i i 
 
 I \ 
 
MAY 80 1911 
 
 BV 1471 . 
 
 K46 
 
 1911 
 
 
 Kent, Charles Foster, 
 
 1867- 
 
 1925. 
 
 
 
 
 The great 
 
 , teachers of 
 
 
 Judaism 
 
 and 
 
 Christianity 
 
MODERN SUNDAY SCHOOL MANUA 
 
 Edited by Charles Foster Kent in 
 Collaboration with John T. McFarland 
 
 The Great Teachers of 
 Judaism and Christianity 
 
 By CHARLES FOSTER KENT 
 
 NEWYORK: EATON & MAINS 
 CINCINNATI : JENNINGS & GRAHAM 
 
Copyright, 191 1, by 
 CHARLES F. KENT 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Preface 5 
 
 CHAPTER 
 
 I The Secret of Israel's Conquering Power. . . 7 
 II The Real Character and Aims of the 
 
 Prophets 13 
 
 III The Prophets as Story-Tellers and Preachers 2 1 
 IV. The Teaching Methods of the Prophets. . . 34 
 
 V. The Duties and Aims of the Priests 42 
 
 VI. The Teaching Methods of the Priests 49 
 
 VII. The History and Aims of the Wise Men or 
 
 Sages 60 
 
 VIII. The Methods of the Wise Men or Sages. . . 74 
 IX- The History and Aims of the Scribes and 
 
 Rabbis 86 
 
 X. The Methods of the Scribes and Rabbis. . . 95 
 
 XI. The Training and Aims of the Great Teacher i o 7 
 
 XII. Jesus's Way of Making Men 118 
 
 XIII. The Aims of the Early Christian Teachers 131 
 
 XIV. The Methods of the Early Christian Teachers 139 
 XV, The Larger Prophetic and Christian Con- 
 ception of Religious Education 148 
 
 Appendix 
 
 59 
 
PREFACE 
 
 The nucleus of this book was a series of lec- 
 tures on 'The Aims and Methods of Israel's 
 Teachers" given at Berkeley, Oakland, and San 
 Francisco at the invitation of the Sunday School 
 Commission of the Episcopal Diocese of Cali- 
 fornia. The same course of lectures has also 
 been given wholly or in part at the University 
 of North Dakota, Washburn College, Yankton 
 College, the University of Kansas, the University 
 of Missouri, the Hebrew Union College, the 
 University of Cincinnati, and the Syrian Protes- 
 tant College at Beirut, Syria, as well as before 
 many groups of Sunday-school workers. The 
 original treatment of the subject has been en- 
 riched by the results of inspiring conferences 
 with those actively engaged in the work of re- 
 ligious education. One fact has constantly come 
 to the front: it is that the Christian Church at 
 large and even the great majority of its active 
 teachers are only partially acquainted with the 
 deeply significant educational traditions which 
 gather about the beginning of Judaism and 
 Christianity. An intimate acquaintance with the 
 character, aims, and methods of the great re- 
 ligious teachers who have recorded their work 
 not only in the Bible, but also in the very 
 bone and marrow of our modern civilization, is 
 the first requisite in the practical equipment of 
 a modern religious teacher. The wonderful 
 5 
 
6 Preface 
 
 teachers of the past haA^e a message full of in- 
 spiration and suggestion for those dealing with 
 the same human problems. To present these 
 historic facts briefly but clearly, and to interpret 
 the message of these early teachers to their suc- 
 cessors to-day, is the aim of this volume. 
 Westmore, Vermont, C. F. K. 
 
 July, 191 o. 
 
THE SECRET OF ISRAEL'S CONQUERING 
 POWER 
 
 It is a profoundly significant fact that the 
 roots of the two great expanding rehgions of to- 
 day — Christianity and Islam — sprang from the 
 soil of Judaism. The truths first enunciated by 
 Israel's prophets, priests, and sages among the 
 secluded hills of Palestine have permeated the 
 whole world and molded the faith of nearly half 
 the human race. What is the explanation of this 
 mighty power which has not only preserved the 
 Israelitish race intact through centuries of op- 
 pression and persecution, but also conquered the 
 hearts and minds of the most advanced nations 
 of the earth? The first reason is to be found in 
 the character of Israel's faith as it unfolded 
 under the influence of the remarkable expe- 
 riences through which the nation passed. But the 
 character and growth of Israel's faith only par- 
 tially explain its conquering power. To retain 
 its hold upon a race, as has Judaism, a religion 
 must be effectively instilled into the minds of 
 each succeeding generation. It must also be ever 
 developing, so as to adapt itself to the needs of 
 each age and individual. In the fact that the 
 great founders and interpreters of Israel's re- 
 ligion have been from the first faithful and 
 skilled teachers doubtless lies the reason why it 
 still dominates, in ever-increasing measure, the 
 ideals and beliefs of mankind. 
 
 Teachers the 
 Founders of 
 Israel's Religion 
 
8 Teachers of Judaism and Christianity 
 
 Judaism's 
 Emphasis on 
 Teaching 
 
 Highest Honor 
 Paid to the 
 Teacher 
 
 Judaism has always been in the truest sense a 
 teaching religion. It has depended primarily for 
 its perpetuation and extension not upon preach- 
 ing, or upon creeds, or upon the mere forms of 
 worship, but upon the personal touch of the 
 teacher and those taught. It has also strongly 
 emphasized the supreme importance of the defi- 
 nite and continuous education of the individual, 
 beginning with earliest childhood. "These 
 words, which I command thee this day, shall be 
 upon thy heart ; and thou shalt impress them 
 upon thy children, and thou shalt talk of them 
 when thou sittest in thy house, and when thou 
 walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, 
 and when thou risest up. Thou shalt bind them 
 as a reminder on thy hand, and have them as 
 bands on thy forehead between thine eyes, and 
 thou shalt mark them on the posts of thy house 
 and on thy doors" (Deut. 6. 6-9). 
 
 Moreover, the religious teachers of ancient 
 Israel were fully awake to the importance of 
 question and answer: "When thy son asks thee 
 in the future. What mean the testimonies, and 
 the statutes, and the judgments, which Jehovah 
 our God hath commanded you? then shalt thou 
 say to thy son, We were Pharaoh's slaves, in 
 Egypt ; but Jehovah brought us out of Egypt 
 with a strong hand ; and Jehovah performed be- 
 fore our eyes great and destructive signs and 
 wonders, upon Egypt, upon Pharaoh, and upon 
 all his household ; and he brought us out from 
 there, that he might bring us in to give us the 
 land which he sware unto our fathers" (Deut. 6. 
 20-23). The result was that among the Israelites 
 
The Secret of Israel's Power 
 
 the practical science of education was developed 
 as among no other ancient people, except possibly 
 the Greeks. In no other nation was such high 
 honor and respect paid to the scholar and teacher. 
 The pictures of the rich and noble youth sitting 
 deferentially at the feet of some famous rabbi, as 
 he plied his humble trade and at the same time 
 taught his disciples, are among the fairest and 
 most significant that come to us from classic 
 Judaism. To-day there still remains in the mind 
 of every faithful Jew an instinctive and deep re- 
 spect for the learned teacher and rabbi. The 
 well-known zeal and skill of the Jew in the pur- 
 suit of learning are in all probability the fruits 
 of this same hereditary instinct. 
 
 A further explanation of Israel's conquering Aim to Educate 
 power lies in the fact that its teachers sought 
 not merely to instruct but to educate. Abstract 
 theology was to them practically unknown. 
 Their creed was expressed in laws intended to 
 develop a right personal attitude toward God 
 and man and to lead to worthy and effective 
 action. As the Great Teacher truly said : to love 
 the Lord with all one's powers and might and 
 the neighbor as one's self was the essence of 
 Israel's law. It was upon the development of the 
 individual man that the ultimate emphasis was 
 placed. 
 
 To make his development complete and The Three 
 rounded different classes of teachers were re- Classes of 
 
 1 1 ' -11 <-T->i Teachers 
 
 quired to meet his many-sided needs. Ihree 
 distinct types of teachers arose in early Israel, 
 each with its distinct tasks and contributions to 
 the development of the individual and the nation, 
 
10 Teachers of Judaism and Christianity 
 
 Didactic 
 Character of 
 Israel's 
 Scriptures 
 
 In threatening- the Hfe of the prophet Jeremiah 
 his foes incidentally brought these three classes 
 into close connection and contrast: "For the 
 teaching shall not depart from the priest, nor 
 counsel from the wise, nor the word from the 
 prophet" (Jer. i8. i8). By specific instructions 
 in regard to each man's obligations to God, to 
 the state, and to his fellow men, by personal 
 counsel and practical instruction and by authori- 
 tative message the priests, the wise men, and the 
 prophets not only molded Israel's faith and 
 ideals, but also guided the thoughts, the morals, 
 and the acts of each individual. Their character 
 and work alone explain how a mixed group of 
 rude Semitic nomads in time became a prophetic 
 nation at whose feet the most progressive races 
 of the earth have learned the fundamental truths 
 of ethics and religion. 
 
 The scriptures of the Old Testament as a 
 whole are the clearest indices of the character, 
 aims, and methods of Israel's religious guides, 
 for they are the notes from the classroom.s of 
 these early teachers. It is only in the light of the 
 aims and methods of these teachers that the Old 
 Testament writings can be fully understood. 
 An intensely practical, didactic purpose charac- 
 terizes them all. It was the educational motif, 
 the desire to develop character by the presentation 
 of truth in efl:*ective form, that gave rise to the 
 Old Testament. If Israel's religion had not been 
 a teaching religion and its guides teachers, there 
 would have been no Old Testament. 
 
 Later Judaism, recognizing the true character 
 of these writings, rightly designated them col- 
 
The Secret of Israel's Power 
 
 11 
 
 lectively as ^'The Torah." This word, which 
 comes from the verb meaning, to guide, to teach, 
 is commonly translated, The Lazv, but it is better 
 represented by the broader and more exact term. 
 The Teaching. The word ''torah" occurs more 
 than two hundred times in the Old Testament. 
 It is used to designate, (i) the counsel and in- 
 struction which the wise men or sages gave to 
 their disciples (Prov. 13. 14; 28. 4, 7, 9); (2) 
 the authoritative or the detailed directions given 
 to the people by the priests (Hag. 2. 11; Mai. 
 2. 6-9; Psa. :^y. 31 ; 40. 8) ; and {^^ the teachings 
 of a certain prophet or of the prophets as a whole 
 (Isa. 8. 16; 42. 21, 24; Jer. 9. 13; 16. 11; Zech. 
 7. 12). To some one of these three classes of 
 teaching belong all the writings of the Old 
 Testament, and this basis of division furnishes 
 by far the most satisfactory and illuminating- 
 classification of these earlier scriptures. 
 
 The same strongly didactic purpose character- 
 izes the writings of the New Testament. It con- 
 sists for the most part of teachings from the Great 
 Teacher and from the lips of the apostles who 
 followed in his footsteps. The oldest source 
 found in the Gospels is held by modern biblical 
 scholars, as well as by the traditions of the 
 Church, to have been a collection of Jesus's 
 teachings. With these were early blended the 
 narratives regarding the Master that were told 
 by his disciples in order to instruct their hearers 
 concerning his character and work. The strong 
 didactic purpose that inspired the epistles of the 
 New Testament is plainly written on every page. 
 Debarred for various reasons from speaking per- 
 
 The Different 
 Types of 
 Teaching 
 
 Educational 
 Aim of The 
 New Testament 
 ■Writings 
 
1 2 Teachers of Judaism and Christianity 
 
 sonally to the groups of disciples whom he 
 wished to teach, Paul put in his letters what he 
 would have said had he been present in their 
 midst. Other disciples followed his example, 
 and thus arose the earliest New Testament writ- 
 ings. The New Testament is the Christian 
 ToraJi or Teaching, just as the Old Testament 
 is that of the Jews. Paul brings out very clearly 
 the teaching character of the biblical writings: 
 "Every scripture inspired by God is also profit- 
 able for teaching, for reproof, for correction, 
 for training in righteousness, that the man of 
 God may be perfect and perfectly equipped for 
 every good work" (2 Tim. 3. 16, 17). The 
 development of perfect and efficient manhood 
 and womanhood is the supreme object for which 
 the Bible was given to man. Doctrines, laws, 
 creeds, and forms of worship are also of value 
 simply as they conserve this divinest of all aims, 
 the making of men. Jesus and his apostles unite 
 with the earlier prophets, priests, and sages in 
 declaring by word and lifework that it is more 
 blessed to make men than to save men, and that 
 the best, indeed, the only sure way of making 
 men, and thus effectively uplifting mankind, is 
 through the personal touch of the religious 
 teacher. 
 
II 
 
 THE REAL CHARACTER AND AIMS OF THE 
 PROPHETS 
 
 The True 
 
 The prophets are the most famihar, and yet, 
 in many ways, the least understood, of Israel's Pat"otsof 
 
 ^ T-T r 11 " Ancient Israel 
 
 teachers. Unfortunately, the common usage ot 
 the English word "prophet" is misleading. It 
 suggests that his chief function is that of a pre- 
 dictor. While the Hebrew prophets did at times 
 predict, prediction was only a small and com- 
 paratively insignificant part of their work. In- 
 stead of being visionaries, intent only on the 
 future, they were preeminently men of their day, 
 in closest touch with existing conditions. In- 
 stead of idly waiting for some distant consum- 
 mation, they put forth all their energies to real- 
 ize in their own day, and in the life of their 
 people, the practical ideals which filled their 
 souls. They were, indeed, the great patriots of 
 Israel, alert, efficient citizens not only of their 
 own nation, but also of that larger common- 
 wealth the founding of which was the object of 
 their earnest endeavors. 
 
 A certain element of mystery envelops the Genesis of the 
 personality of the Hebrew prophets, and yet their Prophet 
 growth is no more mysterious than that of the 
 plant or of the human being, whose development 
 may now be traced at each successive stage. 
 The foundation of the work of the earliest proph- 
 ets was the innate, universal desire of the primi- 
 13 
 
1 4 Teachers of Judaism and Christianity 
 
 tive peoples to know the will of the Deity 
 in order to make it the g-uide in their individual 
 action. Inasmuch as the ancients were igno- 
 rant of natural laws and of God's way of work- 
 ing-, the future for them w^as filled with appre- 
 hension and dread. The result was that they 
 always paid high tribute to the soothsayers, 
 augurs, necromancers, prophets, and prophetesses 
 who w^ere supposed to be able, with authority, to 
 interpret the various signs which were regarded 
 as indices of the divine will. While these popu- 
 lar interpreters of the Deity were found among 
 most, if not all, primitive peoples, the immediate 
 forerunners of the Hebrew prophets arose, as 
 might be expected, amid the peculiar life and 
 atmosphere of the desert. The long, dangerous 
 m.arches, the constant fear of attack, the sense of 
 loneliness and dependence gave the ancient 
 kahin, or seer, a commanding place in that early 
 nomadic world. This kahin — the man with the 
 veil — who was able to render an oracle and thus 
 authoritatively proclaim the will of the Deity, 
 was ever held in highest honor. Usually his 
 oracle was cast in poetic, epigrammatic form. 
 To him chieftains resorted, as did David to the 
 priest Abiathar, before they went out to battle, 
 that they might ascertain the outcome. To him, 
 also, men went with their questions of private 
 concerns, that they might through him receive 
 a divine answer. 
 Developed by In the light of the very old narrative preserved 
 
 in the ninth chapter of i Samuel, it is clear that 
 originally Samuel, the seer of Ramah, was closely 
 related to the ancient kahin. To him Saul and his 
 
 National Crises 
 and Needs 
 
Character and Aims of the Prophets 1 5 
 
 servant went with a gift in order to learn wlierc 
 the lost asses were, and were not disappointed. 
 This old narrative regarding Samuel also sug- ^ 
 gests the way in which the primitive seer was 
 transformed into the prophet. The great crises 
 through which Israel was passing as a result of 
 the cruel Philistine dominance opened his eyes 
 to the need of some one to rally and to lead 
 forth to victory the scattered Hebrew tribes. 
 Spurred on by his appreciation of this need, 
 Samuel, the seer of Ramah, sought and found 
 Saul, the son of Kish, and kindled within him a 
 consuming zeal to become the defender of his 
 people, when the favorable moment should ar- 
 rive. In performing this task, with its far- 
 reaching significance, Samuel not only became, 
 in a sense, the founder of the Hebrew kingdom, 
 but from being a mere seer became a true 
 prophet. In the same way, the appreciation of 
 the needs of her nation transformed Deborah, 
 who enjoyed a popular local reputation similar 
 to that of Samuel the seer, into a true prophetess 
 who guided her nation through a great crisis to 
 victory, thereby inaugurating a new era in the 
 religious life of Israel. 
 
 Each of the great prophets gives clear indica- Amos's Caii to 
 tions of the wav in which he was called to ^'^ Prophetic 
 
 Task 
 
 his great task. The personal experience of 
 Amos is richly suggestive. Trained as a shep- 
 herd, accustomed to be constantly on the watch 
 against the attack of wild beasts, quick to sound 
 the note of alarm, skilled in putting his flock in 
 a state of defense, ready to risk his own life, if 
 need be, to protect those intrusted to him, it was 
 
1 6 Teachers of Judaism and Christianity 
 
 a natural step which transformed him from the 
 watchman over a flock of sheep and goats into 
 Jehovah's watchman sounding the cry of alarm 
 in the ears of the northern Israelites. Keen in 
 scenting danger from afar, he had foreseen the 
 ominous approach of the Assyrian armies. He 
 had heard the growl of the Assyrian lion. The 
 significance of the danger had suddenly dawned 
 upon him, and, faithful to his training, he did 
 not hesitate a moment in proclaiming aloud 
 the coming danger. His own words reveal 
 the impression that Assyria's advance made 
 upon him : 
 
 Surely the Lord Jehovah doeth nothing, 
 
 Unless he revealeth his purpose to his servants the 
 
 prophets. 
 The lion has roared; who does not fear? 
 The Lord Jehovah hath spoken ; who can but prophesy ? 
 
 (Amos 3. 7, 8.) 
 
 Isaiah's Call Similarly Isaiah, the young noble of Jeru- 
 
 salem, in the critical year when the strong hand 
 of Uzziah, the king, was relaxed by death, felt 
 stirring irresistibly within him the divine call to 
 rise from the ranks of the nation, "unclean of 
 lip," and proclaim the inevitable judgment which 
 he saw approaching. With this keen sense of the 
 guilt of his people and of the magnitude of the 
 danger which impended, there came to his open 
 mind a new and nobler and larger appreciation 
 of the real character and demands of Jehovah. 
 Henceforth his task was to spare no effort to 
 lead his race out of its guilt and to inspire it to 
 rise to the full realization of Jehovah's righteous 
 demands. 
 
Character and Aims of the Prophets 1 7 
 
 The influences which transformed Hosea, the Hosea's caii 
 poet-prophet of the northern kingdom, into a and Training 
 herald of righteousness came not so much 
 through the experiences of his nation as through 
 the pathetic tragedy of his own private life. The 
 infideHty of his W'ife revealed to him the unspeak- 
 able pain w^hich the sin of the one loved brought 
 to him who loved. It gave him a new conception 
 of the depth and breadth of human love toward 
 the sinner; it made clear the need of stern dis- 
 cipline in order to arouse penitence in the heart 
 of the wrongdoer ; it disclosed the absolute neces- 
 sity of true penitence as a basis for forgiveness 
 and reconciliation. Through his own private ex- 
 perience Hosea also gained a new appreciation of 
 the divine readiness and eagerness to forgive the 
 penitent sinner. Thus upon Hosea's inner con- 
 sciousness were branded the elemental, eternal 
 truths which are the basis of life and religion. 
 These truths he naturally employed in interpret- 
 ing Jehovah's relation to his unfaithful nation 
 Israel. Thus expressed they became a universal 
 message, the foundations of the teachings not 
 only of the prophets, but of Jesus himself. 
 
 The great Hebrew prophets were the con- Many-sided 
 science of their race. They were the men with Activity of the 
 open mind, the discoverers of new and eternal 
 truths, Jehovah's willing and faithful heralds to 
 all mankind as well as to their own nation. In- 
 stead of being passive mouthpieces of Jehovah, 
 they were the most intelligent and best educated 
 men of their day, the keenest students of political 
 and social conditions, the most unselflsh patriots 
 and the most courageous heroes. According to 
 
 Prophets 
 
1 8 Teachers of Judaism and Christianity 
 
 Their First Aim 
 to Point Out and 
 Counteract the 
 Evils of Their 
 Day 
 
 their own peculiar gifts and the exigencies of 
 their age, some of them were social reformers 
 and others were practical statesmen intent upon 
 guiding the nation safely through its great crises. 
 Some, like Isaiah, combining all these many- 
 sided attributes, were statesmen, social and 
 moral reformers, and practical theologians. 
 Usually they spoke not to the individual but to 
 the people as a whole ; they appealed not to party 
 prejudice but to the conscience and reason of the 
 nation ; they set forth principles rather than 
 policies. 
 
 Whatever was their individual method of 
 work, all of the Hebrew prophets strove in com- 
 mon to attain certain definite aims. Their first 
 aim was to hold up a mirror before their nation 
 that its errors and its worst evils might be made 
 perfectly clear. No pet crime or favored class 
 escaped their keen vision and their fearless de- 
 nunciations. By many of their contemporaries 
 they were regarded as pessimists and muck- 
 rakers. In the twenty-eighth chapter of Isaiah 
 one hears the complaints of the rulers because 
 he was constantly speaking of ''the overwhelm- 
 ing scourge" that was coming. They ironically 
 mimicked his continuous harping upon the so- 
 cial and political evils of his day and by their 
 tatmts roused hmi to a sharp retort. Owing to 
 the willful blindness of the people, a large part of 
 the recorded sermons of the prophets were de- 
 voted to making clear the menacing evils of that 
 day and to pointing out, in dramatic and im- 
 pressive form, the certain consequences that 
 would overtake the nation unless those to whom 
 
Character and Aims of the Prophets 1 9 
 
 the prophets spoke heeded and fundamentally 
 changed their policies and acts. 
 
 The second aim of the prophets was positive: 
 it was to impress upon their countrymen those 
 eternal principles of justice and mercy which 
 had been gradually revealed to them in the stress 
 of their national and personal experiences, so as 
 to lead men to accept and apply those principles 
 in their social and individual relations. Here 
 the earlier prophets placed the great emphasis 
 in their work. To lead their nation and their 
 fellow countrymen to do what was right was 
 their consuming ambition. 
 
 The third aim of the prophets was closely con- 
 nected with the second. It was to give their 
 hearers a truer and larger conception of the 
 character of Jehovah and of his practical de- 
 mands upon his people. Jehovah's character 
 was to them the ultimate reason for right doing. 
 Injustice, insincerity, and cruelty were, accord- 
 ing to their teachings, disloyalty to Jehovah. 
 Justice, mercy, and true reverence were the only 
 valid evidences of true loyalty. Ceremonial 
 forms and external acts of worship were by them 
 esteemed but lightly. Thus the early Hebrew 
 prophets ethicized religion and spiritualized 
 ethics, and in so doing blended both. 
 
 The ultimate aim of the Hebrew prophets was 
 to broaden and deepen the definition of religion 
 and to make it a real and guiding influence in 
 the daily life of men. Thus they sought to real- 
 ize in their nation the will of God, and through 
 that realization to touch and transform the aims 
 and ideals and acts of all mankind. Even though 
 
 Second: To Lead 
 Men "to Act 
 Justly and Love 
 Mercy" 
 
 Third: To Make 
 Clear Jehovah's 
 Character and 
 Demands 
 
 Fourth: To 
 Have God's Will 
 Done on Earth 
 
20 Teachers of Judaism and Christianity 
 
 not fully appreciated by the earlier prophets, the 
 final goal of all their work was to establish Je- 
 hovah's eternal and gracious rule in every heart 
 and to build up a spiritual kingdom which would 
 be universal and eternal. 
 
Ill 
 
 THE PROPHETS AS STORY-TELLERS AND 
 PREACHERS 
 
 Inasmuch as the aim of the Hebrew prophets Practical 
 was not merely to appeal to the feelings and in- diplomacy 
 tellect of their hearers, but io influence their will, 
 these wise teachers employed every possible 
 means whereby they might make clear and im- 
 pressive their divinely given messages. The 
 earlier prophets depended largely upon practical 
 measures. They worked primarily through men. 
 Thus Moses, in freeing his people, appealed 
 directly to Pharaoh. Deborah, the prophetess, 
 aroused the northern leader, Barak, to action 
 and through him rallied the scattered Hebrew- 
 tribes. Samuel inspired Saul to rise and lead his 
 people against their common foe. Nathan co- 
 operated with Bathsheba in putting Solomon 
 upon the throne. Ahijah, in seeking to deliver 
 Israel from its grave religious and social dangers, 
 kindled the ambition of Jeroboam. Elijah called 
 and commissioned Elisha to take up his work; 
 and Elisha, in turn, anointed the energetic and 
 ruthless Jehu to carry through the revolution 
 which overthrew the house of Ahab and its com- 
 promising policy. In the great crisis of 734 
 B. C. Isaiah turned first to the king and the 
 nobles in order to influence them not to involve 
 Judah in entangling alliances. Later the same 
 great prophet inspired Hezekiah to undertake 
 important reforms. Jeremiah constantly sought 
 21 
 
22 Teachers of Judaism and Christianity 
 
 to guide the policy of his nation by advising 
 kings hke Jehoiakim and Zedekiah. Ezekiel ap- 
 pears to have ever been in closest touch with the 
 elders of his people. Thus one of the most com- 
 monly used and effective methods of the proph- 
 ets was to direct by wise diplomacy the influ- 
 ential men of their nation. 
 
 Being wise teachers, the prophets also appre- 
 ciated the great value of story and illustration 
 in impressing their teachings upon the mind of 
 the child nation. The result is that much of the 
 Old Testament consists of prophecy of the past 
 as well as of the present and future. Amos, in 
 his appeal to the people of northern Israel, re- 
 corded in Amos 2, recalls the past experiences 
 of the people, using these experiences as power- 
 ful illustrations of the principle he was endeavor- 
 in to establish : 
 
 And 3^et it was I who brought you up from the land of 
 
 Egypt, 
 And led you forty years in the wilderness, 
 And brought you hither to possess the land of the 
 
 Amorites. 
 It was I who destroyed from before them the Amorite, 
 Whose height was like that of the cedars, and he was 
 
 strong as the oaks ; 
 Yet I destroyed his fruit from above and his roots from 
 
 beneath. 
 Moreover, I raised up some of your sons to be prophets 
 
 and some of your youth to be Nazirites. 
 Is not this indeed so, O Israel? It is the oracle of 
 
 Jehovah. 
 But ye made the Nazirites drink wine, and upon the 
 
 prophets ye laid a prohibition. (Amos 2. 10-12.) 
 
 Hosea, also, in seeking to emphasize the im- 
 portance of the nation's loyalty to Jehovah's de- 
 
The Prophets as Story-Tellers 23 
 
 mands, draws his illustrations from an earlier 
 chapter in their national history: 
 
 Like grapes in the wilderness I found Israel; 
 
 Like the first fruit on a fig tree I saw your fathers; 
 
 But as soon as they came to Baal-peor, they consecrated 
 
 themselves to Baal, 
 And became as abominable as the object of their love. 
 
 Jacob fled to the territory of Aram 
 And Israel served for a wife, 
 Yea, for a wife he herded sheep. 
 In a man's strength he contended with God, 
 He contended with the angel and prevailed. 
 He wept and besought mercy of him. 
 At Bethel Jehovah found him 
 And there he spoke with him. 
 And Jehovah is the God of hosts, 
 Jehovah is his name. 
 
 Thus thou shouldst by the help of thy God return. 
 Keep true love and justice, 
 
 Wait on thy God without ceasing. (Hos. 9. 10; 12. 
 12, 3b-6.) 
 
 The vivid narratives that fill the historical True character 
 books of the Old Testament give a full and Testament 
 faithful picture of Israel's national life; but Narratives 
 they are more than history. No mere historian, 
 for example, would have devoted — as does the 
 author of Samuel — many chapters to the descrip- 
 tion of David's sins and their consequences and 
 but two or three to the great political and military 
 achievements of his brilliant reign. This pre- 
 dominant interest in men rather than in facts re- 
 veals the didactic purpose of the authors of these 
 historical books. They realized that by seeing 
 the disastrous effects of sin as well as the de- 
 sirable fruits of right doing men could be led to 
 reject the evil and choose the good. The keen 
 popular interest in the narratives greatly en- 
 
24 Teachers of Judaism and Christianity 
 
 Didactic Value 
 of Story and 
 History 
 
 Larger 
 
 Significance of 
 the Biblical 
 Stories 
 
 hanced their teaching value. Through frequent 
 repetition they had become exceedingly familiar 
 to the people. The prophets by adapting these 
 stories to their purpose made them a medium of 
 teaching, which was all the more effective be- 
 cause the truths were conveyed unconsciously. 
 
 These stories are told simply, concretely, and 
 dramatically. They appeal as strongly to the 
 modern reader as to the hearer of olden time. 
 The characteristics portrayed are true to human 
 nature in any age or race. They vividly illus- 
 trate those elements of strength and weakness 
 which are the inspiration and peril of all who 
 are in the stream of life. The accounts of 
 Israel's experiences in Jehovah's school of train- 
 ing reveal in marvelously clear, dramatic form 
 God's eternal character and purpose and the con- 
 sequences of ignorance and disobedience. 
 
 The question of whether or not these stories 
 were historical in every detail did not concern 
 the prophets. They took and utilized them as 
 they were handed down from the past. The 
 great and vital value of these narratives lay in 
 the fact that they illustrated important and 
 eternal principles. Instead of being mere records 
 of past events, they thus became molding forces 
 in the life both of the individual and the nation, 
 revealing Jehovah's character and will, and shap- 
 ing the religious and ethical ideals of the race. 
 For the making of men to-day, they are among 
 the most valuable heritages from Israel's 
 teachers. Adapted as they are to the childhood 
 of the race, they are preeminently fitted for use 
 in primary religious education. 
 
The Prophets as Story-Tellers 25 
 
 By taking- illustrations that were familiar and use of Familiar 
 of interest to the people the prophets adapted 
 their methods to the point of view and capacity 
 of their hearers. The prophetic forerunners of 
 Amos and Hosea appear to have depended 
 largely in conveying their moral and spiritual 
 teachings upon this story method. 
 
 The most characteristic method of the great Direct Address 
 prophets was, however, the direct address. In 
 this way the prophet impressed by voice, by ges- 
 ture, and by his own personality his God-given 
 message upon the leaders and upon the entire na- 
 tion. Sometimes he appeared in the court before 
 the king and princes ; sometimes he appealed 
 from the rulers to the people. Often the temple 
 court, where the people assembled, as they did 
 three times each year for united w^orship, was 
 the scene of the prophet's teaching. Sometimes 
 he spoke to the many, and sometimes to the few 
 gathered close about him. There is evidence in 
 their recorded addresses that the great prophets 
 frequently directed questions to their auditors 
 and in turn were ever open to receive and answer 
 earnest questions presented by their hearers. As 
 in every Oriental audience, the relation between 
 the speaker and those addressed was especially 
 close and personal. The prophets were pre- 
 eminently Israel's preachers, but they were more 
 — they were also teachers. 
 
 The addresses of the preexilic prophets bear J^°^*''^ J°f"^ °^ 
 all the marks of careful preparation. To the 
 form as w^ell as to the content these great 
 teachers of Israel gave careful heed. Following 
 the example of the ancient seers, they cast their 
 
 'heir Addresses 
 
Meter to 
 Didactic Ends 
 
 26 Teachers of Judaism and Christianity 
 
 messages in poetic form. Poetry alone was fitted 
 to convey the great truths which filled their souls. 
 The result was that the form and sound of their 
 words as they fell upon the ears of their hearers 
 appealed powerfully to the senses of those who 
 Adaptation of heard. Hebrew poetry in itself was uniquely 
 adapted to this end. Its fundamental character- 
 istic — the repetition of the same idea in succeed- 
 ing lines in slightly variant form — drove home, 
 as with repeated blows, the essential message of 
 the poet-prophet. This parallelism, or repetition 
 of idea, frequently extended to succeeding stan- 
 zas, thus making it possible by reiterating again 
 and again the same vital message to appeal at 
 the same time to the highly developed poetic 
 sense of the Oriental audience. The prophets 
 also chose with great care the meter best adapted 
 to their theme. If it was a strenuous theme, a 
 clarion call or a warning of some impending 
 danger, they used the sharp, quick two-beat 
 measure employed by the watchmen when they 
 announced the sudden appearance of a hostile in- 
 vader. Ordinarily they used the three-beat 
 measure with its regular cadence, interrupted 
 occasionally for the sake of effectiveness by a 
 closing line of two beats. Thus the prophecy of 
 Nahum, in describing the last decisive attack of 
 Nineveh's foes, illustrates forcibly the use of 
 these two meters: 
 
 Keep careful watch ! 
 
 Guard the way ! 
 
 Gird up the loins ! 
 
 Gather all thy strength ! 
 The shield of his heroes is colored red. 
 The warriors are clad in scarlet. 
 
The Prophets as Story-Tellers 
 
 27 
 
 The steel of the chariots gleams like fire. 
 
 In the day of preparation the horses are prancing. 
 
 On the streets the chariots rattle ; 
 
 They go galloping across the squares. 
 
 Their appearance is like torches, 
 
 Like lightnings they dart to and fro. 
 
 He musters his nobles, 
 
 They succeed in their onset, 
 
 They rush to the wall. 
 
 They set up the covering; 
 
 The water gates are opened ; 
 
 And the palace goes down in ruins ! 
 
 (Nah. 2. 1-6.) 
 
 Sometimes in logical reasoning they used the Meter of Logical 
 more deliberate four-beat measure, as, for ex- Reasoning 
 ample, when Amos sought to appeal to the in- 
 telligence of the people of northern Israel: 
 
 Surely the Lord Jehovah doeth nothing. 
 
 Unless he revealeth his purpose to his servants the 
 
 prophets. 
 The lion has roared; who does not fear? 
 The Lord Jehovah hath spoken; who can but prophesy? 
 
 (Amos 3. 7, 8.) 
 
 IMore frequently the prophets ttsed the effective 
 five-beat measure, consisting of three beats fol- 
 lowed by two, which suggested the strong tension 
 under which the prophet spoke. It was the meter 
 employed by the wailing women as they sang 
 over the bier of the dead. It also expressed 
 great joy, as for example that of the warriors 
 when they came home triumphant from battle. 
 In every case it was the meter which expressed 
 deep emotion. Amos employed it when he sang 
 the death dirge over northern Israel, whose fail 
 he saw to be iiiiminent : 
 
 Hear the word which I take up against you, even a 
 dirge, O house of Israel: 
 
 Of Deep 
 Emotion 
 
28 Teachers of Judaism and Christianity 
 
 Fallen, no more to rise, is the virgin Israel ! 
 Prostrate upon the ground she lies, with none to raise 
 her! (Amos 5. i, 2.) 
 
 Prophetic Oracle 111 their appeal to the minds, hearts, and wills 
 of men the prophets marshaled practically every 
 figure of speech and of feeling known to the 
 ancient writers. Frequently they presented their 
 message in the form of the stirring oracle, which 
 carried with it the time-honored authority at- 
 tributed to the words of the ancient seers. The 
 oracle was addressed to some individual or class 
 ill the community, or else to the nation as a 
 whole. The personal element was strong, as, for 
 example, in Amos's oracle addressed to the 
 luxury-loving, cruel, heartless wives of the nobles 
 of northern Israel : 
 
 Ye kine of Bashan, who dwell in the mountain of 
 
 Samaria, 
 Who oppress the poor and crush the needy. 
 Who say to your husbands, "Bring that we may drink." 
 The Lord Jehovah hatli sworn by his holiness ; 
 "Behold, days are coming upon you. 
 When ye shall be taken away with hooks, even the last 
 
 of you with fish-hooks. 
 And through the breaches shall ye go out, each woman 
 
 straight before her. 
 And ye shall be cast toward Harmon," is Jehovah's 
 
 oracle. (Amos 4. 1-3.) 
 
 Invective Sometimes their message took the form of 
 
 bitter invective ; like a plaintiff or judge they 
 formulated the charge against the guilty classes 
 or crime-laden nation. A powerful example of 
 this type of sweeping charge is found in the 
 opening verses of the fourth chapter of Hosea: 
 
 Hear the word of Jehovah, O Israelites, 
 For Jehovah hath a charge against the inhabitants of 
 the land: 
 
The Prophets as Story-Tellers 29 
 
 For there is no fidelity nor true love 
 
 Nor knowledge of God in the land; 
 
 But perjury, lying, and murder, 
 
 Stealing, committing adultery, and deeds of violence, 
 
 And acts of bloodshed quickly follow each other. 
 
 (Hos. 4. I, 2.) 
 
 At times the prophets cast their message in woes 
 the form of woes, which described the guilt of 
 the culprits and the nature of the judgment which 
 Jehovah pronounced upon them. For example, 
 m the fifth chapter of Isaiah, these woes fall in 
 succession, like sledge-hammer blows, upon the 
 guilty classes in the nation: 
 
 Woe to those who join house to house, 
 Who add field to field, 
 Until there is no space left, 
 And ye dwell alone in the midst of the land. 
 In mine ears Jehovah of hosts hath sworn. 
 Surely many houses shall become a desolation, 
 Though great and fair, they shall be without inhabit- 
 ants ; 
 For ten acres of vineyard will yield but one bushel. 
 And ten bushels of seed but one bushel of grain. 
 
 Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, 
 
 Who put darkness for light and light for darkness, 
 
 Who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter ! 
 
 Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes ! 
 
 And prudent in their own conceit ! 
 
 Woe to those who are heroic in drinking wine, 
 
 And valiant in mixing strong drink ! 
 
 Who for a bribe vindicate the wicked 
 
 And strip the innocent man of his innocence. 
 
 (Isa. 5. 8-10, 20-23.) 
 
 At times the prophets sang a doom song tell- Doom songs 
 ing, by the aid of graphic figures, the inevitable 
 disaster that would soon sweep, like a cyclone, 
 over the nation : 
 
 Human pride shall be brought low, 
 
 And the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down. 
 
30 Teachers of Judaism and Christianity 
 
 And in that day shall Jehovah alone be exalted. 
 For a day of judgment hath Jehovah of hosts 
 Upon all that is proud and haughty, 
 And upon all that is lifted up and high, 
 Upon all the cedars of Lebanon, the haughty, 
 And upon all the oaks of Bashan, the lifted up. 
 And human pride shall be bowed down, 
 And the haughtiness of men brought low ; 
 And in that day shall Jehovah alone be exalted, 
 And the idols — completely shall they pass away, 
 
 (Isa. 2. 11-13, 17, 18.) 
 
 Paranomasia At timcs, iiot facetiouslv, but 111 grim earnest, 
 
 the prophets employed solemn plays on the sound 
 of words. In the names of the cities about his 
 home in western Judah Micah found suggestions 
 of the approaching devastation which would be 
 visited upon them as they fell a prey to Jehovah's 
 agent of judgment, Assyria: 
 
 Tell it not in Gath [Tell-town] ! 
 In Giloh [Exult-town] exult not! 
 In Bochim [Weep-town] weep ! 
 In Beth-le-aphrah [Home-of-dust] roll in the dust! 
 Pass away! O inhabitants of Shaphir [Fair-town] 
 
 naked ! 
 The inhabitants of Zaanan [March-town] shall not 
 
 march forth. 
 Beth-ezel [Nearby-house] shall be taken from its 
 standing-place. 
 How do the inhabitants of Maroth [Bitterness] wait 
 
 for good, 
 For evil hath come down from Jehovah to the gates of 
 
 Jerusalem. 
 Harness the horse to the chariot, O inhabitants of 
 
 Lachish [Horse-town] 
 For in thee are found the crimes of Israel. 
 
 (Mic. I. 10-13.) 
 
 Argument Logical prophets like Amos depended at times 
 
 upon close-knit argument, reasoning from effect 
 to cause and cause to effect in order through the 
 intellect to appeal to the wills of their hearers : 
 
The Prophets as Story-Tellers 
 
 31 
 
 Do two walk together unless they be agreed? 
 
 Does a lion roar in the forest when there is no prey 
 
 for him? 
 Does a young lion cry out in his den unless he has 
 
 taken something? 
 Does a bird fall to the earth if no bait is set for it? 
 Does a snare spring up from the ground without 
 
 catching anything? 
 Can a trumpet be blown in a city and the people not 
 
 tremble ? 
 Can a calamity befall a city and Jehovah not have 
 
 caused it? (Amos 3. 3-6.) 
 
 Frequently, however, the appeal was not Exhortations 
 through the intellect but through the feelings of 
 the people, as, for example, in Jeremiah's won- 
 derful exhortations : 
 
 Return, O apostate sons, and I will heal your apostasy. 
 
 If thou wilt return, O Israel, thou mayest return to me, 
 And if thou wilt put away thy violence, thou shalt not 
 
 be banished from my presence. 
 And thou shalt swear by the life of Jehovah, in truth, 
 
 in justice, and in righteousness. 
 And in him shall the nations bless themselves and in 
 
 him shall they glory. 
 For thus saith Jehovah, to the men of Judah and 
 
 Jerusalem : 
 Break up the fallow ground and do not sow among 
 
 thorns. 
 Circumcise yourselves to Jehovah, and take away the 
 
 foreskins of your heart. (Jer. 3. 22a; 4. i-4a.) 
 
 In powerful lyrical passages Jeremiah, in the Monologues 
 form of a monologue, reveals the tempest which 
 frequently raged within his own soul, and the 
 deep grief that the people's guilt aroused within 
 the heart of the prophet: 
 
 Oh that my head were waters and mine eyes a fountain 
 
 of tears, 
 That I might weep day and night for the slain of my 
 
 people ! 
 
32 Teachers of Judaism and Christianity 
 
 Oh that I had in the wilderness a lodging-place of 
 
 wandering men, 
 That I might leave my people and go from them ! 
 For they are all adulterers, an assembly of deceivers. 
 And they bend their tongue as though it w^ere their bow. 
 Falsehood and not truth prevail in the land, 
 For they proceed from evil to evil, and me they know 
 
 not. (Jer. 9. 1-3.) 
 
 Dialogues The prophcts also presented their teaching 
 
 with dramatic effectiveness in the form of a 
 dialogue. For example, in Isaiah 3 the prophet 
 and Jehovah each speak in turn, thus setting 
 forth the sweeping judgment which was about to 
 overtake the impious heathen. Even so in Jere- 
 miah 15. 10-21 the great prophet of Anathoth 
 bewails his lot and Jehovah replies with words 
 of comfort and assurance. 
 
 Visions At times the prophets abandoned the direct 
 
 address and illustrated their messages by put- 
 ting them in the form of visions. In this way 
 they painted pictures which were so vivid that 
 through the eye of the imagination their hearers 
 could see a great scene spread before them which 
 brought out in clearest outlines the vital truths 
 inherent in the prophets' sermons. The seventh 
 and eighth chapters of Amos contain a series of 
 impressive pictures of this type: 
 
 Thus the Lord Jehovah showed me, 
 
 And behold, a basket of summer fruit. 
 
 Then he said, "What dost thou see, Amos?" 
 
 And I said, "A basket of summer fruit." 
 
 And Jehovah said to me, 
 
 "The end has come to my people Israel, 
 
 I will not again pass them by." (Amos 8. i, 2.) 
 
 Rhapsodies Sometimes in imagination the prophets rose 
 
 above the petty problems and sins which con- 
 
The Prophets as Story-Tellers 33 
 
 fronted them and lifted themselves and their 
 hearers high above earth in such wonderful 
 rhapsodies as are found, for example, in the im- 
 mortal lines of Isaiah 40-66. 
 
 Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of Jehovah ; 
 Awake, as in the days of old, the generations of ancient 
 
 times. 
 Is it not thou that didst cut Rahab m pieces, that didst 
 
 pierce the monster? (Isa. 51. 9.) 
 
IV 
 
 THE TEACHING METHODS OF THE 
 PROPHETS 
 
 True teachers that they were, the prophets 
 fully realized that preaching was in many ways 
 an ineffective method of imparting truth. It was 
 the arrow shot at a venture which frequently 
 fell short of its mark. In a significant passage 
 found in the eighth chapter of his prophecies, 
 Isaiah voices his conviction that his preaching 
 had been largely in vain. The background was 
 the great crisis of 734 B. C, when he had ap- 
 pealed in turn to king and people and had met 
 only with rebuff. Then we hear him saying to 
 himself: "Binding up the admonition and seal- 
 ing up the instruction among my disciples, I will 
 wait for Jehovah" (Isa. 8. 16, 17a). This signifi- 
 cant passage reveals the fact that the great 
 prophets gathered about them groups of disciples 
 upon whose open minds they stamped their mes- 
 sage and to whom they intrusted its preservation. 
 Experience had taught the prophets the value of 
 the personal, intimate touch, of the closer inter- 
 change of question and answer, and of the in- 
 carnation of the teacher's aims, ideals, teachings, 
 and zeal in the life of the disciple. 
 
 To this method of teaching is largely due not 
 only the preservation of the messages of the 
 earlier prophets, but their influence upon their 
 own, and especially upon succeeding generations. 
 By most of their contemporaries the prophets 
 34 
 
Teaching Methods of the Prophets 35 
 
 were persecuted and their messages spurned. It 
 was onh' as their teachings sank into the minds 
 of a few earnest hearers, Hke Jeremiah's faithful 
 disciple Barak, that they were transmitted and 
 became effective in the life and thought of the 
 many. This important truth is well illustrated 
 in the experience of Isaiah. . The hope which he 
 placed in his disciples was not disappointed. 
 Even though the reactionary rule of Manasseh 
 overthrew the work of the great prophets of the 
 Assyrian period, their teachings survived in the 
 minds and lives of the few to burst again into a 
 flame which swept throughout Judah under the 
 leadership of Josiah and the men who rallied 
 about him. The book of Deuteronomy is the 
 record of the fact that the great principles of 
 these earlier prophets, at last embodied in de- 
 tailed laws, became the guiding force in the 
 thought and life of later generations. 
 
 In their zeal to appeal by every possible means Names 
 to the men of their nation the prophets often of children 
 resorted to what might be called, were they not 
 so intensely in earnest, sensational methods. 
 Thus Hosea gave to his children names which 
 suggested the essence of his teaching, and were 
 calculated to arouse curiosity and questions 
 which would open the mind of the people still 
 further for the understanding and acceptance of 
 his doctrines. Lo-ruhamah (Unpitied) was a 
 grim name to give to a baby girl, but it was richly 
 suggestive, as Hosea interpreted it, of the divine 
 judgment awaiting guilty Israel. Similarly the 
 name Shear-jashub (A remnant shall return), 
 which Isaiah gave to his little boy, suggested not 
 
36 Teachers of Judaism and Christianity 
 
 only the distant hope of restoration, but also the 
 coming conquest and exile which awaited cor- 
 rupt, defiant Judah. With the same earnest zeal 
 Isaiah gave the name Maher-shalal-hash-baz 
 (Spoil speedeth, prey hasteth) to another child. 
 He also wrote it on a tablet, setting it up in the 
 temple before the eyes of the people that they 
 might never forget that spoil was speeding and 
 prey was hasting, as Assyria, the dread agent of 
 Jehovah, was drawing nearer and nearer to their 
 borders. 
 Object Lessons In teaching the child nation, the prophets also 
 
 appreciated the great value of object lessons. 
 In the earlier days Ahijah, the prophet, tore 
 his garment into twelve pieces, giving ten to 
 Jeroboam as a suggestion of the honors 
 which awaited the young adventurer in the great 
 crisis that was approaching. To make clear to 
 his countrymen that captivity would surely 
 overtake them if they persisted in rebelling 
 against Assyria, Isaiah went barefooted about 
 the streets of Jerusalem for three years, through 
 summer and winter, in the garb of. a captive. 
 Later, to prevent a similar disastrous rebellion 
 against the Babylonian rule, Jeremiah appeared 
 in public with a wooden yoke about his neck, 
 thus symbolizing the yoke of Nebuchadrezzar. 
 When his rival, Hananiah, broke the wooden 
 yoke Jeremiah forged one of iron, telling the 
 people in this graphic way that there was no 
 escape from the rule of the Babylonian con- 
 queror. At another time he took the elders of 
 Jerusalem one day to the south of Jerusalem, 
 and in their presence shattered in pieces upon a 
 
of Dramatic 
 Illustrations 
 
 Teaching Methods of the Prophets 37 
 
 great rock an earthen vessel as a symbol of the 
 way in which guilty Judah should be broken. 
 On another occasion he brought the Rechabites, 
 whose loyalty to the commands of their ancestor, 
 Jonadab, was well known, into the temple and 
 offered them wine, which they, of course, re- 
 fused. On the basis of this signal example of 
 the obedience to the commands of a human an- 
 cestor, the prophet turned to denounce the people 
 for their infidelity to Jehovah's divine commands. 
 
 Brought up under the shadow of the temple Ezekiei's use 
 and accustomed to the use of symbols, Ezekiel 
 surpassed all the earlier prophets in his use of 
 dramatic object lessons. Thus, for example, in 
 order to prevent the Jews of distant Jerusalem 
 from again rebelling against Nebuchadrezzar, 
 the prophet, in the plastic clay, drew a plan of 
 Jerusalem in a state of siege and before the eyes 
 of his fellow exiles portrayed the inevitable con- 
 sequences of rebellion. On another occasion he 
 cut off his hair and scattered part to the winds. 
 Another part he smote with a sword ; then, 
 gathering a very small portion, he declared that 
 this represented the scattered few of his country- 
 men who should survive the consequences of 
 their rash and guilty policy. On another occa- 
 sion, dragging out his household goods, he dug 
 in hot haste through the soft clay wall which 
 encircled the Jewish colony in their exile home 
 in lower Babylonia ; then, carrying his posses- 
 sions through the breach thus made, he aroused 
 in superlative measure the curiosity of his people. 
 In the soil thus thoroughly prepared he sowed 
 the seeds of earnest warning and counsel which 
 
38 Teachers of Judaism and Christianity 
 
 he hoped would bear fruit in a saner attitude to- 
 ward the pohtical problem upon whose solution 
 depended the fate of Jerusalem and Judah. At a 
 later time Zechariah, another priest-prophet, il- 
 lustrated the strong hope within him that Zerub- 
 babel, the scion of the house of David, would 
 again be raised to the kingship by giving com- 
 mand that a crown be prepared and laid aside 
 imtil the opportune moment should arrive when 
 the Jewish community would arise and reassert 
 its independence. 
 Written Tracts It was inevitable that in time the prophets 
 and Epistles should put their messages in v/ritten form. Amos 
 appears to have been the first to take this step. 
 That which influenced him was probably the 
 fact that he was prevented by Amaziah, the priest 
 of Bethel, from speaking in public to the men of 
 northern Israel. The earlier prophets appear, 
 like Paul of a later day, to have regarded writ- 
 ing as an inferior substitute for the direct per- 
 sonal address. Most of the preexilic prophets 
 seem to have given little attention to the col- 
 lection of their prophecies. As in the case of 
 Jeremiah, the preservation of their sermons in 
 writing is due to the work of their disciples to 
 whom they committed their message. At first 
 these prophetic writings were cherished and ap- 
 predated by a limited few within the nation. 
 When the exile, however, scattered the different 
 survivors of the race throughout the then known 
 world, the importance of the written message be- 
 came paramount. Henceforth the prophets de- 
 pended almost entirely upon this method of teach- 
 ing. 
 
Teaching Methods of the Prophets 39 
 
 Apocalypses 
 
 As the prestige of the prophets waned, it be- 
 came more and more the custom for them to 
 issue their predictions anonymously. The pre- 
 dictive element also became much more promi- 
 nent. The prophets again became seers. With 
 this loss of the personal touch and the abandon- 
 ment of the teaching method, prophecy began to 
 lose its vital touch with life and to become more 
 vague and therefore less direct. Their teachings 
 were presented in symbolic form. The apocalypse 
 took the place of the direct, simple address. The 
 appeal was to the imagination rather than to 
 the will of men, and with this decline from its 
 earlier and nobler traditions Hebrew prophecy 
 lost its hold upon the lives of men. The result 
 was that the prophet almost entirely disappeared, 
 and his place was filled by the priest and the sage. 
 
 In the light especially of the study of the intense Moral 
 great preexilic prophets, it is possible briefly to ^^''"^_^_*_"^^^^ °^ 
 summarize the prophetic method. Its first char- 
 acteristic was an intense moral earnestness be- 
 gotten by profound personal conviction. The 
 prophets spoke not dogmatically, but out of the 
 depths of their own and their nation's experience. 
 Their one ambition was to reach the wills and 
 transform the lives of their contemporaries. 
 From beginning to end, the true prophets were 
 also characterized by their complete devotion to 
 their task. The lives of men like Hosea and 
 Jeremiah were one long martyrdom, and yet they 
 never flinched or turned back, however great the 
 danger, however great the cost. Fearlessly they 
 went about their God-given task, refusing to 
 compromise their ideals. 
 
 the Prophets 
 
40 Teachers of Judaism and Christianity 
 
 Their At the same time the prophets were practical 
 
 Superlative Tact [y^ their mcthods. They even sought as far as 
 possible to utilize existing- men and measures. 
 Confronted by hostile audiences, they used super- 
 lative tact in gaining the public ear. Thus, 
 Amos, confronted as he was by the corrupt and 
 cruel rulers of northern Israel at a great feast 
 day in the royal sanctuary at Bethel, not only 
 disarmed all opposition, but gained with mar- 
 velous skill and effectiveness a unanimous assent 
 to the fundamental principles which he was seek- 
 ing to establish. Instead of beginning with an 
 attack upon northern Israel, he pointed out the 
 crimes and brutality of their hated foes, and the 
 certain judgment that Jehovah would bring upon 
 these guilty peoples. While his hearers were 
 still rejoicing over the just judgment that was 
 about to overtake the heathen, like a flash the 
 prophet set before them the even greater crimes 
 that were perpetrated by them against Jehovah's 
 own people, and pointed out, with resistless logic, 
 the inevitable judgments that awaited them. 
 Similarly the young prophet Isaiah came before 
 the rich vineyard owners of Jerusalem with the 
 story of a friend who carefully prepared and 
 planted a vineyard. The story was cast in the 
 fascinating form of a vineyard song. Even as 
 Isaiah's hearers, charmed by the story, were nod- 
 ding assent to the justice of destroying this vine- 
 yard which bore only bad fruit, he suddenly 
 applied the parable to them, for they were Je- 
 hovah's carefully nurtured vineyard. With 
 courage equaled only by his superlative tact, he 
 pointed out the crimes of land monopoly, intern- 
 
Teaching Methods of the Prophets 4 1 
 
 Prophets 
 
 perance, skepticism, and disregard of public re- 
 sponsibility, the worthless fruits which Judah 
 was bringing forth. 
 
 Characteristic of the prophets are their mar- /Re'sum/ of the 
 velous simplicity and directness, their dramatic Work oj the 
 emphasis on essentials, and their close, intelligent 
 touch with the conditions and problems of their 
 day. They were the heralds of divine truth who 
 spoke not so much to the individual as to the 
 nation, and through their nation to all mankind. 
 They were the watchmen on the mountain tops 
 whose keen eyes detected the significant move- 
 ments within their nation and in the larger world 
 without. With eyes open to the divine truth, 
 they grasped the eternal principles which are the 
 basis of all political, social, and moral life. 
 Possessed of these great facts and principles, 
 with equal devotion and skill and tact, they im- 
 pressed them upon the consciousness of their 
 own and succeeding generations. These men 
 were the great pioneers in the field of moral and 
 religious truth w^hose teachings make the Old 
 Testament unique, for they molded the life of 
 ancient Israel, and gave to the other teachers of 
 their race that which is the essence of their mes- 
 sage. Above all, they, like John the Baptist, 
 were forerunners, who prepared the way for that 
 larger and fuller interpretation of life and re- 
 ligion proclaimed by the Great Prophet of 
 Nazareth, 
 
V 
 
 Role of the 
 Early Priests 
 
 Origin of the 
 
 Levitical 
 
 Priesthood 
 
 THE DUTIES AND AIMS OF THE PRIESTS 
 
 The word ''priest" ordinarily calls up a vision 
 of a long-robed official presenting a sacrifice at 
 the ancient altar. This, however, is only an im- 
 perfect picture of the real functions of the pre- 
 exilic Hebrew priests. The early history of the 
 order is veiled in much obscurity. The ancient 
 story preserved in Judges i8 throws some light 
 upon this early history. It tells us of a certain 
 Ephraimite by the name of Micah who reared a 
 family shrine and put it in charge of his oldest 
 son. When his son tired of the task, Micah 
 secured a wandering Levite, who took charge of 
 the sanctuary and in return for his services re- 
 ceived a definite salary. Later the Levite was 
 consulted by the Danite spies when they sought 
 a home far in the north. Subsequently he was 
 carried off to the north by them, together with 
 the paraphernalia of the ancient shrine. There 
 he and his. descendants presided over the temple 
 at Dan, which, after the division of the Hebrew 
 empire, became one of the two royal sanctuaries 
 of the north. 
 
 In connection with this narrative the significant 
 statement is made that this Levite was a de- 
 scendant of Moses. In the narratives of Genesis 
 34 and Exodus :>y2. 25-29 the Levites are dis- 
 tinguished by their zeal in preserving the purity 
 of Jehovah's religion. Their zeal appears to have 
 called down upon them a signal disaster at the 
 42 
 
Duties and Aims of the Priests 43 
 
 hands of the ancient Canaanite inhabitants of the 
 land. This event is the most satisfactory ex- 
 planation of the reason why the tribe of Levi, as 
 in the days of the Judges, was only a remnant 
 and had no permanent place of abode. The facts 
 that Moses belonged to this tribe and that it had 
 no definite place of abode perhaps explain why 
 to the sons of Levi was intrusted the care of 
 the local sanctuaries from the days of the settle- 
 ment onward. 
 
 Even though many of the descendants of the Broader content 
 early Canaanites probably remained at these an- °so^nof L^vi" 
 cient sanctuaries, all ministering priests were 
 apparently in time designated by the common 
 term soji of Levi, In the book of Deuteronomy 
 the terms priest and so]i of Levi are interchange- 
 able. Like the kindred terms sons of the proph- 
 ets and sons of the Held, or the modern Arab son 
 of the zi'ay (used to describe a traveler), the 
 term son of Levi did not necessarily indicate 
 lineal descent from a common ancestor, but 
 rather described the class of officials who were 
 associated with the different sanctuaries through- 
 out Israel. 
 
 The centralization of all worship in Jerusalem its Later 
 in the days of Josiah, and the abolition of all 
 other sanctuaries, doubtless gave rise to that 
 distinction which was first made by Ezekiel be- 
 tween the priests and the Levites. With him the 
 priests are the descendants of the old Jerusalem 
 priesthood, while the Levites are the descendants 
 of those who cared for the ancient sanctuaries 
 outside Jerusalem. By Ezekiel, and still further 
 by the later priestly writers, the Levites are as- 
 
 Limitations 
 
The Fourfold 
 Duties of the 
 Priests 
 
 Greater 
 Prominence of 
 the Teaching 
 Function 
 
 44 Teachers of Judaism and Christianity 
 
 signed to a secondary and menial position and 
 the priests, the sons of Aaron, are alone regarded 
 as fitted to perform the more important acts of 
 sacrifice. 
 
 The distinction between the duties and aims of 
 the preexilic and post-exilic priests is, therefore, 
 clearly marked. In the light of the oldest refer- 
 ences, it is evident that the preexilic priests were 
 more than mere custodians of the temples and 
 ministers at the altar. In an obscure but sug- 
 gestive passage found among the songs pre- 
 served in Deuteronomy 33, the fourfold func- 
 tions of these early priests are clearly stated: 
 
 Thy Tlnimmim and thy Urim are for the Holy One, 
 
 They show Jacob thy judgments, 
 
 And Israel thy instruction ; 
 
 They bring to thy nostrils the savor of sacrifice, 
 
 And whole burnt offering to thine altar. 
 
 This passage indicates that, in the first place, 
 they were the guardians of the oracle ; secondly, 
 that they acted as judges, teaching the people by 
 means of the decisions whicli they rendered ; 
 thirdly, that they were the ordinary teachers of 
 the people; and, finally, that they directed the 
 presentation of the sacrifices at the altar. 
 
 Of these four functions, that of teaching was, 
 in the days before the exile, by far the most im- 
 portant and significant. With this thought in 
 mind Micah (3. 11) complains that the "priests 
 teach for hire," implying that their chief duty 
 was to teach, but that they were under obligation 
 to do so freely rather than for mercenary mo- 
 tives. Hosea, who was the first of the Old Testa- 
 ment prophets to appreciate fully the importance 
 
Duties and Aims of the Priests 45 
 
 of teaching- as a means of developing the re- 
 hgious Ufe and character of the race, declares 
 that Jehovah will destroy both priest and people 
 because the priests have been faithless to their 
 task as teachers. In ]\Ialachi 2. 6, 7 is found the 
 clearest portrait extant of the early priest: 
 
 True instruction was in his mouth. 
 
 And unrighteousness was not found in his lips ; 
 
 He walked with me in peace and uprightness. 
 
 And turned many from iniquity. 
 
 For the priest's lips should keep knowledge. 
 
 And men should seek the law at his mouth, 
 
 For he is the messenger of Jehovah of hosts. 
 
 It was not until after the exile that the priests gave 
 up their important teaching functions, and became 
 simply custodians of the oral traditions, guardians 
 of the sanctuary, and ministers at the altar. 
 
 In the preexilic Hebrew life the priests exer- importance of 
 cised an exceedingly important influence in de- 
 veloping the life of the nation. Their connection 
 with the sanctuaries gave them a position of 
 great authority in the community. They were 
 the class who taught to the masses the great 
 principles of the prophets and by word and 
 symbol made them clear, intelligible, and ap- 
 plicable to the ordinary life of the people. The 
 original text of Jeremiah 5. 31 makes this rela- 
 tion very clear, although the words are those of 
 denunciation : 
 
 The prophets prophesy falsely, 
 
 And the priests teach according to their directions. 
 
 The priests spoke to the individual rather than to 
 the nation, and their authority was acknowledged 
 by kings and people. Their opportunities for in- 
 
 Their Influence 
 
46 Teachers of Judaism and Christianity 
 
 fiueiicing the masses were, therefore, exceedingly 
 great, but with these opportunities came equally 
 strong temptations. The prophets often com- 
 plained that some of these priests yielded to mer- 
 cenary motives and thus betrayed their high 
 office. There is reason to believe, however, that 
 the great majority of the early priests were faith- 
 ful to their task. Abiathar, in the days of David, 
 Jehoiada, in the days of Joash, and Hilkiah, 
 under the rule of Josiah, are a few of the strong 
 men who by their character and personality ex- 
 alted the office of the priest. Inasmuch as the 
 people came to the priests rather than the priests 
 to the people, they stood in a unique relation to 
 those whom they taught. Their contact with 
 the people was also closer and more continuous 
 than that of the prophets. Without these teach- 
 ers of the common people it is clear that the 
 great principles enunciated by the prophets 
 would in a majority of cases have failed to reach 
 their true goal. 
 Aimed to Guard Briefly fomiulatcd, the aim of the early priests 
 Sacred ^^.^s, first, to guard the sanctuaries and to pre- 
 
 serve the religious traditions and institutions 
 which gathered about these ancient shrines. 
 Doubtless through them originally many of 
 Israel's earliest traditions were handed down, 
 being retold from year to year at the great an- 
 nual festivals, until, in tim^e, they were collected 
 by the prophetic and priestly historians and com- 
 mitted to writing. While the temple still stood, 
 the priests also transmitted to their sons the de- 
 tailed ritualistic laws which governed the cere- 
 monial life of the sanctuary. 
 
 Institutions 
 
Duties and Aims of the Priests 47 
 
 The second task of the priests was to teach To Teach People 
 the people how rightly to worship. The evi- How to worship 
 dence, on the whole, indicates that the early 
 priests rarely offered sacrifice. Even the com- 
 paratively late law of Deuteronomy provides that 
 each man shall bring his offering to the sanctu- 
 ary, slay it with his own hand, prepare it for the 
 altar, and then participate in the family feast 
 which he was to share with his household and 
 dependents. The task of the priest appears to 
 have been to instruct the people how to perform 
 the sacrifice, and in general to guide them in the 
 details of the ritual and in the different forms of 
 worship. Ezekiel charges the priests of his day 
 with having neglected this important duty : "Her 
 priests have done violence to my law, and have 
 profaned my holy things ; they have made no dis- 
 tinction between the holy and the common, 
 neither have they caused men to discern between 
 the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes 
 from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among 
 them" (Ezek. 22. 26). 
 
 The third aim of the priests was to teach the To Teach People 
 people how to live rightly and to perform their How to Live 
 duties one to another. This led the priests to 
 apply the principles not only of ceremonial but 
 of civil law to the individual needs and problems 
 of the people who resorted to them. It made 
 them teachers of the individual as well as of the 
 nation, and led them, like the prophets, to define 
 religion in terms not only of the ritual but of life, 
 of love, and of service. Thus, in their early de- 
 velopment, the aims of the priests and prophets 
 were in many ways closely parallel. Both appear 
 
48 Teachers of Judaism and Christianity 
 
 to have developed from the ancient Arabic kahin. 
 The same common Semitic root is retained in 
 the Hebrew term kohen, which is the common 
 designation of the priests. The word means 
 ''minister." While the prophets broke away from 
 the local shrines and the customs which had 
 gathered about them and devoted themselves to 
 large questions of political, social, national, and 
 later of universal import, the priests ever re- 
 tained their close connection with the sanctuaries 
 and devoted their attention to the details of wor- 
 ship and personal conduct. 
 
VI 
 
 THE TEACHING METHODS OF THE PRIESTS 
 
 Throughout their history the priests re- useoftne 
 mained preeminently the guardians of the divine Oracle 
 oracles.' This appears to have been the chief 
 function of the son of Levi employed by Micah 
 in the ancient story of Judges 17 and 18. The 
 early kings, like Saul and David, always kept 
 within their court priests to whom they turned 
 for an answer in the name of Jehovah before go- 
 ing out to battle. Thus, according to i Samuel 
 23. 8-12: "Saul summoned all the people of war 
 to go down to Keilah to besiege David and his 
 men. And when David knew that Saul was de- 
 vising evil against him he said to Abiathar the 
 priest, Bring here the ephod. And David said, O 
 Jehovah, the God of Israel, thy servant hath 
 surely heard that Saul is seeking to come to 
 Keilah to destroy the city because of me. Will 
 Saul come down, as thy servant hath heard? O 
 Jehovah, God of Israel, I beseech thee, tell thy 
 servant. And Jehovah said. He will come down. 
 Then David said, Will the men of Keilah deliver 
 me and my men into the hand of Saul? And 
 Jehovah said. They will deliver thee up." Again, 
 according to i Samuel 30. 7, 8: ''David said to 
 Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech, Bring 
 here to me the ephod. And Abiathar brought 
 thither the ephod to David. And David inquired 
 of Jehovah, saying, 
 
 49 
 
50 Teachers of Judaism and Christianity 
 
 Shall I pursue this marauding band? 
 Shall I overtake them ? 
 
 And he answered him, 
 
 Pursue, 
 
 For thou shalt surely overtake, 
 
 And thou shalt surely rescue." 
 
 Nature of the From tlicsc and other references it seems clear 
 
 ^'■^''^^ that the question propounded to the priest was put 
 
 in a form so that it could be answered either by 
 *'Yes" or "No." Fortunately, the superior Greek 
 text of I Samuel 14. 4ib-42a throws clear Hght 
 upon the nature of these ancient oracles: "If the 
 guilt be in me or in Jonathan my son, Jehovah, 
 God of Israel, give Urim : but if the guilt is in 
 my people Israel, give Thummim. Then Jona- 
 than and Said were taken and the people escaped. 
 And Saul said. Cast the lot between me and 
 Jonathan my son. He whom Jehovah shall take, 
 must die." From this passage it is clear that the 
 ancient oracle consisted of some form of sacred 
 lot. Apparently the ephod was a pouch in the 
 garment of the priest in which were probably 
 found two stones, the one marked Urim (which 
 means lights), the other Thummim (which 
 means perfections). The question was answered 
 according as one or the other of these sacred 
 stones or tablets was drawn forth. This was 
 evidently the usual method of appealing to Je- 
 hovah by means of the lot. Even so to-day the 
 Moravians in the South use the lot in deciding 
 such serious questions as marriage or the choice 
 of a bishop. 
 
 In interpreting the significance of the lot the 
 priests were able to exert a great influence. 
 
Teaching Methods of the Priests 5 ' 
 
 From Haggai 2. 11-13 it is clear that in later opportunity for 
 times the torah or decision depended upon the influencing the 
 judgment of the priests : "Thus saith Jehovah of 
 hosts: Ask of the priests a decision, saying. If 
 one bear holy flesh in the skirt of his garment, 
 and with his skirt touch bread, or pottage, or 
 wine, or oil, or any food, shall it become holy? 
 And the priests answered and said, No. Then 
 said Haggai, If one that is unclean by reason of 
 a dead body touch any of these shall it be un- 
 clean? And the priests answered and said. It 
 shall be unclean." Thus the popular belief in 
 the authority of the oracle gave to the priests rare 
 opportunities for guiding the life of the people. 
 
 Another exceedingly important way in which Judicial 
 the priests taught the people was by means of the 
 judicial decisions which they were called upon to 
 render. In the classic passage of Exodus 18. 
 13-16 light is thrown on the fundamental nature 
 of Moses's earlier work and on his vital re- 
 lation to Israel's later legislation : "Now on the 
 next day Moses sat as judge to decide cases for 
 the people, and the people stood about Moses 
 from morning until evening. But when jMoses's 
 father-in-law saw all that he was doing for the 
 people, he said. What is this thing that you are 
 doing for the people? Why are you sitting all 
 alone while all the people stand about you from 
 morning until evening? And Moses answered 
 his father-in-law. Because the people keep com- 
 ing to me to inquire of God. Whenever they 
 have a matter of dispute, they come to me that 
 I may decide which of the two is right and make 
 known the statutes of God and his decisions." 
 
52 Teachers of Judaism and Christianity 
 
 Moses's 
 Relation to the 
 Laws 
 
 Judicial 
 
 Functions of the 
 Priests 
 
 In deciding these difficult questions which 
 presented new problems and involved new prin- 
 ciples, jMoses w^as thus able to establish prece- 
 dents which became the basis of definite laws. 
 Whatever is the final conclusion regarding the 
 date at which the different Old Testament laws 
 were committed to writing, they will always be 
 recognized as truly Mosaic. Standing as Moses 
 did at the beginning of Israel's national life, he 
 left his mighty impress upon all its laws and in- 
 stitutions. As the first great prophet, priest, and 
 judge, he taught the Hebrew race by word of 
 mouth, by object lessons, and by just decisions, 
 and thus established those fundamental principles 
 which are the basis of Israel's legal system. 
 Later Jewish tradition, therefore, is right in 
 ascribing to Moses a place of commanding au- 
 thority in Israel's legislation. 
 
 According to Deuteronomy 17. 8, 9 all diffi- 
 cult cases were referred to the priests as a court 
 of final appeal : ''If a case involving bloodshed or 
 conflicting claims or the plague of leprosy — sub- 
 jects of dispute within thine own city — be too 
 difficult for thee to decide, then thou shalt set out 
 and go up to the place which Jehovah thy God 
 shall choose ; and thou shalt come to the Levitical 
 priests and the judge who shall be in office in 
 those days ; and thou shalt inquire and they shall 
 make known to thee the judicial decision." The 
 priests were regarded as Jehovah's representa- 
 tives : "If the thief be not found, then the master 
 of the house shall come before God to prove 
 whether or not he hath taken his neighbor's 
 goods. In every case of breach of trust, whether 
 
Teaching Methods of the Priests 53 
 
 it concern ox, or ass, or sheep, or clothing, or 
 any kind of lost thing of which one saith, This is 
 it, the case of both parties shall come before 
 God: He whom God shall condemn shall make 
 double restitution to his neighbor" (Exod. 22. 
 
 7-9)' 
 
 The opportunities thus offered to the priests Opportunities 
 not only for illustrating the principles of justice, ^o^'thus 
 
 u..ri ^- 1 1 1 • Teaching the 
 
 but tor educatmg the people, cannot be overesti- peopie 
 mated. As individual problems of daily life 
 were laid before them, they were enabled to 
 study the needs of the people, to apply in most 
 practical form the high principles proclaimed by 
 the prophets, and at the same time to lead the 
 people to accept and follow them in their own 
 daily life. Their position in the midst of a child 
 nation, whose moral standards and religious 
 ideals were only gradually being formed, was 
 very similar to that of the wise and efficient 
 judge in charge of a modern juvenile court. 
 They became the specialists in dealing with so- 
 cial and moral ills. They were able to heal effec- 
 tively those disorders which retarded the natural 
 and normal development of the moral and re- 
 ligious health of society. They were in position 
 to deal directly and personally with those who 
 w^ere a menace to the welfare of the community. 
 Inspired by a strong religious impulse and by 
 the spirit of the teacher as well as that of the 
 judge, it is obvious that the faithful priests of 
 ancient Irsael w^ere exceedingly powerful fac- 
 tors in the development of the national character 
 and ideals. 
 
 The priests, however, did not merely admin- 
 
54 Teachers of Judaism and Christianity 
 
 The Catechetical istcr justice. There is clear and convincing evi- 
 Method dence in the Old Testament laws that they for- 
 
 mulated the essential principles governing the 
 relation of man to man and man to God, and as 
 teachers impressed these principles upon the 
 consciousness and memory of the people. From 
 Deuteronomy 27. 14, 15 it is also evident that 
 they sometimes used the catechetical method: 
 "And the Levites shall answer and say to all the 
 men of Israel with a loud voice: Cursed be the 
 man that maketh a graven or molten image, an 
 abomination to Jehovah, the work of the hands 
 of the craftsman, and setteth it up in secret. And 
 all the people shall answer and say. Amen." 
 Twelve important definite duties are thus im- 
 pressed in the form of responses upon the minds 
 of the people. 
 
 Most students of the Old Testament are fa- 
 miliar with the wonderful prophetic decalogue in 
 Exodus 20. Not all, however, have discovered 
 the remaining nine decalogues preserved in 
 Exodus 21-23. Of these, the first five decalogues 
 contain civil and social laws. The last four 
 (probablv originally five) contain ceremonial 
 and religious laws. The following titles are de- 
 scriptive of the contents of these decalogues: 
 Civil Decalogues: (i) Rights of Slaves. (2) 
 Assault. (3) Domestic Animals. (4) Respon- 
 sibility for Property. (5) Social Purity. Cere- 
 monial AND Religious: (i) Duty of Kindness. 
 (2) Justice in Legal Matters. (3) Duties to 
 God. (4) Ceremonial Duties. Each decalogue 
 consisted originally of ten short sentences or 
 words. Each law illustrates a fundamental prin- 
 
Teaching Methods of the Priests 55 
 
 ciple applicable to all kindred cases. These an- 
 cient laws were doubtless arranged in the form 
 of decalogues as an aid to the memory. Each 
 consisted of two distinct pentads, that is, two 
 groups of five laws. Each law in a decalogue 
 was, therefore, presumably associated with a 
 certain finger or thumb of the hand, and in turn 
 each one of the ten decalogues was likewise fixed 
 in the memory of the learner. It takes little im- 
 agination, therefore, to see the faithful priests at 
 the annual feasts — in fact, whenever the people 
 came up to sacrifice — teaching them, old and 
 young alike, these fundamental principles, and 
 helping them to remember by association with 
 the fingers of the hand. 
 
 The decalogue which defines the duties of a Typical 
 witnesses and judges in legal matters is typical ^"aiogue 
 of the group, and possesses a perennial value as 
 well as interest. The last law of the first pentad 
 seems unusual, until it is remembered that the 
 witnesses came from the ranks of the common 
 people and that therefore their sympathies wxre 
 with the poor. The first law of the following 
 pentad, which deals with the duties of the judges 
 who were drawn from the rich and ruling class, 
 naturally emphasizes the importance of regard- 
 ing the cause of the poor. The following is a 
 modern interpretation of this ancient decalogue: 
 
 First Pentad: Duties of Witnesses 
 
 I. Thou shalt not spread abroad a false report. 
 II. Do not enter into a conspiracy with a wicked 
 
 man to be an unrighteous witness. 
 III. Thou shalt not follow the majority in doing what 
 is wrong. 
 
56 Teachers of Judaism and Christianity 
 
 IV. Thou shalt not bear testimony in a case so as to 
 
 pervert justice. 
 V. Thou shalt not show partiality to a poor man in 
 his case. 
 
 Second Pentad: Duties of Judges 
 
 VI. Thou shalt not prevent justice being done to thy 
 
 poor in his cause. 
 VII. Keep aloof from every false matter. 
 VIII. Do not condemn the innocent nor him who hath 
 a just cause. 
 IX. Do not vindicate the wicked. 
 X. Thou shalt take no bribe, for a bribe blindeth the 
 eyes of those who see and perverteth the cause 
 of the righteous. 
 
 Symbolism of 
 The Ritual 
 
 The Temple 
 Ritual in the 
 Greek Period 
 
 The priests were fully aware of the value of 
 objective symbolism in teaching a child nation. 
 The principles underlying Israel's ceremonials 
 are those of the prophets : the holiness of Jeho- 
 vah, the importance of loyalty to him, the defiling 
 character of wrongdoing, and the necessity of 
 public confession. No one can read certain of 
 the later psalms, which breathe passionate de- 
 votion to the temple ritual, and fail to appre- 
 ciate how effectively the priests impressed these 
 great principles upon the minds of the people. 
 To the ordinary citizens the obligations of the 
 ritual were not a burden but a joy. In the faith- 
 ful performance of them and in the sense of har- 
 mony with their Divine King they found supreme 
 peace and happiness. 
 
 Ben Sira has preserved a highly colored but 
 vivid picture of the temple ritual in the later 
 Greek period. The occasion was probably the 
 service on the day of atonement led by the high 
 priest, Simon: 
 
Teaching Methods of the Priests 57 
 
 How glorious was he when he looked forth from the 
 
 temple, 
 At his coming forth out of the sanctuary ! 
 As the mornmg star in the midst of a cloud. 
 As the full moon on the da}^ of the passover feast! 
 When he put on the robe of glory, 
 And clothed himself with the splendid garments. 
 And ascended to the holy altar, 
 He made glorious the precincts of the sanctuary. 
 And when he received the portions from the priests' 
 
 hands. 
 Himself also standing by the altar-hearth, 
 His brethren as a garland round about him, 
 He was as a young cedar on Mount Lebanon, 
 And as stems of palm trees they encompassed him 
 
 about. 
 All the sons of Aaron in their glory, 
 With Jehovah's burnt offering in their hands. 
 In the presence of all the congregation of Israel, 
 Until he had finished the service at the altar. 
 And the offering to the Most High, the Almighty, 
 He stretched out his hand to the cup. 
 And poured out the blood of the grape ; 
 He poured it out at the foot of the altar, 
 A sweet-smelling savor to the Most High, the King 
 
 of all. 
 Then shouted the sons of Aaron, 
 They blew on the trumpets of beaten work, 
 They blew and sent forth a mighty blast. 
 As a remembrance before the j\Iost High. 
 Then all the people together hasted, 
 They fell down with their faces to the ground. 
 To worship their Lord, the Almighty, God Most High. 
 The singers also praised him with their voices; 
 In the whole house was there made sweet melody. 
 And the people besought the Lord Most High, 
 In prayer before him who is merciful. 
 Until the service at the altar was ended ; 
 And his due had been rendered to him. 
 Then the high priest went down and lifted up his hands, 
 Over the whole congregation of the Israelites, 
 To give blessing to the Lord with his lips. 
 And to glory in his name. (B. Sir. 50. 5, 6, 11-20.) 
 
 The priests were also fully alive to the im- ceremonial 
 portance of teaching through the eye as well as Customs 
 
38 Teachers of Judaism and Christianity 
 
 "Written Laws 
 
 Traditional 
 Precedents and 
 Histories 
 
 through the ear. They appealed effectively to 
 the aesthetic sense and to the spirit of worship 
 so strong in the early history of the race. To 
 this end they bound themselves by certain cere- 
 monial customs, such as the acts of purification 
 and the wearing of spotless white garments, which 
 illustrated effectively the holiness of Jehovah 
 and the requirement that his people should be 
 holy. By abstaining from certain kinds of food 
 and from all that was unclean they became con- 
 stant object lessons before the eyes of the people. 
 
 In time also tlije priests took the pen and col- 
 lected the laws of their race wdiich had been 
 transmitted from father to son, or else first im- 
 pressed their teachings upon the minds of all 
 through the concise decalogues, and then put 
 them in written form. When the temple was de- 
 stroyed there was great danger that the cere- 
 monial customs, which had been transmitted 
 from father to son and had received constant 
 illustration in the temple ritual, would be for- 
 gotten. Therefore the priestly scribes recorded 
 these customs in written laws, such as are found 
 in the leg^al sections of Exodus and Numbers 
 and especially in Leviticus. 
 
 They also collected the traditional precedents 
 which, like the case law of other nations, became 
 of binding value in guiding judges in deciding 
 similar questions. To provide an introduction 
 and a setting to Israel's laws, the priests followed 
 the example of the prophets and, collecting the 
 current traditions, wrote a priestly history of 
 their race, beginning with the majestic story of 
 the creation, found in the first chapter of Genesis, 
 
Teaching Methods of the Priests 59 
 
 and culminating- in the accounts of the great 
 covenants and institutions which they beHeved 
 were estabHshed at different periods in their his- 
 tory. Still later, a Levite wrote a history of the 
 nation parallel to the prophetic history found in 
 Samuel and Kings. The interest in Chronicles 
 naturally centers about the temple and the origin 
 of Israel's religious institutions. Some of the 
 later priests, with the spirit of the poet, voiced 
 their intense appreciation of the law and devotion 
 to it in the form of psalms. The result is that 
 a large portion of the writings of the Old Testa- 
 ment come from Israel's priestly teachers. 
 
 The priests of ancient Israel, therefore, antici- Risume of the 
 pated many of the principles emphasized in Methods of the 
 modern education. They expressed their thought 
 concretely and objectively. They appealed to 
 the eye and to the aesthetic sense, as well as to 
 the reason. They were fully alive to the value of 
 suggestion as a means of teaching. In their use 
 of symbol and ceremonial they were the early 
 exponents of the manual and illustrative method. 
 They also put their vital teachings in clear, com- 
 pact form, easily understood by the people, and 
 then impressed them indelibly upon the popular 
 mind by means of oral decalogue, written law, 
 and stately ritual. 
 
VII 
 
 Background of 
 the Work of the 
 Sages 
 
 Sages in the 
 Ancient East 
 
 THE HISTORY AND AIMS OF THE WISE MEN 
 OR SAGES 
 
 In the primitive Semitic East there were ap- 
 parently no distinct classes of lawyers, physi- 
 cians, or philosophers. The needs, however, 
 which these different classes to-day conserve 
 existed in the past as in the present. The neces- 
 sity for men to preserve the stored-up experience 
 and wisdom of succeeding generations, and to 
 impart it in practical form to all who might 
 apply to them, was largely met by the ancient 
 wise men or sages. For the sake of convenience 
 and effectiveness this wealth of experience was 
 ordinarily treasured in the form of proverbs. 
 
 From the old Egyptian kingdom there comes 
 a collection of such proverbs, popularly at- 
 tributed to Ptah-hotep and Kegemne, famous 
 viziers of their day. On the back side of one of 
 the creation tablets is found a reference to a 
 corresponding class of wise men among the 
 ancient Babylonians : 
 
 Let the elder enlighten. 
 
 Let the wise, the learned meditate together; 
 Let the father rehearse, make the son apprehend. 
 Open the ears of the shepherd and the flockmaster (the 
 king). 
 
 First Kings 4. 30, in describing the wisdom of 
 Solomon, alludes incidentally to the sages of 
 other nations, for it states that his wisdom "ex- 
 celled the wisdom of all the children of the East 
 60 
 
History and Aims of the Wise Men 6l 
 
 and all the wisdom of Egypt." The book of Job 
 likewise bears testimony to the presence of the 
 wise among Israel's neighbors, for Job himself 
 was of the land of Uz and his friends who con- 
 versed with him in the characteristic language 
 of the wisdom school were Eliphaz, the Tema- 
 nite, Zophar, the Naamathite, and Bildad, the 
 Shuhite. The lands here described lay to the 
 east of Palestine. Teman was an Edomite city 
 famous in antiquity for its sages. 
 
 Among the Arabs, and especially those living in the Modem 
 far out in the desert, many men noted for their East 
 practical wisdom may still be found. The 
 pointed proverb is to-day constantly and effec- 
 tively used in ordinary intercourse throughout 
 the Semitic world. 
 
 It was in this favorable atmosphere and to in Israel's 
 meet universal human needs that Israel's sages History 
 arose. Inasmuch as their appeal was not to the 
 nation but to the individual, and as their work 
 was done quietly and unostentatiously, they do 
 not figure prominently in the records of the Old 
 Testament. Only rarely and incidentally are 
 they referred to in the literature which comes 
 from the earlier periods. In the post-exilic 
 period, when their activity and influence reached 
 the zenith, they are not once alluded to in the 
 historical records. Their presence and work is 
 evinced only by their writings. It is exceedingly 
 difficult, therefore, to reconstruct their history 
 with any degree of assurance. 
 
 The earliest traces of the work of the sages are Early Traces of 
 found in the words of the popular hero, Samson, wisdom 
 After finding honey in the skeleton of the lion, °"^ 
 
62 Teachers of Judaism and Christianity 
 
 which he had earher slain, he propounded at his 
 wedding feast the following riddle, cast in the 
 rhyme peculiar to early popular Semitic poetry : 
 
 Out of the eater came something to eat, 
 And out of the strong came something sweet. 
 
 (Judg. 14. 14.) 
 
 To this riddle his guests made answer: 
 
 What is sweeter than honey? 
 What is stronger than a lion? 
 
 Samson, in turn, referring to the way in which 
 they had extracted the meaning of his riddle 
 from him through the agency of his wife, re- 
 plied : 
 
 If with my heifer you did not plow, 
 You had not solved my riddle now. 
 
 (Judg. 14. 18.) 
 
 Wise Women The carlicst representative of the wisdom 
 
 school to figure in Hebrew history was not a 
 man but the famous wise woman of Tekoa. 
 According to 2 Samuel 14. 1-20 she was em- 
 ployed by the Hebrew commander, Joab, to bring 
 about a reconciliation between King David and 
 his banished son Absalom. It is significant that 
 she came from the little Judean town which 
 later sent forth Amos the prophet, who was 
 famous for his clear, convincing logic and the 
 terse, epigrammatic form in which he cast his 
 powerful appeals. By the use of a skillfully 
 prepared story or parable the woman influenced 
 David to commit himself to a principle which 
 she forthwith urged him to apply in the case of 
 his own son. In a later period Joab again won 
 his point through the services of a wise woman ; it 
 
History and Aims of the Wise Men 63 
 
 "Wise Men in the 
 Days of David 
 
 was while he was besieging the town of Abel, in 
 northern Israel, where the rebel Sheba had taken 
 refuge. When the fate of the city seemed sealed, 
 because of the obstinate resistance of its inhabit- 
 ants, one of its wise women came forth to make 
 terms with Joab. When she had secured favor- 
 able terms from the sturdy warrior, "the woman 
 went to all the people in her wisdom" and per- 
 suaded them to cut off the head of the rebel and 
 thus save their own heads. 
 
 Two wise men appear among David's trusted 
 counselors. The one was Ahithophel, who cast 
 his fortunes with the rebel Absalom and later 
 committed suicide when his counsels were re- 
 jected. The other was Hushai, who remained 
 loyal to David, and by his crafty counsel and 
 effective acting undermined the influence of 
 his rival Ahithophel and at a critical moment 
 saved the cause of the king. While not yet 
 recognized as a distinct caste or order, these 
 wise men and women, even in the days of the 
 United Kingdom, appear to have been regarded 
 as a class by themselves, and like Solomon, the 
 great representative of the wise men of early 
 Hebrew antiquity, to have enjoyed great popular 
 favor and a far-famed reputation. Their meth- 
 ods were those of the later sages, and are very 
 distinct from those of the priests and the proph- 
 ets. It is exceedingly probable that many such 
 wise men and women were to be found in the 
 cities and villages of early Israel. 
 
 By his contemporaries, and even more by later Nature of 
 generations. King Solomon was regarded as the f°/.°^*^ 
 most conspicuous representative of this early 
 
 Wisdom 
 
64 Teachers of Judaism and Christianity 
 
 His Relation to 
 the Book of 
 Proverbs 
 
 wisdom school. His wisdom, however, was evi- 
 dently very different from that of the later sages 
 who have given us the majority of the proverbs 
 now found in the Old Testament. His wisdom 
 appears to have been of the clever, versatile type 
 which might be more exactly defined as sagacity 
 or cunning. The stories preserved by tradition 
 to illustrate this quality reveal a brilliant, clever 
 mind, like that of a keen modern detective, able 
 quickly to interpret evidence overlooked by the 
 ordinary observer. That he was lacking in the 
 deeper qualities of wisdom is demonstrated by 
 the signal follies which characterized his reign. 
 
 The majority of the Old Testament proverbs 
 are written from the point of view of men of the 
 middle class, and do not fit in the mouth of a 
 tyrannical, splendor-loving king, who was chiefly 
 famous for his disregard of the laws of the 
 simple life, and for the magnitude of his harem. 
 There is, however, in all probability, some his- 
 torical basis for the statement in i Kings (4. 
 32) that "he spoke three thousand proverbs." 
 That he embodied the products of his versatile 
 wit in the form of proverbs need not be doubted, 
 even though the tradition in the present form is 
 exceedingly late. The added statement that "he 
 spoke of trees, animals, birds, and fishes," prob- 
 ably means that he used these as illustrations in 
 parables, even as did the later wise men. Solo- 
 mon's fame as a proverb-maker doubtless ex- 
 plains why later generations were inclined, in 
 ever-increasing measure, to attribute all ancient 
 proverbs to him. In view of the well-known 
 tenacity with which favorite proverbs are re- 
 
History and Aims of the Wise Men 65 
 
 tained in the popular mind and transmitted from 
 age to age, it is exceedingly probable that cer- 
 tain of the maxims in the book of Proverbs came 
 originally from Solomon. It is impossible, how- 
 ever, to distinguish these from the many which 
 came from the lips of later sages, for the value 
 of a proverb depends upon the fact that it em- 
 bodies common human experience rather than 
 upon the authority of the one who first formu- 
 lated it. 
 
 The preexilic prophets refer occasionally to References to 
 the wise. In condemning the spirit of his age 
 Isaiah declared: 
 
 the "Wise in the 
 Days Before the 
 Exile 
 
 Jehovah saith, Because this people draw near with 
 
 their mouth, 
 And honor me with their lips, while their heart is far 
 
 from me, 
 So that their fear of me is nothing more than a precept 
 
 taught by men, 
 Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a thing so 
 
 wonderful and astonishing, 
 That the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, the 
 
 discernment of their discerning ones shall be 
 
 eclipsed. (Isa. 29. 13, 14.) 
 
 The reference in Jeremiah to the teaching of 
 the priest, the counsel of the wise, and the word 
 of the prophet has already been quoted (p. 10). 
 Ezekiel in a closely parallel passage substitutes 
 the elders for the wise: ''They shall seek a vision 
 of the prophet; but the teaching shall perish 
 from the priest, and counsel from the elders." 
 The book of Job also contains many references 
 to the accumulated wisdom which the wise men 
 have transmitted from their fathers. The pres- 
 ence of proverbs and parables in the preexilic 
 literature gives an additional basis for the con- 
 
66 Teachers of Judaism and Christianity 
 
 Their 
 
 Prominence 
 After the Exile 
 
 Portrait of a 
 Later 'Wise Man 
 
 elusion that a class of wise men or sages flour- 
 ished in the days before the exile and exerted 
 a quiet but powerful influence in shaping the 
 ideals of the race, especially in molding the char- 
 acter of the individual. 
 
 The wise, however, first come into prominence 
 in Israel's life in the days following the Baby- 
 lonian exile. The destruction of the nation 
 brought the individual and his problems to the 
 front. The passing of the prophet threw added 
 responsibilities upon the wise men or sages. The 
 failure of the ancient Hebrew state spurred on 
 the faithful priests and sages to new and more 
 strenuous efforts to realize Jehovah's will in the 
 life of the restored community. The enforced 
 leisure of the exile and of the periods which fol- 
 lowed gave ample opportunity for meditation on 
 the problems of the individual. Contact, even 
 though indirect, with the thought of other na- 
 tions turned the minds of Israel's teachers into 
 new channels and thus brought to the front the 
 class which corresponds most closely to the 
 philosophers and the ethical teachers of Greece 
 and Rome. 
 
 Ben Sira (in 39. i-ii) has given us the most 
 vivid picture extant of the wise man of the later 
 day: 
 
 He seeks out the hidden meaning of proverbs. 
 
 And is conversant with the subtilties of parables, 
 
 He serves among great men, 
 
 And appears before him who rules ; 
 
 He travels through the land of strange nations ; 
 
 For he hath tried good things and evil among men. 
 
 He applies his heart to seeking earnestly the Lord who 
 
 made him, 
 And makes supplication before the Most High, 
 
History and Aims of the Wise Men 67 
 
 And opens his mouth in prayer, 
 
 And makes supplication for his sins. 
 
 If the great Lord will, 
 
 He is filled with the spirit of understanding, 
 
 He pours forth the words of his wisdom, 
 
 And in prayer gives thanks to the Lord. 
 
 He directs his counsel and knowledge, 
 
 And in his secrets doth he meditate. 
 
 He shows forth the instruction which he has been 
 
 taught. 
 And glories in the law of the covenant of the Lord. 
 Many shall commend his understanding, 
 And so long as the world endures, it shall not be 
 
 blotted out. 
 His memorial shall not depart. 
 
 And his name shall live from generation to generation. 
 Nations shall declare his wisdom. 
 And the congregation shall tell out his praise. 
 If he continue, he shall leave a greater name than a 
 
 thousand, 
 And if he die, he addeth thereto. 
 
 This description is a true portrait of Ben Sira character of 
 himself, whose thought and character are clearly ^^" ^^^^ 
 revealed in the remarkable collection of practical 
 and philosophical teachings found in the book 
 which bears his name. He was evidently a man 
 of wide experience, of broad sympathies, was 
 possessed of a keen insight into human nature, 
 and had a large fund of practical information. 
 He was thoroughly familiar with the scriptures 
 of his race, as well as with the vital problems of 
 his day. Above all, he was inspired by an in- 
 tense desire to make his knowledge and expe- 
 rience of practical service to all, especially to the 
 young. His references to the law and his em- 
 phasis upon its careful study and observation 
 reflect the spirit of his age ; but in other respects 
 he may be regarded as a type of the wise of the 
 post-exilic period. 
 
68 Teachers of Judaism and Christianity 
 
 Usually Men of 
 Mature Years 
 
 Spoke to the 
 Individual 
 
 From the allusions in the books of Proverbs, 
 Job and Ecclesiastes it is possible to gain a very 
 definite idea of the real character of these won- 
 derful teachers of Israel. Usually they were 
 men of mature years. As has already been 
 noted, Ezekiel uses the term "elders" as a 
 synonym for wise men or sages. Elihu's elabo- 
 rate apologies for speaking in the council of the 
 elders because he was young further illustrates 
 this point : 
 
 I am young, and you are very old ; 
 
 Therefore I held back, and did not show you my 
 opinion. (Job 32. 6.) 
 
 Like the prophets, they came from many 
 dififerent classes. The recognition of the needs 
 of humanity and the consciousness of a message 
 tested by personal experience and fitted to meet 
 those needs constituted their divine call. In gen- 
 eral their ideals and their doctrines were those of 
 the great ethical prophets of the preexilic period. 
 In addressing their message directly to the 
 people they stood squarely on the platform 
 of the prophets; but while the prophets spoke 
 for the most part to the nation as a whole, 
 they spoke also to individuals. In this connec- 
 tion it is significant that the word "Israel" is 
 found nowhere in the book of Proverbs. The 
 v/ise do not appear to have concerned themselves 
 with the political problems of their day. The 
 problems, the possibilities, and the development 
 of the individuals with whom they came into 
 personal contact apparently demanded all their 
 attention. 
 
 They were the custodians of the practical ex- 
 
History and Aims of the Wise Men 69 
 
 perience gleaned from the past as well as from Practical 
 their own personal observation. This treasured teachers 
 experience they were able to impart in clear and 
 practical form : 
 
 The tongue of the wise uttereth knowledge aright, 
 But the mouth of fools poureth out folly. 
 
 (Prov. 15. 2.) 
 
 They were also inspired by an ardent desire to 
 impart their knowledge: 
 
 The lips of the wise disperse knowledge, 
 But the foolish have no desire to do so. 
 
 (Prov. 15. 7.) 
 
 Association with them meant to their dis- 
 ciples knowledge and power : 
 
 He who walks with the wise shall be wise, 
 But he who associates with fools shall suffer for it. 
 The teaching of the wise is a source of life. 
 That one may depart from the snares of death. 
 
 (Prov. 13. 20, 14.) 
 
 The sages of Israel were true lovers of men comparison 
 and winners of souls (Prov. 11. 30). Amid with the 
 the changed conditions of a later age they were priJlts^^ 
 the real successors of the earlier prophets. In 
 their close touch wdth the individual and in their 
 zeal to influence by personal instruction and 
 direction the youth wdth whom they came into 
 contact they resembled more closely the faithful 
 priests of the earlier days. They were boun'l 
 together by common aims, teaching, and methods 
 of work. The book of Job contains a suggestive 
 picture of the sages reasoning together upon cer- 
 tain universal human problems (12. 2; 13. i, 2; 
 32. 1-6). It also illustrates the fact, which is 
 further confirmed bv the book of Proverbs, that 
 
70 Teachers of Judaism and Christianity 
 
 they did not always agree with each other ; but 
 
 regarding the great practical questions of life 
 
 they were in evident accord. 
 Aims of the The preface to the book of Proverbs clearly 
 
 ^^^^ defines the aims which this class of teachers set 
 
 before themselves: 
 
 To acquire wisdom and training. 
 
 To understand rational discourse, 
 
 To receive training in wise conduct. 
 
 In uprightness, justice, and rectitude. 
 
 To impart discretion to the inexperienced, 
 
 To the young knowledge and insight ; 
 
 That the wise man may hear and add to his learning, 
 
 And the man of intelligence gain education. 
 
 To understand a proverb and a parable, 
 
 The words of the sages and their aphorisms. 
 
 To Develop a Briefly recapitulated, their aims were, first, to 
 Receptive Mind inspire in the minds of their disciples a right 
 attitude toward learning and practical instruc- 
 tion. They placed great emphasis upon the im- 
 portance of a receptive mind : 
 
 The way of a fool is right in his own eyes : 
 But he that is wise gives heed to counsel. 
 
 (Prov. 12. 15; cf. also Prov. 10. 8.) 
 
 Ben Sira insists equally upon this fundamental 
 requirement for practical education : 
 
 My son, if thou wilt, thou mayest be instructed. 
 
 And if thou wilt yield thyself, thou shalt be ready to 
 
 do anything. 
 If thou love to hear, thou shalt receive, 
 If thou incline thine ear thou shalt be wise. 
 Stand thou in the multitude of the elders. 
 Whoever is wise — cleave thou to him. 
 Be willing to listen to every excellent discourse; 
 And let not the proverbs of understanding escape thee. 
 If thou seest a man of understanding, bestir thyself 
 
 and go to him. 
 And let thy foot wear out the steps of his doors. 
 
 (B. Sir. 6. 32-36.) 
 
History and Aims of the Wise Men 7 I 
 
 The second aim of the wise was to inculcate to Teach 
 practical knowledge and wisdom in the minds Practical 
 of men, especially the young and inexperienced. 
 Personified wisdom, speaking in behalf of the 
 sages as a whole, cries out in Proverbs 8. 4, 5 : 
 
 To you, O men, I call. 
 And my appeal is to the sons of men ; 
 Learn, O ye simple, to know nnderstanding, 
 And ye fools, to understand wisdom. 
 
 The wise felt that their first great task was 
 to transmit to every individual the heritage of 
 practical, ethical, and religious experience which 
 had come down to them from the past. They 
 realized that knowledge was necessary for right 
 action, and they therefore spared no effort to 
 make the truth inherited from the past appear 
 attractive to their disciples, whether voung o^- 
 old. 
 
 The third aim of the wise was to develop in To Create a 
 the minds of men a right attitude toward God. ^^^^^ t"'*!''*^ 
 
 T M 1 1 1 111-1 1 Toward God 
 
 Like the prophets, they were both ethical and 
 religious teachers. One of their fundamental 
 doctrines was that "the fear of the Lord is the 
 beginning of wisdom." In Proverbs 14. 2 the 
 sense in which the word "fear" is used is clearly 
 defined : 
 
 He that walks in his uprightness fears Jehovah ; 
 But he that is perverse in his ways despises him. 
 
 Fear , in the language of the sages contained 
 no suggestion of terror, but meant reverence and 
 loyalty expressed in right acts. The familiar 
 proverb, 
 
 Trust in Jehovah with all thy heart. 
 Lean not upon thine own understanding; 
 
72 Teachers of Judaism and Christianity 
 
 In all thy ways acknowledge him, 
 And he will make plain thy paths. 
 
 (Prov. 3. 5,6), 
 
 voices one of the chief aims of these earnest 
 wisdom teachers. The small collection of 
 proverbs found in Proverbs 22. 17 to 24. 34 opens 
 with the suggestive quotation : 
 
 Incline thine ear and hear the words of the wise, 
 
 And apply thy heart to my knowledge. 
 
 That thy trust may be in Jehovah, 
 
 I have made them known to thee this day, even to thee. 
 
 The fourth aim of the wise was to inspire 
 right and noble actions. Their ultimate appeal 
 was not to the feelings or to the reason, but to 
 the will. All their instruction was but a means 
 to this practical end : 
 
 Let not kindness and truth forsake thee; 
 Bind them about thy neck, 
 Write them upon the tablets of thy heart; 
 So shalt thou find favor and good repute 
 In the sight of God and man. 
 
 (Prov. 3- 3, 4) 
 
 The wise men sought to define the duty of the 
 individual in all his social relations. The right 
 use of the ear and tongue, the duties of children 
 to parents and of parents to their children, the 
 responsibility of a king to his subjects and of 
 subjects to their king, the evils of falsehood, 
 pride, cruelty, and intemperance, and the value 
 of truth, honesty, courage, and charity are but 
 a few of the practical subjects which they dis- 
 cussed from many dififerent points of view. 
 
 In general the aim of the wise was to make 
 sane, happy, efficient men and women. Their 
 aims, therefore, were practically identical with 
 
History and Aims of the Wise Men 73 
 
 those of the modern progressive Sunday school 
 teacher and educator. By example, as well as by 
 precept, they defined the aims and laid down 
 those fundamental educational principles which 
 we are to-day again striving to apply. Histori- 
 cally they are the forerunners of the present 
 world-wide movement for a broader, deeper, and 
 more effective religious education. 
 
VIII 
 
 Breadth and 
 Practical 
 Character of 
 Their Teachings 
 
 Their Theory of 
 Education 
 
 THE METHODS OF THE WISE ^lEN OR SAGES 
 
 The wise men, like the Hebrew prophets, 
 recognized no distinction between that which 
 we to-day call secular and religious. They were 
 fully aware that education is a unit and that 
 everything which vitally concerns man or in- 
 fluences his conduct is of real ethical and re- 
 ligious value. Nothing of real interest to the 
 individual was too petty for their consideration. 
 In their teachings they aimed to touch life on 
 every side. In the same sections in which they 
 defined men's duties to God they discussed man's 
 legal obligations and that which afifected his busi- 
 ness. Thus they blended closely ideal and 
 utilitarian questions and motives. While the 
 reasons that they urged for right doing were 
 often selfish and material, they were clearly 
 adapted to the intellectual and moral culture of 
 the classes whom the wise were seeking to in- 
 fluence. 
 
 In the vocabulary of the wise folly stood 
 for the lack of knowledge or of the desire to 
 acquire and use it. Wisdom was the opposite 
 of folly and represented not only knowledge but 
 also the ability to apply it practically in life. In 
 the thought of the wise it included all the prac- 
 tical virtues, from the fear of God, "which is the 
 beginning of wisdom," to moral courage and tem- 
 perance in eating and drinking. The aim of edu- 
 cation, therefore, according to the wise, was to 
 74 
 
Methods of the Wise Men 
 
 75 
 
 Emphasis on 
 
 Primary 
 
 Education 
 
 deliver the individual from the evils of folly by 
 enabling him to acquire insight (that is, the open 
 and intelligent attitude), knowledge, and wisdom 
 (that is, not only knowledge, but the ability to 
 apply it practically in lite). 
 
 The wise men also fully appreciated the im- 
 portance of primary education. A great ma- 
 jority of their teachings are addressed to the 
 young. Here they found their most promising 
 sphere of influence. 
 
 Train up a child in the way in which he should go, 
 And even when he is old he will not depart from it. 
 
 (Prov. 22. 6), 
 
 was the guiding principle in all their activity, 
 even as it is the watchword of modern educa- 
 tional psychology. They also strongly empha- 
 sized the responsibility of parents in the educa- 
 tion of their children : 
 
 The father hath shame, having begotten an uninstructed 
 
 son, 
 And a foolish daughter is born to his loss. 
 
 (B. Sir. 22. 3.) * 
 
 The wise depended entirely upon personal public 
 counsel and teaching for the attainment of their Counselors 
 aims. There are a few references which indicate 
 that at times they were consulted regarding ques- 
 tions of state. The famous counselors in David's 
 court, Ahithophel and Hushai, belonged to this 
 class. No important policy was adopted by the 
 king without consulting them, and their counsels 
 were received with great respect. In Proverbs 
 20. i8 is found the suggestive maxim: 
 
 Every purpose is established by counsel, 
 And by wise guidance make thou war. 
 
and Instruction 
 
 76 Teachers of Judaism and Christianity 
 
 In Proverbs 8. 14-16 personified wisdom is made 
 to declare in behalf of the wise as a class: 
 
 Counsel is mine and sound knowledge; 
 
 I am understanding, I have might. 
 
 By me kings reign, 
 
 And princes decree justice. 
 
 By me princes rule. 
 
 And nobles, even all the judges of the earth. 
 
 Personal Advice As 3. mlc, howcvcr, the wisc taught the small 
 g-roups of disciples which gathered about them. 
 To these they gave the familiar name of sons. 
 The place of these ancient religious schools was 
 usually just inside the city gate. Here were held 
 the primitive courts, and here the people gathered 
 for the discussion of public and private questions 
 as well as for purposes of barter. This place gave 
 a good opportimity for the wise to come into close 
 personal contact with the people ; here also the 
 youthful learners could readily consult their 
 teachers. Question and answer probably figured 
 largely in the teachings of the wise. In the light 
 of similar usage in the East to-day, especially at 
 the great Mohammedan school at Cairo, it is 
 easy to reconstruct the scene. An aged sage, 
 with a long flowing beard and a face which ex- 
 presses the love and interest which he feels for 
 the young, as well as the pleasures and the sor- 
 rows which have come to him in his long life- 
 experience, sits cross-legged on the ground. 
 About him in the same posture are his disciples. 
 Their faces express varying degrees of interest 
 and appreciation of the words of counsel and 
 exhortation which fall from the lips of the an- 
 cient sage. In the form in which he puts his 
 teachings and in his attitude toward those taught 
 
Methods of the Wise Men 77 
 
 IS revealed his intense zeal to attract and help 
 the ignorant and foolish. 
 
 The book of Proverbs as well as the writings zeai to Reach 
 
 of Ben Sira show how eagerly the wise sought to ^"** ^^^p Those 
 
 draw within the circle of their influence the andMoraUy^ 
 
 youth who most needed their teaching: Destitute 
 
 Neglect not the discourse of tlie wise. 
 And be conversant with their proverbs ; 
 For of them you shall learn instruction, 
 And how to minister to great men. 
 
 Hear, O children, the instruction of a father, 
 
 Give heed that ye may comprehend wisdom. 
 
 For good counsel I give you, 
 
 Forsake ye not my teaching. 
 
 Wiien I was of tender age. 
 
 Beloved by my father. 
 
 He used to teach me and say to me : 
 
 "Let thy mind retain my words. 
 
 Keep my commandments and live ; 
 
 Get wisdom, get understanding. 
 
 Forsake her not, and she will preserve thee, 
 
 Love her and she will keep thee. 
 
 Prize her and she will exalt thee, 
 
 She will honor thee if thou embrace her ; 
 
 She will encircle thy head with a chaplet of beauty. 
 
 Bestow on thee a crown of glory." 
 
 (Prov. 4. 1-9.) 
 
 From the vivid description of wisdom's ban- 
 quet it may also be inferred that the wise were 
 inspired by missionary zeal and went forth in 
 quest of disciples : 
 
 Wisdom has built her house. 
 Set up her seven pillars. 
 Killed her beasts, mixed her wine, 
 And prepared her table. 
 
 She has sent forth her maidens to cry 
 On the thoroughfares of the city : 
 "Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither !" 
 To him who is void of understanding she says : 
 
Reception of 
 Their Teachings 
 
 7 8 Teachers of Judaism and Christianity 
 
 "Come, eat of my bread, 
 
 Drink the wine I have mixed ! 
 
 Forsake folly and live, 
 
 And walk in the way of understanding !" 
 
 (Prov. 9. 1-6.) 
 
 Sometimes the wise met with rebuff and ridi- 
 cule from a class in the community known as the 
 scorners, but as a rule their counsels were highly 
 appreciated. Like the priests, they probably re- 
 ceived remuneration for their counsels, espe- 
 cially in regard to questions of personal and 
 economic nature. One proverb contains the ex- 
 hortation : 
 
 Buy the truth and sell it not; 
 
 Yea, wisdom, and instruction and understanding. 
 
 In another the scornful yet suggestive question 
 Vv^as raised : 
 
 Why hath the fool money in his hand to buy wisdom, 
 Seeing he hath no understanding? 
 
 Ben Sira's picture of the later wise men is also 
 indicative of the high esteem which these moral 
 specialists and practical counselors enjoyed in 
 his day. 
 
 Throughout their history the wise, like the 
 scribes, depended almost exclusively upon the 
 spoken word as the means of reaching and teach- 
 ing their disciples. They were fully alive to the 
 imiportance of the close personal relation be- 
 tween themselves and the ones taught. There 
 came a time, however, when they felt compelled, 
 like the other teachers of Israel, to resort to the 
 written word, as a means of preserving and con- 
 veying their teachings. The product of this 
 method of teachinsf is the so-called wisdom liter- 
 
Methods of the Wise Men 
 
 79 
 
 Their Attention 
 to Literary 
 Form 
 
 ature of the Old Testament and Apocrypha. It 
 is found in the books of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, 
 Job, portions of the Psalter, in the Wisdom of 
 Ben Sira or Ecclesiasticus, and in the Wisdom of 
 Solomon. 
 
 This literature reveals the great attention 
 which the sages gave to the form in which they 
 presented their teachings. It reflects the influ- 
 ence of long oral transmission, as well as careful 
 literary revision. It reveals the intense eager- 
 ness of the wise to make their teachings so at- 
 tractive that they would prove irresistible even to 
 the foolish, ignorant, and inattentive. They are 
 well fitted to arrest the attention, to appeal 
 to the imagination, to provoke question and 
 thought, and to make a deep impression upon 
 the memory. 
 
 The literary unit throughout all the wisdom The Proverb 
 literature is the proverb. In its simplest form 
 it is a couplet, repeating in the second line in a 
 slightly different form the thought contained in 
 the first. Thus by reiteration the essential 
 thought is made clear and fixed in the memory. 
 This characteristic of Hebrew poetry added 
 greatly to the effectiveness of Semitic proverbs. 
 It enabled the teacher to bring out his truth by 
 means of strong comparisons or sharply drawn 
 contrasts or to introduce a number of parallel 
 figures and illustrations. The proverb itself is 
 the embodiment of crystallized experience, ex- 
 pressed in the most concise and vivid form. It is 
 like a barbed arrow which sticks in the memory. 
 By virtue of its brevity it is especially adapted 
 to the moral instruction of the young. By an 
 
8o Teachers of Judaism and Christianity 
 
 apt use of figures it appeals to the imagination, 
 which is so responsive in the minds of children 
 and of a child-nation. By the use of familiar 
 figures drawn from the everyday life of the peo- 
 ple it also enabled the wise to utilize the power 
 of association. Moreover, the proverb, like the 
 words of a decalogue, was admirably adapted 
 to memorization, and it is probable that this 
 method of teaching was much used by these 
 early teachers. 
 Similitude Closcly related to the simple proverb is the 
 
 similitude, of which there are many examples in 
 the book of Proverbs : 
 
 The door tiirneth upon its hinges, 
 So doth the sluggard upon his bed. 
 Fervent lips and a wicked heart 
 
 Are like an earthen vessel overlaid with silver dross. 
 
 (Prov. 26. 14, 23.) 
 
 The similitude was probably one of the earliest 
 forms of teaching employed by the wise. Peda- 
 gogically, it was one of the most effective, for it 
 associated the most important truths with the 
 commonest objects and experiences of life. 
 Riddles Among early peoples, as among children to- 
 
 day, riddles were greatly enjoyed. The element 
 of mystery and the appeal to the love of compe- 
 tition and of achievement attracted the attention 
 and held the interest of the young. The value 
 of this form of teaching was appreciated and ap- 
 propriated by the wise. Most of their riddles 
 have been lost, but in the thirtieth chapter of 
 Proverbs and in a few passages in Ben Sira, 
 remnants of these have been preserved, together 
 with their answers. They are also cast in the 
 
Methods of the Wise Men 8l 
 
 poetic form, which characterizes practically all 
 of the wisdom literature. A question would be 
 propounded, as for example : 
 
 For what three things doth the earth tremble, 
 And for four which it cannot bear? 
 
 and the answer would be : 
 
 For a servant when he is king, 
 For a fool when he is filled with food; 
 For an odious woman when she is married ; 
 And a handmaid that is heir to her mistress. 
 
 (Prov. 30. 21-23.) 
 
 The question is simple, almost childish, and yet 
 one cannot fail to realize its superb adaptation 
 to the mental limitations of the ones taught and 
 to the didactic end desired. It is easy to im- 
 agine the spontaneous discussion that would 
 arise regarding the correct answer, and the im- 
 pression, all the more effective because uncon- 
 scious, which would be made upon the sage's 
 disciples. 
 
 Akin to the riddle was the paradox. Its Paradox 
 thought-provoking value was fully appreciated by 
 the wise and was probably frequently used by 
 them. It was developed by placing two anti- 
 thetic proverbs side by side, as, for example, in 
 Proverbs 26. 4, 5 : 
 
 Answer not a fool according tc his folly. 
 Lest thou also be made like him. 
 Answer a fool according to his folly, 
 I>est he be wise in his own conceit. 
 
 The parable was used by the prophets, as, for parabie 
 example, by Nathan in his condemnation of 
 David's sin. Isaiah also used the parable, when 
 he appeared before the corrupt rulers of Jeru- 
 
82 Teachers of Judaism and Christianity 
 
 salem, as recorded in the fifth chapter of his 
 prophecy. But the parable appears to have been 
 even more characteristic of the method of teach- 
 ing of the wise. Many such parables have been 
 handed down from the classrooms of the later 
 Jewish wise men. In its form and content the 
 parable is closely connected with the similitude, 
 for it represents the use of something real in life 
 or nature for the purpose of moral instruction. 
 Like the riddle and paradox, it appeals strongly 
 to the imagination, curiosity, and power of asso- 
 ciation, and provokes independent thought on 
 the part of the learner. 
 Gnomic Essay In dealing witli the larger questions of life 
 
 and morals the wise made use of their primary 
 literary unit, the proverb. By combining a va- 
 riety of proverbs, dealing with the same subject, 
 they were able to treat it on many sides. The 
 result was what may be called the gnomic essay, 
 of which there are several examples in the book 
 of Proverbs and many more in the writings of 
 Ben Sira and in the Wisdom of Solomon. In 
 some of these the wise teachers appeal efifectively 
 to the sense of the ridiculous, as, for example, in 
 Proverbs 26. 13-16: 
 
 The sluggard says : 'There is a roaring beast vv^ithout, 
 
 A lion is on the street." 
 
 The door turns on its hinges 
 
 And the sluggard in his bed. 
 
 The sluggard dips his hand into the dish — 
 
 To bring it to his mouth costs him an effort ! 
 
 The sluggard is wiser in his own conceit 
 
 Than seven men who can answer intelligently ! 
 
 In the elaborate gnomic essay regarding the 
 drunkard, found in Proverbs 23. 29-35, the effect- 
 
Drama 
 
 Methods of the Wise Men 83 
 
 ive method of question and answer is combined 
 with tlie dialogue, making it the strongest treat- 
 ment of the subject to be found in the Old Testa- 
 ment. The most beautiful example of the gnomic 
 essay is the noble and elaborate description of 
 personified wisdom found in the eighth and ninth 
 chapters of Proverbs. The late book of Eccle- 
 siastes is a collection of similar essays dealing 
 with the more fundamental problems of the 
 meaning of human life and suffering and the re- 
 lation of God to his universe. The large body of 
 reflective psalms found in the Psalter are also 
 written from the point of view of the wise. 
 
 The highest product of the literary art of the Philosophical 
 wise is the philosophical drama found in the 
 book of Job. Taking an ancient prose story, the 
 great poet-sage, who was the author of the 
 present book of Job, has introduced, in a series 
 of powerful dialogues between Job and his 
 friends, a fundamental treatment of that most 
 difficult of all philosophical questions, the reason 
 why the righteous are allowed to suff'er. In a 
 series of dialogues the friends are made to re- 
 hearse the current solutions of this vexed prob- 
 lem, while Job, in his replies, points out the in- 
 sufficiency of these popular explanations. The 
 hero of the book then goes on to present the 
 problem of suffering in its most perplexing form 
 and to struggle with the larger question of how 
 a God who thus allows his innocent children to 
 suffer can himself be just and loving. The tran- 
 scendent poetic power of this unknown wisdom 
 teacher has been recognized by all ages. The 
 frankness and scientific accuracy with which he 
 
84 Teachers of Judaism and Christianity 
 
 presents the problem assures him a place among 
 the greatest philosophers of the world. It is, 
 however, his consummate didactic skill that com- 
 mands our highest admiration. The book of Job 
 stands as the supreme example to the religious 
 teacher of the absolute importance of recogniz- 
 ing frankly the grave and perplexing problems 
 of life and of meeting them, not by dogmatic 
 assertions but, if need be, by a confession of in- 
 ability to give a final and satisfactory answer. 
 It is significant, however, that although the 
 author of the book of Job offers no final solution 
 of the problem of innocent sufifering, he does far 
 more : he leads his perplexed, baffled, and at times 
 intemperate hero out into the great world of 
 nature. There confronted by the marvelous phe- 
 nomena of God's tmiverse. Job's spirit is soothed, 
 his problem is almost forgotten, and his faith 
 rises triumphant over his doubts, until at last he 
 declares : 
 
 I know that thou canst do all things, 
 
 And that no purpose of thine can be restrained. 
 
 Who is this that hideth counsel without knowledge? 
 
 Why have I uttered that which I understood not, 
 
 Things too wonderful for me which I knew not ? 
 
 Hear, I beseech thee, and I will speak; 
 
 I will demand of thee, and declare thou to me. 
 
 I had heard of thee by the hearing of the ear; 
 
 But now mine eye seeth thee ; 
 
 Therefore I abhor myself, 
 
 And repent in dust and ashes. (Job. 42. 2-6.) 
 
 Perennial It is clcar, in the light of the study of their 
 
 Significance of ^j^-^^g ^^^ mcthods, that tlic wisc men of ancient 
 
 the\Vise . 1 c ^i r 
 
 Israel are, m a very true sense, the fathers ot 
 the present religious educational movement. That 
 for which the modern Sunday school stands is 
 
Methods of the Wise Men 85 
 
 new only in certain details of its organization. 
 Every religious teacher also has much to learn 
 from these early lovers and teachers of men. 
 They were keenly alive to the importance of a 
 close sympathetic touch with those whom the\' 
 aimed to teach. They recognized and applied the 
 great truth that the early impressionable years 
 of childhood and youth present by far the most 
 promising opportunities for shaping ideals and 
 habits and for molding character. They realized 
 that the aim of their work was not only instruc- 
 tion but education, and that true education was 
 the development of the whole man. Therefore 
 all that concerned and influenced the individual 
 was of divine significance. They were keenly 
 alive to the importance of appealing to the in- 
 terest, imagination and curiosity of their dis- 
 ciples. They also utilized with remarkable skill 
 the power of association. They possessed the 
 rare art of putting their teachings in simple, 
 vivid, and yet universal form, so that they be- 
 came the teachers, not only of their own age, but 
 of all generations. Finally their zeal to reach 
 out and help the simple and inexperienced and 
 tempted and to make strong, efficient men and 
 women is a perennial guide and inspiration to all 
 who would undertake the divinest of tasks, the 
 making of men. 
 
IX 
 
 The Preexilic 
 Scribes 
 
 Influence of the 
 Exile on the 
 Scribes 
 
 THE HISTORY AND AIMS OF THE SCRIBES 
 AND RABBIS 
 
 The earliest reference in the Old Testament 
 to the scribes as a class is found in Jeremiah 
 8. 8: 
 
 How can you say.^ "We are wise, and the law of Jehovah 
 
 is with us"? 
 But, behold, the deceptive pen of the scribes hath 
 
 rendered it deceptive. 
 
 The Hebrew word interpreted "scribes" means, 
 literally, nioi of books, that is, the editors and 
 interpreters as well as the copyists of the writ- 
 ings of Israel's earlier teachers. In this im- 
 portant passage Jeremiah condemns those who, 
 in the name of Closes, set the law, which they 
 have freely revised, above the spoken words of 
 the prophet. This reference, as well as the ex- 
 • istence of the preexilic writings, shows clearly 
 that scribes were found in Israel before the days 
 of the Babylonian exile. Like the scribes of 
 Babylonia and Egypt, they probably belonged to 
 the priestly class and their work was purely 
 literary. 
 
 The Babylonian exile wrought a great revolu- 
 tion in Israel's internal organization, as well as 
 in its life and thought. Contact with the intense 
 literary activity of the Babylonians and the con- 
 stant use of writing as a means of communica- 
 tion between the scattered exiles and their new; 
 86 
 
History of the Scribes and Rabbis 87 
 
 appreciation of their ancient writings trans- 
 formed the Jews into a Hterary people. The de- 
 struction of the temple and the overthrow of the 
 nation not only left the priestly class without 
 occupation, but also called for a written formu- 
 lation of the customary laws and institutions 
 which had hitherto been transmitted orally and 
 constantly illustrated by practice. Hence the 
 work of the scribe suddenly became of the high- 
 est importance, for Israel's inherited traditions, 
 laws, and institutions constituted the strongest 
 bond that, during this period of severe stress 
 and trial, kept alive the faith and preserved the 
 integrity of the race. The result was that many 
 of the more faithful priests became scribes and 
 devoted themselves to the task of copying, unify- 
 ing, and codifying their inherited laws and tra- 
 ditions. The changed conditions which followed 
 the destruction of Jerusalem and the nation also 
 made necessary new laws, fitted to meet these 
 needs. The task of expanding the older laws 
 and of applying the principles of the prophets to 
 the altered life and point of view of the people 
 fell naturally to these priestly scribes. 
 
 When the canon of the written law was finally Extension of the 
 closed, some time after 400 B. C, the expansion influence and 
 
 - , ' . , , . , . - , ^ Functions of the 
 
 of the law contmued, but m the form of oral tra- scribes 
 ditions, which were transmitted by word of 
 mouth from generation to generation, until they 
 were ultimately committed to writing about the 
 end of the second century of the Christian era. 
 They were then known as the Mishna, or sec- 
 ond version of the law\ Thus there arose in 
 the centuries immediately following the Baby- 
 
88 Teachers of Judaism and Christianity 
 
 Ionian exile a large and powerful class of scribes, 
 whose influence in the Judean community over- 
 shadowed that of the prophets and the priests. 
 Probably the majority of the scribes still came 
 from the ranks of the priests. The high priest, 
 Simon the Just, who lived about 300 B. C, was 
 one of the most famous of these earlier scribes. 
 But as time went on laymen were to be found 
 more and more in their ranks, and the distinction 
 between the priestly class and the scribes became 
 more clearly drawn. In this reorganization the 
 scribes largely assumed the teaching functions of 
 the earlier priests. As the written law grew in 
 importance and in public esteem, its custodians 
 were naturally regarded as its interpreters. The 
 scribes were also keenly alive to the necessity of 
 inculcating the truths in the minds of the people 
 as well as of interpreting the specific laws. 
 Ezra the Typical The portrait of Ezra, found in the seventh 
 chapter of the book which bears his name, is 
 typical of the class: ''He was a scribe skilled in 
 the law of Moses, which Jehovah the God of 
 Israel had given. . . . And he came to Jerusalem, 
 since the good Lord was with him, for Ezra had 
 set his heart to seek the law of Jehovah and ob- 
 serve it, and to teach in Israel its statutes." The 
 account of his work which follows illustrates 
 clearly the aims and methods of these early 
 scribes. He is represented first as appealing in 
 powerful exhortation to the feelings and con- 
 sciences of the people, and then as arousing the 
 community to adopt the new law-book which he 
 brought with him, even though it meant great 
 sacrifice. In carrying through this sweeping 
 
 Scribe 
 
History of the Scribes and Rabbis 89 
 
 reformation, the law-book was read before the 
 people and interpreted to them. The account of 
 this ancient synagogue service also contains a 
 long and fervent prayer in which the lessons 
 taught by Israel's earlier experiences as a nation 
 are reviewed and the people led to make a com- 
 mon confession of their guilt. 
 
 It was almost inevitable, as a result of the in- 
 creasing emphasis which Judaism placed upon 
 the written law, that the wdse men or sages 
 should ultimately be drawn into the ranks of the 
 scribes. In his description of the typical wise 
 men Ben Sira (about 200 B. C.) furnishes clear 
 evidence that in his day this process was far ad- 
 vanced. He significantly remarks that: 
 
 The wisdom of the scribe comes by opportunity of 
 
 leisure, 
 He that is relieved from business shall become wise. 
 
 He then goes on to point out how impossible it 
 is for the farmer, the ox-driver, the artificer, and 
 the other manual workers in the community 
 to acquire the learning of the scribe. He con- 
 cludes : 
 
 All these put their trust in their hands ; 
 
 And each becomes wise in his own work. 
 
 Without these a city cannot be inhabited, 
 
 And men cannot sojourn or walk up and down therein. 
 
 They shall not be sought for in the council of the 
 people, 
 
 And in the assembly they shall not mount on high; 
 
 They shall not sit on the seat of the judge, 
 
 And they shall not understand the covenant of judg- 
 ment ; 
 
 Neither shall they declare instruction and judgment; 
 
 And where parables are they shall not be found. 
 
 But they will maintain the fabric of the world; 
 
 And in the handiwork of their craft is their prayer. 
 
 (B. Sir. 38. 31-34.) 
 
 Transformation 
 of the Wise into 
 Scribes 
 
90 Teachers of Judaism and Christianity 
 
 Influence of the 
 Scribes in the 
 Maccabean and 
 Roman Periods 
 
 By the beginning" of the Christian era the wise 
 had completely passed over into the ranks of 
 the scribes. Henceforth the term zvise is con- 
 stantly used as the designation of the famous 
 scribes or rabbis. This fusion of the earlier wise 
 with the scribes greatly enriched and broadened 
 the thought and methods of the latter. In the 
 reported teachings that have been handed down 
 from the scribes and rabbis there is a large 
 didactic element relating to the common prob- 
 lems of humanity. In the epigrammatic, gnomic 
 form in which many of the later scribes put their 
 teachings it is also easy to recognize the power- 
 ful influence of the sages. This broader human 
 element remains the permanent contribution of 
 the scribes to the world's religious heritage. 
 
 Under the later Maccabean rulers the scribes 
 became so numerous and their influence" so 
 strong that they were granted representation in 
 the Sanhedrin, the great legislative and judicial 
 body of the Jewish state. From the reference in 
 I Maccabees 7. 12, 13, it is clear that the scribes 
 from the first were closely associated with the 
 Pharisees. Doubtless there were Sadducean 
 scribes, but most of these later interpreters and 
 teachers of the law belonged to the more popular 
 party of the Pharisees. In the New Testament 
 the terms are used almost interchangeably. It is 
 probable that the great majority, if not all 
 of the Pharisees, were also scribes. The fidelity 
 of the scribal class to the law, as is illus- 
 trated by the story of the martyrdom of the aged 
 scribe, Eleazer, in 2 Maccabees 6. 12-31, en- 
 deared them to the people and gave them that 
 
History of the Scribes and Rabbis 9 1 
 
 position of commanding influence which the}* 
 en joyed during the New Testament period. This 
 influence was increased by the zeal with which 
 they devoted themselves to the task of instructing 
 the people in the details of the law. The great 
 majority of them were doubtless inspired by a 
 noble purpose. Their aims and ambitions be- 
 came those of the nation. In realizing these 
 aims in the lives of the people their work was 
 certainly crowned with success. 
 
 Jewish wu'iters recognize three distinct stages The Early 
 in the history of scribism. The first, beginning sophenm 
 with Ezra and extending to the Alaccabean 
 period (450 to 150 B. C), is represented by the 
 Sopherim, or scribes. A'ery little is known about 
 the personality and work of these early teachers. 
 A few characteristic teachings attributed to them 
 are found in the opening sections of the Mishna, 
 known as the Ahoth, or Sayings of the Fathers. 
 Their great task was the completing and editing 
 of the written laws of the Old Testament and 
 the closing of the legal canon. From them also 
 comes the suggestive precept, ''Raise tip dis- 
 ciples," indicating that they were teachers as 
 well as revisers and interpreters of the law. To 
 this early group belonged the high priest, Simon 
 the Just, to whom is attributed the characteristic 
 teaching: "On three things the world is stayed: 
 on the Torah, and on worship, and on the be- 
 stowal of kindnesses." He was followed by 
 Antigonos of Soclio, who lived late in the Greek 
 period. He is the author of the noble teaching, 
 ''Be not as slaves who minister to the lord with 
 a view to reward, but be as slaves who minister 
 
92 Teachers of Judaism and Christianity 
 
 The Pairs of 
 Teachers 
 
 Hillel and 
 Shammai 
 
 to the master without a view to receiving a re- 
 ward" (Aboth I. 3). 
 
 The second period is represented by the 
 Zugoth, or Pairs, who labored during the later 
 part of the Maccabean and the earlier part of the 
 Roman age (150-10 B. C). The names of five 
 such pairs of teachers are preserved in the rab- 
 binical literature. Many precepts and sayings 
 are attributed to them. Each appears to have 
 gathered about himself a large following of dis- 
 ciples. 
 
 The most famous pair was Hillel (the Elder) 
 and Shammai (The Elder), who flourished a 
 little before the beginning of the Christian era. 
 Hillel was born in Babylon and, although, ac- 
 cording to tradition, a descendant of the royal 
 house of David, he was forced to struggle with 
 poverty during his earlier years. It is said that 
 he was forty years of age before he came to 
 Jerusalem for the purpose of studying the law 
 under the great teachers of his day, Shemaiah 
 and Abtalyon. It is related that on one occasion, 
 lacking the fee required for entrance to the 
 rabbinical college, he climbed up on the window 
 sill in order to hear the lectures. There he be- 
 came so interested in listening that he did not 
 notice the snow which fell upon him. At last 
 the attention of those inside was attracted by the 
 early darkening of the room. On investigation 
 they found him insensible with the cold and with 
 difficulty restored him to consciousness. Hillel 
 became the founder of a famous school which 
 was very influential in the development of Jewish 
 national character and faith. He was noted foe 
 
History of the Scribes and RaiDbis 93 
 
 his meekness, tolerance and breadth of view, 
 while his rival, Shammai, was exceedingly con- 
 servative and possessed of a hasty temper. To 
 him is attributed the saying, "Make thy Torah a 
 fixed thing, say little and do much, and receive 
 every man with a cheerful countenance" (Aboth 
 I. 15). Hillel was the author of the famous 
 summary of the law which is so often compared 
 with that of Jesus: "What is hateful to thyself, 
 do not to thy fellow-man ; this is the whole 
 Torah, the rest is only commentary" (Shabbath 
 30b). The discussions between these two great 
 teachers and the schools founded by them fill 
 many pages of the Talmud and reflect the widely 
 different beliefs and points of view of the 
 Judaism of the day. 
 
 The third period is represented by the Tdii- 
 naim, or teachers, who flourished during the 
 first two centuries of the Christian era. To these 
 for the first time was given the title Rabbi, my 
 Master, or simply, Rabban, Master. The rabbis, 
 therefore, were the great teachers who rose from 
 the ranks of the scribes. It was a term of honor 
 and distinction, being derived from the Hebrew 
 word meaning great. The best known rabbis 
 were Gamaliel (the Elder), a son or grandson of 
 Hillel, Johanan, also of the school of Hillel, who 
 founded the famous rabbinical school at Jamnia, 
 and Gamaliel H, who succeeded Johanan. 
 
 The activity of the scribes was so many-sided Aims of the 
 that it is difficult briefly to formulate their aims. Scribes 
 Their first aim was to interpret and to apply the 
 teachings of Israel's earlier teachers to the life 
 and needs of their own day. Their second aim, 
 
 The Later 
 Teachers 
 
94 Teachers of Judaism and Christianity 
 
 akin to the first, was to rear up a nation which 
 should conform in every detail to the demands 
 of the Torah, which they held to be the full and 
 complete expression of the will of Jehovah. To 
 this end they aimed, in the first place, to regulate 
 in minutest detail the conduct of each individual, 
 and thus to make servants of God by producing 
 servants of the law. Finally they aimed to train 
 up disciples who as teachers would carry on this 
 work and realize in the life of the nation the will 
 of Jehovah, as defined by the law. While the 
 scribes were interested in the individual, they 
 were preeminently interested in attaining their 
 ideal through the nation. This ideal was con- 
 crete and definite, yet from its very nature im- 
 possible of complete realization ; for an extreme 
 emphasis upon law obscures fundamental prin- 
 ciples and arrests the development of that in- 
 dividual moral and spiritual sense which is the 
 essence of all religious progress and growth. 
 
X 
 
 THE METHODS OF THE SCRIBES AND RABBIS 
 
 The scribes, like the earlier wise, depended The Great 
 almost exclusively on teaching- for the realiza- Opportunity of 
 
 •^ *. the Scribes 
 
 tion of their aims. They occupied a unique van- 
 tage ground for performing their tasks. They 
 enjoyed the highest respect and regard of the 
 people. They were the custodians of the law and 
 its authoritative interpreters. They were fully 
 represented in the Sanhedrin, the great adminis- 
 trative, legislative, and judicial body of their na- 
 tion. They were thus able as legislators to enact 
 laws, as lawyers to interpret them, as judges to 
 apply them, and as the chief rulers of their people 
 to execute them. To this was added the even 
 more potent function of teacher, in that they 
 were able to inculcate the laws into the minds of 
 the people and thus through the will to control 
 the springs of action. Powerless in the grasp of 
 imperial Rome, spurred on by contact Vv^ith the 
 great civilizations of the ancient world, the 
 Jewish race was in a uniquely receptive attitude 
 toward the message of its great teachers. The 
 interest and belief in educational methods was 
 never stronger in any other age or race except 
 possibly among the civilized Christian races of 
 to-day. 
 
 The scribes, heirs of the earlier wise, showed 
 themselves masters of most of the so-called 
 ''modern" pedagogical principles. That they did 
 not fully realize their aims was not because of 
 
 Their W^eakness 
 not as Teachers 
 but as" 
 Interpreters 
 
96 Teachers of Judaism and Christianity 
 
 Their Direct 
 Instruction of 
 the People 
 
 Public 
 Discussion 
 
 the defects in their methods. The causes lay 
 deeper. It was as interpreters of the law that 
 they suffered from the lack of the as yet unborn 
 historical and scientific spirit. The loose, alle- 
 gorizing methods, inherited from the Greeks 
 through Alexandria, led them far afield from the 
 true meaning of their scriptures. Fanciful con- 
 jecture — a characteristic Oriental heritage — too 
 often took the place of logical reasoning. It was 
 as interpreters, therefore, and not as teachers, 
 that the Jewish rabbis failed. 
 
 As teachers the scribes and the rabbis appear 
 to have touched the mass of the people directly 
 in three ways. The first was as readers and in- 
 terpreters of the law in connection with the 
 synagogue service. Mark i. 22 contains a sug- 
 gestive reference to this practice. Although the 
 service in the synagogue was thoroughly demo- 
 cratic, when a learned scribe was present, he, 
 like Jesus at Nazareth, was undoubtedly asked 
 to read and explain the passages from the law 
 and the prophets which were read each Sabbath 
 in connection with the synagogue service. Thus 
 a rare opportunity was given them to teach the 
 young as well as the leaders of the community. 
 The second means was through the primary 
 S3'nagogue schools which, according to tradition, 
 were established near the close of the Macca- 
 bean period. The third opportunity was through 
 their disciples who came to them in great num- 
 bers and in turn went forth as teachers of the 
 people. 
 
 In teaching the young disciples, the scribes, 
 especially the great rabbis, showed remarkable 
 
Answer 
 
 Methods of the Scribes and Rabbis 97 
 
 skill and versatility. One common method was by 
 piiblic discussion between the masters of the 
 different schools. These discussions were ex- 
 ceedingly free and the most varied opinions were 
 expressed. Often, the subjects considered were 
 trivial, but frequently they dealt with the most 
 fundamental principles of faith and practice. By 
 this method a theme was treated from many 
 points of view and the individual was obliged to 
 use his own judgment in arriving at the final 
 conclusion. 
 
 The rabbis also depended largely on the Question and 
 method of question and answer. Seated upon a 
 raised platform, usually within the temple pre- 
 cincts, with their disciples gathered about them, 
 these skilled teachers of Judaism always held 
 themselves open to questions and frequently 
 in turn presented concrete cases for discussion 
 and treatment by their disciples. Alany illustra- 
 tions are found in the Talmud of this seminar 
 method. A disciple once inquired of his teacher, 
 ''What is real wisdom?" The teacher replied, 
 "To judge liberally, to live purely, and to love 
 thy neighbor." Another teacher, possibly influ- 
 enced by the Socratic philosophy, answered, 
 ''The greatest wisdom is to know thyself." The 
 following are some of the typical questions pro- 
 pounded and the answers given by the members 
 of this school: ''Who gains wisdom? He who is 
 willing to receive instruction from all sources. 
 Who is the mighty man? He who subdues his 
 temper. \Mio is rich? He who is content with 
 his lot. \M"io is deserving of honor? He who 
 honors mankind. How can you escape sin? 
 
98 Teachers of Judaism and Christianity 
 
 Memorization 
 
 Exact Verbal 
 Reproduction 
 of the Master's 
 Teaching 
 
 Think of three things : whence you corne, whither 
 you go, and before whom you must appear." 
 
 The rabbis depended wholly upon oral instruc- 
 tion. Until near the close of the second Chris- 
 tian century, the rabbinic authorities were all op- 
 posed to committing the oral law to writing. 
 The result was that the rabbis cast most of their 
 teachings in brief, often epigrammatic form so 
 that they could be easily remembered. They 
 placed great emphasis upon memorization. Their 
 ideal disciple was one "quick to hear, and slow 
 to forget" (Aboth 5. 18). "When a scholar of 
 the wise sits and studies and forgets a word of 
 his Mishna, they account it to him as worthy of 
 death" (Aboth 3. 12) was one of the favorite 
 maxims of the rabbinical school. 
 
 The disciples were also strenuously warned 
 not to teach, in form or content, anything differ- 
 ent from what they had learned from their 
 masters. In this latter injunction is foimd one 
 of the chief defects of the rabbinical teaching. 
 It destroyed all originality and checked the ex- 
 pression of personal conviction, which constitutes 
 the great charm and power of a real teacher. It 
 explains the surprise of the multitude that Jesus 
 "taught with authority and not as the scribes." 
 This rule was well calculated to preserve intact 
 the heritage of the past, but it was fatal to the 
 development of the true religion, which must be 
 constantly adjusted to the point of view and 
 needs of each succeeding generation. It was be- 
 cause the great rabbis themselves disobeyed this 
 injunction that Judaism is to-day a living and 
 developing religion. 
 
Methods of the Scribes and Rabbis 99 
 
 the Halachic 
 Type of 
 Teaching 
 
 To aid the memory and the imagination the stones, or the 
 scribes frequently illustrated their teachings by ^^^^^^^^^J/^^ 
 means of stories. These were most commonly 
 used in connection with their explanation of the 
 historical and didactic books. This blend of doc- 
 trinal teachings, exhortations, parables, and sto- 
 ries is called Hdggddd, and constitutes a large 
 part of the Talmud, which, with its twelve huge 
 volumes, is a compendium of rabbinic teachings. 
 
 The rabbis put a large part of their teachings orai Laws, or 
 in the form of concise precepts. By their con- 
 temporaries and later generations these oral laws 
 were regarded as supplemental to the written 
 law and of equal authority with it. These pre- 
 cepts and legal traditions were known as the 
 Halacha, literally, zvay, that is, usage, rule. This 
 was the fence, or hedge, which the rabbis sought 
 to construct about the written law. By means of 
 these oral laws they endeavored to answer every 
 possible question that might arise in regard to 
 conduct, so that an infringement of any of the 
 written laws, in spirit or in letter, would be im- 
 possible. The aim was excellent, but in practice 
 this method broke down with its own weight. It 
 loaded the race with a mass of enactments which 
 obscured the really vital principles and blunted 
 the individual's sense of right and wrong. 
 
 In the midst, however, of a mass of petty rules Precepts 
 there are found many noble moral precepts, some 
 legal and some embodying the fruits of universal 
 human experience. The latter are the product of 
 the fusion of the wise men and the scribes. In 
 depth of thought, in beauty of form, and in per- 
 ennial value many of them are comparable with 
 
1 OO Teachers of Judaism and Christianity 
 
 the teachings of the Old and "New Testament. 
 'Three friends," said the rabbis, ''has man : God, 
 his father, and his mother. 'He who honors his 
 parents,' saith God, 'honors me, even as though 
 I Hved among them.' " Again they taught, "The 
 place honors not the man, it is the man who gives 
 honor to the place." "He who mixes with un- 
 clean things becomes unclean himself ; he whose 
 associations are pure becomes more holy each 
 day." "Despise no man and deem nothing im- 
 possible ; every man has his hour, and everything 
 its place." "Men should be careful lest they 
 cause women to weep, for God counts their 
 tears." "He who possesses a knowledge of God 
 and a knowledge of man, will not easily commit 
 sin." "The best preacher is the heart; the best 
 teacher is time ; the best book is the world ; the 
 best friend is God." "He who is loved by man, 
 is loved by God." One of these precepts vividly 
 recalls the teaching of Jesus: "Alan sees the 
 mote in his neighbor's eye, but knows not of the 
 beam in his own." 
 Proverbs The provcrb was also a favorite form of teach- 
 
 ing of the rabbis. In this respect, as in many 
 others, they showed themselves the faithful dis- 
 ciples of the earlier wise. Thus they taught: 
 
 If a word spoken in its time is worth one piece of 
 
 money, 
 Silence in its time is worth two. 
 
 Another voices that high appreciation of indus- 
 try and honest labor which has always char- 
 acterized the Jew : 
 
 Rather skin a carcass for pay in the public streets, 
 Than lie idly dependent on charity. 
 
Methods of the Scribes and Rabbis 1 1 
 
 Another proverb reveals a keen appreciation of 
 human nature, and recalls the brilliant aphorism 
 of the book of Proverbs concerning the fool: 
 
 The foolish man knows not an insult. 
 
 Neither does a dead man feel the cutting of a knife. 
 
 Also: 
 
 There are three crowns: of the law, the priesthood, and 
 
 the kingship ; 
 But the crown of a good name is greater than them all. 
 
 The following proverb also expresses that high 
 estimate of primary education which was the 
 glory of the Jewish race : 
 
 The world is saved by the breath of school children ; 
 Even to rebuild the temple, the schools must not be 
 closed. 
 
 The scribes were also adepts in putting their Epigrams 
 thought in epigrammatic form. Thus they 
 taught : 
 
 The ass complains of the cold even in July. 
 A small coin in a large jar makes a great noise. 
 The sun will set without thy assistance. 
 
 Commit a sin twice and it will not seem to thee a 
 crime. 
 
 What is intended for thy neighbor will never be thine. 
 
 A thief who finds no opportunity to steal, considers 
 himself an honest man. 
 
 The rabbis also appreciated the value of prayer prayer 
 as a vital factor in the education of their dis- 
 ciples. They not only taught their disciples cer- 
 tain prayers, but gave many wise teachings con- 
 cerning the nature of prayer : 
 
 Look not on thy prayers as on a task; 
 I^et thy supplications be sincere, 
 
1 02 Teachers of Judaism and Christianity 
 
 To pray loudly is not a necessity of devotion ; 
 When we pray we must direct our hearts toward 
 heaven. 
 
 One need not stand upon a high place to pray, 
 For it is written, "Out of the depths have I called to 
 thee, O Lord." 
 
 Prayer is Israel's only weapon, 
 
 A weapon inherited from its fathers ; 
 
 A weapon proved in a thousand battles. 
 
 To make their teachings impressive, the rabbis 
 sometimes put them into the form of woes and 
 beatitudes, as did the Great Teacher of Naza- 
 reth : 
 
 Woe to the country which has lost its leader; 
 Woe to the ship when its captain is no more. 
 
 The Rabbi Johanan also taught : 
 
 Happy are you, O, sons of Israel ; 
 
 As long as you perform the will of God, naught can 
 
 conquer you ; 
 But if you fail to fulfill his wishes, even the cattle are 
 
 superior to you. 
 
 The following beatitude is of profound and prac- 
 tical significance: 
 
 Blessed is the son who has studied with his father, 
 And blessed is the father who has instructed his son. 
 
 The scribes and rabbis made a large use of the 
 parable as a means of illustrating their teachings. 
 Alany of them are suggestive of Jesus's use of 
 the similar literary form. Rabbi Levi, in illus- 
 trating the meaning of the proverb, "Wisdom is 
 too high for a fool" (Prov. 24. 7), related the 
 following parable : "A man once hired two serv- 
 ants to fill a basket with water. One of them 
 said, 'Why should I continue this useless labor? 
 I put water in on one side, and it immediately 
 
Methods of the Scribes and Rabbis 1 03 
 
 leaks out of the other; what profit is it?' The 
 other workman, who was wise, repHed, 'We have 
 tlie profit of the reward which we receive for our 
 labor.' It is the same in studying the law. One 
 man says, 'What does it profit me to study the 
 law, when I must ever continue it or else forget 
 what I have learned?' But the other man re- 
 plies, 'God will reward us for the will which we 
 display, even though we do forget.' " 
 
 The famous Rabbi Jehuda, who lived between 
 136 and 217 A. D., to illustrate the fact that a 
 man must be judged alike for the acts of his soul 
 and the acts of his body, gave the following par- 
 able : "There was once a king who had a charm- 
 ing park in which were beautiful fruit trees. He 
 placed in charge of this park two watchers ; one 
 was lame and the other blind. Then the lame 
 man said to the blind : 'I see beautiful fruit in 
 the park. Come, take me up on your shoulder 
 and we will get some of the fruit and eat.' Then 
 the lame stood on the shoulder of the blind man 
 and they brought down some fruit and ate it. 
 After some time the owner of the park came. 
 He said to them : 'Where are the beautiful first 
 fruits?' Then the lame man said to him: 'Have 
 I any legs with which to climb?' The blind 
 man said to him : 'Have I any eyes with which 
 to see^' What did the owner of the park do? 
 He made the lame man stand on the shoulders of 
 the blind man and thus judged them both to- 
 gether." 
 
 Another favorite form of teaching with the Allegories 
 rabbis was the allegory. Each factor in the 
 story symbolized some phase of truth. While it 
 
1 04 Teachers of Judaism and Christianity 
 
 commanded the interest and aroused the thought 
 of the pupils, the aUegory usuahy required in- 
 terpretation. The fohowing is an example of 
 this literary form of teaching: "A traveler upon 
 his journey passed through the forest upon a 
 dark and gloomy night. He journeyed in dread; 
 he feared the robbers who infested the route he 
 was traversing. He feared that he might fall 
 into some unseen ditch or pitfall on the way, and 
 he feared, too, the wild beasts, which were about 
 him. By chance he discovered a pine torch, and 
 lighted it, and its gleams afforded him great 
 relief. He no longer feared brambles or pit- 
 falls, for he could see the way before him. But 
 the dread of robbers and wild beasts was still 
 upon him, nor left him until the morning's dawn, 
 the coming of the sun. Still he was tmcertain of 
 his way, until he emerged from the forest and 
 reached the crossroads, when peace returned to 
 his heart. 
 Interpretation *'The darkuess in which this man walked was 
 
 the lack of religious knowledge. The torch he 
 discovered typifies God's precepts, which aided 
 him on his way until he obtained the blessed sun- 
 light, compared to God's holy word, the Bible. 
 Still, while the man is in the forest (the world), 
 he is not entirely at peace ; his heart is faint, and 
 he may lose the right path ; but when he reaches 
 the crossroads (death), then we may proclaim 
 him truly righteous, and exclaim : 'A good name 
 is more fragrant than rich perfume, and the day 
 of death is better than the day of one's birth.' " 
 
 No one can deny the value of the teaching 
 methods of the scribes, nor the sincerity and de- 
 
Methods of the Scribes and Rabbis 1 05 
 
 votion of many of their number. Their weak- strength and 
 nesses are equally patent. Their eves were Weakness of the 
 
 1 . 11 , ,' 1 Teaching of the 
 
 turned too much to the past rather than to the scribes 
 present and future. Their teachings lacked that 
 note of authority and originality which comes 
 from a close touch with the vital problems and 
 needs of mankind. Forgetting the teachings of 
 the earlier prophets, they exalted the ritual and 
 ceremonial acts above character and deeds. They 
 exemplified their own aphorism : "Unhappy is 
 he who mistakes the branch for the tree, the 
 shadow for the substance." Many of them, how- 
 ever, placed a strong emphasis upon moral acts 
 and character, as is well illustrated by the teach- 
 ing: "He that has more learning than good deeds 
 is like a tree with many branches but weak roots ; 
 the first great storm will throw it to the ground. 
 He whose good works are greater than his 
 knowledge is like a tree with fewer branches but 
 with strong and spreading roots, a tree which all 
 the winds of heaven cannot uproot." They made 
 the further mistake of defining religion, not as 
 the personal relation of the individual toward 
 God, but as conformity to certain detailed laws. 
 Above all, they made the mistake common to 
 the teachers of many religions, of not distin- 
 guishing clearly between that which was vital 
 and eternal and that which was trivial and 
 ephemeral. 
 
 The great need of Judaism, therefore, was for The Great Need 
 some one to distinguish between the gold and of Judaism 
 the dross in their inherited teachings, to adapt 
 these ancient teachings to the lives of the masses, 
 to shake off the clouding casuistry of the schools, 
 
1 o6 Teachers of Judaism and Christianity 
 
 and to present the teachings simply and directly. 
 A great teacher was needed to speak positively 
 and with authority, to arouse within the hearts 
 of men a deep love for God and an unselfish 
 enthusiasm for his service, to inspire the common 
 people with faith in their own powers and to set 
 before them definite and practical ways in which 
 they could express their religious devotion. 
 Most of all, the race and age needed one who' 
 w^ould teach not merely by w'ord but by deed, 
 demonstrating in his ow^n character and life the 
 vital, eternal truths hidden in Israel's sacred 
 writings. In Jesus of Nazareth that ancient 
 Torah found its complete expression and fulfill- 
 ment. 
 
XI 
 
 THE TRAINING AND AHIS OF THE GREAT 
 TEACHER 
 
 To the men of his day Jesus was known under jesus's Different 
 three different titles. By many he was addressed '^^^^^^ 
 as The Physician, and in his work he certainly 
 proved himself a healer of men's bodies as well 
 as men's souls. This healing ministry, however, 
 was only a means to an end, and that end was 
 religious. By many he was called a Prophet, and 
 this title truly describes the spirit with which he 
 taught and the content of his message. He stood 
 on the platform of such great prophets as Amos, 
 Isaiah, and Jeremiah, and, like John the Baptist, 
 during the first part of his ministry preached 
 with great success and effectiveness. It is evi- 
 dent, however, that Jesus preached simply that 
 he might attract to himself those with whom he 
 might enter into the more intimate relation of 
 teacher and disciple. 
 
 Rabbi, or Teacher, is, therefore, the most exact Preeminently 
 and distinctive title which Jesus bore, and the one 
 most frequently on the lips of those closely asso- 
 ciated with him. Its counterpart is disciple or 
 learner, the word constantly used to describe 
 those whom he taught. Even the so-called 
 ''Sermon on the Mount" is introduced by the 
 significant statement that ''when Jesus had sat" 
 "and his disciples had gathered about him, he 
 taught." The words which follow are the words 
 of a teacher rather than of a preacher. 
 107 
 
 the Teacher 
 
1 o8 Teachers of Judaism and Christianity 
 
 His Emphasis 
 Upon the 
 Teaching 
 Method 
 
 Gospel 
 Testimony 
 Regarding 
 His Youthful 
 Training 
 
 Jesus fully appreciated the importance of an 
 intimate acquaintance with those whom he taught. 
 His work illustrates the value of that personal 
 contact and close adaptation of the message to 
 those receiving it which distinguish the method 
 of the teacher from that of the preacher. The 
 record of Jesus's brief ministry bears strong testi- 
 mony to the fundamental emphasis which he 
 placed upon his work as a teacher. During the 
 closing days of his lifework he turned aside 
 almost completely from the multitudes, and, 
 abandoning the method of the preacher, devoted 
 himself to teaching the small group of disciples 
 who gathered about him. By this act Jesus prac- 
 tically said to all the world, "My method is pre- 
 eminently that of the teacher." The history of the 
 opening Christian centuries is the vindication of 
 the superlative wisdom and efifectiveness of 
 Jesus's method. The small group of disciples 
 upon whose minds he impressed his spirit, teach- 
 ings, and personality went forth as teachers and 
 within three or four -centuries conquered the 
 great Roman Empire. It is also important to 
 note that in the later history of Christianity the 
 periods of great advance have come when the 
 Church, as at the time of the Protestant Refor- 
 mation, has placed the Bible in the hands of the 
 masses and laid its supreme emphasis on the 
 teaching ministry. 
 
 The Gospels devote only a few verses to the 
 account of Jesus's training as a teacher. Their 
 testimony, however, is exceedingly valuable and 
 suggestive, for it states that "he advanced in 
 wisdom and stature, as well as in favor with God 
 
Training and Aims of the Great Teacher 1 09 
 
 and man." This testimony leaves no doubt that 
 Jesus's growth in knowledge, experience, and 
 skill as a teacher was gradual and progressive, 
 even as was his. physical growth. This conclu- 
 sion is confirmed by the rare portrait of the boy 
 when at the age of twelve he went up with his 
 parents to worship at the temple. It reveals not 
 an egotistical youth, as some careless interpreters 
 would suggest, but a thoroughly normal boy, 
 keenly intent upon acquiring knowledge, improv- 
 ing to the fullest extent the opportunity offered 
 by asking questions of the accepted teachers of 
 his race. The insight and interest revealed by 
 his questions alone excited surprise. His zeal 
 for knowledge was so intense that in pursuit of 
 it he even called down upon his head the reproof 
 of his parents. 
 
 It takes little imagination, in the light of the influences of 
 records of Jesus's later work and teaching, to 
 trace the different influences which, in keeping 
 with God's good purpose, entered into the train- 
 ing of the Great Teacher. Nazareth, situated 
 in the midst of one of the garden lands of 
 Palestine, furnished a fitting background. Here 
 he was in closest touch with nature and the 
 exquisite revelations of God's divine care and 
 love for his children. The height just above the 
 town commanded a view of the wide, level plain 
 of Esdraelon, of Mount Gilboa, of the hills of 
 Samaria, and of Mount Carmel, jutting out into 
 the great sea at the west. To a loyal student of 
 Israel's past, this view suggested many of the 
 great battles and crises in Israel's unique history. 
 Nazareth itself, instead of being a provincial 
 
 Nazareth 
 
I 1 Teachers of Judaism and Christianity 
 
 Of the Home at 
 Nazareth 
 
 Of the 
 
 Synagogue at 
 Nazareth 
 
 little town, was one of. the larger cities of Galilee. 
 It was intersected by the great highways 
 which ran across Galilee from the north and 
 east, and was only a few miles from Caper- 
 naum, the metropolis of the north. In Naz- 
 areth, the different currents of Semitic, Greek, 
 and Roman life and culture met and blended. 
 The town, with its teeming life, was like 
 Galilee, a type of the larger world to which 
 it belonged. The town itself still possessed the 
 characteristics of an oriental village, in which 
 the affairs of all its members were common 
 property and the book of life, revealing the vari- 
 ous human motives, temptations, ambitions, and 
 needs, was spread out wide before the eyes of 
 him who would read. 
 
 The home at Nazareth also presented even 
 greater opportunities for the intimate study of 
 the heart of man. Apparently the early death 
 of the father brought the oldest son, Jesus, to 
 a position of responsibility, and through the lips 
 of his brothers and sisters, and his strong love 
 and loyalty to them, he gained a perfect and 
 unique knowledge of the psychological char- 
 acteristics of man, so that, as one of the gospel 
 writers truly states, there was no need that any- 
 one should tell him what was in the heart of 
 men, for that knowledge was his already. 
 
 The Sabbath services at the synagogue intro- 
 duced him from early boyhood to the great writ- 
 ings of the prophets and the priests, and brought 
 to him the illuminating interpretations of resi- 
 dent and visiting scholars. It is probable also 
 that at this time the synagogue schools were al- 
 
Training and Aims of the Great Teacher 1 1 I 
 
 ready established throughout the more important 
 cities of GaHlee, so that when Jesus at twelve 
 went up to Jerusalem he was accustomed to sit- 
 ting at the feet of the teachers of the law and 
 the prophets and of asking those questions which 
 aroused the admiration of the bystanders. 
 
 Jesus lived in a literary age, and there is little of Israel's 
 doubt that he was able to read and had access to ^^^'^ 
 the scriptures of his race. At every point he 
 shows thorough acquaintance with these ancient 
 writings. It is the acquaintance not merely of 
 the hearer, but of the student. Jesus was so 
 familiar with the contents of Israel's law, that 
 in answer to the sudden question, "Which is the 
 great commandment in the law?" he was able to 
 synthesize the entire ancient system by singling 
 out two laws, one in Deuteronomy 6. 5 and the 
 other in Leviticus 19. 18, which embodied all that 
 was most vital in the legal literature of his race. 
 
 With the events of Israel's history he was of the Historical 
 intimately acquainted. The words and messages and Prophetic 
 of prophets, like Isaiah and Jeremiah, were on 
 his lips and in his heart. Although there is little 
 direct evidence, it is clear that the marvelous 
 ideal of service contained in the fortieth and 
 following chapters of Isaiah exerted a great 
 influence in shaping the ideals of the young man 
 of Nazareth. In all his lifework and teaching 
 he illustrated that conception of unselfish, un- 
 flinching service which hesitated not in the face 
 of misunderstanding, opposition, and shame, but 
 was ready to give all in order to touch the hearts 
 of men and so lead them into intelligent love 
 and service of the Divine Father. 
 
Of the Psalms 
 and Wisdom 
 Books 
 
 Of the Methods 
 of the Sages 
 
 Use of Proverbs 
 
 Question and 
 
 Answer 
 
 1 1 2 Teachers of Judaism and Christianity 
 
 In the great crises of his hfe his feehngs were 
 expressed in the language of those psahriists who 
 had, hke himself, passed through the shadow of 
 the valley of death. The sages, also, exerted a 
 powerful influence upon the one who described 
 himself as ''the greater than Solomon." In many 
 of the Old Testament proverbs are found those 
 figures and germinal ideas which are so exqui- 
 sitely developed in the familiar parables of the 
 New Testament. 
 
 It was, however, in the form of his teachings 
 that Jesus drew most from the sages, of Israel's 
 past. Like them, he spoke not to the nation but 
 to the individual. His appeal was to the young 
 as well as to the old. He endeavored by the lit- 
 erary form as well as by the content of his teach- 
 ings to arrest men's attention, to kindle their 
 imagination, and to shape their ideals. 
 
 During the early part of his ministry most of 
 his teachings were cast in the form of proverbs 
 which stick forever in the memory. Thus he 
 declared : 
 
 If any one would be first. 
 Let him of all be the last, 
 And of all the servant. 
 
 Salt is good, but if salt lose its saltness 
 Wherewith will ye salt it? 
 
 Have salt in yourselves. 
 
 And have peace with each other. 
 
 The stirring figures of speech which he used, 
 as, for example, "the leaven of the Pharisees," 
 or, "sounding the trumpet before thee," or the 
 "lost sheep of the house of Israel," suggest the 
 pregnant symbols employed by Israel's sages. 
 
Training and Aims of the Great Teacher 1 1 3 
 
 Like the sages and rabbis, he also frequently 
 flung a question into the midst of his disciples to 
 arouse their interest and to make them think. 
 ''Who do the multitudes say that I am?" is fol- 
 lowed by the still more suggestive question, *'But 
 what say ye that I am?" 
 
 Like the sage who has given us the first psalm Beatitudes 
 with its opening beatitude, Jesus also endeavored 
 to set definite goals before his disciples, and, like 
 the ancient decalogue-makers, to embody in a 
 few vivid statements the essential truths of life. 
 A beatitude was in its original form an exclama- 
 tory sentence which left little opportunity for 
 difference or discussion. It simply called atten- 
 tion to a fundamental principle of life, as, for 
 example, "Oh, the blessedness of the pure in 
 heart, for they shall see God," or (as it may 
 riiore properly be read in the original), "for they, 
 indeed, are seeing God" ; or, "Oh, the blessed- 
 ness of the whole-makers, the harmony-makers, 
 the completeness-makers (developing the original 
 meaning of the Aramaic verb), for they shall be 
 called, and indeed are, the children of God." 
 
 Sometimes, like the rabbis, Jesus taught his Prayers 
 disciples prayers to guide them, to inculcate the 
 spirit of worship, and to embody the essence of 
 his teaching. 
 
 During the latter part of his ministry he com- Parables 
 monly employed the parable, which was really an 
 amplified comparison and contained a story in- 
 tended to set forth a definite spiritual lesson. Its 
 aim was not to conceal but to reveal truth. It is 
 important to note that a parable is not an alle- 
 gory with all parts equally . symbolic and signi- 
 
Allegories 
 
 Paradoxes 
 
 Hyperboles 
 
 Debt to Earlier 
 Teachers 
 
 1 I 4 Teachers of Judaism and Christianity 
 
 ficant, but that it simply emphasizes one central 
 teaching. Thus, for example, in the story of the 
 sower who went out to sow, the whole emphasis 
 is on the importance of the right disposition and 
 use of true instruction. 
 
 It is only in the Fourth Gospel that the reader 
 gains the impression that Jesus at times used 
 the allegory, as, for example, that of the true 
 vine with its branches, in which a definite signifi- 
 cance is attributed to each element. 
 
 Like the sages, Jesus also appreciated the value 
 of the paradox as a means of arousing men's 
 curiosity and compelling them to think. Thus, 
 he declared, ''Whoever wishes to save his life 
 will lose it," and "Whoever for my sake and for 
 the sake of the gospel will lose his life shall 
 save it" ; or, ''If anyone wishes to be first, he 
 must be last of all and servant of all." 
 
 Finally, in his zeal to emphasize that which was 
 vital, Jesus did not hesitate to use the hyperbole, 
 as, for example, the figure of the camel passing 
 through the eye of a needle, or of cutting off the 
 hand if it proved a snare. He trusted to his 
 teaching at other times to correct the wrong im- 
 pression that might be conveyed through the use 
 of the hyperbole. 
 
 Thus, while Jesus blended all that was vital 
 and eternal in the teachings of prophets, priests, 
 and sages and brought their imperfect teachings 
 to perfect expression, he employed most fre- 
 quently the methods and literary forms of those 
 quiet, earnest lovers of men, the sages of ancient 
 Israel. 
 
 In formulating Jesus's aims as a teacher one 
 
Training and Aims of the Great Teacher I 1 5 
 
 is impressed with the absence in the oldest records Definiteness 
 of any aUusion to certain aims which have in ^^^ 
 
 . ' . . 11-111 Concreteness 
 
 the past been given a central place m the thought of His Aims 
 and creeds of many of the Christian churches. 
 There is no suggestion, for example, of an en- 
 deavor to appease an angry God. The God of 
 Jesus's teaching was the Father revealed in the 
 parable of the Prodigal Son, intensely eager 
 to receive back and pardon the sinner if only he 
 turned in the attitude of sincere repentance. As 
 Jesus himself distinctly declared, his mission was 
 primarily to "the lost sheep of the house of 
 Israel." These were the humble, common people 
 of Judea and Galilee, who because of their occu- 
 pations and lack of knowledge and training were 
 unable to conform to the rigorous, almost im- 
 possible demands of the ceremonial laws of later 
 Judaism. His mission, therefore, was not some- 
 thing abstract and impersonal, but to teach and 
 help certain men and women whose great moral 
 and spiritual needs appealed to him and whose 
 lives he was able to transform, and through their 
 transformed lives to teach and so reach humanity. 
 
 Hence Jesus's first aim was to save certain Aimed to 
 men and women, some of whose names w^e know, deliver Men 
 from the pain and physical suffering which handi- 
 capped them in the quest of that greater happi- 
 ness which he declared to be one of the supreme 
 goals of life. 
 
 In the second place, he aimed to save them to Give Them 
 from that ignorance of God's character and pur- the La^rger and 
 poses which could be dispelled only by true 
 knowledge. As a result of the changed political 
 conditions amid which thev found themselves 
 
 Truer Idea of 
 God 
 
1 1 6 Teachers of Judaism and Christianity 
 
 To Inspire a 
 Serene Trust in 
 God 
 
 To Help Men to 
 Overcome Their 
 Individual 
 Temptations 
 
 in the days following the exile, the Jews, and 
 even their acknowledged teachers, had largely 
 lost sight of the God of the earlier prophets. 
 Jehovah, like the monarchs who ruled from dis- 
 tant Persia or Rome, was conceived of as living 
 apart from his people and communicating with 
 them only through his angelic messengers. His 
 demands were also interpreted largely in the 
 terms of form and ceremony and ritual, so that 
 ordinary men and women had little hope of enter- 
 ing into the presence of this Divine King of 
 popular belief. Jesus aimed, therefore, to sweep 
 aside this barrier and, again like the ancient 
 prophets, to introduce each individual to the 
 Divine Father. He sought to present God as 
 the embodiment of truth and love, the one su- 
 preme personality seeking to express himself not 
 merely in the realm of external nature, but 
 through the hearts and lives of faithful men and 
 women. 
 
 Jesus's third aim was to save men from false 
 and paralyzing fears, to teach them to take no 
 anxious thought of the morrow, to recognize the 
 harmonious purpose which guided all life, ever 
 to trust implicitly the all-wise and loving Father, 
 and thus to find peace and harmony and strength. 
 
 His fourth aim was to save men from yielding 
 to the temptations which come thick and fast 
 to every man and woman ; to help them to over- 
 come the passions which swept over them ; to save 
 the haughty tax-collector from his greed; the 
 woman of the streets from those influences that 
 had laid an almost irresistible hold upon her, and 
 to enable strong men, like Judas Iscariot, to listen 
 
Training and Aims of the Great Teacher 1 1 7 
 
 to the higher and diviner ideals that were striig- 
 ghng within them against the lower ideals and 
 tendencies. He sought to save men from that 
 selfishness and pettiness which was character- 
 istic of the life of the fishermen, and of the men 
 who tilled the fields, and to implant within them 
 nobler and transforming ideals, that thus they 
 might have life, and that abundantly. 
 
 In the fifth place, Jesus sought to arouse those To Make 
 whom he tauoht to an appreciation of the dutv Effective 
 
 , . , r ' 1 1 1' Citizens of the 
 
 and the beauty of servmg not themselves, but Kingdom of c-od 
 their fellow men ; of striving not for their own 
 wealth, but for the commonwealth ; of finding 
 their life by losing it. In these definite ways he 
 aimed to train up citizens for the kingdom of 
 God, that world-democracy, that universal fel- 
 lowship in which all should be bound together 
 by the common love and service of a common 
 Father. 
 
 Finally, Jesus sought to train, as the active to Train 
 agfents in realizing: his aims in the life of the indi- Teachers Liks 
 
 ?, , 1 . , ,-r r • 1 1-1 Himself 
 
 vidual and ni the life of society, teachers like 
 himself, inspired with his spirit, possessed of his 
 teachings, stirred with his enthusiasm, and en- 
 dowed with his courage to go forth as the incar- 
 nation of all for which he lived. He gave his 
 life that they might in turn, by the quiet yet 
 invincible methods of the teacher, win those with 
 whom they personally came into contact, and thus 
 through an ever-widening circle teach and trans- 
 form all mankind. 
 
XII 
 
 Jesus' Supreme 
 Skill as a 
 Teacher 
 
 His Refusal to 
 Commit His 
 Teachings to 
 "Writing 
 
 JESUS'S WAY OF MAKING MEN 
 
 The study of Jesus's work as a teacher con- 
 firms the conckision that he gave careful attention 
 to the methods which he employed. His skill 
 was the result of no chance, but of a deliberate 
 choice of methods. In his knowledge of what 
 was in the heart of man and in his superb adapta- 
 tion of his teachings to individual needs and pos- 
 sibilities and to the ultimate ends which he wished 
 to accomplish, he was indeed a great pioneer in 
 all that is best in the modern educational move- 
 ment. A study, therefore, of his teaching meth- 
 ods is supremely suggestive and illuminating. 
 
 At first glance the student is surprised to note 
 that, although he was undoubtedly familiar with 
 writing, Jesus apparently never employed this 
 means of imparting his message. Most of the 
 earlier teachers of his race had trusted largely 
 to the written word. The contemporary plii- 
 ?.osophers and teachers of Greece and Rome, 
 through the services of slaves who acted as copy- 
 ists, published thousands of copies of their works 
 and scattered them widely throughout the great 
 empire. The age in which Jesus lived was pre- 
 eminently a literary era. He, however, deliber- 
 ately refrained from trusting his message to 
 stereotyped literary molds. In so doing he fol- 
 lowed the methods of the Jewish rabbis of his 
 day. His action was clearly not due to imita- 
 tion but to deliberate intention. He knew, by 
 118 
 
Jesus*s Way of Making Men 1 1 9 
 
 observation and hearing, how easy it was to mis- 
 interpret the written words even of the earHer 
 teachers of his race. He probably also knew how 
 often the written text had suffered corruption or 
 else had been made the medium in the hand of 
 later scribes and teachers for establishing the 
 creeds and doctrines current in his own days. 
 
 Jesus's reason, therefore, for not committing Teachings 
 his teachings to writing- is perfectlv evident. It inscribed on 
 
 1 11 T 1 • ir 1- -' r 1 1 J. Human Hearts 
 
 IS also clear that Jesus himself dia not feel that and Lives 
 he was promulgating a new system of teaching. 
 Rather his purpose was to give a fuller and more 
 complete expression to all that was of vital and 
 lasting value in the teachings of the earlier 
 prophets, priests, and sages. In the minds and 
 hearts and lives of men he wrote down his mes- 
 sage to humanity, and upon the disciples whom 
 he gathered about him he stamped the ideals 
 which he sought to impress upon the sons of 
 men. Set forth in living forms, incarnate in 
 human lives, the teachings of Jesus were im- 
 perishable. Even if the early Christians had not 
 at a later time collected the memorabilia and say- 
 ings of Jesus, those teachings and the fruits of 
 his lifework would still continue to touch and 
 transform the life of humanity. Long before 
 the child born in Christian homes to-day is able 
 to read the written word, the ideals and the 
 teachings of the Great Teacher shape the unfold- 
 ing life, and stamp the fundamental principles of 
 Christianity upon the impressionable spirit of 
 the child. 
 
 The first characteristic of Jesus's method as a 
 teacher was the result of his unique insight into 
 
1 20 Teachers of Judaism and Christianity 
 
 Recognition of 
 the Divine 
 Possibilities in 
 Each Man 
 
 the divine possibilities latent in those men and 
 women whom he in time gradually transformed 
 into disciples and ultimately into teachers. To 
 the other men of their day, James and John 
 seemed but rude, commonplace fishermen, who 
 had reached a period of life when habits and 
 ideals are ordinarily crystallized. Simon the 
 Zealot, with his dreams of a great uprising against 
 Rome and his eagerness to resort to violence, 
 was the anarchist of his day. No other man 
 would have seen in him aught besides the possi- 
 bilities of revolution and ultimate self-destruc- 
 tion. For the fallen woman of the street there 
 seemed no hope. Zaccheeus the tax collector, who 
 held the same place in public opinion as does the 
 saloon keeper of to-day, seemed only bent on 
 attaining his own selfish ends at the expense of 
 society. Yet Jesus saw the possibility that all 
 these outcasts might become martyrs for a great 
 cause. In others he recognized teachers of such 
 efficiency that they would conquer the seemingly 
 impregnable Roman world. ]\Iore than that, 
 Jesus was able to impress upon their unawakened 
 consciousness the possibility and the glory of thus 
 finding life by losing it. By his simple yet mar- 
 velous method of training he was also able to 
 prepare them for their great lifework — to trans- 
 form the mercenary James and John into fishers 
 of men, the fiery Simon Zelotes into a conqueror 
 by the sword of the Spirit, and Zacchseus, the 
 corrupt tax-collector, into a man whose supreme 
 ambition was to discharge his obligations to his 
 fellow men. 
 The second characteristic of Jesus's method as 
 
Jesus* s Way of Making Men 1 2 1 
 
 a teacher of men was to establish between himself The Basis of 
 and those whom he would teach a close personal Personal Trust 
 relationship of simple trust, friendship, and love. ^ re s ip 
 With superlative wisdom he never attempted to 
 reach the hearts of men when physical and mental 
 barriers made that attempt impossible of realiza- 
 tion. If a man or woman was afflicted by some 
 mental disorder^ the first step was to bring sanity 
 and harmony into the disordered mind. If a 
 physical trouble clouded the mental and spiritual 
 vision, Jesus exerted all the powers of his own 
 personality to remove this obstacle and, in remov- 
 ing it, to establish that relationship of trust and 
 gratitude which was essential to his healing min- 
 istry. 
 
 In the light of this higher aim in all of his work, Meaning of i-iis 
 it is easy to appreciate the real significance of the ^""'^ of Heaimg 
 miracles attributed to him in the Gospels. The 
 variations between these dififerent narratives leave 
 little doubt in the mind of the careful student 
 that they have often been modified in the process 
 of oral transmission or by the mistaken popular 
 interpretation of Jesus's actual work and aims. 
 Yet back of these variant traditions lie historical 
 facts whose reality cannot for a moment be ques- 
 tioned. In the light of modern psycholog}- and 
 mental hygiene, the scientific world, which a 
 generation ago was inclined to reject the gospel 
 miracles, is beginning to discover the deeper 
 foundations upon which they clearly rest. The 
 fundamental principles of which they are but 
 the illustration, as, for example, the mighty power 
 of a commanding mind over one mentally dis- 
 abled, are to-day widely accepted facts. Clearly 
 
1 22 Teachers of Judaism and Christianity 
 
 Adaptation of 
 Teachings to 
 Disciples 
 
 one of Jesus's primary aims was to gain the con- 
 fidence of the men and women whom he would 
 help, and thus, in the language of psychology, to 
 render them suggestible. In accomplishing this 
 end, his knowledge of the characteristics and the 
 possibilities of the human heart and mind, his 
 commanding love for all his fellow^s, and his own 
 unique personality gave him a mighty power over 
 both the mental and the physical ills of men. It is 
 important, however, to note in this age, when so 
 much emphasis is being placed, and not without 
 reason, on physical and mental healing, that Jesus 
 always regarded this w^ork simply as the first 
 essential in setting right men's souls. His 
 recorded acts and teachings always carried with 
 them the implication that the only absolute es- 
 sential was the righting of men's attitude toward 
 God and their fellow men. 
 
 A third characteristic of Jesus's method is that 
 he always adapted his teachings to the point of 
 view of his hearers. By keen observation and 
 deep personal experience he knew what was in 
 the hearts and minds of men. He always felt 
 keenly the individual needs of those to whom he 
 at the moment was speaking. He met universal 
 needs primarily by devoting himself to meeting 
 the immediate needs of the men and women 
 before him. The greater the height to which he 
 wished to carry his disciples, the more careful he 
 was to start on their own level and to impress 
 his teachings in language both familiar and in- 
 telligible to them. If they were fishermen, he 
 began with a figure drawn from the ordinary life 
 of a fisherman. If they were tillers of the soil. 
 
Jesus's Way of Making Men 1 23 
 
 he told them the story of the man who went out 
 to sow. If it was an oriental woman, with her 
 narrow, constricted vision of life, he began with 
 the home, and told of the anxiety and sorrow- 
 caused by the loss of a piece of money and the 
 zeal expended in its quest. Thus from everyday 
 experiences he led his hearers to the grasp of 
 eternal and universal principles. The ''point of 
 contact" is rightly a shibboleth in modern edu- 
 cation ; but its value is not a new discovery, for it 
 was fully appreciated by the Great Teacher, as 
 is shown in all his work. 
 
 Jesus also realized the superlative importance Puttting Truth 
 of expressing spiritual truths not in abstract but p„^°""^'^ 
 in concrete form. The notes which come from 
 his classroom are illustrated on every page with 
 simple, graphic, suggestive pictures. Instead of 
 emphasizing in abstract terms the value of for- 
 giveness, he commanded his disciples, when they 
 were about to go up to the temple, first to turn 
 back and forgive the brother who had wronged 
 them, that they might be able to worship God 
 truly, in spirit and in deed, as well as in form. 
 Instead of emphasizing the beauty of humility, he 
 told his Jewish hearers, who were more familiar 
 with the synagogue than with any other institu- 
 tion in their midst, always to take not the higher 
 but the lower place. From a concrete illustra- 
 tion like this, he frequently rose to the statement 
 of the underlying principle. Even so he here 
 declared that everyone who exalts himself shall 
 be humbled and he who humbles himself shall be 
 exalted. Like the ancient priests in their definite 
 laws, he embodied the specific principle in a con- 
 
1 24 Teachers of Judaism and Christianity 
 
 Teaching 
 Always Positive 
 
 Crete case, frequently leaving it to his hearers 
 to formulate the principle itself and to apply it 
 to the similar problems and conditions of life. 
 
 Like the prophets and priests, Jesus was always 
 keenly alive to the value of the objective method 
 of teaching. He realized that truth could often 
 best be conveyed not through the ear but 
 through the eye. JNIany of his acts of heal- 
 ing were clearly intended to be vivid object 
 lessons, appealing to the curiosity and imagina- 
 tion and wonderment of all classes. When he 
 desired to teach the necessity and beauty of 
 simple trust, he set a child in the midst of his 
 hearers. When he wished to stir the conscience 
 of the nation and to rebuke the grafters of his 
 own day for desecrating the temple, he did not 
 content himself with mere words, but with 
 scourge in hand overturned the tables of the 
 money-changers. When the disciples of John 
 the Baptist came to him with the question, "Who 
 art thou?" he did not make the mistake of giv- 
 ing a spoken answer which would be misunder- 
 stood, but invited them to listen to his teachings, 
 to watch his deeds of helpfulness and healing, 
 and thus through their eyes as well as their ears 
 receive that message which he wished them to 
 bear back to the intrepid herald of the new era. 
 
 Another striking characteristic of Jesus's 
 method is the fact that he always put his teach- 
 ings in positive form. The teachers of ancient 
 Israel had largely used *'Thou shalt not" ; but this 
 phrase is very rare among the recorded words 
 of Jesus. Only once or twice did he resort to 
 denunciation, and by some modern scholars the 
 
Jesus*s Way of Making Men 1 25 
 
 authenticity even of these passages is questioned. 
 With superlative skill, he always presented the 
 larger and fuller truth, and trusted that the errors 
 and the half-truths would as a result find their 
 rightful place. His great watchword was, *'You 
 shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you 
 free." This cliaracteristic of Jesus's method is 
 one of the greatest sources of his surpassing 
 skill as a teacher. jNIaurice has truly said, "One 
 is usually right in his affirmations and wrong in 
 his negations." In the attitude of the acknowl- 
 edged teachers of Judaism and in the content of 
 their teaching, there was a vast amount of error, 
 and much to provoke attack and criticism. But, 
 with eye intent only on the vital needs of the men 
 and women wdiom he wished to reach, Jesus had 
 little time or desire merely to destroy or tear 
 down. He himself plainly declares that his aim 
 was not to destroy the Torah, the teachings of 
 Israel's prophets, priests, and sages, as well as 
 of the rabbis of his own day, but to substitute 
 perfection for imperfection, and thus to bring- 
 to its natural and complete fruition that divine 
 revelation which had gradually unfolded through 
 the enlightened consciousness of his race. It is 
 this strong positive note which characterizes 
 Jesus's teachings from beginning to end, and dis- 
 tinguishes him from the rest of the world's 
 teachers. It is one of the chief reasons why 
 Christianity's message is universally, perennially, 
 and supremely effective. 
 
 In the minds of his own contemporaries, the clear, 
 distinctive characteristic of Jesus's method was Authoritative 
 its ringing note of authority. It was not the 
 
1 26 Teachers of Judaism and Christianity 
 
 authority which rested simply on the testimony 
 of the past, giving to the ancient teachings the 
 commanding position in the thought and hfe of 
 the present and future ; nor was it the authority 
 of dogmatism which ordinarily conceals doubt 
 in the mind of the hearer and provokes suspicion 
 in the minds of those who hear. Rather it was 
 an authority based on a profound knowledge of 
 life and of human needs, on keen personal obser- 
 vation, and on a rich and varied personal spiritual 
 experience. Jesus's authority was akin to that of 
 the ancient prophets and sages, but superlative in 
 degree. He frankly declared, regarding the 
 future, "no man knows save the Father," but of 
 the great vital truths of life, as they had been 
 revealed to his wide-open mind, he spoke with 
 that calm, commanding authority which sug- 
 gested the eternal foundations upon which it 
 rested. To the rabbis, who exalted to a position 
 of supreme importance the words attributed by 
 tradition to Moses, he declared, in speaking of 
 certain laws, ''Ye have heard that it has been 
 said . . . but I say to you." Calmly, without 
 discussion, Jesus thus substituted the whole for 
 the part, the great underlying principles for their 
 earlier incomplete expression. From the open- 
 minded among his hearers the authority of his 
 message commanded immediate and complete 
 acceptance, not only because of the personality 
 back of it, but because it rang absolutely true to 
 the most enlightened experiences and met the 
 eternal and universal needs of the human heart. 
 Constant Appeal Again, ouc is profouudly impressed by the 
 to the Will f^(,^ ^i^^^ Jesus never contented himself with 
 
Jesus*s Way of Making Men 1 2 7 
 
 appealing to the reason alone. His logic was 
 simple, clear, and irresistible. The scribes, the 
 most skillful dialecticians of his day, came to him 
 with very carefully prepared questions intended 
 to entrap him, but they ahvays went away van- 
 quished by his clear, powerful reasoning, even 
 though the battle was waged in their chosen field 
 and with their chosen weapons. He who knew 
 what was in the heart of man, w^ith his strong 
 commanding love for the individual, with his un- 
 stinted services in meeting the needs of those 
 w ho came to him, w"as able to appeal to the deep- 
 est feelings and to play wath marvelous skill upon 
 the strings of the human heart ; yet he was never 
 content with merely arousing the emotions. 
 With him the appeal to the intellect and feelings 
 was but a means to an end, and that end was to 
 command the wills of men. 
 
 He taught men many truths, bilt his aim was Character and 
 not primarily to make men learn, but to teach ^^^^ *^^ ^°^^ °^ 
 them how to live and act. With him impression Teachings 
 was intended simply to lead to expression. The 
 rich young ruler, with his large knowledge of 
 truth and his well-developed emotions, was met 
 with the simple command to go out and do. 
 Jesus's aim in sending out his disciples that they 
 might preach the word was clearly not that he 
 might simply extend a little further the circle of 
 his influence in Galilee, but that they who had 
 heard his teachings might have the experience of 
 doing and might thus perfect their training as 
 disciples. Although their work was not alto- 
 gether successful, the joy on the part of the Great 
 Teacher as they came back with a report of real 
 
I 28 Teachers of Judaism and Christianity 
 
 achievement, was clearly because he saw in their 
 work evidence of the success of his teaching. In 
 all Jesus's work as a teacher, his supreme cri- 
 terion v\^as not what people thought or felt or 
 said, but what they did. "By their fruits ye shall 
 know them" was with him the ultimate test of all 
 character and life. 
 Directness and Another Striking characteristic distinguishes all 
 Simplicity ^j-j^^ Jcsus tauglit and did, namely, the rare and 
 
 all-important quality of directness and simplicity. 
 Pascal quaintly says, "Jesus Christ speaks things 
 so simply, that it seems he had never thought 
 upon them." His Csirliest advice to his disciples 
 Avas to be simple : "Let your words be simply 
 yes and no." This characteristic of the world's 
 greatest teacher is illustrated by all that he him- 
 self said and taught. Later transmission and 
 translation have in a few cases obscured the clarity 
 of his original utterances, but through all his 
 teachings there is a simplicity that ever discloses 
 the profoundest depths of his teaching and meth- 
 ods. He never wasted himself with long intro- 
 ductions. He first established a personal point of 
 contact and then led his hearers on at once to the 
 highest spiritual vantage point. In their com- 
 plete absorption in the theme his hearers lost 
 themselves, later to find themselves mastered by 
 a commanding ideal and purpose, and launched 
 upon their great lifework. 
 The Above all, Jesus proved himself the great 
 
 ^"^^^^i"^e^* °^ teacher of men because he did not merely pro- 
 claim truths, as did Israel's earlier teachers, but 
 was himself the embodiment and the complete 
 illustration of all that he taught. "Be ye perfect 
 
 His Teachings 
 
Jesus*s Way of Making Men 1 29 
 
 even as I am perfect" was one of the new and 
 strong notes which stirred the world. ''Follow 
 me" was his constantly implied, as well as ex 
 pressed, command. Jesus himself was the supreme 
 demonstration of all the truth that he taught. 
 It was this complete demonstration that man- 
 kind needed as the crowning and convincing proof 
 of all that the earlier teachers had proclaimed. 
 Jesus became the Saviour of men, and established 
 his right to that highest of titles, not only because 
 he was the greatest teacher that the world has 
 ever seen, but also because he showed by his own 
 acts and life that men wath human limitations 
 could attain to the divine life. In the light of this 
 great truth, Paul's unequivocal declaration that 
 Jesus 'Svas tempted in all points as we are" be- 
 comes O'le of the most significant statements in 
 all the New Testament. It throws a clear light, 
 not only upon the character of Jesus, but also 
 upon his work as a teacher. It reveals Jesus as 
 the one normal man among all the sons of God. 
 He was torn by real temptations, yet victorious; 
 he was joyful in the face of opposition and unjust 
 malignant persecution ; he was true at every crisis 
 to the highest and divinest ideals of life and 
 service. In discordant Palestine he lived serene 
 and happy and in perfect harmony with God, as 
 well as in loving and helpful touch with every 
 human being with whom he came in contact. 
 The oldest records reveal a mind unclouded by 
 sm, ever open to the divine message, and a per- 
 sonality developing from day to day into the 
 unique, the divine man, the goal and crown of 
 God's creation. 
 
Men 
 
 1 30 Teachers of Judaism and Christianity 
 
 Saviour Because Jcsus liimsclf clcarly felt that it was God's 
 a^Teacherof purpose that he should not stand alone, but that 
 he should in turn be the Teacher and Saviour of 
 men. While he claimed unique divine sonship 
 for himself, he declared plainly that the ultimate 
 goal of all his work was that his disciples and 
 those who followed him should become indeed 
 "one wnth God even as he was one." Further- 
 more, he proclaimed without hesitation that they 
 should do greater works than he had done. To 
 realize this supreme and larger ideal of develop- 
 ing the divine qualities in every man Jesus de- 
 voted himself completely and with God-given tact 
 and skill to the task of the teacher. By virtue of 
 his own work as a teacher and that of his faith- 
 ful disciples, he stands in all ages as the uni- 
 versal Saviour of mankind. 
 
Teaching 
 
 / 
 
 XIII 
 
 THE AIMS OF THE EARLY CHRISTIAN 
 TEACHERS 
 
 It was inevitable that the followers and dis- Reasons for the 
 ciples of the Great Teacher would give the teach- Emphasis on 
 ing- ministry a central place in their work. Most 
 of the leaders in the early Christian Church, like 
 Paul, sat at the feet of the Jewish rabbis. The 
 example of their Jewish teachers intensified still 
 further the tendency to depend almost entirely 
 upon teaching as a means of extending the influ- 
 ence of the Master and of spreading abroad his 
 teachings. The signihcant title ''disciple" or 
 "learner" long continued to be used in the early 
 Church as the most common designation of a 
 follower of Jesus. The early Christian liter- 
 ature, such as the Epistles, the records in Acts, 
 and the Didache or Teachings of the Apostles, 
 are all the products of the teaching motive, and 
 all bear testimony to the prominence of the 
 teacher and his work. The marvelous spread of 
 Christianity in the early centuries, when the 
 emphasis on the teaching ministry was stronges 
 is undoubtedly largely due to this prominence 
 given to teaching. 
 
 Paul, the earliest writer in the New Testament, Teaching work 
 distinguishes four or five different groups of of the Apostles 
 leaders. In i Corinthians 12. 28 he speaks of 
 apostles, prophets, and teachers. In Ephesians 
 4. II he refers to five distinct classes — apostles, 
 prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers — 
 131 
 
1 32 Teachers of Judaism and Christianity 
 
 as having been appointed by Jesus to "fit his 
 people for the ministry and for the building up 
 of the body of Christ." The exact character and 
 functions of each of these classes of teachers are 
 not entirely clear. In its narrower definition the 
 term ''apostle" was applied only to the twelve dis- 
 ciples selected by Jesus himself. Paul, however, 
 by virtue of having seen the Christ, claimed a 
 place in this limited group, and his claim was 
 universally recognized by the early Church. The 
 term is also applied in Acts 14. 4, 14, to Barnabas, 
 as well as to Paul. Paul called other missionaries 
 like himself apostles, as, for example, Andron- 
 icus and Junia, in Romans 16. 7 (see also Gal. 
 2. 7-9; I Cor. 9. i). In the Didache or Teach- 
 ings of the Apostles, the term is equivalent to 
 itinerant teachers. They are instructed not to 
 stay in one church more than two days, not to 
 receive money, not to have more than a day's 
 rations for their services. Paul, however, con- 
 stantly called himself a teacher as well as an 
 apostle (for example, 2 Tim. i. 11) and desig- 
 nated his work as teaching (i Cor. 4. 17; Rom. 
 16. 17). In Acts 2. 40-42 Peter's preaching is 
 called teaching. According to Acts 4. 18 John 
 and Peter were publicly ordered not to speak and 
 teach. It is evident from these references, as 
 well as from reports of their utterances, that not 
 only were the apostles teachers as well as 
 preachers, but that their public preaching was 
 influenced, both in content and in form, by the 
 aims and methods of the teacher. 
 
 The evangelists, like the apostles, appear to 
 have been traveling teachers and preachers. 
 
Aims of the Early Christian Teachers 1 33 
 
 Of the 
 
 Evangelists and 
 Prophets 
 
 Philip the evangelist, whose work is recorded in 
 Acts 8, is the best example of this class. The 
 prophets in the early Church wxre really preach- 
 ers and exhorters. This form of service also ap- 
 pears to have been performed by many different 
 members of the Christian communities and to 
 have been a blending of emotional and didactic 
 elements. Paul's tieatment of the subject in I 
 Corinthians 14 is exceedingly illuminating. He 
 concludes with the counsel of the prophets [or 
 preachers], let two or three speak and let the 
 others weigh what is said. But if a revelation is 
 m.ade to another sitting by, let the first keep 
 silence. For 3^ou can all preach in turn, that all 
 may learn and all be comforted. And the spirits 
 of the prophets [or preachers] are subject to the 
 prophets, for God is not a God of confusion, but 
 of peace (14. 29-33). 
 
 The pastors, or early bishops, were connected of the Pastors 
 with the local churches. According to i Timothy 
 3. 2 one of their most important qualifications 
 was that they must be ''apt to teach." In the 
 epistles which bear their names, Timothy and 
 Titus, who are typical bishops or pastors, are 
 constantly urged by Paul to teach and in turn to 
 train their successors for this work (2 Tim. 2. 2). 
 
 Furthermore, in i Timothy 5. 17, the great 
 apostle lays down the principle that the presby- 
 ters or elders, "who labor in word and doctrine," 
 are to receive double remuneration for their 
 services. According to the Didache (15. i), even 
 the deacons in the early Church were expected to 
 perform the work of teachers. Thus it is evident 
 that all the different classes of leaders in the early 
 
 Of the Lay 
 Workers 
 
1 34 Teaohers of Judaism and Christianity 
 
 Church were especially trained and consecrated to 
 the ministry of teaching. 
 The Professional In addition to tliis organized teaching army 
 Teachers there was in the early Church a special class 
 
 which bore the title of teachers. They enjoyed, 
 together with the apostles and prophets, a posi- 
 tion of the highest honor in the community. It 
 is probable that, in contrast to the itinerant 
 teachers, they resided permanently in the local 
 churches. The author of the Epistle of James 
 identifies himself- with these teachers, and this 
 epistle doubtless clearly represents the content 
 and form of the teachings which they inculcated 
 in the minds of their disciples. In the same con- 
 nection the author of the Epistle of James advises 
 that there "be not many teachers, knowing as 
 you do that we w^ho teach shall be judged by a 
 more severe standard than others" (3. i). The 
 author of the Epistle of Barnabas modestly states 
 that he does not presume to write as a teacher 
 (i. 8; 4. 9). 
 Their Duties In fuuctiou and uicthods tlicsc profcssioual 
 
 teachers in the early Church corresponded to the 
 teaching scribes in the Jewish communities. 
 Their first task was to interpret the Old Testa- 
 ment scriptures in the light of the new revela- 
 tion. Their second duty was probably to instruct 
 the members of each church, and especially the 
 new converts, in the teachings of the IMaster and 
 in the laws and doctrines of the Church. The 
 First and Second Epistles of Timothy and that 
 of Titus are manuals for the guidance of pastors 
 in their work of teaching. The Didache, or 
 Teachings of the Apostles, is evidently, from its 
 
Aims of the Early Christian Teachers 1 3 5 
 
 contents as well as from its title, a text-book tO' 
 "be used in instructing disciples. The public 
 services of the early Church were apparently 
 modeled after the services of the Jewish syna- 
 gogue. If so, teaching was made more promi- 
 nent than preaching, and it was in connection 
 with the public services that the teachers probably 
 did much of their work. There is no direct testi- 
 mony, but it is probable that they gave personal 
 instruction and also taught small groups of dis- 
 ciples, as in the m.odern Sunday school. 
 
 Because of their honorable and influential posi- The Danger of 
 tion in the Christian community, the teachers, ^^^^^ Teaching 
 like the prophets, were exposed to the temptation 
 of presenting misleading doctrines. Paul, in his 
 injunctions to Timothy, endeavored to guard 
 against this danger to the faith of the Church : 
 ^'What you have learned from me in the presence 
 of many listeners, intrust to reliable men, who 
 will be able in turn to teach others." The Di- 
 dache (11. 2), as well as the Second Epistle of 
 John (10), intimates that some of these teachers 
 were spreading heretical views. That, as a rule, 
 the teachers of the early Church proved true to 
 their high calling is convincingly demonstrated 
 by the marvelous spread of Christianity through- 
 out the Roman world. 
 
 Their aims, as well as that of the larger group Aims of the 
 of teachers who were associated with them, are Teachers: (i) to 
 clearly stated in the Epistles. They first sought ^hrt^esus was 
 to make clear to the Jews that Jesus was the ful- the Messiah 
 fillment of the noblest Messianic hopes of the 
 race. Acts 9. 20 states that Paul, after his con- 
 version, began immediately at Damascus to pro- 
 
1 36 Teachers of Judaism and Christianity 
 
 claim Jesus the Son of God. This truth is the 
 basis of most of the popular sermons found in 
 the first part of the book of Acts. It is also the 
 main thesis in the Epistle to the Hebrews, which, 
 as the title suggests, was addressed especially to 
 the Jews. 
 (2) To Teach the Their sccoud aim was to teach Jew and Gen- 
 Facts Regarding ^-^^ ^j-j^^ ^^^ £^^^g regarding the character and 
 
 Jesus . . 
 
 work of Jesus in order to inspire personal faith 
 and devotion to him. These facts constituted the 
 Gospel, the Good News, which the early Chris- 
 tian missionaries carried to the ends of the known 
 world. Its basis was definite instruction. Its 
 goal was the extension of the faith in the Master. 
 The Jewish officials at Jerusalem, in the familiar 
 story of Acts 5. 17-32, charged Peter and the 
 apostles with having flooded Jerusalem with their 
 teachings. To this charge the apostles replied : 
 "We must obey God rather than men; the God 
 of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you put to 
 death by hanging him on a cross. It is this Jesus 
 whom God had exalted to his right hand, to be a 
 guide and a saviour, to give Israel repentance 
 and forgiveness of sins. And we are witnesses 
 to the truth of this, and so is the Holy Spirit — 
 the gift of God to those who obey him." As 
 faithful witnesses to a great transforming truth 
 the apostles went forth in quest of disciples, 
 some to their Jewish kinsmen, and others, like 
 Paul, to the needy Gentile world. In Galatians 
 I. 16 and 2. 7 Paul plainly declares that the latter 
 was his especial field. In i Corinthians 2. 2 he 
 states that while at Corinth he had determined 
 that he would "know nothing save Jesus Christ 
 
Aims of the Early Christian Teachers I 37 
 
 and him crucified." In I Timothy 2. 7 he calls 
 himself a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and 
 truth. 
 
 The third aim was to transmit and inculcate (3) To Transmit 
 the teachino^s of Jesus in their simplicity and ^^^ Teachings 
 
 cy -f ir ' of Jesus 
 
 purity. The author of the Second Epistle of 
 John is explicit on this point: "Every one who 
 goes beyond and does not keep to the teaching of 
 the Christ has not God. He who keeps to the 
 teaching has both the Father and the Son. If 
 anyone comes to you and does not bring this 
 teaching, do not receive him into your house nor 
 welcome hmi, for the man that welcomes him is 
 sharing in his wicked work" (9-1 1). 
 
 The fourth aim was to inspire in men a deep (4) To inspire 
 and commanding love for God. This aim is ^°^® ^°^ ^°^ 
 formulated clearly in i Timothy 1.5: "The ob- 
 ject of instruction is to call forth that love which 
 comes from a pure heart, a good conscience, and 
 a sincere faith." 
 
 The fifth aim was to make noble, happy, and (5) To Make 
 efficient men and women through faith and devo- M^nand'^vvomen 
 tion to Jesus. To the Corinthians Paul declared : 
 "What we pray for is, that you may become 
 perfect" (2 Cor. 13. 9). To the Colossians 
 he wrote : "Since therefore you have received 
 Jesus, the Christ, as Lord, walk in him, rooted in 
 him and building up your characters in him, 
 growing stronger through your faith, even as 
 you were taught" (Col. 2. 6, 7; see also 3. 
 12-16). Again to Tim^othy he wrote: "Aim at 
 righteousness, faith, love, endurance, gentleness." 
 Throughout all the epistles there is the same 
 powerful emphasis on character and individual 
 
1 38 Teachers of Judaism and Christianity 
 
 (6) To Train 
 
 Effective 
 
 Teachers 
 
 Ultimate Aims: 
 The Making of 
 Men 
 
 efficiency as the ultimate goal of all Christian 
 preaching and teaching. 
 
 The sixth aim was to train disciples who 
 would, in turn, become successful teachers. In 
 Ephesians 4. 12 Paul states that Jesus gave to 
 the Church the different classes of teachers "in 
 order to fit his people for the ministry, for the 
 building up of the body of Christ." He also 
 exhorted the Colossians to "teach and admonish 
 each other with psalms and hymns and sacred 
 songs, singing to God with grace in their hearts" 
 (Col. 3. 16). 
 
 Thus the aims of the early Christian teachers 
 were closely identical with those of the Great 
 Teacher. As was natural they placed greater 
 emphasis than had he upon personal devotion to 
 him. While they gave more attention to faith 
 and articles of belief, they did not make the mis- 
 take, so often committed by the Church in later 
 ages, of failing to appreciate the fundamental 
 importance of personal character and deeds. 
 Their consuming desire was not to propagate a 
 doctrine, but to make men. To the accomplish- 
 ment of this divine task all else was purely sec- 
 ondary. 
 
XIV 
 
 THE ^lETHODS OF THE EARLY CHRISTIAN 
 TEACHERS 
 
 In realizing their aims the early Christian 
 teachers at first trusted little to the written word. 
 From his epistles it is clear that Paul resorted to 
 the use of letters only when unable to go and 
 speak in person to his disciples in the various 
 cities which he had visited. Then he wrote as 
 he would have spoken had he been present in 
 their midst. As the circle of his influence broad- 
 ened, he was obliged to depend more and more 
 upon writing. The noble epistles which consti- 
 tute so large a part of the New Testament are the 
 result of this necessity. Other apostles followed 
 his example, putting in this permanent form the 
 teachings which they wished their disciples to 
 emphasize. As the horizon of the Church wid- 
 ened in the succeeding centuries, the Church 
 fathers depended more and more upon the pen as 
 the means of conveying and perpetuating their 
 teachings. 
 
 The earlier Christian teachers were fully alive 
 to the importance of the personal touch and the 
 influence of their own personality upon those 
 whom they wished to reach and instruct. As a 
 rule, they dealt with the vital questions of faith 
 and practice which directly concerned those 
 whom they were teaching. Their instruction was 
 therefore always direct and practical. On the 
 basis of this close touch with the needs of the 
 139 
 
 Limited Use of 
 the Written 
 Word 
 
 Importance of 
 Oral Instruction 
 
1 40 Teachers of Judaism and Christianity 
 
 individual, they built up a body of teachings 
 which they committed to their disciples, instruct- 
 ing them in turn, as did Paul, to transmit them to 
 others. Central in all their instruction were the 
 teachings of the iNIaster, which were at first 
 handed down orally. Later these were collected, 
 as, for example, in Matthew's so-called "Sayings 
 of Jesus," which was the chief and probably the 
 oldest source from which the authors of our pres- 
 ent Gospels of Matthew and Luke drew their 
 teaching material. This strong emphasis upon oral 
 instruction in the early Church, strengthened as 
 it was by the example of Jesus and the great 
 teachers of Judaism, explains why a long period 
 elapsed after the death of the Master before any 
 attempt was made to prepare written records of 
 his life and teachings. 
 Training of It is also evident that, like Jesus, each great 
 
 Disciples Christian teacher sought to train a group of dis- 
 
 ciples. Among this inner group of followers who 
 gathered about Paul were John Mark, Luke the 
 physician, Timothy, and Titus. Between himself 
 and these young men Paul established a close 
 bond of afifection and friendship. At the same 
 time he inspired them with confidence in their 
 own powers. He expected much of them, as he 
 plainly declared, and this expectation was not dis- 
 appointed. He gave especial attention to their 
 training, followed them with his letters, and was 
 careful to open to them as far as possible the door 
 of opportunity. Not only did he take them with 
 him in his journeys, and thus instruct them by 
 actual experience and under his personal direc- 
 tion, but also, as they entered upon their inde- 
 
Methods of the Early Christian Teachers 1 4 1 
 
 pendent work, he gave them minute directions as 
 to what and how they should teach. This sys- 
 tematic, thorough, practical training of its teach- 
 ers contributed largely to the invincible conquer- 
 ing power of the early Church. 
 
 Preaching was also a prominent factor in the Teaching 
 early history of Christianity, especially in the ^^^"^^"t ^" *^« 
 
 • VI • • 1 \ • Ku 1 • Preaching 
 
 niitial missionary work. As 111 the early min- 
 istry of Jesus, it was the net spread broadcast to 
 draw the responsive into the closer relation of 
 discipleship. Paul called himself both a preacher 
 and a teacher, but in all the sermons of the great 
 apostle to the Gentiles, as well as those recorded 
 in the opening chapters of the book of Acts, there 
 is a strong teaching element. There was ever 
 a close personal touch between the preacher and 
 those addressed. He w^as keenly alive to the 
 problems which concerned them. Questions 
 were constantly interjected by him, as well as by 
 his hearers. In the Christian communities public 
 preaching in the modern sense was apparently 
 less common. The traditions of the synagogue 
 still dominated the public services of the church. 
 The prophets, who corresponded to the modern 
 preachers, came largely from the ranks, accord- 
 ing as each man was gifted; and preaching never 
 overshadowed the teaching ministry. 
 
 Another characteristic method of the early interpretation 
 Christian teachers was the public interpretation °J ^^^ °^'^^'' 
 
 . ^ . ^ , Scriptures 
 
 of the Old Testament scriptures, thus, accord- 
 ing to Acts 8. 32-36, Philip led the Ethiopian 
 treasurer to faith in Jesus through his interpre- 
 tation of the great servant passage in Isaiah 53. 
 The apostolic sermons recorded in the second 
 
1 42 Teachers of Judaism and Christianity 
 
 chapter of Acts are simply interpretations of the 
 earHer prophecies in Hght of the new faith. In 
 Acts 17. 2 we are told that Paul, following his 
 usual custom, met the Jews in their synagogue at 
 Thessalonica and for three Sabbaths reasoned 
 with them, drawing his arguments from the 
 scriptures. The Jewish synagogues, scattered 
 throughout the Roman w^orld, were the scenes of 
 most of Paul's early teachings (see Acts 9. 20; 
 13- 5' 15)- Ii"i Philippi he sought out the Jews 
 at their place of prayer by the river. In every 
 case the ancient scriptures of his race were the 
 common ground on which he met his Jewish 
 hearers and, in interpreting these, he led them to 
 the acceptance of the new and larger truths. 
 Exhortations As was natural w4th men completely filled with 
 
 and Warnings their subjcct and inspired with a deep love, ex- 
 hortations and earnest warnings were often used 
 by these early teachers. Through these they 
 appealed to the emotions and wills of those whose 
 confidence and love they had already won. The 
 New Testament epistles are shot through with 
 these fervent appeals, which reveal the aft'ection 
 and noble purpose of the apostles. Thus Paul 
 wrote to the Corinthians : "Therefore, my beloved 
 brethren, stand firm, unmovable, always diligent 
 in the work of the Lord, for you know that your 
 labor in the Lord is not in vain" (i Cor. 15. 58). 
 In the same spirit the author of the First Epistle 
 of Peter exhorts his readers : "Beloved, I be- 
 seech you as sojourners and pilgrims to refrain 
 from indulging fleshly lusts which war upon the 
 soul ; make your behavior among the Gentiles 
 so upright that, whenever they malign you as 
 
Methods of the Early Christian Teachers 1 43 
 
 evildoers, they may, because of your good works 
 which they behold, praise God in the day of visi- 
 tation" (2. II, 12). 
 
 Being wise teachers, these early makers of men commendation 
 were fully aware of the value of judicious com- 
 mendation. Thus Paul, in the beginning of his 
 letter to the Romans and in his second letter to 
 the Corinthians, speaks at length and in strong- 
 est terms of their virtues before he goes on to 
 consider questions of conduct or to censure his 
 readers. 
 
 The Christian teachers constantly used ques- Questions and 
 tions and answers in developing and presenting Answers 
 their teachings. They appreciated the value of 
 this method of fixing the attention of their dis- 
 ciples upon the subject under consideration. In 
 the first part of the ninth chapter of his first 
 letter to the Corinthians Paul asked fifteen ques- 
 tions in ten short verses. In the Epistle of James, 
 which illustrates most clearly the methods of 
 the early Christian teachers, questions are con- 
 stantly asked, som.etimes with a view to fixing 
 the thought in the mind of the disciple and some- 
 times to present vividly a question for their con- 
 sideration, even as the Jewish scribes outlined 
 possible cases to test the skill of their pupils. It 
 is clear from these indications that the question 
 method was much used wherever the early 
 Christian Church was trained. 
 
 These questions often led to discussions which Discussions 
 were encouraged by the wise teacher. The 
 Epistle of James (2. 14-25), in its treatment of 
 the relation of faith to deeds, contains a good 
 example of the value of discussion as a means of 
 
1 44 Teachers of Judaism and Christianity 
 
 bringing out truths. The presentation is so clear 
 that the questions can still be heard as they came 
 from the lips of the religious teacher, as well as 
 the conclusions advanced by the different mem- 
 bers of his class. As in modern classrooms to- 
 day, these discussions sometimes ceased to be 
 profitable, so that the wise counsel is given to 
 Titus to "have nothing to do with foolish dis- 
 cussions, or with controversy, or with disputes 
 about the law, for they are useless and futile" 
 
 (3-9. lo)- 
 Arguments Somctimcs the Christian teachers employed 
 
 logical arguments to convince their disciples. 
 The first part of the Epistle to the Romans and 
 the Epistle to the Hebrews are excellent examples 
 of this method, of teaching. As with the sages 
 and Jesus, the appeal was always through the 
 reason to the will, and the ultimate aim of each 
 argument was to develop faith or to arouse 
 action. 
 Summaries Another characteristic method of the early 
 
 Christian teachers is the frequent introduction of 
 comprehensive summaries of their previous 
 teachings. They appreciated the importance of 
 fixing the vital truth in the minds of their dis- 
 ciples by means of clear restatement. A good 
 example is found in i Cormthians lo. 31-33. 
 After discussing at length what should be the 
 attitude of Christians toward the things ofifered 
 to idols, Paul embodies the heart of his teach- 
 ing in the pregnant words : "Whether, there- 
 fore, you eat or drink, or whatever you do, 
 do all to the glory of God. Give no occasion of 
 stumbling either to Jews or Greeks or to the 
 
Methods of the Early Christian Teachers 1 45 
 
 church of God, even as I also please all men in 
 all things, not seeking mine own profit, but the 
 profit of the many, that they may be saved." 
 
 In the literary form in which the Christian Precepts 
 teachers put their message there are many indi- 
 cations of the influence of Israel's early sages. 
 The teaching was universal, adapted alike to all 
 ages and races. All traces of the nationalistic 
 thought of the earHer priests and prophets had 
 disappeared. They dealt simply and directly 
 with the problems common to all mankind. They 
 put their teachings in a form adapted to this 
 end. One of the most frequently used forms was 
 the precept, which could be easily memorized and 
 readily applied. Examples of this form of teach- 
 ing appear on every page of the epistles. That of 
 James contains the greatest number of examples. 
 Thus in i. 19 he teaches: ''Let every man be 
 quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to get 
 angry." Again in 5. 12 he commands: "Above 
 all things, my brothers, take no oath, either by 
 heaven, or by earth, or by anything else. With 
 you let 'Yes' suffice for yes, and 'No' for no, so 
 that you may not fall under condemnation." 
 Paul's familiar words: "Bear ye one another's 
 burdens, and so carry out the law of Christ," 
 (Gal. 6. 2) well illustrate the use of the precept. 
 
 Many of these precepts were also cast in poetic, Proverbs and 
 proverbial form, as, for example, Paul's apho- similitudes 
 rism in Galatians 6. 8: 
 
 He that sows to his own flesh shall of the flesh reap 
 
 corruption ; 
 But he that sows to the spirit shall of the spirit reap 
 
 eternal life. 
 
Beatitudes and 
 Allegories 
 
 Clearness, not 
 Literary Form, 
 the Aim of the 
 Early Teachers 
 
 1 46 Teachers of Judaism and Christianity 
 
 Sometimes the similitude was also used, as in 
 
 James 2. 26: 
 
 Even as the body apart from the spirit is dead, 
 So faith without works is dead. 
 
 Like their Master, the Christian teachers ap- 
 preciated the value of the beatitude. A noble 
 example is found in James i. 12: "Blessed is the 
 man who remains firm under temptation, for 
 when he has stood the test he shall receive the 
 crown of life^ which the Lord hath promised to 
 those who love him." In Galatians 4. 21-27 Paul 
 employs an extended allegory. 
 
 As a rule, the literary forms used by the early 
 Christian teachers were exceedingly simple. 
 Their one aim was not to embellish the truth but 
 to make it clear and effective. The literature 
 which comes from them is barren compared with 
 that found in the older Jewish scriptures. Their 
 writings were not the product of leisure or of the 
 spontaneous literary vigor of a primitive people, 
 but rather of the burning desire to instill prac- 
 tical and helpful truths into the minds of 
 men who, burdened with sin and ignorance, were 
 struggling amid mighty temptations and bitter 
 persecutions. Li his wonderful apostrophe to 
 love in the thirteenth chapter of I Corinthians, 
 Paul reveals a masterly literary style. It is the 
 spontaneous expression of the experience of a 
 lifetime. It reveals the literary possibiHties of 
 the great apostle. Ordinarily he had no time to 
 give attention to the form in which he expressed 
 his teachings. In most of his utterances the 
 thoughts rushed upon him so rapidly as he medi- 
 tated upon the needs and problems of those 
 
Methods of the Early Christian Teachers 1 47 
 
 to whom he was writing, that he could scarcely 
 stop to finish one sentence before beginning an- 
 other. As he wrote, so he probably taught, ex- 
 pressing by face, gesture, and intonation what 
 he did not put into words. 
 
 Above all, Paul, and the class of early teachers 
 which he represents, knew that the supreme suc- 
 cess of the teacher depended upon the personality 
 back of the message. The author of the Epistle 
 of james surely had this great truth in mind 
 when he said that teachers must be judged by 
 another standard than that by which ordinary 
 men were tested. Paul often, not boastingly, but 
 in order to appeal to his hearers, held up his own 
 character and life and work as the ultimate proof 
 of the truth of his teachings. To the Corinthians 
 he declared : "Truly the marks of an apostle 
 were exhibited among you in constant endurance, 
 as well as by signs, by wonders, and by mighty 
 works" (2 Cor. 12. 12). When Titus was about 
 to enter upon his work as pastor and teacher, 
 Paul's concluding injunctions were : 'Tn all things 
 show thyself an example of good works. In your 
 teaching show sincerity and a serious spirit. Let 
 what you say be sound and above reproach, that 
 the enemy may be ashamed, having nothing bad 
 to say of us" (2. 7, 8). Thus in aim, spirit, 
 micthods, and life the early Christian teachers 
 proved faithful followers of the ^Master, leaving 
 to the Christian Church a clear example of how 
 it also can follow in his footsteps and perform its 
 God-given task, not only of 
 
 Importance of 
 the Personality 
 of the Teacher 
 
 saving but making 
 
 men. 
 
XV 
 
 Misleading 
 Definitions 
 of Religion 
 
 Its Larger 
 Content 
 
 Its Normal 
 Development 
 
 THE LARGER PROPHETIC AND CHRISTIAN 
 CONCEPTION OF RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 
 
 All ages, races, and individuals have their 
 own definition of reHgion. Early races defined it 
 as loyalty to the Deity expressed by certain cere- 
 monial forms of worship. The theologians of 
 the past generation and many to-day define it as 
 a dogma, and make its primary demand the ac- 
 ceptance of a creed. Some put the emphasis 
 solely on the emotions and states of mind; others, 
 on character and deeds. Each and all of these 
 definitions are narrow and incomplete. They fall 
 far short of the requirements of the great teachers 
 of Judaism and Christianity. Religion is a union 
 of all these varied elements. Because they have 
 been defined so narrowly the words "religion" 
 and ''religious" have become wayworn. To many 
 they suggest only sectarianism or the creeds of 
 a church. Inasmuch as no newer and fresher 
 term is to be found in the English language, the 
 word ''religion" must again be given its original 
 meaning. 
 
 Defined objectively and simply, religion is the 
 individual's attitude toward God and man, ex- 
 pressed in faith, in worship, in life, and in 
 service. It is the impelling force in all that a 
 man thinks or feels or does. 
 
 Religion in some more or less complete form 
 is the possession of everyone. In its richness and 
 completeness it is the result of the normal de- 
 148 
 
Larger Conception of Religious Education 1 49 
 
 velopment of the divinely implanted impulses 
 found in every human soul. The difference be- 
 tween the pagan and the true Christian is pri- 
 marily a difference in the degree of development. 
 The normal man is one whose religious impulses 
 have been naturally and fully developed under 
 the influence of the proper training and environ- 
 ment. The growth of religion is as mysterious 
 and yet as natural as that of the plant or the 
 human body. Men who seem to be totally with- 
 out religion are those whose normal spiritual 
 growth has been arrested through unfavorable 
 environment or lack of the proper teaching and 
 direction. As physical strength is "developed, 
 so spiritual health and vigor come through proper 
 exercise. They are the product of action and 
 experience, as well as of study and meditation. 
 Hence the personal application of religious truths 
 is as essential as instruction ; in fact, expression 
 and impression are the complements of each 
 other. 
 
 Inasmuch as religion is something inherited as The Keiigious 
 well as personal, its primary inspiration is the Rentage 
 message and life and work of the great heroes of 
 the faith. Our individual faith to-day represents 
 the united efforts of countless millions to know 
 the character and will of the Deity, and God's 
 response to that effort. This cumulative reli- 
 gious knowledge corresponds to the inherited 
 wealth of observation, experience, and experi- 
 mentation in the fields of art, science, and prac- 
 tical invention. The prophets of the race were 
 the great spiritual inventors, who with open 
 minds and intense zeal sought first to know the 
 
Personal Faith 
 
 1 50 Teachers of Judaism and Christianity 
 
 divine truth and then to transmit it in intelHgible 
 fonn to their fellow men. Faith in God, in his 
 love, in his revelation of himself through the lives 
 of men and in his guidance of the individual, is the 
 rightful heritage of every human being. Hence 
 the first duty of the enlightened is to transmit this 
 inestimable heritage, in its simplest and most 
 impressive form, to each new, unfolding life. 
 Moreover, only as the truths won by the expe- 
 riences of the race are reincarnated in the life of 
 an individual can religion be made an abiding, 
 etTective force. 
 Growth of In the normal child faith is a natural growth. 
 
 It rests on the bedrock of common human expe- 
 rience and belief, and is the result of normally 
 developed human impulses. With this naturally 
 developing faith comes a corresponding growth 
 of character. As Emerson has said, *'^Ian is a 
 part of all with which he associates." As in the 
 chemical world, certain agents produce certain 
 reactions. If the individual comes only into con- 
 tact with the errors or crude beliefs of heathen- 
 ism, or with the barbarous practices of savages 
 or of the criminal class, the religious impulses 
 within him remain undeveloped; the egoism and 
 selfishness of the child continue to rule in the 
 life of the man, even though he be physically 
 mature. On the other hand, wholesome contact 
 with the heroes of the faith and careful instruc- 
 tion in the vital truths inherited from the noblest 
 religious teachers of the race are the forces that 
 make strong religious character, as well as stead- 
 fast faith. 
 
 The contributions of modern psychology are 
 
Larger Conception of Religious Education 1 5 1 
 
 Light from 
 Modern 
 
 beginning to throw light on that most nitricate 
 of subjects— the development of the human mind p^y^^Tiogy 
 and soul. It has been demonstrated beyond ques- 
 tion that to insure desired results the teaching 
 must be thoroughly adapted in both content and 
 form to the mental and spiritual capabilities of 
 the child, the youth, and the man in each stage 
 of his development. In the light of this principle 
 religious education is ceasing to be a groping in 
 the dark. Here the laws of cause and effect 
 apply as rigidly as in any field of human expe- 
 rience. Through the great door which has been 
 but recently opened, we can now see clearly that 
 the fully rounded religious character is neither 
 a miracle nor the product of a moment. It is 
 rather the result of growth. Beginning with the 
 earliest years of infancy, it gradually unfolds 
 until in the case of the normal man and woman 
 it reaches its richest development in the later years 
 of life after the bodily and mental powers have 
 reached their culmination. Certain periods, as, for 
 example, the ages from six to thirteen, are char- 
 acterized by their rich receptiveness. At another 
 period, that of early adolescence (from thirteen 
 to sixteen), the reason and the emotions unite 
 under the right influences in leading to great and 
 important decisions, which determine the indi- 
 vidual's relations both to God and his fellows. 
 
 The larger conception of religion and the re- The Larger 
 cent contributions of practical psychology have Definition of 
 revealed the real significance of religious educa- 
 tion. It is not mere instruction in certain doc- 
 trines or in the forms of worship. Its ultimate 
 goal is to develop individual character and efii- 
 
 Religious 
 Education 
 
1 5 2 Teachers of Judaism and Christianity 
 
 ciency. It seeks to create the Christlike attitude 
 toward God and man, which comes from a simple 
 clear faith, a spirit of true reverence, a normally 
 developed character, and trained powers, entirely, 
 enthusiastically consecrated to the service of one's 
 fellows. It is the education not of a part but 
 of the whole man. It is the task not of a moment 
 but of a lifetime. It is the work not merely of 
 parents or teachers or pastors, but the united 
 product of all the influences that affect the phys- 
 ical or mental powers, the habits, the beliefs, 
 and the ideals of the individual. One of the 
 supreme tasks of religious education is to co- 
 ordinate all these influences so that they will 
 harmonize in producing the highest results. 
 The object of all religious education is not con- 
 formity to arbitrary standards, but to train 
 the individual child in harmony with his divinely 
 unfolding possibilities. This broader concep- 
 tion of religious education emphasizes the pro- 
 found importance of a scientific study of the 
 impulses, the tendencies, and the possibilities of 
 the child at each stage in his development. It 
 demands a careful weighing of our religious heri- 
 tages with a view to ascertaining the relative 
 values as aids in religious culture. It also clearly 
 reveals the necessity for a thorough grading and 
 adaptation of this material. 
 Rediscovery of lustructiou in rcHgion is to-day easier and 
 the Bible morc definite than ever before because our knowl- 
 
 edge of the great religious teachers of the past 
 and of their message is more exact. As the result 
 of the work of careful, consecrated . biblical 
 scholarship the late Jewish and Christian tradi- 
 
Larger Conception of Religious Education 1 5 3 
 
 lions, which have hitherto obscured the records 
 of the faith, are being set aside. What many 
 faithful Christians feared was to be the destruc- 
 tion of the Bible has already proved to be its 
 rediscovery. Again the early heroes of the faith 
 stand forth and speak to us almost as distinctly 
 as they spoke to their contemporaries. Their 
 messages, which come from hearts aflame with 
 love for God and their fellow men, are evoking 
 a new response in the hearts of men. That which 
 is of secondary value is being turned over to the 
 historian and archaeologist ; while the vital, abid- 
 ing truths stand forth in their original strength 
 and beauty. Never before in the world's history 
 were men consciously or unconsciously reaching 
 out with greater eagerness for that divine heri- 
 tage. ^ . . . ■ 
 
 In a sense it is a new Bible which is being re- its Large Place 
 vealed to the present generation — not new because ^" Modem Life 
 any of its truths have been changed or set aside, 
 but because our attitude toward it is fundamen- 
 tally different. Beauties hitherto unnoticed are 
 now clearly perceived. Truths overlooked or 
 only half appreciated are transforming the life 
 and faith and ideals of mankind. The example 
 as well as the words of such a prophet as Isaiah 
 are inspiring thousands of men and women 
 to study the social and economic conditions of 
 their day and to unite with the devoted spirit of 
 the Hebrew prophets in an heroic endeavor to 
 realize in the life of the community the divine 
 ideals of justice and fraternity. 
 
 Of all the many astounding discoveries which The Rediscovery 
 have made glorious the century just passed, none °^J®^"^ 
 
1 54 Teachers of Judaism and Christianity 
 
 The Simpler 
 Theology 
 
 The New Social 
 Sense 
 
 in its effect upon the world's civilization will com- 
 pare with that of the discovery of the real Jesus. 
 To-day the misinterpretations of early Chris- 
 tian tradition, the powerful influence of Greek 
 thought upon the beliefs of the early Church, 
 the effects of the ignorance and barbarity of the 
 IMiddle Ages, and the crudities of the philosophies 
 and theologies of the past generations are being 
 set aside with the spirit of reverence but of fidel- 
 ity to the truth. The result is that Jesus as he 
 was known to his daily companions and revealed 
 by the earliest records is clearly seen by the 
 present generation. Instead of being borne 
 further away on the current of time, the Great 
 Teacher to-day speaks to men more distinctly 
 and directly than ever before. 
 
 In the light of Jesus's teaching and example, 
 the faith of his followers is becoming wonder- 
 fully simple. Instead of the transcendental God 
 of post-exilic Jewish theolog}^ far removed from 
 the everyday life of his children, they behold one 
 supreme personality pervading the entire universe. 
 Above all, he is a God who is ever seeking to re- 
 veal himself in and through the lives and hearts 
 of men. The one supreme problem of religious 
 education, therefore, is to open the mind of each 
 individual so that God's personality, which is 
 truth and love, may find full expression, even as 
 it did in the spirit, character, and deeds of the 
 divine Son of man. 
 
 With this simpler and truer conception of God 
 and his relations to men, there is to-day dawning 
 upon the consciousness of the Christian world a 
 new social sense. In place of the prevailing over- 
 
Larger Conception of Religious Education 1 55 
 
 accentuated individualism is coming a fuller 
 recognition of the unity of the race. Through 
 study and keener observation, men are beginning 
 to perceive how closely the well-being of the indi- 
 vidual is bound up with that of the community and 
 state. They are realizing that it is far better to 
 strive for the common good than for the indi- 
 vidual good, for the commonwealth than for per- 
 sonal wealth. Practical sociology and kindred 
 sciences are revealing, as never before, the rights 
 and needs of the dependent classes and the obli- 
 gation of the strong to the weak. They are also 
 makmg clear the scientific methods whereby the 
 needs of society may be satisfactorily met. The 
 result is that the spirit of service, the noblest and 
 ultimate expression of religion, no longer wastes 
 itself in mere feeling or blind effort, but bears 
 rich and practical fruits. 
 
 With this larger definition of religion, with this The Enlarged 
 new and broader interpretation of the Bible, with ^1^^^^°''"^" 
 this clearer vision of Jesus, and with this vastly 
 enlarged field of service, it is inevitable that the 
 Church, which is the recognized agent for the 
 development of religion in the life both of the indi- 
 vidual and of society, should enter upon a new 
 and nobler mission. Its first task, as of old, is 
 to transmit to the individual the messages of the 
 great religious heroes and teachers of the race 
 and thus to aid in the development of personal 
 faith. Its second task is to foster the spirit of 
 reverence and worship. It is also called to pro- 
 claim the good news ''to the lost sheep of the 
 house of Israel" and to lead them back into the 
 way of truth and service. But in the light of 
 
Importance 
 
 of the Teaching 
 
 Ministry 
 
 Adjustment of 
 the Church to 
 Its Great Task 
 
 1 56 Teachers of Judaism and Christianity 
 
 modern psychology and the example of the Great 
 Teacher its larger task is not merely to save men, 
 but above all to make men. Thus its great mission 
 is to cooperate with God himself in developing 
 by right environment and wise teaching the divine 
 potentialities latent in each individual. 
 
 Doubtless in the future, as in the past, preach- 
 ing will always occupy an important place in the 
 life of the Church, for it is by no means anti- 
 thetic, but rather supplemental, to the ministry 
 of teaching. If, however, the Church is true to 
 the traditions of its founders and to the needs of 
 the present situation, it will give to teaching at 
 least an equal place with the ministry of preach- 
 ing and of worship. In America to-day, direct 
 religious instruction is left almost entirely to the 
 Church. Here lies its great responsibilit}^ and 
 opportunity; for the development of the ideals 
 and character of each rising generation is the 
 noblest and most important task of all. If 
 through its Sunday school and other educational 
 agencies the Church meets this great need of our 
 modern civilization, it will win thereby greater 
 honor and more loyal support than ever before 
 in its history. 
 
 Before it can discharge this divinest of mis- 
 sions there must be a fundamental readjustment 
 within the Church itself. The membership of 
 the Church must awaken to the magnitude of its 
 responsibility and to the transcendent importance 
 of religious education. Its officers must not only 
 give liberally of the Church funds, but also of 
 their influence and energies in perfecting the 
 equipment and standards of the Sunday school, 
 
Larger Conception of Religious Education 1 5 7 
 
 the great teaching body of the Church, They 
 must also reorganize the other agencies of the 
 Church on an educational basis. Through trained 
 Sunday school superintendents and directors of 
 religious education they must raise its teaching 
 ministry to a far higher degree of efficiency. The 
 Church must again sit at the feet of the Great 
 Teacher and learn to apply more perfectly his 
 methods of making men. At the same time, it 
 must build on the established results of modern 
 psycholog}^ and education. It must meet the 
 alert, critical youth of to-day with a constructive, 
 modern interpretation of the Bible and with 
 standards and doctrines that will guide them in 
 the hour of doubt and temptation and satisfy 
 the cravings of their souls. Furthermore, the 
 Church must draw to itself and feed with life- 
 saving bread the millions of children who are 
 still untouched by its influence. These great 
 tasks call, as never before, for a united Church 
 of Christ to minister to the religious needs of 
 each community, even as does the public school 
 in the field of secular education. To do its real 
 work the Church must become what now it is 
 not — a communal institution. Thus through the 
 peculiar needs of the present age Jesus is call- 
 ing to his Church and to his faithful ones to 
 find their life by losing it in the most fruitful and 
 noble of services — the making of men. 
 
APPENDIX 
 QUESTIONS FOR STUDY 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 QUESTIONS FOR STUDY 
 I. The Secret of Israel's Conquering Power 
 
 I. What two great religions are rooted in Judaism? 
 2, Why did the religion of the Israelites make so deep 
 an impression on the faith of mankind? 3. In what 
 sense was Judaism a teaching religion? 4. What was 
 the standing of the teacher among the Jews? 5. What 
 is the attitude of the modern Jew to education ? 
 6. What was the chief aim of Israel's teachers? 7. 
 What three distinct classes of teachers were found 
 in ancient Israel? 8. What purpose led the authors 
 of the Old Testament books to write? 9. What three 
 types of teaching are found in the Old Testament? 
 
 10. What was the purpose that led the authors of the 
 New Testament books to write? 11. Formulate your 
 own definition of the Bible. 
 
 11. The Real Character and Aims of the Prophets 
 
 I. What was the real character of the Hebrew 
 prophets? 2. Were they primarily predictors? 3. 
 What universal human desire gave rise to the prophets? 
 4, Describe the ancient kahin. 5. What national crises 
 called forth Samuel and Deborah? 6. Describe the 
 way in which Amos became a prophet. 7. Isaiah's call. 
 
 8. What personal experiences gave Hosea his message? 
 
 9. Did any great prophets arise in Israel unless called 
 forth by some political, social or religious crisis? 
 
 10. In what different ways did the prophets perform 
 their work? 11. Define their four great aims? 
 
 III. The Prophets as Story Tellers and Preachers 
 
 I. Cite examples of the use of practical diplomacy by 
 the prophets in realizing their aims? 2. What illus- 
 trations drawn from Israel's history were used by 
 Amos and Hosea? 3. For what purpose were most 
 of the stories in the opening books of the Bible intro- 
 duced? 4. Why are they of great teaching value? 5. 
 What are some of the important prophetic truths 
 that they illustrate? 6. What was the most common 
 161 
 
1 62 Teachers of Judaism and Christianity 
 
 method by which the prophets appealed to the people ? 
 
 7. Picture in imagination the way in which Amos 
 addressed the people assembled at Bethel. 8. Why 
 did the prophets put their messages in poetic form? 
 9. What was the significance of the different meters 
 that they used? 10. In what different literary forms 
 did they present their teachings? 11. Give illustrations. 
 12. Why did they give so much attention to the form 
 in which they expressed their messages? 
 
 IV. The Teaching Methods of the Prophets 
 
 I. What evidence is there that the prophets aimed 
 to train disciples? 2. What is the especial value of 
 this method of teaching? 3. What symbolic names did 
 Hosea and Isaiah give to their children? 4. What 
 object lessons were used by the prophets? 5. Describe 
 some of Ezekiel's dramatic illustrations. 6. What led 
 the prophets to write down their messages? 7. Com- 
 pare the prophetic apocalypse and the direct address. 
 
 8. What are some of the indications of the moral 
 earnestness of the prophets? 9. On what occasions 
 did Amos and Isaiah show great tact? 10. What were 
 the chief characteristics of the teaching methods of the 
 prophets? 11. How far are these characteristics im- 
 portant to-day? 
 
 V. The Duties and Aims of the Priests 
 
 I. What evidence regarding the position and duties 
 of the preexilic priests is found in the early narrative 
 in Judges 18? 2. Why were the Levites probably at 
 first intrusted with the care of the ancient shrines? 
 
 3. What was the early use of the term son of Levi? 
 
 4. How was the term later used ? 5. What were the 
 fourfold duties of the priests? 6. Which was their 
 most prominent duty before the exile ? 7. Why was 
 the influence of the priests upon the people especially 
 strong? 8. What were the distinct aims of the priests? 
 
 VI. The Teaching Methods of the Priests 
 
 I. How prominently did the priestly oracle figure in 
 early Hebrew history? 2. What was the oracle and 
 how was it probably used? 3. What opportunities did 
 the priests have to influence the people in connection 
 with the oracle? 4. How as judges? 5. In what way 
 was Moses Israel's great lawgiver? 6, What evidence 
 
Appendix 1 63 
 
 is there that the priests used the catechetical method? 
 7. How many decalogues are found in Exodus 20 to 
 23? 8. With what subjects do they deal? 9. What 
 was the value of the decalogue as a means of teaching? 
 10. What was the real significance of the ritual? 11. 
 Describe the growth of ceremonial and written law. 
 12. What were the characteristic teaching methods of 
 the priests? 
 
 VII. The History and Aims of the Wise 
 ]\Ien or Sages 
 
 I. What needs gave rise to the class of the wise? 
 2. Among what other ancient people were the wise 
 found? 3. Where in the East to-day? 4. Why is so 
 little knowm about the Hebrew wise? 5. What are the 
 earliest traces of their thought in the Old Testament? 
 6. Describe the work of the two wise women who 
 aided Joab. 7. Of the two wise men in the court of 
 David? 8. What was the real character of Solomon's 
 wdsdom? 9. Cite illustrations. 10. Why was the book 
 of Proverbs later attributed to him? 11. What pre- 
 exilic prophets refer to the wise? 12. Why were the 
 wise especially prominent after the exile? 13. What 
 are the characteristics of the wise man described by 
 Ben Sira? 14. What was the source of the authority 
 and teaching of the wise? 15. What were the five 
 distinct aims of the wnse? 10. Compare their aims 
 with those of the modern Sunday school teacher. 
 
 VIII. The ]\Iethods of the Wise Men or Sages 
 
 I, What subjects especially interested the wise? 2. 
 What was their theory of education ? ^ 3. How far did 
 they appreciate the importance of primary education? 
 
 4. Is there any evidence that they ever spoke in public? 
 
 5. What was their ordinary place and manner of teach- 
 ing? 6. What classes did they seek especially to 
 reach? 7. How did the people of their day express 
 their appreciation of their w^ork? 8. What Old Testa- 
 ment and Apocryphal books are from the w^ise? 9. 
 Define a proverb and indicate its value as a means of 
 instruction. 10. Give examples of similitudes in the 
 book of Proverbs. 11. What advantages did the riddle 
 and parable possess as a means of instruction? 12. 
 How did the wise deal with the evils of laziness and 
 drunkenness? 13. What is the problem and the great 
 
1 64 Teachers of Judaism and Christianity 
 
 teaching- of the book of Job? 14. What pedagogical 
 principles may be learned from the example of the 
 Hebrew wise ? 
 
 IX. The History and Aims of the Scribes 
 
 AND Rabbis 
 
 I. What is the nature of the earliest reference to the 
 scribes in the Old Testament? 2. How did the Babylo- 
 nian exile affect the work of the scribes? 3. What 
 methods did Ezra use in teaching the people? 4. What 
 transformed the wise into scribes, and what effect 
 did this transformation have upon the scribes? 5. 
 How were the early scribes regarded by the people? 6. 
 What was the work of the Sopherim? 7. Contrast 
 the character and teachings of Hillel with those of 
 Shammai. 8. What were the chief aims of the scribes? 
 
 X. The Methods of the Scribes and Rabbis 
 
 I. What great advantages as teachers did the scribes 
 possess? 2. What fatal weakness lay at the founda- 
 tion of their work? 3. In what three ways were they 
 able to reach and teach the people? 4. How far did 
 they depend upon public discussion and question and 
 answer? 5. Upon memorization? 6. Upon didactic 
 stories? 7. Define Haggada and Halacha. 8. Quote 
 some of the nobler precepts and proverbs of the scribes. 
 9. What was their teaching regarding prayer? 10. 
 Discuss their use of beatitudes, parables, and alle- 
 gories. II. What were the chief defects in their teach- 
 ings and what was the great need of Judaism? 
 
 XL The Tr.\ining and Aims of the Great Teacher 
 
 I. Under what three titles was Jesus addressed by 
 the men of his day? 2. Which is the most exact title 
 and why? 3. What was the supreme vindication of 
 Jesus's emphasis upon teaching? 4. Describe the in- 
 fluences of Jesus's home at Nazareth. 5. WHiat oppor- 
 tunities did he have for studying the scriptures of his 
 race? 6. With what different parts of the Old Testa- 
 ment was he intimately acquainted ? 7. What books 
 made the deepest impression upon him? 8. What class 
 of Israel's teachers influenced Jesus's method most 
 deeply and why? g. Give examples of Jesus's use of 
 proverbs and questions. 10. What were the special 
 advantages of beatitudes as a method of teaching? 
 
Appendix 1 65 
 
 II. When and why did Jesus use parables? 12. What 
 was his purpose in employing the paradox and hyper- 
 bole? 13. What were Jesus's aims as a teacher? 14. 
 To which would you say he gave the central place? 
 
 XI I. Jesus's Way of Making Men 
 
 I. What were Jesus's unique qualifications as a 
 teacher? 2. Why did he not commit his teachings to 
 writing? 3. What was his chosen way of perpetuat- 
 ing them ? 4. What fundamental characteristic of a 
 truly great teacher did he illustrate ? 5. What was the 
 object of his acts of healing? 6. Cite illustrations of 
 Jesus's adaptation of his teachings to those whom he 
 wished to teach? 7. Did he present his teachings in 
 abstract or concrete form? 8. How far did he em- 
 ploy abjective illustrations? 9. Why did he always 
 put his teachings in positive form? 10. What was the 
 basis of the note of authority which characterized all 
 his teachings? 11. To what in man did he ultimately 
 appeal? 12. What was his test of each man's religious 
 life? 13. Discuss the effect of Jesus's character and 
 life upon his disciples. 14. In what sense is he the 
 universal Saviour of mankind? 
 
 XIII. The Aims of the Early Christian Teachers 
 
 I. Why did Jesus's disciples go forth as teachers? 
 
 2. What were the teaching functions of the apostles? 
 
 3. Of the evangelists and prophets? 4. Of the pastors 
 and lay-workers? 5. What were the character and 
 duties of the professional teachers in the early church? 
 
 6. What was the primary aim of the early Christian 
 apostles, as illustrated by the opening chapters of Acts ? 
 
 7. How did they transmit the facts regarding Jesus's 
 life and teachings? 8. In what respects were the aims 
 of the early apostles identical with those of Jesus? 
 9. In what respects did they differ? 
 
 XIV. The Methods of the Early Christian 
 Teachers 
 
 I. Why did the early church place strong emphasis 
 on oral instruction? 2. What led Paul to write his 
 epistles? 3. How far did Paul devote himself to train- 
 ing disciples? 4. Was Paul preeminently a preacher 
 or a teacher? 5. Cite examples of Paul's use' of exhor- 
 tation, warning, and commendation. 6. How far did 
 
1 66 Teachers of Judaism and Christianity 
 
 the early Christian teachers employ questions and dis- 
 cussions? 7. Cite examples of the use of arguments 
 and summaries. 8. What types of teaching charac- 
 teristic of the wise were used by the apostles? g. What 
 New Testament book has sometimes been called the 
 Christian book of Proverbs? 10. What importance did 
 Paul attach to the personality of the teacher? 
 
 XV. The Larger Prophetic and Christian Concep- 
 tion OF Religious Education 
 
 I. What are some of the current false definitions 
 of religion? 2. In the light of the example and teach- 
 ings of the prophets and Jesus formulate your own 
 definition of religion. 3. How does the religious life 
 of the individual normally develop? 4. What is the 
 nature of the common religious heritage of the race? 
 5. How far does environment affect the growth of in- 
 dividual faith? 6. What are some of the practical 
 contributions of psychology to our knowledge of re- 
 ligious growth? 7. What are the chief aims and 
 methods of religious education? 8. In what sense has 
 the Bible been rediscovered? 9. How is its value 
 to the present generation thereby increased ? 10. What 
 obstructions that have hitherto obscured the true char- 
 acter and work of Jesus have been removed? 11. 
 What is meant by the new social sense? 12. What is 
 the teaching mission of the Church? 13. How is it 
 to meet this responsibility? 14. How can your in- 
 dividual church adjust itself to its special task? 
 
Princeton Theological Seminary Libraries 
 
 1 1012 01247 0011 
 
 
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