Continued from "A Little Experiment"
So far, no one has sent me the titles of any public school textbooks that teach the Lordship of the God of the Bible over any area of life & knowledge. It may be because of the limited readership of this blog.
It certainly can't be because those textbooks don't exist . . . can it?
It could be that no one thinks it is important. But it is, and I will explain why.
It has to do with a passage in the first chapter of Romans.
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold [i.e., suppress] the truth in unrighteousness; Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations . . . . Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them. (Romans 1:18-32, emphasis added)
The passage is a long one for today's average reader, but if you look at the parts that I've put into boldface, you will see that the apostle is addressing the issue of refusing to acknowledge God. If you will scan the portions in between, you will see that refusal to acknowledge God is the starting place of every class of vileness and abomination, from idolatry to sexual perversion.
You can also see the fruit of not acknowledging God all around you in today's society. And public schools are the training ground for ignoring God.
If you think that I'm overstating my case, take a look at what the Bible says about how covenant children should be educated:
And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates. (Deuteronomy 6:5-9)
The Bible says that in training children, you must weave love toward God into the warp and woof of life's routine. To do this, you must relate Him to every area of the child's knowledge and experience.
This means that, as he learns language, math, science and history, he must also acknowledge the Lord of these disciplines and how the Lord relates to them. Public school training does not do this.
A moment of silence at the beginning of the class day will not do it. A nonsectarian prayer to an amorphous, lowest-common-denominator god will not do it.
Even saying the Lord's prayer will not do it, if the "'Amen" ends all mention of God with reference to the subject matter.
OBJECTION: We have Christian teachers in our school district. They teach the children about God.
ANSWER: It's hard for me to accept that anyone suffers from enough credulity to believe this. A school teacher in America might -- for a time -- get away with bootlegging brief references to God into the classroom routine, but if he/she forthrightly taught God's lordship over math, science, history, and language, then that teacher would not last out the school term.
OBJECTION: Well, I keep tabs on what my child learns, and I set him straight at home.
ANSWER: When? The child spends six hours a day absorbing godless (because it ignores God) instruction. Do you go over everything that he/she studied that day and make sure your student understands the Lord's role in it? Then do you do the same with the homework assigned for that evening? If you answer, "Yes," then I would have to ask you why. You see, it would take far less time and effort to educate your child at home yourself than to put so much time and effort into correcting the wrong impressions he gets every day at school.
You may wonder why I am posting articles on public education on this blog. Simple answer: Because it's a defense issue -- both personal and societal.
So far, no one has sent me the titles of any public school textbooks that teach the Lordship of the God of the Bible over any area of life & knowledge. It may be because of the limited readership of this blog.
It certainly can't be because those textbooks don't exist . . . can it?
It could be that no one thinks it is important. But it is, and I will explain why.
It has to do with a passage in the first chapter of Romans.
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold [i.e., suppress] the truth in unrighteousness; Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations . . . . Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them. (Romans 1:18-32, emphasis added)
The passage is a long one for today's average reader, but if you look at the parts that I've put into boldface, you will see that the apostle is addressing the issue of refusing to acknowledge God. If you will scan the portions in between, you will see that refusal to acknowledge God is the starting place of every class of vileness and abomination, from idolatry to sexual perversion.
You can also see the fruit of not acknowledging God all around you in today's society. And public schools are the training ground for ignoring God.
If you think that I'm overstating my case, take a look at what the Bible says about how covenant children should be educated:
And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates. (Deuteronomy 6:5-9)
The Bible says that in training children, you must weave love toward God into the warp and woof of life's routine. To do this, you must relate Him to every area of the child's knowledge and experience.
This means that, as he learns language, math, science and history, he must also acknowledge the Lord of these disciplines and how the Lord relates to them. Public school training does not do this.
A moment of silence at the beginning of the class day will not do it. A nonsectarian prayer to an amorphous, lowest-common-denominator god will not do it.
Even saying the Lord's prayer will not do it, if the "'Amen" ends all mention of God with reference to the subject matter.
OBJECTION: We have Christian teachers in our school district. They teach the children about God.
ANSWER: It's hard for me to accept that anyone suffers from enough credulity to believe this. A school teacher in America might -- for a time -- get away with bootlegging brief references to God into the classroom routine, but if he/she forthrightly taught God's lordship over math, science, history, and language, then that teacher would not last out the school term.
OBJECTION: Well, I keep tabs on what my child learns, and I set him straight at home.
ANSWER: When? The child spends six hours a day absorbing godless (because it ignores God) instruction. Do you go over everything that he/she studied that day and make sure your student understands the Lord's role in it? Then do you do the same with the homework assigned for that evening? If you answer, "Yes," then I would have to ask you why. You see, it would take far less time and effort to educate your child at home yourself than to put so much time and effort into correcting the wrong impressions he gets every day at school.
You may wonder why I am posting articles on public education on this blog. Simple answer: Because it's a defense issue -- both personal and societal.
These are excellent posts which I will share with others. Thank you for your thoughtful and thought-provoking thinking here!
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