Study Guide for the Book Education

In the earliest efforts of the Seventh-day Adventist Church to plan for the education of its young people, Ellen White was foremost in urging a system separate from the public school program. She saw the education of young people as an opportunity to develop the total person—the physical, the mental, and the spiritual. “It is the nicest work ever assumed by men and women to deal with youthful minds,” declared Ellen White in her first major published statement on education appearing in 1872. Today the Adventist educational system is one of the largest undertaken by any church in the world. Adventist schools from the beginning have been evangelistic agencies.Ed-SG 3.1

A first compilation by Ellen White on education appeared in 1893 titled Christian Education. This 255-page book was a grouping of materials drawn together from published and manuscript sources. It served as Ellen White’s basic statement on education for ten years. Then, in 1903, Education appeared, replacing the earlier book as an enlarged and well-rounded presentation written for both Adventists and non-Adventists.Ed-SG 3.2

Parents, teachers, and students will benefit from a study of its pages. But more than this, the counsel is of value in a general way to all readers, with its insights into Christ’s methods of working, the importance of the study of the Bible, and the value of vocational programs, to mention a few areas. Its sound principles have been admired as the ideal in education by many authorities beyond the church.Ed-SG 3.3

This study guide can be considered useful for prayer meetings, youth groups, and teachers and parents. The reader’s attention should be drawn to two books for companion study—Fundamentals of Christian Education and Counsels to Parents, Teachers, and Students. A third, Counsels on Education, reproducing the education counsels found in the nine volumes of Testimonies for the Church, is available in English only.Ed-SG 3.4