Reviving the Basics of Education
“Soli Deo Gloria”
The root of Christian education is discipling the next generation to love God with heart, soul, mind, and strength. Yet this fact often raises more questions than it answers. How do we teach—and live—in a way that causes our students to hate sin and hunger and thirst for righteousness? How do we mold students’ hearts so that we may lead them and guide them to run in the way of God’s commandments? How can our teaching, mentoring, and discipling turn our school into a training center for the next generation of church leaders, doctors, businessmen, and mothers who are humble, Word-centered Christians? The answer lies in a community where individuals rely in humble dependence upon the Almighty Spirit and Word of God to change and mold sinful hearts to once more respond to their Creator in love and godly fear.
Providence Christian School seeks to uncover, revive, and remember the three basic R’s of education; namely, Ruin by the Fall, Regeneration by the Spirit, and Redemption through the blood of Christ alone. Christian education is built upon the premise that Christians of the community in which they live (parents and fellow believers alike) pool their resources to offer a quality education for their children that is focused solely upon the Word of God and a sincere desire to learn and live according to that Word. In keeping with this commitment to God’s Word, we offer the following tenants upon which we stand at Providence Christian School, trusting that these words will be more than lip service, even as generation after generation is trained to learn and live in the fear and admonition of the Lord.
1) Authority of Scripture
a) The Creator of the universe came so low as to become the Author of a book, the Bible. His Word is the supreme authority for every aspect of doctrine and life. All spheres and domains of life, education included, must be subject to the holy law of God, and serve to His glory.
b) The Bible is God’s inspired, infallible, and inerrant Word.
c) Students learn to interpret God’s Word (exegesis), learn from God’s Word (doctrine), have God’s Word written on their hearts (memorization), learn to witness and defend God’s Word (apologetics), and finally, learn to live God’s Word through the blessed work of His Holy Spirit.
d) God directly created the universe in six consecutive days, with morning and evening enclosing the beginning and ending of each day, from no preexisting substance. God created everything by divine command, all vegetation and creatures according to their own kinds, and not by evolution from one species to another. Everything besides God has been made by God, upheld by God and reveals God. He then rested the seventh day, thereby giving us the pattern of our work week.
e) Not the opinions of man or human reasoning, but Scripture provides for us the sure foundation for godly living and the framework to evaluate the issues of the day such as abortion, gender roles, Sabbath observance, etc.
f) The Bible is the yard-stick of truth and mankind’s moral guide, both for salvation and for obedience to God.
2) Our Reformed Heritage
a) Salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, and should serve to the glory of God alone.
b) Students learn of church history, particularly as it relates to the doctrines reinforced in, and creeds and confessions borne out of, the Protestant Reformation. Particular emphasis is given to the five points of Calvinism and the history of the NRC churches.
c) Priority is given to the singing of psalms so that the next generation might be profoundly affected by these treasures rooted in God’s Word.
d) Not the oldest but the most reliable translation of the scriptures—the KJV is used throughout the school.
e) The Sovereign works of God are accentuated so that our children will learn early to set their hope in Christ alone and learn by the teaching of His Spirit to walk as strangers and pilgrims in this world.
3) Instructional Emphasis
a) Proper training must coincide with godly living and discipleship. Christian education must cultivate an atmosphere that is the antithesis of the world’s philosophy of life. This must be evidenced in language, conduct, respect for authority, modest apparel, and physical appearance.
b) Students must be presented with the law and gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ each and every day within the lessons taught and through the godly instruction of staff, office bearers, and parents.
c) God by His covenantal arrangement has appointed parents to be responsible for the training of the child to the end that God and His glory shall be central and supreme in our lives. Some of this training may be delegated to the school with the understanding that such instruction is to be of the highest possible character and directed to the end that these children may occupy their places worthily in society, church, and state.