Chapter II: The Ministry of the God-Man (3)

His ideas concerning methods were as clear as those expressed on the subject of schools and the character of the teacher. He was evidently able to see things in advance of his age, and in the spirit of a seer can truthfully be classed with the forerunners of the Reformation. In another letter he writes: “Whoever wishes to study with success must exercise himself in these three things: in getting clear views of a subject; in fixing in his memory what he has understood; and in producing something from his own resources.” Each of the three things specified cuts directly across the methods employed in papal schools, and which were so necessary to the stability of that hierarchy. This was the beginning of the Reformation as seen in education.

[Sidenote: Thought versus mere form]

One more quotation from Agricola’s letter emphasizes the thought that schools were then conducted where dry form and abstract memory work were giving place to thought,—original thought. “It is necessary,” he says, “to exercise one’s self in composition; when we have produced nothing, what we have learned remains dead. The knowledge that we acquire ought to be like seed sown in the earth, germinating and bearing fruit.”[112]

[Sidenote: Reuchlin advises teaching the Bible]

_Reuchlin_, one of Melancthon’s teachers, recognized the best means of winning opponents to the truth, and said: “The best way to convert the Israelites would be to establish two professors of the Hebrew language in each university, who should teach the theologians to read the Bible in Hebrew, and thus refute the Jewish doctors.” The fact that such a position exposed Reuchlin to violent opposition from the monks and papal teachers shows that he rightly divined the remedy for papal oppression; and it is significant of an approaching reformation when he thus recommends that the Bible be placed in the universities for study by theologians.

There is a rift in the clouds, and ere long the sun will appear. But “men loved darkness rather than light.” Why?

[Sidenote: Erasmus]

Erasmus, recognized by all as a reformer, did his work by the publication of the New Testament in Greek. “The work was undertaken in the interests of a purer Christianity.” “It is my desire,” he said, “to lead back that cold dispute about words called theology to its real fountain. Would to God that this work may bear as much fruit to Christianity as it has cost me toil and application.” Here was a direct thrust at the study of dialectics in the universities. The meaningless disputes which constituted the course in theology was, by Erasmus, to be replaced by the living word of God. The Reformation drew nearer, and the papacy shuddered at the prospect. Gradually the Spirit was returning, and this is seen more and more as we take up the life of Luther. The highway had been cleared by such forerunners as have already been mentioned.

[Sidenote: Protestantism fosters education]

“The fundamental principles of Protestantism are favorable to education,” says Painter.[113] “With the Scriptures and his conscience for guides, every man is elevated to the freedom and dignity of ordering his own religious life. The feeling of individual responsibility is awakened, and the spirit of inquiry fostered. Intelligence becomes a necessity. _The Bible must be studied; teachers must be provided; schools must be established. PROTESTANTISM BECOMES THE MOTHER OF POPULAR EDUCATION._”

Again the same author says: “It [Christianity] does not withdraw man from the ordinary callings and relations of life; it makes him a steward of God in the world, and exalts his daily labors in the household, in the schoolroom, in the workshop, on the farm, into a divine service. The Protestant view restores nature, as a subject of investigation, to its rights. The whole circle of knowledge—whatever is elevating, whatever prepares for useful living—is held in honor. _Primary and secondary schools_ are encouraged; the best methods of instruction, based upon a study of man’s nature and not upon the interests of the church, are sought out. Protestantism is a friend of universal learning.” One French scholar says: “The Reformation contracted the obligation of placing everyone in a condition to save himself by reading and studying the Bible. Instruction became then the first of the duties of charity; and all who had charge of souls, from the father of a family to the sovereign of the state, were called upon ... to favor popular education.[114]”

[Sidenote: Luther an educator]

It is no wonder, then, that much of Luther’s time and ambition was spent in the cause of education. “The necessities of the Reformation gave Luther,” says Painter, “an intense interest in education. The schools of the time, already inadequate in number and defective in method, were crippled during the early stages of the Reformation by the excited and unsettled condition of society. A new generation was growing up without education. _The establishment of schools became a necessary measure for the success and permanence of the Reformation._ The appeal had been made to the Word of God, and it was necessary to teach the masses to read it. Preachers and teachers were needed for the promulgation and defense of the gospel.... As early as 1524, Luther made an appeal of marvelous energy to the authorities of the German cities for the establishment of schools. If we consider its pioneer character, in connection with its statement of principles and admirable recommendations, the address must be regarded the most important educational treatise ever written.”[115] God had trained him for his position.

[Sidenote: Luther’s plea for schools]

Here are the words of the Reformer. Judge for yourselves if they should not voice the sentiment of every true Protestant to-day! “He wrote,” says D’Aubigné, “to the councilors of all the cities of Germany, calling upon them to found Christian schools.” “Dear sirs,” said Luther, “we annually expend so much money on arquebuses, roads, and dikes, why should we not spend a little to give one or two schoolmasters to our poor children? God stands at the door and knocks; blessed are we if we open to him! Now the Word of God abounds. O my dear Germans, buy, buy, while the market is open before your houses. The Word of God and His grace are like a shower that falls and passes away. It was among the Jews; but it passed away, and now they have it no longer. Paul carried it into Greece; but in that country also it has passed away, and the Turk reigns there now. It came to Rome and the Latin empire; but there also it has passed away, and Rome now has the pope. O Germans, do not expect to have this Word forever. The contempt that is shown to it will drive it away. For this reason let him who desires to possess it lay hold of it and keep it.

“BUSY YOURSELVES WITH THE CHILDREN; for many parents are like ostriches, they are hardened toward their little ones, and, satisfied with having laid the egg, they care nothing for it afterward.... The true wealth of a city, its safety, and its strength, is to have many learned, serious, worthy, well-educated citizens. And whom must we blame, because there are so few at present, except your magistrates who have allowed your youth to grow up like trees in a forest?”[116]

D’Aubigné says truly: “It was not the public worship alone that the Reformation was ordained to change. The school was early placed beside the church, and these two great institutions, so powerful to regenerate the nations, were equally reanimated by it. _It was by a close alliance with learning that the Reformation entered into the world; in the hour of its triumph it did not forget its ally._”[117] Luther “felt that to strengthen the Reformation IT WAS REQUISITE TO WORK ON THE YOUNG, TO IMPROVE THE SCHOOLS, and to propagate throughout Christendom the knowledge necessary for a profound study of the Holy Scriptures. THIS WAS ONE OF THE RESULTS.”[118]

[Sidenote: Schools strengthen the church]

Painter, describing the educational work of the great Reformer, says: “With Luther, education was not an end in itself, but a means to more effective service in church and state. If people or rulers neglect the education of the young, they inflict an injury upon both the church and state; _they become ENEMIES OF GOD AND MAN_; they advance the cause of Satan, and bring down upon themselves the curse of heaven. This is the fundamental thought that underlies all Luther’s writings upon education.”[119]

[Sidenote: Schools not appreciated]

Luther expresses his views briefly in these words: “The common man does think that he is under obligation to God and the world to send his son to school. Everyone thinks that he is free to bring up his son as he pleases, no matter what becomes of God’s word and command. Yea, even our rulers act as if they were exempt from the divine command. No one thinks that God has earnestly willed and commanded that children be brought up to his praise and work—a thing that CAN NOT BE DONE WITHOUT SCHOOLS. On the contrary, everyone _hastens with his children after worldly gain_.” Luther’s words ringing down the centuries must be echoed by all true Protestants to-day. Where are the men with the courage of educational reformers?

[Sidenote: Luther’s educational plans]

“Luther did not concern himself about the education of the clergy only, it was his desire that knowledge should not be confined to the church; he proposed extending it to the laity, who hitherto had been deprived of it.... He emancipated learning from the hands of the priests, who had monopolized it, like those of Egypt in times of old, and put it within the reach of all.”[120] Luther grasped with wonderful clearness the real meaning of Christian education, and there is scarcely a phase of it which he has left untouched.

[Sidenote: Luther’s methods a model]

“If we survey,” says Dittes, “the pedagogy of Luther in all its extent, and imagine it fully realized in practice, what a splendid picture the schools and education of the sixteenth century would present! We should have courses of study, text-books, teachers, methods, principles, and modes of discipline, schools and school regulations, that could serve as models for our own age.”

[Sidenote: Luther’s ideals of teachers]

The Reformer writes: “Where would preachers, lawyers, and physicians come from if the liberal arts were not taught? From this source must they all come. This, I say, no one can ever sufficiently remunerate the industrious and pious teacher that faithfully educates.... Yet people shamefully despise this calling among us, as if it were nothing, and at the same time they pretend to be Christians! If I were obliged to leave off preaching and other duties, there is no office I would rather have than that of school-teacher; for I know that this work is, with preaching, the most useful, greatest, and best; and I do not know which of the two is to be preferred. For it is difficult to make old dogs docile, and old rogues pious, yet that is what the ministry works at, and must work at in great part, in vain; but young trees, although some may break, are more easily bent and trained. Therefore, let it be one of _the highest virtues on earth faithfully to educate the children of others who neglect it themselves_.”[121]

[Sidenote: Germany established schools]

Germany was aroused. “In 1525 he was commissioned by the Duke of Mansfield to establish two schools in his native town, ... one for the primary and the other for secondary instruction.” They were not conducted after the manner of papal schools, differing only in the fact that the teacher was a Protestant. “Both in the course of study and in the methods of instruction these schools become models after which many others were fashioned.... In a few years the Protestant portion of Germany was supplied with schools. They were still defective, ... but, at the same time, they were greatly superior to any that had preceded them. Though no complete system of popular instruction was established, the foundation for it was laid. To this great result, Luther contributed more than any other man of his time; and _this fact makes him the leading educational reformer of the sixteenth century_.”[122]

[Sidenote: No compromise]

The changes wrought by Luther were not mere superficial, formal changes; but as the Reformation, as a religious movement, struck a death-blow to the papacy, viewed as an educational movement, it is found to have cut directly across the established methods of popular education. It meant a change in the _courses_, a different idea of _graduation_, a change in _text-books_, in _methods of teaching_, _methods of study_, and _character of the teachers_.

[Sidenote: Value of nature study]

He was perhaps the first of the reformers to recognize the value of nature study. He once said: “We are at the dawn of a new era; for we are beginning to recover the knowledge of the external world that we have lost since the fall of Adam. Erasmus is indifferent to it; he does not care to know how fruit is developed from the germ. But by the grace of God, we already recognize in the most delicate flower the wonders of divine goodness and the omnipotence of God. We see in His creatures the power of His word. He commanded, and the thing stood fast. See that force display itself in the stone of a peach. It is very hard, and the germ that it incloses is very tender; but, when the moment has come, the stone must open to let out the young plant that God calls into life.”[123] It may at first seem strange that the bold, brave man who aroused the world by his theses nailed to the church door, should have a character to which the gentleness of nature made such a strong appeal. But Luther was a true preacher in that he was a teacher. What wonder that his work was enduring! It stands close beside the life-work of his Master, Jesus,—the Teacher sent of God.

[Sidenote: Melancthon, Luther’s companion in education]

Before carrying the work of Luther further, it is necessary to introduce a new character, born, it would seem, at a moment when his special mental qualities were most needed and fitted by heaven to stand by Luther’s side as an aid and as a comfort in the mighty storm through which he must pass. I refer to Melancthon; God chose him as a _teacher_, and imparted to him, in a wonderful degree, that gift of the Spirit. A few extracts from D’Aubigné will show clearly how he was guided into the paths of the Reformation, there to become one of the greatest workers for that cause.

He was born in 1497; hence, when Luther began his work in 1517, Melancthon was a youth of twenty. “He was remarkable for the excellence of his understanding, and his facility in learning and explaining what he had learnt.” “Melancthon at twelve years of age went to the University of Heidelberg, ... and took his bachelor’s degree at fourteen.” “In 1512, Reuchlin [the reformer referred to on a previous page] invited him to Tubingen.... The Holy Scriptures especially engaged his attention.... Rejecting the empty systems of the schoolmen, he adhered to the plain word of the gospel.”[124]

Erasmus wrote: “I entertain the most distinguished and splendid expectations of Melancthon. God grant that this young man may long survive us. He will entirely eclipse Erasmus.”

[Sidenote: Melancthon teaches]

“In 1514 he was made doctor of philosophy, and then began to teach. He was seventeen years old. The grace and charm that he imparted to his lessons formed the most striking contrast to the tasteless method which the doctors, and above all, the monks, had pursued till then.”

[Sidenote: Melancthon goes to Wittemberg]

Frederick applied to Erasmus and Reuchlin for an instructor for the University of Wittemberg. Melancthon was recommended. Reaching the university, he did not make the most favorable impression on Luther and other professors, “when they saw his youth, his shyness, and diffident manners.” After his opening address, however, Luther and others became his ardent admirers. Luther wrote: “I ask for no other Greek master. But I fear that his delicate frame will be unable to support our mode of living, and that we shall be unable to keep him long on account of the smallness of his salary.”

The spirit of Christianity and of Christian education had drawn two souls together, and the success of the work from this time on depended largely upon this union. Says D’Aubigné: “Melancthon was able to respond to Luther’s affection. He soon found in him a kindness of disposition, a strength of mind, a courage, a discretion, that he had never found till then in any man.... We can not too much admire the goodness and wisdom of God in bringing together two men so different, and yet so necessary to one another. Luther possessed warmth, vigor, and strength; Melancthon clearness, discretion, and mildness. Luther gave energy to Melancthon; Melancthon moderated Luther. They were like substances in a state of positive and negative electricity, which mutually act upon each other. If Luther had been without Melancthon, perhaps the torrent would have overflowed its banks; Melancthon, when Luther was taken from him by death, hesitated, and gave way, even where he should not have yielded.”

Should you question why I thus dwell upon the life and character of Melancthon, I reply, Because from this union of two souls flowed the great educational reform of the sixteenth century. The two did what neither could have done alone; and the study of their lives alone reveals the secret of success in Christian education to-day.

[Sidenote: Melancthon revolutionizes Wittemberg]

It was a notable day to Wittemberg when Melancthon arrived. “The barrenness that scholasticism had cast over education was at an end. A NEW MANNER OF TEACHING AND OF STUDYING BEGAN WITH MELANCTHON. ‘Thanks to him,’ says an illustrious German historian, ‘Wittemberg became the school of the nation.’”

[Sidenote: Papal education dropped]

“The zeal of the teachers [Luther and Melancthon] was soon communicated to the disciples. It was decided to reform the method of instruction. With the electors’ consent, CERTAIN COURSES THAT POSSESSED MERELY SCHOLASTIC IMPORTANCE WERE SUPPRESSED; and at the same time the study of the classics received a fresh impulse. [Remember, however, that this study of the classics was the Greek and Hebrew Scriptures.] THE SCHOOL AT WITTEMBERG WAS TRANSFORMED, AND THE CONTRAST WITH OTHER UNIVERSITIES BECAME DAILY MORE STRIKING.”[125]

[Sidenote: Result of changes]

The results of these changes were no less marvelous than the changes themselves. The author last quoted says: Wittemberg “flourished daily more and more, and was eclipsing all the other schools. A crowd of students flocked thither from all parts of Germany to hear this extraordinary man, whose teaching appeared to open a new era in religion and learning. These youths, who came from every province, halted as soon as they discovered the steeples of Wittemberg in the distance; they raised their hands to heaven, and praised God for having caused the light of truth to shine forth from this city, as from Zion in times of old, and whence it spread even to the most distant countries. A life and activity, till then unknown, animated the university.”

Such a school did not call together a class of students careless in habit and listless in study; for the fare, as before noted, was meager, and there was no great outward display. Those who attended came seeking for truth; and as their souls were filled with spiritual meat, they returned to their homes, “even to the most distant countries,” to spread the truths of Christian education. Luther himself wrote: “Our students here are as busy as ants.” Two thousand students from all parts of Europe thronged the lecture room of Melancthon.

[Sidenote: Melancthon’s view of education]

The life and work of those two animating spirits at Wittemberg can not be measured by any earthly standard. Melancthon said: “I apply myself solely to one thing, the defense of letters. By our example we must excite youth to the admiration of learning, and induce them to love it for its own sake, and not for the advantage that they may derive from it. The destruction of learning brings with it the ruin of everything that is good,—religion, morals, and all things human and divine. The better a man is, the greater his ardor in the preservation of learning; for he knows that, of all plagues, ignorance is the most pernicious.” “To neglect the young in our schools is just like taking the spring out of the year. They, indeed, take away the spring from the year who permit the schools to decline, because RELIGION CAN NOT BE MAINTAINED WITHOUT THEM.”

[Sidenote: Melancthon prepared text-books]

Luther had stated that a reform in methods and courses was necessary. Melancthon had assisted in that work. He did still more. Breaking away as they did from the educational system of the universities of the world, and basing instruction upon the Word of God, it became necessary to have new text-books. Melancthon applied himself with great diligence to this duty. He was an arduous student, often arising at three in the morning, and many of his works were written between that hour and the dawn. Besides his Greek and Latin grammars he is the author of works on logic, rhetoric, physics, and ethics. “These works, written in a clear and scientific form, soon became popular, and some of them held their place in the schools for more than a hundred years.”

THE STUDY OF THEOLOGY had been degraded into the pursuit of subtle arguments and idle controversies. Melancthon wrote a work on dogmatic theology, publishing it in 1521. Of this work, Luther wrote: “Whoever wishes to become a theologian now enjoys great advantages; for, first of all, he has the _Bible_, which is so clear that he can read it without difficulty. Then let him read in addition the Loci Communes of Melancthon.... If he has these two things, he is a theologian from whom neither the devil nor heretics shall be able to take away anything.”

[Sidenote: Preparatory schools]

Melancthon’s life was not devoted alone to the education of such students as could attend Wittemberg, nor were his changes of the educational system applicable only to the higher schools and universities. Stump says: “Amid all the distractions and anxieties of this period, Melancthon steadily directed his efforts to the advancement of education and the building up of good Christian schools. During a period covering many years, he found time, in spite of his numerous other engagements, to give elementary instruction to a number of young men who lived with him in his own house. He did this on account of the lamentable lack of suitable PREPARATORY SCHOOLS. He lost no opportunity, however, to provide for this lack, whenever he found it possible to do so.

“In the spring of 1525, with Luther’s help, he reorganized the schools of Eisleben and Magdeburg. He went to Nuremberg, and assisted in the establishment of a gymnasium [high school] in that city; and in the following spring he returned to Nuremberg, and formally opened the school. He delivered an address in Latin, in which he dwelt upon the importance of education, and the credit which the movers in this enterprise deserved. He declared that ... ‘_the cause of true education is the cause of God_.’”[126]

Both church schools and higher schools, those offering instruction for students preparing for the universities, were organized by Melancthon.

[Sidenote: Changes were bitterly opposed]

This work was not allowed to proceed without some bitter attacks from the schoolmen and representatives of papal education. For illustration of this fact, we have the words of D’Aubigné: “The schools, which for five centuries past had domineered over Christendom, far from giving way at the first blow of the Reformer [Luther], rose up haughtily to crush the man who dared pour out upon them the flood of his contempt.” “Doctor Eck, the celebrated professor of Ingolstadt, ... was a doctor of the schools and not of the Bible; well versed in the scholastic writings, but not in the Word of God.... Eck represented the schoolmen.” “Eck was a far more formidable adversary than Tetzel [the vender of indulgences], Prierio, or Hochstraten; the more his work surpassed theirs in learning and in subtlety, the more dangerous it was.”[127] Thus Luther’s most bitter enemies were those who had once been his warm friends, and those who offered the strongest opposition to his work were the teachers in the universities of Germany. Luther was sometimes almost overcome in spirit by the ingratitude shown, and of Doctor Eck he once wrote: “If I did not know Satan’s thoughts, I should be astonished at the fury which has led this man to break off so sweet and so new a friendship, and that, too, without warning me, without writing to me, without saying a single word.”

[Sidenote: The Saxony school plan]

It was in order to meet the opposition offered by the schoolmen, and to put the Reformation on a firm basis, that Luther and Melancthon formulated the Saxony school plan, and reorganized the German schools.

Stump says: “In the year 1527, Melancthon took part with Luther in the visitation of the schools and churches of Saxony. It was high time for such a step. Affairs were in a wretched condition. In many places no religious instruction was given at all, because there were either no pastors and teachers stationed there, or those who were stationed there were grossly ignorant themselves. The greatest disorder imaginable reigned nearly everywhere.... The financial condition of many of the churches was equally bad.... It was the object of the visitation to bring order out of this chaos. Melancthon was charged with making a beginning in Thuringia. The spiritual distress which he discovered rent his heart, and he often went aside, and wept over what he saw.” “In 1528 Melancthon drew up the ‘Saxony school plan,’ which served as the basis of organization for many schools throughout Germany.”

[Sidenote: Reforms advocated by this plan]

According to this plan, teachers were to avoid “burdening the children with a _multiplicity of studies_ that were not only unfruitful, but even hurtful.” Again, “The teacher should not burden the children with too many books,” and “it is necessary that the children be divided into classes.” “Three classes, or grades, are recommended,” and the subjects taught should be adapted to the age and condition of the pupil. Thus, avoid too many studies for children and youth; do not put too many books into their hands; group them according to their ability. This “plan” seems to resist the cramming system so universally followed to-day almost as vigorously as it opposed the papal schools of the sixteenth century.

[Sidenote: Results, if Luther’s plans fulfilled]

A great work was set on foot,—a revolution which was to affect the ages which followed. In the brief space of one man’s life, plans were laid, _especially in the educational work_, which, if carried out by his successors, would have placed Germany in a position to rule the world. Instead of returning to the pit from which she had been dug, her schools and universities might have been models worthy of imitation throughout Europe and in America. Luther died, and Melancthon, his co-laborer, was unable to carry forward the work. Theologians, pastors, ministers, into whose hands the work of the Reformation rightfully fell, _instead of multiplying Christian schools_, and carrying to perfection the methods of instruction introduced by Luther and Melancthon, _passed by the greatest work of the age_, and by internal strifes and theological disputes lost the hard-won battle. The seeds of truth had been sown in _republicanism_ and _Protestantism_, and these two institutions should have been held in Germany. _Education_—CHRISTIAN EDUCATION—alone could hold them there. This was neglected; and as lost children, the two went hand in hand to the Netherlands, to England, and finally to America, in search of a fostering mother,—a pure system of education. The spirit and life so manifest in the teaching of the great Reformers, passed on, leaving Europe with the _form_. A house empty, swept, and garnished does not long so remain. The form was occupied by the spirit of the papacy, and Europe relapsed into a position from which she can be reclaimed only by a renewal of the plans of the sixteenth-century Reformers—a system of CHRISTIAN EDUCATION.

XIII

THE REACTION AFTER THE EDUCATIONAL REFORMATION

[Sidenote: Widespread effects of the Reformation]

The most momentous event of the world’s history, excepting alone the birth of the Redeemer, was the Reformation of the sixteenth century. Great religious movements have occurred before and since, but they are eclipsed by the brilliancy and far-reaching results of this one. More men have been reached, more lives revolutionized, than by the combined forces of all changes in civil and domestic circles since that time. The fact is, that when the causes of political changes in the modern world are considered, it must be acknowledged by every candid thinker that these changes are due in one way or another to the attitude assumed by the people concerned toward that one Reformation which was set in motion by the Wittemberg monk. Christ had been forgotten, and He came before the world again in the days of Luther.

A few quotations from Ranke show how far the Reformation extended in the brief space of forty years; and since we are dealing with the causes of this rapid spread, it is gratifying to see that this author gives in the most natural way due credit to the influence of the schools. Two things, then, should be noticed in reading these selections; first, the extent of territory covered by Protestant principles; second, the part played by schools and teachers in the conversion of nations. It is about the year 1563.

“In the _Scandinavian realms_ they [the Protestants] had established themselves the more impregnably, because there their introduction was coincident with the establishment of new dynasties, and the remodeling of all political institutions. From the very first they were hailed with joy, as though there was in their nature a primitive affinity to the national feelings.”

“In the year 1552, the last representatives of Catholicism in _Iceland_ succumbed.”

“On the southern shores, too, of the _Baltic_ Lutheranism had achieved complete predominance, at least among the population of German tongue.”

In _Poland_ it was said, “A Polish nobleman is not subject to the king; is he to be so to the pope?”

In _Hungary_, “Ferdinand I could never force the diet to any resolutions unfavorable to Protestantism.”

“Protestantism not only reigned paramount in _northern Germany_, where it had originated, and in those districts of upper Germany where it had always maintained itself, but its grasp had been extended much more widely in every direction.”

“In _Wurzburg and Bamberg_ by far the greater part of the nobility and the episcopal functionaries, the magistrates and the burghers of the towns, at least the majority of them, and the bulk of the rural population, had passed over to the reforming party.”

In _Bavaria_ “the great majority of the nobility had adopted the Protestant doctrine, and a considerable portion of the towns was decidedly inclined to it.”

“Far more than this, however, had been done in _Austria_. The _nobility of that country studied in Wittemberg; all the colleges of the land were filled with Protestants_.”

We are not surprised, therefore, to read that “it was said to be ascertained that not more, perhaps, than the thirtieth part of the population remained Catholic: _step by step, a national constitution unfolded itself, formed upon the principles of Protestantism_.” “In the _Rauris_, and the _Gastein_, in _St. Veit_, _Tamsweg_, and _Radstadt_, the inhabitants loudly demanded the sacramental cup, and this being refused [in order to compel them to remain Catholic], they ceased altogether to attend the sacrament. _They withheld their children, too, from the_ [Catholic] _schools_.”

“The _Rhenish nobility_ had early embraced Protestantism.... In all the towns there existed already a Protestant party.... _The inhabitants of Mainz, too, did not hesitate to send their children_ to Protestant schools. In short, from west to east, and from north to south, throughout all Germany, Protestantism had unquestionably the preponderance.”

[Sidenote: Accomplished by education]

“The Protestant notions extended their vivifying energies to the most remote and most forgotten corners of Europe. What an immense domain had they conquered within the space of forty years! From Iceland to the Pyrenees, from Finland to the heights of the Italian Alps. Even beyond the latter mountains opinions analogous had once, as we are aware, prevailed. _Protestantism embraced the whole range of the Latin church._ It had laid hold of a vast majority of the higher classes, and of the minds that took part in public life; whole nations clung to it with enthusiasm, and states had been remodeled by it. This is the more deserving of our wonder, inasmuch as Protestantism was by no means a mere antithesis, a negation of the papacy, or an emancipation from its rule; it was in the highest degree positive, a renovation of Christian notions and principles, that sway human life even to the profoundest mysteries of the soul.”[128] Notice again that this was due to the educational ideas propagated by Protestants, and the reason why the papacy was so fast losing its foothold was because it had not yet learned that this Reformation, _which began in schools, and was carried forward by Christian schools, must be defeated in schools and by teachers_. For forty years Protestants had the right of way in education, and the results were stupendous.

[Sidenote: Protestant schools winning everywhere]

Ranke says: “Protestant opinions had triumphed in the universities and educational establishments. Those old champions of Catholicism [the teachers] who had withstood Luther were dead, or in advanced years: young men capable of supplying their places had not yet arisen. Twenty years had elapsed in Vienna _since a single student of the university_ had taken priest’s orders. Even in Ingoldstadt, pre-eminently Catholic as it was, _no competent candidates of the faculty of theology presented themselves to fill the places that had hitherto been always occupied by ecclesiastics_. The city of Cologne founded an endowed school; but when all the arrangements for it had been made, it was found that the regent was a Protestant. Cardinal Otto Truchess established a new university in his city of Dillingen, _with the express design of resisting the progress of Protestantism_. The credit of this institution was maintained for some years by a few distinguished Spanish theologians; but as soon as these left it, NOT A SINGLE SCHOLAR COULD BE FOUND IN ALL GERMANY TO SUCCEED TO THEIR PLACES, and even these were likewise filled with Protestants. ABOUT THIS PERIOD THE TEACHERS IN GERMANY WERE ALL, almost without exception, Protestants. THE WHOLE BODY OF THE RISING GENERATION SAT AT THEIR FEET, and imbibed a hatred of the pope with the first rudiments of learning.”[129]

[Sidenote: Success of Reformation due to schools]

Stress is not laid on their hatred of the pope, but on the fact that the rising generation sat at the feet of Protestant teachers throughout Germany; that parents withheld their children from the papal school, even though it might be necessary in so doing to send them from home to be educated; and finally, that the papacy was dying, and Protestantism was spreading through the work of the schools. Would that those schools might have retained their pristine purity and simplicity. No power on earth could then have retarded the progress of Protestantism, and instead of only modifying the history of many countries, it would eventually have swept from the earth all forms of tyranny, both civil and religious, for it breathed the freedom of the gospel, and no oppression could stand before it. It is as impossible to withstand pure Christian education as it is to withstand Christ, whose power is its life and strength.

[Sidenote: Protestants failed to recognize its strength]

It is with a pang that one is forced to trace in this movement that oft-repeated chapter in the history of mankind. As the leader of Israel was allowed to view the promised land from the top of Pisgah, but must there lay aside his armor and sleep the sleep of death because of a departure from right principles, so Protestantism, through its schools, looked across Jordan, but failed to maintain the principle of faith which could at the crucial moment command the waters to part.

[Sidenote: Education by faith lost]

One reason for the decline is thus stated by Painter: “In their efforts to give Christian doctrine a scientific form [that is, to formulate it], _they lost its spirit_. _LOSING ITS EARLY FREEDOM AND LIFE, Protestantism degenerated in a large measure into what has been called ‘DEAD ORTHODOXY._’ ... _Christian life_ counted for little, and the Protestant world broke up into opposing factions. Says Kurtz, who is disposed to apologize for this period as far as possible: ‘Like medieval scholasticism, in its concern for logic, theology almost lost vitality. Orthodoxy degenerated into orthodoxism; _externally_, not only discerning essential diversities, but disregarding the broad basis of a common faith, and running into odious and unrestrained controversy; _internally, holding to the form_ of pure doctrine, but neglecting cordially to embrace it and to live consistently with it.’”[130]

[Sidenote: Scholasticism killed Protestant schools]

How narrow the line between truth and error! How easy for those who had been given to eat of the tree of life to turn to the tree of knowledge of good and evil! What a pity that Protestant educators could not remain true to their trust! When on the eve of success, they turned to the old paths, and “called into existence a dialectic scholasticism which was in no way inferior to that of the most flourishing period of the Middle Ages.”[131] Papal principles are papal, whether advocated by Catholics or Protestants; having left the fountain of the pure waters of faith, they turned to the only other accessible source of knowledge—the pagan world. That system of education introduced by Luther and Melancthon, founded upon the _Holy Scriptures_, and through them viewing the sciences, mathematics, and literature, using the latter only as a means of illustrating God’s Word, was replaced by the _scholasticism of the Middle Ages_. One involuntarily asks, “How many times, O Israel, wilt thou return into Egypt?”

[Sidenote: Form took the place of life]

This decline is described in the following quotations taken from Painter, and they need no comment: “During the period extending from the middle of the sixteenth to the beginning of the eighteenth century, three leading tendencies are apparent in education. These may be characterized as the theological, the humanistic, and the practical.... A large share of the intellectual strength of the age was turned to theology. Every phase of religious truth, particularly in its doctrinal and speculative aspects, was brought under investigation. Theology was elevated to a science, and doctrinal systems were developed with logical precision, and _extended to trifling subtilities_.”[132]

In the figure of the Bible they strained for gnats, meanwhile swallowing the camel. The life was thus lost in the pulpit and in the theological schools. It was again the “teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.”

[Sidenote: Further return to papal methods]

Painter further says: “The schools, which stand in close relation to religion, were naturally influenced in a large measure by the theological tendencies of the age. Theological interests imposed upon the schools _a narrow range of subjects, a mechanical method of instruction_, and a cruel discipline. The principle of authority, _exacting_ a blind submission of the pupil, prevailed in the schools of every grade. The young were regarded not as tender plants to be carefully nurtured and developed, but as untamed animals to be repressed or broken.”[133]

Notice the creeping in of those very characteristics of papal education so often referred to heretofore: 1, narrow range of subjects; 2, mechanical instruction,—memory work devoid of understanding; 3, arbitrary government, as seen in the matter of discipline. To this we must add that which is the natural accompaniment in papal instruction—the teaching of Latin. Says Painter, quoting Dittes: “‘In the higher institutions, and even in the wretched town schools, LATIN WAS THE MOLOCH to which countless minds fell an offering in return for the blessing granted to a few. _A dead knowledge of words took the place of a living knowledge of things._ Latin schoolbooks supplanted the book of nature, the book of life, the book of mankind. And in the popular schools youthful minds were tortured over the spelling book and catechism. The method of teaching was almost everywhere, in the primary as well as in the higher schools, a mechanical and compulsory drill in unintelligible formulas. The pupils were obliged to learn, _but they were not educated to see and hear, to think and prove_, and were not led to a true independence and personal perfection. THE TEACHERS FOUND THEIR FUNCTION IN TEACHING THE PRESCRIBED TEXT, not in harmoniously developing the young human being according to the laws of nature—a process, moreover, that lay under the ban of ecclesiastical orthodoxy.’”[134]

[Sidenote: Cramming system and memory work]

That there was a cramming process followed equal to any twentieth-century school, is evident. “The discipline answered to the content and spirit of the instruction.... The principle was to tame the pupils, not to educate them. They were to hold themselves motionless, that the school exercises might not be disturbed. What took place in their minds, and how their several characters were constituted, the school pedants did not understand and appreciate.”

[Sidenote: Sturm’s school a compromise]

In order to appreciate the rapidity with which the relapse took place from the educational system introduced by Luther to the medieval principles and methods, our attention is directed to the school of John Sturm. This man, “regarded as the greatest educator that the Reformed Church produced during this period,” died in 1589, less than seventy years after the Diet of Worms; hence his work fell within the half century following those forty years of unusual prosperity for Protestantism which has already been noticed. His work is contemporary with the first Jesuit school of Germany. The decline is visible in every feature of his work.

_John Sturm_ presided for forty years over the gymnasium of Strasburg, and his boast was that his institution “reproduced the best periods of Athens and Rome; and, in fact, he succeeded in giving to his adopted city the name of New Athens.” Sturm’s school stood as a halfway mark between the Christian schools and the purely papal schools of the Jesuits, but since compromise always places a person or institution on the side of wrong, in weighing the worth of his school the balances necessarily tip in favor of the papacy.

[Sidenote: Course of study in Sturm’s school]

That his was a mixture of the medieval classical literature with a thin slice of Scripture sandwiched in for effect, is seen in the course of study as outlined by Painter. The school was divided into ten classes covering ten years, but only so much is given as is necessary to show the character of the studies: “Tenth class—The alphabet, reading, writing, Latin declensions and conjugations, German or Latin catechism.” “Ninth class—Latin declensions and conjugations continued. Memorizing of Latin words.” The eighth and the seventh classes are about the same. In the sixth, Greek is begun. The fifth class is as follows: “Study of words, ... versification, mythology, Cicero, and Virgil’s eclogues, Greek vocabulary.... On Saturday and Sunday, one of Paul’s epistles.”[135] The remaining four classes have much “learning by heart,” rhetoric, Paul’s epistles, orations of Demosthenes, the Iliad of Odyssey; memorizing and recitation of the Epistle to the Romans, dialectics, and rhetoric continued; Virgil, Horace, Homer, Thucidides, Sallust, weekly dramatic entertainments, and again a reading of Paul’s epistles.

Such a course of instruction was well fitted to bridge the gulf between the papacy and Protestantism. It was imbibing perhaps unconsciously the spirit of the new papal schools. “History, mathematics, natural science, and the mother tongue are ignored. A great gap is left between the gymnasium and life—a gap that could not be filled even by the university. In aiming to reproduce Greece and Rome in the midst of modern Christian civilization, Sturm’s scheme involves a _vast anachronism_.”[136]

[Sidenote: Influence of Sturm’s school]

The Strasburg gymnasium at one time numbered several thousand pupils representing Denmark, Poland, Portugal, France, and England. “Sturm’s influence extended to _England, and thence to America_.” An English writer says: “No one who is acquainted with the education given at our principal classical schools, _Eaton_, _Winchester_, and _Westminster_, forty years ago, can fail to see that their curriculum was framed in a great degree on Sturm’s model.”[137] And yet it is acknowledged that his “scheme involves a _vast anachronism_.”

[Sidenote: Modern schools follow Sturm]

To show that Sturm is the father of much of the instruction now given in our high schools and universities, Rosenkranz says: “John Sturm, of Strasburg, long before Comenius, had laid the foundation of what has become the _traditional course of instruction and methods of study in the classical schools for preparation for college_.”[138]

[Sidenote: Reaction as seen in discipline]

The decline in the matter of instruction was accompanied by a corresponding retrogression in the morals of university students. Painter tells us that “the state of morals at the universities of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries was very low. Idleness, drunkenness, disorder, and licentiousness prevailed in an unparalleled degree. The practice of _hazing_ was universal, and new students were subjected to shocking indignities.” Duke Albrecht, of the university of Jena, wrote in 1624: “‘Customs before unheard of, inexcusable, unreasonable, and wholly barbarian, have come into existence.’” Then he speaks of the insulting names, the expensive suppers, and the carousing of the students, until “‘parents in distant places either determine not to send their children to this university, ... or to take them away again.’”[139]

PROTESTANTISM LOST MUCH BECAUSE SHE CEASED TO EDUCATE HER CHILDREN. Had Protestantism remained true to her first principles of education, her overthrow would have been impossible. She paved the way for her own fall by departing gradually from the gospel, and by leaning more and more toward the classics and scholasticism.

[Sidenote: Ignatius Loyola solves the problem]

It was this decline on her own part, caused by the insidious workings of the Jesuits, which made possible the great victories of this order in later years. It was when Rome saw her youth slipping from her hands into the Protestant schools, and as a result, a few years later, found whole nations refusing obedience, and building for themselves new forms of government, that, in her distress, she grasped the offer made by _Loyola_. And while the power he represented in its organization, placed itself above the pope, becoming, as it were, _a papacy of the papacy_, still she accepted his offer, and the _counter educational move_ began. THE JESUITS ORGANIZED TO COMBAT REFORMATION IN EDUCATIONAL LINES. In speaking of the Jesuits, Painter says: “This order, established by Ignatius Loyola [in 1534], found its special mission in combating the Reformation. As the most effective means of arresting the progress of Protestantism, it aimed at controlling education, particularly among the wealthy and the noble. In rivalry with the schools of Protestant countries, it developed an immense educational activity, and earned for its schools a great reputation.” Again, the same writer says: “More than any other agency it stayed the progress of the Reformation, and it even succeeded in winning back territory already conquered by Protestantism. Although employing the pulpit and the confessional, it _worked chiefly through its schools, of which it established and controlled large numbers_. Education in all Catholic countries gradually passed into its hands.”

[Sidenote: Jesuit schools]

In order to understand the reason for the success of the Jesuits as teachers it is necessary to glance at the plan of studies prepared in 1588 from a draft made by Loyola himself. “Every member of the order,” says Painter, “became a _competent and practical teacher_. He received a thorough course in the ancient classics, philosophy, and theology. During the progress of his later studies he was required to teach.” Jesuit schools contained two courses, the lower corresponding very closely to the work of Sturm. Rosenkranz gives an excellent description of the educational system of the Jesuits. He says:—

[Sidenote: Course of instruction]

“In instruction they developed so exact a mechanism that they gained the reputation of having model school regulations, and even Protestants sent their children to them. From the close of the sixteenth century to the present time they have based their teaching upon the _Ratio et institutio studiorum Societatis Jesu_ of Claudius of Aquaviva. Following that, they distinguished two courses of teaching, a higher and a lower. The lower included nothing but an external knowledge of the Latin language, and some fortuitous knowledge of history, of antiquities, and of mythology. _The memory was cultivated as a means of keeping down free activity of thought and clearness of judgment._ The higher course comprehended dialectics, rhetoric, physics, and morals. Dialectics was expounded as the art of sophistry. In rhetoric, they favored the polemical and emphatic style of the African Fathers of the church and their gorgeous phraseology; in physics, they followed Aristotle closely, and especially encouraged reading of the books ‘De Generatione et Corruptione’ and ‘De Coelo,’ on which they commented after their fashion; finally, in morals, casuistic skepticism was their central point. They made much of rhetoric, on account of their sermons, giving to it careful attention. They laid stress on declamation, and introduced it into their showy public examinations through the performance of Latin school comedies, and thus amused the public, disposed them to approval, and at the same time quite innocently practiced the pupil in the art of assuming a feigned character.

“Diplomatic conduct was made necessary to the pupils of the Jesuits, as well by their strict military discipline as by their system of mutual distrust, espionage, and informing. Implicit obedience relieved the pupils from all responsibility as to the moral justification of their deeds. This exact following out of all commands and refraining from any criticism as to principles, created a moral indifference; and, from the necessity of having consideration for the peculiarities and caprices of the superior on whom all others were dependent, arose eye service. The coolness of mutual distrust sprang from the necessity which each felt of being on his guard against every other as a talebearer. The most deliberate hypocrisy and pleasure in intrigue merely for the sake of intrigue—this subtilest poison of moral corruption—were the result. Jesuitism had not only an interest in the material profit, which, when it had corrupted souls, fell to its share, but it also had an interest in the educative process of corruption. With absolute indifference as to the idea of morality ... or the moral quality of the means used to attain its end, it rejoiced in the efficacy of secrecy, and the accomplished and calculating understanding, and in deceiving the credulous by means of its graceful, seemingly scrupulous, moral language.”[140]

[Sidenote: Spread of Catholicism by schools]

Here is a picture of _this papacy of the papacy_. Again I say, had Protestantism remained true to principle, even this system could not have accomplished its overthrow; but since truth was neglected by Protestant schools, this system of the Jesuits easily carried every country into which it was introduced. “The Jesuit system of education ... was intended to meet the active influence of Protestantism in education. It was remarkably successful, and for a century [following 1584] nearly all the foremost men of Christendom came from Jesuit schools. In 1710 they had six hundred and twelve colleges, one hundred and fifty-seven normal schools, twenty-four universities, and an immense number of lower schools. These schools laid very great stress on _emulation_. Their experiments in this principle are so extensive and long-continued that they furnish a most valuable phase in the history of pedagogy in this respect alone. In the matter of supervision they are also worthy of study. They had a fivefold system, each subordinate being obedient to his superior. Besides this, there was a complete system of espionage on the part of the teachers and pupil monitors.”[141]

[Sidenote: Methods of Jesuitical schools]

On the subject of emulation, as made use of in the schools of the Jesuits, Painter gives us these thoughts: “The Jesuits made much of emulation, and in their eager desire to promote it they adopted means that could not fail to excite jealousy and envy. Says the Plan of Studies: ‘He who knows how to excite emulation has found the most powerful auxiliary in his teaching. Let the teacher, then, highly appreciate this valuable aid, and let him study to make the wisest use of it. Emulation awakens and develops all the powers of man. In order to maintain emulation, it will be necessary that each pupil have a rival to control his conduct and criticise him; also magistrates, questors, censors, and decurians should be appointed among the students. Nothing will be held more honorable than to outstrip a fellow student, and nothing more dishonorable than to be outstripped. Prizes will be distributed to the best pupils with the greatest possible solemnity. Out of school the place of honor will everywhere be given to the most distinguished pupils.’”[142]