It was the wise man who summed up "the whole duty of man" in that terse phrase, "Fear God, and keep his commandments;" and it was perhaps out of his own experience with the fleeting nature of all temporal vanities, that he laid down as a fundamental premise to this conclusion his oft-quoted admonition, "Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them." Again, in his admonition to "train up a child in the way he should go; and when he is old, he will not depart from it," King Solomon laid stress upon the early inculcation of divine precepts, that the years of mature manhood and womanhood might be crowned with the blessings attendant on those who love God's law, and loving, obey its behests.
To those, therefore, who are familiar with the teachings of Christian Science, a religion which has a text-book, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," and which requires of its followers an earnest and faithful study of both the Bible and this text-book, it is not surprising that the religious education of the children should receive early and serious attention, nor that the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, mindful of the important bearing of early influences in her own experience, should have made rules to ensure for them a religious training. Writing of the value of these youthful impressions, Mrs. Eddy says: "Parents should teach their children at the earliest possible period the truths of health and holiness;" and she reaffirms this in her further statement that "children should be taught the Truth-cure, Christian Science, among their first lessons, and kept from discussing or entertaining theories or thoughts about sickness" (Science and Health, pp. 236, 237). Children thus trained are so responsive to the truth that they learn to repel and dislodge the claims of sickness as readily as they do temptations to disobedience and its consequent suffering.
Supplementary to yet no less important than the home instruction, is that received by the children in the Sunday school. In the Manual of The Mother Church is a by-law (Art. XX, Sect. 2) which provides that "the Sabbath school children shall be taught the Scriptures, and they shall be instructed according to their understanding or ability to grasp the simpler meanings of the divine Principle that they are taught." That Mrs. Eddy was strongly impressed with the importance of this department of Christian Science work is shown by her continued interest that it should be properly safeguarded, as evidenced by her careful outlining of the subjects for lessons in the ensuing section, and her further provision of this "milk for babes," through a letter written at her request and published in the Sentinel of March 3, 1906, a part of which we quote as follows: "When our Leader gave the by-law on 'Subjects for Lessons' in the Sunday school, it was not her intention to limit Sunday school instruction to the routine of memorizing the letter of the designated portions of the Scripture. She meant that the children should be taught the meaning of the Ten Commandments, the Lord's Prayer and its spiritual interpretation, and the Beatitudes. These spiritual fundamentals should be so set forth by means of practical illustrations and every-day examples of love, obedience, and good, that the child will catch their spirit, understand them, and as a result be interested in them."
