So does God have an opinion about Education? According to the back of the book, the reader is encouraged to "Open your mind and your heart to God's Word and His truth. Much is at stake. Ask Him to give you discernment to help you understand how He sees the issue of education." I believe this is the starting point for considering the topic of education. Many Christians (to include myself at one time) do not think Biblically when it comes to education. It is true of what the back of the book cover states that, "Most Christian believe God doesn't care, one way or the other, how our children are schooled or what methods are employed." Sadly, this could be further from the truth as the book clearly identifies throughout.
Therefore, any person that is a Christian with plans on reading this book needs to come to the topic of education with an open mind and heart attuned to God's Word. Any person that is a Christian when just thinking of education needs to also consider from a Biblical perspective and how God views the topic. I would also say that if any Christian is not thinking about this topic and what God's opinion is of it, they should. God is not neutral on this topic and the book identifies with abundance what God's position is. With that, lets consider some things about how this book identifies this concept.
The book is broken down in to two main parts with an appendix section. The first part is titled, "The Apologetic" and the second part is titled, "The Core Subjects." The appendix has two sections, one focused on a modified version of an article from the author's ("Israel") website (www.christianworldview.net) and the second focus on what the Bible says about Christian education. Part one of the book addresses topics such as the purpose of education, government schooling, socialization, Christian schools versus home educating, and a Biblical worldview education. Part two of the book addresses various different subjects and how and why it is important to approach them from a Biblical perspective. The appendices simply add icing to the cake with respect to tackling the topic of education from a Biblical/Christian worldview.
Part one of the book considered: The Apologetic
The subtitle of the book is "A Biblical Apologetic For Christian Education & Homeschooling." The entire book actually has this as a theme, however part one starts with considering what the purpose of education is and how it applies to God, His Word, and the application of it in our lives and in raising our children. Essentially, the book starts out with briefly exploring the eras of educational thought of which I would term pre-modern, modern, and post-modern. The author jumps right into the people and thoughts/beliefs of the time that have shaped our current educational framework. The author quickly challenges that framework by causing the reader to examine and analyze the "10,000 hour rule" as documented by Malcolm Gladwell in his book Outliers. This concept "suggests that if you wish to truly excel in any field of endeavor, you need to dedicate 10,000 hours of focused and targeted practice, study, and development. Successful musicians, athletes, artists, lawyers, actors, doctors, etc. have all given witness to investing this level of commitment into their craft."
This "10,000 hour rule" is equated to a persons early years of life and specifically the requirement of the Center for Public Education that "most states require between 175 and 180 days of school and/ or between 900 and 1,000 hours of instructional time per year, depending on the grade level. Taking the lower number of 900 annual hours, this calculates to a total 10,800 hours of seat instruction for students enrolled in a government school for grades 1 through 12."
I do believe the Israel compassionately but firmly motivates the reader to consider what those 10,000 hours should be focused on and who it should be spent with based on scripture. The goal is dictated clearly, every Christian parent's objective with those 10,000 hours should be to the glory of God. Therefore a high level outline is presented from a project management focus to get the reader thinking early about how to achieve this ultimate goal of glorifying God. Education is not exempt when it comes to glorifying God and therefore it is essential parents consider (or reconsider) their responsibility with this part of their children's lives.
The book then moves into the topic of government education. It starts off with quotes from the likes of Horace Mann, Charles Potter, Henry Fielding, and C.S. Lewis identifying the aim and results of government education. The idea of State controlled schooling started with Plato and since that time an increasing push for children to be influenced by the state from birth to adulthood has prevailed. The book identifies several key issues with government education and the use of quotations from various well known educators, theologians, apologists, pastors, humanists and authors indicating how anti-Christian and anti-Biblical government education has been and will always be.
Israel even takes some time to address many statements from Christian parents who send their children to government schools and identifies the inconsistencies in their beliefs about why it's "OK" to send them away. For example, Israel discusses biblical characters taught by others and addresses the "salt and light" concept many Christian parents cling to in order to justify sending their children to government schools. These are very sensitive topics among many parents and even teachers and Israel handles it with concern and compassion. The end result is the same overall, no matter how many Christian children are in the government schools only 1 and 10 of children raised in the government schools will have have a Biblical worldview in adulthood. According to Israel, "That's a statistic and a chance not worth taking!"
Part one continues with discussion about socialization. Israel addresses negative and positive socialization and even works through realistic scenarios and decisions that must be made. The primary objective of the chapter that covers this topics is to properly define what socialization is and what it looks like in the life of a Christian. Many of the things most of the culture consider "healthy social events" are challenged but not entirely forbidden. The end goal is not to become legalistic with a list of Dos and Don't but rather to think Biblically about what socialization really is and how it should influence our children.
Christian school versus public school is also considered. Discussions about the regulative versus normative is introduced. According to the book, "When making ethical decisions, three categories exist:
1. What God commands.
2. What God allows.
3. What God forbids."
When exploring the regulative principle, this is what God commands. In asking who can educate our children, scripture informs us of only parents and on a supplementary role, grandparents. Deciding how to educate children strictly by what God commands, then parents are responsible. When exploring the normative principle, this looks at what God allows based on something not being directly or by principle forbidden by God. Things that fall under this paradigm range from parent-led home-based family discipleship to other methods that are Christian-based and privately funded. With focus though between Christian school and home school, concerns exist more in the Christian school than typical homes chool (although it is acknowledged that issues can be present in both). Age segregated classrooms, negative socialization from apparent "Christian" students, teachers without biblical worldview and having humanistic academic teacher training, and a lack of producing students with Biblical worldview are things to be considered with Christian education. Even with these issues, there is a place in certain situations and could be allowed by scripture for Christian schools, however it is preferred that home education be sought since it is about discipleship and changing the hearts and lives to the glory of God for both the parents and the children.
After the comparison between Christian schooling and home schooling, discussion is had about home education and why people do it. Many do it for different reasons, however it is recommended that people document why they do. Israel points out that home education provides the best model of Deuteronomy 6 and Proverbs 22:6. Parents often are shown the faults in their own life as they train and disciple their children (this is very true for Colleen and I). Academics are part of it but not all of it. Focusing on the eternal matters helps get us through the day-to-day. Use of field trips,cooking and projects to teach subjects is encouraged. Making connections to God during the day as the children are instructed in any subject or application is the aim. Biblical character training is also viewed as essential.
Part one closes out with discussion about the importance of an education that encourages a Biblical worldview. The goal of a biblical worldview is to think Biblically. Allowing God's Word to infiltrate every area of your life, mind and heart is essential. Israel poses some very deep and intriguing questions about what a Biblical worldview looks like and how it should operate. Israel provides questions one can use to dialog up with their children to determine not what they know but rather what they believe. For various subjects Israel asks questions to get the reader thinking about how to answer Biblically. Admittedly, some of the questions really challenge you however I believe it is a good exercise to go through to help us understand why we believe what we believe for all areas of our life.
Part two of the book considered: The Core Subjects
Part two of the book goes into discussions about various subjects in the field of education. From what curriculum is used to logic, to math and science, to philosophy and social studies, to art/music/language arts/literature to even history and government are discussed. This part of the book reminded me of a book Israel wrote years ago titled, "Homeschooling From A Biblical Wordlview." Like that book, the second part of the book identifies how every subject can and should be approached from a Biblical perspective. It is also my understanding that the plan for this book as a whole was to replace the "Homeschooling From A Biblical Worldview" book. With that, it makes sense why Israel included an entire half of a book focused on core subjects. It is makes sense to cover these subjects in order to answer the question whether God has an opinion on education. If Israel can show per subject how God's word and viewpoint applies, it builds a strong reason why government education is not aligned with God's intent for teaching and training a child in the way they should go.
Key points I took away from part two of the book are as follows:
- Many parents (mainly women) focus a lot about the various tools they are using for home educating. They spend lots of time discussing curriculum. Tools for educating are great but not the only thing. Tools are a means to an end. We should be reminded of the great calling, to love and serve God and others.
- Precept to principle to person to practice. We realize that the world around us manifests the character of God. Realizing this is essential to us understanding why God came up with the laws that He did. Understanding the "why" helps us better put into practice His truths. Understanding His truth points us to The Truth, Jesus Christ!
- The importance of teaching logic to our children is essential in helping them be defenders of the faith and to properly analyze, critique and question other truth claims. Knowing way the Bible is true other than because it claims to be is important (the quran claims to be true too!).
- Numerical law can only be properly explained with God as the designer. Apart from God it makes no sense that 2+2 always = 4. Government schools cannot not fully answer this since God cannot be brought into the equation (pun intended).
- Science topics discussed were evolution versus creation, young earth vs old earth and the new age movement. The importance of viewing science from a biblical worldview is discussed. Creationists are not against science. They start with the Bible as the authority and observe evidence from there. Secularists view evidence without the Bible. I am appreciative for the stand Israel takes on these sometimes sensitive topics.
- Philosophy and apologetics are discussed. Philosophy, meaning love of wisdom (Greek philos = love, sophia = wisdom) is part of everyone's life regardless if formally sought out. Everyone believes things and seeks conclusions about life. Will the beliefs and conclusions be aligned with God's Word? Having God's Word as the foundation of our thinking and being able to give a reason or defense for why we believe it, is apologetics. Using the proper tools to form a solid basis is important. Before delving into secular philosophers, Israel recommends strong teaching and modeling of Christian apologetics and for the children to be in high school. A primer on different apologetic approaches are discussed.
- Culture is defined and historical as well as modern types and results are analyzed. Understanding how culture influences people is discussed. Identifying how Christians should respond to the culture is highlighted throughout. The chief purpose of pop culture is defined: to entertain and amuse people. Interestingly and sadly the word amuse literally means not to think (from Latin a = no; muse = ponder or think deeply). It is essential for Christians not to indiscriminately consume pop culture. Rather seeking to weigh and discern all things is encouraged. Not always seeking to be entertained is important with our relationship with God always and others. Pop culture aims at distracting and keeping us from meaningful time with God. Although we have liberty to use cultural opportunities for good, each opportunity should be covered in earnest prayer and direction from the Lord.
- Art and music serve several purposes but should be focus on praising and glorifying God, to challenge the thinking of mankind, and to be enjoyed. As Christians, we have the obligation to produce and consume art that is of the highest absolute standard. Israel also discusses points presented by Dr. Francis Schaeffer to evaluate the arts. The evaluation considerations boil down to this: when evaluating artistic expressions, we have to consider the whole package and not simply set up our own personal preferences as the moral standard. God must be the standard. A parent's goal is to help their children think critically about the art they consume and produce with Godly wisdom.
- With respect to language arts, the evolutionary worldview says language evolved along with humans. We learned from our animal ancestors. On the contrary, language could only come from a special intelligence and that intelligence is God. How language works and the fact there are rules in communicating come from an designer. Communication is in the heart of God. He is a God who longs to reveal Himself to us. As His creation, we also share in this desire to express ourselves. Our language and communication should align with Godly standards.
- Discussion about the "classics" was sought out and how they are determined to be "classics". It is good to understand the authors and their worldview to better grasp the intent behind their writings. Christians should be mindful of what they fill their hearts and minds with regardless of the world thinks something is a "classic". The criteria has changed for determining a classic. Postmodernism goes by majority rules: Harry potter, hunger games, etc are evidence of that. Parents need to balance properly for each child.
- History used to be focused on the study of God's "working in time and space" but instead has been focused on humankind as the center of the universe. Since God continues to be removed from the focus of history, politically correct revisions of history are resulting. The idea however as a Christian is a to seek out the truth of history with the emphasis on the fact that "all people have inherent equal worth before God". Therefore, history should be validated from a Christian worldview so the truth will remain.
- God delegates rights and authority to mankind (rights are defined in the book). God has established government and four main branches were instituted by Him:
1. The individual: Self-Government
2. The Family
3. The Church
4. Civil Government
Appendices of the book considered:
Appendix I: Robin Hood and the Government Schools
I had read a form of this fictional story on Israel's website (www.christianworldview.net) in the past. It is good that this article was adapted for the book since it provides an interesting perspective about what is happening when government schools are funded. I remember when I first read this article, it was unbelievable how ridiculous it sounded. However as I thought more about it and looked into how government schools are funded, it is no way around recognizing that fact that everyone is being forced to pay for government education whether they have children or not. This article is an eye opener and Israel uses an entertaining fictional story to articulate essentially what the government is doing to fund government education.
Appendix II: What Does The Bible Say About Christian Education
In my opinion, this Appendix is the heart of the book. I believe it should not be an appendix but rather be in part one of the book. This appendix is an apologetic for Christian Education. The appendix references a lot of scripture to support why government education is anti-Biblical, however one scripture that stands out to me the most is Ephesians 6:4 which states, "And ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord." Now most Christians when they read this, may think that as long as we parents teach and train our children about God at home, bring them to church and point them to glorify God, that is "nurture and admonition of the Lord" and it is acceptable to send our children to government schools. I can relate with this thought pattern since I used to have it. However as I have grown in the Lord, God revealed to me the true meaning and context of this verse. It is primarily found in the Greek word for "nurture", which is paideia. What is significant about this word is the fact that it refers to "education" or "learning" in the Greek. When Paul was writing this letter to Ephesus, the context of Him using this word (which by the way was inspired by the Holy Spirit), was as Israel points out from the Encylopedia Britannica, "A system of education and training in classical Greek and Hellenistic (Greco-Roman) cultures that included such subjects as gymnastics, grammar, rhetoric, music, mathematics, geography, natural history, and philosophy. In the early Christian era the Greek paideia, called humanitas in Latin, served as a model for Christian institutions of higher learning, such as the Christian school of Alexandria in Egypt, which offered theology as the culminating science of their curricula. The term was combined with enkyklios ('complete system,' or 'circle') to identify a large compendium of general education, hence 'encyclopedia'."
Basically, everything that can be taught in academics is wrapped up in that word paideia. This was the word the Greeks used for "schooling." All of this boils down to the fact that as Israel points out in the book, "God called fathers to train their children up NOT in the paideia of the world, but instead, in the Paideia of the LORD." In order to achieve this Biblical command, a Christian education is essential and therefore government schools cannot be an option.
Overall Impression:
Overall, "Education: Does God Have An Opinion?" answers about 95% of the topic on education in the sight of God (the 5% not covered is a brief narration of education in Europe and the United States and what life was like prior to compulsory attendance laws here in the United States; I think this would have been helpful as a "One-Stop-Shop" about education as it applies to our culture and as Christians). Israel Wayne really challenges the reader to think Biblically about the topic of education. Israel quotes, most importantly, a lot of scripture to back up the overall message of the book (e.g., God's opinion of education). Israel also took time to extensively provide quotes from various well known educators, theologians, apologists, pastors, humanists and authors. This is not something I am accustomed to seeing from Israel in the other books he has authored, however I think it was important to not only show the Biblical references to education, but also secular thought and reasoning (whether they were for or against government education).
In my opinion, any honest Christian who regularly examines themselves before the Lord would have a difficult time not being convicted by the Holy Spirit through the words Israel shares in this book. I recall when I was first convicted of this truth on the topic of education. It was a hard pill to swallow. Many fears welled up in me. Fears about many things Israel addressed in his book. Misconceptions I had as well with respect to my role as a father, a provider, and as an educator were refined through the truths shared in this book.
This book is essential to any Christian who desires to please God in every area of their life, to include education. It is a tool I believe God will use to prick people's hearts. My hope is that more people will not be like Saul as described in Acts 9:5 when he kicked against the pricks (e.g., defy/ignore/push away the truth)! I pray hearts and minds will truly be open to the message of this book (which is based on THE BOOK) and Christians will once again take hold of their responsibility to teach, train, and educate (nurture) their children in the way they should go, which is the Lord's Way! I would highly recommend this book to anyone who not only wants to know the truth about educating their children, but also desires to apply it to their life in order to fulfill God's purpose for bringing up His heritage with fear (respect/reverence) and trembling.
In my opinion, any honest Christian who regularly examines themselves before the Lord would have a difficult time not being convicted by the Holy Spirit through the words Israel shares in this book. I recall when I was first convicted of this truth on the topic of education. It was a hard pill to swallow. Many fears welled up in me. Fears about many things Israel addressed in his book. Misconceptions I had as well with respect to my role as a father, a provider, and as an educator were refined through the truths shared in this book.
This book is essential to any Christian who desires to please God in every area of their life, to include education. It is a tool I believe God will use to prick people's hearts. My hope is that more people will not be like Saul as described in Acts 9:5 when he kicked against the pricks (e.g., defy/ignore/push away the truth)! I pray hearts and minds will truly be open to the message of this book (which is based on THE BOOK) and Christians will once again take hold of their responsibility to teach, train, and educate (nurture) their children in the way they should go, which is the Lord's Way! I would highly recommend this book to anyone who not only wants to know the truth about educating their children, but also desires to apply it to their life in order to fulfill God's purpose for bringing up His heritage with fear (respect/reverence) and trembling.
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