If Engineers Were to Rethink Higher Ed’s Future

September 27, 2011, 10:27 pm, Chronicle of Higher Education

By Jeffrey Selingo

Atlanta — Walk into a college president’s office these days, and you’ll probably find a degree hanging on the wall from one of three academic disciplines: education, social sciences, or the humanities and fine arts. Some 70 percent of college leaders completed their studies in one of those fields, according to the American Council on Education.You’re unlikely to discover many engineering degrees. Just 2 percent of college presidents are engineers.

Yet, when we think of solving complex problems, we normally turn to engineers to help us figure out solutions. And higher education right now is facing some tough issues: rising costs; low completion rates; and delivery systems, curricula, and teaching methods that show their age.

So what if engineers tackled those problems using their reasoning skills and tested various solutions through simulations? Perhaps then we would truly design a university of the future.

That’s the basic idea behind Georgia Tech’s new Center for 21st Century Universities. The center is officially described as a “living laboratory for fundamental change in higher education,” but its director, Rich DeMillo, describes it in terms we can all understand: higher education’s version of the Silicon Valley “garage.” DeMillo knows that concept well, having come from Hewlett-Packard, where he was chief technology officer (he’s also a former Georgia Tech dean).

Applying the garage mentality to innovation in higher ed is an intriguing concept, and as DeMillo described it to me over breakfast on Georgia Tech’s Atlanta campus on Tuesday, I realized how few college leaders adopt its principles. Take, for example, a university’s strategic plan. Such documents come and go with presidents, and the proposals in every new one are rarely tested in small ways before leaders try to scale them across the campus. After all, presidents have little time to make a mark before moving on to their next job.

In a garage, “the rules are different,” DeMillo explained to me. “Universities are set up to hit near-term goals. Few are thinking about what the university should look like years down the road.”
DeMillo already has a number of projects in the pipeline, including a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) and a TechBurst competition where students create short, shareable videos on particular concepts, and the university as a whole is thinking of others. One favorite of Georgia Tech’s president, Bud Peterson, is X-College, which would allow students to essentially design their own degree programs focused on “grand challenges” facing society. It would also allow faculty members to experiment with learning techniques and the semester calendar itself. In keeping with the test-and-learn philosophy, Peterson wants it to start small, perhaps with 50 honors students next fall.
Georgia Tech’s center offers a unique opportunity to experiment in an industry not known for taking risks. At a kickoff event for the center on Tuesday, I moderated a wide-ranging discussion with some leading thinkers on the future of higher ed, and among my questions was this: If you had a chance to run this center, what one project would you put on its agenda?
Among the ideas I found most interesting:

Public research on the common questions. One way for public universities to reassert their relevance is to focus on public research on big common questions facing society.

Create incubators. It’s difficult for policy makers and campus leaders to get their heads around abstract concepts of the future. Bring ideas to life in small ways, and show how they can work.

Improve social engagement. So-called softer skills are more important than ever as technology limits face-to-face interaction. Figure out ways to embed leadership, social, and global skills in everyday curricula.

Interactive learning. Remove teachers from being the center of all knowledge. Learning no longer happens with the teacher in front of a roomful of students taking notes. Find richer, more active ways of learning.

Stop teaching subjects. Teach students how to diagnose problems starting in kindergarten and then give them the knowledge to get better at it. Helping students solve problems teaches them how to think.

Revamp the college admissions process and office. Jonathan Cole, a former provost of Columbia University, said the smartest people on a campus should work in admissions, and that includes faculty members. “They need to get involved in who is living in this house,” he said. Right now, admissions is too tied to test scores, and “we’re getting boring, one-dimensional students,” he said.
So if you had a chance to run this center, what ideas would you put on its agenda?

Young Home School Author, Hadassah, From Beulah, North Dakota Releases First-time Novel

Beulah, North Dakota, August 22^nd, 2011

Makala Kopp, also known by her pen name, Hadassah, graduated from high school during her junior year at the age of 17 with a story on her fingertips and a message burning in her heart. Instead of heading off to college like most young people, Hadassah dedicated the following year to writing. Now, two years later she is self-published author. Her motivation in writing “Called and Chosen” is simple. “Are you aware that the One who walks with me and converses with me everyday longs for and pursues your heart?”

Called and Chosen tells the story of Eden Vanette who is living out her life as a young musician, artist, and businesswoman in New York City when she discovers adoption papers validating her Jewish heritage. With this discovery comes a letter from her birth mother telling Eden she’s been “chosen,” but for what?

Feeling betrayed by her family and plagued by mysterious dreams, Eden leaves family and friends, traveling to Israel to make sense of her mother’s letter. In the land of her forefathers, Eden meets her grandfather, whose secrets help her discover more than just her identity. And what about Micah, the kind, attractive young man who works at her grandfather’s winery?

Then one night, dangerous Arab fanatics murder Eden’s grandfather, plundering and destroying his villa and vineyard. They take Eden hostage, believing her to be the “chosen one” spoken of in ancient prophecy. Their motive? To destroy her and the ancient treasure they believe she holds. Beaten and fearing for her life, Eden comes to understand the mystery of being a “chosen one.” But will she live to pass on her knowledge—the ancient treasure?

Interwoven with mystery, intrigue, and romance, this tale of unshakable love and undeniable truth will make you wonder: have you also been “chosen?”

https://www.winepressbooks.com/product.asp?pid=3372

Theonomy in the Middle Ages

By Marc Clauson

Abstract:

Prevailing wisdom among political theorists and historians classifies most, if not all, of the medieval theorists of law as advocating some form of natural law. While not denying the natural law strain in these writers, this paper seeks to show, using Thomas Aquinas as a representative example, that this assessment may be overstated if not outright distorted.

The alternative proposed is that Aquinas was a Theonomist, that is, that his commitment with respect to legal theory was more toward law derived directly from the Christian Scriptures rather than the natural law theory. Theonomy is the name given to a modern movement which seeks to apply biblical law of the Mosaic civil code to political ethics and, practically, to society, through legislation. Several definitions of Theonomy are possible, based on a historical analysis of the legal thought of the Middle Ages through the recent period.

One such defintion, known as "general equity" theory, asserts that the Mosaic judicial laws are valid and binding on the magistrate, not in exhaustive detail, as some Theonomists avow, but in their general principles. Neverthless, it is the Mosaic law that is applied and not natural law. This paper seeks to prove that this general equity theory of Theonomy was held by Thomas Aquinas. Moreover this was, it is shown, his prevailing theory of law, with natural law being secondary.

Read entire article

Government Courses for Home School and Home College

Christian home schooled and home college students interested in influencing governments and politics are encouraged to take one or more of these courses as part of their curriculum. Let Dr. Bartlett know if you take one of these courses so that your homework can be customized to the your state government context and support moving home school legislation forward in 2013 and beyond.

GOV 101 - Comparative Views of Government
This class introduces students to the different views regarding how governments should be established. Students must read the required readings and produce an outline of the important points they gleaned from the readings which they will turn in for part of their grade. Students will also need to dialogue with the professor about the readings once they are assigned. They will then be required to write a comprehensive term paper in which they will compare and contrast the various schools of governance by answering a question posed by the instructor.

Instructor Professor Dr. Hector Falcon
Format: Correspondence
Course Fee: $75/credit 4 Credit hours $300.


GOV 201 - Biblical Principles of Civil Government
This class introduces students to biblical principles of civil government. Students will produce an outline of the major ideas they glean from the readings which they will turn in for part of their grade. They will also need to dialogue with the professor and answer questions as they progress through their reading assignments. Students will then be required to write a final comprehensive paper in which they will write about the ideas they have gleaned in order to answer a question given by the instructor.

Instructor: Professor Dr. Hector Falcon
Format: Correspondence
Course Fee: $75/credit 4 Credit hours $300.


GOV 220 - Calvin and Government
In this class students will be introduced to Calvin’s ideas related to governance. They will outline important ideas they derived from the readings and turn them in for part of their grade. Student will also dialogue with the professor about their readings and be required to complete a comprehensive final paper that utilizes the ideas they have gleaned to answer an exam question given by the instructor.

Instructor: Professor Dr. Hector Falcon
Format: Correspondence
Course Fee: $225. (3 Credit Hours @ $75/hr


GOV 220 - America's Constitutional Republic
Students will be introduced to America’s constitutional form of government. They will be required to turn in an outline of ideas they have gleaned from their readings for part of their grade. They will also be required to dialogue with the professor about their readings and write a final comprehensive paper in which they will incorporate the ideas they gleaned from the readings to answer an exam question given by the instructor.

Instructor: Professor Dr. Hector Falcon
Format: Correspondence
Course Fee: $300. (4 Credit Hours @ $75/hr


GOV 240 - The Theology Of The State
This course deals with an in-depth study and analysis of God's Truth over against Statist Religion and power.

Requirements: Each student must show an in-depth understanding of the material presented and must be able to accurately discuss and apply the details of the material in written format.
Instructor: ProfessorRev. Dr. Paul Michael Raymond
Format: Correspondence Course Fee: $225. (3 Credit Hours @ $75/hr)


GOV 310 - Statesmanship: Government Law and the Constitution
Course Materials: A series of political and legal lectures will be the primary source of learning along with readings on statesmanship principles.

Instructor: Rev. Dr. Paul Michael Raymond
Format: Correspondence Course Fee: $225. (3 Credit Hours @ $75/hr)


GOV 340 - General Equity of the Judicial Laws
This course explores the historical usage and biblical meaning of the General Equity of the Mosaic Judicial Laws. This will include a review of the development of these doctrines from the Reformers to the Westminster Assembly, with special attention to source documents. Topics discussed with include the three-fold division of the Law (Moral, Ceremonial and Judicial), the classes of Judicial Laws, the Westminster Confession of Faith, Establishmentarianism, the Magistrate as Keeper of Both Tables of the Law, the usage of the term “General Equity” by Reformed Divines, and the modern applicability of the Mosaic Judicial Laws.

Course Materials: A series of lectures will be the primary source of learning along with supplemental readings.
Instructor: Prof. Adam Brink
Format: Correspondence Course Fee: $225. (3 Credit Hours @ $75/hr)


GOV 360 - Reformation and Resistance
This course explores the impact of the Protestant Reformation on the American Declaration of Independence, and theory of civil resistance. Far from being the product of the Enlightenment, the American theory of civil resistance is the direct heir of the Reformation. In this course, we review the source documents which inspired or were directly borrowed from to formulate the Declaration of Independence. The main source document is the Holy Bible, from which the Reformers derived their doctrines of a) righteous rule, b) the definition of tyranny, and c) the right to defy tyranny. After Scripture, we review various influential documents from the Reformation which applied the Bible's teaching, from sources as varied as German Lutherans, Scottish Presbyterians, Dutch Reformed, English Puritans, French Huguenots, and English Marian Exiles. This course is critical in re-establishing the foundations of the Reformed doctrine of civil resistance, and applying it to our current political crises.

Course Materials: A series of lectures will be the primary source of learning along with supplemental readings.
Instructor: Prof. Adam Brink
Format: Correspondence Course Fee: $225. (3 Credit Hours @ $75/hr)


ENROLL VIA NEW GENVEVA CHRISTIAN LEADERSHIP ACADEMY (HTTP://NEWGENEVA.US)

The Two Kingdoms: Of the Ungodly Power and of the Cowardly Retreat

By Bojidar Marinov | Published: July 6, 2011, American Vision

When a few weeks ago the Virginia AG Ken Cuccinelli spoke to a group of 250 pastors assuring them that the churches are not only permitted but also expected to speak on political issues, and thus encouraged the pastors to give “guidance on issues that fall in the political world,” he didn’t do anything the Reformed theological tradition disapproves of. To the contrary, by doing that, Cuccinelli followed in the footsteps of those government magistrates in the Bible of whom Calvin says that are praised for “taking care that religion flourished under them in purity and safety.” Indeed, if the church is instructed to speak to governors and kings (Matt.10:18), then every governor or king that encourages the church to speak to him and advise him in his policies is obedient to his Biblical mandate in his calling before God. Whatever Cuccinelli’s personal reasons for his encouragement to pastors could be, his call must be praised highly by the church as an example for Biblically obedient magistrates, and the pastors must be strongly admonished to take Cuccinelli’s advice.

But no, some supposedly “Reformed” authors wouldn’t agree with Calvin, and wouldn’t agree with Jesus’ commandment for us to speak before governors and kings. In an article with the disparaging title, “When Churches Play at Politics,” Peter Wehner disagrees that the pastors should accept Cuccinelli’s encouragement – and Christ’s commandment, for that matter – to instruct governors. While we will return to his specific arguments later, it is helpful to note at the beginning that he summarizes his position with the words of Tim Keller, a prominent PCA pastor: “The church as the church ought to be less concerned about speaking to politics and more concerned about service.”

Now, Tim Keller’s views of social theory, economics, and politics deserve a more thorough treatment. But this statement of him is very important since it very well exhibits the basic position of the Two-Kingdom Theology: The radical separation between the sacred and the secular, between the “spiritual” concerns of the church and the “political” ministry of the state. This dualistic fragmentation of life has been plaguing the church and its theology for the last two centuries, leading to the disintegration of the Christian civilization created by our forefathers; and the taking over of the West by the secularists who create no such division in their own ideologies and religions.

What will the results be if we accept Keller’s statement as authoritative? Can we really separate between politics and service as he recommends? And who determines what “politics” is and what “service” is? Tim Keller and others like him are eager to limit the pastors’ political involvement but they are not as willing to limit the politicians’ “service” involvement. Thus the pastors are limited but the politicians are not, and therefore it is the politicians that are free to determine what is “politics” and what is “service.” Like I pointed out before, in such a situation we should expect to see the politicians gradually expanding the definition of politics to include what traditionally has been service. Our modern history has many examples of this. Education used to be a service provided by the church; today it is politics from beginning to end – laws, federal and state agencies, regulations, teachers’ unions, etc. Care for the elderly was traditionally Christian service, today it is politics – Social Security, Medicare, regulations and tax rules for retirement accounts, inheritance issues, etc. Care for the poor has always been the responsibility of the families and of the church – as the Bible clearly states in both the Old and the New Testaments – and today welfare is the largest financial commitment of the modern civil governments, as well the major topic in all political campaigns, legislature sessions, and political debates. Regulation of relationships between employers and employees, debtors and creditors, was the topic of many sermons in the colonial era and the early U.S. History; today these economic issues are entirely within the jurisdiction of the state.

So where do we stop? And how can the pastors oppose this absorption of everything by the state? Keller doesn’t say; neither does Wehner. They do not seem to notice the trend; or if they do notice it, they do not seem concerned about it. One could make a conclusion they welcome the march to statism. Eager to limit the pastors to their “spiritual” calling, they do not seem as eager to limit the politicians to their “secular” calling. Socialism wins by default in the outworking of such a theology in practice.

Wehner himself adds another argument against the pastors’ political involvement: Their lack of competence or insight. This is a serious issue, we must admit. But then Wehner’s conclusion is again in favor of the statist solution: If the pastors are incompetent, then the state’s “experts” should take over. Again, he claims, the pastors must remain limited and restrained, and the state reign supreme over all.

But why are pastors incompetent in the first place? Aren’t most pastors the product of the multitude of seminaries that teach the Two-Kingdom doctrine? Aren’t the seminaries supposed to teach the pastors to apply the Word of God to every area of life? What stops the seminaries from doing that? Isn’t it the same Two-Kingdom Theology that says at the very outset that pastors shouldn’t be concerned with politics but with “service”?

Wehner puts the buggy before the horse. He uses the incompetence of the pastors to justify his position that the pastors shouldn’t get involved in politics. The truth is, the incompetence of those pastors is the very product of Wehner’s theology taught in the seminaries. No seminary offers courses on political science, Biblical economics, Biblical philosophy of history, Biblical view of welfare, employer-employee relations, war, etc. No seminary teaches a comprehensive worldview to make the pastors competent to talk about any issue in our modern society from a Biblical perspective. The seminaries stand on the same foundation Wehner stands on: Churches should not “play at politics,” i.e. pastors should be silent on political issues. When seminaries believe that, we shouldn’t expect them to teach their students anything that smacks of politics in our modern world, and therefore the seminary graduates will remain incompetent to give the Biblical principles and inside to those areas of life that are “politics.” Pastors indeed are incompetent. And Wehner and others like him bear the responsibility for it.

Ironically, Wehner’s complaints against the incompetence of pastors don’t speak well of his friend Albert Mohler, the president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, in Mohler’s own words, “the flagship school of the Southern Baptist Convention and one of the largest seminaries in the world.” Albert Mohler has trained thousands of pastors, directly and through his influence over other seminaries. And those thousands of pastors are exactly the pastors that Wehner talks about: incompetent and without insight when it comes to comprehensive view of life. Wehner is completely right: very little insight and wisdom comes from those pastors trained by Mohler – and in fact, from the pastors of any other denomination in general. What stops Mohler, with his influence and knowledge, from training those pastors to be competent?

The answer is: His theology. Mohler is one of the most prominent defenders of the Two-Kingdom Theology. The same theology that calls for the radical separation between sacred and worldly, spiritual and political, nature and grace, the Law of God and the “natural” law. Mohler’s theology forces him to produce incompetent pastors, devoid of any knowledge about the application of the Bible to all of life, because all of life is not under the directions of the Bible in the first place. Mohler doesn’t believe Christians can offer anything more than just vague “influence” in the society; and he insist they should restrain from any control or power over government or cultural decisions and policies.

This is especially visible in an interview that Mohler himself took of Peter Wehner about Wehner’s book, City of Man: Religion and Politics in a New Era. A significant part of the interview is devoted to the Two-Kingoms view that there is no such thing as a Christian culture. Mohler asks the question, “You are not really suggesting that there can be a creation of Christian culture.” And Wehner replies:

I don’t think we can create a Christian culture. I think part of that frankly is grounded in scripture itself and Christ said that the world hated me and the world will hate you.

The two then continue to bash the view that we must create a Christian culture; they offer only what they call a Christian “influence on the culture.” They know they can not separate from the culture but they want to be faithful to their preferred theology of the two kingdoms. So, just like Keller, they place a very specific limit on Christians (“Do not create a Christian culture”) but they do not place such limit on the non-Christians. Non-Christians in government and in other vocations are free to do as they please, create pagan culture with everything it entails – government, economics, science, family, entertainment, literature, law, etc. – on the basis of their own ideologies and religions. But Christians are barred from doing such a thing. At the most, Christians are allowed to only “influence” that culture already created by pagans.

But wait, what are they going to “influence” it toward? “Influence” means “sway, make one change direction.” If Mohler and Wehner have no Christian culture to offer as an alternative, to what direction do they want to influence the prevailing pagan culture? Do they expect Christians to sway the pagan culture to a better pagan culture? On what foundation should this “influence” be based if Christians don’t have a culture to start with? Should they beat something with nothing? If Christians have no culture to offer, then they have no cultural solutions to offer, then by default they will be incompetent and with no insight to participate in the culture. If “the world will hate you” means what Mohler and Wehner want it to mean – no Christian culture – then why should it mean Christian cultural “influence” at all? Will a Christ-hating world be more willing to accept Christian cultural “influence” than Christian culture? If that hatred means that a Christian must shy from building a Christian culture, why not mean that a Christian must shy from anything cultural at all, including cultural influence?

Thus by default, a pastor trained by Mohler and by the seminaries influenced by Mohler will have to be uneducated and untrained and incompetent about the world. He has no other choice but retreat. He will have to focus on “service,” but only “service” as defined by the government bureaucrats, i.e. everything that is still not taken by the state. His Two-Kingdom Theology will discourage any cultural endeavor he might have – and of course, the very seminaries that trained him won’t offer him any training in cultural endeavors. By default, the government and the cultural leadership must be left in the hands of non-Christians. Not only Mohler and his theology discourage Christians from cultural and political leadership, they also actively promote non-Christian – i.e. ungodly – power over the society and over Christians themselves, and over their churches. Peter Wehner’s complaint against Cuccinelli, and Albert Mohler’s theology of the Two Kingdoms are in effect the religion of statism dressed in religious and theological garb. The two kingdoms of that theology are the ever expanding kingdom of unlimited ungodly statist power, and the ever shrinking kingdom of Christian cowardly retreat, incompetence, and lack of insight and wisdom. Wehner’s observations about the pastors’ incompetence are correct; he only misses the fact that that incompetence is the fruit of his own theology, and of the theology of his theological friends.

So, Cuccinelli is right, pastors must speak up on political issues. But we also need to understand that as long as the seminaries are captured by professors who refuse to preach the comprehensive Gospel of the Kingdom of God, the church will remain incompetent and unable to speak. As long as the seminaries’ theology encourages the cowardly retreat from our obligation to build a Christian culture in obedience to the Great Commission, our land will be under the oppression of ungodly powers. Competence comes only from the Word of God, and from a theology that submits everything under Christ and His Kingdom. Christians must stop listening to Wehner and his theological accomplices and accept their comprehensive responsibilities in the Kingdom of Christ.

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Author: Bojidar Marinov

A Reformed missionary to his native Bulgaria for over 10 years, Bojidar preaches and teaches doctrines of the Reformation and a comprehensive Biblical worldview. Having founded Bulgarian Reformation Ministries in 2001, he and his team have translated over 30,000 pages of Christian literature about the application of the Law of God in every area of man’s life and society, and published those translations online for free. He has been active in the formation of the Libertarian movement in Bulgaria, a co-founder of the Bulgarian Society for Individual Liberty and its first chairman. If you would like Bojidar to speak to your church, homeschool group or other organization, contact him through his website: http://www.bulgarianreformation.org/

Uncollege & Theil Foundation Inspiring Projects

Notice at Uncollege.org that the unschooling method of home schooling is equally applicable to college studies.  Over the years, there has been several good websites by uncolleging students which they used to keep their learning organized and displayed.  Though uncollege.org doesn't promote Christian education, the founder has been speaking at home school conventions around the country, and the methods of uncollege can be used to learn anything.  There was a good and simple example of a student curriculum vita linked to uncollege.org.  Dale Stephens is the 19 year old founder of uncollege.org and has received a grant for $100,000 to develop the concept further from the Theil Foundation. 

The Theil Foundation encourages young people to challenge the authority of the present and familiar with $100,000 grants to students under 20 years old.  Here are a few of the interesting projects that might inspire other home college methods (e.g., Biblical Concourse of Home Universities) and students to realistically think high tech and outside the box.

1. Extend the human lifespan for a few more centuries and commercializing anti-aging research. .

2. Make affordable scientific instruments using open source hardware systems such as liquid chromotography.

3. Molecular spintronics fabrication to therapeutic drug design and synthetic biology to build a diagnostic biosenser.

4. Developing peer-based recruiting processes.

5. Create technologies which help people self-organize to solve social problems such as inflation.

6. Decentralize banking in poor countries with mobile financial services.

7. Create a tool for teachers to create and share lessons online by students and other teachers.

8. Mobile apps for the 21st century classroom.

9. More efficient motor for electric vehicles.

10. Solar panel rotation systems for optimizing energy usage for small villages.

College and Alternatives

By Jim Bartlett

New York Teacher of the Year John Taylor Gatto explained how corporations, foundations, psychologists and education professionals designed the public school system to mass produce a pliable workforce for global corporations. They purposely teach people not to think for themselves and to follow anti-Christian social orders according to Mr. Gatto in his books Dumbing Us Down, The Underground History of American Public Education, and Weapons of Mass Instruction.

If getting pliable followers, not Christian cultural leaders, into the corporate workforce is the goal of school and college accreditation structures and content, then Christians need to understand and evaluate the effects of institutional college education on their families, church and culture.

Getting into college should not be the goal of home education, but glorifying God in the means, purposes, details, and ends of both the college and or career education. Many home school families are finding or creating alternatives to conventional secular and Christian higher education to better serve God and their family goals.

Below are are a few references that have been helpful to home educating families when advising their sons and daughters on college and career decisions.

The North Dakota Guide to Home School High School contains information that may help with your college planning. That document is linked HERE.

A convenient list of many occupations is linked HERE.

For information on..
CHRISTIAN COLLEGES

A guide to 111 traditional Christian colleges is linked HERE.

CHRISTIAN ALTERNATIVES FOR HIGHER EDUCATION

• AME PROGRAM
• BIBLICAL CONCOURSE OF HOME UNIVERSITIES
• COLLEGEPLUS
• NEW GENEVA CHRISITAN LEADERSHIP ACADEMY
• POCKETCOLLEGE

REFERENCES ON COLLEGE EDUCATION

• Freefall of the American University by Jim Nelson Black
• Brainwashed: How Universities Indoctrinate America's Youth by Ben Shapiro
• Success without College by Linda Lee
• The Case Against College by Caroline Bird
• The Dying of the Light: The Disengagement of Colleges & Universities from their Christian Churches by James Burtchaell
• The Snare of College Accreditation by James Bartlett
• For Most People College is a Waste of Time in Wall Street Journal
• The Dorm Key Ritual by Gary North
• The Crisis and Politics of Higher Education by Larry Arnn
  

VIDEO REFERENCES

Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed by Ben Stein

Christian Classical Education

By Dennis Woods

By way of introduction, I wrote the book on how the classics –the great books –stack up against the Bible. Some have referred to my book, Keys To The Classics, as the "Christian Cliffs Notes" and today it forms the heart of the classical studies program at King's Way Classical Academy.

So what makes classical, Christian education so special? Informal research conducted by the Oregonian newspaper in Portland, Oregon has revealed that the two most important items missing in the government school curriculum are 1) training in skills of logical thinking, and 2) the ability to communicate the results of critical analysis in debate, speech and the written word.

The dialectic and rhetoric components of the classical trivium speak directly to these deficiencies. With a classical education your children are given the priceless gifts of ability to think for themselves and then communicate their thoughts with power and persuasiveness.

A classical Christian education can serve as a “finishing processl” for home school students and a Biblical “inoculation” for public school students. The classical core subjects are:

• LATIN: The best way to build a powerful vocabulary – after the Bible, and a key predictor of success in life.
• LOGIC: Critical thinking skills give your children overwhelming advantage in the workplace – and in life.
• RHETORIC: Make your child a force to be reckoned with in the political arena and on the job.
• GREAT BOOKS: Analyzing the classics in light of Scripture grounds your student in the Biblical worldview.

How can we best obey the command to love God with all our minds and not end up like those with an empty head and a happy heart? A classical Christian education helps provide both a happy heart and a level head.

Classical was the educational model that prevailed for centuries, prior to the late1800s. That was when John Dewey foisted his disastrous Progressive Education system on American schools. There can be no true knowledge apart from the Author of all knowledge (Proverbs 1:7). Public schools and secular education in home schools pretend neutrality, but Jesus said, "he who is not with me is against me."

Dennis Woods is the Headmaster of Kings Way Classical Academy. King's Way Classical Academy recently unveiled its new junior high and "high school diploma" programs for only $500 annual tuition fee. For more information about Classical Christian Education visit http://KingsWayClassicalAcademy.com or call (888)-714-5741.

The Great Christian College Compromise: New survey shows America’s Christian colleges abandoning their biblical foundations

PETERSBURG, Ky., May 2, 2011 – Ken Ham , Warner University president Dr. Greg Hall, and renowned researcher Britt Beemer take a penetrating look at how Christian colleges have compromised their beliefs in an eye-opening book releasing May 2 from Master Books, “Already Compromised: Christian Colleges Took a Test on the State of Their Faith and The Final Exam is In.”
Surveys have consistently shown that many Christian colleges are compromising on biblical principles by their answers to basic questions about the authority of the Bible. Ham, president of Answers in Genesis and the acclaimed Creation Museum , issues a clarion call to parents everywhere who are contemplating sending their teenager to a Christian college:
“Knowing that compromise (to one degree or another) awaits our kids, we had to contend with where to send them and try to prepare them for battle and encourage them to keep their guard up,” states the book.
Beemer’s America’s Research Group (ARG) surveyed schools associated with the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU), a group of more than 90 colleges that require all of their professors to sign a personal statement of faith. Other respondents were from schools that were “religiously affiliated” through an association with a religious denomination. Over 300 leaders at Christian colleges participated in the survey.
“We are not questioning anyone’s faith or Christian commitment at these colleges. We are examining what is being taught on important issues like biblical inerrancy, especially when it comes to Genesis,” Ham says. “Many of these schools claim to teach the ‘inerrant Word of God,’ yet gloss over the first book of the Bible as mere allegory.”
In conducting the survey, the authors used open-ended and close-ended questions so answers could be compared. They also looked at various statements of faith from churches, Christian colleges, etc., through an internet search, and found that most statements of faith had a very general statement (if any) on creation.
“Such general statements can sadly lead to the door of compromise being opened and eventually lead a college, church, etc., down the liberal path,” the book says.
While the survey did bring out some surprising results, “24 percent of the 312 people surveyed answered every question correctly … and these are the ‘good guys!’ These are the institutions that require testimonies of faith from their professors or have strong religious affiliations,” the book says.
Many Christian parents mistakenly assume that if they send their children to a self-described Christian college, they are protecting their children’s faith from non-biblical ideas such as evolution, and providing their children with a more morally nurturing environment, the book states.
Hall explains that parents are sending their students into the schools assuming that they are going to be faith-nurturing and truth-affirming institutions. He says that in reality many of the schools discredit faith, discredit the Bible, and break kids down rather than build them up. Many young people who have attended such Christian colleges leave the Christian faith as a result. Just as the previous book by Ham and Beemer (“Already Gone”) explored, young people are leaving the church in droves (many over biblical authority issues), and Christian colleges are contributing to this exodus.
“There are good Christian schools out there and we feel they are better than secular alternatives by far. But these issues of compromise have to be addressed,” the book concludes.
In the end, Ham and Hall call for students and parents to get involved and become aware of what is being taught on campus and to ask probing questions of school officials and professors about biblical inerrancy. The newly launched companion website for “Already Compromised”—www.CreationColleges.org—can help as well.
You can order Already Compromised on the AiG online store.
Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,
Ken

Background on Modern Britsh Royalty - Eugenic and Nazi Worldview

It is well documented that Prince Philip’s sister, Sophia, was married to Christopher of Hesse-Cassel, an SS colonel who named his eldest son Karl Adolf in Hitler’s honour. Indeed, all four of Philip’s sisters married high-ranking Nazis. The prospect of the former Nazis and Nazi sympathisers attending his 1947 wedding to the future Queen of England meant he was allowed to invite only two guests.
Two years ago, more revelations of Philip’s Nazi links emerged in a book that featured never before published photographs of Philip aged 16 at the 1937 funeral of his elder sister Cecile, flanked by relatives in SS and Brownshirt uniforms.
Another picture shows his youngest sister, Sophia, sitting opposite Hitler at the wedding of Hermann and Emmy Goering. Philip was forced to concede that his family found Hitler’s attempts to restore Germany’s power and prestige ‘attractive’ and admitted they had ‘inhibitions about the Jews’.
Philip also helped start the World Wildlife Fund in 1961 with former Nazi SS Officer Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands, who is closely affiliated with the founders of the Bilderberg international power group, and Sir Julian Huxley, Aldous Huxley’s brother, who was also the President of the British Eugenics Society.

The entire article is from Ref. http://www.infowars.com/modern-british-royalty-eugenicists-nazis-and-neo-feudalists/

Christian Reconstruction Overview

This is the best description of the tenets of Christian Reconstruction, as espoused by Dr. R. J. Rushdoony, is found in his "Christian Manifesto".

1. Sovereignty is an attribute of God alone, not of man nor the state. God alone is Lord or Sovereign over all things; over state, school, family, vocations, society and all things else.
2. The Bible is given as the common law of men and nations and was for most of U. S. History the common law, as Justice Story declared.
3. Salvation is not by politics, education, the church, or any agency or person other than Jesus Christ our Lord.
4. The myth of Machiavelli, that, by state control at the top, bad men can make a good society is at the root of our cultural crisis and growing collapse. A good omelet cannot be made with bad eggs. Truly redeemed men are necessary for a good society.²
5. Civil rulers who rule without the Lord and His law word are, as Augustine said, no different than a mafia, only more powerful.
6. The state is not the government, but one form of government among many, others being the self-government of the Christian man, the family, the school, the church, vocations and society. The state is civil government, a ministry of justice.
7. For the state to equate itself with government is tyranny and evil.
8. The Christian man is the only true free man in all the world, and he is called to exercise dominion over all the earth.
9. Humanism is the way of death and is the essence of original sin, or man trying to be his own god.
10. All men, things, and institutions must serve God, or be judged by Him. 

"It is urgently important that we think now of Christian reconstruction, but our thinking cannot be idle talk: it must be both Biblical and also practically applied in our daily life. There are many people ready to eliminate statism, but they have nothing but wishing to replace it. How then will independent schools, private welfare, and individual initiative deal with the vast complex of our social problems? Already most of our Christian conservative causes, and Christian schools, are continually short of funds. What is the answer?
"In any advanced social order, social financing is a major public necessity. The social order cannot exist without a vast network of social institutions which require financing and support. If a Christian concept of social financing is lacking, then the state moves in quickly to supply the lack and gain the social control which results. Social financing means social power."³

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^1. R. J. Rushdoony, Chalcedon Report No. 225, “A Christian Manifesto,” April 1984 (c.f., Roots of Reconstruction, p. 1114f).
^2. This is not to suggest that Rushdoony endorsed simply replacing “bad men” with “godly men” at the top of a state-run society. Rushdoony’s concept of theocracy was not a centralized form of power in the hands of clerical leaders. He wrote, “Few things are more commonly misunderstood than the nature and meaning of theocracy. It is commonly assumed to be a dictatorial rule by self-appointed men who claim to rule for God. In reality, theocracy in Biblical law is the closest thing to a radical libertarianism that can be had” (Roots of Reconstruction, p. 63).
^3. R. J. Rushdoony, Roots of Reconstruction (Vallecito, CA: Ross House Books, 1991), 605.
From: http://chalcedon.edu/topics/christian-reconstruction/

The Regulative Principle of Family

The Regulative Principle of Family
by Lisa Moyer, Home School Graduate from Geneva Illinois
April 12, 2011

The regulative principle is most often applied to formal worship. It is used to determine the format of church services, allowing only those things that God has authorized for worship, including prayer, reading of the Word, preaching, singing, and the sacraments. The regulative principle is in essence a call for “sola Scriptura,” or Scripture alone. It defends the Bible as complete and authoritative. In the same way water is everything needed to quench thirst, so God's Word is all that is needed for godly life and righteousness. “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work” (II Timothy 3:16-17, NKJV). The regulative principle applies to the family in a significant way. It is important to understand what the regulative principle is, how it applies to family, and the impacts of this application.

The Bible, and what can be deduced from its principles, is to regulate our lives. It even gives instruction for how to carry out seemingly neutral activities. The law which God provides in the Bible is comprehensive, lacking no clarity or thoroughness. No bright idea from mankind can in any way enhance or add to His completely sufficient statutes. Dr. Joe Morecraft writes, “Biblical law is so perfect and comprehensive...that any alteration, supplementation, or amendment of would be an arrogant assault by sinful man on the majestic sovereignty of the triune God” (Morecraft, 79).

The “alteration” Morecraft refers to can be adding regulations to the Bible or excluding parts of Scripture from application. Although worship is often regulated by more specific regulations in the Bible, all of life is to be lived according to His principles. The heart and foundation of the regulative principle, that Scripture must not be added to or taken from, applies to everything. Because this is its core, it is a principle that effects all areas of life and institutions, including the family.

The “regulative principle of family” is especially significant as the family is the foundational unit of society. Thomas Manton noted the significance of the family:

“Religion was first hatched in families, and there the devil seeketh to crush it; the families of the Patriarchs were all the Churches God had in the world for the time; and therefore, (I suppose,) when Cain went out from Adam's family, he is said to go out from the face of the Lord, Gen. 4:16. Now, the devil knoweth that this is a blow at the root, and a ready way to prevent the succession of Churches: if he can subvert families, other societies and communities will not long flourish and subsist with any power and vigor; for there is the stock from whence they are supplied both for the present and future” (Manton).

The ways this application takes effect are numerous, but one of the most foundational is that of training children. Scripture contains all the instructions needed for raising a family and educating children. Of course, this is not to say that no textbooks are needed for learning math or that work experience is not helpful for building character. For example, rather than the idea that the Bible teaches the historical events that occurred in 1861, it is the concept that God has revealed how we are to view, interpret, and respond to history. God has showed that the education of children is a responsibility delegated to parents. In the same way that God's worship has never been delegated to human authority, so the training of sons and daughters has never been delegated to any institution outside the family.

The book of Proverbs illustrates the instruction and wisdom that passes from a father directly to his children. “Hear, my children, the instruction of a father, and give attention to know understanding” (Proverbs 4:1). In Deuteronomy 4:10, the Lord says: “Gather the people to Me, and I will let them hear My words, that they may learn to fear Me all the days they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children.” He says again, “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up” (Deuteronomy 6:6). To apply the heart of the regulative principle to the training of children is to not add to or take away from the clear responsibility given to parents for their children's training.

The impacts of applying the regulative principle to families and the discipleship of sons and daughters are significant. The way a child is educated influences their entire life, especially the religious perspective their education takes on. Robert Booth commented, “It is not a matter of whether our children will be taught religion in school; it is only a matter of which religion they will be taught.” Rather than taking away from the Word of God by transferring the distinctly religious education of children to the state, God's revelation shows that mothers and fathers are given the role of their children's education.

Parents are to ensure that their children receive a Biblical worldview, knowledge of God, and the truth of the Scriptures. While outside mentors, teachers, or resources may be helpful in assisting the development of understanding in children, the responsibility continues to rest on the mother and father. To expect an age-segregated children's Sunday school class, for instance, to teach one's son all he needs to know about the Bible and how it is to be lived out, would be shifting the role of parent to a Sunday school teacher. Since God has never presented a teacher with the obligation He gives to parents, it would be altering His Word to make that transfer ourselves. Parents are to be involved in teaching their children truths of Scripture.

Another implication is that education would involve discipleship. Noah Webster's 1828 Dictionary defines “disciple” as, “To teach; to train, or bring up.” As God has given parents the role of teaching their children the Lord's commands, education involves more than a memorization of facts. It is an unceasing passing on of the Christian faith (Deuteronomy 4). This affects the religious perspective that children are educated with. Scott Brown writes, “[John] Calvin recognized the supreme importance of the father's role in the discipleship of children... In contrast to our own age where parents are content to systematically outsource their children's education, Calvin knew that it was the primary responsibility of the home” (Brown, 179). More than a knowledge of subject matter, the Lord requires that parents teach their children to “keep His statutes and His commandments which I command you today, that it may go well with you and with your children after you” (Deuteronomy 4:40). Discipleship, or training in God’s Word, is a necessary part of education.

Although the regulative principle is typically applied to worship only, the regulative principle in essence is to not take away from or add to God's Word. It is a principle that calls us to look to God’s Word alone for how we are to live our lives. The impact it has when applied to the family is important as it addresses the responsibility for education. Greg Price wrote, ”Is God’s Word adequate and complete in giving to man all that man needs to know as to how he must please God? Absolutely...” The Bible shows us everything we need to live a life pleasing to Him, which includes the responsibility of education.

Works Cited

Booth, Robert. "Schools are Religious." Center for Reformed Theology and Apologetics. 31 Mar 2011.

Brown, Scott. Family Reformation: The Legacy of Sola Scriptura in Calvin's Geneva. Wake Forest, VA: Merchant Adventures, 2009.

Manton, Thomas. "Mr. Thomas Manton's Epistle to the Reader." Center for Reformed Theology and Apologetics. 31 Mar 2011.

Morecraft, Joe. How God Wants Us to Worship Him: A Defense of the Bible as the Only Standard for Modern Worship. San Antonio, TX: The Vision Forum, 2004.

Price, Greg. "The Regulative Principle of Worship." Foundation for Reformation. 7 Apr 2011.