Influence of Literature
By A Sister
LITERATURE is a collective body of literary productions, embracing the entire results of knowledge. If the entire results of knowledge may be obtained from an acquaintance with literature, shall we form an acquaintance with that which tends upward and heavenward, or shall we cultivate a taste for cheap reading? It is not the purpose of this article to speak of authors, but to contemplate the best methods and the best course of literature to be adopted by our children. The natural taste is for fictitious reading. Our youth need no encouragement in this direction. It is Satan’s work to present to them newspaper stories and story books that fascinate the senses, and this destroys all desire for that which is pure and wholesome. Will this fascinating reading develop firm, unspotted principles? “There are many of our youth endowed with great capabilities. God has given them the very best of talents, but their minds have been confused and enfeebled by the indulgence in inferior reading.” If we would gaze for a moment upon the interior of our prisons, our hearts would quail within us. There our gaze is met by hundreds of young, sad faces. To what shall we attribute this state of affairs? Are these different creations than the more fortunate? Or are these some of our unfortunate youth, who have been allowed to indulge mind and body? Mothers, these were once babes cradled in their mothers’ bosom,—these were little flowers from heaven, gifts from the throne of God, sent to be nurtured by God’s own husbandmen. Fathers, mothers, have you toiled day and night? have you cultivated thoroughly, set the stakes, tied up the vines? Have you planted them in the sunshine, that rays from the Sun of righteousness may shine upon them? These are solemn questions, and require much meditation and prayer. If it is as difficult to control the appetite for superficial reading as it is for the drunkard to control his appetite for intoxicating drink, radical changes must take place if we would give to the world practical men and women. God would have a people developed physically and mentally. We are living on the eve of a great crisis, and only those who are properly trained will be able to fight in the great conflict. Every parent should make a special effort to turn the attention of the youth from all exciting stories to the Word of God. The attention of every soul striving for eternal life must center upon the Bible. We must ourselves be drinking of the water of life freely. We must set a guard about our minds and the minds of our children, that they may not be allured by Satan’s temptations. The responsibility of proclaiming the message of salvation rests upon every parent. Shall we plead with our Heavenly Father that our eyes may be anointed with heavenly eyesalve, that we may be awakened to this great responsibility? It is Satan’s highest ambition to keep our minds upon the things of this world. He knows that the carnal mind is not subject to divine truths. He has deluded many by advancing the idea that Bible knowledge as a foundation gives one an inferior learning. Martin Luther, the great Reformer, said that above all things he loved to draw wisdom from the pure source of the Word of God. While in the monastery, to which he resorted to obtain a spiritual training, he found a Bible fastened to the wall by a chain; to this he went continually for light and truth. It was said of him: “He was heard in the public discussions unraveling the most complicated trains of reasoning, and extricating himself from a labyrinth whence none but he could have found an outlet.” All his auditors were filled with astonishment. Whence did he obtain his wisdom? In Proverbs we read: “My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee; so that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding; yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding; if thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures; then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God. For the Lord giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.” In these words we find the key that unlocks the treasure-house of knowledge. Daniel was “skilful in all wisdom, and cunning in knowledge, and understanding science, and . . . had ability . . . to stand in the king’s palace.” He and his friends were educated in the school of the prophets. Was it an inferior learning? They were more wise than the magicians and astrologers. Were they deficient in science?—No, God is the true source of knowledge. William Matthews, Professor of rhetoric and English literature in the University of Chicago, said: “Among the complaints made against the literature of our day, one of the commonest is that it lacks originality. Not only the poets are accused of stringing their lyres to the old times, and singing songs which have been sung substantially a thousand times before, but our philosophers and historians, our novelists, essayists, and theologians, are included in the same sweeping condemnation.” If every thought is traceable to some preceding writer, and thoughts result in action, shall our children gather seed thoughts from the Originator of all true science? or shall the truth which is placed before them be so mixed with error that no natural mind can decipher the original truth? True knowledge is divine, and should be sought as for hidden treasure. It is that element which elevates to high, moral, spiritual, and intellectual development. Shall we as parents strive to lift the standard, that the darkness may pass away, and a new and heavenly light may shine in this darkened world?