Bible in Educational Work
43
holiness. Its living principles, running through our lives like threads
of gold, are our only safeguard in all trials and temptations.
The Holy Scriptures were the essential study in the schools of the
prophets, and they should hold the first place in every educational
system; for the foundation of all right education is a knowledge of
God. Used as a text-book in our schools, the Bible will do for mind
and morals what cannot be done by books of science or philosophy. As
a book to discipline and strengthen the intellect, and ennoble, purify,
and refine the character, it is without a rival.
God cares for us as intelligent beings, and he has given us his
word as a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. Its teachings have a
vital bearing upon our prosperity in all the relations of life. Even in
our temporal affairs it will be a wiser guide than any other counselor.
[54]
Its divine instruction is the only way to success. There is no social
position, no phase of human experience, for which the study of the
Bible is not an essential preparation.
But the mere reading of the word will not accomplish the result
designed of Heaven; it must be studied and cherished in the heart. The
Bible has not received the close attention it deserves. It has not been
honored above every other book in the education of children and youth.
Students devote years to acquiring an education. They study different
authors, and become acquainted with science and philosophy through
books containing the results of human research; but the Book that
comes from the Divine Teacher has, to a great extent, been neglected.
Its value is not discerned. Its treasures remain hidden.
An education of this character is defective. Who and what are these
men of learning, that the minds and characters of the young should
be molded by their ideas? They may publish with pen and voice the
best results of their reasoning; but they grasp only an item of the work
of God, and in their short-sightedness, calling it science, they exalt
it above the God of science. Man is finite; there is no light in his
wisdom. His unaided reason can explain nothing in the deep things of
God, nor can he understand the spiritual lessons that God has placed
in the material world. But reason is a gift of God, and his Spirit will
aid those who are willing to be taught. Man’s words, if of any value,
echo the words of God. In the education of youth, they should never
take the place of the divine word.
[55]