| Christian Education: A Biblical Perspective As we celebrate almost forty-five years of Christian education at Faith Baptist Schools, it is important to be reminded about the biblical foundation for the very existence of that education. It is also important to remember that there is a God-ordained order of priority when it comes to the principal participants involved in that educational process. |
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“For he established a testimony in Jacob,
and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers, that
they should make them known to their children: That the generation
to come might know them, even the children which should arise and
declare them to their children: That they might set their hope in
God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments:
And might not be as their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation;
a generation that set not their heart aright, and whose spirit was
not stedfast with God.” Psalm 78:5-8 |
God has given parents the primary responsibility for the education of their children. The church has also been ordained by God to provide godly instruction for young and old alike. Ephesians 4:11-12 says, “And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.” Faith Baptist Schools is a ministry of Faith Baptist Church, and its primary responsibility is to partner with parents to provide a biblically based education for their children. Faith Baptist Schools’ philosophy in the classroom empowers children to read well at an early age, enabling them to read the Bible for themselves. Experience has proven that average children can learn to read nearly anything, including the King James Version of the Bible, by the age of five. If a child has the Bible at his fingertips, the source for all knowledge will always be accessible to him, for “...the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.” We believe that values should be taught in the classroom. Each child should know God’s commandments and Satan’s devices. A good way to present Faith Baptist’s Christian educational philosophy is to show what it is not, and what it has not done. Christian education is not based upon the theory that man is an animal, and therefore it does not expect boys and girls to act like animals. Christian education is not inundated with progressivism, relativism, and humanism; and therefore, it does not require its students to meditate, acclimate, or frustrate. Christian education is not permeated with sex, drugs, and firearms; and therefore, it does not require birth control booths, uniformed policemen, or highly trained dogs. Christian education does not graduate illiterates; and therefore, it does not need to “dumb down” standardized testing. All subjects are to be taught from a Christian perspective by a well-prepared teacher who has a heart to see his children not only learn the academic facts but also come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. A teacher’s discipline, methodology, and curriculum all work together like finely tuned instruments to produce harmony within the classroom. The net result is a young person prepared for the Master’s use.
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