Our study is a philosopher of Christian education overview. We will be looking at five essential concepts in the construction of a Christian philosopher of education, and we will also be laying the foundations for following lectures in the development of a Christian philosopher of education. Let's begin by looking at the second chapter of Colossians. In Colossians chapter two, we say, the apostle tells us to beware. Many people misunderstand this passage as issuing a warning against philosophy in general. Every person on the planet has a philosophy. Every person in the world has a way of looking at life, a way of understanding the universe, a way of categorizing things, an intellectual framework for looking at life. That's what a philosophy is. Every person in the world has one. So obviously, Todd cannot be issuing a warning against philosophy in general. Everybody has a philosophy. What Paul is issuing a warning against is a philosophy, an intellectual framework, a way of looking at the world and the universe which is conditioned by the tradition of men. and the rudimentary principles of the world and not Christ. In other words, Todd is issuing a warning against a humanistic philosophy. A philosophy which says that man is the measure of all things. The philosophy which Paul warns us against takes its first principle, its operational principle, from the idea that man and his words, his will, his understanding of the universe is ultimate truth. Her warning against that is then also a call to its opposite. It's a call to be committed to a philosophy which is after Christ, a Christ-centered philosophy, a philosophy which takes as its operational principle that God's Word is truth, that God's revelation in Jesus Christ and in the written Word constitutes truth. So this is not a one-and-against philosophy. It's a call to a Christian philosophy. It's a call to have an interpretive framework for life that's conditioned by God and his truth. So every one of us as Christians are called to be Christian philosophers, are called to be people who can interpret the world, who can interpret life, and who can make the various aspects of life, education being our chief concern for our study here. fully Christian, accurate in terms of God and His Word, operative in terms of the foundational principle that God is the truth, that God's Word is truth. So Paul's call here is not a warning against trying to develop a systematic, consistent philosophy. It's a call to that. But it's a call to a systematic, consistent, biblical philosophy. There's really no such thing as a consistent or a systematic philosophy apart from a Christian philosophy. So we're not being warned against philosophy here. We're being called to a Christian philosophy. A Christian philosophy of education is going to be a part of a Christian philosophy of life. The five concepts we'll be looking at during this hour's study are not restricted to being educational topics. They are concepts which are necessary in the construction of a Christian philosophy of life. And then following lectures we'll try to specifically apply these and other concepts to the educational endeavor. The five concepts we'll be looking at today is the idea of God as creator, the idea of man as the image of God, The concept of truth, the use of man's reason, and a governing principle, a principle that gives guidance and direction to all of man's endeavors. So let's begin at the beginning with God in Genesis chapter 1 verse 1. In the beginning God created. The Bible starts with God, and so you and I, if we're going to attempt to construct a consistent philosophy of life and a consistent philosophy of education, are going to have to begin with God. In Exodus chapter 3 verse 14, God defined himself as I am that I am. There is nothing more basic than God. There is nothing that stands behind God to which God can compare himself. God can only compare himself with himself. In Deuteronomy chapter 6 verse 4 it says that the Lord our God, the Lord is one. God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, one God, eternal, immutable, et cetera, et cetera, all those great concepts we learn in archeology books. Romans chapter 11 verse 36 teaches us that of God and through God and unto God are all things. Hebrews 11 verse 3 teaches us that the worlds were framed by the word of God. Luther complained in his day that people spoke of God in a very irreverent manner. He said they spoke of God as if he were a shoemaker's apprentice. I can't help but to think that our age has an even lower concept of God than Luther's. And I can't help but to think that the primary reason why Christians have not developed a systematic and a consistent Christian world in our view, a systematic and a consistent Christian philosophy of education all the way down the line in all of the various endeavors in which man should be exercising dominion and ruling as God's second in command. I can't help but to think the reason why we haven't done that is because our concepts of God are false. We don't really know the God who's revealed in these pictures as He really and truly is. The book is inadequate, but the title of J.B. Phillips' little book is very, very good, Your God is Too Small. I can't help but to think that our God is too small. We haven't really caught a vision of the holo, the majestic, the sovereign God that these pictures really present to us. to develop a systematic and consistent philosophy of education, to develop a systematic and consistent philosophy of life, we have to start off by catching a vision of God, the God of whom the seraphim, when they were in his presence, covered their eyes and cried out, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of his glory. That's the kind of vision that we have to catch of God, because that's the kind of vision that will allow us to see him as he really and truly is. And then that will condition our thinking on our other aspects as well. And the image of God is the image of the Son of Man, the Son of Man. past of subduing the earth to the glory of God, of exercising dominion over it, and ruling and reigning over the earth as God's second in command. We see man placed in the garden to develop the resources of the creation in the praise of his Creator. We also see man, however, in the garden falling. In Genesis chapter 3 verse 5, we see the temptation of man being God, knowing or establishing or determining good and evil for himself. We see the effects of this all upon man, perverting man's role as prophet, priest, and king. Man can no longer function adequately as a prophet, declaring the truths of God's world, declaring the glories of God's creation. Man can no longer function as a priest, offering his labor, offering the world and the universe and all of its resources to God as an offering of praise and thanksgiving. Man can no longer rule over the world as an adequate king. So we see that man's sin, man's original temptation to be his own god, to know, to establish, to determine good and evil for himself, that's not something that was just typical of Adam and Eve. That's something that we've got with us today, and it's an essential part of American public education. Man being his own God. Man establishing truth apart from the word of God. Be it upon the word of Dewey, the word of Skinner, the word of Piaget, be it upon the general consensus, be it upon the will of the state, be it upon whatever. That basic operational principle is with us today. Man seeking to establish his own standards for truth. The original fall was not something that was restricted to the garden. The original fall was in the garden, but the basic principle of that fall. That's what it is today, and that's the foundational principle for much of American education. Isaiah chapter 5, verse 20. Word of them that call evil good, and good evil. Man, however, was not left in his following state. God has provided a redemption. In the redemption offered by Jesus Christ, man can once again become a true prophet and set forth the meaning of God's creation. He can become a true priest and dedicate and offer all things to the service of God, and he can become once again a true king for doing all things to the glory of God. We have to recognize man in his presently two-fold state, either man as being redeemed or man as unredeemed, being in a state of sin. And we have to recognize the intellectual implications of that if we're going to develop an adequate Christian philosophy of education or an adequate Christian philosophy of life. I'm going to read a passage from the book of Revelation. And John chapter 14 answers Pilate's question when Jesus said, I am the way, I am the truth, and I am the light. In John 8, Jesus tells us that you'll know the truth. If you continue in my words, you'll be my disciples, and you'll know the truth, and the truth will set you free. Truth is the revelation of God. That's a basic, bottom-line definition of what truth is, a revelation of God. And God's revelation consists of Jesus Christ and the scriptures. Jesus Christ, the one who upholds all things by the word of his power, the one in Colossians chapter 1 verse 16 of whom it says, find him where all things are created. Jesus Christ, the true prophet, the true priest, and the true king. And as we are recreated after him, as we are being recreated in his image, we once again become what we should be. In Acts chapter 3 verse 22, Jesus is the true prophet of whom Moses spoke God would raise up. In Hebrews chapter 5 verses 5 through 6, Jesus Christ is the priest after the order of Melchizedek Melchizedek not the Levitical priesthood, but Melchizedek the priest king Without father without mother etc. The priest king the civilization builder Jesus Christ priesthood is after him in Jesus Christ Jesus Christ is the true king and from chapter 2 verse 6 God has set his king upon his holy hill in Zion. In the first chapter of the book of Luke, the annunciation to Mary, starting in verse 30, the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found favour with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest. And the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David. And he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever. And of his kingdom there shall be no end." The establishment of Christ's kingdom, given there in the enunciation of his birth to Mary. over the throne of his father David, and reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there shall be no end." 1 Corinthians 15, 25. Jesus Christ must reign until every enemy, every soul, everything is placed under his feet. So therefore we have to recognize in the first place that truth is the revelation of God, and the revelation of God is Jesus Christ. The truth is the revelation of God, and the revelation of God is the word of God. The objective, insoluble, propositional truth of this scripture. Jesus told us in Matthew chapter 4 verse 4 that man shall live. by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. Man shall order his life, so shall be the operational principles of a man's life, every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God." 2 Timothy 3, verses 5-17, a very famous passage relating to the characteristics of the scripture. that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. Our scripture is given by inspiration of God and is possible for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. that the man of God may be perfect, fully furnished unto all good works. The scriptures provide us with arrows that man needs to know either explicitly or implicitly. The scriptures give us the fundamental operational principles to approach any subject under the sun. The construction of a Christian philosophy of life, the construction of a Christian philosophy of education, has to recognize that. If we do not recognize that, we're going to be adrift on the sea of irrationality, to use Van Til's phrase. Let me share a quotation from the writings of John Murray. Dr. Murray said, now if the biblical revelation is ultimate for fact, outlook, and practice, we must readily see the implications for education. We have found that education must aim at integration, and that this integration must rest upon and proceed from a philosophy, a worldview, an integrated concept of reality. The Christian, unless he is afflicted with intellectual schizophrenia, derives its integration in his worldview from the Christian faith, and this means from the Christian revelation, namely, Holy Scripture. To use other terms, every thought is brought into captivity to Christ, and therefore to the revelation of which Christ is the focus. And the Christian teacher abandons his or her faith at the point of vocation and rise, as he or she fails to bring this integration to bear upon the education conducted. In a word, education must be Christian. And this means far more than if the teacher conducts himself or herself as a Christian. It means that the subject matter of the classroom must derive its interpreting principles from the Christian revelation. Well said, Dr. Marie. If we did not make the revelation of God in Christ and in Scripture the interpreting principle for all of our endeavors, for all of our academic endeavors and for all of our other endeavors, we cease to be Christian. We may be nice people, we may say a prayer before we engage in whatever activity we're talking about, but a Christian revelation, if Christ and the scriptures are not our interpretive principles, the bottom line operational principles involved, then at that point we become humanistic. May God give us the grace and the wisdom to pursue the development of a Christian philosophy of education by placing his word, his revelation, at the very center of our endeavor. First principle, reason. What's the use of man's reason? If the scriptures are to be our interpreting principle, then what place does the mind of man actually occupy? What place does man's reason come in? We are not rational. We do not make man's reason the bottom line, the foundational operative principle. So therefore, are we mindless? Do we function as if we do not have intellectual capacity? Obviously not. God has given to us minds with which to reason. And the scriptures are full of exhortations to move the mind with which God has given to us. We are challenged to come and to reason with God. Therefore we have to think for the development of the Christian philosophy of life and the Christian philosophy of education properly about reason. Let's look at the 55th chapter of the book of Isaiah. Isaiah chapter 55 starting in verse 6. Speak to the Lord while he may be sound. Call ye upon him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. For if the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not hither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth in bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth. It shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the things whereto I sent it forth.