I.

INTRODUCTION: The
Place of Christian Education
in Building a Christian
Culture
A. The Building of Christian
Culture
Building a truly Christian
culture is our God -given task
(Genesis 1:26-28; Matthew 28:18-
20; 2 Corinthians 10:5; Coloss-
ians 1:17,18). All Christians
must do what they can with the
talents God has given them to
transform the culture in which
they live. They do this for God's
glory, by his Word and Spirit,
and with faith in his promises.
The God -given task of Christian
culture building is possible
because Christ is the Savior,
Lord, Restorer, and Judge of
culture. His person and
to see the relevance of Christ to
all areas of life. This is the job of
all Christian teachers, whether in
the school or home. " ... We want
our children with us to see the
vision of the all-conquering
Christ as he wrests the culture of
mankind away from Satan and
brings it to its consummation
when the new heavens and the
new earth on which righteous-
ness shall dwell, at last appears.
We would have our young men
and women become true soldiers
under Christ as with him they go
conquering and to conquer every
domain of life for Christ"
(Cornelius Van Til, Essaysin
Christian Education 27)."
I. The Scriptural Foundations
of Christian Education
God; all.men are fully account-
able to him. Christian education
is necessary, therefore, if we are
to learn about God and his
requirements upon our life. It
ought to be seen that adherence
to the very first commandment
forces us to reject religiously
neutral, statist education.
2. The Bible teaches that
this God exists in three persons.
I. The one true God exists in
three persons, Father, Son, and
Holy Ghost, each of whom
contains the fullness of deity.
There are three persons within
the Godhead, but there is only
one God. In God, unity and
diversity are equally ultimate.
God's oneness and threeness are
equally necessary to his deity.
work have made culture
possible again. Consis-
tent Christianity must
maintain that the
unique person and work
What Sort of Christian
Education Will Build a Truly
Christian Culture?
He would not be God if
he were not one; he
would not be God if he
were not three.
ii. The biblical
doctrine of the trinity
means that Christian
education does not have
of Christ is the-sole
The Implications of Deuteronomy 6:1-18
for Christian Education
foundation for cultural
progress, civil justice,
and world peace. Only
by turning to him in
the irresolvable di-
Chris Strevel
~ = = = = = = i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i = = = = = = i J lemma which faces all
faith and repentance will West-
ern and indeed world culture
recover its purpose, standard,
and motivation.
B. The Necessity of Christian
Education in Building a
Christian Culture
Christian culture is built
as Christian parents seek to
give their children a consis-
tently biblical education.
This is an indispensable aspect
of culture building. When we are
gone, it is our children who will
pick up the standard and march
on in faithfulness to their great
King. They cannot build a
Christian culture, however,
unless we train them. They
cannot obey God's cultural
mandate unless they are taught
Christian education has a
definite starting point. Our
foundations are revealed on the
pages of Scripture. In particular,
Moses gave Israel a reason to
educate their children from a self-
conSciously Christian perspec-
tive.
A. Our Faith in the Triune
God (Deut. 6:4)
1. The Bible teaches that
there is only one God. He is the
Lord over every area of life. All
men and nations owe allegiance
to this God. They will be judged
by him if they refuse to govern
themselves by his law. Our
doctrine of God motivates us to
reject humbly all neutral and
antiChristian approaches to
education. There is only one
12 - THE COUNSEL of Chalcedon - April/May, 1999
nonChristian educa-
tion. Unbelieving philosophies
of education have been unable to
combine the one with the many,
the universals with the particu-
lars, without destroying meaning
for man. Beginning with his
assumption of ultimate au-
tonomy, the unbeliever must
either affirm the supremacy of
impersonal, abstract logic (the
one) or brute, meaningless facts
(the many). In the triune God of
the Bible, however, the universals
are never at war with the particu-
lars, or vice versa, because he has
created them both. All laws
correspond with the facts as he
has created them. All the facts
are in harmony with his created
laws. Christian education
provides what no other
system of education can: a
unified, comprehensive,
objective outlook on life that
justifies both the particulars
of man's experience and the
laws that govern the uni-
verse. It is able to do so because
of its faith in the personal, triune
God of the Bible.
3. The Bible teaches that
this God is the Creator of heaven
and earth.
I. God has created all things
for himself. "In the beginning,
God made the heavens and the
earth" (Gen. 1;1). "All things
were made by him" (John 1;3;
Col. 1;16). Christian education
proceeds upon the assumption
that God has created all things,
and that redeemed man must
learn how to live and think in
God's world. Because God has
created all things, there is mean-
ing in the universe. God created
it for his own glory. Itis revela-
tory of himself. Moreover, God
continues to govern creation
through his providence. This
ensures that his purpose for
creating the universe will be
realized in human history.
Christian education endeavors to
teach covenant children the
means by which to realize God's
plans for his creation.
ii. The doctrine of temporal
creation by the triune God of the
Bible means that God's interpre-
tation of the universe is the only
one available for man. Accord-
ingly, the doctrine of creation
plays a vital role in Christian
education. If we are to obtain an
understanding of ourselves and
the universe we must go to our
Creator in humble submission.
We must" fear the Lord" (Prov.
1;7). Christian education makes
no pretense about being
revelationalin character. Unless
we begin with God's revelation,
his interpretation of the facts, our
knowledge is fatally flawed.
a. How can man have true
knowledge? Howcanhetruly
educate? HemustthinkGod's
thoughts after him. Education is
"implication into God's
interpretation .... To think God's
thoughts after him, to dedicate
the universe to its Maker, and to
be the vice-regent of the Ruler of
all things; this is man's task.
Man is prophet, priest, and king.
It is this view of education that is
involved in and demanded by the
idea of creation" (Van Til 124).
This is Van Til's way of saying
that the fear of the Lord is the
beginning of knowledge. Unless
we recognize that God is the
Creator, Controller, and Inter-
preter of every fact, and that man
must take God's view about every
fact, man cannot have true
knowledge about anything.
b. Christian education
makes a bold claim; true educa-
tion is possible only if we main-
tain the doctrine of creation and
the Creator-creature distinction.
Christian education claims that it
alone has any reason to educate.
If we do not admit that we are
God's creatures, completely
dependent upon him for life,
light, and knowledge, we can
never know any single fact
correctly.
c. "We may characterize the
whole situation by saying that
the creation of God is a revelation
of God. God revealed himself in
nature and God also revealed
himself in the mind of man. Thus
it is impossible for the mind of
man to function except in an
atmosphere of revelation ... We
may therefore call a Christian
epistemology a revelational
epistemology' (Cornelius Van
Til, ASurvey of Christian Episte-
molo8.)71).
B. Our Faith in the Redemp-
tive Covenant (Deut. 6:1-3)
1. We cannot stop with the
triune God and creation, how-
ever. We must move on to re-
demption. Man needs redemption
because he broke God's covenant
in the Garden. Man refused to
submit to God's interpretation.
Adam and Eve doubted tI,at
God's knowledge was original,
authoritative, and certain. They
chose to put God to the test.
2. In mercy and grace, God
graciously entered into a bond of
friendship with his elect people.
In tllis covenant, he takes upon
himself their salvation. He
provides a way for llis justice to
be satisfied by means of a bloody
sacrifice. In tllis covenant, he
promises to be their God. In
return, man promises to live in
accordance with God's interpre-
tation of life. Man recognizes his
total dependence on God for
salvation, and his duty to obey
God in all walks of life.
3. Christian education is
inseparable from the covenant of
grace, and it must always be
carried on in this context. God
has saved his people, and they
must now live as redeemed
people. Christian education in
the home, church, and school,
teaches the child of God how to
function as a Christian in God's
world.
I. The Philosophy of
Christian Education
(Deuteronomy 6:14-16)
A. The Goal of Christian
Education
The goal of Christian educa-
tion is to know God and keep his
commandments. Covenant
children must be taught God's
laws, statutes, and judgments if
they are to be faithful members of
God's family. The LORD requires
his people to live, think, and
conquer by his Word. The people
of God can take and keep the
land of promise (Matthew 5:5)
only as they remain faithful to
April/May, 1999 - THE COUNSEL of Chalcedon - 13
hiscovenantandteachtherr
children to keep his laws. The
goal of Christian education is
comprehensive.
1. The Threefold Objective
of the Goal
I. The Development of a
Christian Life. As Christians,
we have been placed in a very
special relationship with God.
We have been adopted into his
family. As members of his family,
we bear his name, are herrs to all
his promises, and are requITed to
walk worthy of our calling. The
family of God is called the
"church." The Church of God
"consists of all those throughout
the world that profess the true
religion, together with their
children" (Westminster Confes-
sionofFaith, Ch. 25, Para. 2).
Our children are members of
God's family, the Church, even as
we are. We must teach them the
ways of God's covenant, his
laws, statutes, and judgments.
They must learn to love God with
all their heart, soul, and strength.
Christian education teaches
our children to live as mem-
bers of God's family.
ii. The Development of a
Christian Mind. The blessings
of salvation flow from God's
grace. However, salvation entails
responsibility. Members of God's
family are not free to walk as they
once walked, in the futility of
their own thinking. Paul makes
this clear in Ephesians 4:17-24.
We are to put on the new man.
We are to be transformed by the
renewing of our mind. Being
saved by grace, we are now
obligated to put God's laws in
our mind and in our heart.
Christian education teaches
our children to think like
Christians.
iii. The Development of a
Christian Culture. As unbe-
lievers, we revolted from God's
rule over our lives. We would not
have him as our Judge, King, or
Lawgiver. We were a law unto
ourselves. Being made a member
of his family by sovereign grace,
we are placed into the kingdom
of light. We are the infantry of
the King. Hence, it is our privi-
lege to stand for his Lordship in
all walks of life. We are to
conquer the land before us by
making disciples of all nations
through the gospel of Jesus
Christ. One of our first responsi-
bilities as promoters of God's
kingdom is to make sure that our
children understand their
responsibility to stand for
Christ's comprehensive claims
over all men and nations. They
must disciple all nations by
God's law. Christian educa-
tion teaches our children to
seek first the kingdom of
God.
2. The Comprehensive
Nature of the Goal
I. Throughout Culture
a. There are only two sides
in the battle for culture, and those
sides embrace radically antago-
nistic philosophies of education.
"There are two, and only two,
mutually exclusive philosophies
of education. These are involved
in two mutually exclusive
philosophies of man and his goal
for human civiliZation and
culture" (Van Til 36). Cultural
and educational goals are tied
together. Unbelieving man trains
his children to build unbelieving,
antiChristian culture. Christian
man educates his children to fear
the Lord in all things.
b. Christian education must
be faithful to its goal. It must
teach its children to take the
battle for Christ's kingdom to
every area of culture. It must
teach the next generation of
Christians to live, think, and
conquer by the Word of God.
14 - THE COUNSEL of Chalcedon - April/May, 1999
There is no area over which
Christ does not claim Lordship.
Likewise, there is no area of life
in which man is not totally
dependent upon God for true
knowledge. "A Christian phi-
losophy of education based upon
anything short of a unified
outlook on human life in terms of
the teaching of Christ in Scrip-
ture alone, is not able to chal-
lenge men to forsake the way of
death and walk in the way of
life" (36).
ii. Through the Teacher
a. The Christian educator,
parent or teacher, must always
have this goal in mind. It will
determine his attitude, goal,
method, and standard in the
classroom. Whatever subject he
teaches, it will be his goal to
teach the Christian student to use
that knowledge to glorify God
and build Christian culture. For
the Christian educator, knowl-
edge and action are interrelated.
He wants the student to use that
knowledge tofurther the cause of
Christ on earth. This is the
biblical goal of every subject. All
knowledge must teach us
how to subdue the earth for
God's glory.
b. The Christian educator
must also teach the studentthe
necessity oflooking at every fact
from the perspective of God's
Word. It will be his goal to see
that the student learns science,
math, literature, and history from
a Christian perspective. Equally
important, the Christian educator
will seek to teach his students
that there is no other way to look
at the facts except through the
corrective lenses of God's Word.
The Christian perspective is not
one among many. It is the only
perspective which can explain
the facts as they really are. One
cannot account for history,
science, or math upon any other
foundation except that revealed
on the pages of Scripture. This
approach to education is vital to
accomplishing God's goal for
education: the subjection of every
area of life to the Lord Jesus
Christ.
c. "This, then, is the point.
The war between Christ and
Satan is a global war .... But the
warfare is also carried on where
you might least expect it. It is
carried on in the field of reading
and writing and arithmetic, in
the field of nature study and
history. At every point Satan
seeks boys and girls, as well as
men and women to take the
attitude that he got Eve and
Adam to take at the beginning of
history. Everywhere and at every
point Satan's theme-song is:
'Let's be broad-minded'" (Van Til
26).
iii. In the Student
a. The Christian student
must remember the goal of his
education as well. The final goal
of his education is not a nice
house, car, and job. These are
desirable, and God will bless his
people to enjoy the works of their
hands (Isa. 65:22). The covenant
child is educated so that he can
take his place in the army of the
Lord. Wherever he finds himself
in life, he is a solider under
orders. His orders are to bring
every thought captive to Jesus
Christ. His education is his
preparation to advance Christian
culture. He must approach his
Christian education as an
opportunity to learn to live,
think, and conquer like a Chris-
tian.
b. How wasteful and sinful
it is, then, for Christian students
to be haphazard and lazy in their
school work. Student, you must
consider your Christian educa-
tion as a precious giftfrom God.
Out of thankfulness to him and
love for his Son, you must pursue
your studies with diligence,
prayer, and devotion. Only in
this way can you truly profit
from your studies. Only in this
way will you be faithful to your
God. Only in this way can you
be an instrument of cultural
transformation in his omnipotent
hand.
iv. Through the Curricu-
lum
a. Thoroughly Reformed
teaching materials are sometimes
difficult to locate. Nevertheless,
as much as possible, we must
utilize curriculum in the class-
room which challenges the
student to excel, not for himself
but for the honor and glory of
God. The tools we give him must
enable him to accomplish God's
goal for his life or else our
educational efforts are in vain.
b. Above all, we must use
curriculum which presupposes
that God's revelation is neces-
sary for all areas of life. The tools
which we use in the classroom
must constantly stress that
Christianity is not one philoso-
phy among many. It is rather the
onlyworIdview that does not
destroy human experience and
produce skepticism, pessimism,
and ignorance. We cannot follow
the gods of the people around us.
Our curriculum must be as
exclusively Christian as our
philosophy.
c. Where good curriculum
is not available, we must be
critical. It is true that 2+2=4 in
all mathematics textbooks. But
the Christian teacher will be
careful to emphasize that 2+2=4
because God rules the universe.
There is no other explanation for
this axiomatic mathematical
principle. If God did not create
and control the universe, there
would be no reason for 2+2=4. In
other words, the Christian
teacher must teach his students
that it is God who makes the
facts what they are, and only by
adopting his interpretation of the
facts can they understand God,
themselves, and the universe.
B. The Method (Standard)
of Christian Education
(Deul. 6:4-9)
1. The Absolute Truth ofthe
Bible
I. As we educate our children,
our most ultimate presupposition
is the truthfulness of the Chris-
tian position. The Lord our God
has spoken. His Word is our life.
To refuse to follow his word is
moral, intellectual, and cultural
suicide. His Word is the life and
breath of our educational
method. Our children must see
that Christianity is not an expla-
nation of the facts, not an ap-
proach to life, but the only
explanation and approach which
will glorify God and provide
answers for man. We present
Jesus Christ as the way, the truth,
and the life (In. 14:6). We submit
to his Lordship in every aca-
demic discipline. The students
must see this. It will not be
sufficient to begin your math,
science, history, 01' logic class
with prayer. If you never men-
tion God again you have not
presented your subject truthfully.
Your students must learn to see
that if they are to have correct
knowledge about any area of life,
they must begin with what God
says in his Word. "Christian
teachers know that not a single
'fact' can really be known and
therefore really be taught unless
placed under the light of the
revelation of God. Even the laws
of arithmetic cannot be known
otherwise" (Van Til 186).
ii. "The Reformed Faith
frankly begins with the presup-
pOSitions of the absolute truth of
the Christian position. It is this
April/May, 1999 - THE COUNSEL of Chalcedon - 15
that the teacher tells the pupil.
As he has learned the goal of
human life can be known only
from the authoritative revelation
of God, so he knows that the
criterion by which man must live
can be found only in this revela-
tion too" (Van Til 81).
2. The Centrality of the
Bible
I. The Bible is the textbook of
the Christian educator. The Bible
is not a science, logic, or history
textbook, but it is the book by
which all other books are to be
judged. Students must be taught
that the Bible is the light by
which every claim to knowledge
mustbe judged. If the Bible truly
contradicts the latest scientific
claim, then that claim is errone-
ous. This is how confident we
are that the Bible is the infallible,
all-sufficient, self-attesting Word
of Almighty God. Wherever its
light is shunned, moral and
intellectual darkness results.
ii. "We need to become more
conscious of these distinctions.
Unless we are conscious of them
we shall never have genuinely
Christian schools. To be con-
scious of these distinctions does
notmean that we must spend
more time on the direct teaching
of religion than on other matters.
If we teach religion indirectly,
everywhere and always we may
need less time to teach religion
directly. To be conscious of these
distinctions does mean that the
plan of curriculum is to be God-
centered. Man exists for God"
(Van Til 186).
3. The Consistent Instruc-
tion of the Bible
Christian education must be
daily, habitual, and practical
training out of the Word of God.
Christian education never ends.
Even if your covenant children
are enrolled in a Christian
school, their education in the
covenant of God does not end at
3:00 PM. It is your responsibility
to teach them to apply what they
have learned to all areas of life.
You can never begin too young,
and you can never teach too
often.
4. The Triune God of the
Bible
What gives Christian educa-
tional methods their success is
unity. If we are going to educate
our covenant children to be
agents of cultural transformation
under the banner of Christ, if we
are going to teach them the
necessity of the Christian world
and life view, then they must
begin to see the unity of life
under the comprehensive plan of
God. As we have already noted,
it is the triune God of the Bible
who provides unity to our
educational method. In him, the
one and the many are equally
ultimate, equally meaningful.
His law gives meaning and
structure to the facts which he
has created. Hence, we can move
from subject to subject, confident
that his Word is relevant, neces-
sary, and sufficient wherever we
go. All areas of life are dedicated
to the Lord, important to the
building of Christian culture,
and understood correctly only in
the light of his Word (Zechariah
14:20; Psalm36:9).
C. The Motivation for
Christian Education
(Deut. 6:13-19)
1. Faith in God's revelation
motivates the Christian educator
to present the Christian position
as the only interpretation avail-
able for man.
I. Reformed Christian educa-
tionmaintains that we (self-
conscious Christians) are the
only ones who can consistently
educate. Because we begin with
God and his all-sufficient revela-
tion in the Bible, we have a
16 - THE COUNSEL of Chalcedon - April/May, 1999
foundation for knowing. The
nonChristian educator does not
have this foundation. His
universe is ruled by chance. His
knowledge is uncertain, a best
guess, or a pooling of ignorance.
He has no standard by which he
should educate. One standard
for thought and life are as good
as another.
ii. The Christian educator is
motivated to teach his students to
fear the Lord. He realizes that
God jealously guards over his
covenant children. God forbids.
his children to follow other gods
or interpretations of life. God
alone is to be worshipped. His
way alone is truth. Therefore,
Christian educators will zeal-
ously guard the hearts and mind
of those covenant children
committed to them. They are
God's children. His truth is their
life.
iii. The knowledge of God is
the Christian educator's greatest
motivation. Whatever subject he
teaches, he knows that it is his
privilege and responsibility to
present God's opinion on that
subject to his students. Because
he begins with God's revelation,
he has objective, certain knowl-
edge to communicate to his
students. He has an objective
goal and standard for his educa-
tion which no other philosophy
of education can boast! He is
excited about his subject, and he
is anxious to equip his students
to advance God's kingdom
through his truth. "We want the
Christian schools to become a
mighty bulwark for the defense of
the Christian faith and, as such..
the means by which the whole
man, and mankind as a whole,
may be challenged to forsake the
Prince of Darkness and turn to
him who is Lord oiall" (Van Til
42).
2. Faith in God's victory
motivates the Christian educator
to train his students to stand for
the interests of Christ in every
area of life.
I. The Christian teacher or
parent is motivated to pursue
God's plan for culture, the
kingdom of God on earth, the
equipping of the saints for works
of service, because he is confident
that God will win in history.
Christ is going forth to conquer.
His enemies will be made a
footstool for his feet (1 Corin-
thians 15:25; Hebrews 10:15).
Hence, they exuberantly imbibe
in their students that God's
interpretation will win out.
There is no other interpretation!
The nations will be converted.
God's interpretation will be
embraced progressively and
comprehensively by all men and
nations. The Christian
educator's work is not in vain in
the Lord. (Gen. 22:18; 26:4; Ps.
22:27; 72:11,17; 82:8; 86:9; Isa. 2:2;
66:18; Jere. 3:17; Dan. 7:14; Zech.
14:16; Rev. 7:9; 12:5; 13:7; 15:4)
All the nations that refuse to
surrender to his Lordship and
plans for history will be progres-
sively destroyed by the breath of
his mouth. The nations which
forget God will be cast into hell
(Psalm 9:17).
ii. Obviously, this eschato-
logical optimism is lacking in
much of today' s Christian
education. While there is no
logical connection between an
optimistic eschatology and
Christian education, there is
certainly a theological one. Why
educate from a biblical perspec-
tive if God's plan for history is
not going to be realized? If God
is not interested in anything
beyond men's souls, if history
and earth belongs to Satan and
the wicked, then Christians
ought to avoid the complexities
of education and expend their
energy on getting people saved.
An eschatology of victory is an
indispensable aspect of Christian
education. It provides the
teacher and student with an
educational and cultural motiva-
tion.
iii. "Herein precisely our
inspiration is to be found. You
who seek to educate children
may tell those who are entrusted
to your care that they are chil-
dren ofthe king. They do not live
in a make-believe kingdom of
Narnia. They live in the kingdom
of the Lion of the tribe of Judah
unto whom all power in heaven
and on earth is given. You may
convey to them the promise of the
king when he says:' All things
are yours, but you are Christ's
and Christ is God's.' If you seek
first the kingdom of heaven then
all things will be added to you"
(Van Til 8-9).
I. The Reformation of
Christian Education
A. The Rejection of
Separatism (6:18-19)
1. The Christian educator
must reject any educational goals
and methods that deny the
cultural relevance of Christ's
redemptive work. It is sinful not
to train our covenant children to
stand for the Lordship of Christ
over every area of human life. If
we adopt a defeatist, pietistic,
separatistic approach to educa-
tion, there is no need for Chris-
tian education. The motivation
has been ripped out of the
educative process. If God is not
going to win in history, if Chris-
'tian culture is not to be built,
then Christian education is
unnecessary.
2. Sadly, while many
thousands of Christian students
have been educated in such
schools, they have made very
little impact on Christian culture.
They are living out their educa-
tion. The end is coming. Chris-
tians can do nothing about it.
Let's wait for the rapture and
save as many souls as we can.
These children were never taught
that the Christian is the only one
with answers to our society's
questions! They were never
taught that in addition to wit-
nessing on Tuesday nights, they
must stand for Christ in the
office, town hall, and ball fields
of our country. They were never
taught the comprehensive nature
of the redemptive work of Jesus
Christ. Reformed educators, letit
never be said of you that you
trained a generation of culturally
irrelevant covenant children. If
you do you have sinned against
the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ is
Lord of all. Our educational
goals, standards, and motivation
is to see our students stand for
his Lordship in all walks of life!
3. "Satan knows that Christ
is the Savior not merely of men's
souls for eternity but of their
culture as well. If only we defy
Satan in the name of Christ when
he claims anything for himself or
for those who follow him, then
we need not fear. Pro Rege (For
the King - CBS) was the title of a
three-volume work of Abraham
Kuyper. It is our motto and
we place it before the gen-
eration of God's children. In
this sign conquer!" (Van Til 9)
B. The Rejection of
Synthesis (6:13-16)
A synthetic approach to
Christian education has always
been in vogue, and manyadvo-
cate such an approach today. A
synthetic approach to Christian
education is similar to that in
apologetics. It assumes that the
unbeliever is basically correct in
his approach to the universe. If
he will only add Jesus to the top,
then he will be basically Chris-
tian. Hence, we should adopt his
insights, methods, and goals in
education. Look at all the glori-
April/May, 1999 - THE COUNSEL of Chalcedon - 17
ous achievements which he has
made! Unwittingly, many
Christian schools adopt such ail
approach to education.
1. There are many apparent
benefits to synthetic Christian
education.
I. It will not alienate the
unbeliever. We do not want to
challenge the unbeliever's
approach to the world. He may
not listen to us any more. He
may not respect us. We desire to
remain friends with the unbeliev-
ing scientists and educators as
much as possible. We certainly
cannot be intolerant of the
unbeliever. He has a right to his
opinion.
ii. It provides commort
ground with the unbeliever.
Much of what the urlbeliever
does is essentially correct. There
is no reason why we cannot
build with him where he is
correct. If we work with him in
the laboratory, classroom, and
gymnasium, maybe he will give
us a few minutes to talk to him
about Jesus.
iii. It will provide balance to
our program. We cannot throw
away the glories of ancient
Greece and Rome. We will rob
our children if we are limited by
what the Bible says. Of course
the Bible is correct about religion.
The unbeliever, however, has
many insights which we should
use to give our children a bal-
anced view of life.
2. While these benefits may
seem to warrant such an ap-
proach, the dangers make such
an approach not only undesir-
able but also sinful. Synthetic
Christian education commits the
following errors.
I. It never challenges the
autonomy of the unbeliever. The
basic assumptions of all unbe-
lieving philosophy and educa-
tion are wrong. A synthetic
approach to Christian education
assumes that the basic assump-
tions of the unbeliever about the
world are correct. This is a sin
against Almighty God. If God
and his Word are expelled from
the universe anywhere, then he is
Lord nowhere. The sovereign
dominion of the living God is an
all or nothing proposition. It is
an absolute God we posit in the
Reformed faith, and we may
never as Christian educators
allow that the unbeliever can
know one fact for what it really is
apartfrom God's revelation.
ii. It never challenges the
foolishness of the unbeliever. As
we have seen throughout this
study, the unbeliever's
antiChristian presuppositions
have devastating consequences
throughout his worldview.
While God allows him to dis-
cover much that is relatively true,
his entire philosophy is bank-
rupt. He must live as ifman can
possess objective truth, account
for the uniformity of nature, aI\d.
develop a universal moral
standard, but his unbelieving
presuppositions do not allow
him to justify any of these convic-
tions. He must think one way
and live another. But this is to
admit defeat. Why would the
Christian want to adopt such an
approach to life? While it is
certainly legitimate and desirable
to utilize what the Lord has
blessed him to accomplish
despite his worldview, we must
never adopt his methods or build
upon his presuppositions.
a. He must presuppose
Christ to educate at all. If the
world were not what the Chris-
tian says it is, then the unbeliever
could not educate. There would
be no objective interpretation of
the facts. There would be no way
to identify the facts. There would
be no way to organize the facts.
18 - THE COUNSEL of Chalcedon - April/May, 1999
There would be nothing but
chaos, darkness, and empty
vacuum. Hence, to begin to
educate, the unbeliever must
presuppose that (1) he lives in an
orderly universe, (2) that objec-
tive knowledge of the real world
is possible, and (3) that there are
objective standards of human
conduct. Only the Christian
educator can account for
th';se! The unbeliever must
make a blind leap of faith!
b. He must operate on
borrowed capital. The unbe-
liever is operating on our
worldview! Anti-Christianity
cannot operate unless it presup-
poses biblical Christianity. All of
the cultural advancements which
the unbeliever has made have
been in spite of his presupposi-
tions, because the Christian
worldview is true, and only
because of God's common grace.
iii. It never challenges the
unbeliever with the Lordship of
Christ. A synthetic approach to
Christian education denies that
the fear of the Lord is the begin-
ning of knowledge. It repudiates
the reformed belief that man must
believe in order to understand.
Consistently biblical Christian
education stresses that sin has
blinded the natural man in every
area. Christ's redemptive work is
necessary to restore man unto
knowledge and holiness. All
men must surrender to his
Lordship or incur his wrath. The
synthetic approach says that
even if men do not submit to
Christ's Lordship in academic
subjects, they are basically
correct. We can work with them.
This is a denial of the faith of our
fathers. This is a departure from
biblical Christianity.
iv. It never challenges men to
forsake their darkness. Jesus
commands all men everywhere to
repent. Repentance is the turn-
ing of the whole man away from
sin to God. Men sin with their
mind as much as with their
hands. Men must forsake their
intellectual and moraldarkness
of which Paul speaks in Romans
1:18-32. The synthetic approach
to education says that man does
not need to repent of doing
algebra apartfrom God's Word.
The Bible, however, does not
allow that the unbeliever can see
anything correctly a part from the
light of God's Word.
C. The Maintenance of the
Antithesis in Christian
Education
Christian education has not
been the cultural shaping force
which it once was. In order for
this generation of Christian
educators to train a generation of
culturally relevant, victory
oriented, confident Christian
scholars, they must recover the
following three things.
1. Christian education must
recover its covenantal context.
The purpose of modem
education is the glory of man.
Man wants to learn to dominate
the world for himself. Humanis-
tic education is implication into
man's interpretation. It self-
consciously makes man the
measure of all things. Christian
education must maintain the
biblical purpose for education.
Education is necessary to teach
God's people to know him and
keep his commandments. It
equips them to glorify him and
serve him in all areas of life. We
must not separate education from
obedience. For Christian educa-
tion to be faithful to God, it must
teach his covenant children to
love God with the entirety of their
hearts and minds.
2. Christian education must
recover its cultural relevance.
Christian education in this
century has been defeatist in
mentality. It has denied the
relationship between obedience
and blessings in history. Moses
specifically affirms this relation-
ship in Deuteronomy 6. Chris-
tian education is necessary in
order to pass on Christian
culture to the next generation.
They must occupy the land of
promise and subdue it for the
glory of God. Christian educa-
tion must recover its passion for
the crown rights of King Jesus! It
must teach Christian young
people that the future belongs to
them! They are the heirs of all
things through Jesus Christ. If
they will be willing and faithful,
they will eat the good of the land
(Isaiah 1:19).
3. Christian education must
proclaim its educational exclu-
sivity.
Christian educators need not
be embarrassed by their commit-
ment to biblical revelation. It is
their glory! By God's grace, they
understand the objective, certain
truth about God, man, and the
universe. They can boldly teach
their students that this approach
to life is not one approach among
many, held by a backwards,
uneducated, unscientific group of
religious radicals. Rather, their
educational foundation and
philosophy is the only one which
allows man to educate at all.
I. Christian education
alone understands the world
correctly.
a. The Christian educator
must always maintain that
Christianity alone can account
for the facts, and that all other
worldviews must presuppose
that Christianity is true. There is
not one fact which can be known
correctly apart from God's light.
In tlle classroom, he must con-
stantly expose and oppose all
attempts to understand life apart
from God's Word.
b. "Now here we have a full
admission of the indispensable-
ness of Christian schools. The
ground for the necessity of
Christian schools lies in this very
thing, that no fact can be known
unless it be known in its relation-
ship to God."
ii. Christianity alone
provides a foundation for
education.
a. This is quite an unpopu-
lar claim. Many Christians are
afraid to make it. But if our
doctrine of God is correct, then
we have no choice but to pro-
claim it. If God's creatures are to
know anything correctly, they
must come to God for illumina-
tion. Because Christian educa-
tion is self-consciously
revelational, that is, our educa-
tion presupposes thetruili of the
Bible, it alone provides a c o r r ~ c t
understanding of the universe. It
alone is in accordance with the
facts. It alone gives a foundation
to speak of "the facts." All oilier
educational attempts will pro-
duce darkness, skepticism, and
cultural chaos. On his own
presuppositions, the unbeliever
cannot educate. He has no goal,
method, or motivation for educa-
tion. It is because God's com-
mon grace keeps him from being
fully consistent with his presup-
positions that he even attempts to
educate.
b. "When speaking of the
absolute antithesis that underlies
the educational policies of our
schools, it is not too much to say
that if any subject could be
taught elsewhere than in a
Christian school there would be
no reason for having Christian
schools. The only reason why we
are justified in having Christian
schools is that we are convinced
that outside of a Christian-
theistic atmosphere there can be
no more than an empty process of
April/May, 1999 - THE COUNSEL of Chalcedon - 19
one abstraction teaching ab-
stractness to other abstractions.
No teacrungis possible except in
Christian schools" (Van Til 200).
iii. Christian education
alone offers any hope for the
future.
a. Our culture is in despair.
The Christian capital upon
which our society has been
operating for 250 years is nearly
expended. Pragmatic solutions
cannot rescue Western civiliza-
tion. Our unbelieving culture is
walking in the twilight of chaos
and confusion. Our departure
from the historic Reformed faith
has produced devastating
consequences throughout every
level of society.
b. Christian education has
been part ofthe problem. It has
not been comprehensively
reformed by the Word of God. It
has not confronted the unbeliever
with the comprehensive claims of
the risen Christ nor exposed with
the gospel's scalpel his intellec-
tual and moral blindness.
Rather, it has allowed that in
many areas of life, the unbeliever
is essentially correct in his goals,
methods, and motivations. To the
extent that Christian education
has not been self-consciously
revelational, it has been part of
the problem, and has sinned
against the Lord who commis-
sioned it in the first place. Not
being self-consciously
revelational, it has lost the
confidence to be the cultural
shaping influence it once was. It
now claims to be one approach
among many. Separatism and
synthesis in Christian education
have trained generations of
young people who are Christians
in their homes and churches, but
who do not understand how or
why they must keep God's
commandments in every level of
society.
C. Christian education must
be reformed. Its teachers and
parents must maintain the
antithesis in Christian education.
It must maintain the exclusive
claims of Christ over all of life. It
must teach the cultural relevance
of the redemptive work of Christ
for every area of life. It must
command all men everywhere to
repent and keep God's covenant.
It begins that task by removing its
children from the lairs of the
covenant breakers, i.e., the state
run and sanctioned public
schools, and by giving its chil-
dren a life preparatory education
in which Christ and his Word are
the relevant and all-sufficient
foundations for every academic
pursuit.
1 All subsequent quotations are
from this same work unless
otherwise noted.
"Roots fI.-<"\ Tines" Rebecca B. Morecrafl, Becky to her friends, writes fum a rootedness
V hi in the soil of her native Vir$nia - seven e,enerations lone, _. and from
A collection of poems by Rebecca Belcher Morecraft
a fertile Christian herit.se,e. Visit the home place with her - he down
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poetry. I am sure her work will stand the test of time as more "Becky Morecraft's poems give new meaning to the idea of
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have loved and served KingSabaoth. Her voice will teach the . . smile at the tenderness, humor, and downright deliciousness of
way back as we begin to reclaim a godly covenant heritage." :\ her language. The underlying vision is serious, for the soil of all
-Susan Burns, author and Managing Editor of The Chalce- Ii Mrs. Morecraft's poems ;5 Christ the Lord." -Suzanne Clark,
I ___ ______________________ __
This 'chapbook' of poems (also includne, a mountain ballad and raspberry cobbler reCipe!) is available
from the author for $10.00 plus $2.00 postae,e and handhne,. &lnd checks made out and addressed to her to:
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20 - THE COUNSEL of Chalcedon - April/May, 1999