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Introduction
A worldview is essentially how people perceive the world we live in. For those that
believe in God and Christianity, this includes pondering the existence of God, the origins of life
as described in biblical text, and the identity and significance of Jesus Christ as guide and
supporter. As a Christian, it is not only crucial to study the word, but it is also important to
integrate God’s teachings into everyday life. In Mark 16:15 it states, “Go into all the world and
preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15, King James Version). This verse emphasizes
the importance of using Jesus’s teachings to positively impact everyone around us. Converting
this into the context of education, educators like me can reflect Jesus Christ’s teachings and serve
as a testament to their faith by incorporating these values into my teaching methods and serving
as role models for my students.
Biblical Worldview
A biblical worldview is the belief that God created everything and is sovereign over
everything. As individuals, we all have different views and beliefs and this impacts the way that
we determine right from wrong, how we think, and how we act. As a Christian educator, I
believe that is it our responsibility to emphasize to our students and ourselves that how we learn
or gain knowledge does not have any effect on our faith or our relationship with God. Rather, it
helps us to better comprehend and affirm God’s truth and plan for our salvation by understanding
the difference between fleshly or world views in comparison to a biblical worldview.
I grew up in a Christian household and was given a strong foundation of who God was
from a very young age. As I have gotten older, my worldview has changed and expanded several
times over the years by the influence of friends, family, tough situations I faced, and even church
families. I have had times where I have felt very far away from God and focused on things of this
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world, but I always find myself running back to him and being accepted with open arms no
matter the mistakes I have made. In education, I believe that everyone is on their own journey of
learning and discovering and by ensuring my students know that the primary reason we exist is
to love and to serve God. By incorporating a biblical world view, I believe I can help them to
gain new knowledge, values, and skills that will change them individually and shape them into
the person God created them to be. The Christian ethic is a positive ethic, and the Christian life,
as an expression of that ethic, is a positive, active existence (Knight G.R., 1989). Knight was
emphasizing that being a Christian involves actively participating in Christianity and integrating
these concepts and teachings into your existence, not just saying that you are a Christian and
living an unruly life not following the Word.
Christian Philosophy of Education
As educators, we are tasked with the responsibility of shaping students into reliable
members of society. It is important for them to understand and be able to apply Christian
philosophy, which include spiritual and moral guidance provided by the Bible and integrate this
into our teachings and curriculum to influence how we instruct our students. The biblical purpose
of our existence is to love and serve God and to be able to use the fruits of the Spirit as our
foundation for our character. Teaching in a public school makes this more difficult because they
have legal restraints that limit the discussions of God allowed in the classroom. There are still
ways we are able to incorporate the teachings of God and role model for our students in Public
Schools, but the discussion has to be brought up by the students first and not be the main focus,
whereas in Private Schools, the discussions of God and his teaching our the main purpose and
many if not all lessons are pointed back to this fact. By maintain a curriculum and work ethic
centered around Christ’s lessons and teachings as an educator, we will provide every student with
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the foundation of Christ that they need to achieve the highest quality education. It is important
for the academic and social well-being of students to have teachers who are effective and caring.
While reintroducing the Bible into public education would be seen as a beneficial move, current
practices limit us to imparting religious education about God primarily within the home and
church settings so ensuring these are settings of a strong Spiritual presence and foundation of
God is vital in today’s world.
Implications for Educational Practice
It is extremely challenging in today’s world to work in public education and still adhere
to the standards set by God. A skill that I have learned to development is by being a light and
showing God’s love to every student by being a good example for them of what a Christian is
supposed to look and act like. By being a role model, my students can learn from me and learn to
show God’s love to others by their actions. In my public school, they do not participate in formal
prayer, but they offer what they call a “moment of silence” every morning after the pledge of
allegiance. I take this time to pray silently over all my students for the day and take into
consideration things going on in their lives individually that they share with me throughout the
day. I can demonstrate God’s love through my interactions with each and every one of my
students and also during my lessons by encompassing the fruits of the Spirit. My students do ask
about my personal life from time to time and when they do I have no problem sharing how
involved I am with my church and encouraging them to come sometime. I have had many
students visit my church and even ask me for rides to church so they could come and see what
“all the hype” was about. The educational philosophy of Christian teachers draws from scriptural
knowledge and truth and having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. By maintaining these
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aspects and priorities in my own Christian walk-in life, I can share them with my students and
lead by example as their teacher.
Conclusion
In conclusion, as followers of Jesus Christ, our viewpoints and educational philosophies
should line up with the teachings in the Bible and this applies to our educational teachings as
well. I discussed that in public school systems this may look different, but the same concepts still
apply that we should be loving others just as Christ loved us and demonstrating this love through
our actions and interactions with everyone we meet. “and walk in love, as Christ also has loved
us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling aroma”
(King James Version, Ephesians 5:2). This verse encultures the love God had for us to be able to
sacrifice his son as an offering and for Jesus to knowingly give his life for our sins knowing all
the mistakes we would make is unbelievable to me. As an educator, I want to be able to love
unconditionally all of my students and to display this by maintain a welcoming and safe
classroom environment where they can come and be themselves and leave feeling encouraged
and knowing that they were all fearfully and wonderfully made. Starting the educational
technique with teachers who are able to embody all the fruits of the Spirit in the classroom
setting to be able to set a strong foundation for each students expectations and personal
development will be a good start to encompassing a biblical worldview in the educational system
whether a public school or not.
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References
Biblical Worldview and Christian Philosophy of Education. (2021, May 15).
Retrieved April 14, 2024, from https://supremestudy.com/biblical-
worldview-and-christian-philosophy-of-education/
Brown, C. (1990). Christianity & Western thought: A history of philosophers,
ideas & movements from the ancient world to the age of
enlightenments. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.
Gutek, G.L. (2014). Philosophical, ideological, and theoretical perspectives on
education (2nd edition). Pearson Education Inc.
King James Version Bible (2003). The Scofield Study Bible. Oxford University
Press.
Knight, G.R. (2006). Philosophy & education: An introduction in Christian
Perspective (4th edition). Andrew’s University Press.
Octavio Javier Esqueda (2014) Biblical Worldview: The Christian Higher Education Foundation
for Learning, Christian Higher Education, 13:2, 91-100, DOI:
10.1080/15363759.2014.872495
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