"If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?" asked the Psalmist (Ps. 11:3); for, as he explained, "the righteous Lord loveth righteousness; his countenance doth behold the upright."
Mary Baker Eddy realized the great importance of children's receiving a spiritual foundation of righteousness, based upon the divine precepts of the Bible. She states in the Manual of The Mother Church (Art. XX, Sect. 2), "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."
Mrs. Eddy also prescribes the Ten Commandments (Ex. 20:3–17), the Lord's Prayer (Matt. 6:9–13), together with its spiritual interpretation in her book "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (pp. 16, 17), and the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5:3–12) as the first lessons to be taught the children.
