Our College
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with difficult problems, or put to the stretch to comprehend important
truths, it will, after a time, almost lose the power of growth.
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The Bible is the most comprehensive and the most instructive
history which men possess. It came fresh from the fountain of eternal
truth, and a divine hand has preserved its purity through all the ages.
Its bright rays shine into the far distant past, where human research
seeks vainly to penetrate. In God’s word alone we find an authentic
account of creation. Here we behold the power that laid the foundation
of the earth and that stretched out the heavens. Here only can we find
a history of our race, unsullied by human prejudice or human pride.
In the word of God the mind finds subject for the deepest thought,
the loftiest aspiration. Here we may hold communion with patriarchs
and prophets, and listen to the voice of the Eternal as He speaks with
men. Here we behold the Majesty of heaven as He humbled Himself
to become our substitute and surety to cope singlehanded with the
powers of darkness and to gain the victory in our behalf. A reverent
contemplation of such themes as these cannot fail to soften, purify,
and ennoble the heart, and, at the same time, to inspire the mind with
new strength and vigor.
If morality and religion are to live in a school, it must be through a
knowledge of God’s word. Some may urge that if religious teaching is
to be made prominent our school will become unpopular; that those
who are not of our faith will not patronize the college. Very well,
then, let them go to other colleges, where they will find a system of
education that suits their taste. Our school was established, not merely
to teach the sciences, but for the purpose of giving instruction in the
great principles of God’s word and in the practical duties of everyday
life.
This is the education so much needed at the present time. If a
worldly influence is to bear sway in our school, then sell it out to
worldlings and let them take the entire control; and those who have
invested their means in that institution will establish another school, to
be conducted, not upon the plan of popular schools, nor according to
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the desires of principal and teachers, but upon the plan which God has
specified.
In the name of my Master I entreat all who stand in responsible
positions in that school to be men of God. When the Lord requires
us to be distinct and peculiar, how can we crave popularity or seek to