140
Fundamentals of Christian Education
It is a sad fact that men who have been intrusted with fine capabili-
ties to be employed in the service of God, have prostituted their powers
in the service of evil, and laid their talents at the feet of the enemy.
They submitted in the most servile bondage to the prince of evil, while
rejecting the service of Christ as humiliating and undesirable. They
looked upon the work of the follower of Christ as a work below their
ambition, that required a stepping down from their greatness, a species
of slavery, that would enthrall their powers, and narrow the circle of
their influence. He who had made an infinite sacrifice that they might
be set free from the bondage of evil, was set aside as unworthy their
best efforts and most exalted service.
These men had received their talents from God, and every gem
[171]
of thought by which they had been esteemed worthy of the attention
of scholars and thinkers, belongs not to them, but to the God of all
wisdom, whom they did not acknowledge. Through tradition, through
false education, these men are exalted as the world’s educators; but
in going to them students are in danger of accepting the vile with the
precious; for superstition, specious reasoning, and error are mingled
with portions of true philosophy and instruction. This mingling makes
a potion that is poisonous to the soul,—destructive of faith in the God
of all truth. Those who have a thirst for knowledge need not go to
these polluted fountains; for they are invited to come to the fountain
of life and drink freely. Through searching the word of God, they may
find the hidden treasure of truth that has long been buried beneath the
rubbish of error, human tradition, and opinions of men.
The Bible is the great educator; for it is not possible prayerfully to
study its sacred pages without having the intellect disciplined, enno-
bled, purified, and refined. “Thus saith the Lord, Let not the wise man
glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let
not the rich man glory in his riches: but let him that glorieth glory in
this, that he understandeth and knoweth Me, that I am the Lord which
exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for
in these things I delight, saith the Lord. Behold, the days come, saith
the Lord, that I will punish all them which are circumcised with the
uncircumcised.”
Those who claim to be Christians, who profess to believe the truth,
and yet drink at the polluted fountains of infidelity, and by precept and
example draw others away from the cold, snow-waters of Lebanon,