In 1524, Martin Luther wrote a letter “To the Councilmen of All Cities in Germany that they Establish and Maintain Christian Schools.” The German saint tactfully navigates a Scylla-and-Charybdis situation in his beloved Germany, denouncing the catholic monastery schools on the one hand, yet offering an alternative to the “trade only’ approach on the other.
Indeed, we must start with what we have. Consider the years after Christ's Crucifixion: Christians had little but their faith.