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LIVING FOUNTAINS OR BROKEN CISTERNS
An Educational Problem for Protestants
“My people have committed two evils; they
have forsaken Me the fountain of living waters, and
hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that
can hold no water.” Jer. 2:13.
by
E. A. SUTHERLAND
President of Battle Creek College
Review and Herald Publishing Co.
Battle Creek, Michigan
1900
Copyright, 1900,
by E. A. Sutherland
PREFACE
There are few books which treat of the history of education, and fewer
which attempt to show the part that the educational work has ever borne
in the upbuilding of nations. That religion is inseparably connected
with, and upheld by, the system of education maintained by its advocates,
has been recognized by many historians in a casual way; but, to the
author’s knowledge, no one has hitherto made this thought the subject of
a volume.
In teaching the history of education and the growth of Protestantism, the
close relationship ever existing between the latter and true methods of
education led to a careful study of the educational system of the nations
of the earth, especially of those nations which have exerted a lasting
influence upon the world’s history. The present volume is the result of
that study.
D’Aubigné says that in the Reformation “the school was early placed
beside the church; and these two great institutions, so powerful to
regenerate the nations, were equally reanimated by it. It was by a close
alliance with learning that the Reformation entered into the world.”
True education, Protestantism, and republicanism form a threefold union
which defies the powers of earth to overthrow; but to-day the Protestant
churches are growing weak, and the boasted freedom of America’s democracy
is being exchanged for monarchical principles of government.
This weakness is rightly attributed by some to the want of proper
education. The same cause of degeneracy would doubtless be assigned by
many others, were effects traced to their source.
The author has attempted, by a generous use of historical quotations, to
so arrange facts that the reader will see that the hope of Protestantism
and the hope of republicanism lies in the proper education of the youth;
and that this true education is found in the principles delivered by
Jehovah to his chosen people, the Jews; that it was afterward more
fully demonstrated by the Master Teacher, Christ; that the Reformation
witnessed a revival of these principles; and that Protestants to-day, if
true to their faith, will educate their children in accordance with these
same principles.
Due credit is given to the authors quoted, a list of whose names appears
at the end of the volume. A complete index renders this work easy of
reference.
E. A. S.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I GOD THE SOURCE OF WISDOM 9
II THE HEAVENLY SCHOOL 15
III THE EDENIC SCHOOL 22
IV THE HISTORY OF FIFTEEN CENTURIES 42
V THE SCHOOL OF ABRAHAM 54
VI EDUCATION IN ISRAEL 68
VII THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM OF THE PAGAN WORLD 92
VIII CHRIST THE EDUCATOR OF EDUCATORS 117
IX EDUCATION IN THE EARLY CHURCH 139
X THE PAPACY—AN EDUCATIONAL PROBLEM 156
XI EDUCATION OF THE MIDDLE AGES 184
XII THE SIXTEENTH-CENTURY REFORMATION AN EDUCATIONAL REFORM 214
XIII THE REACTION AFTER THE EDUCATIONAL REFORMATION 248
XIV AMERICA AND THE EDUCATIONAL PROBLEM 288
XV AMERICA AND THE EDUCATIONAL PROBLEM (Continued) 316
XVI CHRISTIAN EDUCATION 339
XVII CHRISTIAN EDUCATION (Continued) 380
I
INTRODUCTORY: GOD THE SOURCE OF WISDOM
“Surely there is a vein for the silver, and a place for gold where they
fine it. Iron is taken out of the earth, and brass is molten out of the
stone.... As for the earth, out of it cometh bread; and under it is
turned up as it were fire. The stones of it are the place of sapphires;
and it hath dust of gold. There is a path which no fowl knoweth, and
which the vulture’s eye hath not seen. The lion’s whelps have not trodden
it, nor the fierce lion passed by it....
“_But where shall wisdom be found?_ And _where is the place of
understanding?_ Man knoweth not the price thereof; neither is it found
in the land of the living. The depth saith, It is not in me; and the sea
saith, It is not with me. _It can not be gotten for gold_, neither shall
silver be weighed for the price thereof.... The gold and the crystal
can not equal it; and the exchange of it shall not be for jewels of
fine gold.... _Whence then cometh wisdom?_ And where is the place of
understanding?... _God understandeth the way thereof, and He knoweth the
place thereof._”[1]
Man sometimes feels that _he_ understands the way of wisdom, and boasts
that he _knows_ the place thereof. He may indeed understand it in a
measure, and he may ascertain its abiding place; but that knowledge
comes in one way, and only one. He who understandeth the way thereof and
knoweth the place thereof, opens a channel which connects earth with that
fountain of life.
In the creation of the universe that wisdom was manifested. “When He made
a decree for the _rain_, and a way for the _lightning of the thunder_;
then did He see it, and declare it; He prepared it, yea, and searched it
out.” Written on the face of creation is the WISDOM OF THE ETERNAL. “And
unto man He said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, THAT IS WISDOM; and to
depart from evil is understanding.” In other words, when man lives in
harmony with God,—that is, when physically he acts in accordance with
the laws of the universe; when mentally his thoughts are those of the
Father; and when spiritually his soul responds to the drawing power of
love, that power which controls creation,—then has he entered the royal
road which leads direct to WISDOM.
Where is the wise? There is implanted in each human heart a longing to
come in touch with wisdom. God, by the abundance of life, is as a great
magnet, drawing humanity to Himself. So close is the union that in Christ
are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. In one man—a man
made of flesh and blood like all men now living—there dwelt the spirit of
wisdom. More than this, in Him are “hid all the treasures of wisdom;” and
hence the life of Immanuel stands a constant witness that the WISDOM OF
THE AGES is accessible to man. And the record adds, “Ye are complete in
Him.”
This wisdom brings eternal life; for in Him are “hid all the treasures of
wisdom,” “and ye are complete in Him.” “This is life eternal, that they
might know Thee the only true God.”
Christ, at Jacob’s well, explained to the woman of Samaria, and through
her to you and me, the means of gaining wisdom. The well of living
water, from the depths of which the patriarch had drawn for himself,
his children, and his cattle, and which he bequeathed as a rich legacy
to generations following, who drank, and blessed his name, symbolized
worldly wisdom. Men to-day mistake this for that wisdom described in Job,
of which God understandeth the way and knoweth the place. Christ spoke of
this latter when He said, “If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it
is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldst have asked of Him,
and He would have given thee _living water_.” “If any man thirst, let him
come unto Me, and drink.”
Why, then, if wisdom may be had for the asking, if that spiritual drink
may be had for the taking, are not all filled? The fountain flows
free; why are not all satisfied? Only one reason can be given: men in
their search accept falsehood in place of truth. This blunts their
sensibilities, until the false seems true and the true false.
“Where is the wise?... hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this
world?” “Howbeit we speak wisdom among the perfect (full-grown): yet a
wisdom not of this world, nor of the rulers of this age which are coming
to naught: but we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, even the wisdom that
hath been hidden, ... which none of the rulers of this world knoweth.”[2]
There is, then, a distinction between the wisdom of God and that of this
world. How, then, can we attain unto the higher life,—to the real, the
true wisdom? There are things which eye hath not seen nor ear heard,
which eyes should see and ears hear, and these “God hath revealed unto us
by His Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things
of God.”
To man, then, if born of the Spirit, is given a spiritual eyesight which
pierces infinitude, and enables the soul to commune with the Author
of all things. No wonder the realization of such possibilities within
himself led the psalmist to exclaim, “Such knowledge is too wonderful for
me; it is high, I can not attain unto it.” And Paul himself exclaimed, “O
the depth of the riches both of the _wisdom_ and _knowledge_ of God!...
For who hath known the mind of the Lord?” “The things of God knoweth no
man, but the Spirit of God.” And “we have received, not the spirit of the
world, but the Spirit which is of God; that we might know the things
that are freely given to us of God.” Hence to us _is_ given the power
to commune with Him and to search into the mysteries of the otherwise
unfathomable.
Dealing with wisdom is education. If it be the wisdom of the world, then
it is _worldly education_; if, on the other hand, it is a search for the
wisdom of God, it is CHRISTIAN EDUCATION.
Over these two questions the controversy between good and evil is
waging. The final triumph of truth will place the advocates of Christian
education in the kingdom of God. “God is a Spirit: and they that worship
Him must worship in spirit and in truth.”
That education which links man with God, the source of wisdom, and the
author and finisher of our faith, is a spiritual education, and prepares
the heart for that kingdom which is within.
II
THE HEAVENLY SCHOOL
God’s throne, the center around which circled the worlds which had gone
forth from the hand of the Creator, was the school of the universe. The
Upholder of the worlds was Himself the great Teacher, and His character,
love, was the theme of contemplation. Every lesson was a manifestation
of His power. To illustrate the workings of the laws of His nature, this
Teacher had but to speak, and before the attentive multitudes there stood
the living thing. “He spake, and it was; He commanded, and it stood
fast.”[3]
Angels, and the beings of other worlds in countless numbers, were the
students. The course was to extend through eternity; observations were
carried on through limitless space, and included everything from the
smallest to the mightiest force, from the formation of the dewdrop to the
building of the worlds, and the growth of the mind. To finish the course,
if such an expression is permissible, meant to reach the perfection of
the Creator Himself.
[Sidenote: Angel teachers]
To the angelic host was given a work. The inhabitants of worlds were
on probation. It was the joy of angels to minister to and teach other
creatures of the universe. The law of love was everywhere written; it was
the constant study of the heavenly beings. Each thought of God was taken
by them; and as they saw the workings of His plans, they fell before the
King of kings, crying, “Holy, holy, holy.” Eternity was all too short to
reveal His love.
[Sidenote: Lucifer’s place in the school of Christ]
The Father and Son were often in council. Wrapped together in that glory,
the universe awaited the expression of Their one will. As one of the
covering cherubim, Lucifer stood the first in power and majesty of all
the angelic host. His eye beheld, his ear heard, he knew of all except
the deep counsels which the Father, from all eternity, had purposed in
the Son. “Christ the Word, the only begotten of God, was one with the
eternal Father,—one in nature, in character, in purpose,—the only being
that could enter into all the counsels and purposes of God.... The
Father wrought by His Son in the creation of all heavenly beings. ‘By Him
were all things created, ... whether they be thrones, or dominions, or
principalities, or powers. All things were created by Him, and for Him.’
Angels are God’s ministers, radiant with the light ever flowing from His
presence, and speeding on rapid wing to execute His will. But the Son,
the anointed of God, the ‘express image of His person,’ the ‘brightness
of his glory,’ ‘upholding all things by the word of His power,’ holds
supremacy over them all.” Lucifer, “son of the morning,” who “sealest up
the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty, ... every precious stone
was thy covering.” “Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; I have
set thee so; thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up
and down in the midst of the stones of fire.”[4] He who had hovered over
the throne of God, who had stood on the mount of the congregation in the
sides of the north, and walked up and down among those living stones,
each flashing with electric brightness the glory of reflected light,
looked upon the council, and envied the position of the Son.
[Sidenote: Reason takes the place of faith]
Hitherto all eyes had turned instinctively toward the center of light. A
cloud, the first one known, darkened the glory of the covering cherub.
Turning his eyes inward, he reasoned that he was wronged. Had not he,
Lucifer, been the bearer of light and joy to worlds beyond? Why should
not his might be recognized? “Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day
that thou wast created till iniquity was found in thee.” “Thine heart was
lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason
of thy brightness.”[5] “Thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into
heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: _I_ will sit also
upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will
ascend above the heights of the clouds: I will be like the Most High.”[6]
[Sidenote: Character of the true Teacher]
While Lucifer thus reasoned, Christ, wrapped within the glory of the
Father, was offering His life for the world at its creation. Sin had not
yet entered, the world was not yet created; but as the plans were laid,
the Son had said, “Should sin enter, I am, from this time, one with those
We now create, and their fall will mean My life on earth. Never has My
heart gone out for any creation as I put it into this. Man in his earthly
home shall have the highest expression of Our love, and for him My love
demands that I lay My life beside his in his very creation.” O wondrous
gift! O unselfish love! How could that covering cherub, at the moment
when the Son of God laid down His life, plan on his own exaltation?
Sorrow, the first sorrow that was ever known, filled heaven. The angel
choir was silent; the living stones withheld their shining. The stillness
was felt throughout the universe.
[Sidenote: Creation chooses teachers]
An offer was made to return, but pride now closed the channel. Pity and
admiration for the leader of the hosts led many to feel that God was
unjustly severe. The universe was on trial. “Satan and his sympathizers
were striving to reform the government of God. They wished to look into
His unsearchable wisdom, and ascertain His purpose in exalting Jesus,
and endowing Him with such unlimited power and command.” Those who
before, inspired by love, took God at His word, and found their highest
pleasure in watching the revealings of His love, now put their own minds
in place of God’s word, and reasoned that all was wrong. The unfoldings
of His love, which had meant their very life, now looked but darkness
and despair. God’s wisdom, darkened by placing self between the throne
and them, became foolishness. “All the heavenly host were summoned to
appear before the Father to have each case decided.” “About the throne
gathered the holy angels, a vast, unnumbered throng,—‘ten thousand times
ten thousand, and thousands of thousands,’—the most exalted angels, as
ministers and subjects, rejoicing in the light that fell upon them from
the presence of the Deity.”
[Sidenote: Birth of the rival system of education]
The principles of God’s government were now laid bare: it was nothing
but a great, broad system of educational development, and angelic hosts
then and there decided whether faith in His word would be the standard
of their obedience, or whether finite reason would bear sway. Even
Satan himself was almost won, as the notes of praise resounded through
the domes of heaven; but again pride ruled. Here was born the rival
system,—supreme selfishness facing the utter self-forgetfulness of
Christ, reason over against faith. After long pleadings, and amidst deep
mourning, heaven’s portals opened to close forever upon the one who, with
his followers, turned from light into the darkness of despair.
A new era was ushered in; a controversy was begun. High heaven, with its
eternal principles of love, life, progress, was challenged by a subtle
foe, the father of lies. Deep as is the misery attending the step, yet
coexistent with the downward move was formulated the plan which, after
the lapse of ages, will prove in a greater degree, and manifest eternally
the truth, that “GOD IS LOVE.” The pathway is the way of the cross. It
is a retracing of the mental degradation occasioned by the fall, but the
process is according to the law of the school of heaven,—“according to
your faith.” If ye believe, all things are possible.
III
THE EDENIC SCHOOL
[Sidenote: Creation]
“He spake, and it was; He commanded, and it stood fast.”[7] Forth from
the throne of the Infinite passed the decree, and life flashing out into
space, a world stood forth. Myriads of other worlds, held in their orbits
by the ceaseless power of love, made their circuit about the throne of
God. But one space in the universe had been reserved for the highest
expression of His love, where was to be manifested the depths of this
divine attribute. “And the earth was waste and void; and darkness was
upon the face of the deep.”[8] But even into the darkness His presence
penetrated; and as “the Spirit of God was brooding upon the waters,” He
said, “Let there be light,” and darkness scattered before the word. The
light, reflective of His own being, pleased Him; and He willed that it
should be ever present, accompanying every form of life. The first day’s
work was done,—a day such as the future man would know, and which, even
in his fallen state, would measure off his years.
The second day heard the mandate for the water to separate; and a
third gathered the waters into seas, with the dry land appearing.
And then “God said, Let the earth put forth grass,”—the lowly blade
covering the earth’s nakedness with a robe of living green, itself so
humble, yet a part of His life; for his life-breath formed it, and it
partook of that life. Then came the herbs and lofty trees, each bearing
seed,—self-productive,—for _life is_ reproductive; and as the living
coal kindles a sacred fire, so each tree bore within itself the power
to reproduce its kind. “And God saw that it was good.” Then, that His
own light might ever be the cause of growth, He placed luminaries in the
heavens, each being the reflection of His own countenance. By this should
life be sustained.
Into the moving waters passed the power of life. “God said, Let the
waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let fowl fly above the
earth in the open firmament of heaven.”[9] At His word an abundance of
life filled earth and sky and sea. Every drop of water sustained life;
every square inch of air supported its myriads. And from the mighty
leviathan that sported in the waters to the mote that floated in the
air, all life proclaimed the love of God; and the Creator, viewing with
satisfaction the work of His hand, pronounced each form of life perfect
in its sphere. Each held within its own body the breath of life; each in
its every movement sang hallelujahs to the Maker of the heavens and the
earth.
[Sidenote: Mind—the highest form of creation]
But the work was not yet complete. A mind controlled the universe; and
its powers could be appreciated, its heart-love returned in the fullest
sense, only by mind,—by beings made in the image of God Himself. And so
“God said, Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness.” He can then
hold dominion over the lower orders of creation, and standing to them
as We do to the universe, all nature will see Our power in him. “So God
created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male
and female created He them.”[10]
As if the moment of supreme endeavor had been reached even by God,
He molded the form of clay,—one, only one, in the image of Himself.
He breathed into its nostrils His own breath,—that breath which,
vocalized, moved the worlds; before which angels bowed in adoration. That
all-pervading element of life surged through the mighty frame, the organs
performed their functions, the brain worked; the man Adam stood forth,
strong and perfect; and instead of the piercing wail which now announces
the beginning of a new life, his lips parted, and a song of praise
ascended to the Creator.
Standing by his side was his Elder Brother, Christ, the King of heaven.
Adam felt the thrill of unity and harmony; and while for a “little time
inferior,” yet within him lay the possibilities of attaining greater
heights than angels held. He was to be the companion of God, the perfect
reflection of His light and glory; there was no thought of God that
might not have access to the brain of man. The universe spread out in
panoramic view before him. The earth, newborn, presented untold beauties.
By his side stood his companion, the other half of his own nature, the
two forming a perfect whole. The harmony of thought brought strength and
life; and, as a result of this unity, new beings like themselves would
be brought into existence, until the earth was peopled.
[Sidenote: The Eden home]
God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and from the beauties of the
earth chose the most beautiful spot for the home of the new pair. In the
midst of the garden stood the tree of life, the fruit of which afforded
man a perfect physical food. Beneath its spreading branches God Himself
visited them, and, talking with them face to face, revealed to them the
way of immortality. As they ate of the fruit of the tree of life, and
found every physical want supplied, they were constantly reminded of the
need of the spiritual meat which was gained by open converse with the
Light from heaven. The glory of God surrounded the tree, and enwrapped in
this halo, Adam and Eve spent much time in communing with the heavenly
visitors. According to the divine system of teaching, they were here to
study the laws of God and learn of his character. They “were not only His
children, but students receiving instruction from the all-wise Creator.”
[Sidenote: Subjects taught in the first school on earth]
Angels, beholding the wonders of the new creation, delighted to fly
earthward; and two from the heavenly host, by special appointment, became
the instructors of the holy ones. “They were full of vigor imparted by
the tree of life, and their intellectual power was but little less than
that of the angels. The mysteries of the visible universe—‘the wondrous
works of Him who is perfect in knowledge,’—afforded them an exhaustless
source of instruction and delight. The laws and operations of nature,
which have engaged men’s study for six thousand years, were opened to
their minds by the infinite Framer and Upholder of the universe.
[Sidenote: a. Botany b. Zoology c. Astronomy d. Physics e. Meteorology f.
Mineralogy]
“They held converse with leaf and flower and tree, gathering from each
the secrets of its life. With every living creature, from the mighty
leviathan that playeth among the waters to the insect mote that floats in
the sunbeam, Adam was familiar. He had given to each its name, and he was
acquainted with the nature and habits of all. God’s glory in the heavens,
the innumerable worlds in their orderly revolutions, ‘the balancing of
the clouds,’ the mysteries of light and sound, of day and night,—all were
open to the study of our first parents. On every leaf of the forest or
stone of the mountains, in every shining star, in earth and air and sky,
God’s name was written. The order and harmony of creation spoke to them
of infinite wisdom and power. They were ever discovering some attraction
that filled their hearts with deeper love, and called forth fresh
expressions of gratitude.”
As new beauties came to their attention, they were filled with wonder.
Each visit of the heavenly teachers elicited from the earthly students
scores of questions which it was the delight of the angels to answer;
and they in turn opened to the minds of Adam and Eve principles of
living truth which sent them forth to their daily tasks of pleasure full
of wondering curiosity, ready to use every God-given sense to discover
illustrations of the wisdom of heaven. “As long as they remained loyal
to the divine law, their capacity to know, to enjoy, and to love would
continually increase. They would be constantly gaining new treasures of
knowledge, discovering fresh springs of happiness, and obtaining clearer
and yet clearer conceptions of the immeasurable, unfailing love of God.”
[Sidenote: Method of instruction]
The divine method of teaching is here revealed,—God’s way of dealing with
minds which are loyal to him. The governing laws of the universe were
expounded. Man, as if looking into a picture, found in earth, sky, and
sea, in the animate and inanimate world, the exemplification of those
laws. He believed, and with a heavenly light, which is the reward of
faith, he approached each new subject of investigation. Divine truths
unfolded continually. Life, power, happiness,—these subjects grew with
his growth. The angels stimulated the desire to question, and again led
their students to search for answers to their own questions. At his work
of dressing the garden, Adam learned truths which only work could reveal.
As the tree of life gave food to the flesh, and reminded constantly of
the mental and spiritual food necessary, so manual training added light
to the mental discipline. The laws of the physical, mental, and spiritual
world were enunciated; man’s threefold nature received attention. This
was education, perfect and complete.
The magnetic power about the tree of life held man, filling his senses
with a thrill of delight. Adam and Eve lived by that power, and the
human mind was an open channel for the flow of God’s thought. Rapidly
the character of the Edenic pair was being formed, but strength could
not come from mere automatic action. Freedom to choose God’s company and
spirit was given; and while He wooed them with His tenderest love, He had
placed in the midst of the garden a tree of another sort.
[Sidenote: A lesson in faith]
To the man He said, “Of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou
shalt not eat of it; for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt
surely die.”[11] What was the meaning of this command? As the angel
teachers heard the question from man’s lips, a cloud seemed to dim the
brightness of their glory. Did not Adam feel a strange sensation, as
if the fullness of divine thought was suddenly checked in its course
through his brain? He was preparing himself to accept teachings of a
different character. Then was told the story of the one sorrow heaven
had known,—of the fall of Lucifer, and the darkness it brought to him;
that while he lived, the decree of God was that he could no longer remain
within the walls of Paradise. In low tones it was told how some could not
see the justice of this; that Lucifer had been given the earth as his
present home; that he would use his arts to capture them; but that light
and power had been placed about the tree of life, and remaining true to
the teaching given within the circle of its rays, no evil could overtake
them. “Faith, have faith in God’s word,” said the angel, as he winged his
flight toward heaven.
The word “death” sounded unnatural to human ears, and as they sat
together talking of the angel’s words, a longing to understand filled
their hearts. Fear?—they knew no such word. Was not their Maker _love_?
Eve, wandering from her husband’s side, found, before she knew it, that
she was nearing the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. She stood
gazing from a distance, when from the rich verdure came a voice of
sweetest music:—
“Beautiful woman, made in God’s own image, what can mar thy perfect
beauty? What can stop that life now coursing through thy veins? ‘Hath
God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?... Ye shall not
surely die: for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your
eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods knowing good and evil.’”
Speaking, he plucked and ate. Was this the deceiver? Had she not been
promised a knowledge of all things? Was she not to be with God? Perhaps
this was some new revelation of his goodness. She felt no danger. He ate,
why should not she?
[Sidenote: Effects of doubt]
Her curiosity was aroused, and she was flattered by the words of the
serpent. Instead of fleeing, she argued with him, and attempted to
decide in her own mind between right and wrong. But God had told her
what was right. That moment of indecision, of doubting, was the devil’s
opportunity.
Unable to reach the soul of man by direct means, Satan approached it
through those outer channels, the senses. He had everything to win,
and proceeded cautiously. If man’s _mind_ could be gained, his great
work would be accomplished. To do this he used a process of reasoning—a
method the reverse of that used by the Father in his instruction at the
tree of life. The mind of Eve was strong, and quickly drew conclusions;
hence, when her new teacher said, “If ye eat, ‘ye shall be as gods,’”
in the mind of Eve arose the thought, God has immortality. “Therefore,”
said Satan, “if _ye_ eat, ‘ye shall not surely die.’” The conclusion was
logically drawn, and the world, from the days of Eve to the present time,
has based its religious belief on that syllogism, the major premise of
which, as did Eve, they fail to recognize as false. Why?—Because they
use the mind to decide the truth instead of taking a direct statement
from the Author of wisdom. From this one false premise comes the doctrine
of the natural immortality of man, with its endless variations, some
modern names of which are theosophy, Spiritualism, reincarnation, and
evolution. The sons and daughters of Eve condemn her for the mistake made
six thousand years ago, while they themselves repeat it without question.
It is preached from the pulpit, it is taught in the schoolroom, and its
spirit pervades the thought of every book written whose author is not in
perfect harmony with God and truth. Now began the study of “dialectics,”
so destructive to the Christian’s faith.
[Sidenote: Eve was deceived because she depended upon sense perceptions]
Having accepted the logic of the serpent, and having transferred
her faith from the word of God to the tree of knowledge at Satan’s
suggestion, the woman could easily be led to test the truth of all his
statements by her senses. A theory had been advanced; the experimental
process now began. That is the way men now gain their knowledge, but
their wisdom comes otherwise. She looked upon the forbidden fruit,
but no physical change was perceptible as the result of the misuse of
this sense. This led her to feel more sure that the argument used had
been correct. Her ears were attentive to the words of the serpent, but
she perceived no change as a result of the perverted use of the sense
of hearing. This, to the changing mind of the woman, was still more
conclusive proof that the words of Christ and angels did not mean what
she had at first thought they meant. The senses of touch, smell, and
taste were in turn used, and each corroborated the conclusion drawn by
the devil. The woman was deceived, and through the deception her mind was
changed. This same change of mind may be wrought either by deception or
as a result of false reasoning.
[Sidenote: A change in the mind of Adam]
Eve approached Adam with the fruit in her hand. Instead of answering in
the oft-repeated words of Christ, “In the day that thou eatest thereof
thou shalt surely die,” he took up the logic of the serpent. Having
eaten, his mind was also changed. He who from creation had thought the
thoughts of God, was yielding to the mind of the enemy. The exactness
with which he had once understood the mind of God was exemplified when
he named the animals; for the thought of God which formed the animal
passed through the mind of Adam, and “whatsoever Adam called every living
creature, that _was_ the name thereof.”
[Sidenote: Evidence of a changed mind]
The completeness of the change which took place is seen in the argument
used when God walked in the garden in the cool of the evening. Said Adam,
“The woman gave me to eat. Thou gavest me the woman. Therefore Thou
art to blame.” This was another decidedly logical conclusion, from the
standpoint of the wisdom of the serpent, and it was repeated by Eve,
who laid the blame first on the serpent, and finally on God himself.
Self-justification, self-exaltation, self-worship,—here was the human
origin of the papacy, that power which “opposeth and exalteth itself
above all that is called God.”
[Sidenote: Spiritual death the first result of sin]
The spiritual death which followed the perversion of the senses was
attended, in time, by physical death. Indeed, the fruit had scarcely
been eaten when the attention of the man and his wife was turned toward
externals. The soul, which had enveloped the physical man as a shroud
of light, withdrew, and the physical man appeared. A sense of their
nakedness now appalled them. Something was lacking; and with all the
glory they had known, with all the truths which had been revealed, there
was nothing to take the place of the departed spiritual nature. “Dying,
thou shalt die,” was the decree; and had not the Saviour at this moment
made known to Adam the plan of the cross, eternal death would have been
inevitable.
God, through His instruction, had taught that the result of faith would
be immortal life. Satan taught, and attempted to prove his logic by a
direct appeal to the senses, that there was immortal life in the wisdom
that comes as the result of human reason. The method employed by Satan is
that which men to-day call the natural method, but in the mind of God the
wisdom of the world is foolishness. The method which to the godly mind,
to the spiritual nature, seems natural, is foolishness to the world.
[Sidenote: True education and redemption]
There are but two systems of education,—the one based on what God calls
wisdom, the gift of which is eternal life; the other based on what the
world regards as wisdom, but which God says is foolishness. This last
exalts reason above faith, and the result is spiritual death. That the
fall of man was the result of choosing the false system of education can
not be controverted. Redemption comes through the adoption of the true
system of education.
Re-creation is a change of mind,—an exchange of the natural for the
spiritual. “Be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by
the renewing of your mind.” In order to render such a change possible,
Christ must bruise the head of the serpent; that is, the philosophy of
the devil must be disproved by the Son of God. Christ did this, but in
so doing, his heel, representing his physical nature, was bruised. The
result of the acceptance of the satanic philosophy has been physical
suffering; and the more completely man yields to the system built upon
that philosophy, the more complete is the subjection of the race to
physical infirmities.
[Sidenote: Physical degeneracy]
After the fall, man turned to coarser articles of diet, and his nature
gradually became more gross. The spiritual nature, at first the prominent
part of his being, was dwarfed and overruled until it was but the “small
voice” within. With the development of the physical and the intellectual
to the neglect of the spiritual, have come the evils of modern
society,—the love of display, the perversion of taste, the deformity
of the body, and those attendant sins which destroyed Sodom, and now
threaten our cities. Man became careless in his work also, and the earth
failed to yield her fullness. As a result, thorns and thistles sprang up.
It is not surprising, after following the decline of the race, to find
that the system of education introduced by Christ begins with the
instruction given in the garden of Eden, and that it is based on the
simple law of faith. We better appreciate the gift of Christ when we
dwell upon the thought that while suffering physically, while taking our
infirmities into his own body, He yet preserved a sound mind and a will
wholly subject to the Father’s, that by so doing the philosophy of the
archdeceiver might be overthrown by the divine philosophy.
Again, it is but natural to suppose that when called upon to decide
between the two systems of education, the human and the divine, and
Christian education is chosen, that man will also have to reform his
manner of eating and living. The original diet of man is again made
known, and for his home he is urged to choose a garden spot, away from
crowded cities, where God can speak to his spiritual nature through His
works.
[Sidenote: The false science and death]
God does use the senses of man; but _knowledge_ thus gained becomes
_wisdom_ only when enlightened by the Spirit, the gateway to whose
fountain is opened by the key of faith. Beneath the tree of life
originated the highest method of education,—the plan the world needs
to-day. Beneath the branches of the tree of the knowledge of good and
evil arose the conflicting system, having ever one object in view,—the
overthrow of the eternal principles of truth. Under one guise, then
under another, it has borne sway upon the earth. Whether as Babylonish
learning, Greek philosophy, Egyptian wisdom, the high glitter of papal
pomp, or the more modest but no less subtle workings of modern science,
the results always have been, and always will be, a savor of death unto
death.
[Sidenote: The true science of life]
As was the unassuming life of the Saviour of man when walking the earth
unrecognized by the lordly Pharisees and wise men of his day, so has
been the progress of truth. It has kept steadily on the onward march,
regardless of oppression. Men’s minds, clouded by self-worship, fail to
recognize the voice from heaven. It is passed by as the low mutterings
of thunder at the gate. Beautiful when the Father spoke to his Son,
and the halo of heavenly light encircling eternal truth is explained
by natural causes. Man’s reason is opposed to simple faith, but those
who will finally reach the state of complete harmony with God will have
begun where Adam failed. Wisdom will be gained by faith. Self will have
been lost in the adoration of the great Mind of the universe, and he who
was created in the image of God, who was pronounced by the Master Mind
as “_very good_,” will, after the struggle with sin, be restored to the
harmony of the universe by the simple act of faith.
“If thou canst believe, all things are possible.”
IV
THE HISTORY OF FIFTEEN CENTURIES
As a stone, hurled from some mountain peak, crashes its way toward the
valley beneath, gaining velocity with each foot of descent, until,
wrapped within it, lies a power of destruction unmeasured, so man,
turning from the gate of Paradise, began a downward career which in
intensity and rapidity can be measured only by the height from which he
started.
[Sidenote: Two schools before the flood]
Giant minds held mighty powers in abeyance. Before the strong will of
men of the first ten centuries few forces could stand. As the plane to
which it was possible for him to attain was perfection, so the level to
which he descended was confusion itself. Men’s lives, instead of being
narrowed by the brief span of threescore years and ten, were measured by
centuries; and intellects, mighty by birth, had time as well as power
to expand. The man of seventy was then but a lad, with life and all its
possibilities spread out before him. Adam lived to see his children to
the eighth generation; and when we think that from his own lips Enoch
learned the story of the fall, of the glories of the Eden home; when
we bear in mind that Enoch probably saw this same ancestor laid in the
earth, there to molder to dust, we better understand the relation he
desired to sustain to his God. After a life of three hundred years, in
which, the Sacred Record says, he “walked with God,” earth’s attraction
grew so slight that he himself was taken into heaven. This was less than
sixty years after the death of Adam. Passing beyond the gate of Eden, two
classes of minds developed. Clear and distinct as light from darkness
was the difference between the two. Cain, by exalting his own reasoning
powers, accepted the logic of Satan. Admitting the physical plane to
be the proper basis for living, he lost all appreciation of spiritual
things, and depended wholly upon feeling. True, for a time he adhered to
the form of worship, coming week by week to the gate of Eden to offer
sacrifice; but his eye of faith was blind. When he saw his brother’s
sacrifice accepted, a feeling of hatred sprang up in his breast, and,
raising his hand, he took that brother’s life.
Men are startled at the rapidity of the descent from Edenic purity to a
condition where murder was easy, but it was the natural result of the
educational system chosen by Cain. Reason exalted above faith makes man
like the engine without the governor.
[Sidenote: Character developed in the worldly school]
Murder, however, was but one result of the decision made by Cain. He fled
from the presence of God, and, with his descendants built the cities of
the East. Physical needs predominated, so that the whole attention of
this people was turned to the gratification of fleshly desires. Pride
increased, love of wealth was a ruling passion; the artificial took,
more and more, the place once occupied by the natural. In the place of
God-worship was self-worship, or paganism. This was the religious aspect,
and here are to be found the first worshipers of the sun, the human
progenitors of the modern papacy.
[Sidenote: Affects government]
As there was a change in religion, so there was a change in government.
There could no longer be a theocracy, the father of the family being the
high priest unto God; for God had been lost sight of, and his place was
filled by man himself. Hence, these descendants of Cain flocked together
into cities, where the strong bore rule over the weak, and thus developed
an absolute monarchy, which is perpetuated to-day in the kingdoms of
eastern Asia.
The education which upheld paganism in religion and monarchy in
government was the same as that which in later days controlled Greece,
and is known by us to-day as Platonism. It is but another name for an
education which exalts the mind of man above God, and places human
philosophy ahead of divine philosophy.
[Sidenote: Origin of false philosophy]
The philosophy which was thus exalted,—this science falsely
so-called,—deified nature, and would to-day be known as evolution. You
think the name a modern one. It may be, but the philosophy antedates the
flood, and the schools of those men before the flood taught for truth the
traditions of men as truly as they are taught to-day.
We think, perhaps, that there were no schools then, but that is a
mistake. “The training of the youth in those days was after the same
order as children are being educated and trained in this age,—to love
excitement, to glorify themselves, to follow the imaginations of their
own evil hearts.” Their keen minds laid hold of the sciences; they delved
into the mysteries of nature. They made wonderful progress in inventions
and all material pursuits. But the imaginations of their hearts were only
evil continually.
[Sidenote: City life unfitted minds for truth]
Children educated in the cities had their evil tendencies exaggerated.
The philosophical teaching of the age blotted out all faith; and when
Noah, a teacher of righteousness, raised his voice against the popular
education, and proclaimed his message of faith, even the little children
scoffed at him.
So polluted were the cities that Enoch chose to spend much time in
retired places, where he could commune with God, and where he would
be in touch with nature. At times he entered the cities, proclaiming
to the inhabitants the truth given to him by God. Some listened, and
occasionally small companies sought him in his places of retirement, to
listen to his words of warning. But the influence of early training, the
pressure brought to bear by society, and the philosophy of the schools,
exerted a power too strong to resist, and they turned from the pleadings
of conscience to the old life.
[Sidenote: Antediluvian science teaching was contrary to God’s word]
As Noah told of the coming flood, and as he and his sons continued to
build the ark, men and children derided. “Water from heaven! Ah, Noah,
you may talk of your spiritual insight, but who ever heard of water
coming out of the sky? The thing is an impossibility; it is contrary
to all reason, to all scientific truth, and to all earth’s experience.
You may think such things were revealed to you; but since the days of
our father Adam, no such thing ever happened.” Such statements seemed
true. Generation after generation had looked into a sky undarkened by
storm-clouds. Night after night dew watered the growing plants. Why
should they believe otherwise? They could see no _reason_ for it. To
those antediluvians, the possibility of a flood seemed as absurd as does
its recital as a matter of history to the modern higher critic. It was
out of harmony with men’s senses, hence an impossibility.
The student in the nineteenth century finds in the earth’s crust great
beds of coal, or the remains of monsters which once lived upon the face
of the earth, and he accounts for these by saying that “_time is long_.”
In the words of Dana, “If time from the commencement of the Silurian age
included _forty-eight millions of years_, which _some geologists would
pronounce much too low_ an estimate, the Paleozoic part, according to
the above ratio, would comprise thirty-six millions, the Mesozoic nine
millions, and the Cenozoic three millions.” Modern text-books are filled
with these and related ideas of evolution, which account for the effects
of the flood by gradual changes consuming millions of years.
[Sidenote: An education of sight and not faith]
The Word of God is again laid aside, and man by his own power of
reasoning draws conclusions contrary to the testimony of the Inspired
Record. The theory of evolution is thus substantiated in the human mind;
and as the antediluvians were, by their scientific research and wisdom,
falsely so-called, unfitted to receive the message of the flood, so
people to-day, by pursuing a similar course, are unfitting themselves for
the message of Christ’s appearance in the clouds of heaven. When will man
learn that there are things which eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, and
yet which exist as really as do those _few things_—few compared with the
_many_ in the regions beyond—which fall within our range of vision?
Before the flood, no peal of thunder had ever resounded among the hills,
no lightning had ever played through the heavens. You who to-day have
read the works of earth’s greatest authors, who have delved into the
secrets of science, have you discovered the soul of man? Have you yet
found the golden cord of faith? Should the Almighty question you as He
did His servant Job, how would you pass the examination? To you would
befall the fate of the generation of Noah. Four men built the ark. Such a
thing had never been seen before. “How unshapely,” say they. “How absurd
to think of water standing over the earth _until that will float_!” But
in the ears of the faithful four whispered the still, small voice of God,
and the work went steadily on.
[Sidenote: Flood a result of wrong education]