A Bird"s-Eye View of the Bible.
by Frank Nelson Palmer.
INTRODUCTION
TO FIRST EDITION
The Bible is a Lamp to our feet and a light to our pathway. To know it thoroughly is to be kept from stumbling, and to walk in the light is fellowship with Him who is the heart of the Book.
The Bible is a Rock; to be familiar with its pages is to be established in character, in hope and in faith, and while we may sometimes tremble, the rock is immovable. The Bible is the true water of life. Mr. Moody used to say that it comes down from on high and rises again in mighty power to the throne on the principle that water seeks its own level. To know the Bible is, therefore, to live a heavenly life and to be filled with all the fullness of the spirit of Christ.
The author of this text book knows his Bible thoroughly and he has the G.o.d-given ability of making it plain to others. What is here presented he has worked out in the cla.s.s room and in his own rich Christian experience. I count it a privilege to write this line of introduction.
The members of the Young People"s Societies in the churches, Christian a.s.sociations, Bible study cla.s.ses and Christian workers generally will find it most helpful. A busy business man by means of it could think his way through much of G.o.d"s Word. It is a timely presentation of a great subject. I am sure that G.o.d will bless it richly to all who attempt to study it.
J. WILBUR CHAPMAN.
PREFACE TO THE SERIES
SEARCH Series of Bible Study Text Books
_"Be Ye Explorers of the Writings."_--JOHN 5:39
Teachers of the Scriptures are issuing many valuable aids to Bible study. This series of text books is based upon the "Search" idea. We believe this idea is fundamental. It is commended to the student public for the following reasons:
_It is the Divine Method._
"_Seek_ ye out of the book of Jehovah" is the G.o.d-given command in Isaiah 34:16 "Search ye the Scriptures" is the command of the G.o.d-man in John 5:39. The G.o.d who wrote the Book and the G.o.d who knows man will prescribe the best method by which man shall become acquainted with the Book.
_It is the Pedagogic Method._
"What seest thou?" One basic pedagogic principle is to train the pupil"s physical and mental eyes to see things for himself. The first and largest gate to knowledge is the _eye_ gate.
_It is the Scientific Method._
The scientist searches for facts. He hunts for facts in the stars, in the rocks, in the plants, in the animals. From these facts he deduces principles. "What saith the Scriptures?"
_It is the Interesting Method._
The search of the hunter, the explorer, the experimenter, the excavator, the student, is a joyous labor. Every sense is alert There is no drudgery, no fatigue. The "eureka" stirs a song of gladness. There is much joy in bearing this testimony: "I have found Micah 6:8, or Isaiah 12, or Jeremiah 45:5, or Philippians 4:19," etc.
Now this is a Workable Method. The teacher can apply it. Give every pupil a certain definite Search task. The teacher can adapt it to every age, and to every degree of Biblical knowledge. This series of text books will suggest plans of applying this basic method of Bible study in becoming acquainted with the rich contents of the verses, the chapters, the books of this most practical Word of G.o.d.
PREFACE TO THE BOOK
1. THE PURPOSE
This book is designed to be used in Bible Study Cla.s.ses in churches, in communities, in academies, in colleges. The author has endeavored to furnish a text book of outlines and questions that shall unfold the general contents of the Word of G.o.d. Its primary aim is to impart a swift and comprehensive acquaintanceship with the material of the books of the Bible.
2. THE CHARACTER OF THE WORK
It is not an exhaustive study. From its aim it could not be such. Some of the sixty-six books are pa.s.sed over in brief s.p.a.ce, and some (chiefly in the prophecies and epistles) are omitted altogether. It is a surface study. The t.i.tle so suggests. It does not enter into the deeper things.
It simply aims to lay bare the surface facts. It is expressly designed to serve as a foundation for later detailed searching of the Word. It is flexible. The teacher can add or subtract as time or local conditions demand, and is earnestly exhorted so to do. One book may be omitted and another added at the teacher"s discretion. A part of the questions may be omitted, or additional ones inserted. The outlines may be enlarged or diminished or changed to suit the needs of the cla.s.s according to the teacher"s personal judgment.
3. REQUISITES FOR STUDY
Let each scholar be provided with a cheap tablet, a well-bound blank book of two hundred pages, a small Bible Dictionary of recognized merit, and a copy of the American Revised Version of the Bible.
(Standard Edition of Nelson & Sons, 1901, bourgeois 8vo, is good.) The teacher should provide for reference, to which the pupils should have constant access, a copy of the Rand-McNally Bible Atlas, by J.L.
Hurlbut, D.D., a copy of Young"s Complete a.n.a.lytical Concordance, and a copy of a large and complete Bible Dictionary.
4. SUGGESTIONS TO TEACHERS
To secure the best results the following plan, tested by experience, is suggested: Let the a.s.signed lesson be wrought out and recorded by the pupil in the cheap tablet. At the next recitation let this recorded lesson be read and corrected. At the following recitation this lesson first a.s.signed and corrected is to be recited from memory. So at each recitation the following will be the general order: (1) The a.s.signing of the advance lesson. (2) The reading and correction of the lesson a.s.signed at the previous recitation. (3) The reciting from memory of the lesson corrected at the previous recitation.
The work as soon as corrected is to be recorded by the scholar in the blank book according to a simple set of rules. The following rules have been used with good results:
DIRECTIONS FOR BIBLE BOOKS
1. Record each lesson the evening after its correction. (Commit the work, as you record, for recital.)
2. Begin each large division at the top of the page.
3. Capitalize and underline all headings.
4. Leave a vacant line between small divisions.
5. Where questions are used, record both questions and answers.
6. The books will be graded substantially as follows:
Correctness of record, 35. (Includes spelling and grammar.)
Fullness of record, 35.
Neatness and care, 10.