Tag: Bible and education

The Advent of Christ as an Act of Teaching

The advent season is upon us and this blog post will explore how advent expresses God’s educational heart for humanity. You are likely familiar with the following stanza: O come! O come! Emmanuel! And ransom captive Israel; That mourns in lonely exile here, Until the Son of God appear. This hymn speaks both to the longing we all have to be reached by God and to the manner in which he reaches us: through his Son, Jesus Christ. So the first point to establish is more than just a theological dogma, but a profound existential reality. We are limited people

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Enjoying the Bible as Literature: 5 Strategies for Engaging Students in Reading the Canon

Guest article by Heidi Dean of Christian Schools International (See Jason’s article on CSI “7 Steps to Narrating the Bible”!) In biblical studies we seek to cultivate the habits of reverence, humility, submission to the text, and other qualities of faithful scholarship. But I propose another goal should rise to the top: enjoyment. The enjoyment that students have in reading a novel, or an eerie poem, or an adventure epic.  When students are engaging with the Bible, we should hear laughter and gasps. We should see quizzical eyebrows and wide-eyed shock. I love to see students jumping out of their

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Bible on a Stand

Easier Than You Think, Yet Harder Than You Think: Teaching the Bible to Children

The Bible ought to be taught to children. This should be self-evident from a theological perspective, given that the Bible is God’s authoritative self-revelation to mankind. “Let the little children come to me,” Jesus says, “and do not hinder them.” From an educational perspective, though, we do well to ask ourselves what it means to teach the Bible in the school classroom. How might this differ from teaching in a church context or in a Christian home? What consideration do we give to the age of the child and their stage of cognitive development? The Bible is simultaneously so precious

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temple wall in Jerusalem

Jesus the Ideal Learner: Priestly Lessons for Education

 In a previous article on Jesus’ student-teacher relationship with John the Baptist, we mentioned that there is so much that can be learned about education from Jesus’ example. The mystery of the incarnation is packed with significance for the process of learning, human maturation and discipleship. As it says in Hebrews, “Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him, being designated by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek.” (Heb 5:8-9 ESV) The idea that Jesus “learned obedience

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