Religious Education: The Need of the World Today

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION The Need of the World Today By John J. Tigert, U. S. Commissioner of Education [The following address was delivered before the Religious Education Association, Chicago, March 29, 1922. In view of the deep interest that the Latter-day Saints have in the imperative need of religious education for the proper development of mankind, we present the lecture in full. It is in line with the endeavors of our Church, and the best thoughts of the day. Religion Class work under the name of Week-day Schools of Religion is being organized everywhere. At Cary, Indiana, church-owned houses sur- rounding the public school houses are used by the various denominations for religious educational purposes; at Cleveland, Ohio, and in many other cities, a regular period once a week or oftener is allowed the children for instruction in religious education under the leadership of the respective de- nominations. In one city a whole day each week is proposed for this type of education. All our readers will be pleased that our U. S. Commissioner of Education is convinced of the imperative need of religious education for the proper development of mankind. Some time ago he remarked, in dis- cussing criticisms that have been directed against him because of his activity in behalf of religious education, "Rather than to urge upon the people an education consisting only of the training of the body and the intellect, I would resign my position." Our seminary work in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is in line with these thoughts, and it is being duplicated in many places, and is rapidly growing, though our Church is far in advance in this regard, of the country generally. At the University of Michigan several fine student houses maintained by various religious denominations surround the campus, and in these houses regular instruction in religion is given. It would be well if the churches had such houses surrounding the University of Utah. One great purpose of the Church School System is to use and to perfect the splendid educational structure which has been reared by the Church, so that the purposes of our system may be fully accomplished. — Editors.] Professor W. R. Webb, familiarly known as "Old Sawney," founder and principal of the famous Webb School of Bell Buckle, Tenn., who has had for a half century an influence upon education in the South unsurpassed by any of his contemporaries, used to say frequently, "A boy is a bundle of possibilities." This favorite phrase of "Old Sawney's" might well serve as a fairly literal, though homely, translation of the etymology of the word "education," being, as it is, an abstract term derived from the Latin "e — out" and "duco — to lead." Education, in the proper sense of the term must include the highest possible realization, the most complete harmonious, and sym- metrical perfection of all the potential powers inherent and innate in man's nature. Education is the process of cultivating to the fullest flower all the seeds that lie implanted in this wondrous composite of mind, soul and body.

1114 IMPROVEMENT ERA The tendency has been strong among professional educators to emphasize the development of mental powers, as the proper function of the educative process, frequently to the exclusion of other capacities of the soul and body. It must be granted that the emancipation of the mind should be the chief function of the institution of learning, that the growth of spiritual power should be the major concern of the church, but likewise it must be agreed that the making of strong bodies is at least a secondary function of the school in view of the oft quoted dictum of Juvenal, "Sana mens in cotpore sano." But while the realization of mental possibilities is the prime objective of the school, it is unfortunate that certain prejudices have tended to ex- clude proper regard for the attention to the soul and body. Per- haps the neglect of the former has not been due so much to prejudice as to a feeling that this is a function of the church, and the desire to render to God the things that are God's, retaining for Caesar only the things that are Caesar's. This is certainly true, I think, in the case of the public schools and all those institutions supported by public taxation, because it is evidently the fear of many that the" effort to teach religion in publicly supported schools and colleges may lead to an indirect vio- lation of the cherished American doctrine of religious liberty and separation of Church and State. Be that as it may, I think that we can agree upon a distinction of function in the Church and State and admit the wisdom of the founders of the Republic in recognizing this distinction; in fact, this is one of the most salient contributions that American statesmen have been able to make to political progress in the world. The late Bishop E. E. Hoss set out the difference in the function of Church and State in these words: "Secularity is the badge of the State. The sphere in which it moves and acts is the sphere of visible and tangible things. It has no eye for the eternal realities. Its symbol is the sword, for it may use force. The Church, on the other hand, is the vehicle of religious truth. She has a message to deliver that the State has no voice to convey. Her symbol is the shepherd's crook, and she dares use no instrumentality except per- suasion." Though there may be some justification for the neglect of the so».l in public institutions of learning, yet no adequate excuse can be assigned for a certain prejudice that has existed with reference to physical education. Fortunately, this prejudice seems to be disap- pearing. Much improvement has come in our schools in health and physical education during the past few years due largely to the revela- tion that approximately one-third of American young men proved, under examination, to be physically unfit to bear arms in defense of their country. It is strange that we should have so long neglected the proper concern for the care of the body upon which the welfare of the mind is organically conditioned and with which the culture

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 1115 of the soul is intimately connected if we accept the oft-quoted and much approved doctrine of John Wesley, "Cleanliness is next to Godliness." Aside from the question of the peculiar functions of the school, the Church, and the State, these organizations are all joint agencies in the promotion of the greatest possibilities in our youth for individual and social welfare. In its widest connotation, education is the result of all the forces which affect the life of man. Taken in this sense, religion is the most universal element in education as well as a very powerful stimulus to human action. We hold, first, that the religious element is universal. By re- ligion we mean the consciousness of some kind of communion be- tween man and a supernatural Being, a Deity, or God. We have had many arguments set up to establish the existence of such a B :;ng, ontological arguments, anthropological arguments, arguments for a first cause, arguments from design and others. Whether any or all of these arguments which have been advanced in proof of "he existence of a supernatural Being could convey to those altogether destitute of the idea of the Deity, first, the notion of God, as a person, self-existent, eternal, immutable, of infinite power, wisdom, and goodness, the creator and upholder of all things, and, secondly satis- factory proofs of his existence, is a question which it is impossible to settle and which we would not find profitable to discuss here. We shall not raise the question of the possibility of philosophical or logical demonstration of the existence of God. We shall assume for our purposes, the famous dictum of Professor Calderwood, of Edin- burgh, "The reality of the Divine existence is a truth so plain that it needs no proofs, as it is a truth so high that it admits of none." It is worthy of note, however, and sufficient importance has never been attached to the fact that the conception of a supernatural Being has apparently always existed in the mind of man, wherever and when- ever we have had knowledge of him. This is evidenced not only by the ancient writings of the Jews but by the earliest historical rem 'ns and the extant beliefs and customs of all peoples, Asiatic, African, American, European and Polynesian. We cannot show that the idea of God has always existed in the mind of man from man's in- ception, but we can show that all men known to history have pos- sessed the idea of God. Once projected within the sphere of human knowledge, from whatever source, and in whatever mannr, this notion of God, however abused, has never been permitted to perish. This does not, of course, necessarily mean God with all the personal attributes ascribed to him by Christians, but it does mean the belief in supernatural power of some kind, whether in the fetishism of the savages of all parts of the world which attributes extraordinary powers to sticks, stones, herbs, images, the sun, the moon, and other in- animate objects, or in the polytheism of the Greeks, Romans, and

1116 IMPROVEMENT ERA others who personified and endowed with magic qualities the forces of nature, or in those like the Chinese, who have worshipped the spirits of departed ancestors. It is not only true that the notion of God exists and has ex- isted in all species of mankind known to us, but it is likewise true that the notion has everywhere been a powerful force if not actually the most powerful force operating in the lives of men. In every form of communion with the supernatural, the notion of the Deity has been sufficiently powerful in its influence upon man to move him to make the supreme sacrifices of his own life or the lives of those dearest to him. We witness this in the most primitive form of religion, in fetishism, where parents appeased the spirit of Moloch with the burning of their own offspring, or where the Indian mother adores the alligator by throwing her babe into the sacred waters of the Ganges. We witness it in the' polytheism of the Hellenic peoples, as in the cult of Artemis, Iphigenia is sacrificed by her father Agamemnon to ap- pease the goddess so his fleet may sail for Troy. We witness it in monotheism in the blood of countless Christian martyrs and in the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ upon the cross for the conciliation of God and the redemption of mankind. There certainly has been no more impelling motive in the life of man than his belief in the Deity. Again, we think that sufficient significance has not been at- tached to the fact that among the great thinkers who have interpreted reality and who have explained the origin and the meaning of the cosmos, almost without exception these philosophers have required the notion of the Deity to make the universe possible, intelligible, or thinkable. Those few who have not required the Deity for an explanation of the universe do not loom up among the great figures in the history of philosophy. We have atheists among the Greek philosophers in Democritus and Leucippus, but they sink in insig- nificance as compared to such theists as Pythagoras, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle and others. We do not recall an outstanding atheist to match against the cloud of theologians and schoolmen of the middle ages. Among the moderns, Diderot and the so-called French en- cyclopedists, a few Germans, including Haeckel, a small number of Englishmen and others who compose the atheistic schools of thought hardly are recognized within the pale of philosophy in a large sense. As over against these stand Descartes, Leibnitz, Spinoza, Locke, Berkeley, Kant, Fichte, Hegel, Lotze; in America, James, Bowen, Ladd; and a whole host of others who include within their number the great names of modern philosophy, who have grappled seriously with the explanation of this world and who have traveled many paths but have all reached the same destination — God. If education consists in the evolution of the man's inherent capacities or untying "the bundle of possibilities," to return to Mr.

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION . 11 17 Webb's figure; if religion be a universal phenomenon among men, and if great thinkers find God indispensable to the explanation of reality, then education which lacks the religious element is certainly seriously defective. The great world catastrophe through which we have passed has started many anxious inquiries and has awakened deep misgivings on the part of some. Speculation is openly engaged in as to whether civilization can be salvaged, whether war will destroy civilization or civilization will destroy war. There is much pessimism abroad in the world and we are passing through critical times. Crimes of all kinds, divorce, and immorality have greatly in- creased among us. There has been a disregard of the rights of others, a social discontent an industrial unrest, a menace of radicalism, an unbridling of vice, and a growing disrespect for the law that have never before characterized our country to the present degree and which arouses the concern of every true American. If these observations be correct, and I think that few will demur, which way shall we move to correction? Where shall we find the remedy for these conditions and how shall we proceed to apply it? Enlightenment and better understanding will undoubtely help the situation but these cannot save us. If the war teaches us any one lesson more clearly than another it is the insufficiency of culture, knowledge and science per ipsos to promote the welfare of mankind. Germany claimed a "Kultur" superior to any that the world had known at the outbreak of the war. She was not excelled by any other people in the great fields of science, of philosophy, of music and of commerce. A degree from a German university was highly coveted above a degree from one of our own institutions. Illiteracy was at an irreducible minimum among the German people. They enjoyed a high degree of general enlightenment and a fairly homo- geneous population. And what was the result of it all? Germany's strength in philosophy, in science, in industry and in other respects contributed to the ruin of a great people and involved the world in the most titanic tragedy of the ages. A weaker nation would hardly have risked the wrath of the world even though it had been moved to fly at its throat. But Germany's consciousness in her power gave her the confidence to attempt the impossible. German political philosophy convinced her that democracy was the symbol of weakness, chaos, and incompetency in government; that the German people were chosen by God to exterminate weaker peoples so that a race of supermen might be evolved. German science applied to the arts of war convinced her that she could defy the world, ap- plied to undersea-craft it could sink unsinkable ships like the Lusi- tania; applied to aircraft, it could terrorize London and Paris and spread disease and destruction among her enemies; applied" to noxious

1118 IMPROVEMENT ERA gases, it could blind and wipe out armies in the twinkling of an eye; applied to cannon, it could crush the impregnable forts of Liege like egg shells and hurl projectiles a distance of seventy-five miles into Paris. German commerce and industry convinced her that it must expand through middle Europe into Asia and Africa and dom- inate the world. German music convinced her that hymns of hate were of more force than hymns of love. Germany's faith in her "divine mission" and the consciousness of the necessity of fulfilling it convinced her that treaties were "mere scraps of paper to con- ceal political purposes." Harnack, whose theology and views with reference to the Bible probably carried more weight in America before the war than any other scholar, became one of nearly a hundred lead- ing savants of Germany who convinced themselves that the violation of Belgium was just and good. It is hardly necessary to recite further the history of Germany's folly, but the world has never before had such an exhibition of the inadequacy of mere philosophy, science, industry and things secular. Plainly, these things can be both evil and good, hurtful and helpful, undesirable and desirable, the hope and the menace of civilization. The value of man's progress in knowledge turns upon the will or judgment of those who may possess it. In the hands of the physician even poison has its benefit; in the hands of the pioneer, knives, axes and guns are of immeasurable value, but who would claim that these articles were good for babes or thieves? Education which devotes itself entirely to the discovery of knowl- edge without regard for the will or intention of man is likely to prove the undoing of society. Certainly, it is not worthy to be called educa- tion. Surely, after the demonstration of the ruin that lurks in the wake of mere emancipation of the mind, we must see that there is a great truth in the words of Tolstoi: The night has a thousand ey?s, And the day but one But the light of the whole world dies When day is done. The mind has a thousand eyes And the heart but one But the light of the whole life dies When love is done. How shall we direct the will and train the heart as we enlighten the intellect? Naught but religious feeling, the inspiration of the soul, and faith in God can accomplish this. Even ethical teaching and morality, though helpful, will not suffice. Moral philosophy may be similar to other knowledge, the product of man's mind but not a force which controls his acts. There are abundant examples of the failure of ethical teaching to effect life. France has given non-

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 1119 religious training a more thorough trial perhaps than any other nation. And yet, says an eminent authority: "In fifty years criminality has increased three-fold, though there was scarcely any increase in population." This statement was made before the war and does not comprehend the violent increase of crime since the war. One French professor complained, "My prize pupil in morals is the biggest knave of the lot." Let no one suppose that I am opposed to the teaching of morals in the schools. On the other hand, I strongly advocate it. Recently, I emphasized the need of teaching virtue, honesty, and integrity throughout our schools. I believe in beginning early the relation of stories of moral import, the recounting of golden deeds of kindness, and the teaching of virtue in every possible way to our children. But this moral instruction requires the reinforcement of religious teaching and feeling. The Church becomes the supplement of the School for this purpose. In private, parochial, and church schools religious instruction can be given with secular teaching but cannot be given in publicly supported institutions. The public schools of Gary, Indiana, Toledo, Ohio and a few other cities are working out a system in which the school becomes a community center sur- rounded by churches of all denominations to which the children go regularly from the public schools for religious instruction. Some state universities are working out a system which is similar in prin- ciple. We have numberless instances of the powerlessness of knowl- edge to make men good. The age of the Italian renaissance, a new revival of learning, was likewise an era of immorality and loose living. Pope described Bacon as at once "the wisest, the brightest and the meanest of mankind." Solomon, the wisest of all the kings, was by no means the most virtuous. Rousseau, a great name in the history of education and philosophy, gives us his ideal training for Emile and dwells especially upon the value of his moral code, meantime neg- lecting shamefully the rearing of his own child, and engaging in dissolute living. His confessions are amazingly frank but even they do not uncover the vileness of his life. Morality is indeed the worthy helpmate of religion but history and experience reveals over and over again that it cannot be sub- stituted for it. Ethical societies have failed to supplant the Church. I am well aware that the position that I am taking is not popular today among educators, but I reiterate the words of a chancellor of one of our colleges uttered in his inaugural address more than a decade ago: "Powerful as is the force of opinion today in the direction of sec- ularized education, mighty as are the millions devoted to that purpose, earnest and numerous as are the advocates of education without religion * * * yet I am undismayed. For there is a power greater than the opinion of men;

1120 IMPROVEMENT ERA there arc resources vaster than the millions of earth. Let us not 'trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God.' " I am aware that many will consider that I am very old-fashioned, naive, and out of date, to be a commissioner of education. I am aware that some will say that it is a poor philosopher who cannot discover salration by logic and reasoning. My reply is that of the "Fable of the Chicks," if I may be pardoned for recalling the name of my departed father. He related the experiences of two chicks that happened to be companions in the same setting. The hen had been sitting for nearly three weeks on the eggs, and the time for them to hatch was almost at hand. One chick was stirred by instinct of a world of greater freedom beyond the white walls that enclosed him. He soliloquized, "I feel that outside there is another world in which I shall find air, sunshine, and food. I feel that these wings and legs will come into play and I shall be happier there. And yet I do not know that this is true. Further, I cannot act upon any assumption that cannot be known and logically demonstrable. I shall not be swayed by foolish sentiment. I shall not break this shell." Just beside the egg that contained this agnostic chick, another chick was soliloquizing, "I, too, feel that outside is a world of greater freedom, where I can run and fly and where I shall enjoy the air, the sun, food and water. I do not know that such a world exists, but I have faith that there is and I cannot resist the feeling that impels me to pip this shell. I shall pip my shell today." A few days later, the busy housewife discovered the hen with the brood of chicks but in the nest lay one egg. It was cold. She broke it with her thimble. There was a cold and lifeless form. It was our agnostic philosopher who could not act upon faith; but acted only upon the dictates of his reason. Mount Majestic Oh, Mount Majestic, towering high! Peaks hidden in the sky! You've seen men come and go; Your age doth no one know. i Oh, that I could be so strong; That I could live half so long, To see races as they pass; To see the poor, huddled mass. And reach my head above the throng Where there is always happiness and song. Oh, Mount Majestic, king of all, I'm coming; I cannot resist your call! Sandy, Utah. JACK EGBERT.