The Problem
As a professor in Christian higher education, there is a quote I think of often. Edward John Carnell, back in 1948, rightly summarized the state of education without Christ,
Having so departmentalized our fields of learning that they completely lack a coordinating principle of harmonization, the scientific method forces the modern student to wander from classroom to classroom, armed with no metaphysical principle to unite the disciplines he studies. Having been taught a smattering of ethics and sociology, combined with a piecemeal interpretation of history, our contemporary university student follows the pattern of an animated robot, for, though he can recite the canons of quantum physics, he has little to no idea what the divine sanctions of the decalogue are. Consequently, although able to classify the bugs of Borneo, he cannot solve the problem of personal happiness which harasses millions of groveling human beings.[1]
Modern education has no unity. While classrooms may be a hallway apart, philosophically and theologically, they may as well be on opposite ends of the universe. If there is no “metaphysical principle” to bring them together, students are left with disjointed pieces of information, with no real meaning on how it all first together. As Bradley Green notes, “True education requires an animating and inspiring vision, which is the very thing the gospel provides, and which is the very thing missing in most construal of education.”[2]
The Promise and Goal
Green is right. The gospel is the vision for true education, for a variety of reasons. First, the gospel provides direction to education. There is a reason that throughout church history theology has been referred to as the “queen of the sciences.” In a very real sense, the truth of God rules over the other disciplines. Moreover, all the other disciplines like math, logic, English, science, and others should ultimately lead us to theology, and more specifically, lead us to Christ. The purpose of education, ultimately, is not only to make us into more thoughtful and knowledgeable people, but to help us submit to Christ’s lordship more fully.
Second, the gospel helps us receive true knowledge. Theology is the highest form of knowledge. The reason the modern student “wanders from classroom to classroom” is because he does not know Christ, or if he does know Christ, he fails to realize that Christ rules over the classroom as well.
To put it another way, we cannot have true knowledge without Christ. When we trust in the gospel—Christ’s life, death, and resurrection on our behalf—our minds are changed. There is a sanctifying work that happens not only in our hearts or our behavior, but even in the way we think. Our minds, as they are being renewed and transformed (Rom. 12:1–2), will better understand how all of the cosmos is held together in Christ—which includes education (Col. 1:17). Thus, when we read great literature, or participate in scientific endeavors, we know that there is a unity between it all found in Christ.
A couple years ago, a colleague and I co-edited a book entitled Christians in Culture. In it, we had various professors from our institutions write chapters on topics like philosophy, economics, literature, politics, and even sports and leisure. We did this because we had the core conviction that these chapters would all fit together, because we have a uniquely Christ-centered view of education. We believed that what was written about the great books would have unity with our view of economics, and what was written about science would harmonize with what was written about philosophy.
We are thankful that, as believers, we no longer have to wander educationally. Instead, we have unity and purpose in education: Christ himself. With the Bible as our foundation, we can be sure that the truths we are teaching are harmonized under the Lordship of Christ. We can move from classroom to classroom, knowing that all of life is a gift from, and can be lived in service to, Christ.
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