Bible Teaching in Our Schools by Editor

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Jul 30, 1908

Bible Teaching in Our Schools

By Editor

(Concluded)

5. THIS whole second advent movement is based upon prophecy, and is in itself a fulfilment of prophecy. Those, therefore, who occupy the position of teachers in such a movement ought to give more than an ordinary amount of study to the prophecies of the Scriptures. Furthermore, this study should be directed primarily to the prophecies themselves, rather than to what some one has written about these prophecies. While no criticism is offered against the use of all available helps in interpreting the writings of the prophets, yet by his own original study every teacher should assure himself of the correctness of the interpretations of others, and should thoroughly digest and assimilate the thoughts of others until he is able to present them as the true product of his own mind.

While special attention should, of course, be given to the books of Daniel and the Revelation, yet the prophecies contained in these books are not to be isolated from other prophecies; neither can a broad and safe interpretation of these predictions be made unless they shall be given their proper setting in the whole scheme of history and prophecy. The full meaning of the great metallic image, of the tree which “was strong, and the height thereof reached unto heaven, and the sight thereof to the end of all the earth,” and a comprehensive interpretation of the handwriting on the wall, can not be understood apart from that history which begins with Nimrod and the tower of Babel and those prophecies concerning Babylon which were uttered during the preceding years. Furthermore, such a knowledge of the historical Babylon is absolutely necessary in order to avoid fanciful interpretations and applications of the inspired utterances concerning modern or spiritual Babylon.

But there is another phase of this question of the study and the teaching of the prophecies, which must have our attention. Many able expositors of prophecy have arisen since the days of the great Reformation, and with much learning and deep spiritual insight they have thrown great light upon the symbols and the figurative utterances employed by the prophets. What need, then, is there that there should be a new presentation of these same prophecies in this last generation?—The answer is found in the fact that in this last stage of the gospel history there must be a setting given to the message of salvation which is appropriate to the time. This appropriate setting is found in Rev. 14: 6-14, in which the revelator in a few striking sentences, corresponding to the suggestive strokes of a master artist, indicates both the standpoint from which the last message is to be given and the vital points upon which the light of all past time is to be focused. The prophecies which cover a period of more than twenty-five centuries, are all to be marshaled now into one solid phalanx, and with one mighty voice they are to proclaim, “The hour of his judgment is come.” In no generation in the past could this be done. The close of the great prophetic period of twenty-three hundred days (years) ushered in a new era in prophetic interpretation. Not in the exposition of disconnected prophecies, however clear and correct they may be, but in the orderly collocation of all prophecies, and in the harmonizing of the voices of all the prophets, to declare that the last generation has been reached, that the seventh angel is sounding, and that the mystery of God is to be finished without longer delay, will be found the proper function of prophecy in the great second advent movement.

6. With a pre-vision of the present denial of a personal God as the creator of the heavens and the earth, and of the consequent substitution of science for revelation, and of the gospel according to man in place of the gospel according to God, the seer of Patmos directed the teachers of the heaven-sent message for this generation to turn the minds of men to “him that made heaven, the earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.” This indicates that the gospel of redemption is the gospel of creation, and that to deny a personal Creator is to deny a personal Redeemer. The mark, or sign, of the Creator and the seal of his law (the original seventh-day Sabbath) will inevitably be presented as a part of such a gospel. The fall of modern Babylon, the counterpart of the historical experiences in Daniel’s time, is an index to the spiritual condition of the professed church of Christ, which in its alliance with the world has “become the habitation of devils” instead of “an habitation of God through the Spirit.” The warning against the beast, his image, and his mark, and the threatened wrath of God upon those who fail to heed it, are to be proclaimed to the ends of the earth, so that men may be without excuse when the great assize closes. The result in the character of those who accept such a proclamation of the gospel is shown in that highest of all spiritual attainments, the keeping of the commandments of God; and the impending event, in view of which the final proclamation of the gospel is made in such a setting as this, is the coming of the Son of man on a white cloud.

In the light, therefore, of this threefold outline, the whole Bible is to be studied and taught, and the final message is not “another gospel,” but “the everlasting gospel,” the gospel of righteousness

by faith, the one only gospel since the days of Adam.

From what has already been set forth in this paper, it will be evident that the primary qualification of a Bible teacher in one of our educational institutions will be a thorough knowledge of the Bible itself. Nothing else can take the place of this, but this does not preclude a wide range of reading, especially of the history of those nations which, because of their intimate relation with the people and work of God in the earth, are made prominent in the Bible. It ought to be emphasized, however, that the Bible throws more light upon history than does history upon the Bible, and that consequently history should be read in the light of the Scriptures rather than the Scriptures in the light of history. There is a wide difference between these two standpoints.

Much more might be said with profit, but it may be best to bring this paper to a close with a few hints and suggestions upon special topics.

A Principle of Interpretation

The Bible has a value above all other books in that the instruction contained in it is based upon general principles, and always and everywhere applicable. It may be that the instruction as given applied primarily to a set of circumstances then present either to the prophet or the teacher through whom the message was given; but when a similar combination of circumstances recurs, the instruction applies with the same authority as in the first instance. It is, therefore, not wise to take out of its immediate connection some passage and with the arbitrary statement, “This text applies to our time,” expound it as if it were written for this generation alone. There is nothing new under the sun, and provision has been made in the Scriptures to meet every possible situation which man or devils may bring about, and it is only necessary to show that in the further progress of the great controversy the same principles are again involved, in order to apply authoritatively the divine instruction given for a similar occasion in the past. He who interprets arbitrarily may be answered by an interpretation equally arbitrary, and who should decide between the two if both rest upon a merely human assertion? Nearly all the symbols used in the Scriptures are interpreted somewhere in the Bible itself, and unless there is a special interpretation to the contrary, there should be a uniform explanation of the same symbol in different parts of the Scripture. The connection will usually suggest the general or special interpretation. For example, there is no danger of confounding the Lion of the tribe of Judah with the lion of the seventh of Daniel, although on general principles the lion is the symbol of an earthly power. Other similar instances will readily come to mind. A conservative and dignified interpretation of symbols and figurative expressions will command the respect of thoughtful readers of the Bible.

Different Translations

Teachers of the Bible will find it profitable to supply themselves with a variety of translations of the Scriptures, but wisdom should be exercised in making a right use of them. The authoritative appeal should be made either to the Authorized or Revised Versions of the Scripture, or in this country, to the American Standard Revised Version, which has been indorsed by a large number of the best scholars. Any argument which can be established only by the use of other translations is not a safe or necessary one, and would better be omitted. Those who have no knowledge of either Hebrew or Greek, should be especially cautious in accepting any translation which changes the general meaning of the accepted versions, and care should be taken to distinguish between a literal translation (like Rotherham’s translation of the New Testament) and an undignified paraphrase (such as the Twentieth Century New Testament).

New Light

We have been encouraged to expect that there would be a further development of the gospel message, and that additional light would shine upon the pathway of those who are now seeking the way to Zion. The teachers of the Bible in our educational institutions ought certainly to be among the first who should discover new disclosures of truth, like watchmen upon the walls who note the first indications of coming day; but let it be remembered that there will be no new light, which is really light, that contradicts the fundamental positions already established. Fanciful interpretations of prophecy, far-fetched analogies, and the tendency to lose sight of the plain, literal teaching of the Scriptures in the mystical spiritualizing of the most simple statements, should be avoided by those who wish to lead students in safe paths of Bible study. Furthermore, there is a kind of itching after something new which prompts one to regard everything as unsettled, in order that his mind may be open in an unprejudiced way to the reception of new truth. This is a deception fraught with much evil. Every question is not an open one, and to the believer in the inspiration of the Scriptures there are not two sides to every proposition. The truth which is revealed in a plain, “Thus saith the Lord,” is established beyond controversy; and it will give the fullest play to all the powers of the mind in a studious effort to fathom the depth and to comprehend the height of revealed truth. New light should be accepted and welcomed, but it will all stand the test of harmony with those truths of the third angel’s message which have been established by prayerful study and confirmed by the testimony of the spirit of prophecy.

Revelation or Reason

Teachers of the truth for this time should be able to recognize the vital principle which distinguishes the gospel according to God from the gospel according to man. In the wide range of discussion it is easy to overlook the crucial point. There are various ways of expressing this distinguishing principle, any one of which will serve the purpose, provided the thing itself is recognized. Some of the familiar forms of statement in which the false and the true are expressed are these: all men are the children of God by the natural birth; or, those only are the children of God, in the Scriptural sense, who have been born again: again, every man is a temple of the living God; or, only those who have received Christ by faith are temples of the living God: again, God is recognized and directly apprehended through the consciousness of his immediate presence everywhere and in all things; or, he is made known as a personal God only to those to whomsoever the Son reveals him: again, the Christ whom we receive is a product of our own consciousness, testified to in the Scriptures and approved of by our own reason; or, he is the unique Being primarily revealed to us in the Scriptures. The essential difference in each case lies in the acceptance or the denial of the catastrophe of sin, and in the rejection or the acknowledgment of the atoning work of that Christ “who gave himself for our sins.” Many statements of truth or untruth grow out of this fundamental difference, but the application of the one test will reveal their nature.

The philosophy of these facts may be readily understood. From all eternity it has been the purpose of the Father that in all things his Son should have the pre-eminence, and the only hope of a lost world is the acceptance of restoration through the mediation of the same eternal Son. Either to deny sin or to attempt to provide salvation through the evolution of a nature inherently divine, is to reject the gospel according to God and to substitute the gospel according to man. In cultured phrases and in philosophical reasonings which please the natural heart by exalting man as man, this flattering gospel of self-salvation is taught from many professedly orthodox pulpits, and is sweeping a large number of professed Christians from the old foundations. In this second advent movement the truth of the gospel has been revealed in such a setting as will provide an effective means of defense

against this overmastering delusion. When in the early days of this movement, a knowledge of the heavenly sanctuary and the ministry of Christ therein, which had long been shut away, was restored, there was supplied such a revelation of the gospel in its original, divine setting as would be a sufficient protection against all these last-day perversions of the truth. The existence of God, who is a personal Being rather than merely an intelligent power; the great fact of sin; the necessity of an atonement; the sacrifice provided; the cleansing from sin by the power of the blood; and the restoration of the body to be again the temple of the living God, are so clearly set forth in the sanctuary and its services as to save those who receive the gospel in this setting from the pantheistic, spiritualistic, or scientific errors which are now flooding the world. Teachers of the present gospel message, who recognize these facts, and appreciate their importance, will shape their study and their instruction in harmony therewith, and will give to the subject of the sanctuary and its services the place which belongs to them in this time of the cleansing of the sanctuary.

The Influence of the Bible in All the Departments of Instruction

There is a legitimate sense in which the Bible is at the foundation of all proper education, and a proper study and teaching of the Scriptures may therefore be fundamental in every department of knowledge; but the limits of this paper will not permit the development of this topic. It must suffice to say that the Scriptures were never intended to be used merely as a text-book in the various branches of knowledge, or to supply those facts which are within the range of observation. The Scripture is a revelation of truths outside the field of human investigation; but so close is the relation between the seen and the unseen, that a knowledge of the latter is often conveyed by comparisons and by extending the principles applicable to the physical world into the spiritual world. Thus Jesus said, “So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground;” and again, “Whereunto shall we liken the kingdom of God? or with what comparison shall we compare it? it is like,” etc., etc. The head of the Bible department of one of our institutions who wisely improves the opportunity offered to him may exert a powerful influence in molding the instruction in every other department of the institution.

All the circumstances of the present hour unite in an urgent appeal to our Bible teachers to do most earnest and thorough work, and to lift to a much higher plane the department of Bible study and Bible teaching.