Maryland independent. [volume] (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1874-current, 1924-06-27
BAccALAUREATE ON EDUCATION.

Appropriate 10 the present festal oe
casion are the words of this days Cos
pei. Il is only In the name and by the
power of the Triuue God Father. Son
and Holy Ghost, that a system Of edu-
cation can be developed and impaired
that will train the immature mind along
the lines of truth unto right thinking
aud Judgment, from the will to recog-
nize and respect another authority su-
perior to its own inclinations and Ca
prices and mould the composite man
unto the betterment of society and the
attainment ofhis predestined end. This
is the purpose of Education religion
can procure it,
No one could realize the need of ed
ucatiOn more than our Divine Saviour,
for no one could know as lie knew the
havoc and distortion that sin had
wrought upon mans mind, will and
purpose; but no one could realize as
Our Saviour, that this education
should be proportional TO the relative
faculties Of mans composite nature.
Religion teaches this relation. These
faculties of man, physical mental and
moral must be evolved and developed
TO the degree of their proper Junction
ing and efficiency. yet with due respect
TO the relative dignity OF each. Every
faculty and power in man is accom-
modated and ordained to a plan, that
existed in the mind of the Creator.
Education is the following of this plan.
Exaggerated development OF any one
faculty leads TO the detriment and de-
struction of the others, and illustrates
the plans of the Creator. The world in
every age has attempted the problem
of education, but in all the systems
that preceded Christ there is an evil
dent disproportion in the cultivation
of these several faculties. Beauty,
art, culture. literature. warfare we're all
at various times held up as the goal OF
mans existence, but il was only with
the coming OF Christ, that a new pur-
pose was revealed the development OF
God in man. This motive alone could
meet the ends OF education and effect
the enlightenment of the mind of man,
the formation of his character on law
and virtue, the re-establishment in jus
tice and charity of his relation TO his
felloW-man and to his God. Christ
was the first real Educator, for His
doctrine was founded on truth, and it
is essential that all the processes in
the educative activities must rest on
truth. For this He came into the world
to give testimony to the truth, and He
proclaims of Himself that He is the
Way, the Truth and the Life. He knew
the value of human soul; He saw in
it the reflection OF His own PROJECTIONS;
He saw in it Unreasonable possibili-
ties for good if truth were TO be man 5
portion and guide, the irrevocable
harm If "wiekedness should alter his
understanding and deceit beguile his
mind. +" Truth since Christ revealed it,
and as He revealed il, must be the
means by which alone man can attain
God; otherwise Christ, none the less
God because Man, could not have in
sisted on truth as the means of perfec-
ton if error would have served His
purpose. He taught that teabhing was
truth because il was not His own word
but the Fathers who had sent Him,
He selected a few followers, men whose
minds were not warped by the false
PHILOSOPHERS Of the time and these He
instructed in the truth He had brought
from heaven; this He warned them was
not TO be minimized or amplified, but
was to continue down through the ages
just what He the eternal truth had COM
manded.
This foundation of truth laid down
and insisted upon by the Goldman is,
indeed, Immediately directed to divine
revelations, but nevertheless, with
equal force it is to be the basis on
which is acquired all human knowl-
edge. The human faculties in man
have their influence on his development
no less than the divine; nay more, they
either further the divine or ruin then.
All human teaching is certainly if in
directly, included in the divine com
mission to teach all things whatsoever
Christ had commanded; the woI ds, "all
things whatsoever can be reasonably
taken TO include not only matters Of
faith, but likewise all that has to deal
with faith in the making of man. Pro-
fame knowledge, namely, science, his
tory, philosophy, literature are so
much part OF this commission, that
II they cannot be acquired without dan
ger TO faith Faith must direct them,
else education is wrecked. If secular
teaching be impaired without reference
70 religion and any coordination to it,
grave pedagogical error is made, and
the threefold end of education is frus-
trated. The recognition of truth and
this difference to the truth of God,
which we know as religion, must be the
foundation on which education is based;
accordingly, all secular branches must
be so presented that religion may be the
centralizing, unifying, vitalizing force.
II must be recognized as the soHl of
education, which II is; it alone can
furnish to education its proper mean
ing, place and purpose, and enable the
mind TO appraise the relative merits of
the learning acquired, and the reason
for which it is acquired. Eliminate
religion from education or what is
equally disastrous, substitute cultural
motives or temporal advantage as its
end, and you thereby release a tremen.
douS power upon society without check
or restraint, and promote condition
ofpolite paganism. Divorce education
from religion, as some pedagogues are
doing either as a result OF their own
ignorance of religion, or on the plea OF
honest consistency. make education un-
religious, treat the religious element
with contempt or indifference, relegate
1t to place of secondary Importance,
make il appear as beneath the intelli-
gence of seemingly wise and strong
minds, and the result will necessarily
be irreligiods, and will lead TO the re
finement of vice and perfdy that we
find today as the result of centuries OF
a God-excluded system Of education.
Education in this day is misnomer;
1t fails to develop in due proportion
the faculties of man, or procure the
ends for which 1t is intended. The
Church, far from opposing the public
school, is on the contrary, trying to
do it service by pointing o1t the de-
fects of her system, as seen in the god
lessness OF the age. The three RS of
the classroom must necessarily even
tuate into the ruinous three RS of So
ciety, Raneor, Rebellion, Ruin, unless
religion is included as the guide to
truth and the support OF authority.
Our age is lawless. not because there
are Dot enough laws promulg ated, but
because the conscience is NOT trained
10 respect them. The wind Of irre,igion
that brew over the world in the six
teenth century, is reaping It's whirlwind
today in the bOasted and general dis
respect for authority, both divine and
human. When The name OF God was
forbidden in the classroom, and tine
image OF the Crucifed vas torn from
its walls. the only reason for authority
f.aas sod In exist ss'lborp is no nnpsf.r