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The History of education

History is HIS story

In the beginningIn the garden of Eden education was directly between humans and God.

The Fall� The Fall and advent of sin meant that communication

was forever distorted, and relationships were impaired.

The Tower of Babel� After languages were confused, tribes went in different

directions.

� Education developed within different cultural groups…some included God’s truth, some didn’t.

Truth corrupted� Elders passed on knowledge

� including historical truths from the foundation of the

world.

� e.g. Flood stories appear in the history of many cultures

� But many cultures began to worship other gods.

� Truth was lost to many cultures.

The Hebrews� The Hebrews faithfully educated their children in the

ways of the Lord.

A God-centred culture� The Mosaic ideal was that every facet of the culture

was to be God-centred.

� Clothes, place names, monuments, calendar dates, the law and every day practices were God-focused.

The Ancient Greeks� The Greeks worshiped many false gods.

� The educational system they established is still evident

today.

� Religion was separated out in a divided curriculum.

All for the glory of MAN

The promised

one

� The birth and crucifixion of the Teacher changed education forever.

Jesus, our example� His parables and His example impacted educational

thinking and practice.

� God’s love and the gospels permeated the teaching-learning process.

The birth, death and resurrection

of Jesus

� The world now had the opportunity to be reunited with God through the cross.

� The Gospel was now a key to education.

The spread of the Gospel� The Gospel impacted learning from Jerusalem into

Africa and Europe and beyond.

The Reformation� In Europe, the Reformation was a spearhead for

literacy and education for all, so the Bible was in the

hands of everyone, and everyone was a priest.

� John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress and other edifying

books were widely read.

Church-based education� In Europe, the church valued literacy and promoted

study of the creation.

� Seminaries became universities.

� Cathedrals founded great schools.

Godly foundation� The foundation of schools and universities was

theology – the study of God.

� Character development and spiritual disciplines were expected of students.

Moral law� The laws of the land were based on the Bible and it

provided restraints and justice.

The church took responsibility for

education

� Schools were linked to the local church community.

� A Christian worldview permeated all lessons and

informed school practices.

The dawn of evolutionary

thinking

� Darwinism created a setback to Christian education.

� There was now a conflict.

� Was God’s word really true, or was man’s idea better?

� False teaching throughout science, history and social science meant that generations grew without any

reference to the Gospel.

Where is God?� Their parents and teachers taught and modeled

alternative lifestyles.

Christian education diluted� Church schools became chameleon-like, trying to be all

things to all people. Faith was diluted out of education.

� The State took control of education.

� Church schools became elite fee-paying schools for the rich.

God’s plumb line� Graduates left school with no certainties, no plumb

lines for life.

� Discipline, academic standards and school cohesion fell.

Where is God?� The integrating force of the cross was denied.

� Christian schooling must be built on the rock of Jesus

Christ. The alternative is on the sand.

A new wave of Christian Schools

� Because church schools of the past denied their Gospel roots, a new wave of Christian schools has

arisen …

� Schools that base their syllabus on God, His ways, His

character, His nature, His word...

Following the Teacher� Schools where students can follow in the footsteps of

the Teacher.

Christian education for the

nations

� Across the world the light continues.

� A Holy Spirit generation is leaving the gates of

Christian schools ready to change the world.

The light shines in the darkness

� Christian schools that build their curriculum upon the Rock will send forth students as lights to the nations,

bringing many to know and love God.

Will your school be one of these?