The Seventy's Course in Theology (First Year). B. H. Roberts

taken to know the context and historical association of the scriptural utterances, often attended with great danger of forming misconceptions of such texts, resulting in wrong deductions and conclusions. The present aim is to make our Seventies familiar with the spirit of the scriptures, learning something of the individual books, as a whole, something of their general import and their relationship one to another; that from this general acquaintance with the whole volume of scripture, the Seventies may become more competent to use separate passages more intelligently and effectively, and with less likelihood of making mistakes.

      The fear has been expressed that since so many lessons are devoted to the Bible, nearly half the years' course, there will be some danger of the work becoming monotonous; but that fear is based upon the common misconception that the Bible is one book, instead of a collection of books, thirty-nine in the Old Testament and twenty-seven in the New of our common English Bibles. Since the books are so many and the time period covered so great—about 2500 years, from Moses to St. John—and the books being composed by many writers—there is promise of plenty of variety, both as to books and subject matter. It is the rapid survey of a whole library of books that is contemplated, rather than the study of one book, albeit the many books are bound together in one volume. The consideration of the American volume of scripture, the Book of Mormon, and of modern revelation in the Doctrine and Covenants and Pearl of Great Price, in the latter part of the course, together with the suggested lectures and the special lessons on present day subjects, scripture reading exercises, etc., etc., will unquestionably give ample variety to the year's work.

THE CLASS TEACHERS.

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      The First Council in its circular letter on the subject of the new order of things in relation to Seventies' meetings, course of study, etc., has already suggested that the new plans of Seventies' work would make it necessary for the quorums to find the most efficient teachers for their classes. "Where the most efficient teachers are to be found among the presidents of quorums," says the circular letter, "of course they will be given preference; but where more efficient men can be found in the quorum membership they should be selected as teachers and perform their duties under the direction of the Council of the Quorum, which, of course, will always be the presiding authority in all quorum and class meetings, and conduct all the exercises except the class work. It might be well to select the most proficient man for teacher, and appoint one or more assistants who should prepare for the class work, and in the event of the teacher's absence, and even occasionally when he is present, they could conduct the exercises.

MANNER OF LESSON TREATMENT.

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      It is not desired that there shall be a too slavish adherence to the letter of the lessons. The lesson forms are merely suggestive. Nor is it the intention to set forth a stereotyped method of treatment of what is given. Much will depend upon the teachers. Some will prefer to assign the whole lesson to the quorum in general and conduct the exercises as a class; others may prefer to make special assignments of topics from the subject matter of the lessons and have brief formal lectures devoted to them, followed by review questions, formulated either in advance or in the course of the lesson exercises, or at its close by the one conducting the class. Either of these methods can be made satisfactory, or a combination of them might be adopted. It is desirable that the quorums and class teachers exercise their freedom in these matters, only let them throw life and individuality into the work and they will succeed.

      The class meetings of the quorums can continue throughout the year practically without interruption. Interruption will only be necessary in order to attend the Stake Quarterly Conferences, and the ward conferences where the respective quorums are located, and these occasions will not exceed five in number. There will be no occasion for postponing class exercises in order to attend to the business affairs of the quorum, since half an hour of any regular session of the quorum will be sufficient for the transaction of any business it may have to do if prompt and business-like methods are employed. If not, a special meeting could be called. It is expected, of course, that the council will continue to hold its council meetings apart from the quorum and class meetings, but these, too, could be held on the Sunday morning either before or after the regular meeting.

HOME READING AND PREPARATION.

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      Home reading and preparation outside of class hours should be insisted upon. It is not intended that the only mental work in connection with our course of study shall be the two or three hours devoted to the work on Sunday morning. There must be reading through the week. For example, during the weeks that the Pentateuch constitutes the lessons—three in number and hence extending over three weeks of time—it is expected that members will read the five books of Moses through, not a difficult task; and so on throughout all the lessons. By reading about one hour a day an average reader may complete in one year the reading of the four books of scripture covered by the present year's lessons. Necessarily, this will be rapid reading, but it should be remembered that we are only reading the scriptures this time to get a general idea of their contents, and the relation of the parts to the whole. The object now is not to ponder deeply over texts and combine them subjectively, or work out doctrinal or historical themes, hence we can read rapidly in this first survey of the scriptures proposed in these lessons. In addition to reading the books of scripture themselves, members should consult as far as possible the references given on the various books and topics in the lesson analysis. These references are quite numerous and varied, made so purposely, so that if the members do not happen to have access to one of the Dictionaries or Helps or other works of reference, they might possibly have another—one at least out of the many, and the notes are given that all may be assured of some assistance in making lesson preparations by consulting the utterances of those who are recognized as authorities upon the subjects on which they are quoted. If this is thought to be a rather heavy course of work let it be remembered that it is to become a settled conviction with all that, To be a Seventy means mental activity, intellectual development, and the attainment of spiritual power, and this may be done only by hard persistent work.

SCRIPTURE READING AND SPECIAL TEXTS.

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      At Lesson XIV, Part II, it will be observed that "scripture reading" is introduced as an exercise to be rendered immediately after the opening exercises and before taking up the lesson proper. The purpose of this exercise is as follows: It is well known that in some Christian families in the world, it is the custom to make the reading of the scriptures a part of the family worship, and our Elders when visiting in such families are called upon to read the scripture lesson before engaging in prayer—an example that could be followed with profit in our own family worship. The desirability of our Elders being prepared to acquit themselves well on such occasions as named above, is obvious, and to do that each one should have in mind a number of suitable chapters or parts of chapters of the scriptures with which he is familiar, which are appropriate for inspiring the true spirit of worship, and which he can read effectively. It is, therefore, urged that class teachers direct the members of the class, when this exercise begins, to select each for himself, such scriptures and practise the reading of them, that when called upon to read before the class he may be prepared. Both the reading and the appropriateness of the scriptures chosen should be subject to the criticism of the teacher at the time. Correct pronunciation should be taught and insisted upon and practiced until it shall become habitual. From the selections read before the class, and the suggestions from the teachers the readings will elicit, each member in time will be able to build up a fine list of chapters or parts of chapters that will be suitable for family worship and special reading. It is not expected that this exercise will occupy more than ten