April 1926
T H E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
188
try will never know the Bible unless it is read to them in the public school. One of the fundamental principles of modern pedagogy is that our Ideals must be personified and given to the children in character study, therefore the study of biography is given a large place in our school system. Is it reasonable or con sistent that we should introduce our boya and girls to the heroes of Greece and Rome and to the great statesmen of Europe and the leaders of our modern world and deny them the story of Isaiah, Moses, Jeremiah, John and Paul? If there Is anything in the study of biography for the purpose of Influencing the young people with the right kind of ideals, what could be more Irrational than the denying to our young people the opportunity to read the story of the only perfect Man who ever lived— the story of Jesus of Nazareth? The question may be raised regarding American fair play. It seems to me that nothing could be more in harmony with American fair play than that the majority should determine what shall be taught In our schools. For exam ple, a Jewish rabbi in my hearing appealed to this spirit of American fair play .In a plea that he was making against the putting of the Bible in the schools because he believes that the Bible is a sectarian Book and his people do not believe In the New Testament, therefore it is not fair that it should be taught in the public schools. He forgot that some of us have Just as deep a conviction that the Bible Is not a sectarian Book and that the highest interests of the boys and girls and of the nation demand that it should be in the public schools. The whole ques tion is as to whether the minority or the majority are to rule In this case. The conviction that it should be left out is certainly not more sacred to the minority than the con viction that it should be put in is to the majority, and in a government like ours the majority must rule. In order to be perfectly fair, where the majority in any given school are Hebrews then they should be allowed to read the best Hebrew translation that they have of the Bible; if the majority are Roman Catholic then they should be allowed to read the translatipn that is approved, by their church, but if the majority are those who believe that the King James version is the best translation of this Book then . that translation should be used. The point of great Importance is that every boy and girl should bo made acquainted with the Book in some trans lation. What we are pleading for is not an Interpretation of the Book or the Introduction of any sectarian theology but the reading of the Book itself. We are pleading for the filling of the minds of the boys and girls with the teachings and ideals of the prophets, of Jesus, and the Apostles. Apart from any interpretation, no boy nor girl can help but be benefited by the memorising of a Psalm like the Twenty- Third Psalm, or a portion like the Sermon on the Mount, or the thirteenth chapter of First Corinthians, or the story of the sacrificial life of our Lord culminated in the sacrifice made upon Calvary. If the story of Lincoln and his unself ish service is an influence in the making of the kind of citizens that we want in this country, how could we pos sibly argue against the Influence of the story of Him who beyond, all lived for others? Furthermore we contend that the denial of the Bible to the boys and girls of America is a betrayal of the ideals that made America possible and the foundations upon which our school system was instituted. We are debtors to these boys and girls, and let us do our utmost to see to it that no boy nor girl can be born and educated in America without knowing the Bible and its story.
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N E W N E S S O F L I F E W . H o s t e Back to the cross I look and wondering see The Christ o f God in agony for me! But gazing closer on that form Divine I see with Him myself, His death was mine. Again bpside the garden tomb 1 stand, And see Him buried there with reverend hand; But in the grave faith sees, not one but two; God hid me there for ever from His view. And was that precious “ Corn o f wheat” thus sown In tears wasted? Or did it rise alone? A fruitful ear bursting from ’ncath the sod, It rose its every grain a saint of God. Since then by simple faith ourselves we see, Whether for life or death , in Christ to be; May the world henceforth in our words and ways See Christ in us to His continual praise. — “ T h e Christian." moulded by the Bible. It is absolutely impossible for any teacher to scientifically teach American history In the pub lic schools and keep the Bible out of the schools. If it is necessary to the explanation of our history, why not allow the children to know the original Book? Let them see for themselves what it is and know the nature o f the teachings that resulted in the ideals embodied in our institutions. The people who established the school system of America certainly had no idea of divorcing religion and the Bible from our school curriculum. There is no question about the fact that they meant that people should have the right to worship God according to the dictates of their own con science, but as is stated in the Virginia Ordinance of 1878, Article 3, “ Religion, morality and knowledge, being neces sary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the moans of education shall forever be encour aged.” This is not exceptional but, on the contrary, repre sents the general idea back of the founding and support of public education in the Republic. * We also owe the boys and girls of America a knowledge of the Bible in order to appreciate America’s best literature. Longfellow, Lowell, Whittier and the Immortals of the lit erary world of America can never be understood by people who are ignorant of the Bible. But, going back to the Idea that religion and morality are necessary to good gov ernment, we owe it to the boys and girls to give to them the best that religion has to offer and the greatest source of moral influence known to us. It has been demonstrated in recent days in a strictly scientific way that the teaching of the Bible to boys and girls In a systematic and sincere way very materially affects their moral ideas and standards. This is the thing that we need today more than anything else. Everywhere men and women are complaining of the crime wave among young people. If we deliberately divorce the greatest source of moral influence known to us from the training and education of our young people, can we reason ably blame the young people if they are not living up to the standards and ideals of the Book that we refuse to teach them? We may just as well be honest and face the fact that millions of the boys and girls growing up in this coun
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