Truth

Everyone is always talking about truth today. As an educator, truth is an important part of the educational equation. Truth is always part of the cognitive process of thinking. It is a basic ingredient of a human being because everyone has a view of truth.

How do we plod through all the different views of truth in the world today? How do we know which ones are true and which ones are not? As a born-again Christian, how do I know that what I believe to be true is really true? How do I know that scripture, which I believe to be God's word, is true and believable?

Let's not get all caught up in what is true for the time being. Instead, let's make the case that some form of truth must be part of the human DNA. For at least two decades, those who believe in a liberal relative view of the world have won the war of culture. They have pushed to the front their view of the world and made it the dominant current view. Now, in order to be fair, we must assume that this current view is no closer to the truth than the one it replaced two decades ago. According to their argument, truth is relative and can not possibly be the same for everyone. The view that was replaced, that which is conservative, universal and absolute, is still a view, and it is a view that is shared by many. Those on the liberal side did a great job of demanding that their view get equal time and equal rights, but was it more accurate and true? At the time, it was not promoted as such, but now that it is a view shared but those who are powerful and influential... the rules have changed.

But, here is the secret they don't want you to think about... the rules, you know... the ones they used to establish the way for an acceptance of all things liberal, relative and radical... well, those same rules mean that all views of the world are relevant. Let's break it down to its simplest form. If your view of the world is liberal than you believe in a reality that is relative and not absolute. There is no right answer nor is there an absolute truth. Human reason is the real god, and utopia can only be found by human reason. Man is good, and it is society that is responsible for all social ills.

These thoughts permeate our media, government and higher educational institutions today. My issues with these ideas are not their foundation for they are ideas and should have the freedom to compete with other ideas. My issue is that these ideas are ideas that reject all other ideas. Any idea that is deemed competition is labeled a threat and then assassinated through various fallacious attacks. They claim their heritage from the Greek culture yet reject the most fundamental principal found there... an exchange of many ideas. The agora was the marketplace where people went to trade commerce, but it was also the center of culture where the exchange of ideas took place. What most frustrates me about today's America is that there is little exchange of ideas. If a true liberal worldview existed there would be an equal exchange of ideas because a true liberal worldview is always seeking utopia through human reason. That means welcoming all ideas to the table because the goal was always to find the best ideas.

We started this conversation talking about truth, and will end it there. Every human being has formed an idea on what is true and right and will live according to that idea. As you form your idea on truth, consider a few points. First, that which is true welcomes competition because competition only confirms truth. Second, that which is true is true no matter the rule or regulation. And, finally, a true worldview can be lived out consistently in all situations. I have tried out most worldviews and have found only one that is true and right... Jesus Christ! As you live your life consider that which you believe to be true... does it welcome competition? Is it true in all situations? Can you live it out consistently or do you have to hide it in certain situations? Your answers to these questions may make all the difference in the world to you some day. Blessings!
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Epistemology

What is epistemology, and why is important to education? According to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (SEP), it is the study of knowledge.

"As the study of knowledge, epistemology is concerned with the following questions: What are the necessary and sufficient conditions of knowledge? What are its sources? What is its structure, and what are its limits? As the study of justified belief, epistemology aims to answer questions such as: How we are to understand the concept of justification? What makes justified beliefs justified? Is justification internal or external to one's own mind? Understood more broadly, epistemology is about issues having to do with the creation and dissemination of knowledge in particular areas of inquiry."

Knowledge, the term, is not as concrete as one might think. Many of us spend very little time contemplating what knowledge is. There are various kinds of knowledge: knowing how to do something, knowing someone, knowing a skill set and the list goes on. The foundation of the question begins with the proposition.

Knowledge of propositions refers to the knowledge that the schema: the subject 'S' knows proposition 'p' where 'S' has knowledge for 'p' that is known. Where education comes into play is in this question: what conditions are necessary for 'S' to know 'p' well? Is that not education?

There are traditional and non-traditional approaches to answer this question. For today we will stick with a strictly traditional approach. According to the SEP, "knowledge that p is, at least approximately, justified true belief (JTB). False propositions cannot be known. Therefore, knowledge requires truth." The quotes goes on to state,

"Finally, S's being correct in believing that p might merely be a matter of luck.^[2] Therefore, knowledge requires a third element, traditionally identified as justification. Thus we arrive at a tripartite analysis of knowledge as JTB: S knows that p if and only if p is true and S is justified in believing that p. According to this analysis, the three conditions — truth, belief, and justification — are individually necessary and jointly sufficient for knowledge."

Truth, belief and justification are necessary to understand that which is known or knowledge. What does this say to those of us in education? How can one teach within a system that promotes a knowledge whose truth, belief and justification are different than those found in your own belief system? How can education be standardized when the three elements vary according to location and demographics? Hard questions that must be considered as we consider the educational choices for our children, and questions I will take up in future posts. Blessings!

Comments from WPC's Back to School Night

Here are my comments from Westminster Presbyterian Church's "Back to School" Night. It was a great evening. Many thanks go to our sponsoring church, Westminster Presbyterian Church!

As the church that birthed this ministry 47 years ago, it is only right that we begin our school year tonight in worship at Westminster Presbyterian Church.

The goal of Westminster Christian Academy is to partner with each family and each student in providing an education that is Christ-centered, excellent and able to produce graduates who ultimately will think in higher categories, critically and Christianly in all things. But, this partnership did not begin here; it began 47 years ago when a church was given a profound idea… to start a school, and not just any a school… a school that would be Christian and excellent and open to families who wanted such an education for their children. The church had no lofty goals initially. No, it wanted to humbly obey the calling given to it by a Holy God. So, the church began to make preparations to start this school. Many gave much, and, despite tragedy and great sacrifice, the church started the school. And the school survived and started to grow. Times were hard and difficult, but the church was faithful and the school continued to grow. From one blessing to the next, the church and the school continued to move forward together, from one property to the next, and now we sit, tonight, preparing to begin our 47^th year together. Belief, obedience, sacrifice, faith and vision have moved both entities to this point, but why? Is education that is Christian really worth all the effort and money?

James K.A. Smith offers a response to that question; he writes,

“Stemming from the conviction that “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Ps. 111:10), the Reformed tradition has long recognized that Christ’s lordship extends over every sphere of life, including education. There is no sphere of life that is “neutral”; rather, our practices and institutions are always and ultimately shaped and informed by faith commitments. So, while an institution might claim to be “secular,” as if it were not religious, Reformed thinkers from Abraham Kuyper to Nicholas Wolterstorff have seen through such claims: what pretends to be neutral or secular in fact masks some other faith commitment.

The vision of Christian education is radical because it stems from the conviction that any and every education is rooted (Latin: radix) in some worldview, some constellation of ultimate beliefs. Therefore, it’s important that the education and formation of Christians be rooted in Christ (Col. 2:7)—rooted in and nourished by a Christian worldview across the curriculum.”

Education will imprint a worldview on all children. Christian Education rightly should be an extension of what we believe, how badly we believe it and how desperately we want our children to believe it. I Timothy 4:12 states, “Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.” So, we should not apologize that we want our children in an education that sets before them Christian examples of these things.

As we prepare for another school year, the school will welcome an enrollment of well over 700 students, the largest enrollment in the school’s history. The school is establishing new heights in scholarships, test scores and various other academic areas, but while all of those are important, and they are because we are called to be a school, they are only the beginning. There is so much more to what is taking place in the minds and the hearts of Westminster students.

In 2001, Dr. Ruth Simmons was sworn in as the first African American women president of Brown University. In her acceptance speech she said this: “the purpose of education is not to provide you employment, but to nurture your soul.” I believe she captures the essence of what we are trying to do at Westminster Christian Academy. We are trying to compete with the world for the souls of our students. Such a lofty and seemingly impossible task, how can we hope to capture the souls of students in a world that has so many advantages over us? Do I dare say it again… education that is excellent and Christ-centered. Some would say we utter those words too many times; I would say we don’t do it enough.

Those are only words; what can they do to change the hearts and the minds of students. Come to our campus, walk our halls and talk to our students and you will see students who love the Lord Jesus, love each other and want to engage the world for their Lord. Are they perfect? No, and neither are we, but in some ways, they are well ahead of the rest of us.

The question I get most is this: what is Christian education? It is not Christian textbooks; it is not Christian pedagogy. It is not even Christian policies and procedures. Christian education is mostly about the Christian teacher. It is the Christian teacher that imparts the education to the student. This summer in a class we were studying the transfer of knowledge. One of the papers we read posited this idea: the transfer of knowledge is at its best when both teacher and student possess a “critical spirit” towards each other. Upon reading more, this idea of a critical spirit – mutual respect, freedom of expression and concern for each other – is rooted in the idea of discipleship. At Westminster, the teacher is not just expected to teach but also to disciple.

When a school hires its faculty and staff with a vision of academic excellence and discipleship something takes place inside students. Something will always take place inside students as they mature. Theorists have a phrase for this change; it is called cognitive dissonance. Simply put, it states that students will fall to the majority influence in their lives as the maturation process takes place. Fifty years ago most students spent that time with their families, but over the last twenty with families forced to work longer hours and with both parents now working, students now spend that time at school with teachers and peers. When We take cognitive dissonance and make it work for us by providing our children influences outside the family that reflect those inside the family… well, you start to see students do amazing things for the Lord. I am certainly not discounting the intervening work of the Holy Spirit, but what I am pointing to is our calling as parents… to raise our children in the fear and admonition of the Lord.

At Westminster Christian Academy, we desire to prepare students to engage the world as followers of Jesus Christ and as those who think in higher categories, discern truth from heresy and articulate faith in a firm but loving manner. And all of this flows out of a command given to each and every one of us in I John 4:1, the command is to “test the spirits.” Our response to this command will determine much in the years to come. This is Westminster Christian Academy! Is it worth all the effort, sweat and tears? The answer is yours. I already know mine.

Personal Responsibility

Have you noticed lately that nothing is our fault? We, Americans, tend to blame everyone... else for our issues. It was the car, the dog, the rain, the food, the waiter, the store, that lousy road, Monday, too much stress, the school, too much on my plate, Murphy... but it is not my fault. What has happened to personal responsibility? Where is it? Is it gone for good?

If something goes wrong there is a reason outside and away from who we are as a being to blame. It is almost as if we can't take the idea that we are to be responsible; that our actions "could" have negative consequences. That is kind of, stay tune for a technical word here, "nuts," don't you think. But, we are more than happy to take credit where credit is not do to us. We like to be patted on the back and told how great we are, when, we really aren't that great. What?

We tend to take too much credit for the good things and are averse to taking any credit for the negative things... ahhh! What does that say about who we are as people? What does that say about the leaders we elect? What happened to "the buck stops here?" What happened to leaders standing up and taking on the tough issues? What happen to leaders who worry about the greater good and not just their own good?

Back when I was younger (yes, still fighting the aging process), I remember when it was taboo for lawyers to advertise, to default on your loans or to even borrow money. Now, these all appear to be strategies and accepted by most Americans. In 2010, there were 1 million foreclosures. That is a million people who didn't pay back the money loaned to them. How do you do that? In 2011 it is predicted that another 1.2 million will do the same thing. Now, here is the crazy thing; in one article it stated that this is becoming a common strategy, people actually plan strategically to default on their loans when they can easily pay them because they didn't like the house or the terms. I can't even get my mind around that. What do you do with that information? That is 2.2 million loans that will not be paid back. Shake it upside down or right side up... it is not good. I don't care how big your economy is, not getting that kind of money back is going to hurt and hurt for a long time.

This has got to be a condition or something because there must be a correlation between the absence of personal responsibility and believing stuff that... just... does... not... add... up. My feeble attempt at irony here... trying to come up with a condition for the lack of personal responsibility. I know... weak. Anyway, back to my satirical diatribe, nothing is free; there is no such thing as money for nothing. And, our blame tends to have no walls. If we can't find someone to blame today we now have the ability to go back in our past and find people to blame. Where does it all end?

What does an absence of personal responsibility produce? Look around; what do you see? Everyone is now the enemy, and no one trusts anyone. Leadership has all but dried up and our current economic, educational, spiritual and international status is reflective of this. Someone must step up and sacrifice for the greater good in order to right the ship, and the cost will be personal and the responsibility will be even more personal. The job will be thankless, not popular and hard with little reward or fanfare. Who would take such a job? John the Baptist did. Paul the Apostle did. Peter the Apostle did. William Carey, lifelong missionary to China did. Jim Elliot, missionary to Ecuador did.

What about you? When things get hard, will you take the heat? Will you own up to the issue being yours, or will you seize the first opportunity presented and pass it on to someone else? Hard questions demand honest answers. Blessings!