Bible Teaching in State Schools.

Waiapu Church Gazette, Volume II, Issue 3, 1 September 1911, Page 48

Bible Teaching m State Schools.

(By the Yen. Archdeacon Willis-Cambridge)

ARTICLE I. THE IMPORTANCE OP BIBLE KNOWLEDGE. In this year of Grace, 1911, after 300 years' possession of the A.V. of the Bible, one might almost have taken for granted that everyone would have subscribed to the truth of the title of this article without any special pleading. But how are we to do this if Bible knowledge is declining, as I believe it undoubtedly is ? This being so, it is well for us to be reminded of what the Bible has ()one, and does, and can do for men and nations. I adduce the following testimony:— Pope Gregory the Great, who said of the English that they were ''net Angles, but angels," spoke of the Bible m the following words: • 'What is Scripture but God's letter tp l*is creatures f

Now, if you received a letter from your earthly Emperor you doubtless would pause a moment, you would not rest, you would not sleep until you had learned what this earthly Emperor had written to you. The Emperor of Heaven^ the Lord of men and angels, has sent you His letters for the saving 1 of your life. Study them I pray you. Meditate daily on your Creator's words." The Archbishop of Canterbury, when recently presenting a copy of the Authorised Version to King George, said: "The growth and strength of the Empire owes much to the English Bible. It (the English- Bible) has sweetened home life ; it has set a standard of pure speech; it' has permeated literature and art; it has helped to remove social wrongs, and to ameliorate conditions of labour ; it has modified the laws of the realm, and shaped the national character ; it has fostered international comity and goodwill among men ; above all, it has made access sible to us the revelation of God our Father m His Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Its truths, as long as th£y are made the standard of life will preserve the glory of our Empire through generations to come." His Majesty the King, m acknowledging the presentation, said : "That world-famous translation of the Bible into our tongue gave freely to the ; whole English people the right and the power to search for themselves for the truths and consolation of our faith; and during 300 years the multiplying millions of the English-speaking races have turned m their need and drawn upon its inexhaustible springs of wisdom, courage and joy. It is my confident hope that my subjects may never cease to cherish their noble inheritance m the English Bible, which, m a secular aspect, is the first of national treasures; and is, as you truly say, m its spiritual significance the most valuable thing that this world affords." The Marquis of Northampton,, m his message' of. this year to the Bible Society, of which he is the President, said: "No nation or empire owes more than we do to the Bible. It has been and is the inspirer of all ihat is best in' our national life, m our governing powers, m our laws, and m our individual character and aptiqn,

The debt which the British Empire owes to the publication of the Holy Scriptures is inalculable. The keystone of its mighty fabric is the open Book," The London Times, of Maroh 24th last, m an article on England's Bible, said as follows: — "Now that we have so many cheap substitutes for literature, it is more than ever necessary that every one, from childhood, should be iamiliar with the Bible as a book that says what is best worth saying m the best possible way — such a familiarity with it ought to be considered the foundation of all culture among us; and we ought to learn it at scohol as the Greeks learned Homer; and to be able to quote from it without any false shame, and without suggest* ing any controversy about theological matters." And again, "The Bible read m childhood makes us love those things which are best worth loving, and it has been tested by the experience of ages. The fact that it comes from the East, and has been naturalised m the West, that the Englishman has fathered what the Jew so long ago begat, is a proof of its universal value. It has endured a severer struggle for life than any other book. Living as it does m our language, and more vigorously than even the greatest works of our own writers it gives us a living memory of the central past of the world, so tha,t we who came into history so late, and out of a dark northern byway, can look back across the shining Mediterranean to the primeval Mesopotamia as if it were the cradle of our own race, from which we had wandered carrying with us Westward stories which were to last for ever through all the vicissitudes of time and place." Yet, To the "Dishonour of Progressive New Zealand, m this important Dominion. of the greatest empire of the world, the greatest Book m the world is withheld from the great body of the people, The Bible is not allowed to be taught m New Zealand as part of the State School work. In my next article. l will show that the Bible must be taught m the State schools of the Dominion, if the people generally are to have any adequate knowledge of its. contents,