Through this series of articles (one, two and three) I have sought to answer some difficult questions surrounding education and schooling. I have highlighted some of the history and pitfalls of our government controlled school system. Allow me to recap on the statistics. Australian research shows that 95% of children, who are raised in the Church, turn their back on the Christ. These children walk away from the faith of their fathers when they reach an age of accountability. I am not pretending that this is not a complex, multi dimensional issue. I have built a case for what I believe to be a major reason for this appalling statistic. Worldview battles have raged since the beginning of time. Eve accepted false wisdom and knowledge. She accepted a humanistic value system; man is autonomous. Adam did not protect her from the serpent; he failed in his headship. Thus humanity spiraled away from worshipping in the presence of God. Humanism has early roots. Man was meant to obey the Lord and then go out, down from the garden, into the world and take dominion for the glory of God. Instead, man groped at sovereignty. Thus he was removed from the garden and servitude dominion was not accomplished. Until the Lord Jesus Christ, no man walked perfectly before the Lord. Every single man failed to humbly serve and thereby receive dominion/true wisdom. Every man, in one way or another, sought to take dominion. That is until the Lord Jesus Christ. He humbled Himself, took on sin affected flesh, died on the cross. In this act of servitude He defeated Satan and muted the sting of death. He did this knowing that glory and dominion were on the other side of the cross. We must learn to die in order to receive life and power. Christ rose again and ascended on high to be the first man to enter the highest heaven/the Holy of Holies. He received His kingdom. And He rules over the world until all His enemies are subdued. His bride is to obediently go out from the new garden, each Lord's Day, down into all the world and take dominion over all the nations. This is accomplished by the converting power of the Holy Ghost, through the means of the preaching and living of the gospel. God is seeking godly offspring. He desires fathers to pass their faith on to their children. Educating our children in a way that glorifies the King must be our primary concern. Fathers, the battle lines have been drawn for a long time; but God haters have blurred the points of engagement. Atheists (of all types and forms) realise the importance of winning the next generation. They think the game is over. They believe victory is theirs. It is not. Fathers who faithfully apply the Scriptures to all of life will bring revival. Not because of their efforts. Rather, Christ has won the victory. Men, it is time to see the battle for what it is. We are to be faithful and courageous. Scriptural principles must be applied to the education of our children. See humanism and its classroom (state schools) for what it is; a false religion parading as objective truth. Don't be fooled by the lie. Sending your children to government schools will open the door for receiving back a secular humanistic child. If you give your child to Caesar for education don't be surprised when a Roman soldier returns.

We are returning to the important topic of your children and their education. This is the third, of four articles on the topic. Please read part one and two for context and background. The landscape of Australian education prior to the 1840s was largely in the hands of the Church denominations and families. Catholics and Protestants taught their children in many Church based schools and at home. However, it was found that “the wealthy alone could enjoy higher branches of knowledge.”[1] This was a time of great change in the history of Australian education. A committee commissioned by the NSW Legislative Council in 1844 recommended a government funded and centralized Board of Education to be established. The board would compile sections of Scripture to be used in the instruction of literacy and morals. Once a week a pastor, or person approved by the parents would be permitted to teach the children. This system met much opposition from the Protestants and Catholics alike. Anglican Bishop of Australia William Broughton fought tooth and nail against the introduction of such a state controlled secular education system. Bishop Broughton argued before the committee that; “education without doctrine would lead to a permissiveness in moral behaviour, and a republicanism in politics, which would bring ship-wreck to Christian civilization...he was not prepared to teach Christianity without a creed. He would rather not teach at all than be guilty of encouraging the belief that all forms of religion were equally entitled to support, because under such a system there was a danger that truth would ultimately be driven from the world.”[2]

Your children’s education is of utmost importance. This should be stating the obvious. However, many Christian parents are not aware of the many agendas lurking behind our education system. The government recognises the importance of school. It knows that you win a generation through discipling them. I demonstrated this in my first article. You must understand why. In doing so you will recognise the battle line and thus know how to fight. The false religion of secular humanism is taught in our schools for a reason. This is no mistake. Governments that do not pay reverence to the Son of God (Ps 2) grope for sovereignty. Thomas Paine (1739 – 1809 A.D.) stated it this way; “The Nation is essentially the source of all Sovereignty; nor can any individual, or any body of men, be entitled to any authority which is not expressly derived from it.”[1]In other words, secular governments take counsel and deride (Ps 2:2) the “ruler of the kings of the earth” (Rev 1:5 ). All imposter sovereigns seek to influence their disciples. The common method of discipleship is education. Through education every religion/philosophy trains its adherents in a world and life view. Aristotle (384-322 B.C.) knew the importance of discipling children via government controlled education. He stated it like this; “[n]o one will doubt that the legislator should direct his attention above all to the education of youth; for the neglect of education does harm to the constitution. The citizen should be moulded to suit the form of government under which he lives….Neither must we suppose that any one of the citizens belongs to himself, for they all belong to the state.”[2]There is a goal behind every curriculum. It either glorifies the Lord Jesus Christ or not. Our educational aims must be to lay claim of Christ, not the government, over the child’s acquisition of knowledge and wisdom. Secular humanist government schools seek to mould our youth according to the philosophy of the government. Why? Those seeking to usurp God’s sovereignty assume possession of their subjects and their children. God, as the sovereign Creator, owns you and your children. Secular humanist governments seek to assert their ownership over you and your children. They are the imposter trying to usurp your inheritance and God’s sovereignty. No one denies the power of education in the area of ownership and discipleship. This is an old battle line. It has been a major battle since the beginning of creation. There is a sharp antithesis. The usurper wants to take power and control his subjects. Christ is working to disciple the nations through the work of His bride (Matt 28 ). Much of this work is accomplished through parents discipling/educating their children (Deut 6 , Mal 2:15 ).

We are embarking on a series regarding the education of our children. This is an important worldview issue. Education cannot be held in isolation. It is a piece of the worldview jigsaw that influences the entire makeup of our worldview puzzle. As Christians we are engaged in the battle over worldviews. It is a war “between...biblical Christianity where the infinite and sovereign God of the universe reigns and rules and the worldview of the many varieties of man-centred belief systems where finite and dependent creatures work to rule and reign independent of God.”[1] What exactly is a worldview? Greg Bahnsen defined it this way; “A worldview is a network of presuppositions (which are not verified by the procedures of natural science) regarding reality (metaphysics), knowing (epistemology), and conduct (ethics) in terms of which every element of human experience is related and interpreted.”[2] Nothing is neutral. “You must not set aside your faith in God when you consider anything.”[3] Your worldview must be consistent with the revelation in the Bible. A house divided cannot stand. When parts of your worldview do not comport with the Scriptures things need to change. “He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad” (Matt 12:30 ).