With His chosen apostles, Christ “_withdrew from the confusion of the city to the quiet of the fields and hills_ as more in harmony with the lessons of self-abnegation he desired to teach them.... Here, surrounded by the works of his own creation, he could turn the thoughts of his hearers _from the artificial to the natural_.” Those schools to-day which are located in some quiet country place afford the best opportunities for education. [Sidenote: Text-books] The books used seem to be two, and only two: _the writings of the prophets_ and _the great book of nature_. Hinsdale says: “Scripture furnishes the basis of His teaching.... It is impossible to say how many distinct recognitions of Scripture are found in His teachings, but the number and range are both large.... One of the most interesting of these [methods] is his constant habit of expanding Scripture, or, as we might say, of reading into it new meanings. He thus treats not merely prophetic passages, but also dogmatic passages; moreover, His meanings are sometimes new, not merely to the Jewish teachers, but also to the authors of the passages themselves.”[51] This was because the teacher was led by the Spirit of truth, which guides into all truth. [Sidenote: His system emphasized the practical] It must be remembered that this instruction was given to men of mature minds, and tended to fit them to become teachers of all men in whatever station. Probably none of the apostles were under thirty. They were men who had become settled in a life work. John, the youngest, was most susceptible to spiritual teaching, and at length developed this nature so fully that his spirit left his body in vision.[52] Painter expresses well the method of instruction followed by Christ. He says: “He observes the order of nature, and seeks only a gradual development,—‘first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear.’ With His disciples, He insists chiefly upon the _practical_ and _fundamental_ truths of religion, _building_, as it were, a substantial framework in the beginning, which the Holy Spirit was to conduct afterward to a harmonious and beautiful completion.”[53] [Sidenote: Visible results of His teaching]