Anyone who has listened to our podcast knows that I, Emily, am an unabashed Charlotte-Mason-geek. So much so that I have hi-jacked mom’s usual blog post schedule to insert one of my “new” finds.
I’ve been looking more deeply into how exactly Charlotte Mason suggested the Bible be studied as a school subject. Since the Bible is the Living Book of all living books, she unapologetically advocated its intentional study in addition to personal, devotional reading. There is a difference. In her school programmes, Mason always stressed that “necessary omissions” be made from the Bible text. I believe this was especially important as children were studying Scripture and narrating what they learned. While all Scripture is profitable, I don’t think we want our children to contemplate too deeply some of the most graphic elements of the Bible at young ages.
These omissions are easy to achieve during elementary school when the Bible passage is read aloud to the student. Children in Forms I and II (grades 1-6) would read the historical narrative portions of the Old Testament (Genesis through Kings) as well as the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke) and the first 8 chapters of Acts from the New Testament. Alternating days between the Old Testament and the New Testament, the students cycled through their appointed Old Testament reading every four years and their New Testament passages every three years. Simple enough.
It becomes more difficult as the students switch to reading the passage for themselves. Students in the Parents’ National Education Union schools started this in middle school, around 7th grade. Mason solved this delicate matter by using a book called Old Testament History by the Reverends Hardwich and Costley-White. She describes it in her 6th Volume:
“Wise and necessary omissions in this work make it more possible to deal with Old Testament History, in the words of the Authorised [King James] Version, than if the Bible were used as a single volume.” (p. 163)
I’ve always been curious about this volume, reading Mason’s description that it integrated the prophetic books into their historical period as the students read the various kings and that the authors’ excellent footnotes illuminated the text so that the students could more readily picture the events described. Alas, Old Testament History isn’t online anywhere that I have found. Thus the reason for this post: I recently tracked one of the volumes down and have enjoyed looking at it in person before adding it to our library. Unfortunately, I only have Volume I (of five volumes) but it was nice to see for myself what I could only imagine from Mason’s description.
The book is a blend of biblical commentary and a chronological Bible, but the commentary is sparse, limited to an introduction to each book and the occasional, brief, footnote in the text itself. Helpful appendices provide information on the historical dating of certain figures and events as well as geographical locations mentioned in the Scriptures. The beauty lies in those “wise and necessary omissions,” enabling students to engage the text directly. Below is a sample from the Creation account in Genesis 1:
I love me a spreadsheet! Eeek! Thanks so much! This is very helpful!
Did you listen to the great Schole Sisters podcast with Brandy Vencel and Art Middlekauf regarding Bible lessons? 🙂 That, too, was very helpful!
So fun Emily! I love it when I am able to see, in my actual hand especially, the books that she used in her programs. I am also a digger, and so I love hearing these things! Years back, I was able to get some of the J Paterson Smyth books that she mentioned (or maybe it was an article in the Parents Review). It was helpful to see how Bible Lessons were done using Smyth's books. Thanks for sharing!
Catie,
I'm so glad the spreadsheet helped. I am a geek and love to see how all the programmes really fit into a larger pattern!
I did listen to the Schole Sisters episode with Art–so good. Brandy referred to A Delectable Education (not by name) since Art was the guest on our episode 13 which was all about the Saviour of the World. What they discussed, seeing Christ in the Gospels, fits so into Mason's pattern, using a compiled narrative of the life of Christ from all four Gospels in High School. Sigh. It is beautiful!
-Emily
I'm so glad to oblige!
-Emily
Thanks for the spreadsheet!
You're very welcome, Bonnie!
Thank you so much Emily for sharing your hard work so willingly! I am planning our school year and have been devouring the podcasts since the spring. So excited to see what our school year will look like with CM. Thank you for all you do!
Emily, have you ever found a comparable Bible commentary that is currently available for use in 7th grade and up?
This is such wonderful information to have for planning. Thank you for digging!
I’d just like to clarify. At the beginning of Form I, the student would begin with year A. Then, for 5th grade (Form IIa) the student would go back to year A and then year B for 6th grade. So, to begin Form III, the student would jump down to year C of Form III/IV? This would see the student through year A of these forms. And then, when beginning form V, the student would be in year B (followed by C and D for the student’s final two years of study). Is this correct?
Emily, thank you so much for putting this together and sharing with us! This helps me see it much more readily. I wanted to ask, how do the Years A, B, C, D work? So, say in
Form 1B, they would read Genenis and Matthew all throughout
Form IA Exodus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Marks and Acts
Form 2B Joshua, Judger, I Samuel 1-8 and Luke
Form 2A II Samuel, I Kings and Matthew again?
Am I understanding that correctly?
Yes, they keep cycling through the years, but OT and NT are independent of one another. Every 4 years you work through this rotation (for Form 1 and 2 only), and every 3 years you cycle through the NT portion. However, I would direct you to the revised version of this chart linked in the show notes of ADE’s Episode 17: Bible 2.0–we made it simpler and more cohesive after studying all the programmes for another few years!