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.$ Corporate Control, the Peril
of Christian Educatiqn
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(Address delivered by Dr. W. B. Riley, D.
D Pastor of the' First Baptist ' dhurch, M'line-
tipplo$8, IVtihn,, at the third Annual Cbrifereride '
oh Christian Fundamentals, at envbr, Colo-
lado, in June 1021;)
, '
Christianity has Cor full twenty centuries,
fayorod and fostered higher oodupation. Wher- .
ever the Bible, its toxt book, has:.gone, schools,
of highor learning have, sprung up In IU wake, ,
until the. term "Christian. Civilization" has
oome to me,an mental, as well as .moral, progress.
The standardization, of schools sounds like anr
other one of those twentieth cqntiiry vctor'es of
Vrfcich education could ji'stlj boast, and In which
Jta natural mothor. Christianity, might gr.oatly
iGjolce. Consequently it will seem to some rudo
speech, and to others even a cuel one, when I .
itiy that the standardization of schools, n. it is'
now taking place in Amrii'a, is the triumph of
skepticism and the menace of Christianity itself.
A jemarlc like this demands both explanation
and confirmation, . . .
The 'conservative moml ers of our CnYislian'
churches know that dombth'ng is vrong In our
educational system, and ney increasingly unrtw
sl.nnd its inhospitality lo Christ and Hib oause;
but the overwhelming majority of them have not
as yet dreamed the basal difficulty, nor heard, a .
hint of the inimical movement and organization
of which it is my purpose now to sn.sak. .
So quietly has this movement come, and 'so
silently has this organization been effect .ui; (hat
thousands of .our religious leaders do not know
of either, and it was only the incident of plac
ing my son' in a Chicago school, tfiat brought me
to realize the extent of this organization and dls-covor-
itsSf headquarters in , the Chicago Unl
voltUvi i . '..,.
Iti is to. make the public, familiar with that
movement, and bring ltr if possible, .-to a cure
ful consideration of that organization, that I
speak.;- 'Before I sit down,. I.want'.tosljow you
an.ac&d.e.mic octopus, certain awns of which
noy , y.eaph, from the Atlantic to the Pacific,
while o&hqr of its tentacles are at this very
moment laying deadly grip upon the southern
statqsy an.d prove to you that unless its pow
ers,be,' .broken, American Christianity will well-,
nigh , pqvlsh under the pressure of the same,
to be displaced, bv liberalism that will recognize .
"a force, that makes for righteousness" or no
God at all, according to1 the pleasure of the
individual, Christ as 'a myth of past centuries
or as. a inan of high moral, ethical, ideals, its
the personal taste may dictate,, the Bible as an
evolution of Hebrew thought, pr .as a well
meant book written by composite contributors
whoso names were long since' lost, ' as the .in
tellectual' highbrow decides .' to belfeve. " . ;' '
But io do this I must trace ..thV history of
this educational movement for a' full quarter lo'f
a century and more. , . .
FATHER OF AMERICAN CRITICISM
v .CONCEIVED IT- ' . -Wm.
.R. Harper embodied the" movement' of
higher criticism as it affects the evangelical
bodies of the United States. Employing his
honpt-ed place as a Baptist, his office as the
president of their most outstanding' university
and his unquestioned intellectually, lie took
the initial stops looking to the "Religious Edu
cation Association," and be'cairto himself the
auhor of a , scheme that bbund high schdols
colleges and universities in the northwest to
a standardized basis of mo'iie'tary; standards
professional degrees, and predetermlhed cur
ricula. .
ITS FACE BORE NO HINT TO THE PUB
LIC W OTHER INTENT THA ACADEMIC
ELEVATION, BUT HISTORY IS RAPIDLY
PROVING HARPER APPREHENDED THE
POSSIBILITIES OF HIS PLAN FROM THE
VERY BEGINNING. V U
He. saw in it a medium of domination far
deeper than that involved in academic edu
cation. He clearly appreciated -tlierelation
of. learning to religion, and of higher educatiW
to. the philosophy-and life of : Christianity, One
is4ncllnedto believe that he. had studidd very
carefully the relationship of colleges to. creed'
and of schools to coming society : . ' ; .
' ENAMORED; HIMSELF OF THE-NEW'RP
.LIGIOUS'v VIEWS,- OS THE WbL&HAUS'
enunrtt. AMT1 CAPTIVATED BV GERMAN
CONCEPTS, HE DELIBERATELY DECIDED
TO SET IN MOTION EDUCATIONAL MA
CHINERY DESTINED TO MAItE OVER THE
THINKING OF AMERICA AND .DISPLACE
ALL PURITAN CONCEPTS OF GOD, THE
BIBLE, CHRIST, AND THE CHURCH, WITH
THE MORE MODERN AND RATIONALISTIC
ONES OF WHAT HE DEEMED THE MIGHTI
EST PEOPLES OF THE WORLD FROM THE
MENTAL AND MILITARY STAND-POINT.
He took his post-graduate work in German,
universities; he found his intellectual
ideals among German 'professors, and by the'
process of higher criticism, he, more than any -living
man, popularized Modernism in Ameri
can education. , .
Dr. Minot Simons, a Unitarian minister of
Cleveland, voiced a well-based opinion when he
said as early as 1913,. "I am deeply impressed
with the fact that the Religious Education As
sociation is one of the most liberalizing forces
of the modern religious world," and from his
persqnal and theological standpoint he was
quite justified in the remark, "This associa
tion deserves our support, as Unitarians b.eT ,
cause it is dping our work, to an extent that
we little realize."
IT WAS INFECTED WITH INFIDELITY'
In 1919 the annual meeting of tlrs associa-
tion was presided over by Dr. Samuel A. '
Elliot, President of the American Unitarian
Association; and "The Eastern," a Unitarian :
church paper said of tliat meeting, "Can we
do better than to give thorough and hearty
co-operation to the 'Religious Education As
sociation,' which welcomes, us without reserve
or discrimination, and ' which preaches bur' '
message of education in Teligion with . such
persuasiveness and power?" Dr. Durant
Drake, of Vassar College, the man whose skep
tical books have excited more controversy and
opposition in evangelical circles than almost any
modern writer, comments, "THE RELIGIOUS
EDUCATIONAL ASSOCIATION IS THE MOST
IMPORTANT LIBERALIZING AGENCY OF
THE DAY."
From the first, it has made no effort what
ever to confine itself to Christian limits, but
has stood willing to receive, as Henry F. Cope,
the general secretary of. the Association once
said, "representatives of every great religious
division."
In other words, from the first, so far as it
has made a moral arid spiritual demand, it flasT
been in the interest of religion, rather than
Christianity, and of liberalism as against
orthodoxy. ,-
ON THE CONFESSION OF SOME OF ITS
EXPONENTS. ITS OBJECTIVE HAS NOT '
BEEN A CONVERSION OF MEN TO CHRIST
AND THEIR INTELLECTUAL AND MORAL
UPBUILDING IN THE CHRISTIAN FAITH
BUT RATHER "THE SOCIALIZATION OF
ITS- SUBJECTS." ITS OFFICIAL ORGAN
"RELIGIOUS EDUCATION," DEFINES THE
TERM AFTER THIS MANNER."RELIGJOUS
EDUCATION IS THE SCIENCE OF HUMAN
GROWTH," A DEFINITION THAT WHOLLY
IGNORES THE INTENT AND CONTENT OF
CHRISTIANITY. w-wl uh
In view, of that fact, it is a most interesting
Incident to learn that the committee' on educa
tion of the International Sunday School Assb
ciation has published a statement- advocating
what they term "invaluable .agencies" in Ameri
can education, In which they say "the field
of religious education has such an agency in'
the Rellgous Education Association. ' Such an
association should be encouraged as essential
to the development of a scientific program for
a democratic people." "
, To a student fof this movement it becomes In-
creaslngly evident that Its objective is a human
democracy, j-ather, than a "Divine Kingdom "
and the medium of its accomplishment Ms" K
scpiflc program," ratherVri airf
THE INFIDEL INFECTION IS INCREASINGLY'
- EVIDENT i1,1
,Iri membership no religious ;creed is' required
or feven. recognized, As its , secretary hassal '
;its members- represent : almWt . every ' 'gleaF
religious division." "They are ane," (not in
a. common faith in the true God, but) as the
'"Betfretary; defines it,"iri the. common faith that
dntimate product is spiritual and is to be
ISBEBMl.foi'ofr by any knowledge of the book e
(SSKpB.ible or any experience, of the grace
lyHpitit) "by those known and orderly pro
ffSqPProi development which we eall education."
BY SLEIGHT OF HAND PERFORMANCE
THEY HAVE CONVERTED THE TERM
"CHRISTIANITY" INTO RELIGION; QUIETLY
DISPOSED OF A PERSONAL GOD, SUPPLY.
ING HIS PLACE WITH- AN EDUCATIONAL
PROPAGANDA, AND MADE "SCIENCE"
VERStJS "SCRIPTURE' TO APPEAR TUB
WORTHY STUDY, AS WELL'. AS TO BECOME
THE EFFECTIVE SLOGAN, H
They have done this so deftly that many of
the- denominations do not know the ;"Relig'ous
Education" stands for Christianity with Christ
left outl for a religion that recognizes no in
fallible revelation, and" for a redemption that
evenuateff only, in a human democracy.
The remarkable thing is that every bit of our
so-called religious literature is affected by it,
from the semi-secular Chau-tauquas of the world
to the' so-called "Christian Associations," de.
nominatlonal magazines, Sunday-schools yea,
'even' the evangelical pulpits themselves.
More than thirty years ago I spent woll-nigh
a solid 'month at Chatitayqua, New York. I
was in m;y youth; the "beauty of the scenery he
witched me; the varied' program, swinging as
it did from secular tp, sacred with the ease and
grace of "the clock 'pendulum, rested and re
freshed, me; and the. .utter, loyalty, of every
spetiivtsr uii jirauucuny severy suqjecp io uou ana
His Word, made th.edays gracipug;and uplifting
in the. last degree. " , ",T "v.. .''.'
Visjti Chautauqua now nji what -a change! Of
the .1920 session a Unitarian-rewrote, "The
specifiq , interests qt religion , have -been in the
hands of Dr. Coriilius Wqlfkin. Dr. Alexander
J. Grlv, President Lynn, : Harold Hough,
Bishop- W. F McDowell, Dean Shailer.-Matthews,
and X)r. iF. , F. Shannon , .UNITARIANS COM-.
ING OUT. FROM THIiJiG-REAT AMPITHEATRE
EACH SUNDAY MORNINO , ERE WONT TO
EXCLAIM WITH SATISFACTION, "Thos. M.
Roberts, a Unitarian, writes-of, the same session
1920." I was so pleased with the leavening
process, going on there that I affiliate -with other
denominations In this very important educa
tional work."
THE -SAME LEAVEN THAT HAS WROUGHT
WITH THE CHAUTAUQUA MOVEMENTS OP
THE COUNTRY, HAS QUIETLY, BUT EFFEC
TIVELY, FERMENTED IN, AND CHANGED
OVER THE OVERWHELMING- MAJORITY OP
YOUNG MEN AND WOMEN'S CHRISTIAN AS
SOCIATIONS AND SIMILAR SOCIAL SERVICE
AND EXTRA-CHURCH ORGANIZATIONS, AND
HAS EVEN INVADED THE EVANGELICAL
CHURCHES THEMSELVES, CAPTURING
LARGELY THEIR SUNDAY-SCH06L LITERA
TURE, DOMINATING IN -NO SMALL DEGREE
A MAJORITY OF THE DENOMINATIONAL
MAGAZINES OF THE NORTH AND IS NOW
EFFECTIVELY" EXPRESSING. ITSELF' IN
COLLEGE AND THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY
TEXT-BOOKS ON SOCIAL GOSPELS AR
RANGED BY A CHAIN REFERENCE SYSTEM,
SUITED TO MAKE ONE INCREASINGLY AC
QUAINTED WITH THE WHOLE! FIELD OP
SOCIAL, SKEPTICAL' AND ANTI-EVANGELICAL
LITERATURE,
But this educational COLOSSUS counts him
self but freshly in his boots and fairly on his
feet. 'The full race lies before him: And for
the acceleration on his speed.he has conceived
and addpterd the standardization scheme. '
THE PRESENT POTENCY OF SO-CALLED
STANDARDIZATION
When, the world war was,on, this word "stand
ardisation", came into its own. It was applied
to ships, motors, guns, and an-Xltnost indefinite
number of needful things, and where sensibly
employed, resulted in great savings on the one
sideband increased efficiency, on he other.
It was only jnatural, therefore, that-the church
should again learn from the. world, and before
the war was , even over, the, denominational
bodies of evangelical character, were, giving audi
ence to -eloquent oratotfsvonJ'tlie subject of
standardiisatlohy They wn-iUetf everything io
the churtilH 'frdfht'.top to bbtfWrii, standardised.
- They, wanted standardized ,o'rga'nization,' stand
ardized metliodiof m'bney. Hraising.i a fitand
ar.dized. ministry Caught iy;ithetemd6th, sensij'
Pie aCUncloMthe a wtirdlrffysolf; Joined "wittt
' ,..". " '-
pt Hl ' 9,4 .'i.
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