Education Archives | Page 6 of 6

How to Do Faith Learning Integration

May 13, 2022January 1, 2021 by Mark Eckel

Weaving the internal fabric of students.

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Abstract: While a plethora of articles and books have been written concerning faith-learning integration, less attention has been paid to the process of how the methodology should take place. Beyond that, an evaluation of a professor’s integrationist propensities has few works from which to draw. Beginning with seminal theory in theology, etymology, and pedagogy by faith-learning leaders in the Christian academy, a tentative list of evaluative assessment categories may be deduced.

Introduction

The bifurcation of claiming a Christian heritage while teaching subjects without Christian authority claims has been widely reported.¹ Teachers entering the field of Christian education kindergarten through higher education have had little and certainly incongruent instruction in faith-learning integration.² Contention over the paucity of faith-learning integration in Christian education as a whole might be understandable if all instructors were being trained solely in pagan institutions. But Christian higher education struggles with its own lack of coherent, thoroughly Christian thinking in education programs.³ Student teacher programs lack developmental processes to empower new teachers just coming into the classroom (Sumsion). The necessity of philosophical remediation for the Christian school teacher upon entering the classroom, then, is a necessity (Hagan 39, 48). If Christian schools truly are to remain Christian institutions, faith-learning integration is to be the alpha and omega distinctive (Beck, Chiareli, Dockery, Holmes Building, Litfin, Poe).

But even if institutions document a clear Christian philosophical groundwork and hire teachers who can practice biblical integration4 in the classroom few evaluative tools exist to establish criteria for the appraisal of faculty competency in faith-learning practice (Hardin).5 Leaders in the faith-learning field have given direction for thoughtful engagement.6 Current literature will suggest baseline theories toward creating a specific, measurable assessment tool for classroom biblical integration in the following overview: (1) theological parameters for creating a foundation of Christian thought; (2) from the theological bedrock definitions of faith-learning integration are suggested; (3) meaning helps toward thoughtful reflection as to how faith informs learning in various disciplines; (4) intentional Christian thought can then possibly influence course construction in rationale, description, syllabi, objectives, synopsis, and ultimately day-to-day instruction; and (5) the process of evaluative criteria for Christian thinking and teaching in the classroom can then be deduced.

Foundation: Theological Parameters

“Integration of any kind can never arise from theological ignorance…Schools often hire faculty with little or no formal training in biblical and theological studies…” (Gangel 76). Why is it that Christian institutions fall prey to a non-critical, Christian analysis of their disciplines? Poe suggests “We tend to ignore the philosophy, or the worldview, out of which we operate, largely because we have grown so accustomed to it” (22). Fragmentation of the academy (131) has caused the need for reminder that not any one discipline can adequately answer life’s questions (29).

Litfin notes the importance of the Christian antithesis by mapping the contrasts in the Corinthian epistles between diametrically opposed statements such as “of God” and “of the world” (184-188). He suggests Paul’s teaching strategy was not one of dualism but of viewpoint (184). The Second Corinthians 4:16-18 passage sets the delineations simply: what is seen and what is unseen (182). Litfin recommits his reader to the other worldly revelatory Truth of God. Any discussion of faith-learning integration for Litfin begins with a reliance upon revelation; for “faith requires revelation” [emphasis his] (188). As Litfin says later, “Our point here is that biblical faith inherently requires some sort of word from God, the presence of revelation of some sort. If there is no revelation from God, there can be no faith, no taking God at his word” (194). He concludes, “The language of faith and learning is simply another way of speaking of what the Apostle calls the worlds of the unseen and the seen” (195).

Following Augustine’s thinking in Soliloquies where he asked, “What do you want to know?” Holmes offers salient theological criteria for Christian epistemology including the eternal, origins, order, authority, reason, language, abstract thinking, and concrete thinking (Building) In addition, Holmes lists three distinguishing presuppositions for Christian higher education: (1) the objectivity of values, (2) the theocentric unity of truth, and (3) the nature of persons (Closing 113). Epistemological questions are crucial. Among those Holmes asks are: What are the assumptions currently operative in the various disciplines? Are they consonant with a Christian view of things? What is their logical basis? What are their implications? “Worldview analysis” belongs in every discipline at the Christian university level (116-117).

Definition: Understanding the Concept of Faith-Learning Integration

Holmes first delineated the strata for contemplating faith and learning in his book The Idea of a Christian College. Four approaches Holmes suggested were (1) attitudinal, (2) ethical, (3) foundational, and (4) worldviewish (45-60). Otto (35-37) updates and interprets Holmes’ outline of the four basic approaches to integrating faith and learning (Idea 34-37).

Peterson characterizes the happenstance of integration as knowledge inherently imbued in a Christian worldview. That knowledge then permeates the presuppositions, perceptions, convictions, refinement, and service of the Christian (103). The language of integration is said to have been unfortunate, however. The term suggests forcing together two disparate things rather than seeing the unity of all truth together. The original design of the word was to encourage a “reintegration” of what had been put asunder (Litfin 128-129). So, Gangel defines “integration” as “the forming or blending into a whole of everything that is a part of a Christian student’s life and learning” [emphasis his] (viii). Chadwick declares “Integration is the bringing together the parts into the whole” [emphasis his] (128). For Beversluis integration is simply “wholeness” (21-22).

Korniejczuk defines integration as “the process of combining separate components into a unified whole. Faith involves “(a) the truth, (b) a willingness and commitment to obey God, and (c) feelings and emotions in experiencing God.” Learning helps “students acquire/modify knowledge, attitudes, skills, and other forms of intellectual functioning.” Integration of faith and learning infuses “the formal, informal, non-formal curriculum with a God-centered, Christian worldview” (14).

Ream, Beaty, and Lion defined “faith” as “religiously motivated and grounded beliefs and practices of the founding or sponsoring religious community” (351) whereas “learning” meant “the standard academic practices that now constitute the modern university.” The study focused on “religious influences on the academic mission” (352).

To Holmes “faith” is a response to God whereby the whole person sets out to explore the world’s unity (73). Nelson makes sure “faith” becomes a verb (319). Mannoia agrees with the need for active faith: integration must address “real world” problems—a consistent theme in his book (103-104).

After acknowledging few studies have explored faculty views of the faith-learning process, Ream, Beaty, and Lion (353) conclude “faith and learning shared a tenuous relationship in the minds of faculty members at selected religious research universities” (369). While the results spanned the extremes (e.g., complete separation to complete integration), the authors summarize that Christian thinking has some observable influence on campuses (367).

Nonetheless, Wolterstorff decries even the separation of faith and learning, instead vying for “faithful learning”; that is, teaching what is as it is in creation (76-80). He says, “Faithful scholarship as a whole will be distinctive scholarship…But difference is to be a consequence, not an aim” [emphasis his] (p. 78). True to the calls for community and pluralism to come, Downing uses the postmodern “imbrication”—overlapping vocabularies shingled around the core of Christian truth—acknowledging various traditions and disciplines in overlapping discourse (41).

Many have taken to remind the academy that limitations exist in faith-learning integration much less in its definition (Schulten). Agee (9) suggests that discipline specialization and faculty compartmentalization of life inhibits conversations to begin even on campus: fragmentation and lack of collaboration are to blame.

Reflection: How Faith Informs Learning

Given the emphasis on unity of truth, one might rightly ask, “How can any homogenous approach to faith-learning integration be acceptable to disparate disciplines which have their own categories of constraints?” Poe outlines seven reflective questions, elaborating on each, that every discipline must ask within a Christian context. The interdisciplinary instrument7 understands that faith is the foundation of all human knowledge, exposing the core concerns of any discipline. Poe’s questions are as follows: “(1) with what is your disciplines concerned?; (2) what characterizes the methodology of your discipline?; (3) on what other disciplines does your discipline build?; (4) on what values is your discipline based?; (5) over what values within your discipline do members of your discipline disagree?; (6) what is the philosophical basis for your discipline?; (7) when did your discipline come to be taught as a separate discipline within the academy?” (138-154).

Concluding the discussion, Poe makes this insight:

Why take so much time and space in a book that supposedly deals with faith? Because these are the points at which the issues of faith arise in the pursuit of knowledge. Faith does not stand opposed to knowledge and scholarship. It may, however, stand in conflict with some philosophical interpretations of the nature of knowledge and reality” (153).

Robert A. Harris suggests contemplative questions about knowledge that should be asked: (1) Is knowledge discovered or constructed?; (2) Is knowledge limited to what is empirically verifiable?; (3) What is the role of reason in connection with knowledge?; (4) Does truth really matter in the creation of knowledge? (42-43). Harris’ taxonomy of worldview integration gives the reader the ability to contextualize the knowledge claims, identify the foundations underlying the claim, and seek alternate approaches, interpretations, and claims (250). Key to Harris’ work is his concern that students identify pre-theoretical assumptions behind any research or theory (258).

Christian teaching should be distinctive, according to Zylstra because “testing the spirits” (e.g. comparing worldview frameworks) is a constant enterprise (98). Ramm agrees noting the Christian institution “must be expert in diagnosing the unchristian elements in pagan learning” (21). Hood and Simpson maintain that creating integrative questions helps new teachers to think Christianly. Broadened horizons include cross-cultural studies (Gill 107-108), extending student perspectives.

The criteria implicit in any worldview show application to life according to Holmes (Truth 121): rational coherence, empirical adequacy, and human relevance. Succinctly, Van Brummelen says Christian teachers “teach with commitment since they want to teach for commitment” (Steppingstones 10). Mentoring is a crucial component to faith-affirming education so that faith-based thinking creates lifelong learning agents (Van Brummelen Pursuing). Van Dyk suggests that teaching Christianly consists of guiding, unfolding, and enabling, focused on a multi-dimensional approach within each person toward faith-learning integration (Curriculum).

As discussed in their Christian Perspectives on Learning, Calvin College has committed itself for years to an interdisciplinary approach to faith-learning integration with a course entitled “Christian Perspectives on Learning.” Embedded in its explanation of why the course is necessary is the statement “to prepare the student to live the life of faith in contemporary society” (i). Readings from pagans and Christians, theology and sociology, economy and ethnicity are the basis for reflective thought from a Christian point of view in Calvin’s course. One of many examples, some Christian colleges are presenting a clear commitment to faith-learning integration with faculty and students on their websites.8

Construction: Course Description, Syllabi, and Instruction

The National Union of Christian Schools, predecessor to Christian Schools International, devised a Course of Study for Christian Schools in 1947 which established first the Christian philosophy of all courses to specific objectives to be accomplished throughout the year. Since that time, there is no organization or publication that lays out a complete Christian school curriculum plan, though others have advocated the need (Van Til; North; Chadwick) while still more leaders realize curricular change will come through individual teachers (Graham).

Chadwick constructs detailed models of biblical integration beginning with revealed, then discovered truth, to all of life (128-132). Chadwick maintains that the structure of the discipline (i.e., the principles, concepts, or framework) does not change from Christian to non-Christian instructors (129).

Van Brummelen lays out a full understanding of curriculum development from a decidedly Christian point of reference: everything from orientation, knowledge, learning, planning, to subjects taught. Accordingly, he asserts, “all of life is religious in nature” (Steppingstones 63) since every aspect of knowledge and life “depends on God’s faithfulness in creating and sustaining the universe” (Steppingstones 37). Van Brummelen establishes a fourfold approach to curriculum making sure to link thinking and living. With very specific examples he suggests that teachers, principals, and the whole school community must commit to curriculum which is intentionally Christian.

Holmes proposes the broad range of thinking necessary to teach Christianly:

Integration applies to the presuppositions on which Christian higher education rests, to our institutional and departmental objectives, and to the objectives of my courses as a teacher. It applies to curricular development and content, and therefore to faculty development, expectations, and programs. If science is not presuppositionless and learning is not value-free, then integration affects the methodology of the teacher as well as his/her manner with students. In student development work, Christianity must be integrated with developmental psychology. The management theories and styles that administrators adopt should be deeply affected by Christian concepts of stewardly service, of equal justice for all, and of love. All this is but the opening of the Christian mind to what is rightly expected of Christian higher education (112).

Perhaps Wolterstorff’s title speaks for the ultimate goal of course construction: Educating for Responsible Action.

Evaluation: Faith-Learning Criteria for Faculty Development

Faculty course creation in faith-learning integration is dependent upon professional development. Nwosu composes the rationale, components, and design of such a program toward helping teachers practice faith-learning integration in the classroom. “But much more than this I see professional development programs as a channel for perpetuating integration of faith and learning in our schools just as the gospel was perpetuated during the days of the apostles” (22). Mannoia stresses faculty must be allowed to cull their disciplines in continued study (165-188). The Idea of a Christian College directly requires faculty be enjoined with community purposes, committed values, and common tasks (Holmes 80). Hodges concedes The Fall inhibits human abilities to know, yet says this is the very reason for peer review in community (135-136).

Mathisen (239) maintains pluralism is an essential component to the process of faith-learning integration within a faculty or inter-university collegiality throughout the disciplines. Coe offers a model for faculty interface within the university setting. Collaboration through recruitment, mentoring, and role recognition in the process is key (239). Masterson agrees citing David Aiken’s work on pluralism at Gordon College relying on a network of religious traditions and gifted individuals (190). Wuelfing says “living and learning require that we not limit” scholarship to one frame of reference group or source. Instead, she calls for a “conversational character of dialogue” (39) allowing students to think with rather than acquiesce to uninvolved learning.

Agee directly states, “The best context for a serious faith and disciplines/faith and learning emphasis is within a comprehensive, systematic, and institutionally supported professional development program” (9). Agee suggests various methods for interdisciplinary engagement including large group presentations by leading thinkers, development of a professional growth contract, faculty developed activities and conversations (10-11). Fowler encourages a “communal interdependence” where the principal has oversight over the teaching-learning process, encouraging the faith-learning process (117).

“The ultimate test of the human capacity to integrate faith and learning relates to the degree to which people are able to allow the principles and the truths they have internalized to inform their daily practice” (Matthews and Gabriel 33). Authentic praxis includes students’ ability to apply theories and principles toward solving community problems. Further, students discover faith-consistent lives through teachers who model faith-learning in their person (34). Students’ views of the restorative process given to humans by God are benefited when teachers show the cohesiveness of all things (36). Alumni assessment could be a marker toward measuring the effectiveness of faith-learning integration. While many limitations may inhibit precision responses from graduates, a continuum of Christian thinking and living may be perceived from such studies (Presnell).

Lawrence, Burton, and Nwosu studied student responses to integration of faith and learning discovering that while students recognized Christian principles in the teaching, the transfer to student learning did not necessarily take place (43). In addition to Holmes’ four approaches, Burton and Nwosu contend that a fifth—pedagogical—be advanced as a crucial component in faith-learning evaluation (107). Student attribution of Christian principles in the classroom greatly depends upon class atmosphere and learning methodologies which engage student interaction (Lawrence, Burton, and Nwosu 47). Responses to the questionnaire used in the study begin to create evaluation markers: faith used as a foundation for learning; incorporating Christian views into the teaching; comparison of spiritual things in a subject area; teacher treatment of students reflects a faith commitment in teaching; seeing connections to instruction and future vocation; and exercises linking the academic discipline with Christian behavior (27-43).

While it has been suggested that faculty cross-disciplinary groups meet to discuss connection of studies to Scriptural analysis, having students write papers utilizing integration activities would be a profound pedagogy to engage young minds (Gustafson, Karns, and Surdyk 14).

Knowlton concurs that students owning ideas through discovery learning better understand connections between faith and learning (40-41). Further, Knowlton’s narrative gives corroboration to Burton and Nwosu’s contention that a pedagogical grid must be seminal to the approach any integrationist professor uses. Utilizing a constructivist learning theory, Knowlton concludes that both peer and self evaluations are necessary for students to accrue faith-learning understanding (52). Holmes declares that the biblical word for knowledge is “to know for oneself, to interiorize what is learned” [emphasis his] (Truth 36). Thinking and valuing affect a person’s projects (117). Teachers must teach students how to practice integration (Gangel xi).

Chiareli contends that the principle outcome of Christian integrative social science teaching “is active and reflective, and thus valuably praxis based” (260-261). The formation of future leaders via a Christian vocational perspective should be the future result (261). And so it is that transformational learning has been acknowledged as the Christian educational model to pursue (Wilhoit; Fogarty, Perkins, and Barell; Richards and Bredfeldt).

Using the foundations, definitions, and reflections noted by faith-learning leaders from the academy noted above, a cursory, elementary listing of important assessment areas may be deduced:

1. Content of theological foundations should be in evidence including assumptions (Wolterstorff; Holmes Building) and knowledge (Holmes Closing).

2. Communication of the content through the professor should be in evidence including worldview comparison (Harris), pedagogy (Nwosu and Burton), discovery learning (Knowlton), and faith-learning writing assignments (Gustafson, Karns, and Surdyk).

3. Conduct of the professor in the classroom should be in evidence including professorial behavior (Matthews and Gabriel), safe classroom environment for discussion (Wuelfing), and student evaluation (Burton and Nwosu).

4. Continuance of teaching to learning should be in evidence including self evaluation (Poe), peer cooperation (Hodges; Ream, Beaty, and Lion), mentoring (Van Dyk; Van Brummelen Steppingstones), study groups (Nwosu 24-26), alumni surveys (Pressnell), and lifelong student learning (Van Brummelen Pursuing).

5. Collaboration with colleagues should be in evidence including administration expectation (Van Brummelen The Curriculum), and learning communities (Willimon and Naylor).

A Practical Application for the Classroom

Transition from curriculum to classroom, from professor to student, from analysis to synthesis, from memorization to ownership is the key to putting faith-learning scholarship into practice. There is a need to encourage Christian faculty thoughtfulness through process and practice which can in turn prompt biblically integrative thinking in their students becoming markers of professorial evaluation. Below are preliminary ideas in gaining traction for appraisal of faith-learning integration in the classroom.

A five-fold outline could direct faith-learning integration competencies from a Christian perspective: (1) identification of Scripturally erroneous powers, premises, and practices in the contemporary culture; (2) interpretation of pagan belief from a Christian perspective; (3) inductive study of Scripture as a basis for assessment of others’ faith systems; (4) interaction with current issues and icons in written as well as oral formats; and (5) investment in the tools necessary for students to make faith-learning integration in whatever their vocation, a lifelong practice. Because we live in an age bombarded by media, a class could study both Scripture and culture in order to develop discerning Christian young people. Film clips, musical selections, TV news, advertisements, video games and internet sites would be engaged preparing Christian students to become cultural apologists.9 Non-Christian professors, articles, and groups should also be examined based through a Scriptural lens.

A cursory rubric follows, enabling professors to be more specific in their quest for valid assessment based on numbers one and two in the outline above. In this way, student work in faith-learning integration might be more objectively directed while demonstrating an instructor’s own faith-learning integration prowess for evaluative purposes in the academy.

Elucidation of Truth

What biographical information exists about the thinker, author, or creator of the example being studied giving background to their worldview development?
Are there pieces of true Truth to be found in the unbeliever’s writing?
What creational norms are used which depend upon a transcendent source of truth to make the person’s argument?
Is the nature or definition of the subject unconsciously built on a Christian perspective?

Exposure of Error

What assumptions conflict with Christian truth?
What systems of thought or worldview teaching affected the approach?
What objectives contribute to anti-Christian understanding?
What epistemological constructs create meaning for the approach?
Does the writing suggest an ethical neutrality in research? Explain.

Elaboration of Experts

Is there an outside analysis of the subject from a different viewpoint?
What is the worldview of the experts?
Has the educational establishment reviewed the material?
Are the experiments, evaluations, or applications designed objectively?

Evaluation of the Presentation

Is there bias in (1) selection (e.g., word choice, purpose, omission) or (2) interpretation (e.g., tone, experience, personal/political agenda, statistical manipulation, conflict of interest) of the data.
What methods have been selected for discovery of information? Is there a philosophy that drives the person choosing the methods? Is one methodology used more than another? If so, why?
What are the credentials of the author(s)? Are they experts in their field? Are they addressing the field in which they work? What institutions have influenced their thinking?
What is the scope of the appraisal? Should more sources have been consulted? How is the investigation limited in any way? How might the study then skew results?
How does the writing, creation, study, etc. correlate with the Christian view of reality in the following components?
1. Philosophy: foundation and purpose
2. Data: information or knowledge discovered
3. Outcomes: results or production
4. Scope/Sequence: the order or absence of any material
5. Objectives: presuppositions in the study

A myriad of other questions can be offered to prompt the process moving students and professors alike toward faith-learning integration. Perhaps this brief list will initiate Christian contemplation in dialogue, collaboration, and creation of documents for Christian higher education evaluation.

Conclusion

Trueblood’s early call for Christian scholarship (79) has been echoed through the summons of multiple volumes since. If Schwehn’s critique of the modern research university is correct, academy ethos must be reordered from self-fulfillment toward student character creation (88). Truly integrated Christian persons will then offer hope to a world as their vocations impact culture for the good based upon foundations found in The Gospel story (Newbigin 232). William C. Spohn encourages Christian university professors to “look to the affections, the deep dispositions of the heart” to change their character by “active engagement with God and the world” (249). It seems the life-long evaluation of faith-learning integration begins within the Christian faculty member, conditioned by The Holy Spirit (Van Dyk Craft 109), who then, in turn, participates in weaving the internal fabric of the students (Garber).

“Setting a Standard for Measuring Faith-Learning Evaluation in the Academy: Criteria Established by Christian Education Leaders for Faculty Development” was originally written for a doctoral course in 2007 and has since been published by the same title in Intégrité: A Journal of Faith and Learning 6:2 (Fall 2007): 15-28, by Dr. Mark Eckel.

Notes

¹ “Faculty are not automatically equipped to teach in an integrated manner because they have graduated from a Christian college or seminary. Unfortunately, there are very few Christian graduate schools that teach the concept of integration…” (Johnson xvi-xxi).

² Benne (28-33) argues that both Enlightenment and postmodern paradigms in higher education have created curriculum and ethos that mitigate against the Christian mindset, thus ensuring graduates from these programs will be inundated by pagan philosophies and methodologies. While celebrating the benefits of some institutions such as Wheaton in their intentional faith-learning faculty training, most schools are “hit-and-miss” when it comes to consistency in developing faculty mindset (i.e., Valparaiso, 138-139). Harvey and Dowson concur that new teachers in K-12 Christian schools are, for the most part, unsure of how to integrate “their faith with their teaching practice” coming out of their universities. Nwosu says the same integrative principles apply in both K-12 and university levels (23).

³ Patterson reports that the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU) has retreated from faith and learning integration as a key distinctive. A recent revision of the CCCU mission statement now contains the phrase “faithfully relating scholarship and service to biblical truth” (54).

⁴ The phrase “faith-learning integration” is generally used in contexts of Christian higher education. “Biblical integration” is the nomenclature most recognized in Christian K-12 settings. Since the essence of definition remains synonymous the phrases will be used interchangeably in this paper.

⁵ For the question in the survey, “Do you have a formal mechanism or process for insuring that faith is integrated into your teacher education program?” two out of thirteen responded in the affirmative. For the question, “Do you have a process in place for evaluating the impact of faith-based teacher education preparation for your graduates?” one out of thirteen said ‘yes.’ The Nehemiah Institute has been using a test for worldview competency for a decade. Critics charge, however, that the instrument is biased toward a politically conservative, American way of thinking.

⁶ Leaders who have set the baseline of thought for faith-learning integration include Larry D. Burton, David Dockery, Frank Gaebelein, Kenneth O. Gangel, William Hasker, Arthur Holmes, Constance C. Nwosu, et al.

⁷ Poe cautions that these questions have not been used in serious research and offer qualitative rather than quantitative analysis (138).

⁸ Various institutions of Christian higher learning provide links for faith and learning integration on their sites. Examples include Baylor University (www.baylor.edu/ifl), Gordon College (www.gordon.edu/), Palm Beach Atlantic University (www.pba.edu/), and Missouri Baptist University (www.mobap.edu/).

⁹ Taken from Mark Eckel, “Practicing the Craft of Cultural Apologist,” https://www.biblicalintegration.com/ezine/sept2005/0905_2.php

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Otto, Paul. 2006. “Gotta serve somebody”: The challenge of Christian scholarship. Integrite. 5 (Fall): 28-44.

Patterson, James “A. Boundary maintenance in evangelical Christian higher education: A case study of the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities.” Christian Higher Education 4 (2005): 41-56.

Peterson, Mark. Philosophy of education. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1986.

Poe, Harry Lee. Christianity in the academy: Teaching at the Intersection of Faith and Learning. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 2004.

Pressnell, Claude Oral. Integration of faith and learning among Christian

Evangelical colleges and universities: An alumni assessment model. Ed. D. Dissertation, Peabody College of Vanderbilt University, 1994.

Ramm, Bernard. The Christian College in the Twentieth Century. Grand Rapids:

Eerdmans, 1963.

Ream, Todd, Michael Beaty, and Larry Lion. Faith and Learning: Toward a

typology of faculty views at religious research universities. Christian Higher

Education 3 (2004): 349-372.

Richards, Lawrence O. and Gary J. Bredfeldt. Creative Bible Teaching. Chicago:

Moody Press, 1998.

Schulten, Cordell P. “Some limitations on faith and learning integration.” Integrite

1 (2002): 38-46.

Schwehn, Mark R. Exiles from Eden: Religion and the academic vocation in

America. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993.

Spohn, William C. “Finding God in all things: Jonathan Edwards and Ignatius

Loyola.” Finding God in all things: Essays in honor of Michael J. Buckly. S. J. Eds. Michael J. Himes and Stephen J. Pope. New York: Crossroad Publishing

Company, 1996.

Sumsion, Jennifer. “Empowering Beginning Student Teachers: Implications for

Teacher Educators.” Annual Conference of the Australian Teacher Education

Association. Brisbane, Queensland, Australia: July 3-6, 1994. 1-20.

Trueblood, Elton. Alternative to Futility. New York: Harper and Brothers, 1948.

Van Brummelen, Harro. “The Curriculum: Developing a Christian View of Life.”

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Education, 1990. 169-190.

________. Pursuing Faith-based and Faith-affirming Learning. Marginal

resistance: Essays dedicated to John C. Vander Stelt. Ed. John H. Kok.

Sioux Center, IA: Dordt College Press, 2001. 209-221.

________. Steppingstones to Curriculum: A Biblical Path, 2^nd ed. Colorado

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Van Dyk, John. The Craft of Christian Teaching: A Classroom Journey. Sioux

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Hands-On Learning: Project Based Curriculum

May 13, 2022January 1, 2021 by Mark Eckel

How something is taught is as important as what is taught.

Humans are created as whole people. People learn linguistically, logically, aesthetically, spatially, socially, intrapersonally, interpersonally, and kinesthetically. Kinesthetic or physical movement is important since humans are corporeal. Teaching-learning is concerned with every aspect of the human person including physical engagement. Project-based learning is an essential component to any Christian’s education.

Biblical Theology of Project-Based Learning

God created a physical world (Gen. 1) including physical humans (Gen. 2:5-7). God uses His creation to physically proclaim His own message (Pss. 19, 148). God actively participates in fulfilling the needs of His creation (Pss. 102, 147). In fact, God declares that the physical world is His (Lev. 25:23; 1 Chr. 29:11; Ps. 50:9-12; 89:11).

God tells His prophets to communicate in unique ways: parading naked while preaching (Isa. 20), wearing an oxen’s yoke (Jer. 28), or marrying prostitutes (Hosea). God’s revelation took the form of physical writing (Ex 20; Jer. 36; Dan. 5), employed the speech of animals (Num. 22) and the physical presence of His Son (John 1:14-18). Jesus’ miracles were physical, impacting creation (Lu. 8) as well as healing humans (Lu. 5-7). The teaching of Jesus’ incarnation—literally “in-fleshness”—is dependent upon real, physical, historical space-time events: birth, life, death, resurrection, ascension, and consummation.

Repetition and memory was fostered through activity. The Sabbath was a “sign” (Eze. 20:12, 20) practiced through community celebration of Jesus’ resurrection (1 Cor. 15:54-16:2). Feasts (Est. 9:27-28), stones (Josh. 4:7), tassels (Num. 15:39-40), table tops (Num.16:36-40), and repositories for Scripture (Deut. 11:18) were the premise for active reminders through monuments, holidays, and medallions.

Israel built and maintained a physical place of worship (Ex. 35-40) focusing attention on the physical aspects of worship. God’s people were to actively participate in sacrifices (Lev. 1-7) as well as annual festivals (Lev. 23-25). Worship is focused on participatory performance (1 Chr. 15-16). Communion, baptism, foot washing, and love feasts are used as participatory acts of worship by believers (Mat. 28:29; Jn. 13; 1 Cor. 11). Paul made it clear that the Christian use of the body was a physical act of worship (Rom. 6:13; 12:1).

Biblical teaching is concerned with a change in physical behavior (Eph. 4; Col. 3). God is concerned about the body’s sinful misuse (1 Cor. 5, 6), including verbal attacks on others (Jas. 3:5-8). The physical needs of widows arise early in The Church’s history (Acts 6). Good works were to be the result of the Christian life (Gal. 6:9-10; Eph. 2:10; Ti. 3:1, 8, 14). The gospel is to be lived out in front of others (2 Co. 3:3; 1 The. 4:11-12; Ti. 2:1-10). Seeing needs of others without physically acting upon them called into question Christian transformation (Jas. 2:14-17; 1 Jn. 3:16-18).

Biblical Philosophy of Project-Based Learning

Creation, revelation, worship, and biblical teaching all teach that the physical component of life must not be ignored. Teaching curriculum is content-centered and teacher-directed yet also student-discovered. Transfer of ideas can be gained through an incarnational, active, practical process which engages the full person of the student, intellectually embodied. Students bear the load of learning, accountable before The Lordship of Jesus for their efforts. Instructors should be committed to both content and communication. How something is taught is as important as what is taught. Effective teaching necessarily includes active engagement with truth.

Christian Practice of Project-Based Learning

The human person is multi-faceted, yet whole; so Christian teaching will follow different tactics to engage students in the fullness of who they are. Jesus’ incarnation teaches that students should be met where they are, with the opportunity to conform to Heaven’s standard. Application of truth to life is no where better stated than in Micah 6:8 where humility, justice, and mercy are standards of conduct in community. In this way, learning could be “sweet” (Eze. 3:3; Ps. 119:103; Pro. 24:13-14).

A Christian lifeview can transform the mindsets of individuals and the public policies of institutions. An interdisciplinary framework will mesh belief with practice. Christian living can be demonstrated in practical ways. Teachers seeking to implement project-based learning should enact certain guidelines. First, foundational lessons should build up to the project, cementing the content needed to understand an assignment. Second, the students or groups should be chosen on the basis of their giftedness, the teacher aware of all student activity. Third, the project should be linked to specific activities: dressing like a character, character development, the setting of a play, singing, map creation, problem-solution, etc. Fourth, specific rubrics should be created to properly assess student learning. Students should have access to the rubrics from the beginning of the project so they know exactly how they will be assessed.

Students enjoy active learning because by it, they own their learning (Acts 17:11). Teacher preparation makes project-based learning possible. Creativity is an important component of teaching-learning for both teachers and students. Project-based learning allows teachers individual attention with students. In turn, active learning encourages differentiation in learning.

If the creation belongs to God, then all aspects of His world are potentially open for investigation. Each subject sphere should be investigated and established in the same general pattern: laying a biblical groundwork, creating a Christian philosophy statement, engaging cultural ideas, countering errant thinking, specifying relevant application to the Christian life, and suggesting methodological cues. Educational arenas may include but are not limited to, fine arts, business, cultural apologetics, athletics, government, math, science, history, psychology, technology, politics, journalism, health, economics, literature, and administration.

How one engages multiple disciplines are as varied as the number of disciplines themselves. Ideas for project-based learning could include: retreat for discussion; professional lectures, film reviews, reflective questionnaires, problem solving, interdisciplinarity, site visits (i.e., museums), expert interviews, story-telling, community events, and co-curricular activities.

“Projects” (c) was published in the 3 volume Christian Education Encyclopedia with Roman & Littlefield.

We Need Text-People, Not Textbooks

May 13, 2022January 1, 2021 by Mark Eckel

Education depends on relationship, teacher to student.

Hebrew wisdom from the First Testament tells us why.

Not Textbooks, But Text-People[1]: Hebrew Ideals of Education Fostering Legacy in the First Testament

The 2008 Bradley Project on America’s National Identity[2] asks what inheritance we will leave the next generation of Americans. The report, which should reverberate through educational corridors,[3] maintains

Schools should not slight their civic mission by giving students the impression that America’s failures are more noteworthy than America’s achievements. They should begin with the study of America’s great ideals and heroes . . . so that its struggles can be put in perspective. A broad-minded, balanced approach to the American story best prepares young people for informed democratic participation. . . . The teaching of American history should be strengthened by including more compelling narratives and primary texts, such as the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the great speeches and debates.[4]

American history leaves an important legacy; so do teachers. Legacy suggests something a person leaves behind when they are gone. Some leave their mark via financial foundations which continue to fund non-profit projects. Others have a historical heritage: politicians, statesmen, warriors. Still more find pages in the annals of time commemorating discoveries which benefit people and the planet. And lest we forget in these latest days, legacy status can also be attributed to celebrities. But as one peruses the past, little attention is paid to those whose work fostered the greatest impact on the minds whose work adorns museum halls: teachers. In the First Testament, legacy was promoted through closely held Hebrew ideals.

It is a shame that one can rattle off coaches’ names in any collegiate sport at any major university while no one knows the institution’s Nobel Prize winner, most prolific author, or the head of the history department. What’s more, no one seems to care.

But care they should. Ideas promoted before fallow eighteen year old minds often go without critique. A professor who espouses government control of social enterprise will leave in her wake young people who believe the word “entitlement,” not “responsibility,” belongs to them. Graduate professors who denigrate historical heroes for their many supposed “sins” foster the kind of cynicism heard nightly on Jon Stewart’s The Daily Show. I would argue that the three groups with greatest impact on the public at large—and the young in particular—would be journalists, celebrities, and professors, in ascending order. Poor assumptions concerning origins, ethics, knowledge, humans, and reality may grow the weeds which choke out the flowers of freedom, creativity, civility, law, or justice. Power in the professor’s podium, left unquestioned, could create a garden of despair. Legacy is born again in each successive generation. But for a successful birth, one must have a good teacher.

It is because, as Rosenstock-Huessy in Speech and Reality said, “language is inherently revelational and relational” that a teacher’s speech can sway student sentiment.[5] How much more should we aspire to John Adam’s contention that

The virtues and powers to which men may be trained, by early education and constant discipline, are truly sublime and astonishing. . . . to elevate the minds of our children and exalt their courage; to accelerate and animate their industry and activity; to excite in them an habitual contempt of meanness, abhorrence of injustice and inhumanity, and an ambition to excel in every capacity, faculty, and virtue. If we suffer their minds to grovel and creep in infancy, they will grovel all their lives.[6]

And Arthur F. Holmes, in one of Calvin College’s Stob Lectures agreed, saying, “a Christian learning community reflects the biblical story of a heritage of faith transmitted through Abraham to his seed, on and on forever . . . faith and moral formation are acquired usually and best, not by force of argument or weight of objective evidence, but by entering into the life of a community and making its heritage one’s own.”[7]

After watching clips from famous teacher movies Dead Poets Society and The Emperor’s Club I would ask students to compare the educational points of view. In the first place, Mr. Keating (played by Robin Williams) showed the Romantic’s estimation that everything from the “why” to the “what” of teaching was left up to the student. Mr. Hundert (played by Kevin Kline) suggests the realist-Classicist in the second place, marching his students through his teaching. Then I would ask, “Who was your favorite teacher in high school? Why? How was this teacher remembered?

In keeping with student participation, I enlisted the aid of former students on Facebook. I asked them to reminisce about the legacy certain teachers left in their lives because of classroom instruction. The Hebrew word yada “to know” is a term of intimate, personal knowledge[8] suggesting relationship.[9] Education in The First Testament was holistically incarnational: never was there a separation between so-called theory and practice. Teachers were with students, providing “in flesh” instruction. Like many teachers, I consistently invited students into my home to eat meals, discuss ideas, watch film, play games, all to engender relationship. So the brief overview of Hebrew ideals is punctuated with student testimony and other legacy stories.

1. First Testament focus is always to know God. 1 Kings 8:60 declares, “All the peoples of the earth may know that the LORD is God and that there is no other.” Coupled with the idea of the fear of The Lord[10] one need always remember to whom he or she is responsible. Coming from Christian schools, my students to a person told me in my Facebook request for responses, “Being taught to be Bereans, to think ‘What does Scripture say?’ is still in our frontal lobes.”

2. Teaching is central in Jewish thinking, is no better demonstrated than in Deuteronomy 6:6-9 and 11:19, “Teach them [the words of God] to your children, and talk about them when you’re at home or away, when you lie down or get up.”. The so-called “teachable moments” are captured in such paraphrased questions from Deuteronomy 6:20-25 as “Hey dad! How come there’s a pile of rocks down by the river?!” Students invariably responded favorably in later years—though not at the time!—to a teacher’s memory simply because their passionate teaching has transferred to them, now. Those instructors who taught not just “what” but “why” to believe also received high marks.

3. Teachers are called “father” in Judges 17:10 and 18:19, as in “Be a priest and a father to me.” One young man remembered the result of a literature teacher’s push to read:

Books are now like food, supplying daily intellectual sustenance. Now the most difficult choices are not what to read, but what not to read; a far cry from my former indifference. I often wonder how things would be different if that eighth-grade English teacher hadn’t pushed me into reading. A stronger word than tragedy fails to come to mind.

4. The benefits of education are for the next generation. Psalms 71:14-18 and 78:1-8 mandate, “Even when I am old and gray I want to tell about your works to those who will come.” According to Kouzes and Posner in their book A Leader’s Legacy teachers continue to teach as students go on to tell their stories. It is no wonder that narrative material is 40% of the First Testament making the story easy to retell. Kouzes and Posner refer to handing over this inheritance to “custodians of the future.”[11] A former student, mother of teenagers, wrote to say that her kids now hear the stories of her teachers passing on the memory of lessons learned.

5. Recognizing the person of the student—that everyone is not the same—conditions our approach to individual learners. As Proverbs 22:6 says, “Start a child according to their nature.”[12] Relevance of truth to life, in ways that pupils appreciate and understand, was a recurrent theme in Facebook responses. One said about a teacher,

While I found his courses challenging, I did not truly imbibe what I was hearing as relevant to my teenage ears. He always said that the things we were learning would be useful in life. As I entered college and the business world, I found out my beliefs were critical to my choices. Now, as I work with adolescents in a school setting, I find myself telling them the same things.

Hebrew ideals for educational legacy force us to consider the concept of inheritance. The Hebrew word for “heritage” in the First Testament is loaded with historical, cultural, and geographical freight. As one might expect one’s heritage or legacy is left to the successive Hebrew generations in land grants.[13] Because the earth belongs to God, only God can give land as a permanent possession.[14] Property given to another is passed on to succeeding generations, as an inheritance which is never to be forfeited for any reason.[15] Marking plots of land by measuring lines or boundaries, which must not be moved, was key to one’s inheritance.[16] God’s eternal promise includes inheriting the land forever enjoying perfection which was God’s original intention at creation.[17] What is passed on as an inheritance is based on an ancient, permanent right, or a person’s heritage.[18]

Among the many biblical principles drawn from this overview of heritage[19] includes the responsibility for protection by the human caretaker of the heritage. So the Hebrew must acknowledge Yahweh who has given what Psalm 16 describes as a beautiful inheritance whose “[land boundary] lines have fallen for me in pleasant places.”[20] Moreover, Psalm 127:3 celebrates “children are a heritage from the Lord” with the inherent preoccupation of responsibility. Coupled with the exclamation of Psalm 119:111 that “your testimonies are my heritage forever,” students and Scripture are the Hebraic Christian educator’s primary focus and her ultimate heritage-legacy. The First Testament concept of legacy commends to us a commitment to the past, something of great value, never to be treated lightly, but constantly communicated, because the legacy is long lasting.

Education is personal, giving life-long, benefits for every discipline and all of life. First Testament learning was to be “sweet.”[21] Teachers smeared slates with honey to be licked off by the pupils or made cakes inscribed with verses from God’s law. I offer here ten sweet applications of legacy left by personable, passionate Hebraic-Christian teachers.

1. Hebraic Christian teaching legacy demands training teacher-leaders. As Gary Bredfeldt argued in Great Leader, Great Teacher[22] those who bear the weight of authority in their sphere, under the authority of Scripture, should lead by teaching. Surely this was witnessed in the Consortium of Christian Colleges and Universities’ production of The Legacy Project: Presidential Leadership in Christian Higher Education where Christian university presidents commented on what is important to leave behind.[23] The Legatum Group is an international organization that puts the teacher-leader legatum (Latin for “legacy”) into action. Not surprisingly motivated by Christians and biblical principles, Legatum believes

. . . That who we are will determine where we go. We therefore see our culture as fundamental to creating a lasting legacy of investment success. . . . Our values, evident in the Legatum culture, are reflected in our business principles – respect for universal values, principles before profits, stewardship and accountability, and our responsibility to improve the world around us[24]

1) Hebraic Christian teaching legacy demands recommitting to doctrinal instruction. As Mary Stewart Van Leeuwen reminds us, “All human thought patterns will be guided by a worldview that reflects allegiance to the one true God or else (inevitably) to some substitute idol.[25]” Ontology, coherence, and teleology must be the beginning, middle, and end of Christian thinking and living. Without a premise in origins, we lack purpose. Without a unity of all things, we lack interdisciplinarity. Without anticipation of finality, we have no hope.[26]

2) Hebraic Christian teaching legacy demands practicing the doctrines of The Church. Abraham Kuyper, for instance, attempted to establish a theological grid through which public policy might be influenced for the good. Vincent E. Bacote addressed Kuyper’s legacy this way: “his influence in the United States and Canada has been fruitful in producing institutions that continue to thrive, and individuals are directly and indirectly influenced by his call for a comprehensive, world-engaging Christianity.”[27] Ultimately, even our research should fulfill the greatest commandment: by doing our research for the benefit of others, we show love for our neighbor, showing love for God.

3) Hebraic Christian teaching legacy demands holding on to history. R. Albert Mohler Jr.’s inscription in the new Sesquicentennial Pavilion at South Baptist Theological Seminary suggests it our testimony that matters most: “In the view of eternity, we will be judged most closely, not on the basis of how many courses were taught, how many students were trained, how many syllabi were printed, or how many books were published, but on whether or not we kept the faith” Os Guinness argues in his Invitation to the Classics,

Individual followers of Christ and the church of Christ as a whole have a unique responsibility to guard, enjoy, and pass on the literature of Western Civilization. Christians should . . . treasure the priceless heritage of this three-thousand-years’ conversation of imagination and ideas—not least because they are privileged to share the faith that animated the majority of these masterworks.”[28]

4) Hebraic Christian teaching legacy demands internalizing Scripture as we sit in the study before we stand in the classroom. We must teach as if the Christian viewpoint has already changed us. “Like the scientist,” writes Lesslie Newbigin, “The Christian believer has to learn to indwell the tradition. Its models and concepts . . . have to become the models through which he understands the world.”[29] James Houston’s Joyful Exiles is must reading for evaluating any professor’s interiority.[30] As J. P. Moreland said, “The plausibility, content, strength, and centrality of our beliefs play a key role in determining our character and behavior.”[31] Romans 8:5-9 makes it clear: the role of The Spirit in connecting truth with how people live is dependent upon their mind’s focus.

5) Hebraic Christian teaching legacy demands developing the interiority of students. Character education is impacted through individual faculty for the good of the student. Dr. D. Bruce Lockerbie said about his years as a classroom teacher at Stoney Brook, “I was commissioned to be the interior decorator of my students’ souls.”[32] Richard Brookhiser in his volume Founding Father: Rediscovering George Washington captures the sentiment of teachers who desire to leave a legacy,

Moral biography has two purposes: to explain its subject, and to shape the minds and hearts of those who read it . . . by showing how a great man navigated politics and a life as a public figure . . . Plutarch’s lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans was very popular with eighteenth-century Americans; they knew something about the power of example that we have forgotten.[33]

It is no wonder that Scripture repeats the ideal: “I found your words, I ate them [internalized them] and they were the joy and rejoicing of my heart.”[34]

6) Hebraic Christian teaching legacy demands caring for language. The Hebrew legacy was built on God’s “words” whereas other cultures were built on visual remembrance.[35] Christians are people of The Book. Both the Written Word and Living Word are imperative for our communication of true Truth.[36] Petitioning prayers are created with words; people on their knees safeguard language use with every cry to God.[37] Salvaging antiquities’ greatest texts took place in Irish monasteries during the Middle Ages.[38] Freeing people by teaching Indian dialects was the work of missionary philologist William Carey.[39] Preserving languages of people groups around the world owes a large debt to Wycliffe Bible Translators.

7) Hebraic Christian teaching legacy demands enlivening passion for teaching both subjects and students. To “love God’s law” was intensively[40] intentional for the believer. Psalm 119:47 complements the love of the study of Scripture with “delight” in Scripture.[41] Festive, exultant[42] enthusiasm[43] is present as the writer cheers Heaven’s Book. Anyone who wants to motivate a classroom need read Howard Hendricks Teaching to Change Lives[44] at least once a year to reignite teaching passion. Samuel Solivan proposed the term orthopathos (literally, straight love) linking orthodoxy (straight teaching) with orthopraxis (straight living). Delight and truth hold hands in the classroom.[45]

8) Hebraic Christian teaching legacy demands surprising students by our methods. “Never Let ‘Em See You Comin’” is a seminar I have given for years suggesting Emily Dickinson’s poem: Tell all the Truth but tell it slant / Success in Circuit lies / Too Bright for our infirm Delight / The Truth’s superb surprise. / As Lightening to the Children eased / With explanation kind / The Truth must dazzle gradually / Or every man be blind.[46] Judging from the methods used by God to teach His people in The First Testament, it would seem He teaches teachers to approach their subjects at a 45 degree angle.

9) Hebraic Christian teaching legacy demands making disciples throughout the world. Ralph Winter’s recent death reminds us of the strategic emphasis on reaching not simply every nation with the Gospel, but every people group. Winter founded the U.S. Center for World Missions and soon after the William Carey International University. He had no financial backing at the time, and only $100 to begin. As Winter wrote, “We were willing to fail because the goal we sensed was so urgent and strategic.” But the center did not fail. Since then the center has not only trained thousands of missionaries and support personnel, but also has worked tirelessly to bring the vision of reaching hidden peoples to the wider Church. In 2005, Time magazine included Winter as one of the top 25 most influential evangelicals. Last year, the North American Mission Conference gave him the lifetime service award. But no doubt Winter will take greater pleasure in meeting the men and women from every tribe, tongue and nation who praise the name of Jesus in glory—all because of his passion to spread Christ’s message.[47]

Whether it is The Bradley Project on America’s National Identity or the kind of heritage we pass on in the classroom, we teach what we have learned. Every teacher leaves a legacy. Some will be known as teachers. Others will be known as fellow learners. But a few will be known as “the person who most impacted my life.” Reproduction of oneself in others impacts both person and culture, where “teaching” and “learning” become one. While we may produce text books for our students, may our students become text-people.

This article appeared as “Not Textbooks, Text-People: Hebrew Ideals of Education” in Intégrité (8:2, Fall 2009) and was first given as an address to the International Institute for Christian Studies, July 2009.

[1] This title was taken from the famed Jewish scholar Abraham Heschel as quoted in Marvin R. Wilson’s 1989 volume Our Father Abraham: Jewish Roots of the Christian Faith (Eerdmans). I have read and re-read Wilson’s work since the early 1990’s; I owe him a deep debt of gratitude.

[2] www.bradleyproject.org

[3] See, for instance, the compelling cover story from The Weekly Standard (14:33, 18 May 09) on the anti-American mantra coming out of many schools of education.

[4] https://www.bradleyproject.org/EPUReportFinal.pdf, pages 4-5.

[5] Quoted in Eugene Peterson, Tell It Slant (Eerdmans, 2008): 272.

[6] John Adams in a letter to Abigail Adams, 29 October 1775 from The Letters of John and Abigail Adams (Penquin): 117-18.

[7] Arthur F. Holmes. 2001. “What Has Alexandria to Do with Academia Today?” in Seeking Understanding: The Stob Lectures 1986-1998. (Eerdmans): 438

[8] Jack P. Lewis. 1980. bin. Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament. (Eerdmans): 366.

[9] Marvin R. Wilson. 1989. Our Father Abraham: Jewish Roots of the Christian Faith. (Eerdmans): 287-89.

[10] Deuteronomy 4:10; 14:23; 17:19; 31:12, 13; Proverbs 1:7:9:10.

[11] James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner. 2006. A Leader’s Legacy. (Jossey-Bass): 24, 26. The most highly rated teachers by students are those who are most passionate about their subject.

[12] Bruce K. Waltke. 2005. The Book of Proverbs: Chapters 15-31. (Eerdmans): 205.

[13] Land was promised to God’s people in Genesis 12:1-3 as an inalienable right (Exodus 32:13)—it could not be taken away. Land was given to Israel (Exodus 15:17; Deuteronomy 4:21) and an allotment of territory to tribes followed (Numbers 33:54).

[14] Deuteronomy 10:14; 1 Kings 8:36. The earth was given to humanity for cultivation and enjoyment according to Psalm 115:16.

[15] Leviticus 25:23, 28; Numbers 26:52-56; 1 Kings 21:3-4.

[16] Joshua 17:5; Micah 2:5; Deuteronomy 19:14; 27:17; Proverbs 23:10.

[17] Isaiah 60:21; Genesis 1:28; 2:5, 15; Deuteronomy 30:1-6.

[18] Punishment for disobedience could result in the loss of land (Deuteronomy 4:1; 16:20) restored through repentance (Ezekiel 36:8-15; 37:21-28).

[19] Others include: (1) All possessions are given by God; (2) possessions are not a result of reward but given freely by God; (3) Property rights were a way of people attaining wealth, providing for family, and were protected by law; and (4) there is an eternal nature to one’s inheritance—it cannot be taken away.

[20] Deuteronomy 4:20 and 32:9 say we are God’s inheritance whereas the opposite is also true: God is our inheritance (33:3-4; cf. Psalm 119:57; 142:5). Psalm 16:5-6.

[21] Ezekiel 3:3; Psalm 119:103; Proverbs 24:13-14.

[22] Gary Bredfeldt. 2006 Great Leader, Great Teacher. (Moody).

[23] A DVD presentation edited by Steve G. W. Moore. (Providence House Publishers, 2008).

[24] https://www.legatum.com/portalvalues.htm

[25] Van Leeuwen, Mary Stewart. 2002. Scuttling the Schizophrenic Student Mind: On Teaching the Unity of Faith and Learning in Psychology. In Teaching as an Act of Faith: Theory and practice in Church-Related Higher Education. (Fordham University Press): 26

[26] Nehemiah 9:6; 1 Corinthians 8:6; Colossians 1:15-17; Matthew 13:39-40; Titus 2:11-14.

[27] Vincent E. Bacote. 2005. The Spirit in Public Theology: Appropriating the Legacy of Abraham Kuyper. (Baker): 149-56.

[28] Os Guinness. 1998. Invitation to the Classics. (Baker): 14.

[29] Lesslie Newbigin. The Gospel in a Pluralist Society. (Eerdmans): 49.

[30] James Houston. 2006. Joyful Exiles: Life in Christ on the Dangerous Edge of Things. (IVP): 34-50.

[31] J. P. Moreland. 1997. Love Your God With All Your Mind: The Role of Reason in the Life of the Soul. (Nav Press): 77.

[32] D. Bruce Lockerbie’s address to the Christian Schools International Conference, St. Louis, June, 2008.

[33] Richard Brookhiser. 1996. Founding Father: Rediscovering George Washington. (Free Press).

[34] Jeremiah 15:16; Ezekiel 2:9-3:3.

[35] See Deuteronomy 4:5-8; other cultures depended on physical statues for worship, Exodus 20:1.

[36] “Thus says The Lord” is repeated some 2,500 times in the First Testament. John 1:14, 18.

[37] I am indebted to my colleague Michael McDuffee (Moody Bible Institute) for this idea.

[38] Thomas Cahill. How The Irish Saved Civilization. (New York: Doubleday, 1996).

[39] Vishal and Ruth Mangalwadi. 1999. The Legacy of William Carey: A Model for the Transformation of a Culture. (Crossway): 91-92.

[40] George J. Zemek. n.d. The Word of God in the Child of God. (For a free copy of this exceptional hardbound commentary, write to: Psalm 119 Commentary, P. O. Box 428, Mango, FL 33550): 95.

[41] The first occurrences are in Psalm 119:14 and 16.

[42] Derek Kidner. 1975. Psalms 73-150. In the TOTC, J. Wiseman, ed. (IVP): 420.

[43] Gary G. Cohen. 1980. sus. Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament. (Moody): 2:873.

[44] Howard Hendricks. 2003. Teaching to Change Lives. (Reprint, Multnomah).

[45] Reference to Samuel Solivan, “Orthopathos: Interlocutor between Orthodoxy and Praxis,” Andover Newton Review 1 (Winter 1990): 19-25 quoted in Robert W. Pazmino, By What Authority do we Teach? (Eerdmans, 1994): 120.

[46] Emily Dickinson. 1957. The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson. (Random House): 1250.

[47] “From Every Tribe, Tongue, and Nation,” Breakpoint Commentaries, 2 June 2009.