T h e K i n g ’ s
B u s i n e s s
284
May 1928
Faith of our Mothers, living faith, W e will be true to thee till death. Faith of our Mothers, lavish faith, The fount of childhood’s'trust and grace, O, may thy consecration prove The well-spring of a nobler race; • Faith of our Mothers, lavish faith, W e will be true to thee till death. Faith of our Mothers, guiding faith For youthful longing—youthful doubt, How blurred our vision, blind our way Thy providential care without; Faith of our Mothers, guiding faith, W e will be true to thee till death. Faith o f our Mothers, Christian faith, In truth beyond our man-made creeds, Still Serve the home and save the church, And breathe thy spirit through our deeds: Faith o f our Mothers, Christian faith, W e will be true to thee till death.
And as I hear my child’s amen, My mother’s faith comes back to me—- Crouched at her side I seem to be, And mother holds my hands again. Oh, for an hour in that dear place— Oh, for the peace o f that dear time— Oh, for that childish trust sublime—• Oh, for the glimpse of mother’s face! Yftt as the shadows round me c r e e p ;« I do not seem to be alone- - Sweet magic o f that treble tone And “ Now I lay me down to sleep!”
My young reader, if you had a Christian mother, your mother’s God and your mother’s Saviour must be yours if you ever meet her again. A . B. Patten did well when he wrote new words for the old hymn “ Faith o f Our Fathers.” Here they, ponder them deeply—PH
Faith of our Mothers, living yet In cradle song and bedtime prayer, In nursery love and fireside lore, Thy presence still pervades the a ir;
Christian Education and the Bible B y M iss F lorence M. C haffee (An Anniversary Conference Lecture)
NE o f the acute questions, on which workers in, Christian Education are divided and concern ing which there is much misunderstanding and short thinking, is the place of the Bible in the , curriculum. Regarding this question there are coming to be three fairly well-defined attitudes. On one extreme is the attitude that says that we are teaching the Bible and nothing else. It doesn’t matter how we teach it—whether it is adapted to the particular age or needs, whether the life and experiences out of which it came and the way it has worked out in human life and history are really understood,.or whether it is so con nected with the everyday life of the pupil that it becomes vital and dynamic and living to him. It doesn’t matter, either, that the pupil understand the actual history o f how we got the Book and the wonderful way in which it has been preserved and has come down to us. The one idea is to teach the Bible and certain theories which have grown up around it, for the sake of the. Bible, and that the Book may not be lost to the world. • On the other extreme is the attitude o f certain people many o f whom feel they have suffered by such teaching. They say, “ No, you are all wrong; you aren’t teaching the Bible, but the child.’’- They further claim that “ these religious conceptions drawn from the life o f an ancient people and from times very unlike our own” are not what the child needs. They say we must use material more suited to his interests, to the characteristics o f the various ages through which he passes and to the life he is living here and now. They admit that some o f Biblical material is necessary but hold that it should not occupy such a prominent and exclusive place. Some of the people in this group have gone to such an extreme that about the only way the Bible is brought into their teaching is by way o f illustration and in a few fine memory passages.
Fortunately there is a third attitude, and here is where We take our stand. W e agree with the people o f the second group that it is the child we are teaching and his interests which we should further. And let me say that we do not share the concern of some that the Bible would be lost or changed except for our efforts to defend it. The Bible is God’s Word. It has endured through all the,ages, cen turies before we were born, in spite of the most bitter opposition and persecution, and it will endure as long as the world stands. “ Forever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven,” and it doesn’t depend upon our efforts to keep it there. W e don’t need to defend the Bible, but we do need to study it, understand it, teach it, love it and live it. T he B ible A lone F its T he N eed They tell us we must find material best suited to the child’s needs, and interests and life. Looking about us from that point of view, we are driven surely and inevit ably to the Bible. As we look at it with only the pupil in mind we find that in no place in all literature is there teach ing material that can compare with it in richness. As to the necessity of touching the everyday life and interests, the Book throbs with life from beginning to end. Prac tically all its great truths are given in terms o f man’s experience with God and with his fellow man. Its great principles and teachings and experiences do not belong exclusively to an ancient day, but are timeless. Moreover, it has the greatest abundance and variety and finest quality of material just suited to each age. This fact, to me, is one of the great proofs of the inspiration of the Scrip tures. God made human life and put His laws into it. He made the characteristics o f each age— the child, the boy or girl, the youth. He gave the Book and wrote His laws and lessons in that. As we study the child and study the
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