The Lynden tribune. [volume] (Lynden, Wash.) 1908-current, 1913-06-05
|CHRlSTIAN
/ INSTRUCTION
WHAT is it? and WHY Is it?
COMMUNICATED
Continued from last week.

COMMUNICATED
Continued from last week.
Before we endeavor to make plain
what Christian Instruction is, it will
perhaps be well for US to say WHAT
1T Is NOT.
Permit us in the first place to state
most emphatically that our schools are
not controlled by any CHURCH OR
CHURCHES. They do not stand un-
der ecclesiastical supervision any
more than the public schools, but are
controlled by free organizations of
Christian parents, of Reformed per-
suasions They have not been erected
for the purpose of giving systematic
instruction in Christian doctrine. All
instruction, however, pedagogical
methods, ETC., should be in harmony
with our Reformed principles.
We believe the Bible to be the rev.
elation of God, the infallible standard
of truth and righteousness. In our
school this book of books is used, in
the first place, as a textbook for Sa-
cred History.
To our mind this branch deserves, to
say the very least, just as important
. place on the primary school curricu-
lum, as for instance, American His
tory. Our teachers take pains to give
their pupils a most thorough knowl-
edge of this branch. In the second
place the teachings of the Bible are
made the cornerstone of all the in
struction in the other branches OF
study, e. g. Reading. History, Geogra-
ply, Physiology, Civil Government,
etc. Hence you will perceive that a
Christian education demands some
thin~ fhon tho
and development of true piety in the
hearts and lives of students through
devotional exercises. prayer and sa
cred songs, through daily contact witt
faithful and fearless Christian teach
ers, the living epistles of truth" To
merit the name, CHI RIS TIAN
SCHOOL, everything which consti
tutes that school and pertains to it.
especially the discipline and the mat
ter and method of teaching, shoult
be based on distinctly CHRISTIAN
PRINCIPLES. For. a Christian tn,
importance of branch of study is de
termined by its value as a means TO-
eQuipping for the service of God, ii
the daily walks of THIS life and il
the life to COME. If you are a Chris
tian, you believe that all scienc,
should be in harmony with, domi
mated by Gods immutable truth, re
vealed in His Word; that everything
taught or learned should be subjecte,
to its infallible test Science Gu
loose from God, the Fountain-heal
Of truth, il like . bird stripped OF it.
wings, like a rudderless ship, a life
less body. Religion is not merely al
affair of the heart, but also of tn,
head. Religion confined within tn,
limits of the church, the home and tn.
closet is not worthy of the name
Have not the Scriptures been giveI
to us, that by using them "the maj
of God may be complete, furnished
completely unto every good work."
You imagine perhaps that your chilt
can receive ample religious instruc
tion in the church and the home. !
you really think SO, please take tn,
hours which are devoted to its mora
and spiritual development, in Cate
chism, Sunday School and 'at it.
mothers knees" with the time j
spends at school, How absurd the com
parison will be! And still, whicl
things carry more weight, the materia
or the spiritual? Which are the mos
valuable assets in life-a good job an,
fne pay, or righteousness and Low,
and the fear of the Lord, which 10 tn
beginning of wisdom?
Jesus himself answered this Ques
zion for US long ago, when he said
What profiteth it man If he gain tn
Vhole world and lose his soul?
But let us for a moment take TO,
granted that the home and the churcl
together do justice to the spiritua
needs of your child, what If the schOO
10 breaking down what you are build
ing up? Did you ever go to the trou
BILE of finding out whether this is act
ually being done in the case of you.
child? Let us be consistent. Church
Home and School should cooperate
In unity there is strength. Division
prepares the way for ruin. Let us
not be cruel to our children by per
mitting others to SOW the seeds o
doubt in the virgin soil of their re
ceptive minds and tender hearts.
In mo way do we desire to under
estimate the value of Christian train
ing In the home. We are even pleased
rather than disturbed, to hear yol
emphasize the fact that the home Il
after all the great training place for
children, that Christian instruction
cannot neutralize the evil influences
OI u kOOlcS6 AOLC. hC SShOOA ASO0s
the home and the home needs the
school The more faithful and con
scientious you try to be in the dis
charge of your Christian duty towart
the children which God gave you, thu
sooner you will apply to the Christian
school for assistance. If you. Chris
tian parents. have a deep and genuine
interest in your child's welfare. ant
in the honor of Him, to whom you be
long with body and soul, in life ant
death, you cannot, without troubled
conscience, send your children to
school in which during the man!
hours which they spend there from
.. m. to $3.50 p. m. religion is under
the censure of the law!
The school should represent th'
home; not as its substitute, but as 1t.
assistant. In past ages parents in
structed their own children in all th'
things which they needed to learn, but
as the world grew buster ay were
compelled to entrust this wor. partl.
10 Others, the parents of courA re
maining responsible. In those da.
.sthe religious instinct" OF the chile
vas not looked upon as a sort OF ap