God has a method of education, and Satan has a method. These both were introduced into the garden of Eden. They have existed side by side ever since. One is what the world calls a broader education, and the other is looked upon by the wisdom of the world as narrow. The key to the Lord’s method is contained in four words, “Through faith we understand.” Heb. 11:3. It is then illustrated by the following words, “That the worlds were framed by the word of God.” The next statement contrasts it with worldly wisdom, “So that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.” Worldly wisdom declares that what is seen of this world—stones, earth, and trees—was made from certain elements that existed thousands of years before the creation recorded in the Bible. The Lord made “every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew.” Then comes the first recorded lesson. “And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” Here was a positive command what he should do, and what he should not do. Man was to believe God without questioning how or why. But how different is Satan’s reasoning! Hear him: “Ah! What hath God said, ye shall not eat of any of the trees of the garden? Then the woman spake unto the serpent: Of the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat, except of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, of which God spake: Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman: Not dying shall ye die [or ye shall not surely die]; but God knoweth that on the day that ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be like God, understanding good and evil.”—Spurrell. Satan first disputes the testimony of God by a method of reasoning. Putting it in other words, “Did God say so and so? Well, the Lord knows it is not so.” Then he explains what the Lord meant, thus substituting an explanation for the positive testimony. This is Satan’s method, and it becomes the chief corner-stone of higher criticism of the Bible. It makes the reason above, superior to, the plain testimony of heaven. See the apostle’s comment on this method of reasoning in 1 Cor. 1:18-31. The success of the Roman Catholic system of education lies in the fact that the children are taught to believe what is told them. The weakness of the Protestant system is the fact that the children are first taught to reason, and what they see to be true, believe. Let God’s Word be first, foremost, always to be believed, and then reason to demonstrate that it is true, rather than reason to see if it is true. In this is salvation. Do not drown what God says, by reason. God’s method of reasoning will make men strong, ministers successful, the Bible reader intelligent.—Bible Training School.