This method may be followed in the case of each of the Bible lessons. The blackboard outline for the entire first lesson would appear about as follows, after being built up step by step:
The Old Testament Division
| Prelude.— | Story of Creation (Genesis 1, 2) | |
| First Period— | Adam | |
| The beginning of | { Human Race { Sin { Redemption | |
| Second Period— | Noah—the flood | |
| Tower of Babel—confusion of tongues (Genesis 6-11) | ||
| Third Period— | Abraham—chosen family | |
| Egypt—prosperity—oppression | ||
| Moses— | Exodus | |
| Journeys | ||
| Canaan | ||
| Judges (Genesis 12 to Judges 1:21) | ||
| Fourth Period— | Saul—David—Solomon | |
| (1 Sam. 10 to 1 Kings 12) | ||
| Fifth Period— | Captivity—return | |
| Ezra, Nehemiah (2 Kings 25) | ||
Each leader will thus be enabled to use the blackboard in his own way, basing the drill on the outline material at the beginning of each chapter; this blackboard review will be brought to the students with a freshness not secured when suggested outlines are printed with each lesson.
Familiarity with maps should be encouraged at every point. The leader may accustom the class to the question, "Where is that place?" nearly every time a town or locality is named. The average beginner in Bible study is afraid of a map; the more familiar he becomes with these maps, the more confidence he will have in his own Bible knowledge.
The New Testament Section.—In the several chapters beginning on page [71] the historical outline consists of a harmony of the Gospels. It is not intended that the student shall memorize this harmony; but the ability to reproduce from memory the journey map published in connection with each section of the harmony would give the student a very helpful grasp on the order of events in the life of Christ. The use of a journey map as a basis for telling the story of a chosen period will fix events and geographical location in mind at the same time.
The Pupil
The lessons on The Pupil enter a field of study with which the average teacher is perhaps less familiar than with the Bible section. Hence the leader will do well to begin slowly and to allow plenty of time for discussion in the class. Professional teachers who have studied the science of psychology may be very helpful in occasional talks to the class, provided you are assured in advance that they will not confuse the students by the use of technical terms. Such talks from outsiders should be brief, and confined to one phase of the subject, and time should be allowed for questions by the students and informal discussion.
Students should be encouraged to find their own illustrations for certain well-defined statements. Take, for instance, the paragraph Imitation under numbered paragraph 6, on page [144]. One or more students may be asked to bring illustrations of this statement from their own home or Sunday-school experience in a given week. One will tell how he saw a neighbor's boy try to keep step with his father while on a walk. Another will describe the actions of a little girl she saw dressed in her mother's skirt—actions plainly imitative of the mother herself. Illustrations like these observed and reported by the students themselves will greatly aid in the study of the section, and will be much more valuable than illustrations ordinarily furnished in the text. The leader is urged, however, to challenge any illustration which misses the point or gives a wrong impression.