The Idea of a Christian College Arthur Holmes 1975 (rev. 1987)

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The Idea of a Christian CollegeArthur
Holmes1975 (rev. 1987)
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Chapter 1 Why a Christian College?
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Common ideas about education

• Why do many students attend college?
• Vocational goals
• Social aspirations
• Why did you attend college?

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The Christian CollegeDefender of the Faith?

• Is it the defender of the faith to protect
  against the liberal teachings of non-Christian
  colleges?
• Indoctrination vs education
• safe environment vs learning environment
• The questions vs the answers

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The Christian CollegeEducation Faith?

• Is the Christian college a place to get a good
  education as well as biblical studies in an
  environment of piety?
• How does this differ from being at a
  non-Christian college and being involved in
  religious adjuncts?

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The Christian CollegeTraining grounds for
church-related vocations?

• Is the Christian college designed to train people
  for full-time Christian ministry?
• Training versus education
• Evaluate this statement
• The educated Christian exercises critical
  judgment and manifests the ability to interpret
  and to evaluate information, particularly in
  light of the Christian revelation (p. 5)

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The Christian Collegea social extravaganza?

• Is the Christian college supposed to be a place
  for social and extracurricular activity?
• Is it the place to find your life partner?
• Is it the place to develop your leadership skills?

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Then why a Christian College?

• Evaluate this statement
• Its distinctive should be an education that
  cultivates the creative and active integration of
  faith and learning, of faith and culture. (p. 6)

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All truth, Gods truth?

• Evaluate this statement
• All truth is Gods truth, no matter where it is
  found. . . (p. 7)

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Whats the difference?

• What is the difference between a Christian who is
  a scholar and a Christian scholar?
• What is the difference between Christianity
  alongside education and Christian education?

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The educational distinctive

• Integration vs conjunction
• Non-Christian universities adjuncts
• Bible institutes and colleges
• Seminaries
• Education vs vocation

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The religious distinctive

• Dualism vs the Christian worldview
• Compartmentalization vs integration
• Evaluate this statement
• . . . Underlying it all was the basic
  conviction that Christian perspectives can
  generate a worldview large enough to give meaning
  to all the disciplines and delights of life and
  to the whole of a liberal education (p. 10)

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The Christian Collegea Christian education

• Evaluate this statement
• Christian education is a Christian calling (p.
  6).

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Chapter 2 Theological Foundations
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The Foundational Premise

• Evaluate this statement
• As a Christian I will be guided by what I
  believe about God and his purposes for us (p.
  13)

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The Biblical/Theological Mandate for Christian
Education

• Creation
• The human person
• Truth
• The cultural mandate

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The Biblical Mandate from Creation

• Gnosticism
• Dualistic
• Mind vs matter
• Sacred vs secular
• Results
• Anti-nature, body, matter, world
• Tension between faith and culture,
  anti-intellectualism
• Doctrine of Creation
• Sanctity of nature, human history, culture
• Command to preserve and develop

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The Biblical Mandate from Human Nature

• The image of God
• To preserve and develop
• To worship God
• Uniquely human rational, moral, artistic
• Fallen and corrupted, but the mandate remains
  unchanged
• Evaluate
• The educators task is to inspire and equip
  individuals to think and act for themselves in
  the dignity of persons created in Gods image (p
  16)

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The Biblical/Theological Mandate from Truth

• God has perfect knowledge of everything we
  inquire about
• 2 principles
• 1. All truth is Gods truth, wherever it is
  found (p. 17)
• 2. There is a unity of truth.
• Truth does not contradict and is not to be feared

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The unity of truth

• Truth does not contradict and is not to be feared
• Biblical revelation is not the exhaustive source
  of all truth
• There should be no tension between reason and
  revelation
• Faith is not a source of knowledge

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The unity of . . .

• There is a unity of truth.
• There is also a unity of
• Goodness
• Concern for social justice
• Beauty

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The Cultural Mandate

• Humanitys task at creation preserve and
  develop
• Source of our cultural responsibilities
• Hebrew Bible examples
• Jesus his first 30 years
• Culture was ordained by God
• Psalm 8
• Hebrews 2

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The power of common grace

• The sun shines on the just and the unjust
• God preserves a measure of civil justice, social
  order, and human love and compassion
• There is also a unity of
• Goodness
• Concern for social justice
• Beauty

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The Biblical/Theological Mandate

• Evaluate this statement
• Implicit in the doctrine of creation is a
  cultural mandate and a call to the creative
  integration of faith with learning and culture.
  It is a call, not just to couple piety with
  intellect, nor just to preserve biblical studies
  in our school, but more basically to see every
  area of thought and life in relation to the
  wisdom and will of God and to replenish the earth
  with the creativity of human art and science (p.
  21)

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Coming up . . .

• October 4 Fall Break (enjoy!)
• October 11 Holmes, Chapters 3-4