Information about the original source

When using library materials, a reference to the source is required.

When publishing materials on the Internet, a hyperlink is required:

"Orthodoxy and Modernity. Electronic Library." (www.lib.eparhia-saratov.ru).

Convert to epub, mobi, fb2 formats

"Orthodoxy and the World. Electronic Library" (lib.pravmir.ru).

Methodical Instructions and Lesson Notes on the Law of God

Preface to the Third Edition

Methodical Instructions and Lesson Notes on the Law of God

The course of the junior department of elementary school The present notes were published in the first edition in September 1906 and were met with sympathy, both by fathers and teachers of religion, and by critics. The first is evidenced by the rather quick sale of the publication, and the second is evidenced by the notes on the notes placed in No 48 of the Tserkovnye Vedomosti for 1906, in No 50 of the Church and Public Life for the same year, and in the March issue of Narodnoe Obrazovaniye for 1906. And.

In the second edition, the book was given a flattering review by the magazine "A Guide for Rural Pastors" in March 1908. No special remarks were made to the author about it, and therefore the third edition is with only minor corrections and changes in comparison with the second. The author himself experienced the difficulty of the first steps of teaching religion in elementary school and decided to come to the aid of novice teachers of religion with his notes. A lesson without a specific topic and without a plan is not a lesson, but a useless waste of time. But for a novice teacher of religion, compiling a detailed outline is a difficult matter, for which the parish priest does not always have the necessary leisure and sufficient experience. The author made every effort to ensure that the initial lessons in the Law of God were as simple as possible and accessible to the understanding of children who were at a very low stage of mental development and possessed a very poor stock of words and concepts. In order to raise the mental level of children, it is sometimes necessary to temporarily descend to the level of their understanding. Such a method of adaptation to children seems inappropriate to some teachers of religion, humiliating the lofty dignity of the Law of God. But this fear is nothing more than the fear of those who are afraid there, where there is no fear. It is enough for them to delve into the parables of the Savior in order to see how the Lord Himself condescended to the weak forces of people in the matter of guiding them to the path of salvation. Simplification can only be called inappropriate if it descends to vulgarity, as is done, for example, by Gr. Leo Tolstoy in his exposition of the Gospel teaching for children. But the simplicity and accessibility of the exposition of the Christian faith and morals, which does not overstep the boundaries of the literary style, serve as the first guarantee of the effectiveness of teaching on the minds and hearts of children. Reverence for the sacred is awakened not by the exposition of Divine truths in a "high calm" and not by archaic figures of speech, but by the reverent veneration of the sacred object of the teacher himself. What is clearly assimilated by the latter can be clearly taught by him to others. In practice, there are many examples of the presentation of God-revealed truths in a language incomprehensible to children, but these examples should not be imitated. Experience shows that every living word about Christ attracts the hearts of many to the student, and many follow various sectarians only because the latter are able to speak simply and clearly, and thus defeat the clergy, who teach with intricately woven predications.

On the Teaching of the Law of God in Elementary School

Methodical Instructions and Lesson Notes on the Law of God