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Preface
As early as 1872, counsel and instruction regarding Christian
education began to come from the pen of Ellen G. White to Seventh-
day Adventists. The first comprehensive article on this subject,
entitled “Proper Education,” is found in
Testimonies for the Church
3:131-160
. In the thirty pages of this article may be found, in em-
bryo or in well-developed form, every fundamental principle which
should govern the training and instruction of children and youth.
Revolutionary as some of the views expressed may have seemed to
be at the time of writing, they are today recognized and advocated
by progressive educational thinkers. Seventh-day Adventists may
justly regard themselves as highly favored in that such a fundamental
outline of educational principles appeared so early in their literature.
That brief yet comprehensive outline, given to lead us into right
educational paths, has been followed through the years by further,
more detailed counsels, reiterating the principles first set forth, ex-
panding their application, and urging their adoption.
Christian Ed-
ucation
and
Special Testimonies on Education
, two small works
published in the nineties, carried these messages to the people.
Finally, in 1903,
Education
, a masterpiece in the field of charac-
ter education, was presented to the general reading public by Ellen G.
White, and through many printings and translations it has conveyed
its helpful messages to thousands in this and in other lands. But the
special detailed instruction, specifically addressed to Seventh-day
Adventists, could not well be included in this popular volume in-
tended for more general distribution; and the earlier works having
passed out of print, much of the wealth of specific counsel of great
[6]
value to us was no longer available. To provide this, together with
later and fuller writings on certain phases of the topic, this work,
Counsels to Parents, Teachers, and Students
, was published in 1913.
Brought to view in this volume are the principles and methods
of presenting an education which “includes not only mental disci-
pline, but that training which will secure sound morals and correct
iii