What Makes Education Christian?

1 What Makes Education Christian Even though the term ‘Christian education’ does not necessarily occur in the Bible, Estep, Anthony, and Allison (2008) reveal many instances where the Bible talks about the students’ moral and spiritual instruction. From their text, A Theology for Christian Education, one notes that the Bible places a high premium on the amassing of knowledge, whether the said knowledge is about God or the world that He created. For this reason, it is possible to have a sense of the characteristics that would make a particular approach to education be labelled as Christian.

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2 Indeed, as Estep et al. (2008) argue, people who pursue a Christian education should be guided by the premise that Christian education is Christian because what one “believes theologically should inform and influence not only the content of education in the church but also the overall approach to education in the church.” (Estep et al., 2008, p. 2).

The first characteristic that sets education apart as being Christian is its overall purpose. As Estep et al. (2008) note, Christian education aims to direct the process of human development toward the objective that God has for humankind. As such, every element of Christian education should ensure that all efforts at imparting knowledge to students are directed towards equipping them with the kind of godliness that will allow them to transform their lives as well as those of the people around them. Equally, as Anthony and Benson (2011) imply in their seminal text on the history and philosophy of Christian education, this characteristic may be the most crucial in so far as Christian education is concerned.

The second characteristic of Christian education is its dedication to sifting all content through a biblical outlook. In taking this approach, Christian educational institutions will be able to balance Biblical faith with the imparting of the necessary skills that individuals need to navigate the world (Estep et al., 2008). Furthermore, the application of this approach in a Christian educational context allows students to acknowledge God’s place and their responsibility to live in a manner that will testify to His position in the world. Even so, as Estep et al. (2008) suggest, this characteristic is not easy to carry out in practice. Typically, even though an educational institution seeks to remain faithful to biblical truths and values, it often has to devise a mechanism of equipping its students with world-relevant skills, even as they are exposed to God’s principles.

Evangelism is also one of the characteristics and elements of Christian education.

Evangelism is the practice through which one spreads the Christian gospel through public preaching or through testifying using one’s life. Even as students are taught various aspects

3 of the Bible and expectations of how they are supposed to live, they are also encouraged to spread the word of God to as many people as possible. Here, it will be necessary to clarify that there is a difference between the type of evangelism that comes as a matter of course and the kind of evangelism that manifests as a vocation. Through their manner of living and other life-choices, Christian students ought to understand that they are walking embodiments of the Christian life. As such, a Christian education emphasises to students that, ultimately, they are called to a higher purpose, and their education seeks to speak to that higher purpose.

4 References Anthony, M. J., & Benson, W. S. (2011). Exploring the history and philosophy of Christian education: Principles for the 21st century. Wipf & Stock.

Estep, J. R., Jr., Anthony, M. J., & Allison, G. R. (2008). A theology for Christian education. B&H Academic.