The Church to Teach All Nations
"I pray not that Thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that Thou shouldest keep them from the evil. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify [teach] them through Thy truth." (John 17:15-17) As He lifted His eyes to heaven in those moments of quiet, just before entering Gethsemane, these words fell from the lips of the Son of man. Looking upon the little company of men clustering around Him, He saw in them the nucleus of the church which was to be called by His name, and His heart yearned for that body of Christians. Many and fierce would be their struggles; for He had breathed into the hearts of men. a system of instruction which, because it was truth, would awaken all the bitterness of the enemy of truth; and the new system must be able to resist all the darts which human minds, swayed by the prince of evil, could hurl. Divine philosophy must meet and vanquish human philosophy. That was now the controversy, and it was left to a few weak men to start the work. What power was in that Spirit of truth with which they were baptized! His commission to this same company, as they watched Him recede from earth on the day of His ascension, was, "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations." They, the true Israel, were now to become teachers of nations.
Recognizing the difficulties to be met, He had, on another occasion, said: "I send you forth as sheep among wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and simple as doves." In no boasted philosophy, no high-sounding words, but in simplicity. of truth, was to lie their strength. Of the works of the apostles and those who believed on Christ through their teaching, we have this divine testimony, "I know thy works, and thy labor, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars: and hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name's sake hast labored and hast not fainted." (Rev. 2:2, 3) It is therefore evident that a great work was done, and that very speedily; for again Inspiration describes it: "Behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; ... and he went forth conquering, and to conquer." (Rev. 6:2) Men, though admonished to be as harmless as doves, were nevertheless, when teachers of truth, enabled to make themselves felt in the world.
A Call From Popular Education
To accept Christianity in those early days meant the withdrawal from everything before cherished; it meant not only the separation from heathenism in worship, or Babylon, but also from heathenism in thought and education, or Egypt. It was a second exodus. Justin Martyr, a Christian born near the close of the first century, is quoted by Painter, as he describes the life of a follower of Christ: "We who once delighted in lewdness now embrace chastity; we who once embraced magical arts, have consecrated ourselves to the good and unbegotten God; we who loved above all things the gain of money and possessions, now bring all that we have into one common stock, and give a portion to everyone that needs; we who once hated and killed one another, now pray for our enemies."
With this spirit in the church we are not surprised to find that in the words of Coleman, "The tender solicitude of these early Christians for the religious instruction of their children is one of their most beautiful characteristics. They taught them, even at the earliest dawn of intelligence, the sacred names of God and the Saviour. They sought to lead the infant minds of their children up to God, by familiar narratives from Scripture, of Joseph, of young Samuel, of Josiah, and of the holy child Jesus. The history of the patriarchs and prophets, apostles, and men whose lives are narrated in the sacred volume, were the nursery tales with which they sought to form the tender minds of their children. As the mind of the child expanded, the parents made it their sacred duty and delightful task daily to exercise him in the recital of select passages of scripture relating to the doctrines and duties of religion. The Bible was the entertainment of the fireside. It was the first, the last, the only schoolbook almost, of the child; and sacred psalmody, the only song with which his infant cry was hushed as he was lulled to rest on his mother's arm. The sacred song and the rude melody of its music were, from the earliest periods of Christian antiquity, an important means of impressing the infant heart with sentiments of piety, and of imbuing the susceptible minds of the young with the knowledge and the faith of the Scriptures."
True Education Developed Missionaries
Painter writes:
"The purpose of these early Christian parents, as of the ancient Jews, was to train up their children in the fear of God. In order that the children might be exposed as little as possible to the corrupting influence of heathen associations, their education was conducted within the healthful precincts of home. AS A RESULT, they grew up without a taste for debasing pleasures; they acquired simple domestic tastes; and when the time came, they took their place as consistent and earnest workers in the church." [1]
These words make several facts very prominent:--
1. Christian education should begin in the home.
2. Bible stories should be the basis for nursery tales and infant songs.
3. Christians should carry out the plan of education which the Jews failed to obey, and which Christ revealed in a new light.
4. The results of such Christian education in the home school will be elevated characters and workers in the cause of God.
Education in the Early Church
Would that it could be said of Christian mothers to-day, as a heathen orator once exclaimed concerning those early followers of Christ, "What wives these Christians have!"
The duty of Parents
One of the early Fathers thus expresses the danger of children and youth in the schools of the world, and shows the character of the education needed: "Mothers ought to care for the bodies of their children, but it is necessary also that they inspire their offspring with love for the good and with fear toward God. And fathers will not limit themselves to giving their children an earthly vocation, but will interest themselves also in their heavenly calling.
"The most beautiful heritage that can be given children is to teach them to govern their passions ... Let us have for our children the same fear that we have for our houses, when servants go with a light into places where there is inflammable material, as hay or straw. They should not be permitted to go where the fire of impurity may be kindled in their hearts, and do them an irreparable injury. A knowledge of the Scriptures is an ANTIDOTE AGAINST THE UNREASONABLE INCLINATIONS OF YOUTH AND AGAINST THE READING OF pagan authors, in which heroes, the slaves of every passion, are lauded. The lessons of the Bible are springs that water the soul. As our children are everywhere surrounded by bad examples, the monastic schools [what would correspond to-day with church schools] are the best for their education. Bad habits once contracted, they cannot be got rid of. This is the reason God conducted Israel into the wilderness, ... that the vices of the Egyptians might be unlearned. ...Now our children are surrounded by vice in our cities and are unable there to resist bad examples ... Let us take care of the souls of our children, that they may be formed for virtue, and not be degraded by vice."
This writer might well address a modern audience, for he recognizes the influence of pagan authors, and states that the Bible alone can counteract this influence; he recognizes the worldly schools as Egypt, and says that Christians should take their children out; and finally he recognizes the value of having schools located in the country, and advises people to move out of the cities with their children.
Church Schools Among Early Christians
Mosheim says:
"There can be no doubt but that the children of Christians were carefully trained up from their infancy, and were early put to reading the sacred books and learning the principles of religion. For this purpose schools were erected everywhere from the beginning." [2]
Training Schools for Missionaries
From these schools for children, we must distinguish those seminaries of the early Christians, erected extensively in the larger cities, at which adults, and especially such as aspired to be public teachers, were instructed and educated in all branches of learning, both human and divine. Such seminaries, in which young men devoted to the sacred office were taught whatever was necessary to qualify them properly for it, the apostles of Christ undoubtedly both set up themselves, and directed others to set up. (2 Tim. 2:2) St. John, at Ephesus, and Polycarp, at Smyrna, established such schools. Among these seminaries, in subsequent times, none was more celebrated than that at Alexandria; which is commonly called a catechetic school." (2 Tim. 2:2) In addition, then, to home and church schools for children, the early Christian church established seminaries for the education of workers. In reading the history of the times the course of instruction is seen to adhere closely to the Scriptures, and to draw a sharp distinction between the science of salvation and the Greek and Oriental philosophy as taught in the pagan schools.
Pagans Feared Christian Schools
Christian education was often regarded as narrow and limited by those who loved to study the mysteries of Greek wisdom; but as long as they adhered to their simple studies, and made faith the basis of their work, there was a power in the truths taught by the students of these schools, which made the pagan world, with all its great men, tremble. It is an interesting fact that as late as the fourth century, after the Christian schools had lost much of their power through the mingling of pagan with Christian methods, and the adoption of some of the pagan studies, they were still regarded as the stronghold of Christianity. When Julian, the apostate, began to reign, an attempt was made to revive paganism throughout the Roman Empire. One of his first acts was to close the schools of the Christians. "He contemptuously observes," says Gibbon, "that the men who exalt the merit of implicit faith are unfit to claim or to enjoy the advantages of science; and he vainly contends that if they refuse to adore the gods of Homer and Demosthenes, they ought to content themselves with expounding Luke and Matthew in the church of the Galileans.
The Public Schools Of Julian
"In all the cities of the Roman world, the education of the youth was intrusted to masters of grammar and rhetoric; who were elected by the magistrates, maintained at the public expense, and distinguished by many lucrative and -honorable privileges. ... As soon as the resignation of the more obstinate teachers had established the unrivaled dominion of the pagan sophists, Julian invited the rising generation to resort with freedom to the public schools, in a just confidence that their tender minds would receive the impressions of literature and idolatry. If the greatest part of the Christian youth should be deterred by their own scruples, or by those of their parents, from accepting this dangerous mode of instruction, they must, at the same time, relinquish the benefits of a liberal education. Julian had reason to expect that, in the space of a few years, the church would relapse into its primeval simplicity, and that the theologians, who possessed an adequate share of the learning and eloquence of the age, would be succeeded by a generation of blind and ignorant fanatics, incapable of defending the truth of their own principles, or of exposing the various follies of polytheism. [3]
Julian cannot be counted as a fool; for, wishing to make the world pagan, he proceeded to do so, (1) By closing the Christian schools where the merit of implicit faith was taught; (2) By compelling attendance of the public schools, taught by pagan teachers, and where literature and IDOLATRY WERE COMBINED.
As Gibbon says, he had just reason to expect that in the course of a generation the Christians thus educated would lose their faith, cease to oppose paganism, and sink into insignificance. If a pagan emperor expected this in the fourth century, is it any wonder that Protestants to-day, allowing their children to remain in the public schools where precisely the same things are taught, in principle as Julian had his public instructors teach, should lose power and cease to be Protestants'? From the words of Gibbon one would infer that in the days of Julian there were parents who refused to send their children to the public schools; some children who, "because of their own scruples," refused to attend; and some teachers who ceased to teach rather than teach literature and idolatry in state schools.
The Seminary at Alexandria
Special mention is made of the Alexandrian school, as it was located in an Egyptian city to which flocked many noted pagan scholars. Sad as it maybe to do so, it is yet necessary to see how these schools, and especially this one at Alexandria, lost their simplicity as they came in contact with pagan scholars, and attempted to meet them on their own grounds.
Alexandria Adopts Philosophy of Plato
Mosheim says:
"This philosophy [of Plato] was adopted by such of the learned at Alexandria as wished to be accounted Christians, and yet to retain the name, garb, and the rank of philosophers. In particular, all those who in this century presided in the schools of the Christians at Alexandria ... are said to have approved of it. These men were persuaded that true philosophy, the great and most salutary gift of God, lay in scattered fragments among all the sects of philosophers; and therefore that it was the duty of every wise man, and especially of a Christian teacher, to collect those fragments from all quarters, and to use them for the defense of religion and the confutation of impiety." [4]
Result of Adopting Worldly Methods
The lesson so dear to Paul--that the gospel of Christ is the "power of God unto salvation"--was lost sight of when these Christian teachers assumed the philosopher's garb, and used the philosopher's vocabulary to confute impiety. "I have somewhat against thee," writes the divine historian of this age. "because thou hast left thy first love. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place." (Rev. 2:4, 5) The heaven lit taper of Christian education in its purity was beginning to grow dim. Its flame must have a constant supply of truth, or, like the candle without oxygen, it burns low, and finally goes out. Paul, writing to the Corinthians who were placed in circumstances similar to those of the school at Alexandria, that is, pressed upon all sides by pagan philosophy, said: "I came toward you with weakness and fear and great timidity. And my thought and my statement was not clothed in captivating philosophical reasons; but in demonstrated spirit and power, so that your trust might not be in human philosophy, but in divine power.
...What we speak is not in an artificial discussion of a human philosophy, but by spiritual teachings, comparing spiritualities with the spiritual." (1 Cor. 2:3-5, 13, Fenton's translation.)
Dialectics Versus the Scriptures
Again, "Dialectic," or logic, was that science of which Aristotle, the disciple of Plato, boasted as being the father. Says a writer of the church after the decline was well begun, it "is the queen of arts and sciences. In it reason dwells, and is manifested and developed. It is dialectic alone that can give knowledge and wisdom; it alone shows WHAT AND WHENCE WE ARE, AND TEACHES US our destiny [human philosophy and evolution]; through it we learn to know good and evil. And how necessary is it to a clergyman, in order that he may be able to meet and vanquish heretics! "Men have more than once reverted to logic to vanquish heretics, but ft was only when the Spirit of truth was lacking.
The Educational Question Caused a Division
Error was rapidly creeping into the church, and it came principally through these schools, as has already been seen. However, truth was not abandoned for error without a struggle. Mosheim says:
"The estimation in which human learning should be held was a question on which the Christians were about equally divided. For while many thought that the literature and writings of the Greeks ought to receive attention, there were others who contended that true piety and religion were endangered by such studies." [5] People then, as now, looked to the leaders in the church for guidance; and it was hard, when these studies were popular, for the conscientious to withdraw entirely to what the others called a narrow, limited education. It often led to contention among members of the same church, and often even parents and children failed to agree on the subject.
Wrong Methods Retained
"But gradually," continues Mosheim, "the friends of philosophy and literature acquired the ascendency. To this issue Origen contributed very much; for having early imbibed the principles of the new Platonism, he inauspiciously applied them to theology, and earnestly recommended them to the numerous youth who attended on his instruction. And the greater the influence of this man, which quickly spread over the whole Christian world, the more readily was his method of explaining the sacred doctrines propagated."
Origin of the Papacy
The days when the papacy should be recognized as the beast of Revelation 13 were fast approaching. Such experiences in the history of education in the Christian church show how rapidly the life of the Master, the Spirit of truth, was giving place to the form of godliness which denied the power thereof. One reading thus the pages of history cannot fail to see that the papacy was formed in the minds of men, was propagated IN THE SCHOOLS, AND REALLY TOOK BIRTH IN THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM THEN DEVELOPED. The political power, which was called upon to help the church, simply carried out at the point of the sword those principles which were developed in the schools. The two streams--paganism arid apostate Christianity--united; and in the mad current which flowed from their confluence, men's souls were lost forever.
Christian Education is the pure water of life, clear and sparkling, which flows from the throne of God; but when mingled with the turbid waters of the valley, it is lost sight of and the current is evil. The part played by Platonic philosophy cannot be overlooked. The foundation had already been laid in. the third century for the scholasticism of the Middle Ages, and that "noontide of the papacy which was the world's moral midnight" was fast approaching.
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