As our students are working on their Historical Fair projects I am reviewing the early history of Christian education in the Americas.
The 1618 Dort Education Policy used in the Americas from Holland stated; In order that the Christian youth may be diligently instructed in piety, three modes of catechizing should be employed. I. In the house, by parents. II. In the school by schoolmasters. III. In the churches by ministers, elders and catechists especially appointed for the purpose. That these may diligently employ their trust, the Christian magistrates shall be requested to promote, by their authority, so sacred and necessary a work; and all who have the oversight of churches and schools shall be required to pay special attention to this matter.
I see the above policy as an effort to implement the paideia of the Lord from Ephesians 6:4. When children are enculturated in the Lord, in the home, school and church, God rewards such faithful application of His principles of child formation and discipleship. Straying from the paideia of the Lord has brought about disastrous results. It is my prayer that the church will return to what was the common sense application of Gods Word applied to the home, the school and the church in the 17th, 18th and the first half of the 19th centuries.
As students learn from History, maybe we adults will learn something too.
