Conference given at the I National Meeting of Christian Schools (ENAEC) organized by ASCI, with the support of the VINACC and the XV Christian Consciousness.
We can think of several reasons. Some of them are:
- Christianity has always cared a lot about education and teaching.
- The motivation was to discover God’s truth for God’s glory.
- Both God’s truth in the scriptures and in nature.
Harvard, considered the best university by times higher education (THE), was founded by Pastor John Harvard, Mackenzie College was founded 142 years ago by Protestants, yet over time we lose sight of the importance of education and leave education in the hands of non-believers. We cease to be Christians who think and reflect on all aspects of life to live a sentimental and closed Christianity.
Some schools are aware that there are two types of education: secular education and Christian education; however, there is no neutral education. There will always be an ideology behind education, not necessarily a political ideology, but there will always be a ‘religion’ behind education, a hypothesis, a worldview that will influence what the educator teaches.
Cosmovisions are like overlapping lenses (assumptions) through which we see the world and there are several layers of interpretation that form our personal worldview, as shown in the image below.
Christian education consists of teaching everything from science and mathematics to literature and the arts, as part of a biblical and integrated worldview. This means teaching students to connect all disciplines with God’s truth and self-re-rotation in the scriptures, while detecting and criticizing what is not biblical. worldview statements (Colson and Piercey, how do we live now?)
In a Christian school, there is no secular education, because all Christian education comes from the worldview of scripture, whether science or theology, therefore a Christian school is not a school that only serves during the week, or prays before school, but a school that teaches its contents from a Christian perspective.
We have a reductionist vision, thinking that the Bible is only applicable within the walls of the church, thinking that when the Bible talks about education, it only speaks of EBD (Sunday Teaching Bible)
So here is [repetition of the Ten Commandments], the commandments, statutes, and judgments that the Lord, your God, commanded, if they taught you, to fulfill them on earth that you will become possessed; That you may fear the Lord, your God, and keep all their statutes and commandments that I command you and your son, and your son’s son, every day of your life; and let your days go by. Listen, Israel, and take care of it, so that you may be healthy and multiply in the land where milk and honey flow, as the Lord, God of your parents, told you. [ ?] These words I command you today will be in your heart; You will instill them in your children and talk about them sitting at home, walking down the road, going to bed, and getting up (Deuteronomy 6:1-3, 6-7).
In this text we see that the order of teaching comes from God and that teaching has a purpose given by God; God Himself gives teaching authority to parents; God also gives teaching gifts and prepares specific people to teach the body of Christ; therefore, the Christian school is an aid to parents who delees their authority in school to teach their children. , the school will never be able to replace and will never replace parents.
The International Association of Christian Schools-ACSI is an international organization of non-profit Christian schools based in Colorado Springs, USA. But it’s not the first time
It was created in 1978 as a result of the union of several Christian school associations in the United States and Canada. It has more than 25,000 member schools in more than 115 countries, with more than 5. 5 million students. There are 16 regional offices across the country, a world that still respects the cultural identity of every nation.
ACSI’s educational philosophy, based on the Word of God, promotes a Christocentric education, oriented to the development of a biblical worldview through each educator, every academic subject and every part of the school curriculum.