XII. Education
Christianity is the faith of enlightenment and intelligence. In Jesus Christ abide all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. All sound learning is, therefore, a part of our Christian heritage. The new birth opens all human faculties and creates a thirst for knowledge. Moreover, the cause of education in the Kingdom of Christ is co-ordinate with the causes of missions and general benevolence, and should receive along with these the liberal support of the churches. An adequate system of Christian education is necessary to a complete spiritual program for Christ's people.
In Christian education there should be a proper balance between academic freedom and academic responsibility. Freedom in any orderly relationship of human life is always limited and never absolute. The freedom of a teacher in a Christian school, college, or seminary is limited by the pre-eminence of Jesus Christ, by the authoritative nature of the Scriptures, and by the distinct purpose for which the school exists.
Deuteronomy 4:1,5,9,14; 6:1-10; 31:12-13; Nehemiah 8:1-8; Job 28:28; Psalms 19:7ff.; 119:11; Proverbs 3:13ff.; 4:1-10; 8:1-7,11; 15:14; Ecclesiastes 7:19; Matthew 5:2; 7:24ff.; 28:19-20; Luke 2:40; 1 Corinthians 1:18-31; Ephesians 4:11-16; Philippians 4:8; Colossians 2:3,8-9; 1 Timothy 1:3-7; 2 Timothy 2:15; 3:14-17; Hebrews 5:12-6:3; James 1:5; 3:17.
Introduction
When it comes to the issue of education, usually education of any kind, people get somewhat divisive. There are some who despise education for one reason: they do not have much. And on the opposite end of the spectrum, there are those with much education who despise those people who have little or none. I despise both of the former positions.
Education, undeniably, is a pursuit that every Christian should affirm because Holy Scripture commands us. The danger is not education itself, but how we educate, what sources we use, the goals we identify and pursue, and the manner in which we pursue education.
There are extremes both on the side of liberalism and conservatism. For example, there is a type of liberal education which will teach of the need to abandon the Bible as a source of authority in our lives. It will conclude that the Bible is merely a religious book much like those of other peoples. It will conclude that the Bible is filled with mythical elements that should be rejected as historical and factual.
On the other hand, there is a type of conservative education which will encourage all teaching outside what the Bible proclaims to be unnecessary or worse unprofitable and worldly.
We should avoid both these extremes. Instead we should affirm all types of education which glorify God and bless others.
Holy Scripture
We should affirm Holy Scripture as God’s unshakable words. It should be our primary source for understanding in every topic it addresses. It alone do we recognize as being infallible, uniquely authoritative, and inerrant. We recognize that there is no substitute for the Bible.
As we are educated through divine revelation we will learn that we are created in God’s image. We have similar capabilities as our Creator, not in the sense that we can perform all that God can perform, but we have been made in such a way to function like him.
Creativity
God has given us both a mind and a conscience to be engaged to glorify him and bless others. And one of the ways we are like God in his image is our ability and desire to be creative like our Creative God. Now we acknowledge that we cannot create as God creates as he makes the physical universe “ex nihilo,” out of nothing. But we can use the physical properties God has made available to us.
Our ability to create, in a fallen world, can be used for good or evil. It can used to glorify God, but it can used to profane his name. For example if we learn how to cut wood, lay cement, install windows, lay brick, electrically wire a structure, then we can build a house. This type of education is used by institutions like Habitat for Humanity to house the economically challenged. It is used by those who have built all the houses we live in and are grateful.
Now the Bible does not educate one how to build a physical house. So if one was going to learn this trade which surely every one of us is thankful for, one would pursue it through means outside the Bible.
Again education of many types is a good thing so long as we use the education to glorify God and for blessing.
This truth is what the statement in part affirms when it says the following:
1. “Christianity is the faith of enlightenment and intelligence.”
2. “In Jesus Christ abide all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. All sound learning is, therefore, a part of our Christian heritage.”
Furthermore, we also affirm that when the Holy Spirit illumines and indwells an individual one is encouraged to pursue all avenues of education in order to build upon God’s Kingdom, to be used for the advance of the gospel, and better the lives of families and neighbors.
Christians should not be opposed to many of the advances we have made concerning education. I rarely hear of anyone who wants to return to the days of 19th century technologies. The question for Christians is not education itself but how the education and tools of education are used.
Christians should fully embrace the advance of education in diverse fields in part because the progress can better enable us to fulfill Christ’s commands.
Two examples of how education outside the Bible has better enabled us to fulfill God’s commands are:
“Make disciples of all nations”
1. Improvements in transportation—It used to take weeks and perhaps months of time in boats and on the backs of animals for missionaries of the gospel to get to certain people groups. Now through the educational advancements in transportation we can get to most places on the earth in one or two days.
“love your neighbor” 2. Improvements in agriculture—In order for past civilizations to endure through poor weather, famine, flood, etc…one needed dreams and dream interpreters (Joseph and Egypt) and traditions besides God’s good providence. Now in addition to God’s providence through educational advancements we can predict in advance severe weather. So if an early frost comes, we can take precautions to preserve young plants. We use irrigation when the rains are infrequent. We have insecticides that protect crops from bugs that would devour our food.
So can America help impoverished peoples and nations who are not beneficiaries of all the blessings we have received? Answer: Yes we can! And we do!
This is what our statement affirms when it says, “Moreover, the cause of education in the Kingdom of Christ is co-ordinate with the causes of missions and general benevolence, and should receive along with these the liberal support of the churches. "
Christian Education
To this point we have emphasized the importance of education in general. We have emphasized that we should embrace all forms of education that seeks to glorify God.
We also need to also stress the importance of a spiritual education. This education comes from two sources; it comes from the Holy Spirit and the Bible. If we are ever going to grow in Christlikeness and develop the inner desire to glorify God, then we must be educated by God through his word. We affirm that apart from Christian education one can never fully glorify God through his or her actions. All pursuits should be offered in faith for the purpose of glorifying God. So we say without qualification that if we only could have book to study, it would be the Bible.
An important part of the Great Commission in Matthew 28 is the command by Jesus, “teaching them to observe all that I commanded you.” The primary way we try to fulfill this command today is through systematic pulpit preaching and systematic Bible study.
The quickest way we can walk away from God is to believe that we can follow Jesus by ourselves. We decide we do not need the church. We decide we do not need spiritual leadership in our life. We decide we do not need any spiritual accountability in our life. Every believer needs to be present and active in ongoing spiritual education.
My fear when it comes to Christian education today is that many Christians in America only receive Christian education on Sunday mornings or in Sunday School. They do not get it through any other ministry in the local church because they do not attend any other ministry. Furthermore many never pick up their Bibles and read during the week.
And we wonder why we have so many problems in the church.
Meanwhile, we have so many Christians who fill their minds with hours and hours of systematic shows on TV which are not bad in and of themselves, but taken in to the great neglect of Christian education will greatly pervert their walk with God and the maturity.
Christians in times past took the lead in education
Christians in many generations took the lead in the progress of education. We saw advances in music, medicine, agriculture and many other fields down through the centuries. For example, many of the first colleges created in the US (Harvard, Princeton, and Dartmouth) were established by Christians. I believe if my memory is correct, Dartmouth was even instituted to help educate Native Americans.
Over the past two generations, we are having to reclaim this pursuit for the advance of education in part because Christians have abandoned many academic areas. Christians have retreated back into the walls of their church buildings espousing a backwards fundamentalism that says “we do not need anything but the Bible.”
Yes, we need the Bible because it is the special written revelation of God. It is the testimony of God’s work as he redeems the world. Yes, the Bible is indispensable. But we also need to embrace the advances that have been made in all fields of education that glorify God and embrace the creative spirit in which God designed us.
Academic Freedom and Academic Responsibility
The final paragraph states, “In Christian education there should be a proper balance between academic freedom and academic responsibility. Freedom in any orderly relationship of human life is always limited and never absolute. The freedom of a teacher in a Christian school, college, or seminary is limited by the pre-eminence of Jesus Christ, by the authoritative nature of the Scriptures, and by the distinct purpose for which the school exists.”
The main point of this last paragraph is this: Researchers need to be given degrees of freedom in their fields of study. However the freedom needs to be tempered and guided by the word of God.
For example, let us think about the stem cell debate going on in our country. Should we embrace stem cell research? Should there be freedom given to those who conduct studies, which have led and might continue to lead to medical treatments?
The answer is yes and no.
Should we embrace adult stem cell research and technologies which do not destroy human embryos, which have already led to medical breakthroughs? Yes we should. We should be for medical treatments which alleviate sickness and death.
However, should we embrace embryonic stem cell research which destroys human life in the process? No we should not because although we desire freedom in research, we also espouse academic responsibility and the word of God is our guide. Therefore, since it teaches us to respect human life in all its phases, we should not embrace this type of research.
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