While we know our northern friends may not feel it, in the South, Spring is
here. So we thought we'd share a few of our gardening sites appropriate
for this time of the year. Along with gardening, there's grilling, and getting
ready to diet so that you can fit back into that bathing suit this summer!
"From a child thou hast known the Holy Scriptures,
which are able to make thee Wise unto Salvation."
"All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for
instruction; That the man of God may be perfect thoroughly furnished unto all
good works." Paul
Whilst our religious
educational institutions where unsectarian
instruction in the Bible is fundamental,
have been producing good results of the
highest order, those educational
institutions where only secular instruction
is given, have been contributing a very
small proportion of the world's consecrated
moral leaders. Of 1,600 home missionaries,
1,503 received their training in Christian
educational institutions. Of 600 foreign
missionaries, 551 received their training in
Christian educational institutions.
It is not correct to say that one standard
of education is as good as another. Fourteen
American colleges, recently established in
China by the Christian Missionaries, though
only meagerly equipped, but manned by those
of un-questioned Christian character, and
teaching the plain saving truths of the
Bible, have become educational centers, from
which have gone out the leaders in a
peaceful revolution that occurred there in
1912, that have brought the boon of civil
and religious liberty to one-fourth of the
population of the world. Under the
beneficent influence of a few Christian
leaders this ancient empire has been lifted
off its hinges and a new life and spirit of
progress have been infused into a
civilization, hoary with centuries of
stagnant heathenism. In this wonderful
transformation, effected by trained
Christian teachers, the Church and the world
have seen the fulfillment of the Bible
prediction, "A nation shall be born in a
day."
Training for a noble Christian life is many
times better than training merely to make a
living. The demand for good and true men, to
serve as leaders in Church and state was
never greater than at present. The aim of
the Church is to supply the world with
capable leaders that are "Christ-led and
Bible-fed."
A right education knows no limit of breadth.
It includes a knowledge of the Infinite as
well as the finite. It recognizes the fact
that finite things can not be rightly
understood without knowing their relation to
the Infinite. Our Lord Jesus, who came into
the world to make known the will of the
Father, "holds in his girdle the key to all
the secrets of the universe, and no
education can be thorough without the
knowledge of Him."
Christian schools are established for the
culture of souls. Their aim is to develop
men and women as persons to the full extent
of their powers for the sake of their
contribution to the personal welfare and
progress of society.
The Bible A Power In The Formation Of
Character
All things being equal the thorough
Christian makes a better mechanic, a better
farmer, a better housekeeper, teacher,
doctor, lawyer or business man, than one who
is not a Christian. It is the work of a
Bible school of instruction to equip its
graduates with the very best elements of
character and progress, and send them forth
tempered and polished for the conquest of
the world.
The young have characters to be molded,
ideals to be formed, capacities to be
enlarged, an efficiency that may be
increased, an energy to be centralized, and
a hope and faith to be strengthened. The
Bible, in the hands of the tactful and
faithful Christian teacher accomplishes all
of these results, by its precepts and
interesting biographies.
The Bible, furnishes the young correct
ideals of a noble and useful manhood. The
common greed for money, position and outward
appearance is weighed in the balance and
found wanting.
The Bible is the fountain of all true
character, and furnishes the means for the
betterment of one's self. It furnished the
principles and ideals that enabled
Washington, Lincoln, Frances Willard, Queen
Victoria, Gladstone and others, to achieve
greatness as statesmen, rulers or national
leaders; and enabled Gary, Judson, Moffat,
Livingstone and others to invade dark,
dangerous continents that they might become
heralds of gospel light and liberty where
they were most needed. "Buy the truth, sell
it not, and the truth shall make you free,"
was the ringing message they proclaimed to
men, women and children.
The Architect Greater Than The
Cathedral
A tourist, visiting the famous cathedral at
Milan, expressed his great surprise at the
wonderful vision and perfect ideal of the
man, who designed it. A guide remarked, that
the mind of the architect, who wrought out
the hundred striking features of the design,
was greater than the magnificent cathedral.
This led another to remark, "Only a mind
inspired by Christ could have designed this
wonderful building," How true! The love of
Christ constrains his people to bring to his
service and worship their noblest powers of
mind and body.
When the tourist viewed the works of art,
which included some of the world's most
famous statuary and paintings, he found the
master pieces of Michael Angelo, the
sculptor, were Moses and David, both of them
characters from the Bible; and the most
wonderful paintings were those of the person
of our Lord Jesus, the only Redeemer of the
world.
Hayden and Handel, two of the world's
most famous musical composers, were inspired
to write their great choral masterpieces,
the "Creation" and the "Messiah" as a result
of their careful study of the sacred
scriptures.
The best the world has produced in law,
literature, poetry, music, art and
architecture has been the embodiment of
ideals that have received their inspiration
from reading God's Holy Word, and
experiencing saving knowledge of the
redeeming work of His blessed Son.
Abraham continues to be the "father of
the faithful;" Moses, author of the
Pentateuch, continues to be the world's
greatest lawgiver and leader of men; Joshua
effecting the conquest of Canaan on the
principle, "Divide and Conquer," continues
to be the inspirer of successful military
strategists; David author of Psalms,
continues to be the world's greatest poet;
Joseph, Daniel and Isaiah, continue to be
the best ideals for rulers and their
counselors; Nehemiah, the best
representative of a progressive and
successful man of affairs; Peter and John,
the most noted examples of loyalty to truth;
Paul, the most zealous advocate of a great
cause; and our Lord Jesus continues to be
the ideal of the world's greatest teachers
and benefactors.
The Basis Of The American Public School
System
"The Bible, the basis of moral instruction
in the public school," was the interesting
theme of an address it was the privilege of
the author to deliver at a teachers'
institute forty years ago, when engaged in
teaching in central Pennsylvania. The
conviction then became indelibly impressed,
that the Bible is really the basis of the
American public school system. The fact is
now noted with a good deal of interest, that
the legislature of Pennsylvania in 1913,
enacted a law, distinctly recognizing this
fact, and providing that at least ten verses
from the Bible shall be read every school
day, in the presence of the scholars in
every public school within the bounds of the
state. Every teacher refusing to comply with
this law is subject to dismissal.
Every state in the Union should have a
law of this kind. The Bible is not merely
the book of books; it is the only one that
has correct ideals for young people. It
awakens the desire for more knowledge and
inspires the courage to do right.
The Valley Of Diamonds
Ruskin, in "The Ethics of Dust", referring
to the valley of diamonds, remarks that
"many people go to real places and never see
them; and many people pass through this
valley of diamonds and never see it."
One great object to be attained in the
education of the mind is to awaken an
earnest desire for truth. All real life,
whether it be in the school, shop or field,
consists in using aright the true principles
of life, that are found in the Word of God.
Every human heart, that has been illuminated
by this Word of Truth, finds that along the
pathway that leads to God, there are hidden
the gems and jewels of eternal truth, that
prevail in every department of life. These
gems are hidden only from the careless and
indifferent. Those that make a diligent
search are sure to find them. This longing
desire for truth is not only the mark of a
good student, but the assurance also that
such a one, if circumstances are favorable
will continue to make progress after school
days have ended.
Many pupils, during their youthful school
days, fail to perceive the real mission of
their education. They do not then fully
appreciate the real gold of truth that
cultivates in them "those general charities
of heart, sincerities of thought, and graces
of habit, which are likely to lead them,
throughout life to prefer frankness to
affectation, reality to shadows, and beauty
to corruption." This enlightenment is pretty
sure to come to them later, if the Bible has
been their daily text book.
The Christian Teacher
The acceptance of the Bible as the Word of
God should be regarded as essential, on the
part of all teachers of children and youth.
If the Bible is the great fountain of saving
truth and the highest authority on human
conduct, and it is to be used as a daily
text book, then, it naturally follows, the
teacher should be "a workman approved unto
God, apt to teach and rightly dividing the
word of truth." Persons who do not believe
in the Bible do not care to teach it, and
when they are required to do so, they are
pretty sure to vaunt their unbelief. The
influence of such teachers tends to
establish unbelief instead of awakening a
longing desire for more truth.
Emerson in one of his essays, after pressing
the fact that the soul is the receiver and
revealer of truth, states an undeniable
fact, when he says:
"That which we are, we shall teach, not
voluntarily but involuntarily. Thoughts go
out of our minds through avenues, which we
never voluntarily opened. Character teaches
over our head. The infallible index of true
progress is found in the tone the man takes.
Neither his age, nor his breeding, nor his
company, nor books, nor actions, nor
talents, nor all together can hinder him
from being deferential to a higher spirit
than his own. If he has not found his home
in God, his manners, his form of speech, the
turn of his sentences, the build, shall I
say of all his opinions, will involuntarily
confess it, let him brave it out how he
will."
The longings of the human heart are
unsatisfied, until the soul finds its home
in God, its creator and preserver. Teachers
that ignore this fact, lack one thing that
is vitally important. Our Lord Jesus, the
great teacher, expressed its relative
importance when he said: "Seek ye first the
Kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and
all these things will be added unto you."
A Railroad President
James J. Hill, a prominent railroad
president recently made this important
statement:
"We are making a mistake to train our young
people in various lines of knowledge for
undertaking the big tasks of life, without
making sure also that those fundamental
principles of right and wrong as taught in
the Bible, have become a part of their
equipment. There is a control of forces and
motives, that is essential to the management
of the vast affairs of our nation, which
comes only through an educated conscience;
and to fail to equip young men, who are to
manage the great affairs of the future, with
this control and direction, is a serious
mistake of the age and bears with it a
certain menace for the future."
In a recent issue of the Assembly Herald
there appeared the following very pertinent
paragraphs on this subject, credited to the
Synod of Tennessee:
"In common with all good citizens, we
rejoice in the progress of the cause of
popular education in our land. The
intelligence of our citizenship is a bulwark
to the country. But unless the education of
the future citizen is complete and
symmetrical, the body politic becomes a body
partly of iron and partly of potter's clay.
The education of the head and the hand
without the heart is not enough.
"The popular education has no place for the
heart in all of its splendid equipment. This
is not a reflection on the fine system. It
is merely the statement of a melancholy
fact. The average state school, high or low,
is absolutely colorless as to religion. Even
the morality that is taught is not the
morality of the Christian religion, but of
philosophical ethics that differ but little
from the ethics of the pagan.
"Our state schools have no place for the God
of the Bible, nor for the Bible of the only
living and true God. The poetry of Homer and
Horace are sufficiently honored, but the
finer poetry of Moses, Job and David are
unknown in the courses of study of our
schools, except now and then as specimens of
Oriental song. The wise sayings of Plato and
Socrates are reckoned worthy of profound
study, while the vastly greater sayings of
our Lord Jesus and Paul are unknown. Cicero
and Demosthenes are commended as great
models of public address, while Isaiah and
Ezekiel are seldom mentioned in the four
years of college life, or in the longer
years of the secondary schools.
"That education is incomplete and inadequate
for life's best, which does not include the
whole man, and put first things first. If
the heart be not educated and the conscience
be not enlightened, the best trained hand
may strike in a wrong manner, and the best
trained mind pronounce wrong judgments....
Our citizenship must be Christian if it is
to promote a Christian civilization."
This site
includes some historical materials that may imply negative stereotypes
reflecting the culture or language of a particular period or place. These
items are presented as part of the historical record and should not be
interpreted to mean that the WebMasters in any way endorse the stereotypes
implied .
Choctaw Freedmen and Oak Hill Industrial
Academy, 1914, Robert Elliott Flickinger
