True education does not ignore the value of scientific knowledge or literary acquirements, but above information it values power; above power, goodness; above intellectual acquirements, character. The world does not so much need men and women of great intellect as of noble character. It needs people in whom ability is controlled by steadfast principle.
"Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom." "The tongue of the wise uses knowledge rightly." Proverbs 4:7; 15:2. True education imparts this wisdom. It teaches the best use not merely of one but of all our powers and acquirements. Thus it covers the whole circle of obligation--to ourselves, to the world, and to God.
Character building is the most important work ever entrusted to human beings, and never was its diligent study so important as now. Never was any previous generation called to meet issues so momentous. Never were young men and women confronted by perils so great as confront them today.
At this critical time, what is the trend of the education given? What motive is appealed to most often? Self-seeking. Much of today's education is a perversion of the name. True education provides a counter influence to the selfish ambition, greed for power, and disregard for the rights and needs of humanity that are the curse of our world.
No Place for Selfish Rivalry
God's plan of life has a place for every human being. All are to improve their talents to the utmost, and faithfulness in doing this, whether the gifts be few or many, entitles them to honor. In God's plan there is no place for selfish rivalry. Those who measure themselves by themselves, and compare themselves among themselves, are not wise. 2 Corinthians 10:12. Whatever we do is to be done "heartily, as to the Lord ... knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ." Colossians 3:23, 24. But how different is much of the education now given! From the child's earliest years it is an appeal to emulation and rivalry; it fosters selfishness, the root of all evil.
Thus is created strife for supremacy, and the system of "cramming" is encouraged that in some cases destroys health and unfits for usefulness. In many others, emulation leads to dishonesty, and by fostering ambition and discontent, it embitters the life and helps fill the world with restless, turbulent people who are a continual menace to society. Nor does danger pertain to methods only. It is found also in the subject matter of the studies.
In the study of language and literature, from what fountains are the youth taught to drink? From the wells of paganism, from springs fed by the corruptions of ancient heathendom. They are assigned to study authors who, it is clear, have no regard for the principles of morality.
And of how many modern authors also might the same be said! With how many do the grace and beauty of language merely disguise principles that in their real deformity would repel the reader!
Besides these there is a multitude of fiction writers, luring to pleasant dreams in palaces of ease. These writers may not be open to the charge of immorality, yet their work is no less productive of evil. It is robbing thousands and thousands of the time, energy, and self-discipline demanded by the stern problems of life.
In the study of science, as generally pursued, there are dangers equally great. Evolution and its kindred errors are taught in schools of every grade, from kindergarten to college. Thus the study of science, which should impart a knowledge of God, is so mingled with human speculations and theories that it tends to infidelity.
Even Bible study, as too often conducted in the schools, is robbing the world of the priceless treasure of the Word of God. The work of "higher criticism" in dissecting, conjecturing, reconstructing, is destroying faith in the Bible as a divine revelation. It is robbing God's Word of power to control, uplift, and inspire human lives.
Contact With False Teachings
As young people go out into the world to encounter its allurements to sin--the passion for money getting, for amusement and indulgence, for display, luxury, and extravagance, the overreaching, fraud, robbery, and ruin--what are the teachings to be met there?
Spiritualism asserts that human beings are unfallen demigods, that "each mind will judge itself," "all sins committed are innocent," for "whatever is, is right," and "God does not condemn." The basest of human beings are represented as in heaven, and highly exalted there. Thus it teaches that "It matters not what you do; live as you please, heaven is your home." Multitudes are thus led to believe that desire is the highest law, that license is liberty, and that the members of the human race are accountable only to themselves.
With such teaching given at the very outset of life, when impulse is strongest and the demand for self-restraint and purity is most urgent, where are the safeguards of virtue? What is to prevent the world from becoming a second Sodom?
At the same time rebellious spirits are seeking to sweep away all law, both divine and human. The centralizing of wealth and power; the vast combinations for enriching the few at the expense of the many; the combinations of the poorer classes for the defense of their interests and claims; the spirit of unrest, of riot and bloodshed--all are tending to involve the whole world in a struggle similar to that which convulsed France in the eighteenth century.
Such are the influences to be met by young people today. To stand amidst such upheavals they must now lay the foundations of character.
In every generation and in every land the true foundation and pattern for character building have been the same. The divine law, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart; ... and your neighbor as yourself" (Luke 10:27)--the great principle made manifest in the character and life of our Savior--is the only secure foundation, the only sure guide.
"Wisdom and knowledge will be the stability of your times" (Isaiah 33:6, Leeser's translation)--that wisdom and knowledge which God's Word alone can impart.
Here is the only safeguard for individual integrity, for the purity of the home, the well-being of society, or the stability of the nation. Amidst all life's perplexities, dangers, and conflicting claims, the one safe and sure rule is to do what God says. "The precepts of the Lord are right," and "those who do these things shall never be moved." Psalm 19:8; 15:5, NRSV.