“For the Lord gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.” (Proverbs 2:6, NIV)
In fact, it was the pursuit of knowledge apart from God that led to the fall. Has God really said you shouldn’t eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil?, Satan asked Eve. Does God really know what is best for you? Eve decided to experiment and try knowledge apart from God, with disastrous results for us all.
In the same way, knowledge apart from God leads to futility. Solomon, the author of Ecclesiastes said it best:
“The words of the wise are like goads, their collected sayings like firmly embedded nails—given by one Shepherd. Be warned, my son, of anything in addition to them. Of making many books there is no end, and much study wearies the body. Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.” (Ecclesiastes 12:11–13, NIV)Principle #8: A true education will not oppose the truth about God.
“We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” (2 Corinthians 10:5, NIV)
“And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me. But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.” (Matthew 18:5–6, NIV)
“Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to your care. Turn away from godless chatter and the opposing ideas of what is falsely called knowledge, which some have professed and in so doing have wandered from the faith. Grace be with you.” (1 Timothy 6:20–21, NIV)
You may be thinking, this is all pretty basic. And it is. But I would respectfully submit that whatever education choices you make should be driven by these biblical principles. This is the foundation.
And yet applying them is not easy. Being responsible for the education of your children isn’t easy. Douglas Wilson, co-founder of Logos School, Moscow, ID, has said it well - "Not only are parents responsible to oversee the Biblical teaching of their children, they are also responsible to see that their children don’t receive false teaching. Error is pervasive. It can come from TV, from library books, from music, from peers, as well as from the school. Responsible oversight is extremely difficult."
But that’s our responsibility.
