False and the True in Education
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falsehood? When the children ask the meaning of stories so contrary
to the teaching of their parents, the answer is that the stories are not
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true; but this does not do away with the evil results of their use. The
ideas presented in these books mislead the children. They impart false
views of life and beget and foster a desire for the unreal.
The widespread use of such books at this time is one of the cunning
devices of Satan. He is seeking to divert the minds of old and young
from the great work of preparation for the things that are coming upon
the earth. He means that our children and youth shall be swept away
by the soul-destroying deceptions with which he is flooding the world.
Therefore he seeks to divert their minds from the word of God, and
thus prevent them from gaining a knowledge of those truths that would
be their safeguard.
Never should books containing a perversion of truth be placed
before children or youth. And if those with mature minds had nothing
to do with such books, they would be far safer.
A Purer Fountain
We have an abundance of that which is real, that which is divine.
Those who thirst for knowledge need not go to polluted fountains.
Christ presented the principles of truth in the gospel. In His teach-
ing we may drink of the pure streams that flow from the throne of
God.
Christ could have imparted to men knowledge that would have
surpassed any previous disclosures and put in the background every
other discovery. He could have unlocked mystery after mystery, and
could have concentrated around these wonderful revelations the active,
earnest thought of successive generations till the close of time. But He
would not spare a moment from teaching the knowledge of the science
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of salvation. His time, His faculties, His life itself, was appreciated
and used only as the means for working out the salvation of the souls
of men. He had come to seek and to save that which was lost, and He
would not be turned from His one object. He allowed nothing to divert
Him.
Christ imparted only that knowledge which could be utilized. His
instruction of the people was confined to the needs of their own condi-
tion in practical life. The curiosity that led them to come to Him with