WCS Philosophy of Christian Education
This Philosophy of Education answers integral questions such as: what is the purpose of a Christian school? What is the biblical foundation for Christian education? What are knowledge, understanding, and wisdom? What is a biblical worldview? The answers to these questions form the basis of all of our work at WCS.
Purpose of Westminster Christian School
Westminster Christian School (WCS) exists to provide a Christ-centered education of high academic quality to the children of believing parents in the Greater Elgin area. Education is one means by which we fulfill the Great Commission.1 As the church brings the good news of the Gospel to the nations of the earth, 2 we work to bring the Gospel to the children of believing parents.3 Through the power of the Holy Spirit, and in partnership with church and home, we seek to make our students disciples of Jesus Christ.
As disciples, we live in obedience to Christ, not to society or our own desires. Scripture teaches us: "Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect".4 We therefore strive to teach students the whole counsel of God,5 found completely and with full authority in the Bible, God’s infallible6 and inspired Word.7 Our students’ greatest need is a life fully surrendered to, and integrated with, God’s Word.
We teach all subjects in light of God’s Word because a true understanding of all academic disciplines flows from God’s truth. Students are taught to think biblically and critically in all areas of learning, ranging from the arts to the sciences. They are educated as individuals with unique abilities and personalities. Rather than rejecting or accommodating the world, we wish students to engage with the world in a way that proclaims the Truth of Christ.8 In short, the children of the King are to be given a royal education that prepares them for effective service to God in this world and for perfect fellowship in His Kingdom forever.
Westminster Christian School (WCS) is a ministry of Westminster Presbyterian Church (WPC) and is under the authority of the WPC elders. A separate school board oversees the policies and the superintendent of the school. Members of the board must profess faith in Christ and be members of a local church body, although not necessarily WPC. The board is comprised mostly of school parents skilled in specific leadership areas, such as curriculum, spiritual life, or finance. WPC and WCS hope that parents will give sacrificially of their time and resources for the benefit of their own children, the children of the covenant community, and the generations to come.
The Basis for a Christian School
According to Scripture, parents are responsible for teaching their children to love God, to know His ways, and to serve Him.9 At the parents' request, the Christian school becomes a partner in the discipleship and education of the child. Parents must not see the Christian school as a replacement for their own instruction but as a supplement to their own discipline and nurture.10 Neither must the Christian school see itself as a replacement for the instruction of the church but instead as a ministry accountable to the heads of Christian families and elders in Christ's church. The success of the partnership between school, home, and church is integral to a high quality Christian school experience.
We view the mandate for Christian education in light of the covenantal relationship that God has established with believers and their children.11 The children of Christian parents receive the generational promise that God will be their God and they will be His people.12 God grants His forgiveness and righteousness to children's children, to those who keep His covenant and remember His commandments to do them.13 This does not mean that children of Christian parents are automatically saved; faith in Christ Jesus is the only means of salvation.14 The covenant can only be kept through the finished work of Christ.15
With this view of the children of Christian parents, both parents and teachers will pray that the children will be granted new birth by the Holy Spirit and receive Christ by faith, without which there is no entrance into God's Kingdom.16 The parents and teachers will not presume that a child is too young or too old for this to happen since the new birth depends not on the child's ability, but solely and completely on God's grace. Parents and teachers will point the children to the promises and commands of the gospel and call them to a life of continuing repentance and fruit-bearing.
A primary means through which God brings about the realization of His promises is through the faithful example and instruction of parents and teachers to covenant children.17 WCS therefore employs Christian teachers of godly character, who manifest the ability to educate children in light of the Word of God.
Foundation for the Acquisition of Knowledge
The acquisition of knowledge is a matter of highest importance. Whether it is the physical universe, human languages, historical facts, the maxims of political discourse, the theory and application of the sciences, or the beauty of the arts, the use of such knowledge provided by the grace of God can restrain evil and keep people from living in the state to which depravity would run. Because all things that have been created reflect the order and attributes of God, even knowledge that is apprehended without spiritual knowledge can have a stabilizing and restraining influence on human societies.
Nevertheless, without the true knowledge that comes from God, we cannot know as we ought. Our knowledge is partial and distorted, and we will spend eternity separated from God.
Applying the truth of God to knowledge of the world is part of the process of restoration in creation18. When the Truth and Light of God shines on the knowledge of the world, individuals and all of creation are set free from the bondage of sin, both in time and in eternity! When sin entered the world, Adam, all mankind, and all creation came under the sentence of death.19 A saving knowledge of Christ restores the individual to fellowship with God the creator.
Further, the acquisition of knowledge enables believers to fulfill one of God’s purposes in creating them in His image. As a type of Christ, Adam was once commanded to subdue the earth.20 Christ is the King, who has already subdued the earth and removed the sting of death in His work of reconciliation. As servants under our King, we cannot subdue the earth and bring reconciliation without the acquisition of knowledge in all areas. On this foundation, the Christian school will earnestly and continuously seek an increase in depth and breadth of education.
A Biblical Definition of True Knowledge (Understanding)
The knowledge of God is the root of true knowledge, also known as understanding.21 God is the Sovereign Creator, and He alone fully understands the nature and purpose of His creation.22 Since we are not God, there remain huge areas of mystery.23 Men and women are sinful creatures in a fallen world; our understanding is darkened by a nature hostile toward God and devoid of true knowledge.24 We achieve correct understanding about ourselves and our world when our eyes are opened by the new birth to repent and believe in Jesus Christ. Outside of the new birth, nothing that is known is rightly understood in its ultimate context. To attain true knowledge, we must pattern our understanding of all things according to God's revelation. This revelation is found in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament, in the person of Christ, is seen in all of creation and has been discerned in our hearts and minds.25
True knowledge is possible because God has revealed Truth in His Word.26 Understanding that is based on Truth will result in the daily transformation of hearts and lives as people encounter Jesus Christ.
In this light, the Christian values education as a precious gift from God. The person who knows God has understanding and is unafraid to seek all forms of knowledge with thanksgiving and joy. Our observation of God's world in all its glorious diversity is far from exhaustive or perfect, for God is far above us; His ways are higher than our ways, and His thoughts are not our thoughts.27
The educated man or woman who does not know God is a person whose whole life turns on the axis of one central and all-pervading error. From the heart that person declares ‘no God’. That individual is a fool, no matter how much knowledge has been attained or how highly the person is regarded.28
A Biblical Definition of Wisdom
Wisdom is the proper understanding and use of knowledge. We hope that WCS students will not merely acquire wisdom like an object but know true wisdom in the person of Christ.
Throughout all of history and in various ways, God has spoken to call people to Christ, who is wisdom personified.29 Wisdom is both the person and an attribute of Jesus Christ. Wisdom cries out to us,30 especially in the incarnation of the Son, God’s grand utterance to mankind. When the love of God in the face of Jesus Christ invades the heart, wisdom is known in us.
Wisdom is also the power of Christ at work in restoration while the whole creation groans.31 This restoring work of Christ comes to the whole creation, but also to individuals on a daily basis. The wisdom of God separates the believer from the dominion of sin. The Word of wisdom cries, “come out of her, my people,” and that Word has power to accomplish its end.32
Having received Christ, believers grow in the attribute of wisdom after the example of Christ. Wisdom as an attribute of God is the ability to achieve perfect ends through perfect means. In other words, God makes no mistake in intent or in execution.33 Believers are growing in the attribute of wisdom when they do the right thing (knowledge of God), for the right reason (love toward God), in the right way (according to the commands of God).
A Biblical World and Life View
Every person has a worldview through which he or she interprets reality. A biblical world and life view begins with surrender to the Sovereign God and progresses in loving relationship with Him.
Accordingly, Christian education seeks to develop a Christian mind in students and train them in godly living, according to God’s directive.34 A biblical worldview asserts that the ultimate purpose of human existence is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.35 Christ is pre-eminent in all things.36 Students are therefore taught the Bible toward an understanding of God, their own nature, and their role as those created in God’s image. Students are to be developed and oriented toward God first, as fully consecrated and forgiven heirs of the covenant in Christ.37
Placing God above all, the believer must serve God and his neighbor in love.38 Scripture has things in order. The person who serves God first will receive joy, while the person whose first priority is self-fulfillment will find grief.39 Although service to God may involve discipline, self-sacrifice and self-control, which are not always pleasant, yet the rewards of service for God’s glory are very great.40
Since the lives that we live flow out of the beliefs of our hearts, it is of utmost importance that the practice of Christian education is consistent with the philosophical principles of Christian education. A school culture that is aligned to foundational truth in practice is transformational because of its focus on repentance and renewal. The following document, “Educational Culture of WCS,” describes the practical academic consequences of our philosophy of education.
1 (Matt 28:16-20, Acts 1:1-4, 2:1-4, 1 Cor. 4:1, Acts 14:21-23, Matt 16:15-19)
2 (Eph 3:1-3, Acts 6:1-8)
3 (2 Tim 3:15, Ps 78:3-6, Proverbs 22:6, Eph 6:4, Gen 18:19, Deut 4:9)
4 (Romans 12:2)
5 (Acts 20:26-28)
6 (Matt. 5:17 - 20, John 10: 34 – 35, Num. 23:19; 1 Sam. 15:29; Titus 1:2; Heb. 6:18)
7 (2 Tim 3:16)
8 (Luke 12:8)
9 (Psalm 78; Deut. 6:6-9)
10 (Deut. 29:10-13)
11 (Deut 29:10-13, Gen. 18:19, Ps 78:3-6, Prov.22:6, Eph 6:4, Deut 4:9)
12 (Jeremiah 24:7)
13 (Psalm 103:17, 18, Ex 20:5, 6)
14 (John 1:12; 3:16; Eph 2:8)
15 (John 14:6)
16 (John 3:3-6)
17 (2 Tim 3:15, Ps 78:3-6, Proverbs 22:6, Eph 6:4, Gen 18:19, Deut 4:9)
18 (Romans 8:18-21)
19 (Romans 6:23)
20 (Genesis 1:26-28)
21 (Proverbs 1:8)
22 (Job 38-41)
23 (Job 42:1-6)
24 (Rom 8:7, Prov. 9:10)
25 (Psalms 19, Rom 1:18-23)
26 (John 14:6, John 1:1-3)
27 (Isa. 55:8-9)
28 (Psalm 14:1)
29 (Hebrews 1:1-4)
30 (Proverbs 1:20-22)
31 (Romans 8:21-23)
32 (Revelation 18:4)
33(Romans 11:33)
34 (Proverbs 22:6)
35 (Isaiah 60:21, Revelation 4:11)
36 (Colossians 1:15-20)
37 (Hebrews 13:20-21)
38 (Matthew 22:36-40)
39 (Matt. 22:36-40; John 14:15; Romans 3:8-10; Luke 12:15-21; I Tim 5:6)
40 (I Cor. 9:24-27; Heb. 12:5-11)
| 
