As a student at Dallas Baptist University, I was told to create a blog and follow it up with 14 posts related to faith integration topics. I wanted to start of with Proverbs, a simple quote, and a list of faith integration topics.
Proverbs says that the "fear of the Lord" - honor and respect for the Lord - is wisdom and it is the beginning of knowledge.
. . . Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom . . . (NASB) Job 28:28
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge;
Fools despise wisdom and instruction. (NASB) Prov. 1:7
The fear of the LORD prolongs life,
But the years of the wicked will be shortened. (NASB) Prov. 10:27
The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life,
That one may avoid the snares of death.(NASB) Prov. 14:27
The reward of humility and the fear of the LORD
Are riches, honor and life. (NASB) Prov. 22:4
Thus we want to love God with heart, soul and our minds as well. Learning to think Christianly impacts our homes, our businesses, our health care agencies, our schools, our social structures, our recreation, and, yes, our churches too. For to love God with our minds means that we think differently about the way we live and love, the way we worship and serve, the way we work to earn our livelihood, the way we learn and teach, and to accept wisdom and instruction that is offered. It keeps us all in check with Morality and Discipline.
A Christian education must primarily teach people to be able to think in Christian categories/spheres:
- Strong cultural ties with sponsoring denomination/constituency
- Faculty and students conscious of denominational/constituency ties
- Board has strong tie to denomination/constituency
- Provides opportunity for examination of subject matter from a faith perspective
- Grace-filled context for education
- Approach to education grounded in Christian world and life view
- Education as a learning community—one sphere characterized by the integration of faith and learning and faith and living.
