AFTER HIGH SCHOOL-WHERE? BY IDELLA S1rnEx ("Biola" 1929)
Ai111 : To sho:c• that Christia11 yo 1111 g pco/>lc sl,011ld spc11d 17l'O :rcars if possiblc- 01,c yrnr ccrtai11l_1•- iJ! a Bible l11stit11ic bct,,•cc11 //, c co 111 plctio11 of //, cir l,igl,-scl,ool course a11d their c11trn11ce i11/o llll_\' college or 1111iiocrsity 110/ defi11itcly pledged lo a faiti, i,, //,c f1111da111c11tal positio11s of 1Ta11gclical C/1ristic/}/ify . In Amer ica at the present time we fi nd g r ea t emphas is bein g la id upon th e value of higher education . r\s Ch ri st ia n young people a nd th eir parents conside r the question of whe r e these young peo pl e arc to go fo r furth er aca demic tr a ining, th ey a r c met with a very se ri ous prob lem. On C\' Cry hand they sec young peopl e who ha ve grown up in the Chri st ia n chu r ch, wavering and someti mes utterly r e j ect ing th e essen tia l elements of the ' 'faith of ou r fathers.' ' In the g rea t state univers it ies a nd in many of the co ll eges fo und ed by the Chri st ian church, there is intense antagonism to th e fundamenta l pos iti ons of evange li ca l Chr istianity. This opposition is so powerful and so subtl e that of th e young people who en te r , onl y a very sma ll minority leave ll'ithout hav ing surrencl c r ccl, at least to some extent, to the teachin g ll'hich ,·iti atcs th e ir fa ith and prc ,·cnts their having a strong, vital Ch ri stian expe ri ence. The r e arc some outstanding Chri s ti an co ll eges in which the s tud ent can r ece ive great he lp rathe r than h a rm in hi s Chri sti an expe ri ence. H owever, it is seldom that t hese Chri stian colleges a r c prepared to offe r courses fitting th eir students fo r the more spec ialized voca ti ons. Th e r efore, when st udents mu st turn to uni ve r s iti es o r co ll eges not definitely pl eclgccl to the suppo rt of o ur Chri stian fa ith , they need special pr eparati on along Chri sti an lin es. T o be sur e, there are some except iona l cases-cases of yo ung peop le who by the ir env iron ment and specia l training a r c particularly well-grounclccl in their Chri stian fai th an d are t hcr cfo1-c r eady fo r college . I-l owcvc r, t ha t these except ions arc far more r are than i s usua ll y sup posed is proved by obse rva t ion . In a lmost a ny church one may sec the ve ry young peop le ll'ho ha,·c been outs tanding as sp iritua l leade r s gradua lly los in g the vitality of th eir Ch ri stian testimony . Th e Bibl e In st itutes in Ame ri ca a rc pecul ia rl y fit ted to meet the need of the Christian young man o r you ng woman who wishes to conti nu e hi s o r h er academi c wo rk beyond the com pletion of the high-school course . Th e r e arc certa in genera l adva n tages to be clcri,·ccl fr om taking tll'0 years of B ible In stitute wo rk before ent ra nce into college . The student acq uir es a genera l knoll' lcclgc of the subj ect- matter of th e Bible a nd learns to st udy under t he ill uminat ion of the Holy Spi ri t. T hu s wh en spec ial probl ems a ri se lat<cr in hi s student li fe, he will kno11· \\'here to go in the \Vo rel of Goel to find the portion of the revelation wh ich appl ies to hi s immediat e need . .In attendance at a Bible In s titute the you ng person has the oppo1-tun ity to estab li sh habits of daily p rayer and Bib le study , thu s r ea li zin g in hi s Ii fe a mo r e r ea l fellowsh ip w ith hi s Lord. .-\no t her ach ·antagc in secu ring Chri st ian train ing immediately after high schoo l is t hat the young person of co ll ege age ha s a tremendous infl uence over the you nge r boys a nd g irl s in hi s own church. l f one is teaching a S unday-sc hoo l class of boys o r gi rl s who a r c in thei r ea rl y ado lescent yea r s, th ese yea r s o f se rvi ce may prove to be mo r e fa r - r eachin g in t he ir consequences than late r yea r s of full - time scn· icc would be. Perhaps one of the greatest va lues of spendin g a yea r in a B ible schoo l comes in the mat te r of surr end er . Th e devoti onal lif e in a Bible Ins titu te challenges th e st udent to a complete y ie lcl ccl ness to the ll'il l of Goel . T hose st uden ts who have made a full surr ende r to J es us Chri s t as Lord of their lives a nd \\'ho trust Him daily to hold them to that obed ient at ti tuclc. will have a pu r pose a nd a vision tha t will hold th em steady through a ll the s tr ess of t heir college yea r s. They wi ll seek to uti lize to the fullest th e advantages o ffer ed in their co llege courses, realizing t hat they must be prepa r ed for the most efficient Chr istian li ving . The advantages just cliscussccl compri se benefits of a Bible cou r se which ll'Ou lcl have a ppli ed in any pe ri od of th e hi s to ry o f A me ri can educat ion. They 11· ou lcl a pply even to Chri stian young peop le who expec t to en ter immecli atc ly into business o r some oth e r vocation . T he present s ituat ion in most of our institutions of h ighe r learning makes the need fo r a we ll g r ouncl ecl Chri stian fa ith more urgen t than eve r before. The late teens and ear ly twenties arc the yea r s during which the r eason is deve loping r ap idly. In most incliviclual s t hi s pe ri od of lif e is char acterized by doubt mo r e or less disturbing to on e's Chri st ia n faith. Hon es t doubt \l'hich seeks open-minded ly to know the truth is not to be con cl emnccl . In the lif e of th e you ng person who is tru ly bo rn again, thi s pe ri od of doubt can be a g reat bless ing, and out of the st rugg le wil l eme rge a fa r s tr onge r Chri s tian fa ith . H owever, if at thi s peri od of hi s lif e he is complete ly und er influences which seek to tear clown hi s fa ith, e ithe r hi s fellows hip \l'ith Goel will cease for a time, o r he will be unhappy because he feels t ha t h e is cling ing to a fa ith that has no justifi ca t ion inte ll ect ually. Chri st ian yo ung peop le p laced in such circumsta nce s n eed t o be shown that t he evange li ca l Chri s ti a n faith can stand the test of t he st rongest a rgument s t hat can be bro ught aga in st it. 35
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