Bible Beading in the State Schools.

Bush Advocate, Volume XIV, Issue 184, 1 November 1902, Page 2

Bible Beading in the State Schools.

CANON WEBB'S VIEWS.

Ganon Webb, in delivering an address on the above subject iv the Anglican Church i Oruiondville, said the instruct tion agreed upon would give such simple explanations of words aud historic or geographical allusions that might occur as would enable the children to understand what they were reading. Iv addition to this it was proposed that the school should be opened by the recitation of the Lord's prayer as >ra acknowledgement that there was a God ; that, we were all His children and were all under an obligation to know and obey Him. This was all the change desired, without which change many, thinking people were convinced that notwithstanding all the loud boastiog and laudation of our so-called perfect educational system it Was now, and would continue to b?, a perfect and mr complete system of education ; pretending to teach the children of New Zea« . land all- about everything in Heaven and earth and under the earth, but. utterly ignoring Him who was.the first cause of alt— the Creator of Heaven aud earth and the Father of inankinkv The preacher asked how was it thai the Bible was now excluded from the schools in this colony, and why was it that this was the one Book that could not be read in school hours ? He said it was not only, from a religious point of view, a great evil to banish this book from; our schools but frotu the standpoint of literature, also, it was a great mistake. Even Professor Huxley, the great apostle of Agnosticism, protested from this latter point of view that it was . as great an absurdity to ignore the Bible in public education as it would be to ignore the works 'of Shakespeare or any other great masters of literature who had made tho sum of huuian knowledge what it now was, and had trained the mind and influenced the thoughts of generation after generation. Even from the standpoint of literature no system of education could be called complete which ignored the existence of such a book as the Bible. ,The fact of the Bible having disappeared from the ■ schools of this colony, said Canon Webb, was the fruit — the bittsr fruit-H3f disunited Christianity and sectarian jealousy. In course of time the different Churches and sects became jealous of each other and each was afraid that some other might get an advantage over the rest and that its * own little "ism " would fail to be at the top. So they said :— r " We will'have no religious teaching at all in our schools. Even the Bible itself shall not be read in them." And they managed to carry their point acd thus arose the present exclusion of the Bible from our State schools. But the eyes of these objectors had now been opened. They saw now that great hajm had been done; that a most serious blow had been struck at all religion ; that on the whole this colony was becoming more and more irreligious ; that public morality, as well as religion, was suffering. A very strong and widespread feeling nad therefore arisen that the Bible must be restored, and Protestants of all denominations had consulted together and had agreed on one. scheme, to obtain- that result. It was argued that the advocates of Bible-teaching in the schools were endeavouring to override men's consciences, but this he characterised as false, in view of so liberal a conscience clause forming part of the scheme. It was said that strife would be stirred un ; that religious jealousies would again be. introduced into the schools, and that different religious teachers.: .would endeavour to Tsecome predominant in the schools once more. He contended, however, that strife would, not be engendered when all Protestant bodies agreed in asking for the same thing. No religious teacher could strive to become predominant when none would be allowed in the schools. He referred to the opinion some people held that school teachers were not fit persons to teach the Bible because they ' were not spiritually minded, and considered such a statement an insult to one of the most useful classes of the community. The-preacher argued that the State had a right to provide religious training for children, seeing that it had taken upon itself the responsibility of educating the young, and he contended that it was nonsense for people to say that if the Bible were introduced into the State schools the whole system of our education would fall to pieces. Religious instruction was carried on in the public schools of Great Britain, America, most Continental States, and in many of our colonies, and what was possible in this direction in other parts of the world should not be an impossibility in New Zealand. The people, however, should ; be appealed to, and the voice of the shoud prevail in this as in •all other questions.