Page:The Great Didactic of John Amos Comenius (1896).pdf/160



1. Inscription over the door:

2. The walls should be covered with mystic symbols illustrating the wisdom hidden in the Scriptures. On one wall diagrams of Hebrew grammar may be placed.

3. The most devotional psalms and hymns of the Church may be used, as well as prayers of a special nature taken from the Scriptures and from the works of the most inspired theologians and of the sainted martyrs. In addition a compendium of Christian beliefs, duties, and hopes, written in the phraseology of the Bible, should be read daily.

4. The class-book should be a work dealing with the last stage of wisdom on earth, that is to say, the communion of souls with God, and should consist of three parts:

(a) The ascent of the mind to God. In this a survey should be made of the universe, preserving the order of the Janua, and with regard to each fact should be pointed out what God tells us about it in the Scriptures, and how the heaven and the earth and all that in them is tell the glory of God.

(b) The formal part should consist of a key to God’s Book; that is to say, practical rules for reading the Scriptures with profit and for duly considering the works of God. Here a three-fold commentary should be supplied: (1) from Scripture itself; (2) from reason; (3) from sense-experience.

(c) The third part should be a Repertory of Theology, giving a detailed account of the mysteries of Salvation.

5. In arithmetic the sacred and mystic numbers that occur in the Scriptures should be studied; also sacred architecture, as exemplified by Noah’s ark, the Tabernacle, and the Temple.