April 23, 2014
Christian Education: A Holistic Approach
Many people think Christian education only has to do with God, the Bible and faith, and in a way it does. Since everything is ultimately related to these, Christian education is not relegated to mere theology in the commonly known sense of the word. One could say that the arts and sciences are every bit as theological as the study of sacred text; from architecture to zoology, everything, at the core, is the study of God. Tangible nature displays His glory, and if we want to know Him better, the world of creation can help us. Truly, everything can be a form of theology (not to say that everything is God, as pantheists believe).
G.K. Chesterton wisely says:
“That ‘God looked on all things and saw that they were good’ contains a subtlety… It is the thesis that there are no bad things, but only bad uses of things. If you will, there are no bad things, but only bad thoughts; and especially bad intentions. It is possible to have bad intentions about good things; and good things, like the world and the flesh, have been twisted by a bad intention called the devil. But he cannot make things bad.”
One might add that things are good so long as they are in their proper place. To name a couple of examples, sex outside of marriage is not good; perfectly good cells, when out of order, can turn into cancer. The misuse and malformation of good things causes the evil of chaos.
Historian, Will Durant, said, “If knowledge became too great for communication, it would degenerate into scholasticism.” Durant rightly conveys the idea that factualism does not engender wisdom and understanding. Knowledge is good as long as it fits neatly within God’s cosmos.
