One of the goals of a classical Christian education is to inspire a love for learning, and one of the most exciting things as an educator is when students develop that passion for themselves. I would argue that this is only fully possible in a Christian school, because Jesus is the fountain of all wisdom, knowledge, goodness, truth and beauty. Whenever someone is captivated by wonder or beauty, they are experiencing an imprint of God’s nature on His creation. When someone becomes captivated with Christ, and desires to know, love and serve Him, there is a natural passion for learning across all kinds of disciplines because we learn of Christ throughout all that He has made. As scripture teaches, “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead” (Romans 1:20a, NKJV). That is also why Fortis Academy weaves a Christian worldview throughout all of our classes. Yet, if we are hoping to inspire a love for learning, we need to have it ourselves. This is one of the reasons for our Christian worldview book club on Thursday nights. (We will be starting a new book on November 8th if anyone is interested in joining us: The Line through the Heart: Natural Law as Fact, Theory, and Sign of Contradiction by J. Budziszewski http://a.co/d/e2xghbD).
I have been thinking about a quote from the book we are currently finishing: “As the Israelites obey God, they will demonstrate what life under God’s reign looks like. The nations will be able to catch a glimpse of God’s plan for all peoples. The whole of Israel’s experience, including family life, law, politics, economics, and recreation, will reflect God’s character and God’s original creational intention for human life. Israel’s life under God is to testify to the living presence of God within God’s people. It is to be such a full and rich human life that the nations of the earth will be drawn to it.”[1]
Bartholomew and Goheen describe what the calling of Israel was, which will only be fulfilled by Christians fulfilling the cultural mandate by the power of the Holy Spirit. A simple way to describe it is a way of life that is so good and beautiful that people will be attracted to it. Catching a vision for this will empower churches to grow and exercise an influence that will have a positive impact on society. Just as important as our message is to the world is the way we live it out. Classical Christian education aims at forming this vision and life in our children. The depth of love, wisdom and knowledge that comes from years motivated by a love of learning empowers people to captivate the hearts and imaginations of others while giving them the skills to be influential in the world. That is what our passion and prayer is for our students at Fortis Academy.
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