All Articles For Heys John A

Are you asleep? What a foolish question. If you were asleep you could not read these lines, and the above question would never reach you.

The day of the Lord cometh as a thief in the night. The heavens shall pass away with a great noise. The elements shall melt with a fervent heat. The earth also and all the works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be? Did you ever set yourself squarely before this question which Peter presents in II Peter 3:11? And what kind of person did you find yourself to be?

When this department which bears the title “In His Fear” was inaugurated some two ore three years ago, it was presented as one set aside for the treatment of educational subjects, subjects that have to do with the field of education in home, school and church. The phrase, “In His Fear” also suggests that one might treat matters that have to do with practical Christianity. Our purpose at this time is to use this department for a time to treat educational matters.

In the last issue we presented certain principles according to which the subject of history should be taught in the Christian schools. Briefly they were: (1) History is the study and observation of God’s eternal plan and purposes in regard to the earth’s peoples. (2) This plan God has made known to us. It is principally to bring His Church into the final glory of His perfected kingdom.

When we stated in the last installment of this department that the child should be trained in the history class to see all things as God’s work whereby He fulfills His counsel, we mean that single historical events as well as the complete picture history gives us must be used to impress the child with and lead him in the contemplation of the infinite greatness of God and thus train him to worship this infinitely great God.

In the closing paragraph of the last installment of this department we made the remark that in the history class the covenant child must also be taught to see historical events as God sees them. By this we mean that he must be trained to be able to judge events according to the judgment of God. These events must be analyzed for him according to the ethical, moral standards whereby God judges them. And in this way he will be trained to analyze future events according to this same standard.

“Walk about Zion, and go round about her: tell the towers thereof. Mark ye well her bulwarks, consider her palaces; That ye may tell it to the generation following. For this God is our God for ever and ever.

Training in the Geography Class We now come to that important subject of Geography which must also receive a distinctive treatment in the schools where God’s covenant children are instructed. There only can this subject be treated as it should be presented. There only can the royal priesthood of God’s children be trained as citizens of the kingdom of heaven whose calling is, while still here on earth, to live that heavenly citizenship in every sphere of this life.

Last time we gave you the principles drawn by the Rev. Gritters whereby this subject ought to be taught in the Christian School. The definition that Rev. Gritters gave of Geography is, “Geography is a study of the earth, its disposition and its fulness as it belongs to God the Lord (Psalm 24:1) but as it has been given to the children of men. (Psalm 115:16). That is the language of faith pointing out to texts in God’s Word where He reveals to us the significance of the study of geography.

Training in the Geography Class (cont.) The second element to be stressed in the geography class is man’s stewardship. As we stated in the closing remarks last time, the sovereignty of God is fundamental, and only when we believe it are we willing and ready to teach geography from that extremely practical viewpoint of man’s calling as GOD’S steward.