anity, be it for controversial or confirmatory purposes, can neglect the teachings of philosophy.

4. Thus the relation between philosophy and the sciences. and the educative process is so intimate and many-sided that we may justly cherish the hope that educators may soon recognize the importance of philosophy. The philosophical instruction of to-day is only a field for conducting experiments; may it soon be reconverted into a fruit-bearing orchard. Our schools have lost the traditions of philosophical instruction since the thinkers have turned their backs upon Aristotle. However, with the revival of the historical study of philosophy the prejudices against Aristotle are beginning to disappear, and so men are better prepared to appreciate the educational value of the Stagirite. Trendelenburg performed a real service to education. when he brought out, in 1836, the elements of Aristotle's logic. Though his edition was, because of its cumbrous form, ill adapted to school use, still it blazed a way which it were wise to follow. The field opened up by this work is not foreign to our schools: Aristotle, no mean product of antiquity, is, like the masters of language, anything but antiquated, and is even more vigorous than they are. Logic, wherever taught, is based on Aristotle, even if his name be not mentioned throughout the entire course. If the teacher of psychology would teach what has been treated from time immemorial as the science of the soul, and if he would familiarize the pupil with the terminology of this science, he must go back to the ancients, especially to Aristotle. Cicero's philosophical works are unintelligible except in the light of the Peripatetic Ethics, and to interpret Horace's Ars Poetica and Lessing's Dramaturgy you must turn to Aristotle's Poetics. Otherwise these are mere disjecta membra, whereas the whole may be made accessible through the proper procedure.'

However, this whole is here not to be taken as comprising the system of Aristotelian philosophy, for to introduce this into

1 "Do not suppose, that in thus appealing to the ancients, I am throwing back the world two thousand years, and fettering philosophy with the reasonings of paganism. While the world lasts, will Aristotle's doctrine on these matters last, for he is the oracle of nature and of truth. While we are men, we can not help, to a great extent, being Aristotelians, for the great master does but analyze the thoughts, feelings, views, and opinions of human kind. He has told us the meaning of our own words and ideas, before we were born. In many subject-matters, to think correctly, is to think like Aristotle, and we are his disciples whether we will or no, though we may not know it." (Newman, Idea of a University, London, 1902, pp. 109-110.)

the schools would offer practically insurmountable difficulties. There are passages in Aristotle's works that are so obscure as to be beyond even advanced students. But as thought-materials, and not the system, are the desiderata, one may select such passages as are remarkable alike for clearness and richness of thought and of these there is no dearth in Aristotle-and thus the students may be supplied at first hand with a rich thought

content.

One special difficulty which has much retarded the development of philosophico-propedeutic instruction was this dilemma: the philosophical instruction was to serve as a guide amid the conflicting systems and yet hold itself aloof from the conflict; it was to be impartial, but withal not colorless and inefficient. Now, the doctrine of Aristotle is so far removed from the strife of our day as to preclude the possibility of being embroiled in the wranglings of the hour. But the standpoint of Aristotle is nevertheless clearly defined, his method of reasoning is well adapted to train habits of correct thinking, his teachings support the moral and religious world-view and are diametrically opposed to naturalism-hence he is specially qualified to be a guide in the world to-day.

Furthermore, if the philosophical instruction of the school is to be a propedeutic course, i. e., preparatory to the specialized study of philosophy, the elements of the Aristotelian philosophy would likewise seem to be the ideal subject-matter. These elements offer the best starting point for the study of the history of philosophy: they lead directly to the whole of the Aristotelian system, which they prelude, thence to the precursors of that system, primarily Plato, as well as to its followers through the long line of Christian Peripatetics. This course will reveal the long and unbroken line of representatives of a great philosophy, which, taking its rise in Attica, continued to find ahderents adown the ages of Christianity. The followers of this system, the exponents of a theistic and idealistic world-view, represent a continuous chain of thinkers. They are certainly the longest line of thinkers known in the history of philosophy to agree on the fundamentals; thus they offer the best basis for the orientation. in the history of philosophy and, thereby, for the orientation. in philosophy itself

CHAPTER XXV.

Theology.

1. If the philological element, especially the classical studies, represent the æsthetical aims of education, and if mathematics and philosophy connect education with the sciences, then theology, though it does not lack æsthetical and scientific value, represents directly the moral and religious aims.

The religious instruction serves in the first place to raise to a higher plane the elementary school by furnishing it with an ideal centre and thus preventing it from serving the material interests exclusively. Catechism and Bible History must exert their influence over a larger field than the ancient classics, and more is expected of them than of the Greek and Roman classics. Yet, in spite of their small compass, they contain educative elements enough to be fully equal to the attainment of their high end.

The catechism comprises in the smallest co.npass the doctrines of Faith and the moral precepts of Christianity, and is thus an amplification of the Creed and the Decalogue. Its method of questions and answers is of ancient origin, having been employed by the Pythagoreans and the nations of the East. But the positive and fixed character of its content distinguishes it from all similar non-Christian texts. With the heathen a catechism was an impossibility, because their mythology, being inseparable from the poetical element, would not admit of plain and simple presentation. Neither could the Deistic theology of the Enlightenment, which had exchanged soulless forms for Faith, be expressed in the precise and exact terms of the catechism.

The catechism is spead all over the world; it is small in size, and low in price; it is the book preeminently of the child. But because of these circumstances men generally associate itthough it contains the sublimest truths and the most wonderful teaching with what is trite and common. "Few men prize this little book," writes Bishop Giraud of Rodez, in a pastoral letter, "and the world does not realize that its few pages contain the wisdom of the Lord, the wisdom of the Church, and the wisdom of the ages. Imagine this little book to have fallen into the hands of Socrates, Plato, or Aristotle. They would have been filled with awe and wonder and an indescribable joy at having their longing for knowledge so fully satisfied. Yes,

they would have been happy, for this sudden light which had thus appeared to them is the teaching that solves our riddles, dispels our anxious doubts, removes our difficulties, and establishes a wonderful union between earth and heaven, between time and eternity, between man and God. And all these results are accomplished by a few words, without any lengthy disquisition; and all truths are stated in such clear and transparent language that naught is needed for understanding them but the ears to listen and the heart to believe and love.'

2. Catechism teaches religion synthetically, but Bible History adopts the genetic form. It is the prototype of a genetic course. of study, and was on this account highly valued in the early Church. In his work On Catechizing the Uninstructed St. Augustine lays down the rule that the content of the Chris' ian Faith be developed in connection with the historical account given in the Bible, from Genesis to the Acts of the Apostles; and insists that special care be given to the internal connection of the events, all being related to the final end, the love of God. "The thread of the narrative must, however, not be lost; the presentment is to be but the gold setting of precious stones.' Conscious of the sublimity of the Scriptural narrative, the teacher will strive to become "little with the little ones." The teacher of religion will never tire of repeating the old, just as a beautiful landscape, with which we are long familiar, is to us a new joy as often as we point it out to such as have not yet seen it.

The simplicity of the Sacred History is the secret of its appeal to the child's mind, but it is withal so profound as to prove even for the mature and highly gifted an inexhaustible source of pious meditation. It presents human life and the deeds of the Lord that have illumined man's earthly pilgrimage. It has not only the movement and the vivid coloring of the epic but also the seriousness and the deep wisdom of didactic poetry. But while profane literature deals with the things of the senses and presents but a passing show, the Bible leads us to recognize what is of the spirit and of truth. Though the ancient poets have told of the beginning of the world and the four ages, yet what is their poetry in comparison with the account in Genesis! What are their odes in comparison with the Psalms, and their tragedies in comparison with the history of Christ's Passion! For the child's awakening moral sense, Bible History furnishes types of good and evil, of right and wrong-types as clear-cut and distinct as the concepts of moral philosophy and withal

concrete, tangible figures, intelligible human types. To Scripture we may apply the words of Moses, "Consider that I have set before thee this day life and good, and on the other hand death and evil."1

Bible history is thus food for the heart, but stimulates no less the imagination. The Bible will continue to the end of time to inspire the sculptor and the painter; it abounds in dramatic situations and noble, whole-souled characters. The solemn style of the East-particularly in the modified form employed. by the Hebrews-as embodied in language, manners, and actions, appeals strongly to every receptive mind. The sacred heroes move in a scene alike charming and suited to the action and characters: the terebinths wave their crowns above the tents of Abraham; the eye of Moses sweeps across the broad expanse of land even to the distant sea; and Christ points to the birds of the air and the lilies of the field.

The Bible is the cradle of the historiography of the Christian nations: the national histories became world-history by being joined to the Scripture history." The Bible still retains a similar value for the understanding of history and for the development of the historical sense. It kindles an interest in the past, and directs us to look up to that which is truly great and lasting. It leads the imagination beyond the present and the here, gives us a glimpse of eternity, and teaches us to measure all by it, the highest of all standards.

3. In former times there was besides the elementary religious instruction no other course of Christian Doctrine than that which prepared either directly or indirectly for the professional study of theology. But in recent times a form of religious instruction has been developed which, while employing scientific methods, is still not professional in tendency and, consequently, answers the purpose of a cultural course in theology. It is similar in scope to the popular theological literature of modern times, for its object is to instruct as well as to edify. After the other sciences, particularly philology and history, had been allowed more scope in purely cultural courses of study, it was mperative that theology should also, in order to preserve the balance, extend its field of usefulness. As soon as antiquity and nationality were recognized to be historical elements that are

1 Deut. XXX, 15.

2 Cf. Vol. I, p. 180.