Like most Americans living in a small town, I went to a public, state-funded school for my K–12 years. Living in a pocket of North-East Texas, I never thought twice about my education. It seemed the most natural and most reasonable option. The only other option was homeschooling, and that was out of the question. First off, my mother needed to work and so couldn’t homeschool me. Second, homeschooling deprived students of the necessary “social skills” that only public schools cultivated—at least that’s how I and many others, unfortunately, viewed the matter.
Paideia in the Home
Most Americans carry with them an unexamined presupposition that schools “educate” while homes “raise” children. This presupposition is what led me, and leads many others today, to label homeschoolers as “odd” primarily because they tether schoolwork with child-rearing.
Hopefully, the problem to which I am drawing your attention is obvious. Christian parents should not view their children’s education as the state’s duty—or the duty of a private Christian school for that matter. Parents should view it part and parcel with what it means to “bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord” (Eph 6:4 NIV).
Educating the child is raising the child.
The word “training” in this passage is paideia, and it carries a wider meaning upbringing, constant instruction, the cultivation of discipline and virtuous habits. Paul tells Timothy that Scripture is “God-breathed” and useful for “paideia [discipline/training] in righteousness” (2 Tim 2:13). Additionally, “it is for paideia [discipline] that you are to endure. For God is treating you as sons” (Heb 12:7). Whenever God teaches his children from the Bible or tests them as a loving father, he is engaging in paideia. So also a parent’s primary role is paideia in the home: the teaching and testing of the child.
Paideia in the School
The home is absolutely central to a child’s formal education. But must this necessarily mean that academic education be delivered in the home? Are parents unfaithful if they do not homeschool? By no means! Are parents unfaithful if they send their children to public school? Not necessarily! However, parents are responsible for where their children receive such instruction. Whether home school, public school, or a private Christian school, choosing how your child is educated is crucial for the paideia they administer to their children—since these schools are in loco parentis, “in the place of the parents.” This not only applies to the K–12 years, but also to their college years. May I recommend Bethlehem College as a robust (and affordable!) option?
Classical Christian Paideia: Looking Beyond the Horizon
In our recent book Beyond the Horizon: An Appeal to Parents for Classical Christian Education, Ben House and I urge parents to look beyond the horizon of GPA scores, utilitarian ends, nice jobs, high salaries, or cozy homes. Rather, we attempt to convince parents that true freedom from ignorance and sin are worth more than the aforementioned fleeting pleasures. Parents must view their children’s education as an investment far surpassing banknotes. An investment in classical education seeks to liberate students from ignorance and sin, viewing all learning through the lens of the One who gave us learning—specifically learning in accordance to mankind’s natural development: grammar, logic, and rhetoric.
Such an education promotes habits of heart and mind: observing, understanding, evaluating, feeling, applying and expressing—in that order. Our children are not mere cogs in the American economic machine. They are images of Christ Almighty, who has given them capacities for these habits and has poured into their souls the desire for seeing and savoring God in education.
But beware—this education might cost you. It might cost you your money, since Christian schools aren’t funded by the state. It might cost you your vacations, since you will spend more money on your child’s tuition or classical Christian homeschool curriculum. It might cost you your pride, since you will quickly find that your children are receiving the education you always wished you had. And it will certainly and utterly ruin you, since you will never want to settle for anything less again.
Colton Moore, M.Div. ’20
Doctoral student at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and
Co-author with Joe Ben House of Beyond the Horizon: An Appeal to Parents for Classical Christian Education (Wilmore, KY: GlossaHouse, 2024).
Prayer Requests:
- Pray that the Lord would be magnified through tonight’s inauguration of Dr. Brian Tabb as the school’s third president.
- Pray for the full funding of The Serious Joy Scholarships needed to support this year’s students.
- Pray for our students to remain focused and diligent as they enter the second half of the semester.
- Pray for our faculty and staff as they prepare for various presentations, conferences, and projects.