The Sentinel=record., 1914-05-08
BIBLE READING
 IN THE SCHOOLS
PLEA IS MADE FOR ITS UNIVER. SAL USE IN MIXED DENoMINA-
 TloNAL SCHOOLS.
Urged That Committees Select Sec preciated by All Creeds.

! public schools we present the follow l ing discussion of the subject by one who by virtue of his position, experi- ence and knowledge, is well author i ized to write upon it.
 That there is a rising demand for , daily Bible reading in public schools is strongly indicated by the fact that ] four organizations, whose constitu- ency includes about all the eyangeli- cal churches-about eighteen millions of members-have committees at work to this end The organizations referred to are: The Association of Church Educational Boards, The Federal Council of Churches, the In- i ternational Sunday School AssOcia-
 ton and tbe international Young Mems Christian Association. The i National Reform Association has long l been urging this reform.
 The writer, as an associate mem
 Der of the committee of the organiza- , ton first named. and in behalf of the International Reform Bureau, has re- gently brought together representa- l tiyes of several of these committees with a representative liberal and has had friendly consultations on this
 matter with Jewish Rabbis and Cath
 ollie prelates, and is convinced by these conferences that the time has
 come when the statesmen, editors of the religious press and others should
 discuss the urgent situation with
 view to immediate improvement, and
 with more regard to facts and less to
 fears than is usual in the current conversations and committee meet ings on this subject.
 Unnecessary Fears.
 It is surprising how every Chris
 tian group to which one breathes the
 subject of Bible reading in public
 schools anywhere in the land, unani- mously acclaims that 'The Jews and
 Catholics would never allow it." That
 is the verdict in New York city, es-
 reciaIy where few of the citizens
 seem to realize that Hebrew, Catho-
 lie and Protestant teachers have for
 a long time read the common yer
 sion daily by order of their board of l education, without enough objection
 to make the fact generally known, Of course, the instinctive courtesy of a
 Christian teacher in a school where l there are Jews prompts the use of se-
 lections from that part of the Bible l which is equally cherished by Jews. Catholics and Protestants, and the International Reform Bureau has i therefore published a suggestive a half year list of old Testament pas sages suitable for childhood and
 youth, with topical grouping for each week to give a continuous moral i'm pression, inasmuch as one argument against the Bible in the schools has been that the mere reading of a dis connected passage, hastily chosen, makes so little impression that it IS hardly worth while.
 Harmony in Our Greatest City,
 The fact that Protestants Catholics and Jews are harmoniously reading the Bible in the public schools of New York City sweeps all our fears aside, like a snow blow and clears The track for action. In probably three-fourths of our schools the original American custom of daily Bible reading has never been discontinued. As to the others, "the way to resume is to re- sumo" In nearly ali cases the teach CT is permitted by law to read the Bible. but teachers take courage from New York City and do it. Let the boards of education exercise their To- cal option Let public sentiment as- sert itself to this end. And because this is too great a matter to he left to individual discretion or indiscre- tion or to local option, and because the children all over the state have equal rights to such a moral safe guard let the New York legislature follow the Keystone State in requir ing, by the passage of the DoX bill that in every school not less than ten verses shall be read daily. And let every other state legislature do like wise. Now that our anxiety is dis DGilEu ieNL W v SHbuiu uOr NbihHUbAI wrong or raise a story by having our children opened first of all books in each school day, let this fundamental American institution be fully re- stored speedily.
 The Bible for Ethics as We'll as Lit erature.
 But there are other facts that show conclusively that our schools may go i beyond mere Bible reading in Bibli- cal education There is no visible objection to the North Dakota plan, as modified by Colorado, by which the study of the Bible as Literature outside of public schools-in Sunday 1 Schools or elsewhere-may he credit ] ed after due examination on the edu- cational standing of a pupil. But let | not those who advocate this plan say or assume that the Bible might not properly be studied as great lit erature in the schools; not let them | say or acsuma that thp Rfblp might