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Benjamin Rush was a Signer of the Declaration of Independence. He was also the Father of America’s original public schools—schools that were controlled by parents, and NOT the state. Benjamin Rush made this statement about the education of children:

“Let the children…be carefully instructed in the principles and obligations of the Christian religion. This is the most essential part of education.”

(Rush, Benjamin. 1787, A Plan for Free Schools. David Barton, “America, God Shed His Grace on Thee” (Garland, TX: American Tract Society, Box 462008, Garland, Texas, 75046; 1994), p. 4.)

Noah Webster, the Father of America’s original education method—the one that made us the greatest nation on earth—said these words:

“Education is useless without the Bible.”

(Webster, Noah. “Our Christian Heritage”, Letter from Plymouth Rock Foundation (Plymouth, MA: The Plymouth Rock Foundation), p. 5.)

How has America been changed from the nation of Biblical thinking it once was? It’s because of the clash of two completely opposite “worldviews”: One Biblical; one “man-centered”. We have lost, with humanistic (that is “man-centered”) education, the ability to reason.

When we left “God-centered” education, we lost the “sowing and reaping” principle. That happened because we lost the Biblical moral standard set by the Ten Commandments. Now nobody is responsible for failure or bad behavior. Thus, we can neither tract the growth in character of a student; nor can we point him in the definite path he needs to take morally. Without a standard of “right and wrong” that is definite and unchanging, children grow up believing they, themselves, are the final authority. This results in one person thinking their viewpoint is the only one that is right; that they are the most important person in any discussion. This leads to argument, fighting—and chaos. Have you looked into our culture lately? See anything that looks like chaos? Well the root of it is the wrong type of education: Whether that’s done in the home, or in the church, or in the school, or through the media. “Man-centered” education takes away our ability to reason; to think logically. It feeds the inherent “sin-root” in man with pride and egotism. The end result is the breakup of law and order in a nation; and thus, the downfall of that nation.

Noah Webster, in his original American dictionary, defined the word “reason” as: “to deduce inferences justly from premises.” Paraphrased, we could say “reason” means to ‘calculate, in a just way, what an idea will produce.’ When Webster used the word “justly” in his definition of the word “reason”, he identified that reasoning can be done only by using truth. Thus, it is impossible to “reason” without the standard of the Bible.

This is what is missing from the education process today. We can’t calculate justly what an idea will produce because we’ve rejected—in “man-centered” education—that there is an absolute standard of truth. Thus, the last three generations in America have a very difficult time reasoning.

The Bible warns us about this kind of education; what the world calls “wisdom”. Here’s what God says about the “wisdom” of the world:

“For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written…The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.” (1 Corinthians 3:19-20)

We simply must restore to education Biblical reasoning if we hope to preserve our God-given liberty. The form and spirit of government we will have is always based on the kind of education we give to children. Abraham Lincoln said it this way:

“The philosophy of the school room in one generation will be the philosophy of government in the next.”

(Lincoln, Abraham. Attributed (Herald Star, Steubenville, Ohio, 1984). | Stephen K. McDowell and Mark A. Beliles, America’s Providential History (Charlottesville, VA: Providence Press, 1988), p. 79; (4th printing, 1994), p. 95.)

Think about it; because if you don’t, someone else will do your thinking for you—and for your children! And you won’t like what that brings to you. I’m Don Pinson; this has been Think About It.