538
Patriarchs and Prophets
The true object of education is to restore the image of God in
the soul. In the beginning God created man in His own likeness. He
endowed him with noble qualities. His mind was well balanced, and all
the powers of his being were harmonious. But the Fall and its effects
have perverted these gifts. Sin has marred and well-nigh obliterated the
image of God in man. It was to restore this that the plan of salvation
was devised, and a life of probation was granted to man. To bring
him back to the perfection in which he was first created is the great
object of life—the object that underlies every other. It is the work of
parents and teachers, in the education of the youth, to co-operate with
the divine purpose; and in so doing they are “laborers together with
God.”
1 Corinthians 3:9
.
All the varied capabilities that men possess—of mind and soul
and body—are given them by God, to be so employed as to reach the
highest possible degree of excellence. But this cannot be a selfish and
exclusive culture; for the character of God, whose likeness we are to
receive, is benevolence and love. Every faculty, every attribute, with
which the Creator has endowed us is to be employed for His glory and
for the uplifting of our fellow men. And in this employment is found
its purest, noblest, and happiest exercise.
Were this principle given the attention which its importance de-
mands, there would be a radical change in some of the current methods
of education. Instead of appealing to pride and selfish ambition, kin-
dling a spirit of emulation, teachers would endeavor to awaken the love
for goodness and truth and beauty—to arouse the desire for excellence.
The student would seek the development of God’s gifts in himself, not
to excel others, but to fulfill the purpose of the Creator and to receive
His likeness. Instead of being directed to mere earthly standards, or
being actuated by the desire for self-exaltation, which in itself dwarfs
[596]
and belittles, the mind would be directed to the Creator, to know Him
and to become like Him.
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowl-
edge of the Holy is understanding.”
Proverbs 9:10
. The great work of
life is character building, and a knowledge of God is the foundation of
all true education. To impart this knowledge and to mold the character
in harmony with it should be the object of the teacher’s work. The law
of God is a reflection of His character. Hence the psalmist says, “All
Thy commandments are righteousness;” and “through Thy precepts I