The first SCL conference I ever attended was in Raleigh, NC. One of the things that made an indelible mark on me at that first event was a comment made by an ISM consultant. He acknowledged he was an outsider to our movement and new to classical Christian education. However, he said he wanted to make an observation and provide a caution. He said something like, “My fear is that classical Christian educators may come to view Jesus as merely one great teacher among many.” That has rattled around in my head ever since.
In a previous post, I noted how important it is for educators to understand the epistemological implications of a Christ-centered education. We cannot educate without understanding the nature of knowledge from a biblical perspective. However, in addition to understanding the implications of Christ’s centrality and preeminence in our understanding of knowledge, we also must grapple with how Christ’s Lordship guides and determines our ends. If Christ is King, which He is, how does that shape the totality of our purpose?
Christ-centered education means that the person of Christ is our educational ideal. Education is ultimately about who we are as human beings and not what we “do” for a living (our vocation); it is about who we become, not what skill we can perform. Therefore, our educational goals are rooted in a person, Jesus Christ. Jesus is the full expression of what it means to be human and thus is the ultimate aim of education. He is Truth and Wisdom incarnate. In Christ, the apostle Paul says, are “all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Col. 2:8). He embodies Truth and virtue. Therefore, we seek to conform our lives, our families, and our school to knowing Him and being like Him.
Jaroslav Pelikan once wrote, “Regardless of what anyone may personally think or believe about him, Jesus of Nazareth has been the dominant figure in the history of Western culture for almost twenty centuries.” Jesus Christ is not one great teacher among many. Spurgeon said it powerfully, “Ye may search the heavens above and the earth beneath; ye may penetrate the secret mysteries to find out the callow principles and the beginnings of things, but ye shall find more in the man of Nazareth, the equal with God, than in all else besides. He is the sum and substance of all truth, the essence of all creation, the soul of life, the light of light, the heaven of heavens, and yet he is greater far than all this, or all else that I could utter. There is no subject in the world so vast, so sublime, so pure, so elevating, so divine; give me to behold the Lord Jesus, and my eye seeth every precious thing.”
Let’s heed the caution of our friend from years ago. Make no mistake, Christ is the Alpha and Omega of our work, “the incomparable Christ.”
Society for Classical Learning
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