Our Philosophy of Instruction

Why Should Education be "Christian"?

"All that you have made will praise you, O Lord." Psalm 145:10a

Educational theories abound, each one hoping to improve upon the faults of previous theories. The educational program at Evangelistic Temple School (ETS) rests entirely on the assumption that education ought to be "Christian."

Education should be Christian for three reasons:

• First: The Basis of All
  The Bible is the basis of all knowledge, understanding and wisdom and pertains to every realm of life and thought (Prov. 1:2-7).
• Second: To Reveal and Glorify God
  The purpose of the creation, which is the primary focus of school studies, is to reveal and glorify God (Rom. 1:20, Psalm 145:10).
• Third: Jesus Must be The Center
  God is fully revealed and glorified by the creation only in Jesus Christ and by the power of the Holy Spirit (John 14:17, Col. 1:17-20, I Cor. 2:10-14, II Cor. 3:14). Therefore, education will only fulfill its purpose when students and teachers found it upon the Bible, place the Lord Jesus Christ at its center, and rely upon the Holy Spirit to illuminate the meaning of the creation they study.

I. The Bible is the Basis of All Knowledge, Understanding and Wisdom.

The Bible is the basis for all knowledge, understanding, and wisdom. King Solomon wrote in Proverbs 1:7, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." No matter how useful the knowledge gained from secular institutions may be, one cannot hope to learn what God intends him to learn without beginning with the fear of the Lord. The fear of the Lord is gained and fostered through the study of the Bible. "It [scripture] is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life so that he may learn to revere the Lord his God." (Deut. 17:19).

Thus wisdom comes by placing the Bible as the foundation of education. Psalm 111:10 echoes Proverbs, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow His precepts have a good understanding." This text directly connects following God's precepts found in scripture to "a good understanding."

Deuteronomy 4:6 says, "Observe them [God's commands] carefully, for this will show your wisdom..." This theme is repeated in Psalm 119:97-104, "Oh, how I love your Law! I meditate on it all day long. Your commands make me wiser than my enemies, for they are ever with me. I have more insight than all my teachers, for I meditate on your statutes. I have more understanding than the elders, for I obey your precepts... How sweet are your words to my taste... I gain understanding from your precepts..."

Knowing God through scripture creates a basis for gaining knowledge, increasing understanding, and growing in wisdom.

The Bible Lens — The Basis Of Learning
The Bible is not only the basis of learning; it also provides the lens through which Christians are to view the entire world, because it pertains to every area of life and thought. Many Christians do not realize this, thinking that the "wisdom" mentioned in Proverbs applies only to a narrow range of "religious" topics. But a brief survey of the Book of Proverbs shows that wisdom applies to topics as varied and "secular" as politics, family life, entertainment, relationships and biology.

Solomon says that this wisdom has a very broad application "...for attaining wisdom and discipline; for understanding words of insight; for acquiring a disciplined and prudent life, doing what is right and just and fair; for giving prudence to the simple, knowledge to the young... for understanding proverbs and parables, the sayings and riddles of the wise." (Prov. 1:2-7).

God's Point Of View
God has a point of view about all He creates, since "Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made." (John 1:3). Furthermore, Paul writes in Colossians 1:19 that Christ is to be Lord over everything in existence, "so that in everything He might have the supremacy." This supremacy includes every school subject, from politics and economics to molecular biology and foreign languages.

A Christian World View
While the Bible does not always overtly address every subject matter in life, it does provide the way for the Christian to interpret every subject. Interpreting everything in the light of the Bible is called thinking "Christianly," or developing a Christian "worldview." A worldview is a lens or framework of thought through which a person views the world.

The Mind Of Christ
When Christians use the Bible as the source of their worldview, they allow God himself to inform and color their understanding of life. The Bible refers to this perspective as the "mind of Christ" (I Cor. 2:16). Christians who gain Christ's mind learn to see the world as He sees it. This is essentially the meaning of Paul's exhortation in Romans 12:1-2 to have one's mind "renewed." The result of this renewal is that the believer will be "transformed," and he will not only know, but " approve God's good, pleasing and perfect will."

The Battlefield of The Mind
This and other passages show that a key to the transformation of a sinner into a Christian disciple is a change in the mind . In other words, it is in the mind where much of the battle for the Christian soul is fought and either won or lost. Romans 8:5-7 makes this idea clear when Paul states, "The mind of the sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace. The sinful man is hostile to God."

Take Ephesians 4:17-24 as an example of this theme. In this passage Paul exhorts the believers to be radically different in attitude and behavior from the world around them. In verses 17-19 he suggests that at the root of evil behavior is a "darkened... understanding," "ignorance," and the "futility" of unregenerate thinking. As a result, people have "lost all sensitivity," and have "given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more." Paul's solution is " to be made new in the attitude of your minds. " He says that this is an indispensable part of putting "on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness." (Eph. 4:24).

Simply put, the goal of thinking Christianly and of forming a Christian worldview is to stop thinking about the universe from a human point of view, and to gain God's perspective about His creation. John Charles Ryle, a famous evangelist of the 19th Century, puts it this way. "Holiness is the habit of being of one mind with God, according as we find His mind described in scripture. It is the habit of agreeing in God's judgment — hating what He hates, loving what He loves — and measuring everything in this world by the standard of His Word."

Sacred Vs. Secular
Without a Christian worldview, it is easy for a believer to set up a distinction between "sacred" topics and supposed "secular" ones. Thus, categories like politics, education, social issues, the sciences and entertainment become disconnected from Christian thought.

 The only "spiritual" topics left are ones like Bible study, prayer, and Sunday church service. This distinction between sacred topics and secular topics is thoroughly unbiblical, and it results in the construction of what the Bible calls a "stronghold" (II Cor. 10:4-5). A stronghold is an "argument" that "sets itself up against the knowledge of God." It is a wall that a person erects in his mind between God's truth and his own reality. This wall excludes God's relevance or power from having any influence on certain "secular" areas of that person's life.

Put in another way, it is a mental state that says, "God, you have nothing to say to me on this topic," or "What God says about this topic can not be a reality for me." This wall prevents people from obeying God in those areas of their lives that they deem "secular," because they cannot see God's perspective on them. In effect, these Christians become what scripture identifies as "double-minded" (James 1:8).

Double Mindedness
This double-mindedness, James says, makes a Christian "unstable in all his ways." James connects it with unbelief (James 1:6-7), the most egregious sin in Christian theology (Heb. 11:6), because it alone can keep people out of heaven (Mark 16:16; John 3:18, 36; Heb. 2:3 and 3:12, 19). Unbelief and instability render the church utterly powerless and ineffective in its mission to represent and proclaim Christ to the world.

Relevance Today
Without a uniquely Christian perspective guiding the believer through life, the world will influence the church more than the church influences the world. Os Guiness says, "Failing to think Christianly, evangelicals have been forced into the role of cultural imitators and adapters, rather than originators. " This means that evangelical Christians who do not develop a Christian mind are reduced to copying contemporary pagan culture, with all of its perversions, immorality, and God-demeaning attitudes towards life. Observe some of the consequences of imitating the culture.

Consequences of Imitating
Imitating contemporary culture has led first of all to a watering down of core, fundamental Christian beliefs. Gene Edward Veith, Jr., Christian social critic and author of Postmodern Times, says that polls conducted in the early 1990s indicate, "53% of those who call themselves evangelical Christians believe there are no absolutes."

Josh McDowell discovered that the situation has grown even worse in the 21st Century. He says that 81% of young people who call themselves "born again Christians" do not believe in the existence of absolute truth . These young people regularly attend a Bible-believing church and claim to be evangelical Christians with a deep, personal commitment to Jesus Christ, yet they agree with the statement that all truth is relative to the individual and his/her circumstances."

Rejection of Absolute Moral Standards
Imitating contemporary culture has also led Christians to follow the culture's lead and reject absolute moral standards. Veith draws from another study that reports, "56% of single 'fundamentalists' engage in sex outside of marriage. This is about the same as the rate for 'liberals' (57%)." Also, "49% of Protestants and 47% of Catholics consider themselves 'pro-choice' [about] abortion."

More recently, Josh McDowell has found that young people who attend church regularly, but who do not have a Christian worldview, are "36% more likely to lie to a friend, 48% more likely to cheat on an exam, 200% more likely to steal, 200% more likely to physically hurt someone, 300% more likely to use illegal drugs, 600% more likely to attempt suicide," and "225% more likely to be angry with life."

Writer and managing editor of WorldNet-Daily.com , David Kupelian, writes, " They [Christians] emulate the narcissism of secular culture around them. They live lives of shallowness and selfishness, of petty emotions and jealousies, of distraction and escape, of ego and pride, and sometimes of gross corruption and treachery. This version of Christianity, more prevalent than you can imagine, literally justifies and excuses almost anything, offering cheap grace as a bandaid to cover brazen and often sordid acts. Its adherents, while living it up under smug delusions that they're "saved," drive other people away from real Christianity with their hypocrisy."

Crisis of Leadership
So the failure to develop a Christian worldview based on the Bible leads to an imitation of secular thinking, which in turn devastates the church's influence on society, filling it with moral and theological compromise. David Kupelian says, "Christians have lost their former influence in politics, in the press, in entertainment, in literature — in virtually every major area of life. "

Christian Relevance
By thinking secularly of God's creation, Christians in effect send God the message that His viewpoint is not relevant, and they cut themselves off from seeing His perspective on His own creation. Secular thinking creates a situation similar to that of an estranged husband and wife who refuse to hear each other's opinions on certain matters, removing all hope of mutual understanding. In such a situation, how will the Christian ever learn to please God?

The Role of Formal Education
Because formal education is so crucial in training the mind to think, Christian schools are perfectly positioned to help the church make a significant impact on the world for Jesus Christ. If students are trained to think Christianly, they are more likely to think of the world as He does, and consequently share Christ's concerns and interests in that world. But if they are trained to think secularly, they will likely think about God's creation by excluding Him. Sadly, Christian schools must bear much of the blame for the secularization of the Christian mind. How could this be the case?

Historical Roots
Many evangelical Christians set up their own private schools in the early 1960s, following several famous court cases that drove overt religious influences from public schools. In many instances these new religious schools were so eager to begin that they adopted secular curricula without discrimination, pasting on a few scripture verses to "Christianize" it.

Some schools were content to use exactly the same secular textbooks and lesson plans as public schools, as long as any mention of evolution was deleted from the materials. Most of the teachers in these new Christian schools where trained in the same secular pedagogical institutes as their public school counterparts, where they adopted the same secular educational theories and methodologies.

Few ever received specialized training in the process of integrating school subjects with Biblical truth. As a result, contemporary Christian education did not always teach the curriculum itself from a Christian perspective. Worse still, "the benchmark of success for many Christian schools and for Christian education, in general, is in their public school counterparts," says William F. Cox Jr., of Regent University .

Christian schools themselves thus fall into the same problem mentioned above — the imitation of the secular culture. Cox goes on to say, "The very act of comparing to the standards of institutions seen as antithetical to Christianity is a major indicator of the degree to which Christian education has lost sight of its identity and purpose ."

This eagerness to emulate secular education has led many Christian students to conclusions about the world that are just as secular as those held by their public school counterparts. In the end there is little difference, in worldview and thus in lifestyle, between those who have passed through Christian schools and those who have passed through secular, government-run schools. Is it any wonder that the church resembles the secular culture more than it resembles Christ?

The Impact of Intense Long Term Education
How could formal schooling have such a strong impact, given all the efforts of parents and churches to instill Christian faith in their young people?

Observe the amount of time spent at educational endeavors during one's youth. The average student attends school approximately 180 days per year. During those 180 days, he spends seven hours a day at school on average. That means that he spends around 1,260 hours per year at school.

When added to an average high school homework load of two hours per night (360 hours per year of homework for high school students), the typical student will spend approximately 16,560 hours of the first 18 years of his life at school or in school related activities. That is 25% of a young person's waking life in high school alone, and 14% of a young person's entire waking life before the age of 19, including infancy.

The impact of such enormous exposure is phenomenal. If this time is used to continually expose a young person to the culture's already pervasive secular worldview, it is highly likely that he will adopt, though perhaps unconsciously, that same worldview. If nothing else he will probably absorb many secular assumptions about life that are held by his secularly trained teachers. This will likely happen no matter how thoroughly his church and Christian family attempt to train him otherwise.

The amount of time that a typical young person is exposed to Christian teaching cannot compete with his exposure to secularism, even if he regularly attends church and some form of Sunday school or youth group. Even if he hears Christian teaching for as many as three hours a week, every week of his life from birth, that will only amount to around two percent of his waking life before he turns 19.

Even if he unwaveringly keeps a daily, half hour quiet time from the age that he can read, he will still only spend an average of about three and a half percent of his waking time devoted to exclusively "religious" topics. The result is a Christian with a mind thoroughly indoctrinated in secularism and humanism, a concept that subverts God by exalting humanity to the most important place in the universe.

Humanist Manifesto
Charles Francis Potter, a signer of the 1933 Humanist Manifesto and the author of Humanism: A New Religion, pointed this very thing out when he wrote, "Education is thus a most powerful ally of humanism. What can the theistic Sunday schools, meeting for an hour once a week, and teaching only a fraction of the children, do to stem the tide of a five-day program of humanistic teaching?"

Impact of Secular TV
The impact of secular and humanistic influences in school become even more powerful when combined with the average hours that young people spend in front of secular television programming: an average of 19 hours and 40 minutes a week, or 12% of waking life, for those between the ages of two and seventeen.

What is the Remedy?
How can this situation be remedied? A Biblically based Christian worldview knocks down the mental stronghold that says, "Biblical truth has no relevance, power, or application for my life."

By providing a unified lens, or framework, that guides how one interprets the world, a Christian worldview helps believers make godly assessments of the world, as well as life-changing decisions in their responses to that world. But without such a worldview in place, the believer usually defaults to thinking secularly about everything beyond the narrow scope of "spiritual" subjects.

To live victoriously and influentially as Christians, something more must take place in discipleship than merely attending church and securing a daily "quiet time." Disciples must discover a larger understanding of devotion that brings everything under Biblical truth and teaches them to think "Christianly" about their entire world.

Any educational philosophy that builds on another foundation opens the mind to a faulty and potentially dangerous worldview. Because the Bible is the foundation of all knowledge, understanding and wisdom, and because the Bible pertains to everything in life, education should be Christian.

Hopefully the case has been made that the church is in desperate need of truly Christian education that develops a Christian worldview. But what exactly is God's perspective on His creation? What is his perspective on the school subjects?

To understand His viewpoint, one must first understand His purpose for the universe. This purpose will naturally inform and direct the approach to learning about that universe.

II. The Purpose of the Creation is to Reveal and Glorify God.

ETS asserts that God's purpose for all of His creation is to reveal and thus glorify Himself. This theme repeats itself throughout scripture. Colossians 1:16 and Hebrews 2:10 say that, "all things were created by Him and for Him."

In other words, everything exists to serve God. But how is everything to serve God? By revealing and thus glorifying Him.

"All you have made will praise you..." (Ps. 145:10). Psalm 148 adds, "Praise Him, sun and moon, praise Him all you shining stars... Let them praise the name of the Lord, for He commanded and they were created." (verses 3,5).

Psalm 19:1 announces, "The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands." Romans 1:20 tells us that, "...since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities - his eternal power and divine nature - have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been created..." The 24 elders and four living creatures in the Book of Revelation announce in verse 4:11, "You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being." These heavenly beings name the creation itself as the reason for glorifying God.

God's activities on earth were also meant to reveal and glorify Him. In Exodus 9:16 God says that He raised up Pharaoh ". . . that I might show you my power and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth." Then in Exodus 14:4 he says, "I will gain glory for myself through Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD." A study of Acts 17:26-27 shows that God's control of history is "so that men would seek Him and perhaps reach out for Him." Clearly, God's desire to reveal His glory and character motivates His activity.

Purpose Of Humanity
Humanity was created with the same goal in mind. Isaiah 43:7 says that those called by His name are those "whom I created for my glory..." Ephesians 1:12-14 asserts the same thing, saying that believers "might be for the praise of His glory." Ephesians 2:6-7 makes clear that the purpose of Christ's redemption is "in order that in the coming ages He might show the incomparable riches of His grace." Romans 15:8-9 declares that Christ "became a servant" so that the "Gentiles may glorify God for His mercy."

How does God's purpose for creation direct education at ETS?
If all of creation was intended to reveal and glorify God , it follows that education, which studies this creation, was also meant to reveal and glorify God. Since the creation is itself a revelation of God, then the study of it will reveal God . So when a student studies microorganisms, chemical compounds, music, algebraic equations, Napoleon Bonaparte, Charles Dickens, French verb conjugations, and all other school lessons, God reveals Himself.

The goal of formal education then is not just that the learner would know the subjects better, but that by knowing the subjects better he would know the Creator of those subjects better. The school subjects can actually help students grasp God's character more clearly. Students will be filled with greater reverence for God and appreciation for His vast power and infinite genius. Education is primarily a process of discovering God, whose fingerprints are present and evident in everything that schools study. People learn in order to worship.

How can school subjects glorify God? For example, how can a class like keyboarding or algebra result in greater praise for and understanding of God? God's glory in creation is similar to the brilliance of a diamond. A diamond's brilliance comes from the number and variety of facets cut into its surface. More light is reflected as more facets are cut. This reflected light produces the stone's glimmer. In the same way, as we "cut" more facets (or rather discover more facets) in the creation through study, we uncover increasing opportunities for God's light to be reflected , revealing more of God's brilliance and glory.

Learning of God's creation can be to the Christian what wood is to the bonfire. Adding wood to a bonfire will increase its heat and size. In the same way, learning about the creation can increase the heat and size of a Christian's worship of God. This is because learning about the creation gives the Christian more reasons to glorify God. Each piece of knowledge can make the fire of the Christian soul burn with more fervency for God. For example, history class will reveal that God is responsible for the rise and fall of all the nations, and science class will reveal that God is responsible for the majestic mountains, the soaring red wood trees, and the tiny, intricate atom. Knowing about these things gives one increasing reasons to worship God, adding fuel to the fire of the Christian soul.

Fuel For the Soul
Most Christians obtain fuel for their soul from all the usual places, like Bible studies and fellowship with other Christians. But they often miss out on all the other sources of "fuel" that God has provided. God intended each school subject to be a new piece of wood for the fire. "For you make me glad by your deeds, O LORD; I sing for joy at the works of your hands. How great are your works, O LORD, how profound your thoughts." (Ps. 92:4-5).

The Leaf Illustration
To illustrate this process, imagine a student in her biology class examining a simple tree leaf. At first, the leaf seems common to the student's experience, and brings no revelation. The teacher begins the lesson by explaining the process whereby the tree's genetic code directs the leaf's formation.

Who encoded this tree so perfectly that time and again, year after year, for thousands of years, each tree of this species has produced leaves of the same shape, size and color? Wouldn't some law of statistics prevent such a perfect reproduction from occurring over and over again?

The student looks closely at the leaf's veins, which carry very specific nutrients to the cells. She observes its complex cellular structure in the microscope. The teacher goes on to lecture about the fragile chemical reactions occurring in each cell to harness the sun's energy. Has any human genius ever constructed a computer nearly as intricate and complicated? Could anyone ever have imagined a process so fragile that even the slightest variation of chemicals and energy would result in disaster for the entire tree?

And yet, the same process reoccurs millions of times a day, every day, and has for thousands of years! The student is compelled to ask the question, "Who did this?" and to conclude, "How great He must be!" Thus the original plan for the creation is fulfilled, as the student responds by glorifying and thanking God (Rom. 1:21), and is overcome with the awe at His wisdom, power and creativity.

As Romans 1:19-20 declares, "God has made it plain to them... God's invisible qualities — His eternal power and divine nature - have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made." Learning ceases to be about acquiring "neutral" facts devoid of meaning. Knowledge becomes imbued with deep significance that calls attention to its creator.

Ponder His Deeds
Scripture repeatedly exhorts God's people to ponder his deeds. Psalm 77:12 says, "I will meditate on all your works, and consider all your mighty deeds." God's "mighty deeds" of course include everything in existence. "Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made." (John 1:3).

The Psalmist proclaims in reverent astonishment after meditating on God's works, "What god is so great as our God?" (Ps. 77:13). God promises that by meditating upon His deeds, more trust in and faithfulness to Him will result. For example, Psalm 78:7-8 says, "We will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, His power, and the wonders He has done."

As a result of learning of the deeds of the Lord, "...they would put their trust in God and would not forget His deeds but would keep His commands. They would not be like their forefathers — a stubborn and rebellious generation." Psalm 111:2 says, "Great are the works of the Lord; they are pondered by all who delight in them." Pondering God's works will magnify His greatness.

The Artwork Of Creation
Is it really necessary to study the creation in order to know God better? Take the subject of art history. To learn more about the artist Leonardo da Vinci, one might begin by reading books and listening to lectures about this master. It is essential to do this, because apart from accurate information, one could easily misinterpret da Vinci's artwork, failing to grasp its significance.

But the study would be incomplete if one stopped with books and never bothered to examine any of his actual art! Words on paper may convey the correct concept of this artist's greatness, but one's appreciation of da Vinci is insufficient until one sees the artwork itself. In the same way, a Christian begins to learn of God by studying His scriptures, but his appreciation for His mightiness and genius is very small until he gazes upon His artwork in creation.

The Example of Job
Job provides an illustration of this truth. Before God revealed Himself to Job as the Lord of nature, his understanding of God was limited. What he knew of God was true, but he did not appreciate the depth of God's wisdom.

This limited understanding led to days of self-pity. But God confronted him with a list of His exploits in nature, "Where were you when I laid the earth's foundations? " Job humbly responds with a faith-filled, "I know that You can do all things; no plan of Yours can be thwarted." He admits, "Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know... my ears had heard of You, but now my eyes have seen You. Therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes." (Job 42:2-6).

It was after considering God's handiwork in nature that Job could begin to appreciate the depth of God's goodness and righteousness. Likewise, a contemplation of the creation through school studies can result in an appreciation for the creator's genius. This is what God intended education to be about, because he desires people to see Him by studying the creation.

If God's Perspective is Excluded
This is why education should be "Christian." How can a secular school train the mind to see what God intended the mind to see if by law it must exclude God's perspective from consideration? This is not to say that secular education is worthless. It studies the same creation, and in so far as it does this God can use it to reveal many important truths.

But no matter how much better equipped with resources and facilities a secular school may be, its secular assumptions about reality hinder students from seeing God's glory in His creation. Scripture identifies this as "worldly wisdom."

Worldly Wisdom
The Scripture says that the "world through its wisdom did not know Him." (I Cor. 1:21). In other words, worldly wisdom is "worldly" precisely because it does not recognize God. This undermines God's very purpose for learning. Many people assume that religious schools that may be materially poor in comparison to government-run schools threaten to isolate students from the real world, rendering them unfit to deal with today's issues. But rather than isolating students, Christian education can open up their understanding to the universe that God intended them to see.

God Revealed In Subjects
Every school subject reveals something about God and equips His people to serve Him in some way. For instance,

Sciences — in the sciences, when the student studies God's works in detail, His power and genius is revealed.

History — puts God's love and wisdom on display by examining His sovereign control of the human drama and showcasing His long-term perspective.

Mathematics — shows off God's unchanging faithfulness and orderliness by teaching students to understand the language of the creation.

English — The study of English helps students to appreciate the God who communicates with His people, as they grow in their ability to communicate and think truthfully and effectively.

The rigorous study of these core topics enables people to become better truth-seekers. Other subjects aid students to grow in Godly wisdom and skill, in order to better serve God's purposes. Learning a second language increases communication skills by exposing students to other cultures and disciplining their minds.

The fine arts help students to meditate on God's works, communicate them to others, and develop the gifts He has given them. Bible classes familiarize students with God through His scriptures, training them to interpret scripture responsibly.

The remaining subjects focus primarily on training students to steward their resources in a way pleasing to God. Business and technology classes help students to steward their material resources for God's Kingdom. Physical and Health Education shows students how to steward their bodies, minds, emotions, and relationships for God's glory.

The Special Education Department enables every student to fulfill God's plan in every subject area. All these subjects reveal and glorify God by drawing attention to what He has done and what He requires of His people. But the question still remains, how is this purpose achieved ?

III. God is Fully Revealed and Glorified by the Creation only in Jesus Christ and by the Power of the Holy Spirit.

If the study of creation reveals and glorifies God, and if non-Christian schools are teaching about the same creation, then why does the whole world not know God? Why, when examining the cell of an onionskin, can two people look into the same microscope, but one will walk away praising God for His genius while the other will see only the highly complex cellular structures?

This disparity of experience occurs for the same reason that two people can look at the same passage of scripture and have completely opposite reactions. One will walk away deeply strengthened in his faith, while the other will walk away unmoved and unresponsive to God. Due to the fall, humanity does not automatically recognize God either in the creation or scripture. I Corinthians 2:8 says, "None of the rulers of this age understood it [God's wisdom]."

The difference is Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit.
Jesus plays the central role in learning and teaching because it is only in Christ that God will complete His purpose for the universe. All of creation fell from God's favor, but in Christ, God plans to restore everything to its original purpose. Ephesians 1:9-10 says, "When the times will have reached their fulfillment [God will] bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ."

Paul repeats this in Colossians 1:19-20, "...through Him [Christ] to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through His blood, shed on the cross." It is only in Christ that God is fully revealed and glorified. In the same way, the learner and the teacher must be "in Christ" in order for God's purpose of education to be fully realized. Only those who are in Christ are privy to God's gift of the Holy Spirit, Who interprets the creation.

The Holy Spirit plays a crucial role in education , "...but God has revealed it to us by His Spirit." (I Cor. 2:10). Apart from the interpreting work of the Holy Spirit, the creation appears empty and meaningless, just as scripture does without the Spirit.

Mankind has tried to interpret the meaning of the creation by himself without the Spirit, and the attempt always fails. Some have interpreted the creation to be full of different gods with human-like personalities. Others have interpreted it to be the result of random-chance evolution. Still others insist that this is a human-centered universe, and that "man is the measure of all things." (Protagora, 5th Century BC).

In all cases, mankind has continually misinterpreted the creation to serve himself. This occurs because, as stated in I Corinthians 2:14, "The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned." In other words, the unspiritual person will always misinterpret knowledge to serve himself rather than God.

II Corinthians 4:3-4 says similarly, "...our gospel is veiled... to those who are perishing. The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers..." This "veil" prevents the unregenerate person from understanding God's revelation in both scripture and the creation. This is not to say that the unregenerate person cannot learn knowledge, or that he cannot think. It simply means that the unregenerate person cannot interpret knowledge as it was intended to be interpreted, "so that they can not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ." (II Cor. 4:4).

The creation was intended to serve God by drawing attention to Him. Any other meaning invented by humans is fallacious.

Not Just Neutral Facts
So learning is not a function of simply acquiring "neutral" facts and skills that will one day help us earn higher salaries. It is the process of gaining knowledge and correctly interpreting it so that it will serve its greatest, ultimate purpose of revealing and glorifying God.

The correct interpretation can only come by way of the Holy Spirit's influence, who reinterprets the creation for the believer in such a way that it serves its original purpose. Theologians call this process " illumination," which means, " to shed light upon." The Holy Spirit sheds light upon scripture and the creation so that they can be understood correctly. The subject learned will no longer serve humanistic or secular ends; it will actually reveal the Most High himself as He intended.

We Must Be Born Again
But how does the learner gain access to the Holy Spirit's direction? How is the Spirit's work appropriated so as to render the correct interpretation of the creation? This appropriation first requires that the learner and teacher humbly turn to God in Jesus Christ, through faith. "But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away." (II Cor. 3:16).

In this process the teacher and learner are reborn with a new nature given by God, cleansed and fitted for His use (John 3:3). In such a new nature the Holy Spirit has been promised to dwell (John 14:15-18). God has promised to give His Spirit to those who obey Him (Acts 5:32). The Spirit is received by faith (Gal. 3:14).

Jesus promises that the Holy Spirit will "teach [us] all things" (John 14:26) and will "guide us into all truth" (John 16:15). "We... received... the Spirit Who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us." (I Cor. 2:12). God has freely given the church more than eternal life - He has given her the entire universe (I Cor. 3:21-22) to rule and reign over with Him in the coming age (I Cor. 6:1-4, II Tim. 2:12, Rev. 2:26-27 and 22:5)!

Faith in God is the key to receiving the Spirit's guidance when interpreting the meaning of the creation. Saint Augustine summarized this concept well when he wrote, " I believe, so that I can understand."

God Himself Becomes the Teacher
Job 36:22 declares, "God is exalted in His power. Who is a teacher like Him?" God Himself becomes the teacher in the educational process. So complete teaching and learning is impossible without Jesus Christ to reconcile us to the Father, and without the indwelling of God by His Spirit.

It is only God, the ultimate teacher, who will correctly interpret the facts of the various subjects. Since the Spirit dwells only in those who are in Christ (John 14:15-18, Eph. 1:13), it follows that complete education can only be realized for those who are in Christ. "...because only in Christ is it [the veil] taken away." (II Cor. 3:14).

Just as God has decided to redeem the world in Christ so that it can accomplish His purpose, so it is only in Christ that complete learning can happen. "He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together... so that in everything He might have supremacy... and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things." (Col. 1:17-20). It is in Christ that knowledge is "held together," to achieve its true purpose — that Christ "might have supremacy" in all learning. For this reason education should be Christian.

So at ETS, the purpose of education is elevated above the self-promoting aims of entering a reputable college, finding a good job, or even preparing to 'deal with the real world. ' God never intended education to be a means of improving oneself or even a means of advancing society. These are good things, in and of themselves, and they are certainly desirable byproducts of an education, but they are not God's full purpose.

ETS does hope that students will find good jobs, good opportunities for higher education, and be able to "deal" with the world. But these are secondary goals, and will inevitably be accomplished as a result of having one's life and mind in order with God. But by themselves these goals can quickly become servants of humanism by placing humanity at the center of importance, and even of secularism, by excluding God's relevance.

ETS also elevates education above the reactionary, fear-based reason for which many Christian schools exist: to preserve youth from violence, substance abuse, and sexual immorality . Out of a well-warranted fear of these sins, many parents have sought a safe haven in the Christian school movement. Christian schools may have helped some young people survive for a time, but if this is the only purpose for religious schools, it is doubtful that their students will be equipped to become the lifelong "overcomers" in Christ envisioned by Paul (Rom. 8:37).

Jesus Aims High
Jesus Christ has much higher aims for His disciples and for Christian education than simply to preserve His people for a few years before they sink into the mire of the world. Epaphra prayed that the Colossians would "Stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured." (Col. 4:12).

Paul told the Ephesians that God had raised up teachers "to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ," so that "we will no longer be infants" and that "we will in all things grow up into Him who is the Head, that is Christ." (Eph. 4:11-15). This is far loftier than just "preservation."

The Danger of the Preservation Model
A danger with the "preservation" model is that in avoiding the more dramatic sins one may be deluded into believing that God has no higher purpose for His people than their mere survival.

A refugee camp can also prevent the immediate extermination of its inhabitants, but it is a spare and meager survival. Few people housed in a refugee camp would testify that they lived life to the full in that place. In the same way a Christian school that intends only to preserve its students from falling into the more overt sins will not provide them with the "life... to the full" that Christ desires for his followers (John 10:10).

Pitfalls of External Righteousness
Such schools can also mislead their students about the true nature of sin and righteousness. By identifying sin as only drug use and premarital sex, for example, they are in danger of encouraging an external form of righteousness that relies on outward conformity and ignores the inward purity of the heart and mind that Christ requires of His people.

In such a situation, the vastly more destructive sins of the heart, such as unbelief, selfishness, pride, and a lack of love for God and neighbor, can go virtually unnoticed. John Milton wrote in his treatise On Education, that "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, and to be like Him." It is to this noble height that Christian education calls its students.

To summarize, education should be Christian for three reasons:

First, the Bible is the basis of all knowledge, understanding and wisdom and pertains to every realm of life and thought.
ETS sees the moral and theological relativism prevalent in today's church as a hindrance to the Church's ability to influence the world for Christ. The relativism is due in part to a poorly developed Christian worldview among God's people. This is corrected as Christians learn to think "Christianly" about their entire world. Thinking Christianly means having one's mind "renewed" so that the disciple may "test and approve God's ...will." Christian education can aid this renewal by studying the creation from God's perspective.

Second, the purpose of the creation is to reveal and glorify God.
By starting at this point, the teacher and learner approach the educational process as a means of discovering God above all else.

Third, God is fully revealed and glorified by the creation only in Jesus Christ and by the power of the Holy Spirit.
In order to fulfill God's original intention for education, both teacher and learner must be reconciled to God in Christ and indwelled by the Holy Spirit, for it is only in Christ that one can become privy to God's mind and purposes.

As the creation's purpose is fulfilled when held together by its creator, Jesus Christ, so too is the purpose of education fulfilled when it is held together by Christ. It is only the Spirit who correctly interprets otherwise meaningless knowledge. Without the Spirit's guidance, mankind will inevitably misinterpret knowledge to serve himself rather than the Creator.

Therefore, education will only fulfill its purpose when students and teachers found it upon the Bible and place the Lord Jesus Christ at its center, relying upon the Holy Spirit to illuminate the meaning of the creation they study.