GREENVILLE
PRESBYTERIAN THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY
ANALYSIS:
SHOULD NON-REFORMED CHILDREN BE ALLOWED TO ATTEND REFORMED SCHOOLS?
Thomas
Booher
AT 41 Christian
Education
November
24, 2015
Should
children who are not Reformed be allowed to attend a school that is Reformed?
One may wonder how a school can be Reformed if its students are not. The
argument will be that it is the curriculum and the teachers that make a school
distinctly Reformed, regardless of the personal convictions of the children
(and their parents) who attend the school. In order that the Reformed witness
not be diluted, however, certain parameters must be established, and certain
concessions must be made by the parents and their children who are not
Reformed.
A Reformed school must have a Reformed
curriculum, and teachers that affirm the Reformed faith. If the teachers are
not Reformed, they cannot accurately disseminate biblical teaching as the
school defines it, even if the curriculum itself is Reformed. It is necessary
that there is basic agreement concerning the gospel, the doctrines of grace,
and the main points of the Reformed faith. Perhaps affirmation of the
Westminster Confession of Faith should be required for teachers, though some
may argue for broadness and a more general statement of faith of which the
teacher promises to uphold and honor.
Starting a school with such strenuous prerequisites
is not an easy task. The present writer is a dean at a relatively new
classical, Christian school that has Reformed curriculum for its history,
theology, and literature (and he teaches these subjects). While some of the
faculty is Reformed, others are not, though they do not teach subjects that
bear as directly on the Reformed worldview. Nevertheless, because all subject
matter should be taught from a consistent worldview, this poses a potential
problem. The difficulty comes in finding Reformed teachers who are qualified in
every field of academia offered at a Reformed school. Should the school not
exist simply because a Reformed math or Latin teacher is unavailable? Or should
these subjects not be taught? The matter is debatable, but it must be
recognized that the school is not thoroughly Reformed when some of its
teachers, even in less directly relevant fields, are not themselves Reformed. Their
worldviews will necessarily be expressed in the classrooms, and the students
will pick up on it, and perhaps even notice the tension between the Latin
teacher’s worldview and the Logic teacher’s. Chapel messages are restricted to
pastors and elders who are Reformed, which helps maintain the Reformed
character of the school, but in the trenches this message will not consistently
be applied so long as non-Reformed faculty is present.
At this classical Christian school,
children of all denominations are permitted to enroll. There is one Roman
Catholic student, which is a unique situation because her mother is Lutheran
while the father is Roman Catholic. Does this make it permissible for the
student to attend? The question that must be answered is whether or not the
child affirms that salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ
alone. If works are necessary in order to be saved, the child is not a true
believer, and therefore is disqualified from admittance because she is not a
Christian. This should be the litmus test that all students must pass, as well
as their parents. At least one parent needs to be a believer since the parent
is obligated to raise his children in the ways of the Lord (Prov. 22:6; Eph.
6:4) and instruct them in all fields of academia, since all the world –
everything -- reveals God (Ps. 19).
The family and school must likewise
work together, not apart from each other. Neither can do its job well if
communication and coordination is not occurring regularly between the two. Likewise,
weak churches will adversely affect the students and their quality of education.
When school, church, and family pull in the same direction, the child benefits,
but when each pulls in opposing directions, the child is stretched and torn
apart. This is perhaps the strongest argument against permitting non-Reformed
students into a Reformed school – by the nature of their life situation, they
are getting at least two, if not three different messages from their parents,
their school, and their church. The good news is that the Spirit can use such a
messy situation to lead the child closer to the truth as revealed in His Word,
and it should be argued that it is better for the child to get a Reformed voice
from one of these three prongs than to hear a three-headed voice of error. If
the Lord wills, the child may even come around to the Reformed faith, and as
the parents help their children with the Reformed curriculum, they may as well.
This would likely lead the parents, in due time, to leave their non-Reformed
church and find a Reformed one. The Reformed school should have such high
aspirations, but must not be naïve about things. The likelihood of this occurring
in droves is, from the human perspective, slim; conflict is more likely to
emerge, but life this side of heaven is more often conflict than it is not, and
through the conflict can come greater unity.
To help diffuse potential conflict
with parents (and students), all parents must understand from the outset that
the curriculum of the school is unapologetically Reformed. While other
positions that fellow believers and denominations uphold will be respected,
they will neither be agreed with nor taught. In fact, they must be challenged
and shown to be unscriptural, by appealing to God’s Word itself, if the
Reformed worldview it to truly be promoted as most biblical. The goal of a
Reformed school is to produce a holistic Reformed worldview within the mind and
heart of each student, so that they will worship and serve the Lord in spirit
and in truth, which is just the kind of worship the Father seeks (Jn. 4:23-24).
If the parents understand the agenda of the school from the outset and are
still willing to enroll their children, all is well. This will provide both
challenges and opportunities to the faculty and the student body. The teacher
must be able to defend the Reformed faith over against children who are either
unpersuaded or unaware of it in a loving and winsome manner, and will also have
to answer questions that concerned parents will inevitably raise. Tensions
could rise between students of different denominations, and the teacher must be
skilled in calming the class. The student must learn to handle those from
different theological backgrounds, which produce different lifestyles, and
recognize that those with differing beliefs are also brothers and sisters in Christ.
This is a hard lesson but a healthy one for the child to learn, and is one of
the best arguments for having non-Reformed students in a Reformed school. There
may come a point, however, where hostility between different students and
parents outweighs any gains that could be made, necessitating the dismissal of
some students from the school. In these matters, discernment and wisdom are
vital, and that only comes through study, prayer, and experience.
Healthy class debates can be held,
either formally or informally, to help facilitate thought provoking discussion.
The Socratic method of teaching is beneficial, and in some situations may prove
indispensable, in a Reformed school where the student body comes from various
denominations. This will sharpen the student’s ability to debate and dialogue
with opposing viewpoints, answer challenging questions on the spot, and the
hope is that each student will return to the Scriptures as the final arbiter of
truth. This helps reveal what is tradition in the student’s life, what is truly
biblical, and what is simply adiaphora. Through diligence, care, and prayer, the
numbers of Reformed believers may increase as non-Reformed parents and their
children are introduced to, and persuaded of, an integrated and seamless
theology that incorporates all of Scripture to all of life. Even if some
students maintain some reservations about the Reformed faith, they will likely
embrace elements of it, and perhaps later in their life imbibe it in total. The
committedly Reformed students will be exposed to non-Reformed traditions and
should grow in thankfulness for their Reformed heritage and also learn how to
defend it more skillfully.
Related to the question of
non-Reformed believers in a Reformed school is the question of non-Reformed
believers in a Reformed parish school. The school where the present
writer teaches is not a parish school, but the same model could be followed if
it were a parish school, sans the non-Reformed instructors. A Reformed parish
school could not in good conscience allow those of a different theological
persuasion to teach in its school, because a true understanding of Reformed
teaching reveals that one cannot teach without some sort of presupposition, and
that presupposition will either be thoroughly Reformed, or not. If true
teaching is to take place, it must always take place within a context, as Adam
and Eve were given life and taught within the context of the covenant God made
with them. Likewise, the student and teacher engage in a sort of bond with one
another, and their view of God, His sovereignty, and how man is saved comes to
bear directly in every field of study, including mathematics. Two plus two
equals four not because of some abstract law that stands over God, but because
God has composed the universe to follow a certain mathematical structure, which
displays His beauty, harmony, and order. God is Lord of numbers just as much as
He is Lord of salvation. But for the grace of God, the unregenerate would be
just as helpless to understand mathematical equations as he would be to
understand his own depravity and need for salvation.
A Reformed math teacher will not
merely personally believe this to be true, but will emphasize this fact in the
classroom, and explain that Christ came to die so that even math itself could
be understood and appropriated properly by those made in His image, in order
that Christians could rightly exercise dominion over His creation by
discovering math’s potential and then cultivate it in architecture and the
like. A non-Reformed math teacher will not be able to do this grand concept
justice, because he or she is not fully committed to, or cognizant of, God’s
sovereignty over all things, the relationship of all things to each other
(because God is harmonized complexity, the three in one, the proof that unity
and diversity are equally ultimate, which solves the problem of the one and the
many), and the true nature of man’s depravity which precipitates the effectual
atonement of Christ on the cross for the elect. And if such a math teacher can
do justice to all these things, then he is Reformed, whether he knows it or
not!
The question this paper answers may be
viewed through the lens of church membership. In Reformed churches, it is not
required that a member believe everything in the Westminster Confession of
Faith (or similar confessions and catechisms). To become a member in the PCA,
the following five questions must be answered in the affirmative:
- Do you acknowledge yourselves to
be sinners in the sight of God, justly deserving His displeasure, and
without hope save [except] in His sovereign mercy?
- Do you believe in the Lord Jesus
Christ as the Son of God, and Savior of sinners, and do you receive and
rest upon Him alone for salvation as He is offered in the Gospel?
- Do you now resolve and promise,
in humble reliance upon the grace of the Holy Spirit, that you will
endeavor to live as becomes the followers of Christ?
- Do you promise to support the
church in its worship and work to the best of your ability?
- Do you submit yourselves to the
government and discipline of the church, and promise to study its purity
and peace?
Such a confession does not require one
to believe in predestination precisely as Reformed believers understand
it (though His sovereignty in salvation must be recognized), nor does it
require belief in limited atonement or similar Reformed doctrines. It does,
however, require belief in Christ as Lord and Savior, reliance upon Him alone,
and not works, for salvation, and a striving to live righteously as a
Christ-follower by the power of the Holy Spirit. Further, the church must be
supported in its worship and work, and submission to its government and
discipline must be coupled with pursuit of its purity and peace through
study. Such a model should likewise be followed at a Reformed school.
Students do not have to be Calvinists, but they must be Christians (meaning
they rest in Christ alone for salvation and not in faith and works as Roman
Catholic doctrine teaches concerning one’s justification), and so should at
least one of their parents (paralleling vows taken by parents at an infant
baptism). Parent and child must also see the Reformed school as a means to
being a better follower/disciple of Christ, and must swear to support the
school in its work, and its curriculum, by submitting to the school’s
authority which the parent has placed upon the child, in order that the school’s
peace and purity may be maintained. In fact, it may be advisable to adapt these
five membership questions of the PCA into enrollment questions for the student
and parents seeking to gain admittance into a Reformed school. Doing so
reinforces the concept that school, family, and church should be held together
and work in harmony as mutual supports to one another.
If the basic principles outlined above
are followed in a Reformed school, it will be able to not only stand in
Reformed soil while reaching out to plant new seeds without compromise, but
also transplant struggling plants from deficient soil into the rich soil of the
Reformed faith (the non-Reformed students and their parents). By God’s grace,
such weak plants will revive in the richer soil, and become as healthy and
vibrant as the plants around it. Such a daring undertaking is more challenging,
but it is also more rewarding for both the Reformed student and non-Reformed
student, and as such the kingdom of God grows as deeper roots are laid and
walls are fortified. As the young people are bolstered in their knowledge of
God and the world, they are equipped to go out into the world, not only to
maintain their faith, but to contend for the faith that was once
delivered to all God’s people (Jude 1:3) and be salt and light to this lost and
dying world. Would that such a vision
for the Reformed school take hold of Reformed churches and parishioners
everywhere, so that a revival of Reformed theology may take place even today,
and God’s truth shine forth as brightly as the sun!
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