The Ashburton Guardian. Magna Est Veritas et Prevalebit. MONDAY, JUNE 14, 1886. Bible Reading in Schools.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume V, Issue 1263, 14 June 1886, Page 2

The Ashburton Guardian. Magna Est Veritas et Prevalebit. MONDAY, JUNE 14, 1886. Bible Reading in Schools.

Since the passing of the present Education Act in 1877 repeated efforts have been made, in and out of Parliament, to remove the exclusively secular character of our State system of education. The latest attempt in this direction was made in the Legislative Council on Wednesday afternoon when Dr Menzies moved “ That in the opinion of this Council every School Committee should have the power to cause the Bible to be read in its school daily without comment.” After a lively debate the opinion held by Dr Menzies was affirmed by the Council, and it is now probable that a similar motion will be tabled in the lower House. Many politicians, and many other worthy people, profess to draw a well defined line between Bible reading in schools and denominational education, but, 4or ourselves, we have found it impossible to completely disassociate the two questions. We are not divided with regard to the respective merits of Christianity and Paganism, but on the interpretation of Scripture. The history and traditions handed down to us by the Bible constitute the foun

datiuns of the various Christian

churches; one claims that by some miraculous power of inspiration it has received the only true solution of an ambiguous point of doctrine ; another claims that it is alone in the understanding of the Scripture, and others assert the superior merits of their particular form of worship with a confidence and dogmatism which docs more credit to their faith than to their charity. An universal church, that is a church that will meet the views and satisfy the aspirations of all professing Christians, can never exist until human nature and human formsof thought be entirelyrevolutionised. Untilsome extraneous power shall step in and reconcile the opinions

of the people, denominational differences and sectarian prejudices will continue to exist, and as a majority of these differences and prejudices are built up on particular passages of Scripture, we fail tu sec how the Bible can be admitted to our State schools without giving offence to one or another of ibe numerous denominations of which our community is composed. We have been told that the mere reading of a portion of Scripture without comment could not offend the susceptibilities of the most sensitive denominationalist, but persons who make this assertion

arc either careless or ignorant of the magnitude and intensity of secular differences. It would not be difficult to quote half a doze-i. pa-- , -ges of icr pture to which at le.- * or ■ of the on. ;> dox churches dern ,r, ..ud there * scores of otheis which it is obviously undesirable to read to children without some eluridatory comment. But quite apart from this aspect of the question, we think it would be little short of a social il a number of teachers i

m our State schools, who might have no respect for the Bible and] no belief in its Divine inspiration, were compelled to add Scripture reading to their daily routine of duty. The exercise, conducted

under such conditions, would not be likely to enlarge the minds of the

readers nor elevate the moral status of

their audiences. We have a profound reverence for the Bible as the founda-

tion of the most glorious faith conceived by mankind, but our intelligence will not permit us to deny that many poitions of the Old and New Testament

bear no evidence of Divine inspiration. It is not unnatural to suppose that a disbelieving teacher would select these latter passages for reading during schoo hours, if only to emphasize his own particular view of Christianity ; while the most conscientious teacher would ; have very great difficulty in finding a chapter in either Testament the reading of which would not offend the ears o a small minority of his pupils or tht§ ideas of his pupils’ patents. We have, to-), a distinct objection to religious leaching being made a task: familiarity breeds contempt, md the enforced reading of even the most beautiful portions of the Gospels would, under the proposed system, speedily become a labor to the teacher and an unprofitable bore to the children. Bible reading and religious education may be more safely entrusted to parents and to the respective churches. Religious sentiment can neither be inspired nor con--1 trolled by Acts of Parliament; it must remain with mothers and fathers, ministers of religion, and Sunday School teachers to mould the religious 1 mind of our children. If these agents have failed in their duty, the position is a grave and deplorable one, but, we feel confident, the remedy will not be found in the resolution adopted by the Legislative Council. The Church, and not the State, must find some means by which it may resuscitate the religious vitality of the country.

Ashburton Racing Club. The management of the Ashburton Racing Club is to be congratulated upon the sesult of its operations during the past year. At the annual meeting of the Club, held - on Saturday evening, it transpired '.hat, notwithstanding a variety of adverse circumstances, the Committee had extinguished a liability of close on £2 50 and placed ,{,s° to the credit of the funds. During the meeting it was incidentally remarked that steps would have to be taken at an early date to effect certain improvements and additions to the property of the Club. Now, we should like to ask the present Committee, is it desirable to expend more money upon a property which can never be made into anything better than a second rate course? Would it not be better to overcome the difficulty once and for all and purchase or lease a more suitable piece of land, upon which a course could be formed, which would a credit to the district and a source of satisfaction to those owners of horses who patronise the local meeting ? Nearly ~/'3o o° have been expended upon the present course, and a further expenditure of a considerable sum is now contemplated. We have reason to believe that a really excellent site could be obtained on an extended lease at a rental which would not materially trespass upon the resources of the Club. That there is still some vitality in local sport is made abundantly evident by the report of the Club’s annual meeting, which we publish in another part of this issue, and we trust the new Committee will seriously cousider the question we have suggested.