BIBLE IN SCHOOLS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 179, 16 December 1912, Page 4

BIBLE IN SCHOOLS.

SERMON BY REV. J. W. BURTON. AGAINST SECTARIAN TEACHING. In the Whiteley Church last night, thfr Rev. ,T. W. linrton pleached on "Should the Bible be in our State Schools," tak- ' ing as his text the words, "Every Scripture inspired of God is also profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for description, which is righteousness."' "We have," lie said, "in New Zealand a magnificent Education system of which we are justly proud. So far as I know, there is none .better in any country in the world, unless it be in' Germany. The people of this Dominion have stubbornly resisted, so far, every attempt to introduce religious teaching into our schools in any shape or form, and they have been led to take this attitude from a fear of sectarian strife and of ecclesiastical interference. Nor can we be altogether surprised. When we remember the conditions of the Old Land from which so many of us have sprung, the religious feuds and clerical injustices, the bitterness between 'Church' and 'Chapel,'' between 'dissenter' and 'assenter,' 'established' and 'free' Church, we cannot wonder that our fathers *aid firmly and resolutely that they would not agree to the perpetuation of any such conditions in this fair young land. Even at the price of keeping out of the hands of the children the best book in the wide world, they set their faces' against religious strife, and we must be careful .that we maintain the noble traditions of our fathers in this respect." Continuing, he remarked that we gloried in the fact that we hud no State religion, and that here there were no "dissenters." We appreciated character wherever wc saw it, bi! it in a Roman Catholic bishop or in a New Plymouth Brother, Passing on lie said that in our zeal for justice andliberty we had done, our children an injustice, and robbed them of some of the liberty which was so dearly bought. Because the Bible had been abused and subjected to a superstitious and irrational treatment by various sects, there was no reason why'we should deny it to our children as part of their education. It wris not a "church" question; it was a national one. It was not a narrow "religious" issue, but a moral and social one. We did our children an irreparable! wrong when we kept the Bible from them AS LITERATURE, In this collection of scriptures we had a priceless treasure of literary expression, and 110 man could hope to understand the best chnents of our English literature without an acquaintance with the English Bible. The speaker quoted Prof. Huxley as strongly in favour of the English Bible as a school-book for children, and also supported his case bv quotations from Faber, Carl vie. and Ruskin. Again as a light on history the Bible must be known'by our children. If we could not appreciate, English literature apart from a knowledge of the Bible, much less could we interpret the history of our race without reference to this book. 'Moses had influenced our laws more than King Alfred; the Ten Commandments had had greater weight will our race than the Magna Charter; Jesus Christ had turned the current of our thought far more truly than William the Conqueror altered the destinies of our land! AS A MORAL STIMULUS the Bible had a function in the life of our children. Again, it was not a question of some doc;rinal interpretation of the Bible; H wis a simple ethical fact. Where for oxnmplt! could we find anything more suited to the child than the Pioverbs? If, was not right to deprive any child of the moral inspiration and restraint which these provided. He thought a selection of lessons could 1)3 made which ivould provide children with the necessary knowledge ami he acceptable to person* of all Christian denominations. For various reasons which he outlined, such instruction could be given more eflectivelv by the State teacher. A j good preacher ni'irht be a poor teacher. Tn Xew South Wales there had never been a case of'refusal ou the part of the teacher. "So far," continued Mr. Burton, "lam in agreement with the programme of the League, but I m strongly opposed to i-cetariaii teaching of any kind within the precincts of our State schools. It is a thousand pities to emphasise beforeour children tlies» denominational differences of winch all right-thinking men are growing more and more ashamed. . . Let us not make our schools the media of sectanan instruction. ff churches have some special dogma of their own to inculcate— and they have perfect freedom to do so—let them make their own arrangements and not ask the State to gather the children for them. . . Personally. T would a thousand times rather see our present system continued than allow the introduction of this element into our school life!"