A Puzzle

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXIII, Issue 16, 20 April 1905, Page 18

A Puzzle

The Eible-in-schools clergy must be able to soe much further through a stone wall than ordinary mortals can. They now say they ' absolutely ' will have no ' religious instruction ' imparted to children in the public schools. But the very text-book which they have adopted foi use in the schools is called by its compilers, and known officially as, a manual of ' religious instruction.' Moreover, a great part of the lessons contained in it consist of ' religious instruction,' and ' religious instruction ' is even conveyed in many of the titles and headings. How s)adh to, manual could be used day by aay by teachers and pupils and yet ' absolutely ' exclude ' religious instruction,' is a puazle which 'no fellah can understand .'—'unless, -perhaps, our friends of the League. It is quite on a par with the protest from the same quarter that the lessons will be ' unsectarian.'

• The good pastors and other well-meaning people m this movement might, 1 says the ' Lyttelton Times,' ' just as well admit at once that their desire is to '' Christianise " the children^ and that, to be of any value at all, Bible lessons must be taught as religion. AnS,

having got so far, bow can they stop short of training their teachers to teach- Christianity ? ,We measure ■ a teacher's ability to impart arithmetic, grammar, history, geiogrtajpihy, and the rest, amd if Bible lessons were to be given, surely we should have to test also the teacher's ability to elucidate Biblical passages. This aspect of the question was ratiher ignored at last night's meeting (in Ohristchurch), but the Leaguers were m.ore daring in DuneUin. One reverend gentleman s&id he woi.l'd be content to have the lessons taught " profossionally," whether the teaching has any sincerity or not. it was in the same spirit- -that the Alexandra Hall speakers expressed their readiness to leave the teaching to men of, religion or men of no religion. The public can see tor themselves where this leads to.'