What Does the Bible Teach About Education?
By Rod Dreher
Rawlings School of Divinity
CLED 720: Biblical & Theological Foundations of Education
Genevieve Hamer
July 1, 2022
What Does the Bible Teach About Education?
While Christians approach the subject of education from different perspectives and come to
diverse conclusions, the Bible does present clear answers to questions like whose responsibility it
is, what the curricula should center around, and the desired effects and goal of education.
With home education growing worldwide and about ten percent of American students
enrolled in private, non-governmental schools, this seems like a good time to talk about
education from a biblical perspective.
The endeavor of entering a discussion of how Christian parents ought to educate their
children is one fraught with peril. Inevitably any discussion or teaching on the subject is going to
step on toes and aggravate raw nerves of Christians with strong convictions on the matter. Even
those of us who ostensibly consider themselves “Bible Centered” (which, according to the
Barna Group only amounts to a paltry 5% of Americans) have undoubtedly had our views on
education shaped by both Scripture as well as external influences, including memories (good
and bad) of our own childhood education. If we were to listen to the voice of God through the
cacophony of voices speaking about this issue, what would we hear him saying?
In a (now postponed) episode of The Think Podcast, my guest and I enjoyed a robust
conversation about Christian approaches to education, although we did not answer the
question many want to jump to: “Should Christian parents put their children in the public
(government) schools?” This is the question many want to jump immediately to answering.
However before we can answer that we need to see what God tells us in his word about three
vital elements: the responsibility of education, the focus of the curricula and the goal or desired
results of education.
I want to close this introduction with two quick thoughts.
First, note that just now I did not say we are going to look at the goal or desired results of
education “for Christians,” as though there were separate norms for believers that unbelievers
would be free to accept or reject. Of course anyone may accept or reject whatever the Bible
says (and we reject it to our peril), but if Christ really does possess all authority in Heaven and
on Earth (and he does according to Matthew 28:18), and if the Bible is his word (and it is
according to Luke 24:27 and John 5:39, etc.), then the Bible’s prescriptions for education apply
to the whole of humanity, not just those who accept them. So there’s that.
Secondly, in terms of defining what education is, I roughly have in mind the definition
expounded upon by Douglas Wilson when he speaks about the paideia of God (quoting the
Apostle in Ephesians 6:4), which I loosely summarize as:
A system of teaching and enculturation that transcends (though not excluding) the formal
schooling happening typically between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m., and that is built upon the foundation
of, and in support of, a robust biblical worldview.*
I want the rest of the article to serve as a resource for parents and other Christians who are
thinking (or want to begin to think) biblically about their children’s education. Under each of
the three headers, I will list the answers and supporting biblical passages. Feel free to leave any
comments in the appropriately-marked “comments” section below.
Who “Owns” Your Children’s Education?
Whose responsibility is it to education our children?
Fathers and Mothers
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
You shall teach them to your children, talking of them when you are sitting in your house,
and when you are walking by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.
—Deut. 11:19
Note: as a good New Covenant Theologian (as I am, which was pointed out by Joe and
Jimmy on a recent episode of the podcast Doctrine and Devotion), I recognize that these
commands were given to Old Covenant Israelite parents, that they would teach their children
the commands of the Mosaic Law. Believers are not under that covenant or law, but the O. T.
Law is instructive for us (Romans 15:4) and the pattern of parents teaching their children
persists throughout Scripture into the New Testament, as we shall see.
Hear, my son, your father's instruction, and forsake not your mother's teaching
—Prov. 1:8
O sons, a father's instruction, and be attentive, that you may gain insight, for I give you
good precepts; do not forsake my teaching. When I was a son with my father, tender, the only
one in the sight of my mother, he taught me and said to me, “Let your heart hold fast my
words; keep my commandments, and live. Get wisdom; get insight; do not forget, and do not
turn away from the words of my mouth
—Prov. 4:1-5
Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and
instruction of the Lord.
—Eph. 6:4
Interestingly, the same verb (ektrepho) Paul uses for how fathers are to “bring up” their
children is also used in Ephesians 5:29, when Paul commands husbands to “nourish” their wives
as their own bodies. Husbands and fathers therefore have a special responsibility to oversee
the educative environment of their homes (see also 1 Cor. 14:35, Eph. 5:25-26).
God Directly
God may directly impart wisdom or knowledge to people. Because Christians enjoy a
personal relationship with God through Christ Jesus, we enjoy the benefits of God teaching us
(often through his word, and always in direct agreement with his word, when the instruction
comes by way of other means).
Make me to know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth and
teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long.
—Psalm 25:4-5
As for these four youths, God gave them learning and skill in all literature and wisdom, and
Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams.
—Daniel 1:17
If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach,
and it will be given him.
—James 1:5
The Church
Just as parents are to foster the household of the immediate family as an educational
environment, so also is the “household of God” a place where teaching and learning take place.
In fact the leaders of each local church, the elders, are required to be men who are “apt to
teach” (2 Tim. 2:24). Education is a mission of the church given by Christ himself in the Great
Commission:
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father
and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.
—Matthew 28:19-20
And elsewhere, the Apostle Paul instructs the church to teach:
Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in
proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching
—Romans 12:6-7
Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much
wine. They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands
and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own
husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled.
—Titus 2:3-5
In that Titus passage, Paul essentially tells Pastor Titus to commission the older women to
facilitate a kind of practical-theology-meets-home-economics-meets-marriage-counseling
program.
The State (in the right circumstances) may provide some facilitation
Again, this deals with Old Covenant Israel, however it is instructive:
David and the chiefs of the service also set apart for the service the sons of Asaph, and of
Heman, and of Jeduthun, who prophesied with lyres, with harps, and with cymbals...And they
cast lots for their duties, small and great, teacher and pupil alike.
King David, as head of state, set up a worship music arts teaching program for temple
worship. Note that David was not doing the teaching, nor were any of his governmental officials
leading the department. Rather David set it up and entrusted it to faithful and gifted
instructors, under God’s leadership.** Translated to modern times this may look like a
government giving a public award or even a tax break to an arts program that seeks to instill the
love of truth and beauty in its students, which would be in line with the responsibility of
government (cf. 1 Peter 2:13-14) to sanction good behavior.
