PC-NRLF 
 
 SB Efl3 S05 
 
The Old Testament 
 
 in 
 The Sunday -School 
 
 BY 
 
 A. J. WILLIAM MYERS, M.A., B.D. 
 
 n 
 
 Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the 
 
 Degree of Doctor of Philosophy, in the Faculty of 
 
 Philosophy, Columbia University. 
 
 PUBLISHED BY 
 
 College, Columbia <Hnibersitj> 
 NEW YORK CITY 
 1912 
 

 A? 
 
 Copyright, 1912, 
 By A. J. William Myers 
 
To MY SISTER MARGARET 
 
 254211 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 Chapter Page 
 
 I. Introduction 1 
 
 1. Purpose and Scope ..... 1 
 
 2. Educational Presuppositions .... 2 
 
 3. Religious Presuppositions. .... 4 
 
 PART I 
 
 DIFFICULTIES INVOLVED IN THE USE OF THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 FOR CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTION 
 II. Difficulties Growing out of the History of Israel's 
 
 Religion ....... 11 
 
 III. Difficulties Involved in the History of Israel's Litera- 
 
 ture 21 
 
 IV. Some Results of Ignoring these Difficulties . . 46 
 
 PART II 
 
 AN EDUCATIONAL CLASSIFICATION OF THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 
 MATERIAL 
 
 V. Material Adapted to the Primary Department . 55 
 VI. Material Adapted to the Junior Department . 70 
 VII. Material Adapted to the Intermediate Department 88 
 VIII. Material Adapted to the Senior and Adult Depart- 
 ments 104 
 
 PART III 
 
 APPROACHES TOWARD THESE RESULTS IN RECENT PUBLICATIONS 
 IX. Graded Curricula 115 
 
 1. The Constructive Bible Studies . . . 115 
 
 2. The New York Sunday School Commission Lessons 118 
 
 3. The International Graded Sunday School Lessons 120 
 
 4. The Bible Study Union Lessons . . .125 
 X. Some Independent Applications of Critical Results 129 
 
 BIBLIOGRAPHY . 137-141 
 
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 
 
 The author wishes to express his gratitude to a 
 long line of teachers: At Prince of Wales College, 
 Charlottetown; Dalhousie University and Pine Hill 
 Theological College, Halifax; Knox Theological 
 College, Toronto; Union Theological Seminary, 
 Columbia University and Teachers College, New 
 York; to Professor Julius Bewer for reading the 
 manuscript of Chapters II and III; to Professor 
 Edward Lee Thorndike for new insight into scientific 
 methods in Psychology and Statistics; to Professor 
 John Angus MacVannel for continued sympathy 
 and help and the use of valuable manuscript notes; 
 and especially to Professor George Albert Coe, 
 under whom the work was done, and whose encour- 
 agement, inspiration, criticism, and friendship made 
 it possible, and to whom whatever of worth it pos- 
 sesses is largely due. 
 
 A. J. W. M. 
 
 VI 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
CHAPTER I 
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 I. Purpose and Scope. 
 
 The primary purpose of this essay is to examine the 
 adaptability of the Old Testament as material for 
 the Sunday-school curriculum according to the 
 principles (1) of education, (2) of biblical criticism, 
 and (3) of the Christian conception of life and of 
 society. Notwithstanding the vast amount of 
 work that has been done recently in preparing new 
 Sunday-school curricula, such an examination has 
 never been made, nor have these three principles 
 been brought together before for this purpose. 
 These principles of education and of religion are 
 stated briefly in the present chapter. 
 
 To set forth the position of biblical scholarship as 
 it applies to the use of the Old Testament in the 
 Sunday school, together with the educational prob- 
 lems involved, two sections are added, one on Israel's 
 Religion and the other on Israel's Literature. 
 
 The graded curricula discussed in the last section 
 are representative, not exhaustive. The discussion 
 is an examination, in the light of the three principles 
 enunciated above, of the Old Testament material 
 used in these curricula. 
 
 These parts of the essay, namely, the remaining 
 paragraphs of this chapter, Part I, and Part III, 
 are subsidiary to Part II, which embodies the main 
 
2 The Old Testament in the Sunday School 
 
 results for which originality and newness may be 
 claimed. It should be said, however, that these 
 results make possible in Part III a more scientific 
 analysis of the new graded curricula than could 
 otherwise be undertaken. 
 
 II. Educational Presuppositions. 
 
 The problem in the present work is not the prep- 
 aration of a curriculum but the selection of adapted 
 material for a special purpose from a certain source. 
 The educational presuppositions upon which this 
 selection proceeds are as follows: 
 
 1. This essay assumes the social rather than the 
 individualistic view of education. "Education is a 
 deliberate activity of society, for social ends, and 
 by means of social experience." 1 
 
 2. To educate, however, is to promote not merely 
 habits or conformity, but independent reflective 
 thinking 2 as well, so that in a new situation the 
 pupil is able to analyze, picjk out and attend to the 
 essential factor, and to draw conclusions accurately. 
 
 3. Ideals are essential to progressively right de- 
 cisions. Ideals to be effective must be clearly seen, 
 and grasped with conviction; and the pupil must be 
 educated to be true to his ideals. Principles may 
 be looked upon as the working plans of which the 
 ideal is the projected structure. 
 
 4. Proper emotional attitudes and habits are also 
 
 1. Coe, Unpublished Lecture. 
 
 2. Dewey, How We Think, p. 6. Cf . also Miller, The Psychology of Think- 
 ing; McDougall, Social Psychology; Bagley, The Educative Process, p. 97. 
 
Introduction 
 
 necessary to the formation of a right character, and 
 therefore the material of instruction must present 
 situations which call forth spontaneous emotional 
 response. 
 
 5. The curriculum is to be adapted to the child, not 
 the child to the curriculum. In the past the op- 
 posite of this was more nearly the practice: certain 
 material had to be learned and knowledge was sup- 
 posed to be imparted. 1 Concerning the contrast 
 between the modern and the older view Dewey says : 
 "It may be summed up by saying that the centre 
 
 of gravity was outside the child Now the 
 
 change which is coming into our education is the 
 shifting of the centre of gravity. It is a change, a 
 revolution, not unlike that introduced by Copernicus 
 when the astronomical centre shifted from the earth 
 to the sun. In this case the child becomes the sun 
 about which the appliances of education revolve; 
 he is the centre about which they are organized." 2 
 And this is but getting the child in the school to 
 the position he has always held in the best family life. 
 
 6. The pupil's instincts are the key to his needs 
 and ability, and the instincts and impulses must be 
 taken advantage of as they appear. Original nature 
 is to be developed, not repressed; it is "divine" 3 
 rather than depraved. 4 
 
 1. The same idea was expressed by Amos R. Wells, "In the Sunday school 
 the scholars take in," contrasting the receptive attitude there with the activity 
 of the Young People's Society. Proceedings of the Religious Education Associa- 
 tion, Vol. Ii; P . 367. 
 
 2. Dewey, The School and Society, p. 51. 3. Cf. Pestalozzi and Froebel. 
 4. For a popular discussion see W. Arter Wright, The Child and His Moral 
 
 Development. 
 
4 The Old Testament in the Sunday School 
 
 7. There is continuous growth of the child's ex- 
 perience and ability, and the curriculum must pro- 
 vide material adapted to every stage of his develop- 
 ment. 
 
 8. The adaptation of a given piece of literature 
 is to be determined by a study of: (1) Its content 
 and literary form; (2) Its appeal to the spontaneous 
 interests of a given age; (3) The probable effect that 
 it will have upon habits and ideals. 
 
 III. Religious Presuppositions. 
 
 1. The aim of the Sunday-school curriculum is to 
 promote the development of the pupil toward ma- 
 ture Christian character. This implies not only a 
 good private life, but also filling a place in society 
 according to the ideals of Christ. The Christian 
 purpose is to form the world into an ideal fellowship 
 in which God is Father and all men are treated as 
 brothers. 
 
 2. The will is central in Christian education. The 
 Christian character is not the possession of informa- 
 tion, but of the Christian purpose. Therefore the 
 test of the curriculum is the help that it gives in the 
 formation of the Christian will or life purpose or 
 ideal. 
 
 3. The ideal or purpose progresses with the pupil's 
 growth. Therefore a part of the test of a particular 
 portion of the curriculum is its adaptation to the 
 development of Christian ideals suited to the needs 
 and ability of the pupils in that particular grade. 
 
Introduction 5 
 
 4. To form an intelligent life purpose or ideal, 
 knowledge is necessary, and knowledge acquired in 
 the Sunday school must be able to stand the severest 
 tests of criticism. Integrity in thinking is as essen- 
 tial in religious education as in science. 
 
 5. Not only habits of action and of thinking, but 
 also the proper habits of sentiment are requisite to 
 the full development of Christian character, and they 
 must be cultivated in the Sunday school partly 
 through the curriculum. 
 
 6. The power, dynamis, to become is within the 
 child. Character is developed through taking ad- 
 vantage of the instincts and capacities. It is an 
 unfolding of personality. 1 
 
 7. Since education moves within the experience 
 of the pupil, religious education has to do with the 
 religious experiences of the pupil as he is. The Sun- 
 day school helps the pupil meet present moral and 
 spiritual problems, and so trains him in Christian 
 living. Religion thus is to him a vital, practical 
 force in his everyday life. The curriculum must 
 have in view the solution of actual moral problems 
 in the pupil's life.jfj! 
 
 8. The resulting conception of a curriculum of 
 Christian instruction brings into prominence sev- 
 eral principles. First, the curriculum exists for 
 the pupil and not the pupil for the curriculum. 
 No material,|iwherever found, has any divine right 
 
 1. MacVannel, Mss. notes. T. Thiselton Mark, The Unfolding of Per- 
 sonality. Cf. Froebel. 
 
6 The Old Testament in the Sunday School 
 
 other than this, that it is adapted to the child and 
 is best fitted to promote at that particular age the 
 development of his character according to Christian 
 ideals. Second, the material chosen for each grade 
 must be adapted to the pupils of that particular age 
 in both moral content and literary form. Third, 
 the curriculum must be organically knit together, 
 each course forming a basis for future study while 
 it is an outgrowth from the past, the whole providing 
 for continuous upward development. 
 
 9. These considerations raise crucial problems 
 when the Old Testament is examined as material 
 for the Sunday-school curriculum. They may be 
 stated as: 
 
 (1) What portions of the Old Testament are adapted 
 in content and literary form to the spontaneous 
 interests of each grade? 
 
 (2) What parts of this adapted material are suitable 
 to the formation of a distinctly Christian ideal 
 and Christian purpose? 
 
 (3) This involves the further question, What is act- 
 ually before us in each passage of the Old Testa- 
 ment? That is, What did it mean to the writer, 
 or to those to whom he wrote ? What is its reality 
 as a piece of human experience? This makes 
 necessary to those who are intrusted with the 
 formation of the curriculum an inquiry as to the 
 date and circumstances under which each docu- 
 ment was written, and an examination of every 
 part in the light of historical criticism, in order to 
 discover what the Old Testament really is. The 
 traditional Christian instruction neither asks 
 nor answers one of these questions. The new 
 
Introduction 
 
 or graded curricula imply a partial answer to all 
 three, but the Old Testament has not been ex- 
 amined with this specific purpose in view, nor 
 has it been analyzed before in the light of the 
 three principles set down in Section I. 
 
PART I 
 
 DIFFICULTIES INVOLVED IN THE USE OF 
 
 THE OLD TESTAMENT FOR CHRISTIAN 
 
 INSTRUCTION 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 PROBLEMS GROWING OUT OF THE HISTORY OF 
 ISRAEL'S RELIGION 
 
 The history of Israel covers many centuries. 
 From the time of Moses to Christ is a period of 1300 
 years. During that time the people passed through 
 many vicissitudes of political life: slavery; nomadic 
 life; tribal organization and conquest; partial feder- 
 ation under occasional " Judges "; united monarchy; 
 division into two kingdoms often at war with each 
 other; wasted and conquered by great nations 
 Assyria, Egypt, Babylon; carried into exile to Baby- 
 lon ; dominated by foreign powers Babylon, 
 Persia, the Greeks, Egypt, Syria; partial restoration 
 under foreign control; fierce revolt and indepen- 
 dence; then under Rome; and, finally, national 
 suicide. Such, in brief, was their checkered career. 
 
 The religious life was not less varied. It began 
 as " polydemonism " ; developed through the wor- 
 ship of tribal gods to monolatry and then into the 
 ethical monotheism of the prophets with insistence 
 upon a personal and individual relation to Yahweh 
 and upon social righteousness; thence organized 
 religion passed, by the growth of the priestly element 
 which was always present, into a rigid system of 
 law, ceremony and ritual organized into an ecclesi- 
 astical hierarchy. The purpose of this section is to 
 sketch the development of the religion of Israel 
 
 11 
 
12 The Old Testament in the Sunday School 
 
 from the point of view of its bearing upon religious 
 education. 
 
 The early Semitic conception of deity is known as 
 " polydemonism." 1 Places and objects such as 
 stones, 2 trees, 3 wells or springs 4 were the abode of 
 the divine as the body is the abode of the soul. 
 Images were used in worship. 6 Their idea of the 
 supernatural was not clearly defined. Approaching 
 a sacred place they removed their shoes, put a veil 
 over their faces and ceremonially cleansed themselves 
 and their clothes. There were sacred seasons includ- 
 ing the new moon or sabbath. 6 The avenger of blood 
 was the stern agent of justice. The exultant boast 
 of Lamech, 7 formidable because of iron and brass 
 weapons, antedates even the lex talionis. Slavery 
 was practiced, and the father had almost supreme 
 power over his family, divorcing his wife or offering 
 his child in sacrifice at will. 8 Sacrifice could be 
 offered by any one, and it did not require a priest. 
 
 Religion early became tribal. The tribal god was 
 thought of as being limited to and bound up with 
 his own tribe, whom he was bound to assist whether 
 it was right or wrong. 
 
 The Hebrews, led by Moses, came to Canaan. 
 The Canaanites were of the same race and lan- 
 guage. They had a higher civilization, living a 
 
 1. For argument against contention that Hebrews were monot heists from 
 the first, see George Adam Smith, Modern Criticism and the Preaching of the 
 Old Testament, pp. 118 &. 
 
 2. Gen. 28: 22; 35: 7; Ex. 4: 4; Josh. 4: 20. 
 
 3. Gen. 12: 6; Josh. 24: 26. 4. Gen. 14: 7; 26: 19; 21: 28. 
 
 5. Gen. 31: 19; Judg. 8: 27; Hos. 3: 4. 6. Probably identical t first. 
 7. Gen. 4: 23-24. 8. Judg. 11: 30 ff. Jephthah. 
 
History of Israel's Religion 13 
 
 settled agricultural life and possessing walled towns. 
 The Hebrews now worshipped one god, Yahweh. 1 
 The work of Moses had welded the tribes into closer 
 unity, worshipping one god but not denying to 
 others their gods. " Monolatry is the hall-mark of 
 the old Israelite religion." 2 Sacrifice was a common 
 meal of which the god partook with his people. 
 
 The land of Canaan was covered with sacred 
 places, and worship of the baals was carried on every- 
 where. The Hebrews, partly by conquest and partly 
 by alliance, settled in the land, learned agriculture 
 and, with it, its religious rites. But in the midst of 
 this baal worship the worship of Yahweh main- 
 tained itself and grew. Many sacred places were 
 taken over by the Hebrews for Yahweh worship, 
 and stories connecting these places with Yahweh 
 originated to show they were sacred to him, not to 
 the baals. 3 The new incorporated much of the local 
 religious customs, as Christianity did of the religions 
 of Greece and Rome. The communal meal gradually 
 gave place to the idea of sacrifice as a gift, as neces- 
 sary in entering into the presence of God as was a 
 
 1. The theory is advanced that Yahweh had been the tribal god of the Kenite- 
 Midianites. Moses, failing in an attempt to free his countrymen, fled to Midian, 
 married the daughter of Jethro, and learned of Yahweh. Then he went back 
 and by promise of the help of this powerful god aroused the Hebrews to make a 
 dash for liberty. Passing the Red Sea in safety they at once, at Horeb, made a 
 solemn covenant with Yahweh, Jethro offering the first sacrifice (Ex. 18: 12) and 
 initiating the Hebrews. Jethro certainly plays an important part in the organiza- 
 tion (Ex. 18: 13 ff). Two points are to be noted: Yahweh is now a covenant god, 
 and will remain faithful only if the Hebrews keep their part of the covenant; and 
 he is a jealous god, so the way is prepared for monotheism. See Semitic Origins 
 by Prof. George Aaron Barton; for a popular sketch see his article, Evolution 
 of the Religion of Israel, in The Biblical World for January, 1912. But this 
 theory creates more difficulties than it solves. 
 
 2. The Religion of the Old Testament, Karl Marti, p. 71. 
 
 3. Cf. Bethel, Gen. 28: 10 ff. 
 
14 The Old Testament in the Sunday School 
 
 gift when approaching an earthly potentate. Priests 
 revealed the will of Yahweh by ephod, 1 urim and 
 thummim. Human sacrifice was forbidden. 2 Anyone 
 offered sacrifice. The priests also took care of the 
 temples 3 and became the transmitters of customs, 
 rites and laws. 
 
 Under the new national consciousness Yahweh 
 came to be worshipped as god of all the land of 
 Israel; and the people organized themselves as a 
 nation into a monarchy, as they believed at his 
 command, 4 with a national religion. Two character- 
 istics of Yahweh were emphasized: he was mightier 
 than other gods and he was righteous. It is this 
 ethical quality which, in the main, distinguishes the 
 religion of Israel from the surrounding religions. 
 
 Professional prophets or seers appear at this time 
 as frenzied bands. 5 But individual prophets, distinct 
 from the professional class, have great influence, as 
 Elijah, Amos, and their successors. " A great voice 
 sounds, perhaps once in a century or half century; 
 and these voices represent the true tradition of Israel- 
 ite religion and develop it further." 6 
 
 Many believed that because Yahweh was God of 
 Israel he had no other people and was bound to 
 protect and deliver them. Against this non-ethical 
 relationship the prophets protest. They say that 
 
 1 Judg. 17: 5 ff and 18: 5. 
 
 2. The story of the offering of Isaac, Gen. 22: 12. 
 
 8. IS. 1:9; 8: 15, Eli. 
 
 4. 1 S. 9: 16. This was condemned by later writers as rejection of Yahweh. 
 1 S. 8: 19 ff; 10: 17 ff. 
 
 5. 1 S. 10: 5 ff. People were surprised to see one of Saul's prominence and 
 ability among them, 1 S. 10: 11. 6. Menzies, p. 186. 
 
History of Israel's Religion 15 
 
 if Israel sins, the punishment shall be all the greater 
 because they have known Yahweh; 1 they shall go 
 into exile. The prophets condemn uniting wicked- 
 ness and worship, and assert that sacrifice of itself 
 is valueless. 2 They demand social righteousness. 3 
 Yahweh is a moral God and as such has universal 
 sway over all nations and peoples. Religion is for 
 the great prophets an ethical monotheism. Parallel 
 with this prophetic development was a priestly 
 development, with its insistence upon rite and 
 ceremony. Idolatry and social unrighteousness 
 continued. 
 
 Under King Josiah a great reform was carried 
 through when the Book of the Covenant was pub- 
 lished. 4 In its spiritual tone it is prophetic; in its 
 insistence upon ceremony and place it gave an impe- 
 tus to the priestly element which developed through 
 Ezekiel and Ezra into strict legalism. The prophets 
 fought against ceremonialism and for social right- 
 eousness. The Deuteronomic reform insisted upon 
 one central sanctuary at Jerusalem and the closing 
 of all local sanctuaries. The nation's past was re- 
 viewed and its history re-edited and judged according 
 to this covenant. 5 But no radical change was wrought. 
 In 597 B.C. the Jews were carried off into Babylon. 
 The exile cured Israel of idolatry. The prophets now 
 saw that the nation's special mission was not political 
 supremacy, but to give to the world the true religion. 
 
 1. Am. 3: 2, etc. 2. Am. 5: 25, etc. 3. Mi. 6: 8, etc. 
 
 4. i K. 22: 8 ff . This book comprised Dt. 12-26, 28 and perhaps 1-5. 
 
 5. Cf. 2 K. 17: 34-40; 12: 2-3, etc. 
 
16 The Old Testament in the Sunday School 
 
 The idea of " Jacob," that is, Israel, as the Suffering 
 Servant l is developed. Though despised, broken, 
 smitten of God, Israel is God's Servant to carry out 
 his purpose among the nations. 
 
 During the exile the priestly element worked itself 
 out to completion. All hope of national life having 
 been disappointed, and in close touch with an elabo- 
 rate ritualistic religion in Babylon, the Jews conceived 
 of themselves as a theocracy with Yahweh as king 
 and they organized themselves as a priestly hierarchy 
 with the high priest at the head. A complete system 
 was worked out with ordinances and ritual covering 
 the smallest details of life. About the year 400 B.C. 
 this law was accepted at Jerusalem. 2 Now the re- 
 ligious life demands the most scrupulous conformity 
 to the minutiae of the law. Sacrifice assumed the cen- 
 tral place. This system was projected into Israel's 
 idealized past, and to provide for it, even in the 
 wilderness wanderings, the richly appointed Taber- 
 nacle with its courses of priests in rich vestments, 
 and profuse sacrifices, now heard of for the first 
 time, seemed alone adequate. Since the nation 
 had not observed these laws, the system and many of 
 the laws not being in existence, the past is sweepingly 
 condemned. The sense of sin, requiring atonement, 
 became prominent and the Day of Atonement was 
 instituted. The Law itself was regarded as sacred, 
 
 1. Isa. 40; 41: 8 ff; 42; 43: 1 ff; 53, etc. This prophecy was a message of 
 comfort (40: 1) to a crushed and broken people. Yahweh's chosen nation is 
 wounded and bruised and without comeliness. It can be applied to Christ only 
 in that what was true of the nation in this respect is supremely true of him. 
 
 2. Neh. 8. 
 
History of Israel's Religion 17 
 
 inspired, an infallible guide. " It thus comes to give 
 many a direction which does not appear on the sur- 
 face. The secondary law or * tradition ' is thus 
 formed, a system which calls for the service of a 
 special class of students. The scribes who interpret 
 the law and apply it to life, obtain great influence 
 and become the virtual rulers of the nation." l The 
 husk is taken for the kernel; the dead letter rather 
 than the living voice. The ripe fruit is seen in the 
 slavery to the law, the casuistry, the narrow bigotry 
 of Christ's day. 
 
 The idea of sin and consequent fear of Yahweh 
 deprived religion of most of its joy. Sacrifice be- 
 came more an act of propitiation. The awful tran- 
 scendence of Yahweh was enlarged upon. The high 
 priest alone could enter the Holy of Holies and that 
 but once in the year. The doctrine of intermediaries 
 developed more fully. Angelology flourished. The 
 sacredness of the Jewish people and their separate- 
 ness from others was* the necessary counterpart of 
 this movement. The Gentiles were unclean. And 
 there was yet at the same time a growing conception 
 of the universalism of Yahweh, that all nations would 
 come to worship him. 2 The book of Jonah is the 
 highest expression of this thought, for he is there the 
 God of all mankind and of all creatures. 3 That the 
 spiritual elements have not died out is further 
 attested by psalms published at this period. While 
 
 1. Menzies, 203. 
 
 2. Cf . Mic. 4: 1; Jer. 3: 17; Ez. 25 ff; Isa. 42 ff; 56: 2. 
 
 3. Jonah 4: 10-11. 
 
18 The Old Testament in the Sunday School 
 
 the temple worship, even to the singing, was con- 
 ducted by the priests, the synagogues which sprang 
 up all over the country formed centres for the re- 
 ligious life and expression of the people themselves. 
 The Messianic Hope became more spiritualized in 
 the minds of the devout. 
 
 In the dispersion, the Jews came in contact with 
 the Greek search after wisdom, and the wisdom 
 literature is a product of that influence. The view- 
 point is that of the humanist. In the Bible wisdom 
 is sometimes personified l but it is rather worldly 
 wisdom than the distinctly religious conception that 
 is most often present. The problem of the suffering 
 of the righteous and prosperity of the wicked, so 
 often debated, 2 can only be solved by positing some 
 sort of future existence, but the outlines are ex- 
 tremely vague. 3 
 
 The apocalyptic literature is the outcome of the 
 crushing defeats in the Maccabean period and the 
 persecutions which threatened to exterminate every- 
 thing that was Jewish. The book of Daniel is " the 
 first specimen of a style of literature which is char- 
 acteristic of the entire epoch now under considera- 
 tion." 4 A speedy deliverance by Yahweh is ex- 
 pected, and the future of the Jews as the supreme 
 world power is pictured in glowing colors. Prophecy 
 was interpreted as pointing directly to every minute 
 detail of that kingdom, and the exact day and date 
 
 1. Prov. 8: 4 ff; Job 28. 2. Cf. Ps. 37; 49; 73; Job. 
 
 8. Cf. Job. 4. Ottley, p. 192. 
 
History of Israel's Religion 19 
 
 of its appearance were calculated. It was to come 
 " with observation." The influence of such interpre- 
 tation of the Old Testament has been felt ever since. 
 
 The essence of religion was not to be found in the 
 legalism of the priests and scribes, nor in worldly 
 wisdom, nor in the vagaries of the apocalyptic vision- 
 aries; it found its home in the hearts of those upon 
 whom, though often poor and oppressed, fall the 
 blessings of the Beatitudes. These form the seed- 
 bed of Christianity. 
 
 In religious education these different levels of 
 morals and religion must be recognized. The differ- 
 ences exist and are ineradicable. The lives of some 
 of the best Old Testament characters Abraham, 
 Jacob, David, Solomon, make this conclusive. 
 The same importance cannot be given to ideas be- 
 longing to the thirteenth century before Christ, a 
 time when the spiritual conception of religion had 
 scarcely begun, as to Jeremiah and the great proph- 
 ets, or to Jesus. The views of law and sacrifice as 
 crudely conceived in early times or the product of 
 later Judaism, and the view of sin and man's relation 
 to God resulting therefrom, cannot be placed on a 
 par with the teaching of Jesus. For example, there 
 is all the legalism of the Day of Atonement. It has 
 had inestimable influence. Had it been known that 
 this was not a command of Yahweh to Moses, but a 
 creation of the Exilic priesthood, increasing the 
 prominence of the hierarchy and especially the head, 
 the High Priest, it would never have had, at least 
 
20 The Old Testament in the Sunday School 
 
 in Protestant Theology, such influence. It must be 
 recognized that much of the Old Testament is not 
 Christian. 1 To apologize for it or try to explain 
 these difficulties away is as impossible as it is un- 
 necessary. Taken as stages in the development of 
 religion the different levels not only are explained, 
 but their study is necessary to understand the pres- 
 ent. These imperfect standards must then be 
 regarded and taught, not as ends in themselves but 
 as stages in the development to a higher religious life. 
 The attention of the pupils is to be directed, not 
 simply to them, but through them to the Perfect 
 One, Jesus Christ. 
 
 The difficulty for religious education arises, first, 
 from the fact that in the past Israel's religion was 
 thought of as being perfect from the first and its 
 standards authoritative and binding to-day. So the 
 Bible was regarded as sacred; one part being of as 
 much value as another; every individual word (even 
 of the English translation) being inspired. The 
 legal system, too, with its burden of the law, was 
 accepted as from the hand of God to Moses. Second, 
 the records of Israel's religion have been modified 
 by later writers so that in the same account views 
 separated by centuries are reflected. It is necessary 
 to study Israel's religion according to its historic 
 development and this involves a careful analysis of 
 the literature in the light of Biblical criticism. 
 
 1. Cf. Ps. 137:7-9; Ex. 21:24; Lev. 24:20; Dt. 19:21. At least Jesus 
 said that this and much more was not his teaching, Mt. 5: 21, 27, etc. 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 DIFFICULTIES GROWING OUT OF THE HISTORY OF 
 ISRAEL'S LITERATURE 
 
 The Bible is literature. It reflects the moral and 
 religious levels of the people at almost every stage of 
 their eventful history and religious development. 
 To use this material intelligently, to understand what 
 it means, a knowledge of when and under what cir- 
 cumstances its various documents were produced and 
 how they were treated by later writers is imperative. 
 Here scholars have toiled and all may enter into the 
 fruit of their labours. 
 
 The brief sketch which follows is not an Introduc- 
 tion to the Old Testament; l for such it is too 
 meagre, inadequate and disproportioned. The aim 
 is simply to give without argument a resume of the 
 practically assured results of criticism, and to discuss 
 whatever bears most directly on the problem of the 
 Bible as material for the Sunday-school curriculum. 
 Though many points are still debated and dates are 
 often only approximate, the astonishing thing is to 
 find how closely scholars, working independently 
 and from different points of view, agree on the main 
 issues. For clearness and because of lack of space 
 statements are sometimes limited to a single aspect 
 of facts which, if the purpose of the essay were 
 
 1. For full treatment consult some standard work such as Driver, Corntll, 
 Benoet and Adeney, Kirkpatrick, etc. 
 
 21 
 
22 The Old Testament in the Sunday School 
 
 different, would require a more rounded treatment. 
 The plan followed is to trace the growth of the litera- 
 ture from the beginning. t 
 
 The earliest forms of literature, before writing 
 became general, were songs, stories, 1 fables and 
 proverbial sayings. Examples of these are the songs 
 of Deborah, 2 of Lamech, 3 of Moses and Miriam; 4 
 borrowed stories as of the Flood; 5 stories of origins 6 
 and of heroes; 7 Jotham's fable 8 and Samson's 
 riddle. 9 
 
 From the earliest times there were laws 10 and 
 ceremonies which were handed down by usage and 
 were continually being added to as occasion arose. 11 
 
 From about the year 1050 B.C. come David's 
 elegy over Saul and Jonathan, 12 and Abner; 13 the 
 original form of Solomon's prayer of dedication; H 
 the blessing of Jacob; 15 Balaam's oracles; 16 and 
 other pieces; also two collections of songs, known 
 now only by quotation, The Book of the Wars of 
 
 1. Only those stories and songs that could hold the attention at a feast or 
 around the campfire were preserved. In this way those that have come dowa 
 through the centuries are inimitable. The stories of Joseph, e.g., will never grow 
 old. 
 
 2. Judg. 5. This is a good illustration of the use made of poetry by the his- 
 torian. Cf. Judg. 4. 
 
 3. Gen. 4: 23-24. 
 
 4. Ex. 15: 1-18. 
 
 5. The earlier form Gen 6: 5 ff. 
 
 6. E.g., Creation, Gen 2: 4b ff. 
 
 7. E.g., Abraham, Jacob. 
 
 8. Judg. 9: 7-21. 
 
 9. Judg. 14: 14. 
 
 10. Ex. 34: 14-28 is early. 
 
 11. E.g., David's law of Spoil, 1 S. 30: 24-25. 
 
 12. 2 S. 1 : 19-27, wrongly called Song of the Bow. 
 
 13. 2 S. 3: 32-34. 
 
 14. 1 K. 8: 12-13. 
 
 15. Gen. 49: 1-27. 
 
 16. Nu. 23-24. 
 
History of Israel's Literature 23 
 
 Yahweh 1 and The Book of the Upright (Jasher); 2 
 and some proverbial sayings. 3 
 
 With the monarchy, state annals and temple 
 records began to be kept. These were probably 
 very meagre. The Samuel, Saul and David cycles 
 of stories 4 assumed definite shape soon after the 
 death of these leaders. In 937 B.C. the Northern 
 tribes revolted and this literary inheritance, con- 
 sisting largely of song and story, passed to each 
 kingdom alike. But by addition and modification, in 
 process of time, it assumed in the North and South 
 distinctive characteristics. Little if any was com- 
 mitted to writing before the ninth century. 5 In 
 Judah a collection of this oral inheritance, gradually 
 made by various compilers, 6 was issued about the 
 year 850 B.C., and this work forms one of the chief 
 written sources of the Bible. It is known as the 
 Yahwist document, or J. 7 
 
 J has marked characteristics. It is practically all 
 narrative in the form of stories, sketching history 
 from Creation to the death of David. The stories 
 are vivid and full of movement. The characters are 
 
 1. Nu. 21: 14, etc. 2. Josh. 10: 13, etc. 3. E.g., 1 S. 10: 11-12. 
 
 4. From which 1 S. to 1 K. 2 developed through the years. 
 
 5. That is, over 400 years after Moses lived. The bearing of this on the 
 historicity of the contents is evident. Compare present day uncertainty and 
 speculation, in spite of printing and exact record keeping, about, e.g., Columbus; 
 and Abraham (not to mention Adam) goes back how far beyond Moses? 
 
 6. It is evidently not the work of one author. E.g., Lamech, a direct de- 
 scendant of Cain, is the ancestor of musicians, metal workers and nomads, Gen. 
 4: 16 ff, which is inconsistent with the story of the Flood. Also very different 
 grades of civilization are reflected. The editor was not a mere compiler, but a 
 philosopher and poet. 
 
 7. In all chapter and verse references to the various documents throughout 
 this work, Kent's Student's Old Testament is followed. Passages in brackets 
 are considered late editorial additions. 
 
24 The Old Testament in the Sunday School 
 
 few, but they stand out clearly. The movement is 
 rapid and the moral issue clear cut. The style is 
 remarkably easy and picturesque. Yahweh naively 
 appears in the early stories as a human being. 1 
 "The writer lives in a fairyland" 2 where nothing 
 seems strange. 3 Natural causes are given as the 
 means by which Yahweh works wonders. 4 Practices 
 that offend the moral sense of a later day are frankly 
 related. 5 Ceremonialism and legalism are absent. 
 Yahweh the " divine Friend and Patron " 6 is one 
 of the community; he loves and hates, is angry and 
 repents. Loyalty to him is the essence of religion. 
 
 Elijah appeared about 875 and was succeeded by 
 Elisha. Popular traditions which grew up around 
 their lives have to be treated with care. Some other 
 songs, stories and laws, especially the Book of the 
 Covenant, 7 were probably published before 760 B.C.; 
 also the book of the Acts of Solomon. 8 
 
 It was not until around 750 B.C. that the Northern 
 writers made a collection of their literature. It is 
 known as the Elohistic, or E, document. It sketches 
 history from Abram perhaps to Elisha, 9 paralleling 
 J, except in the stories of origins. 10 These stories 
 
 1. E.g., Talks with men, Gen. S: 9 ff. Personally inspected tower of Babel, 
 Gen. 11: 5. Attempted to kill Moses in the inn, Ex. 4: 24. 
 
 2. Hastings, Dictionary of the Bible, Art. "Hexateuch." 
 
 3. Yahweh brought all the animals to Adam to be named, Gen. 2: 19. 
 
 4. E.g., wind divided the Red Sea, Ex. 14: 21b. 
 
 5. E.g., Jacob deceives his aged father, Gen. 27: 19. 
 
 6. Kent, Student's Old Testament, I, p. 33. 
 
 7. Ex. 20: 2323: 33. 8. 1 K. 11: 41, known only by reference. 
 9. Kent, Student's Old Testament, I, p. 38. 
 
 10. Herman Gunkel, in The Legends of Genesis, suggests that "perhaps 
 there is in this an expression of the opinion of this school that the history of the 
 beginnings was too neathenish to deserve preservation." But they may have 
 been in the document originally. 
 
History of Israel's Literature 25 
 
 are vivid, objective, full of life. The style is some- 
 what more formal than J, but its conception of God 
 is not quite so anthropomorphic. God communi- 
 cates with men through dreams and angels, 1 except 
 that he speaks with Moses face to face. 2 The super- 
 natural is heightened. 3 Revelation is progressive, 
 for in the early days idols are worshipped; 4 then God 
 is known as Elohim, finally as Yahweh. 5 Moral 
 faults in the lives of the ancestors of the Hebrews 
 are softened down. 6 Human sacrifice is forbidden. 7 
 More prominence is given to worship sacred pil- 
 lars, 8 altars and sacrifice, 9 the Tent of Meeting 10 
 and the Ark. 11 
 
 Many of the stories in J and E come from very 
 ancient times, 12 and they may be said to belong to 
 the childhood of the race, when naive questions l3 
 are asked and simple explanations, given in story 
 form, satisfy. 14 " J and E form the picture book of 
 the Pentateuch." 15 
 
 1. Jacob dreamed and saw angels according to E, Gen. 28: 12; but in J, 
 Gen. 28: 13, Yahweh stood and spoke to him. 
 . Ex. S3: 11; Nu. 12: 8. 
 
 3. Not wind but Moses' staff divides the Red Sea, Ex. 14: 16a. 
 
 4. Josh. 24: 2; Gen. 31: 19b. 
 
 5. Ex. 3: 15. Care is taken in E to use Elohim up to this point; hence called 
 
 6. Jacob is constrained by Rebekah's insistence to deceive, Gen. 27: 8-13. 
 Abraham's deceit is excused because Sarah was his (half) sister, Gen. 20: 12. 
 
 7. The offering of Isaac, Gen. 22: 1 ff. 
 
 8. Gen. 35: 14; Ex. 24: 4b. 
 
 9. Condemned later by the Deuteronomic school. 
 
 10. Gen. 33: 7-11. 
 
 11. Nu.l4:44. 
 
 1. Cf. Bennet, The New Century Bible, Genesis, p. 17. 
 IS. E.g., about origin of names Abraham, Gen. 17: 5; places Beer- 
 sheba, Gen. 21: 31. 
 
 14. E.g., Why serpents crawl, Gen. 3: 14; pains of child-birth, Gen. 3: 16; 
 origin of the world, etc., Gen. 2: 4b ff. 
 
 15. Jabez Thomas Sunderland, The Origin and Character of the Bible. 
 
26 The Old Testament in the Sunday School 
 
 Up to this time (c. 750) all of the Hebrew Litera- 
 ture of which any trace remains was the J and E 
 compilations; the Saul and David, Elijah and Elisha 
 cycle of stories; brief court and temple records and 
 laws; and a number of psalms, proverbs, fables and 
 poems. Much of this had been preserved orally for 
 centuries, and scarcely any was written until 850 B.C. 
 The importance of this educationally is evident. 
 These stories cannot be history in the modern sense 
 of the term, though of inestimable value for the study 
 of the development of religion. Their conception of 
 God and religion is not final, but represents a very 
 early stage. 
 
 The eighth century B.C. marks a new era in the 
 literary work, for then written prophecy began. 1 
 Amos (760) with his " Gospel of the Lion's Roar," 
 preaching an ethical God and social righteousness, 
 is followed by Hosea (c. 745), the " last and noblest 
 offshoot " of the Northern Kingdom. The splendor 
 of the reign of Jeroboam II is followed by anarchy, 2 
 and Hosea, chapters 4 to 14, reveals a heart torn and 
 bleeding for his people. For him God is love as well 
 as justice. Isaiah 3 (736-701) was a tower of strength 
 when the nation's life was threatened. Having 
 
 1. For non-genuine passages in the books of the prophets consult any stand- 
 ard work. The addresses or teachings of the prophets were written down by dis- 
 ciples (Isa. 8: 16, Jer. 36: 4) at different times and later collected, e.g., Haggai 
 consists of four prophecies. In this way it happens they are not always arranged 
 in chronological order and the utterances of more than one prophet are put to- 
 gether (e.g., Isa. 1-39; 40-55; 56-66; 24-27; 12; 2: 1-4). These are sometimes very 
 brief and would probably have been lost had they not been incorporated in a 
 larger work. 
 
 2. Cf. 2 K. 15: 10 ff. 
 
 Qj 3. 1-39 except non-genuine passages. 
 
History of Israel's Literature 27 
 
 suffered from incompetent kings, he promises soon l 
 a ruler who shall be wise and good. 2 In 722 Israel 
 fell. Judah, too, shall fall unless she repents, but 
 " a remnant " 3 shall return. Isaiah stands alone in 
 eloquence and breadth of vision. Micah, 4 a younger 
 contemporary of Isaiah, wrote part, at least, of his 
 prophecy before 722. 5 Under the impending As- 
 syrian doom there is little hope for Judah, wedded 
 to her sin. 
 
 The Chronicles of the Kings of Israel, combining 
 the book of the Acts of Solomon, court annals, and 
 Ahab, Jehu and Elisha narratives, was issued now; 
 and, soon after, the Judean history of the temple, 6 
 another code of laws, 7 some psalms, and (by 650), 
 the well-known decalogue. 8 When Samaria fell 
 literary activity centered in Judah. The two parallel 
 documents, J and E, stood side by side. The obvious 
 thing happened. The two were combined by inter- 
 twining. 9 The process was completed about 650. 
 Naturally, Judean editors preferred J, which is 
 quoted more fully than E. Duplications and incon- 
 sistencies are common. 10 Almost every account is 
 composite. According to the older sources Canaan 
 
 1. 7:14. 
 
 2. 9: 6-7; 11: Iff. 
 
 3. Not a small remainder as our word remnant means but a large part. 
 President Brown. 
 
 4. Chapters 1-3 and perhaps parts of 4-5 belong to Micah. 
 
 5. Cf. Mi. 1: 6; 3: 12; Jer. 26: 17-19. 
 
 6. 2 K. 11-12; 16; 18: 4, 14-16, and perhaps 1 K. 6 and 7. 
 
 7. Contained in Ex. 20: 2223: 19. 
 
 8. There are many collections of 10 or 5 "words" or laws in the Bible. See 
 Prof. Briggs, " Hexateuch." 
 
 9. See p. 34, note 10. 
 
 10. In the past these were the object of attack and ridicule. Attempts were 
 made to explain them away but without success. Now the solution is evident. 
 
28 The Old Testament in the Sunday School 
 
 was invaded by the tribes acting independently, 1 
 securing a foothold by conquest or alliance as each 
 was able. The powerful nations in Canaan were not 
 subdued for many years. 2 
 
 A short prophecy added to Micah 3 belongs to the 
 reign of Manasseh (686-641). Zephaniah with his 
 dies irae, dies ilia, is dated about 630, and a part of 
 Jeremiah, 4 who began his work in 627, was produced 
 before 621. 
 
 Now occurred a momentous event, which not only 
 influenced mightily the future but led to a recasting 
 of all the past. This was the Deuteronomic reform 
 under Josiah in 621 when the Book of the Covenant 5 
 was published. 6 The style of this work, known as 
 D, is hortatory, oratorical, ornate. Some of its 
 ethical and religious teaching is among the noblest 
 in the Old Testament. There is a buoyancy and 
 hopefulness about it, a tender pleading and humane 
 care for persons and even animals. 7 " In a special 
 degree the author of Deuteronomy is the spiritual 
 heir of Hosea," 8 and this book has been called the 
 Gospel of the Hexateuch. 9 But it contains many 
 priestly elements and is the germ from which the 
 priestly system grew. 
 
 1. Josh. 1-12, and part of 13 and 14. 
 
 2. There is ample evidence substantiating this. The picture of a united 
 army under Joshua, moving on to victory and the complete subjugation of the 
 inhabitants is the idealism of a later age (p. 36 ff). 
 
 3. Mi. 6: 17: 6. 
 
 4. 1-4 and 31: 2-34. 
 
 5. The original Dt. consisted of Dt. 12-26 and 28 and perhaps also 1-5. 
 
 6. 2 K. 22: 823: 24. 
 
 7. The mother bird, 22: 6; the ox, 25: 4. 
 
 8. Driver, Deuteronomy, p. 27. 
 
 9. Hastings, Dictionary of the Bible, Art. "Hexateuch." 
 
History of Israel's Literature 29 
 
 The Covenant with Yahweh which it contains is 
 represented as having been made in the wilderness. 
 Sacrifice is limited to the central sanctuary at Jeru- 
 salem. Re-editing of the nation's history became 
 necessary. Because of the closing of the local sanctu- 
 aries provision was made for the dispossessed priests, 1 
 a^nd cities of refuge 2 were now established. Festivals 
 were reconstructed, three being held at Jerusalem 3 
 each year. Priest and Levite are synonymous terms. 4 
 
 The work of the Deuteronomic school is threefold. 
 First, the book of Kings, based upon annals of Israel 
 and Judah, and upon biographies, is edited. 5 It is 
 a Deuteronomic book. Every king is judged 6 
 according to his attitude to the Covenant. Second, 
 Joshua, Judges and Samuel are edited. In the two 
 former books a united people under Joshua conquer 
 Canaan and the land is divided among the tribes. 
 The five greater judges are judged by the Deutero- 
 nomic standard. 7 The chronology of twelve periods 
 of forty years has no historical value. Solomon's 
 prayer of dedication is Deuteronomic. The Elijah 
 and Elisha stories show marked influence of popular 
 embellishment. The book of Samuel, composed 
 largely of well-known stories, is but slightly 
 changed. Third, J, E and D are blended, the older 
 
 1. Dt. 18: 6-8. In this the Jerusalem priests never acquiesced. 
 
 2. Dt. 19: 2. 
 
 3. Dt. 16: 16 ff. Unleavened Bread, Weeks or Pentecost, and Tabernacles. 
 There is no Day of Atonement and no Passover (p. 35). 
 
 4. Dt. 18: 1, etc. 
 
 5. E.g., Reasons for fall of Israel, 2 K. 17: 7 ff, etc. 
 
 6. 1 K. 16: 12b ff, 25 ff, etc. 
 
 7. One judge, Othniel, is added so that the tribe of Judah may be repre- 
 sented. These, with Abimelech, make seven. See p. 36, note 8. 
 
30 The Old Testament in the Sunday School 
 
 documents being modified as above to suit the new 
 standard. 1 
 
 Prophetic activity continued. Nahum (607) pro- 
 nounces Nineveh's doom, and Habakkuk from his 
 watchtower pleads against a foreign foe. 
 
 This was a time of battle. In the shock of nations 
 kingdoms were shattered. Josiah was defeated and 
 slain at Megiddo 2 (608) ; Assyria's sway ended with 
 the fall of Nineveh (606) to the Medes and Persians; 
 Babylon, under Nebuchadnezzar, crushed Egypt at 
 Carchemish (605) 3 and, because of conspiracy, the 
 Jews were carried into exile in 597, Jerusalem was 
 razed and the people taken into final captivity in 
 586. All through these terrible years Jeremiah 
 (626 to some years after 586) stood by his people. 
 He is " the purest and highest consummation of the 
 prophecy of Israel and of the religion of the Old 
 Testament. After him One only could come who 
 was greater than he." 4 
 
 Some time before 597 the Holiness Code 5 was 
 collected and published. The book of Kings was 
 substantially completed. Ezekiel (592-570) was a 
 priest. 6 For him the greatest evil is the corruption 
 of worship. Yahweh is transcendent. The individ- 
 
 1. Cf. the story of the Spies in Dt. 1: 20-32, 34-36, when Moses reviews the 
 past, with the J and E accounts, p. 34, note 10. Joshua is now first mentioned. 
 
 2. 2 K. 23: 29; 2 Chr. 35: 20. The death and defeat of the reforming king 
 is the " Most tragic event in the Hebrew history." Kent. 
 
 3. This is the year in which Jeremiah received the command to write his 
 prophecies. King Jehoiakim cut to pieces his book, written by Baruch, and burnt 
 it, Jer. 36. 
 
 4. Cornill, The Prophets of Israel, pp. 98-99. 
 6. Known as H. It is contained in Lev. 17-26. 
 6. Ezek. 1: 3. 
 
History of Israel's Literature 31 
 
 ual is responsible. 1 Ezekiel pictures the ideal city 
 state which is called " Here is God." 2 It is ideally 
 organized under priestly control. 3 The Levites are 
 temple servants. 4 Land is set apart for the priests. 5 
 These are new elements, but they are projected 
 back as if present from the first. 
 
 The prophets saw clearly that the nation's work 
 was not political but religious. In the darkest days 
 this grew clearer, and as the nation wasted away the 
 Messianic hope grew stronger and the hope of a 
 future restoration under Yahweh's rule became more 
 certain. The form in which this was pictured 
 changed with changing conditions. 
 
 Between 546 and 538 6 an unknown prophet, 
 referred to as Deutero-Isaiah, 7 brought his message of 
 comfort 8 to a broken, exiled people. Israel shall be 
 restored by "Cyrus my shepherd," 9 "Cyrus his 
 anointed." 10 
 
 Now, too, was developed the idea of the nation, 
 Jacob, or Israel, as the Suffering Servant, 11 
 carrying out Yahweh's purpose. Lamentations, 
 the Song of Moses, 12 law codes, 13 and some detached 
 
 1. 18: 80. 2. 48: 35. 3. 40-48. 
 
 4. 44: 10-14, but in Dt. priests and Levites are synonymous. 
 
 5. 4/J. This is an advance on H. 
 
 6. Babylon conquered by Cyrus and the Jews allowed to return. 
 
 7. laa. 40-55. Called the Second Isaiah only because his work is placed in 
 the same book as Isaiah's. 
 
 8. Cf. 40: 1, etc. 
 
 9. 44: 28. 
 
 10. 45: 1. Though Cyrus is explicitly mentioned, other interpretations have 
 been persistently given to this passage. 
 
 11. 42: 1-7; 43: 1; 44: 1; 49: 1-13; 50: 49; 52: 13. 
 
 12. Dt. 32: 1-43. Date uncertain. See Driver, Introduction, pp. 95-97. 
 
 13. LCT. 1-3; 5-7; 11-15; Nu. 5; 6; 9: 1422: 15. There was rapid develop- 
 ment in ritual after Ezekiel. 
 
32 The Old Testament in the Sunday School 
 
 prophecies * belong to this period. Under Cyrus, 
 the Jews were free to return. The register in Nehe- 
 miah 2 gives names of some of them. By 525 the 
 Deuteronomic redaction of previous literature, now 
 embodied in Genesis to Kings, 3 was completed, and 
 Jer. 50-51, a mosaic, was written. Later, in 520, 4 the 
 aged Haggai 5 and Zechariah wrote. 6 Psalm 137 
 belongs in this period. A new codification of laws 
 was made about 500. Obadiah 7 reflects danger 
 from surrounding nations, especially Edom. The 
 rebuilding of the temple was not followed by pros- 
 perity. Malachi (460) seeks to meet this problem. 
 The Aramaic account of the rebuilding of the temple, 8 
 written a generation after the event; 9 the memoirs 
 of Nehemiah; 10 and Trito-Isaiah, 11 who pictures 
 Israel's future glory in the new heavens and new 
 earth, belong to this period. 
 
 The year 444 is one of the great dates in Hebrew 
 literature. The Jews at Jerusalem bound themselves 
 to observe the priestly code, 12 developed in Babylon 
 and brought by Ezra. 13 This document comprises a 
 
 1. Isa. 13: 214: 23; 81: 1-1; (c. 550). 
 
 2. 7: 6-73a, Cf. 5: 5b ff, which shows a bad state of affairs when Nehemiah 
 came later. 
 
 3. The prophets did not altogether escape. 
 
 4. Ez. 5:1; 6: 14; Hag. 1:1. 
 
 5. He saw the former temple so must have been over 70. 
 
 6. Ez. 6: 14. Neither makes any reference to beginning to rebuild the 
 temple under Cyrus (Cf. Ez. 3 and 4), nor to an organized return such as Ezra 
 implies. Individuals did return. There was an altar for worship at Jerusalem 
 since 586 (Jer. 41:5.) These are more historic than Ezra. 
 
 7. 1-9 is the same in substance as Jer. 49: 7-22. 
 
 8. Ez. 4: 8-23; 5: 1-6: 18. 
 
 9. c. 450. The temple was rebuilt 520-516. 
 
 10. Neh. 1-6 and other fragments perhaps. 
 
 11. Isa. 56-66. This was completed by 444. 
 
 12. Neh. 10: 29. The Priestly Code is substantially Leviticus and the 
 priestly parts of Gen., Ex., and Nu. It is known as P. 13. Neh. 8 ff . 
 
History of Israel's Literature 33 
 
 history of the world from the creation. The style is 
 formal, pedantic, dry. 1 It abounds in repetitions; 2 
 delights in genealogical tables, 3 giving the exact age 
 of the father at the birth of his first son; 4 and revels 
 in lists of names, 5 and in statistics. Every minute 
 detail of the Tabernacle as it is alleged Yahweh 
 commanded Moses to build it is given, and then 
 " with intolerable pedantry " it is all repeated al- 
 most word for word. 6 The whole document is ar- 
 ranged according to a highly artificial chronological 
 system. The world's history is divided into four 
 epochs, each beginning with a theophany, 7 and into 
 ten periods introduced by " these are the genera- 
 tions of . . . ." 8 The interval between periods is 
 sometimes filled in with a bare genealogy. 9 The ages 
 of men, adequately lengthened, total the required 
 number of years. 10 History advances along a well- 
 defined line, marked by a gradually diminishing 
 length of human life, by progressive revelations of 
 God under three distinct names n and covenants, 
 each with its special sign. 12 P " traces the history of 
 
 1. P is largely made up of laws and ritual. (Cf. Lev.) It should be read 
 as a whole to appreciate its dryness and monotony. 
 
 2. Gen. 5: Ib ff. 
 
 3. ll:10bff. 
 
 4. Gen. 5: 3, etc. 
 
 5. 1 Chr. 1-9, etc. 
 
 6. Ex. 25-27; 30-31 and 35-40. Cf. also Noah's ark, Gen. 6: 15 ff. 
 
 7. Creation to Noah, Noah to Abraham, Abraham to Moses, Moses on. 
 
 8. Gen. 2:4, 5: l.etc. 
 
 9. E.g., Noah to Shem, Gen. 10: 1 ff. 
 
 10. Adam 930 years, Gen. 5: 5; Noah 950 years, 9: 29, etc., and this in spite 
 of the fact that J already accounts for man's short life, Gen. 6: 3. 
 
 11. Elohim, Gen. 1: 1 in periods 1 and 2 (note 7 supra); El Shaddai, Gen. 17: 
 1, third period; Yahweh, Ex. 6: 23, last period. 
 
 12. The rainbow, Gen 9: 13; Circumcision, Gen. 17: 11; the Sabbath, Ex. 
 31 : 13-17. See Driver, Introduction, p. 127. 
 
34 The Old Testament in the Sunday School 
 
 sacred institutions in Israel," l and every one except 
 circumcision and the Sabbath is attributed to 
 Moses. The poetic sense is wanting. The author 
 " thought out how things must have happened," 2 
 according to his priestly ideal, and projected his 
 thought back into the past. 
 
 The idea of Yahweh is at the opposite pole from 
 J. Here he is far off, transcendent, the Ruler of the 
 Universe. 3 The supernatural is heightened. 4 The 
 climax of the priest's conception of Yahweh, the 
 unapproachable, is reached at Sinai 5 in glaring 
 contrast to the " Father " of Jesus of Nazareth. 6 
 The ethical standard is higher than in the older 
 sources as the earlier accounts are modified. For 
 example, Jacob left home, with his father's bless- 
 ing, to seek a wife. 7 Ceremonial observance is made 
 the essence of religion. " In the exile the ritual 
 became the matter of teaching." 8 So the scribes 
 arose, who were the real rulers of Israel in Christ's 
 day, and the law became a burden. 9 
 
 These two documents, P and the blended JED, 
 stand side by side, irreconcilable. The priestly 
 school united them. 10 P was taken as the ground- 
 
 1. The Documents of the Hexateuch, I: 187. 
 
 2. Century Bible, Gen. Introduction. 
 
 3. Kent, Student's Old Testament, I, p. 45. 
 
 4. Creation is by fiat, Gen. 1 : 3, etc. 
 
 5. Ex. 19: 3 ft*. Note 19: 12, 13, 24c; 20: 18. 
 
 6. Which conception of God has been impressed on the minds of children in 
 the past? Which should the S. S. seek to impress? 
 
 7. Gen. 28: 1 ff. 
 
 8. Encyclopaedia Biblica, "Hexateuch," p. 2056. 
 
 9. Mt. 23: 4; Lu. 11: 46. Cf. Jesus' tremendous indictment of the Scribes 
 and Pharisees and their invented system. Mt. 23: 1 ff. 
 
 10. Compare, e.g., the story of Jacob's deception. J: Gen. 27: la-5, 4b, 5b, 
 7ac, 15, 18b-20, 4-27, 29ac, 30ac, Sib, 32-34, 41b, 42, 43b, 45a. E: Gea. 27: Ib, 
 
History of Israel's Literature 35 
 
 work and the other forced Procrustes-wise, into its 
 artificial scheme and chronology. 1 For example, the 
 priestly account of creation is told in full, 2 but of 
 the J story only a fragment remains. 3 Sacrifice may 
 be offered by the priest only. It began at Sinai under 
 Aaron. " Of the sacrifice in the wilderness (J, Gen. 
 3: 18) and the services on the mount (E, Gen. 3: 12) 
 not a word is said." 4 There are other astonishing 
 differences. " J has absolutely no knowledge of 
 Aaron at all." 5 There are slight references to him 
 in E. 6 The Tabernacle is new. J and E refer re- 
 peatedly to a simple " tent of meeting," 7 quite ap- 
 propriate to a wilderness journey, of which Joshua 
 is priest. 8 The magnificent Tabernacle 9 so minutely 
 described, with its elaborate ritual, is a creation of 
 the priests of the exile, nine centuries after the time 
 of Moses. " In no genuine passage of the history of 
 that long period (the Exodus to Solomon) is there so 
 much as a hint of the tabernacle with its array of 
 
 4a, 5a, 7b, 8-14, 16-18a, 21-23, 28-29b, 30b, 31a, 35-41a, 43ac, 44, 45b. P: Gen. 
 26: 34, 35; 27: 46; 28: 1-9. Or the Spies. J: Nu. 13: 17b-19, 22, 27a, 28, 30, 31; 
 14: Ic, 3, 8, Caleb alone stands true. Joshua and Aaron not mentioned. E: 
 Dt. 1: 22, 23; Nu. 13: 17c, 20, 21a, 23, 24, 26b, 27b, 29, 33; 14: Ib, 4, 9b. Caleb 
 and Moses mentioned by name; 12 spies sent. D: Dt. 1: 20-31; 12 men are sent, 
 no one mentioned byname except Moses. P: Nu. 13: l-17a, 21b, 25, 26a, 32; 
 14: la, 2, 5-7, 9a, 10. Names of all the spies given; Joshua stands with Caleb; 
 Aaron, the priest, with Moses. 
 
 1. Herman Gunkel, in The Legends of Genesis, points out that in this way 
 "oddities occur." E.g., Sarah at 65 is still beautiful and attractive to a volup- 
 tuous king and Ishmael at 16 is carried on his mother's shoulder. 
 
 2. Gen. 1:1 2: 4a. The order is light, firmament, land, trees, heavenly 
 bodies, fish, birds, mammals, man male and female. 
 
 3. Gen. 2: 4b-25. The order is man, plants, animals, woman. 
 
 4. Carpenter and Battersby, The Hexateuch, I: p. 121. 
 
 5. Cornill, Introduction, p. 67. Ex. 4: 14-16, is in J but is an editorial 
 addition. 
 
 6. See Hastings, Dictionary of the Bible, Art. "Aaron." 
 
 7. Ex. 33: 7-11, Nu. 11: 24 ff, etc. Cf. Driver, Introduction, p. 163. 
 
 8. Century Bible, Exodus (Ex. 33: lib). 
 
 9. Ex. 25-27, 30-31, 35-40. 
 
36 The Old Testament in the Sunday School 
 
 ministering priests and Levites." l The priestly 
 code projects its ideal back into the Golden Age of 
 Moses. The High Priest 2 is at the head of the 
 hierarchy. The Passover is elaborated. 3 First it 
 was a mere sprinkling of blood. 4 The Day of Atone- 
 ment 5 is now first mentioned. 6 It represents the 
 highest function of the mediatorial office of the 
 High Priest. Joshua and Judges are revised and 
 Eleazar the High Priest is made to share equally 
 with Joshua in allotting the land, 7 and five unhistoric 
 judges 8 are added to make twelve. P is predominant 
 in Joshua 13-24, where the occupation is repre- 
 sented as a sweeping conquest. P itself is composite, 
 as conflicting accounts indicate. 9 
 
 Rigid exclusiveness and prohibition of marriage 
 
 1. Hastings, Dictionary of the Bible, Art. "Tabernacle," p. 666. 
 
 2. The name "High Priest" apparently occurs first in Hag. See Encyclo- 
 paedia Biblica, Art. "Priest." Those who have the idea of God that Jesus taught 
 and who, consequently, have no place for a priestly hierarchy, owe a debt to 
 criticism for showing that this system originated with the priests in the Exile and 
 not with Moses at Yahweh's command. 
 
 3. Ex. 12: 3-13. 
 
 4. Ex. 12: 22-23. 
 
 5. Lev. 16; 23:26-32; Nu. 29:7-11; Ex. 30:10. Cf. Lev. 25:9 all P. 
 The influence of the priestly theory of atonement and propitiation on Christian 
 theology can scarcely be over-estimated, and this because it was not known to be 
 of the priests. The importance which the story of the fall of man has had in the 
 history of thought is known to every one. It should be remarked that the in- 
 fluence it exercised did not begin till after the completion of the Old Testament 
 Canon. There is not one indication that the prophets of Israel ever gave a 
 thought to the speculations which the Yahwist has clothed for us in these attrac- 
 tive stories. Henry P. Smith, Old Testament History, p. 16. 
 
 6. Kent, Student's Old Testament, IV, p. 269, Note Section 221. 
 
 7. Josh. 17: 4. 
 
 8. Judg. 10: 1-5; 12: 8-15. Tola, Jair, Ibzan, Elon and Abdon. Later, 
 Abimelech, because of his crime in slaying 70 of his brethren (9: 5), was not 
 counted among the judges and Shamgar was substituted, 3: 31, through misunder- 
 standing of 5: 6. See p. 29, note 7. 
 
 9. E.g., The destruction of Korah of which there are two priestly accounts, 
 and these are mixed up with J's story of Dathan and Abiram. Late Priestly, Nu. 
 16: la, 2b, 3-7a, 19-24, 27a, 35, 41-50, the Plague killed over 14,700. Very late 
 Priestly, Nu. 16: la, 7, 8-11, 16-18, 32b, 33c, 36-40 fire destroyed them 
 250. J, Nu. 16: Ib, 2a, 12-15, 25-27b, 28-32a, 33a, 34 the ground opened and 
 swallowed them. Cf. Dt. 11: 6-7. 
 
History of Israel's Literature 37 
 
 with foreigners called forth as a protest the beau- 
 tiful idyll, Ruth. 1 Ezra Nehemiah, incorporating 
 memoirs of Ezra (444) and Nehemiah (432), and 
 a collection of Psalms, were published at this 
 time. 
 
 There was as yet no Canon of Scripture. The 
 priestly redaction of the Hexateuch was completed 
 by about 400 2 and the first eight books stood sub- 
 stantially as at present. In 333-331 the Greeks, 
 under Alexander, conquered the Persians. To this 
 fourth century belongs the dramatic poem of Job 3 
 dealing with the problem of the suffering of the 
 righteous. Joel, 4 a book of Jewish eschatology, pic- 
 tures Yahweh's judgment under the figure of a 
 locust swarm, fighting against his enemies. Jonah, 
 a protest against narrow exclusiveness and a plea for 
 universal brotherhood, is one of the gems rescued by 
 criticism. " I have read the book of Jonah," says 
 Cornill, " at least a hundred times, and I will pub- 
 licly avow, for I am not ashamed of my weakness, 
 that I cannot even now take up this marvelous book, 
 nay, nor even speak of it, without the tears arising 
 to my eyes, and my heart beating higher. This 
 apparently trivial book is one of the deepest and 
 
 1. Based on an old tradition of David. The scene is laid in the time of the 
 Judges. 
 
 2. Before the Samaritan Schism. The Samaritans took the complete Law 
 and began to worship in Shechem. Cf. Jn. 4: 20. 
 
 3. The prose part, 1, 2, 42: 7-17, may be much earlier. Elihu's speech, 32- 
 37, is perhaps a late insertion. The poem is complete without it and he is not 
 mentioned elsewhere. 
 
 4. The date of this book is quite uncertain. Kirkpatrick, The Doctrine 
 of the Prophets, p. 57 ff, puts it in the pre- Assyrian period (before Amos). In 
 general it is dated about the fourth century. 
 
38 The Old Testament in the Sunday School 
 
 grandest that has ever been written Here 
 
 Hosea and Jeremiah live anew." 1 A number of 
 anonymous prophecies 2 also belong here. 
 
 In the next century (300-200) belong the Chroni- 
 cler and his school. Ezra and Nehemiah are edited 3 
 and Chronicles (c. 250) compiled. The latter traces 
 history 4 from the beginning from the ecclesiastical 
 viewpoint and in the style of P. The past is glorified. 
 Now for the first time the claim is made that Moses 
 is the author of all Israel's laws and David of the 
 temple music. 5 Numbers relating to Israel leap from 
 hundreds to thousands. The author has no interest 
 in history as such and the book is practically value- 
 less as a historic source. Zachariah 9-14 showing 
 apocalyptic influence; Proverbs, a compilation 6 of 
 collections made at various times, some very old, 
 for the most part in praise of worldly wisdom; the 
 
 1. The Prophets of Israel, p. 170. Think of the sacrilege of reducing it to a 
 monstrosity a mere story of a sea monster! 
 
 2. Isa. 24-27 (referring to a power from the West, Alexander the Great). 
 12; 2: 1-4; Micah 4: 1-5 and perhaps 7: 7-20. 
 
 3. Chs. 1-6 prefaced. There is an interval of 60 years between Chs. 6 and 7. 
 
 4. For an example of the Chronicler's method see, Henry Preserved Smith, 
 Old Testament History, p. 3 ff . 
 
 5. David has traditionally been considered the author of the Psalms and that 
 in spite of the fact that four large groups are under other captions. "It must be 
 remembered that the first close connection of David with psalmody is first set 
 before us in the Chronicles." The author places "in the king's mouth a psalm 
 (1 Chr. 16: 7-36), which, remarkably enough, so far from being an original work, 
 is composed of parts of three exilic, or post-exilic, Psalms, preserved still in the 
 Psalter (Ps. 105: 1-15; 96: l-13a; 106: 1, 47, 48)!" Driver, Introduction, p. 378. 
 The only previous references to David as poet and musician are 1 S. 16: 18; 2 S. 1: 
 17 ff; 3: 33 ft"; 6: 14-16; 22; 23: 1-7, none of which exhibit him as a distinctly re- 
 ligious poet. Am. 6: 5 is quite the reverse. The Chronicler lived 800 years after 
 David and 1000 after Moses, as distant as the present is from Abelard and Charle- 
 magne. 
 
 6. There are eight parts or groups, each with a caption: 1-9, In praise of 
 wisdom; 10-22: 16, The Proverbs of Solomon; 22: 17-24; 23, The words of the 
 wise; 24: 23-34, Sayings of the wise; 25-29, The words of Solomon; 30, The words 
 of Agur; 31: 1-9, The words of Lemuel, a king; 31: 10-31, The virtuous woman, 
 the verses arranged alphabetically. See Driver, Introduction, p. 392 ff . 
 
History of Israel's Literature 39 
 
 Song of Songs, a collection of love lyrics; and 
 Esther, are the contribution of this century. Esther 
 glorifies intense Jewish patriotism of the narrowest 
 type. The spirit of bitter revenge in the closing 
 chapters is neither religious nor Christian. To meet 
 the need of the Greek-speaking Jews the Bible 
 was translated into Greek (c. 250). This transla- 
 tion is known as the Septuagint. 
 
 By the year 200 the Canon of the prophetical 
 books was completed. 
 
 To the second century (200-100) belong Ecclesi- 
 astes with its gloomy refrain, " vanity of vanities "; 
 and the book of Daniel, produced during the terrible 
 persecution under Antiochus Epiphanes who at- 
 tempted to crush out the Jewish religion. It was a 
 message of encouragement and had profound influ- 
 ence then and through the centuries. The author, 
 unable to speak openly, lays the scene in Babylon, 
 four centuries back, and uses figures and allegories. 
 Its religious value is great and enduring. Collec- 
 tions of Psalms were made at different times. A 
 number come from the Maccabean age, thus show- 
 ing the continuity of songs of praise for ten centuries. 
 The book of Psalms was completed in the present 
 form 1 about 140 B.C. It reflects many different 
 religious standards, some of them being decidedly 
 
 1. It is divided, rather mechanically, into five books: 1-41; 42-72; 73-89; 90- 
 
 i sw m T 1_ it- ? 1 - ^ . /I \ 1 A 1 < ~ TV IJ 1 
 
 z suilB vi ivt;i ci,n , \*j ) jv, i */-ww, vn xx.aapu , 
 
 and (4) 90-150, largely liturgical. The word "of" has, of course, no reference 
 to authorship, but to collections known by that name (Cf. "Of the Sons of 
 Korah"), just as Sankey's hymn book refers to the collection he published. 
 
40 The Old Testament in the Sunday School 
 
 unchristian, 1 while in others the devout in all ages 
 have found expression for their highest spiritual 
 experiences. 
 
 During the first and second centuries B.C. much 
 literature was produced, and this literary activity 
 extended into New Testament times. Most of the 
 works produced were never admitted into the Canon, 
 and are known as the apocryphal writings. 2 Whether 
 the Song of Songs, Ecclesiastes, Esther and even 
 Ruth and Jonah should be admitted into the Canon 
 was warmly discussed. The Greek additions to 
 Daniel and to Esther were made at this time. The 
 conception of the Canon of Scripture as verbally in- 
 spired and inalienably fixed is a development of later 
 Judaism which ended in the deadest letter worship. 
 The Canon of the Old Testament scripture was not 
 closed until the Synod of Jamnia in 90 A. D. 
 
 This discussion of Israel's religion and literature 
 reveals some of the problems that are inherent in the 
 Bible as material for religious education. Criticism 
 has not produced them; they were always present, 3 
 but criticism brings them to a focus, recognizes the 
 facts, and offers a solution. If the traditional view 
 of the Bible were correct, that all was dictated by 
 God to his prophets and religion was perfect or nearly 
 
 1. Cf. 58: 6; 59: 8, 13a; 69: 22 ff; 83: 9 ff; 137: 9 and all the imprecatory 
 psalms. 
 
 2. E.g., Enoch, Ecclesiasticus, Maccabees, Wisdom, Tobit, etc. See 
 Moffatt, Introduction to the New Testament. 
 
 3. E.g., When in the series was man created? Last, Gen. 1: 27, Sib; first. 
 Gen. 2: 7 (See p. 35, notes 2 and 3). Which is right? According to the tra- 
 ditional view, both. Criticism explains the contradiction. Cf . also p. 34, Note 
 10 p. 35, Note 1, p. 36, Note 9. 
 
History of Israel's Literature 41 
 
 so at the first, the difficulties would remain but there 
 would be no solution. Criticism has disturbed only 
 the traditions about the Bible, and has largely re- 
 stored that wonderful literature as it originally 
 existed. Criticism has not detracted one iota from 
 its moral and religious value. This is conveyed 
 in the documents as they were produced, documents 
 which are now seen in their true setting. The follow- 
 ing points bear directly on our problem. 
 
 1. There are widely differing ideals of religion and 
 morals, a difference quite to be expected in a period 
 of over thirteen centuries if there was ever to be any 
 progress in civilization. For example: 
 
 (a) The idea of God. Yahweh walked, talked and 
 ate with his people. He came to see if the reports of 
 man's wickedness at Babel and in Sodom were true. 
 Human sacrifice was offered so that it was necessary 
 for a great spiritual teacher to combat it, as is done 
 in the story of the offering of Isaac. Yahweh gets 
 angry, repents, is sorry he created man. He destroys 
 the world and those who even touch the Mount or 
 the Ark, 1 tempts men 2 and creates evil. 3 He scorns 
 and derides sinners. 4 At his command, so it is 
 asserted, prisoners of war 5 and whole tribes, including 
 
 1. 2 S. 6: 6-10. 
 
 2. 2S. 24: 1. Satan is first spoken of by the Chronicler (c. 250 B.C.) to avoid 
 this difficulty. With him, Satan, not God, tempts. From then on the doctrine 
 develops. In Zechariah (3) and Job (1) he is an agent of God; then is identified 
 with the Serpent in the Garden; finally, in Christian times, has been in the past 
 conceived of as a power practically independent of and almost equal to God, 
 disputing His kingdom. 
 
 3. Isa.45:7. 4. Ps. 2: 4, 12. 5. 1 S. 15: 33b. 
 
42 The Old Testament in the Sunday School 
 
 women and children, 1 are hewn in pieces. He must be 
 appeased, propitiated, and men are more anxious to 
 save others than is he. 2 At first he was conceived 
 of as one God among others and his fortunes were 
 bound up with the tribe, then with the nation and its 
 territory. When David was pursued by Saul and 
 driven into exile, he thought he was driven from 
 Yahweh's protection; 3 and Naaman was given earth 
 by Elisha that he may thus worship Yahweh on his 
 own land. 4 Compare with all this the moral and 
 spiritual universality of God according to the great 
 prophets. 
 
 (b) Worship. Idols, 5 stone pillars, 6 trees or 
 groves 7 were used. God was conceived of as the 
 author of life; so, corrupted by Baal worship, 
 prostitution was carried on at the temples as a part 
 of worship. 8 Sacrifice developed from being a simple 
 communal meal of which God partook, to propitia- 
 tion, human sacrifice being sometimes demanded. 
 Atonement is necessary and altars must reek with 
 blood. The more spiritual saw that worship was of 
 the heart. The prophets and psalmists are the ex- 
 pounders of this aspect of worship. 
 
 (c) Laws. The avenger of blood was the messen- 
 ger of justice. 9 An eye for an eye 10 was good law. A 
 man might sell his daughter as a slave, 11 offer his 
 child as a sacrifice. 12 If not pleased with his wife he 
 
 1. 1 S. 15: 17, 18. 2. Gen. 18: 32 ff and Ex. 32: 10 ff. 
 
 3. 1 S. 26: 19d. 4. 2 K. 5: 17. 5. Gen. 31: 19; Josh. 24: 2. 
 
 6. Gen. 28: 18. 7. 2 K. 12: 3. 
 
 8. Dt. 23: 17; Cf. Am., Hos., etc. 9. Gen. 4: 14c, 15ab, 24. 
 
 10. Ex. 21: 24 ff. 11. Ex. 21: 7. 12. Judg. 11: 30 ff; Gen. 22: I ff. 
 
History of Israel's Literature 43 
 
 could divorce her. 1 Slavery was legal. If a master 
 struck a slave and he lived a day or two, the master 
 could not be punished, for it was his own loss. 2 
 
 (d) Morals. Here the difference between the 
 early and the Christian ideals is immeasurable. 
 Concubinage was practised by the best. 3 The Gib- 
 eonites sought to be revenged on Saul, and David 
 delivered over seven sons of Saul to be hanged be- 
 cause of the drought. 4 Elijah put to death four 
 hundred priests of Baal in cold blood. David's last 
 charge to Solomon is to pledge him to kill Joab and 
 Shimei. 5 Whether these are David's words or not 
 they go unchallenged. The imprecatory psalms 
 cannot be read to-day without a shudder. 6 Harlotry 
 is not condemned. 7 The Hebrews rejoice that they 
 appropriated all the jewelry they borrowed from 
 the Egyptians. 
 
 From these there is a gradual process of refining 
 until a higher conception of God and of morals is 
 revealed; in some instances very near the Christian 
 standard. Compare the idea of God in, e. g., Hosea, 
 Jeremiah and Jonah; the ideal of family purity 
 among the Hebrews at a later date; the care for the 
 poor; 8 and this, " Thou shalt love thy neighbor as 
 thyself." 9 In selecting material for a curriculum 
 
 1. Dt. 24:1. 2. Ex. 21: 21. 3. E.g., Abraham, David. 
 
 4. 28.21:9. 5. 1 K. 2: 8-9. 
 
 6. Ps. 137: 9. Cf. Samuel, 1 S. 15: 17, 18, 33. 
 
 7. Gen. 38: 15 ff; Judg. 16: 1. 
 
 8. E.g., they were not to take a millstone or garments as a pledge for debt 
 (Dt. 24: 6, 12, 13) and were to leave gleanings for the needy (Dt. 24: 19-22; Lev 
 19: 9, 10). 
 
 9. Lev. 19: 18. 
 
44 The Old Testament in the Sunday School 
 
 these levels must be recognized and only that chosen 
 for a particular age which best promotes, at that 
 point, development towards mature Christian 
 character. 
 
 2. The form of the literature complicates the 
 problem. If each document had remained as it was 
 written, the differences could be easily seen. But 
 the older documents were edited by writers hundreds 
 of years after they were produced. These editors 
 modified them in accordance with their own stand- 
 ards and wove them into one often inconsistent and 
 self -contradictory narrative. The early standards 
 thus seem sometimes to be held at a late date when 
 it is really only a piece of another document that 
 has been inserted; or the later standards at an early 
 date for the same reason; so confusion arises. 1 The 
 most striking example is the priestly document, 
 composed very late but projected back into the time 
 of Moses. This late discovery of scholarship has, as 
 often elsewhere, long been preceded by religious 
 faith and insight, for all through the centuries the 
 aged saint, the toiler weary with his work, the little 
 child, have nourished their spiritual life, not on the 
 priestly and legalistic ideals, but on the stories that 
 throb with life and the lofty and tender messages of 
 the great prophets and psalmists. 
 
 On the other hand, it is clearly seen that prophecy 
 is not primarily prediction. The prophets were great 
 
 1. Cf. Saul chosen king by Yahweh's command, 1 S. 9: 15 ff; the choice of a 
 king condemned as rejection of Yahweh, 1 S. 10: 19. 
 
UN* 
 
 History of Israel's Literature 45 
 
 spiritual leaders who sought to meet present needs. 1 
 By placing their work in its proper historic setting 
 the problem of prediction is solved. 
 
 3. The inclusion of any passage of the Bible in a 
 curriculum of Christian instruction can be scientifi- 
 cally justified only by showing: (a) That contem- 
 plation of the phase of human experience that it 
 represents is adapted to promote growth toward 
 mature Christian character, (b) That it is espe- 
 cially adapted to promote such growth at a specific 
 period of development, there must be a reason for 
 choosing it for some particular grade or grades, 
 (c) That the passage in question presents this phase 
 of experience in an educationally usable and advan- 
 tageous form, (d) That the passage in question 
 presents this phase of experience, all things consid- 
 ered, in the best available form. This applies, first 
 of all, to cases in which the Bible itself has more 
 than one representation of the experience. In the 
 end of course the Biblical material must be com- 
 pared with the extra Biblical material with respect 
 to power for the making of Christian character. 
 But that is a problem for those who construct a 
 curriculum. Here all that is attempted is to select 
 from the Bible what is adapted to the different 
 departments. 
 
 1. Cf. e.g., pp. 26-27 and p. 96 including Note 3. 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 SOME RESULTS OF IGNORING THESE DIFFICULTIES 
 
 I. The International Uniform Lessons. 
 
 The Uniform Lessons, though tacitly denying that 
 the difficulties exist, do make a certain selection of 
 material but without reference to historical levels 
 or critical results. They aim to cover the whole 
 Bible every six or seven years, but much less has 
 been used than is generally supposed. In the forty 
 years of this system's existence (1872-1911), 643 
 out of the 929 chapters of the Old Testament were 
 unused 1 for the lesson text, and 72 out of the 260 of 
 the New Testament; that is, only 30 per cent of the 
 Old Testament was used at all in the forty years and 
 72 per cent of the New Testament. Five books of 
 the Old Testament, Song of Songs, Lamentations, 
 Obadiah, Habakkuk and Zephaniah, and four of 
 the New Testament Philemon, 2 and 3 John, and 
 Jude, never appear. Important matters are some- 
 times left out, as the story of Barak and Deborah, 
 Absalom's rebellion, considerable part of the Gospels 2 
 and of Paul's Epistles, 3 and many others. No ade- 
 quate conception is given, for example, of the causes 
 making for the revolt of the Northern tribes, as, the 
 
 1. The figures given here are from the Mss. copy of an article on "Observa- 
 tions on the Content of the Uniform Sunday School Lessons," by Miss Lila 
 Frances Morse, S.T.M., of Mount Holyoke College, who generously gave per- 
 mission to use these facts. This article contains much more that is valuable. 
 
 2. Mt. 12: 17-21; 13: 14-15; 13: 34-35; 27: 3-10; Lu. 1: 26-45; 10: 38-42; 23: 
 7; Jn. 3: 22-36. 
 
 3. 1 Cor. 4: 6-13, 2 Cor. 4, 6: 1-10, Gal. 1-2, 2 Cor. 1-3; 10; 11: 1-21, etc. 
 
 46 
 
Ignoring the Difficulties 47 
 
 historic disunity, the division caused by the line of 
 Canaanitish cities, the troubles in David's reign, 
 and Solomon's magnificence. 
 
 The selections are not well proportioned. The 
 prophetic books are subordinated to the historic and 
 priestly. In the forty years, Joshua, which is only 
 one-third of Isaiah in length, gives one lesson more. 
 Ten of the twenty-four chapters of Judges and forty- 
 eight of the sixty-six of Isaiah are untouched. Jere- 
 miah, with its fifty-two chapters, gives one lesson 
 less than Judges. Hosea, called by some the Gospel 
 of the Old Testament, because it teaches so tenderly 
 the love of God, gives four lessons in forty years, 
 while the twelve chapters of Ecclesiastes contribute 
 five. The legal codes of Leviticus provided material 
 for twenty-six studies; Deuteronomy, eleven; Daniel, 
 thirty-nine; Proverbs, twenty-nine; Revelation, 
 twenty-four; while Job contributes six lessons in the 
 forty years, and Isaiah, Jeremiah and the other 
 prophets a small relative number. It is, therefore, as 
 true of books as of incidents that sometimes the more 
 important lacks emphasis while the unimportant is 
 stressed. 
 
 The priestly laws and sacrifices were supposed to 
 be studied and their meaning learned. The taber- 
 nacle furnished exact material for study, and it 
 continues to be taught as a historic fact. 1 This was 
 
 1. A recent issue of The Sunday School Times, commenting on the fact that 
 Moses built the tabernacle according to minute measurement given by Yahweh, 
 draws the lesson that it teaches the value of being exact. Yet the tabernacle is 
 an ideal creation of the exilic priesthood 800 years after Moses. 
 
48 The Old Testament in the Sunday School 
 
 the nourishment provided for primary children 1 as 
 well as for adults. 
 
 An examination of the course prescribed for the 
 last year (1911), which would probably be the best 
 arranged, will show that the results of criticism 
 have been largely ignored. First, the later additions 
 to the text are not distinguished. 2 Second, Chronicles 
 seems to be treated as if it were as reliable for the 
 history as Kings, for the lessons on Manasseh, the 
 finding of Deuteronomy and Asa, are taken from it, 
 though Kings has a parallel account. Third, the 
 order in which the material is taken up indicates 
 that the critical results as to the dates and author- 
 ship of the various passages are not followed. The 
 " translation " of Elijah occurred after the death of 
 Ahab, but the second lesson following is on Ahab. 8 
 A lesson on the exilic Suffering Servant follows imme- 
 diately one on the invasion of Sennacherib, implying 
 that Isaiah is the author of these chapters. The book 
 of Jonah, written in the time of Ezra-Nehemiah or 
 later, is studied between the reigns of Joash (836 ff .) 
 and Uzziah (782 ff .) . Three lessons from the book of 
 Daniel precede Ezekiel. Esther is studied before 
 Ezra. Then comes another lesson from Daniel. 
 The prophets are taken up in this order: Isaiah, 
 Micah, 4 Hosea, Deutero-Isaiah, Jeremiah and 
 
 1. In 1902 special lessons for the beginners were begun and now there is an 
 International Graded System. 
 
 2. The lesson on Jeroboam, 1 K. 12: 2513: 6, has 12: 33 ff, very late; that 
 on Omri and Ahab, 1 K. 16: 15-33 has 16: 19, 20, 23a, 25-28, 29-31 late. 
 
 3. A temperance lesson. 
 
 4. The International Peace Lesson. 
 
Ignoring the Difficulties 49 
 
 Ezekiel. In addition the history of the North and 
 of the South is intertwined, a lesson in one being 
 followed by a lesson in the other. These facts show 
 that many of the principles of teaching are violated 
 and that the results of criticism are not followed. 
 It is worth while to note in passing the conclusive 
 proof furnished by this course for the need of graded 
 lessons. Who would have the temerity to attempt 
 to teach primary children 1 the lessons on Omri and 
 Ahab, and on Ezra's return to Jerusalem? 
 
 II. The Lutheran Graded System. 2 
 
 1 . Bible Study 3 (age 10) contains five stories 
 from the first eleven chapters of Genesis, the story of 
 Sodom, the offering of Isaac, and Elijah calling 
 down fire from heaven, all of which, as will appear 
 later, are not adapted to this age. The remainder 
 of the stories and incidents are suitable. The Bible 
 text is not used, but the lesson is printed in the form 
 of a story, 4 or rather, narrative of the Bible incidents. 
 
 The lessons are illustrated. In the lesson on " God 
 Makes the Heaven and Earth," Raphael's "The 
 Third Day " and " The Fourth Day " are used. 
 
 1 . It may be objected that by this time special courses were provided for the 
 primary department but it was also known that in the majority of schools only 
 the uniform would be used. 
 
 2. General Council Publication House, Philadelphia. 
 
 3. In all these courses the first half is devoted to the New Testament, the 
 second half to the Old Testament. The latter alone is referred to here. 
 
 4. The teachers are instructed not to read the lesson story in class until the 
 pupils understand all the words. They are taught the meaning by learning to 
 spell the hard words; e.g. "Spell' Murrain.' What is it? . . . Spell 'Swarms.' 
 What are they?" etc. The note is added, "As they have now been prepared by 
 study to grasp this story, make its reading a pleasure and a reward to them. 
 It would appear that the pupils are to understand the story first, then to read it. 
 
50 The Old Testament in the Sunday School 
 
 Here God is represented as a man floating on the air 
 above the globe. Allori's " Abraham Offering up 
 Isaac " pictures Abraham, with the large-bladed 
 knife in his hand, about to take the boy's life. Many 
 other pictures of the same character are used. These 
 emphasize the most undesirable phase of the stories 
 and some of them stamp indelibly on the child mind 
 a crass anthropomorphic idea of God. 
 
 2. Bible Readings (age 11) contains the text, 
 taken from the Authorized Version. Each lesson is 
 made up of a number of selections, arranged to form 
 a continuous narrative. The uncritical attitude is 
 reflected. One lesson title is " The Lord God 
 Helped Joshua by Causing the Sun and Moon to 
 Stand Still." A number of selections, including the 
 later stories from Genesis, are adapted. 
 
 3. Bible History (age 12). " The History of the 
 World from the First Man to the Flood " is the 
 striking title of the first lesson. The Garden of 
 Eden, the Highlands of Armenia, the Plains of 
 Shinar, Ur of the Chaldees are cited for the geog- 
 raphy. A " Summary of Events " follows the printed 
 text, giving the chief events, evidently regarded as 
 history, of the first eleven chapters of Genesis. 
 Another lesson is on Daniel in the Babylonian 
 Captivity. The order of the books as found in the 
 English Bible is followed in this, as throughout this 
 system of lessons. These examples indicate the 
 results of criticism are not used. 
 
 4. Bible Geography (age 13). The first half 
 
Ignoring the Difficulties 51 
 
 takes up the geography of New Testament times, 
 and the study passes from Paul's Voyage to geog- 
 raphy and chronology before the Flood. A diagram 
 shows " The Human Race from Adam to the Flood," 
 though a note admits that "the dates of Cain's 
 lineage are conjectural." Another diagram shows 
 the camp arranged in the wilderness journey by 
 tribes, with the Tabernacle in the centre. The 
 priestly document is evidently preferred. Only a 
 text of Scripture is given. The lesson material is a 
 story of the events narrated in the Bible. 
 
 5. Bible Biography (age 14). The first lesson 
 is on The First Family. " In round figures the 
 human race is six thousand years old; but the deeds 
 of the first man and the first woman were written 
 in a Book," the author asserts. A lesson on Seth 
 and his descendants comes next. Two of the three 
 lessons on the Judges take up the study of Othniel, 
 Ehud, Shamgar, Deborah and Barak; and Tola, 
 Jair, Jephthah, Ibzan, Elon, Abdon, 1 and Samson. 
 Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther form one other study; 
 and the twelve Minor Prophets supply material 
 likewise for one lesson. It should be remembered 
 that these are studies in biography, and are intended 
 for pupils of fourteen. The story of events is still 
 used for the text. 
 
 6. Bible Literature (age 16). The first lesson, 
 or introduction, argues that the Pentateuch is not 
 made up of different documents. Elohim and 
 
 1. On these minor judges, see pp. 29, Note 7, and 36, Note 8. 
 
52 The Old Testament in the Sunday School 
 
 Yahweh refer to two aspects of God's nature, and 
 do not indicate different documents. " Many seem- 
 ing contradictions are only apparent." " The 
 human writer of the most of the Pentateuch was 
 Moses " and the Law of Moses refers to the whole 
 law. After this introductory chapter the books are 
 taken up in the order in which they occur in the 
 English Bible. 
 
 7. Bible Facts and Scenes (age not specified) 
 follows out in the same way the traditional order of 
 events. 
 
 Throughout this system the naively uncritical 
 view is consistently maintained, Different docu- 
 ments are not even recognized. The early Genesis 
 stories are treated as history. Anthropomorphisms 
 are accentuated by illustrations. Educational 
 principles are often neglected in the selection of 
 material and arrangement of the courses. 
 
PART II 
 
 AN EDUCATIONAL CLASSIFICATION OF 
 THE OLD TESTAMENT MATERIAL 
 
 The plan followed in this examination is to bring together all 
 the passages that are adapted to each department in turn. The 
 advantage of this procedure is that one can see at a glance all the 
 material that is regarded as suitable for any department. That 
 a passage is not considered adapted to a certain period does not 
 discount its value. If a physician, drawing up a dietary for a 
 child, rules out meat, he does not thereby deny to it value as an 
 article of food. Again, a selection adapted to one grade may be 
 held over because it is better suited to another period. The 
 division into departments according to the ages set down, is 
 adopted because it is the one generally used in graded systems. 
 The kindergarten or beginners' department is not treated sepa- 
 rately. Stories alone are adapted to beginners, and all the suitable 
 stories will be found among those selected for the primary 
 department. 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 MATERIAL 1 ADAPTED TO THE PRIMARY DEPARTMENT 
 
 (AGES 6-8) 
 
 From the preceding discussion of the J and E docu- 
 ments it is evident that they contain many stories 
 suited to this period. They are vivid and concrete 
 and they deal with simple human relations in the 
 family or immediate group. It is just here that 
 the child's problems arise. The moral issue in the 
 stories is usually clear cut. In all the following 
 discussion the account given in J and E is referred 
 to except when otherwise stated. 
 
 Any one reading J and E continuously through 
 Genesis will notice the transition at chapter twelve. 
 The first eleven chapters are quite distinct. Of this 
 material obviously the genealogies, 2 Lamech's fierce 
 thirst for vengeance, 3 Noah's drunkenness, 4 and the 
 intercourse of the sons of God and daughters of 
 men 5 are not suited to primary children. 
 
 All the other stories have been used for primary 
 grades but none of them is suited. Three objections 
 apply to all of them. First, they are early man's 
 attempt to explain origins, and though the child may 
 ask similar questions these stories do not give the 
 answer a child should receive. Second, they give an 
 
 1. See p. 23, Note 7. Practically all is taken from the earlier documents. 
 
 2. Adam to Noah, 4: 25; 3: 20; 4: 26, 1, 2b, 16b, 17, 18; 5: 28b, 29. Ham 
 and Japheth, 9: 18a, 19a; 10: Ib; 9: 19b, 18b; 10: 8. 
 
 3. 4: 19-24. 4. 9: 20-27. 5. 6: l-4r. 
 
 55 
 
56 The Old Testament in the Sunday School 
 
 inadequate and non-Christian idea of God. Third, 
 the moral content is not adapted to the moral needs 
 of little children. The Sunday school seeks to help 
 the child solve his own moral problems as he meets 
 them in e very-day life. These stories will be re- 
 ferred to briefly here; further discussion of some of 
 them is found in Chapter X. 
 
 The story of the Creation and the Fall 1 gives early 
 man's explanation of the origin of man and woman 
 but not one that a Christian parent who has a fuller 
 knowledge of the mystery of life's origin would wish 
 his child to believe. Neither is the speaking of a 
 serpent the Christian conception of sin; it is some- 
 thing far more subtle. The cursing of the ground 
 and the expulsion from Eden because of jealousy 
 of man's growing power gives a perverted view of 
 God. As a statement of origins, then, it is neither 
 adequate nor adapted. But it may be objected that 
 it is a splendid story to teach children obedience. 
 The difficulty is that it pictures a God who gives 
 negative commands. All through his life the pupil 
 who has thus learned about God has a lingering 
 conception of God as one who denies to him the good 
 things of life, a conception too prevalent everywhere. 
 Besides, God does not deny to his people knowledge 
 and life. The content of the story, then, is not suit- 
 able for these grades. The murder of Abel by Cain 2 
 is surely not a picture for a little child to contemplate. 
 
 1. 2:4b 3:24. 
 
 2. 4: l-16a. This story is later than the others of this group 
 
The Primary Department 57 
 
 The Flood l story paints God as one who destroys 
 men, women, children and animals, the guilty and 
 the innocent indiscriminately. The Tower of Babel 2 
 represents God as being jealous of man's growing 
 powers (verse 6). There is no moral issue in either 
 story for the child. Though young children may ask 
 some of the questions that these stories attempt to 
 answer, this is no excuse for giving answers that are 
 in keeping neither with science nor, and this is 
 the important point, with the Christian notion of 
 God. When the pupil is able to understand that 
 these solutions of world problems are not final and 
 can compare them with other theories, that is, in 
 the intermediate or senior departments', they can 
 be profitably studied and their true value appreci- 
 ated. One of the best proofs that these stories are not 
 adapted to children is the modifications they receive 
 at the hands of those who believe in using them for 
 these grades. 3 
 
 Beginning with Abram in Chapter 12 real men, 
 women and children, pictured in a simple, child- 
 like way, begin to live and move. Their quarrels 
 and friendships, their display of generosity, love, 
 anger, meanness, their life in the family and group 
 fit into the child's actual, every-day experience. 
 Here are splendid stories for the children: Abram's 
 journey, his generosity to Lot, God's covenant with 
 him, his victory over the four kings, 4 IshmaePs 
 
 1. 6:5ff. 2. 11: 1-9. 3. See pp. 129-131 and 134. 
 
 4. This independent source (Gen. 14) represents Abram as a valiant knight, 
 quite different from J and E where, through fear, he said Sarai was his sister. 
 
58 The Old Testament in the Sunday School 
 
 birth, the promise of Isaac and his birth, Isaac and 
 Rebekah. There is general agreement about exclud- 
 ing the accounts of the deception practised by 
 Abram * and Isaac 2 and the consequent covenant 
 of each with Abimelech; 3 Lot and his daughters; 4 
 and Abram's second marriage. 5 The story of the 
 expulsion of Hagar offers some difficulties. 6 It 
 exhibits an undesirable attitude in Sarah, but the 
 kindness of Abraham and God's care for a little 
 child give it adequate content. The destruction of 
 Sodom and Gomorrah 7 is unsuited for either pri- 
 mary or junior pupils. The later additions in which 
 Abraham is more anxious to spare the city than 
 Yahweh, the Sodomites' sin, the turning of Lot's 
 wife into a pillar of salt, Lot and his daughters, and 
 the destruction of two cities are clearly not suited for 
 pupils below the intermediate or senior grades. The 
 offering of Isaac 8 has been used for primary children 
 as an example of obedience. Even if this were the 
 point of the story, the taking of a boy's life with a 
 gleaming knife is not the kind of picture to help a 
 child. Neither is the conception of God making 
 such a demand, nor of a father obeying even if God 
 could be conceived of as asking it, the Christian 
 
 1. 12: 913: 1 J. 20: 1-17 (18) E. 
 
 2. 26: l-3a, (3b-5), 7-14. This is the earlier story of which the former u 
 another version. 
 
 3. 21: 22 ff, with Abram; 26: 15 ff, with Isaac. 
 
 4. 19: 30-38. 
 
 5. 25: 1-4, 18. This is told to account for the origin of the Arabians. 
 
 6. 21: 8-20. Designed to explain the origin of the Ishmaelites. 
 
 7. 18: 16, (17-19), 20-22a, (22b-33a), 33b; 19: 1-28. Note the late additions. 
 The utter desolation of the Dead Sea region puzzled the early Hebrews. This 
 story gives an explanation. 
 
 8. 22: 1-14, (15-18), 19. 
 
The Primary Department 59 
 
 idea. The aim of the story is to show that Yahweh, 
 in distinction from the gods of other nations, forbade 
 human sacrifice. It is not adapted to primary or 
 junior pupils. 
 
 Jacob's deception and flight, 1 his meeting with 
 Rachel and marriage, 2 his escape from Laban and 
 meeting with Esau, 3 are adapted, though the verses 
 should be selected carefully. The parts omitted refer 
 to Leah's and Rachel's children, to Jacob's stock rais- 
 ing and the accounts of Dinah and Shechem and of 
 Judah and Tamar, which are never used. The 
 wrestling with the angel 4 is omitted because severe 
 mental struggle is, happily, not an experience of the 
 child. It may not be superfluous to add that Jacob 
 should be painted as he is and not as a saint. 
 
 The Joseph cycle is inimitable. Only a few verses 
 have to be omitted. 5 
 
 There are a number of good stories connected with 
 Moses. His birth, marriage, call, return to Egypt 
 and demand of Pharaoh are good. The " bride- 
 groom of blood " 6 passage and the plagues 7 with 
 their pestilence and death are not suited as lesson 
 material. The plagues give a view of God and his 
 
 1. 27: la, 2-3, 4b, 5b, 6, 7ac, 15, 18b-20, 24-27, 29ac, SOac, 31b, 32-34, 41b, 
 42, 43b, 45a; 28: 10, 13-16, 19 J supplemented from E. The ladder of angels is 
 not mentioned in J. 
 
 2. 29: 1 ff. 
 
 3. 30: 25, 27, 29-31a, 32b, 34-36, 43; 31: 1-3; 31: 2, 4-7, 14-21b E. 31: 17, 
 18a, 19, 21ac, 23, 25b, 27, 30, 32-40, 44, 46-48, 51-53; 32: 3-7a, (7b-12), lSb-23; 
 S3: 1-17 J. 
 
 4. 32: 24-32. 
 
 5. 39: 2 ff, in detail Joseph tempted by Pharaoh's wife. 
 
 6. Ex. 4: 24-26 J. 
 
 7. Ex. 7: 8 ff. The J and E accounts keep quite closely to the natural ex- 
 planation of the plagues. They do not say that Yahweh hardened Pharaoh's 
 
60 The Old Testament in the Sunday School 
 
 ways that is the opposite of what the children 
 should have. 
 
 The wilderness journey is introduced by the story 
 of the unapproachable God on Mount Horeb or 
 Sinai. 1 Then follows with almost monotonous 
 regularity the account of the people's sin and of 
 Yahweh's hot anger and eagerness to punish. Most 
 of the things Yahweh is said to have done for the 
 Israelites, such as bringing water out of the rock 2 
 and the giving of the quails, 3 were wrested from him 
 by rebellion, and often accompanied by bitter punish- 
 ment, as in the pestilence which followed the quails. 4 
 God is represented as a stern, harsh, hot-tempered 
 man. Surely the child must not be given this im- 
 pression of the Father. On the other hand, the 
 manna story 5 shows Yahweh's provident care day 
 after day. The story of the spies, 6 full of action and 
 ending in a stirring scene where courage and cow- 
 ardice are sharply contrasted, is also suited. 
 
 The account of the conquest has few suitable pas- 
 sages. The story of the spies at Jericho saved by 
 Rahab, 7 which brings out the qualities of kindness 
 and loyalty; the passage of the Jordan, 8 which is 
 explained by natural causes and does not involve 
 
 1. Sinai is the name used in J; Horeb in E. 
 
 2. Ex. 17: Iff. 3. Nu. 11: Iff. 4. Nu. 11:83. 
 
 5. Nu. 11: 5d, (7-9) J. Note how little J has about it. Nu. 16: 4, 5, 14b, 15, 
 21, 27, 28, 35a E. In J and E the manna seems to have been a natural product 
 which the people prepared for food. 
 
 6. Nu. 13: 17b, 18, 19, 22, 27a, 28, 30, 31; 14: Ic, 3, 8. Dt. 1: 22, 23; Nu. 
 13: 17c, 20, 21a, 23, 24, 26b, 27b, 29. 33; 14: Ib, 4, 9b; Dt. 1: 32. 
 
 7. Josh. 2: 2, 3b, 4ac, 5b, 6, 8, 9a, (9b-ll), 12, 14b, 18, 19, 21 J. 2: 1, 3b, 4a, 
 Sac, 7, 13, 14a, 20, 15, 16, (17), 22-24a, (24b) E. 
 
 8. Josh. 3: lac, 5, 9, lOa, 11, ISac, 15a, 16b; 4: 1, 3, 6, 7a, 8b, lOb, 11, 18 J. 
 8: lb-3, (4), 12, 6, 14, (17b); 4: 4, 5, 7b, 8a, 20, (21-24); (5: 1) E. 
 
The Primary Department 61 
 
 destruction of others; the taking of Jericho, 1 which 
 according to the older sources does not say the walls 
 fell, may be used. The sin of Achan and the capture 
 of Ai 2 are not adapted. The account of a battle 
 and the evil consequence of taking what is not one's 
 own suits a later age. In a case where a child is 
 inclined to take what is not his own, the story might 
 be told to him alone. The rise of the Gibeonites 3 
 has no moral teaching. The remainder of the book 
 of Joshua, continuing the account of the conquest 
 and the location of the tribes, does not come within 
 the child's experience. 
 
 The book of Ruth is splendid for this age. The 
 primary children know what affection and family 
 loyalty are. This story touches their life closely. 
 
 The first twelve chapters of Judges deal with the 
 wars of the judges. Generally these have no more 
 moral content than the history of any other war, 
 but the story of Gideon 4 is an exception. It has the 
 story quality and illustrates in a vivid way the 
 beauty of moral and physical courage. Jotham's 
 fable 5 is in the realm of child fancy, but it requires a 
 knowledge of rather fine distinctions between the dif- 
 ferent trees mentioned, without which it has no moral 
 significance. It may be used in the junior period. 
 
 Part of the story of Samson's birth 6 is appropriate, 
 for children of this age are always interested in other 
 
 1. Josh. 5: 13-15; 6: 2, 3, 5b, 7, 10-12a, 14, 15a, 16b, 17, 20ac J. 
 
 2. Josh. 7: 1 ff. 3. Josh. 9: 3 ff. 
 
 4. Judg. 6: 3a, 4b, 5a, 6a, ll-13a, 13c-24, 34; 8: 4-10a, 11; 7: 16ac, 17a, 18b, 
 19ac, 20, 21b, J. 
 
 5. Josh. 9: 6-16a, (16b-19a), 19b-21a. 6. Judg. 13: 2-14, 24, 25a, J 
 
62 The Old Testament in the Sunday School 
 
 children. The remaining stories of Samson merely 
 display physical strength put to no good use, the 
 spirit of vengeance or " getting even," and are 
 usually connected with some paramour. Besides, 
 the stories are crude and grotesque. 
 
 Next, the later documents paralleling J and E are 
 to be examined. The first is the account of Creation. 1 
 It represents the priestly theory of creation and of 
 the sanctity of the Sabbath. But the idea of both 
 the world and the heavenly bodies and how they 
 came to be is primitive and unscientific; and the 
 idea of the sanctity of the Sabbath rests on a false 
 conception of God. Jesus gives the true basis, the 
 needs of men. 2 The child should be taught that God 
 made the world and that Sunday should be kept, but 
 this can be done without using material that is 
 either unscientific or contrary to the Christian idea 
 of God. The priestly account of the Flood differs 
 somewhat from the earlier, but the criticism made 
 there applies here. In addition, the pretended exact- 
 ness of the account, the "very day" 3 and exact 
 measurements 4 being given, vitiates it still more. 
 The Covenant of the Rainbow, 5 is added to explain 
 that phenomenon. It reflects the priestly idea of 
 God, ever ready to punish, 6 who has to give a promise 
 and have a sign as a constant reminder of his promise, 
 not that he will do good to men, but that he will 
 refrain from almost utterly destroying them. 
 
 1. Gen. 1: 1 2: 4a. 2. Mk. 2: 27. 3. 7: 13, etc. 
 
 4. 7: 6, 11-14, 20, 24, etc. 5. 9: 12-17. 6. E.g., 6: 13; 9: 16. 
 
The Primary Department 
 
 The remainder of the priestly account differs from 
 the earlier chiefly by heightening the supernatural, 1 
 elevating the priestly, 2 and adding chronological 
 notes, 3 explaining how rites should have originated, 4 
 and softening down moral imperfections in the 
 ancestors of the Hebrew race. 5 Then there are lists 
 of names, 6 and long, tiresome accounts of taking the 
 census. 7 These illustrations, which indicate the 
 character of this source, show that none of it is 
 suitable. The form, for the most part, is that of dry 
 chronicles, with nothing of the story or the poetic 
 in which children delight. The emphasis is upon 
 form and ceremony, instead of upon moral content. 
 The conception of God is just the one that the church 
 of Christ seeks to eradicate from people's minds. 
 Nothing, except passages referred to, is suitable for 
 study below the senior or intermediate periods. 
 
 The Samuel stories, 8 his birth, dedication, and 
 call, are ideal. These move in the child world and the 
 relations to other persons and to God are such as 
 are desirable to cultivate. The stories of Saul's 
 search, his hospitable entertainment by Samuel, his 
 anointing, his gallant defence of Jabesh Gilead 
 and subsequent appointment as king, 9 are good, 
 
 1. E.g., Ex. 24: 23 ff. 
 
 2. The Passover is described to minute details, Ex. 12: 1-13. J has a mere 
 sprinkling with blood 12: 21-22. 
 
 3. Gen. 5: Ib ff, 11: lOb ff, etc. Note the artificial arrangement and the 
 extended lives of men. 
 
 4. E.g., Circumcision, a Semitic rite long before this, Gen. 17: 1 ff. 
 
 5. E.g., Abram and Lot do not quarrel, Gen. 13: 6a, lib, 12a, and Jacob 
 leaves with his father's blessing, Gen. 26: 34, 35; 27: 46; 28: 1-9. 
 
 6. Gen.35:22b-26;46:8ff. 
 
 7. Nu. 26: 1 ff. 8. 1 S. 13: 4. 9. 1 S. 9: 1 ff. 
 
64 The Old Testament in the Sunday School 
 
 vivid stories, full of action and with striking moral 
 issues. 
 
 The David cycle l has stories that fascinate chil- 
 dren. His selection, his visit to his brothers in the 
 war, David and Goliath, Jonathan and David, and 
 Saul's jealousy have moral contrasts brought out 
 sharply and simply in the action of living men as 
 they associate with one another. The bravery of 
 David, the loyalty of his two friends, the anger of 
 the king, all come within the experience of the child. 
 Other stories, such as the sparing of Saul's life, Abi- 
 gail and Meribaal, may be used here, but they are 
 so well adapted for the junior department that it is 
 better to reserve them. Absalom's rebellion* deals 
 with a son's relation to his father and is full of life. 
 Solomon's magnificence and his building operations 
 do not touch the problems of little children. 
 
 The Elijah and Elisha stories have been widely 
 used, and they deserve careful attention. The 
 drought announced, 3 the widow of Zarephath's 
 kindness and hospitality, and her son's cure 4 are 
 suitable. Hunger, hospitality, gratitude, a sick boy, 
 are all within the child's experience, and the points 
 of these stories help him to live in right relations with 
 the members of his own group. The Mount Carmel 
 scene 5 brings out clearly, in a vivid picture, moral 
 courage. But because of its wonder element and the 
 slaying of the prophets of Baal it is better reserved 
 
 1. 1 S. 18: 1 ff. 2. 2 S 15: 1 ff. 3. 1 K. 17: 1-7. 
 
 4. 17: 8-24. 5. 1 K. 18. 
 
The Primary Department 65 
 
 for the junior period. God's revelation of himself 
 in the still, small voice has little meaning for the 
 child, though full of meaning for those who have 
 entered into the serious business of life. The story 
 of Elisha's call l has little contact with primary 
 children. Naboth's vineyard 2 has a sharp moral 
 issue and is dramatic, but it is a murder story with 
 terrible retribution, and it is evidently not suited. 
 Micaiah 3 standing alone against four hundred false 
 prophets shows splendid courage, but the issue is 
 not concrete, it is " the word of Yahweh." Religion 
 and morals for primary pupils must be clothed in 
 flesh and blood. Elijah's translation 4 displays no 
 moral qualities; it is a wonder story without moral 
 or spiritual teaching suited to the child. Then come 
 a number of Elisha stories, cleansing a city's water 
 supply, 6 multiplying the widow's oil, 6 administering 
 an antidote for poison and multiplying the bread, 7 
 and recovering the lost axe. 8 These deeds, it is true, 
 are all done to help somebody; but they are dull inci- 
 dents rather than stories and they present no living 
 example of commendable moral qualities. That an 
 axe, for example, was recovered from a pond of water, 
 has no moral value, and the fact that the story is 
 clothed in the miraculous adds nothing to its value. 
 The restoration of the Shunammite's son, 9 on the 
 other hand, and the healing of Naaman, 10 tell of a sick 
 
 1. 1 K. 19: 19-21 2. 1 K. 21. 3. 1 K. 22. 
 
 4. 2 K. 2: 1-18. 5. 2 K. 2: 19-22. 6. 4: 1-7. 
 
 7. 4: 38-44. 8. 6: 1-6. 9. 2 K. 4: 8 ff> 
 10. 5: 1 ff. 
 
66 The Old Testament in the Sunday School 
 
 boy, a little girl, of kindness and gratitude and home 
 life that deal directly with the child's life. The re- 
 mainder of the history of Northern Israel is political 
 history and not suited to the primary grades. 
 
 The history of Judah from the revolt to the time 
 of Ezra contains no material suited to the primary 
 department. It is political history, with war, victory, 
 and defeat having the prominent place. There are 
 no stories revealing persons in the family or small 
 group. National affairs and the more abstract 
 " faithfulness to Yahweh " have taken the place of 
 the warm, personal element and concrete acts of the 
 earlier stories. The reform under Josiah l has been 
 used but it is anything but personal and concrete. 
 Jeremiah and Uriah 2 stood for the right and suf- 
 fered, but again the issue is interpreting the will of 
 Yahweh. Nehemiah rebuilding the walls, with 
 forces organized to work and fight, 3 is beyond the 
 pupils of this age. The first part of the story 
 of Esther, telling of her risking her life for her 
 countrymen, 4 might possibly be uteed. But be- 
 cause of the bitter tone of the whole it is better 
 reserved. 
 
 The high ethical teaching of the prophets, their 
 reasoned arguments and denunciation of national 
 sins, is beyond the primary pupils. The stories of 
 the Potter 5 and of the Yoke, 6 used by Jeremiah as 
 illustrations, have been widely used. But the former 
 
 1. 2 K. 22: 1 ff. 2. Jer. 26 and 36 ff. 
 
 3. Neb. 4: 15 ff. 4. Esth. 2: 17-18; 3: 17: 6; 8: 2-9. 
 
 5. Jer. 18: 1-10. 6. 27: 228: 17. 
 
The Primary Department 67 
 
 teaches Yahweh's power to shatter nations, which 
 is not the notion of God that should be stressed in 
 this period; while the Yoke deals with the future 
 fate of a nation far removed from the pupil's world. 
 The national situation is much too complicated for 
 a primary class. The parable of the Valley of Dry 
 Bones l has no meaning unless the exile be under- 
 stood. The book of Jonah might be used, but it is 
 better to reserve it for older pupils. In the book of 
 Daniel the set purpose of the Hebrew boys to ob- 
 serve a ceremonial law 2 by abstaining from eating 
 certain food is not adapted to primary children. 
 The king's forgotten dream 3 is fairly well adapted 
 in form and the dream world is familiar to little 
 ones, but this story does not help the child solve any 
 moral problem. The Fiery Furnace and the Den of 
 Lions 4 stories are popular and suitable when told 
 as wonder stories. 
 
 The priestly writings 5 have the same general 
 character as those already discussed and contribute 
 nothing for this period. 
 
 The Writings, the so-called poetical books, have 
 little suitable material. A few Psalms 6 are suitable 
 and there are a number of individual verses ap- 
 propriate for memorizing. Job, Ecclesiastes, the 
 Song of Songs, and Proverbs, except for a few iso- 
 lated verses, have no suitable material. 
 
 1. Ezek. 37. 2. Dan. 1. 
 
 9. Dan. 2. 4. Dan. 3 and 6. 
 
 6. Including Lev., much of Nu., Chr., Dt., Ezek., etc. 
 
 6. 23, 100, 91 (in part). 
 
68 The Old Testament in the Sunday School 
 
 TABLE OF MATERIAL IN THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 ADAPTED TO THE PRIMARY DEPARTMENT 
 
 Abraham: 
 
 Journey. 
 
 Generosity to Lot. 
 
 God's Covenant. 
 
 Victory over the kings. 
 
 Ishmael's birth. 
 
 The Promise of Isaac. Hagar's expulsion. 
 Isaac: 
 
 Birth. 
 
 Isaac and Rebekah. 
 Jacob: 
 
 Deception and flight. 
 
 Jacob and Rachel. 
 
 Escape from Laban. 
 
 Meeting with Esau. 
 The Joseph Cycle. 
 Moses: 
 
 Birth. 
 
 Marriage. 
 
 Mission. 
 
 Before Pharaoh. 
 
 The Manna. 
 
 The Spies. 
 Joshua: 
 
 The Spies at Jericho. 
 
 Crossing the Jordan. 
 
 Jericho's capture. 
 Ruth. 
 
 Samson's Birth (in part) . 
 Samuel: 
 
 Birth and service. 
 
 Anointing of Saul. 
 Saul: 
 
 His search and anointing. 
 
 Valor and crowning. 
 David: 
 
 Boyhood. 
 
 Goliath. 
 
 Jonathan. 
 
 Saul's jealousy. 
 
 Absalom's rebellion. 
 
The Primary Department 69 
 
 Elijah: 
 
 The drought. 
 
 The widow's kindness. 
 
 Healing the boy. 
 Elisha: 
 
 A boy cured. 
 
 Naaman. 
 
 Wonders (?) 
 Jonah. 
 Daniel: 
 
 The furnace. 
 
 The lions. 
 Psalms: 
 
 23, 100, 91 (in part). 
 
 Individual verses. 
 Other books: 
 
 Imdividual verses. 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 MATERIAL ADAPTED TO THE JUNIOR DEPARTMENT 
 (AGES 9-12) 
 
 In this period the pupil delights in heroes and 
 heroic deeds. Chum and gang loyalty becomes 
 strong, and the moral judgment is sharp. True 
 stories are desired. Individual competition is keen 
 and it passes gradually into group competition. 
 Interest is taken in the causes of things, and to some 
 extent in organization, and in laws and regulations. 
 Naturally, then, those passages that treat of the 
 outward deeds of men acting as individuals or as 
 organized bodies provide the most suitable material. 
 For religious education the moral issue must be 
 prominent. In the early stories, in the exploits of 
 the judges and in the history of the kings such events 
 are found. But this material is not appropriate if 
 it is treated merely as a catalogue of facts or as a 
 general history. Living persons shown in actual 
 situations which involve religious and moral crises 
 are required. The striking incidents must be made 
 central, for juniors are not ready for history. But in 
 so far as historic events are treated they should be 
 taken up in the order and in the connection in which 
 they occur. The junior work will thus provide an 
 outline which, so far as it goes, will be the basis for 
 fuller detail later. Much the same thing is done in 
 day school in the simpler histories or readers. 
 
 70 
 
The Junior Department 71 
 
 Two general rules seem to follow. First, the his- 
 tory of the North and of the South after the division 
 should be treated separately so that a few great 
 outstanding features may be clearly comprehended. 
 When the history is taken up in the next period this 
 becomes imperative. To study kings and events 
 of the two kingdoms alternately as they are given 
 in the Bible is confusing even to mature students, 
 and this accounts for much of the confusion in the 
 minds of Sunday-school pupils about the history of 
 the Jewish people. Second, the earlier records alone, 
 arranged in one continuous story, should be studied. 
 They give the simple narrative. This at once ex- 
 cludes about one-third of the material, but it repre- 
 sents more than that for the confusion and contra- 
 dictions arising from two or more intermingled ac- 
 counts, which have been responsible for much of the 
 haziness concerning the Bible accounts in the past, 
 are avoided. 1 The later documents, composed cen- 
 turies after many of the events which they describe, 
 are not only often mistaken as to the facts, but they 
 were written from a certain point of view and they 
 pass judgment on the past, not on the merits of the 
 case in the time in which it occurred, but according 
 to allegiance to a law that did not come into existence 
 until centuries afterwards. Every king is judged by 
 this standard, and so an erroneous impression is often 
 given. For example, the name Ahab is usually re- 
 garded as a synonym for everything that is unde- 
 
 1. Cf. p. 34, Note 10. 
 
72 The Old Testament in the Sunday School 
 
 sirable in a ruler. But this comes from the sentence 
 passed upon him in a later time. 1 History shows him 
 to have been, in many respects, an able ruler. That 
 teaching is most effective which exhibits the differ- 
 ent characters in the actual situations so that the 
 pupils will pass their own judgment upon them. 
 From the discussion elsewhere 2 it is evident that 
 the book of Chronicles can scarcely be used in this 
 period. 
 
 All the material selected as suitable for the pri- 
 mary department is suited to the juniors, but it is 
 studied by the juniors with deeper meaning and in 
 greater detail. Some of the passages usually included 
 in the curriculum for the juniors have also been dis- 
 cussed in Chapter V. The remaining passages only 
 will be referred to here. 
 
 There is general agreement that the Abraham, 
 Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph cycles of stories are well 
 adapted 3 to the junior period. Reasons have al- 
 ready been given for excepting the story of Lot's 
 escape and of the offering of Isaac, which have been 
 largely used. But in the Abraham priestly narra- 
 tives two short passages may be used, the death of 
 Sarah, 4 which gives a true picture of bargaining in the 
 East even at the present day, and the death of Abra- 
 ham. 5 These, though late, are probably based on 
 good tradition and form a fitting close to the life 
 stories. 
 
 1. See 1 K. 16: 29-31; 81: 20c-22, 24-26; 22: 38. 2. pp. 38-39. 
 
 3. Except a few passages noted under the primary department. 
 
 4. Gen. 23: 1, 19. 5. 25: 7-1 la. 
 
The Junior Department 73 
 
 Much more of the Moses cycle is adapted here than 
 in the primary department. Up to the arrival at 
 Sinai all that should clearly be excluded is the 
 " bridegroom of blood " 1 passage. The plagues, 
 included in this material, are universally used. But 
 they are suitable only if treated as incidents in the 
 account of the freeing of the people. If they are 
 made a special study, as has been done, the emphasis 
 is necessarily thrown upon the horror and suffering 
 caused. In the Mount scene the emphasis is not 
 upon the awe-inspiring aspect of Yahweh, 2 but upon 
 the fact that here the people did make a covenant 
 and promulgate a law, and that the conception of 
 God revealed in this passage is an early and mistaken 
 one. 
 
 The decalogue, which in its earliest form is prac- 
 tically the well-known decalogue 3 with the " rea- 
 sons " omitted, may be studied by the juniors 
 provided it is taught, not as a summing up for the 
 Christian of his moral law and religious purpose, but 
 as a code exceedingly elevated and comprehensive for 
 the time in which it was produced and significant 
 for all time. It has several limitations. First, it is 
 negative. To refrain from doing wrong, from mur- 
 der, from dishonoring God, is not to fulfil the teach- 
 ing of Christ; but to live a life of active service. 
 Second, Christian teaching does not forbid the mak- 
 
 1. Ex. 2:24-26. 
 
 *. Ex. 19: 1 ff; 32: (9-14). 
 
 3. Ex. 20: 1-17. The earliest form is perhaps Dt. 6: 7, 8a, lla, 12a, 16a, 17- 
 *la. Cf. Ex. 34: 14a, 17, 18a, 19a, 20c, 21a, 22ac, 25, 26ab J; and Ex. 20: 23a, 
 I4a; 2: 29ab, 30, 31; 23: 12, 15, 16a, 18, 19b E, for two other ancient decalogues. 
 
74 The Old Testament in the Sunday School 
 
 ing of likenesses nor does it teach that God visits 
 the iniquity of the fathers upon the succeeding gen- 
 erations in punishment. Third, a selfish motive is 
 given for honoring parents, and, finally, the Jewish 
 conception of the Sabbath and of keeping it holy is 
 very different from the Christian conception of the 
 Lord's Day. 1 In the next department the decalogue, 
 taken up in comparison with other standards of 
 duty, makes an appropriate study. 
 
 The only additional suitable material from the 
 giving of the decalogue to the death of Moses, is 
 Yahweh's promise to lead his people, 2 the tent of 
 meeting, 3 Jethro's visit, 4 the marching song, 5 the 
 quails, 6 water from the rock, 7 the battle with 
 Amalek, 8 the journey to and conquests east of the 
 Jordan. 9 The other passages in this section are not 
 adapted, 10 such as the account of the ruthless slaying 
 of three thousand men by the Levites after the 
 making of the golden calf at Sinai, 11 the revelation to 
 Moses, 12 and the organization of the judicial system 
 on the advice of Jethro. 13 At a later age the question 
 of organization becomes a live question, but juniors 
 
 1. Cf. the conflict of Christ and the scribes on these points. 
 
 2. Ex. 33: 1, 3a, 17b, 12-17a J. Ex 33: la; 23: 20-22, 25 E. 
 
 3. Ex. 33: 6-1 IE. 
 
 4. Ex. 18: 1-12 E; Nu. 10: 29-32 J 
 
 5. Nu. 10: 33, 35-36 J. 
 
 6. Nu. 11: 4-6; 18-24a, 31-35 J. 
 
 7. Nu. 12: 16; 17: 3, 2b, 7ac J. 20: Ib; 17: Ic, 2a; 20: 5; 17: 4-6, 7b. 
 
 8. Ex. 17: 8-16. 
 
 9. Nu. 21: 16a, (16b), 17-20, 32, 24b-30; Josh. 13: 13 J; Nu. 21: llb-15, 21- 
 24a, 31 E. 
 
 10. Note that Ex. 32: 9-14 and Nu. 14: 11-24 are late editorial additions. 
 Moses is represented as prevailing on Yahweh not to destroy the people by appeal- 
 ing to his vanity. See also Ex. 33: 5. 
 
 11. Ex. 32: 25 ff. 12. Ex. 33: 1884: 9 J. 13. Ex. 18: 1-27. 
 
The Junior Department 75 
 
 have little interest in it. The destruction of Dathan 
 and Abiram * by a direct judgment of Yahweh, 
 because they criticized Moses, their leader, gives a 
 perverted view of God's character. The account of 
 the conquest and settlement of the East Jordan 
 territory is nearly all late. The early account which 
 is brief 2 and historic, and the account of the death 
 of Moses, 3 are suitable, but the Balaam story 4 and 
 the account of the immorality of the people 5 are 
 not, the latter because it treats of harlotry and the 
 fierce anger of Yahweh and the former because it 
 does not make prominent any moral issue that ap- 
 plies to junior life. 
 
 In the history of the conquest of Canaan, the first 
 chapter of Joshua, though late, is suited because of 
 its emphasis upon moral qualities, such as courage, 
 perseverance and trust in God. In addition to what 
 has been selected, the battle at Ai is all that is 
 adapted, for the accounts of the other battles are 
 filled with personal cruelty. 6 Instead of the long and 
 detailed later account of the settlement, which is 
 nearly all late, a little attention to the map will give 
 a better idea of what was accomplished. The 
 strategy of the Gibeonites 7 is a good story but it has 
 
 1. Nu. 16: Ib, 2a, 12, 13-15, 25, 26, 27b-31, 32a, 33ab, 34; Dt. 11: 6-7. Two 
 later priestly accounts are mixed with these in this chapter. Cf. p. 36, Note 9. 
 
 2. Nu. 20: 19, 20, 21b; 21: 16a, (b), 17-20; 21: 32, 24b, 25-30; Nu. 32: 39, 41, 
 42; Josh. 13: 13 J. Nu. 20: 14-18, 21a, 22a; 21: 4b-9; Dt. 10: 6, 7; Nu. 21: llb- 
 15, 21-24a, 31 E. 
 
 3. Dt. 34: Ib, d, 4 J. 31: 14, 15, 23 E. Cf. also 34: 5a, 6, 10, later E. 
 
 4. Nu. 22 ff. 
 
 5. Nu. 25: 1-5. 
 
 6. Cf. Judg. 1: 6; Josh. 10: 20, 22 ff. 
 
 7. Josh 9: 3 ff; E. 
 
76 The Old Testament in the Sunday School 
 
 no moral content. The story of Micah 1 and of the 
 sin of the Gibiathites 2 is unsuited. 
 
 The book of Ruth is well adapted to the junior 
 period. 
 
 In the history of the judges the account of the 
 victory of Deborah and Barak 3 and of Gideon 4 are 
 by common consent suited admirably to juniors. 
 The story of Abimelech 5 is too full of cruelty and 
 murder, and Jephthah's victory 6 is marred by the 
 sacrifice of his daughter. The story of Samson has 
 been constantly used with misplaced stress. Omit- 
 ting some amorous references the story 7 is well 
 suited to show, not a hero, but (with one or two 
 possible exceptions) the wrong use of physical 
 strength, and of one's life. 
 
 In the study of history by juniors, it should be 
 remembered that only the striking incident with 
 adequate moral content is suited, and that since 
 the book of Chronicles is very late, unhistoric, un- 
 interestingly written, and dwells upon the ecclesi- 
 astical side, it is not adapted, though it should be 
 consulted by the teacher. 
 
 The Samuel, Saul, Jonathan, and David 8 stories 
 and Absalom's rebellion, are universally admitted 
 to be splendidly adapted to this department. Cer- 
 tain sections have already been referred to in the 
 
 1. Judg. 17: 1 ff. 2. Judg. 19: 1 ff. 3. Judg. 4-5. 
 
 4. 6: 1 ff J, omitting 8: 13-21, 8: 24-32 J; and including 7: 1-15. 16b, 17b, 
 18a, 19b, 21a, 22; 8: 22, 23, 29. Late E. 
 
 5. 8:3Sff. 6. 10:6ff. 
 
 7. Judg. 14: 5-20; 15-19; 16: la, 2-31. 
 
 8. Including his election as King (2 S. 5: S); water from the well at Bethle- 
 hem (2 S. 5: 17; 23: 13-17); and his treatment of Meribaal (2 S. 4: 4; 0: 1-13). 
 
The Junior Department 77 
 
 discussion dealing with the primary grades, as unfit 
 for children. The ark, and the result of its mere 
 possession by the Philistines, 1 making it somewhat 
 of a fetish, is foreign to the religious thought of to-day 
 and is undesirable teaching for children; also Saul's 
 rejection, 2 for according to J it is largely because 
 he offered sacrifice, and in E because he was humane 
 while Samuel took life in cold blood; and his visit 
 to the medium of Endor. 3 The account of the war 
 between David and Ishbaal, and of the violent death 
 of Abner, Ishbaal and of Saul's sons 4 has too much 
 bloodshed and treachery to be used. The taking of 
 the census 5 is not suitable, nor the wars of conquest. 6 
 David's murder of Uriah in order to marry Bath- 
 sheba, 7 has often been used but juniors cannot well 
 understand the motive. It may be used but is better 
 reserved for the intermediate period. So Amnon's 
 crime, 8 Sheba's rebellion, 9 the bitter last request of 
 David to put Joab and Shimei to death 10 and Solo- 
 mon's treatment of his rivals n are unfit for juniors. 
 The story of the crowning of Solomon, his wisdom 
 and building operations 12 are adapted, and the 
 building of the temple has value because pupils of 
 this age are interested in building and they should 
 begin to have their attention directed to the thought 
 of the need of places of worship. The temple is 
 
 1. !S.4:lffand2S.6:lff. 
 
 2. 1 S. 10: 8; 13: 4b, 5h, 7b, 8-loa late J. 1 S. 15: l-S5a late . 
 
 3. 1 S. 28: 3 S probably late. 4. 2 S. 2: 1 ff and 21 : 1-14. 
 5. 2 S. 24: 1 ff. 6. 2 S. 10: 1 ff. 
 
 7. 2S. ll:2ff. 8. 2 S. 13: Iff. 
 
 9. 2 S. 80: 1 ff. 10. 1 K. 2: 5 ff. 
 
 11. 1 K. 2: 12 ff. 12. 1 K. 5: 1, 5 ff. 
 
78 The Old Testament in the Sunday School 
 
 important also for understanding the subsequent 
 development of the people and their literature, but 
 the details of the building, the exact measurements 
 and fittings, 1 are not essential, as they have often 
 been made in the past. The account of Solomon's 
 wealth 2 and of his adversaries 3 is not adapted. 
 
 In the history of the North from the division of the 
 kingdom, care needs be taken, as already pointed 
 out, to avoid the review of the kings and the judg- 
 ment passed upon them by a later age and from the 
 point of view of allegiance to a law that was not 
 known for one hundred years after Israel had been 
 destroyed. The judgment is expressed in a regular 
 formula. 4 Of the history only threa incidents are 
 suitable. The revolt of the North 5 is regularly used, 
 is vivid and has a simple, clearly defined issue. 
 Ahab's victory over the Arameans and his splendid 
 treatment of a defeated enemy 6 are good. The ac- 
 count of the fall of Israel 7 is not used for the material 
 is not well suited. But the event is so important in 
 the history and the literature of the Jews that these 
 few verses (excepting Chapter 17: 24 ff.) may well be 
 made the basis of a lesson. The history of Jehu 8 
 is used in graded systems but is not suited, for though 
 full of action and stirring incidents it is little more 
 
 1. E.g., 1 K. 6 and following chapters. 
 
 2. 1 K. 9: 10-29; 10: 14-29. 
 8. 1 K. 11: 14-25. 
 
 4. Cf. 1 K. 16: 12-14, 19, 20, 29-31, etc. 
 6. 1 K. 12: 2-20, 25-32. 
 
 6. 1 K. 20: 1-34. 
 
 7. 2 K. 15: 29, 30; 17: 3, 4; 18: 9-11, and 2 K. 17: 24 ff. 
 
 8. 2 K. 9: 110: 27. 
 
The Junior Department 79 
 
 than a succession of ruthless butcheries without any 
 special moral or religious truth. The remainder of 
 the history is merely political history devoid of 
 moral issues suitable to juniors. 
 
 The stories of the prophets remain. The nameless 
 prophet and his undoing, 1 Ahijah's message of doom, 2 
 and the rebuke of the unknown prophet 3 have no 
 concrete moral problem. All three are strange 
 stories, fantastic, like some of the incidents in the 
 lives of the Saints of the Middle Ages. Micaiah, 
 standing by what he believed to be true in the face 
 of four hundred opponents, 4 is, it is quite evident, 
 suitable. The Elijah and Elisha stories have been 
 constantly used, but they present two difficulties, 
 the moral problem and the miraculous element. 
 The prophecy of the drought by Elijah, which in- 
 cludes the healing of the widow of Zarephath's son, 
 and the scene on Carmel, 5 have the miraculous ele- 
 ment throughout, but, with the exception of the slay- 
 ing of the prophets of Baal, splendid moral qualities 
 are distinctly emphasized. The same is true of the 
 healing of the Shunammite's son, the restoration of 
 her land, and the curing of Naaman by Elisha. 6 
 If these stories are frankly admitted to be partly 
 the result of popular tradition growing around some 
 striking incident, they are suitable. Elijah's rebuke 
 of Ahab 7 is adapted. The call of Elisha, 8 the story 
 
 1. 1 K. 12: 3313: 34, likely exilic. 2. 1 K. 14: 1 ff, late. 
 
 3. 1 K. 20: 35-43, late. 4. 1 K. 22: 1-28. 
 
 5. 1 K. 17: 1-19; 18. 6. 2 K. 4: 8-37; 8: 1-6; 5. 
 
 7. 1 K. 21: l-20a, 23, 27. 8. 1 K. 19: 19-21. 
 
80 The Old Testament in the Sunday School 
 
 of the deliverance of Samaria l and of Elisha's death 2 
 may also be used. Elijah's message to the sick 
 Ahaziah 3 and the late additions to the account, the 
 cursing the children, 4 and the miracle wrought by 
 Elisha's bones 5 are not suitable. Of the remaining 
 Elisha stories, 6 the multiplication of the oil, healing 
 the water and food, restoring the axe, giving advice 
 in war, and leading an army like blind men, are all 
 wonder stories. They are well enough adapted as 
 far as form goes but they are, as was pointed out 
 above, without adequate religious and moral con- 
 tent, and are therefore not suited to the Sunday- 
 school curriculum at this age. 
 
 Turning now to the history of Judah, 7 whose re- 
 volt has already been discussed, the history of 
 Joash, 8 his coronation, temple repairing and service 
 of God, and of Josiah, 9 in whose reign the book of 
 the law was published and the great Deuteronomic 
 reform begun, are good studies. The latter, espe- 
 cially, is important because it is one of the central 
 points in the history of both the literature and the 
 religious development. Both have vivid scenes and 
 emphasize moral and spiritual values in conduct. 
 The reign of another boy king, Manasseh, 10 has been 
 used. There is very little about him except the 
 
 1. 2 K. 6: 24 7: 16. 2. 2 K. 13: 14-19. 
 
 3. 2K. 1: 1-8, (9-16), 17a, (17b-18). 
 
 4. 2 K. 2: 23-25. 5. 2 K. 13: 20-21. 
 
 6. 2 K. 1:1-7; 2: 19-22; 38-44; 6: 1-7; 3: 4-27; 6: 8-23; 9: 1 ff. 
 
 7. It is interesting to note that the kings of Judah have been judged by the 
 same standard as the kings of the North, but the formula in which it is expressed 
 differs. See 1 K. 15: 9-11, etc. 
 
 8. 2 K. 11: 1-20; 12: 4-21. 9. 2 K. 22: 323: 14, 29, 30. 
 10. 2 K. 21: 1-6, 17-18. 
 
The Junior Department 81 
 
 accusation that he promoted idol worship. An exilic 
 addition and Chronicles l add little more. There is 
 no striking scene, no moral contrast. This passage is 
 not suitable by itself, but it might be used briefly as 
 a contrast to one of the other boy kings mentioned 
 above. Jehoshaphat's 2 reign offers several stirring 
 incidents and one deliverance at the word of the 
 prophet, but the account is in Chronicles, and it has 
 no ethical content. The remainder of the history 
 proper, being purely political, is not suited. But in 
 this period two great prophets appear and take an 
 important part in stirring events. In the reign of 
 Hezekiah, Isaiah 3 came into prominence especially 
 in connection with Sennacherib's invasion. Here is 
 a dramatic situation where the best qualities of 
 moral courage and religious attitude stand out 
 prominently. The other is the prophet Jeremiah 
 who lived during the last days of the nation and 
 early years of the exile. Here will come in reference 
 to the last days of Judah. 4 
 
 In the restoration two men stand out prominently, 
 Ezra and Nehemiah. The life of each affords many 
 striking incidents where the religious and moral life 
 is put to crucial test. The rebuilding of the temple 
 by Ezra, 5 of the walls by Nehemiah, 6 and the bind- 
 ing of the law upon the people of Jerusalem, are the 
 
 1. 9 K. 81: 7-16 and 2 Chr. 33: 10-20. 
 
 8. 8 Chr. 18: 1-3, 28-34; 19: 1-3; 20: 1-30, 35-37. 
 
 3. 8 K. 18: 1-3, 18; 20: 8, 1-7; Isa. 7: 1-17; 36; 37; 39: 1-8; 2 K. 20: 12-19; 
 18 and 19. 
 
 4. 8 K. 23: (36, 37); 24: la, 7, Ib, (2-6), 8-25: 2; Jer. 39: (1-2), 3, (4-10). 
 
 5. Ez. 1: 5, 6; 5: 14, 15; 3: 84: 24, Cf. Haggai. 
 e. Neb. 1; 2; 4; 7: l-5a. 
 
82 The Old Testament in the Sunday School 
 
 central points. The last is not well suited to juniors, 
 for they do not comprehend the significance of the 
 law, and the account of the convention is not at- 
 tractive. 
 
 Following this period came the heroic struggle of 
 the Maccabees. Other of the apocryphal works also 
 are well worthy of study. The problem is less com- 
 plicated there than with the canonical books, for the 
 dates are pretty well known, the documents are not 
 troublesome, and they have never been regarded as 
 sacred in the same sense as the canonical, so that 
 they can be used without prejudice or bias. But the 
 analysis of these books does not fall within the scope 
 of this investigation. 
 
 The first part of the book of Esther might be used. 
 
 In the discussion of the prophets which follows, 
 it may seem at first sight that too much has been 
 excluded. But because of the adult's high apprecia- 
 tion of the prophet's ethical and religious message 
 as the flower of the religion of Israel, there is a con- 
 stant tendency to include too much. It is necessary 
 in considering the question to bear in mind the stand- 
 ard of selection, first, the ability and the moral needs 
 of the pupil, and second, the aim in view. If this is 
 done, it is felt that the selection made will be found 
 to cover the suitable material quite fully. 
 
 Amos l may be used because he is himself pictur- 
 esque and heroic, and because he uses as figures 
 simple things he has seen and that the pupils under- 
 
 1. 1: 1-8; 2: 1-3, 6-8, 14-16; 3: 1-12; 4: 1; 5: 18-20; 7: 7-9, 10-16. 
 
The Junior Department 83 
 
 stand. He condemns social evils, but in a striking 
 way. Hosea's gospel of love affords little that juniors 
 can use because of the figure in which the whole is 
 conceived, although a few passages l might be used. 
 Isaiah, in addition to references already given, has 
 some adapted material, 2 chiefly illustrative of the 
 situation in Palestine under the Assyrian invasion 
 already mentioned. In the prophecy of Jeremiah 
 there are many striking events, and the human in- 
 terest is always strong. Among the passages adapted 
 there are three chief lines of interest, 3 first, the 
 prophecies relating to the nation, chiefly proclaiming 
 its doom; 4 second, those in which the restoration of 
 the nation is promised; 5 and third, the dramatic 
 history of his own life. 6 In Ezekiel a few passages 7 
 might be used. There is little action, but it is fairly 
 concrete. Jonah is excellent. The first seven chap- 
 ters of Daniel are adapted. The stories used must 
 be treated as stories, not as history. These passages 
 are considered suitable because they are for the 
 most part full of action, deal with a concrete, 
 present situation, and show forth in strong light 
 the ethical and religious qualities that pupils can 
 appreciate. 
 
 1. 4: 1-2, 7-9; 9: 6-7; 11: 1-9; 14: 1-8, (9). 
 
 2. 6; 8: 5-10; 28: 1-4; 20: 1-6; 39: 1-8. 
 
 S. It is not intended that all the passages cited are to be used, but from these 
 some central point may be taken and the rest used to illustrate it. 
 
 4. 1: 13-19; 4: 5-8, 11-29; 5: 15-20, 30, 31; 6: 22, 23; 18: 1-10; 14: 1315: 6; 
 27: 2-17; 21: 1-10; 34; 37: 1-10. 
 
 5. 29: 4-12; 32: 6-15, 42. 
 
 6. 1: 1-10; 11: 9, 18-23; 7: 1-15, 21-26; 26 (which includes the story of Uriah); 
 15: 10 ff; 19-20; 36; 37: 11-38: 28; 39: 3, 14; 43. 
 
 7. 1: 1; 8: 16-21; 17; 33; 34: 11-31; 37: 1-14. 
 
84 The Old Testament in the Sunday School 
 
 In the book of Isaiah there is a number of choice 
 passages suitable for memorizing. 1 
 
 The remaining prophets, Micah, Nahum, Zeph- 
 aniah, Habakkuk, Haggai, Zechariah 1-3, Obadiah, 
 Malachi, Zechariah 9-14, Joel, have no adapted 
 material. They contain prophecies against other 
 nations, the conditions of which are unknown to jun- 
 iors, as Nahum against Nineveh or Obadiah against 
 Edom; or they speak in visions and figures that are 
 difficult to interpret, as Ezekiel, Zechariah, or the 
 last chapters of Daniel; or they emphasize loyalty 
 to the law, as Malachi; or they deal in abstract 
 principles and upon these base their judgment. 
 This last applies to almost all the prophecies that 
 have been excluded. It is what many adults delight 
 in, but junior pupils have not yet reached that stage 
 of development. 
 
 A few isolated passages or verses (like the examples 
 given below) from Israel's laws relating to the treat- 
 ment of parents 2 and servants, 3 to maintaining a 
 weekly day of rest, 4 the attitude to the immigrant, 5 
 the widow and orphan, 6 the blind and deaf, 7 the 
 poor, 8 the aged, 9 to neighbors, 10 and to Yahweh u 
 might be used, but it is better to reserve the study of 
 
 1. 40: 1-11, 27-31; 9: 2-7; 11: 1-10; 53; 55; 60; 61: l-3a; 35. 
 
 2. Dt.5:16; 27:16. 
 
 3. Dt. 24: 14, 15; Lev. 19: 13b. 
 
 4. Ex. 23: 12. 
 
 5. Ex. 22: 21. 
 
 6. Dt. 24: 14, 17; 27: 19. 
 
 7. Dt. 27: 18; Lev. 19: 14. 
 
 8. Ex. 23: 6; Dt. 16: 7-11; Lev. 25: 35; Dt. 16:11; 26: 11. 
 
 9. Lev. 19: 32a. 
 
 10. Ex. 23: 4, 5; Lev. 19: 17, 18; Dt. 10: 18b-19a. 
 
 11. Dt. 8: 5-14; 5: 29; 6: 10-12; 10: 12. 
 
The Junior Department 85 
 
 law until it can be taken up connectedly, and when 
 law and organization become a vital question for the 
 pupil as they do in the next period. The ceremonial 
 laws and laws relating to the hierarchy, temple, 
 offerings and sacrifices have no vital contact, and 
 contribute nothing to the moral and religious life of 
 juniors. The tabernacle in the wilderness is still 
 used as a study in this period, but from the discussion 
 of the development of the literature it is evident 
 that a study of the tabernacle is not helpful to the 
 Christian life, while the study of measurements and 
 f urnishings as an exercise of memory is commendable 
 under no circumstances. 
 
 Among the Writings the prose parts of the book of 
 Job, 1 with the story of the poem given by the 
 teacher and some selections from the magnificent 
 closing chapters, may be studied. But it is so well 
 suited to a later period that it had better be reserved. 
 Many of the Psalms, in part or in whole, 2 are splendid 
 for memorizing, and at this age memory of this kind 
 is at its best. The book of Proverbs has a number 
 of verses that may be roughly grouped in the follow- 
 ing way, though not organically connected: honor- 
 ing parents, 3 wisdom, 4 self-control, 5 personal char- 
 acter, 6 and diligence. 7 These, perhaps, are not 
 
 1. 1-2 and 42: 7-17. 
 
 2. 1; 8; 15; 19; 23; 24; 27; 29; 34; 42; 46; 67; 72; 84; 91; 96; 98; 100; 103; 117; 
 121; 122; 126; 137: 1-6; 150. 
 
 3. 1:7-10; 6: 20-23. 
 
 4. 3: 13-17; 10: 1. 
 
 5. 15: 1; 16: 32; 20: 1; 23: 29-35. 
 
 6. 4: 23; 17: 22a; 12: 10, 19, 20, 22; 22: 1; 25: 11. 
 
 7. 6: 6-11; 22: 29ab; 24: 30-34; 25: 13, 14. 
 
86 The Old Testament in the Sunday School 
 
 suited for so many studies but they may be used 
 with other material and for memorizing or illustrat- 
 ing. Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, and Lamentations 
 contain nothing suitable for juniors except a few 
 individual verses. 
 
 TABLE OF MATERIAL 1 IN THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 ADAPTED TO THE JUNIOR DEPARTMENT 
 
 All the material selected for the Primary Department, and 
 in addition: 
 
 Moses: 
 
 The Red Sea. 
 
 To Sinai. 
 
 The Mount and Decalogue. 
 
 God's promise to lead his people. 
 
 Jethro's visit. 
 
 The Tent of Meeting. 
 
 The Marching Song. 
 
 The Quails. 
 
 Water from the Rock. 
 
 Fight with Amalek. 
 
 Journey to and Conquest East of the Jordan. 
 
 Moses' Death. 
 
 Joshua: 
 
 Call (Josh. 1). 
 
 Ai. 
 
 Joshua's Farewell. 
 
 The Judges: 
 
 Deborah and Barak. 
 Gideon. 
 
 Samson: 
 
 The Lion and the Wedding Feast. 
 
 The Foxes. 
 
 Delilah. 
 
 Death. 
 
 1. All, except a few indicated passages, to be taken from the earlier 
 documents. 
 
The Junior Department 87 
 
 Saul: 
 
 Victory at Gibeah and Jonathan's Heroism. 
 Saul and David: 
 
 Abigail. 
 
 Gilboa. 
 King David: 
 
 Coronation. 
 
 Water from the Well at Bethlehem. 
 
 Meribaal. 
 
 Bathsheba. 
 Solomon : 
 
 Coronation. 
 
 Wisdom. 
 
 Building. 
 
 The Revolt of Israel. 
 Ahab's Victory over Aram. 
 The Fall of Israel and Exile. 
 Micaiah. 
 Elijah: 
 
 Carmel. 
 
 Rebuke to Ahab. 
 Elisha: 
 
 Call. 
 
 Deliverance of Samaria. 
 
 The Wonder Stories. 
 
 Death. 
 Joash. 
 Josiah. 
 
 Sennacherib's Invasion. 
 Fall of Judah and Exile. 
 Ezra Rebuilding Temple. 
 Nehemiah Rebuilding Walls. 
 Esther, First Part (?) 
 Amos, selections. 
 Hosea, selections. 
 Isaiah, selections. 
 Jeremiah, selections. 
 Ezekiel, selections. 
 Jonah, selections. 
 
 Book of Isaiah, selections for memorizing. 
 Job, prose part and selections. 
 Psalms, selections. 
 Proverbs, selections. 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 MATERIAL ADAPTED TO THE INTERMEDIATE DEPART- 
 MENT (AGES 13-16) 
 
 Interests are more varied and changes more 
 abrupt and distinctive in the intermediate years 
 than at any preceding period. It is a time of phys- 
 ical, mental, and social readjustment. More co- 
 operation becomes possible, societies are organized 
 under definite laws and regulations, and teams play 
 according to " the rules of the game." A taste for 
 literature and history is acquired, and it is also a 
 time of hero worship. Moral and spiritual questions 
 are dwelt upon, often morbidly. Friendships 
 broaden, but not between boys and girls until the 
 end of the period. Loyalty to the hero, society, 
 friend, home is characteristic; but in this age comes 
 the tendency to break from restraints, even of the 
 home. The study of laws and the part they play in 
 all life should help to meet this need. Investigation 
 has shown that between the years of twelve and 
 nineteen the percentage of conversions is very high 
 except at fourteen when it is remarkably low. 1 There 
 are three chief interests 2 in this period : biography 
 and hero study; a more or less connected histor- 
 ical study; and a study of rules and laws. The 
 
 1. Coe, Spiritual Life, p. 39 ff. Starbuck, The Psychology of Religion, p. 
 195 ff. 
 
 2. A study of the Bible as literature might come in here also; but it is better 
 adapted to the senior department. Besides the Life of Christ is necessary in 
 these years. 
 
 88 
 
The Intermediate Department 
 
 first two are closely related and supplement each 
 other. 
 
 There is general agreement that hero study is 
 adapted to the early years. This means the study of 
 a characteristic as revealed in an incident or two. 
 If for any reason it is desirable to postpone this until 
 later in the period it may be made a biographical 
 study. 1 In the same way if the historical study is 
 taken up in the first years the more striking events 
 must be selected, but if in the last year much more 
 detail can be given. In selecting the material regard 
 will be had to both. The characters about whom 
 there is sufficient material for a biographical study 
 will be pointed out, and in the history not only the 
 striking incidents but also all the material that is 
 adapted to a fairly connected historical study will 
 be indicated. There is thus likely to be more 
 material offered than can be used in any one curric- 
 ulum, but the purpose of this study is to display 
 the material from which a choice might be made for 
 a curriculum. 
 
 I. The Hero and Biographical Study. 
 
 Among the patriarchs there is abundant material 2 
 for a study of Abraham, Jacob, and Joseph. Too 
 little is given about Lot for a character study. 
 Moses and Joshua also are good studies, though the 
 latter is more shadowy than Moses. There is plenty 
 
 1. It is evident that every biographical study will supply abundant material 
 for a hero study. 
 
 2. The older documents should form the basis of a character study, the later 
 being compared. 
 
90 The Old Testament in the Sunday School 
 
 of material about Aaron but it is nearly all late and 
 deals with his office rather than with himself, except 
 in one or two incidents. Deborah and Barak, and 
 Gideon are suitable for hero study. Samuel, Saul, 
 Jonathan, David, Solomon, and perhaps Absalom 
 provide biographical studies. Samson and Ahith- 
 ophel, 1 David's chief counsellor, whose advice was 
 "as if one enquired of the word of God," might 
 be used for hero study. None of the other kings is a 
 good character study. Among the best for hero 
 study are Jeroboam, Ahab, and Jehu; Rehoboam, 
 Jehoshaphat, Joash, and Josiah; the prophet Micaiah, 
 and perhaps, in connection with Jeremiah, Baruch 
 the faithful amanuensis, and Uriah. 
 
 Though much of the course here outlined is like 
 the junior course, the nature of the work is different. 
 There, a striking characteristic was selected; here, 
 the character is studied with an attempt to get at a 
 just estimate of the person as he was. In Bible 
 study it is time such investigation was done without 
 bias; for example, Jacob pictured in his deceit and 
 without the halo, and Elisha as playing a large part 
 in political intrigue. All the material relating to the 
 life of the persons studied, which is contained in the 
 earlier documents, can be drawn upon in this course. 2 
 Nearly all of this has already been selected, but there 
 is some additional material, as, for example, in the 
 
 1. 2 S. 23: 34b, 39a; 11: 3 ff; 15: 12-18, 31-34; 16: 1517: 23; Cf. 1 Chr. 27: 
 
 2. Except parts excluded because of offensive expression or of immoral 
 content. 
 
The Intermediate Department 91 
 
 life of Abraham, the deception of Abimelech, the 
 destruction of Sodom, and the offering of Isaac will 
 come in as incidents. So with the other characters. 
 The parallel documents, D, P and the Chronicler's 
 and Scribes' estimate of the different characters, 
 can be compared in the biographical study, and, as 
 in the course in history, a taste of the style and 
 general character of each is acquired. 
 
 Among the prophets of the eighth century and 
 after, Amos, Hosea, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel 
 have been discussed and the material there selected 
 can form the basis of either hero or biographical 
 study. In every case it needs to be supplemented 
 from the writings of these men themselves. Haggai l 
 may be added as a hero study. Ruth, Jonah, Daniel, 
 and Esther are appropriate hero studies, but hi 
 treating them the fact that they are literary, not 
 historic, characters, and the significance of the 
 books, are brought out. The other prophets are 
 omitted because there is not enough of the personal 
 element apparent nor sufficient concrete situations 
 with moral issues for pupils at this age, though there 
 may well be for more mature students. 
 
 II. The Historical Study. 
 
 The study of history parallels the study of biog- 
 raphy, for the history of the earlier days is bound 
 up very closely with the lives of great leaders. A 
 historical sketch would bring out their continuity 
 
 1. Ezra 5: 1 and Haggai. LI 
 
92 The Old Testament in the Sunday School 
 
 and the influence and development of ideas and ideals 
 through the years. The material up to the establish- 
 ment of the monarchy is thus much the same as 
 that already indicated for the junior department, 
 except that now the passages that bear more directly 
 on the historic development can be added. The 
 juniors have become familiar with the great turning 
 points in Israel's history, and the rather full course 
 here outlined is possible because it merely re-empha- 
 sizes these essential points, fills in the gaps, and adds 
 detail. An exhaustive study of Israel's history is 
 not adapted to intermediate pupils, but the outline 
 will form the basis of all future historical study. 
 As has already been indicated, the amount of 
 detail will depend on the year for which the course is 
 designed. It may be well to state again that the 
 material cited from the historical books, though the 
 references seem extensive and complicated, is not 
 very great for, usually, the oldest documents are 
 selected. If taken up in the last years of this period 
 the book of Chronicles and the later writings can 
 be compared and selections from the prophets can 
 be used somewhat freely as parallel reading. 
 
 Everything selected for the primary and junior 
 departments is suitable. But, though much of the 
 material is the same, it will be treated more thor- 
 oughly. The history of the period before Moses 
 must be largely a study of the Patriarchs. Practi- 
 cally all the material that bears on the history has 
 already been cited, although the following may be 
 
The Intermediate Department 93 
 
 added: The plagues, 1 the golden calves, 2 Jethro's 
 advice, 3 the march, 4 the defeat by the Amalekites, 5 
 Edom's refusal, 6 death of Aaron, 7 the journey, 8 the 
 east Jordan victories, 9 Balaam's prophecy, 10 the 
 strategy of the Gibeonites, 11 victories in the South, 12 
 and in the North, 13 Joshua's farewell and death, 14 
 Micah's priest and the Danites. 15 The crime of the 
 people of Gibeah and their punishment 16 are not 
 suitable. 
 
 Among the Judges Abimelech 17 and Jephthah 18 
 may be added. The story of Ehud's assassination of 
 the King of Moab 19 is not suitable. The other 
 judges are not historic and the account of them is 
 not adapted. 
 
 The capture of the Ark by the Philistines, 20 Saul's 
 rejection, 21 and also David in exile; a slight reference 
 to the war between Saul's son, Ishbaal, and David; 22 
 the capture of Jerusalem and the bringing up of the 
 Ark; 23 and David's crime may also be studied now. 24 
 
 1. Ex. 7: 8 ff. 2. Ex. 32: 1-8, (9-14), 15-29, (30-34), 35. 
 
 3. Ex. 18: 13-27; Nu. 11: 16-17, 24b-30. 4. Nu. 10: 33, 35, 36. 
 
 5. Nu. 14:25b,39b-45E. 
 
 6. Nu. 20: 19, 20, 21b J; Nu. 20: 14-18, 21a, 22a; 21: 4b-9 E. 
 
 7. Dt.lO:6-7. 8. Nu. 21: 16-20 J; Nu.21: llb-15E. 
 9. Nu. 21:32, 24b, 25-30; 32: 39, (40), 41-42; Josh. 13: 13 J; Nu. 21: 21-24a, 
 
 31 E. 
 
 10. Nu. 22 ff. 
 
 11. Josh. 9:4, 5, 6b, 7, 12, 13, lib, 14, 15bc, 16bd, 22b, 23, (17-21) J; Josh. 
 
 9: 3, 6a, 8, 9a, (9b-10), lla, 15a, 16ac, 22a, 24a, (24b), 25-27a, (27b) E. 
 
 12. Judg. 1: 1-3, (4), 5-7, (8); Josh. 15: 63; Judg. 1: 9-17, (18), 19 J. Cf. Josh. 
 
 9 and 10. 
 
 13. Judg. 1: 22-26; 4: 2b, (23, 24) J. Cf. Josh. 11. 
 
 14. Josh. 24: 1-28 late E. Josh. 24: 29-33 E. 
 
 15. Judg. 17: 1-13; 18: lb-31. 16. 19: 1 ff. 
 
 17. Judg.9:lffJandE. 18. Judg. 10: 6 ff J and E. 
 
 19. Judg. 3: 15b-28. 
 
 20. 1 S. 4: Ib, 2b, 3a, 4a, Sac, 6b, 7b, 9b, lOac J. 1 S. 4: Ic, 2a, 3b, 4b, 5b, 6a, 
 
 7a, 8, 9a, 10b-14, (15), 16; 5: 1 late E. 
 
 81. 1 S. 10: 8; 13: 4b, 5b, 6, 7b-15a late J. 15: l-35a, late E. Cf. 1 S. 14: 47-51. 
 22. 2 S. 2: 8 ff; 4: 1-3, 5-12; 5: 3. 23. 2 S. 5: 6-12; 6: 1-15. 24. 28.11:212:24. 
 
94 The Old Testament in the Sunday School 
 
 Solomon's splendor and wealth, 1 his political troubles 
 and death 2 are adapted. After the division, the 
 account of other events and rulers supplies suitable 
 material. The early kings of Israel do not afford a 
 very good study, but the account of their reigns in 
 brief form a mere reference gives an impression 
 of the character of the time and rule. The four 
 succeeding Jeroboam illustrate this. 3 The reigns of 
 Omri and Ahab 4 are important. Omri made 
 Samaria his capital and in Ahab's reign the religion 
 of Israel was threatened by the introduction of the 
 Tyrian Baal through Queen Jezebel. During these 
 reigns Elijah carried on his great work. Ahaziah 
 and Jehoram 6 are merely mentioned and will come 
 in under the study of Elijah and Elisha who will of 
 course be taken up here as most important in the 
 history. The fierce Jehu 6 makes a suitable study, 
 while the slight reference given to Jehoahaz 7 is 
 not important. Jeroboam II 's brilliant reign 8 
 has but brief reference. Now, however, the con- 
 temporary prophets contribute appropriate material. 
 Reference to Amos illuminates the history of Jero- 
 boam II and gives the prophet a vital relationship. 
 This holds true throughout the remainder of this 
 course. The account of the last six kings is a mere 
 
 1. 1 K. 4: 1 ff; 1 K. 9: 10-15, 17b-23, 26-28; 10. 
 8. 1 K. 11: 14-32a, (32b-39), 40, (41-43). 
 
 3. 1 K. 15: (25, 26), 27-29ab; 15: 33; 16: 1-6; 16: (8); 9-12a; 16: 15-18. 
 
 4. 1 K. 16: 21 ff. 
 
 5. 1 K. 22: (40, 51-53); 2 K. 1: 1-8, 17a; 2 K. 3: 1-3. 
 
 6. 2 K. 9: 110: 35. 
 
 7. 2K. 10: 35; 13: (1-23), 24-25; 14: 8-14. 
 
 8. 2 K. 14:23-29. 
 
The Intermediate Department 95 
 
 thread. 1 The real history is given by the prophets, 
 and selections bearing on this period have been 
 indicated in the junior department. In 722 the king- 
 dom of Israel came to an end with the fall of 
 Samaria. 2 The event is crucial and dramatic and 
 makes a splendid study for intermediate pupils. 
 
 In the history of Judah there is additional material 
 relating to Rehoboam. 3 Ahijah is a mere name, and 
 Asa and Jehoshaphat supply no adapted material. 4 
 The next three reigns 5 may be used incidentally to 
 show the kind of reform which was carried out under 
 Joash. Amaziah 6 is but a name in the annals of 
 Judah, though his reign bulks large in Chronicles. 
 Uzziah, and the regent and successor, Jotham, are 
 necessary to complete the historic setting of Josiah's 
 work. 7 Ahaz and Hezekiah reflect the troublous 
 times due to Assyria. 8 Here Isaiah's work stands out 
 and must be studied. Manasseh and Amon, 9 
 in a passing reference, show disorder after the re- 
 forms of Hezekiah and explain something of the 
 significance of Josiah and the Book of the Covenant. 
 The general character of this book may be shown by 
 reading selections from it. All literature bearing on 
 this point is appropriate, and selection may be made 
 
 1. 2 K. 15: 817: 6; 18: 9-12, note the latter additions. (Cf. 17: 7-22); 17 
 24-34a, (34b-40), 41. 
 
 2. Cf. Elisha Stories. 
 
 3. 1 K. 14: 21-28, (29), 30, (31). 
 
 4. 1 K. 15: 1-8 and 15: (9-11), 12-24 and 22: 41-49, Cf. Chronicles. 
 
 5. 2 K. 8: (16-19), 20-22; (25-29a), 29b; 9: 27-28; 11: 1 ff. 
 
 6. 2 K. 14: (1-4), 5-6a, (6b), 7. 
 
 7. 2 K. 15: 1-4; 14: 22; 15: 5, (6-7). 
 
 8. 2 K. 16: 1-18, (19-20); 18: 1-3, (4a), 4b, (5-8); 20: 1-7; Is. 38: 7-8. (Cf.* 
 K. 20: 8-11), 2 K. 20: 12-19;18: 13 ff. 
 
 9. 2 K. 21: 1-16, (18b-24). 
 
96 The Old Testament in the Sunday School 
 
 to suit the general plan of the course. The material 
 relating to the tragic denouement of the nation's 
 history and the exilic community is now appropriate. 
 The prophets, as already indicated, supply a great 
 deal of historic information. In the splendor of 
 Jeroboam II's reign Amos saw signs of inevitable 
 ruin which he pictured vividly, 1 as Hosea did in the 
 following four reigns, 2 and Isaiah and Micah under 
 the Kings following Uzziah, whose death seems to 
 have brought the former suddenly to a realization 
 of the nation's true condition. Their prophecies 
 are pretty well dated and may be used in connection 
 with the history to which they are related. 3 Nahum 
 and Isaiah show the doom of the nation's persecutor, 
 Assyria, and the exultation of the Jews. 4 Zephaniah, 
 in the reign of Josiah, condemns Jerusalem. 6 Jere- 
 miah saw the danger to Judah," a cauldron brewing 
 hot and it faces from the north," and that destroyed 
 Israel will be restored. 6 He rejoices over the defeat 
 of Egypt at Carchemish (605), 7 and following this 
 comes Nebuchadnezzar's invasion of Judah in the 
 time of the last Kings. 8 Habakkuk shows that 
 though Assyria and Egypt 9 were defeated there was 
 no escape for Judah, for the Chaldeans, 10 " a nation 
 grim and quick of action," will destroy their last 
 
 1. Am. 2: 66: 14. 2. 4 ff. 
 
 8. E.g., Uzziah and following years. Is. 6; 5; 2; 9: 8 10: 4; Ahaz, Is. 17; 
 the impending fall of Samaria, Is. 8 and 28: 1-4 and Mi. Hezekiah and his un- 
 wise display of wealth to a foreign King, Is. 20: 1-6; 39: 1-8; warning against 
 alliance with Egypt, Is. 30 31: 4. Sennacherib's invasion, Is. 36 and 37. 
 
 4. Isa. 10: 5; 14: 24-27; 10: 16-26. 
 
 5. 3: 1-7. 
 
 6. 1: 13 ff. See references given in Chapter VI; 31: 1-6, 15b-30. 
 
 7. 46: 1-12. 8. 25: 1-24. 9. Cf. Isa. 14: 4 ff. 10. 2: 1-4; 1: 5-11. 
 
The Intermediate Department 97 
 
 hope, while the captivity and fate of the royal family 
 is reflected in Jeremiah. 1 
 
 Ezekiel, too, contributes matter from about the 
 time of the destruction of Jerusalem, 2 preaching the 
 exile, 3 and promising restoration; 4 but much of it is 
 expressed in fantastic figures, that are not suited to 
 this period. 
 
 In connection with the rebuilding of the temple 
 Haggai 5 and Zechariah 6 contribute some appropri- 
 ate material. Deutero-Isaiah 7 and Joel 8 express 
 strong hope of restoration. From this prophetic 
 material brief selections may be made to suit the 
 purpose of the course. 
 
 The return under Cyrus 9 the " chosen one," and 
 the work of Ezra and Nehemiah, supported by the 
 prophets, 10 give adapted material. If this study is 
 taken up in the last year of the period the importance 
 of the binding of the law upon the Jerusalem Jews n 
 may be taken up. Samples of the priestly legislation 
 and style of writing would then make an admirable 
 and interesting illustration of the character of the 
 Law. When the priestly style and ideal are seen in 
 their proper setting the literature connected with the 
 tabernacle in the wilderness is appropriate for study, 
 
 1. 22: 18-19; 13: 15-27, 18-19; 22: 24-30; 24: 1-10; 22: (1-5), 6-7, (8); 27: 1-19. 
 
 2. 4. 
 
 3. 12: 1-17; 15: 1-8; 17: 1-24; 20: 8-27; 7: 1-27; 24. 
 
 4. 11: 13-15; 20: 33-38; 32: 6-15; 31: 31-34; 30: 8, 9, 1731: 1; 37. 
 
 5. land 2: 20-23. 
 
 6. 1: 1-6; 2: 1-4; 6: 9-15; 8: 1-8. 
 
 7. 40: 1-17, 27-31; 44: 1-5; 48: 17-21; 51: 1-3, 9-11; 52; 53; 55; 60; 61. 
 
 8. 2: 163: 21. 
 
 9. Isa. 44: 21-45; 7, 22-25. 
 
 10. See under the prophets. 
 
 11. Ezra 7: 1 ff; Neh. 7: 73b 8: 18; 9: 38; 10: 28-39. 
 
98 The Old Testament in the Sunday School 
 
 the book of Jonah illustrating the attitude of the 
 more liberal school. The book of Esther supplies 
 suitable material for a study of the attitude of Jews 
 to other nations in the exile. The book of Daniel 
 with its encouragement and visions is adapted if 
 it is taken to reveal the conditions of the country 
 under foreign rule at the time in which it was 
 written. 
 
 The Writings supply no adapted material at this 
 point, except that a few psalms, for example the 
 85th and 137th, throw light on the state of affairs, 
 the first at the exile, the second at the restoration. 
 Others may be used especially for memorizing. 
 Lamentations reveals conditions at the fall of Jerusa- 
 lem in 586, for part of it is perhaps by an eye witness, 1 
 but the material is not adapted for this period. 
 
 Laws are a fitting subject for intermediate pupils. 
 In games, groups, and societies pupils of these grades 
 form, and often rigidly enforce, laws and regulations; 
 they also appreciate the rights of property, especially 
 their own, and personal rights; and they come into 
 closer contact with civic laws and are interested in 
 politics and the courts. 
 
 It may seem superfluous, but having in mind what 
 has often been done it is necessary to say that the 
 Old Testament codes are not to be treated as final, 
 and this for the very good reason, among others, 
 that they were continually modified in Israel itself. 
 The progress in civilization, morals, and religion 
 
 1. Chapters 2 and 4. Chapter 5 is later, probably written soon after 550. 
 
The Intermediate Department 
 
 here, as in any other country, can be seen by noting 
 the development of the legislation. But to study the 
 laws of Israel without reference to the conditions in 
 which they arose, whether, for example, in the time 
 of the conquest or in the artificial organization of the 
 priestly hierarchy, and to teach that they are final 
 for all time and valid for to-day, is to give a false 
 view of history, and often an unchristian view of 
 morals. If these laws are to be studied in their de- 
 velopment, it is essential that the different codes l 
 and their dates be carefully considered and followed. 
 If these laws are brought into comparison with 
 present-day laws the study becomes vital, appeal- 
 ing to the interest of pupils of this age 2 in what 
 is taking place around them, and to their his- 
 torical interest. At the same time it is preparing 
 them for good citizenship and an intelligent at- 
 titude towards legislation. Kent, in the "Stu- 
 dent's Old Testament," has collected and codified 
 the laws and arranged them in their probable historic 
 order. The main divisions are, Personal Laws, 
 parents and children, marriage, masters and servants, 
 slaves, immigrants and property rights; Constitu- 
 tional Laws, 3 including the political and military 
 organization, and the judicial; Criminal Laws; 
 Humane Legislation, connecting appropriately with 
 
 1. The chief are: the early codes; D; H; P; and the later priestly additions. 
 E.g., the Sabbath: Ex. 34: 81; 23: 12; D, Dt. 5: 12-15; H, Lev. 19: 3b; 26: 2a; P, 
 Ex. 35: 2-3; Late P, Ex. 31: 13b-17; Nu. 15: 32-36. Murder: early code, Ex. 21: 
 12-14, 20, 21; D, Dt. 5: 17; 19: 11-13; H, Lev. 24: 17, 21b; P, Gen. 9: 5, 6; Late 
 P, Nu. 35: 14-34. 
 
 2 See p. 127, Section 5: Christian Life and Conduct. 
 
 3. Here Jethro's advice to Moses, Ex. 18: 13 ff, is naturally taken up. 
 
100 The Old Testament in the Sunday School 
 
 present-day laws for the protection of animals, 
 prevention of accidents and the like; 1 Statutes relat- 
 ing to Yahweh, and Ceremonial Regulations. These 
 laws, when spoken of in modern terms, are seen to 
 be vital to their time; they are also one of the his- 
 torical bases of modern laws. Some will necessarily 
 be omitted. Sections of those relating to marriage 
 and divorce and to adultery and like crimes have to 
 be omitted because of the manner of expression; 
 other parts are adapted to study where the classes of 
 boys and girls meet separately. The ceremonial 
 laws bulk large, and have least contact with to-day. 
 These laws and the extended references to the 
 tabernacle and temple are not adapted if made 
 an elaborate, intensive study, as has so often 
 been done; but they reveal how the system de- 
 veloped. 2 If this is not understood, it is scarcely 
 possible to estimate properly many things in 
 Christianity. But this phase is better adapted to 
 a later age. Laws that are hygienic in nature, even 
 if originally ceremonial, 3 and regulations concerning 
 disease, as quarantine, 4 make an appropriate study, 
 if only by contrast and as leading to a regard for 
 health regulations sanitation, preventive meas- 
 ures and to stimulate an intelligent active interest 
 in seeking better laws. Sacred days, sacred persons, 
 
 1. E.g., Dt. 25: 4; 22: 8. 
 
 2. E.g., the tent of meeting to the tabernacle. The primitive description is 
 given in seven verses, Ex. 33: 5-11; the priestly spreads over the following, Ex. 
 25: 1-9, 23-40; 2627: 19; 30: 1 ff. 
 
 3. E.g., Ex. 22: 31; 14: 21a; Lev. 7: 24. 
 
 4. Lev. 13: 45-46. 
 
The Intermediate Department 101 
 
 sacred celebrations and gifts to Yahweh, may be 
 taken up in the same way. Any attempt at an 
 elaborate study of the complex system of sacrifices 
 and offerings is not adapted to this age. These have 
 no longer any contact with life and they have no 
 place in our worship. But a general view of the 
 system, tracing the sacrificial idea from the beginning 
 through the mistaken zeal of the priests to the 
 emancipation under Christ, has historic interest, 
 vital contact and value for social service. 
 
 Selections from practically all the laws may be 
 used, but not as an end in themselves. The value of 
 such a study consists in tracing the various laws and 
 ceremonies as they developed, and relating them to 
 the pupil's life. Such a study throws light upon the 
 different periods of history and the development of 
 religion, and leads up to a consideration of present 
 social conditions. For example, the Sabbath law is 
 a living issue very close to the interest of these 
 pupils. If it is traced from the earliest time to late 
 Judaism when it became an intolerable burden, 
 through the freedom won by Christ, then to the 
 conception of the Middle Ages, of the Reformation, 
 and of Puritanism to the present day, the pupils 
 will have a new and intelligent grasp of what is one 
 of the vital modern problems, a grasp they can never 
 get by one day's studying, as final for all time and 
 every circumstance, Ezekiel's Sabbath regulations, at 
 another time the Deuteronomic, and at another the 
 Priestly or Holiness code. 
 
102 The Old Testament in the Sunday School 
 
 TABLE OF MATERIAL IN THE OLD TESTAMENT 
 ADAPTED TO THE INTERMEDIATE DEPARTMENT 
 
 All that is included in preceding lists and in addition the 
 following: 
 
 1. Biography l and Hero Study. 
 
 (1) Biography. 
 
 Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, Samuel, Saul, Jonathan, 
 David, Absalom, Solomon, Elijah, Elisha, Amos, 
 Hosea, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Ezra, Nehemiah, 
 Ruth, Job (?), Daniel. 
 
 (2) Hero Study. 
 
 All under Biography and also the following: 
 Aaron, Deborah and Barak, Gideon, and Samson (?), 
 Ahithophel (?), Jeroboam, Ahab, Jehu, Rehoboam, 
 Jehoshaphat, Joash, Hezekiah, Manasseh, Josiah, 
 Micaiah, Uriah (?), Baruch (?), Haggai, Jonah, 
 Esther. 
 
 2. History. 
 
 The Exodus and Wilderness. 
 
 The Plagues. 
 
 The Golden Calves. 
 
 Jethro. 
 
 The March. 
 
 Defeat by Amalek. 
 
 Edom's Refusal. 
 
 Death of Aaron. 
 
 The Journey. 
 
 East of the Jordan. 
 
 Victories. 
 
 Balaam's Prophecy. 
 In Canaan. 
 
 Strategy of the Gibeonites. 
 
 Victories South and North. 
 
 Micah's Priest and the Danites. 
 The Judges. 
 
 Abimelech. 
 
 Jephthah. 
 
 The Ark Captured. 
 Saul. 
 
 Rejected. 
 
 David in Exile. 
 
 1. In the study of Biography later documents may be compared to see the 
 view taken of the characters by a later age. 
 
The Intermediate Department 103 
 
 David. 
 
 David and Ishbaal. 
 
 Jerusalem Captured. 
 
 Wars. 
 
 Sheba's Rebellion. 
 Solomon. 
 
 Splendor and Wealth. 
 
 Political Troubles and Death. 
 Israel. 
 
 First Four Kings after Jeroboam. 
 
 Omri. 
 
 Ahab. 
 
 Jehu. 
 
 Ahaziah and Jehoram. 
 
 Jehoahaz and Jehoash. 
 
 Jeroboam II. 
 
 The Last Six Kings and the Fall of the Northern 
 
 Kingdom. 
 Judah. 
 
 Abijah and Asa. 
 
 Jehoshaphat. 
 
 Jehoram, Ahaziah, Joash. 
 
 Amaziah and Uzziah. 
 
 Ahaz. 
 
 Hezekiah. 
 
 Manasseh, Amon. 
 
 The Finding of the Law. 
 
 Cyrus and the Return. 
 
 The Binding of the Law. 
 
 Esther. 
 Additional selections from: 
 
 Amos, Hosea, Isaiah, Micah, Zephaniah, Jeremiah, 
 Habakkuk, Ezekiel, Haggai, Zechariah, Deutero- 
 Isaiah, Joel. 
 
 3. Laws. 
 
 Personal: Parents and children; masters and servants; 
 
 immigrants, property. 
 
 Constitutional: Organization, political, military, juridical. 
 Criminal. 
 Humane. 
 
 Ceremonial: Health, worship. 
 Giving, sacrifice. 
 Sacred persons, days, places, celebrations. 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 
 MATERIAL ADAPTED TO THE SENIOR AND ADULT 
 DEPARTMENTS 
 
 1. The Senior Department (age 17, 18 19, 20). 
 
 The social feelings are strong in the senior years, 
 and this leads to a broader interest in politics, in 
 institutions, and in social conditions. Pupils now 
 like to reason out problems and to have some knowl- 
 edge of the underlying doctrines of their religion. 
 The taste for literature as for history is strong. 
 Seniors are capable of taking a broad view, of seeing 
 things in their relations; they like especially to 
 trace the development of ideas and ideals. There is 
 a desire to get a broad sweep of events. The interest 
 in biography continues. 
 
 If the course in biography is not adopted in the 
 intermediate department a deeper study of these 
 characters can be taken now. Apart from this there 
 seem to be three courses based on the Old Testament 
 particularly fitted for seniors, namely, the history of 
 Israel, the development of its religion and religious 
 institutions, and the Bible as literature. 
 
 In the literary course two things can be accom- 
 plished. The pupils should obtain first, a simple, yet 
 distinct, idea of the development of the Bible his- 
 torically; and second, an appreciation of the litera- 
 ture as a whole, and of some of the individual books 
 and documents in particular. Such a study is neces- 
 
 104 
 
The Senior and Adult Departments 105 
 
 sary to understand the Bible and to become familiar 
 with it in its distinctive parts. This course would be 
 appropriate also in the last year of the intermediate 
 department or in the adult department, and should 
 be, as far as it goes, a real Introduction. 
 
 From the sketch of the development of the Old 
 Testament it is evident that several outstanding 
 features mark its history, and that if these are 
 understood the main facts are known. After that it 
 is a matter of the degree to which the student wishes 
 to go. These outstanding features are, the early 
 ballads; the stories of J and E; the fusing of these 
 two documents; the contribution of D and the 
 review of the existing literature by the Deuteronomic 
 School; the pedantic legalism of P, and the literary 
 activity of the exilic priesthood; the clear, ringing 
 ethical messages of the prophets; and the wisdom, 
 poetry, apocalyptic and apocryphal books. This 
 would naturally be followed by a study of how and 
 when the Canon was formed and the English version 
 made. The material is abundant and much of it 
 is already well known, so that numerous selections 
 from each of these sources can be used. 
 
 Now the first eleven chapters of Genesis are splen- 
 didly suited to show the characteristics of several 
 documents, and the stories may be studied with a 
 true perspective. The material should be treated in 
 large wholes, for the same reason that a poem is 
 read through at a sitting, that it may be appreci- 
 ated as literature. Sunday-school work in the past 
 
106 The Old Testament in the Sunday School 
 
 has been lamentably weak in this aspect of its work. 
 The apocalyptic is well represented by the last 
 chapters of the book of Daniel l and by Esdras or 
 Enoch, by comparison, from the apocrypha. Prov- 
 erbs is adapted to this grade and can be compared 
 with the book of Wisdom. A comparison may be 
 made between various parallel accounts of some 
 historic event, in order to see the different interpre- 
 tations put upon it by the different schools; or the 
 retrospect of the wilderness in exilic times, with its 
 ideal system of priestly courses, tabernacle worship, 
 line of march and arrangement of the camp. The 
 books of Ruth, Jonah, Job, and Esther make a 
 delightful literary study for pupils of this age. 
 
 If the Bible be approached in the way suggested 
 in previous chapters, such a study as this is but 
 following up the line on which the work has begun. 
 Throughout the attempt has also been made to 
 familiarize the pupils with some characteristics of 
 the different strands of material of which the Bible 
 is composed. The results of scholarship are used 
 from the first, and therefore a false view of the Bible 
 will never be formed. If the appreciation for the 
 Bible as literature is acquired, and an intelligent 
 notion of its formation obtained, the Bible will be 
 revered, not because it is held in awe and neg- 
 lected but because it is found to be throbbing 
 with living issues, and because it is delightful to 
 read. 
 
 1. Chapter 7 ff. 
 
The Senior and Adult Departments 107 
 
 The historic study now needs to be more intensive. 
 Already the main points have been fixed in the pupil's 
 mind and an outline of the whole history given. At 
 this time the work can be done pretty thoroughly. 
 Every part of the material that bears on the history 
 is adapted but due regard must be had, as always, to 
 the different documents and schools of writers. Now 
 these can be compared and evaluated. It should be 
 noticed that in the junior period both the events and 
 heroes studied and the order in which they were 
 taken up form the basis of all the subsequent 
 historical study. The following periods develop and 
 amplify this outline. In this way, even under 
 adverse conditions, pupils should have a pretty 
 clear idea of the main lines of development, and of 
 the chief events and their significance in the history 
 of the Old Testament. 
 
 The course on the development of religion may be 
 taken up in various ways. Certain great doctrines 
 might be traced from the first throughout. But this 
 is quite specialized and abstract, and better suits 
 a later time. The best way seems to be to follow the 
 development of the literature. From the earliest 
 fragments the crude idea of God, and something of the 
 forms of worship and institutions can be gathered. 
 Then the J and E documents reveal a progressive 
 development. The court annals and temple records 
 continue the story; and the laws and institutions 
 add their evidence. Then come the prophets with 
 their insistence on Yahweh as an ethical God and 
 
108 The Old Testament in the Sunday School 
 
 their call to right living. The Deuteronomic reform 
 worked a revolution in the organization and general 
 conduct of religion. It had two tendencies, one 
 prophetic, the other priestly. The prophets con- 
 tinued the one, and Ezekiel, followed by the exilic 
 priests, the other. Jeremiah, Deutero-Isaiah and 
 Jonah represent the highest prophetic teaching at 
 this time, while the priestly document represents 
 the logical conclusion of the other. The apocalyptic 
 literature represents the almost frantic attempt to 
 meet present defeat by giving reign to extravagant 
 hope. The influence of the apocalyptic is seen in 
 the New Testament and in Christianity ever since. 
 The priestly movement ended in the scribe rule of 
 Christ's day. The prophetic lived on in the lives of 
 the faithful who looked for the spiritual redemption 
 of Israel and who formed the seed bed of Christi- 
 anity. It lived again in John the Baptist and found 
 its perfect fruition in Christ. This in brief and im- 
 perfect outline is the general course of the develop- 
 ment, and any of the material in the different steps 
 that contributes to this is suitable. The counter 
 view of God and the world as represented by Ecclesi- 
 astes, an honest observation of the crass facts of 
 life but without the great prophetic faith and vision; 
 the wrestling of the author of Job and some of the 
 Psalms, with the problem of the suffering of the inno- 
 cent; and the worldly wisdom of Proverbs, might 
 be used to show how real were the problems and 
 difficulties and how great were the prophets in main- 
 
The Senior and Adult Departments 109 
 
 taining such faith and courage in the face of all the 
 forces that fought against them. Such a study must 
 inspire greater faith in ideals, greater courage in 
 remaining true to the highest even when the case is 
 apparently hopeless, greater appreciation of the 
 prophets and their work, and a better understanding 
 of the significance of the work of Christ. 
 
 2. The Adult Department (age 21 and following). 
 
 Students of this age are ready to take up any 
 question that concerns the Christian religion. As 
 they are now out in life, bearing responsibilities, 
 interested in the civic affairs of their city or province 
 and country, what they shall take up is to be decided 
 largely by local circumstances. But there are sev- 
 eral lines of Old Testament study that are adapted 
 to the students both because the material is suited 
 and because the study would be directly fitted to 
 promote that Christian character which loses self 
 in service, seeking to bring in the Kingdom of God. 
 
 In the study of social righteousness, apart from the 
 teaching of Christ, the best material to be found is 
 in the great prophets. In a sense, Christianity is 
 the spiritual heir of the prophets, and a study of 
 their teaching is splendidly adapted to this depart- 
 ment. It may be taken up prophet by prophet, or 
 the fundamental doctrines can be traced through 
 succeeding prophets, for example the idea of God, of 
 the Messianic kingdom, of what service God requires 
 of his people. The character of the individual 
 
110 The Old Testament in the Sunday School 
 
 prophets may also be studied. This, in many cases 
 depending upon inference from their work, was too 
 advanced for the intermediate grades but is appro- 
 priate now; besides, these pupils are able to take 
 up books on the subject to supplement the Bible 
 material. 
 
 A more advanced course on Introduction would 
 fit in nicely if desired, or a course in the study of the 
 great characters of the Old Testament. 
 
 Another course might be the development of Old 
 Testament institutions. This is illuminating be- 
 cause of the light it throws on the history, religion, 
 and literature of the Jews and, besides, in these 
 institutions are the origins of many that have 
 continued through history and exist to-day. The 
 influence of Old Testament institutions on the de- 
 velopment of religion and civilization has been 
 marked and it can be appreciated only by knowing 
 something of their origin and history. One illustra- 
 tion is the Day of Atonement and its influence on the 
 theology of the present day; closely united with it 
 is the whole sacrificial system and the place the 
 expression " the blood " has held in modern Chris- 
 tianity. 
 
 The religion of Israel by epochs is a good study for 
 this period. The following division might be used: 
 Before Abraham (the material here would be the 
 fragments of early songs and stories); Abraham to 
 Moses; the settlement and the influence of the Baal 
 worship of Canaan; the united monarchy ; the revolt 
 
The Senior and Adult Departments 111 
 
 and the Golden Calves; the Northern kingdom; 
 Southern kingdom to 722 and the effect of the fall 
 of Samaria; the eighth century prophets; Judah 
 to 621; the Deuteronomic reform, the prophetic 
 and the priestly tendencies; the exile, its effect; the 
 exilic community and its literary activity; the 
 restoration and the law; the Maccabean revolt; 
 the persecution of Antiochus Epiphanes and Apoca- 
 lypse; Scribes, Pharisees, Sadducees; John the 
 Baptist; Christ. 
 
PART III 
 
 APPROACHES TOWARD THESE RESULTS IN 
 RECENT PUBLICATIONS 
 
 The discussion of a representative number of Graded Curricula 
 in the following chapter is not an evaluation of these courses, but 
 merely an examination, in the light of the three pinrciples enumer- 
 ated in the Introduction, of the Old Testament material used. The 
 value of a course depends on other factors as well. Some courses, 
 naturally, have no Old Testament material, and several proposed 
 courses are not yet published. This accounts for the apparent 
 gaps and for the fact that more courses are reviewed in some 
 systems than in others. The Graded Lessons represent a distinct 
 advance in Sunday-school work. 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 
 GRADED CURRICULA 
 
 I. The Constructive Bible Studies. 1 
 
 1. Child Religion in Song and Story 2 (age 6 to 
 8) has seventeen Old Testament lessons of which 
 the material in seven is fairly well adapted. The 
 two Creation stories are studied together. The lesson 
 on Creation is to be introduced by a discussion of 
 The Primitive View, The Copernican Theory, The 
 Nebular Hypothesis of Laplace, and the Planetes- 
 imal Hypothesis of Chamberlain, for children 
 under nine. Daniel 6 is recommended to teach to 
 these little children the " Privilege of Worship." 
 Samson is taken up under the caption of " Exercise 
 for Strength and Growth." Exodus 16-20 is to be 
 studied " considering all the difficulties which 
 Moses encountered in the management of the in- 
 subordinate people." There are other passages also 
 unsuited. Enough has been cited to show that the 
 material chosen is often not adapted to the child. 
 
 In the second volume, of the fourteen Old Testa- 
 ment lessons only four are adapted. 3 The first 
 selection is the story of Elijah. 4 Then follow the 
 victory of Deborah and Barak and the murder of 
 Sisera. The first fifteen chapters of Exodus form 
 
 1. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 111. 
 
 2. A two year course issued in two volumes under the same general title. 
 
 8. But even here the material is too extensive. E.g., the lesson on Joseph 
 comprises Gen. 37, 39-50. 
 
 4. 1 K. 16 2 K. 2, nine chapters. 
 
 115 
 
116 The Old Testament in the Sunday School 
 
 another section. Jephthah is glorified as " The 
 Man who kept his Promise." That the story is 
 unsuited is admitted. " It cannot be told to little 
 children just as it is given in the Bible but it is a 
 wonderfully beautiful story . . ." l The story of a 
 father taking his daughter's life is surely not suited 
 to nourish Christian character in a little child. The 
 Flood story is given, but with the caution that it 
 must be used very carefully. It is difficult to see any 
 connection between a little child's problems and the 
 discovery of the Book of the Law under Josiah. 
 The call of Isaiah (Isa. 6) is to be treated " almost 
 as a fairy story." Isa. 16-17 is given with this ad- 
 vice: " The story contained in the lesson is merely 
 suggested by vss. 34 to 37 in chap. 17. The remain- 
 der of the story must be constructed from one's 
 knowledge of the times, of the shepherd's life, of the 
 dangers and the necessity for courage, devotion and 
 self-forgetfulness on the part of the shepherd." 
 Finally Jeremiah 7-10, 14, 18-20, 26, 35-38 is to be 
 taught to children of six to eight. The teacher is 
 to " construct from the contents of these stories a 
 brief and graphic story of the life of Jeremiah, with 
 its hardships, its perils, its hair-breath (?) escapes." 3 
 From these quotations, and they are typical, not 
 exceptional, it is evident the authors recognized 
 that the material was unadapted and threw the 
 double burden upon the teacher. 
 
 2. An Introduction to the Bible (age 10) is 
 
 1. p. 74. 2. p. 88. 8. p. 101. 
 
Graded Curricula 117 
 
 designed to get pupils familiar with the use of the 
 Bible. Half of the course is on the Old Testament. 
 The course follows the order of the books in the 
 English Bible, beginning with two lessons on 
 Creation, followed by the Flood and the Offering of 
 Isaac. These passages mentioned have already been 
 argued against for this grade. Most of the remainder 
 of the material is adapted but the same familiarity 
 with the Bible could be gained by approaching from 
 the critical point of view and making the course 
 really elementary introduction. 
 
 3. The Heroes of Israel (age 11-13) prints the 
 text for the pupils. 1 One continuous account is 
 given, and from the passages studied good selections 
 are made. The course begins with Abraham 2 and 
 continues to Esther, following the critical order 
 throughout. The only unadapted material is the 
 destruction of Sodom including Abraham's prayer, 
 which misrepresents the character of Yahweh. 
 
 4. Studies in the First Book of Samuel (age 
 14-16) is an intensive study. It is critically done, 
 and contains a new translation with notes. For 
 ordinary classes of this age the work is too advanced. 
 Such intensive study should not usually be under- 
 taken at this age. 
 
 5. The Hebrew Prophets (high school or early 
 college). The story of Creation, the Flood, the Call 
 of Abraham and the Offering of Isaac are here 
 treated in accordance with Biblical scholarship, as 
 
 1. The Oxford R.V. 2. Note that in this course Gen. 1-1 1 is omitted. 
 
118 The Old Testament in the Sunday School 
 
 the work of the prophets creating a new literature. 
 Passages are selected critically from the various 
 documents and the text for each study is printed. 1 
 From Amos to Jonah the prophets selected are 
 taken up in their historic order, and the material is 
 adapted to advanced Bible students of these grades. 
 It is, however, difficult to see the place that David's 
 lament over Saul and Jonathan and Isaac's mar- 
 riage 2 have in a study of the prophets. 
 
 6. The Prophetic Element and The Priestly Ele- 
 ment of the Old Testament are designed for 
 college students. The former traces the develop- 
 ment of prophets and prophetism down to Hosea, 
 and the latter the priestly element in the whole 
 Bible. Both embody the best results of scholarship 
 and are thorough and detailed. The text is not 
 printed, and to look up the multitudinous references 
 from all parts of the Bible would be drudgery to 
 most students. 
 
 II. The New York Sunday- School Commission 
 Lessons* 
 
 1. Old Testament Stories (age 8-10) includes a 
 good deal of material that is adapted. But the 
 Creation, the Garden of Eden, Cain and Abel, the 
 Flood, the Tower of Babel, Lot, the Offering of 
 Isaac, the Ark in the hands of the Philistines working 
 wonders, Naboth's Vineyard, the Temple Specifica- 
 
 1. TheAm.R.V. 
 
 2. Strangely referred to as "The Wooing of Isaac and Rebecca." 
 
 3. The Young Churchman Co., Milwaukee, Wis. 
 
Graded Curricula 119 
 
 tions, the Apostasy of the People at Mount Sinai, 
 including Moses' intercession, Balak and Balaam, 
 Jephthah's Vow and the Tabernacle, 1 are unadapted, 
 as has already been shown. It is difficult to see what 
 possible moral purpose can be served by having 
 children of this age study the account of Elijah call- 
 ing down fire to destroy men. 2 Biblical scholarship 
 is apparently not recognized. 3 
 
 2. Hero Stories of the Old Testament (age 9-11) 
 continues the studies of the last course and has 
 considerable adapted material. But the course in- 
 cludes the Beginning, the Garden of Eden, Hiding 
 from God, Cain and Abel, Building the Ark, the 
 Flood and Rainbow, Sodom and Gomorrah, the 
 Offering of Isaac, the Tabernacle, the Destruction of 
 Nadab and Abihu, 4 Balaam and Balak, a full study 
 of Esther (three lessons), and all the Elisha wonder 
 stories. These have been fully discussed and shown 
 to be unsuited to this department. The lesson on 
 Samson is entitled, A Strong and Affectionate Man. 6 
 This passage has no contact with child life nor has it 
 adequate moral content, especially if, as the title 
 assumes, Samson is commended for his " affection." 
 The results of criticism are apparently largely 
 ignored. 
 
 3. History of Old Testament Times (age 13-15) 
 
 1. Ex. 35-38; 40: 34-38; Nu. 9: 15-23 all for children of 8-10. 
 
 2. 2 K. 1: 1-18. This part of the story, 1: 9-16, 17b-18, is, fortunately for 
 the character of Elijah, a late editorial addition. 
 
 3. E.g., The story of the Ark, 1 S. 4: 1-11, is composed of two documents, 
 and the Tabernacle lesson is placed with lessons taken from the wilderness 
 journey. 
 
 4. Lev. 10: 1-11. 5. Judg. 14: 1-18. 
 
120 The Old Testament in the Sunday School 
 
 gives the history of the Hebrew people in outline. 
 Here the Creation, the Garden of Eden, Cain and 
 Abel, the Flood, the Offering of Isaac and Ruth are 
 taught as Stories of the Early Days of the Hebrews. 
 Treated as " early stories " they are adapted to the 
 last years of the intermediate period. This course 
 selects the important points in the history and treats 
 them in proper historic order. The rebuilding of the 
 wall by Nehemiah is developed to show the growth 
 of Separatism and the rise of the Pharisees; and the 
 Proclamation of the Law to the rise of the Scribes. 
 These are good features as is also the plan by which 
 the earlier course forms the outline which is de- 
 veloped and amplified here. 
 
 III. The International Graded Sunday-School 
 Lessons. 
 
 1. Primary Series (age 6-8). 
 
 First Year (age 6). The lessons on the Child Moses, 
 the Boy King, Samuel, four Joseph stories, two David 
 stories, the kindness shown to Elijah and Elisha, 
 Abraham and Lot and the Captive Maid are 
 adapted. Most of the material for the remaining 
 lessons is unsuited. 1 The two Creation stories, the 
 
 1. It should be remembered that this is not a criticism or evaluation of the 
 various graded curricula, but only an examination of the Old Testament passages 
 set down for study. In the primary lessons of the International Graded Lessons 
 and of the Constructive Bible Studies (p. 115-118), the biblical material is not, 
 as a matter of fact, used as lesson material for the children. It is recognized by 
 the authors that in many cases the material is unadapted as it stands. The 
 lessons are made interesting by the teacher working up a story based on the 
 Bible passages. 
 
Graded Curricula 121 
 
 Flood, Crossing the Red Sea and Daniel, chapter 1, 
 have been shown to be unadapted. A few samples of 
 other lessons must suffice. The Song of Exultation 
 over the destruction of the Egyptians is not Chris- 
 tian. Ezra's return journey includes a priestly 
 prayer, an official letter and a list of names, all told 
 in the dry Chronicler's style far removed from the 
 child's interest. David's desire to build the temple, 
 Nathan's reply, the sacrifice and then Solomon's 
 plans and contract with Hiram are far beyond the 
 experience of the child of six to eight. 
 
 Second Year (age 7). The lessons on Daniel, 
 Abraham, Samuel, the Manna, the Spies, Moses the 
 Prince and Shepherd are adapted. The discovery of 
 the Book of the Law; 1 Jehoash, and Jehoiada the 
 priest repairing the temple; Nehemiah building the 
 City wall; the story of the Exodus including the 
 Crossing of the Red Sea and the plagues; the Giving 
 of the Law; the Ten Commandments; Crossing the 
 Jordan; the Rechabites; 2 God's Creatures of the 
 Field, and The Great Wide Sea 3 are not adapted. 
 Many of these have been discussed and the remain- 
 der are unmistakably far removed from contact with 
 the child of this age. The passage selected from all 
 the Bible for Thanksgiving is Ezra reading the Law. 4 
 Some of the memory verses are also unsuited, as, for 
 
 1. 2 K. 22: 8, 10-13, 18-20; 23: 1-3. 
 
 2. Jer. 35: 1-8, 12-14a, 18, 19 for children of seven. 
 
 3. Job 12: 7-10; Prov. 6: 6-11; 30: 24-28, referring to ants, locusts, lizards, 
 " beasts, birds, fishes," and including the sluggard. 
 
 4. Neh. 8: 1-12. This should be read with a child of seven in mind. Note 
 8: 4-8. 
 
122 The Old Testament in the Sunday School 
 
 example, " Teach me to do Thy will for Thou art 
 God," l and 
 
 "Above the voice of many waters, 
 The mighty breakers of the sea, 
 The Lord on high is mighty." 
 
 These can mean little to a little child. 
 
 Third Year (age 8). The five lessons on David, the 
 widow's kindness to Elijah, Elisha and the little boy, 
 and Elisha and the captive army are adapted. One 
 or two others are fairly well adapted. David's plan 
 to build the temple and Nathan's advice, Solomon's 
 building the temple, giving minute plans and speci- 
 fications, 3 Yahweh's revelation of himself to Elijah in 
 the still, small voice, and Gehazi's avarice are all far 
 removed from the life of a child of eight. There are 
 other lessons equally unadapted. In the memory 
 work occur, " Serve Him with a perfect heart and 
 with a willing mind," 4 and " Be it known unto Thee, 
 O King, that we will not serve thy Gods, nor worship 
 the golden image which thou hast set up." 5 
 
 The following criticisms may be made of the 
 Primary Course: (1) Much of the lesson material 
 is not in story form; is not concrete; is not within 
 the child's experience, nor does it present a moral 
 issue suited to his needs. (2) There is evidence of 
 " text hunting." 6 (3) Fondness is shown for temple 
 
 1. Ps. 143: 10. 2. Ps. 93: 4. 
 
 3. This includes the Holy of Holies, the golden altar and candle-sticks and 
 the singers, which are exilic embellishments. 
 
 4. 1 Chr. 28: 9b. 5. Dan. 3: 18. 
 
 6. E.g., the Bible material for a lesson on the North American Indians for 
 pupils of seven is Isa. 52: 7; Ps. 100: 3a, b, 117; 86: 9, 10; 67: l-4a; 107: 1-3, 5, 6, 
 8; 72: 18-19. 
 
Graded Curricula 123 
 
 architecture and for priestly law and narrative which 
 is unadapted to children of this age on the score of 
 both form and content. 
 
 2. Junior Series (age 912). 
 
 In the First Year three lessons on Abraham, 
 Ishmael, Rebekah, two on Jacob, five on Joseph, and 
 five on Moses and his work, are adapted. A number 
 of others, especially on the wilderness journey, would 
 be if restricted to the older documents. In the Be- 
 ginning, the Garden of Eden, Hiding from God, 
 Cain and Abel, the Ark, the Flood, the Rainbow; 
 Sodom; the Offering of Isaac; Esau's Birthright; the 
 Passover night; Mount Sinai; the Tabernacle in the 
 Wilderness; the Rash Act of Nadab and Abihu, 1 
 these and others have been shown to be unadapted. 
 
 In the Second Year there are only seventeen Old 
 Testament lessons. Nearly all of the material is 
 adapted. Joshua appointed Leader 2 and Joshua's 
 last address are not suited. The story of the Gibeon- 
 ites has no moral content for Juniors, nor has the 
 End of Eli's House. 
 
 In the Third Year most of the material is adapted. 
 The two lessons on Saul, however, include the late 
 review which looked on his choice as rejection of 
 Yahweh and bases Saul's condemnation on his 
 
 1 . The extremely priestly story of Yahweh's slaying of two men for no moral 
 fault discernible by juniors is one of the few passages in the Old Testament cal- 
 culated to turn a pupil (who does not understand why the account is told) away 
 in horror from such a God. This is not the Christian conception of God. 
 
 8. Ex. 17: 8-13; 33: 7-11; Nu. 13: 2, 25, 33; 14: 1-10; 27: 15-20; Dt. 31: 7, 8, 
 23; Josh. 1: 1-9. This is a sample of how some of the Bible material is used. 
 
124 The Old Testament in the Sunday School 
 
 humane treatment of a defeated foe. David bring- 
 ing up the Ark relates the death of Uzzah for what 
 seems, to a junior at least, solicitude for the safety 
 of the Ark. Ezra's teaching of the law is not adapted 
 in form or content. Solomon's prayer of dedication 
 is not well suited in its literary form. The four 
 temperance lessons have no continuity with each 
 other or with the rest of the course. 1 
 
 In the junior department, then, there is consider- 
 able unadapted material and a failure to distinguish 
 between the various documents. 2 There is also 
 evidence of gathering texts without apparent regard 
 for their context. 
 
 3. Intermediate Series (age 13 -16). 
 
 In the First Year the material is on the whole 
 adapted, and care has been taken to keep as closely 
 to one continuous account and to the older docu- 
 ments as is possible without printing the text. 3 In 
 this respect the present course seems to be on a 
 different plane from the others. But the first lesson, 
 " The Land where Hebrew History Began," is 
 Genesis 2: 10-15, followed by the Tower of Babel 
 story. These passages are surely not treated as 
 geography or history. The Abraham lesson 4 in- 
 
 1. (1) 1 Cor. 9: 21-27; (2) 2 K. 10: 15-17; Jer. 35: 1-19; Eccl. 4: 9-12; (3) 
 Dan. 1; (4) Dt. 8: 7-20; and memory texts from elsewhere. 
 
 2. E.g., first year the lesson on Moses and Aaron before Pharaoh contains 
 strands of J, E and late P. 
 
 3. E.g., the story of the Spies, Nu. 13, combines J, E, D and P. Confusion 
 and inconsistency can not be avoided by selection of verses. 
 
 4. Gen. 11: 31, 32; 12: 1-10; 13: 1-11, 18; 14: 1, 2, 12-16; 18: 1-5, 16-19, 24- 
 28; 22: 1-14; 23: 1-20. If 18: 16-19, 24-28, why not 29-32? 
 
Graded Curricula 125 
 
 eludes Abraham's intercession for Sodom. By his 
 pleading he is represented as inducing Yahweh to 
 promise to save the city if fifty, finally if ten, 
 righteous persons are found in it. The selections 
 made reduce the number to forty-five, why not to 
 ten? The story misrepresents the character of God. 
 Changes made in the lesson helps should be noted 
 in passing. Several denominations combined, form- 
 ing a syndicate to publish Sunday-school helps on 
 the International Graded Lessons. The material 
 was the same for all, the only difference being that 
 the covers and title pages had the denominational 
 name. This year however the Presbyterians insisted 
 on certain changes for their own helps. These, 
 though slight, are significant, as a few examples from 
 the Intermediate, First Year, will indicate. " David 
 loyally accepted the word of the prophet " is changed 
 to "accepted God's word by the prophet"; 1 "By 
 the influence of good people, by good thoughts 
 ..." to " By the power of the Holy Spirit impel- 
 ling to good thoughts . . . " 2 " Abraham was a 
 man with a vision " to " Abraham had a God-given 
 vision." 3 Examples might be multiplied. This has 
 the appearance of placing the emphasis upon a 
 supernaturalistic view of religion. 
 
 IV. The Bible Study Union Lessons. 4 ' 
 1. God's Loyal Children (age 6-8). In several 
 cases the only Bible material used is a memory 
 
 1. The Teacher's Manual, p. 114. 2. Ibid., p. 137. 
 
 3. The Pupil's Text Book, p. 13. 4. Charles Scribner's Sons, N. Y. 
 
126 The Old Testament in the Sunday School 
 
 verse or clause. 1 The Hebrew boys' resolve not to 
 break a ceremonial law 2 is not adapted. Otherwise 
 the selections are good. 
 
 2. Early Heroes and Heroines (age 9). Critical 
 results are followed as to both documents and his- 
 torical sequence of events. The text for every lesson 
 is printed in full. The text so formed is, to a slight 
 extent, a new translation put into the language of 
 the pupils, but without any loss of dignity or of the 
 original meaning. 3 Where a word or phrase in the 
 regular translations is objectionable, it is differently 
 expressed. 4 The older and more historical documents 
 are selected, one continuous account being given. 
 The simplification of the translation might be carried 
 further. The plan is one which must be more widely 
 adopted. 
 
 Lot's escape from Sodom, the Offering of Isaac, 
 and Moses pleading with Yahweh to spare the people 
 and that for a selfish reason give a distorted 
 view of God; these and perhaps David's double 
 Crime should be omitted. Otherwise all the material 
 is adapted. The story of Samson receives the 
 proper emphasis, A Strong Man with a Wrong 
 Ambition. 
 
 3. Kings and Prophets (age 10) continues the 
 above. Yahweh's revelation of himself by the still, 
 small voice, several of Elisha's wonder stories, Jehu's 
 bloody revolution and Nehemiah's reforms are 
 
 1. E.g., Josh. 1: 6; Prov. 16: 22. 2. Dan. 1. 
 
 3. This is known as Kent's Junior Bible. 4. E.g., Gen. 29: 23; 2 S. 11 : 2. 
 
Graded Curricula 
 
 unsuited. Six lessons on Jeremiah involve too 
 advanced work. The remainder of the material is 
 adapted. 
 
 4. Heroes of the Faith (age 13) has but few les- 
 sons from the Old Testament. All are adapted. 
 
 5. Christian Life and Conduct (age 14) has twenty- 
 four lessons based on Old Testament laws. These 
 are so treated as to be alive with present-day 
 interest. For example, the lesson on the Right to 
 Life leads naturally to modern laws, criminal, sani- 
 tary and industrial, for the protection of life, and 
 finally to the teaching of Jesus about God's care for 
 the individual. The study on the Right to Property 
 involves, among other things, a discussion of gam- 
 bling, and that on the Right to Fair Dealing to a 
 discussion of false weights and measures and the 
 misrepresentation of goods. The material is adapted 
 and critical and educational principles are followed. 1 
 This course marks a new departure and a great 
 advance in the method of studying Israel's laws and 
 also in the art of question and review. 
 
 6. The Story of the Bible (age 16) is an Intro- 
 duction taken up along the line indicated above 2 
 It presents the results of criticism and the selection 
 
 1. It might appear to the casual observer that there was "text hunting" 
 in this course. E.g., the references in the lesson on Property are, Ex. 20: 15; 22: 
 1-4; Dt. 19: 14; 27: 17; 23: 24, 25; 24: 6, 10-13; Mt. 6: 31-33; but these are taken 
 in historical order from the different codes as they developed, in nomadic life, 
 under agricultural conditions, in the later civilization, and the standard of Jesus. 
 
 2. p. 104ff. This course is not yet published (Mar. 1912). A Mss outline 
 of titles and Bible selections was kindly furnished by the author, Mr. Harold B. 
 Hunting, after Part II of this essay had been finished. Half of the course is 
 given to the New Testament; if possible a full year should be given to the Old 
 Testament. 
 
128 The Old Testament in the Sunday School 
 
 of incidents and material seems, from the outline, 
 to be excellent. 1 
 
 7. Preparations for Christianity (age 17) begins 
 with the earliest record of the Hebrews and traces 
 the development of Israel's religion to the time of 
 the Scribes and Pharisees by selecting the crucial 
 points, so that the course gives a simple Introduction 
 to the Old Testament as well. The material is well 
 chosen but the course would, perhaps, suit the adult 
 department better. 
 
 8. Heroes and Crises of Early Hebrew History and 
 The Founders and Rulers of United Israel (ages 
 17 and 18) treat Israel's history to the death of 
 Solomon. Two chapters discuss the composite 
 character of the early books of the Bible and the 
 documents of which they are composed; and the 
 first eleven chapters of Genesis, excluding the first, 
 are taken up and compared with similar stories of 
 other nations. These are good points and appro- 
 priate for these grades. The last few lessons are on 
 law and society, and moral and religious stand- 
 ards. This brings in some of the legal literature. 
 All the material is well selected and adapted and the 
 printed text, a new translation, is provided for the 
 pupils. 
 
 1. Something will depend on how several of the lessons are treated, e.g. 
 The Story of a Psalmist (two lessons); Job and the Wisdom Books; and Nehe- 
 miah. 
 
CHAPTER X 
 
 SOME INDEPENDENT APPLICATIONS OF CRITICAL 
 RESULTS 
 
 In this section a few books representative of a 
 growing literature are discussed according to the 
 principles already stated. 
 
 1. Mrs. Houghton 1 in "Telling Bible Stories," 
 recognizes the difficulties of criticism, of morality, 
 of the want of harmony with science, and of the 
 miraculous. 2 She defends the use of stories depict- 
 ing ferocity. "To the little children they are not 
 demoralizing. It is thoroughly natural and in a 
 sense proper for children to pass through a stage 
 of ferocity." 3 This statement is apparently based 
 on the Culture Epoch theory. Without attempting 
 to discuss that theory 4 here it will be sufficient to 
 point out that to give play to an impulse strength- 
 ens it. If it is desirable to cultivate ferocity, a 
 better plan would be to exercise it on other children 
 or on animals. 
 
 Difficulty is admitted especially in the moral 
 and spiritual levels, and the stories are modified ac- 
 cordingly. Take, for example, the Creation story. 
 "But he (the child) must be told, right here, that 
 Adam and Eve were sent out of the garden, not be- 
 cause God was angry with them but he wanted them 
 
 1. Scribner, N. Y., 1905. 2. p. 24. 3. p. 32. 
 
 4. See Bolton, Principles of Education, Chapters iv-vi. Cf. Marshall, 
 Biological Lectures and Addresses, Chapter xiii. 
 
 129 
 
130 The Old Testament in the Sunday School 
 
 to learn by hard work how to be good." 1 So, the 
 ground was not cursed except "in a figure, for this 
 expression is only symbolical, like all the rest." 
 By sending Adam and Eve out, "God saved them 
 from the woe of living forever subject to sin and gave 
 them death as a glad release." But this is certainly 
 not the meaning of Genesis 3 : 16-18. If the punish- 
 ment is not a curse on Adam and Eve, neither is it 
 upon the serpent. Was it to save the serpent also? 
 Besides, the somewhat later source 2 states that they 
 were turned out through jealousy of their growing 
 power, a conception of God which is not Christian. 
 It is distinctly not good story-telling when explana- 
 tions and extenuations are added. The other early 
 Genesis stories are treated in the same way. 
 
 The first creation story, the writer says, leaves 
 room for the evolutionary theory of creation, be- 
 ginning as star dust in motion, from which whirling 
 worlds are thrown off. The purpose of the story, 
 she says, is not "to show creation 3 but to show 
 God." But surely this story does not imply evolu- 
 tion, and it was designed specifically to explain 
 creation. The stories as told by Mrs. Houghton are 
 not the Bible stories, the whole point and meaning 
 being often reversed. This is not good pedagog- 
 ically from the point of view of teaching the Bible. 
 The stories themselves, as has been pointed out else- 
 
 1. p. 64 and 3. 2. Gen. 3: 22. 
 
 S. In referring to the Hebrew theory of the universe a curious slip is made. 
 She says Job (37: 18) thought of the firmament as strong glass, "as a molten 
 looking-glass," (pp. 63-64), mistaking the word mirror. 
 
Independent Publications 131 
 
 where, are not adapted to promote Christian charac- 
 ter in the primary grades, and the fact that expert 
 story-tellers must so radically modify them is, in 
 itself, sufficient proof. Think of attempting to 
 modify the Joseph stories. These stories are suited 
 to a later age. If it is necessary to tell children 
 about the making of the world it can be done by 
 using stories prepared for this purpose from the 
 Christian standpoint and designed for these grades. 
 
 2. Dean Hodges' "A Child's Guide to the 
 Bible," 1 aims at giving in simple language the story 
 of how the Bible developed. He begins by telling 
 about how the sixty-seven 2 books, written at differ- 
 ent times, were bound up into one volume, how they 
 were written or compiled, the original languages, the 
 translations into English, and the country in which 
 they originated. Then there is a brief account of 
 the contents of the various books taken in their 
 historic order, the development of the literature 
 thus being brought out. This is the first attempt 
 to give, in a style suited to children, a real Intro- 
 duction to the Bible embodying the results of 
 criticism. 
 
 The difficulties of the miracle stories are much 
 softened. For example a few sentences may be 
 given. "Then came a series of calamities. All the 
 afflictions to which the land of Egypt was subject 
 came one after another, worse than had ever been 
 
 1. The Baker and Taylor Co., N. Y., 1911. 
 
 2. He does not tell how he counts sixty-seven. 
 
132 The Old Testament in the Sunday School 
 
 known." 1 "The story of Elijah's prayer became 
 one of the famous memories of Israel. Men said 
 that as he prayed the lightning began to flash, and 
 the thunder began to roll, and the sky became dark 
 with clouds. And the people cried, 'The Lord he 
 is God! The Lord he is God!' And the rain fell." 2 
 
 The freedom used in handling the material raises 
 the question again, Is it good educationally and mor- 
 ally? Certainly it is not the Bible narrative that is 
 taught but it is, no doubt, the truth contained in 
 the Bible, that is, the real interpretation of the pas- 
 sage. The book does not profess to tell Bible 
 stories but the story of the Bible, a very different 
 matter. To give the right interpretation of the 
 Bible and the right attitude toward it, is educa- 
 tionally and morally sound. If children are from 
 the first given the correct view of the Bible it will be 
 better understood and appreciated, and some of the 
 lamentable tragedies caused by the loss of faith 
 when uncritical views are overturned, will be 
 avoided. 
 
 3. Rudolf Kittel's "The Scientific Study of the 
 Old Testament," 3 contains six lectures for elementary 
 day-school teachers. The first chapter is on results 
 based on excavations. The second discusses J, E, 
 D and P, and the method by which the historical 
 books were compiled, and then comes a section on 
 the Prophets and Psalmists. The last chapter takes 
 up the historicity of the Patriarchs, the residence 
 
 1. p. 65. 2. p. 129. 3. Putnam, N. Y., 1910. 
 
Independent Publications 133 
 
 in Egypt, points in the development of Religion 
 and Morals, the contribution of the great Prophets 
 and the Hope of Israel. The book is helpful to 
 teachers interested in the points covered. 
 
 4. T. Raymont's work, "The Use of the Bible in 
 the Education of the Young," 1 is intended for par- 
 ents and day-school teachers. He is an educator 
 who undertakes "the bold enterprise of acting as 
 intermediary between the Biblical expert on the one 
 hand and the busy teacher on the other." 2 The 
 necessity of selecting material from the Bible accord- 
 ing to the requirements of the pupils and according 
 to the results of criticism is emphasized. One chap- 
 ter on the study of the Bible and one on its literary 
 aspects are followed by two long chapters giving a 
 brief, running synopsis of each book 3 of the Bible. 
 In this survey the different documents and their 
 blending are discussed. Then follows a brief study 
 of the characteristics of pupils at different ages, 
 with hints on teaching. 
 
 This is the first published attempt to present in 
 simple language the results of criticism 4 and to re- 
 quire the selection of passages for the different grades 
 based on these results. Being for day-school teach- 
 ers and parents, no attempt is made to select ma- 
 terial for a curriculum. Some general suggestions 
 
 1. Longmans, Green and Co., London, 1911. 2. p. 2. 
 
 8. The books Joel, Obadiah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah and Malachi 
 seem to be inadvertently omitted. 
 
 4. That an educationalist of the standing of Mr. Raymont should write a 
 book on this subject shows the vital interest taken in the matter at the present 
 time. Part I, Chapters 2 and 3 above, were finished before his book came to 
 hand. 
 
134 The Old Testament in the Sunday School 
 
 are made. The author recommends the early chap- 
 ters of Genesis for primary children, but reasons 
 have been advanced in this essay for reserving them 
 to a much later time. 
 
 5. Felix Adler 1 relates the story of the Garden 
 of Eden 2 as an example of how he would tell Bible 
 stories to children for moral instruction. Two chil- 
 dren are placed by their father in a beautiful gar- 
 den. The little girl looked at the fruit and finally 
 took it. The serpent is not mentioned. As told it 
 is well adapted, but it is in no true sense the Bible 
 story. Other stories are treated in the same way. 
 
 6. Walter L. Sheldon in "An Ethical Sunday 
 School," 3 has a chapter on the use of the Bible for 
 moral instruction. He recommends all the stories 
 from Adam to Solomon, 4 to teach, not about God 
 but about man. The stories are not told as they 
 stand, but the moral thread is preserved, "leaving 
 out such portions as may have no ethical import 
 or may give a shock to the moral sense." 5 The story 
 of the Tower of Babel is given as an example of the 
 method. It is made to be a story on pride, and it 
 consists, roughly, of 1700 words, while the Bible 
 version contains about 190 words. 6 This, of course, 
 is not using the Bible as material for study. 
 
 7. Ottomar Lorenz 7 emphasizes the need of 
 
 1. The Moral Instruction of Children, Appleton, N. Y., 1892. 
 
 . p. 111-115. 
 
 8. Macmillan, N. Y., 1900. 
 
 4. He does not state for what age. 
 
 5. p. 38. 
 
 6. Gen. 11:1-8. Verse 9 merely explains the word Babel. 
 
 7. Der Konfirmanden-Unterricht, Gottingen, 1910. 
 
Independent Publications 135 
 
 teaching the Bible according to the results of criti- 
 cism, regarding, e.g., the general character of the origin 
 and formation of the Pentateuch, the Deuteronomic 
 activity and the Prophets, especially Deutero-Isaiah. 
 The aim should be not only to teach about the Bible 
 but to teach the Bible. The key to understanding 
 it is to know the prophets. All the greater prophets 
 should be studied. The lesson is to be linked closely 
 to the pupil's life. The book outlines studies for 
 the confirmation class. An abbreviated outline 
 will give the general scheme. The pastor is to give 
 a vivid picture of the prophet and his time (e.g., 
 Amos) (1) Political, 2 K. 14: 23-29; (2) Social, Am. 
 2: 6; 8: 4-6; (3) Religious, 2 K. 14: 24; 1 K. 12: 26-33. 
 Lecture: (1) Amos at Bethel; (2) His Dirge; (3) 
 Expulsion and composition of his book. Summing 
 up: How did Amos become prophet? God's voice 
 in us. Luther at Worms. 
 
 The text for the pupil's reading is a book of read- 
 ings from the Bible. Criticism is followed. But 
 these lessons seem to be more lectures than study 
 that brings out the pupil's initiative. 
 
 8. E. Beyer's Die Geschichte Israels von Mose bis 
 Elia 1 is one of a series for religious instruction in 
 day-schools, and the course is intended for children 
 of eight to fourteen. This book is for the teacher 
 and consists largely of questions to be asked the 
 pupils. The pupil's text book is an Old Testament 
 reader. The lessons are connected with present-day 
 
 1. Bleyl & Kaemmerer, Dresden-Blasewitz, 1911. 
 
136 The Old Testament in the Sunday School 
 
 interests. For example, the lesson on the Hebrews 
 in Egypt has these questions: What effect would 
 the killing of the boys have on the parents? Is this 
 the way the father of his country (Pharaoh, King, 
 Kaiser) should act? The lessons look formidable 
 for pupils of that age, but they are designed for 
 regular class work in school. 
 
 10. Justus Koberle's Die Alttestamentliche Offen- 
 barung, 1 is a book for pastors, students and especially 
 teachers of elementary and middle schools. Its ob- 
 ject is to give the modern view of the Old Testament. 
 Critical results and religious values are sharply dis- 
 tinguished. Revelation is taken up as (1) a principle 
 (2) in its historic development, by epochs, Abraham, 
 Moses, etc., and (3) in its psychological development, 
 from the early ecstatic states to the later prophets. 
 The book is too advanced and technical for ordinary 
 pupils. 
 
 There is a large number of German books along 
 this line but the problem of the teaching of religion 
 and morals in the German public schools is not the 
 problem of the Sunday school in this country, and 
 the German works are not particularly helpful for 
 this purpose. 
 
 1. Hans Bartholdi, Wismar i.M., 1908. 
 
BIBLIOGRAPHY 
 
 Partial list of books on education, including educa- 
 tion in religion and morals, that have been used in 
 the preparation of this study. 
 
 1. In Connection with Chapter I 
 
 AMES, CHARLES SCRIBNER. The Psychology of Religious Expe- 
 rience. Boston, 1910. 
 ANGELL, JAMES ROWLAND. Psychology. 4th Ed. New York, 
 
 BAGLEY, WILLIAM CHANDLER. The Educative Process. New 
 
 York, 1909. 
 BROWN, MARIANNA C. Sunday School Movements in America. 
 
 New York, 1901. 
 BUTLER, NICHOLAS MURRAY. The Meaning of Education. New 
 
 York, 1909. 
 COB, GEORGE ALBERT. Education in Religion and Morals. New 
 
 York, 1909. 
 . Religion from the Standpoint of Functional Psychology. 
 
 American Journal of Theology, Vol. XV, No. 2, April, 1911. 
 
 . The Spiritual Life. New York, 1900. 
 
 DAVIDSON, THOMAS. A History of Education. New York, 1908. 
 DEWEY, JOHN. How We Think. Boston, 1911. 
 
 . Moral Principles in Education. Boston, 1909. 
 
 . My Pedagogic Creed. Flanagan, Chicago. No date. 
 
 . Psychology and Social Practice. Chicago, 1901. 
 
 . The Educational Situation. 3d Ed. Chicago, 1910. 
 
 . The School and the Child. London, 1906. 
 
 . The School and Society. 5th Ed. Chicago, 1905. 
 
 FROEBEL, FRIEDERICH. The Education of Man. New York, 1896. 
 
 . Education by Development. New York, 1909. 
 
 HERBART, JOHN FRIEDERICH. Outlines of Educational Doctrine, 
 New York, 1909. 
 
 137 
 
138 The Old Testament in the Sunday School 
 
 JAMES. WILLIAM. The Principles of Psychology. 2 vols. New 
 York, 1907. 
 
 . Talks to Teachers. New York, 1910. 
 
 KING, IRVING. The Development of Religion. New York, 1900. 
 MACCUNN, JOHN. The Making of Character. New York, 1900. 
 MACVANNEL, JOHN ANGUS. Mss. Notes. 
 . The College Course in the Principles of Education, 
 
 The School Review, February, 1906. 
 . The Educational Theories of Herbart and Froebel. 
 
 Teachers College Contributions, Columbia University. New 
 
 York, 1906. 
 . Outlines of a Course in the Philosophy of Education. 
 
 New York, 1912. 
 MARK, T. THISELTON. The Unfolding of Personality. Chicago, 
 
 No date. 
 
 McDouGALL, WILLIAM. Social Psychology. Boston, 1910. 
 McMuRRY, CHARLES A. and FRANK M. The Method of the 
 
 Recitation. New York, 1910. 
 McMuRRT, FRANK M. How to Study and Teaching How to 
 
 Study. Boston, 1909. 
 MILLER, IRVING EDGAR. The Psychology of Thinking. New 
 
 York, 1910. 
 MONROE, PAUL. A Text Book in the History of Education. 
 
 New York, 1910. 
 PAULSEN, FRIEDERICH. Das deutsche Bildungswesen. Leipzig, 
 
 1906. 
 
 Religious Education. (Magazine), Chicago. 
 Religious Education Association Convention Reports. 4 vols. 
 
 Chicago. 
 
 Ross, EDWARD ALSWORTH. Social Psychology. New York, 1909. 
 SISSON, EDWARD O. The Essentials of Character. New York, 
 
 1910. 
 
 STOUT, G. F. The Groundwork of Psychology. New York, 1903. 
 THORNDIKE, EDWARD LEE. Educational Psychology. New Ed. 
 
 New York, 1910. 
 . The Principles of Teaching. New York, 1906. 
 
Bibliography 139 
 
 2. In Connection with Part I 
 
 ADDIS. W. E. The Documents of the Hexateuch. 2 vols. 
 New York, 1893-1898. 
 
 ADENEY, WALTER F. The New Century Bible. New York. 
 
 BARTON, GEORGE AARON. Semitic Origins. New York, 1902. 
 
 BENNETT and ADENEY. Biblical Introduction. 4th Ed. New 
 York, 1907. 
 
 BBIGGS, CHARLES AUGUSTUS. The Higher Criticism of the 
 Hexateuch. New Ed. New York, 1897. 
 
 CARPENTER and BATTERSBY. The Hexateuch. 2 vols. Lon- 
 don, 1900. 
 
 CHEYNE and BLACK. Encyclopaedia Biblica. 4 vols. New 
 York, 1899 ff . 
 
 CORNILL, KARL. Introduction to the Canonical Books of the 
 Old Testament. New York, 1907. 
 
 . The Prophets of Israel. Chicago, 1895. 
 
 DRIVER, S. R. Introduction to the Literature of the Old Testa- 
 ment. 8th Ed. New York, 1898. 
 
 HASTINGS, JAMES. A Bible Dictionary. 5 vols. New York, 
 1898 S. 
 
 HAUPT, PAUL. The Polychrome Bible. Baltimore, 1898 and ff. 
 
 KENT, CHARLES FOSTER. The Student's Old Testament. New 
 York, 1901 and ff. 
 
 KIRKPATRICK, A. F. The Doctrine of the Prophets. 3d. Ed., 
 London, 1906. 
 
 MACFADYEN, JOHN EDGAR. Introduction to the Old Testa- 
 ment. New York, 1905. 
 
 MARTI, KARL. The Religion of the Old Testament. New York, 
 1907. 
 
 MENZIES, ALLEN. History of Religion. New York, 1895. 
 
 MOFFATT, JAMES. The Historical New Testament. New York, 
 1901. 
 
 OTTLEY, ROBERT LAWRENCE. The Religion of Israel. 1905. 
 
 SCHULTZ, HERMAN. Old Testament Theology, from the 4th 
 Ger. Ed. Edinburgh. 1892. 
 
140 The Old Testament in the Sunday School 
 
 SMITH, GEORGE ADAM. Modern Criticism and the Preaching 
 
 of the Old Testament. New York, 1901 . 
 SMITH, HENRY PRESERVED. Old Testament History. New York, 
 
 1909. 
 SMITH, W. ROBERTSON. The Prophets of Israel. London, 1897. 
 
 3. In Connection with Part II l 
 
 BOLTON, FREDERICK ELMER. Principles of Education. New 
 
 York, 1911. 
 DAWSON, GEORGE E. The Child and His Religion. Chicago, 
 
 1909. 
 
 HALL, G. STANLEY. Adolescence. 2 vols. New York, 1908. 
 HASLETT, SAMUEL B. The Pedagogical Bible School. 3d Ed. 
 
 New York, 1903. 
 KENT, CHARLES FOSTER. The Student's Old Testament. 4 
 
 vols. New York, 1905 and ff. 
 KING, IRVING. The Psychology of Child Development. Chicago, 
 
 1903. 
 KIRKPATRICK, EDWIN A. Fundamentals of Child Study. New 
 
 Ed. New York, 1907. 
 MURRAY, WALTER C. From One to Twenty-One. Cleveland, 
 
 Ohio, 1910. 
 
 PEASE, GEORGE WILLIAM. An Outline of a Bible-School Cur- 
 riculum. Chicago, 1909. 
 
 TAYLOR, A. R. The Study of the Child. New York, 1899. 
 THORNDIKE, EDWARD LEE. Notes on Child Study. 2d Ed., 
 
 MacMillan. New York, 1903. 
 . The Newest Psychology. The Educational Review, 
 
 Vol. 28, p. 217-227. (A Review of Hall's Adolescence.) 
 TYLER, JOHN MASON. Growth and Education. Boston, 1907. 
 
 4. In Connection with Part III, Chapter IX 
 The Publications of the Graded Systems examined. 
 
 1. There are no works bearing directly on this subject. Most of these 
 books are used for a study of child development. See also Part III, Chapter X. 
 
Bibliography 141 
 
 5. In Connection with Part ///, Chapter X 
 
 ADLER, FELIX. The Moral Instruction of Children. New York 
 
 1892. 
 BTER, E. Die Geschichte Israels von Mose bis Elia. Dresden- 
 
 Blasewitz, 1911. 
 HODGES, GEORGE. A Child's Guide to the Bible. New York, 
 
 1911. 
 HOUGHTON, LOUISE SEYMOUR. Telling Bible Stories. New 
 
 York, 1905. 
 KITTEL, RUDOLPH. The Scientific Study of the Old Testament. 
 
 New York, 1910. 
 KO'BERLE, JUSTUS. Die Alttestamentliche Offenbarung. Wismar 
 
 i.M., 1908. 
 LORENZ, OTTOMAR. Der Konfirmanden Unterricht. Gottingen, 
 
 1910. 
 RAYMONT, T. The Use of the Bible in the Education of the 
 
 Young. London, 1911. 
 SHELDON, WALTER L. An Ethical Sunday School. New York, 
 
 1900. 
 
VITA. 
 
 ALEXANDER JOHN WILLIAM MYERS, born at Lake 
 Verd, Prince Edward Island, Canada, September 17, 
 1877. 
 
 Elementary education in rural school; secondary 
 education in West Kent school, graduating in 1894, 
 and in Prince of Wales College and Normal School, 
 Charlottetown, receiving first class teacher's license 
 in 1896; college education in Dalhousie University, 
 Halifax, N. S., B.A. in 1902, M.A. in 1904. Studied 
 Theology in Presbyterian College, Halifax, and 
 Knox College, Toronto, graduating from the former 
 in 1905, B.D. in 1907; further graduate work in 
 Union Theological Seminary, Columbia University 
 and Teachers' College, 1909-1912. 
 
 Taught rural school, 1896-1897; principal gram- 
 mar school, 1897-1899; minister of Presbyterian 
 Church, Blackriver Bridge, N. B., 1905 to 1909. 
 
VB 216