Besides setting forth the underlying principles of religious teaching in a clear and definite way, the author has included in every chapter a rich fund of illustration and concrete application which cannot fail to prove immediately helpful in every church classroom. It is also believed that students of religious education will find this treatment of method by Professor Betts the most fundamental and sane that has yet appeared in the field. NORMAN E. RICHARDSON. AUTHOR'S PREFACE _Children can be brought to a religious character and experience through right nurture and training in religion._ This is the fundamental assumption on which the present volume rests, and it makes the religious education of children the most strategic opportunity and greatest responsibility of the church, standing out above all other obligations whatever. Further, the successful teaching of religion is based on the same laws that apply to other forms of teaching; hence teachers in church schools need and have a right to all the help that a scientific pedagogy permeated by an evangelistic spirit can give them. They also have the obligation to avail themselves of this help for the meeting of their great task. This book undertakes to deal in a concrete and practical way with the underlying principles of religious instruction. The plan of the text is simple. First comes the part _the teacher_ must play in training the child in religion. Then the spiritual changes and growth to be effected in _the child_ are set forth as the chief objective of instruction. Next is a statement of the _great aims,_ or goals, to be striven for in the child's expanding religious experience. These goals are: (1) fruitful _religious knowledge_; (2) right _religious attitudes--interests, ideals, feelings, loyalties_; (3) the _application of this knowledge and these attitudes to daily life and conduct_. Following the discussion of aims is the question of just _what subject matter_ to choose in order to accomplish these ends, and _how best to organize_ the chosen material for instruction. And finally, _how most effectively to present_ the subject matter selected to make it serve its purpose in stimulating and guiding the spiritual growth and development of children. The volume is intended as a textbook for teacher-training classes, students of religious education, and for private study by church-school teachers. It is also hoped that ministers may find some help in its pages toward meeting their educational problems. Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois. CHAPTER I THE TEACHER HIMSELF