Christian educators understand how to teach Christianly?”
The beginning of the answer came when I realized the power
of the term worldview. Integration, I learned, suggested to
many that the Bible just needs to be added to the learning—
something that can be easily done with secular textbooks.
Worldview, however, suggested that we teach Christianly
only as we shape the students perspective on math, science,
language arts, and history. In public schools all of these
subjects are taught from the storyline of secularism—or
from the perspective provided by the story of evolution. In
Christian schools we are to teach all these subjects from the
storyline of Scripture—or from the perspective provided by
Creation, Fall, and Redemption. To do this well requires a
distinctive approach to each subject, an approach requiring
textbooks that are on the teacher’s side.
Talking to teachers about the importance of Christian
worldview shaping was one thing. Organizing a vigorous
approach to author training back at BJU Press was another.
The Press had always had a strong commitment to biblical
integration and Christian worldview. But this commitment
needed to be clarified and updated. In particular I tried to
find a way to take the biblical themes of Creation, Fall, and
Redemption and apply them to the writing and publication
of our materials. According to the Bible, the thing that gives
meaning to all of life is the story that God made everything
for His glory, that everything has become fallen because of
human sin, and that God is working to redeem this world to
Himself. If this story gives meaning to all of life, it must also
give meaning to school and the subjects taught in school.
I began to organize meetings with authors called “Golden
Rules” meetings. The purpose of these meetings was to
produce a white paper that would guide the Christian
worldview component of an upcoming revision. Each white
paper included a list of rules that expressed the key ways in
which the new textbook would connect Creation, Fall, and
Redemption to the main objectives of the course. So, for
example, one of the rules from our Algebra 1 book stated,
“Present algebra as a powerful tool for obeying the creation
mandate of Genesis 1:28.” A rule from our Earth Science
book was “Emphasize geological formations as a testimony
of God’s judgment in the Great Flood.” And a rule from
our third-grade social studies book stated, “Present skill in
civics as a tool for obeying Christ’s command to live lives of
good works in a broken world.” Once one of these papers
was crafted, I focused on quality control. As new chapters
were written, I would review them to make sure they were
In public schools math,
science, language arts,
and history are taught
from the storyline of
secularism.
In Christian schools we
are to teach all these
subjects from the story-
line of Scripture.
living out the worldview vision stated in the golden rules.
Through the years I have watched this process guide us to
producing textbooks that help to produce learning that is
rigorous and distinctively Christian.
Over the past decade, I have seen the Lord repeat-
edly confirm His call on my life here at BJU Press. But that
doesn’t mean that the past ten years have been easy. I have
learned that doing Christian worldview shaping is a lot of
work—work that requires knowledge and skill. At BJU Press,
the job of the Bible Integration Coordinator has become the
task of the Bible Integration team—a team of four people,
three of whom have Ph.D. degrees. Why so many advanced
degrees? We have learned that doing worldview shaping
requires extensive knowledge and experience. So when
a teacher tells me that he uses secular textbooks and does
biblical integration spontaneously in the classroom, I’m
suspicious. I’ve learned that he is probably using the Bible
to develop character, but he’s using the secular textbook to
develop the students’ worldview. Students need to be taught
from a Christian worldview, and the best way to ensure that
this is happening is to use textbooks written by people who
are skilled in the work of Christian worldview formation.
Dr. Bryan Smith has worked in Christian education for over
twenty years. He has been a classroom teacher as well as a
textbook author. Currently, he serves at BJU Press as the Bible
Integration Coordinator. In this position he assists authors and
teachers in the work of integrating faith and learning in the class-
room. Bryan holds a Ph.D. in Old Testament Interpretation. He
and his wife, Becky, have six children.
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