Stories from the olden time: Teacher's text book, course IV, part I

by Josephine L. Baldwin

I. STORIES OF THE BEGINNINGS

LESSON 1
THE CORRELATED LESSON

At the beginning of this lesson the teacher and each pupil should have his Bible in hand.

Let us look at this book of ours which is the finest story book in all the world. What name do you find on the back of the book? The word Bible means “The Book,” and that is the best possible name for God’s Word, because it is the Book of all the world, the one of which more copies are made, sold, and read than of any other. In the last hundred years 316,000,000 copies of the Bible were sent out by the different Bible societies of the world.

Now let us look at this wonderful Book. Turn to the title-page and we will read together what we find there. Containing what? So there are two great divisions in this book of ours, one called the Old Testament and the other the New Testament, and it is just as you would think from the names. The Old Testament tells of things that happened long, long before those that are told about in the New Testament. (Drill on the names of the two parts of the Bible until the class is familiar with the words.)

Now let us look at the page opposite the first book of the Old Testament. What do you find there? (The Names and Order of the Books of the Old Testament.) So you see our Bible, the great Book of the world, is not simply one book but a whole library of books. How many books are there in the Old Testament? (If there is time it might be well to let each one count for himself.) So the Old Testament has 39 books.

(Follow the same plan with reference to the New Testament, and when the pupils have found that there are 27 books have them find the number of books in the Bible by adding the two numbers. When you have drilled on these figures and facts sufficiently give to each pupil a copy of the Pupil’s Book for Work and Study and show them the first part of Lesson 1, letting them tell what words are to be written in the spaces as the work for the following day at home. Do not let them look ahead at the other lesson, as that is to be taken up after the lesson has been taught.)