How Like an Angel Came I Down: Conversations With Children on the Gospels by A. BRONSON ALCOTT - July 1991

Lindisfarne Books, July 1991. Paper Back. New. In 1835, Amos Bronson Alcott and Elizabeth Palmer Peabody opened the doors of the Temple School in Boston, Massachusetts. Their goal was to provide an ecumenical Christian education, relying on the belief that religion must have a transformative effect within the individual psyche. Both believed children to be quite capable of philosophical insight and Alcott, in particular, sought to connect education to the spiritual life of the child-in his words, 'To teach with reference to Eternity.' For a portion of every day, Alcott hosted what he called Conversations. Most often he began with a reading from the Gospels, which was followed by a discussion with the children, more 'soul to soul' than adult to child. <I>How Like an Angel Came I Down</I> is the record of these conversations, written down by Ms. Peabody and touching upon all matter and manner of human and spiritual experience. Evidence of consciousness, inspiration, gestation, chastity, malignity, piety, self control, humility, regeneration, courage, holiness, self-indulgence, and discipleship only touch upon the subjects here. While Alcott goes to the extreme in considering the entire external world as metaphor and symbol of the inner one, his understanding of the teacher and the parent as 'curators of souls' touches on the crisis of education today. To quote a review by Joseph Pearce: 'Until the spiritual dimension of the child is recognized and honored, the crisis can only grow worse.' 336 pp.