Covenanter Witness Vol. 55 - Rparchives.org

state"Teaching the BibleBut a recent survey of college students who hadignorance of the most rudimentary biblical facts. While we'vehave we at the same time neglected the real ABC's of religion?Used by permission of Christian Herald and the Authorlast book in the Old Testament Psalms, Acts, Romans.Such appalling ignorance of the most familiarBible stories and personalities on the part of youngpeople fresh out of our Sabbath schoolsnot the hitand-missSabbath-school scholars, but those whohave attended faithfully all their lives causes us towonder justifiably what goes on in our Sabbathschools? How can a person go to Sabbath school regularly for a period of 10 or 15 years and come outknowing as little about the Bible as these studentsapparently do? What are some of the reasons whythe majority of Sabbath-school pupils learn so littleabout the Bible?Bible Illiteracy Among TeachersOne reasonwhy children fail to gain Bibleknowledge in Sabbath school is that their teachersin many cases don't know much more than they do.Of the 61 students taking the placement testwho acknowledged having taught Sabbath school before coming to college, 39 were unable to name thebook which contains the history of the early church,36 didn't know the tax-collector disciple, 34 didn'tknow where to locate the Ten Commandments, 33couldn't name the father of Joseph, 32 didn't knowthe famous wise man of the Old Testament, 27couldn't name a single parable of Jesus, 19 didn'tknow the author of 13 New Testament letters, 7didn't know the first book in the New Testament, 7didn't know who betrayed Jesus.Is it any wonder that the pupils of teachers aspoorly equipped as some of these, learn little aboutthe Bible ? I do not mean to speak unkindlyor critically of those good folk who respond to the need forteachers in our Sabbath schools; in most cases it isnot their fault that they have been inadequately prepared for Bible teaching. Many excellent teachershave overcome meager childhood training by diligentpersonal study.Another reason for our biblical illiterates is thefact that many Sabbath-school teachers and pupils do not take their responsibilities seriously.Again and again students tell me in conference thatthey learned little or nothing in Sabbath school because the lesson time was wasted in talking aboutown Sabbath-anything but the lesson. One of myschool teachers, I well remember, occupied the classperiods with discussions of football, baseball, fishingand other topics of interest to teen-age boys. Onesession which was particularly illuminating was onein which he told us in vivid detail of a visit he hadmade to an unsavory district of a city in Mexico.That was the Sabbath-school lesson for the day!With such "teaching," is it any wonder that pupilsare not motivated to study their lessons at home andJuly 13, 1955come prepared in mind and spirit to appropriate thesacred truths ?Insufficient Time for TeachingThe fault does not of course lie entirely withteachers; many are excellently qualified and thoroughly dedicated. However, they are seriouslyhandicapped by lack of time. One hour a week isbrief enough time for Bible study. But many Sabbath schools are late getting started; undue timeis consumed by opening and closing "exercises" ; theritual of taking the roll and the offering and discussing class business takes additional time. When all issaid and done, the teacher is doing well to get in20 minutes on the lesson.Undoubtedly one reason why young people arenot learning very much about the Bible in Sabbathschools is that they for the most part are not offereda chronological approach. Seldom if ever do they receive instruction in the history of the Old Testamentand the New Testament. Most Sabbath-school classesemploy either "hop, skip and jump" lessons or topical courses of study which do not relate the people.events and passages of the Bible in their historicalsequence. Without such a perspective, it is not tremendously surprising to find a lifetime Sabbathschoolscholar who names Mary Magdalene as thesister of Moses, or Romans as the last book in theOld Testament.Our Secularized Public School CurriculaBut the Sabbath school is not alone to blame forthe Bible illiteracy of our generation. Two factorssharing this responsibility are closely related to ourpublic schools.The first is lack of religious instruction in oureducational setup. Public schools were launched incolonial America for the twofold purpose of trainingministers and teaching lay people to read so thatthey could study their Bibles. Even as late as theMcGuffey Reader period, the Bible constituted amajor source of the literature which was taught inthe public schools. But gradually, with the evolution of the "separation of church and theory,the Bible and other religious materials have beentaken out of the classroom. In order that no denomination should be given unfair advantage, all havebeen given unfair disadvantage. Whereas the intention of our forefathers was that the American people enjoy freedom of religion, not freedom from religion, the effect of their sincere efforts to safeguard every individual's right to worship God inhis own way has been, ironically, to encourage youthnot to worship God in anyway.The other day a student in Old Testament History asked me this question: "If the Jews were as21