UC-NRLF 
 
 1*1 
 
 
 
 NORMAL TRAINING 
 
 OF THE CHI! D 
 
 
LIBRARY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA. 
 
 Class 
 
 
THE 
 
 NORMAL TRAINING 
 OF THE CHILD 
 
 MADISON ASHLEY HART 
 
 \\ 
 
 CHRISTIAN PUBLISHING COMPANY 
 ST. LOUIS, MO. 
 
 THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
H 
 
 Copyright, 1906. 
 Christian Publishing Company. 
 
L a ioi 
 
 H 3 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 A FOREWORD ..." 7 
 
 THE PROPER FUNCTION OF EDUCATION ... 9 
 THE STRATEGIC EDUCATIONAL PERIODS . . 18 
 
 a. Childhood. 
 
 b. Adolescence. 
 
 THE HIGHER MINISTRY OF THE BIBLE SCHOOL . 35 
 
 a. The Teacher. 
 
 b. The Curriculum. 
 
 177133 
 
A FOREWORD. 
 
 At the genesis of our discussion a foreword of 
 explanation is perhaps necessary and advisable. 
 
 In this busy, progressive, epoch-making age, that 
 man is a dilettante, who either reads, writes or talks 
 for the mere thought of discussion. We should be 
 profoundly thankful that we are fast moving away 
 from the thought of simply seeking truth for truth's 
 sake, studying art for art's sake, or achieving prog- 
 ress for fame's sake. It is now for life's sake and 
 man's sake that we use the microscope and tele- 
 scope, the scalpel of the surgeon, the atom of the 
 scientist, the brush of the artist. Geology, astron- 
 omy, philosophy, psychology, as well as religion 
 must bear a vital relation to man before they can 
 perform their highest service in the working out of 
 the eternal purpose. It is wise then to couple our 
 dreaming with soldiering, our praying with plan- 
 ning, our worship with working. 
 
 Our purpose is not to rattle the dry bones of 
 either a past or present theology. Rather is it to 
 clothe these bones with flesh, put into them warm 
 
8 A FOREWORD 
 
 red blood and breathe into them the breath of life. It 
 is almost a waste of time and talent to study either 
 science or theology merely to be scientific. Per- 
 haps it is scientific for a German professor to spend 
 his entire life in the exploitation of the preposition 
 eirt, but the common sense and sane judgment of 
 enlightened Christendom will pronounce such suc- 
 cess a failure. Let all things be used with special 
 reference to man. This is the plan of God. It is a 
 hard plan to improve upon. 
 
UNIVERSITY 
 
 or 
 
 THE PROPER FUNCTION OF EDUCATION. 
 
 The subject has three key words. These will be 
 used to unlock the doors into our house of study. 
 What we say will be directly related to these words : 
 education, the child, the Bible School. It is not 
 the province of this lecture to deal primarily and 
 fundamentally with the educational problem. And 
 yet when we would talk or write suggestively and 
 intelligently of the child, and the child's relation to 
 the school, the thought of education becomes close, 
 vital and necessary. We must also realize that the 
 child was not made for the school but the school 
 for the child. And the natural and normal answer 
 for the school's existence is for the purpose of edu- 
 cation. What then is the function of education? 
 "Education," says President Butler, of Columbia, 
 "is the adaptation of a person, a self-conscious be- 
 ing, to environment and the development of capacity 
 in a person to modify or control that environment. 
 It is first a matter of principles and second a matter 
 of methods." "To prepare us for complete living 
 is the function which education has to discharge," 
 
io NORMAL TRAINING 
 
 says Herbert Spencer, "and the only rational mode 
 of judging of any educational course, is to judge in 
 what degree it discharges such a function." "The 
 object of education," says Froebel, the patron saint 
 of childhood, "is the development of the human be- 
 ing in the totality of his powers as a child of na- 
 ture, a child of man and a child of God. This edu- 
 cation should be conducted according to nature, and 
 should be a free spontaneous growth a develop- 
 ment from within, never a prescription from with- 
 out." While neither one of these definitions may 
 be immune to criticism, nevertheless we must admit 
 that whether taken alone or collectively, we at least 
 have a clearer conception of education. All things 
 considered I prefer the last one given. With his 
 love for children and the vigorous and intelligent 
 fight he made to secure a higher appreciation of the 
 value of the child from the educational point of view, 
 it is not strange that the people of Thuringia have 
 chiseled the name Froebel in the solid rock in the 
 face of the cliff overhanging the bridle path of his 
 beloved mountain. Better still, his name is written 
 not on tables of stone, that shall one day be dis- 
 solved by the elemental forces, but deep in the heart 
 
OF THE CHILD. n 
 
 of an intelligent educational system that will out- 
 live all earthly glory, all earthly grandeur. 
 
 To divide education into the secular and the 
 sacred, is an anomaly: to develop the body and 
 mind, and leave the spirit undeveloped, is to miss 
 the divine thought of proportion. In truth, in God's 
 analysis, I feel quite sure all things are sacred. 
 Nothing is secular. Without entering into either 
 the physiological or psychological study of the ques- 
 tion, I believe we may safely affirm the body, mind 
 and spirit constitute the educational trinity for our 
 Bible schools, as well as for our public schools, col- 
 leges, universities. Unite with this another trinity, 
 namely, man considered as a child of nature, a child 
 of man and a child of God, and we will develop a 
 being not only able to modify, understand and con- 
 trol his environment, but an individual developed in 
 all his parts for complete living. For then he will 
 realize that the proper and only legitimate function 
 of education is to serve and that the fine art of liv- 
 ing is to know how to give a life that has been edu- 
 cated according to the divine plan and for a divine 
 purpose. 
 
 One of the fundamental facts in our govern- 
 
12 NORMAL TRAINING 
 
 mental life is the separation of church and state. I 
 am not here to discuss whether "A government of 
 the people, by the people, and for the people," log- 
 ically demands such a divorcement. True or false, 
 right or wrong, wise or foolish, logical or illogical, 
 it is just such a condition we face. It is a fact in 
 history and experience. It may be our strength. 
 It can be our weakness. This at least is true if we 
 are to have religious education in the United States 
 it must come from some source within the state, 
 and not the state per se. We may be able to see 
 this thought in a more concise and helpful way by 
 comparison. England believes it to be both wise 
 and necessary to combine culture and religion, 
 believing religion to be a normal and necessary 
 part of all true education. In her Public Board 
 Schools she gives religious instruction to nearly 
 as many children as attend the schools of the Church 
 of England. About all the interest France takes 
 in the religious instruction of her children is the 
 Thursday holiday. On this day the churches are 
 expected, or at least afforded, an opportunity to 
 give religious instruction. But when we come to 
 study the German educational system we find that 
 
OF THH CHILD. 13 
 
 while nearly all schools are under government 
 control, they are nevertheless peculiarly religious. 
 The principal function of the German school is 
 officially declared to be the making of "God-fearing, 
 patriotic, self-supporting citizens." And believing 
 these results can not be secured without and apart 
 from religion, four or five hours per week of reli- 
 gious instruction are required in every German 
 school by the Cultus Minister. And while every 
 teacher receives training along religious lines, only 
 those teach who are best fitted in character, temper- 
 ament, acquirement. 
 
 In the United States, Protestantism and Democ- 
 racy combined have declared for the separation 
 of church and state. This means that religion 
 must look to some other source than the state for 
 a sponsor. While we may now consider this detri- 
 mental, perhaps at some future time we may find 
 it providential. But such a conclusion will not 
 come from this neglect on the part of the state. 
 It can only be a living fact when our homes, our 
 churches, our Bible schools and our religious and 
 educational institutions do better work than that 
 which has been done or can be done by the state. 
 
i 4 NORMAL TRAINING 
 
 Whatever relation the church sustains to the state, 
 the time will never come when the church can for- 
 get her work in the proper education of the indi- 
 vidual citizen. She sustains a close and vital rela- 
 tion to all education, whether in public or private 
 schools. For whenever education in public schools, 
 colleges, universities and professional and tech- 
 nical schools becomes commercial, materialistic and 
 non-Christian, we may look for a decline in morals 
 and the entombment of the soul's ideals. Christian 
 culture is both the saviour of the individual and the 
 state. All institutions of learning miss the mark 
 and fail to reach the true educational goal unless 
 instruction becomes Christo-centric. "It is not re- 
 ligion and education ; but religion in education." 
 It is not enough for our schools and colleges to 
 send out young men who are able to tunnel moun- 
 tains, bridge oceans, bring down the lightning and 
 make it do service for man, invent wireless and 
 magical means of communication. Are they able 
 to rightly divide the true from the false, the eternal 
 from the ephemeral? Where do they put first 
 emphasis in the making of money or the making of 
 man? Do they believe character is greater than 
 
OF THE CHILD. 15 
 
 currency, or that currency is to be secured even 
 at the expense of character? It will only be a 
 short time until there will be a consensus (of opinion) 
 that the culture of the twentieth century or any 
 century needs and must have the Gospel of the 
 first century. To be educated according to the di- 
 vine plan is to be developed symmetrically, "in 
 the totality of being." Modern Samsons and in- 
 tellectual Frankensteins are not the true products of 
 Christian civilization and Christian nurture. 
 But such human monsters will spring from 
 our modern educational institutions, like Mi- 
 nerva from the brow of Jupiter, unless the 
 influence of Christianity is felt in home, school, 
 church. Although, in the language of Sabatier, 
 man may be incurably religious, he is nevertheless 
 capable of abnormal development. And while ab- 
 normal development may not wholly obscure the 
 religious vision, the result is almost as bad and 
 deleterious. Since the state has given the religious 
 training of the child, adolescent and adult, over to 
 the home, church and church schools, do we not 
 realize that this naturally and necessarily places a 
 great responsibility upon the Bible schools? Per- 
 
16 NORMAL TRAINING 
 
 haps it is well that the burden of religious instruc- 
 tion, if we may call so high and holy a privilege a 
 burden, is placed just where it is. This may be 
 the spur of necessity to drive us on to that kind of 
 preparation which does not expend all energy, en- 
 thusiasm, fervor in pious exhortation and tearful 
 entreaties, which are necessary and have a place in 
 the curriculum, but rather to that thorough, com- 
 plete, symmetrical development which makes re- 
 ligion the natural and necessary complement to 
 science, art, ethics, aesthetics. In other words, to 
 make all other things lead toward and be a help in 
 the highest culture soul-culture. Christianity 
 which Christ lived and taught is not something to 
 be taken off and put on again as we do a hat or a 
 coat. The Christian boy and the Christian man 
 are not abnormally developed. Rather are they the 
 only truly developed people in the universe of God. 
 When we think enough of the Bible school to equip 
 it with buildings suitable and teachers thoroughly 
 prepared in mind, spirit, character, then we will be 
 able to make Christianity the savior of not only the 
 individual but also society the true test of religion. 
 The Bible school, like an individual, must have a 
 
OP THE CHILD. 17 
 
 certain self-respect. This will give it. It will also 
 command the respect of teachers and pupils; the 
 admiration of friends, aliens, enemies. 
 
 Our thought is this, that education to be full, 
 complete, symmetrical, must be Christian intelli- 
 gently Christian. Is it not then logical, pedagog- 
 ical and common-sense to begin where maximum 
 good can be accomplished with minimum effort, 
 where we can form and thus make it unnecessary 
 to reform? In other words, we consider it sane, 
 sensible, as well as Christian, to begin with the 
 child. 
 
18 NORMAL TRAINING 
 
 THE STRATEGIC EDUCATIONAL 
 PERIODS. 
 
 a. Childhood. 
 
 b. Adolescence. 
 
 How often we quote the classic speech of Ter- 
 ence: "I am a man and nothing of man is foreign 
 to me." Let us give this a new setting and a new 
 and better interpretation : I am a child and nothing 
 that relates to the proper development, happiness, 
 usefulness of the child will I deem of small im- 
 portance to me. In our deification of the adult let 
 us not have our eyes holden to childhood. If there 
 is to be an apotheosis of anybody, just human, let 
 it be neither Caesar on his throne nor the adult with 
 habits and ideals pretty well fixed and set. Rather 
 let us place the crown where it belongs, where the 
 Great Teacher put it. "Verily I say unto you, who- 
 soever shall not receive the kingdom of heaven as 
 a little child can not enter therein." It is the child 
 who stands as the best and truest representative of 
 the race, as well as the being closest related to the 
 ideal of humanity. "Childhood," says G. Stanley 
 
OP THE CHILD. 19 
 
 Hall, "is the very best period of human life; then 
 all human faculties are at their best ; it is the para- 
 dise from which the growth is always more or less 
 of a fall. Wordsworth was right when he spoke of 
 the child as coming from a far country with par- 
 tial forgetfulness." Joseph was neither the first 
 nor last child sinned against. In his case that one 
 who should have been the best friend proved the 
 best enemy. If the old order of things is to be done 
 away and new and better methods substituted, the 
 work must be done by wiser folks than Joseph's 
 brother Reuben, who for safety put the lad in the 
 pit and upon his return found the brother he would 
 have saved already sold into slavery. The home 
 and the Bible school ought to be these true, faithful 
 and thoughtful friends. But ofttimes both are crim- 
 inally careless and coldly indifferent as to who 
 teaches, and the character of the impressions that 
 are made upon the growing child. It is sad and al- 
 most sacrilegious to see many fathers and mothers 
 placidly content to give over the training of the 
 child to others, and strangers at that. Perhaps 
 they do not realize "It is the evening lamp that is 
 the home's lighthouse." And if this lamp is to be 
 
20 NORMAL TRAINING 
 
 kept trimmed and burning, it must be done by the 
 parents those who stand closest to the light and 
 who ought to appreciate its value the most. Is it 
 any wonder the child gradually loses the home feel- 
 ing and begins to strain if not to break the home 
 ties? It was the unfeigned faith that dwelt first in 
 the grandmother Lois and the mother Eunice that 
 Paul found as one of the dominant forces in the 
 young man Timothy. It is a hopeful sign when 
 we see home and school working upon the hypo- 
 thesis if a child be trained in the way he should 
 go, that when he is old he will not depart from it. 
 Of course there are many exceptions. At least there 
 are some exceptions. But these rather confirm 
 than invalidate the precept. I do not believe that 
 our very best modern methods found in our most 
 progressive and efficient Bible schools, however 
 sane and pedagogical they may be, can be adequate 
 and sufficient reason for either the neglect or aboli- 
 tion of home training and home culture. The true, 
 wise, thoughtful parent will never be willing to give 
 all the child's education to others, even though they 
 be thoroughly prepared in mind, methods, in heart 
 and life. The unpreparedness of many parents may 
 
OP THE CHILD. 21 
 
 make it necessary to give the major portion even 
 of the religious nurture over to others. But even 
 when this is the case there can be a home atmos- 
 phere created by the parents. The home ozone 
 can be made spiritual and wholesome even by the 
 uneducated. This ought not, and can not with 
 safety, be neglected. 
 
 If it be both sad and sinful for parents to neg- 
 lect the child, what shall we say of the Bible school ? 
 This brings us once more to the question of educa- 
 tion. We have seen that education to be full, com- 
 plete, normal and entirely satisfactory, must be 
 Christian. If so, then the Bible school, which is the 
 church's school, must play an important, yes, the 
 prominent part, in this educational development. 
 To neglect it entirely is unthinkable, if not criminal ; 
 to be content with the superficial, if not artificial, 
 means and methods, is a tacit acceptance of the me- 
 diocre value of the school, or else perfect willing- 
 ness to let the child have poor training in religion 
 when no such thought would be considered or tol- 
 erated for a moment if it related to the education 
 received in the public school. This it is, my friends, 
 I consider one of the dangers confronting us, for 
 
22 NORMAL TRAINING 
 
 it helps the child to feel that after all, even with our 
 loudest protestations, religion is not much worth 
 while. Else better preparation would be made and 
 more time given to it. We may not intend that this 
 shall be the child's deduction, but the results are 
 just as bad as if we meant it. Now, in all candor 
 and seriousness, have we a right to blame and criti- 
 cize the child if a small valuation be placed upon 
 things religious, when we are partially, if not whol- 
 ly, responsible? 
 
 Perhaps the first great need is a knowledge of 
 the child, at least an attempt to know, and an in- 
 telligent, sincere, painstaking attempt at that. In 
 the use of the term child it may be well for us to 
 thoroughly understand each other. It is quite gen- 
 erally conceded and admitted there are three pe- 
 riods in life prior to the adult life, or completed 
 physical development : infancy, from birth until six ; 
 childhood, from six to ten or twelve; adolescence, 
 from ten or twelve to well developed manhood and 
 womanhood. These three periods may be thought of 
 in this way: First, the age of instinct; second, the 
 age of habits ; third, the age of ideals. Childhood is 
 the age of conscience unfolding and building, while 
 
OP THE CHILD. 23 
 
 the adolescent life is the moment for will-training. 
 It is also the time for the awakening of the affec- 
 tions. Love and friendship mean much at this age. 
 If then habits, ideals, conscience, will, love and 
 friendship are worth considering and developing, 
 certainly childhood and adolescence should receive 
 far more attention, more thoughtful consideration 
 and more careful training than we are usually wont 
 to bestow upon them. For it is then the good and 
 the bad, the right and the wrong, the high and the 
 low, the noble and the ignoble, the selfish and the 
 unselfish, receive their greatest set toward develop- 
 ment. Here is where we must come to educate 
 our future workers, our princely givers, our Chris- 
 tian professional and business men, and our enthusi- 
 astic, consecrated missionaries. From a purely sci- 
 entific and pedagogic point of view, our study 
 might be limited to the years between six and 
 twelve. But during our present discussion let us 
 understand the term child as embracing the age of 
 habits and ideals, or from six to the evening hour 
 of adolescent life. For our study this will be far 
 more practical and just about as true to scientific 
 dictum. It is almost as impossible and unsatisfac- 
 
24 NORMAL TRAINING 
 
 tory to study childhood by years as to write history 
 by centuries. 
 
 In the painting of Rembrandt there is a certain 
 chiaroscuro a blending and intermingling of lights 
 and shadows. So in our use of the term child there 
 will be a blending of childhood and adolescence. 
 Patterson DuBois, one of the clearest, sanest think- 
 ers along the line of child-study, says: "In his out- 
 look and in his general mental methods, a child of 
 six is further removed from a child of ten than a 
 child of ten is from a young man or young woman 
 of twenty." I believe this is rather a safe, sane, 
 logical statement. Upon this hypothesis let us pro- 
 ceed. Let childhood and adolescence blend. They 
 do so naturally. 
 
 If the proper physical, mental, spiritual training 
 be given the growing child, the great and startling 
 revelations that come with the dawning of adoles- 
 cence, when there is change in voice, in bodily 
 movements, in phyiscal, mental, spiritual life, when 
 the sensitive feeling becomes not only acute, but 
 painful, when habits are reinforced by ideals, when 
 every child becomes a Columbus, the discoverer of 
 a new world, the shock of change will not be as 
 

 
 OP THB CHILD. 25 
 
 great and the adjustment to these things new and 
 strange will be more easily, happily and success- 
 fully made. And when these adjustments are in- 
 telligently and satisfactorily made, we may natur- 
 ally look for a developed manhood and womanhood 
 that will be an honor to the race, to the home, 
 church, school, and merit the "well done" of our 
 Lord. 
 
 What, then, is our conception of the child ? This 
 comes to be the question of transcendant, paramount 
 importance. Many, yes, most of us, are just as 
 ignorant of the child as the child is of himself. 
 "Are you brothers?" kindly asked the superinten- 
 dent of a boys' club in New York City of two little 
 men who applied for membership in the club. "No, 
 sir," replied one of the boys; "we's only twins." 
 We may laugh at the boy's answer respecting his 
 relation to the brother, but could we answer in any 
 better form if certain questions were put to us? 
 The child wants to know many things. Many of 
 these we may not and can not answer satisfactorily, 
 with all our training and culture. Some of them 
 we ought to be ashamed not to be able to answer. 
 Is the child a degenerate, perfect, or simply capa- 
 
26 NORMAL TRAINING 
 
 ble of climbing high or falling low? I am rather 
 inclined to the belief that the child is neither abso- 
 lutely good nor peculiarly and eternally bad or de- 
 praved, either because of Adamic sin or any other 
 sin. Rather do I believe the child is a creature of 
 development, capable of reaching and climbing, 
 either upward or downward. God puts the child 
 here to grow in wisdom, in stature, in favor with 
 God and man. What he becomes, he grows to, he 
 does not jump to. And yet to do this the child 
 must live out his life. "Every child," says Froebel, 
 "must live out completely every complete stage of 
 childhood, or he can never develop into maturity." 
 "It is always well for us to remember that the tad- 
 pole does not lose his tail by shedding, but by ab- 
 sorbing it." It is this that produces vigorous 
 growth and strong vitality. It is not God's plan for 
 the child to reach maturity of body, mind and spirit 
 by one mighty leap upward; but to live out in a 
 natural and normal way the different stages, of 
 growth. It is just here that wisdom in training 
 and wholesome environment are to take the grow- 
 ing child by the hand and lead him step by step 
 into the Canaan of his dream. 
 
OF THE CHILD. 27 
 
 Granting the truth of the scientific statement 
 that childhood is the age of habit formation, what, 
 then, is our duty privilege? Is it not to help him 
 grow up and not down ? God's plan for man is that 
 he shall walk with his head among the stars in com- 
 pany with the saints. But to do this light must 
 drive out darkness, intelligence must rout ignor- 
 ance, horse and dragoon. Good must be made so 
 appealing to the child and man, that evil will not 
 entice and allure. We need to study more care- 
 fully, from a philosophic and psychologic point of 
 view, the life of Fra Angelico. This gifted artist, 
 who painted for Christ's sake and not for art's 
 sake, neither for Angelico's, looked so long upon 
 the beautiful and good that he lost all appreciation, 
 in fact all knowledge, of the ugly and the bad. He 
 could paint Madonnas and angels, but when he en- 
 deavored to put demons on canvas he made an ab- 
 solute failure. L,et us help the growing child form 
 such love for the true, the beautiful, the good, that 
 he will make an ignominious failure when he tries 
 to be bad. You may call this ideal. But it is only 
 the ideal thaj is fit to be real. 
 
 Now, in passing to the study of adolescence, I 
 
NORMAL TRAINING 
 
 want to bridge the chasm, if there be one between 
 childhood and adolescence, by a statement from 
 Horace Bushnell, one of New England's princely 
 thinkers, whose thoughts never grow old, never 
 lose their vitality : "The child is to grow up a Chris- 
 tian, and never know himself as being otherwise." 
 Now, I do not mean we are to accept the dictum of 
 Bushnell in entirety as to how this is to be done. 
 A man's statement may be true, his method of 
 reaching the good may be only partially true. Ado- 
 lescence is not simply the age of ideals and the 
 awakening of the affections. It is also the age of 
 conversion. The correct formation of habits in 
 childhood and the proper training and adjustment 
 of ideals in adolescence produce a natural and nor- 
 mal life, a life that finds its climacteric moment in 
 the full and complete surrender to the will and love 
 of that One who stands supreme in pedagogy, in 
 ethics, in religion. 
 
 The goal of religious training and nurture is 
 salvation ; but with this thought of salvation saved 
 to serve. God wants us first for our own sakes, 
 second for our brother's sake. It is^of supreme 
 and infinite importance to the teacher to know the 
 
OP THE CHILD. 29 
 
 close relation existing between adolescence and 
 conversion. This is the age of the greatest bodily 
 growth, and the age of the greatest religious possi- 
 bilities. It is also the age of the greatest passion, 
 when either sex becomes functionally capable of 
 generation. Here are some statements concerning 
 conversion that are almost axiomatic : 
 
 (i) "During the period of most rapid bodily 
 growth is the time when conversion is most likely ; 
 (2) Conversion and puberty tend to supplement 
 each other, rather than to coincide; but they are 
 nevertheless conditional." Starbuck. 
 
 Let us add here also a word from Professor 
 Coe: "The adolescent period is the time when 
 choice is now easier than at any other time, either 
 before or after ; this is the time when the wise 
 church will expect to reap its chief harvest of mem- 
 bers.". "It is my habit, as a pastor," says William 
 Byron Forbush, "to enroll my Sunday-school in 
 divisions in the order of maturity, and to endeavor 
 that none shall enter into or go through adolescence 
 without my personal attention." I think perhaps 
 the average minister is a partial failure, a greater 
 failure than he ought to be, just at this point. 
 
30 NORMAL TRAINING 
 
 Young people do not receive the intelligent help, 
 friendship and sympathy at this critical moment in 
 life they need, and by divine right ought to have; 
 and because of this neglect they are lost to the 
 Church, and so far as good works are concerned, 
 lost to the home and state. Of course you under- 
 stand these changes due to adolescence do not in 
 themselves produce conversion. They are open 
 doors, strategic moments, that can be and ought to 
 be used by every teacher and minister yes, by 
 every father and mother, for the glory of the child, 
 as well as the glory of the Good Father. 
 
 In a general way we have known the majority of 
 conversions to take place between the years of ten 
 and twenty-five, but we have not taken the time to 
 know the causes, neither to find out definitely and 
 accurately the maximum moments in conversion. 
 Do we not possess something tangible, workable, 
 interesting, when we know there are three pretty 
 well defined stages, namely, from twelve to thirteen, 
 from fifteen to seventeen, with sixteen as the max- 
 imum, and the third stage at twenty ? But what are 
 the maximum moments for boys and girls? Are 
 they identical ? Girls develop physically, and there- 
 
OP THH CHILD. 31 
 
 fore spiritually, from one to two years earlier than 
 boys. Therefore we find the greatest numbers of 
 conversions for girls at thirteen and fifteen; for 
 boys sixteen and seventeen. Now, let us remember 
 that physical development coincides with, and geni- 
 tal development either precedes or follows, conver- 
 sion, and yet sustains nevertheless a close and vital 
 relation. Can we afford to be without facts so nec- 
 essary in our work with the growing child ? There 
 is a spiritual as well as a physical malpractice. Both 
 are due to ignorance. Both may be pitied. Neither 
 can be condoned. If in the child we note the rise 
 and growth of the ethical, it is just as true that in 
 the adolescent we note the rise and growth of the 
 spiritual. And conversion is most likely to come 
 when the mind, heart and will are most susceptible 
 to the spiritual. 
 
 I almost hesitate to speak what is in my heart at 
 this point, but I feel this word ought to be spoken. 
 Let me preface what I shall say by a word from 
 G. Stanley Hall, perhaps our greatest authority on 
 adolescence: "The birthday of our greatest passion 
 is the birthday of the greatest religious need." Do 
 we believe it ? I can not see how any sane man can 
 
NORMAL TRAINING 
 
 help seeing the truth expressed. There are many 
 things the boy and girl ought to know that they 
 must either learn through a sad experience or from 
 lips polluted with ignorance, coupled with sin. One 
 of the questions confronting the parent and teacher 
 is this, from what source is the adolescent boy and 
 girl to have the facts relating to the changed life 
 due to the age of puberty? From those whose 
 sense of moral worth is perverted and who carica- 
 ture the normal life that God has planned for each 
 soul, or from those who know and appreciate and 
 who will give such advice and intelligent help as 
 will compel both boy and girl to look upon all 
 bodily organs and functions as sacred? If the sad- 
 ness and suffering of adult and adolescent, incident 
 to the perversion and misuse of these sacred gifts 
 be removed, somebody must do some sensible, clear- 
 cut thinking and some plain, common-sense talk- 
 ing. But it must be done without cant, without 
 mock modesty. It must be frank, straightforward, 
 intelligent, sympathetic. Grown men and women 
 will arise and call those blessed who are brave and 
 thoughtful enough to present these long neglected 
 truths. 
 
OP THE CHILD. 33 
 
 I believe much of the moral laxity, the vulgar 
 profanity and gross sensuality can be logically 
 traced to the neglect, sinful neglect, of parents 
 and teachers. Perhaps it might be more appropriate 
 to speak these things at a mothers' and fathers' 
 meeting. I believe the major part of this informa- 
 tion ought to be imparted by the parents. Their 
 relation to the child gives a better and more natural 
 way of approach. "If the test of the virtue of life 
 be to produce and bring to maturity the best chil- 
 dren, who shall themselves be most prolific in body 
 and soul," parents must both live well and speak 
 frankly to the growing child. Although the major 
 work along this line may be for parents, there is a 
 minor work for the teacher, yes, the Bible school 
 teacher. Many times from such a source the mes- 
 sage will come vested with greater convincing and 
 convicting power. Perhaps if we inform the ado- 
 lescent it may not be necessary to reform the adult. 
 
 At fourteen we are told the Roman lad received 
 his toga virilis, symbolic of the awakening man. 
 The great and important work with us is to help him 
 come to such natural and normal, physical, mental 
 and spiritual development that he will of his own 
 
34 NORMAL TRAINING 
 
 accord gladly and gracefully put on the Christian 
 toga the seamless robe of history and the divine 
 robe of immortality. It is now fitting and appro- 
 priate to speak of the Bible school in a more direct 
 way. It is here the lad receives not only encourage- 
 ment to put on the royal robe, but also receives 
 help and inspiration to wear it honorably. 
 
OF THH CHILD. 35 
 
 THE HIGHER MINISTRY OF THE 
 BIBLE SCHOOL. 
 
 a. The Teacher. 
 
 b. The Curriculum. 
 
 There are three names by which we designate 
 and dignify the school that has for its high and holy 
 function the religious training and Christian nur- 
 ture of the child, the adolescent and the adult the 
 Sunday-school, the Bible school and the Church's 
 school. All are correct when we consider the sub- 
 ject from these respective points of view. Sunday- 
 school speaks the day; Bible school suggests the 
 curriculum ; the Church's school names the organ- 
 ization. This organization fosters and gives special 
 attention to the culture and training of that part of 
 man which is immortal and capable of daily, peren- 
 nial, eternal progress. Although the church is pe- 
 culiarly and vitally interested in the proper educa- 
 tion and development of the spiritual, this does not 
 either suggest or imply she is an enemy of physical 
 training and mental culture. Rather is the church 
 an ally of all education that seeks the highest good 
 
36 NORMAL TRAINING 
 
 of the child and the man. Neither does the church 
 believe the most complete and satisfying evolution 
 of the soul can be obtained when the physical and 
 mental are forgotten and overlooked. The atrophy 
 of one elemental force in man retards and keeps in 
 bounds all others. The solidarity of the race de- 
 mands the symmetrical development of the indi- 
 vidual. But the Church in and through all her or- 
 ganizations proceeds upon the hypothesis, and a 
 natural and reasonable one, that if we seek the king- 
 dom of the soul first, all other kingdoms will be 
 developed upon a higher plan. This is in line with 
 the thought of the Great Teacher, who taught we 
 should seek first the kingdom of God, and all other 
 necessary things would be added. 
 
 The words teacher and curriculum will suggest 
 some things we wish to say concerning the Bible 
 school. At first thought this may seem to omit two 
 very necessary and important factors of the school, 
 namely, the superintendent and the method of teach- 
 ing. But we believe these can be most naturally 
 and helpfully considered under the above caption 
 teacher and curriculum. 
 
 It is a great mistake to suppose one can be a 
 
OP THE CHILD. 37 
 
 successful superintendent and yet be an inefficient 
 teacher. He must know how to teach and what to 
 teach the many, in order that he may make a wise 
 selection of individuals who are to give instruction 
 to the few. We can therefore logically consider 
 the superintendent from the point of view of teach- 
 er. Just here it may be well to say a word with spe-i 
 cial reference to salaried superintendents and teach- 
 ers. This depends. The first consideration is 
 competency. This is the central sun. Around it 
 the smaller planets ought to revolve naturally, if 
 not noiselessly. Where the school is large and the 
 financial ability warrants it, there ought to be at 
 least one salaried instructor. Perhaps all things 
 considered, this should be the superintendent. If 
 we are to make our Bible schools equal to the de- 
 mands and opportunities of the time, somebody must 
 give special and undivided attention to the work. 
 The fact is most of the schools must depend upon 
 the volunteer and unpaid. But simply because this 
 is true, we ought not be perfectly content just to 
 let anybody and everybody teach. We can at least 
 make an effort to secure more efficient and compe- 
 tent teachers. Where the financial ability does not 
 
38 NORMAL TRAINING 
 
 warrant even one salaried instructor for all the 
 time, and yet where there is a dearth of qualified 
 teachers, could not the problem be partially solved 
 in this way: Let the church secure the services of 
 a specialist in Bible school work one who is con- 
 versant with the best methods and the brightest and 
 best ideas to be a teacher of teachers. Even though 
 this could only be afforded for a short time, yet 
 much good could be accomplished. The curriculum 
 could be outlined, new interest created, teachers 
 somewhat better equipped, and perhaps best of all, 
 the Church through her Bible school would be per- 
 forming her natural and normal function, namely, 
 teaching. We need to use the apostolic and com- 
 mon-sense method of dealing primarily and intelli- 
 gently with the individual. The Bible school affords 
 this splendid opportunity. Let us use it for this 
 purpose. But before the best results can be se- 
 cured we must realize that the Bible school is in 
 verity the Church's school, and not the Church's 
 playground, unless good, serious, honest work be 
 considered play. It is the waste seen on every hand 
 with which we must deal. And there is a wastq 
 of time, talent, energy in our present-day religious 
 
OF THE CHILD. 39 
 
 training. Can the Church honorably remain con- 
 tent to do her work in a poor way, when it might 
 be done and ought to be done in such a way as to 
 enlist the interest of the teacher, pupil and commun- 
 ity? We must make the work contagious. 
 
 Our thought is not to criticize and condemn the 
 Bible school. Rather to take it as it is, be thankful 
 for the good accomplished in the past and plan as 
 well as pray for better things for the future. We 
 need first to appreciate its worth. Then perhaps we 
 will make such changes, with new methods, better 
 prepared teachers, separate class rooms, a graded 
 curriculum and all necessary additions and im- 
 provements as the importance of the work demands. 
 
 If the "key to the hard problem of evang'eliza- 
 tion lies in the puny hand of the little child," we 
 must give the hand a chance to grow strong and 
 big. While nothing can be devised to take the place 
 of the Bible school, it nevertheless needs to be en- 
 larged and improved to meet the demands of to- 
 day, not of yesterday. 
 
 "New occasions teach new duties; 
 
 Time makes ancient good uncouth; 
 They must upward still and onward, 
 
40 NORMAL TRAINING 
 
 Who would keep abreast of truth; 
 Lo, before us gleam her camp fires! 
 
 We ourselves must pilgrims be, 
 Launch our Mayflower, and steer boldly 
 
 Through the desperate winter sea, 
 Nor attempt the Future's portal 
 
 With the Past's blood-rusted key." 
 
 The teacher must not only be able to impart 
 truth; a knowledge of the child is of primary im- 
 portance. This is one of the first needs, even as it 
 is one of the first demands of religious pedagogy, 
 whether we accept Pestalozzi's sense perception the- 
 ory of education, or Froebel's thought of the re- 
 generation of the affections. This knowledge may 
 come through scientific study or it may be empirical. 
 Perhaps it will be better if study and experience 
 are happily combined. Let us illustrate : It is stated 
 on pretty good authority that the nations which have 
 the most toys have the most individuality, ideality 
 and heroism. And nations that have become famous 
 "by and through their men and women supplied their 
 infants with toys. In other words, toys possess an 
 educational value, and therefore should be made to 
 serve a double purpose pleasure and character 
 building. Granville, Massachusetts, is a village of 
 
OP THE CHILD. 41 
 
 scarcely a thousand people, and yet it is the greatest 
 toy drum town in America. Why is this? 
 James F. Cooley, the founder, said : "The toy drum 
 business ought to be profitable, because as long as 
 there are boys, there is sure to be a demand for 
 toys." Now, just how he got this kind of knowl- 
 edge I do not know. Perhaps he took a look into 
 his own heart. He may have been a close observer 
 of boys. One thing is certain, he knew the boy 
 heart. This led him to see the commercial value 
 of the toy drum. He may not have cared in the 
 least for the patriotic and educational value of the 
 drum. But he saw what he wanted to see. The 
 commercial value was clear to him. Here is the 
 question: Are teachers just as anxious to know the 
 child from a religious point of view, as the business 
 man from the commercial point of view? If not, 
 why not? When this passion becomes strong we 
 will know the child, at least we will make an intelli- 
 gent effort. Our knowledge may come through 
 scientific study and every day experience ; but it will 
 come. This is the primary consideration. 
 
 One can not know the child and then place a 
 low valuation on what may fitly be called the child's 
 
42 NORMAL TRAINING 
 
 moods. Our moods our angels are ; yes, our moods 
 our demons are ! One word at the right time is of 
 more real value than nine at the wrong time. Pa- 
 ents and teachers are not simply to take advantage 
 of these receptive moods or moments they should 
 create them. A work like this takes more time 
 and infinitely more patience. Elizabeth Harrison, 
 in her helpful work, "A Study of Child Nature," 
 says: "When her child is in the loving mood 
 let the mother ask of him some little service, very 
 slight at first, but enough to make him put forth 
 an effort to aid her. Thus can she transform the 
 mere selfish love of the child into the beginning of 
 that spiritual love which Christ commanded in the 
 words, 'If ye love me, keep my commandments/ " 
 The same result can be secured by a wise, patient, 
 thoughtful teacher. 
 
 Some teachers have a genius for story telling. 
 They do not moralize. It is both common sense and 
 pedagogical to let the story teach and impress its 
 own lesson. Perhaps we preachers are guilty just 
 here. Very few of us know how to tell a Bible 
 story either to a child or an adult in an intensely 
 interesting way. If we tell one we usually spoil 
 
OF THE CHILD. 43 
 
 the effect by moralizing. Here are some wise words 
 by Henry Van Dyke: "Lord, let me never tag a 
 moral to a story nor tell a story without a meaning." 
 
 The child is able to appreciate the ethical before 
 the spiritual. The acts rather than the teachings of 
 Christ are better suited to the child mind. The wise 
 and interested teacher will make an attempt to 
 know such facts as these and make his plans and 
 prepare his work accordingly. When the age of 
 childhood begins to blend with the adolescent life, 
 then the spiritual light is seen above the horizon. 
 This is the strategic moment for teaching that is 
 spiritual and altruistic. "This is the age," says 
 G. Stanley Hall, "of the New Testament." Christ 
 makes his strongest appeal to the boy and girl just 
 at this time. 
 
 The atmosphere of a class room or a Bible school 
 has much to do with securing interest and awaken- 
 ing latent enthusiasm. I have special reference to 
 the atmosphere created by a good, strong, whole- 
 some personality. Nagging, scolding, fault-finding 
 teachers should be asked to resign or else suffer 
 themselves banished to some foreign land. I am 
 not so sure but what the first thought of the teacher 
 
44 NORMAL TRAINING 
 
 should be to create an atmosphere and then teach 
 the lesson. Here is where personality wields such 
 an influence. Even the tramp recognizes its value. 
 By making the life of the road delightful and out of 
 the ordinary, he wins his prushun. It is personality 
 put to a bad use, it is true; but it is personality. 
 In this realm Christ excelled. But he used his 
 power for good. By the sheer force of his mag- 
 nificent personality Christ prepared the way, cre- 
 ated the atmosphere. No wonder the fishermen 
 left their boats and followed him. 
 
 Teachers should be selected with special refer- 
 ence to the classes. The infant and primary classes 
 can be most effectively used with women as teach- 
 ers. From six to ten or twelve it does not matter 
 so much whether the teacher be a man or woman. 
 Fitness is the prime requisite. But when boys and 
 girls of adolescent life are to be taught, and success- 
 fully taught, special care must be made in the se- 
 lection of teachers. For boys it is well to have a 
 man as teacher, of an athletic sort of mold, who 
 makes an appeal because of manliness and his 
 knowledge of their affairs. The boy is then a hero- 
 worshiper. He needs the inspiration of the manlier 
 
OP THE CHILD. 45 
 
 type of religion. All honor to our faithful and con- 
 secrated women, but they are not best fitted to 
 teach the critical, close-observing boy. Even so 
 at this time in the girl's life. She should have a 
 wise, patient, sympathetic woman as teacher. The 
 woman knows how, or at least ought to know how, 
 to get close to the girl's heart in this hour of change 
 in her life. 
 
 If the teacher be competent, both from the point 
 of view of knowledge of the subject and the sub- 
 ject matter, I am not sure there is much need for a 
 talk on methods. The wise teacher will use the 
 method or methods best fitted for the individual. 
 I believe, so far as possible, the four methods of 
 teaching should be used, namely, the recitation, 
 the conversation, the lecture, and the seminary 
 method. But I have not the time to speak of the 
 relative value of each. But this one thing I want to 
 plead for in the presentation of Bible truths, espe- 
 cially mooted, doctrinal, philosophical questions, 
 we should endeavor, so far as possible, to present 
 such thoughts from the point of view of truth rather 
 than this is what "our Church" teaches, or what 
 "we believe." It is the right way and much fairer 
 
46 NORMAL TRAINING 
 
 to both the child and God. It also leaves the teacher 
 with more self-respect. The child will accept it 
 then because it is true. Let conviction come through 
 truth spoken in love. In this way we will banish 
 prejudice. Let us have a little more confidence in 
 God to bring conviction ' through his truth than 
 through our conception or interpretation of it. I 
 consider this of vital importance. Bring them to 
 God, teach them the way, help them to accept 
 Christ, inspire them to live serviceable and un- 
 selfish lives in a selfish world. Teach them to give 
 rather than to get, to have but not to hold, to min- 
 ister and not wait to be ministered unto. This is 
 the fine art of teaching. This is the poetry of our 
 prose life. 
 
 One of the most difficult problems confronting 
 us to-day in the Bible school is the question of 
 curriculum. Here it is much easier to find fault 
 than to find a way out of the wilderness ; much 
 easier to condemn than to convert. But so vital a 
 matter can not be neglected simply because it is 
 difficult. And yet perhaps this is a place where 
 fools rush in where angels fear to tread. 
 
 In the study of the curriculum there are many 
 
OF THH CHILD. 47 
 
 important questions to be considered. Is the school 
 to be graded or left to a careless, haphazard ar- 
 rangement? Are we to teach the Bible only, or 
 make the Bible our major and affiliated studies our 
 minor? Are we to have the entire school use the 
 same lesson week by week, or shall we so arrange 
 the curriculum that each class may have the line 
 of thought presented that is best suited, most in- 
 teresting, most easily grasped, longest remembered, 
 and in line with the child's natural and normal 
 growth? These are a few of the problems to be 
 solved in the successful arrangement of the school's 
 curriculum. 
 
 The failure to appreciate the value of both the 
 child and the Bible school has led to this careless, 
 haphazard, and therefore uninteresting and often 
 uninviting, arrangement of the course of study. 
 Lack of system has helped to create and develop 
 lack of interest and enthusiasm with teacher and 
 pupil. Can we with our present appreciation of the 
 child's worth, coupled with the educational value 
 of the Bible school, be satisfied to let slipshod and 
 imperfect methods stand forever in the way of the 
 high and holy work that might be accomplished 
 
48 NORMAL TRAINING 
 
 with improved methods methods that would give 
 a better system? Nobody claims the system is the 
 solution. It can only be a help in the solution. But 
 we ought to use it for all it is worth, and not be 
 eontent with anything short of the best. 
 
 Perhaps we can most easily sense this need 
 when we remember the gradual growth and re- 
 markable changes incident to our development from 
 childhood to manhood and womanhood. And the 
 graded school simply endeavors to meet the need 
 and make the work more efficient. If we take the 
 public school as a suggestive example, if not a 
 model, we will receive some light on the problem 
 and some help in solution. Here we find an effort 
 made to adapt the course of study to the natural 
 development and peculiar needs of the child. When 
 one grade has been successfully passed, there is 
 promotion to a higher grade. In this way the child 
 is encouraged and stimulated by promotion, the 
 unity of education is emphasized, the 'different 
 rooms are bound closely and indissolubly together, 
 and a strong and necessary esprit de corps is cre- 
 ated. I am afraid this is verv little considered in 
 Bible school work. And yet it is very necessary. 
 
OP THE CHILD. 49 
 
 In this way we shall be equal to our day and oppor- 
 tunity. Cosmos will be born from chaos. Some 
 Moses to lead us out of our educational wilderness 
 is a great need in our Bible school work. 
 
 May I here in all kindness make a criticism of 
 our training, or rather our lack of proper adjust- 
 ment of the curriculum in theological schools and 
 Bible colleges? Perhaps there is not too much em- 
 phasis put on the doctrinal content and saving power 
 of the Gospel, but of this I am quite sure too little 
 emphasis is put on that kind of education which 
 fits and prepares the minister to deal intelligently 
 and successfully with social problems and to plan 
 for larger and better things in the church. Very 
 many ministers are unable to be successful leaders 
 simply because they have not been correctly led. 
 They can not be apostles of needed reforms because 
 in the first place they do not realize the need, and 
 in the second place they are not able to meet the 
 need when it is made clear. Let our curriculum 
 be corrected in the college and this will be a step 
 toward the proper adjustment in the Bible school. 
 A specialist in Bible school work and in church 
 work in general is a present day need in the theo- 
 
50 NORMAL TRAINING 
 
 logical seminary and Bible college. Yale Uni- 
 versity has made a move in the right direction by 
 establishing the chair of the theory and practice of 
 missions. I plead, not only for a better understand- 
 ing and a higher appreciation of the Book, but of 
 the child and the man. One writer puts this need 
 very deftly and naively: "We know much about 
 Origen and Tertullian, but we are very ignorant of 
 Sam and Jim." I come to speak a good word for 
 Sam and Jim. 
 
 Shall we use the Bible and the Bible alone in 
 the school, or shall we make our field of study 
 larger ? I want here to add my appreciation of the 
 Bible. Whether or not it has a Christian and non- 
 Christian element, as Professor Clark avers, I be- 
 lieve the Bible will one day prove its divine origin 
 pedagogy, as well as the latest and best word on 
 the most scientific treatise on psychology, the ablest 
 presentation of ethics, the most satisfactory book on 
 pedagogy, as well as the latest and best work on 
 religion. When correctly interpreted, properly un- 
 derstood and scientifically used, these conclusions 
 are almost certain. Why? Because it deals, not in 
 abstract reasoning, but speaks through principles 
 
OP THE CHILD. 51 
 
 and persons. The day will come when we will not 
 worship the Bible as a fetish, but use it as intended, 
 as the Book of Life. But are we to use nothing 
 else in our Bible school, even though it be of first 
 importance? Not if we want to secure the best 
 results. Many of our schools endeavor to teach 
 history without geography. But the Creator united 
 these two. They are married in the Lord. And 
 what the Lord hath joined together let no careless 
 preacher, neither ignorant superintendent nor indif- 
 ferent teacher put asunder. But in addition to geog- 
 raphy we need to add to our curriculum Church 
 history. It might not be amiss to add secular his- 
 tory. We need to study contemporaneous events 
 together and not separately. We should give more 
 thought to art. Here is one of the richest and most 
 fruitful fields of study, even as it is one of the most 
 delightful. There is hardly a Bible incident that 
 can not be presented and enforced by means of 
 pictures. One good look at the Sistine Madonna 
 will create more interest and love for the mother 
 and the child Jesus than an hour's uninteresting 
 homily. The wise teacher sends truth home to the 
 mind and heart of the child by eye-gate, as well as 
 
52 NORMAL TRAINING 
 
 ear-gate. Whether art should be made a part of 
 the curriculum may be a question, but that art is a 
 great help in the proper and effective presentation 
 of truth ought to be patent to everybody. 
 
 Are we to have the entire school use the same 
 course of study, or shall we have such a curriculum 
 as will be best adapted to the child and the class? 
 Undoubtedly the International System has a cer- 
 tain hold upon us. It has many good features. 
 There is an inspiration in numbers. We are living 
 in an age of large things, and to feel the pulse beat 
 of the whole Christian world once in every seven 
 days is not a bad custom. If our International 
 System can be developed along sound, sane, scien- 
 tific, pedagogical lines, then let us use it. If not, 
 we must in justice to the child, adolescent and adult 
 find a better way. The historical method of Bible 
 study, the intelligent effort being made to under- 
 stand the content of the child mind, that the point 
 of contact in teaching may be found, the common 
 sense and pedagogical value of giving to each child 
 and adolescent the mental and spiritual food nec- 
 essary to the best, most natural, most wholesome 
 development will be the means of bringing about 
 
OF THE CHILD. S3 
 
 such educational reforms in the Bible school as will 
 work marvelously for the future success and glory 
 of the Church and the Church's school. We must 
 realize that the time for either embalming or en- 
 tombing truth has passed. We are now standing 
 with radiant faces and glad hearts on the glorious 
 resurrection morn, ready for any revelation that 
 will bring us nearer the goal of our endeavor. The 
 voice of the Great Teacher is heard: "Ye shall 
 know the truth and the truth shall make you free. 
 If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall 
 be free indeed." 
 
 With many of these innovations suggested you 
 may feel unconcerned, indifferent and skeptical. 
 Others you may wish to bury out of sight of men 
 and angels. Off the coast of San Francisco a few 
 days ago some ammunition belonging to the gov- 
 ernment was consigned to the ocean from the good 
 ship Slocum. This was the reason given : "Too old 
 to use and too dangerous to give away." If such 
 be the case, then on with the burial. But if, on 
 the other hand they be true, however deep they 
 may be buried there will be for them an Easter 
 morn. 
 
54 NORMAL TRAINING 
 
 We are told there is a certain column in the wall 
 of Jerusalem, where Mohammed will at some future 
 day seat himself to pass judgment on the world. 
 From this point there will be stretched across the 
 intervening valley to the Mount of Olives a bridge 
 as narrow as a Damascus sword. Upon this bridge 
 every one must walk as a test of orthodoxy. If 
 the philippics we read now and then represent real 
 conditions, there are at least a few present-day the- 
 ologians who would enjoy building a bridge of like 
 dimensions. Of course every Moslem will pass 
 over the bridge in safety. Those of other faiths 
 and beliefs will fall into the valley below and thus 
 have a good start on the way to Avernus. Per- 
 sonally I do not care whether we use old methods 
 or new methods ; whether we teach old truths or 
 new truths ; whether we become apostles and proph- 
 ets of the old theology or the new theology. But 
 I do care that we have the things which are true. 
 I want us to build a bridge of truth and love so 
 wide and strong that all may walk from the Jerusa- 
 lem of Childhood to the Olivet of Manhood and 
 Womanhood. Aye, that not one shall fall, but that 
 all shall rise ; not one be lost, but all find a home at 
 
OP THH CHILD. 55 
 
 last in the Father's house. It is for the proper edu- 
 cation of the child that I plead. When we enter 
 the holy of holies of childhood we are filled with a 
 sense of our unworthiness. This seems to be a work 
 only angels are fitted to do. But God hath given it 
 to us. Let us acquit ourselves like men. Let us 
 not disappoint God. Do we truly love and can we 
 faithfully serve the Babe in the Bethlehem manger 
 unless we respond to the need and the call of the 
 child? 
 
BOOKS FOR BIBLE SCHOOL WORK 
 AND WORKERS. 
 
 "The Principles of Psychology," William 
 James. 
 
 "Adolescence," President G. Stanley Hall. 
 
 "The Psychology of Religion," E. D. Star- 
 buck. 
 
 "The Religion of a Mature Mind," George 
 A. Coe. 
 
 " The Spiritual Life," George A. Coe. 
 
 "The Natural Way in Moral Training," 
 Patterson DuBois. 
 
 "Beckonings From Little Hands," Patter- 
 son DuBois. 
 
 "The Point of Contact in Teaching," Pat- 
 terson DuBois. 
 
 "Christian Nurture," Horace Bushnell. 
 
 "The Boy Problem," William Byron For- 
 bush. 
 
 57 
 
"A Study of Child Nature," Elizabeth Har- 
 rison. 
 
 "Teaching and Teachers," H. Clay Trum- 
 bull. 
 
 "An Outline of a Bible School Curri- 
 culum," G. W. Pease. 
 
 "Principles of Religious Education," by 
 several writers. 
 
 "The Seven Laws of Teaching," John M. 
 Gregory. 
 
 "Picture Work," Walter L. Hervey. 
 
 "Principles and Ideals for the Sunday- 
 school," Burton and Mathews. 
 
 "Introduction to the Bible for Teachers 
 of Children," Georgia Louise Chamberlin. 
 
 "An Historical Geography of Palestine," 
 George Adam Smith. 
 
 "The Boyhood of Jesus and Its Bearings 
 Upon Religious Pedagogy," William Byron 
 Forbush. 
 
 58 
 
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