Page:The Great Didactic of John Amos Comenius (1896).pdf/392

 heart, prepared to submit itself to God on all occasions, and actually doing so at the time. The sunlight reveals nothing to him who refuses to open his eyes, nor can a banquet satisfy him who refuses to eat; and in the same way the divine light supplied to our minds, the rules given for our actions, and the happiness promised to those who fear God, are all in vain unless they are received with prompt faith, earnest charity, and firm hope. Thus Abraham, the father of the faithful, trusted the Word of God and believed things incredible to the reason; obeyed the commands of God, no matter how hard they were (when bidden leave his native land and sacrifice his son); and hoped for things that seemed impossible, trusting in the promises of God-which living and active faith was counted to him for righteousness. All, therefore, who devote themselves to God, should be taught to fulfil these duties in their own persons.

24. (xv) Whatever is taught to the young in addition to the Scriptures (sciences, arts, languages, etc.) should be taught as purely subordinate subjects. In this way it will be made evident to the pupils that all that does not relate to God and to the future life is nothing but vanity.

Socrates is praised by the ancients because he turned philosophy from its barren and thorny speculations and brought it to bear on the province of morals. The Apostles professed to recall Christians from the thorny questions of the law and to lead them to the sweet charity of Christ (1 Tim. i. 5 seq.), and in the same way many modern theologians urge us to leave confused controversies, that destroy the Church far more than they build it up, and to attend to our own consciences and the practice of piety.

O that God would have pity on us, that we might find some universal method by which all that occupies the mind of man might be brought into relation with God, and that we might learn to convert the business of this life, in which all mankind is immersed, into a preparation for the life to come! This would, indeed, be a sacred ladder on which our minds might mount to the