For education to be consistently Christian it must self-consciously teach all subjects in the framework of biblical authority. To accomplish this we must have a methodology that guarantees its biblical character. The proper method is to use the Bible in each and every course both directly and indirectly. It is applied directly when we derive our understanding of each topic from the actual statements of the Bible, and using the text of Scripture appropriately in each subject. It is applied indirectly as we work out the implications of biblical truth as the proper framework for understanding each subject.

These basic principles and fundamental truths are the teachings of Scripture. Biblical doctrines must regulate the way we teach and learn. One key goal of Christian education is to teach the student to reason biblically. Because of this, the educational process must show how the doctrinal truths of God's Word provide the Christian worldview. This worldview is a unified system of principles that guides the way we educate. It requires that every thought be made captive to the obedience of Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 10:5).

Committed to the Bible as the standard for education, Cornerstone desires to interpret it in line with the faith of historic Christianity and biblical principles. Among such biblical principles are the following:

The Sovereign Triune God

The most fundamental teaching of the Bible is the sovereignty of the Triune God. This truth is foundational for all Christian teaching. It alone separates Christian education from all forms of humanism and naturalism. Education which is truly and distinctly Christian must be dedicated to the glory of God above all else. Because the Creator is the sovereign God, He is Lord of Heaven and Earth, and He speaks with absolute authority about all things. There is nothing in this universe which can be truly learned apart from Him. He speaks as the Triune God. Unity in education is possible only on the basis of one God who is absolutely self-existent and independent of His creation. As the Trinity, He is the source of both unity and diversity in the world and in human life, for He exists as one God in three persons.

Creation in Six Days

When God created all things in the universe out of nothing in six days, He created everything with meaning and purpose. Because all studies deal in one way or another with God's creation, all studies should be subordinate to God's revelation. The way to properly understand any subject is to study it in relation to its Creator. Because God created all things, there is nothing unknown to Him. Consequently, God's understanding, not man's, is first. All facts take their significance from the place God has assigned to them in creation. There are no uninterpreted facts which man can ever discover. Without God's revealed truth, these facts cannot be properly selected, systematized, and given a meaningful interpretation. Without the framework of a biblical worldview all education in science is futile.

Man, the Image of God

Because God created man in His own image, the ultimate purpose, meaning, and standards for human life and society come from God. Christian education must therefore reject all speculations of the evolutionary theory of human origins and rights. Man is a unique creature of God formed distinct from the animals. Endowed by His Creator with the gifts of religion, language, reason, choice, creativity, and society, man is like God in every way a creature can be. Created to serve and glorify God in the earth, Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden talked directly with God and received from Him their original education. God taught man the truth about his role in the universe and his relationships with other people. God taught them that their most fundamental relationship is with Him as their Creator. Culture, society, and education are thus bound to religion. The student must be continually confronted with this pivotal truth about himself and society.

Man's Fall into Sin

The biblical record of the fall of Adam has serious and far-reaching implications for all of education. Because of the fall, man's entire nature as well as all of human society has been corrupted by sin. Not only is his heart hostile to God and His law, but his will is enslaved to corruption, and his mind is darkened by error. His whole nature has been corrupted by the evil influence of sin. Because of this, Christian education cannot start in a supposedly neutral fashion as though the child were an innocent person who simply needs the spark of goodness to be ignited within him.

Likewise the human teacher is also corrupted by sin and does not always properly present God's truth. Because of sin's power, the teacher must acknowledge that he cannot change the heart of the student. Because sin has corrupted the whole of human thought and education throughout history, unbelieving scholarship can have a pervasive influence even upon those who seek to teach from a biblical worldview. The Christian teacher must grow in awareness of the influence of the sin that affects his thinking from his educational background and the society around him. Apart from abiding in Christ and His truth, he is liable to be made captive to ideas promoted by the various forms of the non-Christian worldview.

Christ the Redeemer

As a result of Adam's sin, God and man have become alienated. But God, in His grace, took the initiative to restore the relationship. After setting forth the requirements of redemption in the Old Testament, He fulfilled them in the New Testament in His Son, Jesus Christ. The Messiah came as the second Adam to undo the sin of the first Adam and its results. As the perfect Son of God, He became man, and was crucified as the only redeemer of mankind. By his redemptive work, Christ restores believers to a right relationship with their Creator. This restoration involves education. As part of His mediatorial work, Christ has an educational program which involves teaching all the things He has commanded. Christ teaches His people as the Bible is read, taught, and applied. All Christian education must therefore be subject to Christ as God's final prophet, priest, and king. Jesus Christ is the only way, truth, and life, also in education.

The Holy Spirit and Salvation

Jesus Christ sent the Holy Spirit to teach the truth. The Holy Spirit is the only one who can make Christian education effective. For the teacher, to impart wisdom is a gift of God. For the student's heart to be opened to God's truth, a change of heart is required. In the new birth the Spirit opens the mind and frees the will to embrace Christ by faith. Without it the Bible will never be the ultimate authority over the student's reasoning. Faith is the proper response to biblical truth, the only means by which the heart submits to it. While Christian education can be used by the Holy Spirit to bring the student to saving faith, and to benefit a student after he comes to faith, ideally its full effect comes to those who already believe. Without faith, Christian education is ineffectual. Thus, both the teacher and the student are dependent upon the Holy Spirit and His work of grace.

The Holy Spirit uses believers as a means of leading students to Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Christian parents have the unique opportunity and privilege to train up their children in the fear and admonition of Christ. By combining teaching with prayer, exhortation, and discipline, the parent can be used by God to disciple his children to Christ. Thus Christian education, while not to be reduced to evangelism, will include the positive presentation of gospel truth as the answer to the ultimate questions in each subject. The gospel will be proclaimed as the answer to the student's deepest need for purpose, meaning, and goals in learning.

The Kingdom of Christ and the Antithesis

Because the Word of God is the only standard for education, Christian education is at odds with all pagan thought. Because it is part of Christ's program for building His kingdom, Christian education is engaged in spiritual and intellectual warfare with the kingdom of darkness. The fact of the new birth creates a distinction between two types of people: Christians and non-Christians. Christians are bringing every thought captive to the obedience of Christ and earnestly contending for the faith. The non-Christian, however, looks to man as the standard of all things, reasons according to the flesh, and calls his education neutral.

Because all education is inescapably religious, it can never take place in an ideological vacuum. Neutrality is impossible; for the educational worldview will either be Christian or humanistic. Christ clearly taught, "He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathers not with me, scatters abroad" (Matt. 12:30). Therefore all non-Christian education is ultimately anti-Christian because it does not submit to the claims of Jesus Christ. Well-trained Christian students must be prepared to battle intellectually against the spirit of this age with an aggressive yet humble manner. Cornerstone seeks to help train Christian warriors and leaders who will go forth in the power of the Holy Spirit to win decisive victories for the honor, glory, and kingdom of Christ.

The Return of Christ

Christian education is a part of God's purpose to put everything in creation under the feet of Christ. Christ is now reigning, but not everyone has bowed the knee to His authority. Not every area of life and thought has been made subject to Him. Christian education serves as part of His purpose to subdue people from all nations to the glory of God. He is calling out a people unto Himself who will learn His ways. Christian education is never an end in itself, but serves to magnify the glory of God. It should never lose sight of the fact that there is no final perfection in human life, society, or in education itself apart from the appearance of Jesus Christ. At his return Christ will bring a conclusion to history through judgment of both the living and the dead.