Biblical Foundation

As followers of Jesus Christ, living in this world, we declare with joy and trust: our world belongs to God! This includes the world of education and on that basis we affirm the following principles related to our Christian faith and the role of education.

• Creation: we affirm that in the beginning God - Father,Son and Spirit - called this world into being out of nothing and gave it shape and order. God continues to direct all that happens in His world.
• Sin: we affirm that people’s disobedience to God has broken the relationship between God and us. Looking for life without God, we find only death, leaving us blind to our place in the world and to the meaning of life.
• Redemption: we affirm that Jesus Christ, the eternal Word made flesh, conquered sin and death. Being both God and man, Jesus is the only mediator between God and His people. He alone paid the debt of sin; there is no other Saviour. It is through Christ that all areas of life, including education, are redeemed and restored. Therefore, it is only in Christ that we are able to discover the meaning and purpose of life.
• Our Purpose: we affirm that the rule of Jesus Christ covers the whole world. To follow the Lord is to serve Him everywhere, including the field of education.
• Scriptures: we affirm that the Bible is the Word of God. It is the Word of Truth, fully reliable in leading us to know God and have life in Jesus Christ. It infallibly tells of God’s mighty acts, reveals His will and His plan of salvation.
• Students: we affirm that students, of whatever ability, are to be treated as people who bear God’s image and have a place in His plan.We strive to guide students into a deeper understanding of God’s world so that they can take up their calling as faithful stewards of their God-given tasks, both now and in the future.
• Parents: we affirm that the responsibility for the education of children rests primarily with the parents, to whom children are entrusted by God.
• Teachers: we affirm that parents entrust Christian teachers with the responsibility of instructing students. Teachers, in co-operation with the parents, are responsible for integrating a Christian perspective in all aspects of schooling, including the curriculum, and also for living a godly life, as described in the Bible.
• School : we affirm that a primary task of the Christian school is guiding students into a deeper understanding of God’s creation and its history. Christian schools help nurture children in the Biblical faith so they can take up their calling as faithful stewards of their God-given tasks.
• The Christian Community: we affirm that since Christian education plays an important role in the growth of the Kingdom of God, the wider Christian community, not only parents of students, has a responsibility to nurture children and play an active role in their education.
• Knowledge : we affirm that true knowledge of God, of ourselves and of all of creation, is made possible only by a true faith in Jesus Christ, and finds its source in the Word of God, through the direction ofthe Holy Spirit.

(Some parts of the above section are based on “Our World Belongs to God”,
a document of the Christian Reformed Church)