we first approach that activity. That is, whether we pursue
it solely for our own pleasure or if we also want to serve a
higher purpose.” 1
As I pondered these words, I recalled doing an interview a
few years ago with Bonnie Wurzbacher, who at the time was
the Senior Vice President of Global Accounts for The Coca-
Cola Company. I knew Bonnie was a follower of Christ, so
I asked her questions about how she related her faith to her
work with Coca-Cola. During that interview, Bonnie passed
on something very profound when she said: “We don’t get
meaning from our work, we bring meaning to our work.”
She went on to say that until she understood the theology
of her work, and she understood and embraced a biblical
worldview that says “there is no secular and sacred split,”
she was unable to bring meaning to her work. But when she
saw how the work she was doing as a Coca-Cola executive
“fulfilled and advanced God’s purposes for the world,” she was
able to bring meaning to it.
What does all this have to do with Christian education?
Simply this: We don’t find meaning in education, we bring
meaning to it. But what exactly is the meaning that authentic
Christianity brings to education?
Bringing meaning to education was not difficult for the
innovators of education during the 1600’s who followed the
Protestant Reformation in northern Europe. Their biblically-
informed purpose for life itself provided a powerful driver
for education. This driver was carried to the New World and
can be seen in the early years of Harvard and Yale.
The 17th century reformers of education, such as John
Amos Comenius and William Ames, brought meaning to
learning by putting it in the context of something much
greater than learning itself. Theirs was not education for
education’s sake. Theirs was not education for a good paying
job’s sake. Theirs was education that not only benefited
humanity but served a much higher purpose: glorifying God
through human vocation.
THIS VIEW OF EDUCATION IS BEST SUMMARIZED BY
THE PURITAN CIRCLE OF KNOWLEDGE.
4
God is glorified through
the imitation of Him in
human occupations
of all kinds.
3
Humans imitate God
by making “secondary
creations” based upon
their discovery and
understanding of His
primary creation.
1
God, the Prime Creator,
initiates all things
through His original
creation of everything.
2
Humans discover what
God has made, and this
discovery is a big part of
what education is about.
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