The tide has kept up a constant ebb and flow. When the tendency was
growing strong toward the classics, natural science revived, and the
spirit of investigation broke the band which memory work was weaving.
Science, not content with lawful fields of exploration, is now
delving into metaphysics, and sending to the world a race of skeptics
and infidels; or, if professed Christians, students are confirmed
evolutionists, casting aside the Word of God for the theories of geology,
astronomy, or biology. The narrow cramming system of memory-teaching
was killing the intellectual life of the children, when nature-study
was introduced. This was an improvement indeed, for these studies are
thought-producing; but here the tide set in the opposite direction, and
faith in a Creator is destroyed.
AS OF JERUSALEM, SO NOW OF THE CHURCHES, THEY ARE DESTROYED BECAUSE THE
EDUCATION OF THE CHILDREN IS NEGLECTED. Wherein lies the safety of the
Christian parent and his child? The child has a right to a Christian
education. Where is it to be obtained? Can the state give it?—It could
not if it would. Are the Protestant churches educating their own
children? Few indeed are the Christian schools, and to-day the churches
are reaping the result of their long period of retrogression. The words
of Dr. James M. Buckley, editor of the _Christian Advocate_, the leading
organ of Methodism, voice the general sentiment. He says in part:—
“That the Methodist Episcopal Church, with nearly three million of
communicants and a vast army of Sunday-school scholars, should add less
than seven thousand to its membership in 1899, is startling. That in
the same period it should show a decline of 28,595 in those avowed and
accepted candidates known as probationers, is ominous. Such a situation
has not been frequent in our history.... No reverent person can charge
the decline to God the Father Almighty, to Jesus Christ his only Son our
Lord, or to the Holy Ghost, in whom the church ceaselessly declares its
belief. It must therefore lie at the doors of every church.”[167]
This statement is very true; and yet, while exonerating God, Christ, and
the Holy Spirit from any blame in the matter, it is sad to note that
prominent men in the ministry fail to see that the churches are losing
their hold upon humanity because they have relinquished their right as
Protestants to educate the children. The churches are to be pitied; but
there is only one remedy, and that church which takes up its neglected
duty in _education_ will receive the reward. To the students of prophecy
it is a significant fact that this state of affairs has been growing
deplorably worse since about the year 1843 or 1844.
[Sidenote: Growth of elective system]
The fluctuations which have occurred in the curricula of our leading
schools has been referred to before, but is emphasized by a glance at
the introduction of the elective courses. When the course of instruction
became decidedly complex, requiring years for completion, and the
multiplication of subjects made it impracticable for the majority of
students to complete the course as outlined, there arose the privilege
of option in the choice of the studies in many courses. This was also
made necessary in the colleges by the organization of many technical
schools throughout the land. “The early efforts to establish mechanics
and manual-labor institutes are interesting as marking a reaction against
the dominance of language and metaphysics, and an ingenious appeal for
the large recognition of the physical sciences.” This has led in some
cases to the substitution of German or some other modern language, and an
increased amount of mathematics in place of the classics, the students
being free to choose.
[Sidenote: Freedom of Virginia University]
This spirit of freedom, which has been almost wrenched, one might say,
from many of the institutions of higher learning, is occasionally
found to have swayed the hearts of earlier educators. One reads with
keen relish the history of the founding of the University of Virginia,
the moving spirit of which was Thomas Jefferson. The reader will be
interested in a paragraph by Boone:—
“As early as 1779, while the ‘Old Dominion,’ with her sister States, was
embroiled in a doubtful war; and again in 1814, after numerous defeats
and constant opposition from the already-established William and Mary
College, from the Protestant churches, and from most of the political
leaders of the time, Mr. Jefferson and his friends sought to provide for
the state, along with the general system of education, a university, in
which should be taught in the highest degree, ‘every branch of knowledge,
whether calculated to enrich, stimulate, and adorn the understanding,
or to be useful in the arts and practical business of life.’ Five years
later (1819) an act of the Assembly was obtained establishing the
University of Virginia. When six years later it was opened, after a wide
acquaintance and careful study of the most progressive institutions in
the United States, it was found that in discipline and instruction, in
constitution and means, it very materially differed from them all.”[168]
[Sidenote: Freedom from other objectionable features]
The far-reaching sight of the chief promoter of the enterprise is seen
when we note wherein lay this very material difference. “There is one
practice,” wrote Mr. Jefferson, “from which we shall certainly vary,
although it has been copied by nearly every college and academy in
the United States; that is, the holding of the students all to one
prescribed course of reading, and disallowing exclusive application
to those branches only which are to qualify them for the particular
vocation to which they are destined. We shall, on the contrary, allow
them uncontrolled choice in the lectures they shall choose to attend, and
_require elementary_ qualifications only, and sufficient age.”[169]
This was a wonderful step for the time in which it occurred, and
indicates the direction given to minds of men by the Spirit of God. The
greater freedom occasioned by the adoption of the elective system is felt
throughout the educational centers of our land. Johns Hopkins University
grants the degree of B.A. in four out of six of its courses without the
classics. This leads us, however, to a consideration of the question
suggested several pages back, _What subjects can of right be taught in
schools supported from the public funds?_
[Sidenote: Should the state support the school]
Education, pure and simple, in the breadth of its meaning, is character
development. The state, as such, can not judge of motives, hence it
can not educate the inner man. The two phases of the Reformation were
Protestantism and republicanism; the first deals with the spiritual
nature, and through this reaches the entire man, making a symmetrical
character; the governmental part deals only with the mental and
physical—the outward manifestations. To the church was committed the
charge of the spiritual man, and the commission to “teach all nations”
given to the little company that watched the ascending Lord, was repeated
to the church in the sixteenth century; and with especial weight was this
burden laid upon the shoulders of American men and women. The state needs
men to carry forward its pursuits; and for the purely secular training of
such individuals, it has a perfect right, even a duty, to provide from
the common fund. A purely mechanical, secular, or business course might
therefore be offered in our state schools; but with such an education few
parents are contented. The moral nature needs training; in order to be
good citizens, it is argued, some part of the system of ethics which is
based on the doctrines of Christ must be inculcated. Christian schools,
and those only, can give a spiritual education. This is the dilemma
in which the educational system found itself about the time of the
Revolution, and the matter, instead of reaching a satisfactory solution,
has grown steadily worse. The churches failed to provide for the
Christian training; and the state felt that something must be done for
the children. Public schools were established; but these, by right, can
not teach morality or anything pertaining thereto. But they do. Hence,
the church by her failure has forced the state into the attempt to do
her work,—an impossible task. Again, the churches and the denominational
schools, not willing to be outdone by state institutions, have extended
their stakes and lengthened their cords until they offer, not those
subjects which are character building, so much as those which will enable
them to compete with state institutions. Here again is a departure from
Christian education, and a mixture which would be hard to designate as
other than papal.
[Sidenote: Degrees a papal mark]
Again, the state sets its seal upon work done in institutions which it
supports, and the Christian schools—those in name at least—not only
accept public money, but allow the state to put its seal to their work
in the granting of literary degrees and diplomas. This is a natural
result of the union of worldly education and the principles of Christian
education which we have followed through two centuries, and yet to-day
there is scarcely a school claiming to be Christian in its principles
that dare raise its voice against the customs of its sister institutions.
[Sidenote: Education and state unite; result, papal]
“Render, therefore, unto Cæsar the things that be Cæsar’s, and unto God
the things which be God’s,” would be repeated, should the author of those
words enter in person the institutions of learning which claim to bear
his name. A union of church and state is described as the papacy; a union
of education (the foundation of the church) and the state is passed by
with scarcely a dissenting voice.
[Sidenote: Educational work of Catholics]
So far in this chapter, the educational work of the Catholic Church
in the United States has been passed without a word;—not because that
organization has been less active here than in European countries, but
because the idea is so prevalent that a system of education to be papal
must emanate from the Roman Church. Ideas to the contrary have been
emphasized again and again in these pages. In our own country we can not
fail to see that, aside from the work of the Catholic Church, there has
been developed a papal system of instruction. The stepping-stones from
the present back into the dim ages of the past, when Egypt or Greece
swayed the world through science or philosophy, may in places be hidden;
but the products of Greek philosophy and Egyptian wisdom, seasoned with
the ideas of the medieval scholasticism, or the more subtle mixture of
modern Christian education and the papal system as exemplified by Sturm,
to which is attached the State’s seal of approval, meet us from season to
season as our schools send forth their graduates.
[Sidenote: Catholic schools]
The Catholics, however, have not watched the growth of our educational
system without putting forth a vigorous effort. From Colonial days, when
the Jesuits flocked to these shores, and taught the established schools
and missions, to the present time, when the new university for the
education of Catholic youth is in full operation at our national capital,
this organization has spared no effort. As Boone says, “All other
denominational service in education is partial and irregular compared
with the comprehensive grasp of the Catholic Church. Their aim is
all-inclusive, and assumes no other agency. Ignoring the public school,
their plan is co-extensive with their membership. With one fifth of all
the theological seminaries, and one third of all their students; with one
fourth of the colleges, nearly six hundred academies, and two thousand
six hundred parochial schools (elementary), instructing more than half a
million children, the church is seen to be a force which, educationally
considered, is equaled by no other single agency but the government
itself.”[170]
The system by which this work is carried forward is thus described: “The
twelve Catholic provinces ... are subdivided into seventy-nine dioceses.
The latter average from thirty-five to forty parishes, each of which is
supposed to have a school for the elementary training of their children.
As a matter of fact, _ninety-three per cent_ of them maintain parochial
schools, in which are educated, generally by the priesthood, ... the
511,063 pupils. In addition to these are five hundred and eighty-eight
academies, usually for the girls, and ninety-one colleges.” This was
written six or seven years ago, but the figures speak for themselves.
With the nation honeycombed by schools which have as their avowed
object the annihilation of Protestantism and republicanism; with our own
public-school system, so grand in many respects, _yet compromising until
it is indeed papal_, it is not strange that Methodist and Presbyterian
congregations are bemoaning their dwindling numbers.
Should Protestants educate their own children? History speaks in emphatic
language, Yes! The papacy says, If you wish us to have your children, No!
“God stands at the door and knocks; blessed are we if we open to
him.”—_Luther._
XVI
CHRISTIAN EDUCATION
After watching the educational struggle which has gone on for ages
between truth and error, and observing that scarcely a century has
passed which has not witnessed a controversy more or less severe between
Christian and papal methods of instruction, one is prepared to believe
that this is a subject inseparably connected with the history of nations.
This being true, we must expect to find ourselves in the midst of the
controversy to-day. It needs but a casual glance at current history to
confirm this fact; for minds are troubled because of existing evils, and
hearts are open for educational truth.
If we are inclined to think that the principles of Christian education
are new and before unheard of, we have but to catch the thoughts which
have swayed true educators from the time of Christ to the present day to
know that the same spirit has been at work in all ages to draw the hearts
of men to God.
[Sidenote: Christian education exemplified by Christ]
The advent of Christ was a wonderful event. “The Word was made flesh,
and dwelt among us.” That man might behold the workings of God in human
flesh, and see here the manifestation of truth, Christ was born. His
was pre-eminently a work of education, and His system was _Christian
education_. By this means, Heaven again reached earth, and clasped it
to her bosom. Men, in their shortsightedness, were unable to comprehend
the spiritual teachings of the Son of God, and often His most powerful
lessons fell unappreciated on the ears of the multitudes, and even on the
ears of the apostles.
[Sidenote: The Holy Spirit the teacher]
Much as the life of Christ has done for the world, there has never been a
man, or a nation of men, who have fully followed his teachings. Error has
ever been mixed with truth, and the educators of the world have failed to
see the realization of their hopes because of this partial grasp of truth.
Christ, when rejected by the world, did not withdraw entirely, and leave
man to his fate; but He sent forth His Spirit, the _Spirit of Truth_
as an educator, leading minds into truth. This working of the Spirit
is plainly seen, for one man has been directed to one phase of true
education, while another, perhaps a contemporary worker, or perhaps a
successor, it may be a fellow countryman, or one at a great distance, has
picked up another thread in the skein, and developed another thought for
the world.
[Sidenote: True education always represented]
The world has never long been left without some representative of
Christian education. In attempting to define the term which stands as
the subject of this chapter, attention is called to the partial work of
reform which has been accomplished by men whom the world recognizes as
educators. The errors of a false education, so prevalent in times past,
and still recognized as a part of the educational systems now in vogue,
stand in strong contrast to the correct ideas advocated by these men at
various times.
[Sidenote: Latin and word-study in papal schools]
The men whose ideas are given in this chapter lived and wrought after the
Reformation; and in order to reveal the error against which they worked,
it is necessary to consider the methods of instruction to be found in
papal schools. Similar thoughts are found on previous pages, but, for
the sake of contrast, they are here repeated.
Painter says: “When a young man had acquired a thorough mastery of
the Latin language for all purposes; when he was well versed in the
theological and philosophical opinions of his preceptors; when he
was skillful in dispute, and could make a brilliant display from the
resources of a well-stored memory, he had reached the highest points to
which the Jesuits sought to lead him. _Originality and independence_
of mind, _love of truth for its own sake, the power of reflecting, and
of forming correct judgments, were not merely neglected_, they were
suppressed in the Jesuits’ system.”[171] Karl Schmidt likewise testifies
in the words, “_Books_, _words_, had been the subjects of instruction....
_The knowledge of things was wanting._ Instead of things themselves,
_words about the things were taught_.” “Learning by doing” is the rule
in Christian education. A large amount of Latin and Greek was, and is
still, the rule in the papal educational system, and these languages were
taught, not for the sake of thought, but merely for the words.
[Sidenote: Reformers oppose mere language study]
The world had for a century been bound by the study of the classics. This
bondage was broken by the Reformation, but the world returned thither
again. Milton, the poet of the seventeenth century, wrote: “Language is
but the _instrument_ conveying to us things useful to be known. Though a
linguist should pride himself to have all the tongues that Babel cleft
the world into, yet if he have not studied the solid things in them, as
well as the words and lexicons, he were nothing so much to be esteemed
a learned man as any yeoman or tradesman competently wise in his mother
dialect only.... We do amiss to spend seven or eight years in scraping
together so much Latin and Greek as might be learned otherwise easily and
delightfully in one year.”[172]
[Sidenote: Things studied instead of language]
Ratich, a German educator of the sixteenth century, said: “We are
in bondage to Latin. The Greeks and Saracens would never have done
so much for posterity if they had spent their youth in acquiring a
foreign tongue. We must study our own language, and then the sciences.”
“Everything first in the mother tongue,” and “nothing on mere
authority,” were rules in his schoolroom. Comenius, the renowned teacher,
used to say: “If so much time is to be spent on the language alone, when
is the boy to know about things,—when will he learn philosophy, when
religion, and so forth? He will consume his life in preparing for life.”
[Sidenote: Mechanical teaching is papal]
How exactly this applies to the word-study of our boys and girls to-day!
It matters not whether it be Latin or English grammar; indeed, it may
be that other mode of expression,—some form of mathematics,—where time
and energy are devoted to the process merely. A failure to make the
development of thought—independent thinking, in fact—the main object in
instruction, stamps any method of teaching as papal, no matter by what
name it is known, or by whom the subjects are taught. It was the life
work of Comenius to counteract this tendency, as the following principles
show. He insisted that “nothing should be taught that is not of solid
utility.” “Nothing is to be learned by heart that is not first thoroughly
understood.” “Theologians and physicians should study Greek.” “Doing can
be learned only by doing.” That educational reformers of to-day are
advocating these same principles will be seen later. This is a part of
Christian education.
[Sidenote: Character-building the aim in true education]
John Locke, an English educator of the seventeenth century, had truth on
the subject of education. Of the languages, he says: “When I consider
what ado is made about a little Latin and Greek, how many years are
spent in it, and what a noise and business it makes to no purpose, I
can hardly forbear thinking that parents of children still live in fear
of the schoolmaster’s rod, which they look on as the only instrument of
education; as if a language or two were its whole business.”
Character was valued by this man, and his statement as to the relative
importance of study is valuable to parents and teachers. “Reading and
writing and learning I allow to be necessary, but yet not the chief
business. I imagine you think him a very foolish fellow that should not
value a virtuous or a wise man infinitely before a scholar. Not but that
I think learning a great help to both, in well-disposed minds; but yet it
must be confessed also that in others not so disposed, it helps them only
to be the more foolish or worse men.
[Sidenote: How Locke would choose a teacher]
“I say this, that when you consider the breeding of your son, and are
looking out for a schoolmaster, or a tutor, you would not have, as is
usual, Latin and logic only in your thoughts. Learning must be had, but
in the second place, as subservient only to greater qualities. Seek
out somebody that may know how discreetly to frame his manners: place
him in hands where you may, as much as possible, secure his innocence,
cherish and nurse up the good, and gently correct and weed out any bad
inclinations, and settle in him good habits. THIS IS THE MAIN POINT; and
this being provided for, learning may be had into the bargain.”
To how great an extent are Protestants following this excellent advice?
In what schools for Protestant boys and girls is innocence cherished?
where is the good nourished? where are bad inclinations gently weeded
out, and good habits settled? where do these things take a position ahead
of book learning?
“Virtue,” continues Locke, “as the first and most necessary of those
endowments that belong to a man or gentleman, was based on religion.
As the foundation of this, there ought very early to be imprinted on
his mind a true notion of God.” Here one finds a clear conception of
Christian education, which parents of to-day would do well to study.
[Sidenote: Cramming a papal method]
The study of the classics, together with the memory work which was the
chief characteristic of these studies, was not the only defect in papal
education; hence it is not the only error from which educators, led, as
one must believe, by the spirit of truth, have from time to time broken
away. The cramming system, so justly denounced by thinking minds as one
of the most far-reaching defects of the present school system, is a mark
of papal education wherever it may be found. And probably no generation
has passed which has not heard some voice lifted against this pernicious
practice of the schoolroom. The God of heaven recognizes that the human
mind contains the highest possibilities of earth; the child is a part of
himself; and when wrong methods of education are used in dealing with
developing minds, He, the head of the body, of which we are members,
feels the hurt; so it is that Christian education is an emanation from
the mind of God.