SCHOOLS & THE BIBLE

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1881, 15 October 1913, Page 8

SCHOOLS & THE BIBLE

CURRENT. CONTROVERSY.

BUMMED UP BY BISHOP JULIUS,

(Br Tdeerapl.—Bseoi&l: Corrwpondent.l Chrlstchurch, October 14. ..In his presidential address to tho Synod of Christ-church this afternoon, Bishop Julius referred to tho Bible-in-schools agitation. There? is, he said, Bo subject of urgent importance as tho Tocovery of religious teaching ,in tho primary schools of New' Zealand. As the movement for the Bible in schools Ss now reaching its crisis, it baits for |Want of sufficient -momentum. Nothing but a whole-hearted and determined cf,fort will carry it through.. Under God, , everything will depend upon what is done duriug tho next six months. To ' fail.now for.Want of sufficient effort will Mns ftyor the schools of'our land to the ■secularist for another generation. Tho case, as put by the Bishop of Wellington, romains unanswered. Presbyterians, Methodists, Anglicans, and others (have worked together in perfect harinony without strife or jealousy. Our adversaries pretend that the Anglican ! Church is at the bottom of the whole business. I. say emphatically that, in Ifchis matter, we are one in heart, in purpose, and in service, and that in Canterbuij itself wo owe as much to the ißev. John Mackenzie, minister of St. ' !£ndrow'si as to anyone else. Nature of the Opposition. We welcome the opposition. It bears •witness to the reality of our work, and St keeps us awake. It is moreover a remarkable opposition of infinito variety, but I must confess that I am.surprised at tho line of argument adopted for the most part with certain notable Exceptions. It confines itself to petty 'criticism, personalities, and, out of thorn nil, only one or two sorious criticisms emerge. Tho first is that of danger to )tha national system of education,

Fair to None. It is generally assumed that a secular system of education is fair to all parties, but, in. reality, it is fair to lions except a handful of secularists. It is certainly unfair to the Roman Cath- ' olics, who hare never ceased to protest against' tlfe Act, and whoso claim for grants in aid Of fheir own schools would, >f conceded, effectively destroy it. It is not loss unfair to the much larger Proportion of the'population represented ly the Anglicans, Presbyterians, Methodists, the Salvation Army, and others. •It is unfair to us, for these among other ' leasons: (1) Because it pretends to build up character without the influence of religion, and to teach Christian ethics without reference to the Christ.

(2) That, so far from being neutral, a •secular system of education is the most ' explicit and effective way of teaching that religion is a matter of no import- ; ance. It practically denies that which it excludes. (3) The national system of education is in danger. Of course, Vit is with so large a proportion of the population opposed to tho exclusion of religious teaching. Wo desire to place it in a position of security for nearly fifty, years. The system wo advocated . has been in operation in New South Wales, and, for a lesser period, in other States. Queensland has recently accepted it, and Victoria has just passed the referendum.

Roman Cathollo Conscience. "An argument of greater weight is that of the Roman Catholic conscience. 'A'l conscientious difficulties must be regarded with respect and reverence, the more especially when (as in this case) they are expressed by genuine sacrifice, but the Roman Catholic conscience is not the only conscience in New Zealand. Tho conscience of that far larger body of which I have spoken is also to bo coni sidered. It is possible to satisfy both parties. l Is it, therefore, reasonable or wise to satisfy neither? Is it fair to complain that wo have not made a like sacrifice • with tho Roman Catholics nor-joined with them in a claim which must' overturn the national system. iWhy should wo? We prefer a national ?to a denominational system, but we desire an education worthy of tho name, iand are prepared by every means in our power, by the sacrifico of timo and fcnoncy, to make it so. The Nelson System. An attempt has been inado to offer ,'iis the so-called NelsotL system. We i'fwill have none of it. Undenominational .teaching'is not Christian teaching, nor anything like it for practical purposes. It is as effective, as the teaching of (mechanical engineering by rule of : thumb.,,

Lastly (said Bishop Julius) we are laccused of endeavouring to force our iviews upon the people. We do nothing of tho sort. .We object to have the yiows of the minority, as wo- believe, thrust upon us, and we ask for a referendum.