BJU Press Blog

worldview

Homeschooling During an Election Year

by

JH Politics and HS

The controversies surrounding the 2016 presidential election have at times made me want to shut politics out of my life until the election is over. But each time, I decide against that because I know how important it is.  As Christians, we can’t hide from the issues since many directly impact us. It’s our responsibility to make sure that both we and our children are well informed and ready to cast our votes now and in the future. There is no better time than an election year to be teaching children what the political process of our nation involves and how to evaluate the issues and candidates from the perspective of a biblical worldview.

Our Biblical Worldview: Creation, Fall, Redemption textbook (pages 239–40) says it well:

God laid the foundation for government as He laid the foundation of the earth. Government has been part of God’s good and glorious plan from the beginning. . . . Governments have power from the Highest Power. But governments are made up of fallen people who twist that power in frivolous ways.

Government in itself is not bad and is something that has been planned by God (Romans 13:1). So it’s important for all Christians to understand their nation’s government and participate in it appropriately. However, it’s also true that all governments are made up of fallen individuals, making it equally important for us as Christians to be well informed about what the Bible has to say about the issues and the candidates who take positions on those issues. It’s also our responsibility to make sure our children are prepared to do the same.

I strongly encourage teenagers who are looking forward to voting in this election for the first time to work though Biblical Worldview: Creation, Fall, and Redemption. It takes the biblical values they have been hearing from you as well as from BJU Press curriculum and applies those values to politics, government, and adult life. It also can help you prepare them to defend their Christian faith against the many challenges they’ll encounter as they transition into college and adult life.

Take a look inside the book here.

 

Why Teach History From a Textbook, Even at Home?

by

photograph of books at a library

I love standing in the history section of the library and scanning the titles that line the shelves. Historical narratives tell true stories that are far more captivating than fictional stories. That’s why I head for that section of the library most often. Here are a few history narratives I’ve read recently.

  • City of Fortune: How Venice Ruled the Seas by Roger Crowley
  • The Island at the Center of the World: The Epic Story of Dutch Manhattan by Russell Shorto
  • Nixon and Mao: The Week That Changed the World by Margaret MacMillan

These and other well-written historical narratives grip my attention as well as providing analysis and insight on the past. As a history enthusiast, I’m tempted to share these books with my daughters as soon as they’re capable of reading at that level. The founding and development of Dutch Manhattan is fascinating, but most textbooks only give it one or two paragraphs!

Can’t children just skip the history textbooks and get straight to these gripping stories?

I don’t believe they should. History textbooks play a vital role in children learning about the past. There are two reasons I want my girls to learn about history through textbooks before they read books like the ones I listed above.

The first reason is related to helping children learn about history the best way—through organized units of information that are balanced and chronological. History textbook authors put information into digestible portions, making it easier for children to master. But the real key is balance when it comes to historical figures and events. That way, children begin to grasp the comparative significance, for example, of the Teapot Dome Scandal and the Great Depression. The textbook also provides clarity on sequence in a narrative form.

As you can see from the titles I’ve mentioned, if my daughters’ history education focused on my favorite historical narratives (or even their favorites) it could create problems in their understanding of the past. They might be confused about the order of certain events. Their knowledge of the past would skew towards my interests. Just as a building’s framework provides structural form and support to everything that comes next, a historical framework (provided by history textbooks) will provide form and support for my daughters’ understanding of the past.

The second reason I want to use history textbooks relates to the worldview I want to teach my children. History is not just an account of events, actors, and places. It is an interpretation of the historical data. And all historians have a perspective that shapes their interpretation of the past.

Take for example Nixon and Mao, a fascinating account of skirmishes on the Russia-China border, ping-pong diplomacy, and Kissinger’s trip to China—a trip so secret that even the State Department didn’t know about it. MacMillan’s book would interest anyone intrigued by the Cold War. But her book isn’t without worldview implications. She makes this point in The Uses and Abuses of History, another one of her books on writing history:

In a secular world, which is what most of us in Europe and North America live in, history takes on the role of showing us good and evil, virtues and vices. Religion no longer plays as important a part as it once did in setting moral standards and transmitting values.

In Margaret MacMillian’s assessment, religion no longer gives us our worldview—history does. I enjoy this author’s work, but I don’t want her works of history to shape my children’s worldview. Instead, my family uses a tool that provides an organized and biblical worldview of the past. That tool is a BJU Press Heritage Studies textbook written from a biblical worldview.

One day, I want my daughters to enjoy learning about Nixon’s Chinese diplomacy and other historical narratives. But before they learn about these places and events, I want them to have a framework for these events. And that framework needs to be constructed on the foundation of a biblical worldview. After that framework is in place, my daughters can learn about the past from varied historians and correctly evaluate the worldview of those historians.

Learning in Order to Teach

by

statue of General George Custer on horse
Statue of General Custer by Dwight Burdette/Wikimedia Commons/CC-By 3.0

In a recent post, Karin showed us how the whole Bible is connected in one big story about God’s work to restore a fallen creation back to Himself. The truths of the gospel describe to us our destitute position and God’s wonderful deliverance. God has exalted the human race far beyond what we deserve—first, by creating us in his own image (Genesis 1:26); second, by promising to redeem us (Genesis 3:15); and lastly, by sending the Son in the likeness of human flesh (Romans 8:3). These truths also have implications for our whole lives, including what we do in relation to education.

Education should develop people in all the ways appropriate for human beings. This honors the reality of the image of God in man. We’re also training our children to live among other image-bearers. This can only be accomplished if they truly realize what being an image-bearer means and have been trained to view others that same way. School is a valuable opportunity for Christian worldview shaping.

Let’s consider one subject area—history. Do you ever talk about people as you teach history? Of course, you do. People are the primary topic of history. But does the fact that those people are made in the image of God ever affect what you say or do? Consider one familiar figure in American history, General George Armstrong Custer. To some people he’s a tragic hero. To others, he’s a villain. What you believe about the image of God in Custer, the men under his command, and the Plains Indians will affect what you say about him and the Battle of Little Bighorn.

I hope you’ll take a trip sometime this summer and visit a historically significant place. There, on the wall or in the ground will be a statue or a plaque to a certain man. Your homework assignment is to apply the reality of humans as image-bearers to that man. Then share that with your kids. Why is his statue there? Is he important? Is he valuable? Was he good or bad or a mixture of both. Remember that “good” and “bad” are determined by God. A person is not good simply because he agrees with you.

As you talk about him as an image-bearer of God, you can ask another question, “Did he honor the image of God in other people?” As you prepare to defend your conclusion from the Bible, you just might find that your own thinking hasn’t been entirely scriptural. What a wonderful opportunity to develop your biblical worldview alongside your child’s.

Remember

by

The day is here again. If you’re eighteen or older, you can probably remember where you were on this day thirteen years ago. When I heard the news that two planes had crashed into the World Trade Center towers, I was at my desk developing an English lesson. Suddenly only one pronoun mattered—Who?—along with a very important adverb—Why? Fresh waves of horror washed over me as the day went on and I learned the answers, saw the images, and heard more details about the atrocity.

For some, the horror was much more personal. Thousands lost family members, friends, and loved ones in the tragedy of 9/11. The following year, September 11 was designated by President George W. Bush as Patriot Day, a day of remembrance. Americans continue to set aside this day to honor the memory of the nearly three thousand people who died in the terrorist attacks. Included in that number are those who died in the World Trade Center, at the Pentagon, or aboard the four hijacked flights as well as the heroic emergency personnel who lost their lives in the rescue efforts.

Why is it important to remember? Why should today’s children who have no memory of the day be aware of this horrific event? Reasons are probably rapid-firing through your mind like machine gun shots: to learn to abhor evil, to learn to revere true heroes, to know how our nation has responded to terrorism in the past, to think critically about appropriate responses in the present and the future. But perhaps the greatest reason is to remind our children to who to turn to in the midst of national crisis. What exactly should be going on in a Christian’s mind during a “moment of silence” on Patriot Day? Who is our only true refuge and strength, constantly available for help in any time of distress and bewilderment? Psalm 46 is a great place to begin answering these questions.

One way to help today’s children commemorate this important day is to visit the 9/11 Memorial website. Here you can find lesson plans, view webcasts, and listen to stories from first responders and survivors. The website also offers interactive timelines and a name finder for the memorial that now stands at the attack site in New York City. If you live in that area, you could personally visit the 9/11 Memorial and explore the collections housed in the museum. Whatever you do, don’t miss this golden opportunity to shape the worldview of the next generation. Don’t let September 11, 2001, go unremembered.