Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-08-03

of the Christian religion. They ought t.
tell him how God so loved the world tina
He gave His Son to come down into tn
midst of men. who were forgetting the low
of God, and disobeying the law Of God, tina
He might teach them and help them, ant
show them how much the Father in HEAVIER
loved them, and point out the right way Il
walk in. They ought to tell him the story
OF the Christmas angels, and the mange
that was used for cradle, and how the LITTLE
child grew day by day, and lived the kline
of life which this little child must live
They ought to tell him of the deeds and
WORDS of wonder which are written in the
gospels. And some Good Friday, when
the child gets old enough to understand 8
little, they ought to tell him the story OF
the cross, and show him what that teaches
about Gods love for us, and about Gods
| grief at our sins.
| The father and mother ought never to tell
the child that God doesn't love bad chill
dren; because that is not true. God loves
| all His children. When He sees badness in
them, He is very sorry. God is our Father
| in heaven, and when we turn from His
love and transgress His law He feels as a
father must feel. Sin grieves God. That is
the best way to put it. The father and
he is bad child he will 90 to hell. That
used to be said to children much more o ten
than 1t is now. Some of the children's
books which were written twenty-five years
ago have to be expurgated before we can use
them now. Religion has sometimes been
made device for soaring children. 1t is
we'll to teach the child that when he does
wrong God will punish him, because God
loves him SO much that he wants him to do
right, even if he has to learn what right is
by lessons of pain. But I think that hell
and Satan are best left as entirely out of the
theology of childhood, as they are left out Of
the Apostles and the Nicene creeds.
SHOULD BE NO CONVERSION.
The father and mother ought never to
teach the child that there is any doubt as to
whether he is Gods child or not, or that
there is any choice to be made, some time in
himself among Christ's disciples. The
child is Gods child, and he began to be
disciple of Christ as soon as he began to
think. There ought not to be in the life of
any child, brought up by Christian parents,
any such era or event as Conversion" Con-
version means turning back, and the child
ought never to turn so seriously away as to
need any sudden and great change in his
life.
From his earliest years the heart of the
child who is brought up in Christian way
is given to God. He ought to be taught, So
soon as he is able to learn, what a
solemn vow, promise and profession has
been made for him in his baptism.
He ought often to be put in mind
of it. He ought daily to be helped to
times conceived of, is like long, protracted
1Sia mt nf Uhi ho
tient emerges by sudden and miraculous
recovery. The true ideal OF the religious
life is that it is a gradual growth in the
knowledge and love of God, step by step
and year by year, from childhood on, ever
by new strength and new wisdom and wider
experience following more closely the
blessed steps of Christ's most holy life. 1t
is no impossible ideal. Scores of people
whom we know are realizing it. It ought
to be fact in the life of every child.
HOME TEACHING COUNTS.
The chief instruction of children in re-
ligIon ought to be given at home. As a
matter of fact, the instructions in religion
which make the most impression upon chill
dren are given at home. The teaching may
be good or bad, the religion may be of God
or of the devil, nevertheless it is a fact that
the home lessons are most lastingly learned
Aue latuer anu tne motueF OuSnI TO De re-
ligion embodied. The highest ideal of O
boy should be to be like his father and of a
girl to be like her mother. In most cases
these are actually the ideals of the boys and
girls. That is how the father and mother are
SO responsible for their children, even as
the giant is responsible for his arrows. The
parents form the children. They set the
tone of the children's voices and the spirit
Of their speech, and the standard of their
aste, and the ideal toward which they aim.
They shape their opinions and determine
heir attitude toward the great principles
which govern faith and conduct; they prac-
ically determine the direction of their lives.
Nobody needs to be SO careful in speech,
10 heedtul in look and in act as a father or
! mother. A page of example counts far
more in the training of child than whole
library of advice. GEORGE HODGES.