God is Omniscient. That is, God Knows all Things
“In (Christ) are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Colossians 2:3). “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1). Man could not think had not God created His mind. No man can ever think a thought that God has not thought of before he did. Therefore, no thought of man can ever surprise God. Most Biblical theologians have concluded that the image of God of Genesis 1:27 is man’s mind.
Therefore, Everything That Man Learns has Already Been Known by God
No more important statement can be made about education. Education is seeking God’s thoughts in whatever area that man pursues.The beginning of knowledge begins with the knowledge of God, else everything learned has a false nature about it, even though that knowledge in isolation from any reference to God may be greatly pragmatic. (Link)
God has Revealed his Mind to us in the 66 Books of the Protestant Bible
Do not let the familiarity of this truth slip by too easily. The Creator of the universe, who is omniscient, who knows everything fully and completely in a way that no son of Adam ever will, has spoken to us! He has given us the only source of truth that we will know in this earthly life. Thus, the Bible is the most important book that we will ever study.
“The end of learning,” wrote John Milton, “is to repair the ruin 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.” Quoted in Clark, A Christian Philosophy…, vii (below). “… A revival of godliness will always produce a revival of learning,” (Douglas Wilson, Antithesis, I(4):35, “Apologetics and the Heart”).
This Biblical education is far more comprehensive than many Christians might perceive initially. Biblical education includes Bible study, theology (including systematics), and everything in worldview(much of which is on this website). It is not the simple Bible teaching that many Christian schools and colleges have in their curriculum. In too many areas, such as, civil government, economics, law, sociology, crime and punishment, and mercy ministries, Christians speak and behave with little difference from the non-Christians. For example, the foundation of law in the United States descended from English Common Law which was the implementation of the Law of Moses. Few Christians of any age seem to know this fact of history and law.
Some Christians Have Bought the Notion That Tradition and “Classics,” Apart from a Compete Biblical Education and Worldview, are Adequate for Primary and Secondary Education
“The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever” (the First Question of the Shorter Catechism of the Westminster Confession of Faith). Our God will “have no others before Him” (First Commandment). Thus, this notion is seriously erroneous. The moral power of God’s instructions to mankind directly from His Word, or its logical deduction thereof, is infinitely greater than His word being diluted through the moral instruction of men divorced from His Special Revelation.
The Highest Goal of Christian Schools Should be to Give Students the Best Tools Possible to Study and Learn the Bible
If the Bible is the only truth that man will ever know, then the Bible should be any student’s most important object of study. Most, if not all Christian educators, struggle with what to include or exclude in the curriculum. If study of the Bible is not their highest priority, no other education matters!The Bible tells us truly and practically what is necessary to obey God, love our neighbor, and love God with all our “heart, soul, mind, and strength.” No other study can accomplish these ends.
Education is Simply Learning Some Knowledge or Skill That one did not Know Before
In fact, one could say that most education that occurs is not within a formal process. Skills include not only motor functions, but methods of reasoning, such as, logic, scientific inquiry, and rational thinking. SeeLogic, etc. below.
“Education” has Become Synonymous With Formal Education: Primary, Elementary, College, and Graduate
There is the conditioned attitude that once a person has finished high school, college, graduate school, or ____________ (fill in the blank), his or her education is completed. Sure, there may be some knowledge required for a job or other activity, but basically one’s education is done. This attitude is wrong. Actually, once one finishes the “ticket” to job requirements, which is what formal education primarily is (beyond “reading, writing, and arithmetic”), then one’s attitude should be that I am free at last to study what is really important (as what is discussed among these summary principles).
One example is the oversold value of college education.See below.
This Notion of Completed Education is Perhaps the Most Deadening Blow to the Church and the Kingdom of God
There is virtually no expectation of Christians in their churches to know more than a simple understanding of the Gospel (and sometimes that is not even required). Sure, there are “Bible studies” and Sunday School, but there is no defined curriculum for the church member (Christian) to achieve. Seminaries have established curricula for ministers, and some “full time Christian workers,” but “laymen” have no such course of study. No wonder that the church in the United States and other parts of the world is virtually irrelevant to social justice and can only offer “fire insurance.”
Yet, Never in the History of the Church Have Christians had the Resources That are Available Today!
These include the Internet, books, CDs, audio tapes, distance education, etc. A Christian can get a virtual seminary education without ever leaving home!
Even so, Considerable Discernment is Needed
In a real sense, there is too much material available. Materials with great-sounding labels can be superficial and even Biblically erroneous. Christians who want to engage in serious study should consult their elders and other mature Christians. Why waste time studying that which is not the most Biblically based? Many of us can point you to only a few books that will give a lifetime of information.
Education Should be a Life-long and Continuing Process
Every business man and professional knows that in some sense to be and stay successful, he must “keep up” or pursue continuing education. For Christians, first, there is the notion of completed education above. Second, after one has been in church for decades and begins to be part of the “elderly,” then an observer can see the resignation and lassitude set in. This attitude seems to say, “I have been there, done that, and there is nothing else to learn. Anything new is for these “young whipper-snappers.”
Christians Should Always be Learning new Truths of Scripture
I have observed Christians over as many as four or five decades who have really “learned nothing new.” At least, they have learned nothing new of any consequence. I make this conclusion from the books that they don’t carry, their lifestyles, their answers to Biblical questions, and the Sunday School classes that they attend and accept as sufficient for their “education.” While every Christian is certainly not gifted to be a Biblical scholar, our God has given us a book, the study of which is inexhaustible.
I Would Contend That one’s Faith and one’s Worship is Truncated by a Limited Study of the Scriptures
The fault lies primarily with those pastors and church leaders who design or oversee instruction in their churches through sermons, Sunday School, conferences, and other teaching activities. In general, Christian in these churches have not had the role models and examples set before them that is needed to direct and inspire ongoing Biblical instruction. Of course, there are those Christians who do have opportunity and do not take advantage of it.
The Active and Educated Elderly Should be one of the Great Resources of the Church
These elderly may be the greatest untapped resource in the modern Church. Many have retired, their children are gone, and many have financial resources. They have time and usually more than adequate finances. Yet, they languish in churches by their own sense of “retirement” and neglect by the younger people. The anti-Church crowd has their “gray panthers.” What Reformation would occur through the educated gray panthers of the modern Church?I pray and work towards this end!
No person, regenerate or unregenerate, can achieve his full potential without continuous formal and informal education.
Education is inescapably religious.Virtually no one would consider, especially in this information age, that he or she could learn everything that there is to know. So, any area of study is chosen on the basis of value to the person.All considerations of value are religious. All choices are religious as they either promote or detract from the Kingdom of God.
I should re-iterate here that “religion” and philosophy along with many other words (cosmology, first principles, axioms, etc. —see “Synonyms” at Epistemology) are synonyms or equivalent to “religion.” James Dewey, who is considered the father of American primary and secondary education, was a pragmatist who consciously and intentionally promoted his philosophy in his educational programs. His philosophy consciously denied any existence of God, so his atheism has penetrated all levels of public education in this country. Unfortunately, it has penetrated the curricula of many Christian schools and home schoolers.
The Study of Epistemology, Logic, Metaphysics, and Ethics (its Derivation) is Absolutely Necessary to Formal Education With its Basics Being Introduced and Taught by the end of High School
Many Christians are lost in philosophical discussions about how Christianity fits into the way man thinks in terms of these concepts. Therefore, they are virtually useless in the world of ideas and ethics except as evangelists (more “fire insurance,” converting people to a partial “gospel.”) Biblical Christianity has the strongest and only coherent philosophical arguments of any religion in the world. However, Christians are commonly weaklings in true “apologetics.” (Most apologetics that is called by that name is not true apologetics. See our Glossary.)
College Education Needs to be Re-evaluated Thoroughly by Christian Parents
There are many dangers associated with college attendance today. (A) Children face a freedom of choices for which many may not be ready in their lack of maturity. Living away from parents and among peers influences them to make many unrighteous choices. (B) They face a barrage of philosophical attacks about their faith from professors for which few have rarely been prepared. (Of course, this lack of preparation only reflects the superficial and narrowness of teaching by Christian parents, churches, and even Christian schools.)
(C) College education is an enormous expense with questionable spiritual value. There is no doubt that a college degree gives a person an advantage in the marketplace of employment. Numerous studies have shown that fact. However, it is almost exclusive the degree itself that is the “ticket,” not the education received. There are few professions which actually use what is learned in college, unless one become a teacher himself.(See “Training to be a teacher below.”) Education has become a filter for certain attitudes and beliefs, not a agent for inculcation of truth.
(D) College students face a myriad of temptations away from parents and other adult eyes and under the peer pressure of a hedonistic lifestyle. Many lives are ruined for a few moments of supposed pleasure.
So, let’s look as this scenario. Christians send their children into a strongly dominated humanistic and hedonistic culture away from their control at enormous expense (usually involving considerable debt) for an education that is largely useless (except as a “ticket” to employment). This situation, then, is a serious disconnect of Biblical values. Even sending children to a “Bible college” is no “bargain.”Socially, many of the same pitfalls are there. In addition, few “Bible colleges” teach a full-orbed Biblical worldview, and many even teach a large degree of secularism under the pretense of being a “Bible school.” See Coalition on Revival, “The Christian World View of Revitalizing Christian Colleges and Seminaries.”
Dr. James Bartlett in his Biblical Concourse is putting together an alternative to college, similar to the program that home schoolers have developed around the country.
For a history of college education, which began as a requirement for church ordination, see the reference below.
Training to be a Teacher
What knowledge and skills are required to be a teacher? Perhaps, an example would best get this idea across. Let’s consider that someone wants to teach mathematics in high school. What knowledge and skills are necessary for them to teach (apart from the simple and narrow requirement of an B.S. – Bachelor of Science)? The answer is that this teacher would need to know their subject matter quite well, be able to teach it so that students would understand, and be able to control (discipline) the class.
So, why do Teachers Need the Many Hours of College Credit in Psychology, Sociology, Teaching Methods, History, etc. to Teach Mathematics?
Once the preparing teacher knows their subject matter to be taught, everything else can be learned in “on-the-job-training” under the tutelage of an experienced teacher. How many great teachers in particular areas for which they are gifted are never able to teach because they cannot or do not want to take all the other peripheral subjects? This situation may be a major reason that there is a shortage of teachers who truly have a talent or gift to teach children.
Teachers-to-be Presently Study Psychology
Psychology comprises a large part of college requirements for students preparing to be teachers. At the college graduate level, there is very little difference between the courses for a Ph. D. in psychology, compared to that of an Ed.D. Virtually all psychology is based in thoroughly humanistic and anti-God philosophies. And, many Christian schools require their own teachers to have these same credentials!See our Worldview Area of Psychology (link).
What American Education is Not
In the light of what Scripture says about education and what is said in these Summary Principles, American education is not:
To enable the student to earn a good income.
To preserve our American system of government and political freedom (except as it involve re-learning the Biblical principles that founded this country).
To unify the world.
To teach young people a trade.
To encourage the never-ending search for the truth.
To put the student in harmony with the cosmos.
To raise the consciousness of students and train them for world revolution.
To prepare students for prospective careers.
To integrate the races.
To provide for the social adjustment of the child.
To stay ahead of the Russians (or the Japanese) in technology.
To create good citizens.
(Adapted from Clark, A Christian Philosophy…, page ix, below)
The failure of American public “education can be seen in the goals above. The most primary and important question for any person is, “What meaning is there to life?” If there is no meaning, then nothing, including education matters. So, education that does not address this issue is simply dealing with trivialities—things that do not really matter.
The Only Unity of Knowledge That can be Found is Where the Bible is the Fully Functional Authority of Every Area
This was the original idea of “university.” Virtually all of the universities in the West were founded with the idea that the Bible gave this coherency. The idea of the Bible as the only source of truth and unifying knowledge can be found on this site at Truth, Philosophy…
The only thing about which the various educational philosophies for the last century have any unity is their opposition to Christianity. (Idea from Clark, A Christian Philosophy…, page ix; also see John Dewey above).
Education is not Only What is Read or Formally Taught, but the Speech and Behavior of the Teacher, as Well
Many parents recognize that children are far more influenced by what the parents say or do, rather than what they formally teach.Such teaching and training was used by Jesus in His short earthly ministry with His disciples. (As the Gospels record, He taught formally also in the Sermon on the Mount and the Olivet Discourse, for example.)
Education Requires Discipline in the Classroom
Orderliness and quiet in the classroom are necessary to effective instruction. How this is achieved is beyond summary principles. However, many classrooms today are anything but orderly and quiet, even in Christian schools.
Public Education is not a “Good” in Itself, as Highly Educated People may be Thieves, Murderers, and Merciless Dictators
There is no doubt historically that Christianity after the invention of the printing press, more than any other philosophy, promoted public education for everyone to be able to read the Bible in their common language. Yet, public education without Biblically moral instruction can cause great harm, as well. “Educated nations cause more evil than uneducated nations.” (Clark,A Christian Philosophy…, page 10) Adolph Hitler was able to write Mein Kampf; Karl Marx wrote Das Kapital; and John Dewey wrote and lectured about public education which made a culture ripe for the sexual promiscuity and prevalent abortion that we experience today. See Prager below.
For the Most Part, Home Schooling Among Christians is a Positive Movement
Home schooling avoids the secular humanism of the public schools. It allows a designed curriculum (within the laws of the state!) in which special subjects, such as, Greek, logic, and Christian history, can be taught. It promotes family cohesion. It reinforces the morality of Biblical values in discipleship from parents to children. And, more.
Home Schooling, However, Often Does not Have a Comprehensive Worldview or Theological Training
The great error of modern Christians is to think, first, that the gospel is simple, and that they need only a basic understanding of it. Another great error, is that the Bible can be comprehensively understood without systematics. In the New Testament, faith, law, repentance, love, justice, righteousness, etc. are not simple concepts. Much harm has been done to the Kingdom of God because of this understanding that is often wrong because it is superficial. More on this discussion can be found in the following books.
Without Epistemology, no Other Knowledge, Study, or Life Activity has any Reason to be Pursued
While every person does not necessarily have to face the question, “How do I know (for sure, with any certainty), what I know?,” leaders and teachers who are Christians should. They need to know how to “fit” Biblical Christianity into the world of ideas and competing philosophies and religions.
The Idea of “Vocation” Needs to be Recognized and Brought to the Forefront of the Education of Children
“Vocation” simply means “calling.” Placed into the framework of the Kingdom of God, vocation is the work to which God calls His own. Let me re-state that.Vocation is the work to which God calls His own.
There is too Much Focus in the Modern Church on “Full-time Ministry”
being the only avenue open to young people who want to devote themselves fully “to the Lords’ work.” For example, perhaps the greatest need among modern Christians, are philosophers. These men and women would argue overtly and covertly for the Christian faith in the world of ideas and literature. They would teach Christians in their areas of work to think and practice their professions Biblically. Then, there is the need for lawyers, who understand law as did our American founding fathers. Then, there is … you fill in the blank! There are great needs in all areas of worldview.
Children Have Markedly Different Talents*
Early in the lives of their children, parents should begin to notice what activities their children like and are willing to spend long hours in participation. Slowly and without force, they should provide opportunities for learning and practice in these areas.
* I distinguish between gifts and talents. (Spiritual) gifts are for use in building up the Church and natural talents (which are also gifts of God) are for use outside the Church in God’s common grace to all mankind. All talents and gifts should be for the Glory of God.
Freedom of inquiry (academic freedom)is necessary to increase man’s understanding of God and His world and should be pursued, as opportunity, financing, interest, and ability present opportunity. However, freedom of inquiry should not include areas which violate Biblical morality. And, there should be no State funding of research activities. Again, the only true university can be found in knowledge that is founded upon the Holy Scriptures.
The State has no Role in Public Education at any Level
(A) The role of the State is quite restricted, primarily that of Romans 13:1-7. (2) Since we have already seen that “education is inescapably religious.” Any function of the State is also inescapably religious. Therefore, any education that the State provides is inescapably religious and its concepts will be taught within its system. What is taught in modern schools has many examples of this religious nature.
Parents Need to Evaluate Carefully Whether Their Children Should be in Public Schools
At first glance, private education may be too expensive and home schooling not a practical option. But, with innovative thinking, cost-cutting in family expenses, prayer, and consultation with others will virtually always find an alternative. God does not want His children educated from “the tree of knowledge of … evil.” Consider this quote:
Public education is the parochial education for scientific humanism. (Joe R. Burnett, The Humanist Magazine, 1961.)
Christian Schools Need to Re-examine Their Cost Structure
Christian schools have often modeled themselves after public schools with their requirements for teacher “certification” and “education.” They provide for the full range of sports activities. They provide for labs and other expensive equipment. And so on.
Christian Schools Need to Re-examine Their Curricula
Many Christian schools are not very different from public schools except that they teach some Bible studies. All students who graduate from Christian high schools should be able, from memory, to give several distinctives of a Biblical worldview in at least 15 different areas of knowledge.(Worldview areas may be grouped differently by different teachers and group, but there is a central core in every list.)If a Christian school or home school does not achieve this goal, it is not truly a Christian (Biblical) school.
The Bible is explicit, and even stark, in its description of the two areas of mankind and knowledge that exist on planet earth: light and darkness, good (God) and evil (the world, the flesh, and Satan), and those bound for heaven vs. those who are bound for heaven. If a Christian school or home school does not reflect this stark reality, then it is not a Biblical school and not consistent with the word, “Christian.”
Christian Schools Need to Innovate
Why not have debates with secular schools about creation and evolution, the evidences for the existence of God, the Bible as the only truth available to man, the limitations of science, and the influence of Christianity on the culture of the West, to name only a few? Why not teach students to write letters to editors of local papers, magazines, and other publications on various issues? Why not bring in speakers who have developed a worldview or ethical system in their profession, as role models and for what they have developed.? And so on. Our great God has an infinite mind, why are Christians so stultified in their creativity? We should be the most creative people on earth!
On the one Hand, Repeated Studies Have Shown That the Size of Classes has no Correlation on the Student’s Ability to Learn Subject Matter
While this fact is not a Biblical truth, it is an empirical study that has been validated more than once. That the size of the class does not matter in this way may be used to cut the costs of Christian schools.
On the Other Hand, Discipleship is an Integral Part of Teaching
Perhaps, Christian schools can implement large classes for subject that are more didactic in nature, while preserving close relationships with student in other areas of study.
Whether There Should be Prayer in Public Schools Should not Even be a Question or Concern for Christians!
This question is an example of how wrongly Christians think today.The issues is whether there should be public schools at all.
You are What you Read and Value; you Read What you Value
Yes, our God is infinitely creative and imaginative without learning. But, Christians are not. Christians are virtually irrelevant to the problems of the world because we, first, do not even recognize how our faith has answers. Second, we have no idea that we should apply the Bible to these problems. Third, if we do recognize the first and second, we have no idea how to apply the Bible to these problems.Why are God’s people so irrelevant? Because of our education: past, present, and future.We are what we read, and we read what we value. (For more on “you are what you read, see the website below.)
One act alone could bring about the next great reformation: turn off your television sets and use that time to read the best books on Biblical theology, worldview, and history.(Add this change to the “gray panthers” above!)
Children Should Experience Physical Labor, “Learn to Work With Their Hands,” and be Taught a Trade or Livelihood
As we have briefly seen, education is not just “book learning,” it is learning to live life fully in the service of God. Jewish tradition has required that a father teach his son a trade. This requirement is Biblical, as well. “Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need” (Ephesians 4:28). “For even when we were with you, we commanded you this: If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat” (II Thessalonians 3:10). And, there are many other verses from Proverbs and elsewhere, about being industrious and providing for one’s family.
All These Obligations Require Income, and Income Virtually Requires a Trade
Of course, teaching includes making opportunity for a son to become an apprentice or going to school or college to learn a trade. (One could make the case that even a son who inherits sufficient money to live without working should work somewhere. Money and time have the potential for profligate living. “Work out your salvation in fear and trembling” is sufficient for instruction here.)
What About a Daughter?
Fathers were to provide a dowry to a daughter. In today’s world, a dowry might be a college education or another trade that a daughter could work, if she does not marry or becomes a widow. There are also rather explicit instructions for the Church’s role in helping women (I Timothy 5:3-16).
All the details about training for children and their futures is too complex to discuss here. Our concern here is education of children. Biblically, parents are responsible to provide the spiritual and pragmatic education that will allow their independence at the proper time to leave home and form their own families.
A Last Word About Working With Hands
These verses (I Corinthians 4:12; I Thessalonians 4:11) seem to imply that physical labor is “good for the soul.” I am not sure that physical labor can be made an absolute requirement under parental responsibility, but certain lessons are taught experientially from work that is menial and unskilled that cannot be taught otherwise. Today’s world includes cutting the grass and other odd jobs around the house and yard that are beyond the practicality of always being able to hire someone to do them.
While “all truth is God’s truth,” this phrase is frequently used to elevate theoretical and experimental knowledge (that is not truth) on the level of Biblical truth, especially by Christians who are psychologists, scientists, and other professionals.Thus, it is essential that students learn what truth is and what is not before they finish high school. See my discussion on this website, “All truth is God’s truth.”
Most Churches are Neither Teaching Biblical Basics nor the Full Gospel
The full Gospel includes individual (A) salvation (past, present, and future), (B) discipline (preaching, teaching, sacraments, and investigation of overt sin—process of Matthew 18:15-19), and (C) a Biblically complete worldview and ethics. Most churches leave out the fullness of what salvation is, the process of dealing with overt sin, and worldview and ethics. Thus, they are teaching and preaching only about one-half of the Gospel.
Biblical basics include the specifics of Hebrews 6:1-2: “Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, of the doctrine of baptisms, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.” I wonder how many churchmen today can give a clear explanation of those “elementary principles.”
Perhaps, the Role of Preaching Should be Re-examined
Not every person who attends worship services at church also attends Sunday School or other educational programs of the church. On this basis, ministers should re-evaluate the content of their messages so that it presents the “elementary principles” of Hebrews 6 and the full Gospel defined above. With two sermons morning evening on Sunday and years of attendance by members, this broader coverage should not be difficult. Also, congregants should be encouraged to take notes on sermons and discussion in Sunday School and other places could reinforce this more comprehensive teaching.
Methodology: Facts, Definitions, Logic, Rationality, and Axioms
Over the past several decades, there has been an educational theory that facts and memorization are tedious and limit creative thinking. Actually, the opposite is true. The more options and knowledge that a student has, the more options he has from which to choose and to build from one or more ideas into a new idea.
The following are so brief as to make scholars cringe, yet they need to be introduced here because they are a large part of what is wrong with the education of Christians today. These matters are developed more fully on other areas of this website.
Definitions
I think that one of the most amazing aspects of human existence is that social interaction takes place as efficiently as it does without the explicit references to definitions. This common discourse, however, disguises the necessity of definitions for more important matters. Few Christians today, and I suspect many pastors, as well, could give exact definitions of law, love, faith, hope, regeneration, revelation, etc. Thus, Christianity flounders because of the lack of study of what these words really mean. Early in their studies, children should be taught the meanings and derivations of words and the necessity of their accuracy in important matters.
Axioms
There are many synonyms for axioms which include first principles, presuppositions, postulates, basics, and assumptions. Students need to know that these concepts are not reasoned (different from being reasonable), but accepted on faith. This process is taught in some of the sciences, such as, geometry, calculus, and physics, but it is true in every area of knowledge. Knowledge is based upon faith (in these first principles), but students usually hear that knowledge is different than faith.This teaching has separated Christianity into the upper and lower stories about which Francis Schaeffer wrote. Such error has been severely destructive to both Christians in their personal lives, their ability to affect their culture, and argue coherently for Biblical Christianity.
Logic
Logic is the only method of reasoning that can derive truth from other truths. For example, “Trinity” does not appear in the Bible, but it can be logically derived from statements of Scripture. Then, this word that does not appear in the Bible becomes a test of orthodoxy, that is, a test of whether one is truly a Christian or not! (I am aware that logical reasoning from false presuppositions produces false conclusions, so that logical truth is dependent upon these starting principles.
Fact or Facts
As Francis Schaeffer said, there are no “brute facts,” that is, facts that are true in themselves. Facts are always tied to first principles, so facts are always product of faith. See Axiomsabove.
No doubt I have left out some other basics. But, these should be sufficient to identify some of the major deficiencies in modern education.
Additional Notes
Learners to our Last Days
“Then let every one of us, being warned by this sentence of the angel, acknowledge that he as yet cleaves to first principles, or, at least, does not comprehend all those things which are necessary to be known; and that therefore progress is to be made to the very end of life: for this is our wisdom, to be learners to the end.” (John Calvin in his commentary on Zechariah 4:11-14)
References
Books
Clark, Gordon C. A Christian Philosophy of Education. The Trinity Foundation, revised, 1988.
Machen, Gresham. Education, Christianity, and the State.The Trinity Foundation, 1987.
Rushdoony, Rousas J. The Messianic Character of American Education. www.chalcedonstore.com
Rushdoony, Rousas J. The Philosophy of the Christian Curriculum. www.chalcedonstore.com
Online Resources
College level courses patterned after home schooling.
http://www.frontline.org.za/articles/you_are_what_you_read.htm
“You Are What You Read” – online article
http://reformed-theology.org/ice/newslet/reconstruction/cr97.01.htm
History of college education, beginning with the Church, and its secularization
Dennis Prager on morality and education