quiet and cheerful spirit, and that, by serving Him and proving acceptable to Him, they may be united with Him eternally. Those who have other ends in view deviate from God’s will and from God Himself.
19. (x) From the very outset they should learn to find their chief occupation in those things that lead directly to God: in reading the Scriptures, in religious ceremonies, and in other good works.
For the perusal of the Scriptures renews and fosters our acquaintance with God, religious ceremonies create a link between God and man, and good works strengthen this link, for they show that we really observe the Word of God. These three should be seriously commended to all who are destined to lead a Godly life (as are all the Christian youth, dedicated to God through baptism).
20. (xi) The Holy Scriptures must be the Alpha and the Omega of Christian schools.
Hyperius31 said that a theologian was born of the Scriptures, and we may find this observation at greater length in the Apostle Peter, who says that the sons of God are born of incorruptible seed, through the Word of God that liveth and abideth (1 Peter i. 23).
In Christian schools, therefore, God’s Book should rank before all other books; that, like Timothy, all the Christian youth may, from boyhood, know the sacred writings which are able to make them wise unto salvation (2 Tim. iii. 15), and may be nourished in the words of the faith (1 Tim. iv. 6). On this subject Erasmus has written well in his Paraclesis, or Exhortation to the Study of Christian Philosophy. “The Holy Scripture” (he says) “is equally suitable to all, is within the capacity of little ones, nourishes them with milk, cherishes them, sustains them, and does all for them until they grow up in Christ. But, while it can be comprehended by the lowest intelligences, it is none the less an object of wonder to the highest. There is no age, no sex, no rank of life to which it is unsuitable. The sun is not more the common property of mankind than is the teaching of Christ. It rejects none
