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Why Christian Education?
Of the growing array of educational alternatives today including charter schools and on-line education, Christian schools are uniquely positioned to recover the lost art of learning in America for one primary reason: adherence to absolute and Biblical truth. Martin Luther espoused this model of schooling when he declared, “I am much afraid that schools will prove to be great gates of hell unless they diligently labor in explaining the Holy Scriptures, engraving them on the hearts of youth. I advise no one to place his child where the Scriptures do not reign paramount. Every institution in which men are not increasingly occupied with the Word of God must become corrupt.” Government schools, by their own admission, are secular in purpose. Home education and Christian schooling remain the best hope of the Christian community to integrate faith and learning. Here is why:
Christian school students learn truth. They are not victims of the latest educational theories, trends, and social experiments. They are not abandoned to figure out life on their own. They are instructed in the Word of God as the authoritative source of wisdom and knowledge by caring adults.
Christian school students enjoy positive role models and grow up emulating their teachers and coaches. Their adult heroes are real, everyday people who set the standard of what is right and proper, not celebrities who flaunt wealth and fame. Since Christian schools tend to be smaller schools, students can get to know their teachers in a personal way. Students are not warehoused with hundreds of other children but are smaller, nurturing environments. Issues of character and virtue become emphasized in the lives of our impressionable youth. Teacher-mentors provide significant links with the adult world that counteract over-dependence upon peers for approval.
Christian schools do not simply train students for their careers but, in American historical tradition, provide a well-rounded liberal arts education, taught from a Christian worldview perspective.
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