SCRIPTURE TEXT BOOK IN THE STATE SCHOOLS. TO THE EDITOR OF THE PRESS.

Press, Volume LIII, Issue 9306, 6 January 1896, Page 6

SCRIPTURE TEXT BOOK IN THE STATE SCHOOLS. TO THE EDITOR OF THE PRESS.

Sir, —Kindly allow mo space to reply to "A.B.'s" sarcastic lemarks, and to answer his "posers" (?) to the best of my ability, for it is with fear and trembling that 1 enter the lists with such a redoubtable warrior. He hauls mc over the coals for referring the matter of Church and State union to Rev. 11., xvii., &c. Cannot *'A.8." clearly see that the union of a certain "universal" Church with the nations of the earth is poetically described as ** fornication !" This ugly word is also applied to idolatry. The true Church or faith is represented by a virtuous woman, while on the other hand an apostate Church is represented by a vile woman. Here we have " a vile woman sitting upon a beast." What more significative emblem, I ask, could be conceived of a Church directing and governing an empire? Answer mc " A.8." In Revelations 11. I referred, of course, to the " woman Jezebel," taking the prophetico-historical aspect of tbe Church of Thyatira. Clearly now, if it is wrong for bhe universal Church to seek union with the State, it is also wrong for any other Church or religious organisation to do the same. " A;-B." asks whether it is lawful for Governments to legislate on matters appertaining to morality. A very good question, but one splendidly answered by the parable of "the wheat and the tares." The civil authorities pub themselves forward and offer to "go and gather up the tares," i.e., to banish vice, which piece of governmental presumption is rebuked with "nay, lest haply while ye gather up the tares, ye root up the wheat with them, let both grow together until the harvest !" It is further explained that " the harvest is the end of the age," i.e., day of judgment, thu3 putting it absolutely beyond the power of the civil or any government to "legislate on matters appertaining to morality." Q.ED. Has not experience conclusively proved that " prohibition does not prohibit?" What a fiasco '.•prohibition" has turned oub in the Ciutha ! I thoroughly sympathise with Mr Hawkins, the S.M., for "hitting out straight from the shoulder." He says that the law iv question " ought not to be in existence" 1 Mr Hawkins, you have " hit the nail on the bead," from the Biblical standpoint! Let mc add that I am a " total abstainer." It is the duty of the "Church" to do its " level best" in producing such a state of mind among the individual members composing the State, that the demand for, and consequently the supply of, vice will cease. The whole thing depends upon the law of "supply and-demand." " A.8." also wishes to know where it is taught in the Bible that " Bible-reading is solely a matter between man and God."

It is undeniable that Bible-reading is a matter affecting the conscience. Now, in the case of "the burning fiery furnace " and "the den of lions," did not God declare in thunder tones that He alone is sovereign of the conscience, and the moral governor of the universe ? "We ought to obey God rather than men." To attempt to compel any religious observance, such as tbe reading of the Bible, is to endeavour to advance the Kingdom of Christ by the sword.

Finally, as to the religious training of the children of •" illiterate or immoral parents," it appears to mc that the clergymen of the denomination to which the parents belong ought, if the parents are willing, to attend to such training.

Such institutions as the Burnbam Industrial School meet the difficulty in regard to youthful criminals.—Yours, &c, X.Y.Z.