BIBLE IN SCHOOLS.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume VIII, Issue 418, 15 April 1881, Page 16

BIBLE IN SCHOOLS.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE TABLET. Sib, — Can it be possible that many of our highly educated fellowcolonists cannot understand the reason why Roman Catholics, object to Protestants expounding the misty verses of the "Holy Bible " to their (Catholic) children. That such a sub-class of the genus homo can be found in this land of boiling springs is placed beyond the powers of refutation by the action wbilh the society that believes that the " open Bible "is the key to the palace of virtuous actions have taken to get the " bc-t printed book " introduced into our public schools which are largely supported by Roman Catholics, Jews and Freethinkers. Is it possible for any man — let his mind be as flexible as it may, to explain the Scriptures in a manner that would be inoffensive to the religions of the children of any of our public Bchools ? I answer, he cannot, for every true believer is biased to a certain extent in favour of the doctrines of the Church that he is a member of. If the teacher were a Presbyterian he would be sure to give an explanation of the disputed scriptural passages that -would

not clash with Calvinism. The Church of England teacher would take for his " text book " Cranmer's Book of Common Prayer. The Freethinking teacher would say to his pupils " examine the first book of Moses and find out how many daughters Adam and Eve weie blessed with, the name of Cain's wife, and who the first fratricide thought would slay him if he were not branded. A Jewish teacher would be bound by his religion to teach that the New Testament is a mass of falsehoods, Christ an imposter, and all Christian religions inventions of the ruler of the infernal regions. And if the teacher happened to be a Roman Catholic, would he not linger fondly on such verses as " Whose sins you shall forgive, &c, &c. ?" but, as Roman Catholic teachers would be few and far between, what they would teach would make very little difference in the social condition of the good people of Otago — at least, for if we are not greatly mistaken the number of Roman Catholics that would hold the situation of teacher in Biblical schools could be represented by a circle — therefore the schools would be purely Protestant. Where the Presbyterians would hold a majority in the school committees the teacher would be a staunch believer in the doctrines of Calvin, Knox, &c, and the children would hear the hedger often mutter to himself, " salvation can be gained by faith alone " — although a man is a sharp swindler, a robber of churches and a despoiler of the land — he will be saved if his faith in the goodness of Christ stands twenty degrees above Zero, and ye, my beloved children, can never become members of the " true Church " unless ye study the " Confession of Faith. If the pedagogue happened to adhere to the doctrines of the Church of England, he would be apt to exclaim accidentally, no man can be saved unless he lives according to the rules laid down in the articles which were first promulgated by " that glorious saint," who was tried and convicted on a charge of heresy, &c, &c.. in 1555. Although a great number of our '* world- wise men " believe that the introduction of the Bible into the " free schools of New Zealand " would be a great boon to all denominations of Christians, we are forced to say that as far as Roman Catholics are concerned " it would be adding insult to injury" unless the Government established a Roman Catholic school opposite every Biblical one. If the Bible in Schools Association believe that no one can be saved unless he reads his Bible, and that no education is complete without a knowledge of the Scriptures, why do they, if they are lovers of education and their fellow-men, not start private schools in the cities and townships as their Roman Catholic fellow-colonists have done ? In fancy I hear one of my Biblical friends saying, "we would erect schools everywhere if it would cost us nothing, but you ken as well as I do that folk canna start schools without putting their hands into their pockets and pulling out "brass — and that is a thing -which we abhor to a greater extent than the ignorance of our fellow-men, what we (the 8.5.A.) want is the Government to pass an Act which will compel Roman Catholics, Jews and Freethinkers to pay for the training of our children and the converting of theirs' to the true faith out of their own pockets." In our opinion it would be more honourable of the Bible in Schools Association to petition Parliament to pass an act under which all schools that had an average attendance of twenty could come, and in which the educational standards are as high as those in the " Government free schools," which must be left secular, for any other style would please all parties a great deal worse. — I am, &c, F. Barry. April 7th, 1881.