A Christian Philosophy of Education

by Gordon H. Clark

Gordon H. Clark Hardback, 196 pages, [1946] 2000 This book was first published in 1946, at a time when most Christian parents in America still trusted public schools and did not even consider educating their children at home or in Christian schools. It demonstrates why public schools were not to be trusted even in 1946. Completely revised, A Christian Philosophy of Education remains the best book-length explanation of Christian education, written by a Christian teacher who taught for 60 years. Preface; The Need for a World-View; The Christian World-View; The Alternative to Christian Theism; Neutrality; Ethics; The Christian Philosophy of Education; Academic Matters; From Kindergarten to University; Appendix The Relationship of Public Education to Christianity; Appendix A Protestant World View; Appendix Art and the Gospel; Appendix How Do We Learn? Appendix Can Moral Education Be Grounded in Naturalism? Scripture Index; Index; The Works of Gordon H. Clark; The Crisis of Our Time.

Genres: Education, Philosophy, Theology, Nonfiction

196 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1987

About the author

Gordon Haddon Clark was an American philosopher and Calvinist theologian. He was a primary advocate for the idea of presuppositional apologetics and was chairman of the Philosophy Department at Butler University for 28 years. He was an expert in pre-Socratic and ancient philosophy and was noted for his rigor in defending propositional revelation against all forms of empiricism and rationalism, in arguing that all truth is propositional and in applying the laws of logic. His system of philosophy is sometimes called Scripturalism.

The Trinty Foundation continues to publish his writings.

Reviews

[Jacob Aitken · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the early forays into the modern approach to Christian education/Christian schools. Clark doesn’t give anything like a program or curriculum. He does give good guidelines. And as always, his writing style is top-notch.

The first half of the book is a summary of A Christian View of Men and Things. But perhaps his attack on “neutrality” is a new emphasis. As the beginning of the book is on worldview, and since he covered the same ground in A Christian View, we will just summarize the high points.

(1) Education presupposes a view of man (Clark 9). Is man a monkey? A machine? A bunch of atoms? Or the image of God?

(2) The failure of agnosticisms/skepticism regarding ultimate matters: a skeptic finds that nothing is to be found, presumably including knowledge. This makes it worthless for education. The agnostic says he does not know which propositions are true, but presumably he knows that it is better to eat than to starve (34).

(3) The atheism of Russell (unyielding foundation of despair) leads to the pessimism of the existentialists, prompting Clark’s remark: “The only reasonable reaction to humanism is suicide….If the humanists want to be consistent they should kill themselves” (54).

(4) Clark anticipates Alvin Plantinga’s argument against naturalism by noting that the evolutionists can’t give an account of teaching math: “Sooner or later….the pupil will ask, “‘Why should I learn arithmetic? Then if the teacher is authentic and honest she will say, ‘Arithmetic helps you when you lose your faith in God.’ Or, she will say, with more truth, ‘Arithmetic will help you gain power and dominate other men.’ Or, with true zoological scholarship she may say, ‘Arithmetic is a phase of the evolutionary process that leads to the extinction of the human species’” (58-59).

The Problem with Dewey

This is the meat. I want nothing short of a scorched-earth, nuclear wasteland when dealing with John Dewey. But let’s keep it brief, at least as regards his theory of progress. “There is no criterion by which to judge of change, nor is there a goal which fixes the direction of progress” (Clark 89).

Goals of education

“Education should be as thorough as technical training; but not so narrow and restricted; for the aim is a complete man and a well-balanced life” (203).

Neutrality isn’t just impossible. It is silly

“O God, we neither deny nor assert thy existence; and O God, we neither obey nor disobey thy commands. We are neutral” (207).

Criticisms

The book can’t help the fact that it is dated in some respects. On the other side, that can also be seen as evidence of how prophetic Clark was. And while there are a bunch of good jokes/horror stories/news reports about how silly some of the education curricula is, and no matter how disliked Common Core is, improvements have been made. No one is incompetent 100% of the time.

Clark has a section on whether emotions are proper to the Christian. To his credit, he notes that the dictionary definition of emotion can’t apply to the Christian or the Christian’s God. Such a view would have the perfect changing to the imperfect, or given over to rationality. Well and good. It’s not so clear how Clark deals with proper emotions as found in the psalms.

[Patrick McWilliams · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was the first I'd ever read from Gordon Clark. My parents encouraged me to read it for an essay contest, and while I wasn't particularly excited by the title, this book was life-changing for me. It kickstarted a fascination with theology and philosophy that has far outweighed what a $3,000 contest prize could have ever given me.

My main takeaway from this book was that neutrality, when it comes to Scripture, is impossible. To insist that schools teach Scriptural creation alongside atheistic evolution is actually to demean the doctrines of Scripture as if truth were an option next to falsehood. This book also solidified my opposition to public schooling long before I added political reasons for doing so.

[Steven H · Rating 5 out of 5]

A FAMED CALVINIST PHILOSOPHER/APOLOGIST DISCUSSES EDUCATIONAL THEORY

Gordon Haddon Clark (1902-1985) was an American philosopher and Calvinist theologian, who was chairman of the Philosophy Department at Butler University for 28 years. He wrote many books, such as 'The Holy Spirit,' 'The Trinity,' 'Sanctification,' 'The Incarnation,' 'Faith and Saving Faith,' etc.

He argues early on, "There is only one philosophy that can really unify education and life. That philosophy is the philosophy of Christian theism. What is needed is an educational system based on the sovereignty of God, for in such a system man as well as chemistry will be given his proper place, neither too high or too low." (Pg. 21) He suggests that "The first and basic point in a Christian philosophy of education... is Biblical authority." (Pg. 124)

He asserts that "a humanistic, atheistic, purposeless universe provides no basis for art." (Pg. 51) More controversially, he adds that "The only reasonable reaction to humanism is suicide... if the humanists wish to be completely consistent, they ought to kill themselves." (Pg. 54)

Later, he states that "So little can Christian schools operate in a social and political vacuum that they must support and strengthen governments that favor Protestantism and resist Romanism. A government favorable to Romanism will not long permit Christian schools." (Pg. 180)

Knowing Clark's philosophy of education is very helpful for rounding out one's viewpoint of his total philosophy.

[Phillip Nash · Rating 4 out of 5]

First written in the 1940’s and revised in the late 80’s, the reader needs to deal with an older style of language and some expressions that today may seem offensive. However, Clark’s central ideas remain valid and were quite prophetic in the 40’s. While he does not set out a systematic Christian philosophy of education, he deals with the major philosophic elements. A helpful book for those interested in what a Christian philosophy of education should contain.

[Rylin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent read for the current cultural climate despite being written in the 40s. Clark is unapologetically in favor of Christian education and does not sugar coat his words. We need more of this today. I hope more Christian families will begin to take heed of the philosophies in this book. I think I highlighted the entire chapter on neutrality.

[Sarah Grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clark is often hard for me to understand, but I still got some good takeaways about the crucial importance of Christian education.

[Ben House · Rating 4 out of 5]

With this book, I have begun a reading and re-reading of the writings of Gordon Clark. Credit Douglas Douma's book Gordon Clark: Presbyterian Philosopher for this quest. In this case, I was re-reading, having read and marked the book many years ago.
Some of what Clark says is dated or sounds a bit contrary, but patiently plodding through is very rewarding. This is not a simplistic "how to start a Christian school" or "how to develop a Christian worldview."
Weighty and challenging, but a vital read for Christian educators.

[Jeremy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I won 3rd place in an essay contest with this book as the subject.

[Vagabond of Letters, DLitt · Rating 3 out of 5]

7.5/10: this book's only weakness is in little addressing the subject matter implied by the title outside of the opening and concluding chapters.