If this little book were required reading for all Sunday School teachers in every church, our children would be the better for it. Freer writes out of the conviction that our Sunday School time must be used to its fullest potential, and he has taken the time to show us how that potential can best be reached. In the first three chapters, he very encouragingly expounds and illustrates the hope that we may have in teaching our children the Bible -- it is an exciting prospect indeed! In the remaining chapters he very carefully and clearly lays out principles and practical procedures for teachers to follow in order to achieve highest success in their work. He deals with everything from the church to the teacher to the lesson preparation to the delivery to the classroom experience. A very, very useful tool for the improvement of our Sunday School and the evangelization and edification of our children. Every church should by a copy this book for each of its teachers to read, re-read, and refer to regularly until its counsel is completely absorbed.
“There is great value in memorizing lessons and especially Scripture, even when the meaning is not fully comprehended at the time. Many children have learnt by rote passages of the Bible, or the questions, answers and proof texts of a catechism, without really understanding them. The truths learned have remained dormant for years. Unconsciously such knowledge has moulded their habits and attitudes, but, even more importantly, it has represented a golden store which has been tremendous benefit in later years, after they have been born again. Memorization is not the be-all and end-all of teaching, but it should have it place. If we cannot hide God’s Word in a child’s heart, at least we can attempt to hide it in his memory. To do this is like laying the paper and sticks for a coal fire and then placing on the dark coals. The fuel is ready and when it is eventually ignited what a blaze there will be! Men of previous generations were able to use Scriptures and preach sermons of great maturity within weeks or months of their conversion. How did they acquire such a facility? The answer is that they had the Scriptures already in store!” pp. 48-49
Retired reformed Baptist minister, Brian Freer underscores the work of parenting and teaching in our children’s nurture and evangelism; and specifically he addresses how kids are sponges. They soak up facts—the who, what, when and where—of Bible knowledge. They glory in facts. God has made them this way. We ought to take advantage of this. Facts guide. Facts inform. Facts are fuel. I read earlier today of the old Puritan William Gurnall, who said: “Knowledge may make thee a scholar, but not a saint; orthodox, but not gracious.” I disagree. Children—along with adults—learn the facts of Scripture, the scholarly stores of facts. They do so for saintly reasons. How? Jesus, for example, tells us before going to a brother to remove the offensive tooth-pick out his eye, we must first remove the offensive pile of lumber out of our own. That’s a fact; it’s a specific truth we’re to memorize, know, grasp—and be able to recall. Being grounded in the plain, surface points of Matthew 7:4-5 can preserve many from hardship in interpersonal squabbles. Facts of Scripture, such knowledge, guide in saintly ways.
As to more on children from Freer, I appreciate that he sees the role between the learning stages of Grammar and Rhetoric. He writes of young children storing away Scripture and catechetical doctrine—as fuel—and when the fire starts at later stages in life, they are ready. Did you catch that? He writes, “Men of precious generations were able to use Scriptures and preach sermons of great maturity within weeks or months of their conversion. How did they acquire such a facility? The answer is that they had the Scriptures already in store!” Students well prepared are those who have been grounded in the first level of learning—the grammar of knowledge; then, later they act on that knowledge—for understanding and wisdom.
G. Mark Sumpter
