The advice which we have to give is not our own, but is a bit that we found in a book written more than eighteen hundred years ago. It is contained in the following words of Paul to Timothy: "But foolish and unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they do gender strifes." (2 Timothy 2:23)
If every school would have this verse engrossed in large letters, suitably framed, and hung in a conspicuous place in the classroom, we believe that it would be to its benefit. There is no school in which is not needed as a warning, if not as a reproof.
We would by no means be understood as deprecating a spirit of investigation, or as advocating the shutting off of questions, except such as are indicated in the verse quoted. They are certain death to spirituality either in the school, the teachers' meeting, or anywhere else.
It is a lamentable fact that among any body of persons there will be some whose minds always grasp the fact that is not under consideration. A text of Scripture always conveys to them a hidden meaning, and they feel called upon to make known their doubts, or their new ideas. Others are always reaching out after the unattainable. They want to know more than is revealed.
The question as to where Cain got his wife is still current. "Who was Melchizedek?" is asked with as much anxiety as though eternal happiness depended on the correct answer. The question, "How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come?" is still put in spite of the fact that the inspired apostle has marked the mental ability of the questioner down to zero. (1 Corinthians 15:35-36)
There is no end to these foolish and unlearned questions. We mention (though not without a blush) a case that occurred in a Sabbath-school which we recently visited. In the course of the lesson (Genesis 7:14-15) was quoted as a proof text. At the close of the hour, when the leader inquired if anyone had a question to ask concerning the lesson, one pupil rose and with much seriousness asked to know the difference between a bird and a fowl (!), since both words occur in (Genesis 7:14). It will be said that this is an extreme case, and that so foolish a question is seldom asked. No doubt it is an extreme case, and if the question had been only asked we would not mention it; but there were no less than half a dozen persons who were unguarded enough to offer answers. It was this fact that convinced us that the bit of advice which we have quoted is greatly needed.
In the current lessons in the Signs, on immortality,[1] there is room for an abundance of unlearned questions. Some will want to know how the spirit can return to God. Others will demand, or offer to give, an exact definition of the terms "soul" and "spirit." "How is it that the dead can hear the voice of God?" is a question that worries not a few. "What is life?" will probably be asked until mortals reach the state where they will not dissipate their intellectual powers by employing them on unprofitable questions.
"... they do gender strifes." (2 Timothy 2:23)
The strifes do not always appear; in fact, we seldom hear of them in Sabbath-school; nevertheless "strifes" are the legitimate result of such questions. The reason is that there is nothing to decide the question at issue. There is nothing to which either party to the discussion can appeal as a final authority. The opinion of one is of as much value as that of another, and none are worth anything. If the discussion of such questions does not lead to strife, it is solely because the parties have enough grace in their hearts to yield a point, or let the matter drop.
As a general thing, the subject matter of the lesson will suffice to fill all the time allowed. If something in the lesson brings to one's mind a text outside of the lesson, which throws additional light upon it, by all means let him speak of it for the benefit of others. The object of every lesson is to stimulate, not to repress, thought. If the leader sees that the text has no bearing, he can state that fact in a few words, and in a manner not to wound feelings of many.
It may chance that the leader's judgment is at fault, and that the text is to the point, but so long as he is leader he must be allowed to direct the course of the lesson. In a company of earnest students there will be no dearth of good thoughts, and it would be better to let one or two be lost, than to have a discussion to no profit. If a theory can be supported by Scripture, it must be good, but guesses concerning the Bible do not amount to much.
As we before said, these questions are usually dropped before they develop into strife; but of what profit are they? Are there not enough glorious revealed truths in God's word to occupy all our powers of mind, without frittering them away on foolish questions, or those to which no answer can be given, and which, even if answered, are of no practical importance? Time is too precious to spend on trifles, and therefore let us always and everywhere heed the apostle's admonition: "Foolish and unlearned questions avoid." (2 Timothy 2:23)--Signs of the Times, November 27, 1884.
E.J. Waggoner
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