St. Matthew

by J. Paterson Smyth

With this seventh volume in The Bible for School and Home series, the focus is on Christ's great enthusiasm, which was the founding on earth of what he called THE KINGDOM OF GOD, as described in the Gospel of St. Matthew. More of Christ's teachings are considered, and some of the ones treated in earlier volumes, are revisited in this commentary in the context of THE KINGDOM OF GOD.

All eight volumes in The Bible for School and Home series, used in Charlotte Mason's schools, and intended for parents and teachers to use in preparing Bible lessons for the children in their charge. Each of the volumes contains two dozen or more lessons, preceded by the same lengthy introduction to sound teaching practices, a section which is well worth reading. For each lesson, Smyth specifies the Biblical passages to cover, then provides background information you can incorporate in your telling of the story to gain the interest of your children, carefully framed questions you can use to draw their attention to the main points, and ways you might direct the conversation to stir their affections and their actions.

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1901

Reviews

[Lauren Fee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don’t disagree with the reviews of these books being difficult to read and use, which is why I have written my new Charlotte Mason Bible Lessons (https://www.childrensfeast.com/), but the ideas he seeks to convey to children always honors them as persons and are worthy of discussion and contemplation after the Bible passage is read and narrated! He is a hero of mine and I am forever indebted to his work, even though we don't agree on every point or say everything in the same way.

[Gabby · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. I'm not sure how to rate these Smyth books. They are in some ways wise and helpful in Bible study and teaching, but the writing style is a bit hard to read (it being intended more as a guide than as a book in prose). I wish the publisher had put Scripture referenced in text or footnotes, because when I'm doing lesson prep I'd rather have immediate access and he often jumps around to several short passages outside of Matthew itself.

[Joanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this one a little more helpful than Genesis, I think, because he spends a lot of time painting those mental pictures of the scenes. I appreciate his emphasis on the King and the Kingdom. A few theological quibbles again, but nothing that's not easy to pass over in favor of the help in making the stories from Matthew more visual.