-
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410
'^ TED STATES BUREAU OF EDUCATION
BULLETIN, 1910, NO. I - - - - - - WHOLE NUMBER 423
THE MOVEMENT FOR REFORM IN THE
TEACHING OF RELIGION IN THE
PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF
SAXONY
By ARLEY BARTHLOW SHOW
PROFESSOR OF MEDIEVAL HISTORY
LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSfTY
WASHINGTON
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
1910
Gass i-C 4VP
Book < Cx 5 o (o
UNITED STATES BUREAU OF EDUCATION
BULLETIN, 1910, NO. I WHOLE NUMBER 423
THE MOVEMENT FOR REFORM IN THE
TEACHING OF RELIGION IN THE
PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF
SAXONY Ji-%~
By ARLEY BARTHLOW SHOW
PROFESSOR OF MEDIEVAL HISTORY
LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY
WASHINGTON
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
1910
\>
l»
0
C-i
D. OF D*
910
CONTENTS.
Page.
Letter of transmittal 5
Prefatory note 7
I. RISE AND PROGRESS OP THE CONTROVERSY.
Growth of the reform spirit in Germany 9
The Bremen agitation for exclusion of religious instruction 10
The Hamburg teachers' proposals for reform 12
The Zwickau theses of the Saxon Teachers' Association 14
Opposition of the clergy — The Meissen counter resolutions 16
The Leipzig manifesto and public conference 18
Later activities of the opposition 19
Constructive reform measures — " Im Strome des Lebens " 20
Proposals of new school laws 21
The selection of materials for memorizing 21
Outline of new course of study 22
Biblical reading book — Clerical supervision 24
Attitude of the public authorities 25
Summary of the situation in Saxony 26
II. THE QUESTIONS AT ISSUE.
General demand for reform — The problems involved 26
A. Pedagogical and administrative problems 27
Adaptation of the instruction to the capacity of children 27
Selection of subject-matter — The sectarian question 28
The central contention : Abolition of clerical supervision 31
Qualifications of teachers — Freedom of teaching 32
B. Fundamental and ultimate problems 35
Attitude of various religious groups 35
The orthodox confessional group 35
The liberal Christian group 37
The agnostic-positivist group 39
The Roman Catholic group 40
Activities and ideals of the different parties 40
Forecast of the ultimate solution , 41
List of books, pamphlets, and periodicals used in this report 42
Index . 45
3
X
LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL.
Department or the Interior,
Bureau of Education,
Washington, April 7, 1910.
Sir : The historical relations of public education to the institutions
of religion have been variously significant. While governmental affairs
and ecclesiastical affairs have been set apart from each other in this
country, and the teaching of sectarian doctrines is generally excluded
from the schools of the several States, an understanding of the rela-
tions actually subsisting between the schools and the organized reli-
gion of other lands is greatly to be desired. It can help in many
ways to a clearer insight into discussions which occasionally arise in
this country and to a better appreciation of the import of changes
which are proposed from time to time.
In those countries in which a close connection is still maintained
between public education and a state religion, important changes are
now in progress. In some instances these changes have as yet gone
no further than an active controversy, which represents the rise of
new sentiments and the shifting of public interest. In other lands
a reorganization has been effected through processes of law and
public administration.
Attention was called in the first number of the bulletin of this
office to discussions in the House of Commons which turned in part
on questions relating to religious instruction {The education hill of
1906 for England and Wales as it passed the House of Commons,
by Anna Tolman Smith, bulletin, 1906, no. 1). Accounts of other
controversies and changes in this field, with particular reference
to European lands, have appeared from time to time in the annual
reports of the Commissioner of Education.
In the monograph which is submitted herewith, Prof. Arley B.
Show, of the Leland Stanford Junior University, has presented a
careful study of the recent agitation in favor of a change in the teach-
ing of religion in the public schools of the kingdom of Saxony, one
5
6 LETTEK OF TRANSMITTAL.
of the States of the German Empire. Such a study is illuminating
for the reason that it affords an opportunity for a vivid setting forth
of a single concrete situation, which at the same time may be re-
garded as typical of the opposition of ideas in other European
countries.
While it would be difficult, if not impossible, for one on the out-
side to present such an account in perfect perspective, Professor Show
has taken great care to be objective and impartial in his statements,
giving the views of all of the leading parties concerned, and, as far
as possible, setting forth the argument of each in the words of some
of its most eminent spokesmen.
I would accordingly recommend the publication of this account as
one of the numbers of the bulletin of the Bureau of Education.
Very respectfully,
Elmer Ellsworth Brown,
Commissions r.
The Secretary of the Interior.
PREFATORY NOTE.
This report does not pretend to be more than a partial and cursory
survey of a bit of history in the making. The writer got his first
impressions of the controversy in Saxony on the spot, and gathered
there the materials on which the study is based. But in a matter so
intimately related to the inner life of a great people, only a minute
and prolonged acquaintance with their ideals and institutions could
fully qualify one to write of them in due measure and proportion.
The writer can only claim that he has studied and written without
conscious bias, and has sought to make faithful use of such data as
were available to him. The investigation impresses one afresh with
the moral and spiritual earnestness of the German people and their
splendid devotion to the progress of popular education. In this time
when our own educational thought is beginning to take more serious
concern for the demands of moral training in the schools, we have
much to learn from the comprehensive and well-grounded ideals of
our German neighbors.
No attempt has been made to include in the bibliography references
to the very voluminous general literature on the subject of religious
instruction. Good discussions, with lists of recent literature, may be
found in such works as Loos, Enzyklopadisches Handbuch cler Er-
ziehungskunde, 1908, and Rein, Encyklopadisches Handbuch. der
Padagogik, 1908.
I am indebted to my colleague, Prof. Karl G. Rendtorff of Stan-
ford University, for reading the proofs and for various helpful
suggestions.
Leland Stanford Junior University, California,
February 26, 1910.
\
THE MOVEMENT FOR REFORM IN THE TEACH-
ING OF RELIGION IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF
SAXONY.
I.— RISE AND PROGRESS OF THE CONTROVERSY.
GROWTH OF THE REFORM SPIRIT.
No question occupies the educational thought of Germany more
deeply at the present moment than the problem of religious instruc-
tion in the public schools. The existing system, inherited from the
days of the Lutheran reformation and consecrated by these centuries
of almost undisputed supremacy, has at length come under a censor-
ship that is persistent and unsparing, and in consequence there is a
general disturbance of old conditions. The scope and character of
the discussion now in progress show the widest interest and the
deepest concern among the leaders and workers, who have most
serious regard to the national welfare. The question has ceased to be
purely academic or pedagogical and has become an issue of the larg-
est moment in the public mind of Germany.
At the present time the Kingdom of Saxony is the storm center of
the controversy concerning Religionsunterricht, and it is the specific
purpose of this report to outline the situation in that State of the
Empire. It will readily appear, however, that the Saxon conditions
are not unique, but that they are rather typical of the general state of
the problem in Germany. Only a detailed inquiry could trace the
present debate in Saxony to its ultimate origins. It must suffice here
merely to point out some of the influences which have given shape to
the struggle.
For at least the last decade an increasing attention on the part of
educational workers has been turned to the matter of religious in-
struction as it exists in the public schools, and the demand for reform
has steadily grown more definite and urgent. Significant evidence
of the reform spirit may be seen in the brochure of Professor Rein,
of Jena, published in 1904 and 1906.a In these pamphlets are
a Stimmen zur Reform des Religionsunterrichts. Langensalza. Heft I, 1904 ; Heft II,
1906.
23352—10 2 9
10 THE TEACHING OE KELIGION IN SAXONY.
brought together the opinions of some twenty-five representative
scholars and teachers, all of them in substantial agreement as to the
necessity for reform. Among them are found the names of such
leaders as Professors Paulsen and Pfleiderer of Berlin, Natorp of
Marburg, Bassermann of Heidelberg, and the editor, Eein of Jena.
The utterances of these men, and of the others associated with them
in the book, put it beyond question that the demand for reform is
deep and radical. It comes on the one hand from the practical
schoolmen, and on the other from the exponents of progressive theo-
logical thought, the two finding common ground in the need of an
instruction adapted to present-day conditions.
A work of some consequence as showing the steady rise of the
reform spirit is the small monograph of J. Tews, published in 1906.°
The author is a teacher of wide view and of strong popular instincts.
His plea is for a Volksschule free from all external control, a school
of the people based wholly on the demands of national life and cul-
ture. Consequently he would exclude all confessional influences from
the schools. Beyond any doubt the author speaks for a wide circle
of the German teachers.
THE BREMEN AGITATION FOR EXCLUSION OF RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION.
These are merely significant voices raised here and there. The
first serious organized effort for reform, so far as the writer is aware,
arose in the Freistadt of Bremen, in the year 1905.& In May of that
year the teachers of Bremen gave formal indorsement to the proposal
to abolish the religious instruction in the schools and appointed a
committee to put its conclusions into a memorial for presentation to
the authorities of the city. In September, 1905, the committee's
report was indorsed by a large majority of the teachers and was
officially laid before the municipal senate.0
The somewhat extended memorial of the Bremen teachers covers
practically all the large questions involved in the issue. Starting
from the postulate that the modern state rests on the principle of
liberty of conscience, that religion is a matter of private belief, the
memorial argues that the state can not legitimately allow its schools
to be used to impose any particular confession on the people, cites
the progress of the movement in other countries for the separation of
religion and the state, and urges that the confessional instruction
a SchulJcdmpfe der Gegenwart. Leipzig, 1906. See also his recent article in Leipziger
Lehrerzeitung, 17 Jahrg. 335-337.
b For- a good brief account of the Bremen movement and its influence see Padagogische
Jahresschau I. (1906) 397-399.
c The Denkschrift of the Bremen teachers is printed in Gansberg, Religionsunterricht ?
Achtzig Outachten. Leipzig, 1906. 182-202.
THE BEEMEN AGITATION. 11
given in the schools of Germany is out of harmony with the science
and philosophy of the modern world. In place of the existing system
the Bremen teachers would substitute a course of moral instruction
based on modern experience and drawing its materials chiefly from
modern literature. They would separate the moral instruction
wholly from its religious connections and would bring it into relation
with the regular studies of the course rather than deal with it as
itself an independent branch of instruction. The memorial closes
with the general outline of a plan for moral instruction in the schools
of the city.
Meanwhile a more limited movement in the same city was pointing
the way to a like demand for the exclusion of religious teaching
from the schools. In February, 1905, a group of Bremen teachers
organized the " Vereinigung fur Schulreform " and immediately
devoted their thought to this problem. They sent out a letter of
inquiry to many educational workers throughout Germany, asking
for opinions as to the abolition of religious instruction. Some eighty
replies were received; and these documents, together with the letter
of inquiry and the Denkschrift of the Bremen teachers, are printed
in the volume Religionsunterricht f Achtzig Gutachten (Leipzig,
1906), edited by Fritz Gansberg, one of the Bremen teachers. Among
the testimonies are many from men and women prominent in the
educational work and intellectual life of Germany — the late Theodor
Barth of Berlin, Wilhelm Bode, Professor Ernst Haeckel, Eduard
von Hartmann, Paul Heyse, and others almost equally prominent.
Nearly all who contribute to the volume favor the dropping of
religion from the schools, and bear witness to the strength of this
radical wing of the reform party.
The Senate of Bremen did not give its approval to the radical
proposals of the teachers, though the Denkschrift moved that body to
undertake the more necessary measures of reform." But the Bremen
manifesto became at once widely influential in other parts of the
land, and has served as the point of departure for much subsequent
discussion and agitation. In some states and cities, as in Bremer-
haven, Hamburg, and Leipzig, its programme for the total abolition
of Religionsunterricht has met with considerable favor; but it has
served quite as largely to stimulate opposition to all change or to
give the impulse to more temperate reforms.**
a Pad. Jahresschau I. 397.
6 Immediate discussion of the Bremen plan concerned itself largely with the substi-
tution of moral instruction for religious instruction in the schools. As the organ of the
Bremen teachers, the journal Roland has served to disseminate their ideas. For the
polemical literature called out by the Bremen proposals, see Pad. Jahresschau I. 397-401.
12 THE TEACHING OF RELIGION IN SAXONY.
THE HAMBURG TEACHERS7 PROPOSALS FOR REFORM.
The most noteworthy manifestation of the reform spirit definitely
influenced by the Bremen agitation showed itself in the neighboring
free city of Hamburg. For some years the " Lehrergruppe im Ham-
burger Protestantenverein " had been studying the problem. In
May, 1907, on the occasion of a general revision of the course of
study, the teachers in sympathy with the Bremen plan laid before
the Hamburger Schulsynode — the general assembly of the teachers —
the proposal to give their support to the abolition of religious in-
struction. The proposal was defeated by a vote of 199 to 149, thus
placing the Hamburg teachers in opposition to the more radical poli-
cies of Bremen.* Thereupon the Lehrergruppe im Hamburger Pro-
testantenverein came back to the problem, and later in 1907 pub-
lished its proposals for the reform of the religious instruction.6 The
fundamental principle of the proposed reform was stated in these
words : " The point of departure for religious instruction is formed
on the one hand by the position and needs of the child's mind and on
the other by the demands of developing science and culture." The
purpose of religious teaching is defined as " the awakening and en-
couragement of the religious-ethical life of the pupil on the basis of
the gospel, with collateral reference to the Old Testament and to
the historical development of Christianity."
On this basis the Entwurf outlined a course of study for the eight
years of the Volksschule — one hour a week for the first three years
(Unterstufe), two hours a week for the fourth and fifth years (Mit-
telstufe), and two hours a week for the last two years (Oberstufe).
The Lehrplan is conservative in character, its materials being drawn
chiefly from the Bible, with considerable use of legends, tales, and
poems from other sources. The course is worked out on the " con-
centric circle " theory so prevalent in German pedagogy. In the
fifth school year there is given a " simple life picture of Jesus ; " and
in the seventh year the life of Christ is traversed more in detail,
constituting the entire subject-matter of the year's work. In the
eighth year the apostolic period is studied, and a few characters
from later church history are brought into the course — Boniface, St.
Francis, Luther, and other reformers. The Hamburg plan was thus
at once broadly Christian and Protestant.
The publication of the Lehrplan at once called out opposition of
two sorts in the city. A group of Hamburg pastors published a pro-
a Pad. Jahresschau II. 209 ; Sorgen, BedenJcen, Wiinsche, 9. As early as 1888 a con-
siderable element among the Hamburg teachers favored the abolition of RU. Gansberg,
Religionsunterricht ? Achtzig Outachten, 23.
B Entwurf eines Lehrplans fur den RU. in der 8klass. Volksschule. Hamb. 1907. For
good summary, see Pad. Jahresschau II. 219-220.
THE HAMBUKG TEACHERS ' PROPOSALS. 13
test a against the proposed changes in the course of study, charging
the innovators with the attempt to destroy the evangelical Lutheran
character of the system, and with opening the door to all kinds of
dangerous doctrines. The pastors protested in particular against the
entire omission of the Shorter Catechism of Luther from the course.
" For the sake of our schools and of our people, the Bible and the
catechism must remain the source and norm of religious-ethical in-
struction in the Volksschule. Because the people themselves are pre-
dominantly Lutheran, the instruction must remain Lutheran, and not
merely Christian or religious." The pastors object strongly to the
introduction of modern theology into the instruction, and illustrate
their objection by a detailed critique of the proposed plan. They
insist that the primary purpose of religious teaching shall continue
to be the preparation of the child for membership in the church, and
hence the thorough grounding of the child's faith in the " saving
truths " of the gospel. The contention of the Hamburg pastors was,
therefore, for the retention of the present confessional instruction
in all its essential features.
In reply to this challenge, the Hamburg teachers issued a second
pamphlet, Freiheit und Rechtf in which they defended themselves
against the charge of irreligion and tried to make their position
plainer.
The opposition to the Entwurf of the Hamburg teachers found
expression in another way. A group of the more evangelical teach-
ers, organized under the name of the " Lehrer-Union," put forth a
critique of the proposed course of study, accompanying their critique
with a plan of their own.c Their position is of the most conservative
nature. They condemn the proposals of the majority for reducing
the number of hours of religious instruction, for dropping the cate-
chism, and, above all, for bringing the religious instruction under the
influence of modern theology. They object to the contemplated plan
as not calculated to promote the religious growth of the child and as
therefore bad pedagogically. And in conclusion this conservative
wing of the Hamburg teachers brings forward a course of study of
its own, laid down mostly on usual lines, but with a serious attempt
to meet the current criticisms as to the amount, arrangement, and
handling of the materials of instruction. The materials are drawn
entirely from the Bible, the Shorter Catechism, and church history
and song.
" Behrmann et al., Sorgen, Bedenken, ~\Yiinsche, in Betug anf den RU. in den offentl.
Schulen Hamburgs. 2te. Aufl. Hamb. 1907.
6 Hamburg, 1907. The contents of this treatise are briefly summarized in Pad. Jahres-
scnau II. 220.
e Denkscrift nebst Lehrplan-Entwurf fiir den RU. in den Hambnrgischen Volks-
schulen. Herausgegeben von der Hamburger Lehrer-Union. Hamburg, 1907.
14 THE TEACHING OF RELIGION IN SAXONY.
As contrasted with the earlier movement in Bremen, it is obvious
that the Hamburg propaganda worked on conservative lines, seeking
not the abolition of religious teaching but such a reform of it as
would bring it into harmony with modern thought and modern peda-
gogical standards. Like the. Bremen plan, the movement in Ham-
burg did not get beyond the stage of discussion, since the school
authorities of the city did not choose to put the recommendations of
the teachers into effect. The Hamburg proposals have, however,
attracted much attention and have contributed largely to the progress
of general debate in Germany." The Hamburg teachers also have
not given over their labors for reform, and during the past year
have brought forward a new outline of a course of study embodying
their maturer ideals.6 The materials of the new Lehrplan are drawn
from the Bible, church history, and German poetry, art, and music,
with a marked increase in the amount of the nonbiblical elements.
In the eighth year the course offers systematic instruction in practical
ethics.
THE ZWICKAU THESES OF THE SAXON TEACHERS' ASSOCIATION.
Without attempting here to trace the progress of the reform ideas
in Prussia, Bavaria, Wurttemberg, and the lesser States of the Em-
pire, it may be said that in one form or another all parts of the land
have felt the new impulses and have responded to them, each in its
own way.c In no other States, however, has the reform programme
taken such definite and positive form as in the cities of Bremen and
Hamburg and in the Kingdom of Saxony.
The Lehrerverein of the Kingdom of Saxony comprises about
14,000 members, divided into 77 district unions (Bezirksvereine),
these again being subdivided into about 240 local branches (Zweig-
vereine). The national Lehrerverein of the Empire meets every two
years, and is generally attended, although its voting membership is
limited to the elected representatives of the district unions, compris-
ing only 310 members.** By far the strongest district union in the
Verein is that of Leipzig, embracing about 2,800 members/
° The journal Der Sdemann, Hamburg, is the organ through which the teachers have
presented their ideas.
6 The proposed course of study as prepared by a committee of the Hamburg Schul-
synode is printed in Leipziger Lehrerzeitung, 16 Jahrg. 873-874, and discussed in do.
17 Jahrg. 178-179.
c The most general issue has been the abolition of clerical supervision. This question
and the other problems involved will be considered in the latter part of this report.
d Rietschel, Zur Reform, 3. The Sdchsische Schulzeitung is the organ of the national
organization.
e The Leipziger Lehrerverein has its own organ in the Leipziger Lehrerzeitung, which
has had a leading part in the present debate. The writer is much indebted to the files of
this journal for material used in the report.
THE ZWICKAU THESES. 15
While for a long time the question of religious instruction has re-
ceived attention from individuals and groups of individuals in
Saxony,0 the beginnings of the present more active agitation date
back to the annual meeting of the Lehrerverein at Dresden in 1905.
At that meeting, after debating the problems of reform, the Verein
appointed a committee of two to report a programme of reform meas-
ures, to be presented at the meeting of 1908.& During the next three
years the members of the committee, consisting of School Director
Arnold, of Chemnitz, and Lehrer Arnold, of Pirna, worked out their
proposals, having the assistance of their local unions in this task, and
they presented a united report at the meeting in 1908.
The annual meeting of 1908 was held at Zwickau, on September 28
and 29, and was attended by upward of 4,000 teachers.0 The report
of the committee was discussed, amended, and adopted, the vote being
almost unanimous.*"
The nine resolutions thus indorsed by the teachers of Saxony, since
generally known as " die Zwickauer Thesen," have furnished th§
basis of all subsequent discussion.
They are as follows : e
1. Religion is an essential subject of instruction and religions instruction an
independent department ( Veranstaltnng) of the Yolksschule.
2. Its task is to make the mind (Gesinnung) of Jesus live in the child.
3. The course of study and method of instruction must conform to the nature
of the child mind, and the determination of these is exclusively the business of
the school. The churchly oversight of religious instruction is to be abolished.
4. Only such subject-matter of instruction is to be considered as presents
religious and ethical life clearly to the child. Religious instruction is essen-
tially historical instruction. At the center is to stand the person of Jesus.
Besides the appropriate Biblical materials, especial attention should be given
to life pictures of the promoters of religious and ethical culture among our
people, with particular reference to modern times. The experiences of the child
are to be utilized in a profitable way.
5. The Volksschule must exclude systematic and dogmatic instruction. In
the upper grades the Ten Commandments, the Sermon on the Mount, and the
Lord's Prayer can be prescribed as an appropriate basis for a summary of the
ethical ideas contained in the Christian religion. Luther's Catechism can not
be the basis and point of departure for the religious instruction of the young.
As an historical religious document and as the Evangelical-Lutheran creed, it is
to be esteemed.
6. The religious matter to be learned should be remodeled and materially
reduced in accordance with psychological-pedagogical principles, and the amount
required should be lessened.
" Schulrat Bang, some of whose writings are cited below, has been particularly active
for years in urging reform on conservative lines.
b Rietschel, Zur Reform, 4; Sachs. Lehrerver., Die Umgestaltung des RU. 1.
c Pad. Jahresschau III. 171 ; Sulze, Das rechte Verhaltnis, 12.
d There were only twelve negative votes. The entire proceedings of the meeting were
reported stenographically and are printed in Die Umgestaltung des RU. in den sacks.
Volksschulen. Leipz. [1908].
e For the text of the theses, with comment, see Die Umgestaltung, 30-43 ; for text alone,
see Christiani, Die Zwick. Thesen, 5 ; Rietschel, Zur Reform, 4-5 ; Sulze, Das rechte Ver-
haltnis, 12-13.
16 THE TEACHING OF RELIGION IN SAXONY.
7. Religious instruction as an independent subject of instruction should not
come in before the third school year. In order that the interest of the child
may not suffer, the number of hours should be lessened in all grades. The
customary division of religious instruction into biblical history (explanation of
the Bible) and teaching of the catechism is to be abolished. Likewise exami-
nations and censorships in religion are to be abandoned.
8. The entire instruction in religion must stand in harmony with the estab-
lished results of scientific research and with the enlightened moral sentiment of
our times.
9. Along with the reform of religious instruction in the Volksschule there is
needed a corresponding transformation of religious instruction in the Seminar
[normal school].
In the debates at Zwickau the merits of the case were very fully
discussed. The reports of the committee men, preceding the presen-
tation of the resolutions, made plain the general principles at issue
and explained the specific provisions of the theses ; a' and the subse-
quent debate by the members gave a hearing for all essential points of
view. The exchange of opinion was free and unhampered, and the
vote must be taken as recording the serious conviction of the teachers
present.
The publication of the Zwickau theses at once precipitated a
discussion which has continued with great intensity and often with
acrimony during the year. On both sides many meetings have been
held, many addresses made, many pamphlets printed,6 with the
result that every vital feature of the proposed reform has had a
thorough hearing, and every objection has been made manifest. The
present report can indicate only in the most general Avay the lines the
agitation has followed.
OPPOSITION OF THE NATIONAL CHURCH THE MEISSEN COUNTER
RESOLUTIONS.
The Zwickau theses naturally aroused an immediate and vigorous
remonstrance in church circles. While a considerable element among
the clergy have from the first given their support to the reform, the
majority have seen in the movement danger for the church and for
the religious welfare of the people and have opposed it. Immediately
after the Zwickau meeting protests began to pour in upon the
Kultusminister of Saxony.0 In various quarters of the Kingdom
a The detailed explanation of the several theses by Lehrer Arnold of Pirna is especially
helpful. For good summaries of the addresses at Zwickau, see Briick, Zur Umgestaltung
des RU. in der Volksschule. They are dealt with, one by one, controversially by Rietschel,
Zur Reform des RU., and by Katzer in Neues Sachsisches Kirchenblatt, 1908, Ns. 20, 34,
and 35.
6 The more important of these publications will be included in the bibliography at the
end of this report.
r It is said that 800 such protests reached the Kultusminister in Dresden. For an
example of such protest, see Sulze, Das rechte Verhaltnis, 13.
OPPOSITION OF THE NATIONAL CHURCH. 17
organized action against the teachers' movement was begun. On
February 10, 1909, the Landessynode of Saxony, the highest organ of
the national church, met in extraordinary session in Meissen and put
itself on record concerning the Zwickau proposals. With only one
dissenting voice the clergy present adopted the following counter-
resolutions : a
The Landessynode resolves that it regards a transformation of the religious
instruction in the Volksschule, in relation to matter and method, as necessary
from religious and pedagogical standpoints, and for that reason takes the fol-
lowing fundamental position :
1. In the first place it believes that for the future as for the past a harmo-
nious cooperation of church and school, born of mutual trust, is necessary for
a praiseworthy education of the young, and is of the highest value for our
people.
2. Now as always, it does not oppose the establishment of a purely profes-
sional oversight of the state over the schools.
But it maintains the duty and right of the church to have oversight over the
religious teaching of its adolescent members.
3. It agrees that the religious instruction should be essentially instruction in
biblical history, as well as in the history of the Christian church, and that the
person of Jesus should stand at the center of instruction.
But it regards as indispensable that in the Biblical instruction the saving
truths of Christianity and the power of Jesus Christ should be brought so close
to the souls of the children that they shall learn to recognize Him not only as
a religio-ethical example, but also as their Savior and Redeemer.
4. It advises a new selection of religious material for learning as well as a
moderation of the amount required, where it is necessary.
But it regards as important and beneficial that hereafter as before the youth
shall be given for life the richest possible treasure of scripture and song.
5. In catechism instruction it regards a change in the method of treatment
and in the amount to be memorized as necessary.
But it wishes to know that the teaching of youth is well grounded in the
spirit and confession of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, and maintains that
for this purpose the popular Evangelical Lutheran confession, the Shorter
Catechism of Luther, can not be replaced.
6. It does not desire such a confessional religious instruction as will sharpen
the contrast with the communicants of other confessions.
But it does desire that the children shall be educated to be fully conscious
living members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, and precisely by that
means be educated to a true tolerance for other believers.
These resolutions have an irenic tone and show the disposition of
the clergy to cooperate in the work of reform. But their pronounce-
ments do not depart from the churchly point of view as to confes-
sional instruction, clerical supervision, and the other questions in
issue, and hence do not provide any adequate basis for agreement
between the parties to the controversy.
a The text of the Meissen resolutions with the synodal debates are printed in Leipziger
Lehrerzeitung, 16 Jahrg. 422-424 ; the text alone in Christian!, Die Zirickauer Thesen, 6 ;
Rietschel, Zur Reform des RJJ. 5-6; Sulze, Das rechte Yerlialtnis, 14.
23352—10 3
18 THE TEACHING OF EELIGION IN SAXONY.
THE LEIPZIG MANIFESTO AND PUBLIC CONFERENCE.
Since the Meissen resolutions public discussion has been busy
throughout Saxony. In the main the secular press0 and the general
public have given their support to the teachers. In the realm of
politics the Social Democratic and Liberal parties have expressed
approval of the Zwickau programme,6 the Conservatives have taken
ground against it, and the National Liberals have been somewhat
divided.0 On some occasions pastors and teachers have got together
for conference/ but most of the debate has been on partisan lines.
The controversy has developed its acutest forms in the city of Leip-
zig, naturally the educational center of the Kingdom. Early in the
year the following manifesto was circulated, signed, and published:
To the public-school teachers of Saxony, who with unusual unanimity stood
at Zwickau for a reform of the religious instruction, we .hereby openly offer
our warm sympathy.
We, too, desire that the Christian religion should remain an essential subject
of instruction in the Volksschule and see the highest aim of religious instruction
to make the mind of Jesus live in the children. We, too, in part the parents
of evangelical school-children, desire that in the provisions of the law the right
of our teachers to fit the content and method of instruction to this aim be
more clearly defined.
In particular, we urge, in the interest of an unified mind and character build-
ing among our youth, that the teacher of religion be allowed, without molestation,
to follow his pedagogical conscience in the consideration of the scientific inquiry
within the established course of study, and we find it to be adapted to the
nature of the child mind that religious instruction be based entirely on those
materials in which perceptibly religious and moral life is presented to the child,
and that it lay chief emphasis on this religious and moral life and not on dog-
matic formulas.
Furthermore, we desire that the public-school teacher be free to withdraw
from the giving of religious instruction.
Finally, we understand the endeavors of the teachers to gain freedom from
the supervision of religious instruction by the clergy, and we trust our teachers
to give worthy religious instruction without such supervision.
Leipzig, January 27, 1909.
This manifesto was signed by nearly 300 representative men and
women of Leipzig, Dresden, Chemnitz, and other towns, among the
signers being 36 professors in the University of Leipzig, 17 pastors,
and divers other notable persons. Noting the fact that over 100
of the signers are men of university education, the Leipziger Lehrer-
zeitung claims for the reform movement the special sympathy of the
educated classes.6
° The leading daily papers of Leipzig, the Tageblatt and the Neueste Nachrichten, have
taken an active part in the campaign. See Leipz. Tageblatt, May 19, 1909.
b Leipz. Neueste Nachr., May 14, 1909.
c For the attitude of the several parties in the fall elections and in the Landtag now
sitting at Dresden, see Leipz. Lehrerzeit. 17 Jahrg. 35-37, 47, 88-89, 108-110, J 29,
238-240, 253, 302, 372-378.
d Leipz. Lehrerzeitung, 16 Jahrg. 285.
e The manifesto with the signatures is printed in Leipz. Lehrerzeit, 16 Jahrg. 510-515.
The total number of signatures to May, 1909, was 1,710. Leipz. Lehrerzeit, 16 Jahrg. 661.
LATER ACTIVITIES OF THE OPPOSITION. 19
In other ways the teachers kept their interests before the public.
On March 16, 1909, the Leipziger Lehrerverein convened a great
open conference in the city for the consideration of the Zwickau
Theses^ at which about 3,000 persons are said to have been present.
After free debate the conference, with little dissent, adopted the
following resolution : a
The public assembly of about 3,000 persons to-day convened in the Alberthalle
of the Krystallpalast offers its support to the efforts of the teachers for the
reform of the religious instruction in the Volksschule, as it is defined in the
Zwickau Theses.
LATER ACTIVITIES OF THE OPPOSITION.
The controversy got a new intensity from the annual meeting of
the Meissener Kirchen- und Pastoral-Konferenz. This body is a free
association of pastors and laymen for religious purposes, and met in
Meissen May 11, 1909. The chief address before the conference was
given by Professor Rietschel, of the theological faculty of the Uni-
versity of Leipzig, and was in its nature a somewhat severe and
polemical detailed criticism of the Zwickau Theses. As the basis
of his address Professor Rietschel presented certain theses of his own
in attack on the fundamental positions of the Zwickau programme.
By vote of the conference the address was printed and distributed
among the schools of Saxony, and obviously served to give a fresh
impetus to the debated The Meissener Konferenz also adopted reso-
lutions of its own, giving substantial sympathy to the position of
Professor Rietschel, but also making a plea for peace and cooperation
between church and school.0
Throughout the year the various forces opposed to the Zwickau
movement have been active and influential. The Evangelisch-luther-
ische Schulverein, an organization of pastors, teachers, and others in
the conservative interest, has carried on a vigorous propaganda
against the Zwickau plan.^ In general the strength of the national
church has been used in support of the existing system/ In the
smaller cities and towns and in the country districts the conservatism
a Leipz. Lehrerverein, Die ZwicJcauer Thesen, etc. 6. The proceedings in full in Leipz.
Lehrerzeit. 16 Jahrg. 527-529, 536-544.
b The address of Professor Rietschel, printed under the title : Zur Reform des Religions-
unterrichts in der Volksschule, Leipz. 1909, has already been frequently cited. It is
perhaps the most important " Streitschrift " produced by the debate and served to make
its author the leader of the conservative element. The reply of the Lehrerverein is con-
tained in the pamphlet : Die Zicickauer Thesen und Geheimer Eirchenrat D. Rietschzl.
Leipz. 1909.
c Leipz. Tageblatt, May 13, 1909.
d Leipz. Lehrerzeit. 16 Jahrg. 960-962; 17 Jahrg., Beilage zu Nr. 15, 8. The Sdch-
sische Kirchen- und Schulblatt is the principal organ of this conservative group. The
writer regrets his inability to use the files of this journal.
e The Reformed Church in Saxony has taken a more friendly position toward the
movement. See Leipz. Lehrerzeit. 16 Jahrg. 382-385, for the meeting of the Protestan-
tenverein in Dresden, February 4, 1909, which indorsed the Zwickau Theses.
20 THE TEACHING DP EELIGION IN SAXONY.
of the people and their attachment to the church have occasioned
much reaction against the position of the radical reformers.®
CONSTRUCTIVE REFORM MEASURES " IM STROME DES LEBENS."
During the year the teachers have devoted their energies more to
constructive plans of reform than to popular agitation. In one de-
gree or another almost every Bezirksverein in the land has busied
itself with the problem of religious instruction. It is essential here
to note the more significant features of this activity.
At about the date of the Zwickau meeting, in the autumn of 1908,
the " Religionskommission " of the Leipziger Lehrerverein had pub-
lished a reading book, Im Strome des Lebens (Leipzig, 1909), for use
in the religious instruction in the schools. The book met with
immediate favor, a second edition being necessary in a few months.
This volume reveals in concrete and specific form the ideals for
which the teachers are working. In the " Vorwort," it says :
Among teachers the conviction is steadily gaining ground that the religious
and moral life of our children is not promoted by lectures and the learned
exposition of dogmas and of Biblical materials of remote significance, but only
through the presentation of religious life.
Proceeding on those lines, the book endeavors through narrative
and verse to bring before the child the best products of religious
experience within the range of his comprehension. Its contents are
grouped under nine general divisions, as follows :
I. Childhood and Home.
II. Home and Fatherland.
III. In God's Beautiful World.
IV. Holidays and Festivals.
V. Duty to Men.
VI. Diligence and Joy in Labor.
VII. Seedtime and Harvest.
VIII. Life and Death.
IX. Upward to God.
The selections are borrowed mostly from modern German literature,
with the obvious purpose of exemplifying and enforcing the common
duties of life. The biblical materials in the volume, drawn chiefly
from the psalms and the gospels, emphasize the general truths of
religion more than the distinctive tenets of Christianity.^ This
volume has done much to make known and popularize the ideas of
reform.
a Leipz. Lehrerzeit. 17 Jahrg. 108-109. The Staatsininister Dr. Beck claims that
the Lutheran Church in Saxony is steadily growing stronger. Leipz. Lehrerzeit. 17 Jahrg.
375-376.
h Professor Rietschel, Zur Reform des RV. 37-40, criticises the hook as taking all dis-
tinctively Christian meaning from the religious instruction,
NEW SCHOOL LAWS — MATERIALS FOR MEMORIZING. 21
PROPOSALS OF NEW SCHOOL LAWS.
Most of all, the Saxon teachers have labored through the year for
the enactment of new legislation based on the Zwickau doctrines.
Early in 1909 a committee of the Lower Chamber in the Saxon
Landtag reported a comprehensive plan for the revision of the school
laws in which the subject of religious instruction received special
consideration, and the proposals were substantially approved by the
Chamber.® The recommended laws maintain the confessional char-
acter of the school and the clerical oversight, but provide for a reduc-
tion of the memory work, urge less dependence on the letter of
scripture and of the catechism, and advise the preparation of a spe-
cial bible reading book for the Volksschule. These proposals of the
Landtag therefore show a disposition to accept the minor features
of the Zwickau programme, but not to concur in the main questions
involved.
Final action on these proposals was postponed to the next Landtag
in order to give time for public discussion. This movement for a
revised school law has thus given the teachers a chance to get a hear-
ing for the reform principles, and they have made diligent use of it.
During the summer of 1909 the board of directors (Vorstand) of the
national Lehrerverein submitted to the several Bezirksvereine the
proposed legislation, asking them to consider it and report. This
work has been done, and all phases of the contemplated laws have
been maturely debated, especially the provisions concerning Re-
ligionsunterricht.6 Underlying this activity has been the purpose
to bring the new law as fully as possible into conformity with the
principles of the Zwickau Theses.
Four problems have received chief consideration:
1. The selection of Lernstoff or Memorierstoff to be required ;
2. The outline of a Lehrplan or course of stud}'' ;
3. The preparation of a Biblisches Lesebuch or book of Bible
readings ;
4. The shaping of a new system of Schulaufsicht or school super-
vision.
THE SELECTION OF MATERIALS FOR MEMORIZING.
Among the distinctively pedagogical problems involved, the selec-
tion of the materials for memorizing has perhaps caused most de-
bate among the teachers. As must be shown later, the excessive
amount of memory work required is one of the crying defects of the
old system of religious instruction and the reformers are resolute
a The draft of laws is printed in Leipz. Lehrerzeit. 16 Jahrg. 300-313.
6 The new law will be in the nature of a general revision covering many other matters.
The present school law has been in force since 1873, although amended in parts from time
to time.
22 THE TEACHING OF RELIGION IN SAXONY.
both to diminish the amount and to improve the quality of it. The
discussions in Saxony in the last months have centered about the
" Chemnitzer Vorschlage," a comprehensive outline of materials for
memorizing compiled by the Bezirksverein of Chemnitz.0 The
Chemnitz outline comprises 137 Bible verses and 95 stanzas of church
hymns. In general the other Bezirksvereine have found the Chem-
nitz plan too full and have proposed considerable reductions. & The
draft finally agreed upon comprises a memory requirement of 80
Bible verses, 41 stanzas of church hymns, and a few secular poems.0
At its annual meeting January 3 and 4, 1910, the Representative
Assembly (Vertreterversammlung) of the Saxon Lehrerverein
approved this plan/ If these proposals of the teachers are enacted
into law they will greatly reduce the quantity and improve the
quality of the Lernstoff.e
OUTLINE OF NEW COURSE OF STUDY.'
Through a similar process of debate in the district unions, the
teachers have worked out a course of study in religion for the eight
years of the Volksschule. In this matter the original Vorschlage
came from the Bezirksverein of Pirna.f The Pirna Vorschlage
would keep Religionsunterricht evangelical but not narrowty confes-
sional, laying emphasis on the life and teaching of Christ. Syste-
matic religious instruction is to comprise two hours a week in the
third and fourth years, three hours a week in the last four years. The
course of study is to include, in the third year, simple stories from
the life of Christ; in the fourth year, Old Testament narratives and
the Ten Commandments; in the fifth and sixth years, an intensive
study of the life and teaching of Christ; in the seventh and eighth
years, the prophets and Psalms, the history of the apostles, select
character-studies from church history, with special reference to
the leaders and benefactors of Germany. The Catechism and the
leading church hymns are to be introduced in their proper settings
as parts of the history. Throughout the last years the main endeavor
is to be to secure a deeper comprehension of the life and teachings of
Jesus.
a Text in full in Leipz. Lehrerzeit. 17 Jahrg. 19-22. For a careful criticism, see the
article by K. Wehner, Leipz. Lehrerzeit. 17 Jahrg. 124-128. He condemns the Chemnitz
selections as too numerous, too theological, and as lacking in practical precepts.
6 Leipz. Lehrerzeit. 17 Jahrg. 137, 217.
c Leipz. Lehrerzeit. 17 Jahrg. 185, 242. The latter reference contains the outline in
full. See also do. 271-273, 276-277.
d Leipz. Lehrerzeit. 17 Jahrg. 313-314. The assembly, however, adopted resolutions
urging the district unions to prepare much fuller collections from which the teachers
might choose the materials best adapted to their pupils, and also recommending more
selections from secular literature.
• The church party naturally opposes the changes. Leipz. Lehrerzeit. 17 Jahrg. 305,
327. The old law required a much larger amount of Lernstoff. Leipz. Lehrerzeit. 17
Jahrg. 398.
' Text in Leipz. Lehrerzeit. 17 Jahrg. 22. The dependence of these proposals on the
Zwickau Theses is obvious throughout.
OUTLINE OF NEW COURSE OF STUDY. 23
In the ensuing discussions the Pirna plan was subjected to a severe
examination. It was criticised for upholding the confessional school,
taking too much time, requiring too much memorizing, and keeping
the Catechism.® The Leipzig teachers' union indorsed resolutions of
a much more radical nature, restricting systematic religious instruc-
tion to two hours a week for the last four years, laying more stress
on modern, nonbiblical literature, omitting the Catechism, and
greatly reducing the memory work.^ The Pirna plan and the Leip-
zig plan thus represent divergent ideals among the teachers. At
their meeting November 16 and 17, 1909, the board of directors of the
national union gave their sanction to a mediating plan c which
restricts the instruction to two hours weekly for the last four years,
but carefully safeguards the biblical character of the instruction. It
is thus an endeavor to reconcile the conflicting views.'* The debate
reached its conclusion in the Vertreterversammlung of the national
union at Dresden, January 3 and 4, 1910, when resolutions were
adopted in substantial agreement with the Leipzig programme. The
resolutions are as follows : e
1. Religious instruction has the task of making the mind of Jesus to live in
the children.
2. Systematic religious instruction is to be given two hours a week from
the fifth to the eighth school year. In the first four years only occasional moral
and religious teachings are to find place.
3. As the subject-matter in systematic Religionsunterricht are to be used
pictures from the religious and moral life of pre-Christian times, the life of
Jesus, the life and work of the apostles, and pictures from the religious and
moral life of our people, with special reference to modern times. As equally
justified subject-matter for all the school years may be used the experiences of
the children and suitable productions of literature and art. The imparting of
this subject-matter is to be governed by the moral-religious ideas and the learn-
ing capacity of the several grades. Religious instruction must take account of
the main results of biblical research and biblical history, must not come into
conflict with our knowledge of the world from other sources, and must stand in
harmony with the enlightened moral sentiment of our times.
4. A limited number of religious passages and songs are to be impressed on
the memory. Compulsory memorizing is to be handled in a considerate manner.
In this outline of a course of study the teachers of Saxony have
given practical expression to the ideals embodied in the Zwickau
Theses. If this plan is enacted into law it will be possible for the
teacher to make his instruction closely evangelical and confessional,
a A. Billhardt in Leipz. Lehrerzeit. 17 Jahrg. 103-105.
b Text in Leipz. Lehrerzeit. 17 Jahrg. 137-138.
c Text In Leipz. Lehrerzeit. 17 Jahrg. 185.
d For the attitude of other district unions see Leipz. Lehrerzeit. 17 Jahrg. 217, 303.
Some plans proposed were even more conservative than that of Pirna.
e Text in Leipz. Lehrerzeit. 17 Jahrg. 313. See do., 313, and Beilage zu Nr. 16. 19-20
for debates. Resolutions 1 and 3 and were adopted unanimously. A few objected to No. 2,
as not beginning soon enough, and a few others to No. 4.
24 THE TEACHING OF RELIGION IN SAXONY.
or to make it more general and liberal in scope.a But in any event
it must be kept within the terms of a broadly Christian body of truth.
BIBLICAL READING BOOK CLERICAL SUPERVISION.
The third line of activity indicated above, the preparation of a
" Biblisches Lesebuch " or " Schulbibel " has not gone so far. Such
books of scripture selections are already in use in some of the schools,
apparently with satisfactory results.6 As already indicated, the pro-
posals of law in the Landtag of 1908-9 recommended the preparation
of such a volume for the use of the Volksschulen. The recommenda-
tion was approved by the Vorstand of the national teachers' union
and was included in the Pirna Vorschlage.c While the subject has
been taken up by various district unions, the information at hand
does not indicate that anything decisive has yet been accomplished.
At any rate the Leipziger Lehrerverein has seriously set its hand to
the task.d
As viewed by both parties to the debate, possibly the most vital
issue involved in the present controversy is the matter of Schul-
aufsicht or school supervision. The teachers are directing their
agitation not merely against the clerical supervision of the Reli-
gionsunterricht, but against the entire system which excludes them
from what they regard as a due share in the oversight of the schools.
With increasing earnestness, as the controversy has progressed, they
have moved for larger control and more self-direction in their work.e
Their urgent appeal for the abolition of clerical oversight in reli-
gious instruction must consequently be viewed as the specific applica-
tion of the general demand at the point in school management where
the pressure is most keenly felt. In consequence of these conditions
the subject of clerical supervision has not in the Saxon debate as-
sumed quite the prominence and particular importance which might
be expected. The discussions among the teachers show a marked ten-
dency to approach the matter through its larger relations/
a This liberty of choice is clearly indicated in No. 4 of the above articles.
b For an appraisal of their value in the schools of Leipzig, see Leipz. Lehrerzeit. 17
Jahrg. 388.
c Leipz. Lehrerzeit. 17 Jahrg. 22, 363.
d Leipz. Lehrerzeit. 17 Jahrg. 137, 363.
c The present system is a combination of district inspection and local supervision. The
propaganda of the reforming teachers has brought them into sharp collision with the
Schuldirektoren, the chief organs of local inspection. For the general question see Leipz.
Lehrerzeit. 16 Jahrg. 57-59, 411-416, 435-438, 575-579, 650-652, 702-703, 843-849,
877-878, 985-986; do. 17 Jahrg. 10-11, 111-113, 131-132, 138-140, 184-185, 215-217,
291-296, 314-315, 337-339.
f It is difficult to say whether the campaign against clerical supervision gains or loses by
this policy. While the emancipation of Religionsunterricht from church control is, from
the standpoint of the teachers, the greatest desideratum in relation to that subject, yet
clearly they are more concerned to get a better system of general school supervision.
ATTITUDE OF THE PUBLIC AUTHORITIES. 25
Nevertheless the reform movement stands positively for the aboli-
tion of clerical supervision in an}7 part of school work. The Zwickau
Theses spoke clearly on the matter, and through that utterance per-
haps more than any other directed church opposition against them.
For reasons not wholly obvious, the proposals of law approved by the
Landtag of 1908-9 a indorsed this item in the Zwickau programme,
and this sanction of the measure on the part of the national legisla-
ture so early in the conflict undoubtedly accounts for the small
amount of public discussion during the year. The new school law
will probably abolish the clerical supervision,6 but will retain the
church oversight in some more limited form.c
ATTITUDE OF THE PUBLIC AUTHORITIES.
Throughout Saxony the teachers took a very active interest in the
fall elections of members of the Landtag now sitting in Dresden, the
body which is to have the decisive role in shaping the new school
law. In the campaign the question of revision became a leading
issue, the subject of Religionsunterricht being especially to the front. d
A number of teachers stood as candidates for the Landtag, but nearly
all were defeated.e
In the way of official action nothing final and decisive has yet been
done with reference to the questions at issue. The attitude of the
Kultusminister toward the reform measures is cautious and conserva-
tive. ^ As noted above, the outlook for the new. proposals of the
teachers depends chiefly on the position of the lower chamber of the
present legislature. In a membership of 91, the Conservatives count
but 29 votes, while the Social Democrats and Freisinnigen together
number 33.^ The balance of power lies with the National Liberal
group, numbering about 30 votes, and its policy is uncertain.71 In all
probability the new school law will incorporate most of the pedagogi-
cal reforms for which the teachers ask and will at least lessen the
clerical supervision, but it is not likely to change the essentially con-
a Leipz. Lehrerzeit. 16 Jahrg. 301-307, 370.
h Leipz. Lehrerzeit. 16 Jahrg. 649, 702. But the issue can not be regarded as yet
settled. Leipz. Lehrerzeit. 16 Jahrg. 945 ; do. 17 Jahrg. 89. The subject is further dis-
cussed in Part II. See p. 26.
c For example, the clergy may be excluded from the class room in any official capacity,
but keep the right to examine the children in religion. Leipz. Lehrerzeit, 16 Jahrg. 301,
303.
d Leipz. Lehrerzeit. 17 Jahrg. 35-37. The elections were held October 21.
e Leipz. Lehrerzeit. 17 Jahrg. 88, 129, 163-164. The opposition attributes the defeat
to too much " free thinking " among the teachers.
f Leipz. Lehrerzeit. 17 Jahrg. 238-239 ; Sulze, Das rechte Yerhaltnis, 13.
' Leipz. Lehrerzeit. 17 Jahrg. 129.
h The debates to date (end of January, 1910) show a conservative disposition on the
school question. Leipz, Lehrerzeit, 17 Jahrg, 238-240, 372-378.
26 THE TEACHING OF RELIGION IN SAXONY.
fessional character of the instruction in religion.® In Saxony, as
probably throughout Germany, official action does not follow closely
upon the desires of the teachers.
SUMMARY OF THE SITUATION IN SAXONY.
Summing up the situation in Saxony a year and a half since the
Zwickau meeting, there has been a thorough arousal of public inter-
est in the problem, a broad and penetrating discussion of the great
questions at stake, and the gradual shaping of a public sentiment
which must result sooner or later in positive and helpful reforms.
Men of all parties are agreed that reform is necessary; they differ
only as to the method and direction of reform. The earnest con-
tests of the year have cleared the atmosphere and narrowed the
struggle down to the larger essentials, and in the last months the
center of contest has shifted from the public arena to the legislative
forum, where the issue must at length be fought out. It remains for
the second part of this report to define more particularly what these
larger problems are, as they have emerged in the course of the debate.
II.— THE QUESTIONS AT ISSUE.
GENERAL DEMAND FOR REVISION PROBLEMS INVOLVED.
As noted above, the progress of the debate has revealed a general
demand for the revision of religious instruction in the public schools.
Very few would advocate the retention of the present system without
modification. In that degree there is a positive consensus of opinion
which must ultimately manifest itself in practical results.6
Among men of larger outlook in Germany there is also a growing
sense of the need of cooperation among all the interests concerned in
the work of reform. While rivalries and jealousies make more
clamor, the deeper feeling of common interest and mutual depend-
ence more truly represents the conditions. The serious, capable lead-
ers on both sides are seeking common ground. Material changes will
a The question of the confessional versus the nonconf essional school occupies a very
large place in the public debates of the Landtag. See references above. The resolutions
adopted by the Representative Assembly of the Sachsischer Lehrerverein at Dresden, Janu-
ary 3, 1910, indicate that while the nonconfessional school is the ideal of the teachers,
they realize that the time is hardly ripe for it. On the question of pressing at once for
the nonconfessional school, the vote stood 184 to 149 against. Leipz. Lehrerzeit. 17
Jahrg. 312-313. See the same journal, Beilage to No. 16, 9-18, for the debate in full "and
the resolutions adopted. Obviously Saxony, with its enormous predominance of the Lu-
theran population, is not ready to break with the confessional school. But the movement is
rapid in that direction.
b In Germany at the present moment there is a very pronounced impulse toward school
reform all along the line. Pad. Jahressch.au I. xiii.
ADAPTATION TO CAPACITY OF CHILDREN. 27
not come without discord and strife, but in the main the advance will
be toward a solution which unites more than it divides.*
The greater problems involved in the present situation may be con-
sidered as —
A. Pedagogical and administrative.
B. Fundamental and ultimate.
A. PEDAGOGICAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE PROBLEMS.
ADAPTATION OF THE INSTRUCTION TO THE CAPACITY OF CHILDREN.
At all stages of the discussion both sides have appealed freely to
" pedagogical principles " in support of their respective positions.
There has been much talk of Herbart, of pedagogical psychology, and
the like. The teachers have urgently kept at the front the demand
that in religious instruction, as in other studies, the subject-matter
and the method be adapted to the capacity of the child, in accord-
ance with modern pedagogical ideas.& They and their supporters
have worked out numerous Lehrplane, or courses of study, in the
endeavor to reconstruct the religious curriculum on pedagogical
lines. The extremists among them, taking the position that religion
is wholly a matter for adults, would deny the subject any place in the
school programme; but these are a relatively small group. Most
teachers and educational workers urge only that the teaching of
religion be fitted to the receptive capacity of the child and work for
the reconstruction of the curriculum on those lines.0 They criticize
the current courses and methods in religious instruction as presenting
to the child subjects far beyond his comprehension, and in such a
manner as to arouse no response of his own nature. They contend
that the responsiveness of the child is the touchstone of success in
teaching, and that this truth is peculiarly pertinent when the subject
of instruction is so vital and so personal.
The conservative churchly party, on the other hand, maintains that
in religious teaching as in all else the child must, in the nature of the
case, learn many things which only the future can make fully plain
and comprehensible to him. They argue that to withdraw from the
educational system all elements which are thus essentially investments
in future good would be to render it poor and barren. The vital
concern of the school, as they see it, is to fill the mind and heart of the
a The irenic, open-minded tone of many of the clergy, even when earnestly opposed to
radical reform, is a hopeful sign.
6 Zwickau Theses, No. 3 : " The coure of study and the method of instruction must
conform to the nature of the child-mind " ; No. 6 : " The religious matter to be learned
should be remodeled and materially reduced in accordance with psychological-pedagogical
principles". For a sober discussion of the principles involved see Franke, Der Kampf um
den RTJ. 72-96 (Kind und Religion). See also Eberhard, Die wicht. Refonribestreb. 31-36.
c The statement of Professor Friedr. Paulsen is fairly representative : " The general
exclusion of Religionsunterricht from the school is impossible ; on the contrary its re-
construction is imperative." Rein, Stimmen II. 33.
28 THE TEACHING OF RELIGION IN SAXONY.
child with great truths which his own growing experience may inter-
pret and illuminate. And they find in this method no breach with
sound pedagogical principles.
The effect of the debate, as thus wrought out, has been to deepen
in all minds the already profound interest in the laws of sound teach-
ing, and good must come of it as applied to religious teaching and to
the other branches of the modern curriculum.0
SELECTION OF SUBJECT-MATTEE THE SECTARIAN QUESTION.
The current discussions give large place to the selection and
arrangement of the Lehrstoff — the subject-matter of instruction.
Leaving to one side the' radicals who would exclude all religious con-
siderations from the schoolroom, there are endless divergences of
opinion as to the materials to be used.& Only the more essential
aspects can be considered here.
The materials of religious instruction as at present constituted are
drawn from five sources: The Bible, the catechism, church history,0
hymnology, and general literature. The liberalizing tendency has
shown itself in the gradual growth of the last-named element, but it
still constitutes an altogether minor factor in the average school
curriculum. The Bible and the catechism continue to furnish the
greater part.
In the distinctive field of Bible study many problems are in
debate — the right proportions of Old Testament and New Testament,
the relative emphasis on historical and devotional, the question of the
" Schulbibel," d and so on. But the more vital issues here relate to the
interpretation of the Bible, rather than to selection and arrangement.
Of most concern is the question whether the Bible shall supply the
chief materials or not. In that matter there is evident a tendency
to reduce the amount of biblical Lehrstoff, but to improve the quality
by more judicious selection. Beyond a certain point the churchly
party resists such reduction, since its interest calls for a broad
knowledge of the Bible on the part of the child, as preparation for
confirmation and for membership in the church. At this point the
contestants take sharpest issue. The selection of materials depends
on the ultimate aim of instruction.6 The extreme radicals aim only
a In many ways it is manifest that this controversy as to the place and method of
religious instruction has served as a powerful stimulus to general pedagogical science.
b For the place this matter occupies in the current debate in Saxony, see p. 18 above.
c An excellent manual for the work in church history is Reiniger, Praparationen. The
series of Reukauf und Heyn also provides a Kirchengeschichte.
d Whether to use in the schools a book of selections instead of the whole Bible. Numer-
ous Schulbibel have been prepared, but the use of them has hardly become general. See
list in Meltzer, Yerzeichnis, 52-53. Among the best known are the " Biblische Lesebiicher "
of Reukauf and Heyn. For comments on the Schulbibel question see Eberhard, Die wicht.
Bestreb. 28 ; Franke, Der Kampf urn den RU. 86 ; Scherer, Fiihrer II. 66-69. See also
the discussion of the question on p. 24 of this report.
c For discussion of aims, see B, page 35.
SUBJECT MATTER THE SECTARIAN QUESTION. 29
at moral character, and would exclude nearly or quite all biblical
literature as too much implicated in dogmatic issues; the liberal
revisionists aim at the general development of religious life and
character, and would use such biblical selections as contribute
effectively to that end; the conservatives aim at thorough grounding
in the confessional standards and preparation for membership in the
church, and would hold fast to the Bible as necessary to that
result.®
The teachers of Saxony, as they have defined themselves in the
Zwickau articles and in their proposed Lehrplan, wish to keep instruc-
tion distinctively Christian but not confessional or ecclesiastical, and
in consequence assume toward the Bible a respectful but hardly con-
ventional attitude. & The theses nowhere advocate the predominant
use of biblical materials. There is in them no thought of a systematic
training in the Bible, nor does any such ideal underlie the more
recent plans of courses of study advocated by the teachers of Saxony.
There is thus a distinct line of cleavage between those who seek to
produce in the child a general awakening of the religious instincts
and those who, through the use of the Bible, seek to direct the re-
ligious instincts into Christian and confessional lines. As vary these*
divergent aims, so vary the selection and use of matter from the
sacred scriptures.
In the present controversy, however, the problem of the Bible is
quite overshadowed by the problem of the catechism.0 The Shorter
Catechism of Luther,^ dating from 1529, consists of five parts, com-
prising in order the Ten Commandments, the Apostles' Creed, the
Lord's Prayer, the " Sacrament of Holy Baptism," and the " Sacra-
ment of the Altar" (the Communion). Luther's explanations, ar-
ranged in the form of question and answer, form far the larger part
of the catechism, and were definitely designed for memorizing. The
a Intermediate between the several groups there are of course countless diversities of
opinion.
6 Zwickau Theses, No. 4 : " Only such subject-matter of instruction is to be considered
as presents religious and ethical life clearly to the child. Religious instruction is es-
sentially historical instruction. At the center is to stand the person of Jesus." These
sentences imply the free use of the Bible but do not prescribe it. Reference may be made
once more to the volume Im Strome des Lebens and its use of Bible passages. See page
20. See also the comment on p. 23 above.
c For a concise account of the debate on the Catechism question see Pad. Jahresschau II.
216-219 ; III. 173, 176-177. The current literature is very large. Among noteworthy
treatments are: (1) Against the Catechism: most of the papers in Rein, Stimmen; Arzt,
Welche Mangel, 15-38 ; Lentz, Der mod. RU. 27-32, 75-82 ; Reukauf, Didaktik des ev. RTJ.
187-229; Scherer, Fuhrer II. 69-83. (2) For the Catechism: Bang, Zur Ref. des RU.
23-27 ; do., Grundlinien, 29-36 ; Braasch, Stoffe und Probl. 167-221 ; Dietterle, Die Ref. des
RU. 60-64 ; Franke, Der Kampf urn den RU. 87-92 ; Rietschel, Zur Ref. des RU. 22-46 ;
Trarbach. Ref. des RU. 26-28, 39-98; Wilcke, Der kleine Katech. Luthers ; Leipz. Lehrer-
zeit, 17 Jabrg. 14-15. For the Catechism problem in the Catholic schools of Germany
Bee Pad. Jahresschau I. 170-177 ; II. 233-241.
d For English translation see Schaff, Creeds of Christendom I. 74-92.
30 THE TEACHING OF KELIGION IN SAXONY.
learning of the document in all its parts is generally required of the
children in the Volksschule.a
The opposition to catechism instruction attacks it at three points:
First, that its subject-matter is not adapted to the needs of children;
second, that it gives support to an outworn system of doctrine ; third,
that the memory work is an excessive burden. The catechism ques-
tion thus lies at the heart of the reform movement and is a cardinal
issued Aside from the pronounced conservatives, practically all
parties are united in the endeavor to exclude the catechism from the
schools. That demand was included in the programme of the Ham-
burger Protestantenverein.0 The pronouncements of the Zwickau
Theses on the subject are clear and definite.^ Even those who would
retain the catechism call for a radical reduction in the amount of mem-
ory work and a thorough reform in the methods of instruction.6 The
required memory wTork is the bugbear of both teachers and pupils, and
is clearly responsible for much of the dislike of the subject on the
part of both/ The memory work includes Bible passages, hymns,
etc., as well as catechism, but the latter undoubtedly lays the heaviest
burdens borne by the schools.*7
« As examples of the relative proportions of text and comment may be cited the following
typical passages :
The Fifth Commandment: Thou shall not kill. — What does this mean? Answer: We
should so fear and love God as not to do our neighbor any injury or harm in his body, but
help and befriend him in all bodily troubles. Schaff, Creeds, I. 75.
The Second Petition: Thy kingdom come. — What does this mean? Answer: The
kingdom of God comes indeed of itself, without our prayer ; but we pray in this petition
that it may come also to us. How can this be done? Answer: When our heavenly
Father gives us his Holy Spirit, so that by his grace we believe his holy Word, and live
a godly life here in time, and hereafter in eternity. Schaff, Creeds, I. 81.
The child is required to learn thoroughly both the texts and the answers to the questions.
Class-room work consists mainly of memory drill on these passages.
b Professor Rein, of Jena, in summing up the " Stimmen " he has collected, lays down
as his first principle the statement : " Instruction in the Catechism does not belong in the
school curriculum either in the lower or the higher grades. It is wholly the affair of the
church." Rein, Stimmen II. 51.
c The Hamburg teachers would keep the Shorter Catechism as an historical document,
but not otherwise. Entwurf eines Lehrplans, 2. The more conservative Lehrer-Union
retains the catechism in its Lehrplan. See also Sorgen, etc., for defensive argument. The
latest Lehrplanentwurf of the Hamburg teachers excludes the catechism. Leipz. Lehrer-
zeit. 17 Jahrg. 179.
d Zwickau Theses, No. 5 : " Luther's Catechism can not be the basis and point of
departure for the religious instruction of the young. As an historical religious document
and as the Evangelical Lutheran creed, it is to be esteemed." For trenchant criticism of
the fifth thesis see Rietschel, Zur Reform des RU. 22-46. As noted in Part I., the
Lehrplan indorsed by the Saxon reform excludes the catechism.
e Resolutions of the Meissner Landessynode, No. 5 : "In Catechism instruction it regards
a change in the method of treatment and in the amount to be memorized as necessary. But
it wishes to know that the teaching of youth is well grounded in the spirit and confession
of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, and maintains that for this purpose the popular
Evangelical Lutheran confession, the Shorter Catechism of Luther, cannot be replaced."
1 The literature of the subject is saturated with protests against the excessive memoriz-
ing. Various writers quote the words of Peter Rosegger : "It seems as if the present
instruction in the Catechism were designed to make a man hate the religious world from
his youth up." Arzt. Welche Mangel. See also Pad. Jaliresschan III. 172 ; Franke, Der
Kampf um den RU. 85.
Funke, Vorscliliige, proposes a plan for reducing the memory work in the Saxon course
of study.
9 For the place of this subject in the Saxon debate, see p. 18 above.
ABOLITION OF CLERICAL SUPERVISION. 31
THE CENTRAL CONTENTION : ABOLITION OF CLERICAL SUPERVISION.
Passing by the relatively secondary debates on the arrangement of
courses, the amount of time devoted to Religionsunterricht, its place
in the eight-year course,0 and so on, attention may be directed to the
central contention of the reformers — the abolition of clerical super-
vision.5
Historically, the supervision of the teaching of religion by the
clergy is a survival from the days when all education was under the
church. It is therefore an integral part of the system. But little
by little, in consequence of the gradual trend toward secularization,
the visitorial rights of the clergy in the several German states have
been modified or wholly abolished.0 And the present conflict in
Saxony focuses particular attention on the matter. Early in 1908,
the National Liberal and Freisinnige parties advocated in the Land-
tag the abolition of clerical supervision, but the Kultusminister did
not favor the proposal. The most significant feature of the debate
was the evidence it gave that apparently a majority of the Saxon
clergy themselves would prefer to be relieved of supervisory duties,
partly because of their ill-defined position under the law, and partly
because of the opposition of the educational press.'*
Over against these facts must be set the official action of the Saxon
Church. As already noted, early in the autumn of 1908 the teachers
of Saxony, in the Zwickau meeting, declared definitely for the aboli-
tion of the clerical oversight.6 In response to this challenge, the
Landessynocle at Meissen, some months later, took an equally definite
position for the retention of the clerical powers/ The contention of
a Much of the literature cited in this report deals with these topics in their proper
connections.
6 For summaries of recent discussions see Pad. Jahresschau I. 53-54, 63-67 ; II. 49.
See also Christiani, Die Zicick. Thesen, etc., passim; Franke, Der Kampf um den RU.
25-30. As typical of the reform position may be cited the words of Reukauf (Rein,
Stimmen I. 13) and of Rein (do. II. 55-56). The latter says: "The supervision of the
religious instruction in the schools by the Church is an unevangelical arrangement that
is full of menace for the religious education of our youth." The whole relation of
Church and school is discussed thoughtfully by Tews, Schulkampfe, chaps. II, IV, V.
c In general the smaller states have gone farther in restricting clerical oversight than
the larger ones. In some form it still remains in the four great kingdoms of Prussia,
Saxony, Bavaria, and Wiirttemberg. Tews. Schulkampfe, 81. In Prussia, however, the
clerical right is limited. Tews, Schulkampfe, 79-81 ; Pad. Jahresschau II. 54-55 ; III.
49-51. For recent discussions in Wiirttemberg, see Lcipz. Lehrerzeit. 16 Jahrg. 280-282.
d Pad. Jahresschau III. 53-54. For the testimony of pastors who favor the change
see Rein, Stimmen II. 20—21 ; Sulze, Das rechte Yerhaltnis, 23-28 ; do., Staat und Schule,
12-16.
c Zwickau Theses, No. 3 : " The course of study and method of instruction must con-
form to the nature of the child-mind, and the determination of these is exclusively the
business of the school. The churchly oversight of religious instruction is to be
abolished."
t Meissner Resolutions, No. 2 : " Now as always, it does not oppose the establishment
of a purely professional oversight of tbe State over the schools. But it maintains the
duty and right of the Church to have oversight over the religious teaching of its adoles-
cent members." See also the debate in the Sachsische Kirchliche Konferenz at Chemnitz,
Leipz. Lehrerzeit. 16 Jahrg. 632-633.
32 THE TEACHING OF KELIGION IN SAXONY.
the church, as thus set forth, is to the effect that, while the control of
the teacher in the methods of instruction is to be respected, his right
can not be allowed to cover the selection of teaching materials and can
not exempt his instruction from necessary tests as to its conformity
with church standards. The church looks upon the clerical super-
vision as the recognition of its historic and constitutional rights in
the schools and as the guarantee for the legitimate exercise of those
rights. The church rests its claim to supervision on the duty it has
assumed, through contract with the state, to fit the youth of the land
for good citizenship, so far as training in religion can accomplish
that result."
For the teachers, on the other hand, clerical supervision operates as
a peculiarly heavy burden, because they see in it primarily an agency
for testing their own conformity to orthodox standards. It becomes
thus a matter of the creed and passes out of the sphere of legitimate
pedagogy. The literature of the debate abounds in appeals from the
teachers for the liberty of teaching, for the rights of conscience, and
the like.6 As judged by their personal and collective utterances, this
is the sorest grievance of the teachers of Germany in the matter of
religious instruction. They feel they are set to do a task which calls
for the highest exercise of discretion and conscience, but that they are
not trusted to carry discretion and conscience into their work. They
feel that with their responsibility they are not accorded the liberty
which makes responsibility effective. Their demand for the abolition
of clerical oversight rests on the conviction that thus alone can they
come into the position of independence and freedom which of right
belongs to them.
The tendency of events in Saxony and throughout Germany is
toward a positive limitation of the clerical rights in the schools ; but
it may be questioned whether either logically or practically these
powers can be wholly extinguished so long as the present close al-
liance between the nation and the national church continues in force.0
QUALIFICATIONS OF TEACHERS FREEDOM OF TEACHING.
Closely connected with the problem of supervision are certain
questions relating to the intellectual, moral, and spiritual qualifica-
tions of teachers, the nature and method of the teacher's preparation,
and the actual quality of the religious instruction now given in the
German schools.
" Franke, Der Kampf um den RU. 30-37 ; Rietschel, Zur Reform des RU. 11-16.
6 For utterances of this type, see the current files of educational journals, and such
representative collections as the debates at Zwickau {Die Umgestaltung des RU, etc.),
Gansberg, Religionsunterrichtf and Rein. Stlmmen. • The question how far the protests of
the teachers are due to a lack of harmony with the doctrinal standards of the Church will
be considered later.
c Some comment on this aspect of things will be found in B, page 35.
QUALIFICATIONS OF TEACHERS — FREEDOM OF TEACHING. 33
Men of all opinions, excepting perhaps the outright dissenters from
religion of every type, agree that the qualifications of the teacher
must pass beyond the purely intellectual. Over and above the re-
quirement of sound moral character and healthy moral ideals, there
must be in him such personal religious life as will enable him to deal
.understandingly and sympathetically with the religious instincts
of the children under his instruction. It is felt very generally that,
more than anywhere else in the school, the personal touch is here
decisive.a
As a corollary to this position, it follows that the teacher must
have freedom to give his instruction in his own way, by the most
effective use of his own personality. " The teacher is the method." h
The exponents of the teachers' rights urge this consideration with
great earnestness.0 As a further corollary to the situation, both
reformers and conservatives agree that teachers who find themselves
out of sympathy with the prevalent Religionsunterricht ought not
to be allowed or required to teach the subject.^ In this conviction all
parties are at one, although differing in wide degree as to the proper
application of remedies.6
The discussions also give considerable place to the need of better
training for the teachers of religion, in the men's and the women's
normal schools and through other agencies/ The desirability of
opening university courses more freely to the teachers in this field is
also drawing attentions It is thus evident that with the demand for
a The literature of the subject is full of utterances to this effect. As typical may be
cited : Rein, Stimmen, 3, 19, 24, 50 ; Franke, Der Kampf urn den RU. 75—76.
b Bang, Zur Ref. des RU. 3.
c Arzt, Welche Mangel, 51-52 ; Rein, Stimmen II, 20, and often.
d Hamb. Lehrcr-Union, Denkschrift, 5-6 ; Sorgen, etc., 12 ; Bang, Zur Ref. des RU. 29 ;
Lederer, Zur Ref. des RU. 45-47 ; Rietschel, Zur Ref. des RU. 58. In many instances
teachers must teach what they do not believe or must relinquish their places. For the
ecclesiastical and legal obligations of teachers as to Religionsunterricht see Mulert, Die
Lehrverpflichtung.
e The churchly party would keep the system intact and exclude the dissenting teacher
from the class room or from the school ; the reformers would modify the system to meet
the religious ideas and convictions of the teachers. For the controversy between the
Leipziger Lehrerverein and Professor Rietschel concerning the toleration of " atheists "
in religious instruction, see Leipz. Lehrerzeit. 16 Jahrg. passim; Rietschel, Zur Ref. des
RU., passim; Leipz. Lehrerverein, Die Zwickau Thesen, etc., passim; Christiani, Die Zwick.
Thesen, etc., 9-10.
' Thrandorf, in Rein, Stimmen II, 37-44 ; Arzt. Welche Mangel, 51 ; Franke, Der Kampf
urn den RU. 76-80 ; Pad. Jahresschau III. 108-128, 173-174 ; Denkschrift uber die IV.
Konf. von Religionslehrerinnen zu Cassel, 1908, 55-70 ; Reukauf, Didaktik des ev. RU.
24-38. The Zwickau Theses called attention to this subject. No. 9 : "Along with
the reform of religious instruction in the Volksschule there is needed a corresponding
transformation of religious instruction in the Seminar." See also Die Umgestaltung des
RU. 39—42. The reformers complain that the RU. in normal schools is almost wholly
on antiquated lines. Leipz. Lehrerzeit. 17 Jahrg. 3-5, 182.
o The address of Professor Adolf Harnack on this subject at the " Versammlung
deutscher Philologen und Schulmanner " at Basel, September 25, 1907, has been particu-
larly influential in this, direction. See the volume Universitdt und Schule containing the
papers read at this congress ; also Pad. Jahresschau II. 133-135 ; III. 169-170. The
University of Leipzig has for some years offered vacation courses for teachers of religion.
34 THE TEACHING OF RELIGION IN SAXONY.
a higher type of teaching in religious truth there is a growing impulse
to equip the teacher for his work, in order that in scholarship and
intellectual outlook he may be in adequate touch with modern biblical
science and theological thought.0
In the background of these divers proposals stands the present
system of religious training, with its strength and its weakness. On
all sides it seems to be agreed that the instruction as now conducted is
highly unsatisfactory, that it does not produce the desired results. In
part the failure is attributed to the faulty selection and arrangement
of materials, in part to the heavy load of memory work, but by com-
mon consent the cardinal fault is placed in the lack of a true relation
between the teacher and the subject. Grounding one's judgment on
the expressions of conviction by men of all parties, it must be con-
cluded that the teaching of religion in the public schools of Germany
at the present time is so pedantic, unsympathetic, and unspiritual as
to constitute a serious condemnation of the system. The system seems
to produce fruits diametrically opposed to its intent and purpose.
Where it was designed to beget faith and vital religious purpose, it
seems to produce unfaith or religious indiiference. It is the general
recognition of these conditions which has aroused the widespread
demand for reform.6
" In so far as it affects the teaching in the schools, the tendency of current theology
will be touched upon later.
6 The following personal narrative is fairly representative : " When I was a boy twelve
years old I had an older friend. One time I talked with him about religion. Then he
said to me : ' How is it possible for you to believe in God ?' I tried to ' prove ' it to
him from the Bible, as I had learned to do in school. Then he smote me with my own
weapon. God created the world. Adam and Eve were the first human beings. They
had two children. Cain killed Abel. Then Cain married. Where did he get his wife?
" I was dumfounded. I could not answer. So what was in the Bible was not true, and
the whole religious structure which the school had built collapsed, because it was
built on supports which criticism showed to be rotten. And my teacher? He could
not be so narrow that he did not discover what had occurred to a boy. Only one
explanation was possible : he lied deliberately. From that time it was ' out with reli-
gion,' and I would probably still be an outsider, had not a later, better teacher restored
that which the first had injured through his lack of criticism and of courage." Arzt,
Welche Mangel, 6-7. The story at least makes it evident that there are teachers of
the better sort.
After speaking of the typical class-room exercise, the same author says : " I am con-
vinced that a recitation of that sort is a sin against the holy spirit of the child." For
the lack of vitality and spirituality in Religionsunterricht see Rein, Stimmen I. 37-38.
The Pad. Jahresschau III. 75, reports an investigation in Kiel where, out of 500 children
(250 boys, 250 girls) between the ages of nine and fourteen, only twelve named " re-
ligion " as the favorite study, while with the large majority it stood far down the
list of preferences ; also a like investigation in Breslau where among 2,556 children
about two and one-half per cent of the boys liked " religion " best, a very large majority
expressing positive dislike of the subject, while among the girls likes and dislikes pretty
nearly balanced one another. One writer in Gansberg, Religionsunterricht?, while ex-
pressing great love and reverence for the Bible says : " The heartlessness of the cus-
tomary religious instruction was a terror to me from childhood : from one day to the
next, thirty to forty disconnected Bible passages and in addition a lot of trivial chorals
to learn thoroughly was to me, in spite of my good memory, t a horror." Fitger, in
Gansberg, Religionsunterricht ? 27. For general criticism of school training from the
standpoint of results in character, see Pad. Jahresschau II. 30-33. See also Leipz.
Lehrerzeit. 17 Jahrg. 234-236.
ATTITUDE OF VARIOUS RELIGIOUS GROUPS. 35
It seems evident that the fault lies not in any incapacity on the
part of the teachers, but in the conditions which impose on them a
kind of instruction contrary to their inclinations and their con-
sciences.' At the same time it must be recognized that many teachers
in Saxony and the other German States do not find the existing sys-
tem irksome and are able to use it for excellent results.0
B. FUNDAMENTAL AND ULTIMATE PROBLEMS.
Thus far this report has confined itself to issues distinctively within
the school. But, as implied at the beginning, the present controversy"
long since ceased to be merely a school question, and passed out into
the larger field of general public interest. With some consideration
of this aspect of the situation the report may close.
ATTITUDE OF VARIOUS RELIGIOUS GROUPS.
In general it may be said that, while the debate takes its form
from the school, it gets its substance and its spirit from these wider
relationships. In the last analysis the attitude of individual leaders
and of coherent groups toward the specific question of religious in-
struction rests back on their attitude toward religion itself. Analyz-
ing the field from this point of view, one may distinguish four
groups as follows:
1. The orthodox confessional group;
2. The liberal Christian group;
3. The agnostic-positivist group;
4. The Romanist group.
In the mutual attractions and repulsions of these divers parties is
to be found the key to the situation; and without some knowledge
of their relationships the seriousness and intensity of the school ques-
tion can not be understood.
The orthodox confessional group. — The orthodox confessional party
finds its strength in the powerful position of the Lutheran Church in
nearly all German States.^ While not formally an " established "
church, it enjoys so many privileges and prerogatives under the law
as to be in a peculiarly strong and favored situation. In various
German States there exists a real or implied contract between the
state and the church by virtue of which the church assumes respon-
sibility for the religious training of the young, thus giving the
a This appears in the debates at Zwickau and is evident in many ways. Numerous
teachers' organizations in Germany are primarily devoted to upholding the present sys-
tem of religious teaching. See the Handbuch des Yerbandes deutsclier evangelischer Scliul-
und Lehrervereine. Berlin, 1903. This volume affords impressive evidence as to the
strength of the evangelical confession among the teachers of Germany and as to their
activity for preserving its place in the schools. See also Pad. Jahresscliau I. 164 ; II.
174-176 ; III. 150-151.
h While the ruling house in Saxony adheres to the Roman Church, the people are almost
wholly Lutheran. See Sulze, Dos rechte Verhaltn. 6.
36 THE TEACHING OF RELIGION IN SAXONY.
Lutheran confession practical control of the religious education in
the school.0 In the present struggle the policy and endeavor of the
churchly party is to preserve these prerogatives, thus insuring to the
Lutheran Church a type of religious instruction in the schools in
harmony with its confessional standards. While recognizing the
need of reform in many particulars, and standing ready to concede
minor points, the conservative party holds steadily to its traditional
rights and vested interests.6
By reason of the confessional character of the Volksschule, there
has in the last years grown up a strong and significant movement
toward the introduction of " Simultanschulen " — inter confessional
schools where children of different communions are taught, each by
an instructor of his own faith. The Simultanschule has come for-
ward as the rival and substitute of the confessional school. Wherever
it has found footing it has in some degree broken the monopoly of the
confessional school. And the sponsors of the interconfessional school
look for nothing less than the supplanting of confessionalism in public
education all along the line. This movement must therefore be
regarded as one of the chief lines of attack on the confessional school. °
In the nature of the case both Protestant and Catholic confessional
interests are arrayed against \t.d The Lutheran conservatives also
profess to fear the interconfessional school as affording an open door
to ultramontane influences.6 While many powerful voices have been
raised against it, the Simultanschule seems to be gaining ground/
a With the result of course that parents of other confessions must put their children
under Lutheran instruction or must provide another type of teaching at their own cost.
& It must, however, always be remembered that many devoted adherents of the national
church, both clergy and laity, advocate one or another of the more fundamental reform
measures ; and some are to be reckoned among the thoroughgoing reformers. It would
therefore be an error to identify too closely the loyal Lutherans with the conservative in-
terest in the school question. For a good statement of the case from the temperate con-
servative side see Franke, Der Kampf um den RU. 42-48. For examples of pastors who
support the reform movement see Dietterle, Die Ref. ties RU. ; Gebhardt, Mod. Relig.- and
Konf.-Unterr.; Kautzsch, Die Mrchl. Lehre. The last-named writer is pastor of the
Reformed Church in Dresden. This communion seems to be favorable to the reform move-
ment in Saxony. Kautzsch, Die Mrchl. Lehre 3, 38.
c For the progress of the Simultanschule propaganda in the last years see Pad. Jahres-
schau I. 66-67, 100-101 ; II. 71-72 ; Reukauf, Didaktik des ev. RU. 17-18 ; Leipz. Lehrer-
zeit. 17 Jahrg. 231-234, 301. Its most notable victory was to secure the endorsement of
the " Deutsche Lehrerversammlung," the national teachers' organization, at Miinchen in
1906. For the address of Oberlehrer Gartner and the action of the assembly see Pad.
Jahresschau I. 67, 100, 160. He said in his address : " the confessional school is to be
regarded as the exponent of reactionary tendencies and the Simultanschule as the sym-
bol of progressive tendencies." Pad. Jahresschau I. 67.
d Pad. Jahresschau I. 67. It is, however, affirmed by the same authority that a ma-
jority of evangelical teachers favor the interconfessional school. For Romanist opposition
see Pad. Jahresschau I. 65-66, 67, 101 ; II. 180.
« Pad. Jahresschau I. 101-102; II. 49-50.
f Many argue that since Christianity is organized into confessions Religionsunterricht
must necessarily take the confessional form. Holtzmann, Ein Biichlein, 12-14. The
difficulties confronting the Simultanschule are manifestly great. The Zwickau Theses do
not mention the Simultanschule, but the general trend of the Saxon movement is favorable
to it. The question seems to have been less debated in Saxony than in Prussia and some
other parts of the land.
ATTITUDE OF VARIOUS RELIGIOUS GROUPS. 37
But it has not met with favor in Saxony, the teachers there seeking
nonconfessional rather than interconfessional school." It is at the
present moment the most promising attempt to find a substitute for
the confessional school.
As already stated, the Lutheran Church rests its case on its historic
rights and its traditional alliance with the State.5 From the political
point of view as well as from the churchly, any divorce of the two
institutions would involve serious disturbance of conditions, creating
many problems of public policy ; c and these facts give powerful sup-
port to the party opposed to change.
Even more seriously, the churchly party directs its endeavors first
of all to the maintenance of the purity of the faith as it conceives of
the purity of the faith. The fight for the retention of the catechism
is the heart of the battle. The Shorter Cathechism is the symbol and
exponent of Lutheran orthodoxy. It embodies the doctrines of the
creed as given by the great reformer to the nation, the " Heilstat-
sachen " or " saving truths " as conceived of in the teaching of the
churchy The thorough grounding of the youth in the articles of this
creed appears to the church its most imperative duty; and in the
Volksschule it recognizes the readiest and most effective instrument
for its uses. It makes much also of its historic relations with the
schools and of the rights thus acquired.0 In a word, the attitude of
the church is that which naturally characterizes an institution
strongly intrenched in power, conscious of its service to the past, and
confident of its capacity to render like service in the future, and in
consequence reluctant to let go any of the elements of its strength.
The liberal Christian group. — The liberal Christian group com-
prises all those elements in the nation that adhere to the great funda-
mentals of Christian truth as they understand them, but seek to
" The Zwickau theses do not mention the Simultanschule. For the position of the Saxon
teachers, see Lexpz. Lehrerzeit. 17 Jahrg. 316-318. The Saxon movement stands for an
instruction that is Christian without being ecclesiastical. Many contend that such an
instruction is impossible. This point of view appears frequently in the debates in the
Landtag. But, as already noted, the Saxon teachers do not find the time yet ripe for the
nonconfessional school. The small percentage of non-Lutherans in Saxony makes any
recourse to the Simultanschule improbable.
6 The church recognizes also, of course, its responsibility on its own account for the
training of the young, that they may be fitted for loyal membership in its communion.
Many leaders in the church, dissatisfied with the results accruing from the present sys-
tem, favor the full assumption of Religionsunterricht on the part of the church, thus
putting themselves into the party that stands for the exclusion of religion from the
public schools. It seems to be widely felt that the exclusion of religious instruction
from the schools would greatly increase the legitimate power of the church. Franke,
Der Kampf inn den RU. 44.
c Among others, the financial problem is of great moment. The economic resources of
the church make it a strong antagonist. It is seen on all sides that the exclusion of
the church from the schools must ultimately lead to complete disestablishment and that
would involve an economic crisis of great magnitude.
d Kautzsch, Die hhchh Lehre, discusses the " Heilstatsachen " from the Reformed point
of view, and Schneider, V^ittenherg und Ziciekau, and Thieme, Die Theologie der Heils-
tasachen, reply for the Lutherans. These debates throw little light on the school question.
* These several considerations are emphasized repeatedly in the current discussions.
38 THE TEACHING OF RELIGION IN SAXONY.
emancipate Christian thought from what they regard as antiquated
dogmas. It is the party of the " new theology " and has behind it
much of the scholarship and intellectual strength of the nation."
Nearly all the conspicuous leaders of the reform movement adhere to
this position.6 They contend that, to keep its place in modern life,
Christianity must be restated in terms of modern thought. It must
stand in touch with the assured results of modern science and learn-
ing.0 It must see life through the eyes of the men of to-day. It
must not seek so much a confessional as a broadly Christian type of
character.^ The liberal Christian leaders advocate the retention of
the Bible as the basis of instruction, and some of them would retain
the catechism ; but they would deal with these literary documents in
the historical spirit and method, and not treat them as absolute
standards of the faith.6 The ideals of this group would not preclude
the introduction of helpful materials from the sacred books of other
religions or from any other source, the purpose being always to lay
broad foundations for the growth of a normal religious life/
At this point arises the most serious divergence between the party
of conservative orthodoxy and the progressive liberal Christian group.
a The strength of the . university faculties, including theology, belongs in this group.
See above (p. 18) for the support of the Zwickau reform by the faculty of the University
of Leipzig. Their attitude is thoroughly typical. The proportion of liberals among
teachers in the middle and lower schools is probably as great.
6 As was pointed out above (p. 13), the reception given by the nation to the radical
Bremen-Hamburg proposals showed that the people were not ready for their extreme
position. The Saxon reform distinctly represents the more temperate liberal Christian
sentiment.
c Zwickau Theses, No. 8 : " The entire instruction in religion must stand in harmony
with the established results of scientific research and with the enlightened moral sentiment
of our times." For the debates at Zwickau bearing on this point see Die Umgestalt. des
RU., especially the address of Direktor Arnold, 3-27. For comments on the thesis, see
Rietschel, Zur Ref. des RU. 46-53, and especially Lederer, Zur Ref. des RV. The whole
pamphlet of the last-named writer is devoted to the topic. The " Evangel. Luther. Schul-
verein fur das Konigreich Sachsen " has recently issued a pamphlet in the conservative
interest entitled Der Religionsunterricht und die gesicherten Ergebnisse der Wissenschaft.
It is reviewed from the liberal standpoint in Leipz. Lehrerzeit. 16 Jahrg. 941-943. See
also in this connection the debate concerning the " Kausalgesetz " in Die ZwicJc. Thcsen
und Oeh. Kirchenrat Dr. Rietschel, 53-71. See also Tews, Die SchulJcampfe, 23-26.
d The words of Professor Pfleiderer are representative : " The training of youth in the
dogmatic confession of a given church is not the mission of the school, which has the
immediate duty, not of educating for membership in any individual church, but of laying
the general religious foundations of a Christian life, for which purpose the instruction in
biblical and church history fully suffices." Rein. Stimmen I. 5. See also the words of
Blok : " Where confessional narrowness begins, there religion ends." Gansberg, Religions-
unterricht? 10.
c Zwickau Theses, No. 5 : "As an historical religious document and as the Evangelical
Lutheran creed, it [the Catechism] is to be esteemed." The same article says: "Re-
ligious instruction is essentially historical instruction." That is to say, religious truth is
to be taught in its historical settings, and not as absolute dogma.
f The following literature represents the ideals and purposes of the liberal Christian
reform element: Arzt. Welche Mangel; Leipz. Lehrerver., Im Strome des Lebens ; Lentz,
Der mod. RU.; Meltzer, Verzeichnis; Meltzer, Neue Bahnen; Reukauf, DidaTctik des evang.
RU.; Scherer, Fiihrer I. (Religionswiss.), II. (Relig.- u. Moralunterricht) ; Tews, Schul-
Jcampfe; Thrandorf, Allgem, Methodik des RU. The body of the literature is already
very large. One is impressed with the spirit of fairness and moderation which character-
izes the representative leaders of the party.
ATTITUDE OF VARIOUS RELIGIOUS GROUPS. 39
What theological doctrines shall be taught in the schools? What
" Weltanschauung " or conception of the universe ? a How shall the
teaching of the Bible be interpreted in relation to modern science and
thought? Obviously these great questions are fundamental, running
back into the ground principles of science, philosophy, and theology.
Obviously, too, the school is not the place for the settlement of such
problems.^ At the same time no teacher of religious truth, especially
in the upper grades of the Volksschule, can avoid these fundamental
questions. Hence the pressure of rival theological standards to secure
in the schools the interpretation of things which is in harmony with
their respective points of view. The liberal wing pushes vigorously
for a modernized instruction in religion ; the conservative wing resists
the modern tendency. And as yet the atmosphere of the struggle has
not cleared sufficiently to show the outcome of it.c
The agnostic- positivist group. — The entrance of the third group,
the " agnostic-positivist " party ,d renders the situation yet more com-
plex. This group comprises the very considerable number of leaders
and adherents who have broken with Christian traditions and seek
complete independence of ecclesiastical control and influence/ Thejr
advocate the entire separation of church and state/ the full exclusion
of religious instruction from the school, and the substitution of a
a See Bang, Zur Ref. des RU. 5-11 ; Franke, Der Kampf um den RU. 49-72 ; Pad,
Jahrcsschau II. 201-208. A noteworthy recent attempt to vindicate the christian Weltan-
schauung against rationalistic philosophy is Huntziger, Das Christentum im Weltanschau-
ungskampf der Gegemvart. Leipz. 1909. Conservative opinion defends itself on the
ground that the schools can not teach a doctrine contrary to the faith of the parents
whose children are taught. The progressives reply that the schools must teach the truth
without regard to other considerations.
6 The duty of protecting the schools from theological controversy or other divisive
matters is generally recognized. But practically the Volksschule has become the central
arena of the combat. For the difficulty of the situation see the statement of Natorp, in
Rein, Stimmen II. 3-4.
c The yet unsettled state of philosophical and theological thought insures a prolonged
debate of the practical school interest.
d Many teachers who do not go to the extreme of the monistic philosophy advocate the
substitution of moral instruction for the religious studies in the public schools. In that
degree the designation used above is inaccurate and unfair.
e More nearly than any other, Professor Ernst Haeckel of Jena is the recognized ex-
ponent of this view. He says : " Since I have for forty years fought for the end for
which you are striving, I need not say that your endeavors to do away with religious
instruction in the schools has my full support. It must be replaced on the one hand by
an ethics according to nature, and on the other by comparative religious history, the
doctrine of evolution, and monistic philosophy." Gansberg, ReUgionsunterricht? 44. The
monistic materialism of Haeckel has great influence among the teachers of Germany and
makes itself felt in the present controversy. See the evidences in the volume by Gans-
berg cited above.
f Public opinion has hardly become outspoken on the subject, but many leaders are look-
ing in that direction. See Pad. Jahresschau II. 210. The Bremer Denkschrift says : " The
enforcement of separation between church and state even in the sphere of the school is
grounded in the progressive spirit of the age." Gansberg, ReUgionsunterricht ? 184. This
volume contains many expressions of adherence to the general principle. But advocacy
of the separation of church and state is not confined to the radical party. For conserva-
tive comments see Franke, Der Kampf um den RU. 42-48. The work of Troeltsch, Tren-
nung von Staat und Kirche, is often cited, but the writer has not seen it.
40 THE TEACHING OF RELIGION IN SAXONY.
comprehensive system of moral education.® Among the intellectual
leaders of the nation and among the teachers it is a formidable group,
while with the masses its stronghold is the Social Democratic party.6
The Roman Catholic group. — The Roman Catholic party has much
strength in Germany as a whole,0 but its direct participation in the
Saxon debate is not great. The chief effect of this stream of influence
upon the situation in Saxony has probably been more negative than
positive.^
ACTIVITIES AND IDEALS OF THE DIFFERENT PARTIES.
All of these groups and coteries are active in their respective inter-
ests in relation to the schools. Through their periodicals and Flug-
schriften, through the publication of aids for teachers and model
courses of study ,e they are seeking a hearing for their ideas. So far
as concerns Saxony, the reform movement gets its impulse primarily
from the practical needs of the teachers; but behind them is the
powerful support of the progressive school of theology. The alliance
is spontaneous and natural, since the greater number of the teachers
are to be reckoned among the adherents of this religious point of view.
For the rest, the conservative orthodox and the agnostic-positivist
a As the constructive feature of the reform program of the radicals the subject can be
studied in such works as Gansberg, Religionsunterricht? ; Lentz, Der mod. RU. 37-59;
Pauli, Kirche und Schule im Kampf e um Gott; Altschul, Zum Moral-TJ nterricht. The last-
named work provides a seven-year Lehrplan for the schools. Mention may be made again
of the book Im Strome des Lebens, which lays stress on the moral elements in school train-
ing. For a defense of religious instruction as against moral see Voigt, Religionsunterricht
oder Moralunterricht ? Scherer, Fiihrer II. 88-116, discusses the question comprehensively.
b Tews, Die Schulkampfe der Gegeniv. 33-46, 60-64, 119-120, discusses the principles
involved in relation to the schools. See also Pad. Jahresschau I. xvi. The hostility of
the Social Democrats to religion and religious instruction is shown in Arzt, Welche
Mangel, 11, 26-27 ; Bruck, Zur Umgest. des RU. 29 ; Franke, Der Kampf um den RU. 14-15 ;
Pad. Jahresschau I. xvi. The motto of the party is " Religion ist Privatsache." Franke,
Der Kampf um den RU. 14. For the activity of the Social Democrats in propaganda see
Pad. Jahresschau I. xviii-xix (Sozialdemocrat. Schule in Berlin), 288-299 (Jugend-
schriften). The antagonism of the party to religion rests on its distrust of the church
as a " capitalistic " institution. Arzt, Welche Mangel, 11. The Social Democratic in-
fluence is a momentous factor in the present situation. The writer has not seen the
recently published Kirche und Sozialdemokratie by Pastor Georg Liebster.
c About 36 per cent of the people of Germany are Roman Catholics. Tews, Die Schul-
kampfe der Gegeniv. 40. The activity of the Roman Church in the matter of Religionsun-
terricht is indicated in Pad. Jahresschau I. 167-177 ; II. 227-241 ; III. 179-194 ; Tews.
Die Schulkampfe der Gegeniv. 47-64. The Catholic teachers' organizations are active in
the work. See the reform program of a Catholic teacher in Rein, Stimmen I. 15-25.
d The fear of ultramontane influences makes many German leaders timid as to school
reform. The attempt to put Lutheranism out of the schools seems to them equivalent to
putting Romanism in. In Saxony at least the fear seems quite unwarranted.
e For examples of this literature see: (1) Conservative: Arendt, Ein Beitrag zur Ref.
des RU.; Braasch, Stoff und ProUeme des RU. (2) Liberal: Gebhardt, Mod. Relig.- und
Konf.-Unterr.; Leipz. Lehrerver., Im Strome des Lebens; Reukauf und Heyn, Evang. RU.
(a very important series) ; Schmitt, Religionslehre fur die Jugend ; Thrltndorf und Meltzer,
Der RU. (also a very useful series) ; Voigt, Evang. Religionsbuch. See also the lists in
Meltzer, Verzeichnis (now somewhat out of date), and in Scherer, Fiihrer II, 125-141.
(3) Radical: Altschul, Zum M or al-U nterricht.
FORECAST OF THE ULTIMATE SOLUTION. 41
parties probably have about equal strength among the teachers, with
the balance in favor of the conservatives.0
Behind the various parties and their conflicting tendencies lie, of
course, divergent ideals as to the aim and purpose of religious instruc-
tion,& or indeed of school training in general. As already observed,
each group sees the ideal end differently. All alike emphasize the
training in character as fundamental, but one sees the expression of
character more in loyalty to the church, another in social service,
another in personal ideals, another in the faithful discharge of the
duties of citizenship. It is largely a question of emphasis.
FORECAST OF THE ULTIMATE SOLUTION.
Because of its entanglement in the deeper issues of modern phi-
losophy and theology, it is not easy to forecast the immediate solution
of the school question, at least along the line of present tendencies.
So long as religion remains a subject of instruction in the schools,
the vital problems of religious thought must awaken echoes in the
schoolroom. The interconfessional system, the " konfessionslose " in-
struction in general religious truth, and all such attempts at solution
may be ideal in principle, but they are difficult in practice.0 What-
ever the final settlement of the question, it will probably come as one
phase of the more profound adjustments of church and state in their
mutual relations. Meanwhile it is evident that the present agitation
will accomplish much for the betterment of the existing system and
for the lightening of the burdens of both teachers and pupils in the
matter of religious instruction.
a These statements rest on general impressions and can not count for more than opin-
ions. The majority strength of the liberal group, however, seems beyond question.
6 See the following references : Arzt, Welche Mangel, 2-5 ; Franke, Der Eampf um den
RU. 18-20 ; Lentz, Der mod. RU. 13-23, 32-34 ; Pad. JahresscJiau II. 18-19, 212-213 ; III.
180-182; Reukauf, Didaktik des ev. RU. 114-128; Tews, Die Schulkaampfe der Gegentc.
18-20.
0 The book of Guettler, Die relig. Erzieliung im deutschen Reiche, while affording little
direct material for this report, shows the legal complications arising from the present
confessional system.
42 THE TEACHING OF RELIGION IN SAXONY.
LIST OF BOOKS, PAMPHLETS, AND PERIODICALS USED IN THIS
REPORT.
Altschul, Emily. Zum Moral-Unterricht. Wien und Leipz. 1908.
Aeendt, Friedr. Ein Beitrag zur Reform des Religionsunterrichts, nebst einem
ausfiihrlichen Lehrplan. Halle, 1908.
Arzt, A. Welche Mangel zeigt der gegenwartige Religion sunterricht und auf
welche Weise ist ihnen zu begegnen? Von der Diesterweg-Stiftung in
Berlin gekronte Preisschrift. Dresden, 1908.
Bang, S. Zur Reform des Religionsunterricbts. Ein Wort an alle, die unser
Volk lieb baben. Dresden, 1908.
. Grundlinien eines religionsunterricbtlicben Neubaues auf altem Grunde.
Dresden, 1909.
Behrmann et al. Sorgen, Bedenken, Wiinscbe in bezug auf den Religions-
unterricbt in den offentlicben Schulen Hamburgs. 2te Aufl. Hamb.
1907.
Braasch, A. H. Stoffe und Probleme des Religionsunterrichtes. Leipz. und
Berlin, 1909.
Bruck, G. Zur Umgestaltung des Religionsunterricbts in der Volksscbule.
Eine Stimme aus einem grossen Elternkreis. Cbemnitz, 1909.
Christian!, B. Die Zwickauer Tbesen und die Dresdener Synodalbescblusse.
Kritiscbe Betracbtungen zur Erteilung des Religionsunterricbts in den
Volksschulen. Leipz. 1909.
Denkscbrift uber die IV. Konferenz von Religionslebrerinnen zu Cassel vom 8.
bis 10. Juni 1908. Leipz. 1908.
Dietterle, Joh. Die Reform des Religionsunterricbtes in der Volksscbule.
Leipz. 1907.
Eberhard, D. Die wicbtigsten Reformbestrebungen der Gegenwart auf dem
Gebiete des Religionsunterricbts in der Volksscbule. Leipz. 1908.
Franke, Th. Der Kampf um den Religionsunterricbt. Kulturwissenscbaftlicbe
Grundlegung des Religionsunterricbts. Leipz. 1909.
Funke, F. Vorschlage fiir eine Durcbsicbt des in den Scbulen Sacbsens vor-
gescbriebenen bibliscben Memorierstoffes. Dresden, 1907.
Gansberg, Fr. Religionsunterricbt? Achtzig Gutacbten. Ergebnis einer von
der Vereinigung fiir Scbulreform in Bremen veranstalteten allgemeinen
deutscben Umfrage. Leipz. 1906.
Gebhardt, Max. Moderner Religions- und Konfirmanden-LTnterricbt aus der
Praxis fur die Praxis mitgeteilt. Berlin, 1906.
Guettler, W. Die religiose Kindererziebung im deutscben Reicbe. Berlin
und Leipz. 1908.
Hamburger Lebrer-Union. Denkscbrift nebst Lebrplan fiir den Religionsunter-
ricbt in den Hamburgiscben Volksscbulen. Hamb. 1907.
Handbucb des Verbandes deutscber evangeliscber Scbul- und Lenrervereine.
Berlin, 1903.
Holtzmann, O. Ein Biicblein vom staatlicben Religionsunterricbt, insbesondere
in Hessen. Giessen, 1908.
Hunzinger, A. W. Das Cbristentum im Weltanscbauungskampf der Gegenwart.
Leipz. 1909.
Katzer, — . Die Tbesen der sacbsiscben Lehrerversammlung uber die Reform
des Religionsunterrichts. (In Neues Sacbsisches Kircbenblatt, Nos. 20,
34, 35, 1908.)
Kautzsch, K. Die kircblicbe Lebre von den Heilstatsacben ein Abweg vom
ecbten Evangelium Jesu. Dresden, 1909.
Lederer, F. Zur Reform des Religionsunterricbts. Gegen die 8. Zwickauer
These. Leipz. 1909.
LIST OF BOOKS, ETC., USED IN THIS REPORT. 43
Lehrergruppe im Hamburger Protestantenverein. Entwurf eines Lehrplans
fiir den Religionsunterricht in der 8klassigen Volksschule. Hamb. 1907.
Leipziger Lebrerverein. Die Zwickauer Tbesen und Gebeimer Kircbenrat Dr.
Rietschel. Material zur Beurteilung des Streites um den Religions-
unterricbt in der Volksscbule. Leipz. 1909.
. Im Strome des Lebens. Altes und Neues zur Belebung der religiosen
Jugendunterweisung. 2te Aufl. Leipz. 1909.
Leipziger Lebrerzeitung, 16. Jabrgang (October, 1908 — September, 1909), 17.
Jabrg. (October, 1909— February, 1910.)
Lentz, Karl. Der moderne Religionsunterricbt. Eine Abbandlung iiber das
Tbema : Welcbe Mangel zeigt der gegenwartige Religionsunterricbt und
auf welcbe Weise ist ibnen zu begegnen? Magdeb. 1908.
Meltzer, H. Verzeicbnis empfeblenswerter Biicber und Lebrmittel fur Lebrer
und Lebrerinnen zur Vorbereitung fiir ibren Beruf und ibren Unterricbt
sowie zu ibrer wissenschaftlicben Weiterbildung. 1. Heft : Zum evan-
geliscben Religionsunterricbt. 2te Aufl. Dresden, 1905.
. " Neue Babnen " im Religionsunterricbt? Eine Literaturbesprecbung.
( Sonderabdruck aus " Padagogiscbe Studien," XXY. Jabrgang, Heft
I und II.) Dresden, o. j.
Mulert, H. Die Lebrverpflicbtung in der evangeliscben Kircbe Deutscblands.
2te Ausgabe. Tubingen, 1906.
Padagogiscbe Jabresscbau. Bde. I-III (1906—1908).
Pauli, E. Kircbe und Scbule im Kampfe um Gott. Ein Beitrag fiir die Um-
wandlung des Religionsunterricbts. Leipz. 1909.
Rein, W. Stimmen zur Reform des Religionsunterricbts. Heft I, 1904; Heft
II, 1906. Langensalza. ( Padagogiscbes Magazin, Heft 237, 269.)
Reiniger, Max. Praparationen fiir den kircbengescbicbtlicben Unterricbt in
evangeliscben Volks-, Burger- und Mittelscbulen. Halle, 1908.
Reukauf, A. Didaktik des evangeliscben Religionsunterricbts in der Volks-
scbule. 2te Aufl. Leipz. 1906. (Bd. I of Evangeliscber Religionsunter-
ricbt. Grundlegung und Praparationen. Herausgegeben von Reukauf
und Heyn. Bd. I.)
Rietschel, G. Zur Reform des Religionsunterricbts in der Volksscbule. Sind
die Zwickauer Leitsatze des sacbsiscben Lebrervereins geeignet als Grund-
lage fiir die Umgestaltung des Religionsunterrichts zu dienen? Leipz.
1909.
Sacbsiscber Lebrerverein. Die Umgestaltung des Religionsunterrichts in den
sacbsiscben Volksscbulen. ( Stenograpbiscber Bericbt.) Leipz. 1908.
Schaff, P. Tbe creeds of Christendom. 3 vols. N. Y., n. d.
Scherer, H. Fiihrer durch die Stromungen auf dem Gebiete der Padagogik
und ihrer Hilf swissenscbaften. 1. Heft : Religionswissenschaft ; 2. Heft :
Religions- und Moralunterricht. Leipz. 1907.
Schmitt, E. H. Religionslehre fiir die Jugend, zugleicb ein Leben Jesu und
eine Einfuhrung in die Erkenntnis fiir Jedermann. Leipz. 1909.
Schneider, O. Wittenberg und Zwickan. " Die kirchliche Lehre von den
Heilstatsachen — ein Abweg vom echten Evangelium Jesu ". Dresden,
1909.
Sul£E, E. Das rechte Verhaltnis des evangelischen Staates zur evangelischen
Schule und zur evangelischen Kirche. Leipz. 1909.
. Staat und Scbule neben den konfessionellen Kirchen die unentbebr-
licben Vertreter des nichtkonfessionellen Christentums Christi. Leipz.
1908.
Tews, J. Schulkampfe der Gegenwart. Vortrage zum Kampf um die Volks-
scbule in Preussen, gehalten in der Humboldt- Akademie in Berlin.
Leipz. 1906.
44 THE TEACHING OF RELIGION IN SAXONY.
Thieme, Karl. Die Theologie der Heilstatsacnen und das Evangelium Jesu.
Giessen, 1909.
Tbabbach, P. Reform des Religionsunterricnts. Dessau, o. j.
Universitat und Scbule. Vortrage auf der Versanimlung deutscher Philologen.
und Scbulmanner am 25. September 1907 zu Basel. Leipz. 1907.
Voigt, G. Religionsunterricbt oder Moralunterricht? Leipz. 1907.
. Evangelisches Religionsbuch. Erster Band: Aus der Urkunde der
Offenbarung. 4te Aufl. Leipz. 1909.
Was soil daraus werden? Gegen die Zwickauer Thesen. Leipz. 1909.
Wilcke, Max. Der kleine Katechismus Lutbers und seine Bebandlung. Ein
Beitrag zur Methodik des Religionsunterrichts. Leipz. 1908.
INDEX.
Activities and ideals, 40, 41.
Agnostic-positivist party, attitude, 39, 40.
Barth, Theodore, 11.
Basserman, Professor, 10.
Bible, conventional attitude toward, 29 ;
and liberal Christian leaders, 38.
Biblical reading book, clerical supervision,
24, 25.
Bibliography, 42, 44.
Bode, Wilhelm, 11.
Bremen, agitation for exclusion of relig-
ious instruction, 10, 11.
Catechism, instruction, opposition, 30 ; prob-
lem, 29, 30; views on, 30 (footnote).
Children, adaptation of instruction to
capacity, 27, 28.
Clerical party, conservative, on religious in-
struction, 27, 28.
Clerical supervision, abolition of, central
contention, 31, 32 ; biblical reading book,
24, 25.
Course of study, religious instruction,
Hamburg, outline, 12, 14 ; proposals of
new school laws, 21, 24 ; selection of
subject-matter, 28, 30.
Bvangelisch-lutherischer Schulverein, propa-
ganda against Zwickau plan, 19, 20.
Fundamental and ultimate problems, 35, 41.
Gansberg, Fritz, 11.
Haeckel, Ernst, 11 ; monistic philosophy,
influence on German teachers, 39 (foot-
note).
Hamburg, teachers' proposals for reform of
religious instruction, 12, 14.
Hartmann, Eduard von, 11.
Herbart, pedagogical principles, 27.
Heyse, Paul, 11. ,
Instruction, children, adaptation to capac-
ity, 27, 28.
Leipzig manifesto, opposition, 19, 20 ; pub-
lic conference, 18, 19.
Leipziger Lehrerverein, Religionskommis-
sion, reading book on religious instruc-
tion, 20.
Liberal Christian party, attitude, 37, 39.
Meissen counter resolutions, 16, 17.
Memorizing selection of materials, 21, 22.
Moral instruction, advocated by Bremen
teachers, 11.
National church, opposition of, 16, 17.
Natorp, Professor, 10.
Orthodox confessional party, attitude, 35,
37.
Paulsen, Professor, 10.
Pedagogical and administrative problems,
27, 35.
Pfleiderer, Professor, 10 ; on religious in-
struction, 38 (footnote).
Pirna plan, 22, 23.
Public authorities, attitude, 25, 26.
Questions at issue, 26, 41.
Reading book, biblical, clerical supervision,
24, 25 ; religious instruction, Leipziger
Lehrerverein, Religionskommission, 20.
Reform element, representative literature
published by, 38 (footnote).
Reform measures, constructive, 20.
Reform spirit, growth, 9, 10.
Rein, Professor, brochure of, 9, 10 ; on in-
struction in the catechism, 30 (foot-
note).
Rietschel, Professor, criticism of the Zwickau
programme. 19.
Religion, public schools, rise and progress
of the controversy, 9, 26.
Religious groups, attitude, 35, 40.
Religious instruction, Bremen, agitation for
exclusion, 10, 11.
Revision, general demand, 26, 27.
Roman Catholic party, attitude, 40.
Saxony, summary of situation, 26 ; teach-
ers' association, Zwickau theses, 14, 16. -
School laws, proposals of new, 21.
Sectarian question, 28, 30.
Social-Democratic party, opposed to relig-
ious instruction, 40 (foot-note).
Subject-matter, religious instruction, selec-
tion, 28, 30.
Supervision, clerical, abolition, 31, 32 ;
biblical reading book, 24, 25.
Teachers, Hamburg, proposals for reform
of religious instruction, 12, 14 ; qualifi-
cations, 32, 35.
Teachers' associations, Zwickau theses, 14,
16.
Teaching, freedom of, 32, 35.
Tews, J., monograph of, 10.
Theology, new, 38.
Ultimate solution, 41.
Zwickau plan, opposition to, by Evange-
lisch-lutherische Schulverein, 19, 20.
Zwickau programme, criticism of, by Pro-
fessor, Rietscher, 19.
Zwickau, theses, 14, 16 ; nine resolutions,
15, 16.
45
o
[Continued from page 2 of cover.]
10O9.
No. 1. Facilities for study and research in the offices of the U. S. Government at
Washington. By Arthur Twining Hadley, President of Yale University, pp. 73.
No. 2. Admission of Chinese students to American universities. By John Fryer,
Professor of Oriental Languages and Literature, University of California,
pp. 221.
No. 3. Daily meals of school children. By Caroline L. Hunt, pp. 62.
No. 4. The teaching staff of secondary schools in the United States: Amount of
education, length of experience, salaries. By Edward L. Thorndike. pp. 60.
No. 5. Statistics of public, society, and school libraries having 5,000 volumes
and over in 1908. pp. 215.
No. 6. Instruction in the fine and manual arts in the United States. A statis-
tical monograph. By Henry Turner Bailey, editor of the School Arts Book,
pp. 184.
No. 7. Index to the Reports of the Commissioner of Education: 1867-1907.
pp. 103.
No. 8, A teacher's professional library. Classified list of one hundred titles,
pp. 14.
No. 9. Bibliography of education for 1908-9. pp. 134.
No. 10. Education for efficiency in railway service. By J. Shirley Eaton, for-
merly Statistician Lehigh Valley Railroad, pp. 159.
No, 11. Statistics of state universities and other institutions of higher educa-
tion partially supported by the State, 1908-9. pp. 15.
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