SCRIPTURE TEXT-BOOK

Star (Christchurch), Issue 5434, 9 December 1895, Page 4

SCRIPTURE TEXT-BOOK

IN SCHOOLS.

THE CLERGY'S APPEAL,

At the morning services .at the Cathedral yesterday, the Rev W. Dunkley, speaking on Proverbs 19, 2, "That the soul be without knowledge is not good," said that the neglect of the education of the spiritual faculties "was a distinct evil, and the question of religious education had •■ been before the world since the time the words of his text had been penned. In opposition to Herbert Spencer he quoted Kidd's " Social Evolution" to show that religious feelings were not a meaningless instinct but were a fundamental law of human society. From this the speaker deduced that religious knowledge formed part of the outfit necessary to the perfect equipment of everyone called to take a share in the work of the world. While denying any form of endowment to religion, the State actually, by supporting secular education, aided secularism. He held that the ( most convenient way to supply religious education was by the introduction of the "Irish National Scripture Text-book," which had absolutely no theological bias. He considered it rather shocking that the Women's Political Association, whose members would be the mothers of the future, should offer any objection to the spread of .religious knowledge. If they hoped to see their sons/loving and obedient surely they should be 'taught the story of Him who said, "Son, behold thy mother." As a matter of experience it was to religion they owed the tenderness, purity, modesty and love of sisters, wives, daughters and mothers. While New Zealand was inadvance of other countries respecting i education, the drink traffic and enfranchisement of women, it still lagged behind in the matter of religious instruction in schools, being one of the four countries where such instruction was forbidden to children.

At the Linwood Congregational Church the Eev I. Sarginson as an "uncompromising opponent of all State interference in religion," protested against the introduction of any religious text-books into our public schools. He; said that in matters of religious conviction plebescites were nothing. To affirm that in religion majori- . ties must rule was to affirm the principle of persecution ; it was to justify the crucifixion of Jesus and every enormity perpetrated in His name. Christianity and the Bible were subjects upon which such a wide variety of opinions was held that it was impossible for any system of religious instruction to be drawn up which would meet with general acceptance. This fact might be lamentable or otherwise, but it was there and had to be recognised. He had examined the Irish text-books, and found that" they bore the unmistakable impress of the dogmatist and the ecclesiastic. He was aware that they had been selected and approved by a committee upon which nearly all Christian denominations had been represented, but every committee had a prevailing tone. The selection was but one out of i many possible selections, and they were entitled to ask on what principle it had been made. To him the principle was evident enough and he entirely disagreed with it. Their children were not; going to be. made reverent,, truthful,; virtuous and law-abiding by a course of ancient/ history^ .historical ; and otherwise. : N"or;were they g6ing te .be. awed into submission" to' lawful authorities by a rSgiyw of , priestism prodigy:; He concluded witha strong appeal to parents. The defect was, not in bur school system; it lay in the indolence and almost criminal neglect of parents. . , .

At St Matthew's, St Albans, the Bey H. Williams preached in the morning from IL 'Timothy, chap, iii., v. 15, and pointed out that parents and sponsors were under obligation to see that their children were trained religiously. Parents could not do, this, but the Church should. In New Zealand the State had taken the education of the children out of thehands of the Church. The only likely way to make children religious was for them daily to hear prayer and the Word of God. the present Education Act of Hjew Zealand was as purely secular as if an atheist had drafted it. Eeligion, however, could not foe ignored, and there was no real difficulty in meeting the- requirement. Free trade in religion was the true policy, but that was not practical in New Zealand. The Church was willing to make a sacrifice and join with b^her Christians, so that all the children might daily hear prayer and holy Scripture. The Scripture Text-, book had been accepted by all denominations. It was used in New South Wales and Tasmania: \ In the evening the preacher took as his text Eomans xv., 4, and dwelt pn the materialistic tendency of the times. His chief point was that by not recognising religion in the day school it was unconsciously regarded as a secondary subject and of little importance. . Hence a secular system was anti-religious. _Eeligious instruction in some form was given in America and England, and all the countries of the world, save France, and one or two Australian colonies.

At the St Albans Wesleyan Church last night, the Rev W.Morley took aa his text, " Wisdom and knowledge shall be the stability of thy times, and the strength of salvation," (Isaiah oh. 33, v. 6). Stated in modern terms, the truth here set forth vfstt this :— -?' The permanent well-being of a community or a State can only be secured\.by the freest diffusion 'of knowledge among the people, and by allowing the fullest liberty." Attempts to establish a stable government by force, by relying on natui^l boundaries or race affinities, were shown to have failed, while, the present position of the United States and Great Britain, however imperfect, showed how true the statement of the passage, as thus interpreted, really was. Hence, it was argued, that the Church or State that opposed such dissemination of knowledge was decidedly impolitic, and ultimately its action recoiled upon itself. Applying the passage to the use of the Scripture text-book in the public schools, Mr Morley urged it for the following reasons :— On the lowest ground, because it was impossible for a man to appreciate English literature without acquaintance with Bible facts and incidents. All our great, -writers were conversant with it, and often alluded thereto. Many might be. named, but four were sufficient — Shakspere, Milton, Tennyson and Dickens. Working in different fields, they all frequently referred to it. Further, as a collection of writings, the Bible was worthy of attentive study. Written by men of different position, in varying circumstances, and extending over many centuries, it was a wondrous unity. Its summaries of history, its' pathos, and its poetry no educated man could afford to be^ ignorant of. Again, its moral law afforded the only stable foundation of morals, the only one that touched the whole life, and had adequate sanctions and supplied sufficient motive. Other proposed bases failed xmder the pressure of selfishness and passion. Still more important was the fact that the Bible revealed our personal relationship to God, and; declared our continued existence after death. Personal and individual responsibility and retribution were distinctly taught. On these grounds our children should not remain ignorant of such a compendium, and where so overwhelming a majority believed in and honoured the Bible, it should not be placed under a ban. Let it be submitted to the votes of the electors, and if decided upon, with a conscience clause there would be no hardship to any. In conclusion it was urged that parents and guardians should study the question and the speaker believed they would see it to be their duty to support the proposal, and by so doing

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complete and strengthen their educational system.

At St Mary's, Addington, the Rev W. S. Bean preached morning and evening on tho subject of the religious education of the young. In the morning he took for his text Proverbs i., 7, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." Ho considered that the State, having taken in hand the education of children, should provide for the full development of all their faculties — physical, intellectual, moral and religious— whereas the lastnamed faculty was entirely ignored. He appealed for support to influence members of Parliament to agree to the introduction of the text-book in the public schools of the colony. The increase of larrikinism during the past few years he attributed to two causes-T---yrant of parental control and the want of daily religious instruction in schools. In the evening the sermon was devoted to , answering objections to the introduction of the Scripture text-books in the State schools. The text was, "Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing of the words of the Lord," Amos viii., 2.

At the Methodist Free Church last evening the Eev J. Hosking preached frbm the words, "Wisdom and knowledge shall be the stability of thy times, and strength of salvation." Isaiah 33, 6. He considered that so far as intellectual education was concerned, our system was not behind any 1 country in the world. If our boys and girls had no bodies to be fed and no souls to save ; if there were no standard of morals, no hereafter to think of, then our system of education was superb. It must be remembered that intellectual training effected no radical change in the great principles of human character. It did not, make a dishonest man honest, a selfish man generous, and a sensual man spiritual. The cleverest nations in the world had been the most immoral. Some of the most illustrious geniuses in the world had been the most despicable in morals. Educate a rogue and you help him in his roguery. He believed that the springs of morals were not touched by education. Trace crimes to ignorance if they liked, but an ignorant criminal was easily caught. A clever criminal was not caught so easily. The intelligent man, instead of committing some petty deed of larceny, would rob on a large scale, and under the protection of the law would form and execute schemes of legal-fraud. There were splendid ecclesiastical machines in New Zealand, but they needed the life that comes from the teachings and power of the Gospel. They did not want the teachings of the sects in the schools j they wanted to introduce the teaching of Christ, the moral lessons of the Gospel. A Bible that was sworn by in our law courts surely ought to be read in our schools.

. The Eev H. T. Purchas, preaching at Papanui parish church, took as his text Prov. xiv, 34, "Bighteousness exaltetha nation, but sin is a reproach to any people." He said that the centuries .which had elapsed since those words were written had not only confirmed their truth, but compelled us to use even stronger language. Both socialists and individualists were awaking to , the necessity .of religion, for socialism would not work without love, nor individualism without faith. After.referring to the, growing unanimity in favour of the text-books, he quoted ,the words of ■Matthew Arnold >— " As long as the /world lasts; all whp want to make progress in .righteousness! will come to Israel for inspiration, as to '■'. the people who have had the Bense for righteousness most glowing and 'strongest." One might as well imagine a man with / a sense for sculpture not cultivating it by the help of the remains of Greek art, or a man with a sense for poetry not cultivating it by the help of Homer and Shakspere, as a man with a sense for conduct not cultivating it by the help of the Bible.