MODERN EDUCATION by E. A. SUTHERLAND

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Jul 12, 1899

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 25, No. 28.

MODERN EDUCATION.

By E. A. SUTHERLAND

We now approach a period of most intense interest in the history of education. Wycliffe is often referred to as the “morning star of the Reformation.” One hundred and fifty years before the great sunrise appeared that herald of the morning, and as surely as the morning star, in the still darkness, tells of the coming day, so surely did Wycliffe and the principles advocated by him foretell an intellectual revolution. The Reformation of the sixteenth century awoke the slumbering faculties of man, and reanimated that educational system of heavenly birth which through the long night of papal darkness had slumbered, awaiting the resurrection morn. The rays of light shining through the Reformers accomplished God’s purpose. The voice was heard. The “come forth” met with a response, and tho, like Lazarus of old, they came forth from the tomb wrapped in grave clothes, yet to man was given the opportunity to release and send forth to the world these reborn ideas. The world itself responded as the wave of light swept over it.

Oxford and Cambridge, the two great universities of England, while as schools taking no part in the Reformation principles, yet harbored within their walls men, who, either from their surrounding atmosphere, or in spite of it, became heralds of advanced thought. Likewise France and Germany at the same time gave birth to minds which stand in the forefront as educators. Never since has the world been without some strict adherents to true principles of education. So closely in point of time are these men connected with the era that witnessed the development of our own government that we cannot do otherwise than notice the important part played by education in its development.

The sturdy Puritans of Miles Standish type were descendants of the Lollards or followers of Wycliffe. Forced from England because of their religious convictions and the pressure brought to bear in the opposite direction by the monarch, they emigrated to Holland. To them a religious training was the uppermost thought. Bunyan, in his world-famed “Pilgrim’s Progress,” but reflected the religious cast of the Puritan mind. Protestantism engendered a love for freedom of thought which made universal education necessary. Holland afforded poor facilities for Christian training of English youth, and it was with this desire in mind, as well as a determination to establish for themselves a government where they were at liberty to worship as they pleased, that the Mayflower bore its burden of human souls to the bleak New England shores, and made men stout-hearted enough to endure its hardships for the sake of Christianity and Christian education.

True, religious liberty to many a hardy Puritan meant a Puritan theocracy, and freedom of conscience meant to believe with the Congregational Church; and in this narrow view lay the danger. That system which should have been entirely free from any taint or bias, almost without exception failed to be realized. Had the educational system remained pure enough to reflect the heaven above it, there would have been established on the virgin soil of America an institution which would have henceforth swayed governments. With a fountain head in the snows of Lebanon, let the course lie whithersoever it might, there would have been a neverfailing source of strength and life. It would have been for this nation as when Christ walked amid the filth of earth, but partook not of His surroundings. One hand was on the throne of God—a current of life swept through His being which cast disease from the leprous man and sin from the hardened heart. I repeat, that if the true, unadulterated system of teaching could have taken root in America, it would have sent forth a stream of life so strong that corrupt governments, vile society, the poverty and degradation of city slums, the vice and turmoil upon which heaven is now obliged to gaze, would have been impossibilities. Strong, perhaps, is the statement, but based as it is on the Word of God and backed by the principles which uphold His throne, we cannot draw any other conclusion.

That a start was made in this direction is evidenced by the early history of Harvard and Yale. Of Harvard it is said: “It must be remembered that for sixty years the institution was little more than a training-school for ministers, managed as a theological seminary, having religion of a more or less defined type as its basis and chief object.” However, Professor Emerson writes: “It is one of the most remarkable things in the history of Harvard, that, in all the constitutions of the college, there is nothing illiberal or sectarian; nothing to check the freest pursuit of truth in theological opinions, and in everything else.” “The Bible was systematically studied for the entire three years (of a course), Ezra, Daniel, and the New Testament being specified.” This but shows the tenor of thought—the basic principle with men who favored education in general, not alone college courses.

The results of this trend of thought met with an embodiment in the men who formed the convention which gave birth to our national Constitution, the first and greatest Protestant republican government the sun had shone upon. Should you suggest that of the fifty-five who composed this assembly but twenty-nine were college men, the principle is nevertheless true, and that it may be seen we need but catch a glimpse of some things which at this period were going on in educational circles in Europe.

We are fully aware of the fact that the early Reformers found their strength in the Scriptures, and that their translation and subsequent use for educational purposes was the impelling power in the growth of education. Rollin, the well-known writer of ancient history, was also an educator, and his “Treatise on Studies” clearly shows the tenor of thought among those who fully grasped the situation. We let him speak:—

What is a Christian teacher, charged with the education of the young?—He is a man in whose hands Jesus Christ has placed a certain number of children whom He has redeemed by His blood, in whom He lives as His temple, whom He regards as His members, as His brothers, as His co-heirs, of whom He wishes to make kings and priests who will reign and serve God with Him and by Him through all eternity. And for what purpose has He confided children to him? Is it just to make poets, orators, philosophers, and scholars of them? Who would dare say or even think that? It is for the purpose of preserving in them the precious and inestimable gift of innocence which He has impressed upon their souls by baptism—for the purpose of making true Christians of them. This is the end of education and all the rest holds the place of means.

When a teacher has asked and received of Jesus Christ, for the management of others and his own salvation, the spirit of wisdom and knowledge, the spirit of counsel and strength, the spirit of learning and piety, and above all, the spirit of fear of the Lord, there is nothing further to be said to him; the spirit is an internal teacher that dictates and instructs in everything, and that will on every occasion show him his duties and give him wisdom to perform them. A great indication that one has received it is when he feels an ardent zeal for the salvation of children; when he is touched by their dangers; when he is sensible to their faults; when he experiences something of the tenderness and solicitude that Paul felt for the Galatians.

I cannot forbear also quoting briefly from the work of another European educator, which clearly shows the atmosphere pervading some parts of this educational world in the early days of our history. August Hermann Francke was made professor of Greek and Oriental languages in the University of Halle in 1691. Speaking of a previous experience he says: “This reflection made me desire that God would make me worthy to do something for the improvement of schools and education.” What he did we learn from Painter, “History of Education,” pp. 241, 242:—

In Halle he accomplished a great work, which stands in educational history almost without a parallel. The beginning was very humble. The poor were accustomed to assembly on Thursday before the parsonage to receive alms. The thought occurred to Francke that the opportunity might be improved for religious instruction. He invited the crowd of young and old into his house, and along with bread he administered spiritual food. He learned the condition of the poorer classes, and his heart was touched by their ignorance and need. He deprived himself of comforts to administer to their necessities. He solicited aid from his friends, and hung up a poor-box to receive contributions. One day he found in it the sum of seven florins, the gift of a benevolent woman. With the joy of faith he exclaimed: “That is a splendid capital, with which I must accomplish something useful; I will begin a school for the poor!” Books were immediately bought, and a needy student of the university engaged to teach the children two hours each day. The undertaking prospered; the parsonage soon became too small; more commodious quarters had to be engaged. With increasing wants came enlarged contributions, and Francke continued to develop his work till it at length assumed immense proportions.

Some principles of which the world has today to a great degree lost sight were strongly advocated in those days when our public school system was in its formative stage. Francke further states:—

Youth needs pleasure and recreation. This it finds partly in physical exercise, partly in pleasant and at the same time useful employments, especially in mechanical employments; partly in the examination of new and interesting objects of nature and art. In all instruction we must keep the pupil’s station and future calling in mind, but to all classes alike is piety necessary. Hence it must remain in all schools the chief matter, the principal lesson in the instruction of those who are destined to unprofessional employments and trades. The most important thing after religion is an acquaintance with the indispensable arts of reading, writing, and reckoning; but the elements of other branches of knowledge should not be neglected, especially the elements of natural science, geography, history, and government, which, however, are to be brought forward incidentally and later.

However, this does not prove the universality of these noble ideas. Europe had traveled often in circles. She was again making the round. And while the shock of the sixteenth-century Reformation for a time threw her out of the accustomed path, the circle, tho a little larger in circumference perhaps, had the same center, and had always to resist that strong centripetal force which tended ever to narrow and weaken. Paganism, rechristened Papacy, still held her

hand upon the mainspring of European civilization, and gradually the tide turned in her favor.

Free America began sending her sons of liberty to the Old World to complete their education. In those institutions into which, at most, only the faint rays of progress had shone, they sat at the feet of learned doctors, imbibed their philosophy, took their degrees, and returned to America, to relegate first to a secondary position, then to the shelf, those simpler forms of education which had at first made our noblest sons of liberty. The die was cast. The germ once planted grew. No wonder that to-day as a nation we have lost the enviable position formerly held among nations; no wonder we see everywhere the vain attempt to restore the lost life.

Israel was once in the same position. Perhaps it had gone a little farther, for she was not able to cope with surrounding nations. The Leader of Israel pointed out the remedy. The adoption of a correct system of instruction again placed the nation in the lead. If our educational institutions are to blame for national decay, is it not time to turn from our course, and demand a reform? How could it be done? Return to Bible principles, were it possible as a nation to do so, and we would take the position once held in the world by Jerusalem; nay more, we could then with truth preach the millennium as vainly heralded from popular pulpits, for ours would be an eternal government, and the King of kings would here sit upon the throne of David. E. A. SUTHERLAND.