e will bring to our pupils the life
and problems of the present--the wrongs that need to be righted, the
causes that need to be defended and carried through to victory, the evil
that needs to be suppressed, the work of Christ and the church which is,
awaiting workers. Thus shall we seek to bring the challenge of life
itself to those we teach.

PICTURE MATERIAL

No discussion of the curriculum can ignore the use of _pictures_ as
teaching material. Teachers of religion have long recognized the value
of visual instruction, and every lesson series now has its full quota of
picture cards and other forms of pictorial material.

In this picture material may roughly be distinguished three great types:
(1) the _symbolical_ picture; (2) the rather _formal_ picture, often
badly conceived and executed, always dealing with biblical characters or
incidents; and (3) the more universalized type drawn from every field of
pictorial art, representing not only biblical personages and events, but
also typifying aesthetic and moral values of every range adapted to the
understanding and appreciation of the child.

Types of pictures.--Representative of the first, or symbolical,
pictorial type are found the more or less crude pen drawings of such
things as the _heart_ with a key, an open _Bible with a torch_ beside
it, tombstone-like drawings representing the _Tables of the Law_ or
three _interlocking circles representing the Trinity, etc._

Not only are all these abstract concepts beyond the grasp or need of the
child at the age when the pictures are represented, but the symbols are
in no degree suggestive to the child of the lesson intended; they are
devoid of meaning, without interest, possess no artistic value, and lack
all teaching significance. Such material should be discarded, and better
pictures provided.

The second type of pictures, or those dealing with Bible topics, contain
teaching power, but should be merged with the third, or true art, type.
That is to say, biblical subjects, moral lessons, and inspiring ideals
should be treated by _true artists_ and made a part of the religious
curriculum for childhood. Wherever suitable masterpieces executed by
great artists can be found, copies should be made available for teaching
religion. Hundreds of such pictures hang in our art galleries, and not a
few of them have already been incorporated into several excellent series
for the Sunday school.

Further, the pictures offered chil