God’s Mandate for Biblical Education

God’s Mandate

For Biblical Education

Proclaiming the Crown Rights of King Jesus over Education and Keeping Covenant with God

Robert E. Fugate, Ph.D.

Lord of the Nations, LLC

Omaha, NE

LordoftheNations.com

Copyright 2014 Thy Word Is Truth, LLC

P.O. Box 641592, Omaha, NE 68164

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favorite ebook retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

ISBN: 978-0-9847422-4-0

Published by Lord of the Nations, LLC, Omaha, NE

Ebook Edition

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked NASB are taken from the New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission (www.Lockman.org).

Scripture Quotations designated (NET) are from the NET Bible® copyright ©1996–2006 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. www.bible.org. All rights reserved. Quoted by permission.

Scripture quotations marked (ESV) are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

ADDITIONAL MONOGRAPHS AUTHORED BY DR. ROBERT FUGATE

The Bible, God's Words to You: A Presuppositional Guide to the Reformed Doctrine of Scripture

Key Principles of Biblical Civil Government

Psycho-Heresy: Christianizing Pagan Psychologies

Toward a Theology of Taxation

God's Law: Foundation of Moral Order

A Brief History and Critique of Natural Law Theory

Biblical Imprecations: Christians' Secret Weapon

Modernism and Postmodernism: Their History, Beliefs, Cultural Influence—and How to Refute Them

Some Continuities and Discontinuities Between the Older Testament and the Newer Testament

Antinomianism in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries

God's Revelation: He Wants You to Know Him

Available at: LordoftheNations.com

What Others are Saying

"A Christian worldview education in all areas of knowledge for children at the K–12 level must be part of a Church-wide strategy to maintain the identity of the Christian Church in the next several decades. Robert Fugate argues soundly for just such in God’s Mandate for Biblical Education. Well-researched and well-organized, God’s Mandate, develops the critical arguments for K–12 Christian education and home schooling, based primarily on a Scriptural foundation. This foundation, the forte of Fugate’s work, presents a strong biblical basis for K–12 education as only antidote for the plethora of current, secular-education fads, such as Common Core. God’s Mandate urges Christians to appreciate the biblical basis as the paramount anchor for their educational practice. Additionally, Fugate maintains that part of the Christian family’s walk of faith and obedience to Christ consists in the Christian education and discipling of our children.

Sadly, over 80% of the children of evangelical Christians still attend K–12 government-funded public schools. Serious growth of K–12 Christian education and home schooling, therefore, can not materialize unless we create a culture in all our churches that considers K–12 Christian education part of thus saith the Lord. Fugate asserts that Christian education is not a choice but a command from the Lord. Although many Christian families are doing the right thing with their children, they need their biblical convictions bolstered and reinforced. God’s Mandate could be a helpful study guide for Christian families in home-school support groups or Sunday school classes, or for pastors, too many of whom lack any theology of Christian education. He cites many leading scholars and theologians, such as J. Gresham Machen, A. A. Hodge, Gordon Clark, R. J. Rushdoony, Francis Schaeffer and Cornelius Van Til. His careful use of their works supports his overall argument and added a special blessing to the book. Reading Machen’s speech from 1933 on the Necessity of the Christian School in this context offered me an epiphany, although I have read it several times before. I don’t know another book that has such a wealth of quotes and sources in a handy format. I heartily recommend this book and plan to continue promoting it. It deserves widespread circulation." —

E. Ray Moore, Th.M.

Chaplain (Lt. Colonel) USAR Ret., President, Frontline Ministries, www.ExodusMandate.org

"The decline of Christian culture over the last 150 years is inextricably intertwined with the failure of Christian families to provide their children with a Christian education. That failure has been largely the result of poor teaching and failed leadership within the church and para-church organizations. Today, relatively few pastors or other Christian leaders even know or understand what the Bible has to say about education. So, it is not surprising that pastors and others in leadership positions effectively embrace the heresy of educational antinomianism: ‘Government school, Christian school, homeschool — whichever parents do is fine.’ The only antidote for educational antinomianism is to reach Christians, and especially Christian leaders, with a clear exposition of what the Bible says about the education of our children and why providing a Christian education is important. Dr. Robert Fugate’s God’s Mandate for Biblical Education provides a clear, comprehensive, and succinct discussion of the Bible’s teaching on this critical subject. In fact, I have read no better treatment of this topic and believe that Dr. Fugate’s book is especially well suited for the important work of introducing pastors and other Christian leaders to orthodox teaching on the question of how we are to educate our children. I hope this book is widely read by parents and other laymen, but I also hope that this book will be widely read by Christian leaders." —

Bruce N. Shortt, Ph.D., J.D.: author of The Harsh Truth about Public Schools

"Robert Fugate has written a very valuable tool for educating coming generations about the evil and anti-biblical system of government schools, and about the liberty-inspiring system of biblical education in which parents are in control. I would recommend every married couple to give a wedding gift of his books, God’s Mandate for Biblical Education and Key Principles of Biblical Civil Government, to children when they marry! Doing so would serve to build a firm foundation for restoring freedom and self-responsibility before God in our troubled nation!" —

Tom Rose: President, American Enterprise Publications; economics professor; author

According to recent studies, more than 80% of Christian youth are leaving the church by their sophomore year of college. And it is no wonder! Their parents have been sending them to pagan government schools to be intensively trained by the priests of the Messianic State five days a week from the time these children were six years old. It would be surprising if they did not follow in the footsteps of their teachers. But even those who stay in the church do not have a consistent Christian worldview. They have never been taught how to think Biblically about math, science, history, logic, time, stewardship or a host of other topics. Many argue that we must send our children into the schools as missionaries. But Jesus is quite clear, A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is perfectly trained will be like his teacher" (Luke 6:40). It is not the teachers who are being discipled by the students, but vice versa. It is not the teachers who will become like the students, but vice versa. It is high time that Christians repented of walking in the counsel of the ungodly (Psalm 1:1), and began treating Christian education as being at the heart of the covenant (Deut. 6:4–9). I highly recommend Robert Fugate’s book, God’s Mandate for Biblical Education. Unless its radical recommendations are followed, America will be lost in a sea of paganism, like Europe was." —

Rev. Phillip G. Kayser, Ph.D.: pastor; conference teacher; adjunct professor at Whitefield Theological Seminary

Table of Contents

Education is always part of a worldview

Three necessary components of any worldview

Epistemology

Metaphysics

Ethics

Epistemology: Achilles heel of non-Christian thought

Empiricism

Rationalism

Irrationalism (mysticism)

Comparisons and contrasts

Divine revelation

Comparison of three worldviews

The Bible is foundational to education

The Bible is the criterion or standard of truth

The doctrine of the sufficiency of Scripture applies to education

Jurisdictions: family, church, state

Education is outside jurisdictions of civil government and church

Public education is funded by theft

Education of children is outside church’s jurisdiction

Christian education is Biblically mandated

Epistemological necessity of the Bible necessitates Christian education

Ethical necessity of the Bible and Christian character necessitate Christian education

Biblical antithesis necessitates Christian education

Unity and comprehensiveness of Christian worldview necessitate Christian education

The comprehensiveness of the Lordship of Christ necessitates Christian education

Covenant faithfulness necessitates Christian education

Extent of Creation Mandate and Great Commission necessitate Christian education

Biblical commands regarding protecting faith and morals necessitate Christian education

The Biblical jurisdiction assigned to the family necessitates parental education

Summary

What constitutes Biblical education?

Parent-led teaching in family context

Biblical curriculum/content

Biblical goals

Biblical standard: the Bible

Biblical method: discipleship

Biblical motivations: love and fear of the Lord

A Biblical philosophy of history, language, and science

A Biblical philosophy of history

14 key tenets of a Biblical philosophy of history

Litmus test for American history textbooks

A Biblical philosophy of language

A Biblical philosophy of science

The Biblical worldview produces science

God created the cosmos and everything in it

The sovereign Creator’s providential rule vs. deism

Scientists must not be autonomous

Limits of science

Value of science

Origin of state-controlled education in America

Public education is weapon of tyrants and destroyer of liberty

Public education is a false religion!

Classical Christian education?

Summary of problems with classical education

Lessons from history

Warnings quoted

Four common objections to home-schooling

Quotes from Bible reference works regarding education

Educational advice from Christian authorities

Anti-Christian quotes

What about Christian schools?

Christian schools in a missional context?

Concluding exhortation

Additional Biblical worldview resources by Dr. Robert Fugate

Endnotes

God’s Mandate for

Biblical Education

My wife and I home-schooled our four children over an eighteen-year time span. Like many home-school parents, we had our reasons why we home-schooled, for example: to avoid negative peer influence, violence, drugs, sex education (that promotes sexual immorality and sexual perversions), and new age occultism; to teach phonics-based reading vs. the look-say method; etc.[1] But it was not until we had home-schooled for about seven years that we began to grasp God’s mandate to all Christian parents regarding the education of their children.[2] We have come to realize that even if the public schools were academically superior, and even if all the violence, drugs, sex education, relativistic ethics, eugenics, occultism, rebelliousness and peer dependency were removed from them, the public schools would still not be fit for our children! In this book we will examine the reasons for this seemingly extreme position.

Education is always part of a worldview

Education, like every profession, must have an underlying philosophical foundation to provide the theory of knowledge (epistemology), an understanding of the nature of reality (metaphysics), and ethics. In other words, a philosophy of education cannot stand alone. It is part of a worldview. A worldview is a network of basic assumptions or presuppositions by which we (consciously or unconsciously) place or fit everything we believe and by which we interpret and judge reality.

Ultimately, there are only two basic worldviews: the Christian and the non-Christian. These worldviews provide the framework by which people determine: the nature of mankind and the universe; what constitutes moral behavior; the right kind of socialization; what is included in the study of history; and what role civil government should have in education. In this book, I will be presenting the Christian worldview.

Sometimes it is objected that education merely deals with commonly recognized and agreed upon facts. However, even simple sentences involving the observation of facts require a worldview. Let’s consider an example. A simple sentence like I see a ladybug on a rose is filled with complex presuppositions. This sentence presupposes: the meaning of certain English words; one’s personal identity; the reliability of sense perception (including: the normalcy of one’s eyes; the normalcy of one’s brain stem; and theories of light refraction); categories of bugs and flowers; the reality of the external world and spatial relations; one’s linguistic competence; one’s entomological and botanical competence; shared grammar and semantics; the laws of logic; etc. Thus even a statement regarding simple facts presupposes a worldview.

This example shows that beliefs people hold are always connected to other beliefs. The one by one myth is the mistaken idea that people accept beliefs one at a time.[3] The beliefs people hold are always connected to other beliefs by relations pertaining to linguistic meaning, logical order, evidential dependence, causal explanation, indexical conception, self-conception, etc.

Now consider how a person’s religious commitments affect his interpretation of facts.

The facts of the physical universe differ widely for a humanist, a Christian, and a Hindu. For the humanist, all factuality is a product of chance evolution; all facts are thus ultimately meaningless, and their only reality is a physical one, and an irrational one. For the Christian, all factuality is God-created and the product of His eternal purpose; all facts are thus totally rational, because the mind of God is behind them, and their reality is thus more than physical and natural. For the traditional Hindu, all factuality is really illusion, because nothingness is ultimate; all things are burdened with Karma, and their goal is release from the illusions of this world into final nothingness. What we call facts is determined by our faith.[4]

The facts of the universe are very different for a Buddhist, an existential humanist, and an orthodox Christian. For the Buddhist, all is