The Great End in Religious Instruction

For this Throwback Thursday Post, I am going back to this adaptation of William Ellery Channing's words I did for Starr Island RE Week in July 2010.  They are definitely worth re-posting!

• The great end in religious instruction is to stir up the minds of all of us - our children, youth, young adults, adults and elders. 

• To journey together as we look inquiringly and steadily with our own eyes and strive to see what others see. 

• It is to inspire a fervent love of truth. 

• To touch inward springs. 

• To prepare all of us for impartial, conscientious judging of whatever subjects may be offered to our decision. 

• To quicken and strengthen the power of thought. 

• To awaken the conscience, the moral discernment. 

In a word, the great end is to awaken the soul, to excite and cherish the spiritual life.