The subject matter he presents is the instrumentality by which the teacher must accomplish his aims for his class.  Through this material he must awaken thought, store the mind with vital truths, arouse new interests, create ideals and lead the life to God.  As the artist works with brush and paint, with tool and clay, so the teacher must work with truths and lesson materials.

Guiding principles.—­Two great principles must guide in the selection of subject matter for religious instruction: 

     1. The material must be suited to the aims we seek.

     2. The material must be adapted to the child.

The tools and instruments the workman uses must be adapted to the purpose sought.  Ask the expert craftsman what kind of plane or chisel you should buy for a piece of work you have in mind, and he will ask you just what ends you seek, what uses you would put them to.  Ask the architect what materials you should have for the structure you would build, and he will tell you that depends on the plan and purpose of your building.

The material must fit the aim.—­What materials of religious truth should the teacher bring to his class?  The answer is that truths and lessons must be suited to the aim we seek.  Would we lead our children to understand the Fatherhood of God and to love him for his tender care?  Then the lessons must contain this thought, and not be built on irrelevant material.  Would we lead youth to catch the thrill and inspiration of noble lives, to pattern conduct after worthy deeds?  Then our lesson material must deal with the high and fine in character and action, and not with trivial things of lesser value.

So also, if we would capture the interest of childhood for the church school and bind its loyalty to the church, the subject matter we offer and the lessons we teach in the house of God must contain the glow and throb of life, and not be dry and barren.  If we would awaken religious feeling and link the emotions to God, we must not teach empty lessons, meaningless dates, and musty facts that fail to reach the heart because they have no inner meaning.

Small use to set high aims and then miss them for want of material suited for their attainment.  Small use to catalogue the fine qualities of heart and mind we would train in our children and then fail of our aim because we choose wrong tools with which to work.  Not all facts found in the Bible are of equal worth to children, nor are all religious truths of equal value.  Nothing should be taught just because it is true, nor even because it is found in the Bible.  The final question is whether this lesson material is the best we can choose for the child himself; whether it will give him the knowledge he can use, train the attitudes he requires, and lead to the acts and conduct that should rule his life.