The Holy Bible

I understand more than the ancients, because I keep thy precepts.
- Psalm 119:100

If the Bible were studied as it should be, men would become strong-minded and intellectual. The subjects treated upon in the word of God, the dignified simplicity of its utterances, the grand and noble themes which it presents to the mind, are calculated to develop faculties in man which cannot be otherwise developed. In the themes of the Bible, a boundless field is open for the imagination.

The Bible is an inspired history which should be placed in the hands of all, that men may become acquainted with our first parents as they stood in innocency, communing with holy angels, looking upon glorious Eden as it was adorned by the hand of their Creator. By perusing its chapters, men may see how sin was introduced into paradise, and how it resulted to the disobedient pair. The pages of inspiration give us the privilege of having intercourse with patriarchs and prophets. The student may move through the most grand and inspiring scenes; he may behold Christ, who thought it not robbery to be equal with God, humbling himself to humanity, and working out man's redemption. He may see him walk a man among men for thirty years, living an example, dying a sacrifice, for the fallen race. The student will come from the contemplation of these grand and elevating themes, from association with these lofty thoughts, more pure and elevated in mind than if he had spent the time in contemplation of the exploits of the Pharaohs, Herods, and Caesars of the earth.

The powers of the youth are restricted and torpid, because they do not make the fear of the Lord the beginning of their wisdom. God gives men wisdom; he gave Daniel wisdom and understanding because he refused to be molded by any power that would interfere with his religious principles. The reason why we have so few men of mind, of stability, and of solid worth, is that God is not feared, God is not loved, the principles of religion are not carried out in the life as they should be. The Lord can do but little for men because they so easily become exalted.

E.G. White