shape students’ minds and attitudes based on the funda-
mental worldview or belief system of the author(s).
At first, I didn’t realize there was an underlying set of
values and beliefs being communicated through the words
the authors had written. However, I soon became aware that
every textbook I read or used was communicating some-
thing far more influential than the mere subject matter
being studied.
Here are a few examples of how this hidden objective is
incorporated into textbooks and other teaching resources.
• Cosmos by Carl Sagan was a popular science book and
video series released in 1980. 1 It opens with Sagan stat-
ing, “The cosmos is all there is, ever was or ever will be.”
The subtle deception in this statement is that there is no
God. The rest of the material presented in this book is
written to support this objective.
• A similar case is found in a popular children’s book
found in Christian homes and schools: The Berenstain
Bears’ Big Book of Science and Nature. 2 The final state-
ment in the section that defines nature states, “[Nature]
is all there is, ever was or ever will be.”
STUDENTS WILL NOT REMEMBER
EVERYTHING A TEACHER SAYS,
BUT THEY WILL BE INFLUENCED
BY WHAT A TEACHER BELIEVES.
objective facts. After all, 2+2=4 is simply a neutral math fact
that has no spiritual meaning. This same way of thinking
has been applied to the main aspect of schooling which is
referred to as “academics.”
There is spiritual meaning in what is taught in Bible class,
presented in chapel, and discussed in devotions and other
spiritually related activities. However, when it comes to
math, science, language arts, history, etc., these subjects can
be taught from a neutral or non-religious basis. The reality is
that trying to teach any subject from a secular or seemingly
neutral position is far from being spiritually neutral. In fact,
this may be the most dangerous teaching that can take place
in a classroom.
Whenever any subject matter is presented as merely a
body of observable facts, the value that is being taught and
reinforced in the minds of students is that God is irrele-
vant to the particular subject being studied. If God is irrel-
evant to a subject being covered in a class, then students
tend to believe that God may be irrelevant to other areas
of their lives.
Christian parents, church leaders, and educators must
wrap their minds around the fact that there is no such thing
as neutral education, especially in schooling. No one can
teach neutrally. Having spent the last fifty years teaching
others, I have come to realize that I will always communi-
cate my values and beliefs to my students regardless of what
class or subject I am teaching.
Every person develops a worldview, which drives all the
attitudes and actions of that person’s life. My worldview
causes me to interpret everything I experience according to
the beliefs of my worldview. Therefore, my worldview also
impacts how I present a lesson.
All textbooks are written by a person. Every author has
a worldview that impacts all of their life. Therefore, every
author will write according to their set of values and beliefs.
EDUCATION PATTERNED BY BELIEF SYSTEMS
THE MYTH OF NEUTRALITY
To grasp the full impact of a textbook on the mind of a
student, one must first understand how education, in gener-
al, influences the way one thinks about all of life. Many
Christians have adopted a dualistic worldview system by
which they live. The concept of dualism can be explained
as dividing one’s life into two compartments—the sacred
and the secular. When this occurs, one’s life has no unity or
continuity in what one believes and, therefore, how one acts.
This way of thinking impacts our beliefs about education
as a whole but specifically when it comes to schooling. The
majority of Christians have wrongly assumed that there is
a body of knowledge that exists that is spiritually neutral.
This fictitious body of knowledge is seen as merely neutral,
30
In my book, Kingdom Education, I present ten biblical prin-
ciples to guide how parents, pastors, and teachers are to
educate children. Principle eight reads, “The education of
children and youth results in the formation of a belief system
or worldview that will be patterned after the belief systems or
worldviews of the person’s teachers.”
This principle is based on Jesus’ teaching in Luke 6:40
when He taught His followers, “A disciple is not above his
teacher, but everyone who is perfectly trained will be like his
teacher.” Students will not remember everything a teacher
says, but they will be influenced by what a teacher believes.
In the book Already Compromised Ken Ham and Greg
Hall state the following: “When parents and students will-
ingly submit themselves to a teacher, accepting what he or
she says as truth, they will become like that teacher.” 3