EDUCATION AND THE RELIGIOUS LIFE.
JOHN FOSTER, in his admirable essay “On the Causes by Which Evangelical Religion Has Been Rendered Unacceptable to Persons of Cultivated Taste,” has offered many practical suggestions, which are worthy of our careful study. That breadth of culture and maturity of religious experience are necessarily incompatible, cannot be successfully maintained. Any false impression upon this subject may be removed by showing that the elements which constitute a genuine religious character are always favorable to sound scholarship, and conversely; and furthermore, by attributing the alleged antagonism to the defects, both in the religious life and in the culture, rather than to any necessary hostility between them; and by pointing the objector to such examples as will illustrate the union of the deepest piety with the most profound intellectual attainments. This age particularly demands, not a divorcement of education and religion; but, rather, their closest possible identification. The evils entrenched in society can be dislodged, and the plausible pretexts of infidelity can be exposed, only through such a union. Human learning must have a religious basis; more than this, it must be in cordial agreement with Christ’s precepts concerning inward purity. It is likewise true, that Christians should seek to win the confidence, to remove the prejudices, and to encourage the aspirations of all educated minds. When the religious life is exhibited in a manner that deprecates learning, or in a way to needlessly repel thoughtful men, an unwarranted obstruction to true Christian progress is the certain result. Whatever may be our intellectual pursuit, the highest and purest inspiration is to be derived from religion. We are convinced, however, that this is true in an eminent degree, only when the religious life is sincere, joyous, and progressive; when “looking unto Jesus” is made the daily habit of life; when the will is fully in accord with God’s will in everything; when a sense of his favor has become a fixed, delightful reality; when we watch constantly against the encroachments of a worldly spirit, and boldly protest against sin in society; and, above all, when in humility and trust we wait upon God in unceasing prayer. Such a life in Christ is possible for every believer; and when it is also ennobled by acquired intellectual gifts, the highest possible conditions for service are fulfilled.—Christian Advocate.