How Secular Textbooks Suppress
the True Purpose of Education
By Dr. Christian Overman
F
OR 300 YEARS following the Reformation, the biblical
aim of work provided a compelling reason for education
itself. With the secularization of education has come one of
the greatest losses of modern times: the loss of meaning and
purpose in human labor. Education has floundered with this
disappearance, and our nation is adrift.
CREATED TO GOVERN
Why did God create human beings? Genesis tells us that
God created human beings with a specific role and function
in mind: to govern over His creation. Genesis 1:26–28 says,
“Let us make man in our likeness and image, and let them
rule ... over all the earth.”
This is an awesome truth! We were created to govern over
all kinds of things that God placed on planet earth. This
includes animals, vegetables, minerals, water (both salty
and fresh varieties), air, electricity, sound waves, light, and
trees—as well as digital images, smartphones, ebooks, ships,
cars, antifreeze, and ice cream!
God’s first commission to humans was for us to manage
and steward His earthly creation (see Psalm 8). This applies
to economists, city planners, civil servants, and educators.
And here’s the kicker: God’s first commission provides a
compelling purpose for education itself.
THE PURPOSE FOR EDUCATION
The Puritans understood this. John Milton summed it up
when he wrote in his essay Of Education, “I call therefore a
complete and generous education that which fits a man to
perform justly, skillfully, and magnanimously all the offic-
es both private and public of peace and war.” That covers
about everything!
The Puritan Circle of Knowledge developed by seven-
teenth-century Christian educators such as William Ames
provided a purpose for education in early America which
brought about extraordinary meaning for all human endeav-
ors. Education and work went hand in glove.
The Puritan Circle of Knowledge has four sequential
elements: 1
1. God creates all things.
2. Humans discover the things God has made. (This is a
big part of education.)
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