Some religious leaders have taught that man is made up of a body and a soul, but they have been silent about intellect. Their followers try to feed the body to earth and save the soul from perdition after death, but they neglected the claims of the mind. Bread for the body and virtue for the soul, these are regarded as indispensable requisites of human welfare.

Nothing is said about knowledge and education. Thus, Jesus Christ spoke of feeding the hungry, healing the sick, and converting the sinners, but he never taught the duty of teaching the ignorant and increasing scientific knowledge. Gautama Buddha also laid stress on morality, meditation, and asceticism, but he did not attach great importance to history, science, art, or literature.

St. Ambrose deprecated scientific studies and wrote that to discuss the nature and position of the earth does not help us in our hope for life to come. St. Basil said that it is not a matter of interest to us whether the earth is a sphere, a cylinder, or a disc.

Thomas Carlyle also followed the Christian tradition and declared that he honoured only two kinds of men and no third, that is, the manual labourer and the religious teacher. He forgot the scientist, the scholar, and the artist. The cynics of Greece despised education as well.