This is Part Two of an interview Mrs. Smith participated in recently on a homeschool blog.
The Question posed to Mrs. Smith was, “If you were to teach just three things about the Bible in English link on the Chain of Christianity what would they be? What is the “big idea” we should be teaching our children in this link?”
Answer by Ruth J. Smith, Pilgrim Institute:
To narrow the teaching of the Bible in English link to three main ideas is difficult, but I would propose the following:
1. The Price that was Paid (link to Part One of Interview)
2. Without the Bible, Truth will Be Hidden
“In New Testament times, God used the Apostles, particularly Paul, to teach and preach throughout Asia and Europe. As they ministered in these areas, churches were formed. Historians describe these churches in different ways. Leonard Bacon, in his Genesis of the New England Churches, 1874, described the first century churches: ‘there are indications that in every place the society of believers in Christ was a little republic. . . Each local church was complete in itself, and was held responsible to Christ for its own character, and the character of those whom it retained in its fellowship.’
“Between the first century after Christ to the time of Constantine (312 A.D.), changes occurred in the structure of the churches. The self-governing churches of the first century gradually changed to an Episcopal form of church government, with power flowing from the top down. The power gradually centered in the Church of Rome. Constantine set himself as the head of that church in 312 A.D. This Church dominated history for centuries until the Reformation.
“These changes occurred because people did not have access to the Bible and could not know the Scriptural principles of church government.”5
As the Bible has become less and less an authority in the lives of the Christian of our day, error will creep into the home, the church, and ultimately the nation. The Bible must be the basis of reasoning in all spheres of life and living.
Stay Tuned for Part Three of the Interview with Mrs. Smith……..
Recommended Resources:
The Mighty Works of God, A Providential History Series for the Home and School by Mrs. Ruth J. Smith