Contents
A. The primary focus of our discussion today is NOT:
1. About how government funds should or should not be distributed to public, private, or Christian schools
2. About what sort of governmental exemptions should or should not be allowed for Christian schools
3. About whether Christian homeschooling or Christian schools are a better form of Christian education
4. To criticize parents' decisions about how they chose to educate their children
B. The primary focus of our discussion today IS:
1. The nature, purpose, and importance of Christian education
2. The Biblical basis and call for Christian education
A. Common misconceptions regarding Christian education: the purpose of Christian education is NOT:
1. To append prayer, Bible reading, and Bible classes to a traditional secular education
2. To be the same thing as a traditional secular education plus a campus ministry
3. To create a wonderful community of like-minded people
4. To shelter students in a Christian bubble so that they never learn about other viewpoints and never engage with unbelievers
5. To indoctrinate students in the ideas of one particular political party
6. To be a safe haven from immorality present in other schools
7. To be a place where all the rich, privileged, white, or smart kids can gather together
8. To teach students how to be social justice warriors
9. To take good students away from the public schools or siphon away governmental funds from the public schools so that they suffer or close
B. The purpose of Christian education IS:
1. Generational covenantal faithfulness to God
2. To set forth the universe in the light of God's word
A. God calls us, as well as our children and grandchildren, to keep covenant with Him to a thousand generations (Genesis 17:7,9, Exodus 20:6, 1 Chronicles 16:15-17, Psalm 105:8-10)
1. God owns everything we have (Zechariah 14:20-21), including our children who have been set apart, consecrated, and belong to Him (1 Corinthians 7:14)
2. God expects that the relationship He has with each of us will be communicated to our children so that they will walk in His ways and belong to Him - our relationship with God is not purely individualistic (Psalm 22:30-31, 71:18, 78:4-6, 102:18, 145:4, Isaiah 38:19, Joel 1:3)
3. God accomplishes this through the means of our covenant responsibility to raise our children in the way they should go (Genesis 18:19, Proverbs 22:6, Ephesians 6:4)
B. How do we keep covenant with God to a thousand generations?
1. By following the first and greatest commandment: love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind (Deuteronomy 6:5, Matthew 22:37, Mark 12:30, Luke 10:27) - everything within us should be given over in covenantal fidelity to God
2. What is the first and foremost indication that we love God in this way? The outward and public display of our covenant loyalty is the way in which we raise our children (Deuteronomy 4:9-10, 6:6-9, 11:18-21, 31:12-13, 32:46)
3. Our children belong to the Lord, so the way they are raised should teach them to see the world in the light of God's word and to see everything they do as under the Lordship of Jesus Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Colossians 2:3) - this includes mathematics, literature, history, science, politics, athletics, etc.
C. Why is it important to raise children in a way where they see every area according to God's word?
1. Children are easily influenced by what teachers say, tossed about by every new teaching (Ephesians 4:14)
2. When students grow up, they will be like their teachers, learning to think, solve problems, and live by the standards that their teachers communicate and exemplify in their own lives (Luke 6:40)
3. While by God's grace there are a number of Christian students who attend secular schools and are not blown about by every new teaching, we should make decisions based on the general principle taught in the Bible rather than exceptions to that general principle
D. The task of Christian education is to develop the minds and hearts of our children in generational covenantal obedience so that they will learn how to take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ in every area of study (2 Corinthians 10:5)
E. "I am much afraid that the universities will prove to be the great gates of hell, unless they diligently labour in explaining the Holy Scriptures, and engraving them in the hearts of youth. I advise no one to place his child where the Scriptures do not reign paramount. Every institution in which men are not unceasingly occupied with the Word of God must become corrupt." - Martin Luther
A. Life is not divided into a sacred realm and a secular/neutral realm
1. Common misconception: if both Christians and unbelievers happen to believe the same thing or do the same thing, the thing they believe or do is neutral (ex. 2 + 2 = 4 or driving a car)
2. Secular education incorrectly teaches students that Christianity is limited to a narrow, private, spiritual area of life (prayer, Bible reading, church, etc.)
3. Because God created everything, He is Lord over every area of life, including education (Colossians 1:18): "There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry: 'Mine!'" - Abraham Kuyper
4. The doctrine of creation teaches that everything is unified under the sovereign disposition and creative power of God, so knowledge cannot be divided between secular learning and sacred learning
a. All knowledge about any subject whatsoever is deposited in Christ (Colossians 2:3)
b. Every thought about any subject whatsoever should be taken captive to the obedience of Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5)
c. Genuine knowledge of any subject whatsoever begins with reverence and submission to the Lord (Proverbs 1:7)
d. Everything, including education, should be done for the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31, Colossians 3:17)
B. The absolute and unqualified demands that the Lord Jesus Christ makes upon our lives makes neutrality in education impossible
1. It is impossible for education to serve two masters: it will either serve the god of logic, reason, science, etc. or the living and true God as its ultimate authority (Matthew 6:24, Luke 16:13)
2. If education is not with Jesus, it is against Him (Matthew 12:30, Mark 9:40, Luke 11:23, James 4:4)
3. Jesus does not appreciate an allegedly neutral approach to education (Revelation 3:15-16)
4. God calls us to not think in the way that unbelievers do, who are enemies in their minds and are darkened in their understanding (Romans 1:21,28, 2 Corinthians 4:4, Ephesians 4:17-18, Colossians 1:21)
A. In every area of study, secular education teaches a worldview and outlook that is contrary to the way God would have us view and see the world:
1. Creation: secular education presents every area of study, including science, from the standpoint that God did not create the heavens and the earth
2. Fall: instead of teaching that humanity's problems are due to sin, secular education teaches that humanity's problems come from psychological, environmental, parental, economic, chemical, or other factors
3. Redemption: instead of teaching that humanity's problems are solved through God's grace in dying for our sins and changing our hearts so we can obey Him, secular education uses messianic language to teach that the solution to humanity's problems comes through education, enlightenment, innovation, political reform, etc.
4. Restoration: rather than teach that Jesus will return and one day make all things new, secular education teaches either that our struggles will perpetually exist or that restoration will come in the form of a utopia ushered in by humans
B. The purpose of the Christian university is to set forth the universe in the light of God's word
1. The term "university" is a combination of the words "unity" and "diversity", referring to an institution that seeks to unify the diversity of departments and areas of study
2. Since the unity and diversity we see in the world are a reflection of God Himself (unity in one being, diversity in three persons), the Christian university seeks to unify each area of study in the light of the Christian worldview under the Lordship of Jesus Christ
3. In contrast, secular universities have a different ultimate authority in each area of study and are therefore multiversities (educational polytheism)
C. Examples of a distinctly Christian education
1. Engineering: Christian education teaches that engineering is one of the ways in which we can fulfill the cultural mandate and steward the earth (Genesis 1:28), over against secular views of engineering which see it as a way in which we can seek progress for its own sake (technicism or the tower of Babel)
2. Mathematics: Christian education teaches that the absolute, universal, and unchanging properties of mathematics derive from the character of God as the absolute, omnipresent, and unchanging Creator of the universe (Malachi 3:6)
3. Science: Christian education teaches that scientific theories and laws are a description of the normal, consistent, and repeatable ways in which God continually upholds the universe by the word of His power (Hebrews 1:3)
4. Philosophy: Christian education teaches that truth is whatever conforms to the mind of God so that philosophy studies how to think God's thoughts after Him in a consistent, systematic, and holistic way, viewing the world the way He would have us view it by taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5)
5. History: Christian education teaches history through the lens of God's providence as "His story": creation, fall, redemption, restoration (history is not cyclical, enigmatic, or fatalistic, but linear)
D. Example mission and vision statements of Christian universities
1. Covenant College: "The mission of Covenant College is to explore and express the preeminence of Jesus Christ in all things."
2. Dordt University: "An education that is Christian not merely in the sense that devotional exercises are appended to the ordinary work of the college, but in the larger and deeper sense that all the class work, all of the students' intellectual, emotional, and imaginative activities shall be permeated with the spirit and teaching of Christianity."
A. K-12
1. Association of Classical Christian Schools: https://classicalchristian.org
2. Christian Schools International: https://www.csionline.org
3. Association of Christian Schools International: https://www.acsi.org
4. American Association of Christian Schools: https://www.aacs.org
5. Lutheran Church Missouri Synod School Ministry: https://www.lcms.org/school-ministry
6. National Christian School Association: https://ncsa.world
7. National Alliance of Christian Schools: https://nacschools.org
B. Colleges and universities
1. International Alliance for Christian Education: https://iace.education
2. Council for Christian Colleges and Universities: https://www.cccu.org
C. Other
1. Center for the Advancement of Christian Education: https://cace.org
2. Lifewise Academy: https://lifewise.org
3. Consortium of Christian Study Centers: https://cscmovement.org