“The end of learning is to repair the ruins of our first parents by regaining to know God aright, and out of that knowledge to love him, to imitate him, to be like him.” – John Milton
“Above all, the foremost reading for everybody, both in the universities and in the schools, should be Holy Scripture…I would advise no one to send his child where the Holy Scriptures are not supreme.” – Martin Luther
There is a modern myth in our day that has been widely accepted and that is the idea that education is neutral. However, nothing in this world is actually neutral. As a matter of fact, neutrality is a by-product of a humanistic thought because it presupposes an autonomous cosmos that is meaningless and purposeless.[1] Education however serves as a religious function. When the state takes over the realm of education, declares authority over it and claims that they do not promote any religion, they are not disowning all religions, but simply eliminating any opposing religions in favor of its own statist humanistic religion. Because education is the product of one’s worldview, it is inevitably a religious endeavor. How should the Christian household respond to education when surrounded by “free” government systems? Do Christians really need to give their children a Christian education?
Jesus requires His people to love the Lord their God with all their minds (Matthew 22:37). If the faculty of our minds must be devoted to God, then can we with a clear conscience send our kids an educational system that is taught to think agnostically? As mentioned earlier, there is no such thing as a neutral education. Education either presupposes that Jesus is Lord over every area of life or He isn’t. It either presupposes the belief that all truth comes from God or the belief that there is no objective truth. Every subject, whether it’s math or history, science or English, is taught from a standard.Therefore, it is absolutely necessary for Christian parents to give their children an education that embraces the Lordship of Christ in every class.
In the Old Testament, family was the first educational institution God established among His people.
Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates. – Deuteronomy 6:4-9
God never assigns the task of education to the civil magistrates. It is crucial to understand that teaching children the Law of God under the God-given authority of the family is also never limited to only cover “spiritual” matters. The Christian life cannot be compartmentalized into “two kingdoms”: sacred and secular. The outcome of knowing and applying the Word of God is to be educated to have a God-centered worldview on math, history, business, economics, agriculture and all other subjects. All areas of our lives must be under the Lordship of Christ and His infallible Word. The Apostle Paul commands in Ephesians 6:4, “Fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.” The word “nurture” is the Greek word paideia, referring to the “whole training and education of children”.[2] The Christian household must recognize that the whole training and education of their children must be from a worldview that Christ is the Lord. Christian parents also must protect their children from the lie of the statist humanistic religion behind every government system. There is a clear distinction between children learning humanism from a biblical worldview and children learning in a humanistic system as the standard of truth. One of the joys of teaching Integrated Humanities is teaching some of the most influential worldviews such as Marx, Darwin and Orwell under the authority of Christ and His Word, and why these humanistic worldviews don’t work.
A common objection from Christians to the responsibility of protecting their children from the government educational system is that Christian students can be salt and light in these schools. It is presumptuous to think we are training our children to go into the world, but in reality, we are helping the world go into our children when they are not under an educational system that declares Jesus is Lord.[3] The Apostle Paul also says, “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds; Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:4-5). The government educational system contains many ideologies and philosophies that are against the knowledge of God. As thinking Christians, we are called to pull down these high places and use our minds in obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ.[4] Non-Christian education is by definition a godless education. Why? Because Jesus Christ is not regarded as Lord and His Word is not the standard of how we are to think about every area of life. Cornelis Van Til states that, “Non-Christians believe that insofar as man knows anything, he knows apart from God…Christians believe that everything is dark unless the current of God’s revelation be turned on.” To be truly educated is when all things are understood in the light of God and His revelation. Jesus powerfully states that, “A pupil is not above his teacher; but everyone, after he has been fully trained, will be like his teacher” (Luke 6:40). As Voddie Baucham famously said, “If you send your kids to Caesar for their education, don’t be surprised when they come back as Romans.” God’s Word gives the task to parents as their biblical responsibility to train up their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.
The reformed view of education is radical to many Christians today. Unfortunately, it is because of the loss of preserving our Christian heritage and adopting the progressivist education that makes this view seem abnormal. Christian family, understand the glorious calling to train up your children in the way they should go! Know that the sacrifices you make to give your child an education that makes much of Christ will advance the kingdom of God for His glory. The government educational system admonishes and teaches the doctrines of their false god. Think of the family as a nuclear powerplant. This powerplant has incredible heat sources and energy to take down the strongholds against the knowledge of God. The world knows this is a threat because whoever controls the schools, rules the world.
The Standard of Learning: An Education That Makes Much of Christ: Footnotes
1. Boot, Joseph. The Mission Of God: A Manifesto Of Hope For Society. Ezra Press, 2016. Pages 434-435.
2. Wilson, Douglas. Standing On The Promises: A Handbook of Biblical Childrearing. Canon Press, 1997. Page 95.
3. Wilson, Douglas. Standing On The Promises: A Handbook of Biblical Childrearing. Canon Press, 1997. Page 101.
4. Wilson, Douglas. Standing On The Promises: A Handbook of Biblical Childrearing. Canon Press, 1997. Page 98.
Mission Statement of Logos Online School:
Logos Online School exists to support parents in their biblical responsibility to train up their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. To this end, we provide Christ-centered, computer-based, classical education for grades 7 through 12 that is convenient, affordable, and accredited.