The Paideia Of God And Other Essays On Education

This book is a defense of Christian education.

What is education? How and why do educators do what we do? And, in what way can and ought education be distinctively Christian? These are a few of the probing questions for which this book seeks answers. Among other contributions, Currivean's book explores a biblical philosophy of Christian education with unprecedented breadth and depth. To accomplish this objective, it considers what education is (chapter 1), what philosophy of education is (chapter 2), and what the ultimate goal of education is (chapter 3). Additionally, this book provides a never-before, Christian overview of twelve philosophies of education (chapters 4-15). Each of those chapters provides an introduction of a particular philosophy of education and some of that philosophy's exemplars. Each of those chapters also contributes a constructive, Christian critique. Chapter 16 highlights a biblical philosophy of Christian education--featuring some people, some principles, and some priorities for a biblical philosophy of Christian education, viz. pursuing excellence for the glory of God.

"Everyone is so busy giving the classical education to the students that I'm not sure people have taken the time to actually tell them why it matters..." Rebekah Merkle knows which high school classes you like and which you roll your eyes at, which books you enjoy and which you kinda skim. That's because she went through this whole thing called classical education, too: She was a guinea pig in one of the very first classical Christian schools in the country. Written for students by a (former) student, Classical Me, Classical Thee is lighthearted and--most importantly for you busy high-schoolers--very short. It has a simple goal: to explain why you students are doing what you do in class. (SPOILER: Grades aren't the point--you won't use your knowledge of the Iliad Book 5 every year until you die.) What you do in class is a drill -- and nobody drills for the sake of the drill. You do drills so that you can win the game. The real tragedy, though, would be if you didn't know you were doing drills... or didn't know there was a game at all. Grades aren't the point. So drill to win.

Why don’t they believe the same things I do? Why don’t they see things my way? We get frustrated when people hold differing opinions from ours or view life’s major issues from conflicting angles. Their system of belief (their worldview) seems foreign to us as they filter the events of this world in ways that we would never have imagined and then come to conclusions that we would never even consider. When other peoples’ worldviews contradict ours, both of us cannot be right. Is there a way to account for the differences and determine if one is right and the other wrong? For the Christian especially, can we defend the Christian worldview in a way that upholds our entire system of belief and then opens the door to share the gospel with those who believe differently from us? The method of worldview apologetics enables the Christian to expose the faults in other worldviews, demonstrate the truth of the Christian worldview, and build a bridge for others to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ. Both scholarly and practical, worldview apologetics equips the Christian to assess and critique differing belief systems and fulfill the call to Great Commission outreach.

In arguing for biblical infant baptism, it is not sufficient for us to say that infant baptism is merely consistent with the Scriptures, or that a biblical case can be made for it. In order for us to be satisfied that we are being biblical Christians, we must be content with nothing less than a clear biblical case requiring infant baptism. In a doctrinal matter of this importance, the standards of evidence are high.

Far from offering a thin patina of "niceness" spread over standard educational philosophy, Steven Loomis and Paul Spears set forth a vigorous Christian philosophy of education that seeks to transform the practice of education. Beginning with a robust view of human nature, they build a case for a decidedly Christian view of education that still rightfully takes its place within the marketplace of public education.