As soon as we were on our way, she said, "Now, Elder Isaac, tell me, is my son, who died ten months ago, being tormented in hell? He was a good man, although not a member of a church. I want to know whether the torches of hell are turned upon him and whether he will burn forever?" We talked for an hour. I told her what the Scriptures teach on the subject. As we neared the station, she expressed her great joy in knowing that although her son was not in heaven, at least he was not being tormented in the blazing fires of hell.
Later, while teaching the nurses' Bible classes, I related the experience and asked them whether they did not think that every student graduating from one of our Seventh-day Adventist colleges should be able to discuss Bible themes intelligently, either with fellow believers or with non-Adventists. They heartily -agreed with me. So we decided that we would familiarize ourselves with a Bible theme, and then in an informal manner, first discuss the same with a fellow student; next with an institutional worker; then with some other church member, and thus be ready to present it to an inquiring patient. We took for our slogan the statement of Macaulay: "The only knowledge we have is the knowledge we can use." This is in harmony with the thought in the Spirit of prophecy that we learn the truth by talking it.
The objective is to become conversationalists on Bible themes, especially on the main doctrinal points of the Advent faith. We required that the following report be handed in after each conversation, so as to give essential credit for graduation.
Bible Reading Report Name
POINTS TO REPORT TO TEACHER
1. Name of person with whom conversation was held.
2. Amount of time used.
3. Subject.
4. How did you approach the subject?
5. Illustrations used to make the conversation interesting.
6. How did your conversationalist respond? 7, How many points did you discuss?
7. Bible texts used.
8. Books referred to.
9. What new thoughts came to your mind as you proceeded?
How did what you talked about become more real?
1. What response did you receive when you expressed pride in the fact that you belonged to this movement?
2. Did you have a desire swell up in you to help proclaim this message with greater zeal?
3. In what way were you benefited by the conversation?
4. How heartily did the one with whom you had the conversation enter into the discussion ?
5. What showed that the listener too was benefited?
6. Has this conversation helped you to discuss points of truth more freely with believers ?
7. On what points did you feel a lack of knowledge while carrying on the conversation?
Another plan is to render short programs over the public-address system, the students using hymns of the message and learning to give short, spicy, appealing talks on some health phase, and interesting talks on Bible themes. All this requires careful organization of materials and preparation before the students are able to give their own talks.
A series of lessons is being prepared by Bible instructors in nurses' training schools to be used in class work. These lessons are to be of a conversational type, about themes that the nurse may be called upon to discuss with her patients. In other words, we seek to prepare our young people to meet the everyday problems of a Christian's life. Books are assigned for study, and at the close of each lesson, the student writes a fifty-word book review on the book dealing with the subject. Thus, he becomes acquainted with our various books and knows where to find additional helps.
When the lessons are ready and revised after several trials, they may be bound in a volume for future use. Thus they use it the same as any textbook to which a professional person refers when he needs to recall what he learned while in preparation for his calling.
Macaulay also said, "It is better to digest one page than to read a whole volume hurriedly." Therefore, our aim is to learn a little at a time thoroughly by telling it to others and add more, after we can use what we have learned, for "the only knowledge we have is the knowledge we can use."
