tian truth but ofttimes subtle de nials and the substitution of either a non-Christian or anti-Christian philosophy of life. To think that our boys and girls must be subjected to such philoso phies in the grades and in high school in order to make them strong when they go to college is like ask ing all the preachers to be familiar with all the sins and unbelief of the world before they enter the ministry. Sometimes those con verted from a life of drunkenness have made strong preachers but certainly this is not God’s ideal plan. Neither is it ideal for boys and girls to be taught unbelief five days a week before they are given a positive reason for their faith. 2) Although up to the present moment the Sunday school has probably been the strongest arm of the church, the Sunday school is unable to perform the gigantic task which should be done in Christian education. Even if we had all our boys and girls in Sunday school every Sunday of the year, even if we did not lose the greater percent age of them before they get to high school (as is the case today) and even if our Sunday schools could
need Christian elementary schools and Christian high,schools for the same reasons that we need Chris tian colleges, then the following principles should be considered very carefully: 1) Christian education is neces sary to impart a definite set of facts — the great doctrines of the Chris tian faith which require long and careful study. The only way to learn is to learn. Joining the church at an early age or listening to the best pastor on the continent can not impart to boys and girls all the information they need concerning God, Christ, the Bible, salvation and daily living. Is there any reason why boys and girls in the elementary school should not know why the Bible is the Word of God? The day is past when “ everybody b e l i e v e s the Bible” to be the Word of God. By the time the average child has fin ished the eighth grade he has al ready been subjected to a non- Christian system of education and in most cases to an anti-Christian system of education. Any parent may check the text books used in grades six to eight to find not only the absence of Chris
must be paid just the same. And there may be no call for a course for which a teacher is employed. Also, athletics thrive best on the thrust of crowd enthusiasm and the more men to pick from, the better the team. Our boys play six-man tackle football, basketball and baseball be sides some track work. They have done well in the California Inter scholastic Federation prep league. Girls play basketball, volleyball, softball and speedball in a local league. In music we match the activities of the public school in vocal con certs and dramatic presentations. Our band is small but is being developed. Since the founding of our coun try, Christian people have always been interested in Christian educa tion for the college age. We are all very much aware of the fact that without Christian c o l l e g e s the church would lose irreparably. It would be diffcult to find any group of Protestants not interested in some Christian college. For gen erations churches have paid regu larly to support these institutions. If we are to conclude that we
Aerial view of high school and junior high operated by the Brethren Church in the Long Beach area. Private schools are costly but in this case church members have given generously and at the same time have increased their missionary budget.
The King's Business/June 1958
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