T H E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
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ideals and principles of the nation. The nation cannot be different from its citizens. Bad citizens mean a bad nation. Good citizens mean a good nation. Is it scientific to think'that a pagan public school system will produce Christian citizens? F ifth : The highest ideals of life and character that we know are the: Christian ideals. In order to foster these ideals, we must expose our youth to the sources of them. History proves that it is hopeless to think of maintaining morality apart from vital religion. Religion is as essential to the realization of a moral, wholesome life as the air we breathe is to our physical life. To ignore this fact in the education of our boys and girls is to hopelessly fail in the true purpose of adequate education. If what we have said is true, the indifference of the Church and of Christians to education is unthink able. ; We are not so sure but that this needs to be put still stronger: For the Church and Christians to be indifferent to what is happening in our schools and colleges is criminal! What we put into the schools of today, we shall reap in the life of the nation tomorrow. There is an intimate relationship between the church and schools and it ought to be made vital by Christiaps in teach ing men to observe all things whatsoever 9esus Christ has commanded. was thu s in danger. Learned professors made th e positive statem en t th a t w riting was no t known in th e lifetim e of Moses and he therefo re could not have w ritten th e first five books of the Bible which had always been credited to him. These linguist critics traced th e development of w riting th rough its earliest forms,H -the Egyptian hieroglyphics and la ter th e wedge shaped or cuneiform characters. The facts they presented seemed to show conclusively th a t w rit ing came into existence long afte r th e death of Moses. This was freely ta u g h t in some theological sem inaries and denials of th e Mosaic au tho rsh ip of th e P entateuch appeared in some of th e text books. Then were dug from th e sands of .Egypt lib raries of tablets. The g reatest of these were found a t Tel-el-Amarna and were in existence centuries before Moses was born. Theories th a t had shaken th e church for years were abandoned almost over night. When other like discoveries were made and th e world knew th a t Egypt, a t th e tim e of Moses, was fully as literary as was Europe in th e tim e of th e Renaissance, th e critics were of th e opinion th a t it would have been something rem arkab le if Moses, w ith all th e education and cu ltu re of Egypt, had no t left some his tory of his people for he had lived in a country w here even the very rocks were utilized upon which to w rite history. Ten years afte r th e linguists had ceased to troub le th e church, th e historic critics attack ed th e Bible on entirely new lines. The story of Belshazzer reigning when th e Medes and Persians captured Babylon was questioned, as history outside of th e Bible knew no such ru ler. The H ittite nation so often mentioned in th e Old Testam ent was called a myth, b rough t into th e history of th e Jewish people to magnify th e ir prowess. A t any ra te no mention gì»
eral. To remove the Bible and Christianity from American history and literature would be to tear them to shreds and render them absolutely meaningless. In order to wholly remove the Bible from our public schools, it would be necessary to put out seventy-five per cent of our greatest literature, and to rob our history of its soul. Do we seriously propose to do this? Third: No education is scientifically sound that has not character as its final aim. A few years ago this statement would have been widely challenged. Today, we feel quite confident that very few serious educa tionalists in our country would question it. Men everywhere are realizing that education that does not result in moral character is hopelessly inadequate. The Bible and Christianity are the greatest char acter-builders known to history. Even so skeptical an historian as, Lecky would recognize this fact. Is it scientific, in our efforts to produce great and depend able character, to ignore the greatest and most fruit ful source of character available? Fourth: If this is a Christian country, we should en deavor to produce citizens to administer its affairs in a Christian way. The public school system, if it has any vital significance at all, is for the purpose of pro ducing the kind of citizens needed to carry out the HREE g reat church conferences held recently were deeply stirred by th e controversies of two groups of theologians who call themselves “Funda m entalists” and “Modernists,” th e form er holding fast to th e old tim e beliefs and the la tte r approaching close to th e line th a t divides orthodoxy and actu al infidelity. Like all discussions of th is natu re, th e effect on the membership of the Christian church has been disquieting, b u t only to a small degree in comparison w ith many previous upheavals, born of theories long since buried under the spade of the archaeologist in E gypt or abandoned in the lig h t of la tte r day science or philosophy. The present theories are purely controversial, and are not new. Since th e earliest days of Christianity th e Deity of Christ, th e V irgin B irth, th e P lenary and Verbal In sp ira tion of the Bible have been subjects th a t have stirred the church, bu t these are mere theories, th e expression of the reasoning of th e ir exponents. Theories never grip th e m ind w ith th e same force as th a t which is not speculative b u t comes w ithin th e realm of fact, real or apparent. In th e memory of th e present gen eration th ere have been such serious church upheavals when th e higher critics of th e Bible offered w h at a t th e tim e seemed conclusive evidence and no t theories in support of th e ir denial of its accuracy. In the m iddle of th e p ast century archaeological research in Egypt came to th e support of th e historical accuracy of th e Bible when th a t book was fiercely assailed, no t by those w ithout th e church, b u t by professors in th e theo logical sem inaries, th e men who were inculcating th e ir theories in the m inds of men who w ere to be th e fu tu re pastors of th e churches. The very citadel of Christianity |§ß| Sà»
Tke Unchanging and Unchangeable Fundamentals By Jam es L. Polk, S tate E d ito r of th e P h iladelph ia “N o rth American” and Ex-P resident of th e Philosophical Society.
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