BIBLE IN SCHOOLS.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1791, 2 July 1913, Page 9

BIBLE IN SCHOOLS.

ADDRESS BY BISHOP SPROTT.

EDUCATION AND NATIONAL CHARACTER. '

THE QUESTION OF CONSCIENCE.

• In • his address c.t. the opening, of i th< i Wellington Diocesai; Synod yesterday af ternoon, the Anglicar; Bishop of Welling ton (Dr. Sprott) niudfl special referenc< to the Bible-in-Schools question. Afte welcoming 'to the synod .Canon, Garland 'he organising secretory for tlio Bible-in , Schools League, ho set out'his reasons foi supporting the movement. ,Bishop Sprot said:— . "• - "I hold it to be a. principle.'of self evident validity thnt it is essential t< the stability and development of anj people's national ohuracter that the mor ality, accepted by that oommuhity. shoulc 1 bo systematically taught to caoh fresi . generation of children. Any coniniunitj which does not inuke provision for. suet teaching is not taking duo care to have its youth trained to discharge the office; of good citizenship. The phrase 'morulitj accepted by the. community'-is,' however, ; ambiguous. It may mean the average morality' practised by the community at anygiven ' time,, or it. may mean -the moral ideal accepted by the community— the typo of.character and conduct which is taken by the community as the stand- . ard of excellence and- the ultimate, object of attainment; and of which the averago virtue ui. any given time is but an imperfect embodiment. In this discussion.l use the phrase in tho latter sense —the accepted moral ' ieltal. Were tho community only concerned about the star bility of national luharacter, by which i . mean the. maintenance of the. moral level already. reached—the inculcation within tho national schools of the average public virtue, outside might, perhaps, suffice. 'But plainly such a'system could do nothing, to aid' tho development of - the national characters-nothing. to''■promote moral-progress. : At .best it could-but-se-curo that each fresh/generation- should reproduce the virtue of its predecessors. But-1 think it is true to say that hitherto public education has been understood to fulfil a higher tunction in national life ' than merely to preyont the community from slipping backwards. Education lias teen understood.to exercise a function of leadership, and to bo tho agent of fnr- \ . ther progress. If-morality is.to be-taught in thy public schools, it must be not merely the .average virtue practised by tho community, but-the moral -Meal accepted by; the- community that shall be taught. What, then, isi the moral ideal, transcending the actual moral attainment of the community, which, should lind ! P , I )ublic - education of New Zeo- '■ • n o , Well, the supporters of, the Biblc-J-il P' 1 ? 0 " movement [issunio that the Uirishau morality is,the moral ideal-ac-cepted ■ by. thy pc-ople of, New Zealand." •The Classic Expression of Christian Morality. ' The speaker referred to history tosho* that -fven tho lowest .types'of humanity had some system of morals,' . . lsed -the fact that the particular type of I morahty.-with which he was Uinytian morality—differed in 'important respacts from all othei 1 types. 'lie conturned:!—'We assume that it-is the type ,1 accepted by the-people of New Zealand;' and we assert that it is dependent upon the Bible, to this' extent at least, that if cannot-to effectively taught' apart from the Bible. This position I proceed' to make goou. ' - "Litis from the Bible, and tlie Bible alone, that wo gain' Our knowledge "of the Christian hioralitjV Wo possess no other first-hand and authoritative record of tlw teaching of the Founder of Christianity and of those of His contemporaries who' best--understood His mind, and were most deeply influenced by Ilis personality. ■ ; "2...And, I as in the. Bible we have our. only (^hsistiari-' 1 morality, so. in the Biblo iye"hlivfc 'its' classic - ..-expression. -•> After : two thousand years'of Christian thinking- and; writing; tho New -rTestaiiieht'still ; -rem'ains- the'"su-' : prenuely excellent expression of the' principles of Christian, morality. ': "3. Tho great peculiarity of Christian morality, is that its .Teacher's'; own'. Mfo and character are its highest' and only adequate exemplification. But for our knowledge of His life we are entirely dependent upon the Bible';- Christian morality, then, is, to this extent at least, dependent upon. tho" Bible. ..... Treatises on Ethics. "But we have not yet Said all that may be said as' to tho placo which tho Bible holds in the teaching of moralityln tho course' of" this controversy the' fact that approved treatises on ethics, such as those used in our universities, "for the most .part ignore the Bible, lias been brought forward as evidence that' morality is entirely-independent of the Bible, for "Mio should know better than the eminent writers of these treatises? 'We may admit the fact, and wo mijy'add the kindred fact that tho saino treatises for, tho most part ignore Clod. I, however, interpret the fact sonic what differently. I find in it the explanation of the singular futility which tor the most part characterises approved treatises on ethics in their handling of,, the two greatest practical problems of. morality; viz., Is morality binding? 'Is'morality possible?". Tho whole position was thus summed up • ' by tlie. speaker:—' 1. It. is'-essential to tlie stability ,> and development of national' character that the moral ideal recognised by the community should find a place in. national education ' 2. The Cliristian moral ideal is assumed to be the ideal recognised by the people of New Zealand. 3. The Christian moral ideal, therefore, should find a place in the national education of -New- Zealand. ■}. Tho Christian moial ideal cannot be 1 effectively.taught apart-from, the Bible, : ; Rights' of Conscience. Bishop Sprott then dealt • with the "rights of .conscience" of various sections of tho people, stating clearly that on this-subject'he-spoke solely for himself, and not as •tt-3 exponent of the yiejv-s of the league. "I cannot," he said, "imagine anyone regarding that as a genuine prompting of- conscience which reflection shows him to bs inimical to the'common good. Assuming that tho majority of tlie pcoplo are in favour of tho Bible-in-Schools programme, tho case is sometimes 6tatc-d as if it were the brute forco of the ■majority against the consciences of- tho minority. But of course that is not how'the matter'stands., The true position is that .it is the .consciences of the, majority against the consciences.of the minority. And regarding what are. these two sets of consciences at variance?- I answer that, If it be a genuine conflict of conscience,, chey are at variants) as to what in this' mutter of education will best promoto tho •jominon good. It 'must be this, and it cannot be anything else than this. Now I put it to you, not in the least knowing on which side in this educational controversy the majority actually, stands, is it not more reasonable that in a question of the common good the majority of consciences should prevail than that tho. minority of consciences should prevail? With what show of reason can tlie contrary be argued ? I am, of course, simply stating the accepted principle of modern government. For the single term 'majority' I have substituted the phrase 'majority of .consciences,' for it'is only as representing a larger volume of eonBcienco that tho majority has any right to ruin. As merely representing larger forco the majority is no more entitled to rule than tho minority. Larger forco stands in no more essential relation to rijht than smaller force stands. Force as such stands in no relation at all to right. It is only as representing the larg°i' volume of conscience that the majority -is entitled to rule. Th* common good requites that there shall be no atEomnt- to suppress or silence the minority Sence! But that it shall be .allowed free scope to convert the • maiority conscience). to -its ,V>«w' «f, common good, scheme secures equal freedom to all churches to teach their own faith to their own children within the schools By a conscience rlafise it protects nil parents who do not wish their children 'to receive any rc-. {K.s instruction. at all. The grievance then consists in this, that a portion of the which some people pay in return for the general benefit. of ordered social lite will be devoted to the payuaent of teachers part of '.vh.ise dutv it will bo to read

selected portions of the Bible with tho children whose parents so desire, and tin these people disapprove of tho teuclie doing this work. J.t does ii(it appear thi any special taxation will be needed or in posed. It does. not seem to mo a vei serious grievance. Such grievances n ready exist in other directions, e.g., -taxi tion for national defence. Tho possibilit of suoh grievances is one of the risks ii herent in associated lite,-far outweigho by the advantages which associated li! confers. We all are liable to suiter tliei , in turn. 1 see no possibility of escai from this risk save by tHe adoption i the oxtremest laissez-faire system of go' ormniont, and the contraction of associate life and action within t|ie narrowe: limits, to tho great impoverishment t 3 life." " But it is said, Since there is this shar division of conscience,.why not agree t ■ drop the matter and say no more abou 3 it?, Why not bo content with our. preseu r secular system? Wo are not debating th truth of . religion, but the importance c religion as ah element in national educs " tion. To agreo to say nothing more abou : it, is'not to be neutral. It is to decid i, that rejigion is not' an important elemen in national education. But this consid . eration apart, the secular system is » J solution at all of the education problem - You do not solve a problem by eliminat . ing essential factors. The secular systen [ makes a. desert and calls it peace. I i narrows the ideal of education and re . duces- ; tho ethical to a minimum. "Xet i l is just the ethical element in educatioi i "that gives' character and power, an< , .makes itself felt in every department o • work.' If ivo fail in this, all specific activi /.ties of mind will bD.weakened by thi [ weakening of their foundation in'the mat ; as man." , The Teachers. Tho difficulty of conscience is "perhap: J>y somo persons felt , most' acutely ii connection with the teachers. The pro posed scheme, while providing a conscience clause for parents, provides non< for teachers, and it is said that therefore wa shall violate tho consciences of these ■teachers who do not believe the Bible If any considerable number. of teacher: imagino that under our scheme their consciences will be violated, I'can only concliitlo that they do not understand wlial it is they will be required to do. How often must we protest'thai the teachers aye-not to bo asked, or even allowed, te teach religion 'or dogmatically 'interpret the Bible? ' What the .teacher will be asked, lo do is to supervise-the reading by the children of certain selected pas- • sages, : merely seeing that the children know and remember what they have read. I know it, is said that the value of such un exercise must ,be small. Those, however, who advocate it believe that the Bible is calculated, like any other book, to make its own impression upon the mind. But we are not now-concerned with the value of tlio exercise; only with its bearing upon the conscience of the teacher. What tho teacher is required to do amounts just to this—to read the Bible with tho children. To assert that this will violate the teacher's.conscience is. to assert that a number of our teaclicrs think it a, wiclfed thing .even to rpad tho Bible. .1 find it difficult, to believo that this can be true of 'any appreciable number of our. teachers. I have met in my time people who have formed very yarious estimates of the Bible's value; but Iliave not. met' any one whose estimate of ..tho Bible was so peculiar that his conscienco forbade liini even to read it. The teachers who are alleged to have this conscientious objection .are supposed to bo agnostic in religion, or at least unbelievers in the miraculous. They have accepted the dic- . turn—a somewhat 'iubious difitunl — "Miracles do not happen." Well, Matthew Arnold accepted that dictum, and ...did much to give it vogue, even if ho did not invent it. Yet in the very }*ook in which that famous phrase occurs he ejftols the supremo and . indispensable value of the Bible as an instrument of . pioral education., He himself tells us that when he y.'as Inspector of Schools lie kept insisting in his reports to the Education . Department on the .'need for tlie Bible in schools .for the people, and himself prepared a text-book of "Bible Heading for ijchools." Evidently Arnold did not ira. agine he was urging t'iie English Education Departnmnt-to, violate the consciences of those teachers who, -like himself, had ascertained-that do not happen. I. should adviso people to (preface .to- his "Bible-iicading." - -It-contains somp ■wise words upon the literary: use of the . Bible, lie confines teachers, and ■its)relation'.-to-; tho spiritual: application' of the Bible, which ho holds to be a mattor for; the churches. • Or are some of our -teachers, more thorough-going still, ■and .wholly:agnostic in religion? Even thou it would not- seem necessarily to follow that they must count it wicked to read t}io Bible. They arcl probably not more agnostic than Huxley, tho .inventor of the term • Yet, as everybody knows, Huxley -strongly suppprtett the reading of the Bible in the London Boardschools. Evidently Husky, just i\s little as Arnold, imagined he was doing violence to' the conscience' of teachers, ■ who like himself, and possibly through his influence, we'ro agnostic. . The fact is, I take' leave to doubt the existence of any appreciable- number- of teachers whose consciences would not permit them to read the Bible. I seem to observe that the plea is made rather for the teachers than iby thenv, ii.nd I count it 'just a - trifle ridiculous."- I Notice of Motipn. : The - question will be debated by the synod, Air. Flux having given notice of motion: "That this synod reaffirms its adherence to the proposals of the Bible-in-State-Schobls league, to which the Church- as a w'holo is coijimitted by the decision of General Synod; and expresses thef conviction that as the system now proposed has elsewhere proved to the vast majority of the Churches and people a satisfactory and permanent solution of religious instruction iu State schools, it presents to the people of New Zealand a method by which religious instruction can i;-e" restored to the public schools on terms of equal opportunity to all. Tho synod expresses the conviction that if the proposed system, of' religious instruction, is made law, national education will be placed thereby on a firmer basis. The 'svnod requests that a referendum on tho single issue be taken of the whole people of the Dominion to allow an opportunity to evc4-y elector of voting thereon, as the most suitablo and convenient method of determining the issue. That this resolution bo forwarded to tho Prim© Minister and the mombsrs of Parliament for the electoral districts within the diocese.'