It does seem like Moreland is advocating for a return to a more classical style of education. Like the one Jefferson advocated for when he was in the Virginia legislature.
Jefferson thought an elementary education was essential for citizenship. Jefferson thought students in school should study history, reading, writing, and arithmetic. Jefferson thought history would improve moral and civic virtues. (Urban 2019, 57)
Benjamin Franklin also had the idea of starting schools. “English and modern foreign languages were to hold center stage, along with various branches of mathematics and courses in the natural and physical sciences. Penmanship, accounting, drawing, commercial studies, gardening (including field trips to neighboring farms), and physical exercise rounded out the curriculum of the English or practical side of the institution. Franklin envisioned his academy as laying the foundation for healthy habits of mind and body and cultivating a spirit of service, which he regarded as “ the great aim and end of all learning.” (Urban 2019, 44)
For Franklin, the goal was “laying the foundation for healthy habits of mind, body and cultivating a spirit of service.” The goals of Christian parents and the church would be different. According to Moreland, the purpose of life is to “honor God, to know, love and obey Him, to become like Him and to live for His purposes in this world as we prepare to live in the next one.” (Moreland 2012, 100) To achieve the different goals a modification to the program of study would be needed.
This is where the church and the educational system that many parents employs fails. Educational systems have a goal or a target they are trying hit. Most parents do not have a target they are aiming at. Parents must have an educational target for their children. What is it that they want their children to know before they leave their home
Moreland believes the apostle Paul taught the key to forming a new perspective or developing a new insight about the world around us is to gather the knowledge and skills required to do it and then do it. Truth, knowledge, and study are powerful factors in the transformation of self and self-control. (Moreland 2012, 77-78)
I do believe Moreland is missing one important question in this section of the book. The question that comes to my mind is the following. Is the lack of willingness to study and learn about God’s Word a salvation issue or a sanctification issue? Moreland seems to be treating this lack of desire to learn about Christ as a sanctification issue but I am not so sure it is. Verses like 1 Corinthians 5:17 and Ezekiel 36:26 came to my mind when I thought about people not wanting to know more about this wonderful salvation. My thinking is do people really believe it is a wonderful salvation if they do not want to know more about it? Has the perverted gospel message created people who believe they are saved so they lack the power, 2 Timothy 3:5?
References
Moreland, J.P. Love the Lord Your God with All Your Mind; The Role of Wisdom in the Heart of the Soul. Colorado: Navpress, 2012.
Urban, Wayne J. American Education: A History. London: Taylor and Francis Group, 2019.
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