Greece is recognized in the Scriptures as emblematic of worldly wisdom,[189] but by that wisdom the world knew not God; in fact, by that wisdom the world was led away from God. God will, then, raise up the sons of Zion, the representatives of His wisdom—the divine philosophy—against the sons of Greece, or the students of the wisdom of the world; and in the final conflict, when truth wins, it will be evident that those who are numbered with the victors have forsaken the wisdom of Greece for the wisdom of God. It is not theory, but the most solemn fact, that the preparation for a life with God demands that we and our children receive a far different education than has been offered in the past. If we wish the highest culture, if we long for soul development, our education must be spiritual in nature; we must leave the low, turbid waters of the valley for the snow waters of Lebanon. This is Christian education. Protestants to-day see their children slipping from the fold. Every inducement in the way of entertainments, form, ceremony, and oratory is used to attract the youth to the church, but still the world allures them. Ministers are beginning to search for the reason, and are attributing it to the character of the education now given in our schools; in saying this, they strike at the root of the trouble. Protestantism is dying; the form of godliness, which denies the power thereof, is spreading its dark mantle over the earth. It is in vain that we point to stately edifices or noted divines; if we can not recognize the difficulty, it but proves that we are ourselves under the cloud, and recovery is all but impossible. We talk of the spread of Christianity; we give of our means for the conversion of the heathen, while our children perish within our very homes. The spirit and power of Elias, which was to accompany the preaching of the kingdom of Christ, was “to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children.” Cries the prophet Joel, “_Gather the children_, and those that suck the breast.... Let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare Thy people, O Lord, and give not Thine heritage [the children] to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them.” Ministers, fathers, mothers, look to the welfare of your children, or the cause of Protestantism is lost in America. Take up your first, your all-important duty, and give your children a Christian education, and instead of a decline in church membership as now reported, there will be an increase; instead of formalism, there will be life. This will be the means of bringing the heathen to your door, and to a knowledge of the gospel.