
PHILOSOPHY OF CHRISTIAN EDUCATION
The process of education is seen as a means used by the Holy Spirit to bring the student into fellowship with God, to develop a Christian mind in him and to train him in godly living, so that he can fulfill God’s total purpose for his life personally and vocationally.
The Ponoka Christian School follows the premise that the only true education is a Christian based education. Christian education deals with all dimensions of life from a Biblical viewpoint.
REALITY God is the personal and purposeful Creator and represents the guiding force of the universe. Reality in life involves the understanding that God is real and is active in the lives of men and women today.
REALITY
TRUTH All truth is God’s truth. Truth is consistent throughout the universe. Truth exists and is an absolute. God has revealed Himself through His Scriptures, through nature, and through His son. Man’s understanding of truth comes through a study of the inspired Word of God, an understanding of His creation, and having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
TRUTH
KNOWLEDGE All knowledge must be put in the context of Biblical truth. Any knowledge or personal conviction which serves as a guiding principle in an individual’s life must be measured against truth as revealed in God’s inspired Word.
KNOWLEDGE
MAN Man’s primary nature is his freedom to choose what his behavior will be, what he will think, become, and do. Man’s freedom of choice is affected by his inherent nature and his environment of both good and evil. Therefore, he is in need of salvation to choose good and to find fulfillment in a reconciled life made possible by Jesus Christ, the divine Son of God.
MAN
CHRISTIAN EDUCATION In order for an educational program to be academically sound and instructionally effective, it must be founded upon Christian educational principles that recognize the true nature of God, of truth, of knowledge, and of man. Implicit in Christian education are these basic truths:
CHRISTIAN EDUCATION
Man does possess a spiritual dimension (Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let him rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground”. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. Gen.1: 26, 27, NIV)
Education involves the total being – spiritually, intellectually, physically, and socially. (Instruct a wise man and he will be wiser still; teach a righteous man and he will add to his learning. Prov.9: 9, NIV)
Each person possesses unique, individual, potential traits and needs. (“For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man’s gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others let him give generously; if it is leadership let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.” Rom.12: 3-8)
The educational experience must involve (as a primary emphasis) the development of Christian beliefs, attitudes, and skills.
An integration of Bible truth will be an inseparable and primary part of the total educational process. Christian concepts will be unified with, inseparable from, and central to the academic contents. f. Children need a steady influence while preparing to live in a complex society. Only the Bible has the answers to man’s needs and longings, and therefore will serve as our final authority on all questions.