Education That is Christian -- By: Daniel H. Smith

Journal: Emmaus Journal
Volume: EMJ 01:2 (Summer 1992)
Article: Education That is Christian
Author: Daniel H. Smith


Education That is Christian

Daniel H. Smith1

The Need for Education that is Christian

We live in an education-conscious society. A significant number of individuals in any community would be directly involved in the educational sphere of life as students, teachers, administrators, staff, support, and service personnel. We also continually evaluate the educational world around us. This evaluation ranges from the personal and informal impressions and opinions of students and parents to sophisticated professional evaluation at the national level. In the last decade a host of voices have been raised in concern over the quality of education in North America.

While Christians historically have been involved in education, in recent generations this involvement has increased and become formalized in the establishment of seminaries, Christian colleges, and Bible colleges. There also have been major efforts to promote Christian schools and home schooling. Many of these efforts have been made in reaction to the inadequacy, if not misdirection, of education in the secular world. While we are a health-conscious society with concern for the physical body, there seems to be little concern about the quality and purity of the things we dump into our minds. From the classroom to the media the moral and domestic influence is nothing short of appalling, and any form of censorship or limitation is denounced by many.

Therefore it seems appropriate, if not urgent, for Christians to make the effort and investment in education that will result in quality of experience and inclusion of biblical ethics and content.

Factors that Make Education Christian

But is all “Christian Education” really Christian? Does having Bible courses available in the curriculum make an educational experience truly Christian? Are weekly or daily chapel services on campus sufficient? Of what does education that is truly Christian consist?

A number of years ago Dr. Lois LeBar addressed this question in Education that is Christian.2 Utilizing that excellent work in the teaching process has heavily influenced the thinking of this writer and has occasioned a number of study projects in the Scriptures to seek to identify what factors make an educational experience truly Christian. Here is a partial list:

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