TEACHING CHILDREN RELIGION.
In these days, when the matter of religious teaching in schools is the cause of so much controversy, it is worth while to consider what religious teaching really is, and how it is to be carried on. As with everything else that pertains to religion, the Bible is our only sure guide, and in Deut. 6: 4-9 we find the subject made very plain, in these words:— “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord; and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart; and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.”
The reader’s attention is directed to a few of the important truths set forth in the above scripture. 1. The words to be taught are not empty sound, nor are they simply combinations of certain letters of the alphabet. They are such words as can be in the heart, and that means that they are life, even the life of God. The life of God, revealed in Christ, is the only law for mankind. The teaching of Bible religion, therefore, does not consist in the teaching of certain dogmas, or statements of doctrines, backed up by certain texts of Scripture, but in presenting Christ so that through the Holy Spirit he may be formed within, the hope of glory. 2. We learn that the duty of teaching religion to children rests with the parents. If they choose to allow others also to instruct their children in religion, that is doubtless their privilege; but no parent can lightly shift upon another his own responsibility. Although the elders or pastors of the church are to feed the lambs as well as the sheep, parents are not thereby released from their obligation to teach their own children. If they are negligent in this matter, the work will never be perfectly done, for— 3. Religious teaching is to be constant, and not confined to one or two hours of the day. Bible religion is not only life, but it is the whole of life. Everything in nature is to be used to impress the truth of God upon the mind of the child. In the margin of Deut. 6:7 we have as an equivalent of “teach them diligently,” “whet, or sharpen.” The idea is that of repetition. But the repetition is not to be the repetition of a form of words, but of vital truths. Children can understand the Gospel as well as their elders. It is true that they can not understand theological terms, but neither can grown people. Nobody understands what is meant by theological terms and formulas, and that is the reason why there is so much discussion over them. They are arbitrary terms, and mean to each individual whatever he happens to think about them. But simple, practical Scripture truth is easy of comprehension by a child. Timothy knew the Holy Scriptures from childhood, and knew them to his salvation. 2 Tim. 3:15. Whoever enters the kingdom of God must do so as a child. There is no religious truth that can not be understood by a child as well as by anybody else. 4. Whoever teaches must first have the words of life in his own heart. Since true religion is not only a life, but the life, it follows that no one can sharpen a child or anybody else in it unless he himself has the life. The question will arise, “What if the parents are deficient in this respect? shall the children therefore be deprived of religious instruction?” Not necessarily. The true Christian is a missionary, and the church of Christ has no other business on earth but to seek out the lost, both old and young. If Christians do this work in the Spirit of Christ, there will be none who do not hear the sound of the Gospel. It is very evident that this teaching is not such as can be done according to program. He who has the word of life in his heart, will not need that somebody else should tell him what he should teach, and how he should teach it. And he who can not teach religion except according to a syllabus, can not teach true religion at all. The conclusion of the whole matter is this, that religious instruction must be wholly a voluntary affair, and must be a labor of love. It must aim at direct practical results, namely, the conversion of those who are taught. While the laborer must live, it is evident that true religious teachings can not be done by one who engages in the work as a profession. He who has the words of life in his heart, will need no urging to make them known, but will be unable to refrain from teaching in some way. The love of Christ constrains him, and he can not but speak the things that he has seen and heard. The main thing is to have the life in the soul. If the living word abides in the teacher, that word will regulate everything.