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Source and Aim of True Education
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Power to Think and to Do
Every human being, created in the image of God, is endowed
with a power akin to that of the Creator—individuality, power to
think and to do. The men and women in whom this power is de-
veloped are those who bear responsibilities, who are leaders in
enterprise, and who influence character. It is the work of true edu-
cation to develop this power, to train young people to be thinkers,
and not mere reflectors of other people’s thought. Let students be
directed to the sources of truth, to the vast fields opened for research
in nature and revelation. Let them contemplate the great facts of
duty and destiny, and the mind will expand and strengthen.
Instead of producing educated weaklings, institutions of learn-
ing may send forth men and women who are strong to think and
act—individuals who are masters and not slaves of circumstances,
individuals who possess breadth of mind, clearness of thought, and
the courage of their convictions.
Such an education strengthens the character, so that truth and
uprightness are not sacrificed to selfish desire or worldly ambition.
Instead of some master passion becoming a power to destroy, every
motive and desire is brought into conformity to the great principles
of right. As the perfection of God’s character is dwelt upon, the
mind is renewed and the soul is recreated in His image.
What education can be higher than this? What can equal it in
value?
“It cannot be gotten for gold,
Neither shall silver be weighed for the price thereof.
It cannot be valued with the gold of Ophir, ...
For the price of wisdom is above rubies.”
Job 28:15-18.
God’s Ideal for Us
Higher than the highest human thought can reach is God’s ideal
for His children. Godliness—godlikeness—is the goal to be reached.
Before the student there is opened a path of continual progress, an
object to achieve, a standard to attain that includes everything good,