The number of Bibles sold every year would lead one to suppose that our people are great students of the Scriptures.  Yet the almost universal ignorance of the Bible proves that it is one thing to own a Bible, and quite another thing to read it.  We may buy the Bible because other people own Bibles, because we believe in its principles, and because it seems altogether desirable to have the Bible among our collection of books.  But the extent to which we read the Bible depends on our interest in it and the truths with which it deals.

Nor should we forget that, while the United States is rightly counted as one of the great Christian nations, only about two out of five of our people are members of Christian churches.  It is true that this proportion would be considerably increased if all churches admitted the younger children to membership; but even making allowance for this fact, it is evident that a great task still confronts the church in interesting our own millions in religion in such a way that they shall take part in its organized activities.

Let each teacher of religion therefore ask himself:  “To what extent am I grounding in my pupils a permanent and continuing interest in the Bible and in the Christian religion?  Growing out of lessons I teach these children are they coming to like the Bible? will they want to know more about it? will they turn to it naturally as a matter of course because they have found it interesting and helpful? will they care enough for it through the years to search for its deeper meanings and for its hidden beauties? and because of this will they build the strength and inspiration of the Bible increasingly into their lives?”

And, further:  “Are my pupils developing a growing interest in religion?  Do they increasingly find it attractive and inspiring, or is religion to them chiefly a set of restraints and prohibitions?  Do they look upon religion as a means to a happier and fuller life, or as a limitation and check upon life.  Is religion being revealed to them as the pearl of great price, or does it possess but little value in their standard of what is worth while?” These questions are of supreme significance, for in their right answers are the very issues of spiritual life for those we teach.

Spiritual responsiveness.—­The teacher must accept responsibility for the spiritual growth as well as the intellectual training of his pupils.  There is no escape from this.  We must be satisfied with nothing less than a constantly increasing consciousness of God’s presence and reality in the lives of those we teach.

As the child’s knowledge grows and his concept of God, develops, this should naturally and inevitably lead to an increasing warmth of attitude toward God and a tendency to turn to him constantly for guidance, strength, comradeship, and forgiveness.  Indeed, the cultivation of this trend of the life toward God is the supreme aim in our religious leadership of children.  Without this result, whatever may have been the facts learned or the knowledge gleaned, there has been no worthy progress made in spiritual growth and development.