RELIGION Public interest in the problem of religious education in Eng land centres largely on its position in the primary school. Up to 187o such instruction was largely provided by the two great school societies, the National Society and the British and For eign School Society, and these two bodies made further provision for securing such instruction by establishing residential training colleges. From 187o to 1902 the newly established board or council schools included religious instruction upon an undenomi national basis, under the Cowper-Temple clause. The Balfour Act of 1902 financially strengthened the dual system and in cluded in the extended provision for secondary education similar arrangements for undenominational religious instruction. The development of central or modern schools, accelerated by the publication of the Hadow Report on the Adolescent, and the consequent decapitation of many country schools, has intensified the task of the Church authorities in saving their black-listed schools (and with them their denominational religious instruc tion) from extinction. Great efforts are at present being made both to consolidate and safeguard such schools. As regards the matter of religious instruction in the undenominational schools provided by local education authorities, important advances towards improved and agreed syllabuses have recently been made, of which perhaps the Cambridgeshire syllabus is the best known. Concurrent with these efforts to safeguard denominational reli gious instruction in non-provided schools and to improve the religious instruction in the provided schools have been attempts to make more general provision in training colleges for instruc tion in the matter and methods of religious education. The Board of Education does not make such provision in non-denominational training colleges and university training colleges obligatory, but the general atmosphere towards such provision, especially upon a voluntary basis, is very favourable.
Religious instruction in other than primary schools has re ceived increasing attention in recent years. Problems arising out of its place and character in public schools have been the sub ject of many private conferences, while the work of the late Dr. Sophie Bryant was influential as showing what could be done in large modern high schools for girls. Many movements variously directed towards special problems of religious education have accordingly sprung up. The Student Christian Movement exer cises a world-wide influence amongst students of all classes, creeds, and races and is especially active in publications and inter national conferences. It stands mainly for an undenominational
but Christian position. The Church Tutorial Association, founded by Albert Mansbridge, is an effort to provide a high grade of religious education to adults by means of tutorial classes. Its success has been substantial but not spectacular. Such schools as those of the Woodard Corporation, founded with the express purpose of providing secondary and public school education upon a definitely Anglican (High Church) basis have more than held their own during the past half century, and have led to similar foundations by adherents of other types and denominations, e.g., Sherborne School for Girls and the Kingswood school, Bath. The provision for theological education as the necessary comple ment to general religious instruction has been greatly extended of recent years. Faculties of theology have sprung up in many of the newer universities, and seminaries for prolonged and sys tematic theological training have been established by such bodies as the Community of the Resurrection (at Mirfield) and the Society of the Sacred Mission (at Kelham). The Sunday schools of the country are now largely run upon reformed lines and vacation schools for Bible study and training in the methods of religious instruction are frequent and successful. The larger problems, however, of confirming the religious education of the nation have led to the establishment by the archbishops of Canter bury and York of a strong committee of enquiry.
In the Dominions, where State provision for religious instruc tion in the schools normally follows undenominational lines, the denominational supplement largely depends upon the local churches and upon assistance from societies with their head quarters in England. In German schools, the position of denomi national religious instruction has been somewhat shaken since the establishment of the republic. In France the opponents of secular civic instruction have pointed to the free Catholic schools as a bulwark for religion and morality alike. In Italy under the present regime religious instruction in the schools has been strengthened, but how far in a really liberal and free direction it is difficult to say. Everywhere, the more technical problems of the treatment of scriptures, of creeds, of competing world religions, are receiving increasing attention.