AT the meeting of the Inter-Church 
 -** Conference in Carnegie Hall, New 
 York, in November, 1905, at which 
 twenty-nine Protestant Churches of Amer- 
 ica were represented, one of the papers 
 treated the question of Week-day Re- 
 ligious Instruction. Its main proposi- 
 tion was favorably received, and the fol- 
 lowing resolution was adopted by the 
 Conference : 
 
 Resolved, That in the need of more systematic education 
 in religion, we recommend for the favorable consider- 
 ation of the Public School authorities of the country the pro- 
 posal to allow the children to absent themselves without 
 detriment from the public schools on Wednesday or on some 
 other afternoon of the school week for the purpose of attend- 
 ing religious instruction in their own churches; and we urge 
 upon the churches the advisability of availing themselves of 
 the opportunity so granted to give such instruction in addi- 
 tion to that given on Sunday. 
 
 The further consideration of the sub- 
 ject was referred to the Executive Com- 
 mittee, and a report may be expected at 
 the meeting of the Federal Council of 
 
viii RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 the Churches of Christ in America in 
 December, 1908. 
 
 This action of the Conference placed 
 the question on the docket, as it were, for 
 the consideration of the churches. 
 
 On the 30th of January, 1906, in con- 
 nection with the 10th Annual Meeting of 
 the Federation of Churches of New York, 
 the subject was debated, and after an 
 animated discussion^ a committee was 
 appointed to make arrangements for 
 further consideration of the question at a 
 subsequent meeting. At this second 
 meeting, held on the 30th of April, ad- 
 dresses in favor of the movement were 
 delivered by Rabbi Mendes, Father Mc- 
 Millan, Bishop Greer, Dr. Henry M. 
 Sanders, Dr. Frank Mason North and 
 Dr. Henry A. Stimson, representing re- 
 spectively the Jewish, Roman Catholic, 
 Protestant Episcopal, Baptist, Methodist 
 Episcopal and Congregational commu- 
 nions. A letter from the Hon. Charles A. 
 Schieren, of the Lutheran Church, also 
 endorsed the proposed plan. 
 
 To meet objections, and remove mis- 
 
FOREWORD ix 
 
 apprehensions, the substance of the paper 
 read before the Inter-Church Conference, 
 is presented in the following pages, 
 together with such additions as may help 
 to illustrate its purpose. Its chief object 
 is to contribute material toward further 
 discussion of the question. 
 
 The attention which the question of 
 Religious Education is receiving in Eng- 
 land will serve to facilitate its discussion 
 in America. Conditions are different, 
 but the same principles are involved. 
 
 If the plan proposed in these pages is 
 not acceptable, it is hoped that some other 
 solution may be found for one of the most 
 serious problems of our American life. 
 
 G U. W. 
 
THE PROBLEM 
 
 questions are settled in the minds 
 of American Christians. One is that 
 there can be no true edu- 
 cation without religion. %$? 
 The other is that we must 
 have a public school, open to all children 
 without regard to creed. These two propo- 
 sitions appear to contradict one another. 
 The problem is how to reconcile them. 
 
 When our country was young, and 
 Protestantism was the prevailing type of 
 religion, these two ideas dwelt peaceably 
 together. The founders of the Republic 
 had no theory of education from which 
 religion was divorced. But the in- 
 flux of millions of people of other faiths 
 compels us to revise our methods and to 
 test them by our principles, the principles 
 of a free Church within a free State. 
 Roman Catholics and Jews object to 
 
^1^ T^ 
 
 2 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 our traditions and charge us with incon- 
 sistency. If temporarily we are able to 
 withstand their objections, we feel that a 
 great victory has been won for religion 
 when a psalm is read and the Lord's 
 Prayer said at the opening of the daily 
 session of school. We still have "re- 
 ligion" in the public school. 
 
 But the problem remains. On the one 
 hand, those who doubt the propriety of 
 introducing any religious instruction, how- 
 ever attenuated, into the public school, 
 are not satisfied with the compromise. 
 There are judicial decisions which place 
 even the reading of the Bible under the 
 head of sectarian instruction. 
 
 On the other hand, those who believe 
 that religion has a supreme place in the 
 education of a child, and that provision 
 should therefore be made for it in its 
 school life, realize the inadequacy of the 
 present methods. 
 
 As Herbert Spencer says: "To prepare 
 Aim of us for complete living is the 
 
 Education function which education has 
 to discharge." Character rather than 
 
THE PROBLEM 3 
 
 acquirement is the chief aim of education. 
 Hence we cannot ignore the place of 
 religion in education without doing vio- 
 lence to the ultimate purpose of education. 
 
 The importance of the question is ad- 
 mitted on all sides. But it remains a 
 complex and difficult problem. Thus 
 far, at least, with all our talent for practical 
 measures, we have not succeeded in 
 reaching a solution. 
 
 The question of religious instruction, 
 however, is by no means new. It is as 
 old as Christianity. It may therefore 
 be well to inquire in what way other ages 
 have treated it. On this subject each 
 of the great periods of Christian history 
 has given an answer. 
 
II 
 
 HISTORICAL REVIEW 
 
 TN the early ages, Christian nurture 
 was a family duty. In his letter to 
 Family the Ephesians, Paul urges 
 
 Training fathers to nurture their chil- 
 dren "in the chastening and admonition 
 of the Lord/' In his letter "unto the 
 elect lady and her children," John ex- 
 presses his joy at finding "certain of thy 
 children walking in truth." When Paul 
 reminded Timothy of the "unfeigned 
 faith which dwelt first in thy grandmother 
 Lois and thy mother Eunice," we are 
 justified in inferring a Christian training. 
 Christ's own words, (Mark 10), not only 
 included a caution to the disciples, but 
 were a direct command to the parents. 
 
 The obligation of Christian nurture 
 thus imposed by Christ and His Apostles 
 was gladly accepted by the members of 
 the early church, especially by the mothers. 
 
HISTORICAL REVIEW 5 
 
 The names of Emmelia the mother of 
 Basil, Arethusa the mother of Chrysostom, 
 and Monica the mother of Augustine, are 
 eminent in the history of Christian family 
 nurture. 
 
 In the writings of the Fathers we have 
 occasional glimpses of the character and 
 effect of this family training.* Polycarp 
 writes: "Teach your women to bring up 
 the children in the fear of the Lord." 
 Hermas is blamed because he had not 
 rightly instructed his children. The mar- 
 tyrs Paeon and Euelpistus were brought 
 before a heathen judge, Rusticus, who 
 asked them from whom they had learned 
 Christianity. They replied, "From the 
 women have we received this beautiful 
 doctrine." Origen was instructed in the 
 Scriptures from childhood by his father 
 Leonidas. Every day he had to learn 
 certain doctrines and a Bible story. 
 Tertullian speaks of the children of 
 Christians as holy not only by the priv- 
 ilege of birth but also by the discipline of 
 their training. Clement of Alexandria 
 
 * See Sachsse, Lehre von der Kirchlichen Erziehung, p. 100. 
 
6 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 demands that children should be trained 
 by means of Bible examples and by fear. 
 The Apostolical Constitutions prescribe 
 to parents the duty of instructing their 
 children in the Old and New Testaments, 
 and of bringing them up in the fear of 
 God . Chrysostom frequently admonishes 
 his hearers to tell the Bible stories to 
 their children. Basil the Great was in- 
 structed from childhood in the Christian 
 faith by his father, his mother and his 
 grandmother Macrina. 
 
 From these illustrations it seems clear 
 that family training was the signature of 
 the religious education of the early church. 
 
 In the Middle Ages the Christian 
 school took the place of family training. 
 The Christian The migrations of the nations 
 disorganized social and family 
 life, and made it necessary to find 
 other means of reaching the children. 
 The earliest schools were in connection 
 with the monasteries. In 813 Charle- 
 magne procured the passage of a resolu- 
 tion by the Council of Mainz that parents 
 should be admonished to send their 
 
HISTORICAL REVIEW 7 
 
 children to school, either to the monastery 
 or to their own pastors. Other synods 
 followed in these recommendations and 
 enlarged the scope of the training. But 
 the indolence and the ignorance of the min- 
 isters were the chief obstacles in the way 
 of realizing the ideals of that enlightened 
 and truly great emperor, Charlemagne. 
 He was great as a military conqueror, 
 but he was still greater as a Christian 
 educator. 
 
 Four centuries later another step was 
 taken, when the Synod of Besier, in 1246, 
 established a sort of Sunday-school, by 
 ordering that all children seven years old 
 and upward, should be brought to church 
 by their parents to be instructed in the 
 Christian faith. Incidentally the parents 
 were also reached by this method. 
 
 Twenty-four years later Bishop Engel- 
 bert of Koln published the scheme of a 
 well-organized school in his "Rules for 
 Sextons and Schoolmasters." Instruc- 
 tion was to be given for five hours daily, 
 principally in religion and morals, but also 
 in all kinds of worldly subjects. 
 
8 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 A century later John Gerson marked 
 an epoch in the history of the instruction 
 of children in religion. He was born 
 in 1363, was brought up by pious parents, 
 and received his education in Paris. He 
 was not only a very learned man, but also 
 a man of courage, contending bravely 
 against existing evils in the church. He 
 was the Spener of his day, not only in his 
 zeal for practical Christianity, but also 
 in his methods. His chief delight was to 
 teach the children. His tract,"On Bring- 
 ing the Little Ones to Christ/' has helped 
 to perpetuate his memory. In his old 
 age he often gathered the children about 
 him in the monastery of Lyons, and when 
 he saw his end approaching, he sent 
 once more for the children in order that 
 he might pray with them. He died on 
 the 12th of July, 1429. 
 
 The larger life that followed the Cru- 
 sades led to the establishment of Latin 
 schools in the cities all over Europe. 
 These were secular, and were under the 
 control of the city authorities. But their 
 existence, together with the general en- 
 
HISTORICAL REVIEW 9 
 
 largement of intellectual life, emphasized 
 the necessity of better systems of religious 
 instruction. Numerous efforts were 
 made in this direction, but the constant 
 complaint was that the ministers were 
 too indolent and were unwilling to under- 
 take the work. 
 
 The invention of printing popularized 
 a number of catechetical treatises, such 
 as "The Road to Heaven," 
 
 6 . Catechisms 
 
 Mirror tor Christians and 
 
 "Threefold Cord," explanations of 
 the Creed, the Lord's Prayer and the 
 Ten Commandments. These booklets 
 produced a wide-spread interest in the 
 subject during the period immediately 
 preceding the Reformation. John Fred- 
 erick, subsequently the staunch and 
 pious Elector of Saxony, got his father's 
 permission to attend the catechetical 
 classes in Torgau on Sunday afternoons 
 in 1511, and Luther taught the catechism 
 in public before he ever thought of 
 a Reformation. Matthesius relates that 
 Luther as a child at school had learned 
 the Commandments, the Creed and the 
 
10 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 Lord's Prayer, as well as grammar and 
 some Christian hymns. 
 
 Sponsors in baptism also played an 
 important part in the work of Christian 
 instruction. The office was not nominal. 
 It had its distinct duties, and where its 
 original ideas were carried out, proved 
 a helpful agency. In sporadic cases 
 family training was restored toward the 
 end of the Middle Ages, especially among 
 the Waldensians, the Wiclifites and the 
 Hussites. 
 
 The Reformation was a spiritual rather 
 than an intellectual movement. But in 
 order to a right faith, it was necessary 
 The that there should be a right 
 
 Reformation knowledge of God. Hence 
 religious education early received a lead- 
 ing place in the program of the Reforma- 
 tion. The Pre-Reformation period had 
 indeed recognized the importance of the 
 subject. Here and there its greatest 
 teachers had emphasized its importance 
 and had pointed out the way. There 
 were not lacking synodical resolutions 
 for the direction of the churches. But the 
 
HISTORICAL REVIEW 11 
 
 problem was not solved by the church 
 of the Middle Ages. 
 
 The Reformers early devised systematic 
 methods of imparting religious instruc- 
 tion to the young. The agents for this 
 work were first, the pastors, and sec- 
 ondly, the schools. 
 
 In 1527 Melanchthon prescribed for 
 ministers the preaching of sermons on the 
 Creed, the Lord's Prayer and the Com- 
 mandments. A regular portion of the 
 catechism was to be explained in the 
 form of a sermon. This sermon was 
 delivered sometimes after the regular 
 sermon, sometimes before. In the course 
 of time, Sunday afternoon was set apart 
 for the sermon on the catechism. The 
 usual order of the service was: Recitation, 
 Questions and Explanations, and the 
 Sermon. To a certain extent the house- 
 hold-training of the early church was 
 restored, inasmuch as parents were ex- 
 pected to teach their children the text of 
 the catechism. But the work of ex- 
 planation was left to the pastor. 
 
 Very soon it was found that Sunday 
 
12 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 was not enough for this work, and one 
 or more week-days were set apart on 
 Week-Day which religious instruction 
 ciawet wag j. Q | 3e gi ven t o the chil- 
 
 dren. An examination was held four 
 times a year. 
 
 This method was generally adopted 
 by the churches, and in most places it 
 was in full operation prior to 1534. 
 What Charlemagne had longed for in 
 the ninth century was carried out by 
 Luther seven hundred years later. 
 
 But the pastors alone were not equal 
 to the work. They needed help. In the 
 cities this was easily secured by reorgan- 
 izing the existing schools. In 1520 Lu- 
 ther demanded that the chief subject in 
 the schools should be the Holy Scriptures. 
 In 1524 he made an appeal to the Councils 
 of all the German cities to establish and 
 maintain Christian schools. As the 
 princes had no time for this work they 
 had to go sleigh-riding and attend to their 
 sports the city authorities should meet 
 this crying need. In 1530 he made an- 
 other appeal, this time to the parents. 
 
HISTORICAL REVIEW 13 
 
 They should not be satisfied with having 
 their children learn arithmetic and read- 
 ing, so as to become merchants and get 
 rich. If that was the way it was going 
 to be done in Germany, he would feel 
 sorry that he was born a German. 
 
 Many cities responded to this appeal 
 and established schools in which religion 
 became the chief subject of instruction. 
 In 1528 Melanchthon published for the 
 use of these schools his "Instructions 
 for Inspectors and Pastors." These in- 
 structions were revised and approved 
 by Bugenhagen and Luther. 
 
 In the villages the task was more dif- 
 ficult. The need was recognized, but 
 many years passed before the plans were 
 effectively carried out. In the country 
 districts around Wittenberg, it was pre- 
 scribed as early as 1528 that the sexton in 
 every village should be required to give 
 instruction on week-days on the Com- 
 mandments, the Creed and the Lord's 
 Prayer, and also in the singing of hymns. 
 
 Parents were required to send their 
 children to this instruction. The sexton 
 
14 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 thus came into prominence as the pas- 
 tor's assistant in the villages. In 1533 
 all Saxony followed the example of Wit- 
 tenberg, in 1535 Pomerania, in 1543 
 Brunswick, in 1573 Brandenburg, in 1559 
 Wiirttemberg. 
 
 This was the rule on paper at least. In 
 point of fact, prior to the Thirty Years' 
 War there were but few village schools. 
 After the war, pious princes made re- 
 newed efforts to establish them. In this 
 they were supported by the Pietistic 
 movement. But it was reserved for a 
 later period to realize the hopes and ex- 
 pectations of the Reformers. 
 
 It was Francke's genial spirit that gave 
 A Bohemian practical direction to the new 
 Biho P ideag of the Christian school, 
 
 and his name will always be associated 
 with the history of modern education. 
 But the real author of its principles was 
 John Amos Comenius, the last Bishop of 
 the Bohemian Brethren. He was born 
 in 1592 and died in 1670. One of the 
 most learned men of his times, he excelled 
 in many directions, but his chief claim to 
 
HISTORICAL REVIEW 15 
 
 enduring fame is the contribution which 
 he made to the science of teaching. His 
 views on education had been committed 
 to paper while he and his churches were 
 exiles. They were called forth by the 
 desire to give to his people, in the training 
 of Christian children, something that 
 could not be taken away when they should 
 again be restored to their homes. That 
 time never came. For decades the man- 
 uscripts lay unused and forgotten in 
 their hiding place, and their author died, 
 having apparently planned and lived 
 in vain. 
 
 A quarter of a century after his death, 
 the seed which he had sown began to 
 grow. Francke, Rousseau and Pesta- 
 lozzi in all probability got their ideas 
 from Comenius, and what had seemed a 
 failure became the permanent possession 
 of the modern world. 
 
 As a result of these principles, educa- 
 tional methods underwent a Revolution in 
 complete revolution in the Methods 
 eighteenth century. This first became 
 apparent in the period of Illuminism, 
 
16 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 (Aufklaerung), the forerunner of Ration- 
 alism. The chief exponent was Basedow, 
 with an elementary work in 1770, and 
 four volumes in 1774. Acting upon a 
 suggestion of Rousseau, he laid down the 
 principle that education must accord with 
 nature. He condemned mechanical mem- 
 orization of uncomprehended sentences. 
 Instruction must lead to the knowledge of 
 things. The mind must be strengthened 
 by observation and discrimination. Mem- 
 ory is to be subordinated to the under- 
 standing. In religion, the doctrines com- 
 mon to all nations are to be distinguished 
 from those of Revelation. The former 
 are to be taught in school, the latter in 
 church. The common doctrines of relig- 
 ion are three: 1. There is a Providence. 
 2. There is a future life. 3. This future 
 life is obtained by being good in this life. 
 Hence children should early be taught to 
 be good. 
 
 The application of Basedow's principles 
 to religious instruction was made by 
 Salzmann (1780). Religion is a state of 
 mind which appreciates things at their 
 
HISTORICAL REVIEW 17 
 
 real worth. It must not be based on the 
 events that took place eighteen hundred 
 years ago. Teach children to study na- 
 ture, and then they will appreciate the 
 teachings of the Bible. Tell them of 
 God's love and then of His command- 
 ments. Learning texts and studying 
 books makes them hate religion. Tell 
 them stories in the way that Jesus did. 
 Bible stories are not suitable because of 
 their orientalism. Robinson Crusoe is 
 better. Connect religious sentiments with 
 his adventures. Finally, lead to faith in 
 the Divine revelation in Christ, not by 
 dogmatic statements but by telling of His 
 life and works. Faith in Christ is one 
 thing, acceptance of dogmatic statements 
 is another thing. 
 
 These methods were a mixture of 
 truth and error. On the one hand, 
 Christianity is not an unintelligible eccle- 
 siasticism. The reason must be culti- 
 vated. Christ is to be known as a Person 
 and not as a dogma. On the other hand, 
 the conception of Christianity as a mere 
 doctrine was incomplete. 
 
18 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 In this connection mention must also 
 be made of Baron von Rochow, who 
 established a village school on his estates, 
 in which the merits but not the faults of 
 Illuminism were seen; and of Pestalozzi, 
 whose practical efforts were such complete 
 failures, but who gave seed-thoughts that 
 are still bringing forth fruit. 
 
 The changes produced by the combined 
 influences of the eighteenth century were 
 very great. Thoro training was re- 
 quired of teachers. Normal schools were 
 established. Attendance at school, form- 
 erly optional, became obligatory. Me- 
 chanical memorization was condemned. 
 School used to be a purgatory for children, 
 it was turned into a paradise. Above all, 
 there was a definite aim. In religion, the 
 aim was development of character. In 
 secular training, the aim was to fit for 
 the practical duties of life. 
 
 The year 1695 marks a new step in the 
 
 history of religious education. In this 
 
 Francke'. yearAugust Hermann 
 
 Francke established his 
 
 School for the Poor in Glaucha. To this 
 
HISTORICAL REVIEW 19 
 
 he soon added a Public School, a Latin 
 High School and a Normal School with a 
 postgraduate annex. For these schools 
 and for his Orphans' House he required 
 teachers. He trained them himself, and 
 within three years he had fifty-six teachers 
 at work in his institutions. 
 
 Francke was a master teacher. His 
 aim was the development of character. 
 Instruction was only the means to this 
 end. His system included the study of 
 nature, and provided for manual training, 
 for girls as well as boys. He is the 
 founder of the Christian public school. 
 In 1763 Frederick the Great adopted his 
 system for Prussia. 
 
 It must be evident that these two 
 centuries, from Luther to Pestalozzi, 
 witnessed great progress in the matter of 
 religious education. Luther had simply 
 continued the method of the Middle Ages. 
 While he appreciated the value of the 
 Bible Story, and as we shall see later, 
 commended its use, he put the emphasis 
 of his instruction where the church for 
 a thousand years before him had placed 
 
20 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 it, on the Commandments, the Creed 
 and the Lord's Prayer. 
 
 The seventeenth century was the era 
 of catechisms with Questions and An- 
 swers. In definitions, and definitions of 
 definitions, the pages multiplied to an 
 almost interminable extent. Some cate- 
 chisms had literally thousands of ques- 
 tions and answers. Even Spener, other- 
 wise a good teacher, contributed little 
 toward a better method. 
 
 But with Francke and the later Pie- 
 tists, in the eighteenth century, under the 
 influence of the principles to which we 
 have referred, came new suggestions as 
 to the aim and the method of catechisa- 
 tion. Rationalism, it is true, was a co- 
 worker in the reformation of methods, 
 but it failed to reach the conceded aim, 
 the development of character, because it 
 departed from historical Christianity. 
 
 The nineteenth century clarified and 
 put into practice the ideas which the 
 eighteenth century suggested. The em- 
 phasis was no longer placed on memoriz- 
 ing doctrinal statements. Bible History, 
 
HISTORICAL REVIEW 21 
 
 the objective facts of Christianity, became 
 the starting point, the foundation of 
 Christian instruction. 
 
 Our own times are witnessing an in- 
 tense interest in both the theory and 
 practice of teaching. But the strangest 
 feature in the history of this movement 
 is that while it originated in the church, 
 and was developed by its ministers for 
 the purpose of building up the church, 
 and for the promotion of religious life, 
 the church of to-day seems to be the last 
 to derive any benefit from it. We have 
 not a few churches where the method of 
 teaching the catechism is that of the 
 seventeenth century. We have theolog- 
 ical seminaries from which candidates for 
 the ministry are graduated who are 
 unable to teach a class of children in ac- 
 cordance with approved pedagogical 
 principles. We cannot conceal from our- 
 selves the fact that in America at least, 
 Religious Education, as compared with 
 secular instruction, does not occupy the 
 queenly position to which its origin and his- 
 tory, as well as its exalted aims, entitle it. 
 
Ill 
 
 IN OTHER LANDS 
 
 TN the matter of education the position 
 
 of preceptor mundi has for centuries 
 
 been conceded to Germany. 
 
 Germany i 
 
 For information as to the 
 present condition of religious education in 
 that empire I am indebted to Dr. Sachsse, 
 Professor in the University of Bonn. 
 
 In Germany religious instruction is a 
 part of the regular curriculum of the 
 public school. It is either Evangelical, 
 (Protestant), or Catholic, in the sense in 
 which these churches understand it, de- 
 nominationally dogmatic therefore, and 
 not humanistic. In elementary schools 
 there are from thirty to thirty-two hours 
 of instruction during the week. From 
 four to six of these hours are devoted to 
 religion, usually the first hours of the 
 forenoon. In the high schools, (gymna- 
 siums, colleges), there are also thirty-two 
 
 22 
 
IN OTHER LANDS 23 
 
 hours of instruction. In the lower classes, 
 three of these hours are devoted to re- 
 ligion; in the higher classes, two. For 
 home work, the pupil is expected to de- 
 vote about half an hour to each lesson. 
 In addition to the religious instruction 
 given at school, the minister devotes two 
 hours a week to advanced classes for a 
 year or two prior to confirmation. 
 
 In England the question at the present 
 time is in a state of flux. Hitherto, thru 
 a system of National and Board 
 schools, religious education 
 was provided for every child. Whatever 
 the outcome may be of the present dis- 
 cussion, there will be no diminution of 
 religious instruction for the children of 
 England. 
 
 In France the state of equilibriujn has 
 also not yet been found. Professor Me- 
 negoz of the University of 
 Paris has kindly sent me an 
 account of the present situation. Re- 
 ligious instruction is not given in the 
 public school. But, besides Sundays, 
 Thursdays are given to the churches for the 
 
24 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 purpose of imparting religious instruction 
 in their own buildings. On these days the 
 children do not attend the public school. 
 
 There are also denominational private 
 schools, ecoles libres , where religious 
 as well as secular instruction is given, but 
 these are declining in number and in- 
 fluence. It has been found impossible 
 to compete with the large resources of 
 the public school. 
 
 In the secondary schools, (Colleges and 
 Lycees), religious instruction is given by 
 ministers, usually the pastores loci, who 
 receive a small salary from the govern- 
 ment. But this is regarded only as an 
 unavoidable expedient. 
 ' As for the universities, recent develop- 
 ments have led to the exclusion of religion 
 from them, but there is a "Section des 
 sciences religieuses" in the "Ecole des 
 Hautes-Etudes", which maintains lecture- 
 ships on religion in the Sorbonne. 
 
 For an account of the con- 
 ditions in Sweden, I am 
 indebted to Dr. von Scheele, the Bishop 
 of Gothland. 
 
IN OTHER LANDS 25 
 
 Religious instruction is given during 
 the eight months of the school year. 
 The average number of hours per week 
 is five. The subjects are : the Catechism, 
 Bible Story, Bible Reading with oral ex- 
 planations, and Church Song. In the 
 higher schools, and in the upper classes 
 of the other schools, Church History is 
 also a part of the curriculum. 
 
 The proportion of time allotted to 
 religious instruction is one-sixth, that is, 
 over sixteen per cent. For home study, 
 the children usually require an hour a 
 day for their lessons in religion. 
 
IV 
 THE CHURCH'S RESPONSIBILITY 
 
 TN America religious instruction has by 
 judicial decision been excluded from 
 the public school. Roman Catholics, 
 Moravians and some Lutherans maintain 
 parochial schools. 
 
 Other churches have to a great extent 
 delegated the work of instruction to the 
 The Ameri- Sunday-school. This is a vol- 
 can System un tary organization, connect- 
 ed with the church, but to a large degree 
 independent of it. Its hour of instruction, 
 or rather its fraction of an hour, is con- 
 fined to the first day of the week. So 
 great is its influence and relative efficiency, 
 that if one were asked what is the Ameri- 
 can system of religious instruction, the 
 answer in most cases would be: "The 
 Sunday-school." 
 
 In shifting this task to the Sunday- 
 school, the church has transferred its own 
 
THE CHURCH'S RESPONSIBILITY 27 
 
 burden to weaker shoulders, and to an 
 institution that was not established for 
 this purpose. 
 
 The work of religious instruction prop- 
 erly belongs to the family. It was there 
 that we found it in early Duty of 
 Christian history. There it thc Famil y 
 belongs in the nature of the case. No 
 plan of religious education can be per- 
 manently successful that does not empha- 
 size the obligation of the family, and that 
 does not aim at the maintenance of 
 family religion. 
 
 But next to the family stands the 
 church with its function as a teacher of 
 religion. We make no claims __ _. 
 
 . . The Church 
 
 for special rights and privi- 
 leges of the church as an institution. 
 Protestantism views the church rather as 
 a fellowship of believers, a "communion 
 of saints/' But from this very standpoint 
 it is especially incumbent upon the church 
 to care for the children. It is true, this 
 function has been temporarily ignored 
 among us, or thru a mistaken policy 
 committed to other hands, to the public 
 
28 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 school in its "religious exercises," and 
 to the Sunday-school in its heroic effort 
 to accomplish the task in an hour of 
 voluntary work on Sunday. Nevertheless 
 the principles of Protestantism have never 
 repudiated the responsibility of the church 
 to care for the Christian training of her 
 children. 
 
 If education means the formation and 
 development of character, how short- 
 sighted the policy that regards art, science, 
 literature, morality, as the chief factors in 
 education, to which may be added, as 
 an eclectic, a little religion on Sundays. 
 Religion, as distinguished from all other 
 forces, brings us into relation with the 
 life of God. The church is the organ and 
 agency thru which this life is proclaimed 
 and communicated. The church has 
 the word, the ordinances, the fellow- 
 ship of believers. To the church has 
 been committed by Divine hands the re- 
 sponsibility of leading men to the highest 
 life. 
 
 This Is a responsibility that cannot be 
 delegated to any other agency. Such a 
 
THE CHURCH'S RESPONSIBILITY 29 
 
 fundamental thing as religious education 
 should therefore be under the care of the 
 church and its ministry, and should be 
 so conducted as to hold in view the princi- 
 ples and the aims of the church life, and 
 its final purpose should be to lead the 
 children into the church and to make 
 them participants in its privileges and 
 obligations. 
 
 The church has always recognized 
 more or less distinctly her mission in this 
 respect. But there have been when the 
 times also when she has failed Church Failcd 
 to do so. From the history of education 
 it is clear that the contributions of 
 the church, thru such men as Luther, Me- 
 lanchthon, Comenius, Francke and Pesta- 
 lozzi made the modern educational system 
 possible.* The Protestant Church is the 
 mother of the public school. But in the 
 eighteenth century the church was not 
 equal to her opportunity, and she proved 
 unfaithful to her stewardship. The domi- 
 nant influence in education passed over 
 into the hands of those who emphasized 
 
 *See Encyclopedia Britannica, article ' on Education. 
 
30 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 the development of natural powers, of 
 those who were not friends of Christ. 
 Thru her own negligence the church 
 lost her opportunity and was pushed 
 aside. The methods and material which 
 her spirit had created, and which her 
 ministers had formed into effective tools, 
 were handed over to secular agencies, and 
 she herself took a subordinate place in the 
 work of education. 
 
 At the beginning of the twentieth cen- 
 tury we find the curriculum of the school 
 Crowded life filled to overflowing with 
 secular studies. { It requires 
 almost the strength of an athlete to 
 handle all the books which the children 
 carry home under their arms. The 
 Superintendent of Schools has felt it 
 necessary to give special instructions as 
 to the best way to carry books so as to 
 prevent physical injury. When here and 
 there a pastor tries to get a little study in 
 religion from his children, he is met with 
 the plea: "We have so many school 
 lessons, we cannot learn the lessons you 
 give us." If he insists, he realizes that 
 
THE CHURCH'S RESPONSIBILITY 31 
 
 his children have a double task to learn, 
 and the church has to suffer. The 
 church seems to have no rights which the 
 school is bound to respect. 
 
 In saying this I do not blame the school 
 authorities. They simply came into an 
 unoccupied field. The church failed to 
 recognize her obligation, relinquished her 
 week-day opportunities, made no peda- 
 gogical demands on her ministry, and was 
 content to play at education on Sundays. 
 
 Roman Catholics recognize their obli- 
 gation in the matter of Christian educa- 
 tion, and with great sacrifices Parochial 
 are endeavoring to meet it SchooU 
 thru their system of parochial schools. 
 All honor to them for their consistency 
 and perseverance. 
 
 Adherents of this communion claim 
 that the state ought to contribute a portion 
 of the school funds for the support of the 
 church school. Moravians also maintain 
 parochial schools, and so does a portion 
 of the Lutheran Church. The Missouri 
 Synod reports over a thousand teachers 
 and a hundred thousand scholars. But 
 
32 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 neither Moravians nor Lutherans ask for 
 public money. They maintain the obli- 
 gation of the state to provide general 
 education, and the duty of the church to 
 provide religious instruction for its mem- 
 bers. 
 
 But Protestants generally are not pre- 
 pared to accept the parochial school as 
 the solution. 
 
 On the other hand, from ministers, 
 conferences and church papers there 
 Religion in the comes perennially the plea 
 Public School, for "Religion in the public 
 schools." If by this is meant no more 
 than the reading of a psalm and the reci- 
 tation of the Lord's Prayer, perhaps the 
 plea may be granted, and for an indefinite 
 number of years, without straining the 
 constitution, we may retain "Religion in 
 the public schools." 
 
 But there are two objections. Are 
 they not vital? One is denominational. 
 Even if Protestants could agree on some 
 ground, which is improbable, what kind 
 of a conglomerate would that be which 
 would be acceptable alike to Roman 
 
THE CHURCH'S RESPONSIBILIT 33 
 
 Catholics, Protestants, Jews and Ag- 
 nostics? The thing is inconceivable. 
 But there is another objection. The 
 method of secular instruction differs from 
 that of religious instruction. Secular 
 knowledge is acquired by intellectual and 
 critical powers. Religion is a matter of 
 the heart and life. The holy mysteries 
 of our faith cannot be taught in the atmos- 
 phere of mathematics and biology. 
 
 No; the Church and the State are 
 distinct spheres. The alliance between 
 the two in the past has not produced such 
 results as would encourage us to renew 
 or to continue the partnership for the 
 future. 
 
 There are those who think that ethical 
 teaching in the public schools on week- 
 days, with religious teaching in the 
 churches on Sundays, will meet the want. 
 No one will object to ethical teaching in 
 the public school. If all that we read in 
 the newspapers is true, such a course 
 might properly be described as a felt 
 need. But it cannot take the place of 
 religion. The Christian religion is a 
 
34 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 revelation in history, resting upon certain 
 facts that have to be learned and com- 
 municated to others. It has certain 
 principles which have to be applied to 
 the daily life. It is a matter for all days 
 and all places, and not merely for Sun- 
 days and for the sanctuary. Its relation 
 to the whole life places it in the foremost 
 place in the training and development 
 of the young in order that its highest 
 ideals may be attained. Hence, it will 
 be difficult for us to conceive of a sub- 
 stitute for religious instruction, or to find 
 any agency other than the Christian 
 church thru which it can properly and 
 effectively be imparted. 
 
 Neither is it practicable to make such 
 an adjustment of denominational differ- 
 ences, a composite photograph as it w T ere 
 of all religions, an American religion, to 
 be taught in the public school, as would 
 satisfy any of the churches. The churches 
 are entitled to teach their children re- 
 ligion in strict accord with their own 
 convictions. 
 
 Is the parochial school then, after all, 
 
THE CHURCH'S RESPONSIBILITY 35 
 
 the solution of the question? Must we 
 retire from the public school, separate 
 ourselves from the moral and educational 
 problems of society and the State, and 
 thus be untrue to our entire history? 
 For, as we have seen, the public school 
 is the child of the Christian school. 
 After spending four hundred years in 
 developing a system of education for the 
 people, and handing it over to the State 
 for the benefit of all, are we to be de- 
 prived of the privileges of our own sys- 
 tern? We have no thought of doing so, 
 of retiring from a school which the State 
 would never have had but for the untiring 
 efforts of Protestant ministers and Protes- 
 tant churches. The teachers and direct- 
 ors of the public school are, to a great 
 extent, the members of our churches. 
 Its principles are those which have been 
 inculcated by our pulpits. Its most loyal 
 and efficient supporters are our Protestant 
 churches. There are, it is true, things of 
 highest importance which the secular 
 school does not supply. In order that we 
 may not lose these, must we go back to 
 
36 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 the private or parochial school and build 
 up anew our system of education ? 
 
 We do not ask for the teaching of re- 
 ligion in the public school. On the con- 
 trary, we object to a State religion. Of 
 the three churches that are supposed to 
 favor Christian education in the day 
 school, Roman Catholics, Episcopalians 
 and Lutherans, the last named certainly 
 would not favor it for the public school. 
 Even in Europe the tendency is distinctly 
 in the direction of separating religious 
 education from State control. 
 
 In this city the public schools are over- 
 crowded. There might be more room if 
 the friends of the Christian school were 
 to withdraw. But this would not benefit 
 the public school. It increases the com- 
 monwealth to mingle the classes. A 
 system of separate schools is beneficial 
 neither to the State nor the church. If 
 Christians are to be the salt and the light 
 of the world, they must be in the world 
 and not out of it. The parochial school 
 is not the solution. 
 
 Does the Sunday-school meet the re- 
 
THE CHURCH'S RESPONSIBILITY 37 
 
 quirements of religious instruction? It 
 is an institution that has en- The Sunday- 
 deared itself to the hearts of Sch o1 
 millions. Originally intended for the 
 half-fed waifs of an English manufactur- 
 ing town, it has become among English- 
 speaking people an important agency of 
 religion. Apart from the instruction 
 which it gives, we could not dispense with 
 it as a field for the cultivation of lay 
 activity, and a practical demonstration 
 of the priesthood of all believers. Never- 
 theless, its best friends concede its limita- 
 tions. From a pedagogical standpoint, 
 no one thinks of comparing it with the 
 secular school. With but half an hour a 
 week for instruction, even the best of 
 teachers could not expect very important 
 results. x lts chief value lies in the personal 
 influence of the teacher.' But instruction 
 in religion involves more than this. 
 
 Nor does the Sunday-school reach all 
 the children. Attendance is voluntary, 
 and hence there is no guarantee that all 
 the children of school age will obtain any 
 instruction, to say nothing of graded and 
 
38 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 systematic instruction, taking account of 
 the entire school life, and holding in mind 
 the ultimate object of instruction, the 
 preparation of children for full mem- 
 bership in the church. But this is one 
 of the first duties of the churches, to look 
 after all their children with this end in 
 view. Pedobaptists are under this obli- 
 gation because their children have been 
 baptized, and Baptists owe it to their 
 children in order that they may be bap- 
 tized. 
 
 Let us make the most of the Sunday- 
 school which has providentially grown up 
 among us. As a supplement and an aid 
 it has untold possibilities of usefulness. 
 But all its merits and advantages cannot 
 close our eyes to the fact that it does not 
 and cannot meet the chief requirement 
 of the Christian school, the systematic 
 preparation of all the children for the 
 duties of church membership. 
 
 The church cannot shirk her responsi- 
 bility. Her very existence depends upon 
 it. 
 
"A WEEK-DAY SUNDAY-SCHOOL" 
 
 T 71 7HAT solution then can be found by 
 * * those who are seeking relief from the 
 present unsatisfactory, shall we not say 
 intolerable, conditions? Germany with 
 her State church cannot give us the clue. 
 England is herself at the present moment 
 in the throes of a revolution on this 
 question and cannot help us. France is 
 more likely to offer a practical suggestion. 
 If "infidel" France is able to give 
 Thursdays to the churches, what can 
 America do? Can she not give at least 
 one afternoon, say Wednesday afternoon ? 
 Two hours of grammar or geography 
 would have to be sacrificed, but it would 
 give the churches an invalu- Wednesday 
 able opportunity of establish- Afternoon 
 ing schools in their own buildings in which 
 systematic instruction in religion could 
 be given. This is asking for 8% of the 
 
 39 
 
40 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 school hours for religion. Germany gives 
 from four to six hours, or from 12 to 16%. 
 Does America owe so little to the religious 
 life of the nation that she cannot afford to 
 surrender two hours for its perpetuation ? 
 We ought not to say surrender, we ought 
 to say restore. For, viewed historically, 
 it is only a partial restoration of the 
 time which originally belonged to the 
 churches, but which under conditions that 
 have been indicated, has been taken 
 away from her. 
 
 I venture to advocate the value of such 
 week-day instruction from a practical 
 trial of its advantages. In my ministry 
 on the East Side I made use for thirty 
 years of the traditional agency for the 
 instruction of children, the Sunday-school, 
 with additional week-day classes in the 
 catechism, for the older children from 
 twelve to fourteen years of age. But so 
 far as a permanent religious influence 
 upon the great majority of the children 
 is concerned, the results were not satis- 
 factory. 
 
 About ten years ago, after several years 
 
"A WEEK-DAY SUNDAY-SCHOOL" 41 
 
 of experiment on a smaller scale, I estab- 
 lished week-day classes for all the chil- 
 dren of the congregation, from five or six 
 years upward. Attendance was made 
 obligatory, and after a few years of patient 
 insistence, the rule was generally ob- 
 served. 
 
 The hours are at four p. M. from Mondays 
 to Fridays, and nine A. M. on Saturdays. 
 The younger grades have but one hour 
 each week. The older scholars, catechu- 
 mens, from two to three hours. 
 
 The subjects are Bible Story, Bible 
 Study, (geography, history, books, etc.) 
 the church catechism, hymns, prayers, 
 the church liturgy or service, and oral or 
 written reports of the sermon. The ob- 
 ject of this course is not simply education, 
 but also training in the church life, so 
 as to make the children intelligent partici- 
 pants in the church services, and to pre- 
 pare them for the privileges of church 
 membership. 
 
 But some one will say: "Does this not 
 solve your problem without encroaching 
 at all on the time of the public school? 
 
42 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 Why should you ask for an afternoon 
 when you can take all the time there is 
 left after school hours ?" 
 
 For two reasons: 
 
 First, we get the children when they 
 have already done their day's work at 
 school, and are too tired to do their best 
 in the Religion Hour. To learn well, 
 the mind must be fresh and vigorous. Is 
 it fair to the churches to give them the 
 fag end of the day for religion, the crumbs 
 that fall from the rich man's table ? The 
 church is not a Lazarus. 
 
 But there is another reason. Home 
 
 study is needed for proper preparation of 
 
 the lessons in religion no less 
 
 Home Study 
 
 than tor those ot the secular 
 school. For this demand on the child's 
 time, the present curriculum of the school 
 makes no provision. 
 
 For example, from the older children, 
 from thirteen years upward, the follow- 
 ing weekly tasks are required: 
 
 1. A written report of last Sunday's 
 sermon. 
 
 2. A written catechetical exercise. 
 
"A WEEK-DAY SUNDAY-SCHOOL" 43 
 
 3. Memory work in Bible, catechism 
 and hymn book, for two recitations. 
 
 4. Written and oral report on a Bible 
 story. 
 
 5. Report on Daily Bible Readings. 
 
 6. Miscellaneous recitations on related 
 subjects. { 
 
 The younger classes have similar tasks, 
 adapted to their age and capacity. 
 
 Is this asking too much of the children ? 
 What is there in this scheme that can be 
 omitted, with any pretence of giving in- 
 struction in religion ? 
 
 But so long as the public school is not 
 required to take note of the educational 
 work which the church has to do, it 
 exacts home study to the utmost capacity 
 of the pupil. With the bogy of examina- 
 tion and promotion constantly before the 
 child's mind, the pastor finds it difficult 
 to get from it the work which he has a 
 right to expect. "We have so many 
 school lessons," is the excuse which is 
 offered and on the strength of this plea 
 he reluctantly curtails his own require- 
 ments. 
 
44 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 Surely any loss which the children sus- 
 tain in secular studies is more than com- 
 pensated by their gain in religious knowl- 
 edge. As one of our School Superin- 
 tendents well said: "Even if the method 
 of teaching should be inferior to that of 
 the public school, the material is so much 
 more valuable, that the child would not 
 suffer any loss." 
 
 There is one misconception of the plan 
 which we find it hard to correct. The 
 plan does not involve the 
 C1 Schooi? bHc closing of the public school 
 on Wednesday afternoons, and 
 turning the non-church children into the 
 street. It simply asks that all children, 
 who by consent of their parents attend 
 the church school and bring a certificate 
 of attendance, shall be excused for their 
 absence from the public school. It also 
 asks that the curriculum of the public 
 school shall be so arranged that the 
 absentees have nothing to make up, and 
 shall not suffer an irreparable loss in 
 their educational progress. Music, eti- 
 quette, ethics, cord work, raffia, sewing 
 
"A WEEK-DAY SUNDAY-SCHOOL" 45 
 
 or electives might be given to those who 
 remain. 
 
 On the part of the churches we can 
 safely promise that our children will not 
 fall behind the others in general attain- 
 ments because of this change of at- 
 mosphere in the middle of the week. 
 
VI 
 LIONS IN THE WAY" 
 
 object of this little book is to 
 bring before American Christians a 
 question that must sooner or later be de- 
 cided. The more t{ioroly the question is 
 discussed, the more likely shall we be to 
 reach a reasonable conclusion. Doubt- 
 less there are difficulties. But they are 
 not to be compared with the difficulties 
 in which we shall continue to be in- 
 volved so long as we do not make 
 adequate preparation for the systematic 
 religious education of our children. Let 
 us consider some of the objections that 
 are made to the proposition. 
 
 1. On the part of the school it is claimed 
 that it needs all the time it now has. We 
 Public School freely grant this. It is doing 
 Needs ail the Titanic work. It is con- 
 stantly improving its methods, 
 and its magnificent attainments compel 
 
 46 
 
" LIONS IN THE WAY" 47 
 
 our admiration. But if all this must be 
 purchased at the cost of religion, the 
 price is too high. 
 
 The following schedule gives the course 
 of study in the public schools of New 
 York: ' 
 
 TIME SCHEDULE ON THE BASIS OF 1500 MINUTES PER 
 WEEK 
 
 YEARS I. II. III. TV. V. VI. VII. VIII. 
 
 Opening Exercises 75 75 75 75 75 75 75 75 
 
 Physical Training, 
 Physiology and 
 Hygiene, Re- 
 cesses and Or- 
 ganized Games 450 165 165 150 90 90 90 90 
 
 English 450 510 450 375 375 375 360 320 
 
 Penmanship 100 125 125 75 75 75 
 
 Electives (German, 
 French, Span- 
 ish) 200 
 
 Geography 135 120 120 80 
 
 History 90 120 120 120 
 
 Mathematics .... 125 150 150 150 150 200 200 200 
 
 Nature Study ... 90 90 90 90 75 
 
 Science 80 80 
 
 Drawing and Con- 
 structive Work 120 120 120 120 120 120 80 80 
 
 Cord and Raffia. 30 30 30 
 
 Sewing 30 60 60 60 
 
 Shop Work, Cook- 
 ing or Advanced 
 Sewing 80 80 
 
 Music 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 60 
 
 Study and Unas- 
 
 ignedTime 175 205 210 210 205 275 195 
 
 1500 1500 1500 1500 1500 1500 1500 1500 
 
 All of these are important. But some 
 are of relatively less importance than 
 others, and in view of a greater need, it is 
 conceivable that certain branches might 
 be taught on Wednesdays, and the les- 
 sons given in the church school accepted 
 
48 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 as an adequate substitute, so far as in- 
 tellectual training is concerned. For 
 example : 
 
 Public School. Church School. 
 
 Music. Music. 
 
 Geography. Bible Geography 
 
 Penmanship. Written Lessons. 
 
 English Com- Reports of Ser- 
 
 position mons. 
 
 Hygiene. Way of Salvation. 
 
 Memory Work Memory Work 
 
 But if the school cannot spare these 
 two hours, not even from its three or 
 four hours of unassigned time, and if the 
 foregoing church lessons are not an 
 adequate substitute for school lessons, we 
 have another proposition. The two lost 
 hours may be recovered by adding a 
 half hour to each of the other four school 
 days. Only let the churches have a 
 fair proportion of the best school hours 
 for exercising their legitimate function in 
 education. 
 
 2. "There is no imperative demand 
 for it on the part of the public." 
 
 The demand may not have taken just 
 
" LIONS IN THE WAY" 49 
 
 this form. And there doubtless are mul- 
 titudes of people who believe that the 
 Sunday-school and the "religious exer- 
 cises" of the public school furnish a suf- 
 ficient amount and quality of religious 
 education. 
 
 But, it may confidently be asserted that, 
 in America as in England, there are few 
 subjects which at the present time mor 
 deeply engage the interest of thoughtful 
 men than that of religious education. 
 As soon as an opportunity can be given 
 for the American public to express itself 
 on this subject, the demand for it will be 
 emphatic, and the interest not less mani- 
 fest than in England, where on a recent 
 occasion in Parliament forty men were 
 on their feet prepared to discuss the 
 question as soon as a speaker had 
 finished. 
 
 3. "The churches now have abundant 
 opportunities on Saturdays and Sundays, 
 and hours after school on other days." 
 (Why not also "all the hours from mid- 
 night till 6 A. M. ? ") 
 
 Answer: Sunday is a day of rest and 
 
50 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 worship. Saturday is a day of recreation. 
 If recreation is not needed, the public 
 school is welcome to all of Saturday to 
 make up for its losses on Wednesday 
 afternoon. 
 
 4. "Sunday services could be made to 
 subserve the purposes of instruction. " 
 
 Answer: They are used for that pur- 
 pose now. But instruction implies an 
 amount of intellectual labor for which 
 neither ministers nor scholars should be 
 compelled to use their rest day. Sunday 
 services have a character of their own 
 and should not be confused with the curric- 
 ulum of an educational institution. 
 
 5. "Christian parents should be awak- 
 ened to their duty." 
 
 Answer: How can they be, when the 
 ) soporific of superabounding secular \ 
 studieS\ makes them insensible to the 
 primary importance of religion ? 
 
 6. "The proposition implies that the 
 public school is in some respects radi- 
 cally deficient." 
 
 Yes, this we concede. 
 
 7. "The church calls upon the arpj 
 
" LIONS IN THE WAY" 51 
 
 of the State, (the vagrant officer), to en- 
 force attendance at the church school." 
 
 Nonsense. The church needs no help 
 from the State to enforce attendance. 
 Membership in the church is voluntary. 
 But the church, like any other society, 
 asks its members to fulfil their obligations. 
 
 The proposition is that scholars attend- 
 ing church schools shall be excused from 
 attending public school. Only enrolled 
 children, or children bringing a certificate 
 of attendance, are excused. There is 
 no compulsion, and no vagrant officer 
 is needed by the church. 
 
 8. "The public school now teaches 
 the things that make for righteousness." 
 So it does, and so it should. So ought 
 every other institution. 
 
 But our plan aims at something more 
 than morals, something which the school 
 admittedly cannot teach to its promis- 
 cuous charge, but which the church is in 
 duty bound to teach to the members of 
 its flock. 
 
 But the greatest difficulties are those 
 which are suggested by ministers them- 
 
52 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 selves. It was the ministers who failed 
 to respond to the plans of Charlemagne, 
 and thus frustrated the purpose of that 
 enlightened ruler. It was the ministers 
 who in the eighteenth century surren- 
 dered into secular hands the inestimable 
 heritage which belonged to them, and 
 it is the ministers to-day who, in the mat- 
 ter of primary education at least, are 
 content to follow rather than to lead. 
 
 1. "Ministers are not trained teachers 
 and are not equal to the task." 
 
 It is alas too true that our Theological 
 Seminaries have neglected this part of a 
 minister's preparation for his work. We 
 heard very little about Herbart, and the 
 doctrine of apperception is not very 
 clear to us even now. But a better day 
 is coming. Seminaries are beginning to 
 teach teaching. The time is coming 
 when candidates for the ministry will be 
 required to demonstrate their attain- 
 ments in the theory and practice of this 
 art. In the meantime, let us use our 
 ordinary common sense and do the best 
 we can with such gifts as we possess. 
 
" LIONS IN THE WAY" 53 
 
 Those who come after us will do better 
 work, we hope. 
 
 2. "Ministers are already taxed to the 
 limit of their powers, and cannot possibly 
 shoulder this new responsibility." 
 
 And yet the church is the mother of 
 education. Is it conceivable that the 
 Christian minister will definitely repu- 
 diate his obligation to feed Christ's 
 lambs? He must find time for this 
 work, no matter what else he surrenders. 
 
 Roman Catholics say that if they have 
 no schools they will have no churches. 
 Protestants, perhaps, may retain au- 
 diences by present methods. But it will 
 be a hard task to build up churches. All 
 the evangelists in the country will not 
 be able to head off the escaped sheep 
 that might easily have been gathered into 
 the fold while they were lambs. So long 
 as we treat the teaching of children as a 
 matter of indifference, or place it in irre- 
 sponsible hands, we shall struggle in 
 vain to secure a permanent influence upon 
 the great body of those who properly 
 belong to our flocks. Alas for the chil- 
 
54 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 dren, alas for the churches where the 
 pastor is unwilling or unable to teach. 
 
 3. "Where will you get the helpers ?" 
 The writer serves a church of limited 
 
 resources, but for ten years he has 
 gathered nearly three hundred children 
 into his week-day classes. The present 
 corps of teachers consists of a trained 
 teacher, a deaconess and several volunteers 
 from the congregation. The pastor's 
 contribution is about five hours per week. 
 Some congregations may be able to 
 secure salaried teachers. Volunteers are 
 available in many cases. It must be 
 remembered that in such a week-day 
 school one teacher can, if necessary, take 
 charge of thirty or forty pupils. 
 
 4. Another difficulty is the want of a 
 scheme of instruction that will make the 
 course equal in value to that given in the 
 public school. This is a matter which 
 each congregation will have to arrange for 
 itself. But no one would for a moment 
 concede the permanent impotence or 
 inferiority of the church in this respect. 
 
 In following pages a scheme is offered, 
 
"LIONS IN THE WAY" 55 
 
 not as a model but only as a suggestion. 
 5. "But suppose the children will not 
 
 come." 
 
 They will come, if we make it 
 worth coming. Nevertheless, one of the 
 features of this system is that attendance 
 on the part of the children should be 
 obligatory. That is, they are expected to 
 come, and absence must be accounted 
 for. Most parents appreciate such aid 
 on the part of the church. After two 
 or three years of disciplinary insistence, 
 almost all will be convinced of its im- 
 portance. Those who are not, would 
 probably find a more congenial home in 
 some other congregation. 
 
 A certain amount of discipline would 
 not be unwholesome in our Protestant 
 churches. In this case it would be a 
 way in which people could show their 
 loyalty to that for which their church 
 stands. People appreciate most the 
 things that cost something. The lessons 
 of authority, of obligation, of duty are not 
 the least of those which our generation 
 would do well to leara. 
 
VII 
 THE CHILD CATECHUMENATE 
 
 HHHE earliest catechumenate was that 
 of the proselytes. It was based on 
 Christ's command, "Go ye therefore, and 
 make disciples of all the nations,.... 
 teaching them to observe all things what- 
 soever I commanded you." The church 
 was a missionary organization, and its aim 
 was to convert people to the Christian view 
 of life. Instruction was thought of as an 
 implantation of the word: "Receive 
 with meekness the implanted word which 
 is able to save your souls." (James 1 : 
 21.) It preceded baptism and was 
 continued afterward under various grades 
 of teachers. 
 
 One object was to establish Christian 
 
 usages and to accustom people to them. 
 
 In later periods, when it be- 
 
 Proselytes . . 
 
 came popular to join the 
 church, the term of probation was exten- 
 
THE CHILD CATECHUMENATE 57 
 
 ded to several years and a rich liturgical 
 ceremony was prescribed. This was done, 
 partly for the purpose of substituting 
 Christian rites in place of the heathen 
 mysteries, and partly because of the mys- 
 tagogical or educational value of the 
 forms. There were grades and classes of 
 catechumens, chiefly the audientes and 
 the competentes. At successive stages 
 of their instruction they were admitted 
 to new glimpses of the Christian doc- 
 trine and service. For example, the 
 exact wording of the Creed and the 
 Lord's Prayer was not entrusted to them 
 until the close of their probation. Much 
 of it was an ornate ritualism, but the un- 
 derlying purpose was that the partici- 
 pants might be brought to a personal 
 and heartfelt confession of the Christian 
 faith. 
 
 After the middle of the third century, 
 when infant baptism became the rule, the 
 child catechumenate gradu- Lessons for 
 ally superseded that of the Childrcn 
 proselytes, and under Gregory the Great 
 it became the rule of the church. A 
 
58 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 systematic training of the baptized chil- 
 dren was aimed at and to some extent 
 secured through the sponsors, whose 
 duty it was to provide the godchildren 
 with religious instruction until they 
 reached years of discretion and were 
 able to come to their first confession. 
 Among the prescribed subjects were the 
 Creed, the Lord's Prayer and the Gloria. 
 In the ninth century parochial schools 
 were established to assist in the system- 
 atic Christian training of the young. 
 The Bible history was largely given in the 
 form of poems, and the plastic repre- 
 sentations of the churches of those days 
 aided in giving the people a definite idea 
 of the story of the Bible. 
 
 But not only Christian teaching, Chris- 
 tian training also played an important 
 part in the work of the church at that 
 time. Rules of living and the services 
 of the church accustomed the people to 
 the Christian view of life. Of special 
 importance was the practice of private 
 confession which began to be transferred 
 from the convent life to the pastoral care 
 
THE CHILD CATECHUMENATE 59 
 
 of children. It consisted in the recitation 
 of certain church forms, and in instruc- 
 tion on moral distinctions on the basis of 
 Scripture passages. It aimed also to 
 obtain a pastoral view of the state of mind 
 and heart of the child. For the purpose 
 of individualization the Ten Command- 
 ments were used as a speculum peccato- 
 rum. The imposition of penances ac- 
 customed the people to the practice of 
 obedience to the church's demands. The 
 age produced a number of treatises on 
 the method of training catechumens. 
 The most important of them is Gerson's, 
 "On Bringing the Little Ones to Christ," 
 a work in which the aim of the catechu- 
 menate is set forth in a substantially 
 evangelical manner. 
 
 These times are sometimes called "the 
 Dark Ages." But let us not forget that 
 they were periods when nations were 
 converted and brought under the quicken- 
 ing power of Christianity. 
 
 The Reformation gave new signifi- 
 cance and character to the ancient cate- 
 chumenate. At first it was not a cate- 
 
60 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 chumenate for children, but rather for 
 Reformation the whole people. Entire con- 
 Catechisms gre g a tions had to be instructed 
 in the fundamentals of religion. As a 
 ripe fruit of his experience in preaching, 
 teaching and the care of souls, Luther 
 published in 1529 his Small Catechism, 
 a book which still holds its place 
 as the fairest fruit of the catechetical 
 literature of all ages. Its arrangement is 
 Decalogue, Creed and Lord's Prayer, 
 that is Law, Gospel, and the New Life, 
 with supplemental chapters on Baptism 
 and the Lord's Supper. In its form and 
 arrangement, and even in some of its 
 expressions, it reproduced the best 
 results of the preceding ages. The occa- 
 sion for its publication was the lament- 
 able condition of the religious instruction 
 of children as he found it during a visi- 
 tation of the churches in Electoral Sax- 
 ony. The book at once became exceed- 
 ingly popular and produced a complete 
 transformation in the religious training 
 of the people. 
 
 The example set by Luther was fol- 
 
THE CHILD CATECHUMEN ATE 61 
 
 lowed by the Reformed, who published 
 their Heidelberg Catechism in 1563, and 
 even by the Roman Catholics who pub- 
 lished their Trent Catechism in 1566. 
 
 In Spener's time, and that of the 
 Pietists, the religious and pedagogic im- 
 portance of Bible History came to be 
 understood, and since then this form of 
 imparting religious knowledge has taken 
 the first place. 
 
 Catechization sympathized with the 
 spirit of the subsequent intellectual and 
 religious movements. Thus in the days 
 of Rationalism the chief aim was use- 
 fulness, not so much the formation of 
 Christian character as the training of 
 useful citizens. Under Pestalozzi the 
 new pedagogical methods were intro- 
 duced, and the great changes produced a 
 century ago by the leaders in philosophy, 
 art and literature, left their permanent im- 
 pression upon catechetics as well. 
 
 Two questions are incidentally in- 
 volved in my subject. The first is the 
 relation of the children to the church. 
 There are those who believe that the 
 
62 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 Spirit of God is incapable of influencing 
 Relation of *^ e undeveloped spiritual life 
 Children to o f a child, and that years of dis- 
 
 Church . -iii. 
 
 cretionmustbe attained before 
 we can speak of regenerating influence. 
 Just what the relation of the children to 
 the church in such a system is, it is hard 
 to tell. They are not Christian, neither 
 are they heathen. They must be in 
 some kind of a limbus infanlum. Many 
 retain the practice of infant baptism, 
 who if questioned closely, will admit that 
 they mean nothing by it. 
 
 There are those on the other hand 
 who believe that baptism is more than 
 a mere symbol, a suggestive form, in- 
 herited from the past, or a dedication 
 of the child to God on the part of the 
 parents. They believe, in the words 
 of the Westminster Confession, that "by 
 the right use of this ordinance, the grace 
 promised is not only offered, but really 
 exhibited and conferred by the Holy 
 Ghost." Those who thus believe in 
 infant baptism hold, or should hold, 
 that as the church has baptized the 
 
THE CHILD CATECHUMENATE 63 
 
 children she is in duty bound to teach 
 them. In Christ's command teaching 
 is correlated with baptism, and the church 
 is bound to recognize the connection 
 between them. 
 
 The second question relates to the 
 best method of making Chris- "Making 
 tians. That it is a question, Chri tian " 
 such paragraphs as the following prove: 
 
 A Chicago correspondent writes to a 
 certain paper: "A very prominent di- 
 vine told me a few days ago: "I am 
 compelled to leave my flock, much against 
 my wishes, not because of lack of appre- 
 ciation or sympathy on their part, but 
 because of the extreme difficulty I find 
 in interesting outsiders.' 
 
 Henry Drummond speaks of the rest- 
 lessness that characterizes our modern 
 congregations. "Like the Athenians of 
 old, they are ever seeking after some new 
 thing. There is a hunger and thirst 
 among the people for some new sensation. 
 Yet withal there is an impotence in the 
 pulpit so far as the legitimate results of 
 preaching are concerned. " 
 
64 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 In our own city pulpits are vacant, 
 because the congregations are anxious 
 to find some great preacher, one who can 
 fill the pews and assure the church 
 treasurer a large and steady income. 
 For every vacant pulpit in a promi- 
 nent church there are scores of appli- 
 cants who are willing to sacrifice them- 
 selves. And very often they do sacrifice 
 themselves. A few years later, with 
 broken spirit, they retire to some quiet 
 place where they may rest from the un- 
 equal struggle. 
 
 Our present-day forces for the con- 
 version of the world and the edification 
 of the church are: 
 
 First, the regular preacher. It is his 
 business to be an attractive writer and 
 speaker so as to be able to hold his audi- 
 ence. The Tribune recently brought the 
 following notice: 
 
 "Next Sunday will be the Rev. Dr. 
 
 's last appearance (!) for some time 
 
 in the pulpit of the - Church." 
 
 While it is true that a reporter of a daily 
 paper does not always appear to the 
 
THE CHILD CATECHUMENATE 65 
 
 best advantage in his use of ecclesiastical 
 phraseology, it must be admitted that he 
 is quick to catch the popular conception 
 of a situation. 
 
 Secondly, the evangelist, for special 
 seasons and for meetings at Carnegie 
 Hall and other places untainted by the 
 flavor of church associations. 
 
 Thirdly, Sunday - school teachers, 
 upon whom a large part of the responsi- 
 bility of the religious education of the 
 young rests. 
 
 Would that family training might be 
 added to these as an important factor. 
 
 Supplemental to these forces are Young 
 People's Societies, King's Daughters and 
 the like, the great success of which de- 
 monstrates a widespread need. 
 
 Each of these forces and all combined 
 undoubtedly have a most important place 
 in the economy of the church, but they 
 cannot take the place of the catechu- 
 menate. 
 
 What then is the child catechumenate ? 
 What is there in it which differentiates 
 it from allied institutions and methods ? 
 
66 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 It is that institution of Christ and the 
 church by which children are systemati- 
 cally taught and trained in 
 
 Definition 
 
 such a way as to prepare them 
 for a personal participation in the life 
 and privileges of the Christian church. 
 
 That it is an institution of Christ, is 
 argued from the word T^QSIV, "to ob- 
 serve," in Christ's last command. 
 
 Its place in the New Testament is seen 
 from numerous passages, such as Gala- 
 tians 6:6, "Let the catechumen commun- 
 icate to him who catechises in all good 
 things." (Literal translation.) 
 
 It involves two distinct functions, that 
 of teaching and that of training. 
 
 It has a definite end, that of making 
 mature Christians out of incipient be- 
 lievers. 
 
 It pursues a systematic method, lead- 
 ing step by step to the comprehension 
 of that which has been revealed. 
 
 And finally, it is an institution of the 
 church; that is, the Christian church 
 itself supplies the organ and ministry 
 by which the work is carried on. 
 
THE CHILD CATECHUMENATE 67 
 
 My plea for the restoration of the 
 Child Catechumenate I shall endeavor 
 to enforce by a brief reference, 1, to its 
 principles, and 2, to its practice. 
 
 1. PRINCIPLES. The importance of 
 this institution rests chiefly upon the 
 duty which the church owes to the chil- 
 dren who have been entrusted to its 
 care. We acknowledge the claims of 
 the heathen whom we have never seen. 
 But here are the little ones crowding our 
 doors and asking for admission into the 
 kingdom. Then again the trustful nature 
 of the child makes it an unspeakable 
 privilege to guide and an easy task to 
 convert it. While we recognize in them, 
 too, the impress of the fallen nature, 
 there is also that which has been called 
 the anima naturaliter Christiana. They 
 Tespond almost intuitively to the idea 
 of God and immortality. The five-year- 
 old brother of Klopstogk was found in 
 the open field during a terrific thunder 
 storm, and when asked what he was doing, 
 he replied, ." I am praying to the great 
 God." 
 
68 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 The church is the mother of education. 
 But what a humiliating position we take 
 when we allow secular instruction to be 
 given in the most scientific and effective 
 manner, while the subjects of highest im- 
 port are entrusted almost wholly to in- 
 expert hands. 
 
 Again, is it wise to postpone the mak- 
 ing of special religious impressions to a 
 time when the mind and heart have 
 become preoccupied, and are past the 
 time when the germinal purposes of life 
 are formed ? 
 
 These statements are trite and almost 
 self-evident, and yet to most ministers 
 everything else seems to be of greater im- 
 portance than that which is of supreme 
 importance in their pastoral relation, 
 the teaching and training of the young. 
 
 2. THE PRACTICE. It has been well 
 said that if you wish to train a child 
 properly, you must begin with the grand- 
 parents. But, it is added, you must be- 
 gin with the grandparents when they 
 are children. The importance of this 
 principle is apparent from the fact that 
 
THE CHILD CATECHUMENATE 69 
 
 during the first five years, the most im- 
 portant of all in the development of the 
 child, the church can influence the child 
 but very little except through its parents. 
 And yet it is of this age that the Roman 
 Catholic bishop said: "Give us the 
 children for the first six years, and we 
 care not who gets them afterward." 
 
 With the sixth year, the child begins 
 to enter into public relation with the 
 church and its services, and the minister 
 must be prepared to meet this new 
 relation. 
 
 It is evident that in order to do this 
 work properly, the minister must be a 
 pedagogue; that is, the instruction should 
 be such as to be intellectually stimulating. 
 But its chief charm and power is derived 
 from the pastoral relation which the in- 
 structor holds, and which should make 
 it spiritually quickening. It is true that 
 not every minister is a pedagogue. But 
 he ought to be, and in the future, as in 
 the past, pedagogical skill and training 
 will be considered a part of the neces- 
 sary outfit of every minister. 
 
70 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 But the principal value of the catechu- 
 menate is in the opportunity it affords to 
 train the child; that is, to accustom it to 
 the duties and practice of the Christian 
 _. . . life. Thus it should early be 
 
 Training 
 
 taught to go to church at 
 first to the children's services, but as 
 soon as possible to the great congrega- 
 tion. It should be taught the words of 
 the silent prayer when entering the 
 house of God, and the significance of the 
 various parts of the service. For the 
 purpose of bringing up attentive hearers, 
 a report of the sermon should be required. 
 The habit of so listening to a sermon as to 
 fix its chief points and thoughts in the 
 mind, is one that must be cultivated. 
 If you do not believe this, ask some of 
 your children next week to tell you about 
 the sermon which they last heard. 
 
 But how shall we get the children to 
 come to church? Some ministers in- 
 Church vite the voluntary attendants 
 
 Attendance of the Sunday-school to ex- 
 ercise a little more voluntariness and 
 come to church. It is very gratifying 
 
THE CHILD CATECHUMENATE 71 
 
 when at least some of them respond. 
 Others offer a reward with cheering re- 
 sults in some cases. It sometimes pays 
 to be good. Nevertheless, apart from 
 these sporadic results, church attendance 
 on the part of children is not as common 
 as it should be. 
 
 Are not we Protestants a little too easy- 
 going in our conceptions of discipline? 
 Why should we concede everything of 
 this character to the Roman Catholics ? 
 Might not a little wholesome coercion 
 be exercised by us as well as by them? 
 Is not the law our pedagogue to lead 
 us to Christ? In explaining the law of 
 the Sabbath, even so good a Protestant 
 as Martin Luther said: 
 
 "We should so fear and love God as 
 not to despise His word and the preach- 
 ing of the Gospel, but deem it holy and 
 willingly hear and learn it." 
 
 The scope of the Child Catechumenate 
 includes church attendance. It takes this 
 for granted and does not ask whether 
 the children wish to go or not. 
 
 But while children of all ages are wel- 
 
72 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 come, it is a question at what age at- 
 tendance should be expected or made 
 obligatory. Without attempting to re- 
 peat the psychological reasons, I venture 
 to indicate the age of nine as that at 
 which children may follow a sermon with 
 intelligence, and take part in the service 
 to their own edification. 
 
 If children are expected to come to 
 church, another question forces itself 
 Sermons for upon us. What should be 
 Children the character of the sermon? 
 Some ministers preach a five-minute 
 sermon for children as a prelude to the 
 regular sermon. A similar course was 
 recommended by Melanchthon in the 
 sixteenth century. Or the ordinary 
 sermon may bear the children in mind, 
 and state the truth in such a way 
 that the future congregation may get 
 some benefit from it. It is not necessary 
 that they should understand the whole 
 of it, to make it effective in their lives. 
 A sermon is not simply for instruction, 
 it is for inspiration. It conveys a spirit- 
 ual message, and for receiving this mes- 
 
THE CHILD CATECHUMENATE 73 
 
 sage the difference between the little 
 child and the learned professor is one 
 only of degree and not of kind. 
 
 In Luther's discourses on preaching, 
 he earnestly insisted that the message 
 of the pulpit should be directed to the 
 great mass of plain people and of chil- 
 dren rather than to the few learned people 
 who might be present. A Governor of 
 Connecticut once came to his pastor and 
 asked him to tell him what he must do 
 to be a Christian, but, "tell me just as 
 plainly as you would explain it to a little 
 child," was his request. 
 
 Besides, it must not be forgotten that 
 there are acts of worship in the church, 
 besides the sermon, in which a child can 
 participate just as truly as an adult 
 person. 
 
 A means of emphasizing and carrying 
 out the principles of Christian training 
 is the personal interview with Under Four 
 the catechumen. They called Eye * 
 it private confession in the olden time, 
 but you may call it by any other name 
 if it will smell sweeter. The essential 
 
74 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 thing about it is to accustom the child to 
 a confidential and trusting relation to its 
 pastor in spiritual matters. The sub- 
 jects to be treated are the habit of private 
 prayer, the questions of Christian con- 
 duct in its relations to parents, broth- 
 ers and sisters and other children, and 
 especially in the matter of penitence 
 for sin, faith in a personal Saviour and 
 of the right steps in the new life of 
 obedience. 
 
 Those of you who have never tried 
 this method would be amazed at the 
 absence, in many cases, of the most 
 fundamental Christian conceptions, and 
 that, too, among those where one took 
 the Christian view of life for granted. 
 The theology of most of them is, "You 
 must be good if you want to get to 
 heaven. " And, " you'must keep the com- 
 mandments if you want to be saved. " But 
 when in such pastoral intercourse it be- 
 comes your privilege to unlock the heart 
 to the gifts of the Gospel, what hearers 
 you will have for the pulpit message! 
 You look down into eyes that respond 
 
THE CHILD CATECHUMENATE 75 
 
 with grateful eagerness to every word 
 you say. 
 
 The objection will be raised that one 
 cannot find time for so much additional 
 work. 
 
 A wise pastor will be able to modify 
 the system in such a way as to distribute 
 the work among many, and make it 
 easy and profitable for all. We 
 
 J 4. 4. -J Helpers 
 
 need to get rid of many of our 
 hierarchical notions and to introduce a 
 larger diaconate into our church work. 
 Some of us have school teachers and 
 teaching deaconesses who can be en- 
 trusted with part of this work. But in 
 all of our churches there are men and 
 women with gifts and graces that would 
 make them helpers in this churchly 
 work of bringing the little ones to Christ 
 and training them up for His service. 
 Chief among these are the parents of the 
 children, especially so far as home life and 
 home duties are concerned. But even for 
 the week-day hours at the church, there 
 is much undeveloped material which 
 could be utilized for such work. 
 
76 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 And what better opportunity than this 
 could be found for bringing into practice 
 Duties of those duties which many lit- 
 Sponsors ur gi es prescribe for the spon- 
 sors, when they direct the minister to 
 exhort those who have presented the 
 child for baptism in the following words : 
 "I now admonish you who have done 
 so charitable a work to this child in its 
 baptism, that ye diligently and faith- 
 fully teach it the Ten Commandments, 
 that thereby it may learn to know the 
 will of God; also the Christian faith, 
 set forth in the Creed, whereby we obtain 
 grace, the forgiveness of sins, and the 
 Holy Ghost; and likewise the Lord's 
 Prayer, that it may call upon God, and 
 find help to withstand the devil, and lead 
 a Christian life, till God shall perfect 
 that which He hath now begun in it, and 
 bring it to life everlasting." 
 
 The point to emphasize is that it is 
 a systematic work, conducted by the 
 church, proceeding from certain acknowl- 
 edged premises and advancing by ap- 
 proved methods to a certain end. Or, to 
 
THE CHILD CATECHUMENATE 77 
 
 return to the definition, "It is an in- 
 stitution of Christ and the church, by 
 which children are systematically taught 
 and trained in such a way as to prepare 
 them for a personal participation in the 
 life and the privileges of the Christian 
 church." 
 
 With the restoration of this institution 
 in a practical way in our churches, the 
 Sunday-school itself would assume a more 
 natural and more important relation to 
 the life of the church. The Sunday- 
 school would become a Children's Service 
 in which the knowledge gained during 
 the week would be fused into sweet 
 experience under the influence of warm- 
 hearted Christian teachers and superin- 
 tendents. 
 
 A new meaning would also be given 
 to the instruction for admission to the 
 communion. It would be a simple re- 
 view of subjects with which the children 
 have long since been made acquainted. 
 The nature of the instruction would there- 
 fore be a warm, spiritual presentation of 
 the truths of the catechism, would cover 
 
78 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 a comparatively brief period of time, and 
 would have the sole purpose of preparing 
 the children for a proper participation 
 in the privileges of the Lord's Supper. 
 It would be a revival season in which 
 others than the children would be glad 
 to take part because of the stimulating 
 and quickening influences that accom- 
 pany such a course of instruction. 
 
 It would prepare the way for " Decision 
 Day" and would lay a good foundation 
 for the development of sterling character. 
 
VIII 
 A COURSE OF STUDY 
 
 HPHE conditions of churches are so 
 varied that no attempt can be made to 
 offer a plan that would be suitable for 
 all. The scheme presented on page 80 
 is merely a suggestion. It indicates some 
 of the studies that may profitably be 
 pursued. 
 
 Our classes are divided as follows: 
 Infants, 5 to 7 years of age; Primarians, 
 8; Juniors, 9 to 10; Intermediates, 11; 
 Preparatorians, 12; Catechumens, 13 and 
 over. 
 
 All the children are invited to attend 
 the regular church service. When they 
 are nine years old, they are required to 
 do so. A report of last Sunday's sermon 
 is given, oral by the younger children, 
 written by the older ones. This is a 
 very important part of their work. The 
 plan has proved effective in training up 
 
 79 
 
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 80 
 
A COURSE OF STUDY 81 
 
 attentive and appreciative listeners. The 
 habit once formed is not easily lost. 
 
 The children also learn the parts and 
 the significance of the Church Service, 
 and are thus prepared to take part in 
 the worship in an intelligent manner. 
 
 To this scheme might well be added 
 a very simple course in Church History, 
 Christian Biography or Missions. There 
 are not lacking "hero stories" in such a 
 course which would appeal mightily to 
 the boys in the older classes. 
 
 A system of marking and giving credit 
 for lessons learned, and tasks accom- 
 plished, may also be found desirable in 
 some cases. 
 
 The course here suggested is meagre 
 indeed, but it involves constant pro- 
 gression, along definite lines, for nine 
 years, and includes subjects of such "in- 
 terest" that neither teacher nor pupil can 
 ever grow weary, if work is done in the 
 right spirit. 
 
IX 
 
 THE BIBLE STORY 
 
 A POSTOLICAL Christianity was built 
 upon the Bible story, and long before 
 there was a Christian canon, the narration 
 of the facts of revelation brought men into 
 vital relation with Christ and the church. 
 In the second century, beginning with A. D. 
 180, the Alexandrian school of catechists, 
 in a long line of eminent teachers, faith- 
 fully followed the Apostolical method. 
 Two hundred years later there appeared 
 the most important contribution to the 
 subject in Augustine's tract " On the way 
 in which ignorant people should be cate- 
 chized," de catechizandis rudibus. The 
 Bible story, he declared, from the creation 
 to the consummation, must be the material 
 in catechization. But through some 
 strange perversity of history, this principle 
 was lost sight of for a thousand years. 
 Although the Middle Ages produced emi- 
 
 82 
 
THE BIBLE STORY 83 
 
 nent pedagogues, scholastics, and the 
 Brethren of the Com&on Life, and in later 
 years Gerson, who wrote the treatise " On 
 bringing the little ones to Christ," Chris- 
 tian training was secured by other means 
 than Bible study. The plastic repre- 
 sentations of the Bible story as given in 
 the church buildings, and the poetical re- 
 productions of the story of salvation, left 
 the people not altogether ignorant of 
 Scripture. But repentance, faith and the 
 Christian life were developed and main- 
 tained largely by other methods than the 
 use of the Bible. The Apostolical and 
 Augustinian principle was restored to the 
 church as one of the results of the Re- 
 formation. Luther's Small Catechism, 
 which marks an epoch in catechetical 
 literature, is, indeed, a dogmatic treatise. 
 But Luther also gave an impulse to the 
 popularization of the Bible by his collec- 
 tion of Bible stories called the Passional. 
 He also expressed the hope that some one 
 would arouse the interest of the people 
 by making pictures for the collected 
 stories of the Bible. The suggestion was 
 
84 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 followed by Fischart, who published Bible 
 pictures and verses,' a valuable work of 
 art. In the middle of the sixteenth cen- 
 tury Hartmann Beyer, the Reformer of 
 Frankfurt, published the first real Bible 
 story book with pictures, an undertaking 
 which the Brunswick theologian, Justus 
 Gesenius imitated on a larger scale a cen- 
 tury later. It had special reference to 
 instruction in schools. For high schools, 
 Melanchthon's pupil, Neander, had de- 
 signed his Historia populiDei, 1582, which 
 aroused great interest. Felicitous crea- 
 tions, with the same end in view, appeared 
 in the latter part of the seventeenth cen- 
 tury in the Sacred Histories of Sagittar- 
 ius, Castellio and Fabricius. 
 
 In France, Fenelon used Bible stories 
 occasionally as an aid in teaching the 
 catechism. 
 
 In the middle of the seventeenth cen- 
 tury Cocceius, one of the most eminent 
 theologians of the Reformed Church, 
 gave a great impulse to the Bible story by 
 his doctrine that Revelation has a history 
 which is to be taught. This doctrine was 
 
THE BIBLE STORY 85 
 
 the earliest foundation of Biblical Theol- 
 ogy. His idea was taken up by the Pie- 
 tists and thru them came to be generally 
 adopted by the Lutherans. Spener and 
 Francke got their pupils to use the Bible 
 itself, and in the institutions at Halle, 
 Bible History was a distinct subject in 
 the course of study. 
 
 Huebner's Bible Stories appeared in 
 1714, and attained such widespread pop- 
 ularity that he has often been regarded as 
 the founder of the Bible story method of 
 teaching. But his way of telling the story, 
 in a popular version rather than in the 
 language of Scriptures, came to be recog- 
 nized as faulty. In 1830 Zahn's Bible 
 Stories appeared in close conformity with 
 the language of the Bible, and it has been 
 the norm for the numerous books that 
 have followed on this field. The use of 
 the Bible story book is not intended to 
 supplant the use of the Bible itself, al- 
 though for many years it did so, before 
 the Bible Societies made it possible for 
 every one to have a copy. It is intended 
 as a means of helping the child to grasp 
 
86 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 the Bible narrative in its entirety. The 
 principle is that the Bible itself is the 
 Divine Revelation which must lie at the 
 basis of Christian instruction. 
 
 And yet this principle has not always 
 been recognized. In churches where the 
 true pedagogical view has not obtained, a 
 brief period of dogmatic instruction still 
 takes the place of systematic and com- 
 prehensive Bible study. 
 
 In non-catechetical circles, that is, 
 where the churches are built up by means 
 other than the instruction and training 
 of the baptized children, this principle 
 is likewise in danger of being neglected. 
 They object to the entire system as 
 appealing too largely to the intellectual 
 nature and not to the heart, and it is 
 sometimes regarded as a mechanical 
 method of making Christians. Occasion 
 has indeed been given for this criticism. 
 But it is not inherent in the system. 
 It must not be forgotten that Spener, 
 the father of modern Pietism, found in 
 it the most potent means for the revival 
 of the churches. 
 
THE BIBLE STORY 87 
 
 Another repudiation of this principle 
 is found in those rationalistic systems 
 which substitute natural religion for Reve- 
 lation and which direct their questions 
 to the innate ideas of morality and re- 
 ligion. But wherever a supernatural reve- 
 lation is conceded, the method of in- 
 struction in its fundamental principles 
 must be an authoritative presentation of 
 the facts from the sources. 
 
 Recognizing the importance of this 
 principle, the Christian teachers of Ger- 
 many have during the last half century 
 provided a literature of preeminent value 
 in the field of Bible catechetics. Philos- 
 ophy, History and Art have contributed 
 their aid, so that their catechetical ap- 
 paratus is rich and stimulating. In this 
 country there are encouraging signs of 
 a growing interest in the subject. The 
 value of Bible study as a means to a 
 definite end, and therefore conducted 
 in a scientific and systematic manner, is 
 appreciated and understood as never 
 before. 
 
 The first principle of the catechetical 
 
88 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 use of the Bible is that the foundation 
 Tell of Christian instruction is laid 
 
 the story by fe #ingr t he Bible story. 
 
 From the pedagogical standpoint this is 
 enforced by the importance assigned to 
 object lessons in the development of 
 ideas, a fact that was first popularized 
 by Pestalozzi, but had already been 
 shown by Amos Comenius, a century 
 earlier. Children love to hear stories, 
 and by this means the food for their 
 thought can best be supplied. 
 
 But the Christian teacher has a deeper 
 reason for recognizing this principle. 
 Christianity entered the world as a fact 
 and not as a dogma. It was the facts 
 of the Gospel, and the Acts of the Apos- 
 tles that St. Luke related to his friend 
 Theophilus. It was in the proclamation 
 of the great facts of redemption that 
 the Apostles gained the trophies of their 
 missionary journeys. 
 
 In the statement of this principle 
 there is contained also the first rule of 
 the method which the teacher of the 
 Bible story must observe. He must tell 
 
THE BIBLE STORY 89 
 
 the story. He produces his first im- 
 pression by means of an oral narration. 
 One reason for this is that the younger 
 children are not yet able to read. But 
 there is also a psychological reason. The 
 first impression which the child receives 
 of the Divine Revelation must come 
 with the authority of a prophet's utter- 
 ance. 
 
 It is not necessary in the earlier classes 
 to devote much attention to moralization 
 or making the application. The sacred 
 story opens the mind of the child to a 
 wonderful land where God is, and the 
 holy angels, and in this realm it is almost 
 an impertinence for men to intrude with 
 their explanatory remarks and their par- 
 anetic exhortations. In the older classes ' 
 there is room for homiletic application,' 
 but not so much in the younger grades. > 
 Here the chief object is to impress the 
 fact, and to make it the permanent pos- 
 session of the soul-life of the child. The 
 story will teach its own truth and will 
 produce its effect in the life and 
 character. 
 
90 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 The stories have a primary importance 
 of their own, and are not given for the 
 sake of the dogmatic or ethical lessons 
 which they contain. Christ did not die 
 on the cross to teach us courage or loyalty 
 to truth, but his death is itself the great 
 fact upon which our redemption depends. 
 He did not rise from the dead in order 
 that we might learn lessons of immortality, 
 but his resurrection is itself the great act 
 through which he has become our living 
 Lord and Redeemer. 
 
 The material for this instruction con- 
 sists of a selection of the stories of the 
 Old and New Testaments, sufficient in 
 number to be mastered in the course of 
 a year. Whether the Old Testament or 
 the New precedes is a mooted point. 
 But in view of the fact that in Christian 
 homes the main facts of the New Testa- 
 ment are already known, and because 
 the Old Testament is a preparation for 
 the New Testament, many teachers favor 
 the Old Testament. 
 
 The teacher tells the story as simply 
 as he can, not monotonously, or as if it 
 
THE BIBLE STORY 91 
 
 were a recitation, but as a real story, and 
 as nearly as possible in the language and 
 forms of the Bible. Only such explana- 
 tions are made as are necessary for a 
 clear understanding of the facts. The 
 story is then repeated without any ex- 
 planations, and the children are given 
 an opportunity to reproduce the story. 
 Or this part of the lesson may be re- 
 quired at the next hour. But it is im- 
 portant to tell the story in such a way 
 that it may be reproduced by the 
 children. 
 
 Luther's suggestion that pictures should 
 be drawn to accompany the stories, a 
 suggestion that was promptly 
 accepted in his own day, has 
 been universally endorsed in our times. 
 Christian artists have vied with each other 
 in supplying the Bible story with illus- 
 trations. 
 
 The next stage of instruction is reached 
 when the child is able to read. In three 
 different forms is the instruction given: 
 Reading, Explanation and Application, 
 Committing to Memory. 
 
92 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 In the Roman Catholic system it is 
 not necessary for the people to read the 
 Bible. The priest is the me- 
 diator and source of authority. 
 But in the Protestant system it is necessary 
 to lead the believer to the sources of re- 
 ligion, from which he may draw with in- 
 dependent judgment the teachings that 
 are to control his life. Where there are 
 parochial schools it is easy to read the 
 Bible in course. Where these do not ex- 
 ist, the class instruction must be supple- 
 mented by means of a course of home 
 readings. 
 
 While in one sense it is true that the 
 Scripture is its own interpreter, and the 
 Explanation Apostles did not find it neces- 
 Appifcation sary to send commentaries 
 along with their epistles, the question is 
 still in order : " TJnderstandest thou what 
 thou readest?" And the answer is still: 
 "How can I, except some man guide 
 me ?" It is an art that must be learned, 
 to read the Bible understandingly. The 
 object of catechisation is not merely to 
 study the Bible, but to show how it 
 
THE BIBLE STORY 93 
 
 should be studied, and to accustom the 
 mind to the proper method. 
 
 The study of the Bible is in two di- 
 rections. First, we must understand the 
 Scriptures themselves, in their objectivity, 
 the facts, persons, lands, language and 
 ideas. Secondly, we must understand 
 them in relation to our own hearts. We 
 must teach the children to experience 
 the truth of the Bible story in their own 
 lives. For this task the catechisation 
 of a class in such a way as to make the 
 Bible story clear in its meaning, without 
 and within preparation is needed. It 
 is harder than preaching. In preaching 
 there is no one to interrupt, and the line 
 of thought can be followed to the end. 
 But in catechisation, the questions and 
 answers of the children may at any mo- 
 ment throw the teacher off the track 
 and hinder him from attaining the result 
 at which he is aiming. For this reason 
 it is well to have the questions written 
 out, so that the teacher may maintain his 
 theme and follow his aim in an undevia- 
 ting course. 
 
94 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 A valuable help in catechisation is the 
 text-book, containing the seed-texts of 
 the Bible, which must be committed to 
 memory during the school curriculum. 
 The Wurttemberg Text Book has the 
 following divisions: Texts which teach: 
 1. What to believe. 2. How to live. 
 3. How to suffer. 4. How to die. My 
 pastoral work sometimes brings me into 
 contact with aged people who learned 
 these texts in Germany when they were 
 young, and who are now proving their 
 value when all things else are taken away. 
 
THE CATECHISM 
 
 A CATECHISM is popularly supposed 
 -** to be a religious manual consisting of 
 questions and answers. It is associated 
 in many minds with some of the difficult 
 and unwelcome tasks of childhood. But 
 the form of question and answer is only 
 an accident of modern times. In early 
 Christian usage the catechism meant 
 religious instruction to candidates for 
 admission to the Christian church. It 
 included preaching or any other method 
 of imparting the doctrines of Christianity. 
 The foundation of Christian knowledge 
 is the Bible. From the Bible the church 
 has gleaned her doctrines and set them 
 in order in doctrinal form for the in- 
 struction of her children. It is the duty 
 of the church to see to it that her members 
 are made acquainted with these teach- 
 ings. Only it must always be borne 
 
 95 
 
96 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 in mind that instruction is not merely 
 for the intellect, but chiefly for the heart 
 and the will. 
 
 As this is not a manual of Pastoral 
 Theology, the purpose of this chapter 
 will be met by a brief exposition of the 
 material and the form of the catechism 
 in its relation to the Christian school. 
 
 1. MATERIAL. An ancient name for 
 the catechism was " The Threefold Cord." 
 By this was meant the Law of God, the 
 Gospel, and the New Life. The first 
 was taught thru the Ten Command- 
 ments, the second thru the Apostles' 
 Creed, the third thru the Lord's 
 Prayer. These formed the great pillars, 
 as it were, on which and around which 
 the catechism was constructed, and the 
 idea has been a controlling one in many 
 of the leading churches. 
 
 In the younger classes, religious ideas 
 are best communicated thru the Bible 
 story. From this ever fresh and fruitful 
 garden are gathered the fruits upon which 
 the spiritual life must feed. But the 
 older children, who are preparing for 
 
THE CATECHISM 97 
 
 the fuller obligations of church member- 
 ship, need instruction also not only in 
 the doctrines that are common to the 
 whole church, but also in those which 
 are peculiar to their own denomination. 
 
 For this purpose the churches have 
 constructed their catechisms. Thus we 
 have Luther's Catechism, the Heidelberg, 
 the Westminster, the Tridentine, etc. 
 Some of these have lived for centuries, 
 and in spite of intellectual and moral 
 revolutions continue to assert themselves 
 as living forces in the world. 
 
 As books of reference, statements of 
 doctrine, dictionaries of information, rec- 
 ords of history, they have a permanent 
 value. To what extent they are adapted 
 for the instruction of children, is another 
 question. 
 
 2. FORM. The catechisms with which 
 most of us are familiar consist of ques- 
 tions and answers. They follow the 
 synthetic method, starting from general 
 principles. The answers are not neces- 
 sarily contained in the question, but are 
 a body of information which has to be 
 
98 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 committed to memory in order to be 
 recited by the child. 
 
 The following questions and answers, 
 selected at random from the church 
 catechisms of four denominations, illus- 
 trate their character: 
 
 Why must our Redeemer be both God and Man ? 
 
 Our Redeemer must be man in order that, by His 
 obedience and His suffering in our nature and in our 
 stead, He might redeem us from sin ; and He must be 
 God in order that His redemption may be all-sufficient. 
 
 What is Justifying Faith ? 
 
 Justifying faith is a saving grace, wrought in the 
 heart of a sinner, by the Spirit and word of God ; where- 
 by he, being convinced of his sin and misery, and of 
 the disability in himself and all other creatures to 
 recover him out of his lost condition, not only assenteth 
 to the truth of the promise of the gospel, but receiveth 
 and resteth upon Christ and His righteousness therein 
 held forth, for pardon of sin, and for the accepting and 
 accounting of his person righteous in the sight of God 
 for salvation. 
 
 What is required of those who come to the Lord's 
 Supper ? 
 
 To examine themselves whether they repent them 
 truly of their former sins, steadfastly purposing to lead 
 a new life; have a lively faith in God's mercy through 
 Christ, with a thankful remembrance of His death; 
 and be in charity with all men. 
 
 What do you desire of God in this Prayer ? 
 
 1. That all things which tend to the glory of God 
 may be promoted, and whatsoever is repugnant thereto, 
 
THE CATECHISM 99 
 
 or contrary to His will, may be prevensed. 2. That He 
 may provide me with all things necessary for the body, 
 and as to my soul, preserve me from all evil which 
 might in any wise be detrimental to my salvation. 
 
 This method is an unnatural way of 
 acquiring knowledge. We would not 
 teach Chemistry or Mathematics, not 
 even History or Biography by this method. 
 
 Again it has no religious quality. The 
 child may believe the statement, or as 
 much of it as it can remember, upon the 
 authority of the teacher. Sometime or 
 other, perhaps, the statement will be 
 verified in its own experience. The cate- 
 chism will then get the credit for it. But 
 until then,and in many cases permanently, 
 the information is "an undigested se- 
 curity" 
 
 The modern way of teaching the cate- 
 chism follows the analytic method, a 
 method pursued by both the great cate- 
 chisms of the German Reformation, but 
 which was subsequently set aside, only 
 to be restored again as a result of the 
 great educational revolution of the 18th 
 century. 
 
 The following page from a modern 
 
100 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 catechism* will illustrate my meaning 
 better than a lengthy description: 
 
 The topic is the first article of the 
 Creed. After a preliminary lesson the 
 teacher proceeds to explain the words: 
 I believe in God the Father Almighty. 
 
 "I believe in God." This does not 
 mean, I believe that there is a God. 
 If we have any religion at all, we 
 believe that there is a God. But when 
 I say I believe in God, I mean some- 
 thing more than that. What that is 
 we may learn from the centurion of 
 Capernaum. He was a man who believed 
 in the Lord Jesus Christ. With what 
 words did Jesus commend his faith? 
 (Verily I say unto you, etc.) He was a 
 humble-minded man. How does that 
 appear? (He said: I am not worthy, 
 etc.) But he had a high opinion of 
 Jesus. From what do we learn this? 
 (He said: "Only say the word" etc.) 
 What disposition did he show? (He 
 showed trust.) How then did he show 
 
 *Der kleine Katechismus Dr. M. Luthers in ausgef Cihrten 
 Katechesen, von Johannes Kolb, Breslau, 1892. 
 
THE CATECHISM. 
 
 that he believed in Jesus? (By trusting 
 in the Lord that he could heal his servant 
 with a word.) But the centurion proved 
 in another way that he had faith. What 
 did he say in conclusion to the centurion ? 
 (Go thy way, etc.) Go thy way, said 
 the Lord Jesus. What did the centurion 
 do then? (He went his way.) Some 
 might have hesitated and asked: "Is 
 it certain that my servant is healed? 
 Can I assuredly rely upon it?" How 
 did the centurion show that he believed? 
 (He showed it by going.) Yes, he was 
 obedient to the Lord's command. There 
 were two things therefore which showed 
 that the centurion believed. What were 
 they? (He had trust in the Lord, 
 and he did what he was told to do.) 
 Can you give me the name of a man of 
 faith in the Old Testament? (Abraham.) 
 In what way did he show that he be- 
 lieved in God? (He went out of his 
 country and from his father's house. 
 And he was ready to sacrifice his son 
 Isaac.) He did therefore what God 
 commanded. Neither of these things 
 
EDUCATION 
 
 was an easy task. Why did he never- 
 theless obey the command although it must 
 have been hard for him to do so? (Be- 
 cause he trusted in God, that God would 
 not tell him to do anything that was not 
 good.) We see therefore that in Abraham 
 also faith shows itself by trust and 
 obedience. 
 
 "What is faith ?" asked an unbeliev- 
 ing physician of his friend, a merchant, 
 in whose comfortable parlor the two 
 were engaged in friendly conversation. 
 He asked the question in the same spirit 
 in which Pilate said: "What is truth?" 
 The merchant smiled and called to his 
 eight year old son who was sitting at an- 
 other table. He had been laboriously 
 unpacking a box of tin soldiers and was 
 making them march up and down and 
 was having a fine time. "Karl," said 
 the father to the child, who found it hard 
 to separate himself from his soldiers, 
 "my dear boy, pack up your soldiers as 
 quickly as you can, and go to bed. I 
 think it is better that you should do so. 
 But do it quickly." The child gave his 
 
THE CATECHISM 103 
 
 father a long, beseeching look, but seeing 
 that the father was determined, he pressed 
 back a tear, said not a word, gave his 
 father a long, warm kiss, and hurried 
 away. "There Doctor, that is faith," 
 said the merchant. Then he called the 
 boy back and whispered into his ear: 
 "And when you bring me another such 
 good certificate from school as the last 
 one was, when vacation comes, I will 
 take you with me to visit your aunt in 
 Hamburg." The boy shouted for joy, 
 and for a long time they still heard from 
 his bedroom his jubilant cries. But the 
 father said to his friend : " There, Doctor, 
 that was faith. That boy has the stuff 
 in him to be a man of faith. If he acts 
 toward God as he acted toward me, as 
 trustfully and as obediently, he will have 
 faith." The Doctor with a serious look 
 replied: "I think I understand the mat- 
 ter better now than I would have done 
 from a sermon." 
 
 How then can we show that we have 
 faith in God? (By trusting in Him and 
 by being obedient to Him.) 
 
104 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 The principles which govern such cate- 
 chisation are explained in the Intro- 
 duction to Kolbe's excellent Catechisation, 
 and are briefly as follows: 
 
 1. The catechism explains itself. Noth- 
 ing has to be committed to memory ex- 
 cept the text of Luther's Catechism and 
 the proof texts of the Bible. 
 
 2. The instruction must be intuitive. 
 Much instruction in the catechism is 
 anything but intuitive. The children 
 are tortured with unintelligible sentences, 
 abstract ideas and long sentences that 
 have to be committed to memory. Such 
 teaching gives no pleasure to the teacher 
 and bears no fruit in the scholar. In- 
 struction is made intuitive by the free 
 use of the Bible story. Illustrations from 
 life and literature will occur to the teacher, 
 and will help to illuminate the subject. 
 
 3. The children must do independent 
 work. The questions must be of such 
 a character that the child is compelled 
 to think in order to give the answer. 
 
 4. Every lesson must produce a defi- 
 nite, comprehensible result. The ex- 
 
THE CATECHISM 105 
 
 amination at the close, and the review at 
 the next hour must show that the children 
 have mastered the lesson, not because 
 they have committed it to memory, but 
 because it has become their intellectual 
 property. For example: The centurion 
 showed in two ways that he believed in 
 Jesus. What were they? Show that 
 Abraham believed in God. How may we 
 show that we believe in God ? 
 
 This is the modern way of teaching 
 the catechism. It is so simple, it teaches 
 itself, but it is so effective that it will 
 never be forgotten. It has become the 
 intellectual and spiritual possession of 
 the child. The painful acquisition of 
 hundreds of unmeaning phrases is done 
 away with. The catechism has become 
 a beautiful garden instead of a wearisome 
 desert. We call it the modern way but 
 in reality it is a very old way. In follow- 
 ing it, we are only returning to the methods 
 of Francke and Comenius, and Luther 
 and Gerson and Augustine, perhaps even, 
 yes probably, to the methods of the 
 Apostolic age. 
 
XI 
 THE GOAL 
 
 TN Christian writings of the fourth 
 century we find an expression that is 
 foreign to our modern phraseology. They 
 speak of "making Christians," (Xgi- 
 onavovq noidv). It contains a suggestion 
 worth noting. 
 
 Some look upon children as Christians 
 by right of inheritance; others, by right 
 of baptism. But whatever our theories 
 may be, the object of all of us is so to 
 teach and bring up the children that they 
 may become mature Christians, Chris- 
 tians by personal conviction and experi- 
 ence. Or, as has repeatedly been urged 
 in these pages, our object is to prepare 
 them for participation in the obligations 
 and privileges of the Christian church. 
 If the church were merely an insti- 
 tution, into which our children are in- 
 troduced through the family and the 
 
 106 
 
THE GOAL 107 
 
 Christian school by the methods that 
 have been pointed out, our work would 
 be finished when we had made them 
 acquainted with certain facts and ac- 
 customed them to certain rites and 
 practices observed in the church. 
 
 But the church is more than an in- 
 stitution, it is a society or fellowship, it is 
 "the communion of saints." To bring 
 the child into living relation with this 
 communion must be the object of all 
 our efforts. The family will be broken 
 up. The school advances its pupils to 
 the point of graduation. But the church 
 abides forever. It is the only society 
 of this world that continues into the 
 life that lies beyond. 
 
 Even when we look upon the child as 
 an incipient Christian, the object of 
 our instruction must be to enable it, 
 when it leaves school, to grow up in- 
 dependently in the Christian life. 
 
 The last year of the Christian school, 
 the catechumenate proper, is therefore a 
 time when our care of souls must in- 
 clude what in the early history of the 
 
108 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 church was called the scrutiny. The 
 personal relation between pastor and 
 child has an increasing importance. It 
 has in view that impressive period in 
 life when the great decision is made. 
 
 Some churches observe Confirmation. 
 
 The early Lutherans did not approve 
 
 of it, but admitted candidates 
 
 Confirmation . 
 
 to the communion through 
 "the catechism" at any convenient season. 
 In spite of the many abuses which have 
 attached themselves to the modern usage, 
 it can still be made useful if proper in- 
 struction and scrutiny precede. 
 
 Other churches have introduced De- 
 cision Day. Whatever form or name 
 Decision may be chosen, it is well to 
 Day recognize that this is a period 
 
 when a definite choice of the Christian 
 life may be made. 
 
 What then are the essential elements 
 
 of the Christian life which a pastor will 
 
 seek to discover in his pupils? 
 
 Faith . 
 
 First of all is the acceptance 
 of Christ as the Saviour. Christ must 
 be apprehended as the One "who has 
 
THE GOAL 109 
 
 redeemed me from all sins, from death, 
 and from the power of the devil, not with 
 gold or silver, but with His holy, precious 
 blood, and with His innocent sufferings 
 and death, in order that I might be His 
 own^ live under Him in His kingdom and 
 serve Him in everlasting righteousness, 
 innocence and blessedness." 
 
 Another element is jyrayer. Through 
 Christ we may believe that God "is 
 truly our Father, and we are 
 truly His children, so that we 
 may ask of Him with all cheerfulness 
 and confidence, as dear children of their 
 dear father." 
 
 Formal acts of prayer, on waking and 
 rising in the morning, on retiring at night, 
 at meals, on entering and leaving the 
 house of God, all these have their uses 
 in the development of the Christian life. 
 But prayer is more than an act. It is 
 a habit. It is the atmosphere in which 
 the child of God continually lives. 
 
 A third element is obedience. The 
 Christian necessarily conforms his life 
 with the life which he has from Christ. 
 
110 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 The Christ for us becomes the Christ 
 The Mystical in us. Some theologians call 
 Union it " the mystical union." This 
 
 involves on the one hand the daily con- 
 test against sin in its manifold forms, 
 the daily "drowning of the old Adam in 
 us." On the other hand, it calls forth 
 the active service in the work of the King, 
 the development of the life in which 
 Christ is supreme. 
 
 In this new life the agent is the Holy 
 Ghost; the means is the word of God; 
 the relation is the Holy Church universal, 
 the communion of saints; the final goal 
 is the life everlasting. 
 
XII 
 
 A SOLUTION 
 
 IV/TY theme may seem to involve only 
 a question of method, the use of a 
 week-day hour in place of or in addition to 
 a Sunday hour. But it means far more. 
 It illustrates and enforces a principle. 
 The church must recognize its relation 
 to the child in all stages of its growing 
 life, assume its proper function of reli- 
 gious instruction, and resist the ever- 
 recurring temptation to delegate this 
 function to any other agency. 
 
 The question is being discussed from 
 many points of view. Teachers, minis- 
 ters and the press are on the Three incon- 
 
 n i i . troverbble 
 
 alert to find the way out of its Positions 
 difficulties. Three incontrovertible posi- 
 tions face us. Religion is a vital factor 
 in education; the church cannot form an 
 alliance with the state in the matter of 
 religion; the church must exercise her 
 in 
 
RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 legitimate function in religious education. 
 Three solutions of the question have 
 been offered: Religion in the public 
 school, the parochial school, l v ? Us _ 
 
 r Wednesday 
 
 the Sunday-school. None of Afternoon 
 these meet the requirements. In their 
 place is presented a simple, practical 
 proposition. Let the public school re- 
 store to the church a portion of the time 
 which has been surrendered. Give us 
 Wednesday afternoon for instructing 
 the children who will avail themselves 
 of the opportunity. 
 
 In support of this plea we appeal to the 
 public school. You owe your existence 
 to the Christian week-day school. Your 
 best friends and co-workers are to be 
 found in our churches. All we ask is that 
 you so arrange your course of studies as 
 not to prevent us from giving, at our 
 own expense, the instruction which we 
 believe to be indispensable to all true 
 education. 
 
 But we appeal also to the churches, 
 and especially to the ministry. This 
 scheme throws upon you a very great 
 
A SOLUTION 113 
 
 task and a large responsibility. And 
 you already have so many other things 
 to do. But it is certain that nothing 
 else that you can do will compare in 
 permanence and value with your work 
 in the Christian training of your children. 
 
 Roman Catholic bishops tell us that 
 without schools they would soon be 
 without churches. Protestants will not 
 be without churches, but they will have 
 stronger congregations, more apprecia- 
 tive people and more effective churches, 
 when they take the same care of their 
 children as do the Roman Catholics. 
 
 Commissioner Harris says: "The pre- 
 rogative of religious instruction is in the 
 church, and it must remain in the church, 
 and in the nature of things it cannot be 
 farmed out to the secular school without 
 degenerating into mere deism bereft of a 
 living Providence, or else changing the 
 school into a parochial school and destroy- 
 ing the efficiency of secular instruction." 
 Educational Magazine, 1902. 
 
 Professor Coe says : " If we are to have 
 common schools for the whole people 
 
114 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 complete separation of church and state, 
 and yet thoro religious education for 
 Catholic and Protestant children alike, 
 it follows that the religious function of the 
 state schools should be permanently re- 
 stricted to friendly recognition of the 
 teaching function of the family and of 
 the church, and sympathetic co-opera- 
 tion with them. * * * But this im- 
 plies that these communions voluntarily 
 furnish, at their own expense, definite 
 and systematic religious training for their 
 children and for all children who can 
 be reached. " Religion and Morals. 
 
 Bishop Greer says: "The schools are 
 doing their part, in their legitimate sphere, 
 and are doing all they can do. Is the 
 church doing her part in her legitimate 
 sphere, and all that she can do? It 
 seems to me she is not; and that with 
 no other machinery or instruments or 
 tools than what she now possesses she 
 might do very much more than what she 
 now is doing. " Convention Address, 1905. 
 
 To all of these significant utterances of 
 representative men I make this one reply, 
 
A SOLUTION 115 
 
 Give us Wednesday afternoon. Will not 
 this simple concession on the part of the 
 public school, and this one step forward 
 on the part of the churches, once for all 
 solve our problem ? To the public school 
 we shall then be able to give our unquali- 
 fied support, and in return utilize its vast 
 resources. And the work of the Sunday 
 school, correlated with that of the week- 
 day church school, will acquire a greater 
 significance. With a nine years' course 
 of systematic instruction for all the chil- 
 dren of our churches, in many cases with 
 expert helpers, we may hope to attain re- 
 sults that were impossible under the 
 haphazard methods of the past. 
 
VIEWS AND COMMENTS 
 
VIEWS AND COMMENTS 
 
 ANOTHER "THREE R'S" IN SCHOOL. 
 
 It is a noteworthy coincidence that just 
 as the dominant party in British politics 
 is moving for the elimination of ecclesi- 
 asticism and the advance of secularism in 
 the common schools of England a strong 
 interdenominational movement should be 
 developed here for the introduction of 
 religious teaching into the public schools 
 of New York. We cannot ignore the 
 authority nor doubt the sincerity and 
 benevolence of the company of clergymen 
 who the other day discussed this subject, 
 and expressed themselves strongly in 
 favor of having, by state enactment, one 
 afternoon a week set apart for religious 
 instruction in the schools.* Those gen- 
 tlemen were widely representative of Jew 
 and Gentile, Catholic and Protestant, 
 Episcopal and Independent, and we have 
 
 * These benevolent clergymen proposed nothing of the kind. 
 
 119 
 
120 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 no doubt that they represent, too, a con- 
 siderable and most respectable public 
 sentiment. There are many thoughtful 
 men and women who regard with appre- 
 hension the widely prevailing and, they 
 fear, increasing irreverence, lawlessness 
 and, indeed, actual viciousness among 
 school children, and not a few of these 
 are inclined to seek a remedy in the in- 
 troduction of religious teaching. As one 
 of the members of that conference neatly 
 expressed it, there seems to them a need 
 that the schools shall teach not only the 
 old "three R's" of reading, 'riting and 
 Arithmetic, but also the other three of 
 reverence, righteousness and responsi- 
 bility. 
 
 There will be little dispute, we think, 
 as to the desirability of that end. The 
 question is one of the means by which it is 
 to be attained. That the boys and 
 girls, too of to-day are too often irrev- 
 erent in speech and manner, regardless of 
 the comforts and rights of others, and 
 insubordinate against legitimate authority 
 is painfully apparent. We do not refer 
 
VIEWS AND COMMENTS 121 
 
 alone to such young Hooligans as were 
 arrested last week and punished for crimi- 
 nal rowdyism in elevated railroad trains, 
 though, indeed, they and many more like 
 them are students in the public schools. 
 But upon the better class residence streets 
 and in the parks may be found boys be- 
 longing to well to do and cultivated 
 families who in their games scream out 
 all manner of profanities, exult in annoy- 
 ing passersby and exhibit defiance toward 
 law and order. Granted that much of 
 this is pure thoughtlessness. Thoughtless 
 habit uncorrected often becomes fixed and 
 incorrigible. It is not creditable that 
 children should be permitted, even thought- 
 lessly, to commit such excesses. It is not 
 possible to view without grave concern 
 the possibility that such habits will endure 
 in maturer life. 
 
 Home influences and parental discipline 
 should no doubt correct the evil. But 
 they do not, and we are forced to the con- 
 clusion that in many cases those are negli- 
 gible factors, if not actually infinitesimal. 
 Parents, for the sake of their own comfort, 
 
122 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 object to their children playing the Hooli- 
 gan in their own dooryards, but let them 
 go down the street and annoy other people 
 without hindrance or reproof, while for an 
 outraged neighbor to undertake the work 
 of correction or even to complain of the 
 nuisance is imperiously resented in the 
 tone of "My child can do no wrong!" 
 Nor are there lacking those among other- 
 wise intelligent and reasonable men and 
 women who practically disclaim respon- 
 sibility for their children's conduct. They 
 send them, they say, to school five days 
 a week and to Sunday-school on Sunday, 
 and it is the business of those institutions 
 to teach them everything. Why should 
 they pay taxes for the support of the 
 schools if the father must stay home from 
 the races or the club and the mother from 
 the matinee or the bridge party to teach 
 their children themselves ? 
 
 Despite the need, however, there will be 
 a widespread doubt of the wisdom of 
 seeking to supply it in the way these 
 clergymen have suggested. The intro- 
 duction of anything like ecclesiastical or 
 
VIEWS AND COMMENTS 123 
 
 sectarian teaching into the public schools 
 even if the people should permit it, 
 which we have no idea they would do 
 would bear with it a menace of mis- 
 chief which these very men would be first 
 to deplore: and the practicability of 
 having religious instruction given in the 
 schools without danger of sectarian propa- 
 ganda is scarcely to be conceded.* 
 Reverence for those things which the best 
 general sentiment of mankind holds 
 worthy of reverence, righteousness, in 
 cleanliness of speech and thought and 
 honesty of conduct, and responsibility, 
 in regard for law and lawful authority, 
 should be taught, we believe, in the schools 
 as well as in the home. But we are also 
 persuaded that they would best be taught, 
 not by special teachers in special services, 
 but by the regular teachers throughout 
 all the ordinary exercises ; and we are in- 
 clined to think that effort would most 
 profitably be made toward that end by 
 securing for all schools teachers who 
 
 *Very true. But our' plan does not propose to introduce sec- 
 tarian teaching into the public schools. 
 
124 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 would exert such influences, and by 
 arousing among parents a realization of 
 the duty which rests upon them of at 
 least actively co-operating with the schools 
 in the right training of their children. 
 New York Daily Tribune, May 7, 1906. 
 
 SUNDAY-SCHOOLS ON WEDNESDAY 
 
 In the unanimous opinion of the emi- 
 nent clergymen of many denominations, 
 too often inharmonious, who met in the 
 United Charities Building this week to 
 consider the "problem" of religious in- 
 struction for the children in the public 
 schools, something like a solution of that 
 problem can be reached in a very simple 
 way. The plan suggested, and apparently 
 approved though evidently with varying 
 degrees of hope by all of them is to 
 establish what, for want of a better name, 
 may be called Wednesday afternoon Sun- 
 day-schools in the various churches and 
 synagogues, to which all the public school 
 scholars are to be sent under the same 
 sort of compulsion that forces their at- 
 tendance at the secular schools. The im- 
 
VIEWS AND COMMENTS 125 
 
 possibility of giving in the public schools 
 any kind of religious instruction that 
 would be acceptable to all the parents in 
 such a mixed population as ours was 
 frankly recognized, and this, it seems to 
 us, marked a new and desirable appre- 
 ciation of facts, but we cannot avoid the 
 impression that the clergymen were un- 
 duly confident as to the practicability of 
 the schools they had in mind. Would 
 there not be the same, and just as much, 
 difficulty in making the children go to 
 Sunday-school on Wednesday as there is 
 in making them do it on Sunday? The 
 latter day, according to the admission of 
 many of the clergymen, has become for 
 thousands little more than a day of recre- 
 ation, and why they thought Wednesday 
 afternoon would be otherwise used if the 
 public schools were closed then is far 
 from obvious. The suggestion that the 
 truant officers could force the children 
 to the churches as well as to the schools 
 ignores the circumstances that there is 
 practically no difference of opinion as to 
 the value of primary education of the 
 
126 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 sort now given by the city. For that 
 reason public sentiment supports the tru- 
 ant officers in the performance of their 
 present duties. If they attempted to ex- 
 ercise the same authority in sending chil- 
 dren to church for religious instruction 
 they would not be likely to get much sup- 
 port from the parents who do not already 
 see to it that their children attend the 
 Sunday schools provided by all sects and 
 denominations, and a large crop of as- 
 sorted controversies and troubles would 
 be almost sure to grow up. So, instead 
 of agreeing with those at this meeting 
 in holding the idea of a Wednesday after- 
 noon Sunday-school to be a hopeful one, 
 we are disposed to consider it almost 
 hopeless. The clergy have the best of 
 rights to advise the instruction of chil- 
 dren in something more than the three 
 R's of tradition, but it is a pity that they 
 cannot give such advice without somehow 
 always dragging in the public schools, the 
 commendable purposes of which are as 
 different as are those of grocery stores 
 or sugar refineries. N. Y. Times, May 2, 1906. 
 
VIEWS AND COMMENTS 127 
 
 RELIGION IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS 
 
 One of the most striking and suggest- 
 ive incidents in connection with the re- 
 cent Conference on Federation was the 
 reception given to the paper read before 
 it by the Rev. George U. Wenner, D. D., 
 president of the Evangelical Lutheran 
 Synod of New York and New Jersey. 
 Dr. Wenner wrote upon " Week-Day Re- 
 ligious Education." He strongly depicted 
 the deficiencies of the present system of 
 religious instruction, emphasized the im- 
 portance of the principle of "unity" in ed- 
 ucation, and ended by urging that the 
 church ask the public school, which surely 
 owes to it a large unpaid debt, that it should 
 restore to the church one afternoon a week 
 say Wednesday afternoon for purposes 
 of religious instruction. This proposition 
 was received with great applause, and 
 was subsequently embodied in a formal 
 resolution, which passed without a word 
 of opposition and by unanimous vote. 
 
 It is yet far too early to attempt to 
 measure the significance of any action 
 
128 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 taken by this Conference. It was nomi- 
 nally representative of some thirty de- 
 nominational bodies, with over eighteen 
 million adherents. If the adoption of this 
 resolution were to be regarded as really 
 the matured decision and determined 
 purpose of the united evangelical churches 
 of America, it would be impossible to see 
 in this action anything else than the for- 
 mal reopening of a question long supposed 
 to be settled, the serious renewal of a 
 strife supposed to be ended. It has been 
 for some time obvious to the intelligent 
 observer that strong forces were making 
 in this direction. The experience of 
 France, which abolished religion from the 
 public schools only to find it necessary, 
 for the very children's sake, to restore it, 
 has not passed unheeded. The results 
 of exclusion from our own schools have 
 awakened serious misgivings. The edu- 
 cational system religiously is certainly 
 far from satisfactory. But one would 
 hardly have anticipated that so radical a 
 proposition as this would have received so 
 ready an endorsement in so high a place. 
 
VIEWS AND COMMENTS 129 
 
 We seriously doubt if the action of the 
 Conference can be taken as really repre- 
 sentative of any matured purpose on the 
 part of American Protestantism, or any 
 large portion thereof. Nevertheless, the 
 passing of such a resolution is a most 
 significant sign of the times. It certainly 
 indicates a grave discontent with the 
 present system in religious education. 
 There is good reason for that discontent. 
 The neglect of religious training even in 
 professedly Christian families; the fact 
 that the Sunday-school, at best, includes 
 but a fraction of the children needing in- 
 struction; and the further fact, according 
 to the best authorities, that though the 
 Sunday-school is often extolled as an 
 "evangelizing agency," it yet graduates 
 three students into the world to two into 
 the church, creates a serious situation 
 that it is quite impossible to ignore. 
 Whether to "give us Wednesday after- 
 noon," according to Dr. Wenner's im- 
 passioned plea, is the coming solution of 
 our difficulties, may be gravely doubted. 
 But it was well that the entire matter 
 
130 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 should be brought before the attention 
 of the Christian world in a form to arrest 
 attention. If this proposal of the Con- 
 ference shall provide a thorough dis- 
 cussion of the entire situation, it will even 
 though it should have done no more 
 quite pay for its existence. The Ex- 
 aminer, November, 30, 1905, 
 
 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION ON WEEK DAYS 
 
 We believe three things to be true: 
 First, that in the public schools there is no 
 religious teaching of any kind worth the 
 name, and that there never will be any 
 more than there is now. Second, that 
 home teaching by Christians is much less 
 than it was. If it be asked on what 
 ground we hold this opinion we answer 
 that it is the judgment of many pastors 
 and many of the best Sunday-school-teach- 
 ers, that it is the testimony of many chil- 
 dren, and is the judgment of and is ad- 
 mitted by many parents when inquired 
 of upon the subject, that the Sunday- 
 schools are depended on for the religious 
 instruction of the children. Parents who 
 
VIEWS AND COMMENTS 131 
 
 were devout Christians were in the habit 
 of instructing their children, and also of 
 requiring the children to learn the Sunday- 
 school lessons at home. The larger part 
 of the instruction now given is that im- 
 parted to infants and little children by 
 their mothers. This is the principal 
 survival of the family teaching that was 
 formerly very common in the Presby- 
 terian and Baptist Churches, and generally 
 in the more regular Methodists. The 
 explanation of the expression "regular 
 Methodists" is this, that there has always 
 been a certain class of Methodists who 
 depended exclusively on meetings and 
 emotional appeals, but the bone and 
 sinew of the denomination, while desiring 
 to be moved upon by the Spirit and 
 by the preaching of the Gospel, fol- 
 lowed Mr. Wesley's plan and constantly 
 read the Scriptures and religious books, 
 observed family prayers, took their chil- 
 dren to the regular worship of the House 
 of God, and took great pains to endorse 
 every good maxim and to intensify every 
 appeal made by the pastors. The third 
 
132 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 thing that we firmly believe is, that were 
 the Sunday school absolutely perfect in 
 government, in teaching force, in system, 
 in punctuality, one hour a week would 
 not suffice, without other means, to make 
 a permanent impression upon any but a 
 small minority of the scholars. What, 
 then, can be expected when it is impossi- 
 ble to suppose that the Sunday schools 
 answer the description here supposed? 
 The evangelical churches have much to 
 learn from Catholic methods in the teach- 
 ing of children. Other denominations 
 have very much to learn from the Luther- 
 ans. The Presbyterians and Baptists 
 need to remember to put in practice their 
 former methods; but circumstances have 
 changed. Most people now live at long 
 distances from their places of business, 
 and the great majority, especially in cities, 
 spend from a fourth to a third of their 
 lives away from home, including in this 
 the summer hegira. If the public authori- 
 ties would consent to Dr. Wenner's 
 proposition, it would give a great impetus 
 to religious education of children. Such a 
 
VIEWS AND COMMENTS 133 
 
 method could not be made popular by 
 mere discussion. It would be necessary 
 to have the plan tried in some school or 
 some section of a large city. In case it 
 succeeded it might then spread. At all 
 events something should be done. We 
 have a proposition which, after we have 
 given it a little more thought, will be of- 
 fered to pastors situated so as to make 
 it feasible. Meanwhile we commend to 
 them and to all parents, to Christian 
 teachers of public schools, to public school 
 superintendents and committees, to con- 
 sider whether the plan could be tried in their 
 section. Some communities are so homo- 
 geneous that there would be no difficulty 
 in making the experiment. The Chris- 
 tian Advocate, February 8, 1906. 
 
 RELIGION AND THE SCHOOLS 
 
 It is claimed by some that our common 
 schools are irreligious, and while this 
 assertion is largely urged in the interest 
 of some particular form of religion, there 
 is enough foundation for the assertion to 
 make worth while an inquiry as to actual 
 
134 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 conditions and as to how they may be 
 improved. 
 
 It is not strictly true that our schools 
 are irreligious. They hold the same 
 relation to religion as the state to its citi- 
 zens. By law and precedent the right 
 of citizenship is accorded to all, irrespec- 
 tive of creed or religious conviction; yet 
 we are a Christian nation, preserving 
 the religious characteristics of the first 
 settlers as has been uniformly recog- 
 nized by the highest courts of the states 
 and the nation, by the constitutions of 
 most of the states, and by legislation for 
 Sunday observance and the protection of 
 Christian morals. So in our schools an 
 education is provided for all without re- 
 gard to creed, and the only restriction is 
 against propagating any particular type 
 of religion, not against religion itself, or 
 the morality underlying our Christian 
 civilization. In fact and practice prayer 
 and reading of the Bible in nearly all the 
 states and in most schools, continue a 
 survival of what was universal in the for- 
 mative period of the nation, when the 
 
VIEWS AND COMMENTS 135 
 
 school was a recognized adjunct of the 
 church. 
 
 Our cosmopolitan population and the 
 entire passing over of primary and sec- 
 ondary schools into the hands of the 
 state have minimized the recognition and 
 teaching of religion in them, and while 
 not irreligious, our schools have become 
 non-religious to a far greater extent than is 
 desirable for the future good of the nation. 
 
 Our people are firm in the conviction 
 that education is fundamental in a free 
 republic, and that public schools open to 
 all must be maintained. Equally strong 
 is the conviction that there can be no true 
 education without religion. The recon- 
 ciliation of these two ideas is the problem 
 which confronts thoughtful minds. There 
 is a growing persuasion that the great need 
 of the schools is more religious instruction 
 and a better grounding of our future 
 citizens in Bible morality and Christian 
 ethics. 
 
 How to secure this in a school where 
 Jews, Romanists, Protestants, and in- 
 fidels are expected to meet on common 
 
136 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 ground is confessedly difficult. It is far 
 more so with us, than in countries where 
 the separation of church and state is more 
 recent or less complete, and where the 
 schools are under more direct govern- 
 ment control. Other Christian countries 
 have met the same problem and found 
 a temporary, if not a final solution. In 
 Germany religious instruction is given 
 precedence and at least five hours a week 
 in every school is given to it. In England, 
 while the Non- Conformist Churches and 
 adherents have protested against schools 
 under the control of the established 
 church, all expect and desire that in the 
 national, as well as the board schools, re- 
 ligious instruction, of a non-sectarian 
 type, should be provided for every child. 
 In France, the separation of church and 
 state has completely secularized the 
 schools, yet provision is made for religious 
 instruction, by setting apart Thursday of 
 each week for such instruction as the 
 churches may desire to give. 
 
 How is it with us ? As has been said, 
 in the vast majority of our schools there is 
 
VIEWS AND COMMENTS 137 
 
 a recognition of religion in the opening 
 exercises, but even this is often protested 
 against, and inadequately meets the need. 
 Religious instruction has to be otherwise 
 provided. The Roman Catholic Church 
 meets the problem by the parochial 
 school, and agitates continually for help 
 from the state in its support. Some 
 Protestants, as the Moravians and a por- 
 tion of the Lutheran Church, also main- 
 tain parochial schools, but with no de- 
 mand or expectation of aid from the public 
 treasury. Our own church experimented 
 somewhat in this line, but with us, as 
 with most Protestants, this solution has 
 not met with favor. 
 
 The dependence for religious instruc- 
 tion of the children consequently has been 
 on the Sunday-school, and the important 
 sphere this has come to occupy has called 
 special attention to its limitations, and 
 the need of better methods. One hour 
 a week, with teachers inadequately trained, 
 and attendance voluntary and irreg- 
 ular, with no means of enforcing study- 
 surely the religious training afforded by 
 
138 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 the Sunday-school must be meagre and 
 unsatisfactory. Where not reinforced by 
 home teaching, its results are disap- 
 pointing. 
 
 These considerations make pertinent 
 the suggestion of Dr. Wenner, of this city, 
 that a modification of the plan adopted in 
 France be introduced in our American 
 system. There, one whole day is sur- 
 rendered to religious instruction under 
 direction of the church. He suggests 
 that surely here a half -day, e. (jr., Wednes- 
 day afternoon, could be surrendered to 
 the churches for such religious instruction 
 as they may provide. Under this plan 
 the school curriculum could be arranged 
 so that the absentees should not suffer 
 serious loss, and the non-church children 
 need not be turned into the street. Under 
 it the attendance on the instruction given 
 by the church should be the basis of an 
 excuse for absence, and be enforced as 
 part of the regular school curriculum. 
 When the importance of systematic reli- 
 gious instruction of the children is con- 
 sidered, this suggestion is worthy of care- 
 
VIEWS AND COMMENTS 139 
 
 ful consideration. There are difficulties 
 in working out such a scheme, but they 
 are not insuperable, and the end to be 
 attained is well worth the co-operation of 
 school boards and the churches in secur- 
 ing for it a trial. The Christian Intelli- 
 gencer, February 28, 1906. 
 
 WEEK-DAY RELIGIOUS 
 EDUCATION 
 
 At the recent meeting in New York of 
 the Inter-Church Conference on Federa- 
 tion, Dr. G. U. Wenner read a paper on 
 " Week-Day Religious Instruction," which 
 made a deep impression on the Confer- 
 ence, and afterward received favorable 
 notice from the religious press in general. 
 The Conference unanimously adopted 
 the following resolution prepared by him: 
 
 "Resolved, That in the need of more 
 systematic education in religion, we recom- 
 mend for the favorable consideration of 
 the public school authorities of the coun- 
 try the proposal to allow the children to 
 absent themselves, without detriment, 
 from the public school on Wednesday, or 
 
140 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 on some other afternoon of the school 
 week, for the purpose of attending re- 
 ligious instruction in their own churches; 
 and we urge upon the churches the ad- 
 visability of availing themselves of the 
 opportunity so granted to give such in- 
 struction in addition to that given on 
 Sunday." 
 
 The resolution gives the gist of the 
 paper, which, however, removes the ob- 
 jection that might be urged against turn- 
 ing upon the street a crowd of children 
 who might not be required by their par- 
 ents to attend religious instruction. Dr. 
 Wenner says: : 'This does not involve 
 the closing of the public school on Wed- 
 nesday afternoon, and turning the non- 
 church children into the street. It simply 
 asks that the children attending the 
 church school shall be excused for their 
 absence. The course of study might be 
 so arranged that absentees would not 
 suffer an irreparable loss. Music, eti- 
 quette, or ethics, or some other substi- 
 tute for religion, might be given to those 
 who remain." 
 
VIEWS AND COMMENTS 141 
 
 We do not intend to argue the subject 
 in this article further than to state a few 
 propositions, which may be readily de- 
 fended, if not deemed almost self-evident: 
 
 1. No education is complete that lacks 
 religious instruction. 
 
 2. This instruction is not given in the 
 public school. 
 
 3. The public school, under present 
 circumstances, cannot give it. 
 
 4. The home in most cases does not 
 supply it. 
 
 5. The present Sunday-school is in- 
 adequate to give it in sufficient measure. 
 
 6. The parochial school, which might 
 solve the problem, seems to many to be 
 uri-American, and certainly is not popu- 
 lar with Protestants. 
 
 Dr. Wenner's proposition seems to 
 offer the best present solution of the prob- 
 lem. A plan somewhat similar is now 
 in practical operation in France. Per- 
 haps, by way of experiment, Saturday 
 afternoon for a period of two hours might 
 be chosen. 
 
 The practical application of Dr. Wen- 
 
142 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 ner's idea is the matter that concerns us 
 most in this article. It seems to us that in 
 his resolution he puts the initiative at the 
 wrong place. " The public school author- 
 ities" are not likely to make the start. 
 The churches must do this in some way. 
 The best way which occurs to us at this 
 writing is to do this through the local 
 ministerial society, which exists already 
 or may be formed. The ministers ought 
 to take the lead. It is their legitimate 
 business to do so. Their efforts would 
 receive the support of the Christian 
 people; and the "school authorities" 
 would fall into line. 
 
 In small communities a single religious 
 school might do the required work. The 
 pastors or competent day-school teachers 
 could do the teaching. In larger towns 
 the children of the same or allied denom- 
 inations might be gathered into one school. 
 Of course, the details would have to be 
 worked out by committees and modified 
 by experience. The matter of instruction 
 must naturally be Biblical and Christian, 
 but not confessional or sectarian. 
 
VIEWS AND COMMENTS 143 
 
 The scheme will not be generally 
 adopted at once, if at all. There must 
 be an object-lesson first. It seems to us 
 that one of our larger inland towns ought to 
 give it. Lebanon, Pennsylvania, for ex- 
 ample, the residence of the indefatigable 
 Dr. Schmauk, who has done so much in 
 preparing graded lessons, is an ideal place 
 for the experiment. Easton, Carlisle, 
 and York offer favorable conditions. And 
 there are scores of other towns throughout 
 the country which ought to take to the 
 idea. The places mentioned are more 
 particularly known to the writer. We 
 most earnestly commend to the consider- 
 ation ox the Protestant clergy of these 
 cities the matter of week-day religious 
 education. Prof. J. A. Singmaster, in 
 The Lutheran Observer. 
 
 THE CHURCH AND THE SCHOOLS 
 
 A proposal is being seriously considered 
 by representatives of many Churches, not 
 all of them Christian, to secure the co-oper- 
 ation of the state and city educational 
 authorities with the churches in a plan for 
 
144 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 the religious education of school children. 
 At a meeting, in New York, of which an 
 account will be found in our news columns, 
 representatives of our own church, of the 
 Roman Catholics, Methodists, Presbyte- 
 rians, Congregationalists and Jews, joined 
 in more or less qualified commendation 
 of the proposal of a committee appointed 
 some months ago to consider the matter. 
 The proposal was that public school 
 children, who might desire it, or whose 
 parents desired it for them, should be 
 excused from the Wednesday afternoon 
 session of the public schools that they 
 might receive instruction in their respec- 
 tive churches. Of this plan Bishop 
 Greer said: "If it does not succeed it 
 will not be the fault of the schools it 
 will be the fault of the churches. At all 
 events it is an experiment that is well 
 worth trying." 
 
 We are not so sure of that. It seems 
 to us an experiment of very doubtful ex- 
 pediency; one that we would much rather 
 leave untried. With all that Bishop 
 Greer said in commendation of the great 
 
VIEWS AND COMMENTS 145 
 
 patriotic work of the public schools, with 
 his indignant repudiation of the aspersion 
 that they are "godless," we are in hearty 
 accord. We agree with him entirely, too, 
 that it is not the business of the public 
 schools to give religious instruction. But 
 neither is it their business to see that it is 
 given. "It is for the churches to give 
 religious training," said Bishop Greer, 
 "that is what the churches are for." 
 "What they ask," he continued, "is that 
 they have the opportunity of doing what 
 they exist to do." This "opportunity" of 
 which Bishop Greer speaks would amount 
 under this proposal to the opportu- 
 nity to compel attendance at "religious 
 instruction by the use of the same system 
 that the state has devised to ensure at- 
 tendance at public schools. The churches 
 apparently, to ensure their " opportunity," 
 propose to invoke the aid of the truant 
 officer. Moreover, they propose that one- 
 tenth of the time which the state con- 
 siders necessary for the child's instruc- 
 tion and for the full employment of which 
 the tax-payers are paying, shall be taken 
 
146 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 for use by instructors of whose pedagogi- 
 cal competence the state has no knowl- 
 edge, and over whom it can exercise no 
 control. The public schools need all the 
 time they can get for their work. They 
 have not an hour too much. The supposi- 
 tion that one session out of the ten in 
 each week can be given to " relatively un- 
 important" studies shows a strange ig- 
 norance of the conditions under which the 
 school curriculum is devised, and of the 
 anxious care with which the various ele- 
 ments in education are balanced against 
 one another, that every minute may be 
 used to the utmost. We want no inter- 
 ference of the state in education by the 
 church and no interference by the church 
 in education by the state. The plan 
 seems to us bad in itself, even if it were 
 found practicable. It would prove even 
 worse in the results to which it would in- 
 evitably lead. For surely the benefit of re- 
 ligious instruction would be a question- 
 able quantity if children found it so 
 uninteresting or their parents were so 
 indifferent to its value that they must be 
 
VIEWS AND COMMENTS 147 
 
 dragged to the church to receive it. The 
 church must win her children; she can- 
 not force them into allegiance. 
 
 We do not wish to create in this coun- 
 try conditions that are distracting the 
 English Church and Parliament and in- 
 juring the efficiency of both. We cannot 
 forget that the plan has the support of 
 the traditional enemies of public educa- 
 tion. To opponents of the American sys- 
 tem we would say in challenge and to its 
 friends in warning: Hands off the public 
 schools. The Churchman, May 12, 1906. 
 
 RELIGION AND THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS 
 
 To the Editor of the CHURCHMAN : 
 
 As secretary of the Missionary Thank- 
 Off ering Committee lam enjoying an un- 
 usual opportunity to confer with laymen 
 and clergymen all over the country, re- 
 specting the points of strength and weak- 
 ness in the work of our church. I find 
 a large number of intelligent people 
 who share the opinion which I have ven- 
 tured to form upon this subject. That 
 opinion is that we are bringing annually 
 
148 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 into vital relation with Christ a number 
 of men, pitiably small, when regard is had 
 to our great scheme of church organiza- 
 tion and to the power of the message with 
 which we are entrusted. In the great ma- 
 jority of parishes there is little vital re- 
 ligion among men. In the relatively small 
 missionary work of the church the men 
 have hitherto taken an insignificant part. 
 I state what I believe to be facts, not at 
 all in a spirit of hopelessness and depres- 
 sion, but as one who is awestricken in 
 the presence of so great an opportunity 
 for the work ot Christian education. I be- 
 lieve it was Horace Bushnell who, in reply 
 to the question, "Has not Christianity 
 been a failure ?" replied, "How can it 
 have failed? It has never been tried." 
 This was an exaggeration; but only an 
 exaggeration; not a statement wholly 
 false. In searching for the causes of 
 weakness in the church, would it not be 
 wise to consider whether this is not one 
 of them that we are not giving Chris- 
 tianity a fair trial ? 
 
 I venture to affirm that what we need 
 
VIEWS AND COMMENTS 149 
 
 is more direct and positive teaching, in 
 the pulpit, at missionary conferences and 
 in the columns of the church papers, re- 
 specting the essence of Christianity, which 
 I take to be this that it is absolute devo- 
 tion to Jesus Christ as not onlv our Lord 
 
 m 
 
 but our Friend. We have a simple mes- 
 sage; but, if properly delivered, it will 
 find a lodgment in every soul. As our 
 Gospel is the good news of the redeeming 
 love of our Friend, so our message is the 
 proclamation of our duty to Him. That 
 duty is twofold; first, to make ourselves 
 fit to associate with Him and hold com- 
 munion with Him; second, to co-operate 
 with Him in bringing all men everywhere 
 into the personal relation of friendship 
 with Him. But "how shall they call on 
 Him in whom they have not believed ? 
 And how shall they believe in Him of 
 whom they have not heard? And how 
 shall they hear without a preacher? 
 And how shall they preach except they 
 be sent?" 
 
 It is not enough that we have a mes- 
 sage. It is not even enough that we utter 
 
150 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 it ourselves and send others to do like- 
 wise. We must devise means to bring 
 within range of the message those for 
 whom it is intended. I am not speaking 
 at the moment of the heathen but of two 
 classes of people who sustain a geograph- 
 ical or family relationship to our parish 
 churches the men and the children. 
 
 To reach the men and the older boys, 
 the M. T. O. movement has been inaugu- 
 rated and already God has blessed its 
 progress. I do not refer to the money- 
 raising aspect of the movement. Money 
 giving, except as an expression of devo- 
 tion, is of little or no subjective value. 
 I speak of the anointing of blind eyes 
 to see the vision of a world to be won 
 for Christ and the unstopping of deaf 
 ears to hear the cry of souls that must 
 be saved. The working of these miracles 
 is the primary purpose of the M. T. O. 
 
 But what about the children? It is 
 plain that they cannot "believe in Him of 
 whom they have not heard." The lack 
 of insight into the heart of Christianity 
 upon the part of this generation of 
 
VIEWS AND COMMENTS 151 
 
 adults shows that they have been defec- 
 tively taught. What about the rising gen- 
 eration ? Here is a great opportunity and 
 a solemn responsibility. Of course nor- 
 mal children do not want to be taught 
 and will not come voluntarily. By the 
 time we have trained the parents to com- 
 pel them to hear our message the chil- 
 dren will be parents themselves and we 
 shall have the work to do over again. As 
 a matter of course, we compel children to 
 receive secular instruction. We know 
 that interest and even zeal will come with 
 the recognition of ignorance and the 
 vision of knowledge. Accordingly it is pro- 
 posed in New York, as you explain in 
 your issue of May 12th, to allow Christian 
 instruction in a child's own church on 
 Wednesday afternoons to count in lieu of 
 an afternoon's attendance upon public 
 school. Christianity must be imparted 
 to the children of the church, not by 
 preaching but by careful and systematic 
 teaching. What place more appropriate 
 than the parish church? What thought 
 more important to the child than the 
 
152 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 thought that to learn to know Christ 
 not to know about Him is an essential 
 part of education ? Yet in your editorial 
 you say -."Surely the benefit of religious 
 instruction would be a questionable quan- 
 tity if children found it so uninteresting 
 or their parents were so indifferent to its 
 value that they must be dragged to the 
 church to receive it. The church must 
 win her children; she cannot force them 
 into allegiance." Am I manifesting an 
 unchristian spirit if I ask whether these 
 are the words of one who believes that 
 the future of our nation and of our 
 church depends upon bringing young 
 children to Christ? 
 
 But you say: "The public schools need 
 all the time they can get for their work. 
 They have not an hour too much. The 
 supposition that one session out of the ten 
 in each week can be given to 'relatively 
 unimportant' studies, shows a strange 
 ignorance of the conditions under which 
 the school curriculum is devised, and of 
 the anxious care with which the various 
 elements in education are balanced 
 
VIEWS AND COMMENTS 153 
 
 against one another, that every minute 
 may be used to the utmost." Not at all 
 in a controversial spirit, may I ask the 
 writer of these words this question: 
 "What is the relative importance of secu- 
 lar education and of the knowledge of 
 Christ?" Of course school hours are all 
 too short for learning. Art is long and 
 time is fleeting. But the real question is : 
 Shall the little time for learning be de- 
 voted exclusively to other subjects than 
 learning to know Christ? 
 
 It is proposed, you say, "that one-tenth 
 of the time which the state considers 
 necessary for the child's instruction and 
 for the full employment of which the tax- 
 payers are paying, shall be taken for use 
 by instructors of whose pedagogical com- 
 petence the state has no knowledge, and 
 over whom it can exercise no control." 
 "The state" means you and the rest of 
 us. As far as we churchmen and our 
 children are concerned, it is proposed that 
 the teaching shall be done in our own 
 churches and under the direction of our 
 own clergy. Whose fault is it if we have 
 
154 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 no knowledge of their " pedagogical com- 
 petency," and if we exercise no control 
 over them ? 
 
 Finally you observe: "We want no in- 
 terference of the state in education by the 
 church, and no interference by the 
 church in education by the state," and 
 you close by a reference to the conditions 
 that are distracting the English Church 
 and Parliament. Is it your opinion that 
 the separation of church and state should 
 be so complete that our people as a whole 
 are to be indifferent whether or not 
 the children receive religious instruction 
 from the church of their parents' choice ? 
 If you do not mean this, what do you 
 mean ? In England they are at least dis- 
 tracted over the effort to solve this diffi- 
 cult problem. Because of its difficulty 
 shall we give it up in advance ? The plan 
 proposed in New York avoids the chief 
 difficulties which have caused trouble in 
 England, yet your language seems to im- 
 ply that we proposed to try an experiment 
 which has failed. May those of us who 
 believe that Christian education alone can 
 
VIEWS AND COMMENTS 155 
 
 appease the hunger of the age call upon 
 you for some constructive suggestion ? If 
 you have a better plan than this, we 
 solemnly adjure you to make it public. 
 Do not tell us: "The churches are open; 
 the children ought to go voluntarily and 
 be taught there." We have tried this ex- 
 periment and it has failed. Do not say: 
 "This matter of Christian instruction is 
 the business of the parents." Perhaps so; 
 but the parents are not attending to 
 their business. Do not point to voluntary 
 attendance upon Sunday-school as the 
 solution of the difficulty. The Sunday- 
 school is a blessed institution, but it 
 reaches only a corner of the field. The 
 point is, Mr. Editor, that multitudes of 
 the children of the Church are dying or 
 growing up without being brought to the 
 knowledge of Christ. This is your fault 
 and mine. What are we going to do 
 about it? Your only reply so far is, 
 " Hands off the public schools." Nobody 
 has suggested laying hands on the public 
 schools. The proposition is to lay hands 
 upon your children and mine, and to 
 
156 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 bring them within reach of the voice of 
 Jesus Christ. Instead of opposing, will 
 you not help? 
 
 G. W. PEPPER. 
 
 Philadelphia (The Churchman, May 
 26, 1906.) 
 
 RELIGION AND THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS 
 
 To the Editor of the CHURCHMAN: 
 
 Your editorial of May 12th concerning 
 the proposition to have the public school 
 authorities excuse the children of such 
 parents as desire it from attendance at 
 school on Wednesday afternoons, in order 
 that they may be instructed elsewhere in 
 religious subjects, has not been replied to 
 in your issue of to-day. Failing a more 
 competent person to answer your objec- 
 tions, may I make several suggestions in 
 this connection ? 
 
 (1) There is no complete and fully 
 formulated proposition before us as yet, 
 other than what is roughly stated above. 
 At the same meeting where one speaker 
 said that he would consider it beneficial 
 to have truant officers compel attendance, 
 
VIEWS AND COMMENTS 157 
 
 another said that there would be nothing 
 to prevent some parents though he 
 thought that there would be very few of 
 such from taking advantage of this to 
 keep their children at home for other rea- 
 sons than to have them taught religion. 
 Certainly many of us agree with you " that 
 it is not the business of the public schools 
 to give religious instruction," and 
 "neither is it their business to see that it 
 is given." So also your statement that 
 this is a demand for " 10 per cent" of the 
 work hours of the school week depends 
 upon the hour when the children shall be 
 excused, and this is not yet determined. 
 Evidently while discussion of details is 
 quite to the point, condemnation of the 
 scheme for such reasons is quite prema- 
 ture. 
 
 (2) Your next objection is that "The 
 public schools need all the time that they 
 can get for work. They have not an hour 
 too much." Comparing our educational 
 system with that of other Christian na- 
 tions, we are alone, so far as 1 know, in 
 not providing for religious instruction 
 
158 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 within the school week. As a people, we 
 have decided, and most of us think very 
 wisely decided, that we shall not have 
 religion taught by the state. But having 
 surrendered these hours which other na- 
 tions use for religious training, to purely 
 secular training, does our secular training 
 for that reason outstrip all others the 
 Germans, for instance? Yet they in- 
 variably have religion among their set 
 tasks of the week. Or is it true again, as 
 you claim, that there are no "relatively 
 unimportant" studies which might be put 
 on the Wednesday afternoon public school 
 schedule? Here are certain subjects 
 taught in the public schools to children 
 of fourteen years and under, which do not 
 all appear to be of first importance: 
 
 Carpentry, sewing, cooking, drawing, 
 hygiene, singing, construction work 
 (fancy boxes, etc.). 
 
 But now suppose it be asked if we have 
 not our Sunday-schools to teach religious 
 subjects on Sunday ? The best answer to 
 that would seem to be that, barring rare 
 exceptions, the Sunday-school simply 
 
VIEWS AND COMMENTS 159 
 
 does not do the work and this in a day 
 when there is little or no religious instruc- 
 tion at home, and therefore children must 
 be taught outside. Two things, certainly, 
 are accomplished in our Sunday-schools: 
 in the person of the teacher the child 
 comes into contact with a maturer 
 Christian and often a highly consecrated 
 character, and furthermore it is brought 
 to public worship. These are splendid 
 results, the value of which cannot be over- 
 estimated. But still crowds of children 
 slip away forever from Sunday-school, 
 never becoming church members, owing 
 to the fact that religion soon ceases to 
 interest and appeal to them perhaps it 
 never did and those who do pass on into 
 church are inadequately taught. 
 
 Among the causes for this failure we 
 may note that, first, there is not time 
 enough. Could you teach a child to read 
 if you had him as one of an often dis- 
 orderly class, for a lesson of from twenty 
 to thirty-five minutes once a week, or 
 could you teach him arithmetic, or re- 
 ligious truths, or anything, except in a 
 
160 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 most superficial manner ? As a matter of 
 fact, you cannot and you do not, even if 
 you are a clever teacher. And as a second 
 cause of failure the teaching staff is not 
 adequate for the work, often as to train- 
 ing and generally as to numbers. Leav- 
 ing aside that class of teachers who stay 
 at home because it rains or a friend calls, 
 what the teacher accomplishes is com- 
 monly more in the line of character build- 
 ing than instructing, and if anything of 
 real value is done by a good teacher, be 
 sure that the pupils are met outside the 
 regular Sunday-school session, and that 
 brings us back to this question of week- 
 day work. 
 
 It is necessary here that we should 
 recognize that the standard of religious 
 instruction which Christian people in 
 America are contented with is shamefully 
 low there is nothing like it certainly 
 among the Northern nations of Europe. 
 To say nothing of the average, your good 
 Sunday-school pupil can glibly recite the 
 catechism, but, even if in an advanced 
 grade, what can he tell of the doctrine of 
 
VIEWS AND COMMENTS 161 
 
 the Atonement or the evidences of the 
 Resurrection of our Lord ? He knows the 
 graphic stories of the Old Testament, but 
 the profounder things concerning the 
 struggles of the ancient Hebrew church 
 are beyond him, while the beauty and 
 majesty of the Hebrew prophets is a 
 closed book even to many an older 
 churchman who never had his eyes 
 opened in his youth. The life of our Lord 
 is learned in outline fortunately the 
 church year prevents our getting far 
 from that but how much thorough 
 knowledge is there of this greatest of 
 subjects? Think also of the life of St. 
 Paul, the early church, church history, 
 including the Reformation and our Amer- 
 ican church, the story of Christian Mis- 
 sions and the formation of our Prayer 
 Book no wonder that the men who are 
 interested in seeing some real and thor- 
 ough work done among our children and 
 young people are discouraged. Nor does 
 it lessen the discouragement to be told to 
 go back and be content with one-half 
 hour on Sunday ! There is simply one way 
 
162 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 to meet the problem. We must have op- 
 portunity to teach the children on a week- 
 day, and we must have them taught by 
 persons who have been trained to the 
 work, and this not to supplant but rather 
 to supplement the Sunday-school. 
 
 But here one may perhaps say. Take 
 the children during the week if you will, 
 but take them after school hours. Does 
 such an objector know children after 
 school hours? Still some of us will take 
 them some of us are already taking 
 them tired little bodies though they are, 
 and going home to study their evening 
 lessons later on, too. But we dare not 
 neglect them while we are waiting for 
 their elders to provide a fair and proper 
 time for this important part of their work. 
 
 Again, another objector may say that, 
 if clergy and parish staff, commonly hard 
 worked enough, are to do this work, what 
 is to become a regular parochial routine ? 
 The reply is that parochial duties must 
 always be taken up in the order of their 
 importance, and the older parishioners 
 must be educated up to seeing that this 
 
VIEWS AND COMMENTS 163 
 
 may demand a sacrifice on their part. 
 * * * * * It can be done and it 
 will be done if we realize that the place 
 for the children is in the front ranks. We 
 elders must look over their heads. 
 
 Other objectors doubtless will also 
 raise other points everything can be 
 criticized but this question is up now, 
 and be sure it is with us to stay until we 
 solve it. Whether or not we get Wednes- 
 day afternoon or any portion of it, whether 
 one favors or objects to any particular 
 scheme, the fact remains that the children 
 are knocking at the door of the church, 
 and I venture to say that as the church 
 answers this appeal which is now begin- 
 ning to sound in her ears, so she deter- 
 mines her own future. That future is to 
 be built up out of these very children, by 
 the aid of the spirit of God, and He surely 
 will not lavish His grace upon any church 
 or any religious body which neglects 
 them. THORNTON FLOYD TURNER. 
 
 New York. 
 (The Churchman, June 9, 1906.) 
 
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 OVERDUE 
 
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