EDUCATION
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EDUCATION
Ural truth with the facts of daily experience. Sen-
sory perception, memory, and imagination were tlius
developed to form a mental setting for the great truths
of the Kingdom. The same prmciple found its appli-
cation in the institution of the sacraments whereby
natural elements are made the outward signs of m-
ward grace. As St. John Chrysostom aptly says,
"Wert thou incorporeal, He woiild have bestowed on
thee incorporeal gifts in their bare reality; but because
the soul is boimd up with the body. He gives thee in-
telligible things under sensible forms" (fiomilia Ix, ad
populum .\ntioch.). In fact the whole teaching of
Christ is the clearest proof of the principle that educa-
tion must adapt itself in method and practice to the
needs of those who are to be taught. In accordance
with this principle He prepared the minds of His fol-
lowers beforehand for the institution of the Holy Eu-
charist, for His own death, and for the coming of the
Holy (ihost (John, vi, xiv, xv); and He even reserved
certain truths to be made know-n by the Paraclete: " I
have yet many things to say to you: but you cannot
bear them now. But when he, the Spirit of truth, is
come, he will teach you all truth" (xvi, 12, V.i). Thus
the completion of His work as a teacher is left not to
human conjecture or speculation, nor to the theories of
philosophical schools, but to the Spirit of God Him-
self. This of course was best realized by those who
were nearest to Him; yet even those of the Jews who
were not among the .Apostles, but were, like Nicode-
mus, disposed to judge fairly, confessed His superior-
ity: " We know that thou art come a teacher from God;
for no man can do these signs which thou dost, unless
God be with him" (John, iii, 2).
The Aim oj Christian Education. — Had Christ's mis- sion ended when He quitted the earth, He would still have been in word and work the ideal teacher, and would have influenced for all time the education of mankind so far as its ultimate aims and basic princi- ples are concerned. But as a matter of fact, He made ample pro^-ision for the perpetuation of His work by training a select body of men who for three years were constantly under His direction and were thoroughly imbued w"ith His spirit. To these Apostles, moreover, He gave the command: " Going therefore, teach ye all
nations and behold I am with you all days, even
to the consummation of the world" (Matt., xxviii, 19, 20). These words are the charter of the Christian Church as a teaching institution. While they refer directly to the doctrine of salvation, and therefore to the imparting of religious truth, they nevertheless, or rather by the very nature of that truth and its conse- quences "for life, carry with them the obligation of in- sisting on certain principles and maintaming certain characteristics w-hich have a decisive bearing on all educational problems.
1. The truth of Christianity is to be made known to all men. It is not confined to any one race or nation or class, nor is it to be the exclusive possession of highly gifted minds. This characteristic of unircr- snlity is in plain contrast with the highest conceptions of the pagan world. The cultured Greek had only contempt for the barbarian, and the Roman looked upon outside nations as subjects to be governed rather than as people to be taught. But at Athens also and at Rome there was the distinction between free citi- zens and slaves, in consequence of which the latter w'ere excluded from the benefits of education. As against these narrow limitations Christ charged His Apostles to "teach all men"; and St. Paul, in the same spirit, professes himself a debtor to all men, Greeks and barbarians, the wise and the unwise alike. All, in fact, were to be dealt with as children of the same Heavenly Father and heirs of the Kingdom of God. In respect of these supernatiiral prerogatives, the dis- tinctions which had hitherto prevailed were set aside: Christianity appeared as one vast school with man- kind at large for its disciples.
2. The commission given to the Apostles was not to
expire with them; it was to remain in force " all days,
even to the consmnmation of the world". Perpetuity,
therefore, is an essential feature in the educational
work of Christianity. The institutions of paganism
had indeed flourished and advanced from phase to
phase of development, but they did not contain the
element of enduring vitality. In the higher depart-
ments of learning, as in philosophy, school had fol-
lowed school into vigour and into decay. And in edu-
cation itself, one ideal after another had been put
forward only to be displaced. Christianity, on the con-
trary, while it could never become a rigid system, held
up to mankind certain unchangeable truths which
should serve as criteria for determining the value of
every fundamental theorj' of life and of education.
By insisting, especially, that man's destiny was to be
attained, not in any form of temporal service or suc-
cess, but in luiion with (iod, it proposed an ideal which
should be valid for all time and amid all the variations
of human thought and endeavour. That such changes
would inevitably come to pass, Christ, without doubt,
foresaw. In view of these, a merely human teacher
would have provided for the stability of his work by
devices which would, if successful, have attested his
foresight, or shrewdness, or knowledge of human
nature. But Christ's guarantee to the Apostles is at
once simpler and surer: "Behold I am with you all
days". The task of instructing the world in Christian
truth would have been impossible but for this per-
manent abiding of Christ with His appointed teachers.
On the other hand, once the force of His promise is
realized, the significance of Christianity as a perpetual
institution becomes evident: it means that Christ
Himself through a visible agency was to continue for
all time the work He began diu-ing His earthly life as
Teacher of the human race.
3. It has already been pointed out that some of the pagan peoples, and notably the Greeks, had attained a very high conception of personality; and it has also been shown that this conception was by no means perfect. The teaching of Christianity in this respect is so far superior to any other that if a single element could be designated as fundamental in Christian edu- cation it would be the emphasis which it lays on the worth of the individual. In the first place, Christian- ity had its origin, not in any abstract speculation as to goodness or virtue, but in the actual, concrete life of a Person who w-as absolutely perfect. It was not, then, obliged to cast about for the ideal man, or to present a theory as to what that ideal might possibly be: it could and it did point to a realization which far sur- passed the most e.xalted ideas of human wisdom. In Christ first appeared the full dignity of human nature through its elevation to personal union with the W'ord of God; and in Him, as never before or since, were manifest those traits which fm'nish the noblest models for imitation.
Christianity, furthermore, elevated human person- ality by the value it set upon each human soul as cre- ated by God and destined for eternal life. The State is no longer the supreme arbiter, nor is service to the public weal the ultimate standard. These, it is true, within their legitimate sphere have just claims upon the individual. Christianity by no means teaches that such claims can l)e disregarded or the correspond- ing duties neglected, but rather that the discharge of all social and civic obligations will be more thorough when subordinated to, and inspired by, fidelity in the duties that man owes to God. While the \'alue of per- sonality is thus enhanced, the sense of responsibility is correspondingly increased; so that the freer develop- ment of the person is not allowed to culminate in sel- fishness nor m that extreme individualism which is a threat to social organization.
4- From these principles Christianity drew conse- quences which were totally at variance with the
