The Project Gutenberg eBook ofTraining the TeacherThis ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this ebook or online atwww.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this eBook.Title: Training the TeacherAuthor: A. F. SchaufflerMartin Grove BrumbaughAntoinette Abernethy LamoreauxMarion LawranceRelease date: March 26, 2010 [eBook #31791]Most recently updated: January 6, 2021Language: EnglishCredits: Produced by Juliet Sutherland and the Online DistributedProofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TRAINING THE TEACHER ***
This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this ebook or online atwww.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this eBook.
Title: Training the TeacherAuthor: A. F. SchaufflerMartin Grove BrumbaughAntoinette Abernethy LamoreauxMarion LawranceRelease date: March 26, 2010 [eBook #31791]Most recently updated: January 6, 2021Language: EnglishCredits: Produced by Juliet Sutherland and the Online DistributedProofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
Title: Training the Teacher
Author: A. F. SchaufflerMartin Grove BrumbaughAntoinette Abernethy LamoreauxMarion Lawrance
Author: A. F. Schauffler
Martin Grove Brumbaugh
Antoinette Abernethy Lamoreaux
Marion Lawrance
Release date: March 26, 2010 [eBook #31791]Most recently updated: January 6, 2021
Language: English
Credits: Produced by Juliet Sutherland and the Online DistributedProofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TRAINING THE TEACHER ***
Teacher-training Needed.—No more serious problem faces the Sunday-school to-day than the question of securing more teachers and better teaching. We owe it to those who are called to teach the Word to see that means of thorough preparation be brought within their reach. The best teachers will welcome a better training for Christ's service and many good people who have not found their place in the work of the church will gladly engage in Sunday-school teaching after they have been specially instructed in the Bible and in the principles of teaching.
This book provides the essential elements for the teacher-training course in four sections: (1) The Bible material which is the basis for all Sunday-school instruction, under the title of "The Book," by Dr. Schauffler. (2) A study of the working of the mind at various ages and under differing conditions (a brief study of psychology), under the title of "The Pupil," by Mrs. Lamoreaux. (3) A study of teaching principles and the application of these principles (a brief study of pedagogy), under the title of "The Teacher," by Dr. Brumbaugh. (4) A study of the place in which this instruction should be given, that is, "The School," by Mr. Lawrance. Additional material for instruction will be found in the chapter "How the Bible came to Us" by Professor Ira Maurice Price, and "The Gist of the Books."
Starting a Class.—(1) No better beginning can be made than a prayerful conference between the pastor and the Sunday-school superintendent to determine the need and possibilities of teacher-training within the local school. (2) The nearest representative of organized Sunday-school work in your county or State will gladly furnish you with printed matter pointingout the teacher-training plans in successful use in your denomination. (3) Select your text-book and familiarize yourself with it. (4) Call the teachers and officers together. Have a half-hour social feature, to be followed with an earnest address on the need and the plan of teacher-training. Teach a sample lesson from the text-book. Endeavor in that meeting to secure at least a few persons who will agree to enter a class and will promise to do personal work to secure other members. But do not make the mistake of requiring a large class before beginning. A leader and two or more students will constitute a class.
Who Should Enter the Class?—Two general plans are now in operation. One provides for a training class forpresent teachers. This class should meet at a convenient time during the week to follow the course in a teacher-training text-book. A whole evening could profitably be given to class work. If this is not feasible the class may meet for study at the time of the weekly teachers'-meeting or before or after the mid-week prayer service.
A second plan provides for the training ofprospective teachers, and this may be done in a class meeting at the time of the regular school session. These should be found in the senior and adult departments of the school and should be sixteen years of age or older. The most promising young people in the school should be sought for membership in this class. If possible, a separate room should be provided so that the time of the closing exercises of the school could be added to the lesson period of the class. This will enable the class to devote ten minutes to a brief study of the spiritual teachings of the general Bible lesson for the day and yet leave a half-hour or more for the training lesson.
It should not be overlooked that if a class for present teachers is established, the officers of the school will find the course invaluable and parents will secure very helpful instruction in the care and nurture of young children.
Making the Class a Success.—It is possible for one student to follow a teacher-training course alone, but it is very desirable for two or more to join and take the course in class. Several persons meeting for conference will bring better results than the same persons studying individually. The class should have a leader who is a sympathetic, patient, tactful Christian man orwoman, who will inspire the members to continue in their work, and who will see that every session of the class is a conference and not a lecture. Indifferent work should be discouraged. The members of the class are more likely to continue to the end of the course if they have the consciousness of mastering the work. The question and answer method should be emphasized, and the entire period of the class should be given at frequent intervals to reviews. Illuminating essays and talks may be brought into the class, but these should be brief, and should deal in a simple way with side-lights on the lesson assigned for that period.
It is very desirable that the class should be enrolled with the denominational teacher-training department and with the State Sunday School Association. This enrolment will furnish the officers of these organizations with information which will enable them to keep in touch with the class and to send from time to time helpful and inspirational suggestions. The enrolment of the class will also cause the members to feel the importance of the course and will strengthen the sense of obligation to do thorough work.
The official examinations are of the greatest importance, and should be taken by every member of the class. These examination tests intensify interest, and help to hold the class together until the end of the course.
Great encouragement will be given to the members of the class if public recognition is made of their work from time to time. Brief words spoken in public commending the work which is being done will often tide some faltering member over the crisis of hesitation. The denominational Sunday-school leaders and officers of organized Sunday-school work frequently may be called upon to lend encouragement by their helpful presence at some public function of the class.
The diploma issued by the denominations or by the International Sunday School Association is a fitting recognition of work done, and gives the student a place in the enlarging fellowship of trained teachers. Alumni Associations are being formed in the States with annual reunions. Graduating exercises should be provided, and these should be impressive and dignified servicesthat will show to the church and community the emphasis the Sunday-school is placing on high grade work.
The Sunday School Times Company does not offer any certificates or diplomas, nor does it conduct any teacher-training classes. All this is carried on by the denominations, or through the agency of the State Sunday School Associations.
Leaders of classes, and individuals pursuing these studies apart from classes, are urged to read the chapter entitled "Teaching Hints," on page259, before beginning this section
Leaders of classes, and individuals pursuing these studies apart from classes, are urged to read the chapter entitled "Teaching Hints," on page259, before beginning this section
1. Methods of Bible Study.—Microscopic study of the Bible is the study of smaller portions, such as single verses, or parts of chapters. Many sermons adopt this method. It is good for many purposes. But it fails to give the larger views of Bible history that the teacher needs for effective work. The telescopic method takes in large sections of the Word, and considers them in their relation to the whole of revelation. This is the method that will be adopted in these studies.
2. To assist in the studyof a general survey of Bible history, we give as a memory outline above a chart of the centuries between Adam and Christ. We use in this the chronology in our Bibles, not because it is correct, but because scholars have not yet agreed on a better, especially for the ages before Abraham.
All the names are well-known but that of Jared, and his is put in merely to mark the close of the first half-millennium. Memorize these names so that you can reproduce the chart without looking at the book. This exercise of memory will enable you to locate the chief events of Bible history roughly in their appropriate chronological environment. Are you reading about any event in the wanderings of Israel? Of course you are between the letters M. and S. Is it a story of Elijah that you are studying? Then the event must lie between the letters S. and Z. Or is it the biography of Nehemiah that forms your lesson? Then it must lie to the right of the letter Z.
3. One peculiarity of the Bible narrativeis that at times it is quite diffuse, and covers much space on the sacred page, while at other times it is most highly condensed. For example, the first twelve chapters of Genesis cover over 2000 years at the lowest computation. All the rest of Genesis (thirty-eight chapters) covers the lives of four men, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph. The first chapter of Exodus covers centurieswhile all the rest of Exodus, all of Leviticus, all of Numbers and all of Deuteronomy cover only forty years. Surely there must be some good reason for this. Again, two chapters in Matthew and two in Luke cover thirty years of our Lord's life, while all the rest of the four Gospels cover only three and a half years.
4. Another peculiarityof the Word is that the miraculous element is very unevenly distributed. At times miracles abound, and at other times they are but few in number. In the first eleven chapters of Genesis, covering more than 2000 years, there are few miracles, outside of those of the creation. But in the period after that, covered by the four great Patriarchs, we find more miracles than before.
During the Mosaic period, beginning with Exodus 2, we find that miracles begin to multiply as never before. For instance, God fed his people for forty years (except on the Sabbath) with manna. Again, in the times of Elijah and Elisha, the narrative amplifies, and the miracles multiply. And once more when we come to the Messianic period, as exemplified in the story of Christ, the narrative becomes fourfold, and the miracles multiply as never before. What is the reason for this amplification of narrative and simultaneous multiplication of the miraculous? It is because these periods were exceptionally significant. In them God was trying to teach men lessons of peculiar importance. So he led the writers to tell the story more in full, and he himself emphasized the teaching by his own Divine interposition.
5. In the Patriarchal period Godwas calling out him who was to be the founder of that people which was to preserve God's law through the ages, and from whom at last was to come Jesus, the Redeemer of the world. This was a most important period, and one with which we might well become acquainted.
6. In the Mosaic periodGod was bringing out his people from bondage and was giving to them laws that were to shape their national life for all time. He was also giving to them a typology in high priest, tabernacle, and sacrifice that was to lead them in the way of truth until, in the fulness of the time, he was to come who was the fulfilment of both law and type, Jesus of Nazareth, the Lamb of God, and the Son of God.
7. In the period of Elijahand his great pupil, Elisha,God was making a great effort to call back to himself Israel, or the Northern Kingdom, which had been led into gross idolatry by Jeroboam, and later by Ahab.
8. In the Messianic periodGod was fulfilling all that he had promised from the beginning as to a Redeemer who was to come. He who had spoken to the fathers through the prophets, and the various types, was now to speak to men through the person of his Son. Good reason then why, at the four periods to which we have called attention, God should provide that the narrative should be more full than at other times, and that simultaneously there should be the marked intervention of the miraculous, to prove that God was truly speaking to men, and giving them divine directions as to how to act, and what to believe.
9. It follows, then,that there are four periods to which we should pay especial attention, as being of unusual importance, and these are the Patriarchal period, the Mosaic period, the period of Elijah and Elisha, and the period of the Messiah. If the student be well posted as to the occurrences during these periods, and their teaching, he will have at least a good working outline of the whole of the Bible history in its most important developments. To emphasize these periods we have added on the chart in the Memory Outline the dots that will be seen, multiplying them at each period somewhat in proportion to the multiplication of the miraculous element in the narrative.
What two ways are there of studying the Bible?
What advantage is there for our purposes in the second method?
Give the nine names that divide the Old Testament times into periods of five centuries each.
What chronological peculiarity do we find in the Bible narrative?
Give some examples of this. (Pick out other instances of this yourself.)
What peculiarity do we find in the distribution of the miracles?
Name the four periods in which the narrative amplifies and at the same time the miracles multiply.
PRINCIPAL EVENTS
Prelude.—The story of creation (Gen. 1, 2). God was the author of all and no idolatry was to be permitted.First Period.—Adam, the first man; sinned and fell (Gen. 3).Second Period.—Noah, the head of a family, saved in the ark from a devastating flood; a new beginning for the human race, followed by another failure (Gen. 6, 7, 8). The tower of Babel (Gen. 11:4). Confusion of tongues (Gen. 11:5-9).Third Period.—The chosen family, under Abraham, broadens to tribal life. The descent to Egypt (Gen. 46). Prosperity (Gen. 47:11), followed by oppression (Exod. 1:8-22). Moses the deliverer (Exod. 3:1-11). The march out of Egypt (Exod. 12). Legislation at Mount Sinai (Exod. 20). Entry into Canaan (Josh. 1-4). Times of the Judges. (Judg. 1 to 21).Fourth Period.—Three kings in all Israel—Saul, David, Solomon (1 Sam. 10 to 1 Kings 12). The divided kingdom.Fifth Period.—The captivity (2 Kings 25). The return. Ezra and Nehemiah.Leading Names.—First and Second periods—Adam, Noah; Third period—Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, Samuel; Fourth period—Saul, David, Hezekiah, Josiah, Elijah, Elisha, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Amos, Hosea; Fifth period—Zerubbabel, Ezra, Nehemiah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi.
Prelude.—The story of creation (Gen. 1, 2). God was the author of all and no idolatry was to be permitted.
First Period.—Adam, the first man; sinned and fell (Gen. 3).
Second Period.—Noah, the head of a family, saved in the ark from a devastating flood; a new beginning for the human race, followed by another failure (Gen. 6, 7, 8). The tower of Babel (Gen. 11:4). Confusion of tongues (Gen. 11:5-9).
Third Period.—The chosen family, under Abraham, broadens to tribal life. The descent to Egypt (Gen. 46). Prosperity (Gen. 47:11), followed by oppression (Exod. 1:8-22). Moses the deliverer (Exod. 3:1-11). The march out of Egypt (Exod. 12). Legislation at Mount Sinai (Exod. 20). Entry into Canaan (Josh. 1-4). Times of the Judges. (Judg. 1 to 21).
Fourth Period.—Three kings in all Israel—Saul, David, Solomon (1 Sam. 10 to 1 Kings 12). The divided kingdom.
Fifth Period.—The captivity (2 Kings 25). The return. Ezra and Nehemiah.
Leading Names.—First and Second periods—Adam, Noah; Third period—Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, Samuel; Fourth period—Saul, David, Hezekiah, Josiah, Elijah, Elisha, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Amos, Hosea; Fifth period—Zerubbabel, Ezra, Nehemiah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi.
TIME.—From an unknown time to about 400 B. C.
LANDS.—Armenia, Chaldea, Palestine, Egypt, Persia.
SIGNIFICANCE OF EVENTS.—The Old Testament begins with a statement of the creation; tells of the introduction of man, "made in the image of God;" records the downfall of man and God's many efforts to redeem him; recites the incidents of God's dealings with chosen individuals, selected families and a particular nation; continues with this nation separated into two parts and held captive by a foreign power, and closes with the return of a part of Judah. With the entrance of sin came the promise of salvation through one who should come out of the chosen (Jewish) nation.
1. Two Great Divisions.—In biblical history here are two great divisions, that of the Old Testament and that of the New Testament. It is well to have clear outlines in our minds with regard to the great outstanding characteristics of these periods. In making these divisions into the periods that follow we have no "Thus saith the Lord" for our guidance, but use the best common sense that we have. Others might make a different division, but we give that below as at the least suggestive.
2. Prelude.—The great prelude of creation. Here we are told that all things find their origin in God. This teaching is in contradistinction to the claim that matter is eternal. It also denies the doctrine that the world was made by chance. It places the beginning of all things seen in the power of One who is from eternity to eternity. This satisfies the cravings of the human heart as no other teaching does.
3. First Period.—Adam to Noah.Here we have the first stage in the drama of human history. In it we find the beginnings of the human race, of sin, and of redemption. Three most important beginnings. It is covered by Genesis 2 to 5 inclusive. It is marked by total failure on the part of man. "Every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually" (Gen. 6:5). Man proved himself recreant to God's holy law.
4. Second Period.—Noah to Abraham.Chapters 6 to 12. God makes a new beginning with the family of Noah. But, as before, man proves himself disobedient and faithless to his God. We find a great civilization, but little godliness. For the second time man proves a failure, so far as obedience to God's law is concerned. Man in his pride says, "Come, let us build," while God on his part says, "Come, let us confound" (Gen. 11:4 and 7).
But little space is given in the Bible to these two periods, for they are in reality preliminary to the third, which is of vastly more importance than the two put together.
5. Third Period.—Abraham to Kings.Genesis 12 through to 1 Samuel 9. This is a most important period. Here God changes his method of treating man. From henceforth he will chiefly communicate truth to mankind through a chosen family and nation. Not that no man outside of this circle can know God's will, but that especially through Abraham and his seed God chooses to make his will known, until, in the fulness of time, Jesus, the son of Abraham according to the flesh, shall come and reveal clearly God's love and redemption to men.
In this section we have the story of the patriarchal family, first coming out of Ur of the Chaldees, and living for a while in Canaan. Then they go down to Egypt, and at last are oppressed. After being welded together in the furnace of affliction they are brought out with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and in the wilderness they receive the law of God through their great leader, Moses. Here too they learn the way of acceptable worship, and are prepared for entry into the Land of Promise. Then follows the conquest of the land under Moses' successor, Joshua. Now comes the period of the Judges, when God rules his people directly through these divinely called men. This is easily seen to be a most important period. All this time Israel only is monotheistic (believing in one God), but all the other nations of the earth are grossly idolatrous. During this period we see that so long as God's chosen people obey him they prosper, while as soon as they disobey disasters begin to multiply.
In this period, too, was given that legislation which has beenthe foundation of all the legislation of civilized nations from that time to this. Here also we have the foundations of that system of types that culminated in Jesus, great David's greater Son. Sacrifice, high priest, tabernacle, here have their origin or their development. In all the history of the world up to that time there was no period so fraught with blessings for mankind as was this period.
6. Fourth Period.—Kings to captivity.1 Samuel 9 to 2 Kings 25. This may be divided into two parts:
(1) The united monarchy. This lasted one hundred and twenty years, and had three kings, Saul, David, Solomon. Saul brought something of order out of national chaos. David carried this still farther and made Israel truly a great nation. Solomon, however, through too much luxury and many political alliances, sowed the seeds of national decay.
(2) Now comes the division of the monarchy, brought on by the folly of Rehoboam, Solomon's son. Because of his refusal to lighten the heavy taxes, ten tribes revolted and established a kingdom under Jeroboam. Ever after this they were known as Israel, also called by us the Northern Kingdom. The Kingdom of Judah is also known as the Southern Kingdom.
Israel, or theNorthern Kingdomwent from the worship of the golden calves to that of Baal, and continued on the downward course until they went into captivity. They had only one good king, named Jehu, and he was none too good.
Judah, or theSouthern Kingdomfared somewhat better, though even here there was much idolatry. At last Judah too went into captivity, on account of its sin. It is most suggestive to compare the triumphant entry of Israel into the land, and its shameful exit in chains and tears. It was all brought about through abandoning the God of Abraham. There are some in modern days who claim that Israel had naturally a monotheistic tendency, and on that account slowly worked its way out of polytheism into monotheism. The writer does not so read the history, but finds that Israel had an inveterate tendency to polytheism, and that God only cured it of this sin through the sorrows of the captivity.
7. Fifth Period.—Captivity and return.Read Ezra andNehemiah. This is not a period of great glory, like that of Solomon's reign. But it is a period most remarkable on account of the fact that Judah was now strictly monotheistic, and from that day to this, over two thousand years, it has remained so. In the furnace fires of captivity God cured his people once and forever of their besetting sin, idolatry. This is a most remarkable fact, for the nations into which they went as captives were themselves totally idolatrous.
In this period comes the building of the second temple, the reform under Ezra, and the building of the walls of Jerusalem, under Nehemiah.
8.Now the story closes for four centuries and does not open until the New Testament times (with which we shall deal later on) begin.
Into what two great divisions is the Bible divided?
Give the theme of the Prelude to the Old Testament.
Give the extent of the first period.
What was its outcome?
Give the extent of the second period.
In what moral condition did its termination find mankind?
From whom to whom did the third period reach?
What change in God's method of revelation did the third period manifest?
With what family did God begin now to deal more specifically?
Where did family life merge into national life?
What two important phases of divine revelation did this period include?
Give the limits of the fourth period.
Give the two divisions of period four.
Give the cause of the division of the United Kingdom.
What was the course of history in the Northern Kingdom?
What course did history take in the Southern Kingdom?
Give the two prominent features of period five.
What marked change had come over Judah between the captivity and the return?
Give the great names that are prominent in the several periods into which we have divided the Old Testament times.
PRINCIPAL EVENTS
Prelude.
Account of the Creation.—The creation days: Light (Gen. 1:3-5); firmament (1:6-8); land and water separated, vegetation (1:9-13); heavenly bodies—sun, moon, stars (1:14-19); fish, birds and animals (1:19-25); man (1:26-31).
Account of the Creation.—The creation days: Light (Gen. 1:3-5); firmament (1:6-8); land and water separated, vegetation (1:9-13); heavenly bodies—sun, moon, stars (1:14-19); fish, birds and animals (1:19-25); man (1:26-31).
First Period.
Creation of Man.—Man made in God's image (Gen. 1:27); creation of Eve (Gen. 2:21, 22). Entrance of sin and the fall (3:1-6); Cain, son of Adam and Eve, killed his brother Abel (4:3-8).
Creation of Man.—Man made in God's image (Gen. 1:27); creation of Eve (Gen. 2:21, 22). Entrance of sin and the fall (3:1-6); Cain, son of Adam and Eve, killed his brother Abel (4:3-8).
Second Period.
The Flood.—The prevalence of wickedness (Gen. 6:5) caused God to destroy the population of the world by flood, with the exception of Noah, his family, and selected animals (Gen. 6-8). God made a covenant with Noah not to destroy the people again by flood (9:8-17)The Tower of Babel.—The wickedness in the heart of men found expression in the building of the great tower of Babel, and the punishment therefor was the confusion of tongues (11:1-9).
The Flood.—The prevalence of wickedness (Gen. 6:5) caused God to destroy the population of the world by flood, with the exception of Noah, his family, and selected animals (Gen. 6-8). God made a covenant with Noah not to destroy the people again by flood (9:8-17)
The Tower of Babel.—The wickedness in the heart of men found expression in the building of the great tower of Babel, and the punishment therefor was the confusion of tongues (11:1-9).
TIME.—From an unknown time to 1928 B. C.
PLACES.—Garden of Eden, Western Asia, Babylon.
SIGNIFICANCE OF EVENTS.—The creative period marks God as the supreme author of the universe and of its inhabitants; sinless at first, man falls, and begins the battle with evil which shall cease only with the ultimate complete triumph of Christ, the Redeemer. The flood marks the first of a series of tremendous efforts to save the world from the thraldom of sin.
9. Prelude.—This is the beginning of all things, and well suits the cravings of the human mind. It says, "In the beginning God created." This beginning does not go as far back as that of John 1:1, for that antedates creation and points to a beginning before God created. That is, John sweeps back to that beginning when as yet there was none but God. If this statement of Genesis 1:1 is compared with creation myths as found among other nations, it will at once be seen to be far grander and more in accord with our best thoughts of the divine activity. Unbelief may say, "In the beginning matter," or "in the beginning force," but that does not satisfy the human heart as do the words of the sacred writer.
In this beginningwe see the origin of all things. Genesis means "beginnings," and in this book we find the beginnings of matter, of vegetable life, of animal life, of man, of sin, of sacrifice, of material civilization, of the Covenant People, and of Redemption. Truly a wonderful book. Well has it been said that "Genesis enfolds all that the rest of the Bible unfolds." In this book we find the germ of all that is to follow. If we would know the inner significance of all that we find in Genesis we must look to Revelation.
10. Period One.—Adam to Noah.Here comes the story of the creation of man. Innocent he was at the first, but in the trial to which he is brought, man fails, and disobeys. As sinner, he now hides from the face of God, and has to be sought out by his heavenly Father. Sin created a barrier between God the Holy One and man the sinner. Then it is that God begins his work of redemption, and in Genesis 3:15 we see the first promise of that redemption that is to be fulfilled in Jesus in later days. In this period we see the first sacrifice, and in it, too, we come across the full fruitage of hatred, which culminated inmurder. Man proves to be a sad failure, and the record is that God looks down from heaven to see how man is acting. "And Jehovah saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually" (Gen. 6:5). From that day to this, man when left to himself reproduces this picture, as may be seen in those lands where there is no light of the gospel of the grace of God.
The chief charactersof this period are Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, Enoch, who "walked with God: and he was not; for God took him," Noah and his three sons—Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
11. Period Two.—This lasts fromNoah to Abraham. God blots out the human race as it then existed and begins it anew. So far, all that we know of the human race lived in the Euphrates valley, and all modern research confirms the Bible statement with regard to this. It need not be maintained that the flood was universal, in the sense that it covered the whole world, as we now know it. All that is needful to believe is that the "known world" was subject to a devastating flood that caused the human race to perish, with the exception of Noah and his family. Warned by God Noah builds the ark, and embarks in it. The rains descend and the fountains of the great deep are broken up, and the land is submerged. In due time, the rains cease, and the floods dry up, and Noah sends out first a raven, which returns not. Then he sends out a dove, which comes back to the ark, not finding any resting-place. In seven days he sends out another dove, which returns bringing an olive-leaf in her mouth. The third time he sends forth a dove, which returns not. Then in due time Noah goes forth from the ark, which had rested on Mount Ararat in Armenia.
12.Now follows the beautiful story of the sacrifice that Noah offers, and the promise of God never again to send a deluge on the earth. This promise is confirmed by the symbol of the rainbow. Of course there had been rainbows before this, but this time God takes the rainbow and makes it a symbol of his mercy to sinful man.
13. The Tower of Babel.—In this period we there is a greatadvance in civilization, as may be seen by a careful reading of Genesis 10:1-32. Cities are built and nations are founded by the descendants of the Patriarch Noah. But the evil tendency of the human heart again shows itself, and the pride of man's achievement fills the heart of the descendants of Noah. Then comes the story of the tower of Babel, and in this we read most significantly, "And they said, Come, let us build." To this God's reply is "Come, let us confound." Man's pride is to be abased, and put to confusion. So the human race is scattered abroad and its cherished plans are broken up. For the second time, man is seen to be a failure, and there is call for another way of dealing with the race if the truth is to be preserved. This third beginning is to be found in Period Three, with which our next lesson will deal.
State how the Gospel of John has a sweep farther back even than Genesis 1:1.
What beginnings may we find in the book of Genesis?
How does man act toward God, as soon as he transgresses his law?
Where do we find the beginning of the story of redemption?
Give the names of the chief actors in this first period of Bible history.
Give the divine estimate of the moral condition of man before the flood.
Where does the Bible place the story of the beginnings of the human race?
Give the story of the building of the ark and of the flood.
In the second period, what may we say of civilization? How did its magnitude show itself?
Give the record of the scattering of the human race.
Was the second trial of man any more successful than the first, regarded from the religious standpoint?