Post by Cindy on May 11, 2015 13:34:31 GMT -5
One day I was looking through my bible library and came across some great quotes about our children and education here in the US. Let me share some with you...(I'm only posting portions of the quotes; and only a few of the many there are)
Connecticut, Colony of (1690), in the legislature, passed the law:
This [legislature] observing that … there are many persons unable to read the English tongue and thereby incapable to read the holy Word of God or the good laws of this colony … it is ordered that all parents and masters shall cause their respective children and servants, as they are capable, to be taught to read distinctly the English tongue.
New England Primer (1691), was in its second edition, as recorded in an advertisement by Benjamin Harris of Boston. The oldest extant copy is dated 1737. It was used to teach colonial era children the alphabet, by the use of illustrations and rhyme:
A In ADAM’S Fall
We sinned all.
B Heaven to find,
The Bible Mind.
C Christ crucify’d
For sinners dy’d.
D The Deluge drown’d
The Earth around.
E ELIJAH hid
By Ravens fed.
F The judgement made
FELIX afraid.
G As runs the Glass,
Our Life doth pass.
H My Book and Heart
Must never part
J JOB feels the Rod,
Yet blesses GOD.
K Proud Korah’s troop
Was swallowed up.
L LOT fled to Zoar
Saw fiery Shower
On Sodom pour.
M MOSES was he
Who Israel’s Host
Led thro’ the Sea.
N NOAH did view
The old world & new.
O Young OBADIAS,
DAVID, JOSIAS
All were pious.
P PETER deny’d
His Lord and cry’d.
Q Queen ESTHER sues
And saves the Jews.
R Young pious RUTH,
Left all for Truth.
S Young SAM’L dear
The Lord did fear.
T Young TIMOTHY
Learnt sin to flee.
V VASHTI for Pride,
Was set aside.
W Whales in the Sea.
GOD’s Voice obey.
X XERXES did die
And so must I.
Y While youth do chear
Death may be near.
Z ZACCHEUS he
Did climb the Tree
Our Lord to see.
The New England Primer contained this cherished prayer, which was originally recorded in the Enchiridion Leonis, dated 1160 A.D.:
Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep;
If I should die before I wake,
I pray the Lord my soul to take.
Criss-Cross (1475), originated from the Middle English 8 and earlier, 1390, from 8 was the mark + or X written before the alphabet. (The Greek symbol ×, abbreviation of Christos, is of the same origin as ×8 for “Christmas.”) Learning the “Criss-Cross Row,” therefore, was the expression used for learning the alphabet. The mark stood for the phrase 8 (“May Christ’s Cross give me success”), an invocation said before reciting the alphabet.69 The Criss-Cross or Christ’s-Cross (X) was also a form of written oath before God used when signing one’s name on a document; and in the event a person could not write, was used in place of their signature.
Hornbook (1442–1800), was the schoolbook used to teach children to read in early English, and later American, schools. Invented in response to the expense and scarcity of paper, the hornbook consisted of one sheet of vellum or paper pasted to a flat board with a handle, shaped like a table-tennis paddle, and covered over with a thin piece of transparent cow’s horn, giving the appearance of lamination. On the paper was printed the Criss-Cross Row (Christ’s-Cross followed by the alphabet), the Benediction, the Lord’s Prayer, and the Roman numerals. The hornbook ceased being used in the early 1800’s, when paper became less expensive and more easily available. The Benediction written on the Hornbook was:
In the Name of the Father and of the Sonne and of the Holy Ghost, Amen.
Harvard University (1636), founded by the General Court of Massachusetts only sixteen years after the landing of the Pilgrims, is the oldest university in the United States. Originally called the College at Cambridge, being established in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it was renamed after its first major benefactor, Rev. John Harvard (1607–1638), who donated his library and half of his estate. The declared purpose of the college was: To train a literate clergy.
The Rules and Precepts observed at Harvard, September 26, 1642, stated:
1. When any Scholar … is able to make and speak true Latine in Verse and Prose.… And decline perfectly the paradigims of Nounes and Verbes in the Greek tongue … [he is able] of admission into the college.
2. Let every Student be plainly instructed, and earnestly pressed to consider well, the maine end of his life and studies is, to know God and Jesus Christ which is eternall life, John 17:3 and therefore to lay Christ in the bottome, as the only foundation of all sound knowledge and Learning. And seeing the Lord only giveth wisedome, Let every one seriously set himself by prayer in secret to seeke it of him Prov. 2, 3.
3. Every one shall so exercise himselfe in reading the Scriptures twice a day, that he shall be ready to give such an account of his proficiency therein, both in Theoreticall observations of Language and Logick, and in practicall and spirituall truths, as his Tutor shall require, according to his ability; seeing the entrance of the word giveth light, it giveth understanding to the simple, Psalm, 119:130.
4. That they eshewing all profanation of Gods name, Attributes, Word, Ordinances, and times of Worship, do studie with good conscience carefully to retaine God, and the love of his truth in their mindes, else let them know, that (notwithstanding their Learning) God may give them up to strong delusions, and in the end to a reprobate minde, 2Thes. 2:11-12. Rom. 1:28.
5. That they studiously redeeme the time; observe the generall houres , diligently attend the Lectures, without any disturbance by word or gesture.…
6. None shall … frequent the company and society of such men as lead an unfit, and dissolute life. Nor shall any without his Tutors leave, or without the call of Parents or Guardians, goe abroad to other Townes.
7. Every Scholar shall be present in his Tutors chamber at the 7th houre in the morning, immediately after the sound of the Bell, at his opening the Scripture and prayer, so also at the 5th houre at night, and then give account of his owne private reading.… But if any … shall absent himself from prayer or Lectures, he shall bee lyable to Admonition, if he offend above once a weeke.
8. If any Scholar shall be found to transgresse any of the Lawes of God, or the Schoole … he may bee admonished at the publick monethly Act.
Ten of the twelve presidents of Harvard, prior to the Revolutionary War, were ministers, and according to reliable calculations, over fifty percent of the seventeenth-century Harvard graduates became ministers. Of note is the fact that 106 of the first 108 schools in America were founded on the Christian faith.
Harvard college was founded in “Christi Gloriam” (Christ's glory) and later dedicated “Christo et Ecclesiae” (Christ and the Church). The founders of Harvard believed that: All knowledge without Christ was vain.
The word Veritas, on the college seal, means divine truth. The motto of Harvard was officially: For Christ and the Church.
The dedication inscribed on the wall by the old iron gate at the main entrance to the Harvard University campus, as well as in the catalog of the Harvard Divinity School, reads:
After God had carried us safe to New England and we had builded our houses, provided necessaries for our livelihood, reared convenient places for God’s worship and settled the civil government, one of the next things we longed for and looked after was to advance learning and perpetuate it to posterity, dreading to leave an illiterate ministry to the churches when our present ministers lie in the dust.
On Election Day, May 31, 1775, Harvard President Samuel Langdon addressed the Massachusetts Provincial Congress. The message had a profound impact, resulting in it being published and distributed throughout the colonies:
We have rebelled against God. We have lost the true spirit of Christianity, though we retain the outward profession and form of it. We have neglected and set light by the glorious Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ and His holy commands and institutions.
The worship of many is but mere compliment to the Deity, while their hearts are far from Him. By many, the Gospel is corrupted into a superficial system of moral philosophy, little better than ancient Platonism.…
My brethren, let us repent and implore the divine mercy. Let us amend our ways and our doings, reform everything that has been provoking the Most High, and thus endeavor to obtain the gracious interpositions of providence for our deliverance.…
May the Lord hear us in this day of trouble.… We will rejoice in His salvation, and in the name of our God, we will set up our banners!…
Wherefore is all this evil upon us? Is it not because we have forsaken the Lord? Can we say we are innocent of crimes against God? No, surely it becomes us to humble ourselves under His mighty hand, that He may exalt us in due time.…
My brethren, let us repent and implore the divine mercy. Let us amend our ways and our doings, reform everything that has been provoking the Most High, and thus endeavor to obtain the gracious interpositions of Providence for our deliverance.…
If God be for us, who can be against us? The enemy has reproached us for calling on His name and professing our trust in Him. They have made a mock of our solemn fasts and every appearance of serious Christianity in the land.…
May our land be purged from all its sins! Then the Lord will be our refuge and our strength, a very present help in trouble, and we will have no reason to be afraid, though thousands of enemies set themselves against us round about.
May the Lord hear us in this day of trouble.… We will rejoice in His salvation, and in the name of our God, we will set up our banners.
In 1790, the requirements for Harvard stated:
All persons of what degree forever residing at the College, and all undergraduates … shall constantly and seasonably attend the worship of God in the chapel, morning and evening … All the scholars shall, at sunset in the evening preceding the Lord’s Day, lay aside all their diversions and.… it is enjoined upon every scholar carefully at apply himself to the duties of religion on said day.
Luther, Martin (November 10, 1483–February 18, 1546),
I am much afraid that schools will prove to be the great gates of hell unless they diligently labor in explaining the Holy Scriptures, engraving them in the hearts of youth.
I advise no one to place his child where the scriptures do not reign paramount. Every institution in which men are not increasingly occupied with the Word of God must become corrupt.
The Bible was written for men with a head upon their shoulders.
Massachusetts Bay, Colony of (1642), along with the Colony of Connecticut in 1647, passed the Old Deluder Satan Law to prevent illiteracy and to prevent the abuse of power over a population ignorant of Scriptures, as had been the case in Europe. The law instituted:
It being one chiefe project of that old deluder, Sathan, to keepe men from the knowledge of the Scriptures, as in former time, and that learning may not be buried in the grave of our forefathers in church and Commonwealth.…
It is therefore ordered by this Court … that every township within this jurisdiction, after the Lord hath increased them to the number of fifty howshoulders, shall forthwith appoint one within theire towne, to teach all such children as shall resorte to him, to write and read.…
and it is further ordered, That where any towne shall increase to the number of one hundred families or howshoulders, they shall sett up a grammar schoole for the university.
New Guide to the English Tongue (1740), was published first in England by Thomas Dilworth, a distinguished educator and textbook writer. The book’s popularity grew in the Colonies, until, by 1765, it was universally adopted in the New England schools. The book contained spelling, reading and grammar lessons, “adorned with proper Scriptures.” Its first lesson, having words only three letters long or less, stated:
No Man may put off the Law of God.
The Way of God is no ill Way.
My Joy is in God all the Day.
A bad Man is a Foe to God.
Noah Webster, known as the “Schoolmaster to America,” used only the Bible and the New Guide to the English Tongue, 1740, in his earliest school. Thomas Dilworth said he wanted to rescue:
Poor creatures from the Slavery of Sin and Satan by setting the word of God for a Lantern to our feet and a Light to our Paths.
Pennsylvania, Frame of Government of (April 25, 1682), composed by William Penn, stated in the preface:
[Be it enacted] that all persons … having children … shall cause such to be instructed in reading and writing, so that they may be able to read the Scriptures and to write by the time they attain to 12 years of age
Yale College (1701),
The founders of Yale College stated:
Every student shall consider the main end of his study to wit to know God in Jesus Christ and answerably to lead a Godly, sober life.
In 1720, the students of Yale College were instructed:
Seeing God is the giver of all wisdom, every scholar, besides private or secret prayer, where all we are bound to ask wisdom, shall be present morning and evening at public prayer in the hall at the accustomed hour.
In 1755, students of Yale College were instructed:
Above all have an eye to the great end of all your studies, which is to obtain the clearest conceptions of Divine things and to lead you to a saving knowledge of God in his Son Jesus Christ.
In 1787, the requirements of Yale College stated:
All scholars are required to live a religious and blameless life according to the rules of God’s Word, diligently reading the Holy Scriptures, that fountain of truth, and constantly attending all the duties of religion, both in public and secret.…
All the scholars are obliged to attend Divine worship in the College Chapel on the Lord’s Day and on Days of Fasting and Thanksgiving appointed by public Authority.
Benjamin Silliman, a noted American science educator and editor, served on the faculty of Yale College during the tenure of President Timothy Dwight, 1795–1817. He recorded his observations of the campus: "It would delight your heart to see how the trophies of the cross are multiplied in this institution. Yale College is a little temple: prayer and praise seem to be the delight of the greater part of the students."
Federer, W. J. (2001). Great Quotations : A Collection of Passages, Phrases, and Quotations Influencing Early and Modern World History Referenced according to their Sources in Literature, Memoirs, Letters, Governmental Documents, Speeches, Charters, Court Decisions and Constitutions. St. Louis, MO: AmeriSearch.
Connecticut, Colony of (1690), in the legislature, passed the law:
This [legislature] observing that … there are many persons unable to read the English tongue and thereby incapable to read the holy Word of God or the good laws of this colony … it is ordered that all parents and masters shall cause their respective children and servants, as they are capable, to be taught to read distinctly the English tongue.
New England Primer (1691), was in its second edition, as recorded in an advertisement by Benjamin Harris of Boston. The oldest extant copy is dated 1737. It was used to teach colonial era children the alphabet, by the use of illustrations and rhyme:
A In ADAM’S Fall
We sinned all.
B Heaven to find,
The Bible Mind.
C Christ crucify’d
For sinners dy’d.
D The Deluge drown’d
The Earth around.
E ELIJAH hid
By Ravens fed.
F The judgement made
FELIX afraid.
G As runs the Glass,
Our Life doth pass.
H My Book and Heart
Must never part
J JOB feels the Rod,
Yet blesses GOD.
K Proud Korah’s troop
Was swallowed up.
L LOT fled to Zoar
Saw fiery Shower
On Sodom pour.
M MOSES was he
Who Israel’s Host
Led thro’ the Sea.
N NOAH did view
The old world & new.
O Young OBADIAS,
DAVID, JOSIAS
All were pious.
P PETER deny’d
His Lord and cry’d.
Q Queen ESTHER sues
And saves the Jews.
R Young pious RUTH,
Left all for Truth.
S Young SAM’L dear
The Lord did fear.
T Young TIMOTHY
Learnt sin to flee.
V VASHTI for Pride,
Was set aside.
W Whales in the Sea.
GOD’s Voice obey.
X XERXES did die
And so must I.
Y While youth do chear
Death may be near.
Z ZACCHEUS he
Did climb the Tree
Our Lord to see.
The New England Primer contained this cherished prayer, which was originally recorded in the Enchiridion Leonis, dated 1160 A.D.:
Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep;
If I should die before I wake,
I pray the Lord my soul to take.
Criss-Cross (1475), originated from the Middle English 8 and earlier, 1390, from 8 was the mark + or X written before the alphabet. (The Greek symbol ×, abbreviation of Christos, is of the same origin as ×8 for “Christmas.”) Learning the “Criss-Cross Row,” therefore, was the expression used for learning the alphabet. The mark stood for the phrase 8 (“May Christ’s Cross give me success”), an invocation said before reciting the alphabet.69 The Criss-Cross or Christ’s-Cross (X) was also a form of written oath before God used when signing one’s name on a document; and in the event a person could not write, was used in place of their signature.
Hornbook (1442–1800), was the schoolbook used to teach children to read in early English, and later American, schools. Invented in response to the expense and scarcity of paper, the hornbook consisted of one sheet of vellum or paper pasted to a flat board with a handle, shaped like a table-tennis paddle, and covered over with a thin piece of transparent cow’s horn, giving the appearance of lamination. On the paper was printed the Criss-Cross Row (Christ’s-Cross followed by the alphabet), the Benediction, the Lord’s Prayer, and the Roman numerals. The hornbook ceased being used in the early 1800’s, when paper became less expensive and more easily available. The Benediction written on the Hornbook was:
In the Name of the Father and of the Sonne and of the Holy Ghost, Amen.
Harvard University (1636), founded by the General Court of Massachusetts only sixteen years after the landing of the Pilgrims, is the oldest university in the United States. Originally called the College at Cambridge, being established in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it was renamed after its first major benefactor, Rev. John Harvard (1607–1638), who donated his library and half of his estate. The declared purpose of the college was: To train a literate clergy.
The Rules and Precepts observed at Harvard, September 26, 1642, stated:
1. When any Scholar … is able to make and speak true Latine in Verse and Prose.… And decline perfectly the paradigims of Nounes and Verbes in the Greek tongue … [he is able] of admission into the college.
2. Let every Student be plainly instructed, and earnestly pressed to consider well, the maine end of his life and studies is, to know God and Jesus Christ which is eternall life, John 17:3 and therefore to lay Christ in the bottome, as the only foundation of all sound knowledge and Learning. And seeing the Lord only giveth wisedome, Let every one seriously set himself by prayer in secret to seeke it of him Prov. 2, 3.
3. Every one shall so exercise himselfe in reading the Scriptures twice a day, that he shall be ready to give such an account of his proficiency therein, both in Theoreticall observations of Language and Logick, and in practicall and spirituall truths, as his Tutor shall require, according to his ability; seeing the entrance of the word giveth light, it giveth understanding to the simple, Psalm, 119:130.
4. That they eshewing all profanation of Gods name, Attributes, Word, Ordinances, and times of Worship, do studie with good conscience carefully to retaine God, and the love of his truth in their mindes, else let them know, that (notwithstanding their Learning) God may give them up to strong delusions, and in the end to a reprobate minde, 2Thes. 2:11-12. Rom. 1:28.
5. That they studiously redeeme the time; observe the generall houres , diligently attend the Lectures, without any disturbance by word or gesture.…
6. None shall … frequent the company and society of such men as lead an unfit, and dissolute life. Nor shall any without his Tutors leave, or without the call of Parents or Guardians, goe abroad to other Townes.
7. Every Scholar shall be present in his Tutors chamber at the 7th houre in the morning, immediately after the sound of the Bell, at his opening the Scripture and prayer, so also at the 5th houre at night, and then give account of his owne private reading.… But if any … shall absent himself from prayer or Lectures, he shall bee lyable to Admonition, if he offend above once a weeke.
8. If any Scholar shall be found to transgresse any of the Lawes of God, or the Schoole … he may bee admonished at the publick monethly Act.
Ten of the twelve presidents of Harvard, prior to the Revolutionary War, were ministers, and according to reliable calculations, over fifty percent of the seventeenth-century Harvard graduates became ministers. Of note is the fact that 106 of the first 108 schools in America were founded on the Christian faith.
Harvard college was founded in “Christi Gloriam” (Christ's glory) and later dedicated “Christo et Ecclesiae” (Christ and the Church). The founders of Harvard believed that: All knowledge without Christ was vain.
The word Veritas, on the college seal, means divine truth. The motto of Harvard was officially: For Christ and the Church.
The dedication inscribed on the wall by the old iron gate at the main entrance to the Harvard University campus, as well as in the catalog of the Harvard Divinity School, reads:
After God had carried us safe to New England and we had builded our houses, provided necessaries for our livelihood, reared convenient places for God’s worship and settled the civil government, one of the next things we longed for and looked after was to advance learning and perpetuate it to posterity, dreading to leave an illiterate ministry to the churches when our present ministers lie in the dust.
On Election Day, May 31, 1775, Harvard President Samuel Langdon addressed the Massachusetts Provincial Congress. The message had a profound impact, resulting in it being published and distributed throughout the colonies:
We have rebelled against God. We have lost the true spirit of Christianity, though we retain the outward profession and form of it. We have neglected and set light by the glorious Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ and His holy commands and institutions.
The worship of many is but mere compliment to the Deity, while their hearts are far from Him. By many, the Gospel is corrupted into a superficial system of moral philosophy, little better than ancient Platonism.…
My brethren, let us repent and implore the divine mercy. Let us amend our ways and our doings, reform everything that has been provoking the Most High, and thus endeavor to obtain the gracious interpositions of providence for our deliverance.…
May the Lord hear us in this day of trouble.… We will rejoice in His salvation, and in the name of our God, we will set up our banners!…
Wherefore is all this evil upon us? Is it not because we have forsaken the Lord? Can we say we are innocent of crimes against God? No, surely it becomes us to humble ourselves under His mighty hand, that He may exalt us in due time.…
My brethren, let us repent and implore the divine mercy. Let us amend our ways and our doings, reform everything that has been provoking the Most High, and thus endeavor to obtain the gracious interpositions of Providence for our deliverance.…
If God be for us, who can be against us? The enemy has reproached us for calling on His name and professing our trust in Him. They have made a mock of our solemn fasts and every appearance of serious Christianity in the land.…
May our land be purged from all its sins! Then the Lord will be our refuge and our strength, a very present help in trouble, and we will have no reason to be afraid, though thousands of enemies set themselves against us round about.
May the Lord hear us in this day of trouble.… We will rejoice in His salvation, and in the name of our God, we will set up our banners.
In 1790, the requirements for Harvard stated:
All persons of what degree forever residing at the College, and all undergraduates … shall constantly and seasonably attend the worship of God in the chapel, morning and evening … All the scholars shall, at sunset in the evening preceding the Lord’s Day, lay aside all their diversions and.… it is enjoined upon every scholar carefully at apply himself to the duties of religion on said day.
Luther, Martin (November 10, 1483–February 18, 1546),
I am much afraid that schools will prove to be the great gates of hell unless they diligently labor in explaining the Holy Scriptures, engraving them in the hearts of youth.
I advise no one to place his child where the scriptures do not reign paramount. Every institution in which men are not increasingly occupied with the Word of God must become corrupt.
The Bible was written for men with a head upon their shoulders.
Massachusetts Bay, Colony of (1642), along with the Colony of Connecticut in 1647, passed the Old Deluder Satan Law to prevent illiteracy and to prevent the abuse of power over a population ignorant of Scriptures, as had been the case in Europe. The law instituted:
It being one chiefe project of that old deluder, Sathan, to keepe men from the knowledge of the Scriptures, as in former time, and that learning may not be buried in the grave of our forefathers in church and Commonwealth.…
It is therefore ordered by this Court … that every township within this jurisdiction, after the Lord hath increased them to the number of fifty howshoulders, shall forthwith appoint one within theire towne, to teach all such children as shall resorte to him, to write and read.…
and it is further ordered, That where any towne shall increase to the number of one hundred families or howshoulders, they shall sett up a grammar schoole for the university.
New Guide to the English Tongue (1740), was published first in England by Thomas Dilworth, a distinguished educator and textbook writer. The book’s popularity grew in the Colonies, until, by 1765, it was universally adopted in the New England schools. The book contained spelling, reading and grammar lessons, “adorned with proper Scriptures.” Its first lesson, having words only three letters long or less, stated:
No Man may put off the Law of God.
The Way of God is no ill Way.
My Joy is in God all the Day.
A bad Man is a Foe to God.
Noah Webster, known as the “Schoolmaster to America,” used only the Bible and the New Guide to the English Tongue, 1740, in his earliest school. Thomas Dilworth said he wanted to rescue:
Poor creatures from the Slavery of Sin and Satan by setting the word of God for a Lantern to our feet and a Light to our Paths.
Pennsylvania, Frame of Government of (April 25, 1682), composed by William Penn, stated in the preface:
[Be it enacted] that all persons … having children … shall cause such to be instructed in reading and writing, so that they may be able to read the Scriptures and to write by the time they attain to 12 years of age
Yale College (1701),
The founders of Yale College stated:
Every student shall consider the main end of his study to wit to know God in Jesus Christ and answerably to lead a Godly, sober life.
In 1720, the students of Yale College were instructed:
Seeing God is the giver of all wisdom, every scholar, besides private or secret prayer, where all we are bound to ask wisdom, shall be present morning and evening at public prayer in the hall at the accustomed hour.
In 1755, students of Yale College were instructed:
Above all have an eye to the great end of all your studies, which is to obtain the clearest conceptions of Divine things and to lead you to a saving knowledge of God in his Son Jesus Christ.
In 1787, the requirements of Yale College stated:
All scholars are required to live a religious and blameless life according to the rules of God’s Word, diligently reading the Holy Scriptures, that fountain of truth, and constantly attending all the duties of religion, both in public and secret.…
All the scholars are obliged to attend Divine worship in the College Chapel on the Lord’s Day and on Days of Fasting and Thanksgiving appointed by public Authority.
Benjamin Silliman, a noted American science educator and editor, served on the faculty of Yale College during the tenure of President Timothy Dwight, 1795–1817. He recorded his observations of the campus: "It would delight your heart to see how the trophies of the cross are multiplied in this institution. Yale College is a little temple: prayer and praise seem to be the delight of the greater part of the students."
Federer, W. J. (2001). Great Quotations : A Collection of Passages, Phrases, and Quotations Influencing Early and Modern World History Referenced according to their Sources in Literature, Memoirs, Letters, Governmental Documents, Speeches, Charters, Court Decisions and Constitutions. St. Louis, MO: AmeriSearch.