Article March 17, 1962 Issue

The Value of Illustrations in Teaching

[From a teacher in a branch church Sunday School]

How can we present the vital truths of Christian Science so that they will have more meaning to the Sunday School pupil and so that the young person will have a greater desire to accept the Science of Christianity and put it into practice? The pupil in the older classes frequently has a good grasp of the letter and some understanding of its spiritual meaning. But the glib response a Sunday School teacher sometimes hears may be an attempt to conceal the fact that the pupil does not really understand the meaning of what is being discussed.

A teacher prayerfully seeking guidance to meet such a situation will find it helpful to consider the following passage by Mary Baker Eddy in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 575): "Spiritual teaching must always be by symbols. Did not Jesus illustrate the truths he taught by the mustard-seed and the prodigal?"

One Sunday School teacher realized he had not been awake to this wonderful counsel when he heard one of his teen-age boys mutter something during the class period. The teacher had just been discussing the fact that man is made in the image and likeness of God. After some persuasion, the boy explained that he had said, "That's all right, if you know it!" The teacher then realized that his words did not have a concrete meaning to the pupil. It was clear that the boy needed an illustration to help him realize what this basic truth means so that he could begin to feel the power and greatness of it.

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