Fundamentals of Christian Education   (5)
The Son of God was rejected by those whom He came to bless. He was taken by wicked hands and crucified. But after He had risen from the dead, He was with His disciples forty days, and in this time He gave them much precious instruction. He laid down to His followers the principles underlying the higher education. And when He was about to leave them and go to His Father, His last words to them were, “I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.” (FE 535.1) MC VC
To many who place their children in our schools, strong temptations will come, because they desire them to secure what the world regards as the most essential education. Who knows what constitutes the most essential education, unless it is the education to be obtained from that Book which is the foundation of all true knowledge? Those who regard as essential the knowledge to be gained along the line of worldly education are making a great mistake, one which will cause them to be swayed by individual opinions that are human and erring. To those who feel that their children must have what the world calls the essential education, I would say, Bring your children to the simplicity of the word of God, and they will be safe. We are going to be greatly scattered before long, and what we do must be done quickly. (FE 535.2) MC VC
The light has been given me that tremendous pressures will be brought upon every Seventh-day Adventist with whom the world can get into close connection. Those who seek the education that the world esteems so highly, are gradually led further and further from the principles of truth until they become educated worldlings. At what a price have they gained their education! They have parted with the Holy Spirit of God. They have chosen to accept what the world calls knowledge in the place of the truths which God has committed to men through His ministers and prophets and apostles. And there are some who, having secured this worldly education, think that they can introduce it into our schools. But let me tell you that you must not take what the world calls the higher education and bring it into our schools and sanitariums and churches. We need to understand these things. I speak to you definitely. This must not be done. (FE 535.3) MC VC
Upon the mind of every student should be impressed the thought that education is a failure unless the understanding has learned to grasp the truths of divine revelation, and unless the heart accepts the teachings of the gospel of Christ. The student who, in the place of the broad principles of the word of God, will accept common ideas, and will allow the time and attention to be absorbed in commonplace, trivial matters, will find his mind becoming dwarfed and enfeebled. He has lost the power of growth. The mind must be trained to comprehend the important truths that concern eternal life. (FE 536.1) MC VC
I am instructed that we are to carry the minds of our students higher than it is now thought to be possible. Heart and mind are to be trained to preserve their purity by receiving daily supplies from the fountain of eternal truth. The divine Mind and Hand has preserved through the ages the record of creation in its purity. It is the word of God alone that gives to us an authentic account of the creation of our world. This word is to be the chief study in our schools. In it we may hold converse with patriarchs and prophets. In it we may learn what our redemption has cost Him who was equal with the Father from the beginning, and who sacrificed His life that a people might stand before Him redeemed from everything earthly and commonplace, renewed in the image of God. (FE 536.2) MC VC