Education

The True Object of Education

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Recently, I was reading in the book Patriarchs and Prophets, specifically in the chapter “The Schools of the Prophets.” On the opening page of the chapter, I had written: “This is an incredible chapter, especially from page 594 and onward!”

Because it had been several years since I had written the note or read the chapter, I was excited to reread it to determine why I had made such an enthusiastic note.

The first thing I had highlighted was an outline of the subjects taught in the schools of the prophets.

  • The duty of prayer
  • How to pray
  • How to approach their Creator
  • How to exercise faith in Him
  • How to understand the teachings of His Spirit
  • How to obey the teachings of His Spirit.

How wonderful it would be if these same subjects were taught in today’s schools.

Reading further in the chapter, I found an outline of the subjects NOT impressed on the minds of young people today.

  • The justice of God
  • The mercy of God
  • The beauty of holiness
  • The sure reward of right-doing
  • The heinous character of sin
  • The certainty of the terrible results of sin

This golden truth followed:

“The true object of education is to restore the image of God in the soul. Sin has marred and well-nigh obliterated the image of God in man. It was to restore this that the plan of salvation was devised, and a life of probation was granted to man. To bring him back to the perfection in which he was first created is the great object of life—the object that underlies every other.

“Were this principle given the attention which its importance demands, there would be a radical change in some of the current methods of education.

“… a knowledge of God is the foundation of all true education. …

“As an educating power the Bible is without a rival. In the word of God, the mind finds subject for the deepest thought, the loftiest aspiration. The Bible is the most instructive history that men possess. It came fresh from the fountain of eternal truth, and a divine hand has preserved its purity through all the ages. It lights up the far-distant past, where human research seeks vainly to penetrate.” Ibid., 595, 596

I cannot work toward the restoration of the image of God in my character if I don’t know His attributes.

I have a great passion for national parks. I have lived or worked in them for over 50 years, and during that time, I was very much a worldling. As a consequence, when I began searching to develop and strengthen my relationship with God, I brought with me all of the erroneous teachings of modern-day geologists regarding the age of the earth and their explanations of the 200-million-year-old nonsense about the creation of mountains, plains, oceans, and heavenly bodies. However, after studying the Scriptures and inspired writings, I more clearly understood how these magnificent features had been formed. As Inspiration states, “All true science is but an interpretation of the handwriting of God in the material world.” Ibid., 66

“In God’s word, we behold the power that laid the foundation of the earth and that stretched out the heavens.” Ibid., 598

Once I understood the reality of the Flood, how the Grand Canyon had formed became vibrantly clear. Once I read about the fountains of the great deep breaking up, I understood how the lofty mountains and vast oceans had formed. Once I read about the drying up of the Flood, I was able to comprehend this statement:

“The entire surface of the earth was changed at the Flood. A third dreadful curse rested upon it in consequence of sin. As the water began to subside, the hills and mountains were surrounded by a vast, turbid sea. Everywhere were strewn the dead bodies of men and beasts. The Lord would not permit these to remain to decompose and pollute the air, therefore He made of the earth a vast burial ground [oil deposits?]. A violent wind which was caused to blow for the purpose of drying up the waters, moved them with great force, in some instances even carrying away the tops of the mountains and heaping up trees [coal deposits?], rocks, and earth above the bodies of the dead. By the same means the silver and gold [gold mines?], the choice wood and precious stones [petrified wood and rich ore deposits?], which had enriched and adorned the world before the Flood, and which the inhabitants had idolized, were concealed from the sight and search of men, the violent action of the waters piling earth and rocks upon these treasures, and in some cases even forming mountains above them. God saw that the more He enriched and prospered sinful men, the more they would corrupt their ways before Him. The treasures that should have led them to glorify the bountiful Giver had been worshiped, while God had been dishonored and despised.

“The earth presented an appearance of confusion and desolation impossible to describe. The mountains, once so beautiful in their perfect symmetry, had become broken and irregular. Stones, ledges, and ragged rocks were now scattered upon the surface of the earth. In many places hills and mountains had disappeared, leaving no trace where they once stood; and plains had given place to mountain ranges. These changes were more marked in some places than in others. Where once had been earth’s richest treasures of gold, silver, and precious stones, were seen the heaviest marks of the curse. And upon countries that were not inhabited, and those where there had been the least crime, the curse rested more lightly.

“At this time immense forests were buried. These have since been changed to coal, forming the extensive coal beds that now exist, and also yielding large quantities of oil. The coal and oil frequently ignite and burn beneath the surface of the earth. Thus rocks are heated, limestone is burned, and iron ore melted. The action of the water upon the lime adds fury to the intense heat, and causes earthquakes, volcanoes, and fiery issues. As the fire and water come in contact with ledges of rock and ore, there are heavy explosions underground, which sound like muffled thunder. The air is hot and suffocating. Volcanic eruptions follow; and these often failing to give sufficient vent to the heated elements, the earth itself is convulsed, the ground heaves and swells like the waves of the sea, great fissures appear, and sometimes cities, villages, and burning mountains are swallowed up. These wonderful manifestations will be more and more frequent and terrible just before the second coming of Christ and the end of the world, as signs of its speedy destruction.” Ibid., 107, 108

In addition to this wonderful explanation of the earth’s features—an explanation that seems to have completely escaped the knowledge of so-called learned men—the Bible presents a look into mankind’s history.

“Here only can we find a history of our race unsullied by human prejudice or human pride. Here are recorded the struggles, the defeats, and the victories of the greatest men this world has ever known. Here the great problems of duty and destiny are unfolded. The curtain that separates the visible from the invisible world is lifted, and we behold the conflict of the opposing forces of good and evil, from the first entrance of sin to the final triumph of righteousness and truth; and all is but a revelation of the character of God. In the reverent contemplation of the truths presented in His word, the mind of the student is brought into communion with the infinite mind. Such a study will not only refine and ennoble the character, but it cannot fail to expand and invigorate the mental powers.” Ibid., 596

All of this wonderous knowledge results from the revelation of God’s character and His plan for the education and salvation of man. Inspiration states, “There is no position in life, no phase of human experience for which the teaching of the Bible is not an essential preparation.” Ibid., 600

The chapter concludes with this beautiful passage:

“Day by day the wonderful works of God, the evidences of His wisdom and power in creating and sustaining the universe, the infinite mystery of love and wisdom in the plan of redemption, will open to the mind in new beauty. ‘Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him.’ 1 Corinthians 2:9. Even in this life we may catch glimpses of His presence and may taste the joy of communion with Heaven, but the fullness of its joy and blessing will be reached in the hereafter. Eternity alone can reveal the glorious destiny to which man, restored to God’s image, may attain.” Ibid., 602

May we all enjoy that “glorious destiny”!

John R. Pearson is the office manager and a board member of Steps to Life. He may be contacted by email at johnpearson@stepstolife.org

The Education That We Need

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Today, universal education in highly-developed countries is taken for granted. However, this has not always been the case everywhere. Over the centuries, access to education has evolved, and the influence of Christianity on this matter has been significant and continues to be. Let’s begin with the fact that according to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, every child has the right to education. However, for many, education remains a privilege. In 2021 alone, 244 million children and adolescents aged 6 to 18 worldwide still did not attend school.1 If you cannot read, write, and count, you are condemned to extreme poverty. Your life then becomes a cycle of endless misery in every dimension of human existence. We can only imagine how radically the lives of these children would change if they acquired the basic skills of reading, writing, and arithmetic. Universal and free access to elementary education has the power to transform the most impoverished societies. There is no doubt that education helps eliminate poverty by giving people a chance for a better life. Why?

The Importance of Education

By developing critical and logical thinking skills, education helps us make sound decisions and enhances our communication skills through learning to read, write, speak, and listen. Education undoubtedly contributes to personal development, enabling us to acquire the knowledge, skills, and competencies necessary to achieve our goals. Through education, we better understand the laws governing the world, which in turn allows us to learn how to change and improve it. A goal of education is to assist individuals in coping with life and making a contribution to society. School is not only a place where we acquire knowledge but also where we form our first friendships, learn social norms, cooperation, empathy, and respect for others. It is where we learn to solve problems, communicate effectively, and work in teams. Thanks to education, we learn to be responsible citizens and actively participate in social life. If we understand education in such a broad sense as upbringing, which encompasses both shaping a person’s character and imparting knowledge, then we cannot overstate the role of education in shaping a civil society.

A More Just World

Educational access is unquestionably one of the most critical factors in creating more aware and socially just human communities. The universality of education for the weakest and poorest, who are at the bottom of any given society, certainly influences the improvement of the entire society. Therefore, it’s not surprising that education today is primarily associated and linked with financial security, success, and stability. A better-educated society contributes to national economic growth. Hence, we can say that the level of social development depends on the educational level of society.

Education according to the Greeks

For the Greeks, man was at the center of their thinking about the world. Therefore, the Greeks understood human education as the improvement of the individual. In upbringing, it was important to shape a person’s character so that he could fulfill his public role as best as possible. The good of the individual and the good of the community appeared to the Greeks as inseparable.2 Today, in secular systems of universal education in countries broadly defined as the West, education is primarily focused on knowledge transmission. The emphasis has shifted towards the universality of teaching, while upbringing has been delegated to religion and the family. The question remains whether education based solely on the transmission of knowledge is sufficient for the individual and society.

Disrupted Balance

Today, most educational systems in Western civilization are secular. God has been pushed outside the scope of education. Ellen White accurately writes about the need to maintain balance in education: “The laws obeyed by the earth reveal the fact that it is under the masterly power of an infinite God. The same principles run through the spiritual and the natural world. Divorce God and His wisdom from the acquisition of knowledge, and you have a lame, one-sided education, dead to all the saving qualities which give power to man, so that he is incapable of acquiring immortality through faith in Christ.”3 The pioneers of Adventism understood this principle well; therefore, Adventists began developing education based on biblical values, where individuals were to develop their full potential for the benefit of society and the church, while simultaneously cultivating their relationship with God. Today, Adventism can boast “the second-largest parochial school system in the world, with more than 7,500 schools in nearly 150 countries serving 1.5 million students. Local schools operate under the umbrella of Adventist education, so even the smallest schools are part of a worldwide network of dedicated educators and Bible-based curriculum.”4

The Beginnings of Education in the Western World

Christian education emerged in the early Middle Ages, following the fall of the Roman Empire. During the medieval era, the Roman Catholic Church became a total institution, aiming to subordinate all spheres of human life to itself. This naturally extended to education. Education was monopolized by the Catholic clergy, starting from the lowest-level schools and extending to universities. Medieval schools were cosmopolitan in the sense that Latin was the universally used language, and there was a lack of attachment to matters related to a particular country or region. Catholic clergy were primarily associated with the papacy rather than with the country in which they worked. Hence, all schools in Europe had very similar programs, limited to the teaching of Latin, the Catholic religion, occasionally grammar, rhetoric, and dialectics [the art of investigating or discussing the truth of opinions].5

The Innovativeness of Reformation Education

The reformers and scholars of that era accurately sensed that the relationship between humanity and divinity, as well as among fellow humans, can only undergo positive change through education. The logical conclusion may be that no change on a social, political, or institutional level may be achieved unless preceded by a similar change in intellectual and spiritual education.6 The reformers recognized the relationship between solidifying the principles of the Reformation and the reform of education. Schools were not to be primarily used to propagate new religious ideas, but above all, they should reflect Reformation theology, which was to manifest itself in a new pedagogy.7 Undoubtedly innovative was Martin Luther’s approach, who advocated for compulsory elementary education for boys and girls from all social classes.8 According to him, everyone should be able to read the Bible, which is the sole standard of Christian doctrine and practice. It was not only important to possess the skill of reading biblical texts but also to study and interpret them.

New Teaching Methods

The reformers, aware that Reformation theology must have consequences for education, initiated a great breakthrough in education, including methods, curricula, and above all, the universality of education for all members of society. Medieval education and Catholic schools had entirely different goals from the new Protestant schools because they had a completely different model of human beings. Protestant schools differed fundamentally in three main spheres where they introduced innovative, humanistic solutions. These were the following:

School organization, school curricula, and teaching methods. In the 16th century, national consciousness and a sense of national sovereignty began to form, and this was evident in schools, in their organization and curricula.

It was also evident in the emphasis on the universality of teaching and, of course, in the use of national languages ​​rather than Latin in teaching.

Children of both townspeople and peasants largely attended these schools.9

Reformation education recognizes the child

Martin Luther criticized the traditional schools where singing and prayer prevailed, and education amounted to reading and memorizing certain content. Luther advocated for explanation to become the fundamental teaching category in Christian schools. Debates and scientific discussions, for which students had to prepare in advance, were most often organized. The incredibly innovative approach of Protestant schools is manifested in the belief of Protestant educators in the child’s intellect, starting from the youngest child who begins to learn in school. The teacher was supposed to help develop the child’s abilities, guide, and assist, but often, reaching conclusions was left to the students themselves.10 Another great reformer and educator, known as the father of modern pedagogy, Jan Amos Comenius, wrote the first book specifically for children—Orbis Sensualium Pictus (Picture of the Sensual World)—in which he used pictures to explain the names of phenomena, objects, and ideas. Comenius’ views were on a large scale realized only at the beginning of the 19th century. In the spirit of the Reformation, a new ideal of a debating society is created, in which the subjectivity and responsibility of the individual, including the child, are taken seriously.11 It is impossible to resist the thought that the subjective approach to the child is also a return to the words of Jesus: “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them, for of such is the kingdom of God.” Mark 10:14. The leap from medieval schools run by the Catholic Church was therefore immense.

The Counter-Reformation

The Catholic Church, aware of the advancements of the Reformation, established the Jesuit order in the 16th century, with the aim of combating the Protestant Reformation. Since then, nothing has changed. Just as the Reformation did not end and continues still, so too does the Counter Reformation persist. The Jesuit order pledged absolute obedience to the papacy, serving as the papal police and intelligence service. The pope entrusted them [the Jesuits] to Catholic kings and princes as confessors and advisors, which allowed them to engage in extensive intrigue. The order, in every country, inherently sided with forces whose victory could ensure triumph over the Reformation. In Protestant states, the order called for resistance to authority, while in Catholic ones (where part of the population was Protestant), it advocated for absolutism. Understanding the importance of education in shaping the minds of young people and future generations, the Jesuits sought to take over education at all levels.12

Education in the Hands of the Jesuits

In Poland, where the Reformation was dynamically developing, education was destroyed by the Jesuits through political intrigues, incitement to unrest, and social disturbances. When the Jesuits achieved their goal—limiting the rights and freedoms of Protestants—they dominated the entire educational system, through which they exerted enormous influence on the development of the nation and the state. The Jesuits acted in the same way in other countries. Future political elites of all Catholic countries were educated in Jesuit schools, ensuring the indoctrination of future kings and popes. Since the Counter Reformation, little has changed. The order still operates in secrecy and through intrigue. Not without reason, this order has been expelled from many countries throughout its history. In addition to overt Jesuits, there are individuals indoctrinated by them working at numerous universities or belonging to their schools. It must be acknowledged that the Jesuits possess one of the largest education systems in the world. It may be shocking to see the number of politicians or political advisors who were educated at Jesuit universities, such as Georgetown University. As a result, the order still has a huge influence on political elites and the shaping of state policies.13

The Legacy of the Reformation in Education

Great Britain exported Protestantism to its colonies worldwide, deeply shaping their educational systems as well. Here, too, Protestants introduced mass education, including formal education for women. As early as 1647, in Massachusetts, a law was enacted mandating the establishment of schools in every major settlement. Children were required to learn to read in English so they could read the Bible daily. In this way, education became compulsory and widespread for girls as well by the mid-17th century, which was rare in Europe at that time.14 The educational reforms and the advancement of science prepared the United States to assume the role of a global power at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. It’s worth noting that Protestant missionaries in the British colonies were the first to provide education beyond the basic level. As a result of these reforms, enrollment rates in schools were significantly higher than in Catholic colonies. According to an international study conducted by a researcher from the University of Bath (UK), the enduring historical legacy of Protestantism still has a significant, positive impact on enrollment rates in secondary schools worldwide.15

The Prussian education model yesterday and today

The compulsory system of universal education in Europe emerged in the 19th century in Prussia. The Prussian system aimed to produce obedient and compliant citizens. Typical of the Prussian education model is the division into lessons for specific fields of knowledge, the ringing of bells, and examinations. Indeed, Prussia addressed the issue of illiteracy. At that time, it was an extremely innovative system. However, many of the principles of the Prussian education system still function in modern schools, even though more than 200 years have passed. Goals and opportunities have changed. Today, just a few clicks give us access to encyclopedic knowledge. There have also been new studies on how our brains work. We now know that a strict division into subjects may not be necessary, and the passive transmission of knowledge may prove ineffective, while using exams as a motivation for learning may result in forgetting the material shortly after the test. Our brains prefer novelty and utility. The Prussian model does not take this into account. Today’s school should develop skills in effective communication, cooperation, critical thinking, and creativity.16

Problems and Challenges

Contemporary education faces numerous problems for which there are no easy answers. Schools often prove ineffective for various categories of students, leading to an increasing gap between children from affluent families, who achieve better academic results, and other children, especially those from impoverished families and minority groups. Today’s education system also perpetuates social divisions, shifting the blame for lack of success onto the individual, often the child, rather than the existing social order. Furthermore, modern education promotes a race to accumulate more and more diplomas, just to be able to function in a rapidly-changing society. One can often get the impression that the current education system is an industry that churns out cogs well-suited to the existing socio-economic system. Another issue is the excessive transmission of knowledge, which is rather ineffective and wastes students’ time: historical dates of battles, the structure of a tardigrade, or the vastness of chemical reactions of elements. Today’s schools rarely teach practical vocational skills, and fail to foster critical thinking and creativity. Secular education offers no chance for the development of one’s own spirituality, sensitivity to beauty, understanding of differences, and the ability to advocate for a particular worldview.

Towards Better Education

In the current rapidly-changing world, which is becoming increasingly complex, we need to continually reform education. What worked in the 16th or 19th centuries cannot automatically be expected to work in the 21st century. We need engaged and holistic education that takes into account the latest knowledge about how the brain works while also addressing the needs of every individual inscribed by God in the human heart. The foundation of such education should always be the Bible, whether we’re talking about Adventist education or secular education. Whether one is educated in a public school or at a university, let the Bible be the basis of all education, even if it is not included in the curriculum. Ellen White eloquently writes: “God opens the understanding of men in a marked manner if His words are brought into the practical life of the student, and the Bible is recognized as the precious, wonderful book that it is. Nothing is to come between this book and the student as more essential; for it is that wisdom which, brought into the practical life, makes men wise through time and through eternity. God is revealed in nature; God is revealed in His word. The Bible is the most wonderful of all histories, for it is the production of God, not of the finite mind. It carries us back through the centuries to the beginning of all things, presenting the history of times and scenes which would otherwise never have been known. It reveals the glory of God in the working of His providence to save a fallen world. It presents in the simplest language the mighty power of the gospel, which, received, would cut the chains that bind men to Satan’s chariot.”17

Endnotes:

1  https://world-education-blog.org/2022/09/01/new-measurement-shows-that-244-million-children-and-youth-are-out-of-school/, accessibility: 13.03.2024

2  J.Filek, Rola edukacji w kształtowaniu społeczeństwa obywatelskiego, Prakseologia 145/2005, p. 44

3  E. G. White, Fundamentals of Christian Education, p. 375

4  https://adventisteducation.org/who, accessibility: 14.03.2024

5  https://forumewangelickie.eu/index.php/swiecka-codziennosc/184-nowatorstwo-szkol-protestanckich-w-okresie-reformacji-xvi-xvii-w, accessibility: 17.03.2024

6  M. Androne, The Influence of the Protestant Reformation on Education, Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences 137/2014, p. 81

7  B. Milerski, Pedagogiczne dziedzictwo protestantyzmu, Gdański rocznik ewangelicki, vol. VI/2012, p. 189

8  https://phys.org/news/2018-09-protestantism.html, accessibility: 17.03.2024

9  https://forumewangelickie.eu/index.php/swiecka-codziennosc/184-nowatorstwo-szkol-protestanckich-w-okresie-reformacji-xvi-xvii-w, accessibility: 17.03.2024

10            Ibiden, accessibility: 17.03.2024

11            B. Milerski, Pedagogiczne dziedzictwo protestantyzmu, Gdański rocznik ewangelicki, vol. VI/2012, pp. 189, 192

12            J. Dunkel, Apokalipsa, Orion plus 2001, p. 61

13            https://biblia-odchwaszczona.webnode.page/news/po-owocach-ich-poznacie-ewangelia-mateusza-7-20/,  accessibility: 17.03.2024

14            R. Rybkowski, Polityka Pomocnik Historyczny, 10/2013, p. 111

15            https://brill.com/view/journals/coso/17/5/article-p641_6.xml, accessibility: 18.03.2024

16            https://strefaedukacji.pl/szkola-dawniej-i-dzis-kiedy-narodzil-sie-pruski-system-edukacji-i-dlaczego-wciaz-ksztalcimy-w-nim-dzieci/ar/c5-16817225,  accessibility: 18.03.2024

17            E.G. White, Fundamentals of Christian Education, p. 376

Marcin Watras lives in Katowice, Poland. He is interested in the philosophy of religion and trends in society. He works for the European Union.

Education and Career Choices

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For us to find direction in education and career choices in today’s world, we must first understand the intrinsic nature of the Christian religion. The Christian religion is, in a superlative sense, both a spiritual and an intellectual religion.

Concerning the spiritual nature of Christianity, Ellen White wrote, “We need spiritual eyesight now as never before, that we may see afar off, and that we may discern the snares and designs of the enemy, and as faithful watchmen proclaim the danger. We need spiritual power that we may take in, as far as the human mind can, the great subjects of Christianity, and how far-reaching are its principles.” The Home Missionary, November 1, 1893.

“All professions of Christianity are but lifeless expressions of faith until Jesus imbues the believer with his spiritual life, which is the Holy Ghost.” The Spirit of Prophecy, vol. 3, 242.

“Unless the mind is constantly exercised in obtaining spiritual knowledge and in seeking to understand the mystery of godliness, it is incapable of appreciating eternal things, because it has no experience in that direction. This is the reason why religion, by nearly all is considered up-hill business.” Pamphlet 098, 11, 12. [Emphasis added.]

Intellectual Christianity

Concerning the intellectual nature of Christianity, Mrs. White wrote, “The truths of the divine word can be best appreciated by an intellectual Christian. Christ can be best glorified by those who serve Him intelligently.” Testimonies, vol. 3, 160.

Although comparatively few people become intellectual Christians, it is God’s will for all to become intellectual Christians and for this to occur during childhood and youth: “It is the precious privilege of children and youth to yield their minds to the control of the Spirit of God and become intellectual Christians.” Lift Him Up, 91.

“All whom God has endowed with reasoning powers may become intellectual Christians.” The Medical Missionary, May 1, 1892. A similar statement was published in an article that Mrs. White wrote for the March 8, 1887, issue of Review and Herald.

“Jesus would have us learn in his school that we may become intellectual Christians.” The Signs of the Times, February 14, 1878.

“The greatest work of the teacher is to lead those under his charge to be intellectual Christians.” Manuscript Releases, vol. 1, 322.

Especially are the above facts true for any young person who wishes to prepare for full-time service in any branch of God’s closing work on earth, whether it be the gospel ministry, medical missionary work, literature work, Christian education, or work in one of the Lord’s institutions or a local church.

Spiritual Power Also

The minister, for example is constantly to increase in spiritual power. (See Review and Herald, January 21, 1902.) Not only this, but the minister is constantly to increase in intellectual power: “Nearly every minister in the field, had he exerted his God-given energies, might not only be proficient in reading, writing, and grammar, but even in languages. It is essential for them to set their aim high. But there has been but little ambition to put their powers to the test to reach an elevated standard in knowledge and in religious intelligence.

“Our ministers will have to render to God an account for the rusting of the talents He has given to improve by exercise. They might have done tenfold more work intelligently had they cared to become intellectual giants. Their whole experience in their high calling is cheapened because they are content to remain where they are. Their efforts to acquire knowledge will not in the least hinder their spiritual growth if they will study with right motives and proper aims.” Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, 194.

Because of the nature of the Christian religion, we find that wherever Christianity developed in the world, in that place there were also developed schools for educational training. A Christian school was developed in Antioch, and schools were established in India, Africa, and Europe.

So, the first thing to understand about education and career choices is that God wants us to become strong both spiritually and intellectually. This will require us to obtain the educational training that the providence of God makes it possible for us to acquire. In my own family, when my grandparents became Seventh-day Adventists, the result was that even though they were not highly educated, all their children did become highly educated. This is also why Seventh-day Adventists, in general, are more highly educated than the average population. This is as it should be.

The problem comes, however, when we obtain the wrong kind of education, which eventually results in the children of Adventist parents, in the third or fourth or fifth generation, going right back into the worldly life from which their grandparents or great-grandparents came to become Seventh-day Adventists. Both Adventist and non-Adventist authors have amply documented this fact. (See, for example, The Fat Lady and the Kingdom: Confronting the Challenge of Change and Secularization, by George R. Knight, Adventist Book Center New Jersey, 1995, or Seeking a Sanctuary: Seventh-day Adventism and the American Dream, by Malcolm Bull and Keith Lockhart, Indiana University Press, 2006.) This fact also, in a great measure, explains the fact that every heaven inspired revival and reformation movement for the past 2,000 years has been dominated mainly by the common people, and relatively few highly educated people became part of it.

Common People

In Jesus’ day, it was the common people: “The common people heard him gladly.” Mark 12:37. In the days of the apostle Paul, it was the same. (See 1 Corinthians 1.)

In the time of the sixteenth century reformation, it was the same. The papal system for education made the following demand in Holland during the time of the reformation: “We forbid all lay persons to converse or dispute concerning the Holy Scriptures, openly or secretly, especially on any doubtful or difficult matters, or to read, teach, or expound the Scriptures, unless they have duly studied theology and have been approved by some renowned university.” E. A. Sutherland, Studies in Christian Education, The Rural Press, Madison, Tennessee, 1915, 97.

The historian also relates what happened: “To the ineffable disgust of the conservatives in church and state here were men with little education, utterly devoid of Hebrew, of lowly station—hatters, curriers, tanners, dyers and the like—who began to preach, remembering unreasonably, perhaps, that the early disciples selected by the Founder of Christianity had not all been doctors of theology with diplomas from renowned universities.” Ibid.

It was the same in the second advent movement during the nineteenth century. Most of the converts were from the common people, because the educational systems were so corrupted with false philosophy (see Colossians 2) that by the time people became highly educated, they, first of all, were not of a mind-set to accept unpopular Bible truth, and, secondly, they were often mentally and spiritually incapable of doing so. A person who is not spiritual cannot understand spiritual things. (See 1 Corinthians 2.)

This also explains why, today, the vast majority in the revival and reformation movement in the second advent movement are from the common people; only a very few highly educated people are involved. The entire tenor and philosophy and training of the educational experience of many has prepared them to stay with well-established and highly developed organizations or philosophical groups, and when God leads His people farther out of and away from either Egypt or Babylon, they are unprepared, unwilling, and even unable to walk into new territory where their fathers have not been.

The Relationship

Ellen White explains the relationship between education, the inability to be part of a revival and reformation movement—when God is leading His people into new territory—and the failure to be able to distinguish between truth and error as follows:

“For ages education has had to do chiefly with the memory. This faculty has been taxed to the utmost, while the other mental powers have not been correspondingly developed. Students have spent their time in laboriously crowding the mind with knowledge, very little of which could be utilized. The mind thus burdened with that which it cannot digest and assimilate is weakened; it becomes incapable of vigorous, self-reliant effort, and is content to depend on the judgment and perception of others. . . .

“The education that consists in the training of the memory, tending to discourage independent thought, has a moral bearing which is too little appreciated. As the student sacrifices the power to reason and judge for himself, he becomes incapable of discriminating between truth and error, and falls an easy prey to deception. He is easily led to follow tradition and custom.” Education, 230.

Anyone who has, for example, studied the history of Nazi Germany should know that the Nazis were very successful in getting highly educated people to follow their agenda. The above statement from the book Education explains why that was so.

This fact will be with us until the end of time, and it will help us to understand what will happen in the very last days:

“The days are fast approaching when there will be great perplexity and confusion. Satan, clothed in angel robes, will deceive, if possible, the very elect. There will be gods many and lords many. Every wind of doctrine will be blowing. Those who have rendered supreme homage to ‘science falsely so called’ will not be the leaders then. Those who have trusted to intellect, genius, or talent will not then stand at the head of rank and file. They did not keep pace with the light. Those who have proved themselves unfaithful will not then be entrusted with the flock. In the last solemn work few great men will be engaged. They are self-sufficient, independent of God, and He cannot use them. The Lord has faithful servants, who in the shaking, testing time will be disclosed to view. There are precious ones now hidden who have not bowed the knee to Baal. They have not had the light which has been shining in a concentrated blaze upon you. But it may be under a rough and uninviting exterior the pure brightness of a genuine Christian character will be revealed. In the daytime we look toward heaven but do not see the stars. They are there, fixed in the firmament, but the eye cannot distinguish them. In the night we behold their genuine luster.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 80, 81.

“As the time comes for it [the third angel’s message] to be given with greatest power, the Lord will work through humble instruments, leading the minds of those who consecrate themselves to His service. The laborers will be qualified rather by the unction of His Spirit than by the training of literary institutions.” The Great Controversy, 606.

A Dilemma

So, we are faced with a dilemma, and it is this: Education is highly desirable. God wants all of us to become intellectual Christians, and we should be seeking to become intellectual giants, gaining the greatest amount of education which the providence of God guides us to obtain. But, obtaining an education in educational institutions is very dangerous for the following reasons: (1) At the vast majority of educational institutions you will be taught worldly philosophy which is directly contrary and opposed to the Word of God. It will be impossible for you to sit in classes day after day and listen to this philosophy without it having a permanent effect on your mind, your thinking, and your life. (2) Many educational institutions focus on educating the memory to the exclusion of the other faculties of the mind, producing the result cited previously in the book, Education, page 230. (3) Unfortunately, those educational institutions that do not teach worldly philosophy often have one of the following problems: (A) Its educational classes are corrupted with fanaticism. That is, information is being taught that cannot be backed up by good scientific research or biblical research. (B) There may be just a plain lack of sufficient ability to help you actually become highly educated. Obviously, an educator cannot educate you to a level higher than that which he or she has attained. Many educators today actually are not intellectual giants themselves; consequently, they cannot help you to become one. A teacher who is not spiritual cannot help you to become a spiritual person. (C) Some institutions lack the ability to prepare you to support yourself in this world.

Support

This last statement, about being prepared to support one’s self in this world, must never be forgotten. A student who graduates from school—not primary school or high school, but a school of higher education—should never have to work as an unskilled occupational worker. Ellen White wrote: “True education is that which will train children and youth for the life that now is, and in reference to that which is to come; for an inheritance in that better country, even in an heavenly.” Fundamentals of Christian Education, 328.

“The custom of supporting men and women in idleness by private gifts or church money encourages them in sinful habits, and this course should be conscientiously avoided. Every man, woman, and child should be educated to do practical, useful work. All should learn some trade. It may be tentmaking, or it may be business in other lines; but all should be educated to use the members of their body to some purpose, and God is ready and willing to increase the adaptability of all who will educate themselves to industrious habits.

“If a man in good physical health has property, and has no need of entering into employment for his own support, he should labor to acquire means that he may advance the cause and work of God. He is to be ‘not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord.’ [Romans 12:11.] God will bless all who will guard their influence in regard to others in this respect.” “Ellen G. White Comments,” Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 7, 912.

“Every youth, on leaving school, should have acquired a knowledge of some trade or occupation by which, if need be, he may earn a livelihood.” Education, 218.

Because of the apostasy—the falling away or departing from the truth God has revealed to his people—in the educational institutions of all protestant churches of which the author is aware, Seventh-day Adventist young people today are faced with a greater dilemma than any Adventist generation since the beginning of the second advent movement.

Waldensian Example

It has often become necessary for Adventist young people who need and want education, and who are seeking education, to do what the Waldenses had to do during the dark ages: “While the Waldenses regarded the fear of the Lord as the beginning of wisdom, they were not blind to the importance of a contact with the world, a knowledge of men and of active life, in expanding the mind and quickening the perceptions. From their schools in the mountains some of the youth were sent to institutions of learning in the cities of France or Italy, where was a more extended field for study, thought, and observation than in their native Alps. The youth thus sent forth were exposed to temptation, they witnessed vice, they encountered Satan’s wily agents, who urged upon them the most subtle heresies and the most dangerous deceptions. But their education from childhood had been of a character to prepare them for all this.

“In the schools whither they went, they were not to make confidants of any. Their garments were so prepared as to conceal their greatest treasure—the precious manuscripts of the Scriptures. These, the fruit of months and years of toil, they carried with them, and whenever they could do so without exciting suspicion, they cautiously placed some portion in the way of those whose hearts seemed open to receive the truth. From their mother’s knee the Waldensian youth had been trained with this purpose in view; they understood their work and faithfully performed it. Converts to the true faith were won in these institutions of learning, and frequently its principles were found to be permeating the entire school; yet the papal leaders could not, by the closest inquiry, trace the so-called corrupting heresy to its source.” The Great Controversy, 69, 70.

Dilemma Faced

If you or one of your loved ones is facing this dilemma and need to obtain an education at a state university or technical school, following are a few things to remember:

  1. The Word of God—the Bible—is the basis of true education in this world, so if you want to be truly educated, as a historian of Oberlin College wrote of that institution, “The Scriptures, both in the English version and in the original tongues, were considered to possess the highest educational value; and as such they should be studied first, last, and everywhere between.” Sutherland, 20. Whether God is calling you to be a physician, a lawyer, a scientist, a business person, or a technical worker, the Bible is the basis of true education, and it must be studied diligently every day if you want to receive a true education, even if you are attending a state university.
  2. It is dangerous to attend a state university for any reason unless you are thoroughly rooted and grounded in Bible religion first. (Notice the Waldensian practice as given above from The Great Controversy.) It would be better to forfeit getting an education rather than lose eternal life, as has happened to countless millions of people in the educational institutions of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
  3. Obtain counsel concerning your plans from godly parents and/or ministers or gospel workers. Do those who know you best and love you believe that you could be successful in resisting the temptations that would certainly come to you in an institution of learning in this world?
  4. Listening to error is never harmless, even in a “Christian” university or a self-supporting Seventh-day Adventist school. There are some courses of study that would, much more than others, expose you to worldly philosophy and error of all kinds. It is beyond the scope of this article to explain this, but you would want to obtain counsel from godly educators about this before making a decision.
  5. If you are in a program of learning at a university or other school that is so rigorous that you do not take time to pray and study God’s Word every day and attend religious services (Hebrews 10:23–25), you are in grave danger of losing your way spiritually. No educational advantages in this world are worth your losing eternal life.
  6. Be sure that you become fully educated. It is beyond the scope of this article to explain what it means to be fully educated, but the book Education, by Ellen White, explores the major areas of mental, physical, and spiritual development that you need if you are going to be fully educated. Be sure that you do not miss out by being only partially educated in some school in this world while some vital, essential part of your education is missing because the educational institution you attend does not teach it.

The Pen of Inspiration – The Essential Knowledge

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Higher education is an experimental knowledge of the plan of salvation, and this knowledge is secured by earnest and diligent study of the Scriptures. Such an education will renew the mind and transform the character, restoring the image of God in the soul. It will fortify the mind against the deceptive whisperings of the adversary, and enable us to understand the voice of God. It will teach the learner to become a co-worker with Jesus Christ, to dispel the moral darkness about him, and bring light and knowledge to men. It is the simplicity of true godliness—our passport from the preparatory school of earth to the higher school above.

There is no education to be gained higher than that given to the early disciples, and which is revealed to us through the word of God. To gain the higher education means to follow this word implicitly; it means to walk in the footsteps of Christ, to practice His virtues. It means to give up selfishness and to devote the life to the service of God. Higher education calls for something greater, something more divine, than the knowledge to be obtained merely from books. It means a personal, experimental knowledge of Christ; it means emancipation from ideas, from habits and practices, that have been gained in the school of the prince of darkness, and which are opposed to loyalty to God. It means to overcome stubbornness, pride, selfishness, worldly ambition, and unbelief. It is the message of deliverance from sin.

Age after age the curiosity of men has led them to seek for the tree of knowledge, and often they think they are plucking fruit most essential, when in reality it is vanity and nothingness in comparison with that science of true holiness which would open to them the gates of the city of God. Human ambition seeks for knowledge that will bring to them glory, and self-exaltation, and supremacy. Thus Adam and Eve were influenced by Satan until God’s restraint was snapped asunder, and their education under the teacher of lies began. They gained the knowledge which God had refused them—to know the consequences of transgression.

The tree of knowledge, so-called, has become an instrument of death. Satan has artfully woven his dogmas, his false theories, into the instruction given. From the tree of knowledge he speaks the most pleasing flattery in regard to the higher education. Thousands partake of the fruit of this tree, but it means death to them. Christ says, “Ye spend money for that which is not bread.” Isaiah 55:2. You are using your heaven-entrusted talents to secure an education which God pronounces foolishness.

Upon the mind of every student should be impressed the thought that education is a failure unless the understanding has learned to grasp the truths of divine revelation, and unless the heart accepts the teachings of the gospel of Christ. The student who, in the place of the broad principles of the word of God, will accept common ideas, and will allow the time and attention to be absorbed in commonplace, trivial matters, will find his mind becoming dwarfed and enfeebled. He will lose the power of growth. The mind must be trained to comprehend the important truths that concern eternal life.

I am instructed that we are to carry the minds of our students higher than is now thought to be possible. Heart and mind are to be trained to preserve their purity by receiving daily supplies from the fountain of eternal truth. The education gained from a study of God’s word will enlarge the narrow confines of human scholarship, and present before the mind a far deeper knowledge to be obtained through a vital connection with God. It will bring every student who is a doer of the word into a broader field of thought, and secure to him a wealth of learning that is imperishable. Without this knowledge it is certain that man will lose eternal life; possessing it, he will be fitted to become a companion of the saints in light.

The divine mind and hand have preserved through the ages the record of creation in its purity. It is the word of God alone that gives to us an authentic account of the creation of our world. This word is to be the chief study in our schools. In it we may learn what our redemption has cost Him who from the beginning was equal with the Father, and who sacrificed His life that a people might stand before Him redeemed from everything earthly, renewed in the image of God. …

The science of salvation, the science of true godliness, the knowledge which has been revealed from eternity, which enters into the purpose of God, expresses His mind, and reveals His purpose—this Heaven deems all-important. If our youth obtain this knowledge, they will be able to gain all else that is essential; but if not, all the knowledge they may acquire from the world will not place them in the ranks of the Lord. They may gather all the knowledge that books can give, and yet be ignorant of the first principles of that righteousness which will give them characters approved of God.

To many who place their children in our schools, strong temptations will come because they desire them to secure what the world regards as the most essential education. To these I would say, Bring your children to the simplicity of the word, and they will be safe. This Book is the foundation of all true knowledge. The highest education they can receive is to learn how to add to their “faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; and to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.” If these things be in you, and abound,” the word of God declares, “they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. … If ye do these things, ye shall never fall: for so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.” II Peter 1:5-11.

When the word of God is laid aside for books that lead away from God, and that confuse the understanding regarding the principles of the kingdom of heaven, the education given is a perversion of the name. Unless the student has pure mental food, thoroughly winnowed from the so-called “higher education,” which is mingled with infidel sentiments, he cannot truly know God. Only those who co-operate with heaven in the plan of salvation can know what true education in its simplicity means.

Those who seek the education that the world esteems so highly are gradually led farther and farther from the principles of truth, until they become educated worldlings. At what a price have they gained their education! They have parted with the Holy Spirit of God. They have chosen to accept what the world calls knowledge in the place of the truths which God has committed to men through his ministers and apostles and prophets.

And there are some who, having secured this worldly education, think that they can introduce it into our schools. There is constant danger that those who labor in our schools and sanitariums will entertain the idea that they must get in line with the world, study the things the world studies, and become familiar with the things the world becomes familiar with. We shall make grave mistakes unless we give special attention to the searching of the word. The Bible should not be brought into our schools to be sandwiched between infidelity. God’s word must be made the groundwork and subject matter of education. It is true that we know much more of this word than we knew in the past, but there is still much to be learned.

The true higher education is that imparted by Him with whom is “wisdom and strength,” out of whose mouth “cometh knowledge and understanding.” Job 12:13; Proverbs 2:6. In a knowledge of God all true knowledge and real development have their source. Wherever we turn, in the mental, the physical, or the spiritual realm; in whatever we behold, apart from the blight of sin, this knowledge is revealed. Whatever line of investigation we pursue with a sincere purpose to arrive at truth, we are brought in touch with the unseen, mighty Intelligence that is working in and through all. The mind of man is brought into communion with the mind of God, the finite with the Infinite. The effect
of such communion on body and mind and soul is beyond estimate.

Counsels to Parents, Teachers, and Students, 11-17.

Philosophy of Education

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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.” Colossians 2:3, 10.

This wisdom brings eternal life; for “this is life eternal, that they might know Thee the only true God.” John 17:3.

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, and which he bequeathed as a rich legacy to generations following, who drank and blessed his name, symbolized heavenly wisdom. Men today mistake worldy wisdom for the wisdom described in Job 28, 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.” John 4:10; 7:37.

Why, then, if wisdom may be had for the asking, are not all fulfilled? Only one reason can be given: men in their search accept falsehood in the place of truth. This blunts their sensibilities, until the false system seems true and the true false.

There is a distinction between the wisdom of God and that of this world. (See I Corinthians 1:20; 2:6.) How, then, can we attain to the real and true wisdom?

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.

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.” Psalm 33:9.

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.

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.

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.

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?

The Rival System

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.”

Here was born the rival system—selfishness facing the utter self-forgetfulness of Christ, reason over against faith.

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.

Divine Method of Teaching

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. “So 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.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 51.

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 him 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.

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 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.

The Effects of Doubt

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.

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” (Genesis 2:17), 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 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.” (See Genesis 3:12.) 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.” II Thessalonians 2:4.

Faith Versus Reason

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 today 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.

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 cannot 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.” Romans 12:2. In order to render 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.

Man’s 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.

True Science and Life

It is not surprising 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 have a greater appreciation for 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.

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 that the world needs today. 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. 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.

Dr. E.A. Sutherland was one of the early educators at Battle Creek and Berrien Springs, and also one of the founding fathers of the college at Madison, Tennesee. He, with Percy Megan, revolutionized Christian education. Many missionaries were sent to all parts of the world after short courses at Madison College.

Higher Education – Man’s Way or God’s Way?

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The Apostle Paul tells us, “The wisdom of this world is foolishness with God.” I Corinthians 3:19. No Seventh-day Adventist should let foolishness keep him or her from the kingdom. “Those who would share the benefits of the Saviour’s mediation should permit nothing to interfere with their duty to perfect holiness in the fear of God.” The Great Controversy, 488.

Are we not told to so live “Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man [or woman], unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ”? Ephesians 4:13.

Read what the Lord’s end-time messenger, Ellen G. White, has told us about education: “I am instructed to say that in our educational work, there is to be no compromise in order to meet the world’s standards. God’s commandment-keeping people are not to unite with the world, to carry various lines of work according to the world’s plans and worldly wisdom.

“Our people are being tested as to whether they will obtain their wisdom from the greatest Teacher the world has ever known or seek to the god of Ekron. Let us be determined that we shall not be tied as much as a thread to the educational policies of those who do not discern the voice of God, and who will not hearken to His commandments.” Loma Linda Messages, 447.

“If the recommendation goes forth from our people that our workers are to seek for success by acknowledging as essential the education which the world gives as superior to that which God gives, we are virtually saying that the influence the world gives, is superior to that which God gives. God will be dishonored by such a course.” Ibid, 453.

Here is what the Lord’s end-time messenger has to say about what constitutes higher education: “Through His own chosen messengers God has given us light and instruction as to what constitutes higher education. There is no higher education to be gained than that which was given to the early disciples, and which is given to us through the word. …

“Light has been given me that tremendous pressure will be brought upon every Seventh-day Adventist with whom the world can get into close connection.

“We need to understand these things. Those who seek the education that the world esteems so highly are gradually led further and further from the principles of truth until they become educated worldlings. At what a price they have gained their education! They have parted with the Holy Spirit of God. They have chosen to accept what the world calls knowledge in the place of the truths which God has committed to men through his ministers, apostles and prophets. And there are some who, having secured this worldly education, think they can introduce it into our schools. But let me tell you that you must not take what the world calls higher education and bring it into our schools and sanitariums and churches. I speak to you definitely; this must not be done.” Loma Linda Messages, 405, 406.

In spite of this counsel, many Seventh-day Adventists have sought higher education in the colleges and universities which teach “the wisdom of the world.” Is this not, therefore, foolishness?

The advocates for accreditation of our colleges used this statement from Ellen G. White to justify their position: “Inasmuch as there are legal requirements making it necessary that medical students shall take a certain preparatory course of study our colleges should arrange to carry their students to the point of literary and scientific training that is necessary.” Counsels to Parents, Teachers, and Students, 480.

It was decided in 1928 to select a few of the most spiritually mature teachers and send them to non-Seventh-day Adventist universities. It would then require only a short time to equip our schools with the teaching personnel technically qualified to give the necessary training in our schools in the future.

In the course of time, the above resolution deteriorated until large numbers of Seventh-day Adventist teachers and numerous ministers enrolled in schools of the world for higher degrees. Did any of these worldly-educated Seventh-day Adventists take what the world calls higher education and bring it into our schools, sanitariums, and churches? At the present time, do most Seventh-day Adventist schools have a generation of teachers who received their major training largely from teachers educated in schools of the world?

A.W. Spalding’s Letter

In answer to those questions, and in connection with the foregoing passages from the words of Ellen G. White, it is of value to understand what was happening in the educational system of the denomination. A.W. Spalding, author of the five volume History of Seventh-day Adventists, spent 50 years of his life in educational work, in and out of Seventh-day Adventist schools. He talks about the necessity of following the Lord’s instruction even when it may seem like foolishness to men.

He indicated that we came to our educational Kadesh-Barnea in 1928. The promised land was ahead of us, but the majority of our spies brought back an evil report. We became discouraged at the report of perceived giants and walled cities. We turned away from the commands of the Lord, and rejected His instructions not to seek our education from the universities and schools of the world. (See God’s instruction to His people in Fundamentals of Christian Education, 347, 359, 451, 467, 474.) The true higher education lies in the study of God’s revealed knowledge and wisdom. (See Education, 14.) There were a few Calebs and Joshuas there, but their voices were drowned out by the clamors of the multitude. We voted for accreditation, with all the involved affinity with the world’s education.

The Lord, through Ellen G. White, tells how to escape from the results of our foolishness: “God works through those who hear and obey His voice, those who will, if need be, speak unpalatable truths, those who do not fear to reprove popular sins. The reason He does not oftener choose men of learning and high position to lead out in reform movements is that they trust in their creeds, theories, and feel no need to be taught of God.” The Great Controversy, 455, 456.

The Omega

If we believe the Lord has spoken to our church through His last-day messenger, we must know that we are living in the season of the omega of apostasy. The Lord says this through His servant: “I knew that the omega would follow in a little while; and I trembled for our people. … Our religion would be changed. The fundamental principles that have sustained the work for the past fifty years would be accounted error. A new organization would be established. Books of a new order would be written. A system of intellectual philosophy would be introduced. … The Sabbath of course, would be lightly regarded, as also the God who created it.” Selected Messages, Book 1, 203, 204.

After denouncing the alpha of apostasy which shook the foundations of our church, the Lord made this prediction through the Spirit of Prophecy: “The omega will follow, and will be received by those who are not willing to heed the warning God has given.” Ibid., 200. “The omega will be of a most startling nature.” Ibid., 197.

Do we have among the diversities of doctrine in our church the soul-destroying omega? In writing to a leading church member (John Harvey Kellogg, M.D.) whom Satan influenced to bring in the alpha of apostasy, and which seems particularly applicable today in regard to the omega, the servant of the Lord delivered the following scathing comments: “You were professedly believing the Testimonies, and yet walking and working contrary to them, following your own impulses, turning from the plain, Thus saith the Lord, to carry out your own plans and devisings.” Battle Creek Letters, 119.

Unity in Diversity

At the 1995 General Conference in Utrecht, a principal speaker called for unity in diversity. Later our general church paper ran an article on the same theme. Can we have unity in diversity if some of this diversity is the soul-destroying omega against which we have been warned? The Lord says: “The missionaries of the [Seventh-day Adventist] Christian church are to stand in their God-given manhood, with the privilege of freedom of speech and freedom of faith. When they see that a fellow-laborer is not doing as a man in his position ought to do, they are not to harmonize with his plans, or be cowered into silence by a masterful spirit. For them to do this would be a great injury to him [Dr. Kellogg] and to them.

“Our [ministers and] physicians are to stand where no binding influence will hold them speechless when they hear wrong sentiments expressed. At times, with burning earnestness and words of terrible severity, Christ denounced the abominations that He saw in the church and in the world. He would not allow the people to be deceived by false claims to righteousness and sanctity.

“We are to unify, but not on a platform of error.” Battle Creek Letters, 111.

“We have a testing message to give, and I am instructed to say to our people, ‘Unify, unify,’ But we are not to unify with those who are departing from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils. With our hearts sweet and kind and true, we are to go forth to proclaim the message, giving no heed to those who lead away from the truth.” Selected Messages, Book 3, 412.

“Our church members see that there are differences of opinion among the leading men, and they themselves enter into controversy regarding the subjects under dispute. Christ calls for unity. But He does not call for us to unify on wrong practices. The God of heaven draws a sharp contrast between pure, elevating truth and false, misleading doctrines. He calls sin and impenitence by the right name. He does not gloss over wrong doing with a coat of untempered mortar. I urge our brethren to unify upon a true, scriptural basis.” Selected Messages, Book 1, 175.

“He [Christ] labored that man should be true to himself, true to his higher and eternal interest. The servants of Christ are called to the same work, and they should beware lest, in seeking to prevent discord, they surrender the truth. They are to ‘follow after things that make for peace’ (Rom. 14:19.); but real peace can never be secured by compromising principle. And no man can be true to principle without exciting opposition.” The Desire of Ages, 356.

Now our last question—would the warnings of the Lord through Ellen G. White regarding the alpha also apply in the season of the omega?

“Will the men in our institutions keep silent, allowing insidious fallacies to be promulgated to the ruin of souls? The sentiments of the enemy are being scattered everywhere. Seeds of discord, of unbelief, of infidelity, are being sown broadcast. …

“The dangers coming upon us are continually increasing. It is high time that we put on the whole armor of God, and work earnestly to keep Satan from gaining any further advantage. Angels of God, that excel in strength, are waiting for us to call them to our aid, that our faith may not be eclipsed by the fierceness of the conflict. Renewed energy is now needed. Vigilant action is called for. Indifference and sloth will result in the loss of personal religion and of heaven. …

“My message to you is: No longer consent to listen without protest to the perversion of truth. Unmask the pretentious sophistries which, if received, will lead ministers and physicians and medical missionary workers to ignore the truth. Every one is now to stand on his guard. God calls upon men and women to take their stand under the blood-stained banner of Prince Emmanuel. I have been instructed to warn our people; for many are in danger of receiving theories and sophistries that undermine the foundation pillars of the faith. …

“Be not deceived; many will depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils. We have now before us the alpha of this danger. The omega will be of a most startling nature.” Selected Messages, Book 1, 195–197.

“I was shown a platform braced by solid timbers,—the truths of the Word of God. Some one high in responsibility was directing this man and that man to loosen the timbers supporting this platform. Then I heard a voice saying, ‘Where are the watchmen that ought to be standing on the walls of Zion? Are they asleep? This foundation was built by the Master Worker, and will stand through storm and tempest. Will they permit this man to present doctrines that deny the past experience of the people of God? The time has come for decided action.’

“The enemy of souls has sought to bring in the supposition that a great reformation was to take place among Seventh-day Adventists, and that this reformation would consist of giving up the doctrines which stand as the pillars of our faith, and engaging in a process of reorganization. Were this reformation to take place, what would result? The principles of truth that God in His wisdom has given to the remnant church would be discarded. …

Laodicean Fog?

“Shortly before I sent out the testimonies regarding the efforts of the enemy to undermine the foundations of our faith through the dissemination of seductive theories, I had read an incident about a ship in a fog meeting an iceberg. For several nights I slept but little. I seemed to be bogged down as a cart beneath sheaves. One night a scene was clearly presented before me. A vessel was upon the waters, in a heavy fog. Suddenly the lookout cried, ‘Iceberg just ahead!’ There, towering high above the ship, was a gigantic iceberg. An authoritative voice cried out, ‘Meet it!’ There was not a moment’s hesitation. It was a time for instant action. The engineer put on full steam, and the man at the wheel steered the ship straight into the iceberg. With a crash she struck the ice. There was a fearful shock, and the iceberg broke into many pieces, falling like thunder to the deck. The passengers were violently shaken by the force of the collision, but no lives were lost. The vessel was injured, but not beyond repair. She rebounded from the contact, trembling from stem to stern, like a living creature. Then she moved forward on her way.

“Well I knew the meaning of this representation. I had my orders. I had heard the words, like a voice of our Captain, ‘Meet it!’ ” Ibid., 204–206.

“Meet It”?

“The church may appear as about to fall, but it does not fall. It remains, while the sinners in Zion will be sifted out—the chaff separated from the precious wheat. This is a terrible ordeal, but nevertheless it must take place.” Selected Messages, Book 2, 380.

“A revival of true godliness among us is the greatest and most urgent of all our needs. …

“Are we hoping to see the whole church revived? That time will never come. …

“We must pray more, and talk less. Iniquity abounds, and the people must be taught not to be satisfied with a form of godliness without the spirit and power.” Selected Messages, Book 1, 121, 122.

[All emphasis supplied.]

Dr. Donald Hewitt, now deceased, was a practicing physician in Hawaii and was a foremost temperance promoter and authored the book, Everything You Wanted to Know About Alcoholism, But Were Too Drunk to Ask. Dr. Donald Hewitt was a good friend of Marshall Grosboll who helped to promote his book.

True Education

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Our ideas of education take too narrow and too low a range. There is need of a broader scope, a higher aim. True education means more than the pursual of a certain course of study. It means more than a preparation for the life that now is. It has to do with the whole being, and with the whole period of existence possible to man. It is the harmonious development of the physical, the mental, and the spiritual powers. It prepares the student for the joy of service in this world and for the higher joy of wider service in the world to come. The source of such an education is brought to view in these words of Holy Writ, pointing to the Infinite One: In Him “are hid all the treasures of wisdom.” Colossians 2:3. “He hath counsel and understanding.” Job 12:13.

The world has had its great teachers, men of giant intellect and extensive research, men whose utterances have stimulated thought and opened to view vast fields of knowledge; and these men have been honored as guides and benefactors of their race; but there is One who stands higher than they. We can trace the line of the world’s teachers as far back as human records extend; but the Light was before them. As the moon and the stars of our solar system shine by the reflected light of the sun, so, as far as their teaching is true, do the world’s great thinkers reflect the rays of the Sun of Righteousness. Every gleam of thought, every flash of the intellect, is from the Light of the world. In these days much is said concerning the nature and importance of “higher education.” The true “higher education” is that imparted by Him with whom “is wisdom and strength” (Job 12:13), out of whose mouth “cometh knowledge and understanding.” Proverbs 2:6.

In a knowledge of God all true knowledge and real development have their source. Wherever we turn, in the physical, the mental, or the spiritual realm; in whatever we behold, apart from the blight of sin, this knowledge is revealed. Whatever line of investigation we pursue, with a sincere purpose to arrive at truth, we are brought in touch with the unseen, mighty Intelligence that is working in and through all. The mind of man is brought into communion with the mind of God, the finite with the Infinite. The effect of such communion on body and mind and soul is beyond estimate.

In this communion is found the highest education. It is God’s own method of development. “Acquaint now thyself with Him” (Job 22:21), is His message to mankind . . .

What education can be higher than this? What can equal it in value?

“It cannot be gotten for gold, Neither shall silver be weighed for the price thereof.

It cannot be valued with the gold of Ophir,

With the precious onyx, or the sapphire.

The gold and the crystal cannot equal it

And the exchange of it shall not be for jewels of fine gold.

No mention shall be made of coral, or of pearls:

For the price of wisdom is above rubies.” Job 28:15-18.

Higher than the highest human thought can reach is God’s ideal for His children. Godliness—godlikeness—is the goal to be reached. Before the student there is opened a path of continual progress. He has an object to achieve, a standard to attain, that includes everything good, and pure, and noble. He will advance as fast and as far as possible in every branch of true knowledge. But his efforts will be directed to objects as much higher than mere selfish and temporal interests as the heavens are higher than the earth.

He who co-operates with the divine purpose in imparting to the youth a knowledge of God, and molding the character into harmony with His, does a high and noble work. As he awakens a desire to reach God’s ideal, he presents an education that is as high as heaven and as broad as the universe; an education that cannot be completed in this life, but that will be continued in the life to come; an education that secures to the successful student his passport from the preparatory school of earth to the higher grade, the school above.

Taken from Education, 13-19

 

The Purpose of Missionary Schools

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In mid-1989, my brother Colin and I spent two hours in the office of Pastor Enoch Olivera, then Vice-President of the General Conference. Pastor Olivera, a Brazilian, was a fine Seventh-day Adventist administrator, one who loved the Lord and His truth. As he poured out his heart to us, tears ran down his cheeks. He had held his post for nine years. One by one, Pastor Olivera enumerated his heartaches. He loved the Seventh-day Adventist church, but as he saw the actions of many administrators, he was full of forebodings.

Among a number of his expressed concerns was his fear for the souls of Seventh-day Adventist young people attending Seventh-day Adventist colleges in North America. He concluded his remarks with sorrowful words. “I cannot recommend to God’s people any one of our North American Division Colleges as a safe place for them to entrust the training of their young people.”

Pastor Olivera passed to his rest three years later, but his tears are still before my eyes and his words continue to ring in my ears. As a fourth generation Seventh-day Adventist, the Seventh-day Adventist message, based on the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy, is to be found in the marrow of my bones. That map and Christ’s love are the divine driving-force of my life. To see the degeneration of our educational system, which has spanned over the past 50 years, greatly distresses me. Have our church administrators and educators lost sight of the accountability due of them as they stand before the judgement bar of God? Have they neglected to consider the eternal destiny of each young soul they teach?

It would seem to any spiritually-minded observer that the answer to each question posed above is “Yes.” How else can we explain the reckless disregard of the numerous divine counsels with which our colleges have been blessed?

Following the acceptance of the false principle of state accreditation in 1931, colleges followed a policy that has led to an escalating course of decline. Inspiration warned of such a consequence: “Those who seek the education that the world esteems so highly are gradually led further and further from the principles of truth until they become educated worldlings. At what a price have they gained their education! They have parted with the Holy Spirit of God. They have chosen to accept what the world calls knowledge in the place of the truths which God has committed to men through his ministers and prophets and apostles. And there are some who, having secured this worldly education, think that they can introduce it into our schools. But let me tell you that you must not take what the world calls the higher education and bring it into our schools and sanitariums and churches. We need to understand these things. I speak to you definitely. This must not be done.” Review and Herald, November 11, 1909.

Seventh-day Adventist education has not followed God’s counsel, but the counsel of unconsecrated men. When, in 1966, the South Pacific Division accepted state aid for its schools, it followed a course which doomed the entire system. At Carmel College, shortly after accepting “no strings attached” state aid, the accreditation committee inspected the school’s library and noted that it was “deficient” in novels. Rather than lose accreditation we introduced “good” novels to the school library, in total disregard of divine counsel. Other examples of the results of the acceptance of state aid, in the South Pacific, is that in New Zealand every Seventh-day Adventist school has joined the government school system. They have school boards consisting of a mixture of Seventh-day Adventists and those not of our faith and they follow the obligatory process of advertising senior school administration post vacancies in the secular press. Avondale College, Australia’s only Seventh-day Adventist Tertiary Educational Institution has four non-Seventh-day Adventist Board members. Students who drink alcohol, play rock music (even on Sabbath) or commit adultery, cannot be expelled because the state prohibits expulsion for such “inconsequential” matters. As a result, these breeches of Seventh-day Adventist standards are not infrequent.

 

Adventist-schooled Youth No Different from Worldly Youth

 

It comes as no surprise to learn that a recent study of Seventh-day Adventist’s aged between 19 and 24 years, undertaken as part of a Ph.D. degree by Pastor Bradley Strahan in conjunction with Pastor Berry Gane, Youth Director of the South Pacific Division, revealed that “there was no significant difference between young adults who were Adventist schooled, partly Adventist schooled or non-Adventist schooled on the measure of Christian commitment, denominational loyalty, doctrinal orthodoxy, social responsibility, self-esteem, egoidentity, or participation in at risk behaviors” South Pacific Division Record, May 2, 1998.

What were these “at-risk behaviors?” Let us summarize:

  1. Nearly 30 percent of participants reported experiencing some kind of abuse. (The South Pacific Division Record, July 25, 1998, has since discussed the protection of Seventh-day Adventist children and youth from abuse in the church.)
  2. More than half the perpetrators of abuse attended church; nearly one in five were involved in church leadership.
  3. Forty-four percent of the participants had engaged in premarital sex at least once, with more than one-half of these (54 percent) using no contraceptives.
  4. More than 40 percent of participants reported drinking in the past 12 months; more than 20 percent reported binge drinking.

The study reported that “The figures are so close to national norms they suggest that Adventists are not much different from the rest of the population.” (Ibid.)

If we are true Seventh-day Adventists then we are different! True Seventh-day Adventist education does make a profound difference!

In the United States, Seventh-day Adventist Colleges have advertised a large range of gay and lesbian books advertised by the book store (La Sierra University), permitted the cardinal archbishop of Baltimore, Cardinal Kesler, Chairman of the Roman Catholic Bishop’s conference, to preach on the subject of baptism during a Thursday evening in their church (Union College, Nebraska), published specifically Roman Catholic depictions of Christ in their student identification book (Andrews University), provided free condoms for students (Walla Walla College), led out in defiance of the position of the world church by ordaining women pastors (Columbia Union College), formed a gay and lesbian society with two theology professors, a sociology professor and two deans on the committee (Walla Walla College), employed a chaplain and teacher who published a book, freely sold in Adventist book centers, which advocated that unmarried couples should engage in sexual activities, the one limitation being that both parties agree (Loma Linda University), arranged abortions for their students (Pacific Union College), accepted students full of faith in God’s message and graduated them filled with doubt (Walla Walla College), promoted interschool sporting competitions (Columbia Union College and Southwestern Adventist University), taught that Christ is not our example, that the redeemed will sin after the close of probation, that the Holy Spirit does not dwell in the heart of the individual and that the day-year principle is invalid (Southern Adventist University).

Do we need self-supporting schools? Not necessarily! We only need self-supporting schools if they teach fidelity to scriptural truth and shun worldly accreditation. Such are most assuredly required. With our denominational tertiary institutions largely given over to worldly education, it is little wonder that faithful denominational leaders have cried out. Elder Robert Pierson stated, two decades ago, that even then “there are those in the church who belittle the inspiration of the total Bible; who scorn the first eleven chapters of Genesis; who question the Spirit of Prophecy’s short chronology of the age of the earth; and who subtly, and not so subtly, attack the Spirit of Prophecy.” That Elder Pierson was focusing his remarks upon our tertiary educational system cannot be denied, for he continued in his article, “Fellow leaders, beloved brethren and sisters, don’t let it [the intrusion of the apostasy cited above] happen! I appeal to Andrews University, the seminary, to Loma Linda University. Don’t let it happen! We are not Seventh-day Anglicans, not Seventh-day Lutherans, we are Seventh-day Adventists!” Adventist Review, October 26, 1978.

This was good reason for the editor of the Adventist Review, Pastor Kenneth Wood, to write eighteen years ago: “We confess that we are alarmed by the fact that some of our colleges seem to be drifting away from the standards and objectives established for them by their founders. We are alarmed by the secular climate that prevails on some campuses. We are alarmed by the strange winds of doctrine that blows on some campuses. We are alarmed by lax moral standards that prevail on some campuses. We are alarmed by the feeble efforts put forth by some administrators and faculty members to create a spiritual climate that will prepare students for the greatest event in earth’s history, the Second Coming of Jesus.” Adventist Review, February 21, 1980.

 

Where are the Watchmen on the Walls?

 

While men like Elders Pierson and Wood sat in the General Conference office, men who were prepared to openly denounce the in-subordination of God’s people and pastors, some hope of reform was cherished in the hearts of God’s true flock. But, where do we hear such public denunciations today in an era where our colleges and universities have degenerated to a level vastly lower than that of two decades past? Any institution which works to prepare young people for the service of God seems to be the butt of attacks from the General Conference. (See Issues published by the North American Division in 1992 and spread worldwide by the General Conference administration.) The gross abominations in the denominational colleges produce paralysis of the vocal cords and of the writing-hands of the very same administrators. The Adventist Review likewise is silent on these matters.

When these colleges pervert their high and holy calling, administrators claim impotency to correct the matter. But they do hold, within their responsibility, to act-not as dictators, but as faithful shepherds standing on the walls of Zion, blowing the warning trumpet (Ezekiel 33:2–10). When a college, such as Walla Walla, rejects efforts to reform its disgraceful record, it is beholding upon church administrators to publish widely the fact that it is no longer a Seventh-day Adventist institution and warn God’s flock of the peril to the souls of their children should they seek to enter that college. The staff should be notified that no longer will they receive denominational service credit for their employment in the college and, further, the administration should be informed that no longer will the institution be a recipient of denominational subsidy.

Denominational administrators have abrogated their responsibilities as watchmen unless they protect God’s people and warn them, not in a corrective manner, but in sincere fulfillment of their duty as watchmen on the walls of Zion. It is no longer acceptable to excuse their inaction on the grounds that the college will lose its accreditation (that would prove to be a wonderful benefit to the institution in any case), or that the Labor Department would not permit dismissal of staff. These are limp excuses for failure to undertake one’s beholden duty in the cause of our Lord. The answer is to divest the denomination of unfaithful institutions which are determined to destroy the faith of the flower of our youth.

It is essential that we learn the lessons of the First Advent. Why did John the Baptist fail to enroll in the schools of the rabbis? John was the son of a priest, he was a descendant of Levi and clearly was a man of high intellect. He was a prime candidate to enter into such training. But God, in choosing John to preach the Elijah message of the First Advent, specifically forbade such a course. We need not speculate why the Elijah message was not presented by a graduate of the denominational colleges of his day. Inspiration clearly testifies to the reason: “The training of the rabbinical schools would have unfitted him [John the Baptist] for his work. God did not send him to the teachers of theology to learn how to interpret the Scriptures.” Desire of Ages, 101. So it must be today.

In Australia and New Zealand, I warn parents, who desire their children to be trained for service in God’s work, that Avondale College is an unfit institution to prepare their children for such a purpose. I do so, not because I have any disaffection for Avondale. It is my alma mater, from which I graduated in 1951. Nevertheless, one dare not permit such natural emotions to excuse one from his spiritual duty.

 

Self-Supporting Schools Answer the Call

 

God has clearly set forth for us the principles of an education approved of Him. Our denominational colleges in first world nations, and even many third-world countries, no longer even marginally approach these principles. Those faithful believers need schools of a new order. Today some self-supporting schools are working diligently to meet God’s standards.

Bible prophecy indicates that the two continents, which will figure most prominently into end-time events, are North America and Europe. It is time, long overdue, for the establishment of an institution with high, holy and noble ideals in Europe. The European Institute of Health and Education (EIHC) Lia-Ullared, Sweden, has been established, but with a commitment to the training of young men and women to take God’s last message to the world.

European Institute of Health and Education is providing a one-year work-study program. The board is convicted that we are at the very end of earth’s history and that it is now time to expedite the training of these young people. Filled with the Holy Spirit, we believe that these youth will go forth to complete the task in Europe and beyond.

The Board and Administration of the European Institute of Health and Education take seriously God’s counsel. “To supply the need of laborers, God desires that educational centers be established in different countries where students of promise may be educated in the practical branches of knowledge and in Bible truth. As these persons engage in labor, they will give character to the work of present truth in the new fields. They will awaken an interest among unbelievers and aid in rescuing souls from the bondage of sin. The very best teachers should be sent to the various countries where schools are to be established, to carry on the educational work.” Testimonies, vol. 6, 137.

The European Institute of Health and Education will have a small faculty, but in heeding the divine counsel cited above, it has searched the world in order to provide the highest quality of teachers for the school which will be known as the Lia Missionary Training School. Already the eight-member board is drawn from four continents—Europe, North America, Africa, and Australia—in order to provide a breadth of experience upon which to draw.

The board will not base its policies and curriculum upon those of denominational colleges. We are committed to following divine counsel and avoiding such a mistake. “I have been shown that in our educational work we are not to follow the methods that have been adopted in our older established schools. There is among us too much clinging to old customs, and because of this we are far behind where we should be in the development of the third angel’s message. Because men could not comprehend the purpose of God in the plans laid before us for the education of workers, methods have been followed in some of our schools which have retarded rather than advanced the work of God.” Counsels to Parents, Teachers and Students, 533.

The board and administration recognize that, “Without the influence of divine grace, education will prove no real advantage; the learner becomes proud, vain and bigoted.” Ibid., 94. The education provided at the new institution will point each young person to a heart relationship with Christ and personal sanctification. This, the Lord terms “Higher education.” “Higher education is an experimental knowledge of the plan of salvation, and this knowledge is secured by earnest and diligent study of the Scriptures. Such an education will renew the mind and transform the character, restoring the image of God in the soul. It will fortify the mind against the deceptive whisperings of the adversary, and enable us to understand the voice of God. It will teach the learner to become a co-worker with Jesus Christ, to dispel the moral darkness about him, and bring light and knowledge to men. It is the simplicity of true godliness— our passport from the preparatory school of earth to the higher school above.” Counsels to Parents, Teachers and Students, 11.

We can have no higher ambition for the students who are privileged to enter the portals of the Lia Missionary Training School than, “To restore in man the image of his Maker, to bring him back to the perfection in which he was created, to promote the development of body, mind, and soul, that the divine purpose in his creation might be realized—this was to be the work of redemption. This is the object of education, the great object of life.” Education, 15, 16. This, too, is the purpose of Lia Missionary College, for no young person devoid of Christian character perfection will be entrusted with the Latter Rain power so essential for the final proclamation of the Loud Cry Message.

Will Lia reach its high and holy destiny? Only by God’s guidance. That destiny is summarized in the wonderful words of inspiration, well known to us all: “Our ideas of education take too narrow and too low a range. There is need of a broader scope, a higher aim. True education means more than the pursual of a certain course of study. It means more than a preparation for the life that now is. It has to do with the whole being, and with the whole period of existence possible to man. It is the harmonious development of the physical, the mental, and the spiritual powers. It prepares the student for the joy of service in this world and for the higher joy of wider service in the world to come.” Education, 13.

Is Lia Missionary College necessary? The general state of Seventh-day Adventist education demands institutions such as Hartland and Lia and the proposed Southland Institute in Australia. May God’s flock keep these institutions in their prayers. God needs the graduates of these schools, and in the history of eternity, their work will be recorded as having faithfully prepared God’s army of youth, rightly trained, who will shoulder the unprecedented task of taking the last message of warning to the six billion inhabitants of this earth. These youth will have been taught and will have accepted the divine principle that “In the highest sense, the work of education and the work of redemption are one.” Education, 30.

 

Are You a Student in Abraham’s School?

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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. 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. 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. This was the beautiful result of the education received by Enoch.

Two Distinct Classes

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 sacrifices; 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 an engine without the governor.

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.

As there was a change in religion, so there was a change in government.

There could no longer be a theocracy, with 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.

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 today as Platoism. It is but another name for an education which exalts the mind of man above God and places human philosophy ahead of divine philosophy.

Pagan Education

We think, perhaps, that there were schools then; but that is a mistake. “The training of 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.” Special Testimonies on Education, 92. 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.

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 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. They turned from the pleadings of conscience to the old life.

Scoffers and Critics

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 it’s recital as a matter of history to the modern, higher critic. It was out of harmony with men’s senses, hence an impossibility.

Before the Flood, no peal of thunder had ever resounded among the hills, no lightning had ever played through the heavens. 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 whispered the still, small voice of God; and the work went steadily on.

The controversy was an educational problem. Christian education was almost wiped from the earth. Worldly wisdom seemed about to triumph. In point of numbers, its adherents vastly exceeded those in the schools of the Christians. Was this seeming triumph of evil over good a sign that evil was stronger than truth? By no means. Only in the matter of scheming and deceiving does the devil have the advantage; for God can work only in a straightforward manner.

The tree of life was taken to heaven before the Flood, thus symbolizing the departure of true wisdom from the earth. The Flood came. Deep rumblings of thunder shook the very earth. Man and beast fled terrified from the flashes of lightning. The heavens opened; the rain fell, at first in great drops. The earth reeled and cracked open; the fountains of the great deep were broken up; water came from beneath. A cry went up to heaven, as parents clasped their children in the agony of death; but the Spirit of the Lifegiver was withdrawn. Man, satisfied with schooling his senses, with depending upon his own reasoning powers, closed, one by one, every avenue through with the Spirit of God could work; and nature, responding to the loss, was broken to her very heart and wept a flood of tears.

From the beginning to the end it was a matter of education. Christians today exalt the material to the neglect of the spiritual, as surely as did men before the Flood. Shall we not look for similar results, since similar principles are at work?

The Fall Continues

The ease with which men fall into evil habits is illustrated in the history of the world after the Flood. Upon leaving the ark, for families who had known God, and it had been committed to them the peopling of the earth, but evil tendencies, the result of years of acquaintance with the iniquity of the antediluvian world, gained the ascendancy; and the sons of Noah. Failing to carry out the principles of true education in their homes, saw their children drifting away from God. Not more than a single century had elapsed since the Flood had destroyed all things. The change was a rapid one.

The successive steps in degeneration are readily traced. They chose an education of the senses rather than one of faith; they left country and congregated in cities; a monarchy arose. Schools sprang up which perpetuated these ideas; paganism took the place of the worship of God. The tower was a monument to the sun; idols filled the niches in their structures. Men offered their children as sacrifices.

The slaying of infants and children is but carrying out in the extreme what is always done mentally and spiritually when children are taught false philosophy. That man might not bring upon himself immediate destruction, the language was confused and education in false philosophy thus rendered more difficult.

Abraham Is Called by God

It was from this influence, as found in the city of Ur of the Chaldees, that Abraham was called. Although the family of Terah knew the true God and His worship was maintained in the home, it was impossible for him to counteract the influence of the city with it’s idolatrous practices; so God called Abraham into the country.

He was obliged to go forth by faith. The removal meant the severing of every earthly tie. Wealth and ease were exchanged for a wandering life. How he could make a living Abraham did not know. How he could educate his children he did not understand. But he went forth. Terah, his father, and Lot, his nephew, went with him. They halted at Haran, a smaller city, and remained there until the father’s death. Then came the command to go forward. Out into a new country he went, a pilgrim and a stranger.

Power is synonymous with life; there is no power without life, and a teacher has power in proportion as he lives what he wishes to teach. Abraham was to be a teacher of nations, hence he must have power. Power could come only as the result of a life of faith, so his whole life was one continual lesson of faith. Each experience made him a more powerful teacher.

The Father of Nations

His faith grew by trial and grew only as he mounted round by round the ladder which spanned the gulf twixt heaven and earth, which seemed to lengthen with each successive generation. A period of not less than twenty-five years—years filled with doubt, fear and anxiety—was necessary to bring him to the place where the name Abraham—the father of nations—could be rightly claimed by him. Another quarter of a century rolled over his head, years in which he watched the growth of the child of promise; then the voice of God called him to raise his hand to take the life of that same son. He who had said that in Isaac should all nations of the earth be blessed, now demanded the sacrifice of that life at the father’s hand. But He, the Lifegiver in the event of the child’s birth, was now believed to be the Lifegiver should death rob him of his child, and the father faltered not.

These fifty years, with God and angels as teachers, reveal for us, as no other period does, the results of true education, and merit careful attention. If the workings of the Spirit ever wrought changes in the human heart, those changes came to Abraham. It is not strange that when God called the first, time, the voice seemed far away had but partially awoke the slumbering soul. As if in a dream, he, his father, his nephew, and his wife, broke away from earthly ties and from the beautiful Chaldean plains, where luxury and learning were daily things of life, and journeyed toward the hill country.

In Ur, God said, “I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee and will make thy name great.” Genesis 12:2. Years passed, age crept on, and still there was no heir. Could he have mistaken the voice which bade him turn his face toward Canaan?

Ninety-nine years passed over the patriarch’s head, and still the voice of heaven’s messenger was greeted with a laugh when the promise was repeated. Sarah turned within the tent door when the angel guest, whom they had fed, repeated to Abraham the promise concerning his wife. But she bare to Abraham a son whom God named Isaac, in whom the nations of the earth were blessed. Joy untold filled the heart of the mother and father as they beheld the babe.

This was the joy of sight. Twenty-five years before, the thing was just as true and Abraham might lawfully have worked upon the basis of its truth; but the stubborn human heart requires many lessons.

Abraham’s School

Those who wished to worship the true God gathered about the tents of Abraham and became pupils in his school. God’s word was the basis of all instruction. This word was the basis for the study of political science, and Abraham’s “methods of government” were carried out in the households over which the [his students] should preside. The equality of all men was a lesson first learned in the home. “Abraham’s affection for his children and his household led him…to impart to them a knowledge of the divine statutes, as the most precious legacy he could transmit to them, and through them to the world. All were taught that they were under the rule of the God of heaven. There was to be no oppression on the part of parents, and no disobedience on the part of children.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 142. His was not a school where theory alone was taught, but the practical was emphasized. In studying political science, they found the nucleus of a divine government; in the study of finances, they actually made and raised the flocks which brought recognition from the surrounding nations. “The unswerving integrity, the benevolence and unselfish courtesy, which won the admiration of kings, were displayed in the home.” Ibid.

God’s Plan For Education Today

The influence of country life and direct contact with nature, in contrast with the enervating influence of the city with its idolatrous teaching and artificial methods, developed a hardy race, a people of faith whom God could use to lay the foundation for the Israelite nation. We see then, that when God founds a nation, he lays that foundation in a school. The nation, of which Abraham and his followers formed the beginning, prefigured the earth redeemed, where Christ will reign as King of kings. The education of the school of Abraham symbolized Christian education.

As faith was the method employed in teaching in the days of the patriarch, so in the schools of today faith must be the motive for work, the avenue to the fountain of wisdom. There are today those who can not harmonize their feelings and their ideas of education with the plan which God committed to His people. Likewise, in the days of Abraham, there was at least one family which withdrew from the influence of the school.

The Road To Destruction

Lot had felt the effects of the teaching of Abraham; but through the influence of his wife, “a selfish, irreligious woman,” he left the altar where they once worshipped together and moved into the city of Sodom. “The marriage of Lot, and his choice of Sodom for a home, where the first links in a chain of events fraught with evil to the world for many generations.” Ibid., 174. Had he alone suffered, we would not need to follow the history; but the choice of a new home threw his children into the schools of the heathen; pride and love of display were fostered; marriage with Sodomites was a natural; final destruction in the burning city was the terrible but inevitable result. “When Lot entered Sodom, he fully intended to keep himself free from iniquity, and to command his household after him. But he signally failed. The corrupting influences about him had an effect upon his own faith, and his children’s connection with the inhabitants of Sodom bound up his interests in a measure with theirs.” Ibid., 168

The injunction to “remember Lot’s wife,” should serve as a warning to Christians against flocking into the cities to give children an education. The words of Spalding are true. “Live not in a great city, for a great city is a mill which grinds all grain to flour. Go there to get money or to preach repentance, but go not there to make thyself a nobler man.” As Quoted by E.A. Sutherland in Living Fountains or Broken Cisterns, 66.

The Results Of Two Types Of Education

The two systems of education are nowhere more vividly portrayed than in the experiences of Abraham and Lot. Education in the tents of Abraham, under the guidance of the Spirit of Jehovah, brought eternal life. Education in the schools of Sodom brought eternal death. This was not an unnatural thing. You can not find here any arbitrary work on the part of God. To partake of the fruit of the tree of life, imparts life. But of the tree of knowledge of good and evil it has been said, “In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.”

The system of education revealed to Abraham, would, if fully carried out, have placed Israel on a plane of existence above the nations of the world. It was a spiritual education, reaching the soul by a direct appeal to faith, and would have placed the people of God as teachers of nations. Not only a few were intended to teach, but the nation as a whole was to teach other nations. The second Israel will occupy a similar position, and they will be brought to that position by means of Christian education.

The End

Philosophy of Education

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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.” Colossians 2:3, 10

This wisdom brings eternal life; for “this is life eternal, that they might know Thee the only true God.” John 17:3

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 and which he bequeathed as a rich legacy to generations following, who drank and blessed his name, symbolized worldly wisdom. Men today mistake this for the wisdom described in Job 28, 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.” John 4:10; 7:37

Why, then, if wisdom may be had for the asking, are not all fulfilled? Only one reason can be given: men in their search accept falsehood in the place of truth. This blunts their sensibilities, until the false system seems true and the true false.

There is a distinction between the wisdom of God and that of this world. (See 1 Corinthians 1:20; 2:6.) How, then, can we attain to the real and true wisdom?

To man, 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 cannot attain unto it.” Psalm 139:6. And Paul himself exclaimed, “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!” Romans 11:33

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.

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.

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.” Psalm 33:9

Angels, and the beings of other worlds of 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.

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.

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.

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?

The Rival System

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.”

Here was born the rival system,—selfishness facing the utter self-forgetfulness of Christ, reason over against faith.

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.

Divine Method of Teaching

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. “So 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.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 51

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.

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 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.

The Effects of Doubt

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 when perceived no change as a result of the perverted use of the sense of hearing. 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.

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” (Genesis 2:17), 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.” Genesis 2:19

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.” (See Genesis 3:12.) 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.” 2 Thessalonians 2:4

Faith Versus Reason

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 today 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.

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 converted. 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.” Romans 12:2. In order to render 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, the more complete is the subjection of the race top physical infirmities.

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.

True Science and Life

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.

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 that the world needs today. 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. 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.