Towards a Christian Philosophy of Education -- By: Frank E. Gaebelein

Journal: Grace Journal
Volume: GJ 03:3 (Fall 1962)
Article: Towards a Christian Philosophy of Education
Author: Frank E. Gaebelein


Towards a Christian Philosophy of Education

Frank E. Gaebelein

The Bauman Memorial Lectures for 1962
at
Grace College and Theological Seminary
by Frank E. Gaebelein
Headmaster, The Stony Brook School

I. The Need and Nature of a Christian Philosophy of Education

Although education today has become so widely and thoroughly secularized, its beginnings reach back not only to the early Church but also behind the Church to the Bible, both Old and New Testaments, and to the home and family as established by God. When Moses communicated to Israel the great truth of the unity of Jehovah and the commandment to love Him with all their heart and soul and might, he placed upon God’s ancient people a binding obligation that continues in principle down through the ages. “Thou shalt teach them (the words of God) diligently unto thy children…” wrote Moses, “and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thy house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.”1 In passages like this, making the home the center of godly training, and also in many other places, the Old Testament deals with teaching and learning. As for the New Testament, it records what is incomparably the most important teaching situation in history—our Lord Jesus Christ’s instruction of the twelve, and beyond the twelve, of many others, individually and in groups. The Great Commission as given in Matthew is essentially a teaching commission: “Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them. And when they saw him, they worshipped him; but some doubted. And Jesus come and spoke unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always even unto the end of the world. Amen.”2 The Book of Acts sets forth the apostolic teaching practice and the epistles give the content of that teaching as applied to particular needs in the church and in the life of the believer.

The Bible is marvellously rich in passages relating to education. Here is the book that gives us authoritative insight into the nature and needs of man. It shows us what God requires of man. It reveals the will and purpose of the great Teacher of us all, who is God the Father, and it shows us the perfect example of teaching in the ministry of God the Son. Moreover, it presents through God the Holy Spirit, who inspired its words, the central truths of revelation into which all other aspects and areas of truth must be inte...

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