Articles 12 & 18: Education & the Family
Pastor Ryan
Part of Firm Foundation—Exploring Agape's Confession of Faith
September 6, 2023

Have you ever heard anyone say that Christianity is anti-reason, anti-science, anti-questions, and anti-intellect?

• How would you respond to this

?
• One response could be: Why did the scientific revolution happen in the West and not in the East? The Chinese and Asian cultures discovered many things, but the scientists, schools, and higher learning institutions fostered an environment that promoted discovery and advancement.
• Follow-Up Objection >> “But the church is the one who persecuted and killed scientists for saying that the world was round and that it wasn’t the center of the solar system!” The church may have persecuted scientists to preserve power, the scientists themselves were fueled to discover natural realities because of their Christian worldview.
• Today we are going to look at three about the Christian faith.

An Faith

• Christianity encourages an informed faith, not a

faith.
• Deuteronomy 4:1,5,9,14 >> God calls His people to listen, pay attention, & not forget His statutes as He has gone to great lengths to engage their minds with His truth.Our intellect was given so that we could create for the glory of God.Our five senses were given to nurture our worship.
• Article 12 (Education)

// Christianity is the faith of enlightenment and intelligence. In Jesus Christ abide all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. All sound learning is, therefore, a part of our Christian heritage. The new birth opens all human faculties and creates a thirst for knowledge. Moreover, the cause of education in the Kingdom of Christ is co-ordinate with the causes of missions and general benevolence, and should receive along with these the liberal support of the churches. An adequate system of Christian education is necessary to a complete spiritual program for Christ’s people.
// In Christian education there should be a proper balance between academic freedom and academic responsibility. Freedom in any orderly relationship of human life is always limited and never absolute. The freedom of a teacher in a Christian school, college, or seminary is limited by the pre-eminence of Jesus Christ, by the authoritative nature of the Scriptures, and by the distinct purpose for which the school exists.

• Historically, schools have popped up wherever the church was for the purposes of education and the first scientists were Christians who expected to find order in God’s Creation.
• This informed faith means that God encourages

and cultivation of His world.

A Faith

• To be a disciple means that you are

for the knowledge & wisdom of God.
• 2 Timothy 3:14-17 >> Discipleship is the process of being taught the of God’s perfect Word & applying it — being taught, reproved, corrected & equipped for spiritual growth & purpose.
• Jesus is the of wisdom & knowledge. Through the Spirit, that wisdom & knowledge has been implanted inside of us.
• As we walk with Jesus, our minds & senses are .
• So, our view of education is rooted in the Christian worldview. God designed for it to be , but He designed for it to happen in a specific place: the family.

A Faith

• Article 18 >> The Family

// God has ordained the family as the foundational institution of human society. It is composed of persons related to one another by marriage, blood, or adoption.
// Marriage is the uniting of one man and one woman in covenant commitment for a lifetime. It is God’s unique gift to reveal the union between Christ and His church and to provide for the man and the woman in marriage the framework for intimate companionship, the channel of sexual expression according to biblical standards, and the means for procreation of the human race.
// The husband and wife are of equal worth before God, since both are created in God’s image. The marriage relationship models the way God relates to His people. A husband is to love his wife as Christ loved the church. He has the God-given responsibility to provide for, to protect, and to lead his family. A wife is to submit herself graciously to the servant leadership of her husband even as the church willingly submits to the headship of Christ. She, being in the image of God as is her husband and thus equal to him, has the God-given responsibility to respect her husband and to serve as his helper in managing the household and nurturing the next generation.
// Children, from the moment of conception, are a blessing and heritage from the Lord. Parents are to demonstrate to their children God’s pattern for marriage. Parents are to teach their children spiritual and moral values and to lead them, through consistent lifestyle example and loving discipline, to make choices based on biblical truth. Children are to honor and obey their parents.

are the means by which the truth flows from life to life
• Deuteronomy 6 >> The family is the primary for passing on the biblical worldview.
• Every identifiable problem in the culture stems from the breakdown of the family.
• You can’t depart from God’s & be stable & successful. Parents are hardwired to impress what’s important in life upon the children. What the parents pass down is typically set in stone. We’ve got to be very careful that we don’t teach our kids to ultimately define their lives by anything that they will one day “move on” from.
• Titus 2 >> The church is to be a place of wisdom and relationships.