RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23002, 3 October 1936, Page 4

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

By Amplius

“ Religious education should lead to a growing sense of relationship to God, to a definite commitment of the will to Him in obedience and trust, and to the conscious assumption of discipleship to Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ should be presented in such a way that pupils will experience a growing vital relationship to God through Him. Selfsurrender and entrance upon a life of discipleship are a necessary stage in religious growth.”

THE VALUE OF PRAYER Why should the Christian warrior pray? He must pray as a suppliant for the robust health of his own spirit. Yes, but why should he pray for the maintenance of his own spiritual health? What is the vital relationship between the praying soul and the attainment of moral and spiritual robustness? How is prayer related to a man’s moral force? This is the relationship. A praying warrior receives into his soul the grace-energies of the eternal God. The power of grace is just the holy love and the strength and beauty of the holy Godhead flowing into the needs of the soul and filling them with its own completeness. Now we do not pray in order to make God willing to impart this grace, but in order to fit ourselves to receive it. We do not pray to ingratiate God’s good will, but to open our souls in hospitality. We do not pray in order to create a friendly air, but to let it in; not to propitiate God, but to appropriate Him. We do not pray to turn a reluctant God towards ourselves, but to turn our reluctant selves toward a ready and bountiful God. It is imperative that we should lay hold of this teaching very firmly. It is of the utmost moment that we should know what we are doing when we pray for the bracing and sanctifying energies of the Holy Spirit. Prayer then, I say, is first and chiefly the establishment of communion with God. Prayer is the clearing of the blocked roads, which are crowded with all sorts of worldly hindrances. Prayer is the preparing of the way of the ,Lord. When I turn to the Lord in prayer I open the doors and windows of my soul toward the heavenlies, and I open them for the reception of any gifts of grace which God’s holy love may wish me to receive. My reverent thought in prayer perfects communion between my soul and God.—Dr J. H. Jowett. SOME PRINCIPLES IN SUNDAY SCHOOL TEACHING The average Sunday school teacher is handicapped in that he has not had the training in pedagogy or methods of teaching that the averaae day school teacher has had. Neither does the average Sunday school teacher have the time to pursue extensive home reading in methods of teaching even when text books on this subject are available. And yet sound methods of teaching are an essential requirement for Sunday school work. The child learns in Sunday school in exactly the same way as he learns in day school; he is the same child; his interests are identical, his problems are the same. It is not a different Willie or Jimmy who dons his best suit to go to Sunday school on Sunday afternoon from that Willie or that Jimmy who gets up on Monday morning to go to school. The sacred atmosphere of the Sunday school room means little to him; the other boys in the class are the same fellows who are in his class at school, but alas! the teacher is different. In the olden days anyone who was religious was suitable to teach a Sunday school class, for it was held that religion was to be caught and not taught; but we have advanced from that old viewpoint, and fully recognise to-day that piety alone is not an adequate equipment with which to attempt to teach a class of growing boys or girls. Other equipment is necessary, and of this other equipment three things are necessary; (1) To know the lesson material: (2) to know sound methods of teaching; (3) to know the interests of the class.

The average teacher has some general idea, at least, of the lesson; yet few teachers are brave enough to-day to tackle the task of teaching without some preparation. The average teacher knows something about the class, for he has generally a little brother or sister, or a. son or daughter, with the same interests as the children in the class. The other equipment necessary is a knowledge of methods of teaching. These are complex, yet if a start is made with a few elemental principles it is surprising how easily the others follow. Certain of these elemental principles can be suggested in a few words:— 1. The aim of the Sunday school teaching must be clearly defined, and defined in terms of activity on the part of the child. The teacher is not to be regarded as one who crams knowledge into empty heads, but rather as one who assists the class working together to decide upon certain attitudes and certain modes of action as being desirable. The teacher is not there primarily to teach the Bible, but to teach the children, and the Bible is to be regarded as a means to this end. In short, the aim of Sunday School teaching must be to help the child to develop Christian character by assisting him to make Christian decisions, and to engage in Christian activities. 2. The teacher must start with the present interests of the child, and from these present interests select the most related to the central theme of the lesson. The child has interests; he would be a dead child if he had not. Proceeding from the present interest the step to the central theme of the lesson can easily be taken without a loss of interest. If the class loses interest in the step it follows that the transition was not skilfully made, provided, of course, the interest was, at the beginning, a real one. Commanding, scolding and beseeching will arouse an artificial interest for the time being, but it will not last. Interest is always natural, never forced. 3. The usual methods of teaching are: Story-telling, in which the child identifies himself with the ideal character of the story; questioning, which stimulates thinking; discussion, which brings the collective mind of the class to bear on the problem: and handwork, which gives more objectiveness to the thinking. These methods can safely be used with limitations. Moralising at the end of a lesson should be avoided; it is not necessary if the child’s interest had been maintained throughout the lesson; it is useless if the interest has not been maintained. for no formulation of conduct will produce that conduct apart from right motives. Standards whereby any teacher can test the work of the class can be summed up as follows: — Has every member in my class been attentive? To what have they been attentive? To millinery or football or to the lesson? Have they become interested in a higher interest than that in which the lesson period was begun? Has each member of the class shown initiative in the discussions and decisions of the class? Has there been a calm group discussion in which the contributors of each were merged into a common thought? Have the different viewpoints of each individual been duly evaluated? Have they really been earnest in seeking for fresh light upon the subject? Have they recognised the eternal principles and the illuminating presence of God in their decisions, so that they can realise this decision is in accordance with God’s thought? If any teacher in earnest "bout the progress of his or her class will endeavour to apply these principles to the class, faithfully and heroically resolving that nothing shall hinder the application, certainly for that teacher will come an illuminating revelation of the heart of a child and a wonderful insight into the possibilities of Sunday school teaching which will translate what too often is a burden into a special privilege.—The Rev. Harvey Forster, D.D.