Berkhof on Christian education
January 9th, 2008From Louis Berkhof (1873-1957), in “Foundations of Christian Education,” by Berkhof and Cornelius Van Til.
The Reformed Christian, who believes that the child is the image-bearer of God, naturally proceeds on the assumption that the most fundamental truth may not be ignored in any part of his education, and especially not in his school education. This fact may well be stressed in our day. In view of the fact that the influence of the Christian home is waning, and that the church can devote only a couple of hours a week to the religious training of its youth, the school is easily the most important educational agency of the present. Is it not the height of folly even from a purely educational point of view to let the most important agency in education ignore that which is most essential and most fundamental in the life of the child? And can Christian parents reasonably expect their children to be imbued with a spirit of true religion if they persist in sending them to a school where for twenty-four hours a week they are taught in a spirit that is fundamentally irreligious, if not positively anti-Christian? The answer can only be a decided negative. And experience will bear out the correctness of this answer. America is today reaping in its churches what it has sown in its schools. It has sown through the secularized schools, and it is reaping a purely naturalistic religion. (Emphasis in original)
This quote explains my No. 1 reason for wanting to homeschool my son (who is only 2 right now.) I want him to be able to learn about Christianity and Christ along with his education (yeah, that might be hard to do with Math but….) instead of just hearing it in the evenings and in Sunday school. How do you erase the negative teaching that students receive at such a young age when they are most impressionable? But at the same time how do you ensure that homeschooled children are well-adjusted socially? I’ve known a few homeschooled children that seem to be isolated but I know that’s not always, or should be, the norm. Interesting thoughts…glad I still have a few years before making a decision!
kimita (not laz - i can’t get the name to change; it’s not working!)
Hi Kimita,
Sorry about not being able to change the name. I never have figured out why that doesn’t work. You can go in and delete the cookies on your computer for my site, which will then give you a blank form when you return to comment.
Since you mentioned math, I’d suggest you read the book that I quoted from above, as Van Til even deals with that subject. Here are some quotes:
“Christians believe that everything is dark unless the current of God’s revelation be turned on. We cannot even see any ‘facts’ without this light.”
“Now the fact that two times two are four does not mean the same thing to you as a believer and to someone else as an unbeliever. When you think of two times two as four, you connect this fact with numerical law. And when you connect this fact with numerical law, you must connect numerical law with all law. The question you face, then, is whether law exists in its own right or is an expression of the will and nature of God. Thus the fact that two times two are four enables you to implicate yourself more deeply into the nature and will of God.”
“The ground for the necessity of Christian schools lies in this very thing, that no fact can be known unless it be known in its relationship to God. And once this point is clearly seen, the doubt as to the value of teaching arithmetic in Christian schools falls out of the picture. Of course arithmetic must be taught in a Christian school. It cannot be taught anywhere else.”
“…and it is reaping a purely naturalistic religion.”
By the term “naturalistic religion” does the author mean something like pantheism? Teaching 2 x 2 = 4 because it’s God’s law is indoctrinating the child into religion just the same as teaching 2 x 2 = 4 because it’s Allah’s law is. Simply teaching the child 2 x 2 = 4 period is the normal way to teach math.
“Of course arithmetic must be taught in a Christian school. It cannot be taught anywhere else.” Van Til via Tim
I’ve got a little problem with this. Why can’t arithmetic be taught anywhere else. This ignores the very concept of common grace, that it “rains on the just and the unjust.”
Extending that statement of Van Til (which I realize might be out of its full context) that “It cannot be taught anywhere else” would also mean that nothing can be taught anywhere else.
Or is he trying to convey the idea that the consistency of mathematics is rooted in a consistency ordained by God, and outside of a “religious” education setting one only gets the answer (4) without understanding the implications of its always being 4.
I seriously doubt that most mathematics teachers in Christian schools make the connection either.
To take it away from simple arithmetic just a bit, the fundamental premise is that things don’t arbitrarily and randomly appear or disappear. And if they seem to do that, then you haven’t counted everything correctly. That’s the idea behind the conservation of energy. So the same concept, arithmatically 2+2=4 always, is woven into the physical universe along with the conservation of energy. But why?
Bill,
It is out of its full context. I was simply trying to give Kimita a sampling of some quotes. He’s not saying that it’s futile to teach arithmetic outside of a Christian school. Look again at the second quote above for some more context. He doesn’t ignore common grace in the book, either.
I’m probably in the opposite camp with the whole homeschooling idea. If parents want to choose to homeschool their kids, I don’t have a problem with it. But I get a lot of attitude from parents that do homeschool about how awesome it is and how its more honoring to God. But when I was in school, I don’t remember there being all these major attacks on my faith. Or it being so dangerous I had to wear a flak jacket to my math class. I struggle with how segregating Christian thoughts and ideas out of the mainstream fulfills the mission of being the “salt and light” in the world. Part of it I would think, without being a parent I admit, is being involved enough in your kids lives to use moments where something happened at school as a teaching moment about Scripture or the life of Christ. The whole segregated, God-tube, sub-culture that Christianity has become, I don’t think serves our culture very well in the sense of preserving it and having our Christian faith permeate other areas by means of being part of it naturally versus segregation and then re-insertion back into society. Just my thoughts. I don’t think it was really where we were going with this at all, and I admit I didn’t read the entire article, but since it related to homeschooling, I thought I’d throw my two cents out there and see what you guys thought about it.
that is actually a good question, tonydanzaallstar; i’ve wondered the same thing and that is one of the downsides i see to homeschooling (or i would envision would be so since the child is not surrounded by pagans all day.)
however (i’m sure you were expecting that), in my specific situation, i come from an unbelieving family. i was saved at 22 and my husband was saved at 24/25 (i forgot which one) so as you can imagine our families have few christians in them. our families actually serve as great mission fields! i’m working on my mom now but she’s a bit stubborn.
so, i believe that my son will have ample opportunities to be the salt and light in our family as well as other places he ends up spending his time (which will probably be some kind of sport like soccer, soccer or soccer). not only that but there are plenty of unbelievers in our neighborhood, and churches i hear can also have unsuspecting unbelievers.
but the real question is are children at age 5,6,7 or that young of age really ready to be salt and light? are they really ready to be able to defend the faith? yes, they can speak about Jesus and tell about the bible stories they are reading and the songs they have heard. but at that age they are so impressionable they are taking in everything they are learning, good and bad, and copying it. my 2-year-old son just today copied some older girls at the park who were throwing dirt on a slide! and he didn’t even know them but followed along with what they were doing. kids will follow whoever is teaching them and more than likely retain those values. how am i as a parent supposed to undone hours of teaching about things that don’t include Christ, the bible or God?
to end a long comment and response, i believe that parents should be so involved in their children’s lives that they can help them with all types of spiritual situations or help them understand how things happen/work in light of God’s world. but we are also required to train them in order to send them out into a very cruel and mean world. i’ve heard someone else say that sending children into a secular school system without the proper biblical training is like sending soldiers to war without weapons. it’s not going to turn out well. psalm 127 describes it accurately when the writer says “like arrows in the hand of a warrior are children of one’s youth” but misguided arrows do nothing but wreak havoc.
i have other comments about homeschooling on my blog below:
kim (http://kimita.wordpress.com)
Good feedback Laz. I didn’t grow up as a Christian either, I didn’t become a believer until I was in high school, and my parents followed soon afterwards. But, my comment of reflecting back on it, I don’t remember there really being one way or the other really specifically directed towards faith. The example you gave of small kids joining in the midst of chaos, throwing dirt, etc. is what I would think could serve as one of those teaching moments, to paraphrase a kitchy slogan, WWJD? But, I agree, you raise a good point of a 5, 6, or 7 year old probably not really having the capacity to be the “salt and light” at that point. But, at some point, the socialization in a society of non-Christians has to take place to know how to interact with people that don’t believe like you do. I’m not saying homeschool keeps this from happening, but a lot of the examples I know of families anyway that choose to homeschool, and the kids are basically segregated to homeschool sports, church friends, and when they get into an environment where someone says a cuss word, they really react oddly. But, again, both sides of it, I understand wanting to protect your kids from things. I just think my opinion would be to public school and use issues as teaching moments. There are a lot of Christians that were public school and are strong in their faith. Maybe the examples I’ve seen are overprotective mothers wanting to keep their kids close, so they use homeschooling and their faith as a way to justify it.