They are the result of an impasse which modern educational theory and practice has reached. Modern educational philosophy has abandoned the belief in truth as the forming power of the individual and of the group. For the unchanging norm of truth it has substituted the process of adjustment to a changing social order. The result is that biblical, transcendent standards of thought and action are obscured, distorted, or even rigidly exluded, and that educational theory and practice are thrown into a flux that is nothing short of chaos. The situation becomes even more desperate when we consider the crying need for the light of truth in an educational program that has become universal for all citizens of a democratic society.
More children attend school than ever before, and they remain in school longer.
We readily recognize that universal educational opportunity is needed in a democracy where individual initiative and private enterprise within the framework of law are rightly promoted. Democracy needs an enlightened citizenry if it is to function as a free society. Universal education is charged with the responsibility of giving light that the citizens of a democratic society may judge and act wisely. But while modem education seeks to give light, it has no light within itself to give. It has its face turned from the light, which is the Word of God.