Vocational Training

The Gist of Bible first homeschooling: Cultivating a child’s faith is the most important responsibility a parent bears

Part II: All things under Christ - curating and commanding creation and culture. Find Part I here.

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God commanded mankind at our creation “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” (Genesis 1:28) Christians historically developed the comprehensive liberal arts curriculum to thoroughly explore and appreciate God’s creation in all its wonders - and to expertly, diligently, and honestly exercise stewardship over it.

However, one conundrum we face as humans, according to the reformer John Calvin, is that while knowledge is a gift from God, human reason has been profoundly impaired since the Fall - while we still have rational faculties, our ability to use them righteously is damaged – our minds are “weak and plunged into deep darkness” without God’s illumination. Education alone cannot fully heal this brokenness; we require divine grace to attain true wisdom¹. Augustine similarly warned against pride and vanity often accompanying secular learning, likening excessive worldly focus disconnected from God to a spiritual “eclipse” that blocks out the light of God². Learning must therefore lead us to worship and delight in God, not in ourselves. Consequently, we must be cautious in constructing curricula beyond the explicit teachings of Scripture, which, as discussed previously, overwhelmingly emphasize faith and virtue.

Figure 1. You know this is true because you so often reason that you need that third piece of cake or when you discover how much more of a time commitment is “just one more episode”.

At the same time, if something is true, it’s of God. Calvin said “There is not one blade of grass, there is no color in this world that is not intended to make us rejoice.” The Dutch theologian (and prime minister) Abraham Kuyper said, “There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry, Mine!” This is the problem with much modern education: for a Christian, there is no such thing as secular, all is sacred. The mission statement of the Logos School founded by Douglas Wilson (an influential voice in modern Christian classical education) captures this beautifully, trying to graduate students “who are capable of evaluating their entire range of experience in the light of the Scriptures; and who do so with eagerness in joyful submission to God.” And that’s the point: Christian education is not just public school with an added Bible study; the Bible must be the prism through which you see all, “taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5)

Furthermore, God gave man gifts and called man to work, and so man’s work is in response to and a glorification of God - and thus must require all that man has to give.³ While a Christian education inherently focuses on faith, God can be and is glorified through all aspects of life, not just in the explicit study of Him and His word. And even if you are not of this world, you do have to live and work in this world - and that means accumulating employable skills so that you can take care of yourself and your family. Indeed that is God’s appointed means for your doing so.⁴ After cultivating a deep, transformative, and enduring faith in your kids, you have to discern what gifts God has given them and cultivate them and direct them to His glory, which should involve the highest standard of excellence. While I mentioned in our last correspondence that that could mean just training them up in a single bankable profession like plumbing (if their gifts aligned accordingly), providing a broader exposure can help identify precisely where your child’s gifts lie, fulfilling the Christian mandate for stewardship over the entire created order. Additionally, a child should view their time as a student as a vocational calling in its own right - a dedicated season to glorify God through diligent, disciplined study. And children should be aware of a virtuous cycle: I’ve hosted numerous events where Christian professionals described how their integrity and reputation attracted secular clients confident in their trustworthiness. And I myself have thoroughly enjoyed patronizing businesses that place faith first, providing quality service as an outlet for their faith. The education the reformer Martin Luther envisioned was one that made a person “wise, honorable, and useful” – learned in God’s Word and well-equipped for earthly vocations.

Before delving into other topics, I must express astonishment that there are Christian educational institutions who have Bible class just once a week and that do not actually put their kids through serious and comprehensive Bible study alongside their serious and comprehensive study of other subjects. It should shame orthodox Christians that Mormon teenagers gather daily for early morning seminary classes to systematically study their scriptures, eventually covering the entire Old and New Testaments (and then about a third of men go on to two years of missionary work). Why don’t orthodox Christians display similar diligence, especially considering modern, evidence-based learning methods? If medical students use Anki to algorithmically memorize facts about the human body, why shouldn’t everyone do the same about the Bible? Now, obviously, there can and should be points of emphasis here - memorizing the exact lineages of everyone in the Old Testament may not be worth your time, though it is of course notable that God decided to include it. Martin Luther, earthy in his writing as ever, proclaimed “I am much afraid that the schools will prove the very gates of hell, unless they diligently labor in explaining the Holy Scriptures, and engraving them in the hearts of youth. I advise no one to place his child where the Scriptures do not reign paramount. Every institution in which men are not unceasingly occupied with the Word of God must be corrupt.”

Understanding the Bible may also mean engaging seriously with theological writings, commentaries, and catechisms (structured summaries of doctrine presented as questions and answers.) The Scriptures provide a complex text to be wrestled with over a lifetime. RJ Rushdoony, a pastor deeply influential with the birth of the modern homeschooling movement, lamented that “Sunday school instruction is usually full of gimmicks to command interest, is a form of babysitting, and is too often a disaster to Christ’s cause. The Christian school must make the Bible class, above all, highly disciplined and thorough.” The Puritans educated their children through catechisms that simplified doctrine without sacrificing theological depth. Their sermons systematically worked through the entire Bible and were extensively discussed in the home afterward, reinforcing a deeply biblical worldview. In Luther’s design for schools, he placed heavy emphasis on memorization and recitation – of prayers, hymns, and catechism answers – to instill biblical truth and vocabulary from a young age​. As your child matures, why shouldn’t she read what the most brilliant and devout members of your faith have said about it? And, of course, thoughtful Christians have made the case that the broader Christian liberal arts help not just to exercise stewardship but, if properly curated, help enhance our understanding of the Bible.

Science

As we explore the Christian liberal arts, let’s start with the typical secular objection to Christian education, endlessly parroted in the media, that claims a conflict with science. In reality, Christians recognize that God gave us two revelations, one special and one general, his Word and his world. Any difficulty reconciling genuine faith with legitimate science reflects our limitations - not an inherent contradiction between the two. As the pastor RC Sproul put it, “we’ve got fallible human beings interpreting both infallible natural revelation and infallible scripture.”

Furthermore, modern science was significantly shaped by Christian beliefs in a rational God who created an orderly, law-governed universe designed to be explored - that there were laws of the universe, and they had a lawmaker. In contrast, pagan polytheistic views often envisioned nonlinear time, taboo knowledge, and conflicting truths that discouraged systematic scientific inquiry. Many foundational scientists explicitly connected their discoveries to their Christian faith - to give just a few illustrative examples: Isaac Newton declared “Gravity explains the motions of the planets, but it cannot explain who sets the planets in motion,” adding “All my discoveries have been made in answer to prayer.” The astronomer Johannes Kepler famously described his scientific inquiry as “thinking God’s thoughts after Him.” Astronomer William Herschel proclaimed, “The undevout astronomer must be mad.” Wikipedia reports that Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, the father of microbiology, “often referred with reverence to the wonders God designed in making creatures great and small, and believed that his discoveries were merely further proof of the wonder of creation.” Edward Jenner, who pioneered vaccination against smallpox, founding immunology, reflected, “I am not surprised that men are not grateful to me; but I wonder that they are not grateful to God for the good which He has made me the instrument of conveying.” Legendary mathematician Carl Gauss stated simply, “God does arithmetic,” and “I succeeded - not on account of my hard efforts, but by the grace of the Lord.” On the deathbed of the chemist Michael Faraday, he was asked "Have you ever pondered by yourself what will be your occupation in the next world?" To which he replied, “I shall be with Christ, and that is enough.” Inspired by Psalm 8, based on analyzing thousands of ship logs, the American naval officer Matthew Maury, ‘Pathfinder of the Seas,’ published the first extensive oceanographic and weather charts, a major achievement in earth sciences. The physicist James Clerk Maxwell inscribed over his lab door Psalm 111:2 “The works of the Lord are great, sought out of all them that have pleasure therein.”

Moreover, for the vast, overwhelming majority of what we understand as science, there is simply no conflict with Christian faith whatsoever. Despite media portrayals suggesting an irreconcilable divide between science and faith, consider how rare it is to encounter a Christian who systematically, as a matter of faith, rejects the prevailing understanding of mathematics, physics, chemistry, engineering, medicine, aeronautics, anatomy, computing, electricity, astronomy, or countless other scientific disciplines. It’s at most as common as secular cranks.

Figure 2. Before man walked on the moon, man took communion on the moon. Buzz Aldrin, a Presbyterian elder, self-administered it and read Scripture before Neil Armstrong got out of the lunar lander. The real government conspiracy was not faking the moon landing - it was trying to minimize the religious ceremony, including denying Aldrin’s request to broadcast it to the world!

Conflict arises with some Christians over the theory of evolution and a very old earth, presently prevailing and foundational views in biology and geology, respectively. Charles Darwin, much to the distress of his devout wife, gradually lost confidence in traditional Christian beliefs as he developed his evolutionary theory, subsequently influencing many others to doubt or abandon faith, even though he initially included cautious language acknowledging divine creation: “There is grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers, having been originally breathed by the Creator into a few forms or into one; and that, whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved.” Christians digging into Genesis, biology, or geology should wrestle with these ideas. Yes, prevailing views of science have been wrong in the past, and we’ve often had to update our theories to match the best available evidence. The best science has epistemological humility. For example, in the famous Scopes trial in which a Tennessee teacher was fined for teaching evolution, used as a modern secular parable to warn the suppression of scientific truth, his preferred biology textbook also taught eugenics, now rather less scientifically popular. (Also notable: J. Gresham Machen declined to testify in the case because he thought it a distraction from much more important questions). Conversely, theologians have also erred, most famously by objecting to heliocentrism because it seemed to conflict with Joshua 10:12-14, where the Bible describes the sun stopping in the sky. When heliocentrism became indisputable scientifically, theologians rightly recognized that scripture was describing observable phenomena from an earthly vantage point rather than providing technical astronomical data (as is also evident in poetic descriptions like a “sunrise” or Psalm 19:4-6, which describes a “tent for the sun”). Galileo himself insisted that the Holy Spirit intended the Scriptures to show not “how heaven goes,” but “how one goes to heaven.”

Figure 3. How many “science is real” households, even academics in science departments, now twist themselves into politically correct knots denying that human biological sex is binary while laughing off Genesis as ignorance? (“So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.”) Or that the vast majority of men are physically stronger than the vast majority of women? Or that intelligence and other traits are heritable? Or that attending church services was more life-giving than preventing them during covid 19? Or that obesity is a matter of personal responsibility? Or that nuclear energy is a safe and effective energy source? (Admittedly, that last one does not have explicit Biblical support, although… “Let there be light!”)

When it comes to these specific questions, as a Christian you should prayerfully consider what you think is right and you have three options.

First, accept the prevailing scientific view and teach its compatibility with your faith. There are plenty of people who believe both in the supernatural event of Christ conquering death and accept the currently prevailing scientific theories on evolution and the age of the earth. Ronald Fisher and Theodosius Dobzhansky, two architects of the modern synthesis linking Darwin and (the Augustinian friar!) Mendel - the foundation of modern biology - were both Christians who saw evolution as directed by God. Similarly, Christian geneticist Francis Collins, leader of the Human Genome Project, founded the BioLogos Foundation to advocate this harmony. Some think Augustine of Hippo had some early inkling of modern science; as Biologos puts it, “Augustine argues that the first two chapters of Genesis are written to suit the understanding of the people at that time. In order to communicate in a way that all people could understand, the creation story was told in a simpler, allegorical fashion. Augustine also believed God created the world with the capacity to develop, a view that is harmonious with biological evolution.” The Puritans, who never wrestled with these exact questions, had a plain but not always literal interpretation of the Bible. B.B. Warfield, a legendary orthodox Presbyterian and contemporary of Darwin’s, insisted “I do not think that there is any general statement in the Bible or any part of the account of creation, either as given in Genesis 1 and 2 or elsewhere alluded to, that need be opposed to evolution.” Ultimately, though, if you take this approach, always remember that faith does involve believing in miracles that defied our scientific understanding, that God created exceptions to His laws, for there can be no “scientific explanation” for how Christ rose from the dead - that’s what makes it so magnificent and awe-inspiring, even if we lose sight of that and other miracles amidst constant consumption of fictional special effects.

Second, you can ignore the controversy. Secularists will object, but in over 99% of professions and situations, these disputes simply don’t matter and you don’t need to know the true answer. There is no reason, from the perspective of the Bible, that every child needs to be trained up to some particular standard in the sciences - that is a secular objection, and, furthermore, one without obvious widespread social effects (indeed, universal scientific education is pretty recent - and how many graduates of secular high schools can precisely articulate various scientific theories?) Nevertheless, be forewarned that if you ignore this controversy, it could be a test of your children’s faith in the future - and because nurturing your children’s faith is your paramount responsibility, that’s crucial to anticipate. You may honestly mention that there is controversy and affirm the one truth we can be absolutely confident of is that God is our creator.

Third, you can reject the currently prevailing scientific views on evolution and/or earth age but make sure to thoroughly understand its implications because it is a leading cause of Christian culture disintegration. Several leading theologians are in this position, most because they believe the most obvious reading of Genesis is different from current scientific theory, and some because they feel that the stakes are high (Could there be death and suffering that is inherent to evolution before the fall of man?). And it’s not just theologians: although they are a distinct minority, I know STEM graduates of the Ivy League who are in this camp, too. Leading scientific contemporaries of Darwin also were skeptical, though the field ultimately embraced his theory. Critics engaging with the science argue that major evolutionary changes - such as one species gradually turning into an entirely new kind, or developing completely new and complex biological features - cannot be directly replicated through experiments, have not been clearly observed happening today, and face challenges based on probabilities, irreducible complexity, biochemical mechanisms, and gaps in the fossil record. However, mainstream biology finds these criticisms insufficient grounds to reject evolutionary theory.

In the aftermath of Darwin, what broke mainline Protestantism was an infatuation with science that went so far as to reject miracles. But “if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain, your faith also is in vain” (Corinthians 15:14). The original fundamentalists were willing to maintain unity provided there was agreement on the fundamental supernatural claims central to Christianity, particularly the resurrection of Christ. But agreement could not be had. My own denomination, the Presbyterian Church in America, insists that Adam and Eve were real historical figures and rejects the notion that humanity is the product of macroevolution, but accepts a range of views on the age of earth and the mechanics of microevolution. Consult your own pastor and faith leaders. In my own experience, every PCA church I've been part of has included scientist parishioners who are valuable resources for such discussions. My own Tennessee church did a Sunday school series hosted by one of our members, an astrophysics professor with degrees from Stanford and Caltech, that meaningfully and confidently engaged with the claims of the new atheists.

Figure 4. One Presbyterian friend, a chemical engineering major at a top 25 university, was amused and delighted to discover that there were more professors from his department, and a healthy number at that, who were members of his church than from the theology department (in fact, he suspected there were simply more believers as well).

Wherever you land, you’ll face challenging decisions about what educational resources to use. Even if you accept prevailing scientific theories, the highest-quality mainstream resources intentionally omit references to God as the director of creation, partly due to an overly compartmentalized view of science and faith, and partly to cater to public school markets. As a parent, be vigilant to reinforce for your children that science, like all fields, is thoroughly under God’s authority. Some very sophisticated scientifically literate Christians like to rely on textbooks from before 1960; they argue that the vast majority of scientific knowledge we have, certainly at a foundational level, came before that year and that the texts of yesteryear were less dumbed down, more generally optimistic and less environmentally fatalistic, and were, even when written with a secular tone, more implicitly aligned with a Christian worldview.

Then there are explicitly Christian publishers who purposefully integrate faith into every discussion. I don’t know how well each publisher accomplishes this, and you should be cautious both of products that rely on Christianity merely as a marketing hook and of products that are sincere but can’t match or exceed the quality of secular texts when describing scientific phenomena. Here’s an example of what I am talking about regarding integration:

“The law of conservation of matter is evidence that God created matter. God is the only one who can create matter from nothing, and He has authority over it. The miracles recorded in the Bible show what God can do with matter that humans cannot do. People can study, control, and even manipulate matter within the limits that God placed on it. But humans cannot create matter from nothing. God has involved people in the occurrence of some miracles, but people cannot perform miracles without God’s help. Everything in heaven and earth belongs to God, and He has power and authority over it all.”

As I’ve alluded to, scientific literacy can also reinforce and deepen faith, because they are both reflections of reality. The Catholic columnist Ross Douthat gives one example:

“The fine-tuning argument, to oversimplify, rests on the startling fact that parameters of the cosmos have been apparently set, tuned very finely, if you will, in an extremely narrow range — with odds on the order of one in a bazillion (that’s a technical number, don’t question it), not one in a hundred — that allows for the emergence of basic order and eventually stars, planets and complex life. To quote Bentham’s Bulldog, this would seem like a pretty strong prima facie case for some originating intelligence: “If there is no God, then the constants, laws and initial conditions could be anything, so it’s absurdly unlikely that they’d fall in the ridiculously narrow range needed to sustain life.” (The book I recommend for a longer discussion of these questions is the physicist Stephen Barr’s ‘Modern Physics and Ancient Faith’[)]

Notably, previous generations of Christians also had to wrestle with these questions, because the best empirical knowledge available for centuries was from non-believers, even if flawed.⁵ Augustine said to plunder the pagans for what was true. Basil the Great was a bit more poetic: “Just as bees sip the nectar from flowers and leave the bitterness, so we should take from pagan writings what is useful and consonant with truth, and ignore the rest.” And Basil reminded his listeners of biblical examples: “Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians” and “Daniel in that of the Babylonians,” yet both remained true to Go​d. In his schools, Calvin affirmed science as a duty to God (to appreciate His works) while subordinating it to theology. In practice, a Geneva student might learn cosmology according to Ptolemy and Aristotle in the morning, but be reminded in the afternoon’s theology lecture that the heavens declare the glory of God (Psalm 19) - thus integrating the knowledge. Indeed, rediscovery and application of ancient knowledge fueled the scientific revolution. Leland Ryken says

“The doctrine of common grace asserts that God endows all people, believers and unbelievers alike, with a capacity for truth, goodness, and beauty. Calvin described common grace thus: In reading profane authors, the admirable light of truth displayed in them should remind us that the human mind, however much fallen and perverted from its original integrity, is still adorned and invested with admirable gifts from its Creator. If we reflect that the Spirit of God is the only fountain of truth, we will be careful…not to reject or condemn truth wherever it appears.”

The questions we ask of science affect all other subjects as well. Rushdoony insisted, “The Bible, as Cornelius Van Til has pointed out, does not give us the multiplicity of facts which make up mathematics, paleontology, physics, biology, or any other subject, but it does give us ‘the truth about all facts.’ It declares all facts to be God-created, God-governed, and God-serving facts.” The essential question for parents is this: are you engaging with every subject in light of God and His Word?

A sufficient Christian education could be had (and has been had countless times) with no more reading than the Bible - the Good book is better than any textbook, is one of the Great Works of all time that should be read even by the secular because it shapes the moral imagination and rewards re-reading while uniquely sanctifying the reader. But the Western canon contains a wealth of exceptional Christian literature: you have access to works such as Pilgrim’s Progress, Paradise Lost, The Brothers Karamazov, Robinson Crusoe, Augustine’s Confessions, Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion, The Chronicles of Narnia, and numerous profound sermons. You could easily spend your entire homeschooling experience and beyond reading extremely high quality Christian literature.

But are Victor Hugo, Mark Twain, Ernest Hemingway, George Orwell, and JK Rowling reading pleasures (and insights) to be shared or avoided? Those authors have written classics, and it’s for each parent to decide. At least for the Christians of yesteryear surveying pagan literature, the stuff that survived - like the Odyssey - was generally highbrow and sophisticated - today, the schlock overwhelms. Furthermore, in past eras, when Western culture was broadly Christian and art was costly to produce (and reproduce), artistic works typically aimed explicitly at glorifying God or uplifting humanity. Modern culture, conversely, is often dominated by content designed to shock, titillate, or disturb. It’s a good aspiration for parents to review things before their kids read them, even or perhaps especially for “fun,” and if that’s too much of a burden (hopefully because your kid wants to read so much), search for reviews or even interrogate AI as to whether and how a Christian might object. Every Christian ought to reflect on Philippians 4:8 - “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things” and “I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes” (Psalm 101:3).

Figure 5. Book eleven in the series - The Penultimate Return of the Hot Tub Vampires - is widely regarded as the franchise’s densest meditation on the human condition.

Some Christians contextualize all they consume and guard against heresy by carefully examining variant worldviews and how they shape creators and their output. The Christian apologist Francis Schaeffer, known for evangelizing through thoughtful engagement with art and culture, emphasized this point clearly:

“People have presuppositions, and they will live more consistently on the basis of these presuppositions than even they themselves may realize. By presuppositions we mean the basic way an individual looks at life, his basic worldview, the grid through which he sees the world. Presuppositions rest upon that which a person considers to be the truth of what exists. People's presuppositions lay a grid for all they bring forth into the external world. Their presuppositions also provide the basis for their values and therefore the basis for their decisions”

Such context can make sense, but Christians should also be careful not to dismiss insights from those who do not share exactly similar presuppositions, lest they miss truths and be trapped in an intellectual ghetto. We live in a secular world, God gives talents to all, and, as Augustine advised, we ought to seize truth wherever we encounter it. Thoughtfully digesting secular culture through the lens of faith can sharpen belief, as well as create the possibility of a revival of Christian culture through talented Christian culture makers. Furthermore, encountering moral ambiguity, realistic complexity, and challenging themes in secular classics can help cultivate discernment, empathy, and cultural literacy, which may be useful as the mature Christian needs to meet sinners in relationship somehow to evangelize them.⁶ When exactly is appropriate to engage all this in a child’s education, if ever, is up to a parent. Always be mindful that “All things are permitted, but not all things are of benefit. All things are permitted, but not all things build people up.” (1 Corinthians 10:23).

To the degree you teach history: if you pray now that you get home safely and believe that God will help you do that, presumably you also believe that God’s hand is in much bigger events in history.⁷ Can we mere mortals discern His will? Some Christian curricula will comment about, for example, how colonization led to the spread of the faith according to His will -- but it is less obvious what to make of the rise of rival religions or atheistic Communism. This can lead to profound theological questions about why God permits suffering - which are frankly worth exploring. Learning the history of the church can provide considerable insight into theological questions - and, honestly, secular history tends to kind of forget religion when people aren’t killing each other over it. Christian curriculum provider Sonlight intentionally emphasizes missionary biographies and martyrdom stories to underscore spiritual priorities. Social history also can lead us to understand how cultures came to be and ceased to be Christian (e.g. it’s actually disturbing how some standard Christian books undersell Darwin’s significance, which is indisputable even, or perhaps especially, if you disagree with him; additionally, I think there’s a good and interesting case that Christianity has led to empirically superior outcomes on earth). “Knowledge of the liberal arts - history, languages and the like - provided the best context for the study of Scripture,” Luther argued. And Rushdoony said: “The Bible gives not merely a chronology of history, but the meaning, purpose, and direction of history.”

Rushdoony was especially keen on teaching children both law and economics. He thought economics was crucial to stewardship and that human law must always be understood to be subordinate to God’s. “No state and no man can be neutral to the Lord. To neglect Jesus Christ is to deny His sovereign claims.” He went on: “Fallen man has lived both at ease and in rebellion with every type of civil government. His criterion in judging a civil order is personal and egocentric: what does it do for me? For the Christian, the criterion must be the Lord. Is this civil order faithful and obedient to Christ the King?” While Rushdoony remains controversial for views he advocated beyond education, many Christians have similarly emphasized education aimed at both spiritual growth and cultivating a civic community reflective of God’s Kingdom - or at least aligned with His principles. Despite his reputation as a right-wing figure, Rushdoony also advocated studying ecology, emphasizing humanity’s responsibility toward the earth as part of biblical stewardship.

Figure 6. After all, Whose appendage is the Invisible Hand?

Perhaps it’s the lawyer in me who values originalism but if Orthodox Jews diligently study Hebrew, why shouldn’t Christians do the same? It’s an indictment of our secular culture that Advanced Placement courses or standardized tests don’t exist for Hebrew and Koine Greek - the original languages through which God revealed His Word. Translations, after all, are not infallible. Latin, once essential for accessing scholarly texts, no longer holds the same educational necessity. Other languages should primarily be viewed through the lens of potential missionary service; those studying them should aim to competently read and explain Scripture.

Perhaps the most underappreciated but vital aspect of Christian education is something that secularists famously think Christians object to: sex ed. But a true Christian education should teach the significance of sex and, after all, we are called to go forth and multiply, within marriage. There obviously is also specific teaching from the Bible about lust and its consequences. Our own family prayer for our children is threefold: to be in a relationship with God, to glorify Him in their vocation through their gifts, and to be fully yoked with a spouse.

Nearly any other conventional subject is acceptable, and even commendable if a child has a gift with it, so long as you teach it within the context of God’s sovereignty. Math both reveals the orderliness of God's creation and, in the modern age, expands professional opportunities to serve and glorify Him. Personally, I’d make it a core part of education, as the Christian PhD Dad Art Robinson did, precisely because it is so central to possible contributions to stewardship. Basic reading can be taught through explicitly Christian texts (as the old McGuffey Readers did), and grammar could be learned by diagramming biblical sentences - though this isn't obligatory. Athletics can honor the body as a temple⁸ and provide witnessing opportunities; similarly, the arts can uplift the human spirit and reflect God’s creativity; but the trade-offs of all “extracurriculars” should be thoughtfully weighed against time spent in charitable works. You need not pursue every subject or activity - in fact, as I must repeatedly emphasize, you may do much less - but whatever is undertaken should be pursued explicitly for God’s glory, which means aspiring to the very best one is capable of giving.

Finally, I encourage you to look closely at your own faith tradition at its best when it actually attempted to educate children, and to carefully consider modern studies regarding faith retention. The good news is that “All the data suggest that, by and large, kids brought up in religious households stay religious and kids who aren’t, don’t.” While Martin Luther, John Calvin, and John Knox each wrote on practical education or directly established schools, I personally find the Puritans to be the most inspiring exemplars. They were deeply committed to literacy, ultimately creating the most literate society on earth in New England. Their educational approach began with catechisms like the New England Primer (“In Adam’s fall, we sinned all”) before advancing to more sophisticated materials. The Puritans founded Harvard - and “required that students be able not only to read the Scriptures, but also “to resolve them logically.” - and then when Harvard was not hardcore enough, Yale too. Cotton Mather profoundly observed, “Scripture is reason in its highest elevation.” As scholar Leland Ryken notes, “The strength of their educational theory was that they knew what education was for. Their primary goal was Christian nurture and growth.” Moreover, the Puritans reinforced learning through substantial and substantive weekly sermons, which families actively and weekly discussed afterward at home. They got the ball rolling for American education (It is hard to imagine the Puritans or the Israelites handing their children over to secular institutions). As Samuel Blumenfeld wrote,

“From colonial times to the 1840s[, American education] saw the dominance of the Calvinist ethic: God’s omnipotent sovereignty was the central reality of man’s existence. In the Calvinist scheme the purpose of man’s life was to glorify God, and the attainment of Biblical literacy was considered the overriding spiritual and moral function of education. Latin, Greek and Hebrew were studied because they were the original languages of the Bible and of theological literature. Thus, this period in American education is characterized by a very high standard of literacy.”

It’s been all downhill from there!

In earlier essays on various educational approaches, I concluded each by exploring how other approaches might critique the main subject. However, I find that method less useful here. From a secular perspective, the case against Christian homeschooling is straightforward and obvious: it is considered at best unnecessary and superfluous, and at worst counterproductive. The most frequent contemporary secular objection is that Christian education promotes intolerance. In reality, this objection reflects discomfort with Christian education’s explicit teaching of Christianity itself. While it’s true not all self-identified Christians practice their faith perfectly, authentic biblical Christianity is simultaneously intolerant of sin - and understanding that all of us sin - and forgiving of those who sincerely repent and commit to spiritual renewal.⁹

If you’re a committed Christian who prioritizes your children’s faith above all else, you can fulfill your biblical educational obligations and then adopt other educational methods as suits your family - though I encourage revisiting my attempts to critique each educational style from a faith-first perspective in their respective essays and you may need to do more work to ensure that the topics are all seen through the prism of faith. As I’ve mentioned before, most homeschooling families in my own church tend toward Charlotte Mason (the originator being very committed to faith); I know plenty of Christian parents who trust the classical method either at home or through institutions, and they have to be sensitive to ensure that it does not veer too secular. I personally appreciate Art Robinson’s PhD Dad, which involved daily family Bible study.

You may interpret Christian educational obligations differently than I have. This essay represents my sincere attempt to understand and articulate them. My hope is that these reflections prompt prayerful consideration and help clarify your own convictions.

The questions a Christian educator must resolve are:

1. How will you prioritize salvation and spiritual formation above all else?

2. How will you ensure that Scripture serves as the interpretive framework for all knowledge?

3. How will your educational choices practically equip your children to fulfill their covenantal responsibilities (personally, vocationally, and in their future families and churches) to glorify God and steward His Kingdom on earth?

4. How will you discern and train their gifts for employability to take care of themselves and their families?

5. How will you cultivate discernment and intellectual rigor to faithfully engage material offered by nonbelievers without compromising biblical truth?

And with that, Godspeed!

Additional resources

1. The Philosophy of Christian Curriculum by RJ Rushdoony.

   1. R.J. Rushdoony (1916-2001) was an Armenian-American theologian, deeply learned Presbyterian minister, and founder of Christian Reconstructionism who profoundly influenced the modern homeschooling movement through his critiques of public education and advocacy for parental educational authority. His 1963 book "The Messianic Character of American Education" provided the intellectual foundation for many Christian families to withdraw from public schools, while his legal defense work and testimony in numerous court cases helped establish legal protections for homeschooling families in the 1970s and 1980s. Though revered by many conservative Christians for his educational contributions, Rushdoony remains controversial for his theonomic views advocating the application of Old Testament civil laws to modern society and his vision of a society governed by biblical law rather than secular democracy - positions that have led many, including mainstream conservative Christians, to distance themselves from aspects of his broader theological and political framework even while acknowledging his seminal influence on Christian education. This book, from which I’ve quoted in this essay, lays out his ideas for what Christian education should be.

   2. “The function of education and of the curriculum was the preparation of man to glorify God, to enjoy Him, and to serve Him in and through a chosen calling.”

   3. “Psychology has, in the modern curriculum, taken the place of theology as the guide to life.”

2. Standing on the Promises by Douglas Wilson

   1. Douglas Wilson (b. 1953) is a conservative Reformed pastor, prolific author, and founder of Logos School in Moscow, Idaho, who has been instrumental in reviving and popularizing classical Christian education in America since the 1980s. His 1991 book "Recovering the Lost Tools of Learning" sparked a movement that has grown to hundreds of classical Christian schools nationwide, while his subsequent educational writings refined the integration of classical methodology with biblical worldview and helped establish the Association of Classical Christian Schools. Wilson is known for his commitment to orthodox Christianity, his intellectual rigor, and his witty but confrontational writing style. Despite controversies, his influence on classical Christian education remains substantial, with many families and schools adopting his educational approach while not necessarily embracing all aspects of his theological and social positions. This book is his Biblically-based parenting guide.

   2. “As we bring up our children, we should descend to their level in one sense (humility) in order to lead them to our level (maturity).”

   3. “The children of Christian parents are covenantally sanctified, even though their nature is not yet necessarily changed through regeneration. The fact that the child is a sinner and has not yet professed faith in Christ is grounds for watchfulness, wariness, and prayerfulness. At the same time, the covenantal sanctification of children is grounds for confidence. When all the teaching of the Bible is taken into account, parents who fulfill their covenantal obligations have every reason to expect that their children will be saved.”

   4. Relatedly, Logos’ full mission statement: “We aim to graduate young men and women who think clearly and listen carefully with discernment and understanding; who reason persuasively and articulate precisely; who are capable of evaluating their entire range of experience in the light of the Scriptures; and who do so with eagerness in joyful submission to God. We desire them to recognize cultural influences as distinct from biblical, and to be unswayed towards evil by the former.” Their children study the Old Testament in 7th grade, the New Testament in 8th, Church History in 9th, principles of interpretation in 10th, doctrine in 11th and apologetics in 12th.

3. The Great Tradition: Classic Readings on What It Means to Be An Educated Human Being, edited by Richard Gamble, a Hillsdale professor

   1. Contains excerpts from Aristotle to Zwingli, including Seneca, Basil the Great, Augustine, Martin Luther, John Calvin, John Milton, Edmund Burke, Albert Jay Nock, and CS Lewis. Honestly not an easy read, but it can point you in the right direction.

4. Counterfeit Gods by Tim Keller

   1. Masterfully identifies the modern idols that compete for our hearts' devotion - success, wealth, relationships, education, children's achievements - and demonstrates how these "functional saviors" inevitably disappoint and damage us spiritually. Though not specifically about education, the book provides essential insight for Christian parents by addressing how easily our deepest desires for our children's success, social approval, or academic achievement can become idolatrous substitutes for true faith.

5. Worldly Saints by Leland Ryken

   1. Though only one chapter of this deals with education specifically, as I mentioned, the Puritans to me personally are the most inspiring exemplars and this is a great write up.

   2. “Some of the most solemn of all Puritan warnings are warnings against parental neglect to train children properly. In the most memorable of these passages, Richard Mather imagined children on the Judgment Day addressing parents who have neglected their training: All this that we here suffer is through you: you should have taught us the things of God, and did not; you should have restrained us from sin and corrected us, and you did not; you were the means of our original corruption and guiltiness, and yet you never showed any competent care that we might be delivered from it.…Woe unto us that we had such carnal and careless parents, and woe unto you that had no more compassion and pity to prevent the everlasting misery of your own children.”

6. There are various organizations that attempt to aid parents in their covenantal responsibilities, including Focus on the Family, which was crucial in popularizing interest in the modern homeschooling movement. There are also many explicitly Christian publishers that serve the homeschooling community - just be sure to check their specific denominational affiliation to see if they match your own and, as I warned above, try to get a sense of their rigor and quality.

7. You may also be inspired by Christian educational institutions and their curricula (I already mentioned Logos). It’s worth interrogating, to the degree they keep track, how well do the school’s graduates retain their orthodox faith? In what ways are they glorifying God?

   1. In my earlier survey of boys’ schools, I was particularly impressed with the thoughtfulness of the Catholic school the Heights in Washington DC, which entrusts their children’s spiritual formation to Opus Dei (this, despite being a committed Protestant). Although there’s some data to suggest that Catholic schools are generally superior academically while Protestant schools tend to have greater faith retention, the Heights’ website has plenty of good ideas to work from.

   2. A friend of mine started Heritage Prep in Atlanta, Georgia: “At Heritage, our mission is to develop students that think with excellence, believe with confidence, and live with character. To do this, we provide an academically rigorous educational experience designed to help students know, love, and practice, that which is true, good, and excellent, and to prepare them to live purposefully and intelligently in the service of God and man. Our vision is to be a Christian school known for graduates who positively shape culture through their faith and intellect.”

   3. I honestly do not follow the institutional space closely and have always wanted to homeschool but I asked GPT to suggest institutions that might align with the vision I’ve outlined and it proposed the following examples:

      1. Stony Brook “character before career”

      2. Covenant Dallas, which “exists to glorify God by equipping students with the tools necessary to pursue a lifetime of learning so that they may discern, reason and defend truth in service to our Lord, Jesus Christ.”;

      3. Richmond’s Veritas where “we believe that all areas of study—and of life—provide opportunities to discern and emulate the True, the Good, and the Beautiful” and “there is nothing more important in one’s life than to be reconciled with God, living in union with Him.” Has a nice segment about ensuring families and graduates participate fully in their local church

      4. The online resource FACE, which insists “By regarding every individual child as a unique creation of God, endowed with His image, destined for immortality, and created with a special purpose in God’s grand design revealed when the absolute truths of God’s word are imbedded into the heart, soul and mind—the Christian idea of the child”

      5. Wheaton, which aspires for each student to “Develop a personal, vibrant, and growing relationship with Christ Adopt and cultivate a thoroughly Biblical worldview Discover, explore, and practice their God-given gifts and abilities Acquire the knowledge and wisdom students will need for further study and be prepared to represent Christ in their life calling Nurturing growth through relationships means… inviting students to encounter Jesus and grow closer to Him ensuring that every student is known, discipled, and challenged in every classroom by every teacher, staff, counselor, coach, and employee recognizing that true excellence is an obedient offering that brings glory to God.”

1. “For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their reasonings, and their senseless hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools.” Romans 1:21-22; “So I say this, and affirm in the Lord, that you are to no longer walk just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their minds, being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart” Ephesians 4:17-18; “Where is the wise person? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has God not made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.” 1 Corinthians 1:20-21

2. “Knowledge makes one conceited, but love edifies people” 1 Corinthians 8:1

3. “As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the multifaceted grace of God. Whoever speaks is to do so as one who is speaking actual words of God; whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.” 1 Peter 4:10-11; “Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord and not for people, knowing that it is from the Lord that you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve.” Colossians 3:23-24

4. “But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” 1 Timothy 5:8

5. How to reconcile the two claims - that Christianity provided the foundation for modern science, yet pagans preserved the best empirical knowledge for centuries? Pagans left behind piles of bricks - some strong, some crumbling. Christianity supplied the blueprint for the house. The Renaissance recovered those ancient materials; the Reformation, by spreading literacy and (its proponents would say recovering) theology, laid the groundwork for construction. The result was the Scientific Revolution, which had a disproportionately high number of Protestant contributors, though the schisms led to secularism as well.

6. “To the weak I became weak, that I might gain the weak; I have become all things to all people, so that I may by all means save some.” (1 Corinthians 9:22)

7. “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28); “For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very reason I raised you up, in order to demonstrate My power in you, and that My name might be proclaimed [a]throughout the earth.” So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires.” (Romans 9:17-18)

8. “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? 20 For you have been bought for a price: therefore glorify God in your body.” 1 Corinthian 6:19-20

9. Although “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God’ (Romans 3:23), “there is now no condemnation at all for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1)