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The Ministry of Healing
little of the research which is so wearying to the mind furnishes that
which will help one to be a successful laborer for souls.
The Saviour came “to preach the gospel to the poor.”
Luke 4:18
.
In His teaching He used the simplest terms and the plainest symbols.
And it is said that “the common people heard Him gladly.”
Mark
12:37
. Those who are seeking to do His work for this time need a
deeper insight into the lessons He has given.
The words of the living God are the highest of all education.
Those who minister to the people need to eat of the bread of life.
This will give them spiritual strength; then they will be prepared to
minister to all classes of people.
The Classics
In the colleges and universities thousands of youth devote a large
part of the best years of life to the study of Greek and Latin. And
while they are engaged in these studies, mind and character are
molded by the evil sentiments of pagan literature, the reading of
which is generally regarded as an essential part of the study of these
languages.
Those who are conversant with the classics declare that “the
Greek tragedies are full of incest, murder, and human sacrifices to
lustful and revengeful gods.” Far better would it be for the world
were the education gained from such sources to be dispensed with.
“Can one go upon hot coals, and his feet not be burned?”
Proverbs
6:28
. “Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? not one.”
Job
14:4
. Can we then expect the youth to develop Christian character
while their education is molded by the teaching of those who set at
defiance the principles of the law of God?
[444]
In casting off restraint and plunging into reckless amusement,
dissipation, and vice, students are but imitating that which is kept
before their minds by these studies. There are callings in which a
knowledge of Greek and Latin is needed. Some must study these
languages. But the knowledge of them essential for practical uses
might be gained without a study of literature that is corrupt and
corrupting.
And a knowledge of Greek and Latin is not needed by many.
The study of dead languages should be made secondary to a study of