What is Christian Education?

Essay by Mr. Tom Thistleton, continued…

The Bible teaches that fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge (Proverbs 1:7). It has been pointed out that the fear of the Lord is not the final goal of education; such fear is the foundation of education, and as the foundation it is the basis for all subsequent goals.2 While the fear of the Lord is the foundation, God's truth should not stop at the foundation. I referred to Deuteronomy 6:4-9 earlier and now let us look at this text:

Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when yousit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and binds them on your foreheads. Write them on the door frames of your houses and on your gates.

Here we see that God's Word should permeate all of a child's life and learning. This general prescription includes, but is certainly not limited to, the more specific area of formal education. God's Word should permeate all that children are taught. A thorough Biblical instruction can only be provided when related to all of life. God wants the children of His people to live in an environment conditioned by His Word.

Ephesians 6:4 says, “Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.” In order to obey this command, we must ensure that our children are taught in a consistently Biblical manner about all of life. We should consider how exasperating it must be for a youth to learn one thing at home and another in school. Proverbs 22:6 teaches us to "“train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.” In raising our children to be godly, mature Christians, we must ensure that their formal education follows this pattern.