Living Fountains or Broken Cisterns: An Educational Problem for Protestants — John Shaqi
Living Fountains or Broken Cisterns: An Educational Problem for ProtestantsSutherland, E. A. (Edward Alexander)
Religion
Living Fountains or Broken Cisterns: An Educational Problem for Protestants
Sutherland, E. A. (Edward Alexander)
Church and education; Education -- History; Religious education
the form of worship, coming week by week to the gate of Eden to offer
sacrifice; but his eye of faith was blind. When he saw his brother’s
sacrifice accepted, a feeling of hatred sprang up in his breast, and,
raising his hand, he took that brother’s life.
Men are startled at the rapidity of the descent from Edenic purity to a
condition where murder was easy, but it was the natural result of the
educational system chosen by Cain. Reason exalted above faith makes man
like the engine without the governor.
[Sidenote: Character developed in the worldly school]
Murder, however, was but one result of the decision made by Cain. He fled
from the presence of God, and, with his descendants built the cities of
the East. Physical needs predominated, so that the whole attention of
this people was turned to the gratification of fleshly desires. Pride
increased, love of wealth was a ruling passion; the artificial took,
more and more, the place once occupied by the natural. In the place of
God-worship was self-worship, or paganism. This was the religious aspect,
and here are to be found the first worshipers of the sun, the human
progenitors of the modern papacy.
[Sidenote: Affects government]
As there was a change in religion, so there was a change in government.
There could no longer be a theocracy, the father of the family being the
high priest unto God; for God had been lost sight of, and his place was
filled by man himself. Hence, these descendants of Cain flocked together
into cities, where the strong bore rule over the weak, and thus developed
an absolute monarchy, which is perpetuated to-day in the kingdoms of
eastern Asia.
The education which upheld paganism in religion and monarchy in
government was the same as that which in later days controlled Greece,
and is known by us to-day as Platonism. It is but another name for an
education which exalts the mind of man above God, and places human
philosophy ahead of divine philosophy.
[Sidenote: Origin of false philosophy]
The philosophy which was thus exalted,—this science falsely
so-called,—deified nature, and would to-day be known as evolution. You
think the name a modern one. It may be, but the philosophy antedates the
flood, and the schools of those men before the flood taught for truth the
traditions of men as truly as they are taught to-day.
We think, perhaps, that there were no schools then, but that is a
mistake. “The training of the youth in those days was after the same
order as children are being educated and trained in this age,—to love
excitement, to glorify themselves, to follow the imaginations of their
own evil hearts.” Their keen minds laid hold of the sciences; they delved
into the mysteries of nature. They made wonderful progress in inventions
and all material pursuits. But the imaginations of their hearts were only
evil continually.
[Sidenote: City life unfitted minds for truth]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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