Category Archives: education

The Book of Man by William J. Bennett

Posted on October 1, 2011 | Leave a comment

The Book of Man: Readings on the Path to Manhood

William J. Bennett

Thomas Nelson: 2011

Dr. William J. Bennett’s Book of Virtues is a favorite in our house. At dinner time, bath time, or bed time, the children ask me to read a story or poem from “the big book,” as they call it. And I’m always willing to; Bennett’s Book of Virtues has as much to offer the parents as it does the children.

I expected the Book of Man to be like the Book of Virtues, only for little boys. But the readings are more for older boys or men. Still, the subtitle, “Readings on the Path to Manhood,” is appropriate. After all, what man doesn’t continue on the path to manhood?

Bennett asks:

“What does it mean to be a man today?…While the plot, actors, and scenes are constantly changing, the virtues, characteristics, and challenges of manhood remain the same today as thousands of years ago.”

On how to be a man, Bennett says, “More can and should be said. That is what I offer here. There are examples worthy of emulation, stories worth knowing, lives worth studying and remembering, and counsel worth hearing…”

Bennett’s quotes span the time from Pericles to Colin Powell, while the characters range from Robert Murray M’Cheyne to Jimmy Carter.

Stories about men like Theodore Roosevelt or Martin Luther King Jr. are always inspiring, and Bennett gives us plenty. But equally inspiring are the stories of men like Terry Toussaint, Fort Valley, Georgia’s “proud sanitation worker.” Toussaint was inspired by Martin Luther King’s speech to a crowd of street sweepers in Memphis, TN:

“If it falls your lot to be a street sweeper, sweep streets like Michelangelo painted pictures….sweep streets so well that all the host of heaven and earth will have to pause and say, `Here lived a great street sweeper…’”

“For Toussaint, it’s all part of the day’s job. At fifty years old, he starts every day at 4:45 A.M. and never misses a day of work.” “I’ll always be the best that I can be at [whatever job I have],” says Toussaint.

Bennett examines manhood in every arena: Man in War; Man at Work; Man in Play, Sports, and Leisure; Man in the Polis (community); Man with Woman and Children (this section alone is worth the price of the book); and Man in Prayer and Reflection.

Not all of the selections are inspiring, nor do they all represent the best in man: “Marines are a different breed; we’re made to go after people. If you’re not killing someone or being killed, you’re not happy.” But, as Bennett says, there is something to be learned from each of them.

While my little boy isn’t ready for this book, I look forward to our reading it together when he’s older. I hope these selections will benefit, encourage, and inspire him as they do me. In the meantime, I’ll continue to use this excellent book to help me down my own path to manhood.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Thomas Nelson.

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Posted in Book Reviews, education, manhood, Thomas Nelson

Review: The Gospel and the Mind by Bradley G. Green

Posted on December 8, 2010 | Leave a comment

The Gospel and the Mind: Recovering and Shaping the Intellectual Life

Bradley G. Green

Crossway: 2010

In his philosophical new book, The Gospel and the Mind, Bradley G. Green argues two theses: “The Christian vision of God, man, and the world provides the necessary precondition for the recovery of any meaningful intellectual life,” and, “The Christian vision of God, man, and the world offers a particular, unique understanding of what the intellectual life might look like.”

Green says that our thinking, without Christ and the cross, is clouded by sin. Without a telos, or goal (Christian eschatology, for instance), there is no meaning to knowledge or education. “True education requires an animating and inspiring vision, which is the very thing the gospel provides, and which is the very thing missing in most construals of education today.” Without a belief in creation, or a Sovereign Creator, there is no proper understanding of history or life. Even language becomes meaningless without belief in a created order and ultimate Truth. When our minds are separated from the gospel, we are intellectuals and philosophers with our heads in the clouds, not knowing where we’re going or where we’ve been:

“Knowledge is difficult, if not impossible, for the person whose will is misdirected, or for the person who is not led by Christ, who is the truth…Indeed it is the gospel that is at the heart of a genuine understanding and the true intellectual life, which has its own ultimate end in seeing God face-to-face.”

Green calls his book an apologia. Therefore he writes to, and works to convince, both believers and non. Christians will find his arguments strong, and his quotes compelling. But will non-Christians? Green realizes that quotes from Christian thinkers, whether church fathers or not, or great minds or not, don’t often persuade the unbelieving audience. So he quotes Nietzsche and Einstein along with Augustine and Aquinas: “The belief in an external world independent of the perceiving subject is the basis of all natural science,” (Albert Einstein).

Green writes with great clarity. I enjoyed his book and find it challenging and encouraging. But I have one complaint which, though minor, and a matter of opinion, I will dwell on for a moment. Green stacks quotes one upon another with a vengeance. Pages pass without us hearing much more from him than, “He goes on further to say,” or, “Consider, as well, what Augustine said.” And, as is often the case with prolific quoters, the author’s own voice is usually more clear and convincing than those he quotes. Certainly he has enough credibility to tell us that the “memory is a precious resource,” without quoting A.G. Sertillanges. After all, we did choose to read his book.

The Gospel and the Mind challenges readers to think deeply about important issues. Green’s message—that true knowledge is possible because the universe was created by an orderly God, and that knowledge is meaningful because it leads to and culminates in a loving God, is both encouraging and liberating. Like sin, the modern belief that there is no true knowledge or meaning outside of one’s self promises liberty but leads to despair. Green reminds us that true knowledge is possible, and so we are liberated, even morally obligated, to seek it.

I received a complimentary review copy of this book from Crossway.

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Posted in Book Reviews, Crossway, education

Bradley G. Green on True Education

Posted on December 5, 2010 | Leave a comment

“True education requires an animating and inspiring vision, which is the very thing the gospel provides, and which is the very thing missing in most construals of education today,”

Bradley G. Green, The Gospel and the Mind.

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Posted in education, quote

Advice to Church Leaders From a Youth Sunday School Text

Posted on September 18, 2009 | Leave a comment

In the past, I have not had a high opinion of Sunday school curriculum; at least, not the ones that I have been exposed to. But I am very pleased with the material our church is using for the youth class.

John Piper’s ministry, Desiring God, is well known. But have you heard of Children Desiring God? Take a look at their resources.

The curriculum being used by our church is titled Teach Me Your Way, by Sally Michael. It is, by the way, published by Children Desiring God.

In reading through the introduction, which is written for teachers, I found several quotes that demonstrate how this material is different from other popular Sunday school material.

As I was highlighting and taking notes, it occurred to me that these bits of advice, if followed, would improve church services as a whole. Many pastors and church leaders would do well to take heed.

Here are some quotes. I have added any italics.

“While it is certainly possible to learn while being entertained, entertainment is not the goal of this study. Activities that have fun as their primary goal have been omitted.”

During worship time, “Songs should be chosen that focus on the majesty and character of God and should not encourage irreverence or silliness.”

“Always use your Bible to look up the passages…teach with an open Bible before you.”

“The key verses (of each lesson) have been carefully chosen to give students a strong, Bible-based, theological foundation.”

“Instead of using confusing terminology like ‘ask Jesus into your heart,’ we suggest using the phrase, ‘trust in Jesus.’”

“The majority of the lesson time should be spent presenting and explaining the biblical text, not in making the illustrations.”

“Keep in mind that your class most likely includes unbelievers as well as believers. Be careful not to use ‘inclusive’ language that communicates to unbelievers that they are Christians….For example, instead of stating, ‘After we die, we will go to heaven to be with Jesus,’ qualify your statement with, ‘Those of us who are trusting in Jesus as our Savior will go to heaven to be with Him when we die.’ Although we do not want to deny true saving faith, we also do not want to provide false assurance.”

“In order to have a fruitful time of heart application, both mentors and students need to train their minds to think God’s thoughts after Him by studying His word; only after transformation of the mind can renewal of the heart take place.”

“Surrendering to Christ in salvation involves the mind, heart, and will of the person and true saving faith results in submission to the will and ways of Jesus.”

Note: Teach Me Your Way uses the English Standard Version text.

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Posted in Desiring God, education, Sunday School

Interview: Anika on Homeschooling

Posted on April 2, 2009 | Leave a comment

Meet my friend Anika Q. Anika is the author of the Christian blog, My Writing Place, which I have often found to be challenging and edifying. Many thanks go to her and her parents for agreeing to the interview. And I appreciate the work that Anika put into it. I hope you find it helpful.

Tell us about yourself and your education.

I am a 17 year old Christian girl living with my parents and three younger brothers in south-east Queensland, Australia. In my primary years my parents educated me through two Christian “umbrella schools”, after my mother taught me to read with her own program. In the last year of primary and for all my high-school years I was homeschooled through a non-Christian “umbrella school”. Since graduation last year, I’ve been studying piano and theory at home and teaching piano part-time.

Describe a typical day at your house.

My youngest brother Mike is in pre-school at the moment, so he only spends roughly an hour a day on full-on school-work with my mother. This time includes a once-a-week maths video segment, daily maths work-sheets, phonics flash-cards and reading practice. Matt is in Grade 6 and generally starts work at 8 to finish about 2 and he studies through workbooks and cassettes sent out by our umbrella school. On a day that runs smoothly, he does Maths and English before morning tea, Science and various Arts subjects before lunch and French after lunch. When it comes to Lloyd in Grade 11, there is really no such thing as a typical day – especially considering that he goes in to a tech institute one day a week to study. It all depends on what has to be done in each of his subjects. He works independently, though my mother tutors him through maths and ensures he gets up in the morning!

What are some of the advantages of home-schooling?

I think that children are able to deal with anti-Christian messages, peer-pressure and bullying better. For one thing, there isn’t so much of it when you’re at home. Additionally, when home-schooled children do face these things, it’s generally in a secure setting. I still had to deal with bad influences as a home-schooled child but I had the benefit of dealing with them in the safety of my own home, or in a setting where my parents weren’t too far away. Also, my parents could easily keep an eye on what I was studying and how it was being taught.

You can get so much more done when you are studying quietly by yourself. It’s common sense that if you want to get something done, don’t try to do it when surrounded by a horde of noisy people. There’s also none of the necessity to run from classroom to classroom, travel to and from school and work at the pace of the rest of the class if you happen to be ahead. The print nature of home-school resources also makes it easier to study wherever you happen to be. Far easier to bring a workbook along on a car trip than a teacher!

And the disadvantages?

There is a lot of pressure on the parents, especially the mother. Not only does she have to do a mammoth amount of work in teaching, but she often has to face the criticism of both non-homeschooling parents and home-schooling parents. Some non-home-schooling parents will question the sense in home-schooling and some home-schooling parents will question the sense in home-schooling in your way. There’s also pressure on the children – I know that as soon as I say “I was home-schooled” or “I was homeschooled in this way” I often need to be prepared for the Spanish Inquisition revisited.

What advice do you have to give parents who are considering home-schooling?

Don’t see home-schooling as an ends – it’s a means. That is, there’s absolutely no point sacrificing family to home-schooling. The whole point of home-schooling should be to benefit the family through their education. God is God, not home-schooling.

Any closing thoughts?

Home-schooling is a great way to form close relationships with your children and to ensure that they get a good education that equips them to serve God. But, home-schooling is certainly not the only way to do either of these things. Even if my parents had sent me to school, I highly doubt that I would have bad relationships with them; even if they had sent me to school, I would still have had the pressure to read constantly and critically in the light of Scripture and I still would have benefited from the long discussions over the dinner table. Most importantly, the encouragement to know God as the basis for all other knowledge would have remained constant. Basically, you don’t have to home-school to have a God-centred view of education.

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Posted in education, homeschooling, interview