The Reality Of Christian Learning

Building on foundational studies on the relationship of faith and learning, this book presents concrete examples of ways in which a Christian perspective can be brought to bear on scholarship in various academic disciplines. The editors present a typology of various strategies for faith-discipline integration, which are then exemplified by two essays in each of seven disciplines - political science, sociology, psychology, biology, mathematics, the arts, and philosophy. In each discipline a principal essayist addresses a significant issue from a Christian perspective; a respondent then analyzes that essay, suggesting at least one alternative approach.

Newspapers are filled with stories about poorly educated children, ineffective teachers, and cash-strapped school districts. In this greatly expanded treatment of a topic he first dealt with in Rediscovering the Lost Tools of Learning, Douglas Wilson proposes an alternative to government-operated school by advocating a return to classical Christian education with its discipline, hard work, and learning geared to child development stages. As an educator, Wilson is well-equipped to diagnose the cause of America's deteriorating school system and to propose remedies for those committed to their children's best interests in education. He maintains that education is essentially religious because it deals with the basic questions about life that require spiritual answers-reading and writing are simply the tools. Offering a review of classical education and the history of this movement, Wilson also reflects on his own involvement in the process of creating educational institutions that embrace that style of learning. He details elements needed in a useful curriculum, including a list of literary classics. Readers will see that classical education offers the best opportunity for academic achievement, character growth, and spiritual education, and that such quality cannot be duplicated in a religiously-neutral environment.

Or at least, such an outlook should unite Christians of all theological and church backgrounds. However, alternate visions of reality often infect and corrupt Christians’ thinking. In The Essentials of Christian Thought, eminent theologian and church historian Roger Olson outlines the basic perspective on the world that all Christians, regardless of the place and time in which they are born, have historically held. This underlying metaphysic accords with all orthodox theologies, whether Calvinist or Arminian, Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, or Protestant, but it separates Christianity from other religious and secular perspectives. It is, quite simply, the essential requirement of a Christian view of the world. Bold and incisive, The Essentials of Christian Thought will prompt thoughtful readers and students to more consciously appropriate the core of their faith, guarding against ideas that subtly but necessarily invite compromise.

This is a book that relentlessly pursues defining the goals of Christian education and then offers a plan in keeping with those goals. So many books in the field assume the goals and simply describe the methods. Not so Larry Richards. His biblical and theological analysis conveys an excitement that makes Christian education a mission, not just a responsibility. And still his approach is eminently practical, insightful, and motivational.

Whether in the home or in the church or in a Christian school, the challenge of contemporary Christian educators is to meet the academic needs of students while remaining unswerving in adherence to biblical principles. Christian Education: Foundations for the Future introduces you to the basics of a healthy Christian education program, then takes you beyond, showing you how to develop a fresh, innovative Christian education program that will revitalize your church, home, or school.

"In Worldviews and Christian Education, editors W.A. Shipton, E. Coetzee, and R. Takeuchi have brought together works by experts in cross-cultural religious education. The authors and editors have a wealth of personal experience in presenting the gospel to individuals with various worldviews that differ greatly from those held by Christians who take the Bible as authoritative. They focus on the beliefs and issues associated with witnessing to seekers for truth coming from backgrounds as diverse and animism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Hinduism, Islam, Marxism, Taoism, and postmodernism." -- Back Cover