ERIC Number: ED271377
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 1985-Dec-6
Pages: 13
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
The Educational Thought of Cornelius Van Til: Philosophical Foundations of the Contemporary Christian School Movement.
Maffet, Gregory J.; Dye, Charles M.
This paper gives an account of the thoughts of Cornelius Van Til on the contemporary Christian school movement. An account of the historical development of Christian compromise is given, followed by a critique of the compromise among contemporary Christian educators. Van Til claims that any educational position which falls short of being founded exclusively upon the Reformed Faith takes a compromising position with regard to the God of the Bible. The compromise is evident in fundamentalist, evangelical, Lutheran, and Catholic Christian schools. Furthermore, the compromise extends beyond non-Reformed Christian education to include absolute antithesis with all forms of non-Christian education. The paper points out Van Til's assertion that uncompromising Christian education must be built upon the presupposition of the infinite, personal, self-sufficient, triune God of the Bible. Whenever a Christian educator deviates from this foundation, compromise is present. In contrast, all non-Christian educational foundations ultimately rest on the assumption of human autonomy, of brute factual reality, and of logic. These two positions are antithetical. Thus, when Christian educators compromise or accommodate with non-Christian educational foundations, they are inconsistent with and destructive of their own Christian position. (Author/BZ)
Publication Type: Speeches/Meeting Papers; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A


