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Fundamentals of Christian Education
wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of
the prudent. Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the
disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of
this world? For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom
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knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to
save them that believe.” This is God’s devised plan; and through
successive generations, through centuries of heathenism, this plan has
been carried forward, not as an experiment, but as an approved way for
the spreading of the gospel. Through this method from the beginning,
conviction came upon man, and the world was enlightened concerning
the gospel of God. The highest grade of schooling that any human
being can attain to is the schooling given by the Divine Teacher. This
is the knowledge that in a special sense we shall greatly need as we
draw near the close of this world’s history, and every one will do well
to obtain this kind of education. The Lord requires that men shall be
under His training. There is a great work to be done in bringing human
minds out of darkness into the marvelous light of God. As His human
instrumentalities, we are by living faith to carry out His plans. Are we
in a condition in which our faith will not work to the glory of God,
or are we vessels meet for the Master’s use, prepared for every good
work?
Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians. He received
an education in the providence of God; but a large part of that education
had to be unlearned, and accounted as foolishness. Its impression had
to be blotted out by forty years of experience in caring for the sheep
and the tender lambs. If many who are connected with the work of
the Lord could be isolated as was Moses, and could be compelled
by circumstances to follow some humble vocation until their hearts
became tender, they would make much more faithful shepherds than
they now do in dealing with God’s heritage. They would not be so
prone to magnify their own abilities, or seek to demonstrate that the
wisdom of an advanced education could take the place of a sound
knowledge of God. When Christ came to the world, the testimony was
that “the world by wisdom knew not God,” yet that “it pleased God by
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the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.”
The experiment of the world’s wisdom had been fully tested at the
advent of Christ, and the boasted human wisdom had proved wanting.
Men knew not the true wisdom that comes from the Source of all