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Fundamentals of Christian Education
The youth educated in large cities are surrounded by influences
similar to those that prevailed before the flood. The same principles of
disregard for God and His law; the same love of pleasure, of selfish
gratification, and of pride and vanity are at work at the present time.
The world is given up to pleasure; immorality prevails; the rights of
the weak and helpless are disregarded; and, the world over, the large
cities are fast becoming hotbeds of iniquity.
The love of pleasure is one of the most dangerous, because it is one
of the most subtle, of the many temptations that assail the children and
youth in the cities. Holidays are numerous; games and horse-racing
draw thousands, and the whirl of excitement and pleasure attracts them
away from the sober duties of life. Money that should have been saved
for better uses—in many cases the scanty earnings of the poor—is
frittered away for amusements.
The continual craving for pleasurable amusements reveals the deep
longings of the soul. But those who drink at this fountain of worldly
pleasure, will find their soul-thirst still unsatisfied. They are deceived;
they mistake mirth for happiness; and when the excitement ceases,
many sink down into the depths of despondency and despair. O what
madness, what folly to forsake the “Fountain of living waters” for the
“broken cisterns” of worldly pleasure! We feel to the depth of the soul
the peril that surrounds the youth in these last days; and shall not those
who come to us for an education, and the families that are attracted
to our schools, be withdrawn, as far as possible, from these seductive
and demoralizing influences?
In choosing retired localities for our schools, we do not for a
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moment suppose that we are placing the youth beyond the reach of
temptation. Satan is a very diligent worker, and is untiring in devising
ways to corrupt every mind that is open to his suggestions. He meets
families and individuals on their own ground, adapting his temptations
to their inclinations and weaknesses. But in the large cities his power
over minds is greater, and his nets for the entanglement of unwary feet
are more numerous. In connection with our schools, ample grounds
should be provided. There are some students who have never learned
to economize, and have always spent every shilling they could get.
These should not be cut off from the means of gaining an education.
Employment should be furnished them, and with their study of books