The Crisis of Our Modern Education 1
B y W . B . R I L E Y M . A .
With it, the destinies of the Church rest; and through it, the crises for the Church are already created. This grows out of the marked progress of modern education, the masterly oppo nents of true education and the moral propaganda of the present day educa tion. Its Marked Progress Modern Education Represents the Scientific Spirit. Perhaps never since man began to study the heavens above him, the earth beneath him, the soul within him, has he given himself so sincerely to the multitude of mental problems as he is doing to-day. In the very adoption' of the term “Scientific” and in the rapid development of the scien tific spirit he is surpassing all former experiences. The question of Pilate, “What is truth?” stands not in mock, but mark! In spite of the failures of his predecessors to give to this ques tion satisfactory answer, the modern man insists that he will know. To this end he is disentangling himself from hoary, yet hampering traditions ; he is seeking to be dispossessed of all possible prejudices; he is painstak ingly gaining his knowledge! He is insisting that every observation be exact, and he is methodically formu lating and arranging his whole col lection of acts into a rational system, and he is striving to deduce from it a phlosophy that will stand any test to which the future centuries may put it. Such a procedure c^n but mean marked progress in the whole educa tional process. The very determina-
HE importance of Com- mencement season is not exceeded by any other pe~ riod of the year. The
luo^==g^il grade, high school, col lege and university graduates, to no small extent, are the predestined lead ers of the coming generation. The di rection given to life in the primary and advanced schools will, in turn, give direction to the political, social and re ligious movements of the immediate future. True, as has been remarked: “There are scholars who are not pol ished graduates ; and there are college graduates who are not scholars” ; and, yet, the great rule remains that while colleges do not necessarily make men, they marvelously help men to make themselves. Humboldt once said: “The finest fruit earth holds up to its Maker is a man.” And, upon that sentence, Wendell Phillips remarked: “To ripen, lift and educate a man is the first duty. Trade, all-learning, science and religion are only the scaf folding wherewith to build a man.” We ought never to forget that the virile men of to-day will make or un make their fellows, and thereby mould the future. There is no realm of life in which this is more true than in the moral and religious realm. The minister, therefore, of all men, must be interested in modern education. ♦This ad d ress w as delivered a t th e M ont rose Bible C onference an d w e -p rin t it here as o u r apologetic article for th e m onth. It is now prin ted a s th e first c h ap ter of Dr. R iley’s new book, “T h e C risis of th e C hurch.” C. C. Cook, P u b lish er. P ric e $1.00. T he book can be h ad a t th e Los A ngeles: Bible In sti tu te Book Room , 536 S outh H ope S treet, Los Angeles, C alifornia.
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