Sunday, January 30, 2011

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The Purpose Of Education


          Over the years, I have received criticism and ridicule from some of my fellow Christians, because I believe that in order to know your adversary you must study them.  If you are going to condemn something as being wrong for some reason, you must know what you are talking about.  This applies to both sides of any issue.  If you are unsure of what the other side is saying and how they reached their conclusions, you are fighting with one hand tied behind your back.  In my opinion, those who are against the teaching of creationism and the Bible in our schools, have done so based on emotion and lack of education (in some cases they are espousing an agenda and don’t feel the need for truth or are trying to hide the truth).  As Christians, we should always be ready to present the facts when we stand for our position.  For example, books like the Harry Potter series elevate principles that most Christians don’t think are advantageous for our children (such as witchcraft).  We should not condemn them, however, if we are going only by what we hear, rather than first hand knowledge such as reading them for yourself, before you let your children do so.  Furthermore, you wouldn’t have read much of the Koran to realize that it conflicts a great deal with the Bible, even though Mohammad said that both the Old and New Testaments were the word of God[1].  Facts are facts and truth is truth; if you don’t base your knowledge on truth and fact, you are subject to the whims of misinformation.  I know that it is not politically correct to indicate that there are bad people and bad ideas out there, but truth tells us when something or someone is wrong or even evil.

          I am not saying that everyone should have a Christian education (although many of our country’s founders did) because we are a multi-facetted and multi-cultural nation.  Denial, however, of the Christian principles and Bible foundation of our nation leaves our students with a serious breach in their education. Thus, they are at a disadvantage when dealing with the basis upon which the laws and statutes of our nation were established.  Supposedly, we want our children to be taught how to think for themselves.  How can we expect that result if vital information is withheld from them, and they are only given one side of an issue?  If, on the other hand, those presently in charge of our educational systems want the populous of the country to be ignorant of the facts in order to thwart the principles upon which we were founded, they have been successful in their quest.  As we all know, knowledge is power, and those who possess the true knowledge have an advantage over those who don’t.


          What is the purpose of education?  What were the Goals of the first schools set up in this country? 

          The two big issues in schools seem to be evolution vs. creation and the Bible.  Neither evolution nor creation can be proved so far by scientific study.  The evidence, however, is definitely falling into line more on the side of creation.  Even the name “Theory of Evolution” is wrong.  Dr. Karl Popper, regarded as one of the greatest philosophers of science of the 20th century, said that evolution is nothing more than a metaphysical research program.  That makes it less than a hypothesis and based more in faith than fact.  In scientific circles, there are certain criteria that establish whether something qualifies as a Hypothesis, a Theory or a Fact.  Set amounts of scientific fact (proof) have to be established before something can move from Hypothesis to Theory and then be established as fact.  The “Theory of Evolution” has never been elevated above the category of Hypothesis and still, therefore, remains just an idea.  The Bible is the oldest book available that documents the history of mankind.  Many have tried to disprove the Bible and thus far all have failed.  Since the Bible undoubtedly played such a large part in the lives of our founding fathers, and thus the founding of our country, shouldn’t it be included in the curriculum so that students would know the basis for the decisions of our founders?

          Benjamin Rush, signer of the Declaration of Independence, Surgeon General of the Continental army, ‘Father of American Medicine’, treasurer of the U.S. Mint, ‘Father of American Medicine’, treasurer of the United States mint, ratifier of the United States Constitution’ and ‘Father of Public Schools under the Constitution said; “The only means of establishing and perpetuating our republican forms of government is the universal education of our youth in the principles of Christianity by means of the Bible.

The great enemy of the salvation of man, in my opinion, never invented a more effective means of limiting Christianity from the world than by persuading mankind that it was improper to read the Bible in schools.”    “The greatest discoveries in science have been made by Christian philosophers and . . . there is the most knowledge in those countries where there is the most Christianity.” 

          These days we are told that science and religion don’t mix, and therefore religion shouldn’t be taught in our schools.  The truth is that the real founders of science would have something to say about that.

          The following list of scientists, and the scientific disciplines they invented, would have a lot to say about science mixing with religion, as they were all Bible believing Christians.  I have to thank the late Dr. D James Kennedy for saving me a lot of research in this area.

A poll of scientists concluded that Sir Isaac Newton was the greatest scientist that ever lived.

Francis Bacon was the inventor of the scientific method. 

Joseph Lister – Antiseptic Surgery

Louis Pasteur - bacteriology

Sir Isaac Newton – Calculus

Johann Kepler – Celestial Mechanics

Robert Boyle – Chemistry

Georges Cuvier – Comparative Anatomy

Charles Babbahe – Computer Science

Lord Rayleigh – Dimensional Analysis

Sir Isaac Newton – Dynamics

James Clark Maxwell – Electrodynamics

Michael Faraday – Electromagnetics

Ambrose Fleming – Electronics

Lord Kelvin – Energetics

Henri Fabre – Entomology of Living Insects

Michael Faraday – Field Theory

George Stokes – Fluid Mechanics

William Herschel – Galactic Astronomy

Robert Boyle – Gas Dynamics

Gregor Mendel – Genetics

Louis Agassiz – Glacial Geology

James Simpson – Gynecology

Leonardo Da Vinci – Hydraulics

Matthew Maury – Hydrography

Blaise Pascal –Hydrostatics

Louis Adassiz – Ichthyologl

William Ramsay – Isotropic Chemistry

Lord Rayleigh – Model Analysis

John Ray – Natural History

Bernhard Riemann – Non-Euclidean Geometry

Matthew Maury – Oceanography

David Brewster – Optical Mineralogy

John Woodward – Paleontology

Rudolph Vichow – Pathology

Johann Kepler – Physical Astronomy

James Joule - Reversible Thermodynamics

James Clark Maxwell – Statistical Thermodynamics

Nicholas Steno – Stratigraphy

Carolus Linnaeus – Systematic Biology

Lord Kelvin – Thermodynamics

Humphrey Davy – Thermokinetics

Georges Cuvier – Vertebrate Paleontology

These were all Christians who believed in creation and the Bible.

          In 1782, shortly after the nation was formed, the congress was instrumental in getting the first English language Bible, printed on American soil, published.  One of the main purposes for this Bible was for use in our schools.  It’s truly amazing how much better some people think they understand the Constitution than the people who wrote it.  Volumes were written by those founders in explanation of what they did and why they did it.  For some people, it’s a good thing, that today our children aren’t exposed to the true history of our nation.  If they were exposed to the truth, they might not be as easily misled about our nation and its Christian foundations.  It is my considered opinion that quite a bit of physical damage would be done to those responsible for the present deceptive practices if the founders were alive today.  Our founders were men of action.  You can only push people so far before the call to arms is heard.  Our founders fought a bitter and difficult war to establish what those with their own agendas are chipping away at today.  I am not calling for the taking up of arms as yet because we do have those weapons that were not available to the founders such as the vote, the right to assemble, freedom of speech and the right of redress.

           “There’s abundant evidence proving that the general principles of Christianity were indeed firmly embraced by the vast majority of our founding fathers and that those principles formed the foundation of American government.”[2]  Isn’t it about time we began a campaign to see to it that the schools teach the truth to our children?  They are, after all, our children; not the property of the state.  Did you know that you have the right to monitor your child’s classroom?  You also need to review your children’s textbooks for accuracy and omissions. 

          In a case in Philadelphia in 1844, where a city run school had banned the use of the Bible in teaching, the case went all the way to the Supreme Court.  In rendering their decision they said - “Why may not the Bible, and especially the New Testament…be read and taught as a Divine revelation in the school – it’s general precepts expounded…it’s evidences explained…and it’s glorious principles of morality inculcated?...Where can the purest principles of morality be learned so clearly or so perfectly as from the New Testament?”[3]  Today, the interpretation of the first amendment is pretty far removed from those in earlier times; when the people better understood its original intention.  Since the words church, separation and state do not appear in the first amendment, why would we ever apply them there?  Joseph Story, the Father of American Jurisprudence and Supreme Court justice said; “One of the beautiful boasts of our municipal jurisprudence is that Christianity is a part of the Common Law. There never has been a period in which the Common Law did not recognize Christianity as lying at its foundations.”


[1] Robert Morey, The Islamic Invasion 1992
[2] David Barton
[3] Joseph Story, 1844 unanimous supreme court decision

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