PrincipledMom™

When you see this title you probably immediately think of civil government, maybe even specifically federal government. When you think governmentally it means something else altogether.

To think governmentally is to always be conscious of "who or what is directing, regulating, controlling or restraining" (see Webster's 1828 dictionary for complete definition). This changes the way you live in the world. And we will explore how your philosophy of government is your philosophy of education.

There are three divine governmental institutions--home (Gen 2:24), church  (Mat. 6:18)and civil government (Gen. 9:6)--that man is to administrate according to God's Law. FOr any of these to be called truly Christian, they must be based on Biblical principles and administrated with the Christian idea of God, man and government (see above definition).

A philosophy of government is a philosophy of education. This may be a new concept to you, because education and government do not appear to you to be connected. You may have thought of your statement of faith as sacred and your philosophy of education as secular. This is not biblical (Prov. 1:1-7, Psa. 2:10-12). On the contrary, they are inseparably connected. "The relation between education and government is discerned by reasoning governmentally" (p. 22). The idea of government is a philosophical one. Once you get that revelation, the idea that they are the same will make sense.

As a teacher you fill the three roles of government; lawgiver, judge and king. We plan (give laws), present it (king) and grade performance (judge). The source of wisdom for these functions is determined by your philosophy of education/government. "The Christian view of government conceives government as first internal, causative then external, with Christian civil government the effect as each individual acknowledges the sovereignty of God through Christ by the Holy Spirit" (p. 22)

 Education is first internal and governed by who or what the person accepts as authority. So as you can see "who or what is in control" is of vital importance. The people you allow to influence your child, the philosophy of government of the materials you allow in your home--these are all important things to consider.

Everything works from internal to external. The same is true of education.

internal philosophy of Gov't.--->philosophy of education--->external form and quality of education--->form and quality of government (its form and functions)

I encourage you to read this step to further study what is being said here. There is more that I have not even touched on, such as the Christian idea of man and government and the pagan idea of man and government, which I may come back to at a later time.

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This is an interesting topic, no? Here are some things that Mr. Rose highlights are not found in the BPA. (The scriptures I have added to demonstrate these as principles in God's Word.)

BPA is not:

• the teacher dominating the subject or student.

But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. John 16:13 If the Holy Spirit is gentle to guide, we are to be also.

• encouraging adults to copy what any other home or school is doing.

Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. 1 Cor. 4:4-12 We all have unique gifts to bring to our home eudcation.

• exalting methodology above content, or vice versa.

For {as} the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, And do not return there without watering the earth And making it bear and sprout, And furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater; So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, Without accomplishing what I desire, And without succeeding {in the matter} for which I sent it. Is. 55:9-11

Jesus is higher than either and we need His help to remeber that. They are both tools to learn more about Him.

• a coating of Christianity and knowledge.

Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness. Mt. 23:27

• a cover-all, but God all-in-all.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men.  John 1:1-4

• evolutionary but expansive. You can simultaneously teach every subject to every student though every grade, expanding the principles as they are able to receive deeper conepts. In another section Mr. Rose discusses this  on p. 126, quoting Ms. Slater

The message of salvation is not presented in evolutionary manner by degrees, or part by part, nor progressviely. The means by which the youngest may 'also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus' is presented full and complete from the first...The 'little child' learns the same Gospel as the advanced student of theology.

This is applied in the next column when Mr. Rose writes

The manner in which God brings forth fruit in nature is by infixing (setting in) seed--representative of whole, complete principles. 

We give our little chicks a seed at a time until they are able to handle more. But they receive the same principles, not matter what age or maturity. That's wy this works for all peoples everywhere. The Bible's principles are universally applicable. So your whole family can enjoy God's principles together!

• instant. There is no microwave to renew your mind, no instant way to conform into His image. This takes a commitment and a lot of investment of time and energy.

There is no expedient way to truly educate--no quick and easy method of producing the kind of character and scholarship able to withstand evil and 'having done all, to stand!' (Eph. 6:13)" p. 16

For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope. Rom. 15:4

In BPA the subject and student are extensions of Jesus (Author and Governor). I LOVE this concept. Jesus is the focus of every subject at all times. We learn about science and math and HisStory to learn more about Him. The facts come naturally but they are not the focus, Jesus is.

Join us for the study in A Guide to Amercian Christian Education by James Rose.

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I am so glad that Mr. Rose articulated these because they are all reasons I love this method. He is so wise! I have paraphrased them here. To read them, see A Guide to American Christian Education, p. 5.

1. Christianity and HisStory are intertwined.
2. It is restorative of Christian scholarship (Joel 2:25).
3. It harmonizes student and subject with Biblical truths (Eccl. 4:12).
4. It demonstrates unity with diversity among subjects and students.
5. It reveals Biblical origins and purposes of a subject.
6. It unifies Biblical principles with ideas and facts.
7. It produces Christian character and scholarship, separating from pagan philosophies.

He also introduced the idea of identifying and documenting the 7 principles (listed in step 2) Biblically, governmentally, educationally and historically, which will come in step 8. That is a big job! It will happen over seven weeks and I am looking forward to that study.

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Step 2 of the 12 steps in Mr. Rose's book involve reading a short overview of the seven principles of America's Christian history and government and what it means to 4-R. I will go into the seven principles in much more detail as the  study goes on, so I will only list them in this post.

Biblical Principle Approach refers to:

1. rediscovery and reinstatement of principles on which the character of our country was built.
2. Christian method of reasoning from the Bible.

The same principles that make you a better citizen in America also make you a better citizen in God's kingdom as well. We are to think governmentally (you hear this phrase A LOT in BPA circles), which means to think "who or what is controlling, restraining, directing or regulating?" This will determine our worldview and our philosphy of education.

The more internal restraint you have, the less external restraint you need. This speaks a lot of how little we are internally governed as a society. There are rediculous laws and ordinances of all kinds to govern those among us who cannot control themselves. Our humanity loves rules and the more the better. The more God's laws are written on our hearts (love Him, love your neighbor as yourself), the less of man's laws we will need. His Word will have pre-eminence in every sphere of life.

I tell my kids from time to time, "The world would not be such a bad place if grown-ups could keep their hands to themselves." Isn't that true? We would not steal, sleep around or kill. But the hands are not really the problem, are they? It's the heart that's the matter, especially when the grown-ups were just children and no one taught them to be internally controlled.

The 7 Principles of American Christian History and Government

1. God's Principle of Individuality
2. The Christian Principle of Self- Government
3. America's Heritage of Christian Character
4. Conscience is the Most Sacred of all Property
5. Our Christian Form of Government
6. How the Seed of Local Self-Government is Planted
7. The Christian Principle of American Political Union

These 7 principles apply to all spheres of life and to all peoples around the world. When I spend a week on each principle I will explain that in more detail.

4-Ring

the four R's is a simple yet profound way of learning that we all do, we just have never thought much about. It is a historical method in which the four steps are exercised simultaneously. (You can search my archives for more 4-R information.)

1. Research God's Word to identify basic principles by searching scripture for vocabulary. Get out your Webster's 1828 dictionary and look up words to define from the subject you are studying. Then look up those word in your concordance.

2. Reason from Biblical truths and identify them to the student through each subject, concluding from Scripture the Biblical significance and governmental importance of the subject. It builds upon thruth researched.

3. Relate to each student through the subject, applying it to character, conscience and stewardship. The subject is the vehicle to learn more about God, not just a bunch of facts to memorize. This creates lessons that are truly alive for teacher and student, because they come from God's Word.

4. Record what you feel you need to save by both teacher and student. Each should have their own record, whatever form that takes. Some like to keep an electronic notebook, some more like a scrapbook, others a type of journal and still others a traditional notebook.

We should take care what materials we use, Mr. Rose advises. Materials that teach external as the focus will present confusion.

The child and the subject are extensions of Jesus, the Author and Governor. We connect them together and we develop a student who can reason biblically and take dominion over all subjects.

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This post is on the first of 12 steps Mr. Rose recommends to renew your mind and formulate your philosophy of education. This book has done more to help me in my home educating journey than all other books combined (sans Bible) so I am really excited to do this study. If you want to join us, visit GACEstudy. 

See "A Guide to American Christian Education" (GACE) p. 118 for all the steps and reading list. Step one is to read about the key to BPA.

The key to the BPA is the heart, the internal cause of things.

Christian education begins with salvation. It is internal, a heart issue (Proverbs 4:23). So then naturally BPA will begin with the heart also. This is the first method of education I have personally encountered that worked this way. Everything else is about modifying
behavior or changing actions. BPA gets to the root of it all--the heart. That's why he calls it the key. You have to understand that to get before you can move to the next step. It unlocks everything else. It is the standard for everything from this point on (like an answer key).

Internal means "primary, causative, invisible." So this means the heart is God's domain. God is responsible, watchful and governing the hearts of men. The heart is not my domain, but as children their hearts are in my care. I am a steward. As they grow and learn Christian self-government they take more responsibility until they answer for their condition.

We discover our child's heart by their actions. (Proverbs 23:7, Lk. 6:45, Rom. 10:10) Their fruit will be evident. We are to teach them God's Word, writing it on their hearts. Then it becomes the fruit they need to produce. The internal will become external.

When studying the 7 principles of American Christian history and government, you should discover the internal to the external connection in each by relating:

1. how internal and external are related to the principles
2. God's Principle of Individuality is the foundational principle 
3. all others come from that principle
4. how they are expounded biblically, educationally, historically and governmentally (see chart on p. xxii)

Mr. Rose also said that Biblical principles are for "every area of every Christian's life." This applies to all subjects as well. We are to see internal to external in every subject because Christ is in every subject and His kingdom works the same wherever you go. That sets BPA apart from every other method out there.

In our study of Benjamin West we were creating a T-chart comparing and contrasting schools in colonial days and today. One of the main differences we discovered was that colonial schools were concerned with character while today's schools (and many parents) are concerned with conduct. You cannot simply control conduct and raise godly children and good citizens. You will have outward compliance and inward rebellion. We need our children to understand that we are concerned with their hearts and they are to control their own behavior. Mr Rose states on p. 30,

The correlative of Christian self-government  is a Christian character and conscience (internal) whereby the individual student is both responsible and accountable  to the internal demands of God's law written on the heart. The effect is a self-governed,  free and independent man among men, who reasons from God's Word rather than adapts to his environment or acts without reflection.

It really is as hard and as easy as a heart change. The subjects both come from that and cause that. And I will explain that in more detail as the study progresses.

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