G.A.  Coe, Education in Religion and Morals, chaps. i, iv, xvi. 
     Revell, $1.35.

     E.C.  Wilm, Culture of Religion, chaps. i, ii.  Pilgrim Press,
     $0.75.

     C.W.  Rischell, The Child as God’s Child.  Methodist Book Concern,
     $0.75.

     E.E.  Read Mumford, The Dawn of Character.  Longmans, Green & Co.,
     $1.20.  See especially chap. xii on “The Dawn of Religion.”

     III.  Topics for Discussion

     1.  How would you define education?

     2.  What is the difference between education and religious
     education?

     3.  What makes the home especially effective in education?

     4.  Is it true that it is possible to discover the laws of growth
     and so determine the development of character?

     5.  Recall any very early manifestations of religious character in
     small children.  What would you regard as the best kind of
     manifestation?

     6.  What is the essential principle of the right life?  How may we
     develop this in childhood?

     7.  What are the things which most of all impress children?

     8.  Would you think it wise to bring a child under the influence of
     a religious revival?

CHAPTER VI

THE CHILD’S RELIGIOUS IDEAS

How shall I begin to talk with my child about religion?  Even the most religious parents feel hesitancy here.  It may not be at all due to the unfamiliarity of the subject, though that is often the case; hesitation is due principally to a conscious artificiality in the action.  It seems unnatural to say, “My child, I want to talk with you about your religious life.”  And so it is.  There is something wrong when that appears to be the only way.  That situation indicates a lack of freedom of thought and intercourse with the child and a lack of naturalness in religion.

Sec. 1.  THE FUNDAMENTAL DIFFICULTY

The instinct is correct that tells us that we should be trespassing on a child’s rights, or breaking down his proper reticence, in abruptly and formally questioning him about his religious life.  The reserve of children in this matter must be respected.  The inner life of aspiration, of conscious relationship to the divine, is too sacred for display, even to those who are near to us.  He violates the child’s reverence who tears away his reticence.  Even though the child may not consciously object, the process leads him toward the irreverent, facile self-exposure of the soul that characterizes some prayer meetings.  But we may, also, as easily err in the other direction and, by failing to invite the confidences of our children, lead them to suppose we have no interest in their higher life.

Sec. 2.  CONDITIONS OF SUCCESS