Excerpt from The Bible for Home Reading, Vol. 1 It is for people such as these and for their children that this volume has been composed. It was primarily begun from the necessity of doing something for the Biblical instruction of my own boy, but when I was once at work, my imaginary audience became wider, though hardly less definite. For the persons I have described seem quite familiar to me. They are naturally in great difficulties as to what they shall (or shall not) say to their children about the Bible. Perhaps the simplest (though not the noblest) plan, which will suggest itself, may be to say nothing. Their children will pick up their knowledge of the Bible as they go along; from their professional teachers, or from their companions, or from occasional attendances at a synagogue. Perhaps they will be allowed (at a certain age) to read the Bible, or an expurgated' edition of it, by themselves. Perhaps they will be fed on Bible stories.' The parents themselves will keep aloof from the whole subject as much as possible. If they read the Bible with their children at all, they will seek to ignore all those critical and ethical difficulties which did not perplex and were not visible to their own parents, but which do perplex and are visible to themselves. They will argue, Let the child, as he grows up, hear or learn about these high matters for himself, and draw his own conclusions. They may therefore be even willing to imply that every statement in the Bible is historically accurate, and every sentiment of equal religious value. But even those who employ this method of silence or evasion will probably feel that it is not free from grave objection. For that the Bible should be emphatically a book, if not the Book, of Home Reading will scarcely be denied. That parents should let their children drift with regard to this book of books is surely reprehensible. They should not surrender a high responsibility as well as a great privilege. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.