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Counsels to Parents, Teachers, and Students
tions. One tiny seed of infidelity sown by a teacher in the heart of
a student may spring up and bring forth a harvest of unbelief. The
sophistries regarding God and nature that are flooding the world
with skepticism are the inspiration of the fallen foe. Satan is a Bible
student. He knows the truths that are essential for salvation, and it is
his study to divert minds from these truths. Let our teachers beware
lest they echo the falsehoods of the enemy of God and man.
It is a mistake to put into the hands of the youth books that
perplex and confuse them. The reason sometimes given for this
study is that the teacher has passed over this ground, and the student
must follow. But if teachers were receiving light and wisdom from
the divine Teacher, they would look at this matter in a very different
way. They would measure the relative importance of the things to
be learned in school. The common, essential branches of education
would be more thoroughly taught, and the word of God would be
esteemed as the bread sent down from heaven, which sustains all
spiritual life.
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We are slow to realize how much we need to understand the
teachings of Christ and His methods of labor. If these were better
understood, much of the instruction given in our schools would be
counted as of no value. It would be seen that much that is now taught
does not develop the simplicity of true godliness in the life of the
student. Finite wisdom would receive less esteem, and the word of
God would have a more honored place.
If the teachers in our schools would search the Scriptures for the
purpose of securing a better understanding for themselves, opening
their hearts to the light given in the word, they would be taught of
God. They would love and practice the truth, and would labor to
bring in less of the theories and sentiments of men who have never
had a connection with God, and more of the knowledge that endures.
They would feel a deep soul hunger for the wisdom that comes from
above.
Studying to Useless Ends
Often students spend many years in study that is conducted on
wrong lines and to useless ends. The mind is trained to think in a
wrong channel, taught to grasp those things that are not only utterly