Philosophy of Christian Education
Because the child is taught in our school that God and His truth
are the basis for the educational program, he is challenged to respond to
God with the appropriate use of acquired skills and knowledge. Truth
is for use and we learn from doing. Responding to God is a process,
one in which the child as prompted by the Holy Spirit, becomes
increasingly more active than passive. Developed in him is the
awareness that his accumulated knowledge and skill proficiency have direct
bearing on the three fundamental relationships of life: 1 - to God; 2 - to
others (as well as one's self); and 3 - to one's environment
(creation). It is growth in this response process which leads to the
fulfillment of man's calling from God to understand, shape, use, preserve
and enjoy God's creation in a life of service to God through services to
one's fellow man. Knowing that man has chosen to glorify himself and worship his own
works rather than worship and glorify God, we acknowledge that our
students have sinful natures that hinder them from accepting God as the
reference point for all of life and from responding to Him in ways that
are appropriate. However, when God's salvation through Jesus Christ
is applied by the Holy Spirit to a child's life, his ability to accept
God's perspective and desire to respond correctly are restored. This
is why Christian education can never be complete apart from the redemptive
work of Christ accomplished in a child's life. It is therefore important that our ministry to the child be
well-rounded - introducing him to the redeeming work of Christ, helping
him to appreciate himself and his fellow man, inspiring him to academic
excellence, and enabling him to take his proper position in creation as
one who bears the image of God and exercises dominion over God's world.
Believing that all truth is a
manifestation of God's sovereignty in creation, we have established a
school that proclaims God in its educational program and says to its
students that God is interested in every aspect of our lives. For
the Christian, there is no division between spiritual and secular
knowledge and experience. All of life is religious. Therefore,
whatever a child learns has as its point of reference, God. In
essence, the child is taught a viewpoint of life and the world from God's
perspective. We call this a Biblical, or Christian world and life
view.