Biblical Worldview Rests on Foundational Biblical Principles: Part Three in a Series
Dr. Carole Adams
People in Christ live in a state of alarm today that is a new normal. American schools intentionally indoctrinate Christian children to call evil good and good evil (see Isaiah 5:20). When parental control is eradicated for every kind of choice, with the sexualization of children as the outcome, it’s past time to face up to the fact that alarm isn’t enough. An alarm is an outcry intended to give notice of approaching danger—a summons to arms! It calls for action—the action of taking back our children, not only to save their souls, but to equip them to contend with evil, empower them with overcoming truth, and prepare them for godly leadership for the family, the church, and the nation.
God is clear and uncompromising about His children. We are held responsible for educating Christian children uncompromisingly and persistently in the Word of God. Christian parents are wise to remove their children from public education. God clearly states the unconditional mandate of teaching children, not just two hours a week or 30 minutes a day but morning, noon, and night in parent-directed education based upon the Word of God: “And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise” (Deut 6:6-7).
Noah Webster, whose impact on American education remains the lighthouse for the current benighted education system, said the three most important questions that rise in the hearts of all men are:
Who made me?
Why was I made?
What is my duty?
Many adults fumble in figuring out life and trying to form a worldview that makes sense. As cultural trends obliterate moral absolutes, worldview clarity is increasingly obscure for both parents and their children. Their questions are rarely framed as worldview questions, yet they wrestle with the whos, whats, and whys until their maturity demands that they act independently with a worldview that will dictate their choices and direction.
Inculcating a solid biblical worldview is not a one-time fix; it’s a gradual construction requiring the nurture of a Christian home and parent-directed Christian schooling in which every subject reveals the love and knowledge of God. Children nurtured in biblical principles from early childhood inculcate those principles into their spiritual and mental DNA as the base of understanding life.
The first four of the seven basic biblical principles in the Principle Approach method of education1 equip children from the earliest grades to see heaven and earth through these understandings:
Principle One: “God’s Principle of Individuality” describes the one-on-one relationship with God as it amplifies His signature in all creation and the privilege of bearing His image for a purpose.
Principle Two: “The Christian Principle of Self-Government” teaches children to govern themselves in the grace of Christ with the “washing of the water of the Word” enabling them to walk in “peace of mind in the favor of God.”2
Principle Three: “Conscience is the Most Sacred Property” teaches children to heed and steward the monitor God placed in them to assist their walk of grace daily, hourly, and moment by moment in all the complexities of life as they grow and learn.
Principle Four: “The Principle of Christian Character” teaches children the strength God is building in them through faith in His providence, love, and purposes.
The seven basic biblical principles taught in every opportune moment, applied in family life, church, and school, and most importantly, used as the pillars of every subject build a sound, universally consistent biblical worldview of relevance to any new idea a student faces throughout life. A Marxist professor cannot uproot opinions from hearts when they are firmly rooted in the laws of nature and nature’s God and have been tested across every discipline.
The last three of the seven basic principles equip students to apply biblical truth to the government. The fact that God made humans accountable to Him for governing themselves and His creation should make the government a personal responsibility for every Christian. The following principles are personal and formative as the cement of the Christian community. Tried and proven, they are identifiable in the application of Christian principles to civil liberty in the constitutional republic of the United States of America.
Principle Five: “The Christian Form of Government” The Bible is a governmental textbook revealing both how God governs His universe and the power of self-government vested in human beings. Children learn that they are properly self-governed only when governed by Christ. They learn that the three powers of government that must be mutually checked and balanced in Washington to protect American liberty also guide their personal choices and conduct as well. They learn that the legislative power plans an action, the executive power of government carries out the action, and the judicial power of government evaluates the action. Parents and teachers consistently reinforce this understanding leading students to thoughtfully consider the process of self-government in alignment with the Word of God; thus, Christian character is formed.
Principle Six: “How the Seed of Local Self-Government is Planted” It is said that all politics are local. Better said, all government is local as it impacts us where we are and how we live, including the home, the church, and the school classroom. The imagery of this principle depicts the process of planting, cultivating, and reaping the biblical worldview—a long-term and individual process that extends outward to the local community as “the art of self-government is learned through ‘the study and practice of the exalted virtues of the Christian system…’”3 In other words, this sixth principle is the blueprint for living free. “A general dissolution of principles and manners will more surely overthrow the liberties of America than the whole force of the common enemy. While the People are virtuous, they cannot be subdued; but when once they lose their virtue, they will be ready to surrender their liberties to the first external or internal invader … if virtue and knowledge are diffused among the people, they will never be enslaved. This will be their great security.”4
Principle Seven: “The Principle of American Political Union” This key principle teaches us that internal unity is essential to an external union in any form—friendship, marriage, church, family, community, and nation. The American founding exemplifies the power of ideas capturing the moral imagination to unify people and override the disadvantages of great distances and hardships before seemingly certain defeat. This principle is the answer to the divisive spirit of this age. Without unity, there can be no lasting union. Our children learn that “where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty” (see 2 Cor 3:17).
The Principle Approach method produces the fruit of right thinking: thoughtful people capable of judging matters of importance with confidence, knowledge, a bank of wisdom from a knowledge of the past, and the courage to boldly address issues of the moment from a consistently biblical worldview. The formation of a biblical worldview based in rock-solid, all-encompassing truth is essential as the cry for righteous leadership in families, churches, and the nation is heard throughout the land—principled teaching and learning answers that call.
Envision a world where Christian pastors oppose and reverse the unbiblical, immoral education of Christian children by calling parents to pull their children out of secular, pagan schools to provide them with an authentic Christian education in line with Deuteronomy 6:6-7.
Let’s move from alarm to action! A great awakening could be set in motion reviving the nation to righteousness and securing the future for our children, grandchildren, and their children.
Dr. Carole Adams serves as president of the Foundation for American Christian Education, is the editor of its Noah Plan K-12 curriculum, and author of Classic Grammar, a literature-based K-8 English program. The Adamses founded StoneBridge School in Chesapeake, VA, and have a son, two daughters, and seven grandchildren.
ENDNOTES 1. See face.net for more about the Principle Approach.
2. Noah Webster, American Dictionary of the English Language (Chesapeake, VA: FACE, 1964).
3. R.J. Slater, Teaching and Learning America’s Christian History: The Principle Approach (Chesapeake, VA: FACE, 1964) 251.
4. Ibid., 251.