E-text prepared by Juliet Sutherland, Karina Aleksandrova,
and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team
DEDICATED TO THOSE WHO HAVE IN THEIR KEEPING THE RELIGIOUS DESTINY OFAMERICA—THE TWO MILLION TEACHERS IN OUR CHURCH SCHOOLS.
Importance of the teacher—Three types of teachers—Thepersonal factor in teaching religion—Developing thepower of personality—The cultivatable factors in personality—Ascale for determining personality—The teacher'smastery of subject-matter—Methods of growth—Fieldsof mastery demanded—Service and rewards—Problemsand questions.
Two great objectives in teaching—Making sure ofthe greater objective—Teaching children versus teachingsubject-matter—Subject-matter as a means instead ofan end—Success in instruction to be measured in termsof modified life, not of material covered—The goal ofa constantly developing Christian character and experience—Problemsfor discussion.
What the four-fold foundation consists of: (1) rightaims, (2) right materials to reach these aims, (3) rightorganization of this material for instruction, (4) rightpresentation in instruction—The aim of teaching religionis (1) fruitful knowledge, (2) right religious attitudesand growing consciousness of God, (3) power andwill to live righteously—Selecting subject-matter tomeet these ends—Principles of organization of material—Theproblem of effective presentation—Questions fordiscussion.
Not all religious knowledge of equal value—What determinesvalue of knowledge—Kind of knowledge neededby child—Developing the child's idea of God—Harmfrom wrong concepts of God—Giving the child the rightconcept of religion—The qualities by which religionshould be defined to the child—The child's knowledgeof the Bible; of the church; of religious forms of expression—Problemsand questions.
The meaning of religious attitudes—These attitudeslie at the basis of both motives and character—Importanceof the pupil's attitudes toward the churchschool and class—Enjoyment of the lesson hour andthe growth of loyalty—The sense of mastery necessaryto mental and spiritual growth—The grounding of acontinuous interest in the Bible and religion—Growthin spiritual warmth and responsiveness—The cultivationof ideals—The training of fine appreciations—Worthyloyalties and devotions—Clearness of God-consciousness—Questionsand problems.
Religious instruction must carry across to life andconduct—Hence necessity of finding pra