One of the criticisms most frequently leveled against the Christian school is that it is "un-American." It is implied that Christian school advocates are disloyal to their country and enemies of democracy. Nothing could be further from the truth!

In the 18th and early 19th centuries most of our nation's schools were Christian schools. They were provided by the local community, which was usually Christian. The typically Christian character of education in colonial days is plainly evidenced by the rules and precepts of Harvard University, founded in 1638:

Let every student be plainly instructed, and earnestly pressed to consider well the main end of his life and studies is to know God and Jesus Christ which is eternal life (John 17:3); and therefore to lay Christ in the bottom, as the only foundation of all sound knowledge and learning. And seeing the Lord only giveth wisdom let everyone seriously set himself by prayer in secret to seek it of him.Proverbs 2:3

Everyone shall so exercise himself in reading the Scriptures twice a day …

The Bible and Christian religion were taught in the classroom. Christian teachers had religious freedom.

In 1835, however, under the leadership of Horace Mann, our nation adopted the Prussian system: public education through public taxation. At this time the teaching of religion in the public schools was forbidden by law, although for over a century Bible reading and the Lord’s Prayer were retained. Now we see that these also have been prohibited by the Supreme Court as being unconstitutional.

Modern non-Christian education builds upon the foundation of the wisdom of man. The mind of man is made the criterion of truth and virtue. Man, entirely apart from the Word of God, seeks to give answers to the questions of life.

The dominant philosophy of modern tax-supported schools is that of John Dewey. In his book, The Underlying Philosophy of Education, he writes:

We affirm that genuine values and tenable ends and ideals are to be derived from what is found within the movement of experience. Hence, we deny that they can be derived from authority, human or supernatural, or from any transcendent source.

Human experience is made the key to knowledge. There is no final standard of right and wrong. We must experiment, for what is right today may be proven wrong tomorrow. Everything depends upon what seems true at the time.

No Final Answers⤒🔗

Consider what this kind of teaching does to the thought and life of a child. Truth is relative – never absolute. So there can be no final answers to the questions: Where did I come from? – Why am I here? – Where am I going? As a result, the child is confused and uncertain, knowing neither what to believe nor how to live.

A Christian education is based on the belief that God is truth (Psalm 31:5). God's son, Jesus Christ, is truth (John 14:6). God's Word, the Bible, is truth (John 17:7). The distinctive character of education in a Christian school is this: the Bible is made the touchstone of all truth – intellectually, morally, and spiritually.

Intellectually←↰⤒🔗

The child must be taught the facts of God's world. He must be trained to think. The Christian school stands for more learning and better learning. But the world of God must be interpreted by the Word of God. So, in a Christian school, the light of Scripture is made to shine upon every subject studied in the classroom.

Louis Pasteur, the noted Christian and scientist to whom we are indebted for our pasteurized milk, was bending over a microscope in his laboratory when a student entered. The student immediately withdrew, thinking the professor was praying. Pasteur called to him to enter. The student said, "Oh, I thought you were praying." Pasteur replied, "I was."

Morally←↰⤒🔗

On the authority of God's Word, the teacher stands before the children and says: "This is the way; walk in it." There is the solid basis for daily discipline. Children in the Christian school find assurance and a sense of security. A Christian teacher was telling of her experience as the care-provider in a home where the children were not required to do anything that they did not want to do. This Christian teacher insisted that the children be told what to do and be expected to do it. One day, one of these children said to her, "You mean what you say, don't you?" "Yes," replied the teacher, to which the child responded. "And I like it." She knew her need better than her own parents.

Spiritually←↰⤒🔗

The child is not an animal, but has a spirit that is made to know, trust, and love God. In the Christian school children are taught how they may know God through Jesus Christ, if they would find pardon and peace with God. Teacher and child together come to God's throne of Grace in prayer, acknowledging that they need the same Savior.

The words of Dr. A.A. Hodge, a prince of American theologians, spoken over 100 years ago, reverberate as a timely warning to Americans today:

The U.S. Public School System will eventually become the most efficient instrument for the propagation of atheism the world has ever seen. If every party in the state has the right of excluding from the public schools whatever he does not believe to be true, then he that believes most must give way to him that believes least, and he that believes least must give way to him that believes absolutely nothing, no matter in how small a minority the atheists and agnostics may be.