RELIGIOUS EDUCATION.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20964, 1 March 1930, Page 5

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION.

By Amplids. .‘‘He who helps a child helps humanity with an immediateness not possible at any other stage of life.” THE THREE GREAT AIMS OF A TEACHER. A Sunday school teacher expects to accomplish something. That is why he is a teacher. He expects to accomplish many things, but chief among his aims are these three: To impart knowledge of the Bible; to develop the spiritual life of his pupils; and to lead his pupils into paths of service. A soldier in the Great War, referring to the opportunities he had had, and missed, of accepting the Gospel message, said, “ I am sorry to say I did not take it serously.” That so many do not take it seriously is possibly due to the fact that so many teachers follow their aims like vagrants rather than like crusaders. Knowledge is to be made tributary to an end. Suppose you are teaching the Gospel of St. John, see that you so teach it that your pupils shall not only be convinced that Jesus actually lived the life which John portrays, or be struck anew by the graeiousness of His personality and the perfection of His life, but that they shall be so influenced by His life and words that they shall say: “Like that life as far ; as possible I want to make my life. Jesus Christ shall be my guide.” To know—to be—to do. Keep these three great aims for your pupils before you. Remember that emotions which leave the conscience untouched and the conduct unchanged play havoc with character. Do not let your pupils keep their noble ideals for to-morrow’s poem;' they are given for to-day’s prose. OTAGO SCHOOL OF RELIGIOUS EDUCATION. Several inquiries having reached us about the opening of the Otago School, •we are glad to give the following particuIt lias_ been found necessary to make the opening date a few weeks later this year. Consequently, lectures will begin at the end of March. As in previous years, the work of the school will fall into three main divisions— Biblical department, mental, and general. The Biblical lectures comprise New Testament literature and religion, Old Testament history and religion, and a new course, intended primarily for senior students, “ Prophets of the Old Testament.” The departmental courses will cater for Bible class leaders and potential leaders, and also for teachers in the intermediate, junior, and primary departments of the Sunday school. The general group of lectures will contain two of the most important fundamental subjects, namely, “ Principles of Religious Education ” and “ The Orgonisation and Administration of Religious Education.” There will also be two attrac- : tive courses, “ Music and Worship " and of Art in Religious Education.’’ A series of lectures on religious education in State schools will also be given. The school calendar, giving complete details of the year’s work, will shortly he available. We will gladly undertake to send a copy to anyone who desires it. THE IDEALS OP RELIGIOUS EDUCATION. The following address was delivered by Mr A. T, M’Naughton, M.A., director 1 °i .the Otago School of Religious Education, before the -quarterly meeting of the Methodist Sunday School Union, which was held in the St. Kilda-Sunday School on February 10: I hope I do not seem to belittle the practical side of leadership in our religious education work, but I do wish to stress the fact that the ideal is a necessity if the busy-ness is to be purposeful and. God-directed. Ideals must always uplift and guide our bustling, practical activities. This ig essentially a materialistic age, the motto. of which might well be “the things which are seen are eternal, but the things which are not seen are temporal.” .C. J. Dennis puts the matter very concisely in his “Glugs of Gosh.” A boy is sent to school, Where the first* thing taught is the Golden Rule. “Do unto others,” the teacher said. And then he stopped and scratched his httad.* " You may look up the rest in a book," said he,_ “At present it doesn’t occur to me, But do it. whatever it happens to be. And now,”-said the teacher, “the day’s task brings Consideration of practical things. If a man makes a profit ’of sixteen pounds On two weeks’ takings from three milk rounds. How many ?■” I am heartily in Favour of the very best in equipment, buildings, programmes, training, and methods, but let us not think that these things alone will Christianise v the children and young people of to-day. GROWING PERSONAL KNOWLEDGE OF GOD IN CHRIST. Mr if. L. Paton, speaking before the Teachers’ Christian Union at Swanwick, 1919, said: —“He who gives must bo constantly a receiver. We need strength, not only for,our own life, but for others who draw their strength from or rather through us." Therefore, we see that the first and most important ideal is an ever-widening personal knowledge of God in Jesus Christ. This knowledge will, of course, have for its foundation the Bible, literature, art, music, but these will be enriched by the companionship of Christ in all the heights and depths of life. Wo can all think of different people who took up work as leaders or teachers while they were fired with the ideals of- Christianity. But the vision faded, because they lost touch with .and knowledge of the Master Teacher. Some of them drop out of the work at this stage, and perhaps it is as well. Others, for the sake of appearance. or long-formed habit, continue to go through the form of teaching. But what they do on Sunday may be more than . undone by tfieir business or home life during the week. KNOWLEDGE OF THOSE WE LEAD OR TEACH. Paul says “we are ambassadors for Christ.” An ambassador has to be well posted in the latest information about the country which he represents, but he also needs to appreciate the strength and weakness, potentialities and limitations of the people among whom he carries on hie embassy. So, while we have a duty to keep open our lines of communication with God, we must be constantly on the alert to explore that undiscovered country—the nature of those whom it is our task to teach. Both out of doors and in their homes we should be studying their individual characteristics and needs. In all these duties, -most progress will be made by the who gives himself, not playing the social superior, sitting above the salt, but giving as friend to friend. This makes leadership costly, but everything that is worth while is costly. TRAINING FOR THE TASK. Other things being equal, a trained worker will be far more efficient than one who is untrained. The training will naturally fall into three parts—what? who? jind how? —i.c.. a study of the material which we shall teach, research into the fourfold characteristics of those with whom we deal, and a practical inquiry into the art and craft ol leadership. As we scan our teaching material, let us beware of teaching any mixture of truth and error, any blend of history and fable. COURAGE TO PUT FIRST THINGS FIRST. There was a time when religious educators recognised only the spiritual side of those with whom they had to do. There is, at present, a danger of a reaction that will, in some places, almost crowd out the spiritual altogether. In how many Sunday schools and Bible classes are the Sunday sessions a bore, to be endured in the hope that is set before the pupils in the shape of a Friday night club, a monthly social, or a holiday camp? It is our business to give them the right sense of proportion, but it may take a good deal of courage for us to do so. FAITH. Lastly, the leader needs faith—in human nature and in God. In young people’s work, there has to be a great deal of sowing in faith. We dare not look for immediate results, but must content ourselves with waiting. We shall not be able to trust our boys and girls unless we trust God. If we, the sowers, have kept faith with Him by giving of our best, surely we can depend on Him to bring, in His own good time, the rich increase.