All Articles For That They May Teach Them to Their Children

Miss Lubbers is a member of First Protestant Reformed Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan Three articles (cf. Nov. 15, 1998, Feb. 15, 1999, and March 15, 1999) have summarized and reviewed some of the early significant writings by Herman Hoeksema and George M. Ophoff concerning Christian education and Christian schools. I have contended that the articles respecting Christian education and Christian schools during the earliest years of the publication of the Standard Bearer influenced profoundly the development and formation of the Protestant Reformed Christian Schools. I believe that it can be demonstrated that those articles, written seven decades ago by...

Prof. Dykstra is professor of Church History and New Testament in the Protestant Reformed Seminary. The Christian school teacher is engaged in an unceasing battle with humanism. The battles are fierce and the foe relentless because the stakes are high. All of secular education has been won over to the philosophy that man is the measure of all things. The one true God has been banned from the classroom, and many false gods have been set up in His place. Even in the realm of Christian education, humanism has made powerful inroads into the curriculum and instruction. Only in the...

Miss Lubbers is a member of First Protestant Reformed Church of Grand Rapids, Michigan and administrator of Eastside Christian School. (Preceding article in series: June 2003, p. 398.) With this article we bring to a conclusion the discussion of the narrative approach in Reformed Christian education. The defense and development of an understanding of the narrative approach is the burden of the book The Christian Story and the Christian School, Christian Schools International, 1993, by Dr. John Bolt. In this book Dr. Bolt contends that the problems in Christian schools arising from contemporary education and our culture could be addressed...

Miss Lubbers is a member of First Protestant Reformed Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan Four articles (cf. Nov. 15, 1998; Feb. 15, 1999; March 15, 1999; and October 1, 1999) have summarized and reviewed the early writings by Herman Hoeksema and George M. Ophoff concerning Reformed Christian education and Christian schools. I have indicated that articles respecting Christian education during the very early years of the publication of the Standard Bearer influenced the thinking of those who labored to establish and develop the Protestant Reformed Christian Schools. Although the schools were not to be schools governed by the churches, the...

Prof. Dykstra is professor of Church History and New Testament in the Protestant Reformed Seminary. The Word of God plainly teaches that believers are called to a life of serving one another. Jesus told His disciples not to seek to be masters over one another, but rather to serve the others. Serving others follows a principle of God’s kingdom, namely that “whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted” (Matt. 23:12). Applying this principle Jesus admonished His disciples, “He that is greatest among you shall be your servant” (Matt. 23:11). Jesus demonstrated...

Prof. Dykstra is professor of Church History and New Testament in the Protestant Reformed Seminary. In the last issue of the Standard Bearer we took notice of a trend in Christian high schools and colleges, namely, that of encouraging or even requiring students to perform various kinds of Christian “service.” This service, usually not clearly defined, includes volunteer-type activities—helping the elderly, the poor, the handicapped, etc. Increasingly, schools are requiring students to fulfill a minimum number of hours of service, either for a class, or as a graduation requirement. A mainstay in the programs are “service projects”—planned and sponsored group...

Prof. Dykstra is professor of Church History and New Testament in the Protestant Reformed Seminary. Every builder will testify that the foundation of a building is of crucial importance for the building as a whole. The foundation not only determines the size and the shape of the building, but affects its value and longevity. A well-constructed building on a sure foundation should stand strong and function well in the purpose for which it was constructed. The foundation of the Christian school (not the school building, now, but the school itself) is likewise crucial. The foundation of the school will reflect...

Prof. Dykstra is professor of Church History and New Testament in the Protestant Reformed Seminary. The two different covenants compared and contrasted in the last installment are the conditional and the unconditional covenants. By the unconditional covenant of grace is meant the relationship of friendship that God sovereignly establishes with Christ (eternally) as the Mediator and Head of the covenant, and in Christ with all the elect. This covenant is not merely a means unto salvation, but is the very goal of God, namely everlasting covenant fellowship with His people. God establishes His covenant unilaterally with His chosen in the...

Prof. Dykstra is professor of Church History and New Testament in the Protestant Reformed Seminary. God’s covenant of grace not only determines how God deals with His people, but by it God forms a real relationship with His people. This same covenant determines the place of children in the church and in the homes of believers. It is evident, then, that the particular view of the covenant held by parents and teachers will regulate the instruction, yes, even the character of the Christian school. The theology of the conditional covenant is that God establishes His covenant with every baptized child...

Prof. Dykstra is professor of Church History and New Testament in the Protestant Reformed Seminary. With this issue, the Standard Bearer restores an old and honored department, namely, a rubric devoted to covenant education. The SB has from early on shown a dedicated concern for Christian schools and the instruction of covenant children. This had been my general impression, and a search of the index confirmed this, no rather, astounded me. Articles on the Christian school are found in the first volume of the SB. From that volume to the present, 44 SB articles discuss Christian schools in the Protestant...