The RenewaNation Review 2019 Volume 11 Issue 1 | Page 38

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.) 38