Southern standard. (McMinnville, Tenn.) 1879-current, 1890-08-16


A good many teachers who have
no opportunity, or no inclination, to
read elaborate treatises on the inter-
probation of the Bible, may be will
ling to look through some homely
suggestions. One who undertakes to
explain number of selected passages
of the Bible, so as to fix in susceptible
youthful minds a lifelong conception
Of their meaning, certainly. has task
sufficiently difficult and responsible,
and may reasonably welcome the
slightest help.
/. Be willing to let the Bible mean
what it wants to mean. If you think
that is a matter of course, l cannot
agree with you. All of us who teach
Bible lessons have certain doctrinal
views, certain established PROPOSES
sions, certain constitutional tenden-
cies to prefer this or that way of re-
garding and presenting any point of
religious truth. tits doubtful wheth-
er any one of us ever does approach a
Scripture lesson with entire willing
ness that it shall mean what it wishes
to mean. But assuredly we ought to
make earnest effort in this direction.
We reproach a politician who labors
to explain the Constitution in some
unnatural way to suit himself, a law
yer who deals likewise with what he
isreading from law book, a business
man who perverts the terms of a
written contract; but still more blame
worthy are we, if we know before
hand what we want this passage to
mean, and then put screws to it that
it may be forced into suiting our
views and wishes. Here is a grave
fault, and if everybody is tempted to
commit the fault then we ought to
make earnest and prayelful efforts to
form the habit ofsubmitting our pref
erences to the real meaning of the
inspired Book we are undertaking to
interpret.
2. Give careful attention to the con-
nexion of your passage. Not only
does every sentence of the lesson u.s.
ually have some distinct connexion
with the rest, but the lesson as a
whole has its connexion with what
precedes and follows. One of the
gravest and commonest faults among
Sunday school teachers and pupils
consists in treating the lesson as an
independent whole, without regard
to its connection in the book and in the
Bible. The lesson is printed sepa'
rately, and multituGes of pupils, with
large proportion of teachers, viii
never stop to think of what has gone
before. But even with the Bible
before ones eyes, there is a grievou;
tendency to indolent neglect of the
conneXion. This has been fostereC
by the common fashion of printing
the Bible without distinct indication
of paragraphs, such as we have in al
other books, and with every scrap 0
a verse printed as if itself a paragraph
when it maybe only part of a sen,
tence.
Ministers also have in many case
done great mischief, in this respect
by taking a short text because easily
remembered, and then interpreting
its language in any way that seem
to yield helpful ideas and regarding
it as sort of bondage to keep within
the limits of the conneXiOn. Man.
years ago, wise father gave his littl
boy a simple lesson, which has neve
been forgotten. He said, II Cal
prove to you out of the Bible tina
there is no Cod" So the boy brough
a Bible, which the father opened
and placing his finger over som
words, babe him read. There it was
beginning with capital letter, like
complete sentence, "There is n
God" The child stared; but whe
the finger was lifted, it read, 9TH
fool hath said in his heart, There
no God" You may say that, {
course, no one would so utterly an
tiagrantly disregard the connexio
as in that case. But, suffer a perso
who has given much attention t
teaching and preaching and CONNER
tary, to say that, in hundreds, if ne
thousands, of cases, he has seen tn
connection disregarded, not so obv
ously, perhaps, but in fashion ju'
as real and just as misleading.
The connection of lesson may /
only few preceding and followin
sentences, or chapter or two. IN
higher and very real sense, the lesso
stands i'm relation to the whole boo