(66 INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF EDUCATION. 
The data were collated in the following groups : 
God, his appearance and activities. 
The devil, his appearance and activities. 
Heaven, its location, its inhabitants, and their appearance and activities. 
Hell, its location, its inhabitants, and their appearance and activities. 
[ndications of a critical attitude ; acts which take people to heaven : acts 
which keep them out of heaven. 
Since the children were not answering any set questions, we cannot state 
what proportion accepted any particular idea, but only how many of the 
shildren who mentioned an idea accepted or rejected it. 
In studying the data an attempt was first made to bring together the 
sheological conceptions expressed in the compositions, and then to deter- 
mine the attitude of the children toward these conceptions. 
The central figure in the theology is naturally God. The pictures 
jrawn of him are often misty and indistinct, but more than half the 
papers represent him as a great and good man. He is so large that ““he 
sould stand with his feet on the ground and touch the clouds with his 
arms upraised.” ¢ He is a man that has six hands and feet and eyes”; or, 
“He is a huge being with numerous limbs spread out all over the sky.” 
He is generally an old man, with a long white beard and flowing white 
garments ; often he is represented as having wings and a crown on his head. 
He is most often described as good and kind ; the stern quality is seldom 
apparent, but the whole figure is shadowy, unreal, and indistinct. 
A considerable number of children speak of him as being able to do 
anything, as being everywhere, and as knowing everything. Omnipresence 
seems hard for the children to conceive, and it probably accounts for his 
seing represented with several heads and members. 
Omniscience is easier : “ God can see everything you do and hear every- 
-hing you say, even if you are inside of a house.” ‘I have thought and 
seen told that he can see through anything; it makes no difference if it is 
iron, steel, glass, wood, or anything.” Many of the children feel that 
God is watching them, and some say “he writes it all down.” 
Omnipotence is mentioned by many children, but there are few concrete 
instances given. One girl of twelve says that ‘“ God could have an earth. 
quake at any time.” His activities are seldom described ; less than five 
ser cent. of the children speak of him as ruling the universe, making 
;hings grow, or caring for our material needs. One boy of ten says in per- 
fect earnestness that ‘“ God is bossing the world.” 
Christ is seldom mentioned, and his relation to the Father is rarely 
brought out; where it is, in one-fourth of the cases the relation is 
reversed, and God is spoken of as the Son of Christ. The Trinity is 
mentioned by only two children. Christ is mentioned as our Redeemer 
by some twenty-five children. 
Heaven is generally, even with children up to the age of twelve and beyond,