EDITOR'S TABLE. 



555 



are fighting against those who would 

 make the state the teacher of any sys- 

 tem of theological doctrines however 

 elementary or fundamental whatsoever. 

 The most striking address delivered in 

 support of religious teaching was that 

 of Dr. William A. Butler, who took up 

 the position that, while in this country 

 there is an absolute divorce between 

 church and state, there never has been 

 any divorce " between Christianity and 

 the state, or between the state gov- 

 ernment in its administration and the 

 Christian religion, as revealed in the 

 Scriptures." The inference which the 

 speaker drew was that it was entirely 

 lawful and proper for the state to sanc- 

 tion " the reading of the Scriptures in 

 the public schools, without note or com- 

 ment, as also the use of the Lord's 

 prayer, and the inculcation, under proper 

 safeguards, without admixture of human 

 doctrine, of Christian morals." 



This view of the case was vigorously 

 combated by Dr. Ward, editor of The 

 Independent; and, we must confess, it 

 seems to us amazingly weak. Far be 

 it from us to argue against religious 

 teaching in schools under private con- 

 trol, or to assert or imply that the re- 

 ligious element is not a most important 

 one in education generally. That was 

 not the question before the conference, 

 nor is it one with which we should 

 think it right to concern ourselves. 

 The question is, Can the state teach re- 

 ligion? Dr. Butler thinks it can, be- 

 cause there has never been any divorce 

 between the state and Christianity. 

 The reason is glaringly insufficient. A 

 " divorce " means a tearing asunder ; 

 there has been no divorce between the 

 state and Christianity for the excellent 

 reason that there never was any union 

 of a formal or legal kind to sever. A 

 majority of the population, it may be 

 assumed, are professed adherents of 

 Christianity, but it does not follow from 

 that that they have authorized the Gov- 

 ernment to give effect in any practical 

 shape to such convictions as they may 



have on the subject. Before the Gov- 

 ernment can act, it must have a very 

 clear mandate ; and manifestly the peo- 

 ple could not give the Government a 

 mandate on this subject without stating 

 clearly what they understood by Chris- 

 tianity, and with what degree of detail 

 they wished its doctrines to be made 

 matter of instruction in the schools. 

 The idea of a government deciding such 

 questions for itself is simply ridiculous. 

 In certain cases, where technical knowl- 

 edge is required, the state can call ex- 

 perts to its aid architects, engineers, 

 chemists, electricians ; but imagine for 

 a moment the Government calling for 

 expert assistance in a question of the- 

 ology ! But to come down to facts, the 

 people do not want the state to under- 

 take any theological or religious busi- 

 ness on their behalf. They know, they 

 deeply feel, its utter incompetency in 

 that sphere. They know that it is as 

 much as they themselves can do in their 

 several churches to avoid causes of dis- 

 pute and separation ; and they have not 

 the most remote idea of inviting the 

 politicians whom they have elected 

 to office to make amateur theologians 

 of themselves for any purpose whatso- 

 ever. The very idea is so incongruous 

 with the spirit of the time that it is 

 hardly worth while to insist on the fact 

 that the Christian community is itself 

 divided by the most serious differences 

 of opinion upon various theological 

 questions so much so that, in the eyes 

 of certain Christians, others who claim 

 the name have no title to it whatever. 

 The differences of opinion, for example, 

 between Trinitarians and Unitarians, 

 and between TJniversalists, who look 

 forward to the salvation of all, and those 

 who, as the Scotch woman said, " hope 

 for better things," or between Roman 

 Catholics and those who think that Ro- 

 man Catholicism is " the beast " of the 

 book of Revelation and the Papacy 

 the "scarlet woman," are fundamental, 

 and any religious teaching that was 

 meant to gain equal approval from 



