their tragedies and sufferings. He must know
the historical and social setting of the Jewish people, the nations and
civilizations that surrounded them, and the customs, mode of life, and
trend of thought of contemporaneous peoples.

Not all of these things can be learned from the Bible itself. One must
make use of the various helps and commentaries now available to Bible
students. The religions of ancient Egypt, Assyria, Babylonia, Greece,
and Rome should be studied. Ancient literatures should be placed under
tribute, and every means employed to gain a working knowledge of the
social medium out of which the Christian religion developed.

The teacher's knowledge of children.--Time was when we thought of the
child as a miniature man, differing from adults on the physical side
only in size and strength, and on the mental side only in power and
grasp of thought. Now we know better. We know that the child differs
from the adult not only in the _quantity_ but also in the _quality_ of
his being.

It is the business of the teacher to understand how the child _thinks_.
What is the child's concept of God? What is the character of the child's
prayer? How does the child _feel_ when he takes part in the acts of
worship? We talk to the child about serving God; what is the child's
understanding of service to God? We seek to train the child to loyalty
to the church; what does the church stand for to the child? We teach the
child about sin and forgiveness; just what is the child's comprehension
of sin, and what does he understand by forgiveness? We tell the child
that he must love God and the Christ; can a child control his
affections as he will, or do they follow the trend of his thoughts and
experiences? These are not idle questions. They are questions that must
be answered by every teacher who would be more than the blind leader of
the blind.

Coming to know the child.--How shall the teacher come to know the
child? Professor George Herbert Palmer sets forth a great truth when he
says that the first quality of a great teacher is the quality of
_vicariousness_. By this he means the ability on the part of the teacher
to step over in his imagination and take the place of the child. To look
at the task with the child's mind and understanding, to feel the appeal
of a lesson or story through the child's emotions, to confront a
temptation with the child's power of will and self-control--this ability
is the beginning of wisdom for those